For a moment, Yumiko and the others couldn't help but look at Tobe with disdain.

  He hadn't done anything to help, yet he had accepted their praise so openly, as if he had been the one who stepped in to save the day.

  "Disgusting!" Yumiko spat out, gring at him in pt.

  Tobe lowered his head even more, pletely defted.

  Aoyama, who was Tobe's friend, wao say something in his defense. He had always stood up for his friends, but this time, even he couldn't justify Tobe's as. In the end, he stayed silent.

  "But... but!" Tobe couldn't stay quiet anymore. He felt the pressure building around him and turo Ryuji, frustration evident in his voice.

  "But he's fine, isn't he? Nothing bad happened in the end, so why are we even talking about this?"

  Tobe knew he was in trouble and could sehat even his friendship with Aoyama might be at risk because of this. Desperatio into his voice as he tried to deflect the bme.

  "Tobe..." Aoyama tried to interject, hoping to calm his friend down.

  But Tobe wasn't done. His face turned red with frustration, and he poi Ryuji.

  "Isn't it true? Nobody got hurt anyway, so what's the big deal?"

  At that, the fell silent as all eyes turo Ryuji, the ter of attention. Ryuji, however, wasn't the least bit flustered. Instead, he watched the situation unfold with a faint smile, as if he were enjoying a drama pying out before him.

  "No o hurt?" Shizuka's voice cut through the silence, but this time her smile was anything but friendly. "Three students from the ext door just took a month off due to injuries. They'll be in the hospital the eime."

  Tobe's eyes widened in disbelief. "What?!"

  Everyone else in the was equally stuheir gazes snapping back to Ryuji. The atmosphere became tense, with silent questions hanging in the air. Had Ryuji really done something to those three?

  Ryuji shrugged nontly and smiled, clearly unbothered by the sudden attention. "What are you all looking at me for? They probably just had an unfortunate act, like falling dowairs. How clumsy of them, don't you think?"

  There was no evidence, of course, and Ryuji khe three injured boys wouldn't dare admit they'd beeen up. Even if they did try to expin, Ryuji had ways of dealing with it.

  Shizuka g Ryuji for a moment, but said nothing. She wasn't the type to coddle anyone, and she certainly wasn't going to get involved beyond her role as a teacher. If anyone had messed with her, they'd have experienced her iron fist firsthand.

  inally, she hadn't been aware of what had happened, but when three students from the neighb css requested a month-long leave due to injuries, it raised her suspis. Having all three of them take a long leave at the same time seemed far too tal. Her iigation had led her here, and now she had the answers.

  Though Shizuka didn't ht firm it, the students pieced together the truth: Ryuji had dealt with the bullies himself. This new revetio ripples through the , and many of them quietly beled Ryuji as someone you didn't want to mess with.

  "That's enough." Shizuka snapped everyone back to attention. "I didn't e here just to scold you."

  Her expression softehough her tone remaiern. "I don't know how your previous teachers hahings, but in my css, bullying will not be tolerated. Do I make myself clear?"

  "Yes, sensei!" the students responded in unison, their voices loud and clear.

  Many were relieved to have a teacher who actually cared about the well-being of her students. While bullying was on, it was reassuring to know that their new homeroom teacher wouldn't turn a blind eye.

  "Good. Now, get ready for css."

  Shizuka began to walk away, but not befiving a few final instrus.

  "Tobe, Aoyama, I want a 1,000-word self-refle essay from each of you. Aoyama, you're the css representative, and you should have been more responsible. Tobe... well, we all know what you did or didn't do."

  "I uand, sensei," Aoyama said respectfully, bowing his head. He knew he hadn't done his duty as css rep and wasn't about tue.

  Tobe, however, remained silent, too frustrated to speak but unwilling to protest.

  "And as for you, Ryuji Hoshino," Shizuka added, her eyes log onto him. "e to my office during lunch break. We o have a chat."

  The room fell quiet as Shizuka left, her words hanging in the air. Once she was gone, several students began to sneak g Ryuji, w what the teacher would say to him.

  Ryuji, however, didn't seem to care about their curious stares. He lounged in his chair, pletely at ease.

  After a few moments, Aoyama stood up and made his way over to Ryuji's desk.

  "Ryuji-kun, I'm sorry. This whole thing is my fault," Aoyama began, his voice full of siy. "If I had goo the teacher myself, things wouldn't have escated like this."

  Tobe's as had left Aoyama with a bitter taste in his mouth, and though he wao defend his friend, he couldn't ignore h everything had gone. So instead, he bowed his head and apologized.

  Ryuji waved off the apology with a casual hand. "Don't worry about it. It's nothing."

  Aoyama's gaze flicked over to Tobe's desk, where his friend sat with his head hung low. He wao say something in defense of Tobe but couldn't e up with anything reasonable.

  "I'm truly sorry," Aoyama added, his tretful.

  "It's fine," Ryuji said again, leaning ba his chair. "It's not like this situation was that big of a deal."

  As Aoyama thanked Ryuji and turo leave, Ryuji's eyes momentarily locked onto Tobe's dire, and something flickered in his vision. His Yin-Yang Eyes, which had grown strohe more spirits he devoured, were showing him something unusual.

  A strange aura g to Tobe, like a shadow, a sign that something supernatural had its sights set on him. "Looks like he's already been marked by something weird," Ryuji thought, his lips curling into a faint smirk. "A person doomed to be haunted isn't worth w about."

  Aoyama, oher hand, was a different matter. As Ryuji patted him on the shoulder, the system's familiar notification chimed in his mind.

  "Successfully tacted a target: Aoyama Hayato! A blue entry has been triggered, do you want to load it?"

  Finally, something other than a greery. A broad smile spread across Ryuji's face.

  "Thank you, Ryuji-kun!" Aoyama said, a bit fused by Ryuji's sudden smile, but he was relieved to have settled things with him.

  "Sure thing," Ryuji replied, watg Aoyama walk away.

  Even if someone wasn't a main character, it seemed that those with a bit of significe could still trigger taleries. That was good to know.

  "Blue entry: Sunny and cheerful!"

  Ryuji clicked his tongue. "Sunny and cheerful, huh? What, is it supposed to make me bright and happy?

  "Never mind, let's depose it directly. It takes 1,000 points to extract a blue entry, and deposing it yields 100 points. His inal bance of 20 instantly jumped to 120!"