Sasaki and Peeps - Volume 6 - Chapter 4.1

<The Neighbor’s POV>

Ever since starting over in Karuizawa, I’ve been applying myself to my studies at my new school.

The classmates who surrounded my desk on my first day seem to be thinning out as time passes. To be specific, the girls have begun keeping their distance after witnessing me spending time with the target of their bullying. The male students haven’t changed much, however.

In this situation, if I talk to the boys—especially the most popular ones—I will almost certainly earn the girls’ disapprobation. I know that from my last school. My current goal is to get away from the boys, too, little by little, and settle into a position off in a corner by myself.

“Kurosu, please come up to the board and solve this problem.”

“…Yes, sir.”

Right now, it’s the first class of the afternoon: math. Just as I was frantically copying down the diagrams and equations written on the blackboard, I was called on to solve one. Teachers, I think. Why don’t they ever give students the time to take notes? Sometimes they start erasing before I’ve even gotten it all down.

I can imagine that it would look bad for a teacher if their class fell behind. But this is just shifting the burden onto the kids, which I don’t appreciate. He’s a mature adult. Why can’t he be a little more considerate toward others?

Still, saying all that to his face would invite all kinds of trouble, so I obediently answer him and stand up.

And naturally, when I reach the board, I’m faced with a problem I can’t solve. Something about finding the volume of the shaded portion.

“Oh, they want you to apply the formula from before.”

“……”

While I’m earnestly trying my best and having a rough time of it, Abaddon seems to know every single answer without even taking notes. It’s so irritating. He bobs up and down right next to me with a confident expression. When it comes down to it, he’s one smart demon.

“Want a hint?”

“……”

I respond with a slight nod.

His expression turning boastful, he says, “Then I’d love to play around with that ‘smartphone’ thing. The one Futarishizuka lent you.”

Abaddon has been interested in my smartphone ever since I got it. He’s asked me this several times before, but I’ve been ignoring him.

“If you do, I can take pictures of everything on the blackboard during class. Then you can just focus on what the teacher’s saying. If you want notes, you can check the pictures when you go home and copy them down at your leisure. How about it?”

“……”

His proposal is quite attractive. I’m past considering schoolwork worthless. Now that it seems like the battle over my neighbor’s heart will go on for some time, I’ve been approaching my studies more positively so I can get into high school. I’ve recently developed a pain in my writing hand, caused by tenosynovitis, which makes the demon’s suggestion even more appealing.

“What’s wrong, Kurosu?” asks the teacher.

“Nothing, sorry.”

With the teacher prodding me from the other direction, I quickly agree to the demon’s offer and accept his deal.

“Then I’ll give you the equation for finding the area of a circle, and while you write it, you can think about the answer. In this case…”

I turn back to the blackboard as Abaddon starts his midair lecture. I take the chalk in one hand, and with his help, I write the diagram and formula. And then, for some reason, even though he hasn’t told me the answer, I suddenly have a number that seems like the solution. It really feels like I just used my own head to solve the problem.

That, along with the smile Abaddon throws my way, leaves me very frustrated.

“Very good, Kurosu. That problem required some creativity, but you still solved it.”

“…Thank you.”

My frustration makes even the teacher’s praise sound sarcastic. Dissatisfied, I return to my seat.

“As for the price of my help, you can give it to me… Oh, tonight, I guess.”

“……”

In the corner of my notebook, I write the letters OK with my mechanical pencil. When he sees it, his face lights up.

The lesson continues without issue after that, and soon enough we have a break. The only period left today is sixth—Japanese class. As I’m preparing at my desk, something happens.

The ceaseless hustle and bustle in the classroom abruptly falls silent. I immediately look up and see that everyone—save for me—has vanished. Even the sounds of exhaust from cars going by outside the building are absent.

“Oh,” says Abaddon. “An isolated space.”

“I suppose if it had to happen, during a break is the best time.”

This zone of deathly quiet will disappear once all angelic Disciples are removed from it. If this happened during class, we would have to go about it with considerable thought and skill. Otherwise, it would appear as though I suddenly vanished from the room.

Someone might notice me abruptly disappearing during break time, too, but there aren’t any cameras in the classrooms. Even if a few people notice, I can probably just insist I was in the bathroom the whole time. At any rate, it will go a lot smoother than if we were in class.

“I’m very pleased that you seem to be getting used to this.”

“I can’t sense their presence. Can you?”

“No, I can’t, either.”

“Assuming they’re trying to run, what do you think about going after them?”

“I’d definitely like to do our best in order to repay our new landlady.”

I’m also uncomfortable with being so one-sidedly in Futarishizuka’s debt, so I nod to Abaddon, and we leave the classroom.

After exchanging my indoor shoes for outdoor ones at the school’s entrance, we head to the front gate. Considering the school’s location, it’s very likely that the angel’s Disciple is approaching by car along the highway or expressway, or perhaps by train—all routes extending from east to west. When an isolated space materialized the other night, I saw as much with my own eyes, which makes me all the more certain.

The next question is which direction they’re headed—east or west.

Abaddon looks left and right, confirming no one is on the road in front of the school. “Which way should we go?”

Instead of answering him, I take out my student handbook. I’ve written schedules for the nearby train stations into the notes section. I got the information from a website and copied it down beforehand.

“What’s that?”

“The angel’s Disciple got away last time. This is to prevent that from happening again.”

A railroad line runs very close to my new school, and there are two different stations nearby. Unlike in the city, the number of trains passing through these stations is somewhat limited. Both the regular line and the Shinkansen only see one or two roll in per hour. If the Disciple is on a train, I can figure out which one based on the timetable.

Of course, there’s always a chance they’re using another form of transportation. But a lot of the players in the death game are teenagers, so I’ve decided there’s a high probability they’re using public transit. After all, most of them are minors without licenses, just like me.

When I explain my thinking, Abaddon seems impressed. “Well! You’re approaching this with much more enthusiasm than I thought. I take back all the bad things I said about you.”

“Right now, there should be one train close to a nearby station, heading east.”

“Perfect! Guess I’ll have to put some effort in, too. Wouldn’t want your hard work to go to waste.”

I’ve already checked where the station is on my phone map. I launch myself into the air, picturing the direction I need to go.