Volume 5 - CH 1.5

“Can you tell us more about it?” Mayuzumi said in a soothing tone. “I’m not interested in any of you.”

Her headdress shook, and the drops of water adorning the roses glittered.

“I don’t want to make a big deal out of a dead girl’s suffering. But there are some curious points about her last words and the way she died. The body will be burned, and all you’ll all live happily ever after. So I’m hoping for your cooperation. I want to be home as soon as possible. Help me out here.”

Ruiko’s brow furrowed in thought. She bit her lip and went silent. Then she shook her head and held it high.

“That is of no concern to me,” she replied. “If you wish to go home, go ahead. No one will stop you. From the outside, you’re the one who is lying. That is all I can say. It’s impossible for you to know why she killed herself.”

Ruiko fixed Mayuzumi with a sharp glare. Rage was oozing from her entire body.

She was challenging her to say something.

“I see.” Mayuzumi nodded. “So you decided to handle it that way.”

She tipped the cup and sipped the hot chocolate. Licking her wet lips, she waved her hand back and forth.

“I understand,” she added, not even looking at Ruiko’s face. “That would be all. You may leave.”

Ruiko bit her lip. Clenching her fists tight, she whirled around and left, slamming the door behind her.

The walls shook. Mayuzumi sipped her drink casually. I thought about what Ruiko had said. Her reaction pointed to one fact.

She knew something about Tsubaki’s suicide.

“Mayu-san, about what she said…”

“Um… excuse me…”

Hearing a very thin voice, I looked up. But there was nothing.

Was it my imagination?

“Come in,” Mayuzumi said. “It’s not locked.”

After several seconds of silence, the doorknob turned. The door opened slightly and light brown eyes peeked in.

The girl swiftly surveyed the room and slipped inside.

“H-Hello…”

The girl was the exact opposite of Ruiko. Her light brown hair covered her small back. The way her hairband exposed her forehead gave her an air of childishness. Her large eyes darted around nervously.

Her fingertips were quivering for some reason, and her face was ashen.

Like the dead Kousaka Tsubaki.

“Oh,” Mayuzumi breathed with delight.

The girl remained stiff and motionless.

Just as I was about to urge her to take a seat, she said, “I, uh… I don’t know anything. I swear… Nothing at all.”

Her voice was shaking. We hadn’t asked her anything yet, but she just started talking anyway.

“I-I don’t know anything… I’m telling the truth.”

She wrapped both her arms around her body and retreated. She seemed to be having a panic attack; her teeth were chattering.

“Please calm down,” I said. “We’re not accusing you of anything. We just want to talk to you.”

“I-I don’t know anything. I swear… I-It wasn’t our fault that Tsubaki died. I really don’t know… anything,” she repeated deliriously.

Her behavior pointed to a single answer.

She knew something.

“Are you sure?” Mayuzumi asked.

“Y-Yes!” she shrieked. “I swear…”

She shook her head wildly, as though saying she couldn’t take any of this any longer. Her back hit the door as she backed away.

Before she could leave, Mayuzumi said, “I doubt you’d answer if I asked what it is exactly you know nothing about. You keep telling yourself that you don’t know anything. But allow me to offer you a piece of advice.” She sounded like she knew everything.

She pointed straight at the girl. Her black fingernails gleamed sharply.

“This fear you’re running away from will one day swallow you whole. There have been precedents already. I really don’t care what happens to you.”

The girl’s face contorted hideously, her back pressed against the door. Her shoulders were shaking.

Watching her, Mayuzumi said softly, “Now tell me. What are you afraid of?”

The girl let out a shriek.

Suddenly, the door slowly opened.

A pale hand reached through the gap, slithering through the door like a mollusk and touched the girl’s shoulder.

“Noooooo!”

“Excuse me. I’d appreciate it if you’d stop. Kotori has a faint heart, and Tsubaki’s death has left her mentally unstable. Enough. Do you outsiders enjoy bullying us? A big guy and a little girl in gothic Lolita fashion… Ridiculous. I’m running out of patience.”

Ruiko was on the other side of the door. She grabbed Kotori’s wrist and dragged her away.

“Let’s go, Kotori. You don’t need to listen to these people.”

“But Ruiko… I…”

“You Idiot! Why can’t you understand that there’s no point in listening to what they have to say?!” Ruiko rebuked. “You should make your own judgments once in a while.” She gave a bow. “Goodbye!”

She pushed the trembling Kotori behind her. Just before she closed the door, she shot us a sharp glare.

“If you say anything weird to Shizuki too, I will kill you.”

“Nice to meet you, my name is Takanashi Shizuki.”

The third girl was calm and composed, sitting elegantly in a chair.

Her hair, straight as a wire, reached down to her waist. Hands clasped tight over her skirt, she bowed. Her downcast eyes made her look exhausted.

“I’m really sorry,” she said. “They’ve been upset since Tsubaki’s death. I think they said terrible things to you. To be honest, being asked the same questions over and over has been exhausting.”

Shizuki bowed again. Her pale, bony hands were painful to look at. A dark shadow fell on her hollow cheeks. Mayuzumi said nothing, so I bowed in her stead.

“I apologize for calling you here,” I began. “Please accept my sincere condolences for Kousaka Tsubaki. You must all be going through a difficult time, but we’re hoping you could cooperate with us.”

Shizuki gave a weak smile and nodded softly.

“Okay. What can I help you with?”

“Kousaka Tsubaki seemed to be scared of something before her death. Do you have any idea what she was afraid of?”

I repeated the question Mayuzumi had posed to the other girls.

Turmoil flashed through her almond-shaped eyes. Shizuki hung her head, hesitating. The blood slowly drained from her face. Fear painted her visage.

Shizuki squeezed her eyes shut. Her eyelids quivered.

Several seconds of silence later, she lifted her head.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I… I don’t know anything.”

She shook her head swiftly. Her expression was stiff.

I decided to try again. “But—”

“I have… nothing to tell you.”

She fell silent as a stone. It was puzzling.

“I get it,” Mayuzumi said. “Fine, you may leave.”

Shizuki stood up and bowed. She glanced at us several times before leaving.

Even I, whom Mayuzumi called stupid, understood.

There girls were hiding something. And that wasn’t all.

They all feared the same thing.

“Frankly, I’m not interested,” Mayuzumi said, leaning back in her white chair.

The paper cup on the table shook. Hot chocolate rippled inside. Several students were chatting and laughing in the café terrace built in the central square of the academy.

“I don’t care about what they’re scared of, or what they’re hiding. If they have something to hide, then keep it hidden. It’s like holding on to a rock while sinking beneath the waves. If that’s what they chose to do, then they probably won’t regret it. I’m not obligated to help them. And I won’t reveal secrets I don’t want to know about.”

Mayuzumi tilted her chair further. Her headdress swayed. Students stole glances at us occasionally. But they did not speak to us. They barely cared at all.

They were proficient at accepting foreign objects without complaint.

“Besides, this wasn’t what I was told about. I thought this case was about the dead.”

Trees rustled. The sweet fragrance of flowers drifted through the air.

I wasn’t sure where it was coming from exactly.

“I was surprised too,” I said. “Finding out the reason for a girl’s suicide doesn’t seem that important. But those girls are afraid of something.”

Just like the girl who passed away.

The dead do not come back to life. The girl’s tragic story had concluded. Even if some sort of oddity was involved, there was little point in looking into it.

But the girls seemed to be gripped by the same fear. There was something buried behind the case that they hadn’t revealed, which resulted in a girl killing herself.

We needed to find out what that something was.

Mayuzumi’s lips curled up. She recrossed her legs and turned her gaze to me.

“So, what’s your plan?” she asked.

“If you’re going to leave, I will stay and continue the investigation. There may be other students who know what happened. And we have yet to examine Tsubaki’s belongings thoroughly.”

There was probably only so much I could do. But I couldn’t just do nothing.

Mayuzumi shrugged. Resting her chin in her hand, she watched the students walk past. At the edge of the square, flowers planted around its perimeter, was an outdoor stage. Her gaze went to the luxurious facilities.

She sighed. “Do whatever you want. I won’t stop you. A piece of advice: it’s not a bad idea to look at her belongings. I’m going to…”

Mayuzumi’s voice trailed off. She narrowed her eyes warily.

She was staring at a person.

Someone was standing at the outdoor stage.