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Yoshina dashed through the halls,
zigzagging through groups of students. Gaze shifting to the numbered signs
above the sliding doors, with no sign of her classroom adding to her panic. She
had hoped to make a good impression on her first day of high school, but after
the orientation for the First-Year students concluded, she had lost sight of
her friend and had spent several minutes running around the building like a
lost puppy as the homeroom bell rang.
She rounded the corner and looked up to
the row of signs, relief washing over her when she spotted one labeled Class 1-E. She hurried forward and slid
the door aside.
“S-Sorry I’m late!” She said between gasps
of breath.
The stares of her new classmates weighed
down on Yoshina as she walked in and gave a quick bow to the teacher. “You must
be our final student.” He said.
“Yes Sensei,” Yoshina brushed aside a
rouge lock of her long, orange hair from her face and turned toward the class.
“My name is Takashita Yoshina, and I look forward to getting along with all of
you. Please take care of me!” She gave another bow before making her way to the
vacant desk in the back, whispers breaking out amongst them about the odd girl
before them.
Yoshina took her seat as the teacher
continued his lecture. She sighed and straighten out the skirt of her gray drab
uniform, doing her best to ignore the stinging soreness in your feet.
This was not the impression she wanted to
make, but at least she had three years to make up for it.
She looked back up to the teacher, and
from the corner of her eye spotted an attentive boy her age two rows ahead
taking down notes. His jet-black hair was slicked back, save for a few small
strands that dangled over his forehead. She smiled, relieved to have at least
one familiar face here with her.
The hours passed by, and as lunch period
began, that same boy approached Yoshina’s desk as she opened her bento box.
“Nice introduction you made their earlier.” He joked.
With a huff, Yoshina looked away and
proceeded to eat. “I’m not speaking to you. Not after you ditched me after the
orientation.”
“You’re the one who wanted to have a quick
look around the school before class started, remember?” He said.
“Well yeah, but you could’ve at least
stayed with me.” Yoshina said. “I really expected better of you.”
“Alright I’m sorry, I’ll be sure to bring a
leash with me next time.” He said.
“Very funny Jinn-Kun.” Yoshina laughed.
With a grin, Jinn opened his own bento and
eat along with her. Having known him since they were children, Kamida Jinn was
perhaps the kindest person she had ever met, and rather handsome, going by the
number of girls in their class ogling him.
Another boy approached from behind Jinn
and patted him on the back. “Yo Jinn, who you hangin’ with buddy?” He asked.
“Hey Teijō.” Jinn said. “Yoshina, this
Ueda Teijō, he was a classmate of mine back at junior high.”
“Nice meeting you, Teijō.” Yoshina said.
Teijō leaned in and starred at Yoshina
keenly, eyes darting up and down the girl’s face. After a minute of silence, he
grinned and looked back at Jinn, “Dude, you have some really good taste in
girls. She’s cute as all hell.”
“Teijō!” Jinn shouted.
“Uh…thank you.” Yoshina looked away, face
burning red. Jinn, flustered, stood from his seat and pulled Teijō away from
her desk. The two stood near the classroom door and exchanged words, though the
chestnut-haired boy laughed most of the time, much to Jinn’s dismay. Hard to
believe the two of them were on any good terms.
“Must they cause such a ruckus on the
first day?” Yoshina turned back to the crowd as a pair of girls approached. The
first girl, whose cream-colored hair was fashioned into two long ponytails, let
out a derisive sigh at the two arguing boys. “Let me guess: Fighting over for
your affection, right?” She asked Yoshina.
“What? No!” Yoshina replied.
“I thought as much,” She laughed, “I mean,
if there’s any girl in this class whose worthy of the effort, it’s me.”
Somebody
has a high opinion of themselves. “And you are who exactly?” Yoshina asked.
“I suppose it’s only natural you don’t
know, you did show up late after all.” The girl replied, “I am Yoshikawa
Sayuri. Daughter to the wealthiest family in Ōsaka. You’d do well to remember
that.”
“T-there’s no need to be rude Sayuri-San.” Another girl followed meekly behind Sayuri,
thick-rimmed glasses were placed over her eyes, and her dark hair was tied into
a large bun. “M-my name is Mizuno Chitako, it’s nice to meet you Yoshina-San.”
“Likewise, Chitako.” Yoshina smiled.
The two boys finished their own
conversation and reconvinced at Yoshina’s desk. Teijō looked to the two new
girls that had joined their little group. “Okay Jinn, you can keep your friend. I’ll settle with getting to know
these two instead.” He said with wink to Sayuri and Chitako. “How’s it going
ladies?”
With a small yelp, Chitako stumbled back
behind Sayuri, who only sneered at Teijō. “Is that anyway to talk to a lady?
Didn’t your parents teach you any better?”
Yoshina sighed as the two went back and
forth. Nice little group you got there
Yoshina.
“Sorry about all that.” Jinn took his seat
across from her. “Teijō wasn’t the most popular guy back in our old school. I
guess he really wants to change that here.”
“It’s fine,” Yoshina said. “I should’ve
expected something like this. Just not on the first day.”
“Indeed.” Jinn laughed. “And I see you got
to know some of our classmates as well.”
“Yeah,” Yoshina said, glancing back at
Sayuri chiding Teijō while Chitako tried to pull the two of them apart. “Guess
we got a few things to adjust to.”
Grinning, Jinn raised his juice box to
her, “Here’s to three years of nonstop high school nonsense.”
Yoshina suppressed a laugh and raise her
own juice in response. The two toasted, and it then that she noticed the
bandage wrapped around his hand, a large brownish spot seeping through the
cloth.
“What happened to your hand? Did you get
in an accident?” She asked.
The sudden look of alarm on his face
caught her by surprise, the juice box slipped from his grip and landed on the
desk, a small river of liquid escaping through the straw. Jinn pulled his hand
away from view. “Just fumbled around with a knife back home and got cut for my
troubles.” He said.
“Are you sure?” Yoshina said, “That seems
to be happening with you a lot lately.”
“I’m fine Yoshina,” beads of sweet formed
on Jinn’s face. “Come on, let’s finish eating before lunch ends.”
She wanted to say more, but he averted her
stare and continued eating in silence. Since junior high, she had seen Jinn
with injuries on more than one occasion. At first it was nothing more than a
few bruises, but then those bruises became cuts, and even a broken arm at one
point. Yoshina had asked him constantly what was wrong, and she only ever got
silence or a vague response from him. It wasn’t enough for her.
She stretched out an arm and grasp his
bandaged hand. “Listen, I don’t know what it is that gets you so banged up, but
you can tell me if anything’s wrong. You’ve always been there for me, and I
want to be there for you when you need it.”
Jinn looked back up to her, the words
stuck in his throat. “Yoshina…”
“Ha! I knew it!” Teijō’s booming voice
broke the tension between them. “I knew you two were an item!”
Both Yoshina and Jinn looked back to the
others. While Teijō was busy boasting, Sayuri gave them a sly smirk while
Chitako stood behind her giggling. The two realized what their moment looked
like and pulled away, struggling to come up with the best excuse they could
muster.
The incessant pulsing radiated throughout
his whole body, the voices in his head grew louder as he scrambled through his
toolbox. On and on, they told him—commanded him—to get on with the task, and he
would. He just needed to bide his time just a little longer.
He had slaved away for years as a meager
teacher in this school. Mocked by students and faculty alike. His whole life
wasted away through a string of misfortunes. He cursed the world for it all and
wanted to change his fate. And a chance to get back at the people who belittled
him along the way.
That was when the voices started talking
to him. Soft whispers at first, but as the months dragged one, they grew
louder, and they gave him orders. They wanted deaths, as many as he could give
them.
He satisfied their wishes but was careful
with the victims he chose. A homeless man here, an unsuspecting drunkard there.
Random folks outside of his usual haunts so as not to draw unwanted attention.
The voices were pleased, and in they rewarded his service.
Odd sensations coursed through him with
each murder, making more vicious, more precise, more power. He never felt
anything like it before, and he wanted more.
The school day was over now, the last
trickle of students exited through the gate as the setting sun bathed the sky
in an orange hue. He had secluded himself an unused clubroom—the club it
belonged to having disbanded following graduation last year—the perfect place
to caring out his final task.
After a moment of rummage, he pulled out
the ball-peen hammer he had been looking for and moved toward the clubroom
door. He peered through the crack in the door and spotted someone coming down
the hall. He recognized the man: Miyara-Sensei, a handsome man in his thirties
who had attracted the attention of the female student body. Many of whom he had
started relationships with, if the rumors were to be believed. Perfect, the
world would be better off without him.
He crutched down behind the door and
waited, the voices adding to his growing anticipation. Kill. They said to him. Kill
and be rewarded.
The unsuspecting Miyara passed by his
door, and he lunged out at the last second before his victim rounded the
corner. He grabbed Miyara by the neck with his free arm, the other man dropped
his briefcase and attempted to struggle out of his grip. The teacher brought
his hammer up and slammed it into the back of his head.
In an instant, Miyara stopped struggling
and slumped in the man’s arms. Blood dripped from the gash in his head, but he
hadn’t hit Miyara hard enough to end his life. He would do so the proper way.
The teacher tossed the red stained hammer
aside and dragged the unconscious man into the clubroom before shutting the
door. It was time for his reward.
After the morning fiasco, Yoshina made it
her mission not to get lost in her new surroundings again. She walked close beside
Jinn once the day ended, memorizing the route from their classroom to the exit,
confident should she not have a repeat performance the next day.
She then remembered the books she had left
behind at her desk.
At
least there was no one around to see me run back again.
She took solace in that single fact as she made her way down the hall to rejoin
Jinn, but came to a stop when something skidded across the floor from the
adjacent hall in front of her.
Startled, she picked up her pace once more
and approached what was a teacher’s briefcase, its contents spilled out.
Yoshina looked down the hall it came from and noticed something else on the
floor. She walked over and saw it was a hammer lying beside a small puddle
trail.
What
is that? She bent down and dipped a finger into the liquid,
the copper-like smell pierced her nostrils as she noticed its color. Is this…blood?
Yoshina stumbled back, questions racing
through her mind. She looked down at the hammer and saw the head smeared red. She
followed the small blood trail a few feet before it ended at a partly closed
door. A muffled scream emanated from behind the door, and Yoshina stopped
herself from reaching for the knob.
She needed to find someone, tell them what
might be happening. The screaming grew louder, and the thought left her head as
she reached for the knob. Slowly opening it part way, Yoshina peered inside and
what she saw sent an uncomfortable shiver done her spine.
A teacher laid sprawled on the floor, eyes
blank and lifeless as blood gushed out the hole in his neck. A second teacher
stood over the corpse, a bloodied knife clutched in his hands.
“Are you satisfied now?” He said to
himself as he brought the knife up over his head. “I’ve given you so many sacrifices
already, now give me my reward!”
Yoshina stifled the gasped that almost
escaped her as the teacher plunged the knife through his own forehead, crimson
liquid spraying in the air. Still clutching the knife, he ran the blade
downward across his face, a gargled noise escaped him before the blade pasted
through his chin, and his body slumped to the floor.
I…I
didn’t just see that, did I? Yoshina gripped on to the
doorframes, her trembling legs threatened to give. Why am I still standing here? I need to find someone and tell them what
happened!
A flash of movement caught her eye, she turned
and saw the murderous teacher’s body begin to spasm. To Yoshina’s horror, the
body slowly began to raise up back to its feet, the arms contorted and split
open, bone and muscle tissue splattering across the floor as a pair of long,
blade-like appendages took their place. His head jerked violently, as if
wanting to break free from the rest of him. The eyes and bits of skull that
remained plopped to the floor as a knew set of small and jagged bones jutted
out from the two halves of his sliced face, almost resembling teeth.
Yoshina’s mind went blank, unable to make
sense of what she just witnessed. She watched as the abomination growled and
darted its head back and forth, as if trying to make sense of its surroundings.
It took notice of the corpse on the floor and teared into it with its claws,
chunks of bloody meat flying all over the place.
Somewhat relieved that the thing had not
seen her, a terrified Yoshina pulled away from the door and slowly crept back
in the hall. Her instincts screamed at her to run, but she was too afraid to
alert the monster to her presence, it still busy with its gruesome distraction.
She back in hallway, she turned and made to run for her life, failing to see
the unused hammer by her feet until she unwittingly kicked it aside, causing it
to hit the wall with a loud thump.
She stopped, waves of shock and dread
washed over her body, an animalistic roar broke the silence, and door she hid
behind flew off its hinges as the monster lunged forward, bladed arms extended
out. In her panic Yoshina tripped to the floor and the monster’s arm harmlessly
punched through the wall behind her. As it struggled to free itself, Yoshina rose
to her feet again and ran.
She bolted down the hall, heart pounding
and lungs already burning in her chest. The monster’s inhuman scream and the
sound of heavy footsteps echoing behind her send a further shot of adrenaline
coursing through Yoshina’s veins. She turned a corner and immediately threw
open the closest door, rushing into a supply closet before shut the door.
The footsteps outside her little sanctuary
grew louder, the sound of gargled grunts matched the pace of Yoshina’s labored
breathing. She pressed against a corner and crouched, with nothing but a small
hope the thing would past her and allow her to flee from this nightmare.
A disfigured shadow seeped through from
underneath the door. Yoshina only whimpered when the thing’s bladed arm punched
a whole right through the wooden barrier. Yoshina screamed as she scrambled
back against the wall in a hopeless gesture. A second blade broke though,
cleaving the door through in a mess of splinters. The monster turned its head
toward her, eyeless sockets gazing back at its pray.
Over the monster’s growls and her own
panicked screaming, a whizzing noise rang in Yoshina’s ears. The monster
stumbled forward with a roaring, turning away from her and charged back into
the hall. For a split second, she what looked like a small metal rod protruding
from its back.
Outside the monster roared wildly, but she
caught the same noise from before. Immobile with fear, she could only stare out
the door as the chaos outside intensified. Another roar broke out a moment
later, followed by the shattering of glass.
The silence that followed became a relief
to Yoshina in what felt like years. Her head began to spin as the adrenaline
rush finally subsided. A new figured moved into the frame of where the door
once was, but she barely who them calling out her name before she passed out.
