I had to attend afternoon classes. That was my final fortress as a student.
The incident happened as I was struggling to persuade Ryouko on the way back to the classroom. It was set to happen sometime.
"Hey you! What do you think you're doing, dressed like that!?"
The towering male student council approached as if to show off his barrel of a body. While on first glance, he looked fat, it was in actuality an armor of pure muscle.
He was like a military commander who had transcended human knowledge straight out of a Three Kingdoms-based action game.
"G-general! I mean sensei! There's a reason to all this!"
"You stay out of this! Girl over there, state your class and your name!"
The all-to-familiar ignoring. While her invisible setting now excluded teachers, she must really dislike his type.
"Gnn! You're going to ignore me, Inomata, your guidance counselor!? No matter what strange things you wear, you're still a student of this school, aren't you!?"
Inomatsensei yelled with such force I could picture him spinning an iron hammer or spear overhead. If we were in the Showa area, he would definitely be carrying around some super heavy armament to scold his students.
"Please wait, sensei! There's a deep reason to all this, and it has to do with Dorisen!"
"… Dorisen, you say?" his attitude blatantly changed. "That whelp… he's letting it get to his head. But even if she is Dorisen's protégé, failure to wear a uniform goes against regulation! I can't overlook it!"
"I know, right," I completely agreed with him.
"Off to the counseling room with you! Come on! You're coming with me! Boy, you get to class!"
Ryouko looked at me. I guess the term stink eye was meant for times like this.
"… Don't look at me. Go with him. I'm sure Dorisen will make some arrangements, so wait for him to bail you out. And while you're at it, brush up a bit on how the world works."
"Afternoon search?"
"You should be able to tell that's impossible. I already treated you to a bowl of soba, just calmly bend to authority for a bit."
"Girl, hurry up!"
Suddenly hunching over, she followed behind Inomata with bothersome feet. An altogether rebellious attitude.
A few steps in, she turned and sent a dazzling glance signaling out her distress with all her might.
"I told you, you're on your own."
Fifth period was peaceful to an intoxicating degree.
I was able to concentrate to my heart's content, and I achieved a splendid understanding. It's not like I liked studying, but in order to maintain my grades with the least possible effort, I wanted to take my classes free of obstacles.
The source of my headaches, Ryouko… didn't come back. She was taken off to the counseling room, and that was the end of it.
I thought she'd finally crumble after about an hour of interrogation and lecture, but even when sixth period came and went, followed by the end-of-the-day homeroom, she didn't return. It was heaven's blessing. My after school was all mine.
But in order to do that, I caught Dorisen right after he'd sent us off to confirm it.
"Sensei, Ryouko was taken to the student counseling room. Did you hear?"
"Ooh, Satou, well about that. Inomatsensei sure made a troublesome catch."
He gave a truly delightful laugh. Was this person alright?
"So what happened?"
"I did pop in to explain the situation. I think she'll be acquitted soon."
"Is that so. But if she doesn't wear her uniform, won't the cycle repeat?"
"Yeaaah, well let's see. She doesn't seem to have any intentions of complying. Why don't you try persuading her?"
"When it comes to her clothes, even my words don't work."
"Yeah, those clothes are a hard one to swallow."
"Isn't that normally enough for a suspension, that one?"
"Do you really think a suspension will accomplish anything with her?"
… Well, he was right.
The punishment was a measure to urge a student to reflect and better themselves. A punishment with no effect was no more than busy work. There was no way such a measure would cause Ryouko to rethink anything.
"So how about counseling?"
"We tried it once, but… no cigar, hahaha. Counseling, see, it's powerless if the one subject to it doesn't intend to speak or listen."
Well at least someone's having fun.
"Personally speaking, I've got my hopes on that penetrating power of yours, Satou."
"What sort of power am I supposed to have?"
"This is just my intuition, but you've got a good vibe around you. A depth a little different from normal, or rather… my teenage sensor's all rusted up, so I can't really explain it."
"… An I'm not seeing it. To summarize, you had your eye on me."
"As the only person she'll actively come into contact with, you're my only hope~."
Dorisen had authority. He was versatile. But when it came to Ryouko's type, I got the feeling he wouldn't be of any direct help. I found myself a bit bewildered by the fact the adults were surprisingly inept.
"For now, how about you go pick up Satou? Could you look after her tomorrow too?"
"I'll let her look at my textbook… anything more than that is a bit…"
"Hmmm, I think you've got a talent for it."
Don't joke with me. I never asked for nor wanted some strange talent to look after weirdos. I had a bad premonition. With the curse-like details writhing around my consciousness keeping me ostracized from the class, I would have to discern my means of escape through the dream soldiers. This was more than freeing the capital, my life was in freefall.
Satou Ryouko was, to me, the incarnation of degradation.
Did I really have any obligation to pick up the seeds of my own fall? Of course, I didn't.