Haruto made a quick decision, stood up, and said, "Let's go. If you don't find Shouko, you might not want to go to class."
Yukino was usually very calm and rational.
But at this moment, she was clearly panicking. Although she said nothing, Haruto suspected that Yukino might think yesterday's incident was the cause of the current situation.
That's why she felt guilty.
She felt that if she hadn't dragged Haruto into it, this might not have happened.
If something happened to Shouko, Yukino would never be able to forgive herself in this life.
Yukino stared at him with a blank expression. After a while, she looked away, took a deep breath, stood up, and said, "I understand, Yuigahama-san, you can stay here, Kuromori-kun and I will go."
"No."
Yuigahama shook her head, stood up, and said, "Shouko-chan is also my friend; I can't just wait here for news without doing anything."
"Then let's go together."
Yukino pressed her lips together and said, "I'll go find Hiratsuka-sensei to ask for permission."
"No need."
Haruto pulled out his phone and said, "I've already asked for permission. A morning is enough."
Yukino: "😐"
Yuigahama: "...Kuromori-kun is really quick!"
Haruto said without words, "Why, don't you have the teacher's phone number?"
Yukino looked away and said nothing.
Because of her personality and other reasons, her address book so far only contained a few contacts.
Two of them were added during this period.
"Haha..." Yuigahama let out a flat laugh, nudged Haruto, and left: "This will be fine, let's go quickly."
After leaving Sobu High School, Yukino and Yuigahama were not in the mood to talk due to the incident.
The entire journey was silent, and they soon arrived near Nishimiya's house.
Yuigahama ended a call with Yuzuru and said, "Yuzuru-chan found out that Shouko-chan was missing this morning. She brought her phone, but it couldn't connect. It might be because the battery ran out."
"Shouko-chan didn't bring anything else, including her communication notebook and hearing aids."
That's why they were worried.
If Shouko was used to going out, maybe she didn't need to bring her notebook, but what about the hearing aids?
Especially after Yuzuru revealed that Shouko had certain tendencies.
This made them even more anxious.
Unless they were indifferent people, even strangers would worry about them!
Yuigahama looked hopeful: "Yuzuru-chan attends the same school as Shouko-chan. If we want, can we search for her nearby?"
Yukino pondered for a moment and calmly said, "Let's find someone nearby to ask. Fortunately, we all have a photo of Nishimiya-san on our phones."
"Alright, let's do that."
Haruto nodded and said, "You two should stick together to avoid accidents. Also, send me a copy of Shouko's photo."
After getting the photo, Haruto went off alone.
He could easily finish searching for Shouko by himself.
However, the matter of Shouko was no longer just a task between a client and the Service Club.
They had become friends.
What are friends?
They are entities that can rely on and help each other.
Ask yourself, if your friend disappeared without reason, and you could only worry without being able to do anything, the suffering would feel unbearable.
Therefore, Haruto understood Yukino and Yuigahama.
After all, their presence wouldn't cause any problems.
They walked to the bridge where they first met Shouko.
A somewhat cold wind blew, carrying moist breaths, and a drizzle began to fall from the sky.
A blurry layer of water vapor appeared on the river.
Haruto paused for a moment, and a strange passerby hurried by. Perhaps this was the only meeting in their lives.
"Not here..."
Haruto muttered. Along the way, he tried to trace Shouko's aura, but he couldn't sense any remnants of it.
In other words, Shouko had never been here.
Haruto walked away.
If possible, he wasn't willing to use the superpower that consumed more physical energy.
Because this was an irrational behavior.
Again, he never thought of himself as a savior of the world; he was selfish. If he were alone, he might choose to lie down.
However, no one is born free, except for cold-hearted white-eyed wolves.
All crows know how to feed, let alone humans.
Of course, with the many humans in the world, isn't it natural for some garbage to emerge?
Haruto didn't consider himself such trash. He was rational and could distinguish what was real instead of drowning in fantasies all day, complaining about everything around him while living.
"There is a slight scent here, a remnant from yesterday."
Ten minutes later, Haruto stood in front of Nishimiya's house.
If there was no scent of Shouko outside, that would be normal, but there was only a slight scent at the door, which was abnormal.
Was Yuzuru lying?
Haruto didn't think Yuzuru was the type of person who would make such jokes about her sister.
Because Yuzuru's care and concern for her sister were not fake.
Haruto didn't hesitate, stepped forward, and pressed the doorbell.
The door opened quickly. Nishimiya Shouko's mother opened the door with a forced smile on her face: "It turns out to be Kuromori-kun. I'm sorry, Shouko isn't feeling well today. You'd better go back."
Nishimiya Shouko's mother's name is Nishimiya Yaeko.
A very strong woman.
Haruto didn't care about Yaeko's hostility. If she could treat someone warmly who might have caused her daughter to run away from home, then Haruto would surely wonder if he could step in!
Haruto calmly said, "Sorry, I want to go see Shouko's room."
Yaeko was silent for a moment, opened the door, and said, "Please do as you like!"
"Thank you."
Haruto took off his shoes and stepped on the floor with his socks on: "Shouko will be fine, don't worry, Auntie."
After saying that, he immediately went upstairs.
Yaeko hesitated for a moment, sighed, sat on the sofa, holding her phone tightly, with a complicated expression.
Haruto entered Shouko's room. As soon as he stepped in, he frowned.
"Something is wrong."