It turned out Haijima Yoko was nothing more than an ill-mannered guy who had the nerve to take something from someone else's desk on only his second day after transferring here. But that was fine. I would use this incident to my advantage.
"N-nothing! Why would you bring something dangerous like that to school?" I said, my voice slightly nervous.
"Oh, this? I just found it stuck in someone's desk." He looked at me with a grin. He stepped closer, then placed both objects in my hands. "Don't you think these look good on you?" he whispered.
I shuddered in horror at his words. The classroom felt incredibly ominous; it was just Haijima Yoko and me. A gust of wind blowing in through the gaps in the windows felt so cold against the back of my neck. My body crumpled to the floor. How had my world become like this?
Had the people around me changed, or had I been broken from the very beginning? Why did the people close to me look like cruelly grinning demons, toying with someone's feelings and fears? Marco, for one—and now this new transfer student too?
"Hahaha!" I laughed loudly, enjoying the cruelty of the world. Maybe I really had gone insane; my brain could no longer process the situation. I stared at Haijima Yoko, who was still wearing that grin. I brought my face closer and whispered to him, "Were you the one who put that thing in my desk?"
The two of us stood silently, locking each other in a fierce stare. I returned the two red objects to him, then strolled casually toward the exit. Maybe my brain had stopped functioning; the fear I'd felt earlier was gone now. I didn't even care that Haijima Yoko was standing behind me with a knife in his hand. What he had done wasn't any more frightening than what Marco had done.
"Don't you remember? Don't you remember me at all?"
My steps stopped. I heard Shy_Ko's voice right behind me. I slowly turned around and looked at Haijima Yoko, who was staring at me with a sad expression.
"It wasn't easy to forget you. Your leaving wounded me so deeply. It hurts! This wound hurts! I don't know how to make it go away." He moved closer and closer to me. I had no idea what he was rambling about.
"In the middle of a dark night, I closed my eyes. I ordered myself to fall asleep. At least when I was asleep, I wouldn't feel that wound anymore. I wanted to stay like that ... I wanted to sleep for a long time."
His cold words seemed to touch my heart. I could understand what he was saying. But by then, he was standing right in front of me. He reached for my hand and kissed it. I stayed silent, still transfixed by his words. His voice really could melt my heart. He looked into my eyes with an unreadable expression.
"Cruel circumstances always take my side. Even in my sleep, you appear in my dreams, giving me love and making me happy, only to hurt me again in the end. Even when the world in my dreams became frightening, someone would suddenly wake me up. For a moment, I was grateful to the person who woke me—the person who pulled me out of the nightmare."
Haijima Yoko took off his glasses and swept back his bangs, revealing black eyes that looked incredibly sharp yet beautiful. He looked like a handsome boy now. In fact, he was the most handsome boy I'd ever seen. Even so, I still didn't understand what he was talking about. Why was he showing me this? Why was he telling me such a ridiculous story?
I stared back at Haijima Yoko. His gaze softened again, and he smiled bitterly.
"But before long, I became aware again of what I was going through. The wound hurt more in the real world than it did in the dream world. Where should I go? Where should I run? Wherever I was, the first words out of my mouth were: where are you?"
He paused for a moment. "Even with this wound, and with all my efforts to forget you ... deep in my heart, I want you to come back and heal it."
Haijima Yoko finished his story. He let go of my hand, then turned around to pick up the knife and the rose. He slung his backpack over his shoulder and walked past me. But before he did, he whispered as he placed the rose in my hand, "At least take this!"
Once Haijima Yoko had left, I collapsed onto the floor. I clutched my chest tightly; my heart wouldn't stop pounding. Haijima Yoko had terrified me, but what was this feeling? Why were my tears streaming down like this? Why did it hurt inside? Why?
"Hahaha! Hahaha!" I laughed so loudly that my voice echoed through the room. I forced a smile. "At least my heart doesn't feel empty anymore," I murmured.
"Aora! What's wrong?" Giva called out anxiously, followed by several more footsteps. It was probably Chaterine and Sophia. Giva knelt in front of me and lifted my face until it was level with hers. "What's wrong?" she asked again. But I didn't have the energy to answer. Or rather, I was too lazy to answer that question. If I said I was fine, I'd be lying, right? I wasn't fine, so it was better to stay quiet.
Seeing me sitting there in a daze, Chaterine and Sophia looked at me sadly, then wrapped their arms around me. I just stayed silent as they treated me that way. After that, they took me home, and ... I had no idea what happened afterward.
That night, I woke up in my room. I rubbed the bridge of my nose and tried to think. "What does Shy_Ko actually want from me? Enough to make him transfer to my school. Did I know him before? No! That's impossible! There isn't any trace of him in my memories."
I looked at the clock on my wall; it was ten at night. I walked to the kitchen to get some water because my throat felt dry. I glanced around the house. Everything was dark, as if there were no signs of life. Mom was probably asleep in her room. After getting a glass of water, I headed back to my room.
Tap!
It sounded like a rock had been thrown at my window. Curious, I slowly opened it. I pressed my lips together and held my breath. Someone was standing below, staring up at me. A few seconds later, they slowly walked away from my house.
"Wait!" I called, then headed for the front door. I opened it slowly, afraid of waking Mom.
By the time I got outside, the person had disappeared. I tried to get out through the gate and saw someone's shadow pass in front of me. I immediately ran after it. I don't know what came over me that night, but I chased them without feeling afraid at all. Maybe my brain really had stopped working.
The shadow led me to a housing complex one kilometer from my house. Just imagine: lazy me actually ran that far in the middle of the night. If that wasn't stupidity, then what was?
"AAAAA!" A scream rang out not far from where I stood.
I stepped forward carefully, then tried to hide behind a wall. I saw a shadow doing something—I couldn't even say what. I covered my own mouth to keep from screaming. Even so, my eyes kept trying to watch everything that was happening: the body being stabbed over and over with a knife, and the person slashing at the victim's face.
What was this? Was this really happening? Who was lying there? I glanced around. "Isn't this near Aikawa Yuri's house?" I murmured without realizing it.
"Are you there?" the person called. They had noticed me.
And why had they said, "Are you there?" Did they already know I'd been following them? Their footsteps drew closer and closer. Before they reached me, I ran as fast as I could. But their footsteps kept getting closer, until their hand reached my shoulder and sent me tumbling onto the road. I got up and backed away.
The man grinned as if he were enjoying my terrified expression. "Who are you?" I asked, forcing myself to speak. I didn't recognize his voice, and his face was covered by black cloth. He was completely unrecognizable.
"Don't come any closer!" I screamed. I turned around and prepared to run.
After I'd gone a few meters, my vision suddenly blurred. Something blunt seemed to slam into my back. In an instant, I blacked out.
Just like before, when I thought I was about to die, I woke up in my room with a blanket wrapped around me. Last night's events seemed like nothing more than a dream. Without thinking about anything else, I got ready to shower and go to school.
As I walked toward the classroom, Chaterine, Giva, and Sophia ran toward me and wrapped their arms around my small body. I looked at them in confusion. "What's wrong with you guys?" I asked.
"Thank goodness you're okay. We were so worried yesterday when we saw you unconscious like that," Chaterine said.
"Yeah, me too. Why did you suddenly leave and run off without us? Luckily, Giva is good at tracking people, so we were able to find out where you were," Sophia added.
"I was just picking up something I'd left behind," I lied, earning confused looks from them. Still, I was relieved they didn't insist on finding out the truth.
This time, I arrived before the teacher. I sat in my seat and waited for Ms. Nuri to come to the classroom. Not long afterward, Ms. Nuri arrived with a sad expression. Usually, she acted flirtatious whenever she first walked in.
"Aikawa Yuri was found dead not far from her house last night. The killer is believed to be the same person who killed Fujiwara Sena. The school is urging everyone to be careful and not go out at night. Especially the students in this classroom, since there's a strong chance more victims will fall soon."
Ms. Nuri delivered the bad news right away, without giving us any time to prepare. Especially me. At least give me a moment to process what had happened.
Aikawa Yuri? So last night's incident had really happened? It wasn't a dream? Then why hadn't I been killed too? "Didn't the killer catch me too?" I murmured.
Marco and Haijima Yoko didn't come to class today. Why did they always disappear whenever a murder happened?
"Damn it!" I muttered.