Volume 5 - CH 1.8

She rose to her feet and entered the room, closing the door behind her. She picked up a finger from the floor and grasped it tight. She then pressed it against her chest and closed her eyes. Her whole body was trembling.

Mayuzumi sat down on a chair by the window.

She rested her chin in her hand. “Saori-kun, huh? Is that the girl who never returned?” she asked.

“Yes. We left the academy and got lost. And then…”

Her tongue got tied, and she choked. Shizuki clenched her fists and shut her mouth. Her face scrunched up. She took several deep breaths, then switched her tone.

“I believe it was Tsubaki who first suggested we go outside.”

She sounded indifferent, like she was telling a story.

Her voice was exceedingly monotonous. She was probably trying to maintain her composure by detaching herself from the memories. But that didn’t stop the tears from pooling in her downcast eyes. Pressing the pale finger against her chest, she stared at us intensely.

“Would you please listen to what I have to say? No. I want you to listen. You uncovered the truth, so you’re obligated to lend me your ear.”

Mayuzumi agreed. She crossed her legs pompously and waited for Shizuki’s next words.

Shizuki lowered her head. “Thank you,” she muttered with relief. “I’ve been wanting to get this out of my chest for a while.”

She closed her eyes quietly and took a deep breath.

“We had a dream.” Her high voice echoed throughout the room. “A simple dream to go outside just once. You guys know how isolated this school is, don’t you? We wanted to get out. Our frustration had reached its peak. Every day we felt like castaways. I thought I understood what it felt like to be abandoned at sea with nowhere to go.”

I thought about my first impression of this academy. Even as a visitor, I sensed how abnormal it was. The stress on the girls living here was immeasurable.

What’s more, the girls were not allowed to go outside.

“Then one day, Ruiko and Saori found a blind spot in the security cameras behind the greenhouse.”

The girls planned and carried out their escape based on the information they had obtained.

They pretended to head to the greenhouse after sixth period and climbed over the wall.

The girls tried to escape the birdcage and see the outside world. But their actions were simply done in the heat of the moment. Their plan might as well have been nonexistent.

And sure enough, things took a turn for the worst.

“We were lost. It was Tsubaki who suggested avoiding the road. Ruiko took charge of checking the direction, and as a result we got lost. By the second night, we were panicking.”

The academy was already aware of their escape. There was a good chance of them being tracked down in a few days.

But the hunger, thirst, fatigue, and tension slowly drove the girls to a wall.

Their stress erupted when Kotori sprained her ankle.

“Saori, Ruiko, and Tsubaki got into an argument. Saori wanted to find a way back to the academy, while Ruiko and Tsubaki wanted to get down the mountain at all costs. The argument devolved into a fist fight, and suddenly Saori just vanished.”

It was probably an accident. There was a bloody stone nearby. Right now, Shizuki believed it was an accident. But back then, they thought they had killed her.

“It was too dark to see, but there was a steep incline behind Saori. A blow knocked her back, and she slipped. By the time we got to her, she wasn’t breathing. Her eyes were wide open, her head cracked as she lay motionless. Saori’s death scared us, but I think Ruiko was the most scared of all.”

A person died because of their own thoughtless actions.

Even if it was an accident, that fact would haunt them for the rest of their lives.

“Ruiko said that we were all equally guilty.”

Had they not escaped from the academy, Saori would not have died.

Saori was killed by everyone who left the academy.

So they all must catch her blood, and they all must dig her grave.

“If we disagreed with Ruiko, we could have been next. Tsubaki, feeling responsible, agreed, while Kotori and I eventually did too. We decided to bury the body. Ruiko, in a state of panic, took out a knife.”

It was a mistake to bring items that could be used to survive in the wild.

Then Ruiko started cutting up Saori’s corpse.

“While cutting off the fingers on her left hand, the fingers on her right hand, the toes on her left feet, the toes on her right feet, she said…”

We need proof so that no one turns traitor.

Promises made in such a situation were not to be trusted.

“We put Saori’s body parts in our pockets and took them back. After that, I don’t remember much. My memory’s all foggy. When we were found, we were in a daze.”

When the academy staff found the girls in a state of shock, they kept repeating the same thing.

They got lost and gave up going down the mountain. Saori, however, continued the trek alone.

After the girls returned, no police investigation was conducted. Why the academy made that decision, no one knew. As a result, Saori’s body was never found, and Shizuki and her friends became residents of the fifth floor.

“We decided to bury the body parts in pots. A lot of students here grow flowers, so we thought this would be a good way to hide what we did. We’ve been monitoring each other ever since then. Then lately, this happened!”

Her voice turned fierce. Shizuki thrust her trembling fingers against the remnants of the red flower.

One day, a red flower bloomed in the soil where no seed should have been planted.

The flowers showed no sign of withering, blooming every night and spitting out body parts.

A hand for a hand, a foot for a foot, fingers.

The flowers continued to spit out the body of the late Saori.

“We wanted to throw away the pots, but we couldn’t. We were afraid that people would realize what we had done. Even if we cut it off at the root, the flower would still bloom the next day. Tsubaki gradually lost it until she couldn’t take it any longer. And then one day, the flower withered right around the time she died. That’s when I realized. This was punishment. We were being punished for killing Saori and cutting up her body. And we deserved it.”

Tears slid down Shizuki’s cheeks. But she stayed grandly on her feet. Her quivering lips parted.

“This is everything we’ve been hiding,” she said, tears streaming down her face.

She fixed us with a sharp glare. Her shoulders were shaking, like she was expecting us to condemn her.

Her friend died, and they chopped up her corpse. Thinking about the grisly deed, I placed a hand on her shoulder. Shizuki closed her eyes, afraid of whatever I would say. But I had no intention of condemning her.

You shouldn’t not kill. You shouldn’t chop up bodies. This was common sense. Society would hand down the girls their punishment, as it should. No need for the supernatural to be involved.

She believed that she deserved to be punished. That should be enough.

“Thank you for telling us,” I said. “Let’s call the police and give Saori’s body a proper burial. That should pacify the oddity.”

Mayuzumi raised an eyebrow. I knew I was being overly optimistic. But even if the oddity remained active, once others learned about the body, there would be no need to keep the pots anymore. Either way, the girls would be free from fear.

This oddity was simply flowers spitting out flesh. It was creepy, sure, but that was all.

The reason behind Tsubaki’s suicide would come to light, and case closed.

Mayuzumi, however, looked dissatisfied. Stroking her cheek, she asked, “So, why were you looking for Kotori-kun?”

Shizuki’s eyes widened. She looked around frantically. The room’s occupant was absent.

“Um, K-Kotori didn’t come to the dining hall,” she stammered. “She should have left her room. The dorm head told me to go check on her since I already finished eating.” She swallowed. “She’s not here?” she mumbled.

A chill ran down my spine. Kotori was nowhere to be seen. Sensing something wrong, I bolted out of the room. I could hear voices in the distance. Quite a bit of time had passed, and students were returning to their rooms.

Only the fifth floor was quiet.

“Shizuki-san, where’s Ruiko-san’s room?!”

“Room 503!”

I dashed down the hallway and headed for room 503.

“Ruiko-san! Are you there?!” I called as I pounded on the door. “Ruiko-san!”

But there was no reply. The door was wrapped in silence.

Ruiko too was gone.

“Where did they go?”

My voice sounded hollow. I pressed my ear against the door, but sensed no sign of anyone in the room. I heard a door creak from the side. Mayuzumi appeared with a parasol behind her.

“Shizuki-kun, do you remember where Saori died?” she asked.

Shizuki gasped, raising her head. “Are you saying… they went there? Why?” she quavered.

Mayuzumi did not answer her question. She let out a sigh and started walking, looking annoyed.

“Let’s go, Odagiri-kun. First, we’ll borrow a flashlight from the dorm mother. It would be best to leave out the details.”

“If we want to find the girls, we need help,” I said as I fell in beside her. “We should tell them.”

Mayuzumi shook her head. “If that’s what you want, go ahead. It’s probably pointless anyway. They left all matters related to Tsubaki’s suicide to us. Besides, we wouldn’t want more people getting involved.”

Mayuzumi let out another sigh. Pale hands brushed up her bangs.

“Unless you want more casualties,” she muttered gravely.