~Wednesday, the sixteenth of October, 11:24 ~

- Why?

Why is this happening? There must be a reason for everyone suddenly turning into this state. It's strange, why would it happen?

I'm not affected at all, so maybe it has something to do with the god powers…?

What does that mean, did a god do this?

Or… did another "God candidate" do it?

I'm probably not the only "god candidate" out there, from how that three-boned god phrased it. Then, is it a person doing all of this!?

But what affiliation would this person have? Is it a student here? Or a teacher? Or maybe some outsider? What motive would someone have for turning an entire school into brain-dead, unresponsive people? I don't know!

I have to stop this, somehow. -

A couple of hours had passed since his realization, so his head had gotten time to cool down. But the fiery core to his mission remained within him, but Kaharu decided to take a clearer, and more level-headed approach. If it only concerned himself, he might've done things differently, but his self-proclaimed duty as the Student body protector made him reconsider his initial tactics.

He first had to decide on the group the attacker could belong to, and because Kaharu wanted to make sure he got correct information, he decided to perform his plan in the most time-consuming way possible. His thinking went further as he tried to piece together more possible information on the motives

- Why would someone do this?

I don't know, because I don't have the perspective of a normal person. Then perhaps it isn't a normal person behind this, because I can't think of a plausible motivation for a healthy, normal person, however much I dislike those.

To make an entire school unable to act in a normal fashion, basically rendering them more useless than usual. Maybe the perpetrator wants to… do something pervy? -

Kaharu frowned at the idea, but it came to his mind as a result of his own lack of control. A vicious cycle that led him down the path he did, it wouldn't be too out-of-line to assume someone else to also be led down such a path. But maybe it was, the fact that he was so sidelined in society would mean that not many were like him.

As his plan took shape, and he prepared himself to depart the classroom, his eyes were suddenly drawn to the clock. He could feel something in the classroom, and as the minute hand of the clock switched, a sudden movement swept across the classroom.

Everybody present, except for a shocked Kaharu, stood up suddenly as they said loudly in unison as if they were programmed to do so

"LUNCH!"

With their monotone voices piercing through Kaharu's racing heart, they turned in sync and walked towards the exit. Being right by the entrance, a result of his bench placement, he was practically pushed out of the classroom by the horde of robot-like students.

- What the hell is going on!? -

…

Passing by students walking in the opposite direction, Amatsuyu Kougaku made his way through the first-year corridors. Smiling viciously as he passed people who'd usually glare right at him, now wearing nothing but their natural, unbiased, pure, faces. Their faces no longer held the emotional weight they used to, Amatsuyu's heart fluttered in delight as he witnessed such a relieving sight. Finally, they held no judgment.

But his heart wouldn't get any rest, as a certain face he saw in front of him strained his heart. Just the presence of that person put a spring-like unease to him.

With his head previously being held high, staring at everybody who passed, it now laid with a trajectory right into the ground. The only visible part of the person from his perspective being the luscious, wavy brown hair that rested on her upper torso, and the well-taken care of school uniform that signaled diligence and hard work.

The underlying difference pained Amatsuyu as his heart almost stopped at the crux of their passing, finally being relieved as they passed.

Being returned to his previous state of mind, Amatsuyu slapped himself in disapproval. That disapproval laid in multiple layers of self-directed anger, the fact that his cowardice took such a humiliating shape, despite his rank, upset him immensely.

Looking back at the group passing, Amatsuyu thought to himself

- I'll catch up to you… Wait and see! -

He went to turn the corner of that short hallway, and as his eyes witnessed the sight of the girl who'd protected his victim the previous time, he noticed an oddity with the behavior of one student.

- Kaharu Kahari…! -

His heart experienced the same pain as before, almost stopping as he caught the sight of a clueless blonde teenager looking around in confusion. With people surrounding Amatsuyu, he quickly put himself against the wall to avoid being seen. But there was no doubt in his mind, something strange was going on with Kaharu.

- Why is Kaharu like that!?

He isn't acting as he should, why is he walking around!?

WHY IS HE SENTIENT!?

It had to be that bastard as well, he just has to stand in my way. Every time…!

But, I shouldn't try and approach him. If he's truly sentient, then that would mean…

He also… -

Even the idea of Kaharu also holding such a title was infuriating to Amatsuyu, an idea insulting to him.

A heretic, an imposter, the embodiment of dishonesty!

That was all he was to Amatsuyu, a fiery soul that was set ablaze even harder.

He wanted to topple the fake as soon as possible, but it would be unwise to go against him immediately, even though his emotions called for such an action.

- If he truly is another one of… those, then I can't approach him however.

I don't know what kind of powers he has, so if he has something offensive, I'll be defenseless.

I'll have to find another way to strike him down. -

As the thought of escaping the scene came to him, he turned around and found out his back had been completely blocked off by the students proceeding to the cafeteria. His quick peek over the corner again conveyed the fact that Kaharu Kahari was slowly headed towards that direction, half-stumbling in a confused state.

Again, his now fragile heart picked up its pace. A trait he hated, and lived with for so many years. If anything was to fail him first, his heart was the one that always betrayed him without turning a blind eye. This time was the same, although the conversion of his brain led his actions astray from the usual.

He looked over at the people behind him, he could follow them and blend in…

Kaharu Kahari had decided to follow his classmates, along with students from other classes, to see where they ended up. Although he was pretty sure their destination was the cafeteria, and if that was the case, he'd be able to finish off his first targets, the teachers.

He was thinking as his attention was suddenly split, with an emerging face from the corner slowly, but menacingly, approaching him. He was walking similarly to the other people, but in the opposite direction to everybody else. His face was recognizable, and that carried a certain weight for Kaharu as he saw Amatsuyu soullessly walk towards him.

He came closer, and Kaharu took an unintentional closer look at him.

As they passed each other, a certain suspense was felt. Like a weird feeling blossoming up within them, but having nothing to place it on.

A broad smile was displayed on Amatsuyu as he passed by, he'd been able to pass by without any problem.

*KICK*

Amatsuyu's pretend-state was thrown into quick disarray as the leg of Kaharu had kicked him in his ass, causing a fall forward. Like his mental state at the moment, that leap forward went into a large pool of nothing. A void.

Although it should've been expected, Amatsuyu was taken by surprise by it and hadn't anticipated it at all. In fact, he immediately blamed himself for the blatant stupidity he'd encountered in himself. Like he hadn't learned anything from the previous time, but it was equally infuriating as that time, if not more because of the promise he'd left himself that time.

Kaharu smiled to himself after he did it, he figured as Amatsuyu was his enemy, either way, there wouldn't be any harm in using him as an experimental subject.

Although his soul had been put in an eternal fire, Amatsuyu recovered his state by using ever power he could at that moment to pull through. With his walking having only barely been restored, his heart dunked even harder. A fear of that being heard by Kaharu now resonated through his mind, his eyes were shot open wide in anxiety.

Even worse, Amatsuyu Kougaku felt a tingly sensation in his nose run up on him, like a third loss in a row when visiting a casino. His whole life could be put in ruin if he accidentally let a sneeze out at that moment. But although his legs were screaming at him to quicken the pace, he remained in his slow-pace.

Kaharu thought to himself

-I see, so even though they've been reduced walking flesh, it seems like the people still follow some sort of routine, like classes and lunch. Maybe that's why Amatsuyu is walking away from them, because he doesn't eat lunch here. -

There was a bitter revenge-driven part of Amatsuyu's soul that wanted to turn around right there and strike as soon as possible, but his inner civil war was once again won by the more logical side. He had bigger things to worry about, his nose was about to blast without mercy.

There was only a couple of meters left before an escape could be pulled off, but his concentration was wearing off. It kept sneaking up on him, only nearing as the painfully slow time passed. It turned to pain as a very brief moment of total silence bounced around the room.

*ACHOO*

Kaharu, being on a constant guard, instantly turned around with a forceful momentum, almost resulting in an angle too broad. He quickly ran towards the source of the sound, as the sound captivated his attention fully, with suspicions in his mind. Seeing the corner he heard the sound from, he turned it quickly.

But the sight was disappointing.

All he saw was a student, carrying those empty eyes, holding up his arm by his head, with an elbow pointing away from it. The student proceeded to stand up, very procedure-like, and started walking towards the line of people headed to the cafeteria.

Kaharu looked over at the student in annoyance, resulting in a theory being broken right in front of him. He thought

- So they're able to do stuff like that too?

That feels so unfair for some reason,

What is this!?

I should write this down...-

…

~Wednesday, the sixteenth of October, 15:59 ~

Kaharu Kahari left the school building, he had been able to establish a couple of things during his time there. But even though more information should've kept him at ease, there was a very distressing aspect to the situation. Someone, somewhere inside of that school building, was masterminding a spectacle like this. If he himself was an example, the things that person only paved ways for creepy thoughts.

Kaharu looked back at the gray, slightly ancient-looking, complex to the institution he disliked so much. The thought of that whole area being under the influence it was, was bizarre. It felt unreal, a menacing atmosphere. To have the power to affect such a large space, it was something Kaharu lacked, and he knew of it. His puny lightning powers felt insignificant in comparison to what was before him.

It aggravated him even more, like the user was so much better than he was. Kaharu wanted to prove him wrong as soon as he could, to use his "weak" powers to restore justice.

With Tsukino and her gang walking beside him, Kaharu quickly ran to the bicycle stall and bent himself down for a couple of seconds. Right in between one of the poles holding it up and the edge of the school gate, Kaharu placed a small object in the dirt and grass-filled spot there. With a satisfied smile on his face praising his own thinking, he left the spot and looked over to the school entrance.

He noticed something strange, and stumbled upon a topic he didn't even think about, despite having thought about the situation all day, Tsukino and her friends were completely normal all of the sudden.

He hadn't even bothered to think of how that hypnosis would've affected them throughout their day, but they seemed really normal there.

Kaharu quickly ran up to the gang, with his eyebrows furrowed in full interest. He grabbed ahold of Tsukino's hand and said

"Wait, what is your name?"

Being thrust upon with a shocking situation, Tsukino flushed in embarrassment as she was flustered in her confusion. She said, despite already knowing exactly who the man was

"I-I-I'm Tsukino Scott! W-Why do you ask??"

Kaharu immediately furrowed his eyebrows even further in confusion, it was really strange that she suddenly behaved like a normal person. Although it was almost relieving to see someone actually be normal for once during the day, so much so that he smiled unintentionally. Wanting to experiment further, he took a hold of the hand Tsukino had been staring at in confusion for the past couple of seconds, and dragged her over the school gates. As he'd expected, she was suddenly returned to that robot-like state, her eyes darkening quickly.

Kaharu looked over at the remaining gang, who were bright red in their faces, and asked

"Do you see her now? Is there anything different?"

A confused silence was heard as they kept their flustered faces, but Onata stepped forward and said

"What're you doing with her, Kaharu!?

She's completely normal, stop grabbing her hand like that, you brute!"

To them their vision consisted of their friend just staring at Kaharu in disbelief, there was no sign of abnormality. Kaharu snapped out of a baffled gaze and pulled her back out of the school zone, which made her switch again.

Tsukino Scott was still shocked about the situation and didn't have time within her to evaluate the situation in any way to make some sort of decision or revelation to herself. It was all just red to her, her insides all colored the same. Kaharu had no reason to keep his grapple, so he dropped it in a haze. Tsukino managed to collect herself for a moment as she said loudly

"What'd you do that for!? Out of nowhere…!"

Although Kaharu didn't like the accusation thrown at him, painting his mind yellow for a second. He figured that there probably wouldn't be any merit in telling them anything. There was no reason for him to paint himself as even more of an outsider, the thought of which he annoyed himself over. Maybe he'd converted to the wrong thing, exchanging the truth for integrity was a concept he deeply disliked. Although there was no undeniable way he could demonstrate the situation to them, so he comforted himself on his decision in his head.

"Nothing. Don't worry 'bout it."

With those words, and his hands digging into his school uniform pockets and a grunted sigh leaving his mouth, Kaharu Kahari started his solitary walk home, with the glimmering sun shining right at his face.

- Annoying… -

…