"Yeah. He used to be shitty but he got better."

"Gonna ask." He sends Subaru a text, but when the response isn't immediate he puts his phone away. "Well, let's eat, then?"

His stomach growls in response, and no one needs any further confirmation.

Suzume fills Tōkan's ear with chatter about her school and friends. She has a crush on this beta boy called Take and he's finally asked her out—which amuses Tōkan to no end, they're ten—and now they walk around school holding hands and do homework together. It's honestly disgustingly adorable.

After dinner they decide Tōkan is sleeping over tonight—he's got a few changes of clothes at the Yamadas' to make this easy to decide on the spot, and even Harutsugu is no longer really bothered by the idea, Tōkan is effectively part of the family now—but while he's helping Haru do the dishes he gets the reply message from Subaru.

> hey
> you know who called us today?
> Ōta Makino!
> was that you?

oh cool <
that was quick <
yeah that was me <
I thought I would have to be the one to tell you the news <

> well, thank you!
> this is
> I just have no idea what I could possibly say here
> this is just... huge
> like

it's fine <
I was not about to let Inori go to jail <
or even if not jail it would still have been a hefty fine and a criminal record <
but it could well have ruined this life <

> I mean yeah
> exactly
> so you've
> saved us, really

I think that's a bit of an exaggeration <
but yeah, I hope it works <
I'll always be here for you, and if you two stay together then I guess that means I'll always be here for him, too <

> ...damn
> Subaru you are the actual best
> lemme treat you to dinner
> or a blowjob
> or both

There are a few rounds of him starting to type and then stopping and then resuming, but eventually he continues with:

maybe later <
but I don't want to feel like I did this for a reward <
it's just the least I could do, given that I could <

> yeah, how exactly did you?
> like, what's your connection to Ōta?

Another pause, this one shorter than the last.

it's complicated <
or not really <
but uh we can talk about it later maybe <
or not I'm not sure if I want to talk about it <

> fair enough
> don't wanna pressure you into anything that'd make you uncomfortable
> just... thank you
> thank you so much

don't mention it <

"I was right, it was Subaru."

"Your friend? What did he say?" asks Harutsugu.

"Not much, he said he wasn't comfortable talking about how he knew Ōta-san, but he did confirm it was him who got her. —hey, Inori-kun," and he hands Inori his phone open on the conversation.

Inori reads it then throws Tōkan a questioning look.

"Just, I don't know, it seems like he likes you? And cares about you? And that makes me happy."

Shrug.

Tōkan shrugs too and smiles to himself before getting back to helping Haru with the kitchen.

But like many bad things, Monday often shows up again when it is least wanted.

The funny thing is, Tōkan isn't one of those people who always bemoans Mondays and such. He just... actually kinda genuinely likes going to school? That's where his friends are, a lot of his social life just is school and doing things with people from school. But today, today is...

...he's alone. Some people are trying to be subtle, some not at all, and so the end result just is in fact unsubtle: there's almost a bubble around him, an untouchable space mysteriously bereft of people. No one wants to be close to him. When he actually notices that he freezes for two seconds, then starts laughing a cold, bitter laugh, as he immediately decides he's gonna skip class and go up to the roof. Of all things, of all the fights, of everything he's done, this is what finally breaks the camel's back, this is what makes people start doing the thing he's been surprised they'd never done before. Inori. The person he loves.

He guesses Subaru really was right. People really didn't believe he meant what he said, all those times. They humoured him, they got a bit nervous about it and mostly talked around it, and tried not to get on his bad side too much. But now it's staring them in the face too hard, too impossible to ignore, and they've decided they're leaving the sinking ship. This is so ridiculous, it feels like he's in some American teen drama, it's surreal.

He's so fucking mad.

The reaction is much stronger than he'd anticipated. He'd always known it was a possibility, he told Subaru as much just a short while ago. But it's getting to him hard enough that he actually walks over to that one corner with the plants to dig into the spot where they hide cigarettes.

Tōkan doesn't smoke, not really, not for smoking. It kinda tastes rancid, and smells worse. But on the other hand it gives him a Bad Boy™ vibe and is useful as a socialisation tool. He's happy he didn't turn out to be one of the people who gets addicted to them, he made sure to test it before he ever consumed a cigarette in public, but as he takes a deep, horrible puff of it and lets the disgusting smoke fill his lungs then leave through his lips it does kind of still his nerves.

It's the suddenness of it, he thinks. He... just hadn't seen it coming. At all. Not the way Karato and Hōji would react, not the way the rest of the school did, not the police report, not today. He didn't see it. He thought he'd have seen it. It's just... making him second-guess himself in a way he just doesn't do, ever. What did he miss, how did this happen without him noticing? He should've had more warning, should've had more time to deal with it, to counteract it a bit, talk to the right people, pull the right strings. The rumour mill going from "*gasp* is it really true?" to "hey asshole I'ma beat you up for it" over the course of a school day is probably nothing surprising, but... it just... doesn't add up.

Another deep puff as he grabs his phone and starts browsing Twitter idly. Combining Twitter and smoking is probably a horrible idea, it's poison for the mind and poison for the body at the same time, plus nicotine is habit-building. He doesn't stop, though.

"Yo."

Tōkan looks up and watches his friend walk from the door to the rooftop over to where he is and sit next to him, leaning back and staring at the sky. "Hey."

"Not feeling like school today?"

"—oh, so the miasma didn't touch you? Okay, that's a lot less bad than it could've been."

"Miasma?" He reaches for the pack of cigarettes and Tōkan offers him it and his lighter.

"It was kind of funny. I was walking into school and towards class and there was this... bubble. No one wanted to get too close to me. Unreal." Puff puff exhale.

"...no, no miasma. Couple of people were looking at me a bit funny but no one was shunning me actively like that. Holy shit."

Shrug. "It's irritating, and most irritating of all was how it just kinda happened all of a sudden. I'll need to eventually figure out what to do about it but..." He forces a grin. "It is rather despair-inducing for stuff to happen like that with no warning."