Just before one of the butterflies landed on Tobi, Baku lunged forward and clamped his jaws around it. Students were gathering to watch the spectacle when a chime played over the school’s PA system.
“Umm, this is an emergency announcement. All students, please evacuate the building. Make your way, err, off school grounds at once!”
Monika? thought Tobi. It had sounded like her voice delivering the announcement.
“Huh?” A girl standing just outside the restroom by the staircase looked up at the ceiling, toward the PA system’s speaker. As she did, two butterfly zingai landed on her forehead, followed shortly by a third. She collapsed on the spot.
“Whoa, what the heck?!” shouted another girl. She ran to help her fallen classmate and fell prey to the zingai as well.
“There is a suspected gas leak in the building! This is not a drill! All students and faculty, please evacuate now!”
That got people moving. Students dashed toward the staircase where Haizaki was still lying, unable to get up. Tobi exchanged looks with Ryuuko, and the two of them took up positions in front of the stairs, blocking them off.
“I-I’m sorry, but you can’t go this way!” said Ryuuko.
“This area is dangerous! Use the other set of stairs!” shouted Tobi.
“Mraaaugh…!”
Baku roared. Butterfly zingai were flocking around Tobi and Ryuuko, but Baku snapped up every one that got too close in his jaws and consumed them whole. Tobi couldn’t help but wonder what on earth this would look like to someone who couldn’t see zingai.
“There’s too many of these little bastards!” Baku griped.
“Come on, get ’em! You can do it!”
Who was that? thought Tobi. He was instantly incensed. Why would anyone be cheering at a time like this? It felt like nothing made sense anymore, but he was still doing the best he possibly could.
“Keep it up! You’ve got this! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”
What the hell do you think you’re laughing at? Tobi spun around and looked toward the voice—at the landing above. He knew exactly who’d be there.
Ryuuko turned around as well. “What…? Shizukudani?”
“Hey there!” she called down to them. “Nice work, Shiratama Dango and Tobitobi!”
Tobi had known she was sitting on the landing. He’d caught a glimpse of her just moments before. Why was she here? And why had she gleefully skipped past them just before everything went to hell? She must have done something to Hiiragi. But what? And most importantly, she hadn’t been alone. Her zingai had been there with her. Tobi could see it again now—the fleshy four-legged entity climbed up the staircase’s handrail and leaped onto Shizukudani’s shoulders. Where had it been in the meantime?
When Haizaki fell down the stairs, Tobi had seen something. It had all happened in a split second, but he’d caught a glimpse of something about half the size of a human grabbing the janitor’s leg. It wasn’t that Haizaki had tripped. Something had deliberately made him fall. Something that happened to be exactly the same size as Shizukudani’s zingai.
The creature crawled onto its master’s back, hiding behind her. Not that it was well hidden. Its four armlike legs stuck out very conspicuously, and its face was peeking out above her right shoulder. It looked almost like the face of a baby or an old person without any wrinkles. It wasn’t either of those things, of course, and if you spent any time looking, the resemblance quickly faded. It had four eyes, after all.
“Good work, Cipher,” Shizukudani said, clearly satisfied. She reached up to stroke her zingai’s head, her touch gentle and loving, like the zingai was the most precious thing in the world to her. “I can always count on you.”
“…She sees it,” Ryuuko muttered in dumbfounded astonishment.
“It was that thing,” said Tobi.
Shizukudani’s zingai, Cipher, had grabbed Haizaki and sent him tumbling down the stairs. Shizukudani could see it, and judging by how she was acting, that wasn’t a recent development. She’d been able to see it this whole time.
Why had she pretended she couldn’t see zingai? How would that benefit her?
“Wha—?” Ryuuko began before stopping to shake her head. She shook it so hard, Tobi could almost hear her brain rattling in her skull. “Wh-what are…? What are you doing up there, Shizukudani?”
“That’s my line,” said Shizukudani. “What are you two doing down there? It was such a fun show before the two of you came along! Think you could get the hell out of my way, losers?”
Her words and attitude were completely mismatched. The things she said were cruel, but her smile stayed as cheerful as ever. How could she be smiling? Did she think this was fun? “Get out of my way”? Her zingai had gotten in their way. And it was looking more and more unlikely it had acted on its own.
No. No, it didn’t.
Shizukudani stood up. She stepped down one stair, then a second, before pausing to glance over the railing to where Haizaki had fallen. Tobi couldn’t see him—the whole area was buried in butterfly zingai—but most likely, he was still lying there. What had happened to him and Olver? Were they all right? There was no way of knowing.
At some point while Tobi was distracted, the butterfly zingai had landed. None were left in the air. Were they all on Haizaki? They were clustered so densely, Tobi couldn’t tell where one ended and the next began. There was no clear borderline. Haizaki had been clutching Hiiragi when he fell, meaning she was somewhere within the mound of zingai as well.
Suddenly, the mass of butterflies swelled. Someone had stood up, still covered with them from head to foot. Tobi could tell it was her—Itoha Hiiragi. Her hole-like eyes stared out from the writhing mass, and an eerie smile was plastered on her face.
“How’re you doooing, I-to-ha?” said Shizukudani. “Lookie, lookie! It’s me, li’l ol’ Ruka! See?”
“…Rukana,” said Hiiragi.
“Aren’t you just gorgeous? You’re so pretty, I’m getting goose bumps! You always loved blue admirals, didn’t you? Oh, but that’s right. You can’t see them, can you? What a shaaame!”
“…What are…you talking about…?”
“I’m saying you finally got what you deserved.” For an instant, all traces of emotion vanished from her tone and expression. It didn’t last, though. The muscles in her face began to spasm, and a horrifying expression surfaced—one that seemed like mirth, fury, and sadness all at once, and yet, at the same time, like none of them. “We’re best friends, aren’t we? I just want you to be happy, honest! Why don’t you cut it out with all the lies and let me see your true self for once? C’mon, Itoha! Please?”
Hiiragi reached up with zingai-coated hands to cover her ears. “Ahh…”
“‘Find your true self,’ Itoha! ‘Look for the real you,’ Itoha!”
“Ahh! Aaaahhh!”
“ ‘You can do it. I know you can’! ‘It’s not impossible’! ‘Just let yourself go’!”
“Stop, Rukana! Just stop…!”
The butterfly zingai covering Hiiragi stirred restlessly, then took flight. All the butterflies that had split apart came back together, forming a single insectoid zingai. Its wingspan was easily over a meter wide—it very nearly spanned the stairwell. It was massive. The giant butterfly had a beautiful blue pattern on its otherwise black wings—but only on the interior. The exterior portion was the color of dried leaves.
The butterfly zingai took flight. Reflexively, Tobi grabbed Ryuuko and pulled her downward. Even Baku seemed intimidated by the zingai’s enormous new form. It fluttered straight over their heads, then turned sharply and headed up the staircase toward Shizukudani.
“Look at that! You’re doing it again! You’re trying to hurt me again…!” Shizukudani shouted. Tears were streaming from her eyes. She was crying so profusely, it was like a dam had burst inside of her. But even as she wept, she kept smiling. “That’s your true self, Itoha! That’s who you really are—a total piece of shit…!”
Shizukudani wasn’t the only one grinning. Cipher’s face took on a sort of expression as well. The four-legged zingai’s mouth split open. Was it smiling? Assuming its jaw functioned like a human’s, it had definitely unhinged it. It spread its mouth wide like a crocodile, or like a snake preparing to swallow something larger than its own body whole.
Just then, Cipher sprung out from behind Shizukudani’s back. It leaped at the zingai butterfly and grabbed on to it, biting down on its wing and dragging it to the ground. It was eating. Cipher was devouring the butterfly zingai.
“Ugh.” Hiiragi staggered.
“Oh, of course! I get it now! It’s so obvious!” Rukana cried out through sobs. “I finally know what I’ve always, aaalways wanted deep down! It’s you, Itoha! I’ve always wanted to eat you! To make you mine! I’m gonna devour you, Itoha! You’re gonna be part of me, forever and ever…!”