"Y/n-chan."
Y/n turned to Nene with a brow raised. She stopped drinking from her strawberry milk box as she asked, "What is it?"
"Did something happen yesterday?" Nene's brows furrowed as she looked at the girl in concern. "I went back to the rooftop with the tea, but then you weren't there anymore, plus, he wasn't acting like his usual self."
It was good that Nene left out Hanako's name, after all, Aoi was also with them. Of course, she was clueless of what Nene was even talking about.
"Eh? Y/n-chan was with a guy?" Nene nodded as she chewed on her onigiri. Aoi gasped as she looked at the girl infront of her with pure curiosity.
"Who's this guy you've fallen in love with, Y/n-chan?!"
"Eh..." Y/n sweat dropped as she scooted away from the purple head. "I don't really like any boys, as of the moment."
"I see..." Aoi pouted. "So then.. what happened with this guy and Y/n-chan?"
"I'm not s—" Y/n cut herself off upon catching a black object floating behind them. It was a quick glimpse, she wasn't too sure of what it was or what if had been doing there.
"Nene-chan, did you see that—?"
"Fish!" Nene screamed as she stood up from her seat and looked at her desk in fear. Y/n then checked what she had been looking at, and just as she suspected. The servants of the mermaid were on the desk, looking at Nene.
"Are you okay?" Nene didn't reply to Aoi as she slowly walked away from her seat.
"Nene-chan!" The girl suddenly went full speed and ran out the room, leaving her classmates confused on what the commotion was all about.
"W-What happened...?"
"Not too sure myself.." Y/n then looked at the area were she had spotted the black object at. "But before that, I need to investigate a few things..."
The black object was oddly familiar for Y/n. She was sure it was an apparition, other than that, she knew nothing at all. She had never read this on her book or on anyone else's, so regarding whatever that was, she had no answers.
"Seven-sama?" Y/n knocked on the door before entering the girl's restroom, there, she found Hanako sitting on the window sill with a blank look on his face. "Uhm.. are you busy?"
"Can't you tell..?" Hanako stood up before walking towards Y/n. He then held her shoulders before looking at her with slight teary eyes. "I'm so bored!"
"Oh..." Y/n nodded. "I thought you were lost in thoughts or something, but I guess you were just bored." She then placed her hands on her waist. "And I'm here to ask you some questions."
"Well, that's unlike you," Hanako cooed. "I thought you knew mostly everything?"
"Well, you're wrong." Y/n snapped her fingers. "The future is changing, and with that, everyone's story is also changing."
"And is that a bad thing?"
"Definitely."
Hanako hummed as he crossed his arms. "Putting that aside.. what were the questions you were about to ask me?" He looked at her sharply. "Is it regarding the events yesterday?"
"Don't worry, it isn't." Y/n waved her hand. "Okay, maybe a tiny bit."
"If it's only a little bit, then that's fine." Hanako sighed as he sat back down on the window sill. "Go ahead, ask away."
"Well, first off." Y/n raised her index finger. "Did you ever think about what he said yesterday?" she asked. "I was thinking about it, and I realized. Maybe he was the one tampering with all the rumors."
"He does have an assistant as he said," Hanako mumbled. "But then again, we have no clue of who his assistant is. Plus, there are tons of students in this school. So searching for one student only would be difficult."
"Well, not only that, but his assistant must have figured out my position in the school mysteries." Y/n sighed as she massaged the bridge of her nose. "I think their gonna use that against me at some point."
"You can tamper with one's mind, right?" Hanako smirked. "Can't you erase the memories of the assistant or even his?"
"Perhaps." Y/n shrugged. "But in all honesty, it's even hard to get close to him."
"You're right about that."
"Second question." Y/n raised another finger as she looked around the restroom to see if it was there with them. "Have you seen a black supernatural around this school? Ones which likes to spy on people?"
"There's no such apparition." Hanako's brows furrowed. "If there were, then we would have already eliminated it."
"I see..." So then what was following her around? Was it just an illusion created by her overly-anxious mind? "Well, that's it for my interrogation."
"If there's anything you need help with, then you can always ask me, Y/n-chan," Hanako cooed as he poked the girl's cheek.
Y/n grinned. "That's right. The mermaid is after Nene-chan again." She tapped the boy's shoulder. "If you would be so kind..."
"The broadcasting club." Y/n's eyes squinted at the sign above the door. After her conversation with Hanako, she thought this would be the best place to investigate.
She was never really curious of what went down in this club. But as she thought about it, weren't they the only ones to be able to spread false rumors in a matter of minutes?
The girl looked through the stained window on the door. There, she saw two— no, three people.
Two humans, one apparition.
The humans seem to be looking at the apparition with a slightly concerned look on their faces, but other than that, it seemed like they were used to whatever the supernatural was doing.
Y/n's eyes then darted towards the apparition—
Bright orange orbs. Similar to the ones which Hanako had. But the person she was facing wasn't Hanako, heck, she didn't know how he was staring back at her with a malicious grin on his face.
The door opened. The apparition's grin widened upon seeing the girl on the doorway.
"Eh! It's you!" The boy raised two fingers and pulled Y/n closer. "You were the one with Amane at the time!"
Before Y/n could even react, his fingers made in contact with her forehead. The sight blurred. Her vision became foggy. And the darkness swallowed her whole.
"Huh? Y/n-chan didn't attend classes?"
"That's right! And Y/n-chan always informs us if she couldn't come to school or if a problem came up!" Nene cried out. "Something's up, I'm sure of it!"
Kou had just came in earlier with some apparition he found in the entrance. After he left, Nene instantly brought up the issue of Y/n's disappearance.
"Hm.." Hanako looked away. "I'll try searching for her. In the mean time, you can go now, Yashiro."
"Okay..."
Once Nene left, Hanako sighed before taking out his knife and heading out the restroom.
Now, where did you go, Y/n-chan?
"Okay, where the hell am I?"
"You're just in the broadcasting room, L/n-san."
"Eh?!" Y/n screamed as she heard the oddly familiar voice. She turned to see the green-haired girl standing infront of her with her usual blank look. "W-Wait.. Nanamine-senpai?!"
"Yes..." Nanamine sighed as she poured some tea into the cup infront of Y/n. "I'm so sorry you got dragged into this mess. We had tried to make sure he wouldn't do anything to you. But of course, he didn't listen."
"By he, do you mean.." Y/n paused as she fiddled with her fingers. "Do you mean Tsukasa?"
"Unfortunately." Nanamine sipped on the tea as she sat infront of the desk with the microphone. "I'm bounded to him, so I must obey every order he gives out."
"What—?!"
"So, L/n-san." Nanamine walked towards her and placed her index finger in front of her mouth. "Could you please, keep this a secret?"
"You can stop by anytime."
"Sure. Thank you for the tea."
"It's no problem." Nanamine smiled. "And be careful with Tsukasa. He's a boy with tons of different personalities." She sighed. "I suggest you don't get involve with Hanako-san any further."
Y/n frowned before waving at the girl and walking away.
She then let out a shaky breath. She didn't know how long she had been holding it in. She felt her hands trembling as she crouched by the wall.
He was terrifying. Tsukasa's gaze was terrifying. He reeked of bloodlust. As soon as Y/n made eye contact with him, she felt trapped.
He was someone she shouldn't mess with at all.
Y/n recalled the words Nanamine had just told her: "don't get involved with Hanako-san any further.."
That's gonna be hard. Not getting involve with Hanako-kun is difficult. Y/n let out a small chuckle. As much as Tsukasa scared her, she can't stop going to Hanako. After all, I've grown attached.
"Why is it so loud in this hallway?"
Kamome was a pretty big school. As Y/n walked away from the broadcasting room, she stumbled upon an oddly noisy area. She had no clue as to what was going on there, so she decided to check it herself.
"Wait, no, I'm not suppose to involve myself in others' business.." the girl's face broke. "But I'm a part of the student council and the seven mysteries... Whether it's student or apparition problem, I'm still involved..."
I hate myself. Y/n grumbled as she walked towards the hallway. The feeling of nervousness crawling on her back. She was already having a bad day, she just hoped that this wouldn't become worse.
She poked her head out the corner to see what the commotion was about. Her brows furrowed when she spotted no one but Hanako.
"Uh.. did something happen?" Hanako's head literally flicked to where he had heard the voice. The dark look on his face, which didn't go unnoticed by Y/n, instantly morphed into a look of joy and worry.
"Y/n-chan!" The boy instantly squeezed her in his arms. "Y/n-chan! Where in the world did you go?! I was searching for you the whole day, but then the kid got into some trouble! And he showed up! And then—!"
"Wait." Hanako stopped as he looked at Y/n, who had her face down. "Hanako-kun, can you..."
Hanako got a glimpse of her face. It was red. As red as a tomato, apple, anything red. It was that red.
"Can you get off me first...?"
Hanako blinked. "Y/n-chan?! Is this really you?! Wait, how did you get flustered so easily then?! Y/n-chan always accepts my hugs!"
"... Just get off me first.."