128. Worry (2)

(Haruna POV)

***

"Noooo, you're telling me that this question was wrong too??" Airi wailed, clutching her pigtails in frustration as Greeny patted her back with pity.

Haruna walked up behind them and saw a list of some of the difficult questions on the midterms laid out on a paper, with detailed solutions written beside them.

"I'm honestly surprised you still have some hope left for winning that bet," she chuckled.

The glasses-wearing duo turned around at her words.

"Haruna-chan? Where were you before?" Airi asked.

"I had to deal with something, no big deal."

"Oh, okay... But what do you mean 'hope', I'm still winning this, right?"

She grinned with a thumbs-up, but with a complete lack of confidence.

Haruna didn't entertain her ideas either.

"The sooner you give up, the better it will be for you."

"Ugh....."

"H-Haruna-chan," Greeny interjected. "We were actually looking for you this morning. I don't th-think we can keep 'that' a secret because of how worried we are."

".....That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about. You guys are going to confront him about this?" Haruna asked with a sigh.

"No, we have a much better plan, one that's foolproof!" Airi puffed out her chest proudly.

"Really? What is it?"

"During the Rooftop Potluck after clubs today, we're gonn-"

"SHHH!" Greeny warned them quickly.

Haruna turned around to see Reiji reenter the class while hugging an array of drinks to his chest.

He walked over to them and handed each one a drink: an iced tea for Greeny, an espresso for Airi, and coffee for Haruna.

"Here you go, milords! Your humble servant has brought you your refreshments!" he joked with a posh accent, eliciting a laugh from them.

Then, he walked over to Hina and gave her the Doozy Soda, which she accepted while avoiding his gaze.

*CLICK*

Haruna pulled the tab on her can and took a deep sip of the iced coffee, exhaling with relief at the cold and refreshing liquid.

'Come to think of it, I haven't drunk anything since this morning.....'

She'd even refused to drink the glass of water at the syndicate.

"Umm, since he's here, you'll find out at the potluck," Airi shrugged.

"Huh? Wait, no! Just tell me at lunchtime!" Haruna whispered.

"Naaaah, it's more fun this way. Plus, won't you need to explain everything to Hina-chan and have her up-to-date if you don't want her to freak out?"

'Ah..... right, I guess I should tell her at lunch.'

It wasn't going to be a short talk after all.

"Oh my god, now he wet his pants too??"

Haruna swiveled on her feet at the loud claim and saw Riku come back in with a twisted expression while patting his pants with a napkin, which had a massive wet spot on his nether region after washing the stain off.

Double the attention from the class for the worst reason possible.

'.....Okay, now I really do feel bad.'

***

At lunch, Haruna pulled Hina away from the classroom as soon as the bell rang, not even giving Riku the chance to join them.

He was actually planning to run back home for an extra pair of pants anyway, so he didn't try to stop them.

"What's wrong?" Hina asked once they arrived at a secluded corner.

"You wanted me to explain where I went, right? Well, to explain that, there's something you have to know first."

Hina tilted her head in confusion, but stayed attentive when she saw the serious look on her face.

Haruna slowly started to recount everything in detail, starting all the way from her tutoring sessions with Reiji, how she knew he had a fever early on, how he collapsed afterwards, as well as the discovery of the injury and her efforts to help him recover.

Hina was covering her mouth in horror when she heard that part, her brown eyes wide with disbelief.

"Was it really that bad?" she asked.

"....The thing is, it was already bad enough before, while just looking at the length of the wound. But I found out later what actually caused it, and it became so much worse!" Haruna groaned sadly.

"How did it happen?"

"I'll get to that, but first, you should also know what happened yesterday....."

From there, Haruna caught her up with the Keito incident, how they saw him waiting for Reiji, following behind them as a group, and overhearing their depressing conversation, which shed more light on what he did with the syndicate.

"So after that happened, I really felt like I had to do something to help him, because he helped me so much, too! In fact, that's why Yui Senpai was waiting for me this morning!"

She explained what happened after Hina left them alone, the talk they had, and the idea suggested by Yui about confronting his dad.

"Hahaha, this Senpai sounds so silly. That's a horrible idea," Hina laughed, wiping a stray tear from her eye.

Haruna pursed her lips and looked at something really interesting on the ceiling.

"Anyway, we went to the Yagami Corporation building to talk with his dad. When we got the-"

"WAIIIT! STOP! RED LIGHT!" Hina interrupted, crossing her arms into an X. "Pleaaaase tell me you're joking?"

"Ummm....."

"Haruna-chan, have you gone insane!? Did you actually just walk into a Yakuza Den with nobody else but that Senpai??" she lectured, grabbing Haruna's collar and shaking her back and forth.

"I-It wasn't that bad! We met Reiji-tan's subordinates outside, and they were actually really nice! Plus, I'm not sure about the exact details, but Yui Senpai's background is apparently strong enough to deter them."

"That's not the point, dumbass! The fact that you even went there with zero planning is what's bothering me!"

"Senpai is a really good fighter! She's testing for a black belt soon!" Haruna defended.

"Wait, seriously? That's impressive... Is that what you thought I would say?? You think a syndicate of that size wouldn't have a couple of black belts themselves?"

"That's..... I understand that, but it's something we felt like we had to do. Either way, Senpai was determined to go regardless of my thoughts, and I sure as hell wasn't going to let her go alone!"

Hina staggered back a few steps wearily and smacked her forehead.

"...Since it already happened, there's no point in saying anything else. What happened when you got there?"

Haruna breathed a sigh of relief and continued on with the story.

She explained how they met the two men outside who guided them to the Boss's office, and the subsequent chat they had with Daichi.

Haruna had a furious look when describing some of the talk, still incensed at the indifference shown by Reiji's father for the most part.

"It was infuriating! No matter what we said, he just shrugged it off and made it feel like it wasn't even a big deal! His son got shot at with a crossbow, and he didn't even have the decency to check up on him after that!"

Hina looked downcast at the story as well, repositioning her glasses with a sniff.

"I never expected Yagami-kun's background to be so messy... I feel like an idiot for being so prejudiced now. Even if he really did get into fights before, I can't really blame him for that after hearing this," she muttered.

"Exactly! Even his brother is a piece of crap, so I'm genuinely surprised he turned out so nicely."

She then finished off the explanation with how they were tested with a fake threat, and finally concluded with a compromise, which she's still not sure is real.

"That's... hectic."

"Tell me about it....."

Haruna took a bite out of her sandwich, her mood falling once again after she refreshed her own memories with all of this.

Hina tapped her chin, thinking about something as she set aside her lunch for a moment.

"So are you not planning on telling him about this?"

"Hm? I don't think so, not for now at least. He might find out from his Dad later on, but if I tell him before that, it might just make him worried unnecessarily," Haruna shook her head.

"But won't he want it to come from you instead?"

".....Maybe, but it's not exactly an easy conversation to have. I also need to talk with Senpai and hear her thoughts first."

Hina nodded, but still looked unconvinced.

"Also, does he not know that we all know about his injury, either?" she inquired curiously.

"No, but apparently the others have a plan on how they can get him to reveal it. They're gonna do it at the potluck after clubs, apparently."

"That's good, it would be too much if he were to be kept in the dark for so many things."

Haruna paused, placing her food back in her lunchbox as she leaned against the wall.

"Yeah..... It really doesn't feel comfortable keeping such secrets from him. But then again, this is a taste of his own medicine!" she harrumphed with a pout. "Still...You're right, I should tell him at some point, after discussing it with Senpai."

*DING-A-LING-RIIIIING*

The loud bell signaled the end of lunchtime, so the two girls started packing their stuff up to return to classes.

"Anyway, make sure to come up for the potluck this time, it's also a good chance for you to start integrating with everyone else," Haruna reminded.

".....Okay, but won't it be awkward?"

"Maybe, but not because of you. All I can be sure of is that it's going to be messy...."