The Bullying Incident
Fortunately, I made it to school without any problems.
Though the three of them spent the entire trip glaring at each other in a suffocating atmosphere.
Still, we arrived safely.
“Phew…”
Returning to school after a week felt surprisingly nice.
Even if it was only seven days.
After everything that went down at the cathedral, this horror academy almost felt peaceful by comparison.
‘Not that it’ll stay that way once night falls or some incident kicks off.’
Still, the illusion of peace was comforting.
I soaked in the familiar school atmosphere while waiting for morning assembly.
“Hey, Ares. How did the volunteer work go?”
“Huh?”
A familiar girl’s voice called out as she approached.
“Oh, Levin.”
“How was it? The volunteer work, I mean.”
“It was… pretty normal, I guess.”
“Hehe, I see.”
True to her caring nature, she’d come to check on me after being away for so long.
“By the way, did you hear?”
“Hear what?”
Levin lowered her voice like she was sharing fresh gossip.
“Two first-years were being bullied.”
“Bullied…?”
“Yeah. While you were gone, they locked themselves in their rooms and haven’t come out since.”
“……”
“Friends bullying friends… isn’t that just awful?”
Apparently things had happened at school while I was away.
‘Bullying…’
Could this be another ghost story?
Ghost stories don’t always need me at the center to appear.
Maybe one flared up and vanished while I wasn’t here.
School had a little event while I was gone
[Video]
Two students supposedly locked themselves in their rooms because of bullying.
Neither of them is an actual girl, right…?
‘Students being bullied…’
Honestly, it sounded like the perfect setup for a ghost story.
I’d been here long enough to recognize the pattern.
‘Still, better to ask around just in case.’
I posted another thread.
Bullying-related ghost stories
What kind usually happens??
Anyone here gone through it??
Anyway, my goal was clear.
‘Avoid the bullies. Avoid the victims. Avoid everyone involved.’
My only objective was surviving until graduation and finding a real girl.
Getting dragged into another ghost story was completely unnecessary.
‘…If it’s like the last doppelgänger incident, I might take a small risk. But bullying?’
No upside, only danger.
Any ghost story that doesn’t involve touching breasts is trash.
Therefore, I’m ignoring it.
“A~res.”
Lana walked over to my seat, lunchbox in hand.
Fourth period had ended without me noticing.
“We’re eating together today, right?”
“Ah, yeah.”
Today was our scheduled lunch date.
From across the room, Ellie shot us a jealous glare.
When our eyes met, I grinned.
Ellie’s cheeks flushed as she gave a small smile back.
“What, you’re eating with me but staring at someone else?”
“It was just a greeting.”
After that, Lana and I headed out for lunch.
Our usual spot: the empty staircase on the east side, fifth floor.
The lounge was nice, but too crowded.
Ever since I learned 99% of the students here were monsters, I avoided it.
Quiet stairwells were safer.
Lana and Ellie both seemed to prefer eating alone together anyway.
“……Huh?”
“Oh? Isn’t that the girl we saw this morning?”
“Yeah…”
Up ahead in the hallway, a group of students was heading down the stairs.
A cluster of girls.
And among them was Claire.
‘Friends…?’
It was lunchtime, after all.
Claire probably had friends in other classes.
Normally this would just be her going to eat with them.
“……”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing…”
Still, something about Claire’s expression felt off.
She looked anxious, and the girls around her didn’t seem to match her vibe.
Unease prickled at me.
“Let’s go?”
“Ah, yeah…”
It could just be my imagination, so I didn’t act yet.
It was still daytime.
Running over and interrogating her would look weird, especially since I wasn’t even her boyfriend.
‘I’ll ask later.’
Lana and I continued toward the fifth-floor east staircase.
“Hamburg steak set today?”
“I’m not sharing.”
“Stingy. A little is fine~. I’ll give you my meatballs. …Want me to feed you?”
“N-no thanks…?”
“Hehe, you say that but you actually want it. Don’t be shy. Here, ah~.”
“……Ah~.”
We ate like usual.
Having lunch with Lana again after a week felt good.
Last week I’d been stuck eating with demon worshippers and possessed nuns.
“Tasty?”
“Mm, it’s good.”
“Okay, now feed me. Ah~.”
“I’m not giving you any.”
“What?! That’s not fair! Hand it over!”
Our peaceful lunch continued.
We laughed and bickered until I eventually gave in and fed her a piece of steak.
Then—
━ ……─too much.
“……”
“Huh? What’s wrong, Ares?”
“No, just now…”
━ …apologizing is the right thing to do.
A familiar inner voice drifted in.
Faint from the distance, but unmistakable.
Claire’s thoughts, echoing from somewhere below.
I stood up and walked to the window overlooking the fifth-floor staircase.
Lana followed right behind me.
“Those girls from earlier?”
“……What are they doing?”
“Doesn’t look like anything good.”
Below us was the back courtyard of the main building.
Usually deserted.
But now a small group of students stood there.
Claire was in the middle, surrounded by the other girls.
‘Bullying…?’
The morning conversation with Levin flashed through my mind.
Two students bullied so badly they’d locked themselves away.
‘Don’t tell me Claire is…’
A bad feeling settled in my gut.
This definitely wasn’t a good situation.
“…That’s Claire in trouble, isn’t it?”
Lana had noticed too.
‘What should I do…?’
Should I go down and pull her out?
Yeah. That would be best.
Claire had the highest chance of being a real human right now.
I couldn’t let her get swallowed by a ghost story.
Just then—
“Hah!”
“Eek?! L-Lana?!”
Lana grabbed an unopened carton of milk and hurled it.
It flew straight and true.
──Thwack!!
“Kyaaaaaaaah—!!”
It smacked the delinquent-looking girl right in the head.
“What the hell?!”
“Ahahaha!”
The girls started looking up, but I yanked Lana down and we ducked behind the stairs.
She giggled beside me, clearly enjoying herself.
“But she’s your friend, right? She looked like she was in danger.”
“…Even so. Those girls looked nasty.”
“What if they come after us for revenge?”
“……”
When I didn’t answer, Lana just smiled and gently took my hand.
“You’ll protect me if that happens, won’t you?”
“……Mm.”
“Right?”
“……Still, suddenly throwing things is going too far.”
“They deserved the milk.”
Lana looked completely unapologetic.
She was right, though. They’d clearly been harassing Claire.
And it didn’t seem like they’d spotted us, so we were probably fine.
“Are they gone…?”
“Looks like it.”
We peeked out the window again.
The girls were hurrying away in the distance.
Only Claire remained, standing alone and staring up at us.
━ Ares…?
She’d figured it out.
After finishing lunch, I sent Lana off and met Claire alone on the rooftop.
I unlocked the door with the master key.
“Wow, first time on the roof.”
“Really?”
“Yes, it’s lovely up here.”
Claire smiled brightly at me.
━ If it’s here, we could do something bad and no one would know…?
Even now she was having weird thoughts.
“Ahem. Anyway, Claire, the reason I called you—”
“It’s about earlier, isn’t it?”
“……So you saw us?”
“Yes. You threw the milk… to help me.”
Her cheerful expression dimmed slightly.
“So? What happened? …Are you being bullied?”
“……”
She fell silent, hesitating.
But her inner voice answered for her.
━ This has nothing to do with Ares…
━ I can’t drag him into it…
━ And Sera and Miel are my friends, so I…
She was clearly torn.
Especially about not wanting to involve me.
After a moment, she forced a smile.
“It’s nothing. Just a little argument between friends.”
“……”
“Sorry. I’ve only ever stayed at the cathedral, so making friends is hard for me…”
“……”
She lied.
Of course, I wasn’t about to let it slide.
She might be the real girl I’d have to choose at graduation.
“……Sera and Miel?”
“……”
Claire’s eyes widened.
“How did you—”
“I heard this morning. Two students were being bullied and stopped coming to school.”
I wasn’t about to reveal I could read minds.
So I gave a reasonable excuse.
Figuring out those were the names Levin mentioned wasn’t hard.
“It’s fine. Tell me, Claire. What’s going on? I’ll help.”
“But…”
“You helped me too. Just a few days ago. So don’t refuse.”
I stepped closer and placed my hands on her shoulders.
If I left her alone, she could easily get pulled into a ghost story and die.
“Ah…”
━ A-Ares grabbed me…
━ If he forces himself on me now, I definitely won’t be able to resist…
━ We’re on the roof, no one’s around, so even if I end up naked and screaming…!
“…Claire? Are you listening?”
“Huh? Ah, s-sorry…! I’m listening!”
Her bizarre fantasies suggested it wasn’t that serious after all.
Still, the distraction made her stop denying things.
“I just don’t want to drag you into this…”
“It’s fine.”
“Ugh…”
I let go of her shoulders and asked seriously.
Claire hesitated, cheeks flushed, then glanced at me and began to speak.
“Well, actually…”
Got dragged in again
[Video]
3-line summary
1. Last week Claire’s friends got bullied and locked themselves away
2. After Claire returned to school she heard about it and confronted the bullies
3. They said if she plays with them instead, they’ll leave her friends alone
“Play” = take the bullying in their place