A Promise To Stick Together! Drake's Web Coming Together?

They help Haru to his feet and begin to walk away as Shiori stares at Drake from the corner of her eye. They make eye contact as Drake smirks once again at her. She gets a serious look as they begin to walk away. Hashigara and another student then steps next to Drake from down the hall.

Drake "That guy she's stuck with seems to be more trouble than we thought. Figured he was just as messed up as her but he's way more protective of the others."

Hashigara "What should we do?"

Drake thinks for a moment before smiling evilly. 

Drake "I have a thought."

  He says with a confident tone. The group takes Haru to the nurse's office to check on his nose. 

Nurse "Mhm. Feels good, doesn't seem to be broken but it's definitely going to be tender."

She says to Haru, Sugawara, Hikigaya and Chizuru who joined him in the small office. Haru's nose now cleaned up a bit.

Nurse "I'm gonna bandage you up a bit but the rest will be up to you being careful. I could also give you some pain meds if it hurts too much."

She offers softly as Haru shakes his head a bit.

Haru "No thanks, I should be okay."

She smiles at him before turning around and grabbing a clipboard.

Nurse "Okay, now what did you say happened?"

Sugawara "Some jerk came out from around the corner and just hit him for no reason!"

He says, frustrated his boyfriend was hurt.

Nurse "That's not acceptable at all! Do any of you know his name by chance? Anything we could use to locate this student?"

They all have frustrated and conflicted looks on their faces, knowing that none of them caught his name or anything. The nurse sighs softly.

Nurse "I see. Unfortunately, without a name or any information, we won't be able to find the student and reprimand them appropriately. If anything comes up though, please come tell the front office. I have made a report on the matter, they'll take it from there."

They nod before heading out, the rest of the group waiting outside of the office. Haru has a bandage over his nose cut and a tissue in one of his nostrils to prevent further bleeding.

Hisana "Are you okay? Is your nose gonna fall off?"

She asks, concerned. 

Alice "It's not broken, is it?"

Haru "No way! You really think a food tray could break my nose?! Don't be silly!"

He says with a laugh as everyone calms down a bit, seeing his high spirits despite the attack. They begin walking together to head home as Shiori lags behind. Her face looks conflicted and frustrated. Lucy notices her look and approaches her.

Lucy "Hey, you okay?"

Shiori "Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah, I'm fine. You should be asking Haru if he's okay, not me."

She says with a smile but Lucy doesn't budge. 

Lucy "What's going on? You're obviously thinking about something."

Shiori sweats and looks down. 

Shiori "I… I can't help but feel this is my fault…"

Lucy looks at her confused.

Lucy "Your fault? What makes you think that?"

Shiori "The guy who attacked Haru. I think he's trying to get at me by hurting my friends…"

Lucy is surprised by this.

Lucy "Wait, you know the guy? We gotta go tell someone!"

She says while looking around before Shiori stops her with a worried and confused look.

Shiori "Wait! No, we shouldn't! Or, we should? I don't know…"

She stops and crouches down, holding her head. Her face is concerned and confused. Lucy stops and crouches next to her.

Shiori "I've never had to deal with something like this before… I've never had friends to worry about all because of me… I could handle it if he just attacked me but now he's hurting you guys… And now I don't know if beating him up will solve it or if we should just tell someone and hope for the best…"

She admits out loud as she struggles with the thoughts running through her head. Lucy stares at her for a moment, unsure of what to say in response before looking down.

Shiori "Worst of all… I'm afraid you guys won't want me anymore if it means getting hurt… because of me…"

Lucy looks at her with a surprised expression.

Lucy "No way!"

Shiori lifts her head a bit and looks at Lucy.

Lucy "We're not gonna abandon you just because of some jerk who doesn't know how to handle his emotions."

Haru "She's right!"

They look up to see Haru and the others looking at her with smiles.

Haru "So what if this guy wants to hurt you? We've got your back!"

He says with a big smile. Hikigaya shakes his head a bit.

Hikigaya "You big dummy. I can't believe you still haven't learned that yet."

Alice "If this guy wants a fight, then we'll give him one!"

Hisana "Yeah!"

Kitaro has his arms crossed with a neutral look on his face.

Kitaro "I don't know. This might be more effort than she's worth."

Suiyoubi punches him in the arm as he rubs it in pain.

Kitaro "Kidding! I'm just kidding."

He says as Suiyoubi gives him a look. Shiori smiles softly at the group. 

Shiori "Guys…"

Lucy stands and offers her hand to Shiori.

Lucy "Friends stick around, even through the tough stuff. We might not know what happened but hurting someone else to get revenge just isn't right."

Shiori nods and takes her hand, getting back to her feet. 

The next day at school, the group is walking down some stairs, talking and laughing with Shiori towards the bottom and Hikigaya some steps above her when suddenly the male student from the cafeteria incident comes rushing by.

Student "Outta the way! I got somewhere to be!"

He shouts with a smirk on his face before shoving Hikigaya down when running by. It slows down for a moment as he snickers as Hikigaya begins to fall forward. He yells as Shiori turns around, her eyes growing wide as she watches him come falling right for her. There is a loud thump as they both hit the ground. The others rush down the stairs a bit in concern before stopping.

Chizuru "Hikigaya! Shiori!- Oh."

She says as they all stare. Shiori rubs her head as she props herself up.

Shiori "Dang, you're heavy… You okay?"

Hikigaya props himself up on his elbows.

Hikigaya "Yep. I've taken worse falls than that before. You?"

They both have their eyes closed for a moment before their eyes shoot open and blush runs across their faces. They quickly realize that Shiori has landed on Hikigaya's lap on top of him. They pause for a moment, in shock of the position as others around watch and the group giggles. Shiori quickly jumps off of him, her face red as a beet, before closing her eyes and tightening her face.

Shiori "You clumsy dumbass!"

She shouts before kicking him hard. He flips through the air and slams onto the ground a bit away, his eyes swirling. Drake and Hashigara watch from around a corner with their mouths open wide, upset that nothing bad came from their actions.

Hashigara "What was that?.."

She whispers as Drake sweats. 

Drake "Don't worry, I have more ideas.."

Another day, Drake and the guy from before load a bag full of heavy weights that requires both of them to carry. They chuckle to themselves before picking up the bag and approaching a window on the third floor. They open it up and look down to see Touma walking by himself in the courtyard.

Drake "Hey big guy!"

He shouts as Touma looks up to see them tossing the heavy bag out the window.

Drake "Catch!"

He shouts before laughing with the other guy. The bag falls through the air for a moment before Touma catches it above his head with one arm. The guys are shocked as Touma lowers the bag and looks up at them before giving them a thumbs up and walking away. 

A different day, Hashigara and the female from the cafeteria are scribbling on a photo they pinned up to a poster board before spotting someone and dashing away, giggling to themselves. They hide around a corner not too far away as Suiyoubi walks down the hall. She stops by the poster board and stares at the photo they tacked to the board. It is a picture of her with different scribbles on it, mocking her with the words 'Goth Freak' on the bottom of the photo. Suiyoubi stares at it before smiling widely and grabbing the photo before rushing off to the club room. Hashigara and the other girl look confused before following her. They listen in for their muffled voice through the door.

Suiyoubi "Guys, guys! Look! Someone made fanart of me! How cool!"

They facepalm together in frustration at the other failed attempt. 

A few days later, Drake sits with his head in his hands and his leg bouncing as a distraught and frustrated look spreads across his face.

Hashigara "What are we gonna do? The end of the year is coming up and we haven't been able to do a single thing!"

Student 1 "Shiori hasn't shown her true colors at all despite her friends being attacked."

Student 2 "It's not much attacking since none of it is even affecting them. We need a new plan."

Hashigara "Why don't we ask Amy? She was way closer than we were to getting Shiori to snap."

Student 2 "Where is she anyway? I haven't seen her at all-"

As they speak, Drake gets increasingly more irritable.

Drake "Just shut up! All of you! I need to think!"

He says frustrated in a burst before getting an idea. He grabs his phone and starts texting. Shiori's phone rings as she checks her messages to see Drake's number and message.

Drake 'I think it's time we handle this, don't you? Meet me after dark at school'

She reads as her eyes squint a bit but don't show any sign of hesitation. Drake gets up and begins walking away before texting someone else.

Drake 'I think it's time you do your part'

He sends to Amy as he stops and stares at his phone for a moment.

Amy 'Right.'

He smirks before closing his phone.