Sometimes, life could get so overbearing that one loses all sense of socializing. People call it the time when one needs to recharge their social batteries by spending some time alone. It was a time where one would find solace and tranquility with the company of himself or herself.
Yuuta was experiencing that feeling when his dad dropped him off at school. He had no idea what seemed to be the cause of it but somehow, he gets the feeling that it began when he met the girl named Miki. She was the first person to know of his secret identity and Yuuta had no idea how she realized it.
Was it because she appeared so many times during the Lucid Dream Corporation live stream on youtube? Or was it because his fight with Nakamura Ryota was broadcasted all across the world? Yuta could only wonder.
"Hey, what are you thinking about?" Shiki called out, wrapping his arms around Yuuta's neck in greeting. "Did you hear? There was another murder. This time, they reported it on TV just this morning. I saw the uncensored photo of the murdered man and I wasn't able to eat my breakfast."
"Yeah, it certainly is disturbing." Yuuta agreed as he walked towards his seat.
"You know what I think? I think it's connected to the other two murders. We can't rule out the fact that these murders are as unorthodox and inhumane as the previous two. I think it's the same serial killer." Shiki continued.
"I doubt it. The methods of murders are different. If it was a serial killer, then they would've stuck to the same method of killing someone. And why does everyone say serial killers? Serial killers are titles given to criminals who killed three or more people. If those murders are connected, then it's a serial killer at work, but now, I'm not sure. They might not even be connected to each other."
"That's even worse. If the murders are not connected, then that means there are three murderers on the loose in our city." Haru, the class representative, butted in on the conversation. "I think the police vaguely called it serial murders just so the masses wouldn't panic. And who knows how many more murders are they hiding right now? Perhaps there are more than three. We wouldn't know."
Ding dong!
With the final question leaving a lasting impression on everyone, the school bell rang, and in came Takanashi-sensei. After a brief greeting, the morning roll call was done.
...
"Eguchi Amaya? Eguchi Amaya?" Takanashi-sensei called out but there was no one answering.
Yuuta and the other students looked around and they realized that one of their classmates was missing. She was seated right in front so it wasn't hard to miss her.
"So she's absent, did anyone receive any text message from her? Uchiyama Kasumi, you're close to her, right? Did she say anything?" Takanashi-sensei asked.
"Yes, she texted me 'see you at school tomorrow' last night. That's why it surprised me. Kayo, did you hear something from her?"
Sazama Kayo, the third friend on their clique, shook her head. She was as bewildered as everyone else that someone like Amaya would be absent for the first time in their school term.
"Okay, let's start class. I will call Amaya's parents later to confirm. Kayo-san, Kasumi-san, can you bring the handouts to Amaya later after school?"
The two nodded.
But before Takanashi-sensei could turn around to write something on the whiteboard, Yuuta fell down on the floor, unconscious. Every student stood up to check his condition but it was Shiki who got to him first.
"Yuuta! Yuuta! What happened?! Are you sick?!" Shiki panicked as he tried to pick up Yuuta from the floor.
However, trying to carry him proved to be difficult since he was writhing in pain. It was clear that he was suffering from an intense headache since he was clutching his head as if it was about to split open. There was panic in the classroom and no one didn't know how to react.
As for Takanashi-sensei, she immediately rushed to the adjacent classroom to call the teacher there. His name was Nii Hachiro, and for a man in his early thirties, he could be called muscular and in great shape.
After hearing what happened, Hachiro-sensei ran towards Takanashi-sensei's class and easily picked up Yuuta. There was only one destination in mind and that was the infirmary. Even though Hachiro-sensei wasn't sure if the infirmary could handle Yuuta's situation, he still brought him there. If worse comes to worst, they might have to call the nearby hospital and admit Yuuta there.
"What happened?" Yoshihara Takara, the school nurse, exclaimed as she watched Hachiro-sensei put Yuuta on one of the infirmary beds.
"We don't know, he just collapsed. I think he has a severe headache but right now I'm not so sure." Takanashi-sensei relayed.
"I understand, the two of you can go back to your class now. I'll take things from here."
Yoshihara immediately examined Yuuta's condition as the two teachers left her in charge. For some reason, Yuuta was breathing heavily and he was already drenched in sweat. Aside from that, an intense fever was evident.
Without further ado, Yoshihara checked Yuuta's temperature: 40.1 degrees celsius.
"What happened to him?" Yoshihara asked as she tried to make Yuuta sit down. "Yuuta, can you hear me? Can you force yourself to sit down?"
Yuuta grunted but he still nodded his head in response. He had experienced worse pain before when he was in the underground so it was a walk in the park for him to sit down. Of course, it was painful, but it was bearable.
After giving him an appropriate dose of ibuprofen, Yoshihara sat down on the side of Yuuta's bed and helped him drink water. "Just rest, for now, I'll have to take off your clothes and wipe your sweat. You're sweating a lot, which is good. It will greatly help bring your fever down so you don't have to worry about sweating too much. What happened? Why did you get an intense fever? Were you up late last night?"
Yuuta gulped.
It was true that he was up late last night playing Lucid Dream Server since he was frustrated that he couldn't figure out the goal for the second test. By the time he finished playing, it was already morning.
But that wasn't in the forefront of his mind right now. For a brief moment, once again, he was able to see around him. When he saw everyone in the class, he heard the same prompt of Lucid Dream Server...
... and then the headaches started. After that came the fever and the intense pain on his body that made him writhe in pain. His pain tolerance was extraordinary but the pain that engulfed his body was more than enough for him to handle.
"Just take some rest, for now. Your homeroom teacher must've called your father by now. He might be here to pick you up soon.
With a sigh of relief, Yoshihara stood up and refilled Yuuta's cup of water. She then went to the infirmary's closet and grabbed a hospital gown for Yuuta. "Stay still, I have to wipe your sweat and change your clothes."
If it were a normal day, Yuuta wouldn't have had a hard time refusing Yoshihara's offer. But now, he was too weak to even keep himself from falling down. That's why he just nodded and had his teacher change his clothes. He couldn't see his face anyway so why would he get flustered?
'Well, even though I can't see her expression, I could detect her heart rate and breathing. She's incredibly flustered right now. Dad, where are you?' Yuuta said to himself as Yoshihara removed his clothes and wiped the sweat off his body.
"Wow, do you work out? For a blind person, you sure have a nice body." Yoshihara complimented. "Not that I mean that in a weird way. What do you do to maintain your body?" She asked.
"Um, just workout, at home." Yuuta lied. He knows that you wouldn't get a body like his if you just work out at home.
"I see, do you have weights at home? That's nice. At least you're not only focusing on your studies but on your overall health as well." Yoshihara continued. She was still wiping the sweat off his body as she spoke. "With your looks and your smarts, I don't think there aren't any girls who've fallen for you already. Heh~"
'Give me a break, sensei.' Yuuta said to himself.
Finally, after a grueling experience of having an older woman wipe his sweat off of his body, Yuuta finally wore the hospital gown. With this, he made a mental note to himself that no matter what, he shouldn't get sick at school.
Slam!
The door to the school infirmary burst open and in came two people. Yuuta immediately recognized his dad since he could sense his vague figure through his perception and enhanced hearing but the other person, he couldn't quite recognize who he/she is.
"Yui? No, that's not Yui." Yuuta said to himself.