Chapter Text
At first glance, Ayano Aishi was not, outwardly, the kind of girl that would kill another girl for any petty reason. She was not the kind of girl capable of violence, or sabotage, or anything of the sort.
But of course, that assumption could be proven wrong if one merely looked at the bloody uniform currently in her hands. One Osana Najimi, killed, in Ayano’s eyes, for a perfectly just reason. Her crime? Getting too close to her beloved Senpai. As his childhood friend, in an almost laughably cliche manner, she’d developed feelings for the boy and, had Ayano not acted, would be currently plotting to confess to Senpai under the cherry tree- a crime that Ayano could not allow Osana to carry out.
So now she walked to the incinerator, dropping the uniform in with the body and weapon she’d used- a knife, one she was quite fond of, and admittedly would feel a little bad about leaving it behind to be burned to bits- and closed and locked the door, activating it. She felt almost gleeful as she felt the warmth start, and hurried back out to the path. Of course someone had seen her hurry off towards Osana, hadn’t they?
But everyone was silent, even her beloved, dear, darling Senpai, as she walked past him, blissfully unaware that Ayano had just taken down a rival for his affections. She felt her heart pound and clasped her hands together, looking down, heard his beautiful, melodious voice ponder aloud. “What’s up with her?”
She giggled, wanting nothing more than to reach out to him and ask him to meet her under the tree, but she resisted the urge, hurrying home, stalking Senpai as he walked back to his house- thank goodness they lived on the same street. She stayed ten yards back, watching him carefully as he went inside, lingering, hidden, by his gate to make sure he made it, that there was no one lurking outside to steal her from him.
Nine more weeks ‘till her parents returned from overseas.
She took one of the mangas off her shelf- it’d be an uneventful two or so days now. She’d confess to him next week, yes. That would give him enough time to stop wondering where Osana went, after all. And enough time to devise an entirely new plan should someone else try to snatch him away.
The school week turned to the weekend, and a new week began. She sighed as she arrived first at school as always, waiting by the gate. Senpai always got there just after her- they were meant to be, absolutely meant to be! She felt her heart pounding, her gaze softening, her breath growing short. When this feeling had first hit her at the sight of this boy, she was stunned, too scared to say a thing, too fearful to even react. The symptoms she felt dictated a heart attack, and she’d run to the school nurse.
She’d laughed, told her after checking her vitals that she was experiencing the symptoms of a “crush” and sent her back to class with a clean bill of health.
She watched him as he went inside to his locker to put on his school shoes, and Ayano sighed, leaning against the gate and watching him happily. More students arrived, and she bid them all hello, giving them all sweet smiles and kind, polite bows and waves. Pay a compliment or two, a kindness or three.
Today she’d opted to lurk by the gate. She’d noticed something there and was quite curious. Perhaps Senpai had dropped it? She knelt down and investigated it- yes! It was one of his! She squealed as she picked up the button, tiny and gold and precious, clutching it to her chest.
She jumped, hearing a voice.
“Hello?”
Ayano looked around, panic hitting her hard. Had someone seen her acting so strange?
It seemed to not be the case. A girl from Senpai’s class- her name was Kokona Haruka- was standing by the now-empty front entrance of the school, having taken a phone call.
“I told you not to call me while I’m at school!” Kokona sounded furious, her free hand balled into a tight fist. “Like I said, that was a one-time thing! I don’t wanna do that again!”
It was quiet for a moment, and she hesitated. “… How much… did you say?”
She sighed in defeat. “Well… if it’s just one more time, I guess it’s okay… How about tonight? Where we met before, in Shisuta town?”
Another brief silence. “… Okay. See you tonight.” Kokona didn’t exactly sound happy. And as she hung up the call and buried her face in her hands, Ayano knew she wasn’t happy about this deal.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this…!” Kokona practically sobbed, but held back her tears, taking a moment before giving a shaky sigh.
She wanted to watch Senpai at the fountain, but something sparked in her- something that Ayano couldn’t quite grasp. Something… warm. Kokona was unhappy. She was dating a strange man, by the sounds of it- compensated dating. That’d keep her away from Senpai.
So why did she feel… different?
She shook the feeling off and headed to class early, settling into her seat and waiting for class to begin. She’d sort the feeling out later. Perhaps at lunch.
Ayano studied her biology and caligraphy lessons to the best of her ability, but Kokona kept creeping into her mind. She was incredibly grateful when their teacher dismissed them, and she hurried out of the classroom, wandering up to the rooftop. It always made her feel a bit better, being able to see what everyone was doing.
She leaned against the railing, watching her Senpai far below, sighing happily. Even from far away, he was so handsome and perfect and—
Footsteps. Ayano turned around, eyes scanning to see where the sound was coming from. Her eyes locked onto Saki Miyu and Kokona Haruka, walking and talking softly. Slowly she inched towards them, slowly enough that neither of them would notice her moving.
“You… haven’t been yourself lately, Kokona,” Saki said, lips turned down in a concerned frown. “Is something bothering you?”
“It’s nothing…”
“Kokona, I want you to remember something. If something’s bothering you, you can tell me. I’m your friend, and I’d never judge you for anything.”
“… Can we go somewhere else to talk?” Kokona responded with a sigh, her shoulders heaving. Saki nodded and led her behind one of the AC units, and Ayano followed, her footfalls silent from months of practice. She crouched behind the AC unit, listening carefully over its quiet hum.
“Um… Ever since my mom died,” Kokona began, her voice heavy with sadness already. “My dad’s been drinking a lot. Sometimes, when he’s drunk, he comes into my room, and…” She hesitated and stopped. “Ugh, just… just forget I said anything! I really, really don’t wanna talk about it…” She sniffled, and Saki gasped.
“What?! That’s… that’s really serious! What does your dad do?!” Concern was clear in her voice, and Ayano heard Saki take a step forward as she spoke.
“I really don’t want to talk about it. Just… leave me alone, okay?” Kokona stepped back, away from Saki, her voice shaking. Ayano felt something strange in her heart again, something akin the the pain she’d felt the first time she’d run her thumb over the blade of a knife.
“You have nothing to be ashamed of! Please, it’s okay! You can tell me.” Saki was trying to reassure her now, but Kokona didn’t want to hear it, it seemed.
“Please, please, just drop it…” Her voice cracked, and Saki sighed in defeat.
“… Okay… but now I’m really worried.”
Ayano crept away, hiding in the doors leading downstairs as the two friends left the rooftop, thankfully the other way around.
The day was uneventful otherwise. But Ayano still found herself with that strange feeling. She imagined Kokona going home, dealing with her drunken father as he went to her room and hurt her, then once he passed out Kokona would doll herself up and go out to Shisuta town, spend time with some old man she barely knew, possibly not even get home until the early morning.
That knife-slicing feeling hit her again.
It was hard to focus on her classes, thinking about that. Even though she’d overheard Kokona mention off-hand a while back as she passed her in the halls that she had feelings for her friend.
Her friend, Senpai.
Kokona was occupied with this man, yes. So perhaps for now she’d be away from Senpai. But what if that man stopped offering her more and more money? What if this man stopped calling? From what Ayano could tell, Kokona was a sweet girl. She made snacks for her friends all the time, provided a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on to her friends…
She’d have Senpai's feelings in a moment or less.
That couldn’t stand.
She had to figure out some way to stop Kokona from getting Senpai’s feelings. Killing her, of course, would be easy- just like Osana.
But Kokona was almost always with friends. It’d be hard to get her alone.
Unless…
The final bell rang for the day, and Ayano hurried over to the class where the object of her affection and the subject of her thoughts studied. She remained hidden, hoping to catch a glimpse of Senpai before she spoke with Kokona.
She saw him, and her heart fluttered, her breath caught, her face flushed. She stealthily snapped a picture, saving it, sighing happily as he walked away.
And then she saw Kokona.
Ayano walked up to her, greeting her politely.
“Good afternoon, Kokona-chan.”
“Oh, Yan-chan. Is… everything alright?” Kokona used that old nickname still- she’d gotten it all the way back in grade school- some other classmate had dubbed “Ayano” too hard to pronounced, and admittedly Ayano was quite fond of it. She found herself wondering how it’d sound to hear Senpai say her nickname, and had to pinch herself on the arm to snap herself back to reality.
“No, nothing’s wrong. I was just wondering… Is there anything I can do to help you? You’ve seemed stressed lately. I thought maybe I could do something to take some of the weight off your shoulders.”
Kokona’s eyes went wide, and she started to refuse- but she sighed. “There is… one thing.” Truth be told, Ayano was the very model of a good student and friend, regularly socializing with everyone. But it was faked. She only really felt things around Senpai- and now, Kokona. All else was a game of sorts, a way to pass time.
“Well, go on.”
“It’s… my uniform. I can’t afford a new one right now, but it’s tight around the chest.” Kokona sighed, her voice going quiet and her face going red. “It’s really uncomfortable… B-but, um, I don’t know what you’d be able to really do about it…”
“Don’t worry, Kokona. Leave it to me.” Ayano smiled.
Kokona’s eyes went wide, and she smiled bashfully. “… Thank you, Yan-chan.”
“My pleasure.”