Nino's POV

A week had passed since Yui Yuigahama's request had been fulfilled, and nothing noteworthy had happened lately. At least, not at school. Scratch that, I guess Yui hanging out with us, or rather, Yukinon, is pretty noteworthy. Anyway, outside of school has been very busy for me. The Cult has led six more attacks around the city, though the number of deaths was low. The reason? I recently made sensors that detect magical energy and send alerts out to the police and placed them all around the city. This way, the Cult's element of surprise is all but lost, as the police have time to get to the scene before the Cultists themselves even show up. Luckily, most cultists tend to be simple lackeys, since they can be taken care of by the police, so long as they are careful. However, on the fourth attack, there was a higher-ranking Cult member involved, and the Demon Hunter had to show up to deal with him.

I don't consider myself strong enough to face the Cultists head-on, so instead, I go in after an attack and try to see what I can find that the police have not. Hachiman made me realize last week that there is a lot more to our current situation than meets the eye, so I've been trying to find what I can to further our understanding of these otherworldly threats. Unfortunately, I have not found much. There's definitely a hierarchy within the Cult, with the lowest being disciples and the higher ranks being called Cardinals. However, I know that there are even higher-ranked members but I don't know what they are called or just how powerful they are. Then there's the case of magic. I've identified seven basic magic types or elements. They are fire, ice, wind, lightning, earth, shadow, and light. As to how they work, I am unsure, but it seems that some Cultists are limited to one type of magic while others can use multiple. The Cardinals have an older, more powerful type of magic that I have yet to understand. Although I have not seen the Devil Hunter in person, I have been able to determine that he possesses at least five of the seven basic magic types, as well as his own ancient form of magic. I have found nothing as far as devils are concerned.

Unfortunately, Yukino, Hachiman, and I have not spoken about any of this stuff since Yui's been around. It's not that we don't trust her, we do. It's just that she's such an upbeat girl and it would be a shame to make that smile fade away because of the reality we are living in. Besides, she isn't part of the club so there's no need to include her in such discussions. Today she's supposed to have lunch with Yukino in the clubroom. How nice. Normally, I'd go outside to eat but it's raining so I'm stuck in a classroom full of noisy people. I take a glance at Hachiman and see that he feels the same way. I then glance towards the back of the room and see that Yui is still here with her little clique of friends. The guys seem to have left. She's standing behind Miura Yumiko as though she wants to ask her something. She looks nervous...

"H-hey Yumiko? I have somewhere to be right now."

"Oh really? Then get me a lemon tea on your way back," Yumiko said.

"H-huh? But I think it might take me a while," Yui continued. "A-and I might be busy after school too..."

At that, Yumiko stopped and looked Yui in the eyes. "Yui, y'know... You haven't been very social lately. Like, didn't you say the same thing a while ago and bail on us after school?"

Yui looked down, "Well... That was 'cos of, like... Circumstances beyond my control, um..."

"I don't get what that's supposed to mean. If you've got something to say, then out with it."

"Sorry..."

"Don't just give me "sorry." Like... Hiding stuff like that? How is that good? We're friends, aren't we?"

Friends, huh? I will say that Yumiko is making a bit of sense. I mean, friends should be open with one another, right? But to me, and it could just be because of past experiences as well as the type of person I've determined Yumiko to be, this just looks like she's using that word to control Yui. That's just my opinion though. I've never really had any friends anyway so maybe what I'm saying is complete bullshit.

Yui continues, "S-sor..."

"Come on!" Yumiko yells. "Don't just apologize! You've got something to say, don't you?"

Those who are still in the classroom have quieted down. It seems they've become uncomfortable with the rising tension. I notice that Hachiman is thinking to himself. Is he planning on helping her? He closes the book he has in his hands and rises from his seat. Idiot.

"Hey, that's-"

"Shuddup," Yumiko says in return, glaring him down. He quickly sits back in his seat, a terrified look on his face. Ok, that's enough. I don't talk to Yui enough to give a damn, but Hachiman is pretty cool so you don't get to treat him like that, bitch!

I stand up from my seat and look Yumiko straight in the eyes. For once, she actually looks a little nervous. "Oi, bitch! Who do you think you are, acting all high and mighty? Do you think that just because you're pretty and popular you have the right to go and boss everyone else around? What did Hachiman ever do to you? That's right, nothing. And Yui? Can you really call yourselves friends if you keep trying to control every little bit of her life? God, I could never stand rich, stuck-up whores like you! At least Emilia had some respectability. If Yui wants to go hang out with other people, then just let her be. She's not gonna want to be around you if you keep on acting like this around her. Keep on this path, and you may find yourself with nobody to call your friends at all. Puta."

Without even giving her a chance to say anything back, I left the classroom to get a breath of fresh air, passing Yukino along the way.

Hikigaya's POV

What. The. Fuck... was that?!

Yuigahama's POV

...Thanks, Nino.

Miura's POV

T-that... What is his problem? I-I can't believe he just humiliated me like that!

...

...He's right, though, isn't he?

Yukino's POV

I reach class 2-F only to find that everyone is in a state of shock. I notice that Miura Yumiko's face is red and it looks like she might cry. Nino did look a little mad when we passed each other. Did something happen?

Nino's POV

When I returned to class, the atmosphere in the room was still just as tense as when I left it, if not even more. Yumiko didn't say anything to me, surprisingly. I thought that she would. Hell, she didn't even look at me. Yui gave me a small smile of gratitude. Tch, I didn't do it for you. Hachiman was taking a nap. Regardless, the afternoon classes breezed by and it was time for the club once again. Yui sped off, presumably to meet up with Yukino, leaving Hachiman and me to walk together.

"Oi, Hachiman, wake up. It's time for the club," I said, shaking him awake. He opened his eyes and gave me a blank stare before nodding and getting up to go. As we were walking out the door, someone grabbed my sleeve. I turned.

"Wait, can we talk real quick? A-alone please," Yumiko asked, her head hanging low.

"Go ahead without me Hachiman. Tell the others why I'm late."

"Sure."

I let Hachiman walk off for a bit before turning back to Yumiko. "Ok, where do you want to talk?"

Without saying anything, Yumiko, still latched onto my sleeve, begins walking down the hall. I follow though it's not like she gave me much choice. We eventually reach the roof. Luckily it stopped raining some time ago.

"I'm sorry."

It came out as a faint whisper, but I caught it.

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to. I-"

"I already apologized to Yui and Hikio after you left the classroom if that's what you're saying. I just wanted to apologize to you too because clearly, I bothered you as well. You probably wouldn't have gotten involved if that wasn't the case, right?"

"You did? That's good. And yeah, I guess you are kinda right about that, though, I should be the one apologizing to you. I'm sorry."

"W-what?! But I was in the wrong. Everything you said was true! I-I've just been worried, now more than ever, that if I don't try to keep my friends close I may lose them forever! B-but I see that I was wrong."

"That still doesn't give me the right to yell at you and call you all those ugly names." With a sad smile on my face, I said, "Besides, even if I was right, I still didn't have the right to say any of those things since I'd never actually had friends before."

"Y-you've never had friends before? Why not?"

"I was always a little different from the rest, and kids can be cruel. I've been ostracised and bullied my entire life, so I decided to just focus on my studies and start new somewhere else. I guess that somewhere else just happened to be on the other side of the world, haha... Though, even if I'm not being bullied here, I'm still just as alone as always."

"That's not true. You have Hikio now. A-and, um... Emilia?"

"Hachiman and I are just clubmates, nothing more nothing less. To be honest, we barely even talk to each other at all. And Emilia could hardly be considered a friend. I knew her for a few days at best before she left. If anyone ever came close to being a friend, it was A-... Oi, why am I telling you this?"

"What?" Yumiko asked.

"I'm sorry, but I need to get back to my club or the others might get mad," I said, turning and heading for the stairs before stopping and looking back at Yumiko with a more serious face. "Forget about what we talked about, yeah? Bye."

Miura's POV

What was that all about? It looks like I accidentally stumbled upon some buried memories. I had no idea that he went through that stuff when he was younger. It also almost looked like he was about to cry when mentioning that last person. Nino Andel, just who are you?

Nino's POV

I walked into the clubroom to find Zaimokuza Yoshiteru, who I saw paired up with Hachiman for gym class a few times, requesting for us to read his light novel draft and give him our opinions tomorrow. We agreed and each took a whole brick of paper home with us. I stayed up all night reading that shit. The next afternoon we all showed up at the club, made Yui read the draft since she didn't the night before, and then gave Yoshiteru our opinions. I thought he was going to die from our harsh words, but he ended up being happy and asked us to read the finished work someday. That's something I can understand since at one point I myself had a writer's fever. Again, we agreed.

Afterward, we all went our separate ways. As I was walking back home, I couldn't shake the feeling that someone was following me. Yet, no matter where I looked, I saw no signs of a potential stalker. Strange. Could the Cult know that I've been involving myself in their business? Would they even send someone after me if that was the case? Or could it be something else?

...

Maybe it was just my imagination. I've been getting less sleep lately and haven't eaten as much as usual so I was probably just tired.