Because she needed Yuno Gasai to explain the problems, plus her own deliberate stalling, by the time the two of them walked out of school, the sunset had been burning for a long time, with layers of clouds like the mist surrounding the last bit of light.
"It's so beautiful."
Yuno Gasai walked with her hands behind her back, clutching her school bag. She stepped along the path by the wall, keeping herself hidden in the shadows.
Looking up.
Vast stretches of fiery clouds set the entire sky ablaze, reflected in the girl's light-colored pupils. She looked at the sky lingeringly, with that beautiful figure by her side in her peripheral vision.
I really want to freeze this moment forever.
Yuno Gasai smiled imperceptibly and turned her head; Sen Getsusa was also gazing at the distant sunset.
Although the two girls stopped and started, the way home wasn't very long.
Ten minutes ago, Yuno Gasai began to subtly decline and persuade Sen Getsusa to leave.
"I'll go back by myself. Sha-chan doesn't need to walk me, okay?"
"Hee-hee! We're already very close. Sha-chan, go back quickly~"
As the distance grew shorter, Sen Getsusa noticed she was becoming increasingly anxious, until they passed the place where Aoyama Nanami worked part-time.
"Eh, you two are going home together today?" Aoyama Nanami came out of the shop, clutching a hand towel in confusion. She saw Sen Getsusa secretly wink at her. "Yuno?"
Yuno Gasai gave a very stiff greeting. On this side, Aoyama Nanami happily introduced another girl to Sen Getsusa.
Her new colleague.
"This is Mariko, Machida Mariko! The new colleague who came after Yuno left!" While speaking, Nanami leaned close to Sen Getsusa's ear. "She's a little expert at moving things! A girl with great strength!"
Sen Getsusa lowered her eyes, gently pushed Nanami away, and looked at the girl.
Short black hair and an unremarkable clerk's uniform. But she had a sweet smile with two small dimples.
She bowed slightly to Sen Getsusa and Yuno Gasai, whispered something to Nanami, and then ran back into the shop with her head down.
"Hehe, Mariko is a bit shy. But when she's moving things, whoosh! She's unexpectedly powerful!" Nanami was full of energy today, seemingly having moved on from the shadow of the voice acting audition.
Heh, Sen Getsusa naturally knew about Aoyama Nanami's failure.
After a few minutes of small talk, once the break was over, Sen Getsusa pushed Yuno Gasai to leave.
They were almost home.
Judging by her usual dress and appearance, Sen Getsusa would never have thought Yuno Gasai came from a relatively wealthy family. But looking at the house in front of her... they were definitely rich.
A young lady from a wealthy family, deliberately not using her family's money and coming out to experience life?
"We're here, we're here. Sha-chan can go back now."
Sen Getsusa seemed to see fear in Yuno Gasai's eyes.
The lights in that house were off, and the windows were tightly covered by curtains.
Sen Getsusa hesitated.
Today, she hadn't noticed any suspicious people on the way.
Was it bullying at school then?
Just as she was thinking, the front door opened.
A middle-aged woman walked out from behind the door with a stern face.
She had a thick layer of heavy lipstick and eyeshadow on her face, large pearls around her neck, and a pair of golden hoop earrings dangling from her earlobes that jingled as she walked—even her pajamas seemed expensive.
Oh, a wealthy lady.
She walked expressionlessly to the two of them, stood still, and looked down at Yuno Gasai, who was silent with her head bowed.
"Where have you been?" she asked.
The atmosphere seemed to grow serious.
Sen Getsusa felt that things weren't looking good.
She took two steps back and bowed politely, "Hello. You must be Yuno's mother? I'm her classmate, Sen Getsusa."
"After class today, I asked Yuno to help me with math, so the time we got home is a bit late... I'm very sorry."
"Where have you been?"
The air froze.
The woman didn't pay any attention to Sen Getsusa at all; she simply asked the same question with a wooden face.
"Where have you been?"
"Where have you been?"
Just as Sen Getsusa was about to say something more to help, the woman roared at Yuno Gasai as if using all her strength, "Speak!"
"Where have you been!"
Sen Getsusa clearly felt the girl beside her shudder.
She immediately grabbed her hand, and the constant trembling was transmitted through her fingertips.
Yuno Gasai's trembling voice squeezed out of her throat in a low whisper, "I... I was helping. Helping—"
Slap!
A slap came across, hitting Yuno Gasai's face.
Her fair cheek instantly turned red.
Sen Getsusa subconsciously turned her head to avoid the slap and reached into her jacket pocket, where there was a piece of cold, sharp metal.
No, this won't do... She frowned, suppressed the impulse in her heart, and pulled Yuno behind her.
"Do you often treat your own daughter like this?"
Sen Getsusa frowned. "'Hitting a Child is wrong'—I shouldn't have to remind an adult of that, should I?"
She looked toward Yuno Gasai—when the girl lowered her head, faint bruises dotted the nape of her neck.
Getsusa pointed at Yuno's neck, her tone flat. "I saw everything. Keep it up and the Police will be knocking; wise up."
Yuno Gasai bit her lip, head down, saying nothing, yet her hand gripped Getsusa's tightly—she had stopped trembling.
"Who are you?" the middle-aged woman asked slowly, turning after hearing Getsusa's tirade.
"I'm her classmate—or whatever. Keep treating your daughter like this and you'll be socially dead."
She lifted her chin toward their small Western-style house. "I've got plenty of those. So being rich means nothing in front of someone equally loaded."
"You're no Konoe or Kujō; in Sakura's harsh web of gossip, want to test it?"
"If I feel like it, I could pay the media to loop footage of you abusing your daughter, easy." Getsusa patted Yuno's back, smoothing the pink hair, and gave her a gentle smile.
"No idea what business your family runs, but once this blows up, it'll be a pain, right?"
"None of your business."
That was the longest sentence the woman had spoken.
She yanked Yuno's arm roughly. "Time to go home."
"Hey!" Getsusa reached to shove her, but Yuno pressed her lips together and gave a tiny shake of the head, forcing a smile and mouthing silently:
'Thank you.'
Getsusa watched Yuno being dragged inside and sighed. "So, is her mom messed up here?" Outside the convenience store she tapped her temple for Aoyama Nanami.
Beside them sat Machida Mariko, Nanami's 'mighty' goddess.
The two girls sat on the steps, arms wrapped around their knees.
"Chances of mental issues? Slim," Mariko murmured. "If there were, wouldn't her father notice?"
The short-haired girl looked delicate, nothing like someone who could sprint while hoisting two crates of drinks.
Aoyama Nanami: "Maybe… Yuno's dad doesn't know she's being abused?"
"Possible? Today was blatant—open slaps… unless her father's blind!"
"Could be."
Getsusa rolled her eyes, kicking her heels. "Now I have to talk to her dad? I'm beat! I wanna eat—mmph—"
Nanami swiftly unwrapped a lollipop and popped it into Getsusa's mouth; she was used to her pal's antics.
Mariko covered her mouth, giggling at the pair.
"Sigh… no need to find her father. You've done plenty, Tsukisa." After the scuffle Nanami rested her chin on her knees, gloomy. "I'll keep watching. You too. If it happens again… we'll call the Police."
Friends could only do so much.
And silent self-endured abuse, never asking for help, was all too common in this country.
Getsusa sucked on the candy, equally helpless.
Can't exactly handle it like we would Chaos.
Still… doing it that way could be fun; humans are such fragile creatures.
Huh?
Why am I thinking like this?
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