Morning homeroom. Homeroom teacher Sekiguchi was returning the math pop quizzes. The only sounds drifting through the classroom were the rustle of paper and the faint presence of the student in the next seat holding their breath. A test paper, face-down, was placed on Eri's desk. She reached out. The edge of the paper trembled faintly. The moment she flipped it over, her fingertips froze. Every answer field was blank. The numbers she was certain she had written in had been cleanly erased. In the margin was a red stamp — "Not Submitted." "[cold]Sakamoto Eri. After school, you will attend remedial lessons in Room 302, Building C of the old school building." Sekiguchi's voice was flat, and she never once met Eri's eyes. "[cold]How disappointing, to neglect your studies so soon after transferring." The classroom's atmosphere solidified in an instant. Her classmates' gazes converged on Eri all at once, and after a beat of silence, scattered away in fragments. (I — I wrote them in.) Eri swallowed the words that had risen to her throat. Because she had seen it — Sekiguchi's gaze, for just a fleeting moment, flicked diagonally upward, toward where Erika should have been sitting. Why had the test paper she'd filled with answers turned blank? She didn't need to think about it. In this academy, there was only one person who could swap out an exam sheet right under a teacher's nose. The classroom clock read 8:42 AM. The tick, tick of the second hand echoed unnaturally loud in Eri's ears. (I can't escape.) She clutched the test paper in her hands, squeezing it tight. The paper crumpled with a soft sound. —— After school. Even as the setting sun streamed into the school building, Eri remained seated at her desk, unable to move. From the hallway came the footsteps and laughter of students heading to club activities. While everyone else hurried off to their own after-school hours, Eri alone waited for the clock's hands to point to 5:00 PM. (I have to go —) What would happen if she ignored Erika's words? She had been made painfully aware of that just a few days ago. Gripping her bag tightly, Eri stood up. The connecting corridor to the old school building was deserted. Ivy crept along the brick walls, and the orange light slanting through the windows slowly illuminated floating dust particles. With every step she took, the floorboards creaked — gii. Room 302, Building C. She stopped in front of the sliding door. Breathe in. Breathe out. Her fingertips had gone cold. Gii —. The moment she opened the door, Eri caught her breath. All the desks and chairs had been pushed against the walls, creating a wide open space in the center of the classroom. And standing in the middle of it were two female students. One had a large build, easily over 165 centimeters tall. On her arm, where her uniform sleeve was rolled up, faint marks from a bracelet — something that should have been prohibited by school rules — remained. Short blonde hair. Sharp, upturned eyes that seemed to appraise Eri. (Mutsu Mika —) She knew the name. Erika's close aide, the enforcer in charge of physical sanctions. The other was, at first glance, a petite and lovely female student. Honey-colored curled hair fell softly over her shoulders, and large chestnut eyes gazed at Eri, smiling. Hanasaki Rina. She, too, was one of Erika's close aides. "[whispers]Remedial lessons... is it...?" The moment Eri asked in a hoarse voice —. Smack!! Mika's right hand struck Eri's left cheek. The impact made her stagger. Her shoulder slammed against the glass of the sliding door, and a high-pitched ringing echoed deep in her ears. "[cold]I said remedial lessons, so it's remedial lessons." Mika spat the words out low, her expression unchanged. Amidst the burning heat on her cheek and the ringing in her ears, Eri stared at the floor, trembling. It hurts. I'm scared. But if I run away now, something even worse will — that thought paralyzed her body. Then, Rina immediately placed a hand on Eri's shoulder. "[gentle]Mika, I told you not to be rough." A sweet voice, as if gently scolding. But Eri noticed. Rina's eyes were coolly observing her reaction. A calculated smile played on her lips. "[cold]Shut up." Mika snorted and stepped aside. Rina began gently tidying Eri's disheveled hair, handling her as if she were something fragile. "[gentle]It's okay. Just wait a little, and it'll get easier." The voice whispered near her ear was so terribly soft that the strength drained from Eri's body. Violence and tenderness. The two assaulted her simultaneously, leaving Eri's mind a tangled mess. —— While Mika stood silently in the corner of the classroom with her arms crossed, Rina remained close beside Eri. She carefully refastened the buttons of Eri's disheveled uniform, one by one. Her touch was as gentle as a mother's, and Eri felt confused. The pain on her slapped cheek still burned hot, yet the warmth of these hands was also undeniable reality. "[gentle]Eri, you're actually lonely, aren't you?" Rina whispered, lowering her voice. Eri's eyes widened. "[gentle]Always transferring schools, no mother around — if you're here, someone will always be by your side. They'll need you." (This person —) She knows. Erika shared Eri's personal information with all her close aides. Rina's words weren't blades. Like melting honey, they seeped in through the cracks in Eri's heart. (They'll need me.) She understood it in her head. These were words meant to manipulate her. And yet — words of a kind she hadn't heard in seventeen years soaked into her, like water seeping into parched earth. Tears welled up in Eri's eyes. Wiping the tears away with her fingertips, Rina smiled brightly. "[gentle]Well then, shall we begin?" Before the meaning of those words could reach Eri —. From behind, Mika's hands seized Eri's shoulders. "[cold]Don't move." She was pushed down onto a desk. The cold sensation of wood bit into her hips and back. "[gentle]It's okay, it won't hurt." Mika's violence and Rina's whispers. There was no seam between them, and robbed of any moment to decide which she should react to, Eri simply held her breath at the sensation of her uniform skirt being pulled down. —— Mika opened the door. In the hallway, fifteen female students were waiting in a line. In uniform. From various grade levels. Every pair of eyes was directed at Eri, pinned down on the desk. "[cold]Take your turns." Mika's low voice. The first one approached. Eri fixed her gaze on the ceiling, counting the stains. The fifth stain looked almost like a human face. The sixth one —. The desk shook. The cold sensation of wood pulled her consciousness back. (I don't want this.) Deep inside her body, someone was screaming. But it wouldn't become a voice. Every time Mika's hands pressed down harder on her shoulders, her will to resist was crushed along with it. One finished, and the next set of footsteps approached. The clock on the wall read 5:12 PM. The second. The third. With every tick of the hands, the sensations and pain left on Eri's body accumulated. Her uniform blouse was disheveled, her skirt had fallen to the floor, and her underwear remained torn around her knees. By the time the fifth one finished, Eri had stopped counting the stains on the ceiling. (Next is —) Before fear could come, her body reacted, anticipating the next contact. At that fact, Eri fell into a double-layered terror. (My body — is already —) The sixth. The seventh. Around the time of the twelfth, Eri herself could feel something beginning to change inside her. It wasn't breaking. It felt like being remade. The fifteenth finally pulled away. —— Silence returned to the classroom. Eri lay face-down on the desk, unable to move a single finger. A lukewarm sensation spread along the inside of her thighs. The taste of iron in her mouth. "[cold]Just as planned." Mika checked the window lock and picked up her belongings. "[cold]I'll leave the rest to you." Saying just that, she left the room. The sound of the sliding door closing, and footsteps fading away. Only Rina remained. She began to straighten the disheveled hem of Eri's uniform. Fastening buttons, smoothing the wrinkles of her blouse, draping it over Eri's shoulders. Her touch was as gentle as it had been before it all began. Without resistance or words, Eri simply felt Rina's hands moving. "[gentle]It's okay, Eri." Rina whispered. "[gentle]You've gotten good at this." The moment she understood those words —. A voiceless sob escaped Eri's throat. She wasn't crying from pain or fear. (You've gotten good —) Because those words had, undeniably, reached somewhere deep inside her. Gently stroking Eri's back, Rina finally told her: "[gentle]Come here again tomorrow. Everyone will be waiting for you." And then, she left the classroom. In the silence after the sliding door closed, Eri remained motionless, her forehead pressed against the desk. (They'll need me.) (You've gotten good at this.) Rina's two phrases repeated endlessly in her head, in the same voice. Outside the window, the chapel spire was sinking into the twilight. The stillness of the old school building pierced Eri's ears painfully. The trembling of her body wouldn't stop for a long time. And yet —. Eri already knew that it wasn't just fear making her tremble. Something inside her was on the verge of a decisive change. Within the brick walls of this academy, there was no way to stop that transformation, and no exit through which to escape.