12:17 PM – Class 3-D
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It was lunch break. Du had just peeled open their bento when they noticed the homeroom teacher passing by. For a moment, their guts tightened—half expecting to be asked to sort papers again.
Instead, the teacher stopped at the desk in front of them, holding a spray bottle and a cloth.
Ah.
Her desk.
Inami... that was her name.
Du looked up just to see her curled on top of it again, lying on her side like always. Her desk was still covered in marker scribbles and random words—scrawled there by classmates with malicious intent.
Inami held her phone with both hands, staring forward, motionless.
The teacher didn’t say a word. Just turned and walked away. Du didn’t think much of it.
...
The classroom noise had started to fade—the girls gossiping by the windows, the boys shouting in the hallway—until it all thinned into a low background hum. Head tilted, Du glanced outside: blue sky, scattered clouds, students strolling in pairs down below. From the corner of their eye, the room looked almost empty. Alone at their desk, they ate quietly.
At least, that’s how it felt.
Inami had been lying like that for a while, but now Du was almost sure—
She was staring. Right at me.
Or... maybe not. Actually they weren't so sure.
Du turned their head slightly to check, trying not to make it obvious.
And for the first time, there was no doubt.
Her eyes were wide open, still half-lidded but locked directly onto theirs.
Unblinking.
Not looking toward them.
Looking at them.
A gaze like a line drawn in ink.
Sharp.
Fixed...
Absolutely looking at Du now.
