Fifteen pairs of eyes drill directly into the back corner of the room.
Renjiro slowly shifts his gaze away from Mako. He looks at Ichinose standing by her desk and sweeps his vision across the rest of the scattered students. They stare back at him. Around the classroom, the silence stretches thin and frail.
"I don't know what you are talking about, Mako," he says.
His voice comes out completely flat.
He grabs the strap of his heavy bag and stands up. The wooden chair scrapes violently against the polished floor. He steps around the desk and walks straight toward the sliding door.
"Wait!" Mako yells.
She jumps up from her stolen seat and chases right after him. Near the front chalkboard, the remaining students simply watch them leave.
Out in the hallway, the afternoon heat clings thick to the concrete walls. Sunlight spills through the large windows and paints long shadows across the floor.
Renjiro walks fast. He lets his shoes hit the ground with heavy and measured steps to put physical distance between himself and the classroom.
Mako easily matches his pace and stays right by his shoulder. "Renji, don't play dumb with me. I know you figured something out."
With a massive sigh, he stops dead in his tracks and turns around to face her.
"Can you be quiet even just five seconds, Mako?" he asks.
She blinks twice and her mouth snaps shut.
Renjiro watches her for five solid seconds. He just stands there to see if she will start yelling again.
Mako stays perfectly quiet. Satisfied with the rare peace, Renjiro turns his back and resumes his walk towards the main stairway.
Behind him, Mako raises her right hand. She reaches out to catch his uniform sleeve, but her fingers grab nothing but empty air as he walks away. She does not follow him right away.
Her right arm drops slowly back down to her side. She tightly clenches that exact same hand into a fist against her skirt.
It is the second time Mako clenches her right hand into a fist. Renjiro has no idea this is something he might or might not regret in the days to come.
She glares at his retreating back. Then she breaks into a quick run to follow his path.
The quiet ends immediately.
For the next two entire days, she turns into a relentless nightmare.
Thursday noon brings a fresh wave of harassment. The smell of fried food and boiled noodles fills the cafeteria.
Hundreds of students talk over each other in a chaotic roar.
Renjiro ignores the noise. He slides a tray holding a cheap bowl of plain udon onto an empty wooden table.
Before his knees even bend to sit down, Mako drops her own tray directly across from his spot.
"What was it?" she asks. She leans far over the table and stares intensely at his soup. "You realized a secret back there in the classroom. Tell me what it is."
"I realized that this broth needs more soy sauce."
"Stop lying," she demands. She stabs a yellow piece of rolled egg with her wooden chopsticks. "You did that weird hand thing yesterday. You folded your pinky and your ring finger. You always do that when you solve a problem in your head. I saw it."
"My hand was cramping."
"Liar."
Friday afternoon amplifies the exact same exhaustion. The final bell rings to signal the end of the history lecture. Renjiro immediately grabs his bag to secure an early escape to the dormitories.
Mako blocks the narrow aisle and plants both hands firmly on her hips.
"Tell me the secret," she orders.
"Move."
"Not until you explain your realization," she presses and steps closer to box him in against the wooden desk. "You never do anything that draws attention. But you did the hand gesture. You figured out a puzzle. Who is it about? What is the secret?"
He maintains a blank expression. "I just wanted to sit away from you."
"That makes no sense!" she yells. She grabs his uniform tie and pulls him forward a few inches. "If you know a secret, you have to share it with me. We are a team."
"I am a solo player."
"You are a hostage." She yanks the red fabric just a little bit harder. "Spill the truth right now or I will follow you into the boys' dormitory tonight."
Renjiro looks down at her fingers tightly pinching the red fabric of his tie.