When morning came, Kyoko and I went to school together.
Since I had stayed here before, they had a set of my uniform for me to change into in the morning, so I didn't need to run back home.
At the same time, Hachibe and Hime came along with us as we all headed to school since we were all heading to the same place.
But they stayed back to give Kyoko and I some space.
Hachibe looked like he found all of this funny while Hime was glaring daggers at me.
It was as if she was angry at me even though I didn't do anything.
While walking to school, Kyoko seemed much more reserved than usual.
I could already guess what she was thinking, but there was nothing that I could do about it.
Luckily, the only incident to come out of this was her trying to come closer to me to take my hand. I quickly dodged out of the way by pretending to see something, "Isn't that a yellow crested warbler?"
She followed the direction that I was looking in, but she shook her head and said, "I don't see anything."
But by the time that she looked back, she saw that the distance between us had increased again.
When Kyoko saw this, she couldn't help revealing a slightly sad look.
At that moment, the daggers stabbing into my back became even sharper.
But I had no choice since I wanted to avoid going down the lover route at all cost.
Before it could go too far, there was another group that suddenly joined us.
It was strange to see them together since they never came to school together, but it was Yan Ling, Veronica, and Yasmin who quickly showed up soon after we left Kyoko's house.
It was strange seeing these two, but both Yan Ling and Veronica came over with purpose.
It seemed that they had gathered together on purpose just so they could come and find us.
Yasmin looked like she was exasperated, but she glared at me when I looked at her.
The two of them didn't waste any time getting between us, but they leaned in so that I wouldn't be able to hear what they were saying to each other. Though from the looks on their faces and the tone of the voices that I could hear, it didn't seem like they had anything good to say to each other.
I couldn't just let them fight like this, so I came forward and said, "It's rare enough that we meet in the morning like this. How about we all go to school together?"
Though the three of them didn't seem happy about this, they still nodded in agreement.
So it was like this that we went to school in a large group.
I noticed that Hachibe and Hime had disappeared at some point, but I could tell that they were still nearby since I could still feel that sharp gaze piercing into my back.
When we arrived at school with this large group, I received the same glares from the other students that were arriving.
Yesterday it was just Veronica and Yasmin, but now even Kyoko was added to this.
So of course they were all jealous of me…
I just ignored all of these looks and went to the class with them.
The school day went as normal until it was lunchtime.
When lunchtime arrived, Yan Ling suddenly stood up as if she had sensed something.;
I turned to look at Kyoko and Veronica, but the two of them just sat there as if they didn't sense a thing.
I couldn't help asking them, "Are you not going to help?"
The two of them just simply shook their heads before saying, "We can't. If we help, then the two different supernatural worlds will cross and our enemies will become stronger. They will work together once they discover each other's existence, so we can't help each other unless it's an emergency."
It seemed that this was how it worked.
The spheres of the main characters remained separate from each other, but for some reason, the main characters themselves had intersected and learned of each other's existence…
Why was that?
Wasn't it because of me?
It was because all three of them had me as a childhood friend, right?
Was I forcefully manipulating the story by trying to insert myself as the best friend character?
Would there be other changes because I had tried to manipulate these stories?
No, for now, there was no time to think about this.
Yan Ling suddenly turned in the direction of the door and looked like she was about to run out, but before she could…
"I'm coming with you."
Yan Ling almost stumbled when she heard this, but then she turned back to look at me with a surprised look.
After looking at me for a bit, she slowly asked, "Are you sure about that?"
I gave a nod in response without saying anything.
Yan Ling looked like she was struggling with this decision, but in the end, she gave a nod as well.
She had already promised to let me in on this matter and if she didn't bring me along now, it would be like going back on that promise.
But I could tell from the look in her eyes what her real intentions were.
If she brought me along…it would be easier for her to protect me.
After what had happened with the old man spider, it seemed that she had become much more determined to protect me.
So that seemed to be the deciding factor in this matter.
Taking a deep breath, Yan Ling suddenly grabbed my hand.
When she did, I could see the silver energy coming from her hand and bridging over to my hand.
In no time at all, I was surrounded by a layer of the same silver energy that was around Yan Ling.
Without any hesitation, she turned to Kyoko and Veronica to say, "Cover for me."
Then she pulled me out of the class and ran off.