Broki-chan looked at the girls before nervously saying, "Oh well, nothing really special happened. Sakura was just mad that I accidentally ditched her; nothing really that violent or scary happened. All Sakura did was yell because she was angry. It might have been the wrong place and wrong time for you guys when you showed up. Still, I can assure you Sakura didn't do anything violent". The girl from Broki-chan's dream gave him a confused look before shrugging and saying to the other girls, "Well, if Broki-chan said it, then it must be true". The girl walks over to Broki-chan and smiles at him as she outstretches her hand for Broki-chan to shake it which he does whilst the other girls murmur as the girl says "I'm Kioko by the way, so if Sakura didn't do anything wrong then what did Miyoko do? Clearly, she must have done something instead of Sakura, right guys?"

  "Well, I guess she's sometimes a tad bit... weird," said Noa before realising what she just said and quickly walking over to Kioko and Broki-chan as she exclaimed, "I don't mean weird in a terrible way. I just meant that she always manages to get the jump on me, y'know?" Ishi walks over to the rest of the group as Broki-chan gives Noa a confused look. Kioko moves closer to Broki-chan as she asks, "So what do you think of Miyoko, Broki-chan?". Broki-chan thinks about Kioko's question for a few seconds before replying, "Well, I don't really know Miyoko like you guys, so my answer might be inaccurate, but from what I've seen, Miyoko, well... she seems nice, maybe a little bit weird when it comes to socialising but overall, a good person, what do you think of her, guys?"

  "Hmm, I guess I'd have to say Miyoko is a bit... challenged when it comes to social cues, but who isn't? She's just a bit... more challenged than everyone else, y'know, you should hear the lies she spreads. I'm not saying she's a bad person. Still, Broki-chan is almost always right when it comes to judging other people's personalities, right girls?" said Kioko whilst she looked over to where Miyoko, Sakura and Tamiko left whilst Noa and Ishi both nodded in agreement. She looks back at Broki-chan and smiles at him whilst saying "how about you just forget about Sakura and Miyoko, we could just go somewhere more private, I could give a better experience than those two". Broki-chan smiles at her and says "yeah I guess we could hang out later, sorry to change the topic but have we met before? I swear we have met somewhere, but I can't put my finger on it"

  Kioko's eye slightly twitches for a second as she says, "No, I don't think we have". Before anyone could respond, the warning bell loudly rang, making Kioko sigh as she looked at the school before looking back at Broki-chan whilst saying, "y'know, that felt shorter than usual; I don't know why, though". Before Broki-chan could respond, Ishi and Noa grabbed Kioko and quickly ran around the corner. While they were leaving, Broki-chan noticed Kioko's slight smile before she went around the corner. Finally, Broki-chan was left to himself, and almost immediately, he decided to finish the rest of his lunch.

  Once Broki-chan's lunch was finished, he finally noticed that Sakura's lunch box was still there, but something was different from the usual. It looked weird as if it had gone bad, but Broki-chan decided to take it anyway, thinking that he could give it to Sakura after school. He walks over to a couple of trees near the school gate and begins to wait for school to end. Just before school has ended, he hears a couple of leaves breaking, causing him to turn around out of curiosity immediately. He walked over to the bushes where the noise came from, but he found nothing before he heard Miyoko yell out, "Broki!" from behind. Broki-chan sighs and turns around to see a beaming Miyoko before him. Annoyed, Broki-chan says in a lecturing tone, "Miyoko, can you please not call me 'Broki'? Only Sakura can call me that because she's my friend"

  Miyoko glares at him after he says that before putting on an obviously fake smile as she says, "And I'm not your friend? But I thought we were friends."

  "Miyoko, look, I didn't mean to upset you, but the nickname 'Broki' is something special that only Sakura calls me. It's our way of expressing our friendship, understand?"

  "So, Sakura gets to have that privilege, huh? I thought we were friends, Broki-chan. I guess our friendship doesn't mean much to you." said Miyoko as she glared at Broki-chan.

  "Miyoko, don't get me wrong, our friendship is important to me, but the nickname has a specific meaning between Sakura and me. It doesn't diminish our friendship," said Broki-chan in a slightly apologetic tone.

  "Oh, I see. I'm glad you prioritise Sakura's feelings over mine. I guess I'm just not as special to you as she is." said Miyoko in a sarcastic tone.

  "Miyoko, that's not fair. I value our friendship, but I can't disregard the significance of that nickname. She's my best friend, after all."

  "Fine, if you think it's more important to keep your 'best friend' happy, I'll remember my place. Clearly, our friendship doesn't mean anything to you."

  "Miyoko, that's not what I meant. I want you to understand the importance of that nickname. It's not about devaluing our friendship; it's just that I don't want to be called 'Broki' by anyone but my closest friend."

  "Well, if you're so insistent on keeping it exclusive, I suppose I'll have to accept that. But I think this might hurt our friendship in the long run, Broki-chan," said Miyoko with a slight smirk on her face.

  "Miyoko, I don't want our friendship to suffer. Alright..." Broki-chan pauses for a few seconds before continuing, albeit hesitantly, "Fine, you can call me Broki if it means that much to you."

  "Thank you, Broki. I knew you'd see it my way eventually. Our friendship is special, and this nickname will bring us even closer." said Miyoko with a smile as she moved closer to Broki-chan before she stopped and noticed Sakura's lunchbox. She tries to get a better look at the lunchbox before asking Broki-chan, "So, who's the lunchbox for? Is it for me?" Broki-chan immediately shakes his head as he says, "No, it's Sakura. I'm just planning on returning it to her, but the food in it looks... weird; I don't know what's wrong with it, though". Miyoko outstretched her hand as she said, "Can I have a look at it?" Broki-chan nodded and gave it to her to inspect. Miyoko looks at the lunchbox for a minute or so before her face looks a bit surprised. She begins grinning for a few seconds before quickly looking up at Broki-chan with a horrified look.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  "It's poisoned."

  "Truly, this is terrible; I-I have to take this and report it to the class representative. As the class representative's second in command, it's my responsibility; thank goodness Sakura didn't eat this; she could have died. Do you mind if I take this to inspect this further?" said Miyoko with a concerned look on her face. Broki-chan looks at Miyoko and, without a word, nods. Miyoko looks over at the school and quickly says, "Uh, I got to go and report this; in the meantime, don't let Sakura know about her food; it will cause unnecessary panic". Before Broki-chan can respond, Miyoko quickly walks back into the school just as Sakura, with her school bag, walks out and glares at Miyoko; however, as Miyoko walks further in, Broki-chan swears he sees a wide grin on Miyoko's face, but he just chalked it up his imagination.

  Sakura spots Broki-chan and walks over to him while she says, "What were you and Miyoko talking about? It seems suspicious that you were hanging out with her before school ended". Broki-chan immediately looks at her and says, "Oh, it was just small talk". Sakura makes a humph sound as the rest of the students begin to walk out, and a few of them wave at him as they leave. Sakura gave Broki-chan a look that she didn't like that answer as she responded, "Alright, fine. I believe you; I just remembered something I was going to give you". Sakura puts her bag down and opens it before shifting through it, pulling out something rolled up, and handing it over to Broki-chan.

  Broki-chan opens it and sees a winter-themed poster with large, bold letters at the bottom that say 'Snowfest'. Whilst Broki-chan was looking at the poster, Sakura, in a slightly annoyed tone, said, "Look, don't think this a date or anything; I just have to go, and you're coming with me". Broki-chan looks up at her and says, "But-". Before Broki-chan could say more than one word, Sakura loudly said, "No excuses, Broki, you're coming with me, and that's that now are we gonna walk out of school or what?" Broki-chan smiled at her and just said, ", right I'll go, now c'mon let's leave".

  Whilst they were walking out of the school, Broki-chan couldn't help but feel an angry set of eyes coming from the school that was watching him. Once they were past the gate, both Broki-chan and Sakura said their goodbyes and walked in separate directions. Once Sakura had turned around the corner, Broki-chan quickly turned back around in the direction of the school, accidentally bumping into Miyoko, who looked completely shocked and confused as she fell onto the floor. Miyoko quickly stood up and dusted herself off before looking at Broki-chan and saying, "Oh hey Broki, I didn't think that was you; sorry for bumping into you, so what are you doing heading back to the school?"

  "Oh well, I just forgot something, that's all; it's okay; accidents happen".

  "Oh? What is it specifically I could help you look for it"?

  "No, no, that's okay. I think I know where it is. Also, I had some thinking about it, and I'm sorry about saying you can't call me 'Broki'; I was out of line for that, and I'm sorry."

  "Oh, that? It's okay; I've already forgiven you, Broki," said Miyoko with a look that Broki-chan couldn't tell was smug or a genuine smile.

  They both quickly stare at each other for a few seconds before Broki-chan breaks the silence by saying, "So... heading home?". Miyoko gives Broki-chan a bit of a caught-off-guard look before quickly and nervously saying, "Oh, uh yeah, of course". Miyoko takes a minute to compose herself before she looks back at Broki-chan and says, "You know what? I just got an idea; how about we sneak back into the school and take a closer look at the poison and try to find out what it is exactly and who did it?"

  "But isn't breaking in and stuff illegal?"

  "I mean, technically, yes, but I think it's for the greater good. Would you rather do a bit of breaking and entering to stop a potential murderer or let an attempted murderer run loose?"

  "Alright then, but how come you haven't figured out who's done it yet?"

  "Oh well, that's just because I couldn't figure it out. Besides, the chemicals looked like they came from the science lab, and well, you're smart, so you should figure it out in no time now; c'mon, let's go". Before Broki-chan can say yes or no to the plan, Miyoko drags him, which shocked him a bit at how strong Miyoko was. Miyoko doesn't take him directly to the door of the school but instead takes him to some bushes nearby and says, "Wait here, Broki; I'm going to try and open the front door". Broki-chan quietly nods, and Miyoko moves out of the bushes. After Miyoko left, there was a minute or so of silence before Broki-chan began to hear faint clicking before he heard one slightly louder click with some shuffling and then Miyoko loudly whispered, "Broki-chan, it's all good to come out of the bushes now, let's go" Broki-chan jumps out of the bushes to find that the lock had been picked and Miyoko was already inside. When Broki-chan caught up to her as she nonchalantly walked around the building, he quietly asked her, "So how did you learn to lock pick?". Miyoko quickly dismissed him as she said, "That's irrelevant now, c'mon, we got a lab to get to".