KogaMizuo is a person of strong character.

It's only the first day of school, yet someone dared to mess with her turf.

It's absolutely intolerable. (Although she hasn't tolerated it before.)

She is determined to find the culprit, show some authority, or else it won't be easy for her in this school in the days to come.

"Yuki." (Mizuo)

KogaMizuo looks at Yuki with a serious expression.

"W-What's wrong?" (Yuki)

Yuki, unsure of what Mizuo is thinking, fears she might come up with some earth-shattering idea.

"How can I find the person who put the nails?" (Mizuo)

Angry as she may be, she has no clue how to catch the nail culprit right now.

But she doesn't pretend to know it all. When she doesn't understand, she asks.

This reassures Yuki, thankful that Mizuo hasn't lost her wits.

"Um... I'm still thinking about that." (Yuki)

After pondering for a moment, Yuki proposes her idea.

"I think it's unlikely to catch the culprit today. Why don't we act like nothing happened and start monitoring in secret from tomorrow to find out who did it. What do you think?" (Yuki)

"Sigh... Alright, that seems like the only option." (Mizuo)

Mizuo lets out a soft sigh.

Then both of them dispose of the nails and walk home hand in hand.

After walking for a while, Mizuo realizes something is amiss.

She keeps her gaze forward and lowers her voice, "Yuki, it seems like two or three people have been following us."

"Yeah, I noticed too. They go to the same school as us, appear to be third-year students, all boys." (Yuki)

"Mizuo, what are you planning to do?" (Yuki)

"I think we should find a suitable place to shake them off." (Mizuo)

"If they have ill intentions and a conflict breaks out, the two of us won't stand a chance against them." (Mizuo)

Though impulsive, Mizuo remains rational.

She tightens her grip on Yuki's hand, giving her courage.

"Yuki, after the next corner, on the left side, there's a grocery store where we often buy snacks. The old lady there is nice. Let's take advantage of those few seconds when our trackers can't see us and hide inside her store. What do you think?" (Mizuo)

"Yeah, I was also thinking of hiding in the old lady's store!" (Yuki)

The two little girls are in sync without planning.

Initially strolling casually, they immediately turn into rabbits as they round the corner, dashing into the grocery store and hiding behind the old lady's checkout counter, frantically gesturing "shh" "shh" to her.

The old lady understands and smiles without a word, pretending nothing happened.

Little does she know that these two kids are playing hide and seek with a friend.

Until she saw, not long after, three menacing-looking high school students wandering around as if searching for someone, did she realize that these two children were actually seeking refuge here.

"It's okay, don't be afraid." (Old granny)

The old granny gently reassured Yuki and Mizuo, but her eyes remained fixed on the shop's entrance.

"Don't underestimate this old bones of mine, in my youth I used to practice wrestling." (Old granny)

As the old granny spoke, she clenched her fist and flexed her muscles, almost causing Yuki and Mizuo to burst into laughter.

Fortunately, the situation did not escalate to the point where the old granny needed to intervene. The three unknown high school students searched around fruitlessly for Yuki and her friends, then gave up and disbanded.

Just to be safe, Yuki and Mizuo bought some snacks at the old granny's shop, ate a bag of potato chips to confirm that everything was indeed fine, and then thanked the old granny before heading home.

But as soon as they walked out of the shop, someone stealthily followed them down the alley.