I am Iwako Same, and I have to say, there are many things that I do not expect to see at a moment's notice. I do not expect to see vehicles indoors, I do not expect to see animals which are not native to Japan (Or at the least, common invasive species) and I do not expect to see that a food item has suddenly become inedible. All of these are unlikely scenarios that don't often cross my head as something to expect, though I know they're all possible.
Likewise is what I happen across this morning. Improbable, but clearly possible, as it's just happened. I open the door to the infirmary, my infirmary, and I find the target of my disdain is standing there, looking like an absolute fool before my eyes. Of course she is, because why would she have anything better to do than continue to bother me? She wasn't a very competent spy, but if she was in here alone, then she could have found any number of confidential things.
Not that I keep incriminating papers just lying about, but my computer at work is a desktop, and all the encryptions in the world might keep an IIA agent from getting remote access, but a determined one who had the keyboard in their hands would stop at nothing to access my email, files, and anything else they want from me.
"Sakazaki Yuu," I address her, and she's startled. Well, that's a good sign. She was startled, but not sleeping on one of the cots, instead curled up in the corner of the room, hugging her knees to her chest. I look at the door, and it wasn't locked or anything. She very well could have left, so I do have some confusion on why she didn't leave by now, what she could possibly be so afraid of.
"I swear, Doctor, I didn't look through any of your things," She's hyperventilating as she forces the words out, "I came in here because I was hiding from something, and you know, that would be really, really bad spy etiquette I wouldn't do something like that to y-"
"Get out," I cut her off. She's rambling, and I can't say I give a damn about what spooked her, either. It doesn't seem like the type of thing which should matter to me. I don't even care to address the fact that she's clearly already aware that I know what she is, "Get out of my infirmary. We'll discuss this on Sunday. I think, Sakazaki, it may finally be time for you to retire from your position. Box Hako will be a fitting replacement."
"...I understand, Doctor," Sakazaki nods and rushes past me, back out into the hallways where the other students are filing in for the day. I groan, and sit down at my desk. My computer... The monitor's off, but I left it on when I left. As soon as I turn on the screen I realize. I left it in the middle of a number of updates, which are still going. I really let them pile up. I set them up to run overnight because they lock up the computer's functions while they're going.
They're still going.
I suppose, maybe Sakazaki didn't get into my computer, if that's the case. Nonetheless, finding her here first thing in the morning, and in such a strange way... It's unsettling. I know that she's still in contact with the main branches, so I may need to make her disappear if our plans are to go off without a hitch. If she were to find out about Apollo...
Well, if she told the main branch about Apollo, then everything would be ruined. Roxie would likely be terminated as well, and I have no idea what that would do to my dear Mitsu-kun. Mitsuru, I mean. Well, I don't know why I'm correcting my thoughts. I can call him a cute nickname in my head if I so please.
In any case, now that she's shown some degree of caring beyond observing me through aid periods, it's likely that I'll need to dispose of her. Her direct superior is somebody who I personally am on good terms with, and who Mitsu-kun will be mad at me for upsetting, but I just can't risk it. If Tina wants to hate me for it, then I suppose she will, and there's nothing I can do about it.
It's gotten so far that I can't just let it fail now. I don't even know the details of the project, but what I do know, is that it would be very easily compromised if somebody found out.
-------------
Today, I think, is a pretty good day. I made plans with my new friend group to hang out in the evening, since Sayaka has the day off of work. School went normally, and in the time between it ending and when we agreed to meet up, I think that I should make an effort to convince Rei to let me check the cameras, as Natsuki told me the first day back at school after the trip.
She wouldn't let me check them, but she couldn't control what Rei did if I could convince her. That was a quest objective if I ever heard one! Shizuka told me last night about all sorts of game stuff while we ate her pasta, and I think it helps to think of my life lately as something like that. And boy, do I have a lot of quests!
Finding Rei to talk to her seemed difficult at first. She's in my class, but she always gets out of the classroom right away, and I can never seem to find her after that. Today's a Wednesday, though, which means that the science club is meeting. Therefore, I know exactly where she will be, the only tough part now is getting an audience with her. I take a deep breath, sighing it out, then knock on the door for the science club.
"...Hako-chan," Yamiko answers the door, speaking slowly, and I'm caught off guard.
"O-Oh, you joined the science club too?" It seems a little odd to me that a God of Death would join this club rather than the occult club.
"Of course I did. I love studying animal biology... Birds especially," She answers, staring a hole right through me, "That's been my hobby for a very long time now. Hirocchi and I wouldn't be together if we didn't have things in common, and we both love science. What do you want anyway? Were you looking for her?"
"She still attends club?" I ask, still just confused by the situation.
"Of course. Akabane-chan and Nishikikouji-senpai can see her just fine, and Nagata-senpai just has to take us all at our word," Yamiko answers, then gives a slow blink before she asks me again, "So what is it that you want, if you're not here for her?"
"I was looking for Akabane-chan, actually," I explain, leaning to try and look around Yamiko. Despite her small frame, she's thoroughly blocked any view I could even try to get into the clubroom, "Is she available to talk right now? I have something I need to ask her."
"...I guess," Yamiko shrugs, then closes the door. A few moments later, Rei opens it and fixes me with a hard stare. I fidget under her unrelenting gaze.
"What do you want?" She asks, tilting her head to the side. Her eyes are red, just like Yamiko's. That bit seems odd to me, but I won't ask about that. I need to stay on-message for once in my life.
"I wanted to ask if I could use your cameras to check something," I get right to the thick of it, for emphasis pointing up at one of the cameras in question above my head, "I'm sure you know by now, I'm not sure I was actually sick. I think there may have been some type of foul play at hand, so I'd like to see if anything happened to be captured on my last day before the coma."
Rei redirects her gaze to the camera I'm pointing at, then takes all the time in the world to shrug, her shoulders hanging for a long time in a tensed position, as if held up by strings, "Oh, those? No, I'm afraid that I can't let you see any of that footage. Privacy reasons. I can certainly take a look for you. What, as far as you're aware, was the date and time of the potential mishap?"
"Well," I think back, trying to determine exactly when it was, "I think it was June twenty-sixth? It was sometime near marine day, anyhow. I do know what the time was, though. Seven-thirty PM, because I left something at the school and came back after hours to retrieve it. Which is kind of weird, I know, I was breaking the rules, but I still ended up here and I still ended up... In the hospital."
"Well that does give one very obvious suspect," Rei speaks, narrowing her eyes, "June, after hours? The only person who's likely to have been here at that time is Yuu-senpai. I can't see what possible reason she would have to do something like that, though. Unless you're hiding something, Hako-chan."
"Me?" I question, holding a hand to my chest, "What would I be hiding? I'm just your average Korekara student."
"That's the point," A smirk plays at Rei's features, which surprises me. I can't say she struck me as the type to smile much, "You are a Korekara student, and everyone here has got something wrong with them, or something wrong that happened to them at least. Everyone has something to hide. Some type of secret. Don't you?"
"Oh... Well, I'm not really in the business of just giving my secrets away," I give a nervous chuckle, shrugging. It somehow did slip my mind that everyone who doesn't know probably is under the impression that I've got some horrible secret, like most of them do. Just thinking about what happened to Natsuki is enough to make me shudder, and she says that there's plenty worse than her.
Well, I guess that if I had to number trauma, then Sayaka had it worse for sure. Shizuka, maybe, but I don't really think that 'worse' is the right word to use in this case. After all, the extent of how bad something which happens to somebody is, is how much that person is impacted by it. One person's worst case scenario is different from another person's, so their worst days to date would have just as much variance. It's horizontal awful, not really a sliding scale.
"I assumed as much," Rei steps out from the doorway and shuts the door behind herself, leaning in a strange contortion to look up at my face. She's much shorter than me, but seems opposed to looking me directly in the eyes, "In that case, I have to wonder... are you in the business of trading your secrets, then?"
"I can trade," I nod, rolling my shoulders, "Sort of, anyway. There's some things which I'm not supposed to tell anybody ab-"
"I know about Artemis," Rei stares right through me, "I know you had an AI called Artemis, before your coma. You don't still have her, do you? The coma was related to your AI. I know that much, but I want to know more."
"How could you possibly know that?" I question.
Rei stands up straight again, looking past me, "That's my secret. After I tell you, you'll have to answer my questions. Will you agree to that deal?"
"Yes, I can abide by that," I nod. If she already knows that much, the seal is broken, and I can't get in trouble for breaking the rules.
"Okay. See, I know about Artemis because I'm an electropath," Rei explains, pointing to her eyes, "Do you know what these mean?"
I hesitate a moment, but I figure it can't hurt to just give a theory, "Do they mean that you're a demon? They're the same type of red as Tori-chan's eyes."
Rei nods, "Yes, she did tell me that you knew about her. You know, it's only because there are so few demons that it's not common knowledge yet. Humans are gradually coming to accept our existence, though I don't blame them for finding it odd in this day and age. Every type of magic we once used, humans learned to harness in entirely non-magical ways. Science is amazing. And with such amazing science, why take an explanation like magic for anything?"
I can't help but be curious, "Are you a shinigami too?"
"No, I'm nothing like that. I'm hardly powerful at all, really. I'm just an electric elemental. My little sister is a water elemental," She explains, and even goes so far as to demonstrate it by pulling out her phone and showing me the battery level, which jumps up to 100% after a small spark seems to jump from her fingertip to the phone's charge port, "I can manipulate electricity. Things like this. I can mess with magnetic fields, too, and I can tell when an electronic device is being used. The moment I met you, I knew you had that chip in your head. So tell me about it."
I take a deep breath, then steel myself to give a real answer, "Akabane-chan... It is an AI, you're right about that. I was in a coma for months because Artemis got... stolen by somebody, is the working theory. My body shut down because it didn't know what to do without that part of my brain, so I needed to get a new one. This one's an updated version, it has less of a personality than Artemis did, but more functionality. It's been helping me make friends."
Rei gives a slow nod, shifting between her feet, "If I had to pick between those, I'd prefer the old one. If you had an AI with a good personality, then why would you need one that helps you to make friends? Though I suppose you do strike me as the type to be dissatisfied with anything short of a true human connection."
"Artemis was my friend too. Why do you think I'm so worried about finding out who stole her? I'm really worried," I rub the sides of my arms, glancing around, "I just hope that wherever she is, she's happy, and helping whoever took her as much as she always helped me-"
"I can't speak with any authority," Rei interrupts me, "I can't claim to know anything about this situation, I have no part in it, but if I had to hazard a guess, I'd say that wherever... Your AI ended up, they'll be happier there than they ever could have been trapped inside of your head."
That's comforting, somehow, "Thank you, Akabane-chan. And... You'll check those cameras for me? It doesn't make any sense to me that it would have been Yuu-senpai. Actually, I can't say that it makes sense to me that anybody would have done it. I know some people aren't fond of me, but stealing my microchip is a little extreme."
"That's a good point," Rei says with a nod and a contemplative look, "You got these from Assis-co, right? Their biggest industry competitor is Feru Innovations, of course. There's always the possibility of corporate espionage to consider, though I can't imagine how a random employee would have gotten onto campus. Maybe they followed the steps you took to break in? I will absolutely check and see if I've got anything on camera."
"Nagata-senpai thought that convincing you would be an impossible task," I giggle, "She said that she wouldn't do it for me, but that I was free to try my very best to convince you."
"Natsuki said that?" Rei gives me a wide-eyed look, but regains her composure moments later with a soft smile, "Huh, she'd never say that under normal circumstances. It would be a hard no, no negotiation, no going behind her back to me. I guess that she does have a soft spot for you," She pauses, then a laugh more bitter than anything I've heard before escapes from her lips, "Maybe it's for the best she has no time for things like that..." It's barely a murmur to herself as she returns to the science club meeting.
I'm left standing alone in the hallway, but not for long. I'm looking up at this hallway's camera when I can see, reflected in the shining black of its dome shape, that Sayaka has walked up behind me. I didn't even hear her. I take a few more breaths and put on a smile before I turn to face her with a greeting prepared, "Ah, Sayaka-chan. Did I make you come looking for me?"
"I wouldn't call it looking for you," She rolls her shoulders, glancing around, "You're out in the open, in the middle of a hallway, in front of exactly the club I would expect you to be in front of. So, no. You didn't make me come looking. However, yes, I did come to fetch you because whatever business you had with the innovators of the future had you miss our meeting time."
"Of course it did," I groan, falling into step with Sayaka as she leads the way to the others without a moment's hesitation, "I... Well, I can trust you. I was asking about Akabane-chan's security cameras, because I want to know what happened to me."
Sayaka nods, "Yeah, that makes sense. That's why I figured you'd be here. You've been curious a lot lately, haven't you?"
I can't help but offer up a nervous chuckle in response to her question, "I guess I have been. I'm a curious person. I want to know what happened to me, and I want to know what happened to the class of 2015, and just... I want to know about this place. I could never live with it if the same thing as what happened to that class happened again, and I could have done more to stop it."
"What happened to the class of 2015 is never going to happen again," Rena states as she approaches me, clearly having overhead. She has a sad look in her eyes, "I can't say that it won't happen because No Boys will protect it from happening again, but the thing is... That year was the perfect storm, so I've heard. They look to blame a teacher, or a dead student, but Kaiba-kun says that it really was just a string of disastrous consequences. The kind of alignment of everything terrible that can only happen once in a century."
"Why do you believe that?" Amai questioned, stepping up to stand next to Rena with her brows furrowed, "Why would you believe it if she says it? She works for the school."
Rena pauses, then looks between the rest of us before giving a slight shrug, "Kaiba-kun doesn't work for anybody. She was always going to send people to Korekara, they just finally buckled and gave their blessings. Besides, I didn't just hear it from her. There were other members in the school when it happened."
"It doesn't matter what really happened," Sayaka shakes her head and continues walking despite the fact that the others have convened, "It happened, and we can't change that. Let's forget about it and just focus on having fun this evening, right?"
"Easy for you to say," Amai rolls her eyes, "We're going to see your dumb movie."
"Um," I cover my mouth to stifle a giggle, "Amai-tan, since when do you think romantic comedies are dumb? Last I checked..."
"Nobody asked for your opinion, Box!" Amai snaps at me, her face flush with embarrassment. I just let that giggle free. Mission accomplished. That's the definite benefit of making new friends while having known her since we were kids. I can make fun of her all the time.
We go to the movie, and it's good. Everyone but me tears up at the sappy ending, which I find hilarious. This new group of friends I've found all front like they're tough, but they aren't, and that's becoming more and more obvious. Well, maybe they are tough, but not when it comes to bad romcoms. It's kind of endearing. By the time we're finished, however, it's late, and we need to part ways to go home and get some sleep before the upcoming school day. That's the problem with weeknight movies.
-----
My name is Riko Asahi, and I almost went to Korekara Academy.
I had my reasons to refuse the invitation, however. I had an older sister who went to that school, and for most, that's enough to want to attend a school themselves. Especially a private school, if they've got something to prove. I have to admit I felt the same way for a little while there, but the thing is, most people haven't heard firsthand the sort of horrors that await at Korekara Academy. Usually, the majority of a class graduates, but not the graduating class of 2015. There were fourteen of them. By the end of 2013, all but one of them were dead.
That one was my sister, so of course she got the blame. Why wouldn't they pin it on her, when she was dead too? It didn't take long at all, after the rest of them were gone. She was the only one who saw the incoming first years, and then she disappeared too, and I was left alone. I've never really been alone before. Yui was always there, ready to help me handle people. Ready to translate, because I never learned a single spoken language, and I can't much comprehend it out loud. It's not that I can't hear, but I learned to write, and I learned sign language. I've never been able to speak.
I guess that's why Korekara wanted me. They wanted my sister so she wouldn't be left out when a little further down the line, I got a legitimate invite for my 'troubled' nature. The speech problem is a physical thing, though, the result of a disease, so I can't say I fit their image of a traumatized youth. Not the way that Yui's classmates must have, to end up that way. I have all of her letters in a box, every single one, and they tell a story that I'll never share. How everything just fell apart before her eyes.
Why should Kira be surprised I'd refuse the invitation after hearing about something like that? I'd rather just work on fixing my own life. Learning what to do with myself now that I'm alone without Yui's help, and now that I'm the sole heir to my family's company. Whose bright idea was that? Surely there's some other relative, maybe less immediate than me but more competent. Yui was the one who could run a company.
I'm just the shadow who followed her around.
Today is different, though. Today, I've gotten a personal letter. Not addressed to Asahi, meaning me, in the business manner, but addressed to Riko Asahi, handwritten. It's barely noticeable that it isn't just a font with how precise it is, but every 'a' looks a little bit different from the others. I snatch it up before anybody else has a chance to see this oddity, and take it with me to my room. I pull it open and find that it's written as being from a doctor. Not one of my doctors, but 'Doctor Iwako Same'. I recognize that name. Yui knew her. She was new in the infirmary Yui's first year.
After checking the sender, I read the actual letter. It's similar to the type Yui would send me, telling me the horrors of that school, for a paragraph or two. The second half is speaking of somebody who's not a horror of the place at all, but curious. Somebody who's expressed an actual desire to find out what happened to the class of 2015, and that I'm the only possible link to that past. She also asks me that if a sweet girl with orange hair comes calling and asking me about Yui, that I don't reveal anything.
I was never planning on revealing anything, but this statement just makes me want to do it. A student who wasn't even there for the year, but wants to learn about it? I guess that makes sense, in a way. The ones who would have been there, third years now, were probably so shook by the incidents that they would prefer not to dig any deeper. This one obviously sees it more as a mystery to unravel than a tragedy, sure, but the very fact that I've been warned against teaching her what happened...
Not like that matters, seeing as I don't have a name of this student. Iwako's too smart to do something like give me the name. I have no idea what she's up to, but it can't be anything good if she's on Kira's side, as it seems to me she is. I have no way of getting in contact with the curious girl to give her the information that I have. Really, this letter is inconsequential. How would anyone even find out that I had anything to do with that year?
Most people don't think of me, and I very much doubt a single remaining third year at that school has any intention of thinking about that time at all. I can only imagine they feared that the fate of the upperclassmen would befall them too, their second year.
---------
Rena arrives home pretty late. She immediately goes to her room and changes from the uniform into pajamas, which she returns to the living room in moments later. She sits down on the couch next to Umi, turning her attention to the TV. Kaiba's the only one who's able to use the remote, but we all have similar taste in television, so that's not too much of an issue. Today, it's pawn stars.
"How was the movie?" Umi asks without looking up from her phone.
Rena shrugs, "It was fine. I mean, I wasn't really the one who wanted to see it, but it wasn't bad either. Hako-chan has been asking about the class of 2015 a lot, though. She seems to be under the impression that something so awful couldn't just happen."
"That's what Kira wants them to think. Let her," A Korekara Alumn named Kotomi waves it off as she walks into the room and approaches to lean on the arm of the couch, "Why bother trying to explain the truth to anyone who doesn't have to deal with it? The only reason I tell new members about what happened is cause I don't want any of you blaming Asahi-chan, or Mars-sensei, or any singular person but Kira for how Meiko died. She was one of us, so you need to be able to honor her properly."
Rena sighs and presses her hands between her knees, "I know. It's Kira's fault for mixing those personality types so badly, if we have to blame anyone. The thing is, though, shouldn't Hako-chan be allowed to honor Meiko properly if she wants to?" She glances away, "I know she isn't one of us, but..."
Kotomi hesitates, then looks to the ceiling as she answers, "That's too complicated. Besides, if we started just telling anyone about all of that, who knows what could happen to us. Kira doesn't have any limits to what she'll do."
Rena pauses before looking to Kotomi, "Have you ever... Met the headmaster?"
"Me?" Kotomi points to herself, and Rena nods. She gives an answer, "I haven't. Almost nobody has, and very few people ever will. Even Kaiba-chan's only spoken with her on the phone. I guess that's part of how she's able to get away with so much. If nobody knows who she really is, then she never needs to see any consequences for her actions."
"Oh," Rena notes, leaning back against the couch as she crosses her arms, "I guess... You do have a point there, huh? We've already suffered because of her, so if we start spreading real information, she wouldn't hesitate to hurt us, right?"
"Yeah," Kotomi agrees with a heavy sigh, "I know you weren't here when Meiko was around, but if you'd met her, you would understand. The fact that she was in that class was always going to turn out badly. She was such a sweetheart, she'd always help us up when we fell down. Maka-chan would have died if Meiko wasn't around during her first year... But don't go asking her or Netsu-kun about it, okay?"
"We won't," Umi says, shaking her head as she finally sets her cell phone down in her lap, "I understand that it was traumatizing for them. You already saw some of your classmates die, and you had graduation soon, but they had just gotten to the school and suddenly, everyone was dying. Right? Is that the reason?"
"It is," Kotomi nods, looking over toward Umi now, "Wouldn't you feel the same yourself?"
Umi hesitates, then stands up as she shrugs, "Well, I can understand it. I don't think I would be so afraid, myself, though. I am not very easy to kill, or even to injure."
I roll my eyes and finally decide to join in on the conversation, speaking up from the corner in which I've been reading while sat on the floor, "Umi-chan, you do realize that four of the dead killed themselves? It wasn't just physical warfare going on between the students that year."
"Randy-kun?" Umi questions as she steps toward me, hands on her hips, "Just how long have you been sitting there? There's still space on the couch. Anyway," She flips her hair, "I am not so weak mentally, either, though my upbringing may give a different impression."
"I'm reading," I answer, closing the book on one finger as I look up at her, "I can do that over here just fine."
"You say that," Umi notes, "But I don't think you can be very comfortable here. Is it because of Rena-san and I? It's perfectly fine if you come sit with us."
"Are you sure about that?" I question, standing up, "Last year, you were pretty shocked to see me here when I got back from my business trip."
She squirms a bit under my statement, which actually satisfies me more than it should. I am trying to respect her sensibilities, but there's still a cruel part of me that enjoys calling attention to ways that I've been wronged in the past. She gives a good answer, though, "You can't blame me for that. The group's called No Boys, so how was I supposed to know that you're Kaiba-san's close friend? I was convinced you were an intruder."
I can't help but laugh at the explanation now, holding up my arm to point near my elbow, "Yeah, that was pretty obvious. I still have the scar from where you hit me. Well, maybe I should take it as a compliment that you looked at me and immediately thought I was a strange man. Proves I'm less feminine than I feared."
"Heh. Well, anyway... I'm sorry that I misjudged you at first. Don't let that turn you off of spending time with me, okay?"
"Yeah," I nod and offer her a smile, "Thanks, Umi-chan. Oh, and Kotomi-chan? I think you should tell that girl about what happened to Meiko."
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