Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/5939214.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Major_Character_Death, Rape/Non-Con,
      Underage
  Category:
      F/F, F/M, M/M
  Fandom:
      Yandere_Simulator_(Video_Game)
  Relationship:
      Yandere-chan/Yandere-kun_(Yandere_Simulator), Yandere-chan/Yamada
      "Senpai"_Taro/Yandere-kun_(Yandere_Simulator)
  Character:
      Yandere-chan_(Yandere_Simulator), Info-chan_(Yandere_Simulator), Yandere-
      kun_(Yandere_Simulator), Yamada_"Senpai"_Taro, Ryoba_Aishi, Osana_Najimi,
      Kokona_Haruka, Oka_Ruto, Budo_Masuta
  Additional Tags:
      Alternate_Universe_-_1990s, Period-Typical_Homophobia, Trans_Character,
      Transphobia, Blood_and_Violence, Suicide, Teacher-Student_Relationship,
      Brother/Sister_Incest, Implied/Referenced_Domestic_Violence, Mental
      Health_Issues, Mental_Breakdown, Slut_Shaming, Underage_Drug_Use, Self-
      Harm
  Series:
      Part 1 of Sentimental_Schoolgirl_Simulator
  Stats:
      Published: 2016-02-08 Completed: 2016-08-01 Chapters: 10/10 Words: 57715
****** Lovelorn ******
by Azia
Summary
     The Aishi twins would do anything in the name of love.
Notes
     who is yandere-kun? in this story i have used dev's (never going to
     be used, apparently) male counterpart to yandere-chan, "yandere-kun,"
     and decided to make yan-chan and yan-kun twin siblings. there are
     "slight" differences between them, but they're still both the
     coldblooded killers we all know and love. ♡
     what about unnamed characters? unnamed rivals were given names and
     all other names and information were taken from the wiki and dev's
     tweets. and if an important character is suddenly blessed with a name
     in the midst of writing this i'm not going to change anything in the
     story because, wow, that's a lot of work and i already put a lot of
     effort into writing and editing and you should know i'm lazy by now.
     ♡
     is this is an alternative universe? yes. well... sort of. the story
     is set in the 1990's because of the ~aesthetic~ of old technology and
     so i can have an excuse for why some ppl don't have cellphones at
     points in time when the police really should be called. :) welcome to
     the infancy of social media and the internet altogether! i can't seem
     to write anything in modern times, sorry. ♡
     what do the percentages at the beginning of each chapter mean? the
     percentages are of the current school atmosphere in each chapter. the
     reasons for each drop can be found on the wiki if you're interested.
     for example: if someone goes missing without a trace, that's a -5%
     decrease. normal school atmosphere is 100-70%, medium is 69-21%, and
     low is 20-0%. the goal of this story is to successfully reach 0%
     school atmosphere. ♡
     how do the tags work? this is important! you can see that some
     chapters are individually tagged with their own warnings. i do have
     the story tags which are overall themes throughout the story that are
     unavoidable. the individual chapter tags are for when a tag that's
     already present is really going to be highlighted in that particular
     chapter. for example: the story already is tagged for "rape/non-con,"
     but i'll still tag an individual chapter with "scene with dubious
     consent." at any time you can request that i add something to tags if
     you like, i'll be glad to. ♡
     anyways, there will be no more author's notes from me. thank you for
     reading lovelorn. enjoy.
***** On the First Day of Christmas *****
Chapter Summary
                                     100%
The twins waved their mother away. They were only allowed to show their true
colors in front of her. No smiles, no heartfelt hugs or tears were exchanged
when they said their goodbyes. Just a simple wave.
“I’ll be gone for about ten weeks or so maybe. She’s very sick.” She left, and
that was the end of it.
Aishi Ayano and her precious twin brother, Yande, sat in her room together; he
at the desk and she on her bed. He swiveled around in the chair and she only
stared up at the ceiling. These were the wonderful instances when they were
comfortable. Together. No words. Pure silence. Inhale. Exhale. They couldn’t
ask for much more.
But things had somewhat changed since high school. Yande had grown taller
(“Yan-kun, all these naps are just making you grow more and more, eh? Stay
awake more often!”) and Ayano more curvy (“Ooh, Yan-chan, you’ll knock everyone
dead with those hips!”), and it was an understatement to say that their mother
was excited over their blessed gifts of puberty. Though they were fraternal
twins, they couldn’t have been more identical. When they were younger they took
on a more androgynous look to seem even more alike. Shorts and short haircuts
were always in order. Now they took on their respective forms in high school.
Ayano grew her hair to shoulders, but usually kept it swept up in ponytail
since she was so used to having her hair out of the way over the years. Yande
still kept his nice and neat. He was losing the boyish fat in his face and had
developed sharp cheek bones, while Ayano still looked somewhat babyish.
She fiddled with the thin straps of her tank-top and dragged her socked toes
across the plush carpet of her room as she released a sigh into the atmosphere.
Yande reciprocated. It was going to be a long winter break. Especially without
their parents. They didn’t even know where their father was. He had run off
into the night around three months prior. He called, but never requested to
speak to their mother. Yande had claimed that divorce was inevitable at this
point, and Ayano quietly agreed, never the optimist.
Their phones chimed simultaneously. They had been gifted with small black
cellphones from their mother as an early Christmas present. Their mother
insisted for them to keep the phones. They had Internet and she had even given
them cute little matching charms. They only ever called their parents and went
online to check on Senpai’s BubblegumChum account for updates though.
Ah, Senpai.
Ayano only glanced at her phone, but Yande actually picked his up. 
     @info_chan6 wants to be your friend!
“Somebody sent me a friend request on BubblegumChum,” Yande said, his voice
drained of all enthusiasm. Ayano didn’t respond.
The heat had basically been turned up to the maximum. There wasn’t snow
outside, but the night air chilled to the bone and nearly frosted the windows.
Living by the ocean didn’t protect them from the nip of Jack Frost at night,
but come morning it would hopefully warm up again. For now Ayano was left in a
pair of her brother’s shorts from his junior high days and a pair of long socks
in case the heater failed her.
“Should I accept it?”
“If you want.” Yande sighed. That was his sister, only speaking when spoken to,
always giving curt answers. He pressed to accept the request. 
     @info_chan6 wants to talk now!
“Check your phone, Yan-chan.” Ayano did as told. She had a friend request from
the same person. “Accept it.” She did. All three of them were included in the
chat room now. Having Ayano in the chat was most likely going to be helpless.
Yande usually had to take the reins in the relationship, but there were times
when she came out of nowhere and took control.
Such as now.
     バブルガム✿CHUM
     ♡ thu. – 25.dec.97 / 21:32 ♡
     >group chat connected!
     info_chan6: Hello Aishi Ayano and Yande, or should I say Yan-chan and
     Yan-kun. I am Info-chan, and that’s all you need to know.
     yandere_chan: what do you want?
     info_chan6: I want to help the both of you. You both have affections
     for Yamada Taro, otherwise known as “Senpai,” correct?
     yandere_chan: how do u know this?
     info_chan6: They don’t call me Info-chan for nothing. I actually go
     to your school. I know just about everything about everyone,
     including you two. I think that the both of you will benefit greatly
     if we help each other out.
     yandere_chan: y would we want to help u?
     yandere_kun: yeah. what do we get of this?
     info_chan6: I thought I said enough. You two like Yamada-senpai.
     There are at least ten others who also like him and are planning to
     confess to him during various times after break. You don’t want for
     your precious Senpai to slip from your fingers and into your rivals’,
     do you?
Ayano looked up at her brother. There was faint emotion behind her eyes. There
always was whenever their Senpai was mentioned. This stranger had a point, but
what were they getting at?  
     info_chan6: It just so happens that we all share the same rivals.
     What a beautiful coincidence, huh? We can take them down together.
     What do you say?
     yandere_chan: were listening.
     info_chan6: I know just everything about your mother and the things
     she did high school to get your father to stay with her. I bet that
     you two can do even better than she did. She only had to get rid one
     or two other girls tops. You two getting rid of ten or more people.
     Maybe even enough to turn the entire school around. Now that would be
     amazing. And I know that all of us can get away with it without
     getting caught. Everything will be perfect.
     info_chan6: So, how about it?
     yandere_chan: ill do it.
     yandere_kun: yeah. i’m in too.
     info_chan6: Great. I’ll spend the rest of break giving you as much
     information on the student body as I can, but I mainly gain knowledge
     when people are in school, so some things might have gone stale over
     break. You two need to pay attention to other people now. You can’t
     keep to yourselves anymore.
     yandere_kun: got ya.
                                       ❀
     バブルガム✿CHUM
     ♡ fri. – 26.dec.97 / 15:09 ♡
     >group chat connected!
     info_chan6: I have mapped out the school a million times over and I
     have compiled a nice little list of the various ways we can get rid
     of our enemies.
     info_chan6: We have drowning. You can use the fountain in the front
     of the school or the swim team’s pool in the gym. Electrocution – you
     can tamper with a light and when a wet student touches it, they’ll be
     in for a nice shock (ha). Poisoning – you can concoct something from
     the science club or in chemistry and then slip into someone’s drink
     or lunch. There’s straight up homicide – bring weapons or use the
     school’s. I recommend the school’s. Kidnapping – your mother used
     that tactic, so I’m sure you two would enjoy it too. Fake suicide –
     kill a student and make it seem like a suicide. It has to be
     believable.
     info_chan6: There are also some hands-off methods. You can frame
     another student of a crime. Make it believable.
     info_chan6: Actually now that I think about it you have to commit a
     crime before you frame another student of it, so it’s technically not
     a “hands-off method.” But you can gossip about a student and drive
     them to leaving the school or committing suicide. But if you do that,
     be careful of your reputation. You can also make the student look so
     bad in front of Senpai that he’ll reject them when they confess to
     him.
     info_chan6: Ooh, I came up with a new method: friend elimination.
     This will especially hurt the social butterfly of a rival. If you
     eliminate all of their friends using any methods of your choosing,
     then they’ll be crushed. Oh, and then there’s actual crushing. You
     can throw something from the school roof onto somebody. How does that
     sound?
     yandere_kun: i like crushing things.
     info_chan6: Cool. Same.
                                      ❀ 
     バブルガム✿CHUM
     ♡ sat. – 27.dec.97 / 17:46 ♡
     >group chat connected!
     info_chan6: For your first week we have Najimi Osana. Her username is
     @gacktgirl81 if you want to check out her profile. She’s childhood
     friends with Senpai and a total bitch.
     yandere_kun: y? what she do?
     info_chan6: I got footage of her giving blowjobs in the Little China
     restaurant bathroom for money. I hacked into her chats and she talks
     about fucking Senpai and looking for opportunities to get him off all
     the time. She got close to doing it last weekend before his parents
     came home and now they’ve been spending all of winter break together.
     They’re actually planning to take a trip to the beach soon when it’s
     warmer.
     info_chan6: I want you two to dismember her. Cut off her fingers and
     toes, then her twiggy little arms and legs, and then take out her
     eyes and rip out her teeth and pull out her cum-stained tongue in
     your basement. I want you to film the whole thing and send me the
     video too.Would be nice if I could find a way for you to mail her
     tongue to me...
     yandere_chan: perfect.
     info_chan6: Your second rival is Shiba Sweetie (@sixdozencreampuffs).
     She’s president of the Cooking Club. Yeah, she’s cute and sweet, and
     everybody calls her “big sis,” but she’s a beast on the inside. Her
     friends are slowly convincing her to confess to Senpai around the
     second week after break. Poison her food. Better yet, poison her
     friends’ food too. I’d love to see them choke.
     yandere_kun: do we have 2 get into cooking club 1st in order to get 2
     her though?
     info_chan6: Duh.
                                       ❀
     バブルガム✿CHUM
     ♡ sun. – 28.dec.97 / 01:12 ♡
     >group chat connected!
     info_chan6: Third is Kokona Haruka (@kokonutz). Her various visits to
     the clinic have confirmed that her tits are indeed fake. She’s about
     to leave Cooking Club and become the president of the Drama Club when
     one of the members move. Might be sooner after Sweetie’s
     disappearance. She’s all about people and her reputation. Exploit
     her. Find out anything and everything about her. Gossip and spread
     rumors until it’s too much for her to handle.
     info_chan6: Fourth is Kaiyo Puru (@kaiyo_the_swimmer), captain of the
     swim team. Little known secret: she’s poor and can only afford going
     to the school from her swim comp sponsors. I looked on the swim
     team’s forum and I noticed them speaking about her crush with Senpai
     and her plans on confessing after she competes in a prefecture-wide
     comp. She’s the only girl on the team who wears shorts when she swims
     and apparently her team is suspicious about her only changing clothes
     when she’s alone. Look into that. Before drowning her, make everybody
     quit the club.
     info_chan6: Fifth is Oka Ruto (@locaoka666), president of the Occult
     Club. Make the club members “disappear” and then frame her. She seems
     like a creepy piece of shit that would kill her friends for some type
     of Satanic ritual or something. Make it believable. My advice is be
     as over the top as possible. There is nothing like your run-of-the-
     mill psychotic physic. 
     info_chan6: Next is Ogazumu Seiko, Senpai’s scheduled sub for the end
     of January because his homeroom teacher is going on maternity leave.
     She’s been making obvious innuendos to Senpai ever since last
     semester when she subbed and I’m sure it will get worse the next time
     she comes. Don’t harm her since she’s not staying at the school
     forever. Best to play matchmaker and seduce her and let her carry out
     her little perverted schoolboy fantasies with someone else until she
     leaves.
     info_chan6: Seventh is Akabara Murasa (@bloodyrose79), the classic
     juvenile delinquent. She has a tight group of dangerous friends and
     they will definitely all be on edge at this point in time. Make sure
     you pay attention to the school atmosphere. I know you two can’t give
     two shits about anybody else even if you tried, but the school is
     everything. Literally everything. Pay attention. Pay attention. Pay
     attention. I recommend getting as much dirt on her as possible and
     then reporting it to the headmaster to get her expelled, or at the
     most suspended.
     info_chan6: Eighth is Oroka Kuga. She has been filling in for the
     nurse since the last week of school before break and will be
     returning again in February. Senpai has to frequent the nurse since
     he has to take medication on the regular, so a nice little kidnap
     would be in order. Take her syringes, knock her out, and punish her
     for pervert fantasies too.
     info_chan6: Ninth is Senpai’s little sister, Yamada Imouto
     (@imouto1984). I don’t know if she lusts after her brother or not,
     but it’s quite obvious that she’s obsessed with him and doesn’t want
     him dating. He’s practically all she ever talks about in her chats.
     I’m saving her for last because killing her so early on would crush
     poor Senpai’s heart and we don’t want that. Making a fake suicide
     would be perfect.
     info_chan6: Lastly, the Student Council president, Akumu Shaneru
     (@chanelvintage). Her father would probably have taken out of school
     by now. I mean, he's already a paranoid freak as it is since your
     mom's reign of terror, but I recommend dragging her out of her safe
     little haven and doing a good old classic hanging right in front of
     the building. At this point, who gives a shit about the atmosphere,
     right?
     yandere_kun: right.
                                       ❀
Ayano and Yande lied in bed together. They often slept together when their
parents were gone (also often). There was a deep connection between the two
twins that they could never explain. Yande absentmindedly rubbed his fingers
across his sister’s shoulder. He could just make out her creamy skin from the
moonlight of her window. She wore one of his dark T-shirts that came down to
her knees and her bare legs entangled with his. He used to express concerns
about how close they were. They literally shared everything, even intimate
moments like this that should “only be expressed between two lovers.” But if
she didn’t care – and she hardly cared about anything as it was – then he
decided he shouldn’t either.
She fiddled with her phone. He could feel the cold metal touch his arm and make
his hairs stand on end. “How're you feeling?” He asked her. She shrugged. Out
of the corner of his eye he could see that she was looking at Senpai’s profile.
He had already checked it before going to bed. Their love had posted a picture
of Osana posing in a skimpy bikini on the shore side while Imouto built a
sandcastle beside her. Envy nipped at their heartstrings when they first saw
the photo.
Oh well. It wouldn’t last for long.
Yande pressed a long kiss against his sister’s forehead before he pulled the
covers over the both of them. “They’re not gonna know what hit them.” She
silently nodded in agreement. Akademi High School was definitely going to be
turned upside down after winter break. And they could both sleep easy on that
thought.
                                       ❀
Info-chan didn’t message them the morning of their first day back to school.
Yande took his sister’s hair out of its ponytail and unpinned her bangs so they
could swoosh freely across her forehead. She blinked at him, but didn’t put her
hair up again. He had been jittery when they bathed together and she managed to
calm him down with some soothing touches and looks, such as now.
It was finally show time. After a long week of planning, they were
definitely ready. It was time to show that the Aishi twins would do anything in
the name of love.
Yande placed a box cutter and a screwdriver into the folds of his backpack as
his sister tucked a knife into her skirt pocket and a pair of their mother’s
sharp sewing scissors into her bento box.
He touched her hand before they left. For strength, he convinced himself. Maybe
reassurance too. If she was ready, he was ready too.
They hopped on their bikes and rode to school.
***** Look Ma, No Hands *****
Chapter Summary
                                      95%
Ayano scrolled through Osana’s BubblegumChum profile. Nothing too
interesting. She looked like another basic girl who frequented the beach. She
wasn’t involved or interested in any major clubs or school activities and she
seemed to have a majority of male friends judging from the overwhelming amount
of pictures with other boys (even boys that Ayano figured were too old for high
school). She had posted a picture of her collection of pink detention slips
from how many times she had broken school rules from dyeing her hair and using
nail polish outside of the regulated colors.
“Smile, Yan-chan,” Yande whispered. She glanced up at him, her eyes blank. He
saw that expression a million times. He only raised an eyebrow and smiled
himself. She was actually the one who had to coach him on how to smile. When
they were younger he showed too much teeth and his eyes were too wide. Hers
were always natural. He never understood how because he always thought of
himself as the more emotional of the pair. Sure, he had his dark tendencies,
but he tried his best to not present himself as a blank slate all the time like
she did.
She smiled and her eyes immediately brightened. Yande always thought that his
sister was pretty when she smiled, even if it was never genuine. He smiled also
– “Careful not to show your gums. Let your eyes crinkle. Makes it more
natural.” – and slung his arm over his sister’s shoulder as he looked down at
her phone. Walking through the school gates was like the curtain coming up for
a play for them, especially today. Today was the beginning to the longest show
of their lives. The curtain may never come down again. Yande felt a tinge of
nervousness pulse through his heart. Ayano felt nothing.
“Info said that she waits out by the first tree every morning,” Yande
whispered. Ayano looked over. Osana was there with her hair freshly dyed an
orange gradient and held up by cherry blossom pins. They were all quite early.
Perfect.
The sun was shining and the weather had warmed up. It was almost sad that the
Aishi twins were going to fuck up such a beautiful morning.
Yande winked at his sister before she walked to the building. He headed towards
Osana and pulled out his phone for a second. It was merely a ploy, but it
actually buzzed with a message. 
     バブルガム✿CHUM
     ♡ tue. – 06.jan.98 / 06:52 ♡
     >chat connected!
     info_chan7: introduce yourself! she doesn’t know you, but im sure
     shed like to get to know u
     info_chan7: try not to be too creepy too
     info_chan7: whoooa calm that smile down, kiddo. ;) youre a cute guy
     when you genuinely try to look happy. CHILL.
Yande only raised an eyebrow. It didn’t go amiss that the username contained
the number seven instead of the familiar number six. It was his fault for not
setting his profile to private so he could check all chat requests instead of
being automatically accepted into them. “Info-chan” was also acting
differently. Nicer? Not as curt? Perhaps those were the right words. Oh well.
He internally shrugged. Maybe this “Info-chan” character had a change of heart
while ignoring him and his sister on the first day back.
Yande smiled – perfect lip-to-teeth ratio – and leaned his back against the
tree next to Osana. She overwhelmingly smelled of cherry blossoms. But one
couldn’t let such a sweet scent wrap them up in intoxication so quickly—there
was a feisty and certainly bitter girl underneath all of that saccharine
perfume.
She glared up at him from underneath her long, fake eyelashes and blinked a
couple of times before snapping her phone shut and crossing her arms across her
small chest. “Um, excuse me, can I help you?”
He flashed his smile directly at her. It sent a tingle up his spine to see
someone captivated by his “charms.” She certainly was. She blinked again,
almost took a step back, and he could hear her breath hitch. Yande wasn’t
handsomer than Senpai – in fact, he felt like he paled in comparison to the guy
– but at least his looks were decent enough could get him somewhere. His mother
had always called him a handsome boy. Now it was time to put his skills to the
test.
“No, I just wanted to say ‘hi.’ So,” he shrugged, “hi.” He waved too. He
watched her scrutinize him for a second before she clasped her hands behind her
back and smiled.
“Hiya. You’re that Aishi twin, aren’t you?” He nodded. “Heard you two were
creepy little sociopaths who never talk to anybody, but I guess not. You know,
it’s not good to believe in hearsay.” She glanced at her phone for a moment and
shrugged. “Only small people talk about other people, you know?”
“Yeah, I get what you mean.” He shrugged again. “It’s just that, me and my
sister just started going to this school, so we were sort of forced to be the
odd ones out for a while. Took us a long time to, uh, test the waters, I guess
you could say, but she said that it’d be a good idea if we started socializing
and making friends, so I thought I’d start with the cutest girl I saw.” He
winked at her. He felt vile when her smile turned something sheepish. “You.”
She puffed her cheeks to try and stop her blush. She was really a cute girl in
Yande’s eyes. Maybe she deserved better. He made sure to control his grin as
she brushed arms with him and they hashed out every flirty remark underneath
the sun until the bell tolled.
                                       ❀
Yande wanted nothing more than to take Osana’s precious little neck in between
his fingers and squeeze. He wanted to scratch and peel off her skin until he
could see her pretty little windpipe, snatch it out, and wrap the wet strands
around his fingers like yarn. He always wondered what she tasted like. Now he
didn’t have to wait.
He licked across her throat, the dip of her collarbone, and squeezed around her
waist. She felt different. Her hips were smaller than his twin’s and her skin
felt more papery, more fragile.
He pressed her up against the bathroom wall. Fantasies of knocking her head
against the tile and watching redness splatter across the white cluttered his
mind. He opted to just kiss and bite and lick and trace along her bones
instead. Her cheekbones, her jaw, nothing went amiss.
She was clawing into his jacket. He wanted to frown and snap her wrists in half
like they were candy bars. Ayano had spent so much time ironing their uniforms
last night while they went over how they were going to off Osana.
Ayano showed him how it was done. He sat on her bed quietly, waiting for her to
change. His sister’s skin was something to envy over. The gene of soft, creamy
perfection that their mother inherited passed on to them, but Yande had always
found himself staring at his father when he was younger. His father’s skin was
naturally tanned and freckled from growing up by the beach. Yande always wanted
to trace along the man’s skin and map out constellations.
He studied the familiar smooth curves of Ayano’s back as she took off her
uniform and unclasped her bra. She discarded her skirt into the corner and
sashayed over to him (she always muttered, “I don’t move my hips on purpose,”
whenever he mentioned it) and held her hand out to him. He had looked in
confusion for a moment, eyes glued to her clean nails and delicate fingers,
then up her arm to her shoulders, to her breasts.
She gestured her hand again, and it came to his mind that he was holding her
pajamas of the night: a T-shirt, their father’s, from a now closed-down seaside
restaurant featuring an abstract painting of an octopus being gutted open. When
he asked she had quietly said that she appreciated the cartoonish gore on the
shirt. Bright red paint spilled forth from the octopus’ orifices, especially
its eyes. The shirt came down to Ayano’s knees, shielding her pale thighs from
him and the rest of the world.
She was almost cautious with her movements. Her long fingernails merely brushed
against his skin before she settled herself on his lap. His body released a
sigh upon contact. She was so light. He felt like if he took their mother’s
good kitchen knife or their father’s family sword off the wall and sliced her
down the middle, all he would receive were two perfectly hollow halves.
And so he channeled Ayano’s touches onto Osana. If Osana wasn’t moaning like a
bitch in heat then she probably would’ve stepped back and noticed that his
touches were cold and calculated. Every bite, every stroke. Especially when he
slid his hands up her (too thin, too thin) thighs – which, lucky him, no
leggings today – and pulled down her panties. He was improvising. It was
certainly acting when he parted her and rubbed his fingers against her clit
until she literally had to bite into his shoulder to quiet herself.
Ayano had stopped him when his cold fingertips pulled up the hem of the too-
large shirt and started exploring up her (perfect, perfectly sized) thighs. She
looked at him in the eye and he could hear the moment she stopped breathing.
She bit her lip for a split second before she climbed off of him and left. She
slammed the door behind her. He didn’t ask where she was going or bothered to
chase after her and he would never admit that it hurt to sleep alone that
night.
“Ah, ah, Yan-kun, mm, you’re so good at this,” Osana moaned. He chuckled and
could only sigh. He wasn’t getting off on this, at least, not mentally. His
mind still drew back to Ayano. Ayano was near the definition of perfection in
his mind and Osana certainly was not. He didn’t want some random broad
screaming in his ear while he jammed his fingers inside of her in the boys’
bathroom. No. He deserved better. He deserved Senpai. Senpai wasn’t near
perfection, he was perfection.
Yande accidentally let out a growl at the thought of Senpai. Senpai. Senpai.
Senpai. The boy who never notices him. Yamada Taro was probably waking up right
now, enjoying his extended winter vacation. Maybe Osana was still going to
“cheat” on him and confess to Senpai when he came back at the end of the week.
Another low sound dragged out of his throat at that – Senpai was his – and
Osana almost jolted him out of his thoughts with another loud squeal. He
pressed his nose against her neck, moist with sweat, as she came, her entire
small body shaking against his stronger, much larger one. The difference in
their sizes could not go unnoticed. He felt like he could only wrap his middle
finger and thumb around her tiny neck and snap it in half without any effort.
He felt her wetness drip down in between his fingers as she pressed her lips
against the side of his face, his neck, his jaw. He didn’t even register the
affection. “Mm, you sure know how to show a girl a good time, huh?” He kissed
her again, bit her glossy lips to shut her up. She liked to talk. She liked to
hear herself talk. Senpai’s voice was soothing and quiet. Ayano only spoke when
spoken to.
“Wanna come to my house tonight?” Here was the deal breaker. He treated her
with a gentler kiss. “We can have more fun there. My parents aren’t home and
Yan-chan should be out tonight.” She giggled and kissed him again and again,
like she was receiving some type of reward and not a death sentence.
“I definitely will be coming over—emphasis on coming.” She pouted suddenly. The
girl could flip through moods like she had some type of on-and-off switch
implemented in her brain. It annoyed Yande to no end. He was going to have fun
pulling her teeth and plucking the skin off her lips so she could never smile
or frown again. “Ugh, now I have to run to the gym and take a bath and change
into my spare clothes before class starts.” She pushed him off of her and
smacked his chest. “My panties are all wet and you ripped my shirt, Yan-kun!”
He forced himself to smirk and to gratify the “cockiness” that attracted her in
the first place. “You’re welcome.” He winked. She kissed him again – all messy,
all tongue, Senpai probably didn’t kiss like that – before she skipped away. He
let his smirk falter and wilt once he heard the door close.
He washed his hands over and over again until his skin rubbed red and raw. He
wondered how many other unsanitary fingers had already fucked her down there
before.
                                       ❀
     バブルガム✿CHUM
     ♡ thu. – 08.jan.98 / 07:01 ♡
     >chat connected!
     info_chan7: wow only took two days and youre already fingering her in
     the bathroom.
     info_chan7: must be sad to be so fast. :(
     yandere_kun: shut up.
     info_chan7: i saw u try not to laugh. (｀◕‸◕´+)
                                       ❀
Ayano was actually mildly popular in the Music Club and she wasn’t sure if it
was a good or bad thing. Everyone was attracted to her “personality.” She was
easy to be around and people loved talking to her. If her brother and mother
could see her now, they would be downright flabbergasted. She had mastered the
skill of feigning interest in others. She couldn’t walk around torn between
looking downright psychotic and family-friendly like her brother used to before
she trained him proper.
“See you at tomorrow’s practice, Yan-chan!” A boy called out. She flashed a
smile towards him as she took out the trunk for her cello.
“See ya!” She waved.
“And don’t forget that the concert’s after school tomorrow!” Somebody else
said.
“I won’t!” She called back. She was finally allowed to stop. Good. Her cheeks
hurt from smiling. Who knew that posing as a nice music student could be such a
pain in the ass?
She pretended to pack up for a bit longer. It was around the time when the
teachers were retiring for the night and the students returned home from their
clubs. She lifted her cello into its trunk and brought it up on its wheels
before she put on her backpack and headed out. The meeting spot was the
cafeteria. The building was never locked and no clubs met there.
She felt an actual tinge of doubt. No one was watching her from the windows,
Info-chan had assured her of that, and if someone was then it would just look
like a music student going to the supply closet to get a spare bow or string
for their instrument before heading home. She knew she was safe, she wasn’t
doubtful of that. It was Yande she was worried about. She wasn’t sure how he
would pull off bringing that tacky girl to the cafeteria after school.
She shook her head and stopped herself as she opened the door. Her brother had
doubted her many, many times before, but she has never doubted him, and she was
not going to start now. She carried her case into the room. Everything was
painted orange from the late sun.
She rolled her trunk all the way to the supply closet and stopped for a moment.
There were moans coming from the inside. Her brother had vividly described his
interaction with Osana during lunch. They already had their fun in the morning
in the bathroom, they didn’t need any more.
She knocked on the door in the rhythm that her and her brother had practiced.
It opened immediately. They both had hickeys decorating their skin and
disheveled clothes. One look in Yande’s eyes and Ayano knew that she was his
savior.
Osana backed off of him and tried to button up her shirt. “What the fu—why’s
your sister here? Tell her to get out, we were having a moment!” Yande could
stop the act now. He could let out a steady breath into the atmosphere –
finally. Osana swiveled her head back and forth between the two, eyes wide. She
clutched her shirtfront to her chest and took a step back against the wall,
bumping into the rack of cleaning supplies behind her. “Wh-What the fuck is
going on? Why the hell are you two staring at me like that?” Her eyes were
tearing up and she let out a frustrated huff. “Yan-kun, j-just fucking stop
that, right now! You’re scaring me!”
Ayano closed the door with her foot and opened up her trunk. Yande took Osana
by her arms and pushed her towards it. She fought tooth and nail against him,
screaming all the way. He covered her pitiful little mouth with his hand. “Stop
screaming. Nobody’s coming to save you,” he muttered in her ear. He nodded his
head toward his sister. She took out the duct tape from home. Bringing a
screwdriver and box cutter to school on the first day back had only proven to
them that murder was easy, but getting away with it was not.
She would have smiled with glee if she could help it. She tied Osana’s wrists
and ankles together and so that her brother could shove the girl into the case
next to her cello.
Their fellow classmate looked up at them with tears and mascara spilling down
her cheeks. It looked like her false eyelashes were about to detach from her
eyelids too. Yande flashed her a smirk before he shut the case tightly.
He took the back of his sister’s trunk and helped her carry it out of the
cafeteria. They waved to a couple of lingering students and a passing by
teacher. The woman cooed over how nice it was to see Yande helping his sister
out. He only smiled along and thanked her.
She walked his bicycle along the way as he pushed the trunk. Whimpers were
coming from inside. She knocked her foot against it and the noise stopped
immediately. “Did you get a message from Info-chan but under a different
username?”
Ayano shook her head. “Might have not been Info then.”
“No, it was her. She was sti—”
“’Her?’”
Yande blinked. He almost lost his grip on the trunk. “Huh? Did I say something
wrong?”
“How are you so sure that Info-chan is female?”
“Well, ‘chan’ and the pink username in the chat sort of gives it away, I
guess.”
“Doesn’t mean anything.”
He chuckled. The sound was always hollow, like a ventriloquist tiredly speaking
through their dummy. “Didn’t mean to offend you, Yan, but they sent me a
message under a username with a number seven instead of a six. I was just
wondering if you got one too.” She shook her head. “Hm. I’m pretty sure it was
Info, but they were being… nicer to me? I’m not sure if that’s the right word.
I don’t know. They were being a lot more playful.”
“Might have not been Info then,” Ayano repeated. The Aishi home was only a few
blocks away. The evening waves were so tranquil and the sky was so bright and
clear. Spring was coming quick and it was going to be welcomed with open arms.
“What, you think that there’s seven other Info’s or something?” Ayano shrugged.
“Ugh, you’re so unhelpful sometimes, Yan.”
“Sorry.”
“No you’re not. You’re never sorry. We’re never sorry.” She just took out her
key.
She closed the curtains and didn’t bother turning on the lights. Yande popped
the joints in his elbows and cracked his back. She still had the audacity to
shiver with every sickening pop her brother made. She knew that when he was
about to fully invest and enjoy something then he had to crack his joints to
“prepare himself.” She could hear him laugh again. “Something wrong, Yan-chan?”
He must have been watching for her reaction. He was all about watching. Eyes.
He had carefully observed the way her shoulders automatically trembled with
each crack. He knew how much she liked it. How much it reminded her of the
sound a brittle bone made before it broke.
He unlocked the case and took Osana out. She was still sobbing and her makeup
was a smeared mess. He gathered the girl up in his arms and tilted his head to
the basement door. Ayano followed after and made sure to close the door behind
them.
Their father had stolen the life of the basement when he left. The place had
been stacked to the brim with boxes upon boxes of pure stuff that was only
their father’s. Their father was the closest thing they knew to a hoarder. He
just loved possessions. He loved calling things his own. Maybe the reason why
he left was because he could never call their mother his. She was always
stronger than him. Faster, too.
Now the basement was absolutely vacant. Their mother didn’t have anything.
Sure, she had decorated the house upstairs for visitors, but the basement
remained cold and empty. Like them. The Aishi twins and their mother were just
alike that way. They were glistening red cars without any engines under the
hood.
The heater never reached the downstairs. The cooled air chilled through their
socks and Yande could feel Osana shake against his chest. He dropped her down
on the cold floor tiles and stood over her with another satisfied smirk.
He ripped the tape from her mouth. She hissed in pain. “Aishi Yande, what the
fuck is wrong with you? Shit, I should’ve listened to what everybody said. You
and your creepy ass sister are fucking psychopaths! I never should’ve let you
touch me!” She shook again. “P-Please… p-p-please don’t hurt me, please.” Yande
grabbed her by one of her ponytails and forced her up into somewhat of a seated
position. She gasped and tried to pull away from him. The girl was weak. He was
strong. He thrived off of this kind of exchange.
He pulled the pretty little clips from her hair and tossed them aside.
Ponytails were for stupid little girls, and Osana was much too old for such
childishness. Her long hair cascaded down her back and over her face, but he
moved her bangs aside. She had such pretty eyes. They were so captivating. She
should know as much. “You have pretty eyes, Osana-chan,” he whispered. He swore
he hear his sister sigh from the corner of the room. He peeled off her false
lashes and tossed them aside. “Hm, look at this,” he prodded at the tracks of
dripped mascara on her cheeks. “Should’ve went waterproof today, eh?” He faced
his sister. “Yan-chan, get me a washcloth.”
She only nodded and went to the basement bathroom. The sound of the water
running echoed throughout the room. Osana still shriveled and whimpered. He
tugged on her hair. She whined and still tried to back away from him. He pulled
harder until she fell over. “Strong scalp,” he murmured to himself. He rolled
her over to her backside with his foot. “I had a feeling you’d be into your
hair being pulled.”
The water stopped running. He looked up to find Ayano standing in the doorway,
watching them, washcloth dripping water on the floor. He only beckoned his hand
toward her, facing back towards Osana. His sister obediently walked over and
hand him the cloth. He held down Osana’s shoulders as he washed the ruined
makeup from her eyes, her cheeks, and her chin even. “Better,” he muttered. She
certainly looked much better, but she was no Senpai, and she certainly was
nothing compared to Ayano in his eyes, but she looked better without so many…
lies masking her face. She looked much more innocent. Less bitchy. Younger
even.
He tossed the cloth aside. If he could feel shame then perhaps he would’ve
blushed and sputtered from being caught staring at Osana’s face by his sister,
but since he did not, he only continued to look. He took his thumb and traced
along her cheekbones, following down to her chin, towards her lips. She
shivered. “G-Get off me, y-y-you fucking creep!” She nipped at his finger. He
could only laugh.
“You’re funny. I haven’t laughed this much in a long time.” He took her by the
hair again and dragged her to the pole that supported the basement. He cocked
his head toward his sister again. Perhaps twin telepathy was real. She took out
the set of ropes they had found in their parent’s bedroom – who knew what those
were for – and arranged them properly.
Osana kicked and wriggled against her. “Help me!” She screamed suddenly.
“Somebody help me! Help me, please! HELP!”
Yande clicked his tongue. “Our mother wasn’t dumb enough to take our father
down to a basement that wasn’t soundproof, you know.” He knocked his hand
against the wall for emphasis. “She wasn’t stupid. And neither are we.” He
crouched down to her level. She tried to turn away again. It was getting
annoying. She had nowhere to go, nowhere to turn to. He grabbed her by the neck
– ooh, she was sweating and shaking under his palm – and forced her to look at
him. Look at him in the eye with her pretty ones. Pretty ones that were too
good for a girl like her. “I can’t wait to cut these out,” he whispered.
He stood up again. “But you’re in luck.” Her head snapped up. It must have been
the sudden change in his tone that scared her. He needed to work on that. He
didn’t have complete control over every single nuance in body like Ayano seemed
too. Her voice was always quiet, calm, controlled and only changed when need
be, but sometimes he would shift too quickly from a cold tone to an excited one
without even realizing it. He took a second to calm himself down. “We’ll deal
with you after school tomorrow. We have…” He glanced at his sister. She only
shrugged. “We have other things to deal with first. You know, damage control
type stuff.”
They turned towards the door. “Wait!” Ayano sighed and left. Yande, hand on the
top of the railing, turned back. “Yan-kun, wait!” He only raised an eyebrow. He
wasn’t walking back down. She wasn’t his master. “Bu-But my parents! They’re
gonna notice that I’m missing. And I—And I-I have to meet Taro at the beach
this weekend and my sister’s coming over and I—”
“Shut up!” He barked.
His sister was always so calm, cool, and collected. Why couldn’t he be the
same? Why couldn’t he control his temper? Why couldn’t he ignore his impulses?
He always gave into temptation. It was all over his knuckles now. Osana was
screaming again. Shit. He could’ve broken her nose. He had to leave the
basement before he completely snapped on her.
Yande locked the basement door behind him and tossed the key on the table.
Ayano was holding her cellphone, but she was focused on him. “What?” He asked.
“Your hand.” He looked down at his hand.
“I didn’t mean to hit her.”
“Of course not.”
“Seriously. She kept yelling at me about how she has to visit Senpai tomorrow
and all this crap about her parents like we’re stupid or something. We double-
checked and made sure of everything. Info wouldn’t just let us take her on any
random day of the week. Everything was planned out.” He leaned against the
wall. “Everything single thing was planned out. Did she really think that we
didn’t know her parents are on vacation for the rest of the month and that her
sister just left yesterday and that Senpai is not getting back from vacation
until the end of the week? Why would she lie to us like we’re a bunch of
simpletons?”
“Stop hitting the wall.”
He unclenched his fists. “Sorry.”
“No you’re not. You’re never sorry. We’re never sorry.”
“Way to throw my words back at me.” He rubbed his hand over his bloodied
knuckles. “Why were you looking at your phone? Did Info message you?” She shook
her head.
“No. Dad. He called.”
“Oh.” He got off the wall and walked toward her. “What’d he say?”
“He’s on his way to America right now.”
“So he’s not coming back?”
“No.”
“Oh. Okay.” He headed toward the kitchen. Maybe he could be nice and get Osana
an icepack for her face. Info would be pissed to see any damaged goods once the
camera arrived tomorrow. Oh well. At least Yande and Ayano managed to get the
girl in the first place. Info should be proud of them. He felt as though the
seventh would have been impressed by anything, but the sixth hadn’t messaged
them in so long.
He laid the icepack on his own knuckles and slammed the freezer shut.
                                       ❀
Ayano could finally let out a relieved breath come Friday. She woke up earlier
than usual. The skies were still dark outside and the nighttime crickets were
still chirping. She walked to her dresser under a bath of light from the moon
and stars. The effects of sleepiness were slowly wearing off.
She stopped herself from pulling her hair up into a ponytail. Yande came to
mind. He had taken to his room for the second night in a row. She pressed her
palms against her dresser – the cool wood made her arms break out into goose
bumps – and looked in the mirror. Her hair was getting even longer. She
couldn’t tell when she just threw it up in a ponytail all the time.
The crickets were quieting down until everything was completely silent. She was
so used to the sound of her brother’s soft breaths when he slept and his
stretches when he woke up. How he would always told her “good morning” and
leave to warm a bath for the both of them. Now: deafening silence.
She grabbed the front of her shirt. She had snuck it from Yande’s room while he
ate dinner. She found herself craving his smell ever since it disappeared from
her pillow. She sighed. She needed him.
Her bare toes curled into her feet as she walked on the nearly icy wood of the
hallway. It felt like a long walk towards her twin’s room. Like each step
forward was only a step back.
There were soft sounds coming from the room. She pressed her ear against the
door. It didn’t sound like he was speaking to anyone. There was no chance that
he untied Osana and had brought her up to his room. She turned the knob. Who
knew? Her brother was no stranger to doing odd and irrational things.
The curtains were drawn and the moon’s light shone upon him. She could see him
covered to the neck in blankets. He was moving underneath the sheets. She was
no stranger to this. There was the occasional time when he would turn his back
to her when they slept together and she would patiently wait for him to relieve
himself so she could go back to sleep. He stopped now, much to her shock. It
wasn’t like they haven’t been through this before.
“Yan?” He called out. She walked over to him instead of answering. He stopped
his ministrations and reached for his phone. He squinted at the sudden harsh
light. “What’s wrong? We have another hour.”
“I missed you.”
“Oh yeah?” He reached out his arm toward her. “Took you long enough to admit
it.”
“Shut up.”
“Ah, Yan-chan, you’re so mean to me.” He wrapped her up in his arms underneath
the covers. “You wouldn’t be so lonely if you were nicer.”
“I guess.” He pressed his nose against her neck. She could feel that his
breaths were still ragged and his heartbeat was only quickening as she pressed
back against him. She closed her eyes and leaned into his arms. “You can
finish.”
“Thank you.” He reached one arm down and touched her hip cautiously. “Do you
mind?” She had before, and she still did, but…
“Who are you thinking of?”
He paused. She felt his breath stop in a split second, before he answered,
“Senpai.”
“Lie.”
“You.”
“No you weren’t.” He sighed. She could still feel his hardness against her
backside. “You were thinking of her.”
“She was… she was so pretty with blood all over her face, I couldn’t help
myself.” She pressed back against him. “Ooh, you’re jealous.”
“I’m not. I don’t get jealous.”
“Lie.” He grinded against her slightly and sighed. “The only reason why we’re
doing all of this is because we’re jealous.” She chose to ignore that and press
back against him instead. “Stop. I can’t make you do something you don’t want
to do.” He hissed into her skin. “Save yourself for Senpai.”
“Okay.”
“Go back to sleep. I’ll wake you up.”
Yande was too good to her.
                                       ❀
Osana’s absence wasn’t noticed around the school just yet.
Ayano made sure to thoroughly clean her trunk before she brought it back to
school. She laughed with her “friends” in orchestra and perfectly did her part
in the concert. Yande clapped along in the audience.
He leaned in her ear as he took her cello and whispered, “Info said that the
camera and the saw just arrived to the house.” She nodded and put on her false
smile.
There might have been an actual pep to her step on the way out the building.
                                       ❀
Yande left Ayano alone with Osana. It felt like it would take forever to make
the girl stop talking. Ayano’s phone buzzed. She turned away from Osana to look
at it. 
     バブルガム✿CHUM
     ♡ fri. – 09.jan.98 / 17:50 ♡
     >chat connected!
     info_chan8: You will be sending the video to me.
     info_chan8: Make sure the angle is nice. I don’t want you two to
     completely chop the girl up into fun-sized pieces before you notice
     that the camera wasn’t even recording or was facing the wrong way.
     info_chan8: Have I told you that I like you?
     yandere_chan: no. you hvaent.
     info_chan8: Wow. Can you type properly for once?
     yandere_chan: this keyboards too small. sorry
     info_chan8: Well, I like you more than your brother. You’re more
     serious. You’re more driven. I like that.
     yandere_chan: whats the difference between you, info-chan 6 and 7?
     info_chan8: Ah, you caught on.
     info_chan8: Well, Info-6 is like the glue that holds us together
     while 7 and I are on opposite sides of the scale. I like to think of
     it this way -- Buddhist psychology says that there are three
     personality types: the greedy type (the person who knows what they
     want), the angry type (the person who focuses on what’s wrong), and
     the deluded type (the muddled, spaced out person). 6 is the greedy
     type, I’m the angry type, and 7 is the deluded type. 7 doesn’t like
     you at all, but loves your brother. And I don’t like your brother at
     all, but I like you. And 6 doesn’t really care.
     yandere_chan: how interesting.
     info_chan8: You see that? That’s the reason why I like you so much,
     Yan-chan. Our personalities fit together like wasabi on sushi.
She pocketed her phone when Yande came back downstairs. He set the camera up
and handed her the saw. “Ready?” She could feel her heartbeat accelerate as she
held the circular saw. The way it fit in her palm just felt right. It was snug.
Osana banged her head against the pole trying to back away. “Get that thing
away from me you fucking psycho!!” She kicked at Ayano the best she could, but
her efforts were fruitless.
Ayano had often accidentally given herself paper cuts when she was younger and
she had once almost slashed her wrists with her mother’s good kitchen knife
just to see what it felt like before her brother stopped her. She fell and
sliced her knees open multiple times when the training wheels had been taken
off her bicycle.
She wondered how Osana felt when she dragged the saw against her skin. It
sliced so nicely. Like a knife carving into a stick of butter. Osana’s skin cut
open so easily. It was a sight to see.
Osana had not experienced true coldness until the saw touched her skin. The
blade had been shipped directly from a snowy northern factory straight to the
Aishi home under Info-chan’s supervision. Her eyes widened upon the first
pierce on her skin. That was the look Yande craved. Ayano just wanted to see
the metal teeth cut and slice and tear the girl into nothing but meaty clumps.
She couldn’t go slowly like Info-chan had wanted once she got started.
Everything was like a reddened wet dream for her. Wet. She felt the warm
wetness of Osana’s blood spray across her skin, stain her white uniform shirt.
It was perfect. This was her element. Cutting off the girl’s hands from the
wrists was the most exhilarating thing that she had ever experienced.
Her screams were like a song – a symphony even. More mellifluous than the
violins and the cellos and the violas during the concert. The trumpets blew
when she took the saw and split the girl down the middle. She managed to find
her sanity long enough to lift the girl’s skirt up so she could see the blood
spill and stain Osana’s panties as she cut up from her cunt to her navel. Her
underwear was already stained beforehand. Aw. She wet herself. Poor girl.
She ran over Osana’s stomach again. Guts spilled out of her so cleanly, so
nicely, like how a glass of milk spilled onto the floor when it was knocked
over by a careless elbow. Ayano had to force herself to stop when she reached
the girl’s neck. Her vision was tinting black. She blinked a few times, trying
to calm herself, but she found her hands digging into the girl’s opened
stomach. The organs were so bright, like candy. Her blood was brighter than
licorice and her intestines were pinker than bubblegum. Breathtaking.
Yande was pulling her back. She automatically dropped the saw. He said that he
was only going to pull her out before things got too bad. She had blacked out
once when she got too excited cutting into a still-bloody piece of meat while
preparing dinner; things turned “bad” easily.
She could feel her body twitching, twitching, twitching all over the place. Her
heart felt like it was about to explode at any moment. She could still feel the
girl in her hands, all slick and warm. The pool of blood was underneath her
feet, staining her socks. She could feel the sick stickiness on her feet.
Her brother’s mouth was moving. She had to tune in her ears to the sound of his
voice over the pounding of her heart. She had to force herself to read his
lips. She could barely even see him. “Can I?” He was asking. She couldn’t even
speak. She just nodded.
He picked up where she left off, cutting across Osana’s neck. The girl had
already bled out and he was ready to take things too far. He killed her while
she was dead. He must have gone across her neck a million times until he was
sure that the bone split completely in half. He picked her up by her hair. Too
bad she wasn’t alive to moan and whimper anymore. She had a nice voice when she
wasn’t yelling or complaining.
He pulled open her eyelids. Ooh, those eyes were even prettier when they were
glossed over like that. He liked her like this, with blood dripping down her
chin instead of mascara. And he liked the sound that her flesh made when it
disconnected from her skin – it was an understatement to say that shivers went
down his spine – and he managed to drag out a bit of her esophagus before he
tugged and snagged it against the shards of her neck.
He ran his thumbs over her lips and parted them. She couldn’t slap him and back
away anymore. Now he kissed her. Now he enjoyed it. Now he liked her. Why
couldn’t she have been so willing and pliant all along? Maybe they could’ve
kept her in the basement longer.
Oh well. So it goes.
                                       ❀
It took hours to mop up the blood and post-mortem excrement. He wanted to keep
it there at first. Death looked so nice against the gray tiles, but the
basement could only block out noise, not odors, and the last thing they needed
was the neighbors to throw them under the bus.
He had to force Ayano into the corner of the room as he mopped and discarded
the girl’s organs into separate garbage bags. That was another area where he
was stronger than his sister. He didn’t get so worked up over blood like she
did to the point of passing out.
Sure, he kissed a dead girl on the mouth, but that didn’t mean anything.
He saw Ayano’s phone buzz out of the corner of his eye. She didn’t move to
answer it. She had been staring straight ahead ever since he had pulled her
away. He wiped his hand across his pants before he picked it up.
     バブルガム✿CHUM
     ♡ fri. – 09.jan.98 / 20:02 ♡
     >chat connected!
     info_chan8: You were so beautiful when you started playing with her
     organs like that. Well done. You know how hard it is to make me
     proud?
He snapped the phone back shut and threw it by her leg. Looks like they found
their eighth Info-chan. He wasn’t sure if he liked this one.
                                       ❀
The bathwater was freezing that morning.
Ayano still stepped inside though. Yande hadn’t even put the scented bubble
bath that he was so fond of inside, and he especially indulged in bubbles
during the weekends.
She pushed the wet hair from her eyes when her brother walked in. “I still have
her head and hands downstairs because I don’t wanna leave out too many bags on
the curb.” He pulled his pants off and stepped into the tub. “Your clothes have
been ‘properly disposed ’ of, too.” He haphazardly splashed water onto the
floor. She backed up against the wall.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong.” He shrugged. “Why?”
“The water’s cold.”
“You must’ve waited too long to get in.”
“I got in right after you filled it.”
“Oh.” He shrugged again. “I must’ve turned the wrong knob by accident.”
“No.”
“It’s not good to be so stubborn.”
She sighed. “Why are you mad at me?”
“I’m not.”
“Did I do something wrong?”
“No. You never do anything wrong, you know that.”
She sighed. This was going nowhere. She got off of the wall, onto her knees,
and settled her body against his leg as she brought her hand to his shoulder,
spilling water down his chest. He only blinked up at her. A split second of
that unfamiliar anger was on his face again before it went blank. “What did I
do?” She tried again.
He grabbed her by the back of her head and pulled her down to his level. “You
are my sister. Mine. No one else’s. And the only other person I’m willing to
give you to is Senpai, and that’s it. Got it?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I just didn’t like the way that Info-chan was talking to you.”
“And you tell me not to be jealous.” She went back to her side of the tub.
“Hypocrite.”
“Shut up.” She did.
                                       ❀
     バブルガム✿CHUM
     ♡ sat. – 10.jan.98 / 09:11 ♡
     >group chat connected!
     info_chan6: This one took too long. I’m going to have to give you a
     deadline from now on. Thursday by 18:00 should be doable. No excuses.
     yandere_kun: we missed u.
     info_chan6: How sweet. Don’t make me vomit.
     info_chan6: I thought that you two would like some individual
     guidance from my friends since they fancy you two so much. Unlike me,
     they are on the call 24/7 if you need them. So if you ever find
     yourself stuck in a jam and I’m not available, get in contact with
     them immediately and they got you.
     yandere_chan: ok. got it.
     info_chan6: Great video too. I’m really proud of you guys. I knew I
     chose the right people.
     info_chan6: Have fun next week with Sweetie. Don’t get caught.
     yandere_kun: we wont.
     info_chan6: And go easy on Senpai. His childhood friend is “missing”
     so he should be troubled from now on. The school too. Don’t be
     suspicious. If somebody mentions her don’t act all lifeless like you
     two usually do, show concern, show sympathy. It’s time to pack in the
     emotion from now on because students will be going missing left,
     right from here on out.
     ♡ sat. – 10.jan.98 / 09:17 ♡
     – @info_chan6 has now left the chat room! –
***** Six Dozen Cream Puffs *****
Chapter Summary
                                      70%
Ayano could feel her brother’s eyes boring into the back of her head. The lead
tip of her pencil snapped in half once his staring reached its boiling point.
Her handwriting was always so careful. Each stroke of each character had been
memorized and utilized to near perfection. Now there was a dark strike through
one of her words and she just stared at it. It would’ve been easy to just grab
her eraser and rewrite the word, but she didn’t. She turned to her brother
instead. He didn’t break his stare even when they locked eyes.
“Yan-chan,” he said. She tilted her head slightly, listening. “How are you
gonna transfer from the Music Club to Cooking Club without being suspicious?”
“The Music Club’s last performance will be on the twelfth and Cooking Club
officially starts on the same day. It’ll seem like I’m just moving from one
club to the next. There shouldn’t be anything suspicious about that.”
“Oh, good.” She nodded and turned back to her paper and the crossed-out word.
She could still feel him staring. “Yan-chan,” he called out again. She turned
back around. He gave a (fake) wide, cheesy grin. “Hi.” He leaned his head
against the pillows on her bed. His hair was skewed up and his clothes were
wrinkled. It was Sunday morning, who cared? Ayano did. She always dressed up in
the morning, fiddled with her clothes throughout the day, and only let go in
the night.
“I’m trying to do my homework.”
“Yeah, I can see that.”
“Why…” She sighed and set down her pencil. “What’s with the stupid face?”
“Ouch, Yan-chan, that hurt.” He pressed his face into the covers. “I just had a
good dream about all the things we’re gonna do to Shiba Sweetie-san.”
“Ah.”
“I see you’re uninterested.” He shrugged. “I just can’t stop thinking about
what we did to Osana either.”
“I did.”
“Come here.”
“I’m trying to do my homework,” she repeated.
“It’s Sunday morning, you goody-goody, you got all day to do homework. What’re
you even doing?”
“English.”
“Huh?”
“Translating Japanese to English. Did you do your homework?”
“No. What’s the point of learning English if we’re never going to America?”
She stood up then, smoothing down her skirt and the collar of her shirt, and
walked over to him. “Is this sudden hate for English because of Dad going to
America or just plain ignorance?” The smile wiped off of his face then.
“Come here,” he said again. He sat up on the bed and beckoned his hand toward
her. She put a little space between the two of them when she sat. “Don’t talk
about him.”
“What do you want to talk about then? Murder in the future or past tense?”
“You. Let’s talk about you.” He touched her hair. He was so unafraid and bold
with his touches, while she was always cautious with others, always waiting for
permission. They were such opposites it was almost laughable. “No more
ponytails.” He took her hair out. Her hands automatically twitched and reached
up to straighten it. “And what’s with all the white today? Are you in mourning
for Osana? How cute.”
She sighed and folded her hands together. “I don’t need this extra dose of your
paternal contempt today.”
“My what?”
“Your, hm, your daddy issues.”
“Shut up.” He touched the skin that peeked out from between the top her knee-
high socks and the bottom of her skirt. She chose to ignore his pursuits. He
did it to get a rise out of her, she assumed. “Question: are we really doing
what Info-chan says?”
“We’re not killing Shiba?”
“No, we’re killing her, definitely, but what if we didn’t poison her? That’s
boring.”
“We can’t just kidnap everyone and dismember them in our basement. That would
be suspicious.”
“Yeah, I know. But I just wanna feel something. Poisoning is a coward move. I
want blood, Yan-chan.”
“Let’s stab her with mom’s knife then.”
He squeezed her thigh. “Ah, you know exactly what to say to make a man swoon.
You’ll get Senpai in no time.” She could only nod. He patted her leg and sat
back on the bed again. “You can go back to your homework now.”
She stared at the crossed-out word on the paper again. She had been translating
the words mindlessly, but she really read her work now. She had been
interrupted on the family section of the homework and ended up crossing out the
English equivalent of the word “brother.”
She erased it and rewrote it properly.
                                       ❀
Was it only a natural reaction to tense up all over when two police officers
were suddenly at campus? They stood at the gate and stopped every student
before they entered. Yande slowly dismounted his bicycle and stared at the
officers. They looked all prim and proper in their ironed blue uniforms and
dark hats. Ayano nudged his side. “Right,” he muttered. He needed to look
unsuspicious – the word of the day.
The shorter officer held his gloved hand up towards them. “Good morning,” he
said with a smile. His thick mustache upturned with his grin. The Aishi twins
gave him a curt bow. He chuckled as he returned the gesture. “I am Officer
Kanon with the Criminal Investigation Bureau of the NPA.” He flashed his badge.
Yande eyed the star-like logo for a second before he nodded. “You kids did
nothing wrong, don’t worry.” He chuckled again. “I’m just here to ask about a
student, Najimi Osana. She was reported missing on Saturday and me and my
friend are just here to ask some questions.” He pulled out a small notepad.
“When was the last time you remember seeing her, if I might ask?”
“Um, Friday, right?” Yande turned to his sister. She paused as if to think
before nodding. “Yeah, on Friday, at the end of the day. We saw her before we
walked home.” The officer scribbled something down.
“Can you describe what Najimi-san was like for me?”
“She had this kogal look to her. She liked to dye her hair a lot. Um, she
seemed like a very strong girl,” Ayano picked up. “I know that she was friends
with Yamada Taro if that might help.”
“Ah, Yan-chan, Yamada-senpai is on vacation though.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s right, he is.” She clicked her tongue. “I guess he won’t be
all that helpful then. Unless they talked before she left?”
“Yeah, maybe.” He turned back to the officer. “Maybe they talked before he
left. She was always on her phone all the time. He might know where she went.”
“What did you say this kid’s name was again?” The officer asked.
“Yamada Taro,” Ayano said, “class 3-2.”
“Thank you. What were your names?”
“Aishi Yande.”
“Aishi Ayano.”
“Oh, are you two siblings?”
“Twins,” Yande said.
“Oh, how nice. I’ve always wanted a twin. Always thought that it’d be fun to
have two of me.” He laughed again and tucked his notepad away. “You can go into
school now. Have a nice day.”
“You too,” they beckoned to the officer.
                                       ❀
Shiba Sweetie was all long legs, soft curves, and warm eyes. Her motherly
presence could be felt a mile away. She was too good to be true, Ayano decided.
Sweetie had strapped an apron on her the moment she said she wanted to join the
club and pulled her into the too-pink kitchen connected to the home economics
room.
She had smile lines, but her cheeks were still childishly round. She seemed to
be the type to smile unconsciously, as she displayed her pearly whites to Ayano
as they set up the kitchen for the rest of the club. “Hm, I feel bad for
Najimi-san. I hope they find her soon.”
“Yeah,” Ayano said. They won’t though. “I wonder what happened to her.”
“I don’t know. I’m not exactly close friends with her, I mean, she eats my food
whenever she can, but we’ve never, like, really talked before, you know?”
“Yeah, me neither.”
“Oh well. Maybe she just ran away or something. I hope she did. It’ll be really
bad if she got kidnapped, or… or worse.” The knife in Sweetie’s hand quivered
before she set it back down on the cutting board. “But enough with all this
depressing talk. The girls are about to be here any second. You can just
introduce yourself and sit and eat with us. This is a really easy club. All you
have to do is cook and serve food to the school sometimes.”
“That sounds good. I need a break.” They laughed together. Sweetie’s real name
wasn’t “Sweetie” of course, but Sumiko, yet Ayano could see how the girl had
earned such a sweet nickname. The girl was so sweet, in fact, that Ayano wasn’t
sure if her kindness was genuine or not. “I had to do so much for Music Club. I
wanted to quit every time I walked into the room.”
“Yeah, it looked like a lot of work. You play the cello, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah, I came to a few of the concerts. You were always sitting in the back I
think. My brother plays the flute, do you know him?”
“Shiba Sumito?”
“Yup, that’s him! How do you like him?”
“Hm, he’s nothing like you to be honest. You two are completely different
people.” Sweetie laughed. She handed Ayano a stack of glass plates.
“Yeah, I get that a lot. Me and Sumi are polar opposites.” She shrugged. “Come
on and help me set the table.” They walked over and set down seven plates,
napkins, cups, and silverware, all while carefully talking. Sweetie was easy to
talk to. It was like a person couldn’t help but fall into conversation with
her. “People always come up to me and say, ‘Sweetie, you’re so nice, but your
brother’s so mean.’ And I don’t know what to say, like, I’m not supposed to say
this, but he has ADHD. He just… speaks his mind, you know? He can’t help it.”
The three other girls of the club started entering the room then. Sweetie’s
smile widened. “Thank you for helping me out, Yan-chan!”
“You’re welcome.”
“I can’t wait to introduce you to the other girls. They’re gonna love you, I
just know it.”
                                       ❀
Ayano rolled her sleeves up to the elbow and leaned against the kitchen sink.
Her hands were covered in soapsuds that dashed rainbows across her arms in the
sinking sunlight. She could just see the police officers going over their notes
together. Officer Kanon pinched the edge of his mustache here and there and the
other removed his hat every few seconds to scratch at his graying scalp.
“See something interesting?” Ayano reminded herself to jump at the voice. The
only person who had skilled themselves in truly scaring her was her brother. He
knew how to pop his joints just right to make her skin crawl and to touch her
in just the right places to make her squirm away.
“You scared me, Sweetie-chan.” Ayano giggled. “No. Just looking at the police
guys.”
“Oh, they’ve been out there all day?” Ayano nodded. Sweetie made a sound and
leaned against the sink also. “Do you think that they think one of the students
here know where she is?”
Ayano got back to washing the dishes. “What do you mean by that?”
“I just—ugh—I don’t know how to describe it. Maybe somebody knows where she is,
and even helped her run away? I can just see her hiding out somewhere on the
beach right now and waiting for some boy from Tokyo or something to take her
away.” She turned to lean her back against the counter. “I just hope she’s
having a good time instead of a bad one.”
“Me too.” Ayano washed the next plate a little too harshly. “She’s probably
just run away with some guy over the weekend, yeah.” Ayano recalled back to the
conversation the girls had over the table. Osana had proven not to be a popular
subject. Sweetie had quickly shut any mentions of the “missing” girl down and
brought up something else. Odd how she only wanted to speak about it with
Ayano. “Do you think she’s into compensated dating or something?”
“Well, I don’t know about that. Maybe. She seems like the type of girl who
wou—let me stop myself there.” Sweetie’s smile wiped off her face for an
instant. “I don’t wanna say anything mean about the girl, she’s missing. I’m
sorry. That was really bad. Forget I said that, please. How are you liking the
club so far?”
“It’s nice. The girls are nice and everything’s easy, like you said.”
“Good, good. That’s good.” Sweetie smiled again. “I’m just trying my best to
make sure everybody feels like they fit in, you know? I don’t like it when
people are left out. Especially you.” She actually got Ayano to pause her
actions.
“Me?”
“Yes, well, um…” Sweetie’s plump cheeks flushed over quickly. “I-I mean, uh, I
just noticed that when you first came here you and your brother were sort of
outcasts, so I’m just happy to see that you two are starting to break out of
your shells and making friends.”
Ayano washed, dried, and put away three or so more dishes before she quietly
said, “Thank you.”
“No problem! Want me to walk you home?”
“If you want.”
                                       ❀
Sweetie was at least a good head taller than Ayano. She left on her lacy
headdress and armband as they left school. They talked about nothing really. If
Sweetie was the master of small talk, then Ayano could be too.
Buraza Town was small, predictable. The ocean sometimes attracted a traveler
here and there, but other than that it always stayed the same. Not much really
happened and after graduation a young adult either stayed in the town forever
or left as soon as they could. Not much really happened, so Ayano understood if
people were enamored with the idea of a girl suddenly going missing. Not much
really happened, but Najimi Osana did, and now Ayano was going to suffer the
consequences alongside her brother.
Instead of going home, Sweetie took Ayano towards what little of a town they
had. She stopped the both of them at a food stand ran by a tiny, older woman
and ordered bowls of ramen for the both of them.
Ayano was forced to notice the little things, such as how the breeze swept
Sweetie’s short hair across her downy cheeks and forehead and how she excused
herself and grew embarrassed every time she accidentally slurped her noodles.
Ayano made a show of gulping down her broth after Sweetie’s fourth apology and
managed to make the girl snort in between her laughs.
Sweetie gingerly touched her shoulder before she left. Ayano stood by the cart
for a while, holding the girl’s emptied bowl. It was glass, similar to the ones
that were used in the Cooking Club. There was a heart painted at the bottom of
it.
“Thank you,” Ayano told the vender. She slipped in some extra coins to pay for
the bowl.
                                       ❀
It only took one try for the twins to get the fine art of kidnapping down to a
science. Shiba Sweetie was packaged and shipped up the following Wednesday
evening right after classes ended. They followed her home this round. Her
grandmother, her only guardian, went out to run errands on Wednesday nights and
her brother usually wasn’t home anyway, so Sweetie, being the sweetheart she
was, cleaned and cooked until they returned home for the evening.
She was quieter than Osana. She didn’t fight back. She didn’t scream, bite at
them, and Yande didn’t need to punch her. She only looked down when he pulled
off her headband and tugged the ribbons out of her hair.
As Ayano moved to unbutton her uniform top and pull down her socks around
midnight, the girl whispered, “I see what happened to Najimi-san now.” The
first time she had spoken during her capture.
Yande hissed, “Shut up, onee-san,” and that was that.
Ayano pulled the girl’s shirt off and pushed it down as far as it could go –
only to her elbows because of the restraints. The girl had nice skin. Only a
little tanned, but it looked like it could be as creamy as Ayano’s if she
stayed out of the sun. She probably liked to eat outside. Her stomach was round
and her breasts were well-endowed. She was a pretty girl in a different way,
Ayano decided. She traced the handle of her mother’s kitchen knife along the
curve of the girl’s belly. She flinched, but didn’t fight.
“Yan-chan, please,” she murmured. Ayano felt a tear drip onto her fingertips.
“I thought we were off to a good start. I thought we could…” She laughed a
little. The nutrients and proteins were stripped away from the sound and Ayano
was left with something unsatisfying and sugar-free. “I thought we could become
really good friends.”
Ayano touched the girl’s chin. There was no camera rolling this go around
because Info-chan had fully expected for them to just step back and poison the
girl. Yande told her that he had received some messages from his personal Info-
chan asking him why he was kidnapping Shiba, but they didn’t specifically tell
him to stop.
Ayano forced the girl to look her in the eye. “We could have never been
friends, Shiba. I can’t make friends.”
Sweetie batted those long, watery eyelashes up at her. Her face wasn’t caked
with makeup like Osana’s had been. The only true problem was her clothes. She
liked to dress up for the Cooking Club sometimes and she was dressed in her
casual, at-home clothes when they had stolen her into the night. Her apron was
tossed off somewhere in the corner of the basement. “Why do you say that?”
Ayano could feel an actual frown bite at her lips. She had known the girl for
about two days, what was going on? She didn’t get attached. That wasn’t her
style.
“The psychotic are incapable of making friends.”
“They obviously can, because you’re my friend, Yan-chan.” Ayano glanced off at
her brother. His face was frozen in a half-frown and his eyebrow was quirked.
His hands were on his hips, but he didn’t say anything to Ayano. She just
turned back to their prisoner.
“Do you want me to kiss you?” Sweetie’s eyes widened and more tears streamed
down her cheeks. She still had the audacity to blush. Out of the corner of her
eye, Ayano could see Yande’s hands move from his hips to behind his back. An
explanation was required. One couldn’t just say their thoughts without reason,
Ayano knew that. “I know that you were saving your first kiss for the first boy
who accepted your confession.” She lowered the knife down slightly. “I’m
willing to fulfill that wish if you want.” Because it’ll never come true this
way.
Sweetie tried to look down again, but Ayano held her grip. “T-Thank you, Yan-
chan, but y-you don’t need to do that. I’m not, uh, I’m not gay or anything, b-
but I appreciate the, um, gesture?”
“I do. You deserve that.” Sweetie was genuinely a sweet girl. It was fun to
learn new things. Ayano pressed her lips against the other girl’s. They were
soft, plump – as expected. Ayano stopped there. She had granted the girl’s wish
– ooh, she was some type of saint now. No. She wasn’t. Saints didn’t plunge
knives into their “friend’s” hearts.
No, no. Saints didn’t do that. That’s what demons did. And saints especially
didn’t enjoy it.
Skin wasn’t perfect. It was thin. It was tissue. It was protection. Epidermis,
dermis, derma – Ayano knew her vocabulary. Skin was made to be scarred, to be
broken, to be cut. She twisted the weapon and shuddered from the popping wet
sounds it produced, but Sweetie was still there.
Ayano drew the knife out again. Blood painted the blade just the right shade of
crimson and was darkening Sweetie’s white bra. The hole in her chest wouldn’t
stop gushing blood. It was unreal. Ayano pressed the knife into the same spot
again and again and again until she couldn’t breathe, until the girl’s cries of
pains turned into spasms, until Yande’s frown turned into a grin.
Ayano weaved in and out of consciousness for a moment, but her brother didn’t
pull her back this time. One second she was pulling the knife out, the next she
was dragging it completely down the girl’s chest – between her ribs, and next
she was looking at her a heart and she just had to cut across the arteries,
listen to them snap and seize.
It must have been a mixture of the blood and the sweat on Ayano’s palms, she
dropped the knife. It bounced off the girl’s thigh and tumbled on the cold
floor. Ayano’s hands were too shaky to pick it back up, but she didn’t need to
do anything else. Shiba Sweetie was officially eliminated. Another name to
cross off the list.
                                       ❀
Yande was pressed against Ayano’s back that night, held her against his front
while whispering empty praises into her ear, and she wasn’t sure how to feel
about it. “Yan-chan, Yan-chan, Yan-chan,” he muttered. He had made sure that
the bathwater wasn’t cold that night. She hardly even noticed. Her eyes had
only focused on the murky red-orange of the water and the suds. She had popped
most of the bubbles one-by-one with her fingers.
“What?” She said.
“Ah, why’re you so mean?” She didn’t answer that. He continued to press into
her side.
“You’ve been touchy lately.” She just wanted to sleep.
“Something wrong with that?”
“No.” He pulled her shirt of the night up to her stomach and trailed his
fingers along her thighs and waist. “Stop.” He sighed, but stopped.
“You’re no fun, Yan-chan.” He still held onto her tightly though. Silence
passed between them, a familiar comfort. “What’s on your mind?” It was a simple
question with a complicated answer.
“Why didn’t she fight back?”
“Yeah, I was kind of confused about that too.” She felt him shrug. “Maybe she
just gave up hope or something. I liked it. She didn’t try to bullshit us or
anything. Everybody should just shut up and accept their fates.” He snuggled in
between her neck and shoulder. “Don’t think about it too much. Just go to
sleep.”
                                       ❀
Ayano dripped the deadly concoction (that Yande had formulated in his Science
Club just for her) into some girl’s cake batter before they all stepped away to
look at one of the girl’s new outfits. Ayano complimented her, glanced at her
phone, then excused herself mumbling off, “I’m sorry, but something came up at
home and I gotta go guys. I bet the cake’s gonna taste great, Hinata-chan,” and
walked off as fast as she could.
Oh, it would’ve been joyous to listen to the sounds of them choking, but the
promise of safety was better. Framing was easy. Hinata Koharu was infamous for
her little incident last year of giving two students food poisoning because of
underprepared meat. Now she simply done something wrong with the cake too. The
police could have fun with that. Ayano wouldn’t know what happen. She had
technically (and quietly) quit Cooking Club the day after Sweetie disappeared
(“I-It’s just been… It’s just been so hard without her,” it was easy to get
sympathy points from the counselor) and no one other than the girls knew that
she was in the class that night.
Things were just working in Ayano’s favor, but something buzzed in the back of
her head as she walked home, shielded in the darkness. She couldn’t put a name
on the feeling, and it bothered her.
                                       ❀
“Yan-chan, you did not just kill the entire Cooking Club and leave their bodies
on campus.”
“No. Kokona wasn’t there that night.”
“Wow. I’m impressed and a little disappointed at the same time. You should’ve
at least tried to get rid of their bodies.”
“No time. I couldn’t risk anybody knowing that I stayed at school late.”
“I know, but that would’ve been impressive.”
“Maybe.”
“Not up for talking today, huh?”
“Not really.”
“Fine. I’ll leave you to your mourning.” She looked up at him. “Yeah, I saw
your creepy little shrine in the basement. I had to burn those flowers and
throw away that bowl though, because fingerprints are an actual thing, Yan-
chan.”
“Oh.” She turned back down to her homework.
“Do you want anything to eat?” She shook her head. “I’ll get you something
anyway.”
“No, I can get something myself.”
“Fine. I forgot that Yan-chan is the face of independence. Won’t pass me the
knife or let me feed her. Whatever. Bye.”
                                       ❀
Was it a punishment? Perhaps. She was shoving the food down by the mouthful
with no breaks in between. She choked on the broth here and there, but she
forced herself to keep going until she couldn’t anymore. She forced herself to
swallow down yet another bowl of noodles as she felt bile rise in her throat.
Vomit spewed from her mouth and she felt it spill into the empty bowls lined up
in front of her and in between her fingers and chopsticks.
It was certainly a punishment once she felt the uncanny feeling of emptiness in
the pit of her belly. She looked at the pseudo-broth-colored vomit on the table
and sighed. Now she had to clean it up. So much for punishment. And she had
spent half of the weekly allowance that her mother and father had shipped to
her on food that was just wasted in the matter of minutes.
Her phone vibrated on the corner of the table. It managed to remain untouched
by any of the mess. She hadn’t gotten any word from Info-chan for a while and
she wasn’t nervous per se that she wasn’t receiving messages. She just felt as
though as though something was missing from her daily routine that she had
grown to include Info-chan into during winter break. 
     @kokonutz wants to be your friend!
She hurried to grab a towel to wipe her hands with before she accepted the
request.
     @kokonutz wants to talk now!
This was going to be interesting.
     バブルガム✿CHUM
     ♡ fri. – 16.jan.98 / 18:01 ♡
     >chat connected!
     kokonutz: is it true?
     yandere_chan: what?
     kokonutz: did the cooking club get shut down because everybody died?
     yandere_chan: i think. idk what really happened. i wasnt there that
     day.
     yandere_chan: im sorry.
     kokonutz: i just need somebody to talk to and i felt like you were
     the only one who understood what I’m going through rn. sorry if im
     too forward. Could you meet me in the autotorium on monday after
     school so we can talk if you want?
     yandere_chan: of course. i need somebody to talk to too. Everybody
     does.
     kokonutz: thank you so much, yan-chan.
     yandere_chan: anytime, kokona.
Ayano looked at the unruly mess she made of emptied bowls, some filled with
vomit, and three pairs of broken, cheap, wooden chopsticks. She needed to brush
her teeth, change her clothes, and find perfume to freshen up with. Her brother
had a science tournament in an hour and he didn’t need to know what she had
done.
Why didn’t she fight back?
The house reeked of candle smoke that night. Yande didn’t comment.
***** You Love Maggots More Than I *****
Chapter Summary
                                      55%
Chapter Notes
     in this chapter:
     - extremely dubious consent.
Problem: the school didn’t have an “autotorium,” and Ayano didn’t feel like
looking around. Phone in hand, she opted toward the Drama Club instead. The
door was locked. Figures. She did regularly come to school earlier than most,
but – she checked her phone – it was 6:23. She had waited for the school gates
to open and waved off a comment from a teacher about how she was so early.
She leaned against the door and pressed the smooth metal of her phone against
her chin. It hadn’t been too hard to leave without Yande’s notice. She managed
to slip out of bed without waking him up and took a quick shower and slipped on
her clothes. The feeling of emptiness from riding through the town underneath
the rising sun without the sound of a second bike pedaling beside her did not
go amiss, but she chose to ignore it. She just had to get out of the house. She
couldn’t stay there a minute longer.
Evidence of the unfruitful nights was beginning to develop underneath her eyes.
She prodded at the slight dark spots that just cried for attention against her
smooth skin. She didn’t own any makeup. Maybe Kokona could come up with a
solution for her. Ayano could practically feel the burn of Yande’s stare if he
came across her new weary look.
Her phone buzzed. She found herself biting her lip as she flipped it open. 
     バブルガム✿CHUM
     ♡ mon. – 19.jan.98 / 6:25 ♡
     >chat connected!
     info_chan8: In 1990, statistics showed that the Japanese authorities
     solve 95.9% of homicide cases.
     yandere_chan: why are you telling me this
     info_chan8: I just thought that you would like to know that you are
     part of the 4.1% of a rare population of people. Isn’t that
     something?
     yandere_chan: i guess
     info_chan8: You should feel special, Yan-chan.
     yandere_chan: but i dont
     info_chan8: You should.
     info_chan8: Kokona Haruka should be arriving to the club in a moment.
     info_chan8: She brought you breakfast. How sweet.
     yandere_chan: goodbye
     info_chan8: Whoa. Why the sudden dismissal? Don’t take your
     aggressions out on me. That’s what Kokona is for.
Ayano sighed as she closed the phone shut again. She could hear footsteps
approaching her way. Being real seemed enticing. She touched underneath her
eyes again and traced her finger along the rumples on her sweater. She usually
was one to iron and lay out her clothes the night before, but she had just
pulled on the bare minimum of her uniform and then pulled a sweater over it in
her hasty retreat. She frowned as she pulled a speck of lint off of it. It was
Yande’s; a loose-fitting, dark-colored sweater with buttons and pockets – very
Yande. Smelled like him too. She pulled the sleeves over her hands. He should
be waking up soon.
“Good morning, Yan-chan!” Ayano’s head perked up. Kokona was jumbling with
three large paper bags and a stack of books. Ayano automatically went over to
grab the books. Ayano made a point to not generally converse with her during
their Cooking Club meetings. Her impressions of the girl was that she was a
little ditzy, but Kokona was all smiles and joy an—
“She’s all about people and her reputation. Exploit her. Find out anything and
everything about her. Gossip and spread rumors until it’s too much for her to
handle.”
Ayano blinked a couple of times and slowed her breathing. “Good morning,” she
said back.
Kokona shifted the bags to her other arm as she fiddled with her skirt pocket.
“Oh, can I call you ‘Yan-chan?’ Everybody else does, so I thought it’d be okay
if I did, but it’s cool if it isn’t, I can call you Ayano or Aishi or whatever
you want.” She pulled out a key and unlocked the Drama Club room with it.
“’Yan-chan’ is fine.” Ayano cleared her throat as they entered the room and
Kokona turned on the lights. She was slipping. Being real wasn’t an option. She
painted on a smile. “You bought breakfast?”
“Yeah! Uh…” Kokona set the bags down on the table and brought a few items out.
McDonald’s. Ayano swore that they didn’t one in town. “I have, uh, I forgot
what I bought, sorry, but you can have whatever you want. Me and Saki-chan went
out to the next town this morning and we, like, basically ordered the whole
menu.” She gasped suddenly as she took out (Ayano’s blinked, where did she pull
it out from?) a cup holder with four different drinks it looked like. “Ooh,
forget what I said about Saki. She isn’t—” Kokona winked “—here today.”
Ayano smiled. “Oh, okay. I didn’t hear that.” She pulled out a thing of French
fries and carefully ate one. They weren’t salty enough. She put it back in the
bag when Kokona turned around to fiddle with more things around the room. She
found herself staring at the girl. She had a nice shape and figure, not too
skinny like Osana but not as filled out as Sweetie.
“Her various visits to the clinic have confirmed that her tits are indeed
fake.”
Info-chan was probably just being mean. Ayano couldn’t believe everything they
said. Info-chan obviously had a vendetta against the rivals that was possibly
stronger than the Aishi’s. And, besides, they looked real.
Kokona babbled on as she set a few things up before she took the seat across
Ayano and began eating. She made sure to talk in between mouthfuls. Kokona was
naturally a person who dominated the conversation and Ayano was always lulled
into listening, not speaking. It was nice to fall into a comfortable silence
again.
“Hey,” Kokona said, softer. Ayano raised an eyebrow, still listening. “About…
about Sweetie-chan, d-do you think that…?” There were tears welling up in the
girl’s eyes. Ayano forgot what to do. She knew that people wanted comfort when
sad – basic knowledge – but she had (accidentally, be more careful) slipped so
far into the motions of being “real” that she had forgotten. She blamed it on
Kokona’s easy presence. She blamed it on Yande’s sudden overbearingness. She
blamed it on the Info-chan’s silent pressure. She blamed it on her father’s
selfish negligence. She blamed it on her mother’s—
She stopped. Putting the blame on others did nothing. She had the blood on her
hands – literally.
“Think what?”
“Think that she’s, I don’t know, dead or something? Like…” Kokona quickly wiped
her eyes with a napkin from the bag. “I just—I just have this weird feeling,
you know? With Osana disappearing and then Sweetie disappearing and now the
rest of the Cooking Club’s gone… I don’t know. It’s really, really creeping me
out. A lot.”
Ayano nodded. “Me too.”
“It’s just that—that I’m kind of scared. What if it’s somebody inside school?
Or what if it’s somebody in town? Like some type of pervert guy who’s into
kidnapping schoolgirls?”
“I don’t think that the police think they got kidnapped or murdered or
anything. Osana and Sweetie are technically still missing and they said that
the girls in the club incorrectly prepared their meal and got a bad case of
food poisoning.” Ayano shrugged and took a sip of her drink. “We shouldn’t jump
to conclusions like that.”
“No, no, no. I think we should. There could be some psycho out there just
waiting to rape us when we get home.” Kokona took out yet another burger from
the bag. “And I don’t know about you, but that girl is not going to be me. Not
a-fucking-gain” Ayano could hear the other girl tap her foot on the ground. “It
just—hm, can I just say something?”
“Say whatever you want.”
“What I just said there, this all just reminds me of my father, sorry. He’s a
horrible piece of shit guy and...” Kokona took a large bite from her burger.
“Whoever’s doing this, I just want them to get caught, you know?”
“Yeah.” Ayano took a slow sip of her drink. “I know.”
“Hey, you looking for a club since Cooking Club’s disbanded?” Nice subject
change.
“Um, I’m about to join Swimming Club.”
“Fourth is Kaiyo Puru, captain of the swim team.”
“Oh c’mon, swim season is September to March and April to August. You can
totally join Drama Club right now!”
“But I—” Kokona was already squealing.
“Ooh, this is gonna be so much fun, Yan-chan!” Kokona was across the table and
grabbing Ayano’s hands now. Their hands fit together so well. Ayano didn’t
notice that the girl was the same height as her. “Please, Yan-chan?” Her smile
wilted some. “I really need a friend right now.”
“What about Saki?”
“Yeah, I have Saki, but she doesn’t understand what I’m going through like you
do.” Ayano wanted to push her hands away. No. She was going to stand over this
girl’s corpse by Thursday. She had enough with this sentimental bullshit.
“Sure. I’ll join.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you, Yan-chan!”
                                       ❀
Ayano and Yande rode their bikes quietly on the way home. Ayano tried to look
at her brother while they removed their shoes at the door, but he wouldn’t face
her. And not when they took their jackets off either. She kept his sweater on
as she followed him to the dining room, waiting.
He disappeared into the kitchen and returned with two bottles of Blue Hawaii
flavored Ramune. He placed the bottles on the table instead of handing them to
her. He opened a bottle, swooshed the blue liquid inside and the glass marble
clinked from side to side, before he took a long swing. He licked his lips
before he sat back down. “I’m craving saké.” He sat back in the chair. “And a
cigarette.”
Ayano took the soda and the seat next to him. “Saké sounds good right now.”
Smoking was something their father was fond of, especially during more
difficult days with their mother. Smoking was something that Yande adopted and
occasionally practiced (such as on the nights when they slept in different beds
by choice and not by necessity), but something Ayano could never do. Alcohol
was something she dabbled in and something Yande hid underneath his bed (he
stocked up during winter break).
“Maybe tonight,” Yande said. He set his half-emptied bottle next to Ayano’s
full one. “Come here.”
“Why?”
“I want you here.”
They looked at each other, locked eyes, something Ayano felt like they haven’t
done in a while. Their eyes were the same chestnut brown shade that they
inherited from their parents. She got up. She walked over to him. He took her
by the hand, the same hand that Kokona had grabbed out of the pure excitement
of friendship – yay, and pulled her down into his lap. She didn’t understand.
What was with his sudden obsession with her? She found the question spilling
out of lips before she could take it back. The restless weekend had really
taken its toll on her.
He slid his hands from her hips and towards the buttons of the sweater. “No
reason.” He took her by the back of the neck so he could press his nose against
her skin. “You smell different.”
“How?”
“Not as girly and flowery like you usually do. Well, you were in the shower for
two minutes.” She sighed.
“I woke you up?”
“I was already awake.” He continued to unbutton the sweater. “Did you have fun
today with your new little friend in my sweater?” He pulled it off her
shoulders. “Your uniform’s wrinkly.” He reached up and touched underneath her
eyes. She didn’t flinch or push his hand away. “This is so unlike you.” He
laced their fingers together. “Talk to me, Yan-chan.”
“I don’t like talking.”
“Stop being difficult.”
“I…” He squeezed her hand. “I feel bad.” She could hear the moment he stopped
breathing.
“Yan-chan.” He let go of her hands and tightened his hands into the sides of
her shirt, wrinkling it further. She heard his breaths slow and quicken. He
grabbed her suddenly and pulled her toward him. Holding was one thing, a thing
she was familiar with, but hugging – embracing – was an entirely different
story. She could feel him nose along the side of her neck and his hands tighten
around her middle and his legs shift from underneath her, but she sat still,
frozen. “Yan-chan,” he repeated, voice lower. “You can’t do that.”
“I know.”
“I don’t think you do.” He pushed his hands up and down her back. He pressed
his nails into her skin and pressed her closer until they were chest-to-chest.
“I was two steps away from fucking Osana, but I still chopped her pretty little
head off.” His lips were against her ear. “Get over yourself, because we have
seven more to go after this and I can’t have you breaking down, Yan.”
“I’ll try.” She felt him graze his teeth along the tip of her ear. She moved
then to grab his shoulders. “Stop.”
“Let me have this.” He continued to nibble at her, press his lips against her
throat. “Let me have this until you get Senpai under your belt.” He pulled her
collar down and dragged his tongue against the exposed skin. “What I did was,”
he said in between nips, “think about you whenever I was with Osana. It wasn’t
on purpose either, I just always thought about you and Senpai every time I
kissed her.” He grabbed her by the neck again and forced her head up to look
him in the eye again. “I didn’t get attached to her—couldn’t get attached to
her—because I made sure that I didn’t.” He pressed his lips against the bridge
of her nose, across her cheeks, gently, and she closed her eyes as he pressed
his lips against hers, gently, and she waited, waited, waited for him to stop,
stop, stop. “No more emotional ties,” he said against her lips. “Don’t get
attached, stay detached. Remember that.” He rolled her bottom lip in between
his teeth. “Say it,” he hissed.
“Don’t get attached, stay detached,” she repeated back, voice soft. How ironic
that it was murder that managed to evoke the emotion out of Ayano.
He kissed her again, softly, and she never recalled him being so gentle before
(it could have made her nervous if she knew what it was like to be nervous). He
moved a hand up and down her back again and again and she sat stock still.
“Yan-chan, a little less statue, please.”
“No.”
“You’re never any fun.” He pushed her off of his lap and onto the table. Ayano
could hear the glass marbles from the bottles rattle as her head slammed on top
of it. She closed her eyes again. He was kissing along her neck, her
collarbone, her lips, but she only laid there. He pushed her further up on the
table and slid his hands up and down her legs, squeezing her thighs, taking off
her house slippers and her long socks. He pressed a kiss against her inner
thigh. “I just want to—”
“Stop.”
“Shut up. I’m not gonna do anything bad.” He pulled her panties down to her
ankles and pushed her skirt up. “It’s been so long,” he whispered. “Just give
me this, please, Yan-chan.” She didn’t say anything. He pressed more kisses
along her thighs. “You’re just doing this because you feel guilty, huh? Because
things haven’t been the same.” She still didn’t comment. “You feel guilty about
me and Shiba and Kokona, but you don’t about Osana.” He pushed her folds open
and traced his tongue along her epicenter. Her body trembled, but she focused
on her heartbeat – slow down, decelerate, calm down. “Because you didn’t like
Osana, but you like Shiba and Kokona for some reason.”
He pressed more kisses against her clit as he dug his nails into her thighs.
Her body automatically responded, as it should, growing wet and dripping and
shuddering, but she focused her eyes on the blue liquid inside of the bottles.
It jumped every time Yande bumped against the table and squeezed her thighs and
licked her. After her body gave one last shudder and she suppressed the urge to
squirm underneath his touch, he pressed a kiss against her stomach as he looked
up to her.
“You need to have that attitude with everyone else. Hate them. They’re trying
to take Senpai away from you. They’re your rivals. Act like it.” He let go of
her then.
She pulled her panties back up and could already feel them stain. She’ll have
to clean the wet spot on the table later and wash the sweater that had been
discarded on the floor and put the soda back in the refrigerator before it got
flat.
“I’ll run you a bath,” Yande announced from the hall. Ayano was too busy
filling her mind with new thoughts: cleaning, hating – the only two things she
needed to know from that day forward.
                                       ❀
The water was exceptionally warm and Yande didn’t join in. He sat by the tub
with a stack of papers in hand. Foraging handwriting was a breeze to the twins.
Yande could do Ayano’s signature any day, and vice versa. He did her homework
then as she played with the soapy, scented bubbles in one hand and held a
plastic cup of (“borrowed from their mother”) saké in the other. The sting of
alcohol was strong in her throat and its effects blurred the lines of her
stupid worries.
“I’ll take this one.” Ayano looked up. She took another sip from the cup and
only raised an eyebrow. It took alcohol to feel like her old self. How
pathetic. Too bad she barely had a sense of humor. “I’ll kill Kokona. You take
a break.”
“Define ‘break.’”
“You’re sick. You caught the bug that’s been going around, but you asked me to
join Drama Club so Kokona wouldn’t get lonely. And if a little romance sparks
along the way…” He shrugged and effortlessly scribbled another answer down in
the style of her neat handwriting. “All the better.”
Ayano sunk back into the tub. Two or three days off sounded like a nice
recovery time to gather her thoughts. She didn’t have to be involved with
Kokona’s death and she could make up for it by making Kaiyo Puru’s murder a
true show. That sounded good. “They’re doing Himitsu no Kingyo by Saturday.”
“What? I never heard of The Secret of the Goldfish before.”
“It was this script written by someone in school for a competition and the
first place prize was for the Drama Club to put it together in an official
production.”
Yande leaned his head against the tub. “Ugh, this is turning out to be more
than I bargained for.” He flipped the paper over and started on the back. “Give
me the synopsis on this.”
“It’s about a wife, called the Wife, who kills people and puts their body parts
in boxes and packages them off as fish to her husband, called the Husband.”
“Got it.” He smirked. “This is as good as done.”
                                       ❀
Kokona was practically attached to Yande’s hip. “You don’t understand how
excited I am to do the premiere of Himitsu no Kingyo! I got the masks and the
costumes and everything too, all handmade by the members of the Art Club and
the Sewing Club, isn’t that exciting?” She made a happy sound as she showed him
the costumes. “So, you’re just the understudy, so, you know, study the lines
and stuff, but I don’t think that you’re going to have to go in the play or
anything unless something super last minute comes up like Sosuke drops dead or
something.” She showed him the mask. It was a female imp’s face – how fitting.
“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it!” She took some of the robes down to look at them. “I’m
trying to show Sensei that I’m the one who should direct Kanadehon Chushingura
in February, not Sosuke.” She put her hands on her hips. “I mean, a girl can
direct the play just as well as a boy can! Can you see me putting together
eleven whole acts about forty-seven ronin? That’d be so badass, dude!”
“It would be, yeah.” He tried the mask on and glanced at himself in the mirror
from the corner of the room. “And I thought it was forty-six ronin this whole
time. I’m a fucking idiot.”
“Forty-seven, forty-six, who cares. Still about a bunch of smelly, old guys
that just run around and kill themselves at the end of the day.” Kokona pulled
the costume out on him. Sora Sosuke chose to pass by them then. Yande and
Sosuke were luckily the same height, build, and skin tone, but there was still
one problem.
“Do I get a wig?” Sosuke’s hair was a million shades lighter than Yande’s. It
was easy to tell the difference between the Drama Club star’s almost blondish
brunette curls versus the Aishi boy’s dark, nearly jet-black strands.
“Yeah. I just ordered one. It should be here by tomorrow and you can try it on,
but, you know, fat chance if you get to make it to the stage.”
Yande glanced in between Sosuke and Kokona. “Yeah,” he chuckled. “But I can
still hope though.”
                                       ❀
The heavy anxiety in the atmosphere didn’t manage to wrap its hands around
Yande’s throat. He remained calm, cool, and collected like Ayano had been with
Osana (and not with Sweetie). He wore his costume and wig then. Sosuke was
secure in the supply closet out back, waiting to be collected by Ayano and her
(“borrowed from the Light Music Club room”) cello case. Dress rehearsal was
well underway and – lucky for Yande – it didn’t take long to match the
melodramatic voice and theatrical mannerisms that Sosuke liked to put on for
the show. Bonus: he only had to memorize a speech.
Everything was too perfect. They were on the cool rooftop to escape the heat of
the school building and everyone except for Sosuke, Yande, Kokona, and a couple
of other girls remained to make sure that everything was great for the big
play. Yande smirked from behind his mask. Who knew that there were so many
beautiful opportunities to kill? It got Yande’s blood pumping in all the right
ways.
Kokona huffed when she caught sight of him. The night sky shielded him further
and one of the girls had gushed over how utterly romantic it was to act the
play out under the starlight until Yande reminded her that the play was about
gory melodramatics, not love. “Sosuke, get your ass over here! You take forever
in the bathroom.” Yande shrugged, something Sosuke would do. “Let’s just go
over the big speech at the end one more time. I’ll be the Wife and, uh, can you
just stand by right there?” Yande moved towards the railing alongside Kokona.
Perfect, perfect, perfect.
He pulled out his script and turned to the page of the speech. He only glanced
at it before tucking it into his back pocket. He didn’t need any lines. He only
needed one take.
Kokona cleared her throat as she looked down at her own page. “Ooh, you finally
got it memorized, huh? I’m a little impressed.” She pulled out a pink
highlighter from her own skirt pocket and marked something on the paper. “But
I’ll be really impressed if you don’t stumble over the last couple of lines for
the hundredth time.”
Yande waited for her prompt. “My wife, listen,” he started. It gave him chills
right down his spine to use Sosuke’s voice, to see that Kokona was convinced,
hell, he felt convinced. He was doing a damn good job if he could say so
himself. What was it called? Ah. Dramatic irony – when the audience knows
something that the characters do not. “You were born in the capital, you were
degraded, you were devoured by your family. I understand, little wife, I
understand.” He could be as loud as he wanted. He could be angry and mean it.
He could be crazy, could have his blood rushing through his veins, and it was
accepted. He should’ve joined Drama Club years ago. “But I rescued you. I was
your savior, your Messiah. And what is it you think every time your eyes gaze
upon my body?”
“Damn,” Kokona whispered. Yande’s smirk only grew wider. “Sorry, back to the
script.” She cleared her throat, “I think—”
“Of how much you wish to devour my flesh? I read your records while you were
away. You want to gorge my eyes to sweeten your drinks and to save my
intestines for soup to feed our family. I know.” He waved his arms to the
swirling stars above them. His anticipation was soaring most high. “It’s over,
little wife, it’s over!” He stepped closer to her, closer to the railing. “We
have reached the nadir of our sufferings.” He was grabbing her by the waist now
– not in the script. “I thought you loved me.”
“I-I do love you,” Kokona recited, the interruption was in the script, but her
voice was breathy.
“No,” he said, his voice breathy also, from all of the amazing feelings buzzing
through his beautiful, dark, twisted mind. “You love maggots more than I.”
She took a small back from him, towards the railing. “G-Good job, man.” Her
hands shook around her paper. “You really cleaned up your act. Color me
impressed.”
“How about I color you red instead?”
“Huh?”
He snatched the script from her hands and revealed the knife that he had kept
tucked in his pocket the entire time. He covered her mouth before she could
scream and the bitch fucking bit him. He kicked her feet out from underneath
her. The blade of the knife slashed across her arm on the way down.
She was a fighter all right. More than Osana was. She really liked living.
Yande grabbed her by her pigtails and picked her up. Tears were streaming down
her face and she still kicked and he slapped her when she tried to scream
again. “Shut up, already.”
Her eyes widened. “Y-Yan-kun?” Her eyes then rolled to the back of her head and
warm blood spilled all over his front of his robes suddenly. He spotted the
sharp gleam of a knife poking out of her chest and her head rolled against his
shoulder when the knife twisted back and forth before coming out.
He didn’t need to take his mask off. “You feeling better, Yan-chan?” He pushed
Kokona off the side of the roof. He could hear her body clunk in the garbage
bin below. Good thing they had promised the last teacher that if they stay into
the night at school practicing, they would clean the roof and dump the garbage
into the incinerator before they left.
“Yes, my ‘bug’ went away finally.” She tossed the knife off of the roof and
into the bin also.
Yande opened his mouth to say something, but – “Oh, my fucking God!” – and he
pointed to the doorway.
“Get her!” Ayano – no hesitation – was quick to turn around, grab the girl by
the neck, and throw her to the ground. “Goddamn,” he whispered. His sister was
amazing. He took his unused knife and sliced along the girl’s throat, right
above where Ayano’s thumbs were pressed into the girl’s jugular. Ayano squeezed
into the laceration and blood coated her own fingers. Messy, messy, messy –
second to Osana’s death.
It took a moment for Ayano’s fingers to unclamp and her eyes were even more
dazed than the dead girl’s. “Yuna Hina—two… suicide attempts… last year,” Ayano
gasped out. Yande nodded. He collected the girl into his arms, blood dripped in
between them, and tossed her off the roof also.
“The other girl?”
“Sick… went home.” Ayano shakily stood up again. Yande took his sister’s arm
and helped her up. “Mop’s… in… the hall.” He patted her back. He got a head
start on the bloodstains for her; his sister deserved a little break. They
could have fun burning the bodies together later.
                                       ❀
Sosuke was kept in the basement with duct tape secured over his mouth and rope
around his wrists. He was crying, but not screaming, which was good because the
Aishi’s were quick to learn that they did not like screaming.
Yande’s phone buzzed. He frowned when he saw that it was an incoming call. He
was actually looking forward to a BubblegumChum notification. “Hello?”
“Nice job. You didn’t miss a single spot on the roof and my minions collected
the bone shards after the incinerator cooled, but this is the second time you
two have disobeyed me.”
“Info-chan?”
“Yes, this is she.” Yande put the phone on speaker and tapped Ayano’s on the
shoulder. The girl’s voice was low, almost gravely, no nonsense, but still
young. “If I don’t see Kaiyo floating belly-up in the school pool by next
Thursday, we’re going to have a problem.” The call ended.
“Aw, she cares,” Yande said. They ascended the stairs back to the living-room.
“Shut up.”
“You better drown Kaiyo.”
“I will.”
“Good.”
                                       ❀
They lied back-to-back that night, both unable to sleep.
“Yan-chan.”
“What?”
“Did you hear my speech?”
“Yes.”
“How was it?”
“Good job.”
“Thanks.” He pulled the sheets up to his chin and Ayano groaned and readjusted
the blankets. “I like the script. I mean, the little bit I did read of it. Life
imitates art, as they say.”
“Shut up.”
“What?” She didn’t respond. “Fine.” He cuddled into his pillow. “We should
sleep.”
“I can’t.”
“What’re you thinking about now?”
“Senpai.”
“Yeah, he looked kind of troubled today.”
“We killed his best friend.”
“He’ll get over it.”
Ayano turned her head toward her brother. “If I died you wouldn’t just get over
it.” Silence settled heavy in between them. It wasn’t comfortable and Ayano
hated that.
“You’re right,” he whispered. She was already asleep, softly snoring through
her nose. He closed his eyes also, thinking back to the angry-red nail marks he
had left on her thighs.
***** Blue Talk and Love *****
Chapter Summary
                                      75%
Chapter Notes
     in this chapter:
     - mildly dubious consent.
Yande caught the way Officer Kanon’s mustache twitched as he looked over his
notepad. The policeman glanced at his companion before turning back to Yande.
Yande’s irritation broke the silence: “Is there something wrong, Officer?”
The man shook his head. “No, no. It’s just… your alibi’s a little shaky, kid.
Not just yours, though, don’t worry. Everybody’s is.” The policeman leaned
against the table. After the reports of Kokona Haruka, Yuna Hina, and Sosuke
Sora’s disappearances Yande, Mei Mio, and the last teacher in the school were
naturally called in by the police for questioning – as they were the last
people confirmed to see them. “Students go missing late at night,” the officer
murmured, “and you three were the only ones around. I mean, it’s shaky. It’s
difficult, but… I can work with it. I can work with it.” Officer Kanon stood
up. “You can leave now. And here, kid,” he reached into his back pocket and
took out a few coins. “Buy something from the vending machine on me. Sorry I
cut into your lunch, but it’s better than cutting into your class time, right?”
Yande took the money with a smile. “Thank you, Officer Kanon.” He bowed toward
the other officer. “Have a good afternoon, Officer Murakami.” Murakami curtly
nodded.
                                       ❀
Yande knew that Friday was not going to be peaches and roses for him, but no
one was prepared for the entirety of the Photography Club to run around and
shove newspapers and pencils and notepads down everyone’s throats. Talking to
the police was a more pleasant experience then speaking to his peers. At least
the officers weren’t too prodding and got him something to drink and let him
eat his lunch during questioning.
“Aishi-san, Aishi-san!” A girl called out. He made the mistake of turning
around. It was a simple looking girl with reddened knees and cheeks and had her
long hair was tied into two ponytails running down her back. He grimaced. “Hi,
Nakatani Mari here, and I just have a few questions for you about the members
of the Drama Club disappearing for the school paper. Can you spare a moment?”
“Um…” Yande shook his head. “I have, um, class.” What was this? He wasn’t ready
for this. He hadn’t realized that the Photography Club was going to be an
actual obstacle.
She giggled. “It’s lunchtime, silly. Just really quick, okay?” She didn’t give
him a chance to protest. “What was the last thing that you heard Kokona Haruka
say?”
“We were just practicing for the play, going over lines and stuff.” Geez, some
girl that was at least two heads shorter than him with a notepad and a camera
was making him uncomfortable? This was too much.
“And Sosuke Sora?”
“He was going over lines too. We all were. We were just going over lines for
the play, looking over the sets and costumes and then Kokona and Sosuke wanted
t—you know what.” He smiled. She took a step back. He didn’t mean for his grin
to be wicked, but the girl was asking for it. “Go bother the police. I’d hate
to repeat myself. Have a nice afternoon, Nakatani-san.” He walked away from her
as quickly as he could.
                                       ❀
Yande sighed as he checked who was calling him. “Can’t I catch a break?” He
muttered as he moved his thumb to accept the call. “Hi, papa. Yan-chan told me
you were in America now, how is it?”
“I-It’s hot.” Yande could hear his father shuffle around on the other end.
Maybe he was pacing or moving to light up a cigarette. “Um, Yan-kun, that’s not
what I wanted to talk about. I’m… getting a divorce from your mother, Yan-kun.
I just talked to Yan-chan about it a few minutes ago and she wanted me to tell
you personally than have her deliver the news, so, yeah.”
“Oh…” Yande clicked his tongue. “I saw it coming. Anything else? Mother
wouldn’t like a long long-distance call on her bill, you know.”
“Y-Yes, there’s, um, something else.” A beat. “I was speaking with your mother
the other day, and I have some concerns over your—your sexuality, Yan-kun. She
told me that you hold some affection towards another male student, and you know
that I don’t approve of that. Remember our conversation about this? When I—”
Yande hung up.
                                       ❀
What a coincidence that Ayano ran into Kaiyo Puru, the Swim Team Captain and
Swim Club President and next victim of the Akademi High School disappearances,
at the Buraza Town Supermarket during her good and wholesome Sunday grocery
shopping. Ayano pocketed her phone and walked to the girl. She had tanned skin
and hair that was cropped around her ears. She was looking between two items
and frowning, probably calculating prices in her head.
“Are you Kaiyo Puru?” Ayano asked. The girl jumped and nearly dropped the boxes
of rice she was holding. “Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“No, no, it’s fine.” She laughed it off. She had a wide grin. “It’s just, I’m
so bad at math and I’m always the one who has to do the shopping and I just
sorta zone out when I’m trying to add and subtract prices and stuff.” She
tossed both items into the basket on her arm. “But yeah, I’m Kaiyo. How can I
help you?”
“I’m Aishi Ayano.”
“Oh, you’re the one with the twin brother?”
“Yes, that’s me! I wanted to ask about joining the swim team.”
“Well, it’s not swimming season yet. But the Swim Club is open at any time, you
know. Would you like to join the club in the meantime then?” Ayano nodded.
“Great! We meet at the usual club time on Monday and for the rest of the week.
I’ll see you then?”
“You can bet on it.” They gave an amicable goodbye. Out of the corner of her
eye, Ayano could see Kaiyo take both boxes from out of her basket and begin to
stare at them again before she placed them both back on the shelf and walk
away.
                                       ❀
The Swim Club was not as warm and welcoming as the Cooking Club, Ayano noted.
She decided to blame it on the general uneasiness that the entire school was
experiencing. Of course there was going to be some uneasiness after yet another
series of disappearances. Kaiyo seemed unfazed though. Ayano offered to eat in
the swimming pool’s locker room with her – where the captain usually ate alone
– the girl accepted.
Ayano carefully unpacked her lunch as she sat on one of the benches. Kaiyo was
leaned against the lockers and aimlessly eating away. Ayano noticed the lack of
rice in her lunch.
Conversation was easy. There were periods of silence, but they weren’t
uncomfortable – only natural, yet during one bout of it Kaiyo frowned as she
sipped on a soda from the vending machine. “What’s wrong?” Ayano asked. She was
obligated to ask.
“Oh, just…” Kaiyo’s frown deepened. She crushed the can and tossed it into the
wastebasket on the other side of the room. It made it in flawlessly. “It’s just
that this year feels different, like, different in a bad way. There’s just a
lot of tension going on and it wasn’t like the team and the club weren’t
assholes in the first place. You know things are bad once a team starts
shunning their own captain.” Ayano recalled how when they first arrived to the
locker room there were a few members of the club rummaging through their
lockers. They had all tossed odd looks toward Kaiyo before immediately
shuffling out together, murmuring the entire time. “I don’t know how to win ‘em
over.”
“You don’t have to win them over. Don’t worry about them.” Kaiyo raised an
eyebrow. “Why do you swim, Kaiyo?”
“Because of the scholarships and prizes and stuff. It’s good for my family.”
“That means that you don’t swim for them. You swim for you. Always remember
that, all right? If things get really bad, if the entire team stops speaking to
you, just remind yourself that it’s about you not them. Got it?” Kaiyo nodded.
“Don’t forget that.”
“I won’t ever.” Ayano nodded and looked down at her half-eaten lunch.
                                       ❀
Ayano touched the sides of her swimsuit. It was black and exposed the hips. She
imagined Yande seeing her in such attire. Sure, they regularly took baths
together (not as regularly lately though), but with his recent strange behavior
he probably would implode to see her in such a revealing outfit.
She could hear the gossipy whispers from the rest of the members behind her.
Like Info-chan had said, Kaiyo went off somewhere else to change her clothes.
“There she goes again,” one member murmured.
“Do you think she goes in the supply closet or something?”
“I don’t know.”
“It’s so weird,” another member says. “Why can’t she just change in here with
the rest of us? What makes her so special?”
“She’s the captain, remember?” They all laughed. “Ugh, let’s go. We start in,
like, ten more minutes and I wanna warm up.”
Ayano listened to the sound of their footsteps go off into the distance. She
closed her locker door slowly and held her towel against her chest. Thoughts
were running through her mind. Dare she? She hadn’t heard anyone mention
actually going to “the closet” and looking for Kaiyo. Perhaps they did respect
her in their own way. Or, maybe they didn’t care enough.
Ayano looked around the locker room. There was a closet off to the side of the
showers. She crouched down in front of her lockers, stilled her breath, and
waited. She heard that Kaiyo didn’t leave until everyone else is gone. She
heard the door creak open and a few unsteady footsteps came out.
“Where is it? Where is it?” She heard Kaiyo whisper. She slowly crept to the
other side of the lockers. Kaiyo had a towel wrapped tightly around her body
and her hands fumbled as she tried to open her locker. She pulled out a
swimming uniform – with shorts – and quickly threw off her towel to get
dressed. Ayano’s eyes immediately focused in between her legs. Oh. Oh.
Ayano stood up. “Kaiyo-chan,” she called out. The girl froze. Ayano could see
her shoulders tense. Kaiyo quickly finished getting dressed and tightened the
drawstrings of her shorts.
“I forgot to take my suit with me in the closet.” Her voice was quiet. She
wrapped her towel around her neck, slowly. She faced Ayano, tears pooling in
her eyes. “A-Are you goin—”
Ayano shook her head. Murder and torture were her forte, not exactly
humiliation and ignominy. “No. I won’t tell anyone. I swear.” Kaiyo looked
unconvinced. Ayano held out her pinky. “Pinky promise. If I lie I will drink a
thousand needles and cut my pinky,” she recited.
Kaiyo cautiously intertwined her pinky finger with Ayano. “I-I don’t
understand.”
“I have secrets too. Secrets I’m willing to cut the red string of fate for.”
Ayano touched Kaiyo’s shoulder. “Let’s swim then, okay? This never happened.”
Kaiyo nodded.
“Right, this never happened.”
                                       ❀
     バブルガム✿CHUM
     ♡ tue. – 27.jan.98 / 16:41 ♡
     >chat connected!
     info_chan8: So, what is it?
     yandere_chan: what is what
     info_chan8: You know what I’m talking about. The secret. What’s Kaiyo
     Puru’s secret?
     yandere_chan: she has a scar on her stomach from surgery and she’s
     nervous about it
     info_chan8: You’re lying.
     info_chan8: I can see you, you know.
     info_chan8: You may be a master manipulator, hiding behind the façade
     of being a normal schoolgirl when you’re really just some cold-
     hearted, psychopathic killer, but I can tell when someone’s lying to
     me. A scar on her stomach? No, bullshit. There’s more to the story.
     info_chan8: Now, tell me what’s really going on.
     yandere_chan: i just told u
     info_chan8: If I didn’t like you so much, Yan-chan, I would kill you
     myself.
     yandere_chan: do it
     yandere_chan: ill be waiting.
     info_chan8: Goodbye. Have fun with your brother tonight. He has had a
     stressful week and I know he has a habit of taking his troubles out
     on you, the poor little, helpless sister.
Ayano closed her phone. She could feel a ripe, sudden emotion coursing through
her veins. Her hands might have shaken when she set her phone down. Yande was
taking a bath by himself tonight. Sneaking into his room and looking underneath
his bed for leftover booze didn’t sound like too bad of an idea.
                                       ❀
Ayano tucked the flask of plum liquor into her bag when a member passed by. She
took swings using the barriers of locker doors on bad days. Was today a bad
day? It could easily turn into one. Today was supposed to be a day of
celebration though. The Akademi High School Girls’ Swim Club was still holding
the first place title against their rival school. The girls were whooping and
hollering behind her. Pool and shower water was gathering underneath Ayano’s
still-bare feet. She curled her toes inward as she took another swing. Just
enough to get a buzz going in the back of her head. Just enough to get the
weight of the knife in her skirt pocket to lessen some.
“Yan-chan!” Ayano would have cringed if she could at the sound of the girl’s
voice. She mustered up a smile and tucked the drink back into her backpack.
Kaiyo’s grin was wide and she gave Ayano a high five. She held their hands
together. “Great work out there, newbie! Thanks for not breaking our winning
streak.”
“How could I? Winning’s a tradition around here.” Ayano ran her fingers through
her still-wet hair. “I heard everybody talking about going to a party?”
“Yeah, but I’m not going. I’m never invited.” Kaiyo shrugged, unbothered.
“What, are you going?”
“No. I rather hang out with you, if you don’t mind.” Kaiyo’s smile widened.
“I’d love that, Yan.”
                                       ❀
From shyly chatting in the grocery store on Sunday, to making a solemn promise
on Tuesday, to kissing by the school poolside on Wednesday night soon to be
Thursday morning – Ayano blamed it the alcohol and Kaiyo’s naïveté and
eagerness. Kaiyo leaked gross artlessness as her tongue was too shy to prod
past Ayano’s teeth. Ayano didn’t want to channel her inner Yande and hold the
girl down, but for goodness’ sake, the lack of soberness she had going on was
tempting her too.
Kaiyo broke apart from her. A string of saliva gathered and stretched between
her lips. Kaiyo broke it apart quickly. Ayano softly admitted in her mind that
she was glad that the kiss was over. Sweetie was better. Sweetie’s lips had
been… sweet for a lack of better words.
Kaiyo looked down as she smiled. “Yan-chan, thank you.” Ayano leaned back
against the wall.
“For what?”
“Just—everything. Thank you. You’re probably the only person that’s been
genuinely nice to me in this entire school, actually.”
“Oh.” Ayano’s hand inched toward her back pocket. “Well, you’re welcome.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Yeah?”
“You said that you had secrets too? What did you mean by that?”
“Nothing. I was just being dramatic.” Ayano rolled over to her stomach and
looked up at Kaiyo. The girl’s eyes were reflecting the lights on the side of
the pool. “Kiss me again.” Kaiyo obliged. Ayano moved the both of them to their
knees. Kaiyo was grasping at the front of her uniform, wrinkling it definitely.
Ayano slid out the knife from her pocket. She held Kaiyo’s neck down to her.
She was already swallowing the sounds of the girl’s gasping and moaning. She
needed silence the beautiful melody of death also.
She pressed the blade into the girl’s stomach and shoved her tongue down the
girl’s throat to break off any screaming. She even rubbed her knee in between
Kaiyo’s legs to make her intended scream wind down to pathetic whimpering.
Ayano was seeing stars as she simultaneously worked her knee rhythmically
underneath the girl (ah, what a familiar sensation) and she pulled the knife
across, making a deeper cut. There was some difficulty. Skin and clothing were
getting in the way, but Ayano had all the night to have fun.
“Oh?” Ayano pulled back a bit. The raw taste of copper and salt was on the tip
of her tongue. The girl was bleeding from the mouth. Her eyes were glazing
over. Such a familiar sight. She kissed the girl again, just to get that sweet
taste one more time. Ah, she could see why Yande had kissed Osana now. Pure
delight erupted through her body.
She leaned back before Kaiyo could spit or cough out any blood on her. The girl
was still alive, still looking and breathing. Ayano bit the girl’s lips as she
dug the knife in deeper. Ooh, she punctured an organ. She knew she had to from
the way Kaiyo’s eyes squeezed shut and she tried to back away. She twisted the
knife and – bingo – Kaiyo’s eyes began to roll to the back of her head.
Ayano didn’t get a pretty display of intestines like she had with Osana, but
this was worth it. Kaiyo’s insides were still nice to look at and not so
different from hers actually. “Y-Y…” She was still alive? A merciful soul would
just plunge the knife in her heart and get it over with, but Ayano had long
established that she was no saint. No coups de grâce allowed.
Ayano took in a deep breath to steady herself. Her voice still trembled. “Under
the rare circumstance that I do admit your secret, I swear to you that I will
cut off my left pinky with this knife in your honor.” Kaiyo’s body began to
shake. This girl was tough, no doubt. It only took one kick to throw her into
the pool though. There was no toughing that out.
Ayano took out her phone and snapped a picture.
     バブルガム✿CHUM
     ♡ wed. – 28.jan.98 / 22:03 ♡
     >chat connected!
     yandere_chan: belly up. just the way you like it
     info_chan6: Thank you for following directions.
     info_chan6: 7 and 8 will be there in ten to clean up and bleach the
     water. I advise that you leave.
     yandere_chan: yes maam
The pool water was already staining crimson when Ayano forced herself to get up
and walk away, chest still heaving and vision still blurry.
                                       ❀
Officer Kanon took the empty Coca-Cola can from Ayano and tried to toss it in
the wastebasket for her, but he missed. He sighed as he bent down to properly
through it away. “Well, Aishi, I had Murakami double check everything and your
alibi checks out like the others.” He quickly chuckled. “Not that we thought
you were guilty in the first place.” He leaned against the table. “Hm, how do
you feel? Weren’t you in the Cooking Club when one of the girls disappeared and
the others died from poisoning?”
“Yes, I was. It’s shocking, for sure. And it’s been really hard on everybody.
Do you think…?” Ayano rolled her bottom lip between her teeth as she looked
down. “Do you think that there’s a killer on the loose?”
“Well, I can’t reveal too much, but between you and me,” he sighed, “it seems
more and more likely by the day. But don’t worry, we’ll catch whoever this punk
is and lock ‘em up soon. Maybe even by the end of the week if they try to
strike again.” He patted her shoulder. “We’ll keep the school safe and you
protected. It’s my job. I can promise you that everything is going to be okay.
Do you believe me, Aishi?”
“Yes. I do.” She sniffled to seal the deal. “Thank you, Officer Kanon. Can you
give Officer Murakami my thanks too?” He nodded. She stood. “The Swim Club is
definitely going to have to disband after this. I guess I shouldn’t be joining
anymore clubs, huh? Bad luck seems to follow me everywhere.”
“No, you can still participate in club activities. I don’t want to take away
from that. Just be safe.”
“I’ll try to, thank you.”
                                       ❀
Ayano could hear Yande loudly slurp on the soup she had thrown together for
dinner on her bed. Yande had barged into her room and insisted that they had
barely spoken to each other all week and needed to spend some well-deserved
time together. Ayano didn’t have a voice to object.
“How was it?” Yande asked in between gulps. “Did she scream? Did she bleed a
lot? Tell me.”
“Her blood filled up the entire pool and the Swim Club saw it in the morning.
And I kissed her to stop her screaming.” Ayano could hear Yande drop his bowl
on the floor. At least it was carpeted so he wouldn’t break anything, but she
had to clean it up later. She sighed.
“I let it pass with Shiba, but you need to stop. You can’t just throw your
kisses around. They’re only for me and Senpai from now on, got it?” She felt
his hands grasp around her shoulders. His fingernails traced along her neck and
closed in it slightly, mimicking the act of strangulation. His thumb pressed
against the center of her throat. “You’re too special.”
“Careful, Yan-kun,” she whispered, voice tightening, “your Madonna-whore
complex is showing.”
“Shut up.” He ran his fingers through her hair and tightened around her scalp.
He forced her to look up at him. He released her throat and pressed his thumb
against her lips instead. She had brushed her teeth to the point where she was
spitting out her own blood to get Kaiyo out of her mouth. He pressed their lips
together gently, softly and allowed her pull back from it a second later. “I
love you, Yan-chan.” She didn’t respond, instead deciding to focus on how his
shirt collar had gone askew and the soup stain on the knee of his pants. He
tightened his grip. “What’s up? Something on your mind?”
“No.”
“Good.” He took her chin between his fingers and forced her mouth open as he
kissed her again. “You taste so good, Yan,” he murmured. She sat still, legs
tightly crossed. After a few minutes he released her with an unsatisfied sigh.
“Give in to me,” he murmured. She only looked up at him. “Yan-chan, come on.”
He rested his hands on her knees and forced her legs apart.
“Don’t do this again.” He paused only for a moment, but she knew he wasn’t
reconsidering. He pulled her panties down to her ankles and lifted her skirt
up.
“Describe killing Kaiyo to me again.”
“I took a knife and stabbed it into her stomach.” He spread her legs further
apart.
“More detail.”
“We came back from a competition, still undefeated, and while everybody left to
go celebrate Kaiyo and I went to the pool. She started getting sentimental and
started kissing me and I returned the favor. She wasn’t a good kisser though.
It must have been her first time.” Ayano took a quick breath. She didn’t like
talking for too long and she couldn’t understand the little “exercise” that she
and Yande were doing.
“Go on.”
“And then I held her against my mouth and stabbed her in the stomach. I dragged
the knife to the other side of her stomach and plunged it in.” She felt her
legs begin to quiver.
“There we go.” She tried to calm her body down. “So, is it the blood or the
stabbing that gets you excited? I can’t tell.” She only looked up at him. He
moved to unzip his own pants. She quickly reached down and pulled her underwear
up. He raised an eyebrow, his hand still in front of his pants. “What are you
doing?”
“Not tonight, Yan-kun.”
“Not tonight? What’s up with you lately? I remember how you were begging for me
to be against you when I was getting it off to Osana.”
“I did not beg.”
“You did your own version of it.”
“Get out.”
“Fine. I was getting bored with you anyway.” He slammed the door shut behind
him. The house shook.
Ayano’s phone rang. She glanced down at the screen. The number was unknown. She
considered it letting it ring, but the person was unrelenting. She quickly
answered it. “Hi, Yan-chan,” the other person said before she could give the
standard greeting over it.
“Who is this?”
“Info-8. I decided it would be appropriate to call after that little fall out
you had with your brother just now.” Ayano listened closely. She couldn’t
recognize the voice. It didn’t help that she didn’t know too many males in the
school either. The voice was slow and calculated just like their messages. ”How
are you feeling? Murderous? Victorious, perhaps?”
“I don’t feel anything.”
“Figures. Do you need anything? Cigarettes, alcohol, something stronger, hm?
You name it, I got it. Free of charge too for my favorite little killer.”
“No, thank you.”
“Ah, you’re no fun.” The person chuckled. “Oh, and I heard that little promise
you made before you got to the slicing and dicing. It would be a shame if a
pretty girl like you had to mutilate herself because of some promise to a dead
girl—a victim of yours too, nonetheless.”
“I could get around it if it came to that.”
“Of course. If there’s a will, Yan-chan has a way. I like that about you.
Anyways, goodnight. I recommend locking the door.”
“If you’re really watching over me then you can warn me of any danger.”
“Aw, you trust me that much, Yan? I’ll try not to let you down. I don’t lose
sleep over this operation for nothing.” They hung up then. Ayano stared at her
screen for a moment before snapping the phone back shut.
                                       ❀
     バブルガム✿CHUM
     ♡ fri. – 30.jan.98 / 23:58 ♡
     >chat connected!
     info_chan7: how are you doing?
     yandere_kun: fine i guess
     info_chan7: that convo with ur sister didn’t look good tho
     yandere_kun: how exactly are u watching me?
     info_chan7: cameras. duh.
     info_chan7: don’t worry. you’ll start feeling better soon.
     yandere_kun: how do you know that?
     info_chan7: i just do. get some sleep tonight.
     yandere_kun: ill try dont worry mom
     info_chan7: just looking out for my favorite little killer!
     yandere_kun: ive barely been killing. feels like yan-chan does all
     the work
     info_chan7: you’ll have your opportunities in the future, don’t worry
     about it!
“’Don’t worry about it’?” Yande scoffed.
     info_chan7: btw, the photography club is blaming the members of the
     swim club that bullied kaiyo (meaning, excluding yan-chan) for
     kaiyo’s murder and even though the students aren’t simple enough to
     actually believe it, they’re eating it up. looks like there will be a
     little lighter atmosphere next week. go nuts with that.
     yandere_kun: ill keep that in mind
     info_chan7: goodnight.
“’Night,” Yande said out loud. Surely, they could hear him. He set his phone on
his nightstand and closed his eyes, but sleep just wouldn’t come to him.
***** Loca Oka *****
Chapter Summary
                                      45%
Chapter Notes
     in this chapter:
     - pedophilia.
Who knew that being associated with a group of catty girls and a dead girl with
a big unknown secret would drop Ayano’s reputation to the gutter?
It wasn’t like she cared. Walking down the hallway to the sound of hushed
hearsay and dead stares was something she was familiar with. Having a hand
cover her mouth and pull her into an empty classroom while the halls cleared
for lunch, was certainly unfamiliar.
The glow from a single computer screen was the only source of light in the
room. There were only three computers, not enough for it to be the computer lab
or even the Photography Club. In fact, Ayano wasn’t even sure what the
classroom was for. It was the room that was always closed and unlabeled. The
school was so big that there were a few abandoned classrooms here and there, so
Ayano never thought much about it.
“Good morning, Yan-chan.”
A growl nearly escaped her throat. “Info-8?” She turned around. The person
behind her was dressed in a black trench coat – the kind that Ayano saw the
businessmen wear whenever she got glimpses of the city – and the mask that
Yande had worn for the Drama Club. Every inch of skin was covered and Ayano
couldn’t recognize the voice if she tried anyways.
“The one and only.” They chuckled. What a soothing sound. “I know you said no
the other night, but I got you some presents anyway. Your brother reached out
and made a request and, I’ll admit, at first I refused, but then I took a
second and really thought about it and pondered over it over the weekend and I
decided to concoct a little plan.”
“What is it?”
“You already look and sound interested, I love it.” Ayano stretched out her
legs and made herself comfortable. Maybe her interest was piqued just a little
it after all. Info-8 ventured out into the darkness. “I have a few questions
for you,” they called out.
“What?” A box slid out towards her and stopped at her feet. Ayano picked it up.
It was a fairly large and unmarked. A pair of scissors slid out towards her
also.
Info-8 didn’t return to her field of vision. “Let’s say that somehow this all
works out. Picture this: you and Senpai are living together, happily married,
and you decide to get him something for his birthday. He’s been talking about
wanting a pet, so you go to the local pet shop, get the cutest kitten you can
find, put a bow on it and everything, and give to him. But—surprise!—you give
it him and find out he’s allergic. What would you do then?”
Ayano got to work on opening the box. “Break the cat’s neck and then get him
some medication.”
“What would you do if he died before you did?”
“I would kill myself.”
“What if your brother decided to keep him all to himself and not share with
you?” Ayano’s hands froze on the lids of the box. “Ah, did I strike a nerve
there?” She shook her head. “What would you do? Tell me, I’m curious now.”
“I don’t know.”
“What a boring answer. And hurry up and open the box. You’re killing me.” She
carefully laid out the items inside the box in front of her. There was a tantou
– a short traditional blade; this one looked around fifteen or so centimeters
long – in a black case, a pair of black leather gloves, and a skirt. The blade
was the hira type, pretty common, simple, and basic, but would certainly do the
job when needed. It glistened in the computer’s light. She inspected the skirt.
Unfolding it, she saw that it contained hidden pockets and holsters. “Do you
like them?”
She sheathed the blade back into its case, folded the skirt back up, and neatly
laid the gloves on top. “Why are you giving me this?”
“It’s your own little murder starter kit. Initially I wanted to give you
something very special like a rare type blade such as akubikiri, but I figured
that a blade with an inside curve is really better for aesthetic purposes than
physical because it doesn’t have a sharpened point. And then I thought about
giving you a double-edged blade, but then I ultimately decided to settle on
something more common and uncomplicated. And the skirt is specially made. You
can carry weapons on your person now at all times without having anything in
your locker or backpack in case they do random searches.” Ayano only looked
down at the gifts. “Oh, I can see your confusion. Let me explain.” She heard
Info take a step closer to her. “So, your brother and I came up with this
together because we both crave something out of you, but you’re proving to be a
tough cookie to crack. We’ve decided upon this ultimatum: pain or pleasure.
Make your choice.”
“Pain or pleasure,” Ayano parroted. “Elaborate.”
“First off, I just want to say that you’re a naughty girl, Yan-chan. I mean,
you lick the blood out of a girl’s mouth and then get all hot and heavy
thinking about it later? I almost thought you were the innocent one of the
bunch.” She didn’t respond. “Anyways, I can give you your own exclusive weapon,
pair of gloves, and skirt—free of charge—if you tell me this little secret
about Kaiyo Puru. I mean, it’s a pretty sweet deal to me. Spill a secret, lose
a finger, but you still get some pretty nice stuff out of it.”
Ayano found herself gazing down at the gifts again. It would make things
easier, yes. But she couldn’t help but ask, “What’s the other option?”
“First off, I will like to say that this was your brother’s idea, not mine.”
Another box slid over to her, not taped shut. It was filled to the brim with
underwear. “No more panties. Ever.” She actually frowned.
“This is stupid.”
“Yeah, I agree with you on that one. Oh, and you have to let him do this kill
too. He was all whining about how he’s missing out and shit.”
“And what if I refuse?”
“Easy.” They stepped out of the darkness again, two blades held in their gloved
hands. “I can be pretty persuasive when the occasion calls for it, Yan.”
She looked down at the items again. It was a simple choice, really. She pushed
the gifts back toward Info.
“Oh? I’m surprised, but not at the same time.” They shrugged. “Give me the
underwear you’re wearing now. Good thing you’re not wearing stockings today,
huh?” They chuckled, like this was all some type of joke. Ayano took them off
and tossed them out in the darkness. Info caught them on one of the blades.
“Have a good day, killer.” Ayano only nodded.
What an unwelcome interference to her routine.
                                       ❀
     バブルガム✿CHUM
     ♡ mon. – 2.feb.98 / 11:16 ♡
     >chat connected!
     info_chan7: this kill is all yours!
     info_chan7: you’re welcome!!
“Psst.” Yande looked around, interrupted from typing out his reply. “Psst,
Aishi-san.” He sighed. Was it another pest from the Photography Club coming to
bother him again?
“What?” He called out. And they were hiding too? Great. The first girl must
have told the rest of the club that he was a tough cookie to crack or something
and they had come back to annoy him as revenge. He didn’t need a vendetta
against the club anyway. He already had too much on his plate.
“Come here,” the voice whispered. He sighed again. He shouldn’t roam the halls
during lunch anymore. It was when the weirdoes came out (not like he didn’t
classify as one, but still).
“Where?”
“The Occult room.” Ugh. Oka Ruto was the target of the week though, so he
guessed that that was a good thing. He slid the door open and stepped inside.
The room was dark save for some candles littered around the room and on a few
desks here and there. The person who had beckoned him sat down and Oka took
their place instead. She was… an interesting sight indeed. Actually, in Yande’s
eyes, she might turn out to be a cute girl without the dark makeup and if she
brushed her hair. Maybe he could find out for himself later.
“What do you guys want?” Someone shut the door behind him. Oka looked down and
twiddled her thumbs for a moment before she looked back up at him. He was
considerably taller than the girl, and she slouched down anyways.
“Your, um, sister saw it right?”
“Saw what?” He looked around the room. A couple of the members were reading,
seemingly uninterested, while the others were staring at him.
“You know, it. T-The body. T-The, um, the Swim Club members found her, right?
So, uh, we were, um, wondering If your sister s-saw it and if she, um, told you
about it?” She bit her lip. “I was wondering if she might have told you what
it, uh, looked like or anything, but if she didn’t that’s cool too, you can,
um, leave if you want.”
He shrugged. “Yeah, I saw.” Oka’s eyes widened. One of the book readers was
looking at him now.
“Y-You saw?” Her voice squeaked.
“Yeah.” He smirked. “Wanna see?” He pulled out his phone. It was risky, but who
cared? They were going to be dead before the week was done. Before he knew it
the club was surrounding him. He brought up the picture that Info-7 had sent
him from the post-Kaiyo message between Ayano and the original Info-chan. It
was just enough to make out the split in the stomach and redness spreading
throughout the pool water. The club members gasped with sick fascination.
“W-Wow, you can see her guts.”
“Look at her eyes.”
“And the water too.”
“H-How’d you get this?” Oka asked.
“Ayano took it for the police and she sent it to me.” He pocketed his phone
again. The message from Info-7 still burned in the back of his mind. He was
really going to get the opportunity to do the killing this week after
everything has been so Ayano-centric? He could scoff at that, but he wanted to
see how things worked out.
“Cool,” Oka breathed out. “Um, thanks for showing us. I can, uh, pay for you to
get s-something to drink or—”
He cut her off with a chuckle. “No, no. I don’t want your money. I want just an
itty, bitty favor.”
“O-Oh? Um, okay, I guess?”
“I just want to join this club and another club at the same time. That’s all.”
“W-What other club are you joining?”
“Uh, I’m thinking Photography.” He shrugged. “Because, you know—no offense, but
this club isn’t the best… look for me right now? Especially with my sister
connected to some girl who just got bullied and murdered, I mean, her friends
have been dropping like flies. And I actually kind of like you guys, but the
Photography Club is riding my ass about what happened with Drama Club, so
joining them might be a good thing.” The scratched the back of his head. “Does
that make sense?”
“Um, I think so?”
“Okay, good. I’ll see you later then?”
“I-I’ll be looking forward to it.” She smiled. He smiled back.
                                       ❀
Yande ran through the names in his head: Nakatani Mari was the girl who had
pestered him last week, Wakimoto Kimi was a girl with short hair and the leader
of the club, Beppu Masahiko was a guy with a wide grin and talked too much,
Wotoru Shashin was the guy with too much gel in his hair, and Shimu Tano was
the quiet guy who had stared at Yande the moment he said he wanted to join the
club. Yande thumbed his finger over around the rim of the camera lenses. He had
this in the bag.
“Aishi-san,” one of the girls called out, the head of the club. He swiveled his
hair around to face her. “Perfect time for you to join, and I mean that in all
sarcastic ways possible.”
“Why? What’s up?”
“We’re in deep water over our last issue on the Swim Club. Wotoru-kun wanted to
publish this theory that the chicks in the Swim Club did the deed on Kaiyo and
at first things were swell and dandy, but that was because everybody was
actually taking it seriously before they realized that it was a little more
fiction than fact.”
“Hey!” Wotoru shouted. “I’m just your basic, run-of-the-mill yellow journalist,
what do you want from me? And you shouldn’t have approved it, dumbass, if you
knew that we were gonna catch heat for it!”
“Shut up! How was I supposed to know? I can’t predict the fucking future. Do I
look like one of those Occult Club freaks?” She huffed as she turned back to
Yande.
“Maybe it isn’t such a bad thing?” Yande suggested. She raised an eyebrow at
him.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you guys got the school feeling good about itself over the weekend. A
little lie took away everybody’s fear for just a little while.”
The members all threw glances toward each other and the one guy stilled stared
down Yande. They all simultaneously shrugged before returning back to their
work. “Not like we weren’t lying in the first place,” one of them joked. Yande
leaned back against his seat, feet on the desk, and shifted through pictures
like he was asked to.
                                       ❀
     バブルガム✿CHUM
     ♡ tue. – 3.feb.98 / 10:58 ♡
     >chat connected!
     info_chan7: well, the plan got screwed.
     yandere_kun: what do u mean
     info_chan7: that sub, ogazumu seiko, the one that likes senpai a
     little too much, came early because the teacher she’s subbing for
     went into labor prematurely.
     yandere_kun: shit
     yandere_kun: now what?
     info_chan7: you got double duty this week, that’s what.
     info_chan7: have fun!! at least yan-chan isn’t doing all the work,
     right?
     yandere_kun: would it be okay if i passed oka ruto to her while i
     work on the sub
     info_chan7: no. i put in a lot of hard work to make sure that this
     was your kill this week.
     yandere_kun: what did you do exactly
     info_chan7: nothing too drastic, don’t worry. just pretended to be
     you to info-8 so that he would go and make a deal with yan-chan so
     that you would be the one killing this week instead of her.
     yandere_kun: …
     yandere_kun: idk how to feel about that
     info_chan7: it’s fine. nobody suspects a thing. just do your thing
     and everything should fine since i don’t think you’re supposed to
     kill the sub, just distract her from senpai, right?
     yandere_kun: right
                                       ❀
Was it easy to begin an affair with some substitute from Yokohama after their
first meeting together? Surprisingly, yes. Was Yande enjoying said affair?
Unsurprisingly, no. He made sure to throw a flirty grin back at the teacher as
she pulled up her pantyhose and fixed her hair. Her lipstick was still smuged
though. He had already wiped the marks away from his neck and stomach.
“Same thing tomorrow, big boy?” She kissed his cheek again and let the touch
linger.
“Bet on it.” He chuckled and everything. When she shut the closet door behind
her, he let out a breath and a frown as he rubbed at his cheek with the back of
his jacket sleeve. Well, he could safely say that Senpai wasn’t missing out on
anything.
He waited a few minutes before walking out. The supply closet was always a
classy place for classy people. First Osana and now Ogazumu-sensei. Who was
next?
“Aishi-san?” He actually winced before he turned around. It was Beppu Masahiko,
the loudmouthed one. What luck. “Whoa, whoa, whoa—dude.” His mouth and eyes
were wide open, looking back and forth between Ogazumu, still sauntering away
with the clicking of her heels going off into the distance, and a frowning
Yande. “Did you just do what I think you just did, man?”
“Uh, n—?”
“Yes the fuck you did! Don’t lie to me, man!” Beppu was running back and forth
in the hall now, running his fingers through his hair. “Wait until the club
hears this! I mean, a student-teacher affair? Haven’t had one of those in a
while.”
Yande fixed the top button on his uniform. “What’re you talking about? You
can’t publish something like that in the paper. The teachers review everything
before it gets published.”
Beppu stopped pacing. “Why would I put something like this in the school paper?
I’m posting it on BubblegumChum. Duh.”
“What do you want so we can keep this between you and me? Do you want money, a
picture of something scandalous? What?” He shook his head. Yande held back a
snarl.
“Nothing gets in the way of scoop, pal. See ya later.” The dude practically
skipped down the hallway.
Yande stuck his hands in his pockets as he walked down the hall. He was going
to eat up on the roof or by the fountain or in a classroom or something like
the normal kids did. So much for going out in the halls again. Still, he made a
detour from his class to the Occult Club room. At least they weren’t working on
his last nerve.
Oka sheepishly smiled when she opened up the doors for him to come in. Only a
couple of kids were in the room that day, eating lunch and smoking while
talking about some type of demon that Yande had never heard of before. Oka
beckoned Yande to sit down next to her and handed him a drink. He wrinkled his
nose as he sipped it. Watered down vodka hidden in a water bottle. Oh well. He
wasn’t one to bite the hand that fed him.
“Anything going on, Ruto?” He asked. She bit her lip and looked around the
room.
“Um, t-there’s a, uh, half-moon tonight.”
“First or last quarter?” Her smile widened.
“First. So we decided to go to my house tonight, and, um, I wanted to ask if
you’re interested in going or not?” He nodded. How could he say no to that
face?
“I’ll be there. Text me the address.” She nodded. She stared at him blankly for
a moment. Thank goodness Yande had adopted that half-assed conversationalist
bone in the family. “So, uh, what are they talking about?” Yande asked. Oka’s
eyes brightened again and she began to shakily explain everything. Yande really
didn’t mean to make her world and he actually found himself genuinely nodding
along and listening to everything she said. She had a way about her that just
made her fascinating somehow. The girl was certainly an enigma, and he could
relate.
Was this how Ayano felt about Sweetie?
                                       ❀
Yande cleaned out his ears with a towel as he settled himself on the couch.
Ayano was going back and forth, cleaning this, tidying up that. “Is there
something going on? Why’re you cleaning so much?” She paused wiping the
television screen and looked at him, expression blank. It said volumes to him
though. “Tell me what’s on your mind.”
“Info-8 took me into a room and made me a deal.” She sprayed the screen again
and wiped it until it squeaked. “They offered me a skirt with hidden pockets,
gloves, and a blade.”
“A blade? Like a sword or something? I guess he knows that you have a sword
fetish.”
“’He’?”
“Don’t jump down my throat again. Info-7 referred to 8 as ‘he’ in a message
today. You can look at it too if you want proof.”
“I should be looking through your messages anyway.” She moved on to the coffee
table. Yande moved his feet out of the way so she could dust.
“What do you mean?”
“Info-8 told me that you wanted part of the deal. He took away all of my
underwear and made sure that you were doing the kill this week by your
request.”
“Good thing you brought that up actually. 7 just told me that they pretended to
be me to 8 so that I could be guaranteed to get the kill this week.”
She stopped again. “Oh.” She set down the cleaning supplies on the table with a
little more force than needed.
“Yeah, I’ll tell them not to do any more sneaky stuff behind our backs if you
want, but no promises.” He tossed the towel towards her and she caught it.
“Trust no one, like mother dearest always says, I guess.” He got up and took
the towel from her. “I’ll toss this in the wash actually. I’m going out
tonight.” She still followed behind him.
“Where are you going?”
“Ruto’s place. She personally invited me.” He waggled his eyebrows. “It’s only
been two days though and she seems like an innocent, conservative girl, so I
guess I’m going to be in for some pure and wholesome entertainment. Maybe we’ll
summon a demon or something while talking about how much life sucks. And then
she can show me her choker collection while I sharpen her knives or something.”
“Knives,” Ayano repeated. “Info-8 gave me a tantou blade.”
“Are those the short blades? Come on, you’re the blade expert here, not me. All
I know is that when something is sharp and pointy it does damage.”
“He had multiple ones,” Ayano continued, “andtantoujutsu is a martial art that
specifically practices withtantou blades. Maybe he’s part of the Marital Arts
Club?”
“Maybe so.” Yande pulled on a shirt from the drier. “Nice reasoning skills,
detective. Maybe you should join the club and see what’s going on.” He patted
her backside before he left the room. “And did you say you’re not allowed to
wear underwear anymore?” She nodded. “I wouldn’t request that. That’s stupid.”
                                       ❀
“Pink?” Yande settled himself on the bed.
“My mother wouldn’t let me paint the walls black.” The other members filed into
the room. Oka’s parents were gone and the neighborhood was pretty sparse. Info-
7 had already manipulated any messages that gave away where Yande was for the
night and his membership to the Occult Club technically wasn’t valid since he
was officially signed to the Photography Club. It was like he had absolutely no
affiliation with the club whatsoever. He was a living ghost amongst them.
“A-Aishi?” Yande snapped out of his thoughts and turned toward Oka.
“Yeah?”
“When’s your birthday?”
“It’s the first of April.”
“I knew he was an Aries,” one of the members said. “Pay up.”
“Are you older or younger than your twin?” Oka asked.
“I’m older by seven hours.”
“They let one twin stay in for that long?” A member asked. Yande shrugged. He
wasn’t the childbirth expert.
The conversation continued on about things that Yande wasn’t interested in. He
caught Oka staring at him a few times. He didn’t understand what was up with
people staring at him lately.
Oka cleared her throat after they locked eyes for the third time. “Aishi, do
you know who, uh, Yamada Taro is?” He nodded. “You know, you kinda look like
him.” Well, this was new.
“Really?”
“Y-Yeah. S-Same hair, uh, height. Um, only difference is Yamada’s face is sorta
softer than yours? Like, his smile is, um, nicer?”
“Are you saying that I’m Yamada’s evil twin or something?” He couldn’t help but
smile. This was honestly amusing.
“N-No, no!”
“Too late, you already said it.” He gave a goodhearted laugh as he stood up.
“I’m going to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.” He made sure to shut the door
behind him.
He went to the front door and opened it. A pair of gloves and a knife was
underneath the flowerpot to the right, like Info had promised. He wiped the
knob before he closed and locked the door behind him. He went out back. An
unused cello case was ready. Good. At least this was going according to plan.
He poked his head into the room. “Hey Ruto, think you can show me where the
drinks are?”
“Y-Yeah, sure.” He locked the door once she was out of earshot. Good thing her
room didn’t have any windows. Looks like his luck was turning up after all. He
even put his hand on her back as they walked to the kitchen. He felt her shiver
underneath his touch. “O-Oh, uh, when did you get gloves?”
“Just now. Are you cold or is it just me?” He moved his hand a little lower.
She trembled again.
“Y-Yeah, just a, uh, little bit. Um, what do you want to d-drink?”
“Nothing actually.”
“O-Oh.” She looked down. “Then why did you bring me out here?”
“I wanted to show you something.” He grinned. “Close your eyes.” She didn’t
even hesitate before closing them. He took her hands. “It’s outside.” He led
her out. It was getting dark. The half-moon shone down upon them. He took one
hand away from her to open up the box. “Ready?” He whispered in her ear.
“Aishi, what are you even going to show me?”
“You’ll see.” He lifted her up and spun her around for good measure. “I’ll be
back.” He tucked her inside the box and locked the lid shut.
Now, was it easy to kill five people all locked in a room together?
Unsurprisingly, no. They screamed, they tried to run. One actually gained an
ounce of courage and tried to fight him back. A quick plunge of the knife
through the chest was enough to get the “brave” one down though.
This definitely made up for everything. Osana had been a joint case, Sweetie
turned into a selfish one, the Cooking Club girls was an uncalled for solo
mission, Haruka had ultimately died at the hands of another along with the
other Drama Club girl, and Kaiyo was a Ayano solo case too. “Now it’s my turn,”
Yande found himself saying as he ran the knife across the last throat.
He surveyed the room when he was done. It was a literal bloodbath. Ayano would
cream her pants at the sight of this. And she wasn’t wearing any panties
either. It would be running between her legs and she would get that look on her
face where her cheeks would get all red and she would start biting her lip
until the skin broke.
He wiped the image from his mind before the room got too hot.
                                       ❀
Yande carried pretty little Oka down the basement steps over his shoulder like
a sack of potatoes and tied her up nice and tight to a chair Ayano had brought
down. Ayano stood in the corner of the room now, watching. “How does it feel to
be the watcher for once?” Yande asked.
“Spectacular.”
“I never tire of your sarcasm, Yan-Yan.” Yande took off his gloves and tossed
them aside. “How’s Sosuke? Did he eat?” Ayano nodded. “Still in the bathroom?”
Ayano nodded again. “Bring him out for me. Thanks.” He could hear Sosuke moan
and groan in the other room. Yande had to give to the guy. Fourteen entire days
spent inside of a cold basement bathroom with an uncertain fate? Rough. “Oh,
and can you bring me a wet cloth too?”
Ayano dragged Sosuke out with one hand and tossed Yande a cloth with another.
He wiped away the gratuitous amount of eye shadow away from around Oka’s eyes.
She still had some dark rings around her eyes, but she looked much, much
better. He swept her messy hair away from her forehead and tightened his
fingers around her scalp.
“You’re a little cutie, huh?” She only looked up at him. He crouched down to
her level. “How about a kiss, hm?” He laughed in her face and wrapped his hands
around her neck. “It’s about time I got to play.” He squeezed, just enough to
get her gasping and her eyes rolling, before he let go. Already bluing marks
were on her neck. He ran his tongue over them. He could feel the girl whimper
and shiver underneath him.
“I managed to kill five people all locked in a room together like some type of
B-movie psycho.” He breathlessly dragged his tongue over the shell of her ear
as he began to unbutton her shirt. “Lucky me, right?” He could hear Sosuke
struggling behind him. Good thing he was gagged. Yande didn’t need any
screaming or protests while he was in his element. “You taste good,” he
murmured.
“S-Stop,” she whispered, trying to pull away. Yande was fed up with being slow.
He used the knife to rip open the rest of the shirt and through her skirt. Good
thing she hadn’t changed out of her uniform after school. Jeans would’ve been
annoying to get through. He ripped through her undergarments too. She wasn’t
the most endowed and he could see strands of pubic hair from in between her
thighs as she tried to cover herself, but she wasn’t too hard on the eyes.
“Aishi,” she gasped out, voice raspy, “w-w-why?”
“Why not?” He ran the underside of the knife over her nipple and she flinched
away. He pressed his lips against hers for shits and giggles. Why was it so
easy to fetishize the art of torture? What was the appeal to it? He searched
for the answer in his mind as his tongue ran over her teeth. He felt heat
gathering in the pit of his stomach and he was slowly grinding against the
girl’s leg. “Ruto…” He looked into her eyes. They were tearing up and
quivering. “It’s only Tuesday. I have two more days to have fun with you.” He
kissed her cheek. She tasted better than the sub that morning. The woman smoked
too much and it was evident. Yande had never seen Oka smoke like some of the
other club members did. He still forced himself to pull away. “But let me
demonstrate my skills for you.” He turned around to Sosuke.
Ayano automatically moved back as Yande approached. He removed the gag and
Sosuke immediately gave a blood curdling scream. A good punch right in the
teeth was in order. Yande only had to nurse his fist for a moment before he got
back to business. He managed to chip a tooth and the fragment disappeared down
Sosuke’s throat. He plunged the knife into the man’s flesh – sixth time
tonight, amazing – over and over and over again until his actions became a
blur. This was something he would never ever tire of.
The wet squelch of blade breaking through skin and the stream of blood was
certainly inviting, especially for the sixth time in one night. Adrenaline
pumped through Yande’s veins. It was his time. He skewered the knife through
Sosuke’s right eye. He screamed, screamed, screamed until Yande held his mouth
open by the teeth and cut his tongue out.
A mantra of how much he deserved this echoed through Yande’s mind as he turned
the boy’s eye socket into a soupy mess of gore.
I deserve this.
He tore the optic nerve in half for fun.
It’s my time.
He knocked out another tooth for fun.
I can do this.
He nearly collapsed in exhaustion trying to slice the boy’s belly open to get a
view of those wonderful intestines (for fun).
Yes, I can.
                                       ❀
Ayano was awoken by the buzz of her cellphone. It didn’t help that she had been
hearing weird noises all night long. It took forever for her to block them out.
She forced herself to squint down at the message she had received.
     バブルガム✿CHUM
     ♡ thu. – 5.feb.98 / 00:41 ♡
     >chat connected!
     info_chan8: See what happens when you sleep alone?
     info_chan8: Go to your brother’s room. I know you’re curious.
     yandere_chan: go to bed
     info_chan8: I can’t when there’s so much action going on.
     info_chan8: Go see for yourself.
Ayano groggily got out of bed. No panties meant she had to rummage through her
brother’s laundry for a pair of his underwear to borrow for the night. She
didn’t even want to confront Info-8 about it. Not now anyway.
She quietly padded down the hallway toward her brother’s room. The sounds only
intensified. She pressed her ear against the door. She could clearly hear the
barely breathes and the moaning and the sound of skin slapping against skin. It
sent a shiver down her spine – a bad one. She hated the sound. The tune of
bones breaking was pleasanter. She opened the door anyway.
The nearly full moon bathed their forms in blue light. Oka’s wrists and ankles
were bound and Yande was holding the girl up, bouncing her in his lap as he was
trailing kisses all over her face and neck and chest.
He slowed his pace as he glanced at her. “Good morning, Yan-chan.” His tone was
all breathy, just the way she hated it. “Are you joining, watching, or
leaving?”
“Leaving.” She didn’t mean to slam the door shut.
     バブルガム✿CHUM
     ♡ thu. – 5.feb.98 / 00:45 ♡
     >chat connected!
     info_chan8: He “promised” to let her go if she had sex with him.
     Classic.
     info_chan8: We could have some fun, you know.
     yandere_chan: no
     info_chan8: How about it: I’ll give you your underwear back, washed
     and everything, if you spend the night with me.
     yandere_chan: no
     info_chan8: You drive a hard bargain.
     info_chan8: I’ll see if I can cook up a better deal next week.
     yandere_chan: dont
She went back to sleep without a hitch.
                                       ❀
“Aw, Ogazumu-sensei, you’re leaving so soon?” He pouted and everything.
“Oh, don’t look so sad, baby boy.” She kissed his cheek. He didn’t understand
why she favored cheek kisses so much. Wiping off her lipstick was a bitch.
“I’ll be gone after the assembly today. Wanna meet in the classroom after?” He
nodded. “Bye, baby. Be a good boy and don’t be late.”
“I won’t.” Yande made sure to wait a good period of time before he left the
closet. There were only a couple of students in the hall, but they were already
too far to see him leave. They were whispering to each other. Probably about
the assembly. It had been randomly called and everybody already knew what was
about to be discussed.
He found a seat in the front row next to Ayano. She had saved a seat for him.
How thoughtful. “What do you think this is all about?” He whispered. Ayano only
rolled her eyes.
The guidance counselor stood up to the podium. She was wearing an ill-fitting
black jacket over her outfit. She was usually one to wear tight and revealing
attire, but today was not the case. The usual pinched frown on her face was
absent also, replaced with a sober expression instead.
“Good afternoon, students. I am your counselor, Kunahito Genka, speaking on
behalf of the headmaster today since he could not make it to the assembly.”
Yande let a breath out through his nose. Figures. The headmaster was never
around. “This meeting was called because there has been controversy surrounding
the various unconfirmed disappearances and confirmed deaths of multiple
students attending this school and we are facing much scrutiny for our decision
to not close things down from outside sources. Meaning, it’s not your parents
who are concerned, it’s boards from other prefectures over and parents from
other countries, even the United States.
“The faculty and board all gathered yesterday and continued the meeting into
this morning and we have reached a consensus on this decision: we are not
closing down the school.” A nervous murmur went through the crowd. Kunahito
only needed to hold up one finger to bring back the silence. “Due to our own
and parents’ wishes, we do not want anyone to miss out on their education. We
pride ourselves on learning, no matter what the circumstances are. Hopefully
other countries will realize this.” She smirked momentarily before continuing,
“We have also denied the police’s request to install security cameras on campus
because we do not want to cause discomfort onto the student body or the faculty
members. We do not want to build an environment where we act like there is
something to be afraid of. But, we have agreed to let the police issue random
locker checks and we advise for you all to keep your lockers locked at all
times and if you have a cellar device we are allowing for you to keep it on
your body at all times instead of requiring them in the locker during class
time.” She stepped down from the podium. “You are dismissed. Resume to your
regular schedules.”
***** A Clockwork Wonderful *****
Chapter Summary
                                      25%
Due to the substitute teacher arriving a week early causing the temporarily
mess up of schedule, the Aishi twins had a free week from the sixth to the
fifteenth. Initially, Ayano and Yande didn’t know what to make of it, but it
did somehow produce the first three-way group chat with all of the Info-chan’s.
     バブルガム✿CHUM
     ♡ sat. – 7.feb.98 / 00:15 ♡
     >group chat connected!
     info_chan7: what are they supposed to do then?? just sit around all
     week???
     info_chan8: They still have Sosuke and Ruto’s bodies to dispose of.
     info_chan6: Check camera three.
     info_chan7: what’s on cam 3?? i’m not looking the aishi feed right
     now.
     info_chan8: Shit.
     yandere_kun: is there something wrong
     info_chan8: Yeah, Ruto’s still kicking. Go down and finish her off.
     info_chan6: Why are you not looking at the Aishi feed, 7?
     info_chan7: i’m checking ruto’s feed for your information. the police
     haven’t discovered the camera, so i’m taking it down tomorrow when
     they leave. and they left their papers out so i took pictures.
     apparently we have a survivor.
     info_chan8: Why can’t the Occult Club just fucking die.
     info_chan6: Survivor? Elaborate.
     info_chan7: well, churu supana somehow made it out alive. she lost a
     lot of blood though and is in buraza general. i went through the cams
     and files there and she is currently recovering from surgery and the
     police are waiting for her to get in a well enough condition to
     speak.
     info_chan6: Well then, looks like we’re not going to be sitting ducks
     this week. Hop to it, bootlickers.
     info_chan8: Yes, ma’am.
     info_chan7: yes ma’am!! (´・ω・`)
     yandere_kun: got ya
     yandere_chan: bye
                                       ❀
Ayano walked down the basement stairs slowly, surely. She let the sound of her
footsteps linger. She slammed the door behind her. The sound echoed in the
basement. Her ears perked at the sound of a nearly silent gasp and a shaky
breath.
She turned on the basement light and it highlighted the still-wet blood stains
puddled on the floor. Ayano frowned when she felt her sock soak when she
stepped in one. She tried to walk on tip-toe, avoiding the stains, but it was
proving to be a bit futile. Yande had had his fun with Sosuke, Ayano knew that
(and it actually wasn’t too bad to watch), but the details were still blurry
with Oka. When she asked after the assembly, he had insisted that Oka had been
taken care of. Ayano bit her tongue from making a remark about how taken care
of the girl had been from what she saw.
Ayano looked over Sosuke first. The poor boy’s face had been mutilated beyond
recognition and his leftover parts lied idle by his feet. Ayano probed at the
severed tongue with her toe. It was still warm. She bent down – ugh, she was
only wearing long socks and an oversized shirt for pajamas and she could feel
the cold basement air on her… exposed lower half – and looked closely at the
boy’s face. She bent her finger and placed it underneath his nose. He
definitely wasn’t breathing. All the color was drained from his cheeks and he
had already leaked his postmortem excrement and other fluids onto the floor.
Death: confirmed. On to the next.
Oka was propped up against the faraway wall. There wasn’t nearly as much
bloodshed around her as there was with Sosuke. Ayano bent down to the girl’s
level and picked up the girl’s head by the chin. She put her finger underneath
the girl’s nose. No breath. Ayano sighed. She transferred the knife that she
had brought to her other hand and held it against the girl’s neck, just a hair
above her skin. Ayano felt the girl tremble. She leaned back on the balls of
her feet and cocked her head. If she were her brother she would have smirked
and uttered some type of witty remark.
Ayano stood up and kicked the girl over. She used her foot to reposition her to
face the light. Oka was still in her shred clothes. There was dried blood on
her face and a scar on her neck. It looked like Yande had just slit her throat
and kept it going. There was also a dried clear substance on her stomach. Ayano
wrinkled her nose at the smell.
Oka was slow to become a whimpering mess. All it took was a few twirls of the
knife and the girl was shaking. She turned her eyes up to Ayano. Ayano frowned.
She could have sworn that the Occult Club members had a thing with covering one
of their eyes from what she recalled. All except Oka. It was right eye if her
memory served her correctly. It looked like it was time to correct the issue.
Ayano positioned the knife right in front of the girl’s right eye. “S-Sto—!”
She sputtered and coughed. Some splatters of blood came from her mouth and
landed on Ayano’s shirt.
“I can’t stop,” Ayano murmured, “when I’m just trying to fix a problem.” She
propped open the girl’s eyelids with her fingers and got to work, digging the
tip of the knife into the girl’s bottom lid. “What makes you so special?”
“Y-Ya—stop, please!”
“I can’t stop,” Ayano repeated. “I have to finish what my brother started.”
With a sick pop, she cut into the bottom of the eye. The girl screamed until
her voice was hoarse, until her eye slipped out, until Ayano sliced the nerve
in half and took a step back, admiring her work. Blood was dripping from the
girl’s eye, down her nose, and trailing down between the valley of her breasts
and disappearing down her stomach.
Oka still struggled though. She managed to turn her body around and get on her
knees. Ayano watched, arms crossed. The girl managed to stumble up to her
knees. Ayano kicked her down again. She flipped the girl over with her foot,
leaned down, and pressed her fingers into the gash she made. Oka had nothing
left to scream with, no more tears to cry with. Her other eye looked around the
room wildly before she settled on Ayano. Blood, tissue, and more precious
softness that the human body possessed jammed and squished beneath Ayano’s
fingers and she slowly dug her fingernails in and curved her fingers deeper
inside. Sweet warmth enveloped all around them. Oka’s pained pants quickly
turned into gags. Ayano clicked her tongue and slowly began to move her fingers
back and forth, back and forth in a nearly mesmerizing rhythm, drawing up more
blood, more gore. Her vision was going in and out and her breath was only
quickening while Oka’s was slowing down.
The girl’s mouth and eyes stayed wide open when she finally kicked the bucket.
Ayano wiggled her fingers one final time before she pulled herself out from the
girl’s socket. How enjoyable. Yande should have done the same with Sosuke.
“Good job.” Ayano looked up. Yande, only in his pajama pants, stood at the top
of the stairway. He cocked his head toward the doorway and walked back up.
Briefly controlled by logic, Ayano leaned down one last time and held her
finger below the girl’s nose. No breath. She then went to follow after her
brother.
The world swirled into a blur around her. She felt her shoulders heave up and
down with every breath her body forced in and out of her lungs. She found
herself in the kitchen and Yande’s hand was in front of her. She could only
stare down at it. She felt the knife that was still tightly clenched in her
hand be wrenched away and tossed elsewhere.
Those hands were all over her now, and she could feel bare skin pressed against
hers. She could only haul in another breath and try to blink the fuzziness
away. She could feel her back be pushed against a corner and maybe trying to
push away was a late reaction, because her hands were only brought down again.
“Yan-chan,” she heard. She opened her eyes and tried to look around. She could
focus somewhat again. Yande was in front of her. Hadn’t he spoken to her
earlier? He had a weird look on his face. She always hated that expression. She
reached up and tried to touch his face. Redness streaked onto his cheek
suddenly, but he leaned into her touch anyway. “Yan,” he whispered. She tried
to touch his lips, where the source of that strange, breathy voice was, but he
pulled her hand away again.
She felt him breathe against her neck, felt his lips drag across her skin. “Do
you even know what watching you do that did to me? I shouldn’t have watched.”
He took a step back. “Want me to run you a bath?” She must have nodded. She was
being taken by the arm down the hall now.
Her socks and shirt were pulled off. Her toes curled upon contact with the cold
floor tiles. The sound of a pipe squeaking and water rushing sounded so
distant. She felt herself wobble back and forth. She felt like she was on the
edge of a cliff, teetering on the very tips of her toes. One wrong move and she
would go crashing down into oblivion.
“Breathe, Yan-Yan. Get it together.” She listened. Suddenly she was in water.
Her body turned lax and she leaned her head against the back of the tub. “There
we go.” Was the voice cooing at her? “Don’t make that face. Just relax.” There
were bubbles surrounding her. They looked nice. She reached out to touch them,
but they popped and the water turned a murky, orangey hue.
“I’m going to Buraza General later to work on finishing off that one girl.
Info-7 sent me a nurse’s outfit and stole a badge and everything.” He sighed.
“I wish you could come with me.” She only looked up at him. He took out a
washcloth, wet it with clear water, and began to clean her hands. “I don’t know
why. I think it would be fun to break into a hospital and off a patient
together.”
“It would,” she whispered. She looked down at her hands once he finished. He
even cleaned the bits of filth that had gotten underneath her fingernails.
“Are you feeling better now?”
“A little.”
“That’s good.” Fingers hooked underneath her chin and brought her head up.
Yande’s eyes were so brown, like hers. He was kissing her again. She allowed
it. Things had really turned around after their argument. In the end, the Info-
chan’s were more concerned about it than they were. He let out a breath through
his nose. “Sex has become a reoccurring theme these days, huh?”
“I guess so.”
“I mean, there’s you and me, then you and Kaiyo almost, and then me and Ruto.”
“Info-8 said that if I spend the night with him then he would give my underwear
back.”
“Oh, really?” She nodded. “Don’t.”
“I wasn’t.”
“Good.” He leaned back. “I’m going to try and enjoy myself with the girl at the
hospital because I know that the delinquents are all yours.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m with the Photography Club so I have to look like a goody two-
shoes, but because of the drama with Swim Club nobody’s giving you the time of
day right now. I’m sure the delinquents will actually talk back when you speak
to them now instead of turning up their noses.”
“Right.” He kissed her again. “Bye, Yan-kun.”
“Bye, Yan-chan. Don’t stay in too long. You don’t want to get all wrinkly like
Grand Sobo.”
“Grand Sobo looks nice for eighty-eight.”
“Sure, you guys keep telling yourselves that.”
“Don’t disrespect our great-great-great grandmother like that, especially when
she’s sick.”
Yande looked down suddenly. “Do you think she’s really sick? Or did mother come
up with an excuse to go hunt down our dad or something?” Ayano shrugged.
“You’re no help, Yan-chan.”
                                       ❀
Ayano made her way to the Martial Arts Club at the end of the day. Another
member entered alongside her and there were five already in the room, including
the club president. She made her way over to him. His arms were crossed and he
had a wide grin on his face. “Hi.” She smiled. She quickly sized him up. His
arms were crossed and she swore that he was scowling before she spoke to him.
Was it because of her? Maybe her “bad” reputation had spread to him also.
“Hello,” he said back. “You’re the Aishi sister, right?”
“I am. And you’re Masuta.”
“I am! But you can just call me Budo.” He had a loud, commanding voice.
Certainly not the same as the cool, collected voice that Info-8 possessed.
Maybe it was someone else in the club. “What brings you here? Are you
considering joining the Marital Arts Club?”
“Um, I don’t know. I just wanted to ask some questions.”
“Oh, you got questions?” He moved his hands to his hips. “Shoot.”
“What do you practice here?”
“Well, in the club we do jujutsu, judo, and karate. I originally wanted to do
Chinese martial arts, like JKD, you know, the one that Bruce Lee founded—”
“Jeet Kune Do?”
“Oh?” His smile widened and he took a step closer to her. “Do you happen to be
a fan?”
“I just know a little something about the arts.” She shrugged. “But you were
saying?”
“I was saying we do jujutsu, judo, and karate, no Chinese arts because the
headmaster didn’t approve for some reason.” He rolled his eyes. “Which sucks,
but I can manage.”
“Do you do any swordsmanship type stuff?”
“Like… kendo?” She nodded. “Uh, we could. We have a katana actually. See.” He
gestured toward the wall behind her. She glanced at it. The sword hung up high
on the wall, surrounded by posters of various fighters (with a reoccurring
theme of Bruce Lee). It looked pretty unused. “I got the okay on that, but the
members are more interested in fists than swords, so,” he shrugged. “Why do you
ask?”
“I’m just interested in swords, that’s all.”
“Specifically katana?”
“Yes, and tantou, wakizashi, and tachi too.” He nodded.
“Me too, but it doesn’t matter what I’m interested in at the end of the day,
it’s about the members.” He gestured toward them all. A couple of them waved
and one of them bowed. Budo chuckled at the bowing member. “Apprentice,” he
whispered toward Ayano. He cleared his throat before he spoke up again, “So,
considering joining now?”
“Do you mind if I just sit in and watch practice today?”
“Sure, I don’t mind, but I can’t sign you up as an official member until you
participate.”
“Got you.”
“And four-thousand yen for a gi.”
She laughed. “Good price.” He smiled back before he took his position in front
of the club. He called for everyone to gather up. He yelled out commands and
the students yelled back. Ayano kept her ears perked, trying to listen and pick
out every voice that yelled back. None of them matched Info-8. Maybe it was
because they were yelling and not just speaking normally. Ayano never heard
Info-8 yell before. She leaned against the wall and continued to watch. Looks
like she was spending some more time with the Martial Arts Club than she
originally thought.
                                       ❀
Ayano volunteered to go out to the incinerator at the end of practice. One of
the apprentices gladly tossed a trash bag her way and thanked her. They didn’t
match Info-8’s voice. She could scratch Juku Ren off the list. He seemed pretty
weak anyway. Even Ayano noticed how he sometimes fumbled with some commands. Oh
well, he was an apprentice for a reason.
Budo stopped her at the door. “Where are you going?” She held up the bag of
trash. It was pretty self-explanatory. “Oh.” He let go of her arm and took a
step back. “Hurry back. I’d like to talk to you.” She nodded. She felt his eyes
on her back as she left.
Some of the delinquents came back early Monday morning, as Info-chan had
predicted, and stood post at their usual spot by the incinerator throughout the
day. Ayano had yet to see their leader, the target, though. Maybe her
suspension was longer than the others. Ayano hadn’t bothered to ask too much
about her.
Ayano saw now that only three of them, one female and two males, were there.
They all raised an eyebrow as she approached them. Usually a student had to
wait hours after cleanup time for them to leave in order to use the incinerator
and attempting to use it while they were still there resulted in bad news, but
they weren’t budging for Ayano. She walked to the machine, tossed the trash in,
and turned it on. She hadn’t used it since the Drama Club murders.
“Hey, Aishi,” the girl called out, “come here.” She obeyed. They all looked her
over. The girl had short hair with copper streaks on the left and right sides.
She wore a surgeon’s mask (did she break into the hospital too, maybe?) that
read “fuck” in bright and bold characters. Ayano eyed the bokken – wooden sword
– at the girl’s side. The boys had weapons too. One had a shinai – a bamboo
weapon – and the other had a crowbar. The boy with the crowbar looked familiar.
“Yes?” Ayano asked.
“You’re kinda cool,” the girl said. She shrugged and swung her weapon over her
shoulders, letting her arms hang off of it casually. Perhaps Ayano was looking
in the wrong place with the Martial Arts Club and Info-8 was actually a
delinquent, or at least associated with them. They seemed to have more of a
variety and access to weapons than the club did. “Boss Murasa didn’t like any
of the bitches there anyway, so she was kinda happy to find out what happened,
with the Photo Club digging up dirt and exposing them and shit.”
“Oh…” They were all staring bullets at her. She wasn’t sure how to respond.
“That’s… good, I guess?”
“What I’m saying is that we know that you somehow had to have a hand in this. I
mean, the club was getting away with shit and then all of a sudden when you
join the head bitch dies and the rest of the mutts experience simultaneous
social suicide?” She hollered out a laugh. “Not you though. All that was said
about you was maybe you were involved with the bullying, but we knew you
weren’t. I heard you were the first one to find Kaiyo’s body or something?”
“No, it was another girl. I was the one who called the police though.”
“Oh.” She clicked her tongue and swung her weapon back down on the ground so
she could lean on it. “Must suck, huh? I bet one of those bitches did it.
Wotoru down at the Photo Club wrote this huge, elaborate theory thing about it
and everybody turned against him for ‘lying,’ but the Boss believed it.” She
shrugged. “Do you think so too?” How was Ayano supposed to answer that?
“Maybe. Who knows?”
“Yeah,” the girl sighed, “who knows, right?” She ran her hand through her hair.
“They call me Copper, by the way.” She pointed to the boys. They all nodded
towards Ayano. “That’s Dandy and that’s Sumito—nickname pending.” Oh, that’s
who that was. It had been exactly one month and one day since Shiba Sweetie’s
murder. All Ayano really knew about Shiba Sumito was that he was about fifteen
– a year younger than her, he was Sweetie’s younger brother, he had ADHD, and
he had played the flute when they were in Light Music Club together. He looked
like he had a few growth spurts since she last saw him and his hair was gelled
up in the same dramatic style like the other delinquent males’. He must have
dyed it jet black too, since she knew that he and Sweetie had light, brownish
hair.
Sumito gestured his crowbar towards her. “Hey, Yan-chan,” he greeted. His voice
was quiet. Ayano remembered how loud and carefree he was during practices,
always yelling across the room to his friends and whispering things when the
teacher’s back was turned. He had even broken his flute once and risked getting
kicked out the club, but he had been passionate about playing from what Ayano
recalled and even paid to replace it out of his own pocket.
“Hey, Sumito.” Copper looked back and forth between them.
“You know her?” She asked.
“We were in Music together,” Ayano supplied. Copper huffed.
“Whatever. Anyway, Boss wanted to talk to you. Meet back here tomorrow and
she’ll show. Hope you don’t have any other prior engagements or anything.”
Ayano shook her head. “I don’t.”
“Good. See you then. And, uh, bring cigarettes.” Copper winked. “Boss likes
those.”
“What brand though?”
Copper raised an eyebrow, like she wasn’t expecting the question. “Uh, she
likes Sakura best, but they only sell those in Kagoshima and Miyazaki only, so,
unless you’re planning some type of overnight trip, you aren’t getting those.
Get Caster—Caster Super Mild—from the supermarket or the pharmacy then. Pull
through.”
Ayano nodded. She didn’t feel their eyes on her back as she walked away. She
found herself walking slowly to the Martial Arts Club. She was torn between the
club and the delinquents, but then again, Info-8 could be some kid that went to
another school. Yande could find next to no traces of Info-7 at all, receiving
absolutely no calls from the person, while Ayano had both seen and heard Info-
8 on multiple occasions and was still stumped. Maybe she should have stayed and
hid while they cleaned up the pool. But Info-chan probably would have known
that she was spying on them and the consequences would have been bad if Info-
8 really did know what to do with a sword.
Budo was standing center in the room, arms crossed. A few lingering members
were still cleaning up here and there while Budo stood watch. He smiled when
Ayano entered the room. She had lingered by the door for a while, watching him,
and he hadn’t been smiling then, but he wasn’t scowling like she swore he did
before their first meeting.
He scratched the back of his head as he walked toward her. “Um, might sound a
little strange, but they’re playing The Big Boss tonight and I thought you’d
like to come since you are a fellow Bruce Lee fan too maybe.” She forced her
smile to stay up. Any boy who wasn’t Senpai that had a crush on her was just an
insect that needed to be swatted. And Yande was probably going to have some
dramatic reaction if he learned that Ayano had gone out with somebody he didn’t
approve of (and the only people that he approved of that Ayano knew were
himself and Senpai, so the list wasn’t too long in the first place). “It’ll be
me, Ren, and Mina, so it won’t be just me and you alone, don’t worry!”
“I wasn’t worried. How long is the movie?”
“Almost two hours. And I’m taking everybody out for dinner too, so we’ll be
gone for a while.”
Insect. “I’d love to go.” Swat. “Thank you.”
“No problem!” He touched her arm again before he went to go change. Another
touchy-feely type to deal with. Wonderful.
                                       ❀
They ate noodles in a karaoke hall and thank goodness they weren’t actually
participating in karaoke, because there was only so much Ayano was willing to
do to seem like a normal schoolgirl. Riding her bike around town and wasting
money on manga with senseless storylines was enough, but singing along to
stupid, forgettable songs? A line had to be drawn somewhere.
Ayano was poking at the seaweed on top of her ramen when she was poked on the
elbow. She looked up at Budo. He pointed at another table. “There’s Taro.” He
waved. “Hey, Taro! Come here?” Senpai was here? Now? While Ayano was sitting so
close to another boy? No, no, no, no, no—
“Hey, Masuta.” He spoke. “What’re you up to?” His voice. Ayano couldn’t
breathe.
“Taking a few of the club members to see a movie. Oh, and I’m taking not-
really-but-might-become-one-in-the-future member Aishi Ayano.” He threw his arm
over her shoulders. No, no, no. Ayano was going to break his arm.
“Hi, Aishi-san.” Senpai smiled at her. She couldn’t speak. This wasn’t
happening. She melted like ice-cream, no, like hot candle wax whenever she
caught him smiling at someone else. Now his smile was for her and only her. She
didn’t know what to do.
“H-Hi,” she squeaked out. She didn’t know that she even still had the
capability to speak. Being around Senpai put a worse spell on her than the
sight of gore did. She could feel her cheeks heating up. It was amazing how she
let one boy manage to have so much power over her. Everything was for him. She
was killing for him. She was out to see some movie she didn’t care about with a
boy that she cared about even less all for him.
“I’ll see you around,” Senpai said. He waved before returning back to his
table. Ayano watched him walk back to his table. It looked like he was there
with his little sister and father. Ayano knew that Senpai’s mother was away in
Tokyo on business and his father liked to take them out for dinner while she
gone.
Budo whistled and waved his hand in front of her face. “Hello? Earth to Yan-
chan.” She blinked. She could feel his uninvited arm around her again. He
leaned closer to her ear. “You’re doing some pretty hard staring over there.”
“Sorry.” She forced herself to turn away. “I didn’t mean to.”
“It’s cool. Taro is better to look at than me, I’ll admit.” He gave a good-
hearted laugh and rubbed her shoulder. “Might want to hurry up and eat your
food before it gets cold or I start eating it.” She nodded and swirled and
twined some noodles around her chopsticks. She found herself pausing before she
brought the noodles to her mouth. She hadn’t eaten noodles like this since she
stuffed them down her throat until she vomited after she killed Sweetie.
She couldn’t help but feel nauseous after she forced herself to swallow down
the rest of the bowl’s contents.
                                       ❀
Budo took it upon himself to walk Ayano home despite her insistence that she
was fine by herself. He was laughing and spoke loudly about his appreciation
for Bruce Lee and other forms of martial arts while she commented here and
there to seem “interested.” The only good thing that happened tonight was that
Senpai smiled at her for the first time. It was a milestone, a historic event
even.
“Well,” he stopped in front of her house, “here we are.”
“Here we are.” She nodded. “Thank you for tonight. I had a good time.”
“Me too. Don’t be a stranger, okay?” She smiled and nodded. She started to
unlock the door, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her back slightly.
“Oh, and you’ll need these.” He took something from his jacket pocket, took her
hand, and forced her to take whatever he had. “Have a good night, Yan-chan.” He
waved behind his back as he walked away, whistling some song from the movie
into the night.
She looked down at her hand. It was a packet that was light pink. “Sakura” was
written in English on the front. She opened it up. There were cigarettes
inside.
“Whoa!” Yande actually jumped out of his seat from the couch. “Don’t go opening
the door like that, Yan. I thought you were one of the doctors coming after me.
I was so close to getting caught when they asked me to hand them an
ophthalmoscope or something and I had no clue what they were talking about.”
Yande turned down the television and stood up. He was still wearing scrubs and
had blood splattered over the front. “Yan, what’s wrong?” She hadn’t closed the
door or taken off her shoes yet.
“Masuta Budo took me out to dinner and movie,” was all she said. He frowned
deeply, before he stopped. Twin telepathy was a thing between them, thank
goodness.
“How was it?” He asked. He took off his bloodstained outfit and began to walk
away. She followed after. He leaned in closer to her once they were inside the
laundry room. “No cameras in here,” he whispered. “And I tried to take down the
camera in your room, but it was back the next day.” He turned on the washing
machine. The loud rumbling of the machine would hopefully drown out their
conversation.
“One of the delinquents told me to get Murasa Akabara a packet of Sakura
cigarettes and then he gave me this before he left.” She held up the packet for
Yande to see.
“Shit,” he whispered. “If for some reason we get in a situation where we have
to confess, nobody is going to believe that it’s him. He rescues cats from
trees and stops muggers from stealing girls’ purses, for fucks’ sake.” He let
out a long breath through his nose before he cocked his head toward the door.
Ayano tucked the cigarettes back into her skirt pocket.
He tried to wrap his arm over her shoulders and she shook him off like she
wanted to do with Budo all night. She took out her phone.
     バブルガム✿CHUM
     ♡ tue. – 17.feb.98 / 00:39 ♡
     >chat connected!
     info_chan8: Hello! Beat you to it.
     info_chan8: Keiji “Copper” Kupa is my cousin, but you don’t need to
     go easy on her. Yamaguchi “Dandy” isn’t the strongest guy around.
     yandere_chan: give me back my underwear
     info_chan8: No, I think I’ll keep them. They smell pretty nice.
     yandere_chan: i hate you
     info_chan8: I love you, too. Have a good night, Yan-chan.
She slammed her phone shut. Yande rubbed his hand along the small of her back.
“I guess I still have my own mystery to solve, but it looks like one of them
wanted us to know who they are while the other doesn’t.” Ayano held her phone
to her chest.
“Senpai smiled at me today.”
“What? Really? That’s great, Yan-Yan.” He kissed her cheek. “It felt amazing,
didn’t it?”
“It did.”
“I’m sure it did. You deserve all of his smiles and laughs and anything else
good he can give you.” He kissed her forehead. “Sweet dreams.”
“Sleep with me tonight.”
“What?” She bit her lip.
“Sleep with me tonight,” she repeated. “After you bathe,” she added.
“Will do.” He rushed to the bathroom.
                                       ❀
Was Ayano supposed to get on her hands and knees and grovel on the grass and
then lay her offering to the great and powerful Boss Murasa Akabara and beg for
acceptance? She thought so, but handing the cigarettes to Copper so that she
could pass them to the boss – who had her back turned the moment Ayano walked
up to them – was enough.
Ayano didn’t need to see her face to know that she was taken aback when she
looked at the cigarettes. “Sakura?” She said. Her voice was… soft. She turned
around then. She had a torn male uniform jacket draped over her shoulders like
a cape, bandages twined up her arms like some kind of makeshift handwraps, a
pair of rolled up pants underneath her uniform skirt, and her hair was dyed
blonde and was an unruly mess. Ayano was incredibly inadequate in comparison
with her brother’s sweater and a pair of long socks. It was typical cool
February weather and it had rained that morning. She had only dressed
appropriately.
“I heard they were your favorite.”
“They are.” Murasa had an adhesive bandage across her nose, but the long scar
underneath still peeked out of it. She towered over Ayano, and Ayano considered
herself to be at a decent height. Ayano could see the girl’s arms when she held
out her hand to Copper for a lighter and went into the process of lighting one
of the pink cigarettes. “Thanks, kid.”
“Kid?” Ayano probably shouldn’t have said that. The delinquents were a delicate
situation. It took too much to even get a second glance from them and staying
with them proved to be some difficulty too from what Ayano knew. Copper’s head
swung around to face her and Murasa raised an eyebrow, momentarily taking the
smoke from her mouth, before she snorted.
“Yeah, ‘kid.’ What are you, sixteen, seventeen? I’m eighteen.” She reached down
and ruffled Ayano’s hair to make her point. “So I can call you ‘kid’ as much as
I want, kid. Got that?” Ayano nodded. “Sucks that the rest of the gang’s not
here. A lot of ‘em got transferred to Kumamoto. Lame, right?”
“Right.” Ayano nodded.
“It’s a shame. Triangle woulda liked a nice, pretty face like yours, wouldn’t
he, Copper?” Copper immediately nodded.
“He likes them pretty, Boss.”
“He does.” Murasa wasn’t carrying a weapon that Ayano could see, but just the
sight of her arms was enough. She looked like she could take on Budo or a
journeymen from the Martial Arts Club and it would be a close fight. Ayano
threw the thought of Budo and the club out of her mind as quickly as they came.
Murasa blew a puff of smoke in her face. Ayano didn’t even flinch. Murasa
smirked. “Move out. We’re going to Sumito’s.”
“B-But Boss, I said Wednesday’s only. That’s when my grandmother is out doing
errands.”
“Oh yeah? Well lately Tuesday’s when all the old folks gather at the Koyama’s
to play mahjong and eat soup and clean their dentures and rub ointment on
themselves and do whatever the fuck else old people do.” She got up in his
face, nose-to-nose. “Move. Out.” Sumito didn’t speak out again.
                                       ❀
There was an urn in the living room. It was painted a pale shade of pastel
green and Sweetie’s real name was painted across the front neatly in white.
Ayano knew that it was empty. She didn’t even know where Sweetie was. Were her
severed parts decomposing somewhere in a wayward landfill or had she been
processed and burned with some pile of rubbish?
“Bathroom?” Ayano asked Sumito. Dapper and Copper were on the couch, drinking,
while Murasa stood on top of the coffee table, telling some story that Ayano
had stopped listening to after a few seconds.
“Down the hall, to the left. Can you go into my room and bring out more drinks
on your way back, too? Thanks.”
She followed his directions. There were three toothbrushes resting on the
bathroom sink. Ayano found her finger tracing along the edge of the clearly
lone brush. She stopped herself and took a long swing from her bottle before
she pulled out her phone.
     バブルガム✿CHUM
     ♡ tue. – 17.feb.98 / 19:52 ♡
     >chat connected!
     yandere_chan: i dont want to be here
     info_chan8: Wow, you’re not usually one to message first.
     info_chan8: Survive the night, sweetie. It’ll all be over soon.
Ayano picked up the drinks and returned to the living room. Dandy snatched two
from her hands and immediately started guzzling them down, while Copper,
Sumito, and Murasa politely took their own.
“Hey,” Murasa ruffled her hair again before Ayano could sit down, “I saw you
before. Let me think…” She tapped her chin. “I got a great memory, don’t remind
me... Uh, the first of April, ’96. It was at the playground. I remember because
you were crying and shit and I thought it was weird because I had never seen
you or your brother even smile before then.” Ayano froze. Murasa took another
swing of her drink like it was nothing. “What was up with that?”
“It was my fourteenth birthday.” She cooked up a quick lie: “I didn’t get the
present I wanted so I went to the park to cry about it.” Ayano shrugged. “It
was stupid.” She tapped her fingers against the glass of her drink. She swore
that nobody else was at park that day.
“I used to be in Art Club back in junior high,” Murasa said suddenly. “I got
kicked out for some bullshit. So I came to the park that day to take my mind
off it, but then I saw you crying on the swings, so I left to give you some
privacy.” Murasa smirked toward Dandy. “See, I can be nice.”
“Sure,” he muttered. He had already finished off his first bottle, but he
didn’t even look the slightest big intoxicated yet. Somebody knew how to hold
their liquor. Ayano’s phone buzzed. She glanced down at it quickly and made
sure it angle it so that Copper couldn’t read it.
     バブルガム✿CHUM
     ♡ tue. – 17.feb.98 / 19:56 ♡
     >group chat connected!
     info_chan8: Change of plans.
     info_chan6: A package has been delivered through Shiba Sumito’s
     bedroom window. Retrieve it. We will be waiting outside.
Ayano stood up again. “Sorry,” she murmured as she moved past Murasa.
“Damn, the facet’s leaky tonight, huh?” Murasa laughed. “Blame it on the booze.
But like I was saying…” Her voice faded into the background as Ayano made her
way to the bedroom.
Ayano shouldn’t have turned on the lights. Missing posters of Sweetie covered
every single inch of the walls, top to bottom. She hurried to the window. A
shoebox was resting there. Inside were her mother’s knife and a collection of
smaller knives featuring various cartoon characters on the handles.
“Hey, Yan-Yan.” Ayano looked up. Yande, dressed in all black, was standing
outside the window. “Aren’t they nice? I thought they were up your alley.”
“Thank you.” She closed the box and handed it back to him. “What’s going on?”
“Info-chan doesn’t want them expelled anymore. She wants them dead. So she
called me up and 8—or should I say Masuta—is waiting outside in the car. We’re
ready when you are.”
“What am I doing?”
“Taking the party over to your place.” He winked and took the shoebox. “’Call’
me and I’ll come in the car for you. We’re parked just down the street.”
She had to ask, “Whose car is it?”
“Masuta’s,” he groaned. He disappeared into the night then.
“Hey,” Ayano called out when she returned. She got the room’s attention. She
made sure to wobble and slur her words a bit. “More,” she hiccupped, “M-More
drinks at my place. Wanna go?”
“What?” Sumito stood up. “But I just brought drinks.”
“I got better ones.” Ayano smiled.
“Isn’t your house kinda far?” Copper asked.
“I can just…” Ayano made a display of struggling to get her phone out. “I can
just call my brother. He’ll pick us up, no big deal.”
“Holy shit, he has a car?” Murasa asked. “Call him. I got mine taken away and I
hate going to places on foot. I mean, I got the body of a god, but I’ve been
walking everywhere during my suspension and I’m sick of it.”
Ayano punched in the number. “Hey, Yan-kun? I’m at Shiba’s, could you pick us
up really quick?” She winked toward everybody else and gave a thumbs-up.
“Coming now. Tonight’s going to be fun. And don’t hog everybody this time
either.”
“Thanks, bro.” She smiled as she closed her phone. “He’s coming up now.”
“I bet Aishi can throw a better shindig than you ever could, Sumito,” Murasa
said. She jumped off the table. Dandy and Copper gathered up as many bottles as
they could and followed their leader outside. Sumito stopped in front of Ayano
before she could leave. He only had to give her one look and his eyes said all.
They held that same warmth that Sweetie’s had.
“Don’t get attached, stay detached.”
She patted his shoulder as she made her way to the door too. “Let’s go, Sumi.”
“I hate them,” he whispered. She stopped.
“Huh?”
“I hate them,” he said again, slightly louder. The sound of the car pulling up
covered his voice. “I just… I felt like they were the only ones who understood
me, you know, after everything that happened with Sweetie and my baa-baa
doesn’t understand. The teachers don’t. The guidance counselor doesn’t. The
therapist doesn’t. Nobody fucking does. But they did. They knew what I needed.
That I was angry.” He clenched his fists. The horn was honking outside. “I’m
just so fucking angry. And tired. I’m so tired.”
She touched his shoulder again. “You won’t have to feel tired anymore tonight,
okay?”
He sniffled. “What do you mean?”
“Get in the car and you’ll see. Come on.”
Murasa had taken the front seat next to her brother, so Ayano was forced to
squeeze in the back. She was nearly in Dandy’s lap much to her displeasure (but
probably not his, judging from the way that she could smell his rotten,
alcohol-ridden breath every time he laughed and stroked up her shin).
“I see you have new friends, Yan-chan,” Yande said. Ayano opened her mouth to
say something, but Murasa beat her to the punch.
“After hearing about her and the Swim Club, I couldn’t resist myself. Consider
her an honorary member. I actually got some respect for the kid.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Are you questioning me?” They went on arguing, but Ayano knew it was
lighthearted. The clock on the radio read that it was seven at night now. Still
a little early, but who cared. A free week had left Ayano itching for more,
especially after only having Oka has leftovers and coming home to see Yande
satisfied and covered in blood.
Dandy’s hand was exploring up her thigh now. He managed to sneak a touch
between her legs before she pressed her knees together and tried to scoot
closer to Copper and away from him. “What? No panties?” He chuckled – a classic
drunkard laugh. “Naughty, naughty, naughty.” Looks like the drinks were finally
kicking in.
“Piss off,” she hissed. He either didn’t hear her or didn’t care, because he
was reaching behind her to mess with Copper’s hair now. The girl wasn’t wearing
her mask now. Ayano recalled seeing her face around school. She didn’t wear
pants underneath her uniform like Murasa, but she had shortened the skirt like
most of the other delinquent girls had. She also pinned the copper streaks of
her hair back during class time. Ayano guessed that she wasn’t a fan of getting
pink slips like Osana and probably Murasa were.
Her backside was slapped once she stepped out of the car. She snapped her head
around to face Dandy, no, Yamaguchi. He didn’t know what she was capable of.
None of them did. She just turned around and walked to her house. Patience was
a virtue, but she would be glad to eviscerate someone on the sidewalk if it
were socially acceptable.
“Where’s the booze?” Murasa slammed the door behind her. “Mama wants to get
nice tonight.”
“Basement,” Ayano said. Everyone was having an idle conversation as they
followed behind her. “I’ll get cups,” she said before she closed the door. She
went to the front door. He was already there, wearing the mask and black
clothing that he had worn during their first first meeting.
“Hi, Yan-chan.” His voice was low again. Which voice was the façade, she
wondered. He waved his blade. “Basement?” She moved out of the way so he could
enter the house. “Nice place. You’ve been keeping tidy.”
“Shut up and go to basement.”
“Oh? You really are fearless, huh? Badmouthing someone who is specially trained
in various martial arts and carrying multiple blades on their person.” He
touched a gloved finger underneath her chin. “This is why you’re my favorite.”
She held her breath until she heard the basement door shut behind him. She
locked it. The boys could start the show, but she was going to finish it for
sure.
The shoebox was next to the door. She opened it. The knives were nice, yes, but
her mind still lingered on the beautiful tantou blade that Masuta had offered
her, how it still managed to shine and glisten underneath the dim light coming
from the computer screen. Her mother’s knife and these new smaller ones would
do though. It was the kind of knife that the blade could be pushed and
concealed inside of the handle. Perfect for carrying in the pocket.
Ayano stood in front of the door for a moment. If there was any screaming going
on, she couldn’t hear it. Bless the soundproof basement. It was a godsend,
honestly. She made her way down.
Sosuke and Oka’s bodies and the blood on the floor hadn’t been cleaned up
(Yande had insisted that the bodies and blood stay so that they can scare any
potential future visitors to the basement and Ayano had spent the free week
lighting candles and burning incense every night and morning, just in case the
smell managed to creep out). They rested side by side in the front of the room,
as if they were on display. Their gorged-out eyes rested in each of their laps,
respectful of the owner.
They must have moved a small table and more chairs down into the basement while
Ayano was gone. She could see that the delinquents’ legs were tied to the
chairs and legs of the table and their wrists had been tied together while
their arms had been massively taped down to the table, palms down so that their
fingers were exposed and ripe for the taking. Murasa sat at the head of the
table and it felt like an understatement to say she was mad. She was a roaring
lioness – infuriated. That soft voice that Ayano had originally heard was
nowhere to be found.
“I WILL BREAK OUT OF THESE TIES, AND WHEN I DO YOU’RE ALL FUCKING DEAD, YOU
HEAR ME?” She shook the table and banged against him. “DEAD, DEAD, DEAD—ALL OF
YOU ARE DEAD.”
Copper kept glancing at the sitting stiffs during Murasa’s rant. “S-Stop saying
‘dead,’ Boss, I’m gonna puk—” Her cheeks swelled up and Ayano could see that
the girl was trying to hold her bile back. Vomit would be an unfortunate mess,
but oh well. It wasn’t like she and Yande hadn’t cleaned up the waste that a
dead body naturally eliminates multiple times before.
Ayano put the box in the center of the table. It wasn’t like their captives
were going to be able to reach the knives inside if they tried.
“Do you like knife throwing, Yan-chan?” Budo asked her. He placed his blades at
his sides and picked some of the small knives from the box. He weighed the
knives in his hands as he took a several steps back from the table. “A little
weightier than throwing knives, but they should do. Watch and learn.” He got
into position. Ayano and Yande simultaneously stepped back also.
“Shurikenjutsu, don’t fail me now,” he said before he threw the first knife.
Bull’s-eye. It hit Copper square in the forehead. Her scream was cut short when
he threw another at her at her chest – around where her heart should have been,
another in her left eye, one in the right, and then a final one was lodged in
her neck. She collapsed against the table in a bloodied heap. Yamaguchi let out
a girlish scream when her blood began to pool underneath his immobilized hands.
Ayano walked behind him, followed by Yande. “It isn’t nice to be touched by
something you don’t like, huh?” He said for her. Ayano could roll her eyes at
that. Everyone’s a hypocrite.
Yamaguchi turned into a crying, whimpering mess at the blink of an eye. Poor
boy was still hopelessly drunk. All the bloodshed wasn’t enough to sober him
up. Yande took out their mother’s knife and positioned above the boy’s hands.
His pathetic sobbing grew even louder. “I guess you don’t need these anymore,
since you won’t be touching my sister or anyone else again.” He raised his arm
and brought the knife down. Murasa stopped yelling then.
Yande went on to the next finger, then the next one, then the next one, until
all ten were severed and lined up in a neat row in front of their disjoined
joints. His blood blended with Copper’s. Budo had returned to the table and was
ripping out the knives from Copper’s body. Yamaguchi didn’t know where to look:
at his Boss and fellow delinquent who were just as helpless as he was, the girl
he thought had aligned with him that was reveling in the chaos with an unmoving
gaze, the masked stranger that was now plucking knives from his friend like it
was nothing, or the boy who had just cut his fingers off with the swiftness of
a chef cutting meat.
“Finish him,” Yande said. He passed the knife over to Ayano and in the blink of
an eye she ran it over Yamaguchi’s throat. He didn’t have to focus on anything
now but the back of his eyelids. She knocked his head over so it could lie
against the table also.
“Two down, two to go,” Budo said. “Who wants Murasa?”
“I do,” Ayano immediately said. She couldn’t kill Sumito.
She turned her back to Budo and her brother as they got started on the boy. She
didn’t even want to know what they were going to do with him. Sumito didn’t
deserve this. He was with the wrong crowd at the wrong place at the wrong time.
If life was a game of mahjong and people were just tiles on the board, Ayano
would move Sumito’s piece as far away as she could. Somewhere where he could
enjoy time with his baa-baa and where he wouldn’t have to put missing posters
of his sister everywhere because he would know exactly where she was. Somewhere
where he could be as angry and emotional as he wanted and people would
understand him. Somewhere where he could joke around when he wanted and play
the flute when he wanted. Somewhere where fate wouldn’t fuck him over – he was
screaming in agony and calling out Ayano’s name now – and where he could be
loved instead.
Murasa brought Ayano back to reality with a spit to the face. “Fuck you,” the
girl barked out. Ayano only wiped the spit with the back of her sweater sleeve.
This wasn’t going to be too hard. Her mother’s knife had passed down the table
toward her. Murasa’s eyes focused on it as Ayano picked it up. “Can you at
least give me the mercy of telling me why the hell you’re doing this?”
“Love.” Ayano dragged the twice bloodied over blade underneath the girl’s nose,
so she could smell the demise of her friends.
“Love? What the hell are you on about?” She still struggled against her
constraints. Ayano should have stayed to see what it took to get the girl tied
down to the table. It probably took the both of the boys. The locked door and
blades probably helped a lot too.
“Yamada-senpai, you like him.” Murasa let out a laugh. It was loud and bitter
and rung in Ayano’s ears. She started to trail the knife down and trace along
the girl’s collarbones. She had a nice bone structure. Maybe in another life
without bandages and liquor she could have become a model for other artists’
work.
“Oh, this is about that fresh piece of meat? I wanted to take his virginity the
moment I laid eyes on that pretty boy.” She laughed again. “So this is about
jealousy, huh? Just wait until he finds out. Wait until he finds out what this
‘perfect little angel girl’ did in order to get to him. He’ll leave you in a
heartbeat. He’ll hate you for the rest of his ever loving days. You’re the
exact opposite of the kind of girl he lik—”
Ayano plunged the knife into the girl’s neck, right through her throat,
effectively shutting her up. Murasa cackled up more blood between her teeth and
it dribbled down her chin. Ayano turned the handle of the knife into a slow,
but complete circle. The girl continued choke on laughter until she gagged on
one final shaky breath and collapsed against the table like the others. Ayano
pulled out the knife and let the blood pour for good measure.
“Good job, team,” Budo said. He headed up the stairs. “Goodnight. Don’t do
anything that I wouldn’t do.” With a final wave, he left. Ayano slammed the
knife against the table. Her hand came up sticky with blood.
“Are you feeling okay?” Ayano shrugged. She honestly didn’t know anymore. “I’ll
get the mop, you get the cleaner.” They both made their way upstairs. “Info-
7 said they’re coming tonight to clean up. They said it’s a ‘gift’ for us being
able to switch gears on such a short notice. We just have to leave out the
cleaning supplies and the door unlocked, and they promised the cleanest
basement ever.”
“How nice.”
“That’s what I said.”
                                       ❀
Ayano couldn’t feel Yande’s warmth next to her anymore. She tightened her eyes
and tried to reach out, but she couldn’t move her arms. She opened her eyes and
wakefulness flooded her mind in an instant.
It was pitch black, but she knew she was in the basement just from the
overpowering scent of cleaning chemicals and scented candles. Her legs were
tied and her hands were strapped against the table too. She tried to move, but
she was virtually paralyzed for the time being.
“I didn’t want to wake you. Did you know that you smile in your sleep? Not a
lot, but it definitely counts as a grin in my book.” She held her head down.
“Oh, don’t look so sad. I’m just here to present another deal to you.” She
didn’t answer. She heard footsteps approach her in the darkness. She wished
that her eyes could adjust sooner. She wondered if the bastard’s mask was off
and if he still had his blades.
Something was placed in front of her. She could just barely touch it with her
fingertips. It was her mother’s knife. The handle was still warm.
“Now, finger amputations can be very complicated to repair because fingers
themselves are very intricate.” The footsteps moved behind her. They grew
distant before they returned. “Each finger has many, many structures,
including, but not limited to: bones, three main tendons, two arteries, two
main nerves, multiple veins, soft tissue, skin, and nails just to name a few.”
His breath was going down her the back of her neck. “Imagine cutting a straw in
half and then having to put it back together. Instead of just, say, simply
sewing it together like you would for a tear in the shirt or socks, you have to
sew circumferentially and make sure that the cut ends of the straw are
connected and that fluid can move through it freely.” He chuckled and touched
her shoulder for a split second before he walked away. “Too bad you’re not
going to get yours reattached if this leads to that, hm?”
“What do you want?”
“I want you, Yan-chan, or at least a piece of you would suffice too.” He
stepped closer. “I didn’t know that you’re the type to play games either.”
“I love playing games until my heart… bleeds.”
He scoffed. “I figured. After twelve hours it’s difficult to restore blood flow
to an amputated finger. Nine tomorrow is your cutoff.”
“You’re funny,” she deadpanned.
“Hilarious.” His voice was dry. “So, tell me this secret or we can head out to
the car. Your choice.”
“Why do you want to know this secret so badly?”
“Same reason why you wanted us to take care of Sumito. Still waters run deep.”
She still couldn’t see him. Was her heartbeat actually beginning to accelerate?
He didn’t deserve her anxiety, her nervousness. He didn’t deserve anything from
her. “Humor me.” His voice was lower and there was some undertone that she
didn’t recognize to it.
“Kaiyo Puru…” She closed her eyes. Yes, the girl was her victim, and yes, she
was apologizing in her mind. “Kaiyo Puru had a penis.”
A beat. “What?”
She decided to elaborate: “She did not have the genitalia that one would assume
she would have in accordance to the outer appearance of her gender.”
“Don’t get smart with me.” Tape was ripped away from her right hand. Pain
immediately rose from having it rip away from her skin, but she bit her lip and
toughed through it. Real pain was coming soon. “I can do this for you if you
want.” She took the knife. She had half the mind to plunge it through his body,
but she wasn’t sure what was really hidden in the darkness.
“No, it’s fine.”
“You shouldn’t have made that stupid promise.”
“You shouldn’t have grown such an unhealthy obsession over me.”
“You’re one to talk about having unhealthy obsessions, Ayano.” She positioned
the knife over her left pinky, as promised, and sucked in a quick deep breath.
She closed her eyes even though she couldn’t see anyway. “Wait,” Budo said. He
lifted her hand and laid something underneath. It felt like some kind of piece
of cloth. “I wanted to do this yakuza-style. The delinquents inspired me.” She
let out an uneasy breath.
In.
Out.
In.
Out.
In.
Out.
In.
Out.
Off.
Ayano didn’t scream. One thing she didn’t deserve was to scream, was to waddle
in the throes of self-induced agony. She felt liquid rush over her laceration
and it become wrapped up in the piece of cloth that had lain under it.
“You’re a strong girl.” She wanted to vomit, but she wanted to look at it at
the same time. Maybe it was best that she couldn’t see. “The fingers have many
small nerves, making injuries excruciatingly painful. And you don’t even make a
sound.” Her chest felt like it was closing in on her. She had wrapped her free
hand around her finger so tightly, she was sure it was going to be impossible
to let go. The pain was indescribable. This was how her victims felt. They felt
this over and over and over again until they couldn’t feel it anymore. “Move
your hand so I can put some ice on it.” She didn’t know if she let go or if he
pried her hand off of her finger (most likely the latter), but she soon felt a
welcoming sense of coolness rush over and numb her senses somewhat.
“Thank you,” she whispered. Her voice was quieter than usual, but she made sure
to rid any evidence of pain from it. He didn’t deserve the pleasure. No. Not at
all.
Insect. “No, thank you.” Swatted.
***** Kiss It Better *****
Chapter Summary
                                      5%
What if… we…. were… normal?
Yande held his sister’s head against his chest once she came back to him. Even
though he was wearing a pair of large, thick glasses and a surgical mask as a
disguise, showing up at Buraza General was still too risky. He rocked the both
of them back and forth, back and forth. Together. No words. Pure silence.
Inhale. Exhale. But Yande still couldn’t help but wonder.
What if… we… were normal?
They both knew early into their childhoods that something was wrong. Matter of
fact, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to think that everything was wrong.
They could never make friends with the other children. They would never
question why their father never said “I love you” to their mother like all the
other kids’ mommies and daddies did. They would never cry whenever they fell
off their bikes and came up with bloody knees and bruised elbows. They never
found any fault in the old photographs of their Grand Sobo wielding a large
knife and their Grand Sofu never smiling.
What if we were… normal?
If they were the usual, typical adolescent siblings then they wouldn’t sleep
together every night. They wouldn’t be killing for a boy who barely
acknowledged their existences. They wouldn’t be in the position they were in
right now – Yande cradling his sister in his arms, wordlessly, staring ahead
into the dark space of her room. If they were normal, then she would have been
crying in pain, crying for the loss of her finger. She would be grieving. She
would be mourning. If they were normal they wouldn’t be sitting in the dark
contemplating their next kill, simply coexisting while three people – two of
which they didn’t even know – continued to manipulate and control them from
behind the scenes.
“Ooh,” their mother had cooed on the phone that morning. “Well, I guess you can
stay in during the morning so we can get all the medical stuff in order, but
I’ll be calling in to make sure that you go back to school in the afternoon.
And make sure you both go to cram school this evening, okay?”
“Yes, mother.”
“Yan-kun, looks like you’ll be cooking from now on. And please don’t use my
knife again. You know how dangerous it is! It was specifically crafted—an Aishi
family heirloom—handed down from generation to generation since the Edo period.
That blade is four times sharper than a regular, old kitchen knife! Oh, I
should’ve taken it with me or locked it up so you couldn’t have gotten hurt.”
“It’s okay,” Yande had said, “it was an honest accident.”
“And the finger couldn’t be reattached? I’m confused. You went to the hospital
right after, right?”
“I couldn’t find the rest of the finger,” Ayano picked up. “I’m sorry.”
“No, don’t apologize. It’s not your fault. Like Yan-kun said, it was an honest
accident.” There was some mumbling on the other end. “I’m sorry, I have to go
now. Be good! Oh, and I might be extending my ‘vacation.’ Looks like me, Grand
Sobo, Great Baa-baa, and my mother are going to America. Would you two like
anything while I’m there?”
“No,” they both said.
“I might send you something anyway. I think an apology gift is in order, Yan-
chan.”
Yande forced out a chuckle. He felt Ayano move slightly in response to the
noise. “Imagine all of our grandmothers and mother marching through America,
hunting down our father.” She didn’t say anything. “I keep thinking about going
over to his house and cutting off all of his fingers like I did with Yamaguchi
last night.”
“Don’t.”
“I know, but still. Why did you make that promise, Yan?”
“If I didn’t then Kaiyo wouldn’t have trusted me enough to be alone with her.”
He took her hand again. There was a bandage, a split, and a cast – the whole
deal. Her hand went limp in his clutch after he pressed her knuckles against
his lips. “I can make us even. You don’t have to be going through this alone.”
“Don’t.”
“Just a thought.”
“It’s fine.”
“I got a message this morning. The schedule’s being switched again. We aren’t
kidnapping the substitute nurse. We can only use nonlethal methods of
elimination on her. And Senpai’s little sister and the Student Council
president are being moved to this week, same deadline. You know, you can take a
break. Just hang around the nurse’s office and you might get some sympathy
points added to your reputation because of it, and I’ll take care of damage
control with the Photo Club and handle the sister and we can both take on the
best for last. Does that sound good?”
“Yes.”
He kissed her knuckles again. “Are we really going to cram school?”
“I don’t need to go. I’m not sure about you.”
“I’m glad to see that your sense of humor is still intact.”
“What’s your English grade?”
“Something decent.” He leaned back some so that she was no longer lying against
his chest. “Kiss?” Usual, typical adolescent siblings didn’t sneak kisses to
one another throughout elementary and junior high after seeing their mother
threaten their father’s life when he tried to leave her. The thought of
normalcy repeated in Yande’s mind, a mantra, as Ayano actually sat up and
kissed him proper. Could he taste desperation between her lips or was it on the
tip of his own tongue?
Will we ever be normal?
After they pulled apart and she settled back against his chest, he found
himself asking, “What are you planning to do?”
“I don’t know.” He rested his chin against the top of her head. Bless his
sister and her brutal, shameless honesty.
                                       ❀
Ayano wanted to do more than break Budo’s arm now. She wanted to twist and yank
out his teeth one-by-one to permanently erase that stupid grin he always had
when he watched over his club members. She wanted to rip his arms from the
sockets so he could never confidently cross them again. The way that he frowned
and had the audacity to look concerned when she walked into the club room only
produced more vile thoughts and scenarios.
She held up her hand, the one with the cast, to cut the formalities. “I’m
joining your new program, Budo-kun.”
“New program?” He raised one of his thick eyebrows up at her. “Keep up the good
work, guys!” He yelled. The members yelled something back in response, but
Ayano tuned them out. “Um, what were you saying again? I have a new program?”
“You do. After Marital Arts Club ends, you teach me using actual swords.” She
shoved the papers in his hands. “Just you and me. Alone. One on one.” She
watched his eyes skim over the documents. Oh, his eyes were the ones that
deserved to be gouged, not Sosuke and Oka’s. He held up the money clipped to
the papers. “Four thousand yen,” she supplied. “I need a new gi.”
“Technically you don’t need one, but it can be arranged. I already know your
measurements.” He folded the money over and forced it back into her hand. “I’m
looking forward to you calling me ‘sensei.’”
                                       ❀
Yande faded in and out between the Photography Club’s conversation and
observing the Yamada siblings. Yamada Imouto was a social parasite. No
questions about it. She was latched onto her brother’s arm like a leech and
wouldn’t budge. When he moved, she moved. When he went up to throw something
away, she followed him to the trash can and back.
They were normal. No doubts about it. Senpai had a warm expression on his face
whenever he spoke to his sister, friendlier than the usual look he gave people.
Imouto looked like she dominated the conversation most definitely and he nodded
along here and there, looking more preoccupied with his lunch at times, but the
adoration in his eyes was undeniable. Yande wondered if he got the same look in
his eye whenever he looked at Ayano and if, somewhere deep down in her mind,
the feeling was mutual.
“Hey, Yan-kun,” one of the girls said. He turned to her, snapped out of his
reverie. “You know who you look like?”
“My father?”
“No, you kinda look like Yamada-senpai, like,” she framed her fingers together
to form a square as if she was taking a picture of his face with her hands,
“the facial features, the hair.”
“No,” the other girl said, “Yan-kun’s face is sharper and his eyes are darker.”
“You know what,” Yande forced out a chuckle, “this is the second time I’ve
gotten told that I look like Yamada Taro.” He glanced over at the boy again.
His sister was feeding him something out of her lunch.
The girls giggled and continued to talk. They were all sitting so close
together and the roof was completely crowded. The wisdom of the crowd decided
that those who lingered out in the halls during lunchtime were automatically
suspicious. Yande could definitely see the herd mentality forming as everybody
was huddled together in tight circles. The high-strung atmosphere and tense
murmurs that had replaced the usually loud, cheery hubbub could not go
unnoticed.
Everyone seemed to flinch when the school bell tolled, signaling the end of
lunch. Everyone still walked hip-to-hip back to their classrooms. Goodbyes
seemed to last longer before the doors shut. Yande gazed after Imouto as she
walked down to the first-year hall when the Photography Club cemented their
agreement to perhaps stay in school a little later to do some very necessary
late-night research and writing.
One of the members said, “Tell your sister I hope she gets better,” before they
all went their separate ways.
Spending lunches apart from Ayano felt strange to Yande. She had to take
station in the infirmary though, she deserved a break. He remembered the last
time he tried to give her a break, offering to take down the Drama Club for
her, but she had ended up stealing the show. Something told him that she wasn’t
going to swoop in and take down Imouto though and he doubted that she was going
to go against orders and do any harm to the nurse.
Actually, Ayano had to force thoughts of the nurse on the forefront of her
mind. For once, she wasn’t thinking about the nurse and rivals and murder. Her
mind was empty, clear. There was something therapeutic about the infirmary. It
felt a little wrong to not share such a peaceful moment without Yande. The
infirmary was untouched by collective anxiety of the school. All Ayano had to
do was take her pain medication, get her bandages checked, eat her lunch, and
catch up on her morning lessons.
“Oh, Aishi-chan,” the nurse called out. Her voice was too high-pitched and her
mannerisms were over exaggeratedly bubbly. No wonder she was keeping the nurse
off of her mind.
“Yes?”
“I have a note for you.” She smiled. “One of the students wanted to wish you
well.” Ayano nodded and took the note. It was written on a torn piece of
notebook paper, nothing too special. As Ayano unfolded it, she could feel the
woman lingering, watching over her shoulder.
“Um, Oroka-sensei…” The nurse blushed and hurriedly excused herself. Ayano
rolled her eyes. The ditzy woman wasn’t important enough to be on her mind
anyway. She would never capture Senpai’s heart.
The note was written in small, neat handwriting – one Ayano didn’t recognize –
and it the message was pretty simple:
     Hi! I hope you’re having a nice day. Sorry that you’re in the
     infirmary and I hope you get better soon.
Ayano wrote down a simple response saying she was fine and hoped that they were
having a pleasant day too. If she had half a mind she would be confused, but
she didn’t care. Stranger things have happened. She folded the note back in
half and put it in the nurse’s desk.
“Aw, you replied!” She squealed. “So cute!” The nurse tucked the note back into
her desk.
“Who was it from?”
“Not telling! My lips are sealed.” How annoying.
                                       ❀
Ayano tied her hair up into a high ponytail. Yande wasn’t there to complain
about it. A sword was immediately tossed her way when she stepped out of the
changing booth. She frowned when she fumbled to catch and grasp it, but she
didn’t let it drop. The damn split was getting in her way.
Budo ran his hands through his hair as he stepped into the light. “You know,
the little finger’s grip is the tightest on the hilt.” He demonstrated by
showing his still-intact pinky finger’s grasp on his own weapon. He brought his
sword down and took a step closer towards her. “Swordsmen with their little
fingers amputated couldn’t grip their swords properly, so they were weaker in
battle and had to depend on their bosses for protection.”
She shrugged and stepped on the mat also. “Good to know.”
He clicked his tongue and tapped her knee with the side of his sword. “Fix your
stance. It’s weak. All I need is the perfect opportunity and—” With one swing,
she was flat on her back suddenly. “—I got you.” She jumped right back up to
her feet and got into stance properly. He raised an eyebrow, but was quick to
mirror her pose. “I nearly forgot about your endless amount of stamina.” He
began to circle her. Her senses were on high alert. “Pop quiz: do you know why
Yamada is a ‘super senior’?”
“What does that mean?” The hairs of her neck were standing on end. The swords
they used were real and sharp, as per Ayano’s request. Though bamboo and wooden
weapons could be just as deadly, she wanted something as sharp as her mother’s
knife, something that weighed in the palm of her hand. She balanced the weapon
in her hand, trying her best to grip the cast of her finger around it.
“You know, why is he repeating the twelfth grade? Do you know what’s going on?”
He stopped behind her.
“He has medical issues.”
“What exactly?”
“Why are you questioning me?”
“Because you only speak when spoken to, so I figured that this question-
response system I developed would be a good solution. So tell me, what does he
have?”
Ayano stood stock still. “MS.”
“Correct.” She felt his body move. She immediately turned around and blocked
his swing. He held his sword against hers, but didn’t move, didn’t try to knock
it out of her hands. “Hm, your grip is pretty decent, along with your Yamada
knowledge.”
She leaned closer to him. She caught her reflection in the glimmer of the metal
of their swords. “I have Masuta knowledge too.” He leaned in too, grinning.
“Oh?”
“First off,” she swept her leg underneath his feet, knocking him over, “you’re
not Japanese.” She caught his sword with her impaired hand and wielded both
blades in front of him. “You moved from Hong Kong to Buraza Town in 1982.” She
plunged the swords into the mat, just a hair away from his face. “Your parents
own the House of Blue Leaves in Kumamoto City and you’re the next in line to be
the head instructor.”
“Correct.” She still wanted to knock the teeth out of his stupid grin. He stood
up again, slowly, carefully, not as quickly as she had sprang back to her feet,
and looked at her. “Anything else?” She wielded both of the blades in front of
him.
“No.”
“Ambidextrous?” She shrugged. “You can keep the blades, you know. And the skirt
and the gloves and your underwear too. You did your end of the deal. And you
actually managed to catch me at a blind moment.” He gave her a thumbs-up. “Good
job.” He whistled as he turned his back to her and started rummaging through
his things. “Do you want the scabbards too?” She nodded. Everything he promised
was tossed at her feet. Geez, he really did have a habit for throwing things.
She pushed the things to the side and handed the sword back to Budo.
“Again?” She nodded. “Let’s go then.”
                                       ❀
The medication was taking longer than usual to numb the pain. Ayano was stuck
looking out the infirmary windows and thought back to her late sparring match.
The sound of the nurse giddily trying to calm down two sobbing girls filled the
room, taking away from the peaceful atmosphere. Ayano was tempted to draw the
curtain to shut them out, but that would be “rude.”
She could just see the cherry blossom tree that Osana used to wait under for
Senpai. In fact, Senpai had left the spot the moment that Ayano had went into
the infirmary, waiting for his sister. Ayano spotted Yande, surrounded by the
Photography Club, following after. She swore that her brother looked up at the
window and winked before he went out of sight.
“Oh, Aishi-chan!” The girls were still there, but not crying as loudly as
before. One of them was still sniffling and the other had out a handheld mirror
and was hurriedly trying to reapply her dripping makeup.
“Yes, Oroka-sensei?”
“Another note!” She pushed between the girls, making one of them smudge her
eyeliner and start to cry again, and handed the note over. “It must be really
nice to get all of this sympathy from your peers. Especially during such a
tough time like this.” The nurse pouted and returned back to the other two
girls. Ayano figured that the pressure was getting to them. She could hear the
students whisper in class about how much they wanted to leave, how much they
wanted the school to get shut down, how much they wanted their friends back.
     I hope I’m not too forward saying this, but I have no one else to
     express my thoughts to. It’s getting pretty scary around here, don’t
     you think? I would stop going to school if I could, but my parents
     won’t let me. I’m just scared that the next victim is going to be me,
     or worse, somebody close.
Why was this stranger expressing their thoughts to Ayano? And why was she
writing back?
     Yes, it is pretty scary, but the third trimester is over in one month
     – exactly twenty-eight days – and then spring break will come along
     with a new school year. I’m sure that the killer or killers or
     kidnapper or kidnappers, whoever they are, will be caught and this
     nightmare will all be over by then. Just hang in there.
She moved to place her response note on the nurse’s desk. The other two girls’
phones buzzed, along with Ayano’s. She sighed as she walked back to the cot and
flipped it open. If it was Budo, she swore—
     バブルガム✿CHUM
     ♡ tue. – 24.feb.98 / 12:25 ♡
     >group chat connected!
     chanelvintage: ATTENTION USELESS WHORE(S) – Congratulations! If
     you’re reading this it means that a) you can read, something that I
     have been questioning lately, and b) and your tiny, stupid, manatee-
     sized peewee brains actually functioned long enough to comprehend
     this entire message!
     chanelvintage: So, if you’re asking yourself, “Uhhh, well I’m
     confused?!?! Is Akumu Shaneru actually taking the precious time out
     of her day and penciled me into her very, very important agenda to
     message little old ME?? Am I a useless whore like she said?” – simply
     ask yourself the following question, then, aloud because I know it
     would be difficult to actually use your mind for critical thinking:
     “Is my name Gurin Midori, Ronshaku Musume, Miyu Saki, or Mio Mei?”
     Because if the answer is “yes” then, once again, CONGRATULATIONS,
     this message is for you!
     chanelvintage: So, do you all remember when I told you last night –
     at 21:6 to be exact?
     ronshakuuu: yes, shaneru.
     meimei_lovesu: Yes, Shaneru.
     i_miss_u_kokona: Yes, shaneru
     midoriwiththegreenhair: wait, i don’t. what is this about??
     chanelvintage: YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS ABOUT. THIS IS ABOUT THE FUCKING
     KILLER AND HOW I AWOKE TO SEE NOBODY BY MY SIDE AFTER OUR VERY LONG
     DISCUSSION ABOUT SAID POTENTIAL KILLER. WHO DOES THIS KILLER TARGET?
     YOUNG, HOT GIRLS LIKE ME AND YOU ALL (although, I seriously question
     some of your individual hotness at times – such as right now) AND YOU
     ALL LEFT ME STRANDED!
     ronshakuuu: sorry, shaneru, but my daddy wants me home at 23:00.
     meimei_lovesu: Yeah, some of us have curfews, Shaneru.
     midoriwiththegreenhair: i seriously dont remember this convo omgomg
     chanelvintage: Ugh, enough with the excuses. I don’t care. You
     trollops are the worst specimens of human beings ever born and you
     should all really watch your backs, because if this serial killer or
     killers – who the fuck knows – targeting the school doesn’t chop off
     your heads, I’M GOING TO DO IT and then I’ll sell your tiny, useless
     brains to science so they can conduct proper experiments on how the
     hell you all got so stupid. You got that?
     chanelvintage: Okay, rant over. Love you guys! See you in town
     tonight! I’m craving soup, I think.
     midoriwiththegreenhair: wait, i got a question
     chanelvintage: Ugh. You always do. Make it quick.
     midoriwiththegreenhair: whos @yandere_chan? is she a new friend??
     chanelvintage: Omg, I had someone automatically connect me with
     everybody in the infirmary and in the Sewing Club because that’s
     where the majority of you all are right now. It didn’t cross my mind
     that said person would connect this message to strangers. How
     inadequate.
     chanelvintage: Okay, random bystander that had to endure this
     message: Hi! And I’m sending my sincerest apologies. If you give me
     your name and homeroom number I will personally deliver an apology
     gift myself.
     yandere_chan: no thats okay
     chanelvintage: No, no, I insist!
     yandere_chan: okay then, if you insist
     yandere_chan: aishi ayano, class 2-1
     chanelvintage: Oh, you’re the girl with that hot twin brother and was
     in the Cooking Club where those chicks died and then the Swim Club
     where that other chick died, right?
     yandere_chan: yup thats me
     chanelvintage: And you’re currently in the infirmary right now
     because you cut off your finger or something by accident like over
     the weekend or something, right?
     yandere_chan: yeah
     chanelvintage: Oh, I am so sorry that you had to witness the pitiful
     sniffling that Ronshaku and Mio are probably doing right now. Ladies
     say hi to her!
     ronshakuuu: hi, yan-chan!!
     meimei_lovesu: Hi, Aishi-chan.
     chanelvintage: In real life, ignoramuses!
Ayano looked up from her cellphone and at the other two girls. They waved to
her. Ayano developed a new theory on why they were crying.
     chanelvintage: Anyways, have a nice day, Aishi-chan! Hope you get
     well soon, bye!
And that was Ayano’s first encounter with the School Council president. One to
remember.
                                       ❀
“That girl is never alone,” Yande muttered to himself. Even when Senpai was
away, she was surrounded by her first-year friends. And honestly if Yande
stared any longer he was going to look creepier than usual. He clicked his
tongue and turned around. It looked like a home invasion was in order.
     バブルガム✿CHUM
     ♡ tue. – 24.feb.98 / 12:25 ♡
     >chat connected!
     yandere_kun: it looks like a home invasion is in order
     info_chan7: my thoughts exactly!
     info_chan7: see, we should get points for creativity. info-8 and yan-
     chan just go in and go out, but we set up a hospital break-in, i
     mean, i had you sneak in as a nurse for fucks sake! and then i had
     you kill 5+ people on your first solo mission! i’m doing pretty well,
     if i do say so myself.
     yandere_kun: yeah, yeah u can revel in your glory later. just give me
     the details on the yamada house
     info_chan7: you’re in luck because senpai’s mother is away in tokyo
     on business and tonight his father is taking him out to buraza
     general for a doctor’s appointment from 17:30 – 19:00 and then
     they’re coming home at approximately 19:20ish (depending on traffic,
     but you know we don’t get much in town, even when everybody’s coming
     home from work and school). so you got about one hour and thirty
     minutes to get in and get out and take what you need.
     info_chan7: i’ll drop off the music trunk at 17:35 behind the house
     and you do what you do best.
     yandere_kun: thank you. what would I do without you
     info_chan7: hey, i’m just grateful we don’t have a relationship like
     the other two. :) she was over late swordfighting with him. weird,
     right? they’re acting like the fingergate never happened.
     yandere_kun: yes, it is a little weird
     info_chan7: just a lil bit.
                                       ❀
Was the whole break into a girl’s home and shoving her inside of a giant cello
case gag becoming old? Yande smirked as he secured the ties on the girl and
shut the trunk on her. Nope, it wasn’t and it probably never would.
“Yan-Yan,” Yande called out. He rolled the case in the middle of the living
room. “I went to Yamada’s house and got some presents for you!” He unhooked the
latch and popped open the lid of the case. Ayano walked into the living room
then. She was wearing her pajamas and had a box decorated with a huge bow and
wrapping paper and everything shebang in her hands. Yande lifted Imouto from
the case and sat her up on the sofa. The girl was whimpering and whining. Her
eyes were red rimmed and her cheeks were stained with tears. “I gagged her,”
Yande said with a smile. “You know, the younger the girl, the louder the scream
and I figured we don’t need headaches today.”
Ayano and Yande sat side-by-side with Imouto to the far side of the couch.
Yande turned on the television. “Any requests, Yamada-chan?” He asked. He
flipped through the channels. “News? No, they’re probably talking about those
missing Akademi High students. How boring.” He changed the channel. “Ooh,
Magical Girl Miyuki is on. This looks like a new episode too. Do you like this,
Yan-chan? The kids at school are always talking about it.”
“I have all the manga.”
“Oh, you’re a fan?”
“I hate manga.” She settled more into the couch. “And the show changed the
original storyline. There’s plot holes.” Yande laughed and patted her bare
knee. He could feel Imouto whimper next to him. He patted the girl’s knee too.
“First off, here’s the stuff I got.” Yande pulled the trunk over and named off
the items as he placed them on the coffee table. “A pair of boxers, a Band-Aid,
some chewed up gum, a chewed up pencil, some hair from his brush, a button, an
apple core, a toothbrush, and an old bento box.” Yande proudly smirked to
himself as Ayano began to shiver and run her fingers over the items he dug up.
Who knows, maybe she could build a shrine with all the stuff he found. “So, the
box.” Yande pointed to the present in Ayano’s hand. The wrapping paper was pink
and the bow was pinker. “What’s the story behind this?”
“Akumu Shaneru, the Student Council present, accidentally sent me a message, so
she gave me this gift at the end of the day.” Ayano handed Yande the present to
open. He tore the paper apart and tossed it aside. It was a box of rice cakes –
the good, expensive kind that came in different colors and filled with red bean
paste. “I refused, so she offered me an invitation to the tea party she’s
throwing on Thursday in the Student Council room. She said I didn’t have to get
her anything, so I bought some green tea ice-cream to bring.”
Yande shoved one of the cakes in his mouth. “Planning on killing her at said
tea party?”
“Possibly.”
“That would be so cool.” He ate another one. “Would be genius if you locked the
doors and picked them off one by one like I did with the Occult Club.” Ayano
nodded. It would. Yande looked over her as he licked the paste from his
fingers. “How’s your finger?”
“Gone.”
Yande glanced over at Imouto. Her eyes were glued to the television. Her body
was shaking and she was downright sobbing. Yande leaned over to her and dried
her eyes with the back of his hand. She squealed beneath her gag, screwed her
eyes shut, and tried to back away from him, but there was no more space left on
the couch.
“What should we do with her? I think we did just about everything now:
dismemberment, disembowelment. We’ve ripped out eyes, teeth, and tongues. We’ve
even done decapitation once.” He outstretched his hand and Ayano gave him
another cake. “I remember Info-chan saying that we fake a suicide, but I think
we have the freedom to do whatever we like now.” Imouto was struggling against
her constraints now. It only made her fall off of the couch and nearly hit her
head against the table.
Yande ate his cake as he watched Ayano stand up and set the girl back down on
the couch. “I have something in mind.”
“Hm?” Yande swallowed down his mouthful of sweets. “Tell me what you’re
thinking.”
“Not when she’s listening.” Ayano left momentarily and then returned with a
pair of scissors and a chair.
“Move her downstairs?” Ayano nodded. Yande scooped the girl up in his arms and
Ayano carried the chair down. She then cut the bottom of the girl’s skirt and
tied the trimmed cloth around the girl’s eyes. Yande reached out to help her
again once Ayano began to rearrange the constraints so that the girl was tied
to the chair.
Ayano went to the corner of the basement and Yande couldn’t help but smirk when
his sister produced an actual sword. She made a display of removing it from its
casing and Imouto’s screamed – muffled by the gag, thank goodness – and
strained against the chair. Ayano dragged the sword against the floor, letting
the blade loudly scrape against the ground. The girl was trembling at this
point.
Ayano slowly raised the blade off of the ground, dragged it against the chair
legs, and then quickly removed it. Imouto flinched and Ayano could hear her
hold her breath. She took a couple of steps back before slicing the girl’s
shirt open, right across the chest. She pressed the tip of the blade right
above the girl’s heart. Tears were rushing down Imouto’s face and she was
shaking her head back and forth frantically, still trying to break away from
the chair.
Ayano moved the blade back. Imouto stopped struggling, but her body continued
to shake. Soon her crying and gasping became the only sounds to fill the room.
Ayano then took several quick, loud steps forward and swung the sword forward,
impaling the back of chair, just past the girl’s ear.
Yande moved behind Ayano. “Look,” he whispered. He took her by the chin and
tilted her head down. Imouto had peed herself. It trickled down the girl’s leg
and dripped onto the floor. The girl cowered and knocked her knees together.
Yande pressed himself against his sister’s back. “Kiss.”
“Did this excite you?”
“What do you think it is: the unexpected omorashi or your cleverness?”
“The latter.”
“You’re not wrong.”
                                       ❀
Ayano watched Senpai sit alone underneath the cherry blossom tree from the
infirmary window. She forced her eyes away when the nurse handed her a note.
Ayano wasn’t sure if the nurse made another absentminded comment. It was easy
to tune the woman out. The only thing that mattered about her was to make sure
she didn’t get too close to Senpai.
     I’ve always preferred nature over people. And, yeah, I’ll be really
     looking forward to March not only because school is ending but
     because the cherry blossom trees will be in full blossom. I can’t
     wait to finally walk out of here and have the cherry blossoms falling
     all over me. It would be really beautiful, I think. It’s just things
     have been so troubling lately. I really hate this school.
What was Ayano supposed to say to that? Was this person looking for solace,
some type of comfort? She wasn’t the one.
     Are you in the Gardening Club? If not, it could be a really relaxing
     activity and could help to distract your mind. It’ll all be over
     soon, I promise.
Ayano’s phone rang as she handed her note to the nurse. “Hello?”
“Yan-chan, hi! It’s Akumu Shaneru, but you already knew that. Are you going to
show to the party? I got to reserve your seat.” There were reserved seats for a
tea party being held in the Student Council room? Ayano really was out of the
loop. “It’s a special occasion, we only have it once a year before spring
break, and only ten people are invited. I had to butt out what’s-her-face to
get you a seat, but honestly, between you and me, I’ve been wanting to get her
out for a while now.”
“Wow, I feel really special. Yes, of course I’ll be there.”
“Okay, dress nicely. Because if you wear something bad then I’ll get a bad case
of secondhand embarrassment for you and we really don’t need that. I mean, I’m
already cringing every time I walk into the school and I actually think kind of
highly of you since you handled yourself better in, like, two sentences over
text than all of my underlings have for the entire year.”
“Um… thank you, Akumu.”
“Oh, please. It’s Shaneru.” She laughed. It was an airy, light sound. “Okay,
bye-bye!” The girl hung up before Ayano could say goodbye.
Ayano focused outside of the window again. Senpai was gone.
                                       ❀
Wakimoto the Leader waved everybody to her computer. “We got a response!” The
club members immediately gathered around her. Yande rolled his chair over to
the side.
“Is it a response from Akumu or the headmaster?” Masahiko the Loudmouth asked.
Mari with the Pigtails sighed and rolled her eyes. “Who do you think replies
faster, Akumu Shaneru—the most popular and socially powerful girl in all of the
school—or the headmaster—the man who we have confirmed only three percent of
the student population seeing in person?” She hit him on the back of the head.
“Use your head sometimes!”
“Guys, guys,” Spiky Haired Wotoru interrupted, “the message.” The two
immediately stopped fighting and returned their attention back to the screen.
Yande swore that they had the minds of five year olds at times.
The Leader (damn it, Yande forgot her name again) cleared her throat and read
aloud: “’I am well aware that the message that I have sent to my girl Fridays
yesterday afternoon was somehow leaked into the gluttonous, vapid, un-
moisturized hands of the Photography Club and has a low probability of being
published in that half-baked thing you call a school paper and a high
probability of being publicized on your official forum on BubblegumChum. You
have reached out for a response and here it is—’”
“’Girl Fridays’?” The Loudmouth (ugh, Yande was doing so well at first)
interrupted. “What does that even mean? Does she, like, carry an encyclopedia
and a thesaurus around twenty-four seven? I mean, this is so uppity, I can’t.”
“This is the top of the third-year class we’re talking about,” Pigtails said,
“she’s pretty and smart. Did you even read the message? I attached a copy of it
in the e-mail I sent you this morning.”
“Found it!” Spiky Haired pointed to his phone screen. “A ‘man Friday’ is a male
helper or follower. It originated from the 1719 novel Robinson Crusoe by Daniel
Defoe because there was a character that was a servant named Friday.”
“Fine then. I guess she knows her stuff,” Loudmouth said. “Sorry for the
interruption Wakimoto.”
Wakimoto the Leader crossed her arms before continuing, “You have reached out
for a response and here it is you lummoxes in the amateur journalism world! You
and your relentless, unwashed readers that continue to take every opportunity
possible to mock and attack me mercilessly from the safety of your stained
futons and twenty percent off polyester shirts can all suck it!’”
“Well…” Spiky Hair laughed. “At least this one wasn’t just a ‘fuck the Photo
Club, you’re all worthless pieces of shit and I’ll get you shut down’ like last
time.” The club collectively laughed and returned to their stations. Yande
still stayed by Wakimoto’s desk though. He spun around in his chair as he
gathered his thoughts.
“So… does this happen very often with Akumu?”
“Not a message this long and detailed, this was new. Maybe she’s bored or
freaked out or something right now.” Wakimoto shrugged. “Who knows? And even
though she made this whole ‘response,’ she’s going to be livid if she finds
this on the forum.” She crackled her knuckles and got to typing. “This is so
going on the forum now.”
Yande watched her type for a moment. “Would you say that you got just about
everybody in this school figured out?” Wakimoto shrugged.
“I only have so many eyes to send out.” She gestured around the room. Everybody
was furiously working except for Shimu (Yande certainly remembered his name,
the guy who wouldn’t stop staring), who was staring out the window. Yande only
ever saw the guy staring at him or looking out the window, so he didn’t
understand how he ended up being the most diligent of the club and never missed
a deadline yet. He also seemed to be the most proficient in interviewing,
usually coming back with pages filled with useful information, but Yande still
had yet to hear him utter a single word.
He once saw the guy slip on a manila folder and land face first on the floor
and he didn’t even look the slightest bit pained.
“Yeah?” Yande beckoned for her to continue.
“I don’t know. I guess I’m okay at observing people and stuff and figuring
stuff out and who’s who, but… I don’t know everything.” She stopped typing for
a moment. “You know what’s really frustrating actually?”
“What?”
“I don’t know you, Aishi. I can’t crack your code. You or your sister’s.” She
laughed. “I like to think of you two like a fine game of chess because I don’t
know how to play chess. It’s just something I don’t understand whenever I look
at it. And when I try to learn, it just gets harder and I always end up giving
up in the end.”
“What are you talking about? There’s nothing to learn about me, Wakimoto.”
“Oh, but I think there is.” She flashed him a quick smile. He returned back to
his desk.
                                       ❀
“Hello, Ayano!”
“Masuta, get out of my basement.”
“What? No thanks. 7 and I were keeping her company all day. Look.” Ayano
quickly walked down the basement with Yande in step.
There was another person in the basement, wearing the same costume and mask
that Budo had worn during his and Ayano’s first meeting. They waved. Yande
waved back.
“Her hair,” Ayano stated. The girl’s dark hair, the same shade as Senpai’s, was
white. It wasn’t completely white, but the roots and many strands of it were,
making her originally dark hair appear gray.
“They call it Marie Antoinette syndrome. When Marie Antoinette was captured
they say that her hair suddenly turned white,” Budo supplied. “This can be
triggered by intense bouts of sorrow, fear, rage, and stress.”
“What did you two do?” Yande asked. Ayano could only wonder what the two of
them did to the girl to make her hair whiten overnight. She couldn’t detect any
extreme physical harm on the her, just a few bruises here and there and her
clothes weren’t any more torn.
“No sleep,” Budo answered. “So far, about twenty-six hours without any food,
water, or sleep and we kept her on edge of death the entire time. You’re
welcome. And we added an extra feature.” He stepped aside to present Imouto
properly. She was wearing a proper blindfold now and a large pair of headphones
covered her ears. “We swapped places, taking four hour shifts for thirteen
hours of pure torture. We shared the thirteenth hour, because some of us are
picky with our math. And then she received the remaining thirteen hours in
solitary confident and with a continuous steam of the finest auditory torture.”
He gestured to the headphones. “She cannot see or hear us.”
Yande took purposefully loud steps towards the girl and waved his hands over
her face. She didn’t react. “Wow, great job you guys.” He moved back to Ayano’s
side and put his hands on his hips. “What’s the catch?”
Budo shrugged. “We’ll see. Let’s see, somebody did more math, so I’ll just give
it to you: twenty-six hours out of forty of torture have been implemented, so
that would mean… the process is sixty-five percent completed?” He glanced over
at Info-7. They nodded. “And then we have a two point five percent decrease in
sanity per hour. After twenty-six hours we have a sixty-five percent decrease
in sanity, meaning we have a thirty-five percentage of sanity to go—fourteen
more hours to go. Is that right?” Info-7 nodded again. “Good. So, after all of
these exciting calculations, she will be ready tomorrow at ten o’clock on the
dot.”
“Ready?” Yande looked back and forth between the two of them. “Ready for what?”
Budo crossed his arms and grinned. “Just give me a name. Who’s been bothersome
lately? She’ll get rid of them for us.”
Yande thought back. Imouto had been bothersome, but here she was right now,
trapped in the infamous Aishi basement, hypothetically wrapped up in a frilly,
pink bow. Akumu Shaneru had decided to be problematic for the week, but it
wasn’t her time to shine just yet. They had promised nonlethal methods on the
nurse, so she was out of the question, and Ayano had been doing a good job
camped out in the infirmary, making sure that nothing occurred between her and
Senpai if she could help it.
“I can’t think of…” An idea popped into Yande’s mind. Ayano looked up at him,
probably wondering why he had trailed off mid-sentence. “Wakimoto or Shimu. You
can flip a coin on that.”
Budo and Info-7 simultaneously nodded. They both made their way back up the
stairs. “We’ll be back to take care of her in the morning. You two have fun
tonight,” Budo said.
“Where are you two going?” Yande asked.
“Cram school. Then home to pass out in exhaustion.”
                                       ❀
The girl smelled like the worst combination possible of piss and fear and had
stopped shivering, stopped struggling, stopped doing much of anything come
morning. Ayano let a yawn escape as she looked over the girl. The process
wasn’t exactly finished yet according to Info-7’s calculations. They needed
four more hours. But Ayano could basically see the results now.
Budo or 7 must have removed the gag from her mouth and Ayano and Yande had been
tempted to put it back in all night. She would murmur things like: “No… not
again…” And Ayano would shut her up with a quick cut across the skin. “Just…
just kill me, please, just kill me.” And Yande would shut her up by turning up
the noise in her headphones louder. She even whispered, “I hate you,” before
Ayano smacked her awake.
“I…” Ayano raised an eyebrow. She still wanted to talk after a night they had?
“Let me go… please…” Her voice was raspy and hoarse. The girl couldn’t even
pick her head up anymore and her hands hung loose, no longer grasping tightly
on the arms of the chairs. She didn’t even hold her knees together in shame
anymore. “Please… please, just let me go.”
She looked like she was about to go to sleep again. Ayano shook her shoulders.
Imouto’s head shot up only momentarily before it hung down again.
Ayano felt kisses be pressed against her neck. Looked like someone else was
awake. “Do you want a quick nap while I run your bath?”
“I’m fine.”
Yande looked over his sister’s shoulder at their captive. “How is she?”
“Broken.”
“Perfect.”
                                       ❀
When Aishi Ayano’s hair was unnecessarily and flamboyantly styled and she was
widely smiling as she pulled up the straps of her new, shimmery dress (courtesy
of Info-chan!), then something was seriously wrong. It was basic knowledge.
Shaneru was dressed to the nines also. She hugged Ayano. “Hi! I’m so happy you
came, honestly.”
“I’m happy to be here.” Ayano presented the ice-cream. “I brought you
something.”
“Oh, you did? You really didn’t have to. I told you not to!” She took it. They
weren’t strangers to how this worked: offer a gift, refuse it then take it,
give a gift back, refuse it then take it – the endless cycle. “Come on in. Find
your nameplate.”
Ayano had never been in the Student Council room before. There was a long row
of tables in the center of the room. A huge quadruple blackboard was set up on
the far side of the room, practically taking over the entire wall. Ayano
glanced over the board and saw a discussion over how much the student moral
dropped since the disappearances and there were lots of thoughts written about
the headmaster’s decision not to shut down the school or use security cameras.
There was a separate board dedicated to Shaneru’s schedule throughout the week.
It looked pretty hectic. Ayano imagined that the girl lived a busy life before
but now it looked like there was something to be done during every second of
the day. Giving a quick glance to Tuesday’s schedule, Ayano spied: “12:25 –
send disciples a curt message via BubblegumChum (remember to be derogatory).”
Ayano’s seat was by the window, overlooking the front of the school and the
cherry trees. She thought back to the past note she had received from her
anonymous infirmary companion. The student body had used their collective
subconscious to decide to eat lunch by the fountain instead of on the roof that
day. Ayano couldn’t spot Senpai anywhere though.
Back on the thought of cherry blossoms, Ayano unfolded the note that she had
clenched in her hand. She only paid the infirmary a short visit to have her
finger checked and take her medication. The substitute nurse had expressed how
sad she was to leave, how much Ayano was growing on her (Ayano swore that their
conversations were as one-sided as one-sided conversations could be), and how
she was going to miss this little budding friendship through note passing.
Ayano had politely thanked the nurse for her service, closed the curtain, and
changed into her dress.
     He, she, they – whoever this monster is – they took my best friend
     and now they took my sister. Do you remember Najimi Osana? She was
     the first one to go missing back in January. I kept waiting for her
     by our special tree, the first tree on the left by the front school
     entrance, but my sister told me to stop because she knew that I was
     just hurting myself. Now she’s gone. Osana’s gone and now my sister’s
     gone. And I know she’s gone for good. My father won’t stop crying and
     my mother canceled our spring vacation. I have MS, multiple
     sclerosis, and it was relapsing this week. That’s why I kept visiting
     the infirmary, in case you were wondering. So my mother had planned
     out this whole trip for us to take and it didn’t matter what the
     results on my exit exams were or if I got better, worse, or neither.
     She wanted me and the rest of the family to just take a little break
     from all this madness. But now we can’t. Whoever that psychopath is,
     they took her. They took my sister. And I know she’s not coming back.
     I accidentally said that out loud to my father and he snapped at me
     not to say that ever again and not to think it either. He kept crying
     and crying and yelling that Imouto has to come back. She has to. But
     for once I can’t stay optimistic. If Osana never came back, if none
     of the others came back, then why would Imouto? I miss her so much.
     I’m sorry that I’m sending such a long and heavyhearted note to you.
     My father is a mess. My mother won’t speak. She won’t even leave
     Imouto’s room. None of my friends would understand. I’m starting to
     question them anyway. I don’t even know who you are and you’ve become
     the only person that I can feel like I can trust and confide in.
     Crazy right? Nothing makes sense anymore. Nothing. Thank you for
     listening to me. You don’t need to reply to this. Just the thought
     that you took the time out of your day to read this and all my other
     notes and continue to be concerned about me even though we’re
     complete strangers is enough. Thank you again.
Ayano broke into a cold sweat.
Shaneru cleared her throat and stood up at the head of the table. Ayano’s hands
shook as she tore the note into two, three, four pieces underneath the table
and then balled it up. Those who were not seated took their seats.
“Hello! And welcome to the Annual Student Council Tea Party!” Everyone clapped
and cheered. Ayano wasn’t sure if it was appropriate for her to join in on the
whooping and the hollering. It sounded strained and forced. “Now, I have
invited a special guest, Aishi Ayano, with us today.” She gestured toward Ayano
and she received a short round of applause. “I invited her as an apology
because I accidentally made her endure my wrath a few days ago. The other girl
whose name doesn’t matter and never shows up for meetings lost her invite and
will not be missed. But anyways…” Shaneru went off on a speech. She lost the
snobbish tone in her voice and it was instead replaced with a professional,
serious one.
She spoke about school politics and the headmaster’s controversial decisions.
It turned into an active debate. Everyone was completely engrossed with their
president, forgetting their food and teacups. All except one. He was someone
that Ayano didn’t recognize. He looked older, probably around Shaneru’s age.
His hands were crossed on the table and he was looking down, not participating
in the conversation. She spotted the way that his ears turned red and he threw
his fist on the table, knocking his plate and cup onto the ground.
Shaneru stopped speaking. Ayano was expecting a wordy insult or a heated
outburst to come from the girl any minute, but there was only silence. The
other members spoke up:
“Hayato, what the hell?”
“Shaneru was talking! How rude!”
“What’s wrong with you? Do you want to get kicked out?”
“No.” Shaneru sat down in her seat, silencing everybody. “Hayato obviously has
something on his mind. What is it, Hayato? Is there something wrong? Do you not
agree with the topic we’re discussing? Speak.”
Hayato jaw clenched. “I love all of you. I really do. I consider you guys to be
my closest friends in this entire damned school. You’re the only people I can
trust.” He sighed. “But what are we supposed to do? Nobody listens to us. It’s
out of ours hands now. I mean, at any moment somebody else is becoming a victim
and we can’t do anything about it.”
Shaneru slowly stood up. She shook her head before she opened her mouth. A
scream came out.
No. She didn’t scream. It came from outside.
Everyone raced to the windows. Someone opened them and everybody grabbed onto
the sill and had their bodies practically halfway out. Ayano could make out the
crown of whitening hair and the torn clothes and dried bloody welts across the
arms.
Imouto’s head hung down. She had been like that since Ayano had last seen her.
Imouto had been quiet for the rest of the morning despite her brief outburst
before Ayano went to take a bath. When Ayano and Yande had handed the girl off
to Budo and Info-7, she had only whispered, “I should die…” And Ayano thought
nothing of it.
The students’ faces were twisted in horror at the sudden return of Imouto. They
all were circling around her, but no one approached her. She sported a knife in
her right hand. Her head picked up for only a brief moment and Ayano could see
how drained and emptied the girl’s eyes were. Her mouth was moving, but Ayano
couldn’t hear what the girl was saying over all of the screams and shouts.
Imouto went Yande’s way. He was surrounded by the members of the Photography
Club. Yande’s face was contorted in a façade of fear and shock, but Ayano knew
what was really running through his mind.
Imouto took one of the girls standing by Yande’s side – a girl with short hair
and whose eyes were wide in terror – and grabbed her by the neck. She threw the
girl on the ground, raised the knife high in the air, and struck down again and
again and again and again right through the girl’s throat.
Ayano leaned down closer. She could see blood pooling underneath the victim and
her neck was a horrible, glorious mess of human matter. It looked like the head
was just about ready to separate from the body when Imouto raised her knife up
even higher, way above her head, and brought her entire body weight into one
final strike.
Everyone grew deafly silent. Imouto was lying still over the girl’s body, still
holding onto the knife. She picked her head up again just to pull the knife out
of the remnants of the girl’s neck, before she held up the blade again. She
stared at it. Ayano held her breath. She knew that Yande was too.
Imouto turned the blade over and positioned it above her own neck. Without
another moment’s hesitation, she plunged it in. Ayano watched as she twisted
the blade and worked it back and forth until she could see the girl’s eyes roll
over and her head lobbed back. Blood gushed, jetted out, spurted, sprayed –
whatever the proper vocabulary was – out of her neck and trailed down her
chest, over the other girl’s face, onto the shoes of the Photo Club members.
Everyone began to run wild once Imouto’s body collapsed forward onto the other
girl’s. The entrance gates were closing and the police officers that had camped
out in the school were running towards the crowd. Everybody banged on the
gates, jumped over and stepped on other people, tried to climb up, tried to
escape.
Ayano could clearly hear the officers’ shouts over the mass’ panicking.
“Lockdown! Lockdown! Nobody leaves! Close the gates!”
     バブルガム✿CHUM
     ♡ thu. – 27.feb.98 / 11:35 ♡
     >chat connected!
     info_chan8: Get to the Info Club.
     info_chan8: Now.
***** The Akademi High School Lockdown Slashing *****
Chapter Summary
                                      0%
Ayano tossed the crumpled note on the ground as she snapped her phone shut. The
other people in the room were screaming now. Hayato ran away from the window to
vomit. Retching and screaming – not Ayano’s favorite sounds. She needed out.
“Hey!” Shaneru snapped her fingers. Everyone turned to her. “Freaking out is
not going to help us right now. Let’s just get down there and see what the hell
is going on. I’m sure that they’re going to want to check out every student
right now.” Shaneru stepped away from the chaos that the window held. “Let’s
go.”
Ayano made sure she was the last to leave. The hallway looked empty. The PA
system clicked on. “Students and faculty members, the school is now officially
on lockdown. No students or faculty members are allowed to leave campus
grounds.” The lights turned off. Some people gasped. One girl started crying.
“Everyone in the front entrance will be directed to the back of the building.
Teachers, if you see any students in the halls, please escort them to the back
of the school. Thank you.” The system clicked off.
“W-Was that t-the headmaster?” Ronshaku asked.
“Yup,” Shaneru answered. “I guess Kuzuryu-sensei decided to show up today. How
convenient. Come on. Guess we’re going to the back.” They walked on. Ayano
lingered behind. The Info Club was just to the left. She tiptoed to the room
once everybody’s backs were turned. It was pitch black inside.
“Ayano?”
“It’s me.”
Two computer screens lit up. Budo tossed Ayano’s uniform at her feet. “Change.
Quickly.” Ayano pulled off her dress and pulled on her shirt and skirt as fast
she could. “Take these.” Her swords were tossed at her feet also. “Akumu will
be here at any moment. Info-chan stole one of the henchwomen’s phones and
texted her that they were too scared to leave this room. Be ready.” Ayano
nodded.
Budo moved and turned off the computer monitors, letting the room become pitch
black again. Ayano took the time to remove the swords from their scabbards and
to familiarize her hands with the blades. The split on her finger was still
proving to be problematic, but it wasn’t like it was going to be a long
struggle anyway.
“This is risky,” Budo murdered. “The police are outside. The entire school is
moving outside.” He chuckled. “Are you getting a rush right now too?”
“No.”
“I figured as much.” Ayano’s ears perked up. She could hear footsteps coming
her way.
Shaneru was muttering to herself. “You are such a stupid idiot, Saki, locking
yourself into this room, but I don’t blame you.” The door was opening. “Didn’t
you hear the intercom? We’re supposed to be going to the back. Come on, you
baby.”
Ayano stepped forward and swung at the girl, aiming for her throat. Shaneru
dodged out of the way. The front of her dress got slashed and there was barely
a cut against the skin. Shaneru screamed and raced down the hallway.
Ayano took one step towards the light and glanced back at Budo. “Go. Me and the
others will be there when you get her.” Ayano nodded and went on her way.
Shaneru tripped, but when she caught sight of Ayano behind her, swords poised,
she scrambled back to her feet and got back running. Ayano chased after her.
This was going to be a piece of cake.
With the hall lights dim and only completely cloudy skies to filter through the
windows, a somber darkness coated everything, painting the mood perfectly. All
Ayano needed to make out was Shaneru’s shadow and the loud footsteps and
breathy pants that the girl was giving off. Ayano’s footfalls were silent, but
swift, moving down and navigating the dark halls with ease. She could stay in
the shadows, out of sight if there was a lingering teacher or student roaming
around.
Shaneru turned a corner and raced upstairs. “Stay away from me, you crazy
bitch!” She screamed. Ayano rounded the corner and kept the chase on. “Aah!”
Shaneru tripped again running up the stairs. She fell down the staircase and to
Ayano’s feet all too easily. Ayano held her blades up, same as Imouto had done
with her knife, and thrust them both back down, full force, aiming for the
heart. Shaneru yelped and rolled out of the way, barely escaping. Ayano managed
to tear the back of her dress and along her arm. Darkness began to discolor the
side of the white gown. Shaneru got up again and lunged for the stairs.
Escape was futile.
“Fuck you, Aishi!” Shaneru yelled. She was holding onto her arm, desperately
wrapping her fingers around her wound. “Get the hell away from me!” She was
racing toward the second staircase. Why was it so important for her to go to
the roof? Ayano swore that there was nobody up there.
A door opened on Ayano’s right. “I heard screamin—” Without looking, Ayano
thrust her weapon forward. She quickly glanced aside. Abdomen – bull’s-eye. She
placed her foot on the boy’s knee and pulled her blade out. She flicked the
blood off as she made haste towards the stairs.
The clouds had darkened and Ayano felt a rain drop on the tip of her nose. Just
perfect.
Blood was leaking down from the cut on Shaneru’s arm. She was looking around
frantically, her long hair swooshed back and forth around her body. She was
backing away slowly, eyes never leaving Ayano. “Aishi, what the hell are you
doing?” She clutched the railing behind her when she ran into it. She took her
eyes away from Ayano for a split second and looked down. Was everybody just
below them? Didn’t matter. The storm was picking up quick. Thunder was rumbling
in the distance. The girls’ hair was quick to become drenched and their clothes
began to stick to their bodies. Ayano swung her wet hair from her shoulders and
Shaneru tried to shake her bangs from her eyes. Ayano took a step closer.
“Stop, stop!” Shaneru held on tight to the railing. “J-Just fucking stop for
two seconds, please!”
“Why should I?”
“Just—tell me why! Why the fuck are you doing this? What did I ever do to you?
I-I don’t understand. I-I mean, I was so nice to you! You’re, like, the only
person I’ve been nice to this year!” She was cowering against the railing now.
Blood was dripping onto the ground and getting mixed in the rain puddles
forming beneath their feet. “W-Why?” Her voice cracked. “Why are you doing
this?”
“You want something that I want.” Ayano took another step closer. Shaneru
flinched back. She looked down again. Was she actually considering jumping
down? Only certain death was below. “And we both can’t have it at the same
time.”
“W-What are you talking about?” Ayano moved closer. Wow, the girl had really
cornered herself. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. Rainwater dripped down
Ayano’s face and trailed down to the tips of her blades.
“Yamada Taro-senpai. He’s mine.”
“What?” Shaneru was frowning, but her eyes were still widened in terror. “W-
Who’s that?”
“Playing dumb won’t help you now.”
Ayano lunged forward. The girl couldn’t dodge now. The blade went right through
her middle. Shaneru gave a bloodcurdling cry. Ayano pulled back and jabbed the
sword through the gash again, until only the hilt of the blade shown from her
body. Blood was coating Ayano’s hand and beginning to drip from the girl’s
lips. Ayano managed to twist her weapon in a full circle without too much
trouble. When she pulled it out, she kicked the girl down.
“I-I..” Shaneru coughed. “I… I don’t understand.”
“There’s nothing to understand.” Ayano crouched down to the girl’s level. “You
can’t have him. Only I can.”
“What?” She coughed again. She was trying to get to her feet, but Ayano kicked
her down again. “I-I don’t… know w-who Yamada Taro is.”
“Stop lying.”
“I’m not lying!” Shaneru sobbed. “I don’t know who the fuck he is!” Tears
poured down her face. “I-Is… you think that I have a crush on him? Is that it?”
Her face contorted in pain. Her arms clenched over her opened stomach. “I-
I don’t! I fucking swear o-on everything, I don’t! I don’t even know who he is!
I swear, I swear, I swear...” Her body was shaking. “Please, don’t let me die.
Please, don’t let me die, please, please, Ayano, please.”
Ayano stood back up to her feet. “I… don’t understand…”
“Like you said, there’s nothing to understand.” Ayano turned around, weapons
ready. Budo was standing at the entrance to the roof, alongside two girls that
Ayano didn’t recognize. One had red hair and a pair of glasses while the other
was wearing hood and a surgical mask, obscuring her face, but she was wearing a
uniform. “Good job, Thing Two,” the redhead said. “You and your brother did a
pretty decent job.”
“Who are you two?” Ayano knew the answer though.
“That’s not important. All you need to do is give us those swords, change out
of those bloody clothes, and head back down with everybody else before your
absence is noticed.” The other girl presented the clean clothes that she had on
hand. “Hurry before someone comes up here to investigate the source of those
screams.” Ayano shook her head. “Wow, you’re as stubborn as you are stupid,
huh?”
“Stupid?”
“Well, it didn’t take too much convincing for you and your brother to do my
bidding. You two didn’t fact check or anything. What if I was the police,
baiting someone online? You two did what I wanted, no questions asked. Grade-
A stupidity if you ask me.”
Ayano was already seeing blurry. Her knees nearly buckled as she took a step
forward. She shook her head. She had to get herself together.
“Put those swords down before you hurt somebody.”
“No!” Ayano took a deep breath in before she ran forward. They all easily
stepped aside. She wasn’t at her best like this. She tried to shake the
thoughts – the sound of the blade cutting through skin, the sight of blood
pooling beneath her – out her head.
They laughed at her.
“Hurry up and change, Ayano,” Budo said. “You want to be able to be with Yamada
after this, right?” Senpai. “Yeah, calm down and just change. We can go
downstairs together.”
Ayano swung her sword his way. For a moment she could only see raindrops
blurring her vision. The sound of thunder clapping filled her ears and rattled
her brain. The sound of metal on metal pierced through it all. Budo had
produced his own weapon and blocked her attack.
“Don’t make me do something that you’ll regret,” he hissed between his teeth.
“No.” She took a step back. “You will be the one to regret this.”
He scowled. They slowly began to walk around each other, not taking an eye off
the other person for an instant. The rain continued to pour, but Ayano didn’t
let the thunder scramble her thoughts anymore. She let Budo take over. How his
eyes were intently focused on hers, how the rain was rolling down his face and
flattening his hair and dripping down his nose, how his eyes moved down for a
split second and his hands tensed on the hilt of the blade.
She blocked his first swing easily. And then the second, and then the third.
She could see that he was furious, that adrenaline was coursing through his
body by the second. His jaw was clenched. His knuckles were white. He was
filled with pure, unadulterated fury and wasting it all on her.
“First, you let yourself get tricked into being Info’s hitman and now you’re
trying to fight me? You’ve got to be the stupidest person I’ve ever met!” Their
swords clinked again. He swung, she blocked. “Just give up already!”
“No.” Thrust. Block. A wild grin spread across his face.
“I have to commend whoever the fuck trained you. You’re putting up a decent
fight.”
“The House of Blue Leaves had good instructors.”
“I know! I fucking know!” He grunted again as he swung at her. She moved to the
side so he couldn’t corner her against the railing. “You don’t remember me, but
I remember you!” He laughed and swung aimlessly. Ayano could see the line of
his shoulders beginning to rise up and down. He was tiring himself out.
Fighting high off pure emotion usually did that to a person. He lowered his
weapon suddenly, but it wasn’t the perfect opportunity to throw a jab at him
though. “1990, before we both moved from Kumamoto City to Buraza Town, you
trained in my father’s class every Monday through Friday until we both moved
here in ’95.” He shook the water from his hair. “I loved you from the first
moment I saw you.”
“I didn’t even know your name back then.” Ayano raised an eyebrow and took a
step back. “And I will never love you.”
“I know. But I figured with Yamada’s best friend and his little sister dead,
he’d be too depressed to accept yours or any other potential girls’
confessions. And then I could have you all to myself. That’s the only reason
why I got involved with this shit in the first place!” Budo’s eyes lit up
suddenly. “I should’ve done this a long time ago.” He turned and ran away
suddenly. Without a hitch, Ayano ran after.
He was going to the other side of the roof. The other two girls were still
there in the entrance, watching silently. Ayano breathed in deeply, letting
calmness take over her mind once again. She made sure she was careful not to
slip on any puddles. She glanced down at her swords. He had scratched up and
slightly bent the blade that she had used to block him with. It was the same
bloodied one that she had used to end Shaneru. She tossed it aside.
“There he is!” Budo was pulling someone from behind the wall and threw them on
the ground. Ayano sucked a breath in. Senpai. “Should’ve followed orders and
went downstairs with everybody else, huh? Or could you not hear the excitement
and the intercom from up here?” Senpai was on his back, looking up in pure
dread at the both of them.
“M-Masuta? Aishi? What are yo—?”
“Shut up!” Budo barked. “You see that girl?” Budo pointed his sword Ayano’s
way. “It was her! She was the one who killed Najimi and your little sister and
everybody else! Her!” Senpai slowly turned his head to face Ayano. The look in
his eyes was…
“It was her?” …heartbreaking.
“Yes! And her brother too. They both are obsessed with you, so we tricked them
into killing some of the girls who like you and then some.” Budo laughed.
“Stupid right?”
Ayano couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t feel her heart beat anymore. She wanted to
drop to her knees in grief. Senpai was looking at her again. His mouth was
moving, but the blood pumping in her ears drowned out his words. She didn’t
want to hear what he had to say anyway for once.
“—don’t worry, I’ll help you get your revenge.” Budo swung at her again. He
managed to graze against her side before she dodged out of the way. She
couldn’t even feel any pain. She couldn’t feel anything, not even the rain,
anymore. “Just fucking die already, Aishi! You’re not going t—” Budo dropped
his sword suddenly. A blade protruded from his stomach. He tried to pull it
out. “No, no, no, no, no! Fuck!” He was kicked down and tossed aside.
Ayano found herself moving and plunging her sword into Budo’s back, over and
over and over again like Imouto had done with the Photo Club girl. Her vision
blackened and her breath was chopping up into a shuddery staccato rhythm, but
she didn’t care. He needed to die.
Die.
Die.
Die.
“Yan.”
Die.
“Yan. Look at me.”
No.
“Look at me, Yan!” The sword was ripped out of her hands. She could only look
down. Senpai was still staring, still watching her. He was frozen in place. Not
even his eyes were moving. Through the terror, she could make out the absolute
disgust radiating off of him. Yande was pulling her back. “We have to go.”
“H-How could you do this?” Senpai hurried to get on his feet. “D-Do you realize
what you just done? You killed him. You killed Osana. You k-killed my sister.
How could you? Y-Y-You’re a monster!” He backed away from them. She was sure
there was more blood than rainwater dripping off of her at this point. “O-Oh,
my God.” Senpai clutched his chest. “Help!” He yelled. “Somebody, help! Help!”
“He…” Ayano looked down at her hands. They were covered in red. “He’s never
going to love me after this.”
“Yan, come on.” Yande was tugging on her arm. “We have to go. Somebody could
come at any minute.”
Ayano’s entire world was ending around her. Her heart was racing. Her head was
dizzy. Her body was beginning to grow numb. She covered her face with her hands
and could feel tears running down her cheeks. No, no, no. She hadn’t cried
since her fourteenth birthday. She furiously wiped away at the tears and closed
her eyes. It didn’t help. She couldn’t get rid of the feeling that someone had
their hands around her neck and was pressing and squeezing her windpipe closed.
She couldn’t get the image of Senpai looking at her as if she was the most
despicable and vile creature that the universe had ever produced out of her
head.
A hand touched her back. She threw it off of her.
Yamada Taro was so many things that she couldn’t even begin on how to voice
just exactly what he meant to her. Yamada Taro was more than just some
schoolboy crush. He was everything. Everything. He was the embodiment of
everything that she had ever wanted. He was every star in the night sky that
twinkled and watched over her before she fell asleep to the thought of him. He
was the sun that rose every morning in the horizon, reminding her that there
was a reason to live after all. He was the face in her dream that seized her
guts. He was the flutter in her heart, the knot in her stomach, the one who was
always on her mind.
But now he could never feel the same way for her.
Never.
“Ayano?” She pushed off Yande’s arm again. Senpai was still staring at her,
still had that look in his eye. Her body went on autopilot then. Her mind was
already made up. She snatched back the sword from her brother’s hands. In the
back of her mind she knew that the blade was most likely busted from all the
abuse that she had just put it through, but it didn’t matter. It was still
sharp. It was still going to do its job.
Her feet moved her toward Senpai and her arms automatically rose up between the
two of them. “If I can’t have you…” Her hands may have shook as she aimed the
weapon, but that didn’t matter. Nothing mattered anymore. “No one can.” She
touched his cheek. This was the first time she ever touched him. His skin was
wet from the rain, but still smooth and soft, just as she always imagined it.
“G-Get off me!” She was getting blood on his cheek. She placed a finger over
his lips and shushed him. She leaned up on the tips of her feet and kissed him.
Finally. Ah, his lips were just as soft as she imagined too. His yelps were
muffled beneath her lips. Her head was hazy when she backed away from him. He
looked mortified.
She sunk the blade into his chest, twisted, and was quick to yank it back out.
He fell to his knees and landed by her feet. He deserved something that was
quick and painless. He didn’t deserve to suffer. He deserved mercy. He deserved
better – better than what she could ever give him.
Ayano looked at the bloodied blade before her. Was this poetic justice?
“Info-chan!” Yande was running to the other side of the roof. “Where are you?
You said that this wasn’t going to happen!” He managed to find the redhead in
the doorway, standing with the masked girl. They had beckoned him to the roof
saying that instead of Ayano coming down with the others, she and Budo were
arguing. Info-chan had insisted that it was nothing serious, that they didn’t
have any weapons, but Yande knew better. He made sure to take a quick stop at
the Cooking Club room and come prepared.
“Yeah, and?” She shrugged as if there was nothing wrong.
“And look what happened! Masuta’s dead. Senpai’s dead. Ayano’s crying. Tell me
what happened.” He held the knife he brought in front of her. “Now.”
Info-chan looked unperturbed by his threat. “I just told her the truth. That
the both of you are stupid and I just wiped my hands with you guys.”
“I don’t think that really matters right now. You’re probably creaming your
pants right now at the thought that your little ‘mastermind’ plan succeeded,
but honestly it doesn’t matter.” He waved the knife around right below her
nose. “Okay, maybe you might have ‘tricked’ us into doing your deed or whatever
and we were less than smart letting you.” He shrugged. “Who cares?” He wanted
nothing more to just plunge the knife through her stupid skull. “I know I
don’t.”
“Well, you certainly showed me, Thing One.” She pushed the knife aside with her
finger. “Great speech. You really stuck it to me there.” He snarled. “Ooh,
you’re so barbaric and masculine.” He pushed her hand away and aimed right for
the skull like he wanted. Info-chan didn’t even move. She didn’t even blink or
twitch. The lenses of glasses momentarily became clouded and in a blink of an
eye, Info-7 stepped in front of Info-chan and took the blow.
Yande immediately stepped back in shock. All he could see were the girl’s eyes
and they were quickly watering, but she didn’t make a sound. She dropped down
to her knees before plummeting to the ground. He backed away so that she
wouldn’t fall on his feet.
Info-chan had the audacity to laugh. “And the plot thickens.” She saluted him.
“Have fun avoiding the feds now. Our little working relationship ends now.” She
went into the building. No, she wasn’t just going to get away that easily.
He ran out into the halls. The lights were still off. He looked left and right.
Info-chan was nowhere to be found.
“Hey, kid!” Officer Kanon was rushing up the stairs. Shit. “Good thing I was
sweeping the school for any lingering people. Let’s go out to the back of the
school, kid, come on. It’s mandatory, not optional, you know.” Yande reached
down and grabbed the knife handle protruding from Info-7’s head. He tugged and
tugged, but it would not budge. Perfect timing. Officer Kanon had reached the
top of the stairs now. “Aishi? Is that you?” The officer’s eyes widened as he
took in the scene before him. The officer unclipped the walkie-talkie from his
hip and quickly muttered, “We got an eleven-oh-one on the roof, over,” into it.
“Care to tell me what happened here?” He asked after he returned the device to
his hip.
“I don’t think there’s too much to explain.” Yande looked off to the side. He
couldn’t see Ayano. More officers were racing up the stairs and he was swamped
by police officers. He felt handcuffs bite into his wrists. Officer Kanon took
him by the arm. There was a somber expression on the man’s face.
“I honestly didn’t think it was you. I didn’t want to either. You were such a
nice kid. I really liked you and your sister, you know.” He sighed. They all
began to walk downstairs. Cops surrounded them. Yande couldn’t see anything but
blue uniforms. “What is your sister going to think about this, huh? And your
mother and father too, what are they going to think about this?”
“It doesn’t matter what they think. It doesn’t matter what anybody thinks.”
Yande tried to glance behind him to take one last look at the roof, but an
officer shoved him forward. He nearly tripped down the stairs.
“Oh, but I think it does, kid.” Officer Kanon cleared his throat. “Let’s get
this over with. Aishi Yande, you are under arrest for the suspicion of murder.
You have the right to remain silent and refuse to answer questions. Anything
you say may be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to
consult an attorney before speaking to the police and to have an attorney
present during questioning now or in the future. If you cannot afford an
attorney, one will be appointed for you before any questioning if you wish. You
have the right to have the Embassy or the Consulate to be notified of your
arrest. If you decide to answ—”
“Wait, my sister.”
“Huh? Don’t interrupt me, kid. She’s probably outside with the rest of ‘em
anyway. Nothing to worry about.”
Yande shook his head. “She was on the roof too. Something bad happened.”
“Yeah, something bad happened all right. We all saw.”
Yande halted in his tracks. He stood his ground when Kanon tried to pull him
forward. “Send somebody to check on her.” Kanon sighed. He looked at one of the
surrounding cops and cocked his head. One of the men got out of formation and
went up the stairs. Kanon tried to pull Yande forward again, but the boy dug
his heels into the ground. “I’m not leaving until I know my sister is okay.”
“If you’re implying that she was your accomplice, then she’s most likely fine.
But if you’re implying that she was one of your victims, then help will be on
the way. We have a couple of ambulances parked out back.”
The officer that left dashed back down the stairs. He hadn’t been gone for
long. Originally, all of the officers that were escorting Yande down the stairs
had stone cold expressions on their faces. This one looked downright disturbed.
“K-Kanon.”
“Something wrong, Suzuki?”
“We got two more stiffs and an eleven-twenty-eight.” Yande looked up at Kanon.
His expression fell also.
“Are you sure?” Suzuki curtly nodded.
“What’s wrong?” Yande looked back and forth between the two officers. “What
does that mean? Where’s my sister?” Officer Kanon tugged on his arm again, but
Yande tried to hold his ground. More officers pushed him, but he still tried to
resist until they had to throw him on the ground. “I’m not leaving without my
sister! Where is she? Where’s my sister?” They were picking Yande off the
ground. He tried to kick at them, tried to break away from their grasps.
“Ayano!” He yelled. They practically dragged him the rest of the way out to the
entrance.
There were more people looking over Imouto and Wakimoto’s bodies. Everything
was taped down, pictures were being taken, and blood was being swabbed.
“Stop struggling, kid,” Kanon said. “You’re only making it harder on yourself.”
“Ayano!” Yande tried to look up at the roof. He couldn’t see anything. “Ayano!”
“Aishi, stop, please.” Kanon rubbed the bridge of his nose. A few of the
officers dropped Yande on the ground by the gates and walked away. Yande didn’t
move to his feet and Officer Kanon didn’t pull him back up. The rain still
plummeted.
“…I just want my sister.”
Kanon looked down. “Kid, an ‘eleven-twenty-eight’ is a suicide. I’m so sorry.”
***** Folie à Deux *****
Chapter Summary
                                     100%
Officer Kanon became Yande’s new companion. He saw the officer more than he saw
his own parents (which was zero times so far – not even one phone call). The
man handed Yande a drink and let out a breath as he sat down. The officer was
filled with sighs instead of smiles recently. He rubbed the bridge of nose –
possibly another habit of stress – as he popped the tab on his own drink. Yande
mimicked his actions.
“Okay, kid, let’s talk.”
“About what?”
“I just wanted to tell you some things.” Kanon glanced at the stack of papers
that he brought in with him. “So, juvenile cases involve cases concerning those
aged between fourteen to twenty years of age who have violated a criminal law
or ordinance, blah, blah, blah. To cut to the chase, since you are not under
the age of fourteen, being born…” Kanon glanced at the papers again. “Being
born on the first of April, ’82, making you fifteen years, eleventh months, and
two days old as of the third of March, ‘98—which is today—it means you’re
considered an offender under the Penal Code.”
“I should have done this last year, huh? When I was fourteen.” Kanon gave him a
look. “I’m sorry. Continue.”
Kanon took a slow sip of his drink. “Now, prosecutors seek out the death
penalty almost systematically in the cases of multiple homicides. It’s handed
down in seventy-nine percent of cases where three or more victims have been
murdered. That being said, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights say that executions for
crimes committed under the age of eighteen are forbidden. But… things aren’t
looking up for you, kid.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah. Okay, we got a nine-point set of criteria when it comes to considering
an execution. I wanted to go over them with you. First we look at the degree of
viciousness. We only know that you tortured Yamada Imouto to the point where
she was willing to not only kill herself, but another student.” Kanon shrugged,
as if that was enough to be said. “Second, we look at motive. I think we
uncovered a lot of jealousy going on here if we get down to the basics,
correct?”
“Correct.”
“Third, we look at how the crime was committed, especially the manner in which
the victim was killed. We know that you used a knife to…” Kanon thumbed through
his pages again. “You put a knife through Kuzuryu Sayoko’s skull.” Kanon
cleared his throat. “Fourth, the outcome of the crime—especially the number of
victims. I estimate around twenty victims here, but we’re still investigating
some. Fifth, the sentiments of the bereaved family members. Sixth, the impact
of the crime on society. Seventh, age. Eighth, previous criminal record. And
ninth, the degree of remorse being shown.”
“How I am looking according to these criteria then?”
“Not too well. Obviously. I mean…” Kanon leaned back in his seat. “Do you know
who Nagayama Norio is?” Yande shook his head. “He had a severely disadvantaged
background and in 1968, when he was nineteen years old, he went on four
separate robbery-murders and was just hanged last year. See, the Tokyo high
court gave him a life term at first, but in ’83 the Supreme Court quashed the
sentence. You see where I’m going with this, kid?”
“No. Where are you going with this, Officer?”
“I can see this trial already. You’re planning on confessing, right?” Yande
nodded. “I can see this getting dragged out for a while, being that you’re a
juvenile now, and in two or three years, when you’re about eighteen or so, all
of a sudden they’re going to say there was an ‘error’ and they’ll hand you the
death penalty.”
“I see now.”
“You’re oddly calm about this.”
“I deserve this. There’s nothing to object here.” Yande took a slow sip of his
drink. “How are my parents?”
“We tracked them down this morning. They have indefinitely relocated to Rancho
Palos Verdes, California. We couldn’t get too much out of them and your father
made it clear that he does not want to call or visit you. Your mother was
willing though, but it doesn’t seem likely if you ask me. Sorry, kid.”
“No. It’s okay. I don’t want to see them anyway. I don’t care.” They sat in
silence for a moment. Only the sound of the two slurping their drinks was
released into the atmosphere. “You mentioned you look at the impact on
society?”
“Yes. If you’re wondering, the event from the lockdown is labeled ‘the Akademi
High School Lockdown Slashing’ and the overall murders are called ‘the 1998
Akademi High School Incident.’ You have been labeled as ‘Child A’ and your
sister is ‘Child B.’”
Yande looked down at his drink. It was the same flavor soda that he had gotten
for himself and Ayano that day when she was getting cold feet about Kokona
Haruka, so he kissed her and tossed her on the table an— “How is she? How’s
Ayano?”
“She’s… fine.”
“What does that mean?”
“Still comatose. Hasn’t improved, hasn’t worsened. If she awake—”
“When she awakens, you mean.”
“Of course. When she awakens she’ll be getting the same treatment as you are.
It’s a miracle that we managed to save her before the blood loss was too
significant. Stab wounds are serious business, especially purposefully self-
inflicted ones.” Kanon stood up then. “Anyways, you’ll be transported to the
Kumamoto Juvenile Prison and going to the courts there because Buraza Town is
lacking. If—I’m sorry, when—push comes to shove then you’ll be moved to the
Hiroshima Detention House.”
“Why Hiroshima?”
“It’s the closest place with an execution chamber.”
                                       ❀
Yande made himself as comfortable as a person could make themselves in
handcuffs and an itchy outfit. There were more people than ever before in the
room now. A few drinks were laid out in front of him, courtesy of Officer
Kanon, along with a meager untouched breakfast consisting of rice and a boiled
egg. Said officer was sitting by him now, arms crossed and uniform disheveled.
A man and a woman were seated in front of Yande. Their side of the table was
covered in pens and papers and tape recorders. Someone else had already set up
a few video cameras. More people had pens and pads. The room reeked of ink and
coffee and the few fluorescent lights in the ceiling were beginning to flicker
from being on for so long.
Kanon nudged Yande’s arm. Yande cleared his throat. “My name is Aishi Yande,
born the first of April, 1982, and today on the sixth of March, 1998, I have
decided to give my confession.” People were beginning to write now.
“Matsumoto Jo, homicide detective with the NPA,” the man sitting in front of
him said.
“Yoshimura Kayoko,” the woman said, “Chief Superintendent of the Kumamoto
Police Headquarters.” She took a sip of her coffee as other people in the room
began introducing themselves. More officers, more detectives. Yande didn’t
bother to remember their names. It wasn’t like they were important. “Aishi-
san,” Yoshimura said after the formalities were over, “take us to the
beginning, please.”
“It started on Christmas last year, me and my sister were alone at home. Our
mother left because one of our family members was sick. Our father had left a
few months before that.”
“Did your parents often leave the both of you alone?”
“Yes and no. I mean, our parents took a few trips without us before, but this
was the longest that they ever left us completely alone.”
“How did they take care of you with the both of them away?”
“They both sent us money. We could buy food and stuff from the stores. Yan and
I could take care of ourselves.”
“So your parents were separated at the time?”
“Yeah, you could say that.”
Yoshimura glanced at Matsumoto. The man cleared his throat and picked up the
questions. “So, it all started on the twenty-fifth of December of last year?”
Yande nodded. “Why? What happened that day?”
“Well, Yan and I got this anonymous text message from someone. My sister and I
had a crush on this classmate, Yamada Taro, and the person who had texted us
said that there were other people who liked Yamada. So in order for us to be
only the ones to have him, we had to get rid of all of these ‘rivals.’ I only
agreed to go with these plans because Yan wanted to.”
“Wait, you had affections for the same person?” Yande nodded. “This wasn’t a
problem?”
“No. Yan and I are used to sharing. We’re twins you know. We’ve shared a lot of
things together in the past.”
Matsumoto frowned. “Can you elaborate on that?”
“I rather not.” Yande heard Kanon clear his throat and fidget in his seat. “We
were… We were closer than siblings are supposed to be.” Yande straightened up.
Best to leave things vague. “Anyway, this person who had messaged us laid out
this entire plan to get rid of these rivals and we were to follow them starting
after winter break.” Yande held his hand out to the calendar in front of
Matsumoto. “May I use this?” Matsumoto passed the calendar along with a pen
Yande’s way. He flipped back to January. “Let’s see… the eighth of January, we
kidnapped Najimi Osana. We threw her into this cello case trunk and rolled her
to our house. That same day we got messages from two other people. I got
messages from Kuzuryu Sayoko, the headmaster’s youngest daughter and also the
one I killed on the roof, and Ayano got them from Masuta Budo, the president of
the Martial Arts Club and one of the people that she killed on the roof.” Yande
pointed to the next day. “We killed Osana then. We dismembered her in the
basement with a circular saw that the people from the messages sent us. We were
told to video tape this too.”
“Does this tape still exist?”
“I don’t know. I’m sure that we mailed the tape and the camera off to some
anonymous location. We didn’t send it online.”
“So Najimi Osana was your first victim?”
“Yes. She was the first.”
“What did you do with her body?”
“You mean body parts? I put them in trash bags and threw them away.”
“The neighbors weren’t concerned?”
“No. We have a soundproof basement and it wasn’t like I dumped her entire body
on the curb all at once. Anyway, a couple of days after that we were told that
we have a deadline now. We had to kill by Thursdays, one rival per week. On the
twelfth I met Officer Kanon.” Yande gestured toward the aforementioned officer.
“He asked us about Najimi’s disappearance and we said lied about it. Then on
the fourteenth, we kidnapped Shiba Sumiko from her house. On Wednesdays, she’s
the only one home. Ayano killed her by herself.”
“Did you dispose of the body in the same manner?”
“Yes. And then on the fifteenth, I concocted this poison or whatever and Yan
used it to kill the other two members in the Cooking Club. I don’t know what
their names were though.”
Yoshimura sighed. “At the time the members of the Cooking Club consisted of
your sister, Shiba Sumiko, Kokona Haruka, Hinata Kohara, and Soma Riku. You’re
saying that you created a poison for your sister to use to kill Hinata Kohara
and Soma Riku and make it look like it was a case of food poisoning?” Yande
nodded. The woman crossed her arms. “Matsumoto, you can continue.”
“What happened after the poisoning?”
“After that I joined Drama Club to get closer to Kokona Haruka because the
Cooking Club disbanded. While we were on the roof practicing for the upcoming
play at night, Ayano kidnapped Sora Sosuke and we both killed Kokona and Yuna
Hina. We tossed their bodies off the roof and then put them through the
incinerator.”
“You put their bodies in the school’s incinerator?” Yande nodded. Yes, that’s
what he said. “What about their bones?”
“Masuta and Kuzuryu took care of that.”
“Okay. And you didn’t do anything to Sora Sosuke that night?”
“No. We just locked him up in the basement bathroom and kept him fed and stuff.
And then on the twenty-eighth, Yan killed Kaiyo Puru by the school swimming
pool. And then on the third of February I joined the Photography and the Occult
Club…”
                                       ❀
Hours stacked upon hours of talking, questioning, more talking, even more
questioning. A break was taken so that food could be ordered and delivered and
the cameras’ film could be checked and more coffee could be brewed.
“Quick rundown,” Matsumoto said after finishing his meal. He looked over his
notepad. “So, according to you, your sister murdered Shiba Sumiko, Kaiyo Puru,
an unindentified boy you discovered in the hallway on your way to the roof,
Akumu Shaneru, Masuta Budo, and Yamada Taro. You murdered Shin Higaku, Chojo
Tekina, Daku Atsu, Kokuma Jutsu, Sora Sosuke, Supana Churu, and Kuzuryu Sayoko.
And then you both murdered Najimi Osana, Hinata Koharu, Soma Riku, Kokona
Haruka, Yuna Hina, and Oka Ruto. With the help of Masuta Budo you all murdered
Akabara Murasa, Keiji Kupa, Yamaguchi Daishin, and Shiba Sumito. And with the
help of both Masuta Budo and Kuzuryu Sayoko you tortured Yamada Imouto into
killing Wakimoto Kimi and herself.”
Yande nodded. “Yes, that sounds about right.”
“There are a couple of things I don’t understand here, though.”
“What is it?”
“Who was the third anonymous person that you mentioned messaging you? You only
gave us two names.”
“I could only give two names because I only knew two of them. Masuta told us
who he was and I just found out who Kuzuryu was. I don’t know who that third
person was.”
“And you’re positive that you do not know what their indentity is? You never
saw them?”
“No, I never saw who ‘Info-chan’ was.”
“Okay then. You better not be lying to us or else the consequences will be
serious.” The man sighed and wrote something down. “And I don’t understand why
you stood there and let your sister murder Yamada Taro. If this was your
‘beloved,’ why didn’t you stop her from killing him?”
Yande shrugged. “I don’t really know why, honestly. I think I let her kill him
the same reason why Masuta was going to kill her.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means what I said earlier, ‘if I can’t have you, no one can.’ That’s the
mindset that’s been in the Aishi family for generations, especially the women.
Masuta was obsessed with Yan for some reason, so he was ready to get ‘revenge’
for her because he knew that if he had done that he could have covered it up as
some type of ‘hero’ story for protecting Yamada and defeating the ‘killer.’ In
reality, if he couldn’t have her, he didn’t want anybody else too. Yan did it
to Yamada for the some reason.” Yande took a deep breath. “When she realized
that Yamada would never love her once Masuta told him that she was the one who
broke his sister and killed his best friend and everybody else, something…
something snapped inside her. And I let her do it because…”
“Because what?”
“Because… I never liked him. I lied. I’m not even attracted to other men
necessarily. Can’t you see what this is?” Pictures of the victims were hung up
on the board at the far side of the room. Yande jumped to his feet and walked
over. Kanon reached out for him but stopped. The people in the room cleared a
path out of the way. The cameras immediately turned to capture what Yande was
doing now. Yande tore down the picture of Taro from the wall. “Can’t you see
what this is?” He repeated. He held the photograph to the side of his face.
“Don’t we look alike? Do you see it now?”
“What are you trying to tell us, Aishi?” Yoshimura asked.
“What I’m trying to tell you is that Yamada Taro and I look more alike than Yan
and I do. We used to be really close before we turned fourteen and moved to
Buraza Town. After that, we were still close, but not close in the same way
like we were in Kumamoto City. All I wanted was her. I figured that in some way
this plan would go wrong and with Yamada out of the picture, then I could have
Yan all to myself. That’s really why I went through with the entire thing.”
Yande pinned the picture back up. “After what I did to her she threw her
affections on Yamada because he’s basically like me—same looks, same hair, same
style, same everything—but better. He’s the ‘me’ that Ayano always wanted.” He
sighed and returned back to his seat. “He was better because he would have
never hurt her.”
“Aishi,” Matsumoto said, “what did you do to your sister?”
“I just did something really bad to her on our fourteenth birthday. I don’t
want to talk about it, but it was enough to make her run away and actually cry,
so you can fill in the blanks there.” Everyone in the room began to murmur and
look at one another. Kanon stood up from his chair. Yande didn’t look to see
where the man went. “Are we done here? That’s everything. Forty-nine days of
terror all accounted for.”
“Yeah, kid,” Kanon said from across the room. Everybody turned to him. “We’re
done here.”
                                       ❀
“073116!” The cell doors creaked open. “You have a visitor!” Yande set down his
plate of fish – the usual – and got to his feet. Two guards set handcuffs on
his wrists before taking him by the arm and leading him away.
“Who is it?”
“Kuzuryu Sachiko. Says she’s an old friend.” Yande frowned. He certainly was
not “old friends” with anybody by that name.
The entire trip down the hall was silent. Yande glanced toward a few of the
other cells. Looked like it was late, everybody was still asleep. He was
surprised that the yelling hadn’t woken anybody up.
“Nothing less than five minutes, nothing more than thirty minutes,” the guard
said. Yande nodded. He knew how it went. His mother visited him nearly every
every day at first until her visits dwindled down to once a week, then once a
month, and then to never. His father only visited once, being forced to go
along with his mother. They didn’t speak to each other the entire time. Officer
Kanon paid him a few of visits, updating him on this and that. He even told
Yande that his wife – one of the teachers at school, but Yande didn’t have
Kanon-sensei – was pregnant and they decided to move to Kagoshima together to
raise their child. That was their last visit together. When Yande had returned
to his cell then, a guard announced that his allowance had added to. Yande
smirked when he asked who exactly had donated more money to him, but the guard
refused to answer.
Those were the easier visits, the first year. The second year... did not have
the best visits.
The Najimi’s decided to pay him a visit first. They were everything like their
daughter: hotheaded and loud. Yande could feel his ears ringing after the
visit. And the guards didn’t cut into it at all.
A lone grandmother came to visit him a few weeks after that. She quietly said
that she tried to offer snacks to him, but her offer was refused so she decided
upon envelopes, papers, and a pen instead. She said that she figured showing
him some kindness like Sweetie had done for everyone else would help her
grieving heart. When she got up to leave, Yande heard her whisper to herself
that her little act of kindness did not make her feel better though. Yande had
sent as many letters as he could with the supplies he had that week even though
he knew his recipient couldn’t afford the sanctuary to reply back to him.
Yamada’s father visited. He was quiet at first, only wringing his hands over
and over again and staring off into space for the first few minutes. Yande had
been tempted to break the silence, but Yamada’s father said, “Rot in hell,” and
then got up and left.
“Happy birthday, Thing One.” Yande held his tongue. “What’s it like being
legally seen as an adult now?”
“It’s great,” he hissed between his teeth. “Soon they’ll get to execute me
without feeling guilty about it.”
“Aw, that really is great!” She laughed. “Do you know what happened to Akademi
High?”
“No. Fill me in.”
“The old building got torn down. The headmaster wanted a ‘fresh start,’ so he
renovated the entire thing to be bigger and better and made it into Akademi
Academy. I wish you could see it.”
“I don’t.”
“Anyways, I just came by here to thank you.”
“For what? I did a lot for you if I remember things right.” Yande glanced at
the guard watching over their conversation. “Old girlfriend,” he whispered
loudly. The guard frowned.
“Thank you for still letting me do what I do best.” She shrugged and pushed one
of her dyed red locks from getting in her eyes. “So, how many more days until…
you know?”
“It’s nice how they give you a five day warning before they execute you.” Yande
shrugged. “I got three more days. They were even nice enough to do it after my
birthday.”
“That is nice.” She stood up then. “Well, that’s six minutes and I think we
both hate small talk.” She poked her finger on the glass that separated them.
“I also wanted to tell you that your sister has three days too. Goodbye,
Aishi.”
                                       ❀
     スーパーバブルガム★CHUM PLUS!
     ♡ thu. – 25.dec.13 / 22:45 ♡
     >chat connected!
     info_chan6: Hello.
     insertusernamehere: Who is this?
     info_chan6: I am Info-chan, and that’s all you need to know.
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