Chapter 19
By the ti I, dazed, snapped to my senses, the hallway was empty. When I realized I'd been left behind, I was already lost inside the school.
The hallway floor had been polished to a slippery sheen; run and you'd slide. At least it ant soone cleaned it thoroughly.
I was flustered and pitched forward. Reflexes failed ; my face smacked the floor.
I was glad no one had seen it. If I'd been exposed to curious eyes, I'd have been too embarrassed to stay at this school.
"ow—"
When I lifted my head, a white cat stared back. Even animals had watched. "Even animals seeing this is mortifying!" I thought, but the silky-furred cat casually set a paw on my head.
Was it trying to comfort ? Or reminding it was in charge—don't resist?
After removing its paw, the white cat licked itself and began washing its face. I had no idea what it wanted now. Even if I could read human hearts, I could never fathom an animal's thoughts.
So a different question occupied .
"Why is there a cat inside the school...?"
I didn't have to wonder long; the mystery solved itself.
"Hey! Lop! You can't run off—!"
Soone had brought the white cat inside.
The voice belonged to a girl, coming from farther down. I glanced at myself—couldn't let a stranger see looking so foolish. I jumped up, montum unchecked; my feet slipped again and I toppled backward.
"Whoa—!?"
A searing pain shot through my back; I couldn't stand right away. In that interval the girl arrived.
A dark-featured girl with chestnut twin-tails regarded —an unknown boy—with suspicious eyes. To her, I was clearly suspicious.
Mortified, I felt my whole body burn with heat.
"What on earth are you doing?"
"Sorry, I just... tripped... I'm, uh, really embarrassed."
"...Stand up already."
She smoothly offered her hand. I took her icy fingers and let her pull to my feet. Carefully this ti, I shifted my feet so I wouldn't fall again.
I bowed to the unknown girl. I had questions for her too.
"Th-thank you... um, also—"
"Yes?"
"I need to visit the PC Club. Do you know where they et?"
"Perfect timing."
"Huh? Perfect how?"
She pressed a finger to her lips and smiled daringly. Then she revealed who she was.
"I'm the PC Club president, Kanbara Mahiru, second year. You're Hyoga, the boy who said he'd co today, right? Your club president's already here."
"Ah, thank you for having !"
I bowed again. She too was a victim dragged into this by the president. I was grateful she'd cleared her schedule for today.
All that remained was to let her guide to the clubroom. She scooped up the cat, said "Follow ," and started walking. I matched her stride and asked a question.
"Oh, speaking of which—just now you called it 'Lop,' right? That cat."
"Yep. Lop."
"Kanbara-senpai, do you bring your own cat to school?"
"Not at all."
"Huh?"
She explained: the cat was a stray that had taken up residence in the school. Kanbara-senpai had found it by chance and taken to grooming and caring for it.
Chatting about the cat, we were about to head deeper down the hallway.
A strange sensation prickled between my shoulder blades—sothing cold. I realized it was a stare quicker than expected. Curious eyes I could understand; I was a novelty. But this gaze felt cruelly cold. It was like a wave of rejection so icy my back went numb.
I whispered softly to Kanbara-senpai.
"Um... ever since a minute ago..."
"You feel it too, huh? Don't worry about it."
"Huh... are you sure it's okay?"
"Yep. That one can't lay a finger on us. No problem."
"C-can't lay a finger—how can you be so certain!?"
"If a teacher laid hands on a student, that'd be bad, right?"
Kanbara-senpai's words made stop in shock. Why was a teacher following us? That unknown made it creepy. Did this school have so pervert teacher who enjoyed chasing students?
"Ugh..."
"Better not to brood."
"Huh?"
She must have noticed groaning aloud.
"More precisely, don't think too hard. In this school, digging too deep is a sin. The wolves will devour you."
At the sa mont Lop the cat let out a ow, and terror clawed at . While the wind from the window fluttered her twin-tails, she began to speak.
I thought it was a joke, but her eyes weren't smiling in the slightest.
"Huh? Senpai...?"
"Everyone here lives burdened with doubt—that's the custom of this school. If you don't want doubts, just follow soone. Quietly follow too. Then the wolves won't eat you."
"Uh, um..."
Cold sweat trickling down, I ventured a question.
"What's wrong, Hyoga-kun?"
"Well, you keep saying 'wolf, wolf,' but why wolves? This isn't so school in the middle of a forest."
"Oh? The school's na didn't ring a bell?"
"High school... Jinrou School... ah!"
"Exactly. So people call this place sothing else: the lycanthrope academy, where human wolves live."
Lycanthropes—European monsters that blend in as humans by day, transforming into wolves at night, said to kill and devour soone each ti they change.
Compared to such monsters, I'd better finish my business quickly and get out.
Still feeling those eyes, I was led to the PC Club room. Ishii, the president, was already there, absorbed in the computer screen Senior Urakawa was operating. They didn't even notice us enter.
One more person, slightly older than us, was grading what looked like a test, papers spread across the desk. She was probably a teacher—the PC Club's faculty adviser. She addressed Kanbara-senpai with gentle reproach.
"You're late..."
Without acknowledging the teacher, Kanbara-senpai headed toward the computer Ishii and Urakawa-senpai were watching.
After greeting the teacher with a "Good afternoon," I settled in to listen to the Vtuber lecture they were about to start.
"3D models," "voice," and more—none of the difficult jargon stuck in my head. I kept thinking about Kanbara-senpai's attitude instead.
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