My attempts at talking to Yukina after what happened during lunch time were unsuccessful.

She told me that she didn't want to talk to me about it, so I respected her wishes and backed off. I wanted to support her, but I guess I'd be the worst choice, as I was part of the reason why she became upset.

After school, Nora ran up to me excitedly just as I was about to leave class.

"T-Takanori-kun, do you want to play more Vanguard today?"

"Sure. Let me talk to the other guys about it real quick. Katsumi-san, Akihiro-san, do you two have a moment?"

I looked at Katsumi and Akihiro, who were both preparing to go to their clubs. I called for them, and they came over slowly. Reading the room, Yukina also quietly joined the group.

Thankfully, both Katsumi and Akihiro seemed to look better after what happened during break today. Katsumi had regained her usual energetic step, while Akihiro didn't look like a zombie anymore.

"Are you guys okay with meeting up again for training after club activities are finished?"

As I asked that, Akihiro bitterly lowered his head. He must still be hung-up over his deck being destroyed by Kasai.

"Sorry. I can't come."

"It's alright, I understand. Go enjoy yourself at football club."

I wanted Akihiro to take his mind off it and get back on his feet. If he continued feeling down about it, it'd be a huge blow to our class, as he was the person best suited to becoming E Class's trump card in this war.

"...yeah, I'll blow some steam there, or something. I better get going now... last time I was late, Yahagi-san chewed me out for it."

With a defeated mutter, Akihiro slipped out of class quietly. Everyone could see how thoroughly his spirit had been crushed by the loss of his deck.

Nora's eyebrows furrowed as he watched him walk away. He must have been feeling guilty over it, as Akihiro had to sacrifice his own deck to save Hengist from Ukishima.

It wouldn't be the first time Nora felt this way towards Akihiro though. Back when Adachi and his friends attacked us, he felt guilty for getting Akihiro into trouble, as Akihiro stood up for him.

"I-Ishima-san..."

Nora weakly called out, trying to get Akihiro's attention before he disappeared into the hallway. However, it failed.

You could tell their relationship was strained by the way they referred to each other. Akihiro preferred being called by his first name and encouraged everyone to do it, but Nora continued to call him by his last name regardless. It was like they were strangers.

"He'll be alright, Takayuki-kun. Don't look so worried. You're a man, aren't you?"

Katsumi patted Nora's back in encouragement.

"But... the way he's been acting today... it's my fault. I need to make it up to him..."

Those words unintentionally stung me too. Out of the corner of my eye, I looked at Yukina. She was facing the group half-heartedly.

"You can do that later. Right now, we should make plans to train, right, Takanori-san?"

Noticing my strange behaviour, Katsumi steered the conversation back to it's intended destination for me.

"...oh, yeah. I'm assuming the rest of you are okay with training after club activities then?"

The three of them nodded.

"Let's rendezvous back to class after we're all done with clubs then. The school facilities don't close until the evening."

"Sounds good! It'll save us some time if we meet up here."

"T-then... I'll go to the library while I wait for you guys."

Like me, Nora wasn't in any clubs, so he had about an hour of free time to kill until then.

"Ah, I'm gonna be late to the track and field club! I don't wanna miss out the group run!"

In a flustered panic, Katsumi began jumping up and down.

"I'll see you guys after-later! Takayuki-kun, come with me, the track and library are in the same direction!"

"A-ah? Umm... okay then."

"Ya-hoo-hoo!"

In a sudden and abrupt rush, Katsumi exited the classroom. Nora followed her, waving goodbye to us. I lightly waved back.

As the sound of Katsumi's frantic footsteps faded away, I put my hands into my pockets. As I did, the class fell painfully silent.

Me and Yukina were now the only ones left in this empty classroom. Our backs faced one another.

The atmosphere that enclosed the space between us was suffocating. Even though I hated small talk, I could really go for some right now.

I turned around, trying to face her. Coincidentally, she did the same.

As we bumped into each other, we awkwardly avoided each other's gazes.

"Uh... what are you going to do then?"

I quietly spoke up to cut through the tension.

"Um... I was going to see a senpai."

"Oh..."

I don't know why, but I felt anxious.

"Well... have fun then."

"Yeah... um, see you then... Yuu."

"Of course... later, Yukina."

Even though we exchanged partings, we didn't meet eye to eye. Pathetically, I couldn't even look at Yukina properly. My hands trembled as her footsteps drew further and further away from me.

When I turned around to tell her to stop, she was gone.

My heart sunk.

I lowered my head and gritted my teeth. I grabbed my bag and stormed out of the classroom. I headed to the track and field club, where Katsumi was.

Just outside the field, Katsumi was heading towards the changing rooms. Even though my body still ached from yesterday, I made an effort to run up to her.

"Katsumi-san."

"Ah? Takanori-san?"

Managing to catch her attention, I walked side by side with Katsumi to the changing rooms.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm kind of interested in the track and field club. Is it alright I join you guys?"

"Ah, you are?! Of course, of course! Let me talk to Asukai-senpai about this!"

Katsumi cheerfully ran over to an upperclassmen wearing a P.E. uniform. I meekly followed her.

"Asukai-senpai, Asukai-senpai!"

Grabbing the upperclassmen's attention, he stopped stretching and turned around with a coprophagous grin.

"What is it, Katsumi?"

"One of my friends wants to try out the track and field club! Takanori-san, meet Asukai-san!"

I lightly raised my hand at him. Asukai had a gangster aura due to his lanky build and delinquent-style haircut. His raven black hair was pushed back and spiked, except for a small tuff at the front that was dyed yellow.

"Yo, I'm Asukai Itsuki, 2nd Year E Class, and this club's Drachma Red lead— hol' up, this guy's Takanori?"

Asukai made a funny face as my name clicked in his head. It was obvious Asukai had caught wind of the rumour too. I gulped, knowing what would come next.

He grabbed me by the collar. Asukai wasn't muscular, so I wasn't too scared, but the fire in his wild eyes made me uneasy.

"I've heard of you... woman beater Takanori Yuuto, huh? You smacc'd up Hoshimi-chan, huh?"

Interestingly, he used Shimizu's first name too. Was this guy like Hashimoto? I had no idea Shimizu had so many fans.

"T-that's... a rumour..."

I tried to deny it, but all I could muster was a squeak of innocence. Asukai raised an eyebrow, and laughed heartily.

"Ha ha ha ha ha, I know right?! You'd have to be an idiot to believe that nonsense! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

"Yeah right. This morning, you were saying you were gonna tear Takanori-kun's head off, you siscon."

"K-Ku! Ibarada-paisen..."

Asukai looked over his shoulder, sticking out his tongue. Ibarada Rena, a 3rd Year E Class student, wandered over to us while licking a purple coloured lollipop. I met her when I visited Ike-sensei's lab with Nora and Yukimura.

More important, did I hear Ibarada right? I swear I heard her say siscon.

"By the way, you should let go of him. You're giving the wrong ideas."

"Oh, right. My bad, I grab people's collars out of habit, a ha ha ha!"

What kind of messed up habit is that? Asukai let me go and huffed at Ibarada.

"Ibarada-senpai, you're also in the track and field club?"

"No, I'm only outside to do a dissection with the biology club. We're just over there."

A little further down the track was the open field, where the biology club was handling a large animal's corpse. No wonder they opted to do it outside, that thing must've stunk...

"I saw Itsukkun bullying you and decided I'd drop by to get him to stop it. Treat your kouhai more nicely."

"How can you say that when you gave me that dumb nickname?! Argh, Ibarada-paisen, you're so annoying, get outta here! Go back to offending IETA!"

IETA was an organisation dedicated to preventing animal abuse. Unfortunately, they'd probably hate to see the biology club's dissection in action.

"Hai hai. Good luck and break a leg."

After being shouted at by Asukai, Ibarada made her cheeky exit.

"Break a leg?! You know my main sport's running! If I do that, my career's finished! And we're just doing cross-country practice! Give me luck when I'm actually competing in a race! Damn it, are you even listening to me?!"

Asukai sighed, turning back to us.

"Sorry about her. Ibarada-paisen's a cruel little loli."

Katsumi simply laughed. However, one thing was still bugging me.

"Asukai-senpai... what did Ibarada-senpai mean when she said "siscon"?"

"I am not a siscon! How many times do I have tell y'all?! Caring about your little sis ain't being a siscon god dang it!"

Immediately, like it was a reflex, Asukai denied having a sister complex. However, he coughed, calming down.

"Err, I mean... Hoshimi-chan's my little sister. So when I heard you punched her, I was ready to yeet you out of a fourteen story building."

He and Shimizu... were siblings? I think my jaw dropped without realising it.

"Then she told me it was all higgledy-piggledy random nonsense made by some stalker dood, and that you actually saved her with this guy named Yamamoto! Really proud of ya, son!"

Asukai grabbed me in a bear hug, then an arm lock. He's giving so many mixed signals right now...

"Ehhh? You and Shimizu-chan are related? But how? You guys don't even share last names!"

Katsumi was just as surprised as me. Asukai nodded, smirking.

"That's right. See, we ain't related by blood Katsumi. We're the other type of siblings: step-siblings!"

This explains so much... I'd genuinely be worried if someone as loud and stupid as Asukai was blood related to a quiet and shy girl like Shimizu.

"S-step-siblings?!"

"Yeah! Our parents got re-married! The divorce sucked though..."

Asukai shrunk, rocking back and forth. He jumped back up and struck a guts pose.

"But no more dwelling on the past! Takanori, get yo butt in the changing rooms and get into this sweet frickin' jersey! Imma ring you through the track and field's specialty!"

"Y-yessir."

For some reason, I was compelled to answer him like he was a military general. Me and Katsumi entered the changing rooms, obviously separated by gender, and went on the track once we were finished. Since we were a bit late, everyone else had already began their first lap.

"Shibata-kun's at football club today, huh?"

Katsumi muttered that to herself as I tied my shoelaces. One thing I noticed about our P.E. uniforms was that it also separated us by nation. The highlights on the jersey and shirt indicated which class we belonged to. For us in E Class, it was Drachma Red.

"Shibata-san?"

As we began to stretch, I asked Katsumi that. Since Shibata was a C Class student, I found it surprising she was friends with him. Katsumi laughed lightly at my question, pushing her chest out as she stretched her arms behind her back.

"Mhm. He also attends the track and field club, but it seems he's gone to the football club today."

"I see. Are you guys close?"

"Eh? Sort of. We always run together when attending this club. Outside of school, we hit the gym together and do a lot of long-distance together too."

It sounded like Katsumi and Shibata were good friends. The first time I met Shibata was in April, where he got into an argument with Yukimura on the first day of school.

I always thought he was the delinquent type, as he always hung out with that crowd. I never knew that he and Katsumi had hit it off so well together.

"The difference in status hasn't affected you guys?"

"Not really. Shibata-kun's okay with it, since C Class isn't that far from E Class. Besides, we usually go to more deserted places that no one really visits, so no one can really judge us."

It reminded me of my relationship with Suzune. I felt kind of bad for Nora though.

"I see. Shall we then?"

"Of course. I can't wait to see your skills!"

Once we finished stretching, me and Katsumi began to run. Compared to me, Katsumi had better form and was much faster than me. I struggled to keep up. It was clear who was the better athlete between us.

"Takanori-san, can you keep up?"

Katsumi mercilessly flexed on me by speeding up. I grunted, increasing the lengths of my strides to keep up with her. This was probably one of the few times Katsumi could show off her speciality in front of someone else.

"You're cruel..."

She laughed, slowing down to give me a chance.

"Impressive, right?"

"Yeah, it was... you could've left me in the dust."

"I could, but that would be no fun. Talking to others while running is how I enjoy practicing this sport."

I could tell how easy running was for Katsumi. She had complete control over her breathing, speed and stamina.

"Right... sorry to hold you back."

"Hey, you didn't do anything wrong. I should've gone easier on a rookie."

That was ironic, considering I didn't hold back while teaching her Vanguard. Well, I guess they were different situations.

"Can I ask a weird question?"

"Sure."

"Who do you have a crush on?"

Katsumi's face turned bright red. She stopped running, looking at me with shock.

"T-Takanori-san?"

"Yeah?"

"W-wha... w-what are you asking...?"

"Who do you have a crush on?"

I usually wasn't interested in other people's affairs, but after seeing Nora's obvious crush on her, I couldn't help myself.

"Y-you... y-you're into that kind of stuff?"

"Just curious."

Katsumi continued to run again, catching up to me.

"I-I'll... t-tell you... i-if you... tell me yours."

A trade, huh? Unfortunately, she would only be disappointed by my response.

"To be honest, I don't have a crush on anyone."

"Not even Yukina-chan? You seem close to her."

"We're just friends."

"Ah... you two would make a good couple in my opinion!"

"You think so?"

"Yeah, yeah! I can tell you two care a lot for each other. She stood up for you in class, and you stood up for her during break."

Katsumi wasn't wrong about that.

"Anyways... my c-crush, huh? Isn't it a bit too... soon? To develop a crush, I mean..."

"2 months is more than enough time to develop feelings for someone else, isn't it?"

"Hmm... not really. I don't think so, at least..."

The way Katsumi's been acting made me feel like she's never been in love before, and that this was the first time she had a crush on somebody.

"Think carefully. Is there anyone you get flustered over when you think about them?"

"Ah... um..."

As she thought, Katsumi's face burned bright pink. So, there was someone she liked.

"I... n-nope! None at all!"

"You're blushing..."

"I-it's because of the sun! I-I get sunburnt easily!"

Katsumi tried to weasel her way out of the question by running away (literally), but I grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Oi, don't run away..."

"Eek! T-Takanori-san, you're so mean!"

After calming down, Katsumi looked at me with a pout.

"I'll... give you a hint. Is that okay?"

I could probably find out who she liked just from that. Besides, Katsumi's not very smart, so she might slip up and give me a big hint. The odds were in my favour.

"Sure. Make sure it's a good hint though."

"O-okay! Um... well... the boy I like... he's... kind and cool!"

From that half-hearted response, all I learnt was Katsumi was sick with stupidity. Subverting my expectations, she gave the worst possible clue in humankind.

"That's... so vague."

"That's a good enough clue! Not many boys in our year are kind and cool."

Well, at least I can narrow it down to a 1st Year male. I decided to throw a question at her casually in order to trick her into responding without thinking.

"Which class are they in?"

"They're in— hang on..."

Well, that didn't work.

"Is it Nora-san?"

Katsumi looked at me, and flashed a frown.

"No?"

"Are you... asking me this because of him?"

As Katsumi asked that question, we unconsciously slowed our pace down.

"No. I guessed him because you two spend a lot of time together."

"I see..."

"Do you think Nora-san has a crush on you?"

"Kind of...? I can tell that he likes me..."

Katsumi became quiet as the topic of Nora came up.

"Say, you and Nora-san went to the same middle school, right?"

"Yeah. I told you about it yesterday."

"You mentioned something about letting him get bullied. What was up with that?"

Katsumi trailed to a halt. She wrapped her arms around her torso and lowered her head guiltily.

"Katsumi-san?"

"Sorry... sorry... sorry..."

Katsumi mumbled to herself multiple times, shivering as she did. I stopped, walking up to her. The colour in her face had been completely drained. Her energetic self had disappeared.

It was the same way she acted after Machida's faction attacked us. She became distant and quiet, a complete 180 from how she normally was.

"Are you okay?"

"...yeah, I am."

Katsumi laughed bitterly at herself, and looked at me.

"It's pretty pathetic, honestly. That I'd get choked up over something like that."

"Do you... want to talk about it?"

"Is that... okay?"

As I gazed into Katsumi's wavering eyes, I could feel a tug in my heart. I gently nodded.

"Of course it is. You seem upset over it... so if I can help you get over it, I'd be happy."

For some reason, an image of Yukina flashed in the back of my mind.

"A-alright... thank you, Takanori-san."

We continued running, but Katsumi had slowed down to a jog. She looked weak and fragile.

"Where do I even begin...?"

As she lamented on how to explain, I encouraged her to take her time.

"There's no need to rush. We've got all of club to talk about it."

"Yeah... we do."

Katsumi took a deep breath to calm herself down. I could hear a faint sniffle as she did, implying she was on the verge of crying.

"Back in middle school... Takayuki-kun had no friends. No one... because everyone bullied him. Either directly, or indirectly, by ignoring him and his suffering. I... was one of those people. I was... a useless bystander. I was no better than everyone else."

Slowly, she opened up about her past. As she talked, I didn't interrupt. I simply listened to Katsumi vent her grief over it.

"You see, back then... my friends were one of the main groups of people that bullied him. They were like... the popular people, so I didn't stop them... because I was afraid that if I did... they'd stop being friends with me, and well... I was scared they would bully me as well. So I didn't speak up..."

This was a common dilemma in the social hierarchy. You couldn't fight those who were above you, or else you'd become the next to be outcasted by them.

"I really thought someone else in our class would speak up... one of us from that class of forty... but I was foolish, putting my faith in someone else... I could've saved him back then... no, I should've saved Takayuki-kun... I had the power to stop them... but I was a coward... a selfish coward."

Katsumi buried her face into her hands. I could hear her voice crack, and more sniffles rise to the surface. She had wracked up an immense amount of guilt over this situation.

"Because I was a selfish coward... Takayuki-kun was abused daily... everyday he'd become a punching bag for others. People hit him... stole his things... broke his stuff... filled his locker with trash... wrote filth on his desk... and... I also... I-I also..."

As she tried to choke out the last part, Katsumi's throat tightened up. No words would come out. Her body became paralysed with trauma.

"I also... bullied him... I bullied... Takayuki-kun..."

Those same dark feelings from back then had resurfaced as she admitted her mistake. The reason why she was suffering. A mental hangover that she couldn't get over. Katsumi broke.

"F-Fuyukichi-chan... s-she... she made me... she made me do... one of the most horrible things... I've ever done to someone else..."

However, it didn't end there. Katsumi continued to confess her sins, as if she's been holding this back the entire time.

"I... I grabbed Takayuki-kun's ass... repeatedly. I sexually harassed him... because my friends told me too..."

Katsumi exposed her defect for me. The reason she ended up in E Class was this regret back in middle school.

"I thought it'd be fine... that it would be harmless if I touched him there... but when I saw his face when I did it... f-fear... it was only fear... raw fear... in that moment, I realised it... that I was no better than them... I was just as bad as my friends... I was a monster."

She muttered to herself, shaking her head. I could see tears fall onto the asphalt.

"I didn't want to repeat that mistake again... so I chose GEN Academy, knowing none of my friends were going to this school. That way, no one would know about the disgusting things I did... but I rightfully received my share of karma when I ended up in the same class as Takayuki-kun. It was like... fate was taunting me. That, or it was giving me... a second chance."

Katsumi swallowed the lump in her throat and wiped her eyes. It finally made sense why she acted this way towards Nora.

"You wanted to protect him this time, didn't you? To make sure he didn't have to go through hell again."

"Yes... I wanted... to make him happy."

Even though it was a painful reminder of her past, Katsumi resiliently turned her situation into a good one. I'd say she's gone beyond just making him happy. Even though she bullied him, Nora had forgiven her and even fell in love with her.

Despite this, Katsumi still couldn't get over that regret from middle school. She still thought it wasn't enough to repent her sins.

"You've achieved that, though. Nora-san's happy when he spends time with you."

"No I haven't. It's still not enough! Even here... he's still getting picked on by other students... the way Ukishima-san bullied him today... reminded me of back then. I haven't changed at all..."

So this is what Nora meant. This was the truth behind Katsumi's uncharacteristic behaviour. Her past was the root cause behind it all.

"I felt so useless... that I couldn't stop Takayuki-kun from being hurt again... I wasn't like you... I wasn't brave enough to get up and stop them."

"Even if you couldn't save him this time, there's always going to be a second chance."

"I've been given enough chances already... and I've wasted them all!"

"That's not true. The world gave you a second chance to make things right with Nora-san by giving you an invitation to GEN Academy. And what did you do?"

"I... hesitated."

"Wrong. You took that chance and befriended him."

Katsumi perked her head up.

"Did I stutter?"

"N-no... but... I could've done it sooner... I wasted time being scared and worrying about what would happen... I spent days battling with myself on whether or not I should even bother reaching out..."

"That's just human nature. We always want to be sure about something before actually doing it. For you, that was reaching out to Nora-san, and unlike most people, you actually went through with it. It takes a lot of courage to do something like that."

Katsumi bit her bottom lip and tightened her fists. She was trying hard not to let more of her emotions leak out in front of me.

"That's why, you didn't waste that chance. You actually did something to try and fix the past. You took your mistake and learnt from it. Even if things don't work out, at least you can say that you tried. And that's what matters most, isn't it?"

I wasn't the best at consoling people, but I hoped that Katsumi could take something from my words.

"Even if it's embarrassing, you don't always have to act strong either. It's okay to wear your heart on your sleeve sometimes. Don't hold back what you're really thinking, Katsumi-san."

With those words, Katsumi closed the gap between us. She pushed her head on my chest, crying into my jersey. I patted her back and removed us from the track, as the other club members would soon approach where we were standing around.

"You're always taking care of others, but you also need to take care of yourself. Treat yourself better, because you're a positive impact on other people's lives. Don't kill your heart after every failure, because the good you've done for others outweighs all of those mistakes, both past and present."

I could feel Katsumi trembling as I held her in my arms. I think this was the first time someone was truly praising her for all the selfless things she's done for others. After all, spoken appreciation was extremely rare these days.

It's easier to criticise others than to say positive things about them. Katsumi was a master at cheering others up, but no one had cheered her up when she was at her lowest point.

"It's commendable that you've tried to make up for what you've done in the past. Not many people can do that, so be proud of what you've accomplished since those days. If you continue to hold your head high and run forward, things will get better. There's some truth in not looking back. I'm sure Nora-san wouldn't want you to dwell on the past as well."

Deep down, I felt pretentious saying these words. She deserved to hear them from someone other than me.

"Seriously... who would've thought... you out of all people... could make me feel like this..."

Katsumi laughed nervously, wiping the tears on her face. She sniffled, but smiled softly.

"Nee... thank you, Takanori-kun."

I pretended to nod, but in reality I was nervously avoiding Katsumi's dazzling gaze. I don't know why, but she seemed cuter than usual.

"I hope it made you better about what happened back then."

"It did. It kind of makes it... sting less, he he..."

I let go of Katsumi and put my hands in my pockets.

"Thanks about opening up about the past to someone like me. It must've been difficult."

"Sorry... it was really sudden to push on you like that. It wasn't my intention to be so forward... once I started talking, everything just came spilling out uncontrollably."

"Don't worry about it. You've been holding it in for a long time, so of course there would be a lot on your mind."

I got to learn about one of my classmates and become closer to them. I'd say this was good for me.

"Yeah... um, you won't tell anyone about this, right?"

As Katsumi asked me that, her face went bright red.

"Of course not. Your secret's safe with me."

Katsumi nodded slightly with a small smile. I had a feeling that she would rely on me more in the future. I didn't mind though.

"We should probably continue running, before Asukai-senpai shouts at us for slacking off."

"Yeah... that guy's crazy. I wouldn't want to get on his bad side."

We returned to running the track, talking about various things until club ended. By the end of it, I figured out who her crush was. It wasn't Nora.