“It’s fine. I’ll love you no matter how dirty you are. So surrender yourself to me already… Ah!” Then Fuyuko quickly pulled away from me, as if she’d noticed something. When I followed her gaze behind us…Haruru was pointing her phone camera at us from inside my room, breathing heavily and motioning for us to continue. “Hurry up! It’s my chance to see Nagi being kissed! Hurry and kiss her! Waffle, waffle!” When I saw my other friend’s face and heard her ridiculous commentary, I suddenly lost interest. That had been dangerous. A little more and we really would have… “Hey, Fuyuko.” “Yes, what? Do you want me to keep going? Ha-ha.” “Stay there for a while and cool off.” I quickly went into my room, locked the window, and closed the curtain. I heard some noise outside for a while, but by the time Haruru and I were ready, it was quiet. “Are you sure, Nagi? It’s cold out today.” “I said I’d let her in after about thirty minutes. By the way, what does ‘waffle, waffle’ mean?” “It’s a spell we ancient otaku use to make people get it on!” “I see. Well, let’s brush our teeth and get ready for bed, okay?” After that, I let Fuyuko back in thirty minutes later, like I’d promised. I took the sofa, Haruru took the bed, and Fuyuko took the futon on the floor. Then we woke up in the morning, washed our faces together, and ate breakfast. To have a sleepover when the next day was a normal school day… We really were the best of friends. I was sure that from now on, we’d keep spending our youth together—so I just wanted this creepy incident to be over. “No way…” When we got to school, our homeroom teacher, Ms. Hachisu, told us something unbelievable. “There was another victim yesterday, and all students who don’t have make-up lessons today are to go home immediately following afternoon classes. The police will be coming, and the school will be locked down. Make sure you leave, okay?” Despite her sweet voice, the facts she presented us with were shocking. Homeroom ended, and then our other classes were over in the blink of an eye. My heart was racing. Why was that? I had a feeling that something really bad was going to happen. My heart was pounding more and more, like I’d run as fast as I could, but my breathing was fine, so maybe I was imagining it. What are you trying to tell me? Say it. What do you want me to do? “…Nagisa!” “Huh? F-Fuyuko?” My thoughts were interrupted by my friend’s usual smiling face. “What’s wrong, Space Case? It’s time to go home—but just for the Summer-Winter combo. Natsu and Fuyu.” Still smiling, Fuyuko pointed at Haruru, who was holding her textbooks and notes with a grim look. “I have a pile of make-up lessons until evening…” “Huh? Haruru, your grades aren’t that bad, right? So why?” “That’s right! It’s because all my work was incomplete! After English, I’ll be in Ms. Hachisu’s math hell! It’ll be the last train by the time I go home…” “No, you don’t even do incomplete work. You’re always forgetting to turn in your homework and notes…” “On the other hand, even an underachiever like me can avoid make-up classes as long as I submit my notes—I don’t know if that makes our school strict or lenient.” Incidentally, even if a student didn’t have make-up lessons, they’d still have to retake a test if they failed it. Fuyuko, for example, had to retake all her second-year finals, including Home Economics. “Fuyu, you’re a third-year now, so let’s try and steer clear of retaking your midterms, okay?” “Ha-ha. It sounds like the underachiever who has to take make-up classes is trying to say something, but I can’t hear her!” “I’ll brain you with the corner of my textbook. Well, that’s how it is, so you two can go home ahead of me. Actually, you have to go home.” Like they’d said in homeroom, students who didn’t have make-up classes had to leave. The library, the nurse’s office, and everything were supposed to be locked down. “We do. Well, see you tomorrow, Haruru.” “Yeah! Let’s talk on the phone when I get home!” “I’m done butting in, okay? I’ll just join the group call on my own.” Afterward, Fuyuko and I went to a café in front of the station. For some reason, I didn’t feel like going home yet. “You’ve been spaced out the whole day, Nagisa,” Fuyuko said from where she sat, opposite from me on the patio, toying with her straw. “R-really? I think I’ve been normal.” “No, you haven’t. If you were acting normally, you’d be quipping at me more. Lunch was horrible. I was joking around and harassing you, and you barely reacted. I wondered if you were feeling sick.” “You can tell how I’m feeling by how often I quip at you?” “Of course. We’re your best friends.” It was truly devious of her to smile and bring up Haruru, who wasn’t even there. There was no real need to keep everything to myself. Maybe I’d try talking about it… “…My heart’s been pounding since this morning because of what’s been happening. I can’t stop thinking about it once I start. My emotions have been all over the place.” “The people getting hurt at the school? You’re a sweet girl, so I understand why you’d be shocked.” “That’s not it.” I was shocked, but that wasn’t the only reason for my pounding heart. I was furious at whoever was trying to ruin our youth. “I want to know who’s behind this and why. I’m a proxy detective, aren’t I? So…I want to find the answer to this mystery!” I didn’t mind if someone laughed at me for showing kindness. If someone was being hurt just living their life, I wanted to help them—especially if we went to the same school! Just like with Kokoa and Yomiko, I wanted to save the people I could reach. “I don’t get the point of sticking your neck out recklessly to follow your feelings. In time, they’ll turn into poison and eat away at you.” Fuyuko’s cool words calmed me just a bit. My feelings—my fury—probably couldn’t be stopped by anyone. “It’s fine. If I get hurt because of my own actions, then so be it.” “…Ah, fine!” Fuyuko stood up and began shouting at me. “You’re really stupid! You’re too kind and too sweet! And while we’re at it, you’re too cute! You’re too eager to sacrifice yourself, and it’s insanely reckless! You’re the type who’d throw her life away for the man she loves!” “Huh? Huh? Huh…?” “You need someone to hold your hand! It doesn’t have to be me; anyone is fine. If you don’t have someone you trust to guide you, you’re going to screw up royally somewhere!” Fuyuko managed all that in one breath and offered me her hand. “I, Fuyuko Shirahama…will stand with the proxy detective and guide her. You’re not alone, Nagisa. Let’s solve this mystery together, the three of us.” I took her hand and asked my precious friend a question. “In that case, Fuyuko—be my assistant?” “As you wish—my friend.” After that, we started to organize an overview of the case. “The first victim was a first-year girl. I was the one who found her, and she had no serious injuries. She was bleeding a small amount from her arm.” “The second to fourth victims were about the same. They were three girls and one boy. There was no specific pattern to their grade levels, but they were all injured in the same way, and the attacks all happened after school.” I thought all over again about how strange an incident it was as I wrote it all down in my notebook. No other violence had occurred. The culprit’s motive was completely unclear. “…It’s kind of creepy how they’re so fixated on blood, regardless of gender. Maybe the culprit’s a vampire? Just kidding.” A Western monster said to go after human blood. The victims didn’t succumb to the vampire’s good looks and charms, but they did lose consciousness after being strangled. “A vampire, huh…” “Hm? What’s wrong, Fuyuko? Is that bugging you?” “No, it’s just—someone told me an urban legend like that before. Well, most of what she says is nonsense anyway, so I’ll ignore it.” Hmm. That had piqued my curiosity, but oh well. “Could there be a meaning to making them bleed? Maybe it’s for a religious ritual or something like that.” “Well, they don’t need blood, but things like Mr. Cupid are common among adolescent girls. There’s quite a few manga and novels like that, but we’re talking about a scale too large to do a proper search.” I half-heartedly searched for something similar on my phone, but there were no results that matched. “Personally, I don’t think it has anything to do with the occult. The fact that one of our students is being carefully selected each day suggests that there’s a reason for it.” “I agree. But we have no idea at all what that reason could be.” We were silent for a while after that. Before we knew it, the sky above the patio had turned a gloomy gray. Small raindrops fell onto my notebook, and we decided to move seats. “Whoops.” A light slapping sound came from Fuyuko’s direction. “Fuyuko? What’s wrong? “A real loser tried to kiss me while we were taking shelter from the rain. I’m just going to take this napkin and…” Fuyuko scrubbed her palm with the napkin and showed me the bug that had been sheltering with us. A mosquito. It was about the season for them to start coming out in numbers… Huh? “Hey, Fuyuko. There’s a reason why mosquitoes suck blood, right?” “…The survival and prosperity of all mosquitoes? Blood is like nutrition for them.” “Right. And sometimes we humans intentionally take blood, too.” Dots began to appear in my mind, accompanied by images and words. May. The nurse’s office. Something that Haruru and I couldn’t do. Something that Fuyuko could do but didn’t. Something that most students did on a voluntary basis—and the person who encouraged it. The dots connected, and I drew a line. A line that only showed one answer, which was too beautiful to deny, and cruelly colored the mystery. “It’s the blood drive! Don’t tell me all the victims…?!” “Yes. They’re probably students who didn’t give blood at school. The second and third victims were our classmates, and I know for sure the two of them didn’t donate blood.” “I know the fourth boy. He has a fear of needles and faints just looking at one. He’s refused to donate blood since his first year.” I didn’t know about the first girl, though. Even so, the number of students who didn’t donate blood at our school was under 10 percent. The strange common denominator seemed to be connecting the fourth, who had little in common otherwise. “You mean the culprit is deliberately going after students who haven’t donated blood.” That common denominator also applied to us. And to Haruru Agarie, who wasn’t here— “Let’s go back to school! Haruru’s going to be in danger!” “…Damn. I tried calling her, but no dice. It wouldn’t connect. Let’s go, Nagisa.” We burst out of the café into the rain and started to run, with the face of the mastermind behind this incident stuck in my mind. The main gate was wide open when we arrived at school. However, the entrances into the school building, including the main entrance, the visitors’ entrance near the office, and the doors of the pathway leading from the building to the gym, were locked down. “Wh-why… What do we do? We can’t get in like this!” “Let’s get in the nurse’s office from outside. I have a duplicate key; we can get in with that.” “…Do I want to know how you got that?” “I sweet-talked the president of the health committee into giving me a duplicate key. I’ll give it back to her when I graduate.” “You’re really a womanizer… You’re gonna get stabbed one day.” But we were able to get into the school, thanks to Fuyuko. The nurse’s office was very quiet. No…the whole school was quiet as a tomb. “What’s going on here? Did all the teachers leave when make-up classes ended? I thought the police were coming to investigate.” “…Nagisa, here.” Ignoring my confusion, Fuyuko beckoned me over. She removed a massive file from the desk drawer that contained certain information. “The records of all the students’ physicals?” “Including blood donations. And look at these sticky notes.” Following the notes led us to students who hadn’t once donated blood during their time at school. There were numerous students besides the four victims, and Fuyuko and I were no exceptions—our files had them, too. So did Haruru’s. “So we’ve already been marked.” Fuyuko clicked her tongue softly and closed the file. As she started to leave the nurse’s office, I called after her. “Hey, Fuyuko. The fact that this is here…means what I think it does, doesn’t it?” She didn’t reply. “She was able to confirm whether we’d consented to donate blood, and she transferred here at an unusual time. She always encouraged us to donate blood…and was always kind to us.” The school nurse who’d dubbed the three of us Autumnless. Koyomi Utsugi. She was the culprit behind this incident. Fuyuko looked away with a complicated expression. She wanted to deny it. But if she was going to be my assistant, I needed her help. Apparently, we both thought the same thing. “Nagisa, that’s—” “That could be considered both correct and incorrect.” We knew that voice and its awkward, ladylike speech. When we turned to face the entrance to the nurse’s office…somehow, Ms. Koyomi was already standing there. “Ms. Koyomi! Don’t tell me you’re the…” “Culprit. If that’s what you mean to say, you’re incorrect,” she replied, walking toward us. “However, if you’ve deduced that I’m involved in this incident, you’re correct.” “Ms. Koyomi, please don’t come any closer,” Fuyuko said icily, standing in front of me. “If you’re our enemy, and you intend to hurt Nagisa and Haruru…then I won’t hesitate to destroy you. So please answer us.” “What are you asking me to answer, Miss Shirahama?” “Whether you’re on our side or not. That’s all.” Ms. Koyomi had stopped and remained silent for a while. But she was soon smiling her usual gentle smile. “Yes, I’m on your side. I’m sorry for all the confusion.” What a relief. Ms. Koyomi wasn’t here to hurt us. I was relieved that my favorite teacher wasn’t our enemy, but Fuyuko wasn’t convinced. “…Can you prove it?” “Heh-heh, that’s fair. Think carefully. If I were your enemy, wouldn’t I have attacked you two immediately when you entered the nurse’s office?” Ms. Koyomi pointed to the bed reserved for sick students and continued. “I was right over there, and you didn’t notice me. But it might be more accurate to say you couldn’t notice me. If your lives had been on the line here…what might have happened?” Fuyuko finally relaxed after that argument. That said, I couldn’t believe she’d been here the whole time when I thought she’d appeared out of nowhere. “Ms. Koyomi, please. Please…help our friend!” I bowed my head deeply, despite our current situation. “Of course. That’s my mission and my duty as a teacher. Can I skip the more complicated details for now?” “Yes. I’ll ask you when it’s all over.” “You’re a clever one, Miss Natsunagi. You’re able to make prompt decisions to avoid wasting time, and you have a talent for saving people,” Ms. Koyomi said, then took a device out of the pocket of her lab coat and handed it to us. “Even so, to put it as simply as possible, the culprit of this incident has a grudge against me. They’re opposed to the organization I belong to. Miss Agarie is just a victim and was abducted by them for a certain reason.” “An organization and someone who opposes it…? Ms. Koyomi, who are you?” “If I had to say, I’d call myself someone who assists heroes of justice. I promise to tell you everything after we help Miss Agarie.” “…Understood. So where exactly is the culprit and our friend?” “The school is completely locked down, so they should still be here somewhere. You two search the west side of the school; contact me on this walkie-talkie immediately if you find the culprit. I’ll rush over to where you are.” Time was of the essence right now. Fuyuko and I thanked Ms. Koyomi, and we were about to leave the nurse’s office… “Miss Natsunagi, Miss Shirahama.” …but we stopped in our tracks when we heard Ms. Koyomi’s apologetic voice. “I’m so sorry. I’m terribly ashamed to have embroiled children like you in adult matters. I will help Miss Agarie no matter what, so please don’t…get in over your heads.” “You don’t have to apologize, Ms. Koyomi.” “What? Wh-why is that?” “Because you’re trying to protect our youth. To us, you’re a hero yourself, so please don’t look so gloomy. Well then, we’re off!” Fuyuko and I rushed into the dark hallway without waiting for a reply. The school was eerily quiet, with all the lights off except the emergency ones. Even the staff rooms in the office, where someone would usually be, were pitch-black. It was disconcerting, like the school itself had been cut off from the outside world. “Creepy… Why are we the only ones here? This can’t be right.” “Maybe the culprit did something, or Ms. Koyomi did. Watch your step, and let’s hurry, Nagisa.” Hurry. I wanted to move forward even just one step, just one second faster, to find that girl. I kept praying that she hadn’t suffered any scary or painful experiences. My heart throbbed with pain when I remembered her bright smile. I would never forgive the person who attacked our friend. “Hey, Nagisa. If we find the culprit and things get physical, will you let me handle it?” Fuyuko suddenly proposed, running next to me. “No way. I can’t let you handle something so dangerous alone!” “It’s okay. I like to think I’m pretty good at martial arts and defending myself. Besides, if push comes to shove, I have this.” Fuyuko opened her cardigan and showed me something. I almost made a strange sound without thinking, but I figured it would be fine since it was Fuyuko. “Right…okay. But don’t get in over your head. Calling Ms. Koyomi should be our priority instead of fighting if we find the culprit.” “Of course. And there’s one more thing I need to ask you—when I give the signal, I want you to use this.” I didn’t understand the meaning of the small tool she handed me after saying that, but I put my trust in her anyway. “Leave it to me. I’ll do my best!” “Thanks, Nagisa. Now let’s go get our friend!” We ran and stopped in front of classrooms, over and over again. Having explored almost the entire west side of the school, we headed for the last place to check: a music room in the deepest area of the top floor. “This is the last place, huh?” Fuyuko said, looking me in the eye as she opened the door to the music room. Please let her be here. Please, Haruru. Let’s walk home together— “……?!” But the person shrouded in the darkness of the music room wasn’t our friend. It was a woman in a pantsuit, wearing a uniquely shaped gas mask. An enemy. I had a gut feeling that they were the culprit who stole our youth, and I tried to send a voice message on the walkie-talkie, but— “Ahh…!” —a short knife was thrust into the walkie-talkie I was holding. I could instantly tell it was broken and let go of it. Apparently, the edge of the blade didn’t pierce my palm, but the web of my hand had a small cut, and a sharp pain shot through me. “Nagisa, are you okay?!” Fuyuko rushed to pull out a handkerchief and wrapped it around my wound to protect it. This amount of pain and blood was nothing. More importantly… “I’ve got a small cut, but I’m fine. But the walkie-talkie isn’t…!” …now we couldn’t call Ms. Koyomi. The culprit who’d thrown the knife produced a new one from somewhere—I didn’t know where—and twirled it in their hand while examining us. “If it isn’t Miss Natsunagi and Miss Shirahama!” Their voice was muffled, but I recognized it as it echoed from inside the mask. No, everyone in our grade would have known the math teacher with the saccharine voice and flirtatious tone. “I can’t believe you were the culprit, Ms. Hachisu.” When I said her name, the woman—Ms. Hachisu—removed her mask. Her face looked the same as usual, but she still had an eerie vibe around her. “Oh my. You’ve found me out… Well, I guess there’s no need for that ridiculous tone now. It doesn’t matter if a bunch of brats like you know my identity.” All she had changed was her manner of speaking, but the woman in front of us was not the Ms. Hachisu I knew. She was terrifying. My instincts were screaming at me to run. It was like something deep inside me was warning me that I was no match for her. “…Why did you target Haruru? Why did my friend have to be kidnapped by someone like you?!” Even so, my feet didn’t waver, and I kept on shouting. I just wanted a justification. I wouldn’t let my youth be destroyed for no reason. Whether her motivation was a ransom, or a personal grudge, or anything else—as long as there was something, I’d be able to accept it. “Haruru Agarie has precious blood flowing through her veins.” “What do you…mean?” “What the hell? You’re always together with that infuriating woman in the nurse’s office, and she hasn’t told you anything? I was worried you were working for her, but…I guess I was overestimating you.” “I—I don’t know what you’re talking about! Explain it to us!” Hachisu gave a small sigh and nodded. “Fine. Haruru has a special type of blood called ‘return-blood.’ It causes abnormal development of the five senses and sometimes even affects physical abilities. It has the potential to transform the very essence of humans.” “Why would Haruru have that…?” “Her blood transfusion, Nagisa.” Fuyuko gave me the extremely simple answer. “Oh…! Haruru had a blood transfusion when she was young,” I said. “Yes. That’s probably when it got into her body.” Hachisu smiled slightly at our deduction. “Correct. That girl received something that was intended for our organization by mistake, so we took it back. That’s all.” “That’s the only…reason?” “Yes. Our only goal was the blood. It was challenging to infiltrate the school as a teacher and get around that woman to sneak a peek at the blood donation list, but she’s clearly lost her edge. She couldn’t even see through my disguise. Heh-heh.” Laughing at Ms. Koyomi, Hachisu continued her monologue. “However, the only way to tell if any power remains in the return-blood is to extract it. I was prepared to do so by force, but it was truly fortunate that it only took four people.” Hachisu had planned to hurt all the students who hadn’t donated blood if necessary. The sheer selfishness of it only strengthened the disgust in my heart. “I was locked inside the school, but I’ve already transported the return-blood. I was going to kill that woman last and get out of here, but…I guess I could just kill you all, too.” “What do you mean by that?” “Don’t you understand? If I cut off your heads and leave them on display, I’ll at least be able to buy myself some time. While everyone is freaking out, I’ll leave tow—” “No, you won’t! Who cares what happens to horrible people like you?!” Just because her blood was a little different than everyone else’s—it had only turned out that way because of a small, cruel twist of fate. Haruru had received that blood to stay alive; taking it for such a selfish reason was just— “Unforgiveable.” Terrifying so many people… Bleeding students and making them suffer… And most importantly, robbing us of our youth. “I’ll never forgive you for any of it!” My heart was ablaze—no. It wasn’t just my heart. It felt like a flame was burning within me. My thoughts, my heart—everything was kindling, feeding this emotion. “I can’t hold it back anymore.” My passion intensified. Change the reality in front of you. My heart was getting hotter and hotter, as if it were shouting those words. Just I was about to step forward in this fit of passion… “Huh?” …I didn’t even know what had happened. The next moment, my whole body had been slammed to the floor of the music room. “Nagisa, what’s wrong?!” I heard Fuyuko’s voice through a haze as she lifted me up. It wasn’t just that. Her face, her scent—it was like all my senses had a filter over them. It was like my body and mind were floating apart, cleanly separated. “What is this…?” “A fast-acting neurotoxin,” Hachisu replied in a sinister voice. “All my knives are coated with a special poison. It’s a deadly toxin that rapidly causes unconsciousness if it penetrates your skin. A slight tear on the thin skin of your hand, and you’ll lose control of your body and mind for a while.” “…You’re sick, doing that to a high school girl,” Fuyuko spat in rage, but Hachisu just snorted. “This isn’t a place for fun lessons anymore. Your struggles are life and death now. Plus, I love torturing the weak, especially if they’re conscious but unable to move.” Her mouth contorted into a smile of pure malice, and she turned toward me. “I’m going to kill you slowly.” I hate this. I hate this. I hate this. I hated that I couldn’t do anything. I was just a weakling here. But my body refused to move. If anything, my consciousness was growing fainter and fainter. No, no. I can’t just sleep here like this. “Nagisa, I want you to leave things here to me now.” Her kind, strong voice was a lifeline to my fading consciousness. Fuyuko. My precious friend who supported me. But that was exactly why… “No… Fuyuko. I can’t leave you alone to deal with her.” “It’s okay. I can’t forgive her, either. That’s why I think I’ll cut loose for the first time in a while.” “‘Cut loose’…?” “It’s the side of me I don’t really want you to see—the one that’s tainted.” Fuyuko placed me against the wall and put her uniform sweater over my knees. Her warmth, her scent that I loved, brought a wave of relief over me. “Hey, Nagisa. Can I ask you just one thing?” She swept back her hair and glared at the enemy in front of her. She really did look handsome, like a prince—I wanted to say so, but I could barely nod. “Please order me to crush this little rat. If the one I love tells me to, I know I’ll be at least ten times as strong!” There was no way my support or words could actually make her stronger—that’s what some adults might say. But I believed we’d be able to do it. Why? I didn’t know the reason. But my heart screamed Go! My body felt broken from the way I’d hit the floor, but I tried to pull myself up anyway. I didn’t care if I broke for real. I shook my head to escape the numbing pain, even though I felt drowsy. Prepared to be hoarse tomorrow, I mustered the loudest voice I could. “Fuyuko! Take that woman down! Protect…our youth!!” As I shouted, the eyes of my reflection in the music room window… …seemed to flash red for just a moment. “Thanks, Nagisa. From here on out, this is a job for the assistant, not the proxy detective.” Fuyuko Shirahama’s Battle It was strange. The order from my beloved Nagisa gave me an amazing feeling—like I was a feather floating through the air or a butterfly flying through flowers. Or even a cloud floating in the sky. My steps felt light, my movements quick. Maybe I was more of a masochist than I realized? “Are you done putting her to sleep?” A grating voice interrupted my reverie. Ugh, how annoying. Like a mosquito buzzing close to my ear on a summer night. “You think a high school girl like you could kill me? What a joke.” Hachisu readied the poison-coated knife as I got closer. The short blade’s edge was kept sharp; if she stabbed me with it, I’d lose a lot of blood. “I can’t win. I can’t kill you. If I said that and apologized, would you forgive us?” “I’ll win this fight and kill you regardless. I might have some personal compassion for you, but that won’t save you. All lives have equal value when they’re taken, even infants or caterpillars.” “I hate that kind of thinking. All lives that can be saved should be saved equally, right? Well, whatever. I was taught plenty in the past by a woman a lot meaner than you…!” Using my left foot as a pivot, I kicked Hachisu in the side as hard as I could. My leg was extended, but I felt nothing at the tips of my toes or the top of my foot. Ah, so she backstepped. “What a ridiculous way to run away from a high school girl! Lame!” “That’s a cheap taunt. Even a man who had trained his body diligently would be in agony after getting hit by that kick. You have a good core and are trained well, but it’s useless.” For a brief moment, a fraction of a second, a blink of an eye, I gave her a reprieve. Hachisu didn’t miss that chance. She closed the distance again at inhuman speed and stabbed at my face with the knife in her right hand. “…!” I felt a breeze, and the sound of the blade slicing through the air sent a warning alarm to my nerves. My cheek would be torn, leaving the poisoned knife to drive into my bloody mouth—in the worst-case scenario. I desperately tilted my head to get away from the blade. “I see. You’re young, so your reflexes aren’t bad.” “Do you really have the time to be praising your enemy?” The knife slashed past my face. I grabbed hold of the wrist that held it and used all my strength to yank it away. I broke Hachisu’s stance, slipped past her reach, and sprang a shoulder throw on her. If I released her mid-throw…she would crash into the wall back-first. “How naive.” However, Hachisu forcibly changed her posture in midair and landed against the wall on her feet. “That’s a move that would scare a cat. Are you even still human?” “Find out for yourself, if you want to know!” She pressed against the wall firmly and pushed off, about to lunge at me, but I could see the trajectory she was most likely to take. Normally, I would have done my best to avoid her, but the words, the trust Nagisa had given me were propelling me on. “Guh…ahh……?!” In an evasive half-step maneuver, I shifted my body sideways and kicked upward. That was all it took to drive my toes into her abdomen. I felt her flesh squish beneath my foot and heard the cracking of bone. The awful sensations were transmitted to my toes and ears. “Yeah, you really do feel inhuman.” My indoor shoes were custom-made safety boots with steel toes and insoles. Most people would faint on the spot being kicked by these. Worst-case, they’d die. “You brat! You brat, don’t tell me some stupid kid…made me spit blood!” Hachisu had lost speed and tumbled to the floor; she got up with ease, but she was clutching her side. Her arrogance and self-assurance had been painted over with pain and rage. She had a toughness that couldn’t be explained away by high pain tolerance. She was definitely on that side. “Fuyuko Shirahama…don’t tell me you’re one of us?” “No, didn’t I say before? I was taught plenty by a woman meaner than you—a red-haired woman with a big attitude and an ass to match.” “Don’t be ridiculous! You’re a civilian; you only know the basics! You shouldn’t stand a chance against me! Which organization are you from?!” “She was a civilian. Well, if I had to say, I guess I’m from this school? Also, I’m the first assistant to the world’s cutest proxy detective.” “Die!” Hachisu brandished her knife again in a clumsy motion. She advanced and swung, a careless move that led to a wild dance of stabs. What an idiot. There was no way that was going to hit me, was there? To execute a killing blow, you had to outwit your opponent—draw attention to the first part of the move and hide the end. If your approach to kill your enemy was just slicing off their head—now that was basic. “…I never wanted to remember those days again.” But it was all right. Thanks to them, I was able to protect the people I loved. “Why aren’t my blows landing?! Why don’t my techniques work on an amateur when they’ve killed countless people on our side?!” “Yeah. You probably have more experience than me, but I’ve got talent.” As I kept evading her in a monotonous rhythm, my thoughts naturally drifted back to my past. I was kind of a brat in junior high, and I was caught by a red-haired woman after an incident. “Be happy. I’m going to train you and make you my subordinate.” Those words didn’t make me happy at all, and in fact, they marked the start of the worst period of my life. Training and more training. Horrific violence and verbal abuse. I hated it so much. I really did! I resented my talent, and I thought about turning against the whole world. I’d cursed my fate every day. But it had led me to today, when I could protect Nagisa and Haruru, the people I loved— “It was worth having that woman train me up and be tough as hell about it!” I decided to put an end to the tedious death match. I read the trajectory of her knife and drove my clenched fist into Hachisu’s face. “Guh…ah……?!” Hachisu flinched at the unexpected counterattack, and her knife stopped. The first blow had broken her nose. The next one smashed her cheek. The third successive one was a feint. I saw her take a defensive posture, so I decided to deliver another roundhouse kick instead of my fist, landing a devastating blow to her liver through flesh and sinew. But… “Uhh…guh, ahh……! Damn, damn, damn you……! I can’t believe some kid did this to me!” “I’ll give you credit for being tough enough to stay conscious, Ms. Hachisu. I still need to pay you back for bullying me in those make-up math classes. I really hated those workbooks you made.” Our rock-paper-scissors game of offense and defense never stopped. I’d destroyed Hachisu’s defense, and once it was gone, I demolished her as she tried to flee. There was no room for luck in the process. It was a one-sided game built solely on domination through violence. Hachisu’s movements began to falter as she understood who was the winner and who was the loser here. “Let’s end this.” If I had been alone, things never would have turned out like this. I probably would have been at a disadvantage without Nagisa cheering me on. Her voice and words truly had a mysterious power that made me forget the limits of my body. I made my right hand into a fist again and slowly pulled it back, trying to find a place where I could take down my stubborn opponent in one blow. “Well, I guess anywhere is fine…since this is my trump card.” I was able to show off my full power because my core was so strong. I held my fist vertically and delivered a right straight, like an arrow shot from a bow. It was a one-hit-kill technique that even that woman had praised. My fist drove into Hachisu’s solar plexus, and after letting out a small gasp, she crumpled to the ground. Neither I nor Nagisa had a scratch on us. It was a perfect victory, with no complaints. “Ugh…hm, Fuyuko?” When I regained consciousness, the face of my beloved friend greeted me. “How do you feel, my adorable Sleeping Beauty?” I was a little confused that she looked the same as she had before I fell asleep, but when I saw Hachisu crumpled in a corner of the music room, I immediately understood. “You did it…! You did it, Fuyuko!” She’d won. Fuyuko had won! She’d taken down that woman! “That’s amazing, Fuyuko! You’re so cool! You didn’t get hurt, did you?” I couldn’t help but throw my arms around Fuyuko. I would do anything for her today! Anything that made her happy! “Ha-ha, I’m fine. How are you feeling, Nagisa? Need me to massage your boobs?” “There’s not really enough to massage.” “There definitely is! Ha-ha. If you can make quips like that, I know you’re fine.” When Fuyuko said that, I realized that my body had mostly recovered already. I just felt a little unsteady on my feet. Maybe I’d only absorbed a small amount of poison? For someone as frail as I’d been, it was incredible that I’d recovered so quickly. Like some unseen person had healed me with mysterious power. “Yeah, I think I am fine. Thank you, my prince… Just kidding. Heh-heh.” “Pfft. Don’t tell me you’ve finally fallen for me, Nagisa?” “Yep! I think I could kiss you today!” “I—I don’t know how to handle a blunt reaction from you… I really feel shy.” Fuyuko hid her mouth with her hand and turned her face away. She was legit embarrassed. My prince was being too much of a maiden. “Besides, it’s all thanks to you, Nagisa. I think I was moving better than usual because you were cheering me on.” “Huh? What does that have to do with it? More importantly, we need to call Ms. Koyomi. We need to find out where Haruru went, too— Aah!” By the time I’d sensed someone’s presence behind me, it was already too late. The woman who should have been at the very edge of my field of vision, defeated and unconscious, was gone. Hachisu was up and restraining me. “You let your guard down, you brat…! How dare you make a fool of me! I’ll kill you!” Hachisu put one hand around my neck and pointed her knife at me with the other. Oh, this was no good. At this rate, I was really going to— “Let her go, Hachisu.” I had screwed my eyes shut with fear. When I opened them again, I saw Fuyuko…and she was holding a cocked gun. It was a small handgun like you’d see in movies and manga—an illegal weapon meant for killing. “Oh my, Shirahama. What a bad girl you are, pointing that at your teacher,” Hachisu taunted. Fuyuko was silent. “It almost looks real, but there’s no smell of gunpowder or iron on it. Someone who couldn’t get their hands on a real gun might rob a convenience store with that, but that’s it. And you think you’re going to kill me with it? How foolish.” “Why don’t you find out whether it’s real or not?” “What a dumb brat you are. You can’t kill me with a modded air gun. Well? Want to switch places with your friend? But I’m going to pay you back plenty for before.” “I’m not going to take her place.” “Oh? You’re going to abandon your friend? Fascinating!” “I’m not abandoning her. I’m going to hit you with this bullet right between the eyebrows.” “…Then take your best shot before she dies!” She raised the knife high, ready to stab me in the chest. But I wasn’t scared, because Fuyuko was there. Fuyuko raised her left index finger, the signal to use what she’d had given me earlier. “Huh…?!” Boom. An ear-piercing explosion echoed in the room. That wasn’t all. The smell of gunpowder reached my nose, telling me that a bullet had been fired from a gun…but that was an illusion. The explosion and the smell of gunpowder had come from the small firecracker I was holding—the trump card I’d taken out of my skirt pocket. The only thing that had exited the barrel of Fuyuko’s gun was a small air gun pellet. “You misjudged because you’re a pro,” Fuyuko muttered, taking advantage of the momentary opening and closing the distance between us. She landed a powerful uppercut to Hachisu’s jaw, ending the fight in one blow this time. “Since you were aware of the gun, you sensed the smell of gunpowder and the explosion. You misjudged the bullet that hit your forehead. Even against ants like us, you didn’t let go of your weapon. You’re a coward, and that messed up your perception, didn’t it, Ms. Hachisu?” Hachisu fell to the ground, and I was sure she was unconscious this time, but… “You can still move? …Even I’m cringing.” …unable to stand, Hachisu slowly tried to crawl out of the music room on her belly. She’d deceived so many people. She’d tried to kill so many people. And she alone was still trying to live. The selfishness and shamelessness of this awful woman, who was guilty of so many crimes— “I just can’t forgive you.” Before I knew it, I’d picked up a guitar that had been left against the wall. It was an instrument used by students who had chosen music as their elective. It was the perfect weight for swinging around, although I definitely shouldn’t. But right then, it was the only weapon I had. “Aieee… S-stop. Don’t hit me with that.” Hachisu looked up at me with frightened eyes. Her voice was so frail, it was hard to believe she’d just been in a deadly fight. How, how could someone like that have taken away our precious friend? It was unforgivable. Unforgivable. A filthy grown-up like you— “You messed up our precious, irreplaceable youth—and I’m gonna double-kill you!” I brought the guitar down, and it shattered on impact. Its parts scattered in the air, and the broken strings played a jarring chord. I hadn’t brought it down on Hachisu’s head, but slightly to the side of her on the floor. “That threat was so rock and roll, Nagisa,” said Fuyuko. “Take a look at Hachisu.” Out of breath, I flung the remains of the guitar down and looked at the woman lying unconscious on the floor. “She fainted…” “People do that when they think they’re going to die. Now, thanks to your outburst, we don’t know where Haruru is.” “Oh! S-sorry! I should have interrogated her first.” “It’s okay. We know she wasn’t working alone because she told us herself.” Fuyuko felt around in Hachisu’s suit and produced a small phone. It wasn’t locked, and we were quickly able to find evidence that she’d contacted her accomplices.
Chapter 8
37 min read