Ordinary days have passed, and six days have already gone by since Maria-san visited my house.

“――Ah—onii-chan…!”

I was returning from the chemistry lab to the classroom when Hina suddenly came running toward me from around the corner.

“Is it a classroom change?”

“Yeah, it’s music. Onii-chan, what class are you going to next?”

“The teacher in charge is on leave, so it became PE.”

“Ahh…”

At the mention of PE, Hina looked distant.

This girl is terrible at sports.

Even though it’s not her, just hearing about PE makes her depressed.

“Having a classroom change followed by PE must be tough right?”

“It’s the changing uniform time that’s the problem. Well, it can’t be helped, and the last class ended early, so it worked out. More importantly… shouldn’t you be heading there with Furei and the others?”

I honestly thought that after hearing Hina’s story, Furei wouldn’t let her out of her sight at school — but there weren’t any girls around Hina.

Curious about that, I asked her, and Hina spoke up with an apologetic expression.

“Um… everyone keeps staring at me, so I go ahead to the next classroom alone…”

Ah, that makes sense…

Hina is very cute and kind-hearted. Because she’s considerate of others, she has always been liked by those around her since childhood.

Because of that, she isn’t used to malicious stares and can’t endure them.

This is unavoidable.

Even though Furei is fond of Hina, I think she wouldn’t find it amusing for Hina to leave her side. However, surprisingly enough, Emera understands others’ feelings better than Furei does.

I think she would understand Hina’s feelings and not get angry just from this.

“So you rushed out with a math textbook even though the next class is music?”

My gaze fell on the pencil case and textbooks Hina was holding at her chest. I pointed it out while wincing slightly.

As a result, Hina tilted her head in confusion before looking down at her hands and exclaimed “Ah…!”

“I messed up…”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m saying.”

I couldn’t help but give her a helpless smile as Hina panicked over bringing the wrong textbook.

Furei is laid-back and wouldn’t leave the classroom immediately during classroom change, but Hina must have left the classroom right away before being called out.

We finished our experiment early and ended class before the bell rang because the next class was PE. Normally, we wouldn’t have crossed paths here.

“Sorry, onii-chan! I need to go back for my textbook…!”

“Ah, wait—look where you’re going—”

It was just as I said that.

Beyond Hina as she hurried back—right around the corner—I caught sight of golden hair and white hair.

“Hina, wait…!”

“Eh—kyaa!!”

Just as I stretched out my arm to stop her, Hina turned around and immediately collided with someone coming around the corner.

And of all people… it had to be the white-haired one.

“――”

I reached out and caught Hina just in time, stopping her from falling to the floor as she lost her balance.

“Ah… thank you, onii-chan…”

“Ahh…”

Hina smiled apologetically as if relieved, but I couldn’t return her smile.

In fact, everyone present froze in place as if time had stopped.

“Onii-chan…? Ah—!”

Noticing that my eyes weren’t on her, Hina followed my gaze in confusion.

And then she realized it.

She realized who she had bumped into.

“I-It hu—…”

The white-haired beauty—Furei—was sprawled on the hallway floor, her skirt flipped up slightly, holding her right wrist with her left hand as if in pain.

Hina scrambled upright in a panic, but seemed too shocked to speak.

Her face had completely drained of color.

The same went for the faces of the attendants around her.

Glancing briefly at the other beautiful girl standing beside Furei, Emera was frozen with wide eyes.

It seems even she couldn’t process this shocking situation quickly enough.

This is definitely bad…

“Sorry, Tenjouin-san, are you okay…?”

As no one moved, I extended my left hand toward Furei.

After all, it’s embarrassing to leave her in such a state where her underwear was visible, and more importantly, if she was injured, I would have to take her to the infirmary.

“Oh… thank you—”

Unexpectedly, Furei reached for my outstretched left hand.

But—

“Stop!!”

“Ughh…!”

Emera kicked my side with her right foot.

What an amazing kick…!

It was such a perfect critical hit that I almost wanted to say that out loud.

“Furei, are you okay!? Does your right wrist hurt!?”

Ignoring the pain in my side, Emera worriedly checked on Furei. Drawn by this, the attendants rushed to Furei’s side and helped her stand up.

“I’m sorry, Tenjouin-san. It wasn’t intentional.”

I was worried about Furei, but right now, I need to be more concerned about Hina.

Because Hina fully understood what she had just done, she couldn’t even get an apology out—so I bowed my head deeply in her place.

—But if she were the kind of person you could reason with after something like this, no one would be afraid of her in the first place.

“Do you really think you’ll be forgiven just because it wasn’t on purpose?”

A low voice, filled with a terrifying rage, as if it had crawled straight out of hell.

When I lifted my head, Emera was staring straight at me—her already murky eyes now completely devoid of light.

“Onee-chan, I’m okay….”

“Ah, that’s good. But just to be safe, let’s go to the infirmary. If anything seems off, we’ll take you to the hospital.”

As Furei continued holding her wrist while speaking to Emera, Emera smiled at Furei.

If she would calm down now—that would be ideal—but during the time Emera was smiling at Furei, she hadn’t stopped moving her hand.

She slowly opened the zipper of her pencil case and took out a mechanical pencil.

“Wait—! Don’t—!”

Realizing what she intended to do, I immediately tried to stop her. However, before my voice could reach her, the mechanical pencil was released from Emera’s hand.

Its trajectory—toward Hina’s face.

“Eek!?”

Suddenly struck by this weapon, Hina froze in place.

It’s understandable; she couldn’t have imagined something like this happening.

“…!”

I immediately swung my right hand sideways, intercepting Emera’s attack.

Thanks to that, I barely managed to knock the mechanical pencil away.

“Hey, that’s not even remotely funny…! What would you have done if it hit her in the eye!?”

“How should I know? She brought it on herself.”

Even as I shouted in anger, Emera only narrowed her eyes with an insane look.

This wasn’t a threat or a bluff.

She was seriously trying to blind Hina.

“Hey, what the hell is going on…!?”

“It seems like Aima-san bumped into Tenjouin-san…!”

“Seriously…?”

“Oh man… they’re dead…”

Because the argument was happening in the hallway where students were constantly passing by, a crowd of onlookers gathered almost immediately.

I wanted to tell that last guy not to say such ominous things even as a joke—but with Emera, it’s scary because it might not stay a joke.

Hurting Furei is like touching the reverse scale of a dragon, basically pushing Emera’s berserk button.

“Onee-chan… I want to go to the infirmary…”

“…Right, let’s go.”

As Emera and I glared at each other, Furei tugged on the sleeve of Emera’s clothes with her left hand.

Emera prioritized Furei immediately, but even so—

“I went out of my way to look after her, and she goes and does something so foolish… My stupid little sister. And you as well…”

She whispered this to me as she passed by.

Looking at her, Emera was staring coldly at Hina like looking at trash.

Without a doubt, she intended to harass her.

—No, more accurately, she wouldn’t do anything herself.

It would be the attendants around her who would act.

“I-I’m sorry, Furei-san…!”

When Hina somehow managed to force out an apology, Emera—and the surrounding girls as well—turned hateful eyes toward her.

Hina flinched violently from the pressure, but the most important one, Furei, didn’t even look at her. She only glanced back briefly without meeting Hina’s eyes.

Instead—she simply stared straight at me, as if trying to convey something.

“…Hina, you’re going home for today.”

“Onii-chan…”

“Don’t come to school until I settle this. Actually—don’t come at all until I do.”

If I left Hina at the school, she would definitely suffer a harsh fate.

Knowing that, I decided to send her home.