Chapter Text
*SLAM*
Several nearby students jumped at the sudden bang of the door, twitching their heads sharply in the direction of the door to the staff room.
Yet they quickly turned back to whatever business they were tending to with more than due haste. Girls who had been hanging around the area, whether staring at their feet in a disbelieving trance or trying to keep busy and distracted through light chatter with one another, all equally made the silent agreement that they didn't wanna be anywhere near the lit fuse that was the inflamed actress. Waruna turned to the wall opposite the staff room door with a dark expression, her body language signalling loud and clear that anybody who dared mess with her right now would pay.
Scrunching her fingers open-palmed against the wall, she began furiously bashing the top of her head against the beige wall. Over, and over, and over over over again.
Each crash of her cranium sending unpleasant jolts throughout her body that she didn't give a damn about. Pain was a welcome sensation compared to the utter humiliation she had just suffered in that accursed room. And if she could allow herself to imagine that the particular spot she was on eye-level with was that harlot's face she was crashing her head against, all the better!
Maybe if she kept at it, Waruna thought in a haze of fury, eventually either it or her skull would crack from the violent concussive impacts! She'd take either at this point!!
After what felt like minutes of what was solidifying her image as Aetheria Academy's most terrifying specimen (a perception that didn't really need reinforcing anyway, given the dead silence of the previously occupied and busy halls), Waruna finally stopped. Bopping her forehead against the wall one final time, she took in a deep breath through her nose, before releasing it out in a shaky tremor. Probably not Kurane-certified as a recommended self-calming technique, but if violence worked why, change anything?
Snorting to herself, Waruna sunk her shoulders against the wall and tried to collect herself back together. She really needed that stimulus after the shitshow that went on in the locker room behind her...
That Martina lady was a real piece of work... Like, what was she even doing down here anyway? Didn't she have grunts to do her dirty work for her? It was unlike a Peacekeeper Section Chief, especially one with as much authority and influence as the freaking Vice Director of all people, to separate herself off from her underlings and conduct a sham investigation of her own... Why call out Waruna in particular? And what the hell could she've have gotten out of her from a diary, of all things? Hoping the high school girl had slipped up and put something stupidlu incriminating in there?
Pfffft! As if! That bitch lady had nothing on her, nor Yoshiko, nor Kura—
She paused.
Lifting her head with great speed and causing the Star & Moon earrings she was wearing to jingle violently at the force, she went through that last thought once more.
Kurane was...
Her mouth going dry, Waruna made an uncomfortable swallow as she realized.
Martina Electro had stolen her diary out of her locker. The woman was still in there. She was searching the girl's lockers. She was likely searching through all of them. Yoshiko's locker might get searched! Kurane's locker might get searched! They were all gonna—!
Wait a minute...
...
Kurane was still in there!
"Fuck..." She whispered, her natural glare morphing into a look of terror as she realized her friend was in danger.
And in tragic coincidence, just as she thought that...
*BAM*
Waruna turned on her heel so fast she felt her twintails might richochet against her face like whiplash.
"Oh, s-shit!" Waruna jumped back with as much grace as a high-jumper cat, with bristles on its back to boot, too.
Before she could do anything, a white and red blur immediately sprinted past her, leaving behind the dark wooden door to the staff room slowly creaking back into position after crashing against the interior room's wall. The only thing keeping it from flying off from the sheer force applied to it being the rusty old hinges holding it into place. Several girls from inside gazed out from within in shocked disbelief and morbid interest, Waruna could see.
She began breathing heavily in response a second later, obviously not expecting a jumpscare. Placing a hand against her rising and falling chest, she locked her gaze on the retreating figure.
"Wh-What the hell?!" She asked no one in disbelief, rising out of her stupor to walk away from the room violently burst out from to look down the hall. Several girls had emerged from various rooms or off the floor into the hallway, all voicing their confusion aloud at the speedy blob that was...
'K-Kurane!' Waruna thought in dreadful worry, shifting her eyes back to the staff room for a moment before looking back down the hall. What did that woman do to you?!
Her confusion turned back into smoldering, white hot anger in an instant.
But there... wasn't anything she could do about it... As much as she really wanted to... she couldn't lay a finger on that corrupt hack. One wrong move and not only would she be in gargantuan trouble, and that'd be it for her, but they might also go after the others... And given Waruna was the only one with brains today apparently, it was up to her to keep them all from falling apart and scattering like sand in the wind...
Then what could she do?!
Her mind felt fried. She didn't know where the erratic girl was going exactly, but judging by the direction of her flight of retreat, Kurane was heading... back upstairs, Waruna reasoned. But knowing that, what should she do?
The smart thing, obviously, would be to head back in the makeup room. Kurane technically wasn't her business, and helping her out when so many eyes were predisposed to suspicion right now was beyond stupid!
But then... things had already gone to hell, hadn't they...? They'd gone to hell as soon as that poison graced Karen's lips, changing the status quo forever going forward. And now, everything was in complete chaos! Suspicion was rampant, Peacekeepers were crawling all over like vermin, and her friends had both collectively decided to pull out their dunce hats for the murder afterparty Special! Nothing made fucking sense anymore...
So... should she just say "screw it?"
Walking listlessly forward, rubbing her bracelet in a vain attempt to comfort herself, among all the girls conversing each other trying to find out what the hell was going on, Waruna saw her.
Yoshiko, seemingly having been unable to ignore the explosive cacophony of activity brought about by one of their friends making a hell dash like she was gonna give the Bolt a run for his money, stepped out of the Rest Area in grave concern.
'Oh, you know what..' Waruna sighed internally, waving the white flag. 'I give up... If we survive this day, I'll be fucking impressed.'
"Ugh! This day just keeps getting worse and worse!" She complained loudly, assuring that everyone around her could hear her words loud and clear. Which they did, judging by several girl looking behind themselves and shrinking away from her domineering presence and out to the sides.
'Good.' She thought in satisfaction. Now she had her excuse to get moving.
Making up her mind, Waruna stomped forward in the direction the fleeing girl had gone, shoving any girls who hadn't taken the hint out of her way. She didn't care about their shrill complaints, lobbying offended glares at her moving form as she made her way down the hall. Making her way to pass the Rest Area, Yoshiko saw her, and the honor student made an attempt to flag Waruna down.
"Uh, Waruna?" Yoshiko asked in confusion with a raised hand, her head swiveling between her, the girls she'd slammed to the sides on her way passed, and the hallway leading upstairs. "W-Was that Kurane? What happened?" She asked in desperate confusion.
"I don't wanna hear it! No time!" Waruna rudely denied her, but upon stomping by adjacent to Yoshiko, Waruna swiftly gave her counterpart a meaningful look and directed her eyes toward the ceiling. Along with the slightest of head nods. But otherwise, did not halt her advance.
Yoshiko closed her gaping mouth, standing there in front of the Rest Area for several moments before turning to face the opposite direction Waruna was marching towards.
She felt her first hit of pleasure associated with Yoshiko since the end of the play when she heard the girl address the gathered girls in the hallway.
"Everyone!" Yoshiko called in a loud, authoritative voice. "I am unsure what the cause of the disturbance is, but please remain calm! Rest assured, I will look into this now and resolve the problem! Please continue to follow the Peacekeepers instructions and remain underground until expressly told otherwise! Thank you so much, and be good girls!"
With notable sighs of relief and voices expressing their approval sounding off behind her, it wasn't long before she heard the click clack of Yoshiko's heels echo through the hallway behind her. Far enough away that nobody would suspect they were cooperating toward the same goal at all. Good, at least the honor deuce still had some screws fixed in place.
And with that, both girls hurried to find their distressed friend...
Run. Run. RUN! Get away! Keep running! Don't you dare STOP! Leave me be! Alone... Leave me ALONE!!!
Her heart was beating so fast she felt like it would burst out of her chest and limply drag against her clothes like a fleshy, disgusting marionette doll. Held onto its shape only by the barest of strings. And that's what she felt like... A damn puppet whose strings were about to be cut and moments away from falling down into a deep, dark abyss from which she could never climb out of.
Various faces baring different expressions: friendly, surprised, annoyed, spooked, concerned, anxious, confused, disinterested. Everything under the rainbow blurred together like one, as if it was 100 miles away and obscured by storm clouds, Kurane paid little heed and ran passed them all. She couldn't focus on anything...
Clutching her pocketbook so tight against her chest whilst her left arm swung back and forth in her mad dash, Kurane cursed that Martina lady to hell!
She wished that woman would fall into the river and drown in sewer sludge! That she would sip an unsuspecting drink and have her throat get cut up by a rusty shard of glass! That someone would yank that long mane of stupidly beautiful hair off her head, dunk her head in a sink of acid, and light her clothes on fire!
Damn Martina Electro! Damn the Peacekeepers! Damn everything right now!!!
As she hastily made her way up the last flight of stairs, Kurane continued running. Albeit now at a slightly slower pace, given her heavy breathing and rising fatigue.
Turning hard left passed a shocked peacekeeper grunt manning the underground entrance, Kurane quickly dashed across the opulent Theater Hall Entrance and toward one place she could go to escape it all. It was stupid, and childish, and not really all that safe or smart, but dammit Kurane needed some space right now!
And the restroom would have to do...
Not caring the least bit about the image of running out like a madwoman, Kurane crossed the entrance hall to the other side.
Due to her frantic pace, she didn't hear a particularly irate grunt grumble aloud.
"Seriously...? That's the fourth time a girl's had to make an emergency restroom run! Not even including that teacher... Is everyone suffering from food poisoning today, or something?!" He asked in disbelief. "...Maybe we should consider arresting the cafeteria ladies on top of all this... Something's wrong with the diets of everyone at this damn school." He shook his head, nonetheless turning back to resume his post. Not the least bit concerned about checking the spazzy girl.
After all, even if the languid-looking high schooler was suspicious, where could she even go?
Having ignored everyone, Kurane dived into the sanctuary of the open access girl's restroom. Finally making it inside, Kurane halted her running and finally paused. Her heart still pounding against her breast like steam pistons, Kurane harshly heaved against the yellow painted walls and felt sweat accumulate on her forehead and under her clothes. She sucked in large quantities of air in an attempt to satiate her body's need for new oxygen. She breathed in and out in rapid succession.
That... was horrible.
But at least she was safe now...
Or... no, she wasn't... Who was she kidding? Kurane wasn't safe at all!
Although her body could somewhat relax, her mind was still spinning in overdrive over what just happened.
'Are you hiding something? If you keep hiding it, you'll be sorry later on'
'Don't tell me you're also hiding the chemical used in the murder...'
'Hey, you. Check Kurane's body to see if she's hiding something.'
Even though she had been commanded to do so, and almost certainly would've been punished for refusing the direct orders of such a high-ranking individual, Kurane still burned the face of the girl who had searched her down into her memory like a shrine of hate. She had been mortified to be openly questioned on full display to many unwelcome eyes, and the thought of this... horrible stranger searching her locked from top to bottom left her sick in to her stomach, too... But that nepotistic cretin also demanded her very person be violated as well?!
Was this some kind of sick game to the woman?! Get others to do her dirty work for her? Not even bother handling a delicate investigation such as this like a responsible, decent human being, but trot through their proud historic space like a muddy dog tracking filth onto a fine painting? If her parents found out about this, she knew they'd wanna seek reprisals if for nothing else than a member of their family being subject to a humiliating search and seizure; it was just a shame that psycho Martina was so high up the food chain such complaints wouldn't get anywhere. And that filled Kurane with a bitter resentment.
How much more were those bastards gonna take from she and her friends?! First they steal the sanctity of Aiko's memory by refusing to enact justice on her guilty perpetrator, and now they defile the sanctity of her home and trample over these beautiful halls with their uncouth filth?!
It was just too much for Kurane...
And taking her pocketbook was the last straw. Kurane had to get out of there. She just had to...
Having composed her breathing but still racked with anxiety, Kurane rubbed her hands against her head frantically, messing up her normally neat and tidy updo hair.
"I hate them. I hate those freaks! What's even the point of them if all this is just a big, fat scam?!"
She intrinsically knew the answer, given her and Yoshiko's thorough investigations together. This is just how they did things. They didn't really care that a high school girl was dead. They just didn't wanna upset their perfect little mirage disguising this dystopia-blanketed city! It didn't even matter that Aetheria catered to the youngest and brightest of Kanai's emerging elite, no one was safe from the Peacekeepers', and by extension Amaterasu Corporation's, malicious influences.
Kurane... and Yoshiko and Waruna... and poor Aiko... they were all just numbers on a spreadsheet, treated with names as if they were only arbitrary labeling. Kurane detested them.
"...Seriously? You're having a breakdown in the restroom of all places? Go figure..." Came a scoff from the entryway.
"Aughhh!" Kurane yelped, momentarily thrust back into fight or flight mode as she attempted to run further passed the toilet stalls. Obviously, there was nowhere left to run to but into the back wall.
Thankfully, before she could divebomb into an immovable stationary object and smash her face into very unpleasant contortions, Kurane's legs gave out and with a muffled scream she landed on her knees in a slide. Barely catching herself from falling all the way down.
"Sssss..." Kurane hissed, letting out a noise of pain. "Owww...."
"Oh my God, chill!" The voice sounded again, hissing her in quieter tone. "It's just me, Kurane."
That voice...
"W-Waruna...?" Kurane asked shakily and still somewhat pained, looking behind her still in her fallen position to confirm.
Waruna hummed an affirmative. "Mhmm. And any second now..."
"Kurane? Are you in here?" A second voice revealed itself, coming from straight outside the restroom. Kurane watched in wonder as her other friend stepped tentatively inside and regarded her with an immensely worried look.
"Yoshiko?!" she asked in a now panicked voice. "W-What? Why?! What are you two doing here?! Get out! We can't be seen together!"
"Pfft." Waruna blew her lips, leaning against the wall as Yoshiko hurriedly stepped past her and towards Kurane. "With everything that's happened, it's a little too late for that, I'd say..."
Kurane regarded Waruna with the same exasperation she'd felt earlier. Wasn't that Waruna's fault then? She'd already broken their isolation vow earlier, and here she is getting to say that it doesn't matter anymore? And Yoshiko for that matter, too! Stepping gently towards her sitting prone form in concern like she hadn't also broke ranks.
However... it was much harder feel upset with Yoshiko than Waruna. Even though Kurane didn't wanna be upset with either of them.
Kneeling in front of her and checking to see how hurt she was, Yoshiko turned her head and directed her voice behind her. "Waruna, can you guard the door and keep anyone from coming in here please?" She asked the intimidating blonde, continuing to fuss over Kurane's clothed knees in a motherly, doting incessantly as Kurane looked to the side with flushed cheeks. Like she was a little school girl and scraped her knee on the playground and needed an adult's attention.
Waruna nodded, agreeing easily enough. It was bad enough Waruna and Yoshiko were seen going in the same direction after Kurane, but since it was an emergency it couldn't be helped... So damage control would have to do. She stepped out into the restroom entryway and began a lookout for anyone coming their way. Peacekeeper or student, she'd shoo them away.
"Kurane, are you okay?" Said girl turned her attention back to the Theater Club leader, regarding her with worry through her flowery eyes.
"I-I'm fine." Kurane said after a deep breath. "It's just... that lady, Martina Electro..." She trailed, gritting her teeth with scorn-filled eyes.
"What did she do to you?" Waruna asked dangerously from her position, having looked back into the restroom and staring at Kurane with a mixture of protectiveness and wrath. "That bitch looked through my diary! I-I should've stayed in the staff room with you, but I was so humiliated I..." She lamented regretfully, not pausing as Yoshiko looked back at her in shock, having only just learned this. "...I shouldn't have left you alone with her. D-Did she interrogate you? If she so much as touched you I don't care how powerful she is, I'll claw her eyes out!!!"
Kurane's resentment ridden heart lightened at hearing Waruna's words. Did she really mean that? Even after what happened earlier...?
Once again, Waruna's rough countenance masked a deep, protective care...
"What happened?" Yoshiko kneeling next to her asked in a tight voice. Yoshiko also looked stricken with immense anger, which instinctually left Kurane terrified.
It was a rare thing for Yoshiko to express anger at anybody. She'd only seen it a few times, but such rare instances left no one happy at the end if Yoshiko's well-maintained composure was broken apart.
Licking her lips and swallowing to clear her dry throat, Kurane began relaying what happened. "The Vice Director... after you left Waruna, she decided to look through Karen's locked next, and..."
Yoshiko listened with a feeling of tranquil fury as Kurane recounted the events that happened in the staff room, starting when the Vice Director paid the Theater Club girls inside with an unscheduled visit. Everyone in the room had been taken off guard as such a dangerous individual in the Peacekeepers hierarchy had taken it upon herself to personally question a bunch of high schoolers.
Kurane recalled how the woman asked each of the girls on the sidelines the standard questions: where were they during the play, did they see anything, who they suspected, etc. Although she conducted such questionings over in the corner, Kurane suspected the woman had deliberately done all that semi-openly as some form of intimidation tactic, or strategy to pressure the girls to loosen their lips with the lead investigator coming to them to listen to their testimonies. For what exact purpose she did that, however, Kurane couldn't say...
Waruna corroborated what she had to say next from the entryway about when Martina called in Waruna for questioning too. That all she needed from the girl was the key to her diary in an obvious breach of acceptable privacy. Waruna was forced to fold, then everyone in the room watched as this adult woman skimmed through a high school girl's diary as 'evidence.' Waruna made to convince both girls fervently that nothing besides the torn photo was in anyway incriminating, and even then without the proper context it was all useless.
Yoshiko spoke for both herself and Kurane. "You're not the one in the wrong here, Waruna." Yoshiko assured her friend with stern certainty, watching the other girl purse her lips in shame over the earlier public showing. "We know you wouldn't make that kind of mistake. All of this is the fault of the Peacekeepers. Not you. Not any of us."
A sentiment which all three girls readily agreed with. Although Karen had always been the face of their troubles, she was also symbolic of a much greater sickness looming over the city like a plague cloud. So even if their direct enemy was gone now, the primary force which allowed her to get away with her crime in the first place still loomed at large, untouched.
Although Yoshiko certainly understood her visceral anger at the Peacekeeper leader here, Martina Electro. Yoshiko was well aware of the woman's reputation...
But, getting back on track...
Kurane told them the last bits that happened. After Waruna stomped out of the staff room, Martina had sifted through Karen's locker and found Karen's script haphazardly shoved inside. Kurane had been so hasty to get her last job in the scheme done that she had fumbled right at the end. Not a good thing, but considering how no one was supposed to know Kurane even had Karen's script at all, it should've been fine...
"...Someone must've seen you." Yoshiko noted, biting her lower lip as Kurane lowered her head down even more.
"Yeah." Kurane confirmed quietly, probably thankful to not be yelled at for her mistake. Yoshiko didn't see the point in doing so now, even if she was a person inclined to do that. "The rest is pretty straightforward." She shrugged. "Martina started questioning me after that. Saying she had an eyewitness account of me grabbing the script, pressuring me on if I used any poison..." Kurane spilled out shakily, both other girls looking at her in sympathy. "A-And then... She had one of the others search me. She found my pocketbook and sifted through it, and... and..." Her throat began to close up.
Warm, gentle arms enveloped Kurane around her shoulders and behind her neck, immediately loosening the girl's tight taut muscles and stiffness. "It's okay, Kurane. It's okay..." Yoshiko whispered as she pressed the side of her head to Kurane's, her brown hair tickling against Kurane's cheeks in a familiar manner. This wasn't the first time Kurane needed reassurance like this, after all.
Even Waruna stepped away from her spot near the entryway, dropping to a knee and snaking her arm around Kurane's other side. She patted Kurane's shoulder with a closed-eye expression. "You didn't deserve that, Kurane... That bitch had no right to do that to you. Especially with so many witnesses around!"
Kurane seemed to deflate upon receiving her friends' care and acceptance, closing her eyes with a sniffle and putting on a brave smile.
Even if Yoshiko couldn't do anything about the Amaterasu exec who had hurt her friend, she was more than happy to offer a handkerchief to stem the flowing tears...
Kurane got up off the floor without Yoshiko or Waruna needing to assist her. She was still sniffling slightly, but looked much better. She gave a smile of gratitude to both of them.
"Thanks you two..." Kurane said.
"Yoshiko." Waruna prompted, forcing the taller girl to give her attention. "What the hell are we supposed to do now?" She asked bluntly, both her and Yoshiko having gotten up from their kneeled positions too.
Definitely a fair question, Yoshiko conceded, putting an inquisitive finger to her lips.
She genuinely hadn't expected for any of the Peacekeepers, let alone the Chief Investigator, to so brazenly strut her stuff in front of all the students and personally take charge. All of Yoshiko's prior research into the Investigation arm of the Peacekeepers' security detachment had led her to believe that they would conduct affairs in a muddled, haphazard way. As in, they'd take a cursory glance over the crime scene, question any relevant witnesses, and based on their low-quality findings (paired with whatever ulterior motives they were harboring that day...) either stall things out, or produce a convenient conclusion and shut the case.
That was the primary reason Yoshiko proposed the radical separation between the three of them! They'd individually be brought in for questioning, maaaaybe even be put under some amount of pressure due to their infamous rivalry between each other and Karen, but ultimately couldn't be even halfway reasonably pinned for anything.
Technically that alibi extended to every other girl in the Theater Club; whether it actually protected all of her girls or not—
—dark thoughts slipping into her mind like corrosive toxin. do not think about—
—from what Kurane and Waruna were saying, Martina Electro had gone above and beyond the call of duty. Especially without the presence of any of her underlings. But despite such unexpected developments...
Yoshiko, after thinking it over for a few seconds, dropped her hand and gave an honest answer. "...We should head back now. Despite all the... weirdness that has occurred today..." Yoshiko acknowledged with lidded eyes, shelving her friends' odd behavior for a later date. "There's no need to change course. Both of you should head back to the makeup and staff rooms respectively, whilst I let the other girls know the situation has passed. We go back to our designated spots like before and weather this storm through~!" She instructed with a tone bearing more positivity than she was actually feeling.
However, a disbelieving scoff from Waruna undercut her plan instantly.
"Tch. Yeah, 'like before,' right~?" She mocked, taking a step back and leveling her and Kurane with critical stares. "And once we do go back, you and Ms. Morose won't be acting like spineless cowards anymore?"
Yoshiko narrowed her eyes at the out of left field insult. "Spineless...?" She asked, fiddling with her neckerchief for a second as she processed Waruna's words.
What was she talking about...?
"Hey." Kurane directed at Waruna, her previous happiness eroded and replaced with an amber glare. "...What's that supposed to mean?"
"Don't play dumb with me. It's never worked for you before, and today's no different." Waruna gesticulated with an open hand, the other jutting her hip out. She continued irritably. "I'm talking about when I saw you earlier. What the Hell were you thinking, Kurane?!" She questioned harshly. "And don't think you're not on my shitlist too, Yoshiko! You both have some explaining to do!!!"
Yoshiko, understandably, was incredibly confused. What in the world did she mean by that? All three of them played their parts to perfection! Naturally, because they'd deliberately separated after the play was marred with spilled blood and its 'finest' actress sent to the afterlife, none of them were supposed to communicate with each other afterwards, especially at school. For all of Yoshiko and Waruna's hard work on that front, that plan had gone down the drain pretty quick, Yoshiko lamented in annoyance.
So she was most likely referring to after the performance. But how could she possibly construe Yoshiko shooing her away, exactly like they'd agreed upon earlier, as spineless? Waruna was calling her a coward? As well as lumping Kurane in?
Why was she...?
Kurane quickly intercepted Waruna's harsh words, stepping up next to Yoshiko to defend them both. "Are you talking about from before Martina called you in?" Kurane asked redundantly, looking like she knew exactly what Waruna was referring to. Which surprised Yoshiko considerably. "That's what I wanna know! Why were you acting so weird when we were talking? I tried to ask you about the shuffling of the cups and set up the scene for you, but you were acting downright bizarre!"
Yoshiko shifted her gaze between the two in rapid succession, both girls looking increasingly fired up as Yoshiko stood there only getting painted an even more complicated picture. They both met up with each other?
Also suddenly realizing that no one was manning the entrance, Yoshiko quickly filed over and checked outside, her heart skipping a beat at their lapse.
...
Okay, it was all clear.
"Is your brain even on right now?!" Waruna asked derisively, Yoshiko looking back to see her taking an aggressive step forward which Kurane matched. "You know why I did that! I told you two, over, and over, and over again! No mingling! No funny business! No complicated shenanigans!!!" She derided, halfway clenching her hand to express her anger. "And what did you do...? You broke the promise! That's why I kicked you out!" She side eyed Yoshiko next to the doorway. "Same with you, who I expected a lot better from, by the way!"
'Kicked out...?' Yoshiko repeated in her head. Did she mean the staff room or the makeup room? Because Yoshiko never went to either...
Waruna came to her.
"Kicked me ou—WHAT?!" Kurane exclaimed in disbelief. "YOU were the one who left. You went to your locker to grab something after I laid my head down, then left the staff room. What are you even talking about?!"
Waruna went to the staff room??? Yoshiko's jaw dropped, forcing herself to cover it with her hand as the girls continued to fire back and forth in a frenzy.
Stomping her foot against the tiled restroom floor, Waruna shot back with a confused glare. "Do I—Do I need to knock you upside the head with a shovel or something?! I never went to my locker! I haven't even been in the staff room since before the play, not until that Martina bitch called for me. You came to ME!" She yelled.
An errant thought shot off in the back of Yoshiko's head like lightning. Yoshiko blinked multiple times as this confusing rubber band ball of intersecting knots and contradictory words unravelled. Waruna never went to the staff room? And, allegedly, Kurane never went to the makeup room.
Yet they both claim to have seen each other.
Then... what about when they...?
"Kurane, I don't..." Waruna took in a ragged breath, looking like she was about to pop a blood vessel. "Why are you trying to deny it so much?" She asked desperately.
"I'm not denying anything!"
"I saw you!"
"And I saw you too!!!" Kurane held her head in her hands, immensely stressed from this useless back and forth. "I was... I w-was sitting in the staff room the whole t-time... I didn't leave once aside from... from when I was c-called in for q-questioning. That's ALL!"
"I..." Waruna drew in a sharp breath, looking hopelessly lost as she took an uncertain step back and halted at the edge of the sink. Kurane had no reason to deny what Waruna saw as the truth this much... But Waruna knew what she saw! "But that's...!"
A voice of clarity finally broke through the madness of their argument.
"Waruna. Kurane. How did I first react when you two walked up to me earlier?"
Both actresses of opposite personalities both broke from their futile back and forth and turned to Yoshiko with knitted eyebrows. Having walked away from the entryway, not seeing anyone coming to the restroom anytime soon, Yoshiko glided over in front of both girls and stared meaningfully at both of them.
"...Huh?" Waruna stared at Yoshiko, her anger momentarily broken. "W-What does that have to do with any—"
"Just..." Yoshiko interruped with a raise of her hand, staring at Waruna with an unwavering stare. "...Answer my question. Please." She pleaded, asking without words to just trust her for now.
"U-Um, okay...?" Waruna accepted reluctantly. "You were, uh, coordinating everyone from below the stage, then when I came up you asked me if I'd memorized all my lines. And uh—oh, you were asking what you did. Uh, yeah. That was all..." Waruna recounted from memory, pulling the encounter from before the performance.
"That's what I did...? I... didn't snub you, or turn you away, or...?"
"No...?" Waruna shook her head, looking at Yoshiko with increasingly narrowed eyes.
Yoshiko paused for a few seconds, directing her gaze at the ground in unease before shooting back up. "Kurane." She spitfired, causing Kurane to jump slightly. "What did I do when you came to me last today?"
"I didn't..." Kurane said slowly. "...You told me yesterday not to even bother, just take anything up with the Production Manager or my partner. We haven't... talked at all today, Yoshiko." Kurane confirmed, trying to decipher her friend's intentions.
"..." Yoshiko mouthed words silently to herself, processing the two's accounts.
Stepping forward, Waruna broke Yoshiko out of her trance with a shove to her shoulder. "Hey! Don't just go silent like that! Who the hell cares what we did earlier? That doesn't matter to what's going on right now."
But Yoshiko did not agree with that statement. Not at all.
"Then..." Yoshiko began finalizing fearfully. "...Who was it that came up to me earlier in the Rest Area?" Both Waruna and Kurane tilted their heads in confusion, wondering what she was talking about. "Two people approached me, and they looked and talked exactly like you two."
All three girls stiffened, the other two who hadn't caught on yet freezing in a cold sweat as Yoshiko's words sunk in.
"Wh..." Waruna half spoke, words flailing around in her brain but unable to come out right. "...What the hell did you just say...?"
"Looked like us...?" Kurane asked, her pupils almost seeming to shrink at the implications of Yoshiko's words.
This whole time, the girls had been quietly harboring unanswered confusion as to why her other partners had appeared out of the blue and break an explicit promise they'd made only recently. To each of them, it had been an expected complication that one of them might get cold feet or riddled with unvented anxiety that needed a release, so they'd all agreed to deny each other in a pact of mutual protection. So when one violated the shared agreement, it was obvious what the others were meant to do next. That was the plan at least, and a good one for expecting a common problem.
But this... This couldn't have been taken into account...
Yoshiko looked at her two dear friends, her own face mirroring their collective horror.
"Girls..." Yoshiko whispered. "Something very bad has happened."
And right on cue...
*SLAM*
The sound of a distant slamming object echoed from outside the restroom, prompting all three girls to jump and flinch.
'What was... that?' Yoshiko thought to herself worryingly.
At the same time, a commotion began to stir outside as well.
"...Vice Director Martina? Did something—?"
Voices began coalescing all at once, as each of the girls pooled around the restroom exit.
"What's going on in the Administrative Office?!"
"That teacher from earlier, too. What are they...?"
"Hey! Why are you running?!"
"W-What's going on out there?" Kurane was the first to bravely step out, despite Yoshiko and Waruna's protests.
However, seeing as the situation outside sounded like it was stirring into something chaotic, especially with Martina Electro and... one of their teachers? They decided they should probably check it out.
Yoshiko went before Waruna, who followed out shortly after. When the two of them arrived back out into the main hall alongside Kurane, they saw a large congregation of Peacekeepers break from their posts to gather around in front of both the Administrative Office and the Theater Hall main doorway. All the theater girls who were gathered on the ground floor for questioning stood up on their toes and looked in great curiosity as to what all the commotion was about, including several more who came up from the stairwell. The three of them entered the crowd of onlookers.
"T-The Vice Director and Ms. Hana..." Kurane stuttered, prompting several girls including Yoshiko and Waruna to listen. "...They ran into the theater, and—"
"OUT OF MY WAY, YOU BUFFOONS!"
Kurane gasped as the very same woman who she'd just talked about emerged from not the theater, but the office. Herself and two of her grunts exited out in a hurry, the grunts in particular hanging their heads shamefully. Even without the masks on, it was easy for Yoshiko to tell that they were terrified.
"Where are the suspects?!" Martina threw her hand out authoratatively with a yell that caused the collective flinch of everyone in the Entrance Hall, security and school girl alike. She continued in a furious frenzy. "My Imposter and their Accomplice! Which direction did they go?! Answer me IMMEDIATELY!" She commanded, her murderous gaze falling to her security detachment with a crazed look.
'...Imposter? Accomplice?!' Yoshiko absorbed the new information from the 'real' Vice Director with a sinking feeling.
...She had a dreadful feeling that these mismatched puzzles that had stupified them ever since the investigation began were about to be perfectly realigned with this new information...
One of the Peacekeepers quickly answered, if for his own safety if nothing else. "T-They fled to the Theater Hall, Vice Director!"
"Move out! Trap them inside! Block off all exits and prevent their escape from this building!" She ordered, causing several of her men to mobilize, taking several routes into the theater to entrap their targets. "As for you two." She returned to her normal sultry voice level, however it was coated with malice. The two men that trailed behind her stood at attention in shambles. "Your indecisiveness granted those two their window of escape. I already had the situation handled..." The tall, intimidating woman disciplined them, her voice emerging in a growl.
"W-We... We heard the disturbance from the Administrative Office and were compelled to check, V-Vice Director Martina." One of them informed her fearfully, his voice coming out his mask with almost existential fear. "We didn't know how to identify—!"
"Save your excuses." Martina cut the man down immediately, prompting the stiffening of his shoulders and falling back into line. "Your punishment will be decided later. And I can promise you... if your ineptitude results in our primary suspects escaping from my clutches..." Her voice dipped to a sinister, razor-thin hiss. "...Your head will be served on a silver platter to my beloved Director Yomi... and I cannot guarantee the process leading up to it will be painless..." She promised with dark sincerity.
'That poor, poor man...' Yoshiko rang in sympathy. She may have despised the Peacekeepers, but she wouldn't wish that kind of cruelty on anyone. Yoshiko and Kurane both wore disturbed expressions as well, likely feeling the same as her.
"Y-Yes, Vice Director Martina..."
"Good." She said, already walking her way down the red velvet carpet to the Theater Hall entrance. Removing her pistol from its holster, she made her way inside, her entire entourage following in lockstep behind her.
All the girls began discussing nervously among themselves, debating on what to do. Yoshiko, Waruna, and Kurane watched the proceedings in very uncomfortable silence. Yoshiko also noted that several girls were making their way to follow, likely to watch what was about to happen.
She... She needed to get to the bottom of this!
Without waiting for the other two, Yoshiko steamed on ahead into the Theater Hall, and with no Peacekeepers around there was no one to stop her. Several feminine gasps and yells telling her to stop sounded off behind her, probably Waruna and Kurane mixed in too. She had no idea what the other girls were gonna do, but she needed to find out what was going on! Her friends, the girls she was responsible for, the entire Theater Club. They all relied on her!
Yoshiko's self-ordained task to kill Karen so her friends and fallen comrade could go on in peace may be over now, but her work wasn't finished yet. She still had so much left to do! And whatever this was about... whoever this imposter and their accomplice was...
She needed to know the truth!
Although she didn't know it yet, both of her friends followed her in; unable to contain their curiosity, and not willing to let their friend go in alone.
Even wearing this facade, they would do this together!
...
...
...
...
Several minutes later...
...
As the scene played out before them on that stage...
...
That wonderful stage they all dreamed of propelling them to stardom and splendor one day... Together...
...
Their teacher and an imposter dressed as the Vice Director, trapped and cornered like rats about to be eviscerated...
...
With another classmate bound and handled to the side, a girl Yoshiko remembered as Kurumi, being carried in by the Peacekeepers
heart, don't give out please...
...
The suspects... two young men? Detectives?
Why? Why now?
...
And everyone about to be witness to a summary execution... she couldn't look!
...
Then in an instant's pause, like the world itself had stopped and started with no one noticing...
...
...
...
Ping
The two on stage, two young men, suddenly disappeared and reappeared somewhere else...
Ping Ping
Headache one second...
Ping Ping Ping
Blankness the next...
Ping Ping Ping Ping
Why couldn't she think
Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping
A hand to her head eyes wide unable to breathe
Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping
Where's AIKO
Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping Ping
WHERE ARE HER FRIENDS WHERE ARE THEY
PingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPing
SHE DOENS'T WANT TO BE ALONE
PingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPingPing
KURANE WARUNA AIKO WHERE ARE YOU
WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME—
PingPingPi—
"Kyahahahahahaha!"
...
...
...
Nothing.
-Later that Day-
"...And those photo cutouts... they were actually three separate parts of the same picture. In reality, Yoshiko, Waruna, and Kurane were all part of the same shot, with Aiko in the middle." Yuma recounted his findings solemnly, a familiar emptiness swallowing his insides whole. Although Kurumi's earlier words had buoyed his spirits a little bit, and a new string materialized for himself and the other Master Detectives to follow toward Kanai Ward's Ultimate Secret, he still couldn't find any degree of positive light to what he was relaying. "...Based off those pieces of evidence contradicting the three's behaviors during the investigation, as well as the discrepancy in Karen's testimony as the first witness to Aiko's death, I reached the conclusion that the three of them had faked their rivalry with each other." Yuma finished, somewhat hesitant to receive her reaction.
"I... I see..." Kurumi replied, her freckled face looking down at the compact floor beneath them with pensiveness coated in sadness.
*Ding*
Yuma and Kurumi didn't react as the shutters holding the elevator door and accompanying slider mechanically moved aside, granting them access to the 1st floor from the rooftop. The two of them were making their way out of the multipurpose building, just following Kurumi revealing her promised intel regarding Kanai Ward's Ultimate Secret.
Homunculi.
...However, that potentially dangerous topic could wait for when he returned back to the Nocturnal Detective Agency.
'...Man, is it really necessary that I tell her all of this?' Yuma sighed internally, watching from inside the tight elevator as Kurumi listlessly walked out, head dipped still deep in thought. He bended one of his arms across his chest with a guilty look. ''Pursuing the truth is one thing, but this... it'll only make her feel even worse about what happened..."
Shinigami appeared out of thin air at his side, looking on with a disapproving glance. "I know, right?!" She yelled passionately in agreement, glaring at Kurumi walking into the lobby. "I went to allll that effort, possessing that Balloon Chest Girl's corpse to execute the greatest murder confession performance of all time~! And the Flatty still has the nerve to demand more details?! Hmph! The nerve~!" Shinigami said, bellowing steam from her... ears?
'That's not the issue here!' Yuma complained, tired of Shinigami's wacky revisionisms today. Strangely, he also felt a bit peeved that she had referred to Yoshiko with such a dirisive nickname when she... he... was the one responsible for killing her...
Maybe it was just his fresh guilt continuing to plague him, but he'd really rather not speak ill of the dead like that. Of Yoshiko. Or Waruna and Kurane. Even Karen, really. No matter what Shinigami said, nor any assurances that he could accept this and move passed it, he would never feel like he was right for killing the three of them...
At least Shinigami hadn't half-assed Yoshiko's 'confession' back in the auditorium like with the Priest. Otherwise, that might've upset him even more at the time...
Shaking his head, Yuma followed Kurumi out into the empty lobby. The time of day had descended into evening, given how he, Desuhiko, and Kurumi had begun their investigation afterschool hours, and it had eaten so much time. A lot had happened in so little time. So by this point the lobby was largely empty; what few office workers left in the building probably finishing up late work in their upper floor workspaces. However, the ground floor was pretty much empty, leaving just the boy detective and girl informant.
"Say, Kurumi?" Yuma asked aloud in the middle of the lobby, a question tickling at the back of his mind since the end of the Aetheria Case. "Did you really not know that Aiko was friends with Yoshiko and the others?"
Shinigami, despite her previous flamboyant anger, did regard the other girl with a somewhat curious look for what she had to say. It was a fair question.
A major assumption Yuma had made going into his investigation of Aetheria Academy had been that one of the four girls had killed Aiko out of spiteful jealousy over her incredible talent and popularity. Naturally, Yuma leaped to the next logical step that her killer had to be someone who didn't like her. So when presented with Kurumi's primary choice suspects, Yuma just assumed that the four didn't get along with the formerly popular girl, or at least weren't as friendly with Aiko as the rest of the school, given the competitive environment they all played in.
Kurumi shook her head, a troubled smile donning her face. "Not at all, Yuma." She admitted casually, shaking her head at the ground with that same expression. "...And they call me Kanai Ward's best informant..." She said self-mockingly.
"You're Kanai Ward's only informant, kiddo." Shinigami corrected with a smoke of her death pipe. "Don't start tooting your own horn in self-ridicule to score pity points. 'Cuz you won't be getting any from me~!"
Ignoring the spirit for now, Yuma pushed for more. "Why is that, Kurumi? Did Aiko never tell you about them?"
"Aiko always had good things to say about the Theater Club, which included them." Kurumi corrected softly, regarding Yuma with a reminiscent gaze of fondness. "By the time I first got to know her, she was already a member. Her devotion to acting predated our friendship. But that was never a problem! She always made time for other people, and was a genuine ray of sunlight for everyone around her! Friend, foe, teammate, rival; it didn't matter. If you were around Aiko, it was almost impossible to be mad at her, even with the competition fierce! She never had a bad thing to say about anyone!"
"From what little I know of her, I can believe it." Yuma said in thought, crossing his arms. "I don't think even Karen intended to kill her when she did. Whatever else their relationship was, even as rivals, it's hard for me to imagine that even her unfriendly personality would lead her to wanting to kill Aiko."
"Yeah..." Kurumi said with a slightly stricken look, hearing Karen's name. Yuma openly winced, wanting to chastise himself for bringing Karen up so bluntly. Of course, now that Kurumi had a face to her best friend's killer, she'd have complicated feelings about the girl, even if she was technically also a victim in all this. Probably not too dissimilar to what Yoshiko, Waruna, and Kurane felt either.
"But, to answer your question about the three of them..." Kurumi did nonetheless continue. "To be honest, I wasn't all that knowledgeable about the Theater Club prior to Aiko's death. I always made sure to watch every performance, obviously, and I knew of Yoshiko and the others in passing, but Aiko always kept that part of her life somewhat private. She always kept the details light, so I never felt the need to dig any deeper, y'know?"
"That's fair." Yuma nodded. It's not like best friends were contractually obligated to share every single detail with each other, after all. If Aiko wanted to keep special parts of her life private, like her close friendships inside of the club, that was more than her right.
"And that's why we're a cut above the rest, Master~!" Shingami exclaimed excitably, leaning an ethereal arm into his shoulders as he watched her in confusion. "We're no mere besties, but Soulmates~! I know everything there is to know about you, and unlike mortal bonds we're ACTUALLY contractually obligated to share everything until the end of this road you call life. Isn't that wonderful, Master~?"
'But...' He countered with a shaky, toothy grin. 'I hardly know anything about you. So, d-doesn't that make this arrangement a little unfair...?"
"Nope~!" Shinigami denied immediately. "You know what they say! What's mine is mine, and what's yours is mine, too~!"
...If what was his also belonged to her, did that mean she also shared in his pain...?
Probably not... he sighed.
Kurumi continued, oblivious to his plight. "After I joined the club, I started compiling a list of suspects right away. Of course, Yoshiko, Kurane, Waruna... and Karen all stood at the top. They were already pretty heated up with each other by the time I came along, and I only had rumors and half-reliable accounts from the other girls." Kurumi noted with a closed eye frown. "...It was kind of a pain to sort through what they all had to say, so I'll spare you the details. But the gist of it is that all five girls, including Aiko, were constantly fighting for the top spot, and Aiko was the undisputed leader. Aiko did get along with all of them, even Karen to an extent! But no one thought that she was close friends with them..."
"Even Yoshiko?" Yuma asked curiously. The words of Waruna's... less kind follower sprung to mind. "I learned during the investigation that Yoshiko was 'obsessed' with Aiko, or something like that."
"I did tell you before that I didn't suspect her that much." She said teasingly, before a more solemn grin stretched on her face. "But yeah, sorry about that... I didn't mean to leave you with the wrong impression and make things harder."
"No, no, i-it's fine." Yuma reassured her.
"Ugh... rolling over yet again for the high school girl..." Shinigami rolled her eyes. "You are such a pushover. Get mad! That information could've been actually useful at the time!"
'It's not that big of a deal...' Yuma defended. 'She didn't know whether or not that detail would be important. Besides, in the end it didn't harm our investigation...'
Shinigami huffed. "Careful there, Mr. White Knight~!" She mocked, turned away from him. "I hear pearly white suits of armor like yours rust realllllly bad in dark, wet cities like this place. Just a heads-up to maybe cut back on that behavior, just a little~"
"I did try to get an accurate gauge on their relationship with Aiko, but I always got back mixed results." Kurumi admitted. "I did know that she and Aiko got along really well. Hence why she was at the bottom on my suspect list for the four. Since they were both leaders, I figured they had a lot in common, and it'd be weird for someone like Yoshiko to kill someone in cold blood... But since she did have a potential motive, I could never totally write her off."
That was true, Yuma noted. When disguising as Yoshiko, he hardly had any problems gathering information. Everyone liked her, for the most part. The only contrary evidence was when he had come up to the real Yoshiko in disguise, in which case she swiftly rebuked his attempts at engagement. But even in that case, she had arguably been the most polite out of the three of them, despite how disturbed she had looked sitting there...
"...But now, I realize I was wrong..." Kurumi said shakily, prompting Yuma to take in her regret-stricken face. "The three of them were in the same position as me. We all wanted to find out the truth behind Aiko's death. We—No! They actually did fine out! But I..." Kurumi started letting tears leak out. "...I never would've imagined the Peacekeepers were that in on it, trying to protect Karen... And the three of them were right there in front of me, holding onto that pain silently for so long...!" She lamented in agony, tenting her hands together and pressing them against her lower face.
"...Now she's gone feeling sorry for them?" Shinigami sighed in confusion. "That makes even less sense than you, Master. Those three framed her, and here she is sympathizing with 'em? She should hate them~!"
'No, I understand exactly where she's coming from...' Yuma said in solidarity, awkwardly putting a comforting hand on her arm.
Suddenly, Kurumi pulled not only his arm closer, but his whole body!
Yuma's face erupted into pinkish red as he was limply pulled into a tight hug by the taller girl. Gritting his teeth to prevent a yelp from coming out, Yuma noted with a confused head just how warm she was. He was only tall enough to reach eye-level up to her neck, which was exactly where his face was resting above her collar and neckerchief. She had wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him in almost in a vice, it felt like. Meanwhile, his hands drooped in confusion around the sides of her waist, not knowing where else to put them exactly. Whilst his collarbone was being tightly pressed against her...
Her...
It... did feel nice, he'd admit...
"No! No, No, No, No, NOOOOOOO!" The spirit Shinigami yelled into his year, although Yuma tried to do his best not to openly react. "Ooooooohhhhh~! I am realllllyy reconsidering my stance on you, little flatty harlot..." She began rather bathetically cracking her... knuckles(?) together with a menacing glare. "And don't think I don't see you enjoy being pressed up nice and tightly against the high school strumpet there, Master~! I will not allow your innocence to be tainted by this little stick figure!"
'W-What are you even talking about anymore...?' Yuma thought in embarrassed exasperation.
Today had well and truly put him all over the emotional spectrum...
But upon actually looking up at Kurumi, that embarrassment he was feeling quickly vanished.
She wasn't enjoying the hug so much as she was... drawing comfort from it...
Whilst he was busy overthinking the... overly affectionate physical gesture... here she is sniffling away, blue eyes scrunched in regret at the fates of others who had, whether intentionally or not, almost condemned her.
Swallowing his hesitation, Yuma gently brought his arms up to fully stretch out and hug against her back and waist. He felt a little bit better when he felt a cute sigh come out of her.
"I-I'm not sure if it's my place to say this..." Yuma began hesitantly, prompting Kurumi's head to shift down toward him, her chin tuffling against his lilac hair. "But had things gone down differently, I really think you four would've made for great friends..." He conveyed honestly.
He felt Kurumi stiffen. "Y-You really think that...?"
Yuma forced himself to let out a chuckle. "Who wouldn't wanna be friends with Kanai Ward's greatest informant?"
That thankfully got a giggle out of her, despite it being infested by further sniffles.
"...Hehehehe..." She laughed tightly. "I... I wish they didn't do what they did..." She admitted truthfully. "Even if Karen was absolutely wrong for doing that to Aiko and getting away with it for so long, she didn't deserve to die for it... They must've been planning it for months. But more than that... I wish I could've stopped them! Then no one would've had to die! We could've... We could've found another way!"
Even though Yuma wished with all his heart that such a thing could've come true, at this point it was wishful thinking. Their pretend rivalry with each other had been more than enough to fool the entire club, including Kurumi. Their dedication to avenging Aiko was supremely tight, and steering them away from their course would require not only knowledge of their intentions, but a solid plan to thwart their efforts. The only way something could have changed, then, was through an earlier intervention, which given the short timeframe between Kurumi acquiring his services and the murder itself... It was just too short.
Yet still, he wouldn't deny Kurumi her wishful thinking. Even if he pursued the truth above all else, that shouldn't be used as an excuse to crush the dreams of others.
"I don't agree with what they did either." Yuma said with quiet confidence. "But despite the truth of the matter condemning them, I can't really blame them for it. They thought they were doing the right thing, after all. This is just... a case full of victims..."
Shinigami sighed at his side. "Well, whatever~. If you wanna go sympathizing away with murderers, I guess there's not much I can do other than scramble around with your brain to get you to change tune~! But fine, you do you, Master~! As long as you keep solving mysteries and improving as a Detective, I guess it doesn't actually matter what thoughts are firing in that tiny brain of yours~! Kyahahaha~!"
Ignoring Shinigami's stamp of... approval, Yuma looked up at Kurumi with a determined look. "I'll keep pursuing the truth, especially knowing people like you will be around cheering on my efforts, Kurumi." Yuma said with an appreciative smile, which the young girl blushed at. "Perhaps things could've been different, but I don't think there's anything that can be done now. The only thing we can do is continue to keep moving forward, Kurumi. Together." He moved one of his hands from her waist to her shoulder, prompting her to look at it then back to him before a smile blossomed back on her face.
"Y-You're right, Yuma!" She said, tightening her hold on him again and pressing her cheek against his face, which subsequently reignited his burning blush. "You're the best at cheering people up! Even though things are sad now... we'll still keep moving forward!"
Shinigami had already tuned out of the conversation at this point, but the sappy proclamations had now well and truly pushed her away.
Yuma looked up to the ceiling of the lobby in some degree of contentment...
And no... it wasn't necessarily because of the hug...
But... he did feel a little bit better about what had happened.
Closing his eyes, he wished all five girls, including Aiko and Karen, best wishes... wherever they were now...
-Several Days Later-
(Author's Note: play both links simultaneously, with the second link playing at a lower volume than the first. Also, yes, I could've picked an even sadder song, but WRITING THIS WAS ALREADY HELL ON MY EMOTIONS. THIS SUCKED!!! GIVE ME A BREAK—)
By memories... that wasn't quite... right.
What are... memories...?
Memories were flashes of... places and... people and... feelings.
But not a... self... to embody those things.
There was a body... There was a soul... And life continued to... pump.
Breathe...
Think...
sort of...
Things were jumbled around... places and... people and... feelings played...
then looped... then...
...
...
There was... rain.
And memories of... splendor.
"Ughhhhhhhhhh...."
This one craved...
Well, the meat was obvious... everyone craved that... she didn't like to go hungry...
No one did.
But she craved...
People.
Again... not that.
Company.
That's a... better word...
But also... not. Not crave company.
When 3 was split into 1... despite how rare that was...
This one liked to go to the place.
The first one there... got first dibs on meat.
But the sounds... it drew her more than... the others.
It reminded her of... people and... places and... feelings.
The metal things. Yes... Metal.
Sometimes... she moans along with the...
...
Machines. That's their... name.
The moans and Metal remind her...
They sound good... on her ears.
She also goes to...
What is it called...?
Chee... Chii... Chuu...
Ch-Ch-Church.
The two are... together?
Metal and Church...?
But she does miss... other things...
Words.
Thin stuff.
Hard stuff...?
Hard... cover?
The little thing... in her hole.
Hole... hole... p-p-po...
Pocket.
Pocket... cover?
Hehehe...
H-Hole...
Words in pocket. That's what she... missed.
But missed... She also missed...
Her.
And HER.
And Her.
...Not Her.
She was her.
Sometimes she saw Her. She was so happy to see Her. And Her was happy to see her too.
Her said things... a little too hard.
her tried really hard... she really did...
But the thinking... wasn't there.
But Her didn't mind. Her said things and she listened. Time was slow...
But Her made time... be-bea--
Bearable.
And when she was done...
1 went to 3.
"Aaauuuggghhhhhhhhh......."
This one craved...
Well... she wasn't hungry...
Yet.
She did crave meat...
But she also craved...
Color.
Things were brown though... not color.
Rain... coat?
Thing she wore... it was...
Yellow?
...Yellow.
But she craved...
Gaaa... Gleee... Gr...Gre--
Green.
She liked green...
Sometimes in the water... she looked down... and there was...
...No green...?
She saw HER in water... H-Head. F-Face?
But no green....
Oh...
Wait...
There's green.
But no green below green.
It was... Grey.
Where is green?
What kind of green...?
Sea-Seafoam...
Grey is where sea-seafoam is... supposed to be...
In her... people and... places and... feelings.
There is green.
...Why grey?
Why is Up grey...?
Why can't it be green?
Or better... why can't Up be...
Bru... Byi...Bl-Blu-
Blue.
Why can't Up be blue?
Why can't Up be blue and... yellow?
Yellow...
Her was yellow.
Her was HER's yellow...
But HER yellow was stolen.
But then she found yellow... Her again.
There was also...
In her people and... places and... feelings.
There was... splendor.
And Her.
Her.
her.
...Not Her.
And there was also water... and... fur?
Furry water?
Water and... white?
White water and fur.
Those were... good people and... places and... feelings.
But there was no... fur... and no... white water.
HER was sad about that...
But HER did have.
Her
And Her.
And her.
So when not near water...
1 went to 3.
"Ahhhh..."
This one craved...
Meat.
But...
Only sometimes..
Other times...
Her thing. It hurt.
Meat was... not hunger.
But it was also...
Hem- Him- Ham- Hom- Hum...
Human.
Meat was Human.
Place didn't say. Place where Human meat was. But Her knew.
So eating Human hurt thing.
thing was inside Her.
thing was... where...?
thing is below where Human goes. Human is eat.
Eat...
Eaten.
She remembers.
thing is below where Human is eaten.
thing is above...
Pouch.
Pouch where They are.
Pouch is down at side...
Left... side.
thing is on left too.
So thing... between where Human goes... and where Pouch is on left.
thing hurts when she thinks... about Human.
Meat is Human.
Her is sad to eat Human.
But she must...
HER and her don't mind. Her and HER and her eat together.
...Sometimes Her joins.
3 went to 4.
HER and her don't mind... Eat Human anyway.
Her... gets it. But has to eat anyway...
So...
Her's thing hurts. HER and her and Her's things don't hurt.
She is alone.
But also... not alone.
She has HER and her, and is... very happy to see Her.
Sometimes... she sees Her.
HER and her don't like Her.
But Her... often talks to Her.
So even if she also... doesn't like Her...
She talks with Her. Sometimes.
When 2 talk... She gets people and... places and... feelings.
B-Brush...
D-Drink...?
Splendor.
Bright... yellow.
Blue.
Yellow and Blue.
Then Pink...
And then thing... hurts again.
When Her is around... Her's thing is hurt by... people and... places and... feelings.
But even though it... hurts...
Her doesn't share.
thing's hurt is Her's.
HER... and her... and Her... and even Her...
Don't need to know.
Her will be fine.
As long as HER and her and Her are...
Together.
...
...
...
Why is water next to pink and grey...?
F-Fingers brush against grey...
W-Why is there water?
Water and pink next to grey. Fingers brush against water.
Why is Her... water?
This water is not rain.
thing and hurt make water...?
...
...
...
She hates... Her.
For ignoring thing.
Why did Her ignore thing... back then?
Can she go back to earlier... Her?
...
...
...
No.
Earlier go back can't be... done.
She can be happy with... HER and her and Her. And maybe... sometimes Her.
Because when they are together...
She brings out They from pouch.
They is kinda like fur. Her made They.
She takes it out... of the pouch.
HER and her love They.
(Author's Note: Because I haven't mentioned it, it's the fourth stuffed animal Yoshiko is to make for all four girls, if you remember from Ch. 4.)
They was 1 of 4... the last of 4.
It looked like...
An Angel.
Halo.
Small.
Splendor.
On it was...
---------------------
A+K+Y+W
Ligatus Ultra Mortem
Forever Friends
<3
---------------------
That was them...
Her and her and Her and HER.
Bound... Together...
Forever.
Things wouldn't change much... going forward.
Maybe people and... places and... feelings...
Would they... come back?
Maybe.
But Her was happy enough now.
Even with watergoing down... water going down her grey and face...
She was happy enough.