Summary
Coming out of her daze, Kana is alarmed to find Erika standing before her and realizes she has been taken back to the day before the bullying began. Enraged, she listens as Erika reminds her of what she said- that because she didn't have club activities they could go out after school to buy more charms for their bags. She takes off to get to class and Kana is left bewildered, wondering why everything is suddenly okay. Instead of being happy though, she angrily chews out the ghost for failing to grant her wish.
Like that day, she runs into Tsukamoto and her friends again and they proceed to have the same conversation with her. But this time she decides not to protect Erika and claims that she does speak poorly of her.
As expected, the following day Erika has been made the victim of bullying instead of Kana. As the girls in class turn their backs to her, Kana remains silent having come to the decision that if she can't get rid of Erika then she will just make her feel as miserable as she did, until she wants to kill herself. Considering how she made her feel, it's deserving.
Suddenly, Kana comes up with an idea. She suggests that they grab Erika and lock her in that abandoned room from the old block, and points out that the Teacher won't be coming for a while yet so hey have plenty of time. Tsukamoto and her friends agree and together the girls gang up on Erika and force her up to the room in the other building.
If it means getting revenge, then today she will become a demon...
From where she stands Kana watches as the girls shove Erika into a corner of the room, harshly criticizing the fact that she spoke poorly of Tsukamoto. Erika can only watch helplessly when a girl takes out a lighter and they make plans of burning her bag and its contents; including the on it. Refusing to give in, Erika fights with them and bumps into the girl with the lighter, causing her arm to go back and hit the old curtains with the lighter.
In no time a flame is lit and the girls quickly plan to retreat as Kana decides to take advantage of the situation before her. She suggests that they block the exit so that Erika can't escape- and initially Tsukamoto's friends express concern in such a risky idea, but this doesn't stop her. The girls head off as Kana begins boarding up the door, and Erika makes a remark on Kana's wish coming true.
It dons on Kana that the strange, mysterious figure who was observing her might have been Erika. Otherwise how would she have known about it?
It doesn't matter though. Kana briskly reminds Erika that the ghost granted her wish anyway and says goodbye to her, slamming the door shut and taking off as the flames rapidly begin to spread.
As Kana rejoins Tsukamoto she observes the rain-filled sky. Tsukamoto and her friends find what they witnessed amusing, but they are sure it will be alright because it was such a small flame anyway. With that Kana decides to wash her hands of the whole thing; but she spots the matching charms in Erika's bag after Tsukamoto realizes she accidentally grabbed it. She intends on throwing them away, but Kana -surprised and unable to recognize them- quickly snatches the charms and rushes back into the old building.
Forcing the door open, Kana angrily demands an explanation when she finds Erika, growing weaker from the flame and smoke surrounding her. Erika begins to observe them before admitting that the entire time she spent with Tsukamoto and her friends, Kana was the only thing on her mind. She wanted to be her friend again more than anything and bought the charms, hoping that she could speak to her and make amends. But she was too ashamed to approach her because of the pain she caused, and for being too weak to stand up to Tsukamoto.
This is why she came up to the abandoned room...
Distraught, Kana yells at Erika; it was her fault for ruining what they had. Growing further weakened, Erika smiles and thanks Kana for being her good friend. As she begins to weep, Kana thinks back to the day they entered middle school. She had been so anxious over finding out if they had the same class, and initially she accused Erika of coldly being indifferent because she wasn't worried. But when Erika expressed relief to see they did share classes, she was happy realizing how wrong she had been.
Realizing she has made a horrible mistake, Kana turns to fight with the door to try to open it again. Erika tells her not to bother trying to save her though, because it will be her wish that comes true next anyway. Kana then realizes that it was not her wish the ghost chose to grant after-all and Erika explains that because of what happened, she came to the abandoned room and made a wish to go back to when things were fine.
Before she can say anything else, the spreading flames cause the girls to become separated. Kana desperately tries to locate her friend as her health rapidly decreases, and she grabs the fire extinguisher nearby, throwing it at a window keeping them apart where the flames have yet to reach. She rushes inside to find Erika laying motionless on the floor and lifts her up, pulling her towards safety. Erika cries and apologizes for the pain she caused Kana, but Kana refuses to speak of it, encouraging her friend not to give up. She stops upon seeing the roll book and she tosses it into the flames, unwilling to lose her friend a second time.
Unknown to the girls, the mysterious black-haired girl who saw Kana writing in the book -revealed to be Yomi- picks the book up. Seeing as their lesson has been learned, she returns them to their current time.
Suddenly, Kana realizes she's back in the building and looks around to see that it's no longer burning. She gets up and rushes outside to find a dazed Erika standing near Tsukamoto and her friends. The girls fail to acknowledge them and call out to each other, reuniting. Despite Tsukamoto's attempts at ruining this by threatening to bully Erika, the girls ignore her and hold hands.
In this time they have come to realize they are no longer alone. Together they can overcome bullying- and anything else that comes their way!
When people are alone they are likely to attack others. They hurt them because they are weak. But it's okay, because everything will be alright...
As Kana admires the scenery she is called by Erika, who reminds her that the Magazine store will be closing soon. Happily, Kana runs up to her as she proclaims that she will never lose sight of what is important ever again.
Tropes:
- Break the Cutie
- Disproportionate Retribution: Even though she cowardly turned her back to Kana, Erika didn't deserve to be locked in a burning room. Even Tsukamoto and her friends were shocked by Kana's cruelty.
- Earn Your Happy Ending
- Kill It with Fire: Kana didn't plan on killing Erika when the fire began, but seeing it spread she boarded the door so that Erika couldn't escape. But after realizing what happened she returned to save her.
- School Bullying Is Harmless: It nearly ended with Erika being killed in an out-of-control fire...
- Stock Shoujo Bullying Tactics: Kana decides to return the favor to Erika from the prior chapter.
- You Are Not Alone: After saving Erika from the burning room, both girls come to realize this and regain their friendship. This also allows them to stop being afraid of Tsukamoto and stand up to her.
