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She sat atop the arch of the bridge, gazing out over the deserted roads. Few people would be around at this time in the morning. Good. She preferred the peace and quiet after how chaotic the past few days had been.
Her friends and family, Akademi High, Buraza town – everything seemed so far away now. Shiromi still felt as though she were dreaming; none of this could possibly be real. Soon enough, she would wake up back in her bed in her home on the edge of town, and everything would be okay again.
Four hours until the next plane arrived. Four more hours to kill.
Of course, she couldn’t exactly walk around in the open. Her face would be all over the news by now – she’d seen it on the screens of the few gas stations she’d stopped at on her way here, and through the windows of the homes she passed by. But it would be okay. Everything would be fine once she got to America.
The city began to stir. Far below, the traffic thickened. Soon, she would have to come down from her perch and return to her car.
For the hundredth time, the thought of turning herself in crossed her mind. But how could she explain what had happened? Why should they believe her? She sighed and rested her head against the pillar beside her.
How had it come to this?
The seconds ticked by. Five girls sat patiently around the long table, waiting.
“When do you think she’ll be here?”
“Patience, Akane.” Kuroko adjusted the stack of papers in her hands for the hundredth time that morning. “She’ll undoubtedly arrive soon.”
Footsteps echoed down the hallway. Four of the five students perked up, staring intently at the door. The footsteps passed. The four simultaneously slumped in their seats.
“Y’know, it’s still five minutes until she’d be considered late.” Shiromi leaned back in her seat. “We shouldn’t worry so much. She’ll be here at any moment.”
Ayano, in her seat at the end of the table, remained impassive. Every now and then, the others would shoot her a concerned glance; it was her first time meeting Megami in person, after all – they had expected her to be more nervous. But she sat composed as ever, her posture straight, absentmindedly tugging at a hangnail.
Still, even as she examined her nails, something lurked in her eyes. Anticipation? Ferocity? Or just thinly-veiled anxiety? It was difficult to tell with Ayano.
Shiromi looked away. The footsteps at the end of the hall drew nearer.
With a resounding creak, the doors swung open. Megami stepped in, adjusting her blazer and looking a little apologetic. “My apologies for taking so long. I was held up at–”
“Megami!”
Megami lurched backwards, barely keeping her footing as Shiromi practically threw herself at her. Before she could even open her mouth to respond, Akane had joined her, squeezing so hard Megami worried that her ribs would crack.
Kuroko sighed. “Get off of her, you two. She only just got back from her cruise.”
“It’s fine.” Megami patted them on the shoulders. “I’m glad to see you all again.”
Shiromi loosened her grip. “We missed you.”
“I missed all of you, too.” The smallest of smiles tugged at the corners of Megami’s lips. Regaining her composure and prying the two girls off of her, she turned to Ayano. “I suppose this is our first time meeting in person.”
“Yes.” Ayano stood and extended her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
With a curt nod, Megami shook her hand. She remained silent, a strange wariness in her eyes even as she took her seat and called the meeting to order.
Every issue they discussed had become almost part of a routine by this point. It was always the same: problems with the science club budget, noise complaints from near the light music club, discussions of what should be done with the empty rooms.
And then the issue that pressed on everyone’s minds. The disappearances of nine girls over the past weeks weighed heavily on the students’ shoulders, prompting frightened whispers throughout the hallways. Nobody walked alone anymore; students constantly checked over their shoulders as they headed to class; even the bravest of them sped down the halls in clusters. Where had those missing girls gone? Who was doing this?
Posters lined the wall by the lockers. Nobody could forget; it was all anyone talked about. Were they even still alive? Why were they being targeted? And why in Akademi High, of all places?
Megami rubbed her temples. “We’re already patrolling the entirety of the school. The principal won’t allow the installation of security cameras. We need to think of something else.”
“Why’s he so against security cameras?” Aoi narrowed her eye. “Does he care more about the school’s reputation than the students’ lives?”
“It would appear so.”
“Better not say that to his face,” Shiromi pointed out. “We’ve gotta stay on his good side if we want to convince him.”
“He’s not going to be convinced,” Megami retorted. “As I said, we need another solution.”
“Perhaps we could start by thinking of potential locations a murderer would take their victim and patrolling those areas more heavily,” Kuroko suggested.
Akane’s hand shot up. “Or we could open up more positions on the council! If we have more people patrolling the school, we have a higher chance of catching the perpetrator!”
“If we’re doing that, we may need heightened self-defence measures.” Megami frowned thoughtfully. “They’re undoubtedly strong if they’ve taken down two faculty members.”
Ayano leaned forward, resting her chin on her hands. “Perhaps we should start carrying weapons of our own. Just for emergencies.”
Megami glared at her. “That’s ridiculous. The faculty would never allow it.”
“I’m not so sure. The delinquents have been doing it for years, right?”
“They’re the delinquents,” Aoi reminded her. “Besides, we don’t want to kill the perpetrator. Only apprehend them.”
“Maybe we should carry some sort of… tranquilizer guns.” Ayano leaned back in her seat. “We’d have a longer range, and we could apprehend them without seriously harming anyone. Perhaps it would even work better than pepper spray.”
Everyone remained thoughtfully silent for a moment.
“It’s not a bad idea, but we’ll have to order them and wait for them to get here,” Megami pointed out. “It will likely take a few days.”
Ayano shrugged. “We can wait for a day or two.”
“Hmm.” Megami hesitated. “Then… I suppose I’ll speak to the headmaster about it. In the meantime, we should be beginning our patrol. The rest of the student body will be arriving soon.”
“Right.”
“You don’t seem completely sold on the whole tranquilizer idea.”
“I’m not.” Megami frowned. “I doubt the headmaster will agree to it. Someone on the council could easily abuse them.”
Shiromi peered up at her. “…Worried about Ayano, huh?”
“Yes.” Megami’s arms folded behind her back as she walked, hands wringing together. “I don’t trust her just yet.”
“Same here.” Shiromi turned her gaze back to the hallway ahead. “I guess we’ll have to keep an eye on her once we get those guns.” She paused briefly. “By the way… you don’t usually take the same route as me. Headed outside today?”
“Yes. There’s someone I’d like to meet there.” She paused. “It’s Taro. I think someone might be stalking him.”
“I see. It would make sense…” Shiromi’s smile disappeared. “But be careful, okay? I wouldn’t rule out him being the culprit himself.”
“Of course.”
The metallic clanging of lockers filled the hallways, signalling the arrival of the other students. Megami hesitated for a moment.
She turned back toward Shiromi. “Thank you. I’ll see you later.”
“You too.” Shiromi watched Megami turn and disappear through the doorway. She shot a glance over her shoulder. “Aren’t you supposed to be patrolling the classrooms, Aishi?”
Ayano’s eyes widened in shock for the briefest moment, before she regained her composure. “I just left something in my locker. I have to pick it up.”
“Project or something?”
“Don’t be nosy.” Ayano glared at her, striding past to her locker.
Shiromi raised her arms defensively. “Okay, okay…” Sighing, she turned and headed toward the plaza, glancing over her shoulder one last time to see Ayano dart out of the front doors.
Megami stared blankly at the cardboard box resting on the meeting table. It had taken only a couple of days to arrive – even less time than she’d expected – and Shiromi was already trying to pry off the tape. Sighing, Megami grabbed a pair of scissors and sliced the tape clean off the box.
The headmaster had loved the idea of tranquilizer guns as an alternative to pepper spray, even commending Ayano on her cleverness. The rest of the council had been surprised to say the least, with reactions ranging from excitement to annoyance. Now, the six guns lay shining in the box before them, almost as if mocking Megami.
Five pairs of eyes watched as she reached into the box and drew out one of the weapons. Its weight felt unnatural in her hand, even after all the time she’d spent practicing her aim over the past two days.
Hesitantly, she loaded it with darts, glancing up at the others every now and then. They watched her intently, almost as if in a trance.
“You all recall the lessons we took, yes?”
Shiromi nodded. “Yeah. Dunno if we’ve practiced enough, though.”
“Two days of practice is more than enough for me,” Kuroko said tiredly, grabbing a gun from the box. “My fingers still hurt.”
“As long as we can hit them once, it will be fine.” Aoi raised her gun experimentally, aiming it at the wall. “This tranquilizer is pretty strong.”
“Then there should be no problems.” Megami slipped the gun into the front pocket of her bag. “Keep it somewhere easily accessible at all times. We should be able to reach it quickly upon spotting the culprit. And we should all try to stay in practice.” She shot a glance at the clock. “…Meeting dismissed.”
“Got it.” Shiromi shoved the gun into her bag and followed Megami out into the empty hallways.
Heading outside to speak to Taro had quickly become a part of Megami’s routine – and every time she did, Ayano would follow close behind her. Even now, Ayano tagged after them, blissfully unaware that she had been noticed.
Megami glanced down at Shiromi, her whisper barely audible. “Is she following us?”
Shiromi nodded wordlessly, keeping her gaze focused straight ahead.
“Maybe we should speak to her. She’s been doing this for days now.” Megami resisted the urge to peer over her shoulder.
“I don’t think that would get us anywhere.” Shiromi paused. “How about this? Today, I’ll follow her outside and see what she does.”
Megami mulled over the idea for a while. “…Sounds like a plan. Just be careful not to get caught.” She turned and strode towards the front doors.
Shiromi strolled a bit farther down the hallway, peering out of the corner of her eye to see Megami – and then Ayano – step out into the sunlight. She paused briefly before dashing after them.
Chattering amongst themselves, the crowd of students heading towards the building paid Shiromi no attention, even as she ducked between them and behind a tree. Where had Ayano gone? Megami and Taro stood on the other side of the path, speaking in hushed voices about something, but Ayano was nowhere to be found.
A flash of something dark appeared behind a bush. Shiromi squinted at it. Was that – yes, it was Ayano, kneeling behind the shrub and listening intently to their conversation. So Megami had been right to be suspicious of her. But why did Ayano have such interest in their discussions? Was she searching for evidence of Taro being the killer? Or perhaps she was the killer herself, and one of them was her next target?
Taro wandered off to the courtyard. Ayano stayed behind the bush for a moment before hurrying after him, slipping unnoticed past Megami.
Megami glanced around. “Shiromi? Are you here?”
Within a moment, Shiromi had materialized next to her, standing with her arms behind her head as usual. “Yeah. Ayano was hiding behind the bush and listening to your conversation.”
“I see.” Megami glared at the school doors. “And where did she go afterwards?”
“She followed Taro to the courtyard, I think.”
She folded her arms. “So Ayano is the one stalking him. I had a hunch…”
“Should we warn him?” Shiromi’s arms dropped to her sides. “It seems like the kind of thing he should know about.”
“No. He’s not dealing well with the recent disappearances; I don’t think we should stress him out further.” Megami paused. “Maybe we should speak to Ayano herself about it.”
“She’s gonna try to deny it…”
“Yes, unfortunately. But I think confronting her is the best course of action at this point. Especially if she really is the cause of all these disappearances.”
Shiromi glanced up at her. “But if that’s true, won’t you be putting yourself in danger by confronting her?”
“I have my tranquilizer.” Megami shot her a tiny smile. “Besides, I won’t turn my back on her for a moment. Don’t worry about me.”
There were so many ways it could go wrong.
Megami sat in her place at the head of the table, wringing her hands. A knock resounded throughout the room, and Ayano stepped in, not even waiting for a reply.
“Aishi.” Megami leaned forward, folding her hands on the table. “Take a seat. There’s something I need to speak to you about.”
Shooting a glance at Megami’s tranquilizer, laying on the table beside her hands, Ayano pulled out a chair at one corner of the table – the one furthest from the gun – and took a seat. “What is it?”
“Earlier in the day, I received a report that you were… eavesdropping on a conversation between myself and an upperclassman. And that you later followed him to the courtyard rather than fulfilling your patrol duties.” She cleared her throat. “Might I ask why?”
Ayano blinked. “…I’m not sure where you got that information.”
“I heard it from another student.”
“Whoever said it was wrong.” Ayano’s face held a mix of confusion and fear. “I would never do something like that.”
“Are you sure? Because this particular student is one I trust. I have been given no reason to believe that she is untrustworthy.”
Ayano’s narrowed eyes flitted across Megami’s face. “…Torayoshi.”
Megami remained silent.
“I see.” Her hands slipped from the table, folding in her lap. “So she really does spy on other students for you. Tell me, do you think you have a right to criticize me for eavesdropping when you have one of your own council members doing the same?”
“So you confirm that you were, in fact, eavesdropping on Taro and I this morning.” Megami sat up straight, glaring at her. “Might I ask why?”
“Might I ask why you had Torayoshi follow and spy on me?”
Megami inhaled deeply. Her fingers tightened on the table before her. “I would appreciate it if you would stop trying to change the subject, Aishi.”
“Not until you answer me.” Though her face remained unchanging, a smirk danced in her eyes. Ayano knew exactly what she was doing.
Megami’s chair skidded backwards as she stood. “I had her follow you because I had suspicions of you – which, as it turns out, were correct.” She began to pace back and forth, eyes fixed on Ayano’s. “Not to mention that she spotted you following me down the hallways over the past several days, instead of patrolling the school as you should have been.”
“…So you think I’m stalking you.”
“Not me. Taro.”
“And why do you think I’m stalking Taro?”
“That’s exactly what I’m trying to find out!” Megami took another deep breath. “I don’t know what you want from him, but stalking is a more serious matter than you might realize! Our top priority, as the student council, is to ensure that all students are safe and happy in this school – and you are doing the opposite of that!”
“All students?”
“Yes!”
“Then that would include me, wouldn’t it?” Ayano smiled up at her. “Perhaps we should come to some sort of compromise.”
For the briefest moment, an expression of pure rage flashed across Megami’s face. She turned away, trying to take slow, deep breaths. Had it been nearly anyone else, she could have kept her head – but knowing who Ayano was, what she was, and the fact that there was little she could do about it grated on her nerves more than a little bit.
In her seat at the table, Ayano smiled, reaching for her tranquilizer.
Megami had turned her back.
Just a few more minutes before the final bell rang.
Shiromi strolled down the hallways. Megami would hopefully be done talking with Ayano right about now – she just needed to check up and make sure it was going alright. Even if Megami had assured her that everything would be fine, she couldn’t shake this sense of foreboding.
Pop.
She froze in her tracks. Since they arrived, the student council had only had to use their tranquilizer guns one time – on a (now-expelled) student who had tried to steal poison from the nurse’s office. Yet the sound was unmistakeable, and it had come directly from the council room.
Her head spun with terror. She could only hope Megami had been the one to fire. Her body moved of its own accord, racing towards the doors and throwing them open – just in time to see Ayano slit the throat of an unconscious Megami.
Time ground to a halt. Ayano turned, her wide eyes locking onto Shiromi. She stood and charged, brandishing the bloodied knife in one hand.
Shiromi barely had time to think – only anger moved her hands to grab the tranquilizer gun and take aim at Ayano. Her shaking hands couldn’t even fire straight – she missed Ayano once, twice, three times before Ayano bowled her over, holding the knife high above her head and plunging it downward. Shiromi grabbed her hands, trying to push the point of the knife back away from her throat. The edge grazed her neck. Tears burned at the corners of her eyes. Teeth clenching with rage and terror, she turned the knife in Ayano’s grasp and gave one final push.
The blade sunk into Ayano’s chest.
Ayano’s mouth fell open. Fear blazed through her, the knife stinging in her chest. She fell backwards, gasping for air; Shiromi drew out the knife and wrenched it from her grasp, holding it out of her reach.
With one final, struggling breath, the life faded from Ayano’s eyes. Shiromi knelt next to her, panting heavily and clutching the knife in her trembling hands. Ayano’s blood stained the palms of her hands like a pair of morbid red gloves.
It took a long while for the reality to sink in.
What had she done?
The tears began to flow freely down her face. Megami was gone. And Shiromi had stabbed Ayano – she’d killed Ayano. A sob escaped her. What was she going to do? Megami would know what to do. But Megami was dead.
Shiromi felt sick to her stomach. It had been self-defence, but she had still killed someone. What could she do? How could she explain this? Could she live on knowing that she’d killed someone, even in self-defence?
It didn’t matter.
“Self-defence” was not what Supana Churu saw when she stepped through the doors. What Supana saw was Shiromi, holding a blood-soaked knife beside Ayano’s corpse, with another corpse lying only a few feet away.
Her scream rang throughout the school.
In all the terror and confusion, Shiromi had fled. Even if she deserved it, she didn’t want to spend the rest of her life rotting in jail.
She had washed the blood off as soon as she had the chance, but she couldn’t help feeling as though it was still there – a permanent stain on her skin. Every now and then, she would catch herself absently rubbing her hands on her sweater.
The thought of turning herself in came back again. She wondered what would happen if she returned to Buraza town. Would her parents defend her? What about the remaining members of the council? What about her other friends?
Of course not. They probably hated her now.
The tears were coming back. She wiped them off on her sleeve.
No, her family and friends would never believe that she was a murderer. Or would they? All the evidence pointed to her.
Nobody would help her. Nobody would want to see her again unless she was behind bars. But she couldn’t blame them.
Maybe she really had been the one to kill Megami, in a sense. She should have acted faster. Maybe if she hadn’t frozen, she would have been able to tranquilize Ayano before she could kill Megami. Maybe everyone was justified in putting the blame for both deaths on her shoulders.
She gave up trying to wipe away the tears and let herself sob openly.
Three hours and forty-five minutes until the plane arrived. She would have to get there on time if she wanted to sneak on board.
She really should come down before the streets became too thick with people.
But what could she do now? She couldn’t have a normal life. Her friends and family wouldn’t care about her anymore – they shouldn’t care about her. Her hometown knew her as a killer. She was a killer.
Either she went to jail, or she ran alone forever.
Was it worth living?
Shiromi took a deep breath. The cars far below were blurred into dots of light through her tears. She stood shakily, clutching the pillar beside her.
She’d heard countless different stories about what happened after death. Maybe she would go to Hell. Or maybe she would be reborn somewhere else – or even as herself, with a chance to do everything over again. The thought comforted her. She smiled.
Next time, she would be just a bit faster.
Next time, she wouldn’t die a murderer.