Report 38

Plot
Arata wakes up in the infirmary. He is told by Sumire, the school nurse, that they were found unconscious and sees Rena in the bed next to him, still not having regained her consciousness. Sumire commends him for protecting Rena as they fell, and then leaves for the staff room, asking Arata to wait until Rena wakes up and telling him that Chizuru was the one who found them and brought their bags to the infirmary.

Arata sees that the second bag Rena had on her shoulder is gone, confirming his suspicion that it belonged to Chizuru, and wonders why Rena had the bag. He wonders if Chizuru might be getting harassed and enduring it alone, which reminds him of a series of events from his working life. His company introduced a productivity-based ranking system which turned the friendly rivalries between co-workers into enmity, and a woman Arata worked with became the target of harassment. She and Arata received the blame for mistakes they did not make, and Arata remembers her telling him that she was not angry at those responsible, but seeing the change in people who used to work hard together made her sad.

Arata is brought back from his memories as Rena awakens. Arata explains to her what happened, and that it was Chizuru who found them. He points out that the second bag Rena had is gone and asks Rena why did she have Chizuru's bag, telling her not to run away.