"G'morning, Keiichi-kun!"

"Morning."

"Thank goodness.

I thought you overslept today too!

Your mom said you'd gone on ahead yesterday, and then you weren't at school.

I was worried that you had gotten heat stroke halfway there!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm very sorry for all the worry I caused you yesterday."

"Heeey, goood morning!"

"Mii-chan, good morning~!

...Are you alright? You look really tired."

"Oh, right, wasn't there a big business meeting with all the people on the town council yesterday?"

"They only called it that—it was more like a party.

We have the festival every year, right?

We wouldn't have any annoying meetings at this point."

"Are you going to help out with the festival this afternoon then?"

"Yep.

I have to do a meet-and-greet with all sorts of people in Grandma's place.

Besides, they already started setting up for the festival!"

Our morning conversation was lighthearted as usual.

...It looked like Mion had thankfully forgotten... about how I'd barged into her house yesterday with that crazy talk.

...The more I think back on it, I felt like I'd really said something terrible to her.

...I was really thoughtless, and it wouldn't have been weird if she'd yelled at me.

It was highly possible Takano-san had exaggerated her story.

...To think that our comrade and friend, Mion,

the young leader of the Sonozakis, one of the Three Families effectively controlling Hinamizawa, was pulling the strings behind the serial death incidents... was a little unbelievable.

...But... if there was even a one percent chance... that it was true...

...Then what I said yesterday to Mion... might have been a success.

Yes, it was no more than one in a hundred.

...But that little bit of effort might have brought the chances of saving Satoko up by even a tiny bit.

......At least I'd made that effort.

...After yesterday ended, I was sure I'd done everything I possibly could.

...If there was something else I could do... it was probably just to clap my hands and pray that Satoko's uncle would be killed by the curse...

"...I hope Satoko makes it today."

"...Me too.

...Sensei is doing things for her, right?

Mm.

...I'm sure it'll be fine."

"My aunt is a welfare agent in the Hinamizawa district...

I gave her a call last night."

"Huh, I didn't know your aunt was a welfare officer.

...What happened?

Did you tell her about Satoko-chan?"

"Yep.

Chie-sensei called the child consultation center right after we talked to her.

A child welfare officer apparently visited before the night was over.

My aunt said that they were going to pay visits at regular intervals from now on."

"...Enough with the dumb, little stuff.

I want to know what happened to Satoko.

Did they get her safe?!"

"Mm...

My aunt wasn't that informed about it.

...I was supposed to keep this a secret anyway.

Her telling me was a big breach of ethics in the first place."

".........Damn, that makes me feel even worse."

"...Let's... get to school."

Right.

Discussing this more would just make us feel worse.

...It was far quicker to go to school and see if Satoko was safe or not.

The three of us nodded... and ran off.

...Was Satoko safe?

What measures had the child consultation center taken?

I didn't care what—as long as we could go back to our peaceful life with Satoko today, it didn't matter to me.

At the shoe racks at the entrance, Rena took a peek in Satoko's shoe cubby.

"Ah... Satoko's shoes are here! They're here!

Kei-chan, Satoko came.

Thank goodness...!"

"We don't know if anything happened just because she came to school.

We can't know anything... until we see her face!"

We trotted towards the classroom.

The classroom... was lively, as it usually was in the morning.

"...Satoko...!!

Where are you...?!"

"...Meep.

She's right here."

"It's too early in the morning to be so loud.

Would you please keep it down a bit?"

"Satoko-chan!

...Umm... Are you okay?"

All of our friends crowded around Satoko excitedly.

"...A probation officer came, right?

...Umm... How did it go?"

"...Who was it that called them?

I swear... It was quite a mess, you know."

"It was the teacher.

......You were absent for so long, of course she was worried."

...Satoko said "I told you I'm fine" under her breath.

She was still... trying to overcome all the suffering on her own.

"...It was a big bother to both me and my uncle.

That person just barged on in on us suddenly, geez..."

"Everyone was worried about you, Satoko.

Don't say it was a bother..."

"Ahh, geez!!

Anyway!

What happened?!"

"Nothing happened.

Ho-ho-ho—my cold got better, so I came back to school, that's all.

I can't take too much time off from now on because then you'll all worry about me.

...Ho-ho-ho."

...What... was Satoko saying...?

"What happened to, well... your uncle?"

"Oh, he admitted there were some misunderstandings, and we both apologized."

Tug.

...Rika-chan grabbed the back of my collar and pulled me away.

"...W-What is it, Rika-chan?"

Rika-chan silently dragged me all the way into the hallway.

"......Rika-chan... What... did that mean?!"

"...Satoko... said nothing was happening and chased them away."

.........Id—

"...That idiot...!!!

But... but why...?!"

No... Somewhere in my mind... I thought it might turn out like this.

Satoko didn't... ask for anyone's help, she didn't hide behind anyone... She was trying to ride out this pain.

...She wanted to show Satoshi proof that if he came back to them, she wouldn't need to hide behind him anymore.

"B-But... Coach said probation officers can bring her to safety in an emergency even if it's against her wishes!

However much Satoko denies the abuse, it's a fact...!!"

...Chie-sensei finally came.

...Her expression was far from cheerful.

"......Yes. You're right, Maebara-kun.

If the child welfare officer determines that it's an emergency, they have the right to immediately take them to safety.

Regardless of the affected party's intent."

"Then why?!

Why is Satoko's intent being respected so much—it's weird! Why don't they put her into safety?!"

"...Well... After looking into it from many angles, that's what the Okinomiya child consultation center determined..."

"What the hell is that?!?

Sensei, didn't you say it was going to be all right, since you'd definitely save her?!

What's the meaning of this?!

This doesn't make any sense!!

Answer me, damn it!!"

".........Keiichi.

...This is actually the third time someone has reported Satoko's child abuse.

...It happened... twice in the past too."

"Furude-san...!"

Sensei tried to stop her, but Rika-chan went on speaking anyway.

"...Twice before?

...I heard they decided to 'wait and see' after reporting it the winter before last... But it happened before then too?"

"...Satoko's father, who died, wasn't her real father."

"What...?

Rika-chan... that's... what?"

I'm stunned at the sudden revelation.

...I had no idea what Rika-chan wanted to tell me...

but it seemed really important... so I couldn't get a word in either.

"...Satoko's mother remarried.

She brought Satoko and Satoshi with her... so they weren't related by blood to their father."

Satoshi was a good kid... one who listened politely to what adults told him.

...He was immediately welcomed by their new father, and was loved.

But... Satoko was different.

She was rebellious, she told lies, she played pranks.

...Her stepfather didn't like her at all.

"...What......

...So... what do you mean...?"

"...Even before she was given to their uncle and his wife... Satoko didn't have a very good relationship with her family."

Of course, her stepfather didn't have any malicious intent at the start.

...At first, he must have worked hard to get his new daughter to accept him.

But... the young Satoko didn't make any effort at all towards that end.

She was distant towards her stepfather, and never opened her heart to him even a little.

...She just got on his nerves all the time... with seemingly-forced lies and pranks.

Her father's discipline and punishment must have been loving at first, of course... but that, too, faded quickly.

"......I don't know because I wasn't in Hinamizawa at the time...

But I learned this on the phone yesterday."

"...What story did you hear, Sensei?"

"...That Satoko-chan...

wanted to trick her parents...

especially her stepfather, so she made up a false story...

And phoned the child consultation center herself."

"She made up a story... about hurting herself...?"

"...Satoko made a fake phone call... to try and get rid of the father she hated."

Child welfare officers rushed there and heard the story.

...Her father genuinely apologized for a few times when he had gone too far, and agreed to let the child welfare center give him coaching.

"......Related agencies looked into it quite a bit.

......They determined that Satoko-chan and her stepfather's hearts not being quite matched up was the cause of the incident...

But they found another problem, above that, with Satoko-chan."

"A problem with Satoko... What was it?"

...Satoko's mother... there were a few times where she had lived with de facto husbands, though those relationships didn't result in remarriage.

...From a young age, Satoko had been forced to call at least two or three people her father.

At some point... Satoko's pranks escalated.

...She would spill food on purpose, turn over her plate... and even throw it.

She would break the windows in the neighborhood, and shoplift candy.

She would put thumb tacks everywhere, and set other traps to seriously hurt people.

...Not in the way she did now, just to get laughs.

She was also fond of telling lies that would be found out right away... and people got mad at her every time.

...But she never, ever changed her behavior.

"......Please don't think Satoko-chan was a problem child.

...Satoko-chan was young... Those were acts of self-defense... that she took so these unknown men wouldn't take her mother from her."

In regards to Satoko's problematic behavior, child psychology experts from public institutions... indicated her actions were to draw her mother's attention to herself.

They acknowledged that she had a form of harmful emotional trauma... and declared that she needed counseling and therapy from professionals.

They didn't know... whether that therapy had healed the wounds in her heart.

"...Satoko-chan purposely hurt herself...

and told them that she was being abused by her stepfather... in an attempt to chase him out."

"...But...

in the end...

her stepfather did abuse her, right?"

"No.

...All of the abuse... had been made up by Satoko-chan.

...Her stepfather, of course, may have scolded her in a somewhat emotional way... but it was nothing out of the ordinary."

Satoko... had lied to chase away her stepfather.

And... they saw through her right away...

and found out...

that Satoko had issues.

"...Oh......

Could it be...

that's why...

the winter before last... they decided to wait and see...?"

"...Yes.

......The child consultation center had all their past records...

so they needed to act carefully... in case Satoko was lying."

"...What the hell...

So... so what?

...Satoko... might be telling a lie, so they needed to be careful.

...So... how does that mean... they'd just end up... waiting and seeing?!"

"......It was the girl who cried wolf."

That fable... about telling a lie once... making others unwilling to believe you later.

"T-That's bullshit!!

The past has nothing to do with this, does it?!

Only what's really happening right now is important!!

Satoko is being abused by her uncle!!

Why is... Why is something that happened in the past getting in the way of helping her now?!"

...Neither Sensei nor Rika-chan had anything to say to that.

"...Anyway, yesterday, a probation officer visited to carefully determine what was going on."

And... Satoko dealt with them... put on the best, strongest smile she could manage, and denied the abuse.

Of course, she was probably being threatened to keep quiet about it by her uncle.

...Satoko was trying to outlast everything without asking for help...

Satoko wanted to wait for Satoshi to come back home...

And she outright denied the truth of the abuse...

...What an idiot...

......What...

...You're not really enduring it...

Do you really think pretending like this... will actually bring Satoshi back...?

Just stop it already.

...Satoshi, he... he abandoned you.

...And the fact that he hasn't shown up to save you now is proof, isn't it?

...So just stop it.

...Please stop being weird and pretending to endure it...

".........Forget everything we just said.

Understand?

If you tell anyone else, your teacher will be very mad with you!"

Chie-sensei gave me a warning then left to go back to the teacher's lounge...

"...Keiichi.

Please don't think Satoko is a pathetic, pitiful girl."

"............"

"...She's living life.

...She's—"

"I know that!! She's our irreplaceable friend!"

"......Satoko is still trying her best.

...Let's watch over her... a little longer...

The person from the consultation center said they'd visit periodically from now on.

...If something terrible happens, they'll help her right away..."

".........Yeah, but only after it happens."

Any more than that would have sounded like I was picking a fight... so I firmly swallowed my next words and went back to the classroom.

Mion and Rena were talking to Satoko like they always did.

...It was a silly conversation.

A humorous, even fun one, like it was any old day.

...If... If Satoko really said she could still endure it...

then maybe I should do as Rika-chan said and watch over her.

...Maybe whatever help I offer will just go unwanted.