Outcasted (1)

Over the next few weeks at Hinamizawa Branch School, Keiichi learned the names of the other students in his class. The class president was Sonozaki Mion, and she was one of the oldest students in the class. Her casual and rough demeanor in class made everyone look up to her as she tended to organize activities for the younger kids to help them study and relax.

The other older student apart from Mion was Houjou Satoshi, one of the oldest boys in the class. He helped Mion with helping the kids in the class and took care of his younger sister Houjou Satoko. The two of them always seemed to be together, and they were close with each other.

"Kei-chan, is everything going better for you?"

Mion's voice was heard before she patted Keiichi on the shoulder. Just as Rena had mentioned about how close everybody was, everyone addressed each other with their first names relatively quickly.

"Rena-chan has been helping me with the town's landmarks and I'm getting to know everyone here. Thanks for everything, Mion-san."

Keiichi smiled and scratched his head. The loner girl he had noticed over the few weeks he had been in the class had become more apparent. Her dark flowing hair and droopy purple eyes made her looked like someone of traditional Japanese beauty. She seemed elegant despite being alone most of the time, but he was unsure why everyone in the class ignored her.

"Hey, Rena-chan," Keiichi asked, whispering into her ear, "Who is that girl?"

"That's Furude Rika, Keiichi-kun," Rena whispered back, "Do you still need any help?"

"I'm fine right now. Thanks for asking."

Keiichi looked around and spotted Satoko glaring at Rika before turning back to face her brother. Satoshi was trying to help his sister with some math problems again, so he didn't notice her death glares from across the room.

"Nii nii, is your neck okay?"

Satoko was rubbing Satoshi's neck with a wet cloth, as he had been scratching them lately. The neck looked bruised and red, making Keiichi think that Satoshi might have gotten some sort of skin infection.

Did Satoshi-san get hurt? I hope it isn't anything serious…

"Why are you staring at us?"

Keiichi looked back to find Satoko glaring back at him now. He had been observing them for so long that he didn't notice their reactions to him. Satoshi patted Satoko on the head while she pouted back at Keiichi.

"He saw you putting the wet cloth on my neck. Probably just worried about me just like you are, Satoko. There's nothing to worry about."

Satoshi waved back and gestured that they were fine. Keiichi sighed in relief and Rena giggled. She seemed pleased with Keiichi slowly getting to know everyone in the school, especially learning more about Hinamizawa.

"What is it, Rena-chan? Do you want to tell me something?"

Keiichi looked at her, confused. But just as he had whispered to her before, she did the same in return. She pointed towards Mion and Satoshi before explaining to him what was going on.

"You know about the school club, right? Mii-chan is also the club leader for it too. She hasn't invited you yet, but I can convince her to let you join. Is that okay with you?"

Rena sounded pleased and happy about this, making Keiichi wonder if the club did anything special. There weren't enough students in the school to begin with, so they were probably more like a group of friends that hung out together than anything else.

A school club, huh? Maybe there's a chance for me to find more places in Hinamizawa that I don't know about. I'll think about it…

"Maybe. Thanks for the consideration, Rena-chan."

Keiichi felt happy. Everyone seemed friendly enough, and he was slowly getting to know them. But he was still curious and unsure about Rika. Her cold attitude and demeanor made him wary of her, but he still wanted to know why everyone avoided her so much.

Maybe I should try to befriend her too. Why would she be so alone among the kids here?

As the school semester headed towards the end of April, everyone was preparing for Golden Week. Everyone had different plans for their break, but the club members seemed to be whispering among themselves about something. Keiichi was curious about what it was, but even Rena won't tell him.

"You haven't been invited into the club yet, Keiichi-kun. But I can tell you what it is later. There are others watching me right now."

Her pleasant smile always made him feel warm, so he took her word for it. Their teacher was Chie Rumiko, and she was the sole teacher in their small school. Since everyone was in different grades and there weren't many students, to begin with, they were stuck in one classroom and learned together.

My parents might take me somewhere else for Golden Week, but it won't hurt to ask the others. I know that a lot of people tend to hang out near Okinomiya during the break. It's not far from here anyway.

"Chie-sensei, what are you going to do during Golden Week?"

One of the students had asked the teacher what she was going to do, as their class was preparing for their break. She sounded surprised by the question, but she quickly restrained her posture and nicely answered them.

"I might be going to the onsen during the break. Let's hope everyone be nice to each other while I'm away, okay?"

They nodded before they went outside of the classroom to clean up before break. Keiichi was helping everyone with cleaning up the classroom before they left for the break in the next few days. He really wanted to know what Rena was talking about, as the other club members kept quiet about it.

Man, I really want to know what kind of club activities do they do. But I need to be patient with Rena-chan first. There are still more students and people I need to know around here.

He continued to sweep the floor with a broom and helped the younger kids with the cleaning. Rena, Mion and the others were outside talking with each other for a while as he waited for her to come back. Keiichi wanted to hear what she was talking about, so he decided to peek through the framed door.

"Hau! That's great, Satoshi-kun! I'm glad that you're recovering. Are you sure that you'll be fine for the club's baseball game during Golden Week?"

Baseball game? So that's what Rena-chan was hiding from me about the club activity. Does she know that I play baseball back in my old school?

Keiichi hid away from them for a moment, but he felt like something was off. Quickly checking back at Rena and Satoshi, he noticed that Satoko wasn't with him. Looking around, he noticed a quarrel near the other side of the school.

Satoko was trying to mess with Rika's broom and cleaning supplies. She was shaking and trying to make Rika drop her broom as she grabbed it in front of her.

"You're not cleaning well Furude-san! Let me show you how it's done."

She continued to pull on Rika's broom, making it crack a little. Rika tried to stop Satoko from breaking the broom even more, but she persisted. Keiichi saw the bullying happening in front of him, and no one was doing anything about it.

No one was trying to stop it.

I need to do something! Why isn't anyone stopping them?

Keiichi came forward and began to grab Satoko, trying to take her away from messing with Rika. She didn't seem to react well to it, so she tried to kick and bite his arm so that he could let go.

"What are you doing?! Let me go!"

"I won't. What were you doing, targeting Furude-san for?"

Keiichi continued to pull Satoko away from Rika, causing the two of them to topple on the ground. Satoko's and Keiichi's brooms and cleaning supplies fell and dropped near them. In the process, Rika panicked and dropped her broom too.

What was Satoko-san doing?! I didn't think she would bully Furude-san like that!

He grabbed Satoko by the wrist and tried to get her to answer. But instead, she cried out for Satoshi. She kept kicking Keiichi in the stomach and feet so that he could let go of her. Her eyes started swelling with tears as she cried out for her brother.

"Nii nii! Keiichi-san is hurting me! Help me!"

No! You can't just let your brother take care of any mischief you do!

Keiichi tried to keep Satoko under control but couldn't. In a panic, he quickly slapped her in the face. She cried out more and more for Satoshi, pressuring him to calm her down.

"W-Wait! I didn't mean that! Stop crying!"

Not good. I was just trying to stop her from messing with Furude-san…

But before Keiichi could calm her down, Satoshi came running towards him from the school building. His fist flew towards Keiichi, but he narrowly avoided the hit. The anger and grief from Satoko being harmed had set off his emotions at him.

He quickly took Satoko out of Keiichi's grasp and touched her cheeks.

"Satoko! Are you okay? What did he do to you?"

Satoko pointed at Keiichi, giving him a dirty look. She then snuggled on Satoshi's shirt, giving him a tight hug. Satoshi immediately touched his neck, scratching them as he glared back at Keiichi.

Is something wrong with his neck? Why does he keep doing it?

"Please! It was an accident. I was just trying to stop her from bullying Furud—"

But Satoshi had already jumped at him, taking Keiichi by surprise as he made sure that Rika was out of harm's way. Looking around, he find her hiding behind a nearby tree. She was quiet and didn't say anything as she observed him farther back.

She's not saying anything. Was I disrupting something between her and Satoko-san…?

But Keiichi didn't want to think too hard about it. He didn't want to be seen as someone who had done something wrong to others. It shouldn't happen again. It shouldn't be a repeat like his old school.

Satoshi pushed Keiichi to the ground and punched Keiichi's nose. A little blood poured out of it.

So much for trying to calm him down. I already failed at it with Satoko-san…

But he didn't want to become a punching bag for Satoshi either.

"You really want a fight, huh? Fine, I'll give you one!"

Keiichi then pushed back and punched Satoshi in the face. The two of them began fighting each other with fists and punches, bruising each other in the face and stomach. They were roughhousing as they kicked and punched on the ground. Satoko stood to the side, grinning at Keiichi from the sidelines.

"That's what you get for hurting me, Keiichi-san."

Eventually, Rena and Mion noticed the commotion from the other side of the school and called on the teacher for help. Chie came forward and forcefully broke up the fight. Keiichi had a bloody nose and bruised cheeks while Satoshi had a bruise near his eye with a bruised face.

"It's only been a month and there's already a fight?" Chie muttered, shaking her head, "Keiichi-kun, try to be more respectful."

"S-Sorry, Chie-sensei."

She also glared back at Satoshi as well.

"And you, you didn't need to fight with him, Satoshi-san. He could have hurt your sister by accident. Let's not have another fight, okay?"

The two of them nodded, bloodied, and bruised. Rena and Mion were watching from the framed doors, looking back at them. Keiichi felt like he had just shocked Rena with his actions.

"Rena-chan, Mion-san. Please go call the clinic and get those two some bandages."

Half an hour later, Keiichi and Satoshi were at Irie Clinic, getting their wounds and bruises checked by the doctor. The doctor's name was Irie Kyosuke, and he helped run the clinic in Hinamizawa. Another nurse was also with him, and she looked at Keiichi closely as she bandaged his face.

"You look new. Did you just move here?"

"Y-Yes."

Keiichi blushed as she wiped his face with a clean cloth. He couldn't tell if she was a local or not, but he accepted her treatment anyway. Satoshi was being treated by Irie as they were split into separate rooms so that they wouldn't fight again.

"My, my. Do you want to know something interesting about this place?"

About Hinamizawa? Are there secrets I don't know about?

"Sure. What is it?"

But before the nurse could tell him, Irie came into the room. He smiled and waved at Keiichi before he went to discuss something with her.

"Your patient is here, Takano-san. Hope you're feeling better now, Maebara-san."

Irie patted Keiichi on the shoulder and let him get released from the clinic. It was getting late, and he had to pick up his school bag from the school before Golden Week started. Satoshi had already left to pick up Satoko before they went home.

Man. I hope Rena-chan didn't wait for me for too long. I just wanted to know what was going on with Furude-san and Satoko-san…

Keiichi clenched his fists as he walked back to the school, frustrated with himself.

"Keiichi-kun! Is everything okay?"

Rena waved back at him as he came closer and closer to the school. Mion had already left a while ago to make sure Satoshi and Satoko were alright and walked them home. Keiichi shook his head as he greeted Rena.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Keiichi answered, "You didn't have to wait for me though…"

"But I have to! Don't you want to know about the club's Golden Week activity?"

Oh, that. She hasn't told me yet, but I already heard from her that it was a baseball game…

Keiichi smiled a bit as Rena tried to cheer him up.

"Is it a baseball game?"

There was an immediate awkward silence between the two of them. Rena looked shocked that he knew something like that before she told him. Her eyes glared back, suspecting something that he had done without telling her.

"How did you know that? I haven't told you what it was yet!"

Uh oh. Did I just mess up again?! Not Rena-chan too…

"I-I…well, I can explain."

"Explain what? Were you listening in on my conversations with Mii-chan and Satoshi-kun?"

"Well…"

But Rena already sounded angry and didn't want to listen to his reasonings. He had already caused a fight with Satoshi, and now he was being punished for eavesdropping on Rena's conversation with him beforehand. Keiichi's day just kept getting worse and worse.

All he wanted was to understand why Satoko was targeting Rika, and no one doing anything about it. He tried to stop it but got punished for it instead. His chances at starting fresh in Hinamizawa had just been ruined.

And just like that, he had lost his chances of getting into the club.