Chapter 2

**Isolation** is the second chapter of the manga and the middle part of Volume 1.

## Characters

* Taku Kamishiro
* Kouji Shinomiya
* Mika Hanazono
* Kouki Atsumi
* Yamada
* Yashizawa
* Keito Taruka
* Jin'no

## Synopsis

Three days after the collapse of the old school building, it becomes a hot topic on social media, with many wondering what caused it to happen. The authorities couldn't determine what had really happened and decided to pass it off as the building weakening due to its old age. Taku Kamishiro takes out the trash from his classroom and sees Kouji Shinomiya, whose mind has regressed to that of an infant's due to the shock caused by the incident, playing with toy cars.

At the hallway, Mika Hanazono is asked by students on how she is doing. She greets Kamishiro, who avoids her as he hasn't figured out how to approach her. Kamishiro's homeroom teacher, Kouki Atsumi, advises him to talk to others about his problems instead of dealing with them himself. Kamishiro thanks the man who has helped him out in the past a few times in his heart. After receiving birthday presents from his students, Atsumi is approached by another student, Yamada.

Yashizawa, Keito Taruka and Jin'no, classmates of Kamishiro, talk about the old school building incident and how male students are comforting Hanazono to get closer to her. When Yashizawa tries making fun of Kamishiro to get his attention, Kamishiro sees a vision of Yashizawa hanging from the ceiling to be used as a model pendulum for Physics class. Kamishiro's glare frightens Yashizawa and he vomits. The students take him to the school nurse, while Kamishiro realizes that he can not only see visions of Hanazono being murdered, but of his friends as well.

The hospital reports that Yashizawa had a hole in his stomach. When the students discuss what may have caused this, Shinomiya, still acting like an infant, tells them that he saw Kamishiro glaring at him. The students doubt it was Kamishiro's fault but stay away from him when he enters the classroom. Kamishiro, in his mind, thanks them for keeping him at arm's length, worried that he might kill them.

On their group chat, Hanazono's friends advise her to stay away from Kamishiro, who has undergone a change in character and has been absent from school for three days. She comes across the school janitor, who tells her that Kamishiro has told him stories about her and Kamishiro when they were little. These include Hanazono traumatizing Kamishiro by giving him a cage full of roly poly bugs, Kamishiro getting lost in a mountain for a few days while playing hide-and-seek with Hanazono, and Hanazono crashing the bike she and Kamishiro were riding on and sending him flying. The school janitor comes to the conclusion that Hanazono and Kamishiro got along well with each other. Hanazono, however, states that there is a wall between her and Kamishiro right now and that Kamishiro isn't willing to open up to others regarding his problems. The school janitor replies that Kamishiro always had a smile on his face and is easily misunderstood because he can't easily say what he is thinking. This motivates Hanazono to pay Kamishiro a visit.

During the days he was absent from school, Kamishiro observes that his killing intent has no particular pattern or thing to it and that he has gained superhuman strength. He tests it out by crushing an apple, a phone book, various metal objects and manages to stop himself from killing a cat. He contemplates suicide to prevent himself from killing anyone and is interrupted by the arrival of Hanazono.

The two have tea and chicken manju together. Hanazono compliments Kamishiro on how he arranged the tea cups in the cupboard symmetrically with matching colors and asks if he is really sick. When Kamishiro says that he is really sick, Hanazono calls him out on his lie as he has a habit of turning his head to the right and frowning when he lies. The two play video games as Hanazono reflects on how Kamishiro has never really changed in the past decade. Kamishiro tries apologizing to her for attacking her during the incident at the old school building but Hanazono dismisses him, saying that the two only had a little fight and the old school building collapsed at the same time. In his mind, Kamishiro comments that Hanazono's willingness to help others hasn't changed at all either.

Suddenly, Kamishiro tells Hanazono to get out of his home and never return. After Hanazono leaves in tears, Kamishiro takes out the knife hidden in his hoodie, not wishing to let her be murdered by him. Out on the streets, a car drives by Hanazono. The driver, someone Hanazono knows, asks her for directions. Kamishiro goes after Hanazono to apologize for his outburst earlier and sees her gagged and unconscious in a car driving by. Kamishiro realizes that she has been kidnapped and attempts to call the police, but his body moves on its own and dashes after the car with superhuman speed. Kamishiro tries to stop himself from catching up to the car as he'll kill Hanazono if he does so. After seeing a vision of him driving his car and dragging along Hanazono by the intestines, Kamishiro gets consumed by his murderous intent and continues his pursuit, before being run over by a car.

In the car containing Hanazono, Yamada looks back and tells the driver that the car behind them ran over something. The driver, revealed to be Atsumi, assumes it was just some sort of animal.