Ginka went into a supermarket after her first day of school. With a shopping basket in hand, she approached the prepackaged meal section. This store carried a wide assortment of imports, and all the diverse options in front of her were impressive enough to make her sigh in appreciation.
She thought back on today’s incident involving Chinami Hayami. Hayami had not stopped crying all day. Some other girls had recommended leaving her alone for the time being, so Ginka had distanced herself from Hayami, but she was sure that some unpleasantness lingered between the two of them. Ginka had not expected school life to go smoothly, and she had thought she was prepared to face numerous difficulties. And yet, she had never expected to make such a serious error on her very first day.
“Your people are denizens of the darkness now, just like my kin.”
As Ginka remembered those words and the scornful laughter that had accompanied them, disgust welled up inside her. She had ended that savage conflict and returned to the world of humankind.
Was that truly the right thing to do...? Ginka shook her head. The purpose of those words had been to sow doubt in her mind, but she would not let herself be manipulated by the enemy. She needed to adapt to this world as soon as possible without causing any more issues like she had done at school today.
However, she did not know how to proceed. Her experience on this front was beyond insufficient.
“Ruka Moriki, was it...?”
Would that flashy classmate of hers be able to provide the answer? Moriki’s mediation stopped the incident with Hayami from becoming a prolonged issue. Matters could have easily gotten far worse without her intervention.
I must express my gratitude to her once more. And I should apologize to Hayami again... Those were Ginka’s top priorities.
With another sigh, she grabbed a Thai meal and placed it into her basket.
✦ ✦ ✦
Ruka met up with Hinaru at the shoe rack at school in the morning before heading to their classroom together.
As soon as they walked in, Meiri showed them her phone screen. “So yeah, my man bought me the Lip Creature.”
Her text messages read: