Rei is now a second-year high school student, but Hayashida is no longer his homeroom teacher. No new friends and being uncomfortable in the new class without the one teacher who somehow cared about him, Rei questions his purpose of returning to high school. He wonders if going back to school is the way to stop “running away.” Then, Hayashida proposes forming a new, combined club of Noguchi’s After School Burners Club and the shogi club. Rei had never before found his place in high school, but this new club may be the place to provide him with a sense of belonging.
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