Souta Tamadate wanted to stir something up.
Back when they'd evacuated to the villa on Oshima during the trip, Inori Yuzuriha had brought Funeral Parlor's members in and explained her identity to their classmates. In the process, Souta had overheard enough to piece it together: Inori possessed a mysterious power that could draw "weapons" from inside other people. And it was precisely because she'd used his power that he'd been invited on that trip in the first place.
The realization had left a complicated taste in his mouth. In the days after they returned to school, he'd watched Shu Ouma, Yahiro Samukawa, and Inori form a new trio of sorts—always together in the corridors or between classes, talking in serious, hushed tones. Souta knew those two had joined Funeral Parlor. Knew their meetings with Inori were strictly business. But it didn't make him feel any less left out.
He had power too. She had used his "weapon." So why was all her trust going to Shu and Yahiro? Was he somehow less than them?
The resentment had been building. When the quarantine alert went out, Souta happened to be wandering near the blockade line, close to their old hidden base. By chance he ran into a few familiar faces—people he'd seen during the Oshima trip. For Souta, having met someone once and knowing their name was all it took to consider them a friend.
The Funeral Parlor soldiers didn't recognize him, so they held him on the spot until Ayase Shinomiya arrived.
"Inori isn't here."
"What?"
"If you have something to say to her, come back later." Ayase looked him over with a flat, skeptical eye—the kind of look that said she'd clocked exactly what he was. She'd thought he seemed a little oblivious back at the villa. And showing up now, of all times, to find Inori? She didn't need to guess what he was thinking. "We're about to deploy to the battlefield."
"Can you take me with you? Inori—she's going to be in the fighting, isn't she?"
"Absolutely not."
The refusal was immediate.
What could this guy possibly contribute? He'd just be dead weight. This was an operation with zero margin for error, and their window to move was already closing.
"Please, I can help—"
"Take him away."
Ayase was done with the conversation. Souta was escorted out without further discussion.
But he didn't give up. He wanted this chance—desperately wanted to prove himself in front of Inori, to show her he was worth something. Why did she only trust Shu and Yahiro? He had a Void too.
So he made a decision that seemed, to him, entirely reasonable.
The school was in lockdown, sealed under evacuation protocols. But Souta made his way to the broadcasting room, and from there he called over the PA: Hare Menjou, Kanon Kusama, Yahiro, and the other students still on campus. He brought them all to the film club's room.
There was one more person in that room who hadn't been invited.
Arisa Kuhouin. Student council president of Tennouzu First High School. Heir to the Kuhouin Group.
"President? Why are you here?"
Souta blinked.
"They've issued a quarantine alert outside," Arisa said, frowning at the cluster of teenagers. "Why aren't you in the shelter? What are you all doing here?" As president, she took the safety of every student seriously.
"President, I… I want to go to Ward 24."
"That's GHQ headquarters," Kanon said flatly, arms crossed. "And there's a virus spreading everywhere out there. That's suicide."
"But my friends are there!" Souta's voice shot up with urgency. "I can't do it alone—but if everyone works together, we can figure something out."
"Friends? Who?"
"Inori Yuzuriha!"
Arisa's brow lifted slightly. She vaguely recalled that name—the transfer student who'd caused quite a stir at school a while back. "Why would she be there?"
"Hey! Souta!" Yahiro had arrived. He knew Souta well enough to sense trouble the moment he'd heard the PA—and after confirming Jun was stable and handing his brother's care off to the rear support staff, he'd come straight here. The school wasn't far, and the announcement had carried clearly. "Inori already has everything arranged. Don't go disrupting her plan."
"Unlike you, I actually care about my friends." Souta turned on him. "How can you just sit here at a time like this and call yourself her friend? Shu isn't afraid of danger—what makes you two better than him?"
"…You're going to regret this."
"If you're scared, stay behind. I have no idea why Inori ever pulled someone like you into Funeral Parlor. You don't even know how to care about a girl."
Souta had never liked Yahiro, and now he let it out freely. Hare and Kanon already knew the full situation and weren't surprised—but the person sitting in this room who had nothing to do with any of it was still very much present.
"How surprising," Arisa said, very quietly. "So she's with Funeral Parlor too."
Yahiro wasn't worried about Arisa finding out. Inori had put intelligence coordination in his hands, and he knew what the Kuhouin Group's backing meant to Funeral Parlor. He also knew that Arisa had met Gai Tsutsugami and Shu at that cruise party some time ago—she just hadn't known Inori was part of it until now.
"President!" Souta turned to her, energized. "I know you're a good person. Inori is a member of Funeral Parlor, but everything they're doing is for the future of this country. Please—help us find a way."
"Souta." Hare stepped forward, voice careful. "Inori asked us to stay here and not go anywhere. We shouldn't—"
"Hare, you and Inori are best friends. Are you just going to leave her in a place that dangerous? And Shu—even he isn't afraid. Are we really going to be less than him?"
"Hey, watch what you're saying about Shu," Kanon cut back, not willing to let it go. "And what exactly are you going to do once you get there? Fight GHQ yourself?"
"You don't get it." Souta looked down at his own hands. Something had come alive in his expression—reckless, nearly manic. "Back on Oshima, Inori drew something called a Void from inside me. I overheard her talking with Shu—only people like us carry this power inside us. If we go, she can draw our Voids and use them in the fight."
Hare knew this was true, and she said nothing to contradict it. But she felt the conviction in her chest start to waver. She trusted Inori—completely. But it was impossible not to worry. If she could actually help somehow…
"Hare." Souta pressed on, sensing the shift. "Are you really going to just sit here and wait for Inori to come back and protect you? She's just a girl too. What if something goes wrong?"
Hare bit her lip. The doubt had taken hold.
She hadn't been worried, before Souta started talking. But now he'd made it feel like something terrible was about to happen, and the feeling was spreading.
"Then let's go." Arisa spoke up suddenly. "I'll drive."
If it's a Funeral Parlor operation, Gai Tsutsugami should be there too.
Arisa Kuhouin had fallen for Gai just as she had in the original timeline—she simply didn't yet know that Gai had "died." The thought that she might see him if she went there tipped the scale.
"Yes!" Souta clapped his hands together, looking genuinely thrilled.
"Let's move out right now! We're going to rescue Inori!"
"Souta, this is a warning." Yahiro's voice was flat and cold, his eyes fixed on him. "You will regret this."
"Hmph. Stay behind if you're scared. Yahiro, I really had you wrong."
Yahiro watched him, and thought he looked pitiful—and felt nothing.
"Yahiro…"
Kanon looked at him with something helpless in her expression.
Yahiro lowered his head and tightened his fist. He wasn't blind to what Kanon felt for him. And he couldn't bear to watch her walk into danger alone.
The student council president had already been talked into it. Hare, who was guileless and genuinely kind, had been successfully worked up by Souta. And with the Void connection being what it was, their presence wasn't completely useless—but none of this was in the plan.
I have to get this to Inori. Now.