Ch. 22
Chapter 22
Sunday morning. I woke up with no motivation whatsoever. Six in the morning. Lying in bed, the only thing on my mind was tomorrow.
What should I say to Miiko? The President only sent a mail saying "Can't find her. Where is she..." He still doesn't dream that she might be dead.
Then, out of nowhere, he sent a short message.
"Hey."
A content-less shout. Could he have heard about Miiko? My face twisted on its own. Even under the blanket I couldn't stop shivering.
But there shouldn't be any clue that would let him know about Miiko. Wrapped in the blanket, I kept telling myself to calm down. Please, racing heart, bad premonition—stay still, I pleaded again and again.
Before I could type "What's up?" he sent another message.
"Urakawa called me first thing in the morning. Says Kanbara the President's been missing since yesterday. He's worried and wants us to look."
Senior Urakawa. That almost-silent senior actually spoke up and asked for help. That alone is unsettling. Still, the words "missing since yesterday" don't quite click with my image of Kanbara-senpai.
That cheerful girl probably just stayed out all night. If she's at an all-night movie marathon with friends, it's normal her phone's off. She silences it. Then again, she'd probably chat away even during the film.
"Probably nothing to worry about."
When I answered that, another message from the President came.
"None of Kanbara the President's other friends have seen read receipts on her messages since yesterday, so something might be up. Could be she's in the middle of some trouble."
"Is that so?"
"Anyway, they want us at school by seven. It's not like him to talk this much. Let's go."
A summons.
I could probably skip it, but refusing his errands again while Miiko's missing would look suspicious. No—would definitely look suspicious.
I'll act like the usual me. The normal me who's always dragged along on his errands.
I changed quickly, slapped mayo-chicken on breakfast bread, and wolfed it down while pedaling off. On the way a stray black cat lunged at me and scratched my hand—our secret. If that cat wanted the chicken in my mouth, it should just say so...
I reached the school gate at 6:40. Earlier than expected; even the people who called me weren't there yet. Leaving me alone when Kanbara-senpai might hold a grudge seems risky. But no one here is hostile toward me. Probably fine. She wouldn't have sicced assassins on me yet.
Annoyed at being summoned and left waiting, I shivered in the cold for twenty minutes.
Suddenly, from behind—"atchoo"—a sneeze. I turned, hoping for someone, but it wasn't who I wanted.
A tanned girl I'd never seen before stared at me, studied me like I was rare, then turned her back and ran onto the field. Shouldering a sports bag—soccer, softball, track? Probably here for morning practice.
While I wondered about her, students poured in: teachers by car, students running with friends. Among them I spotted Kitsunesaki the guidance counselor driving past—he didn't notice me.
Quiet time passed. A few noisy students arrived, but mostly it was a calm, empty morning.
Hard to believe this was the Lycanthrope Academy mentioned yesterday. The day looked so lovely it felt destined to be wonderful.
Then one scream changed everything.
"Noooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
A shrill, horrible voice from the field.
My shoulder twitched, heart nearly stopping. Good thing I'd parked my bike carelessly—someone riding was startled right off theirs.
Reactions varied: shock, commotion. Strangest of all were those who felt nothing and simply headed for the bike rack.
A boy walking in with a friend started toward the scream but was grabbed and held back.
"Don't worry. Happens all the time."
Happens all the time?
Several who'd heard that stopped heading to the field and acted as if nothing happened.
What exactly "happens all the time"?
Did my doubt make me the weird one? That scream clearly meant someone needed help. Certain of it, I dashed toward the field.
People clustered at the edge of the field near the storehouses. A girl pointed at a narrow alley between them, stammering "Ah... ah..." She was the same girl who'd looked at me earlier.
I pushed through the crowd and followed her finger.
The crimson scene stole my words and thoughts.
Blood sprayed across the warehouse wall, everything a red sea. In the center, a high-school girl with deathly pale skin and clotted scarlet blood. Her stomach, legs—everything dyed red—eyes open in death.
For an instant I didn't notice the brown twin-tails were also blood-soaked.
This is Kanbara-senpai.
Kanbara-senpai, blood-stained and dead.
Something odd caught my eye: between her left and right feet, a ball and a kitchen knife. Behind them, a cat sliced straight down the back.
Realizing, I recognized the cat—Lop, the one Kanbara-senpai adored. Once white and beautiful, now so blood-soaked no one would believe it.
"But..."
The ball, the cat corpse, and other unnatural items lay in the pool of blood—things that shouldn't be on a school field.
A fox mask, bow and arrow, even a book.
The book's title: "Encyclopedia of the Occult." Why were things unrelated to the incident scattered here? Unable to understand, I scratched my head—
And suddenly felt there must be a connection.
From behind, Kitsunesaki the guidance counselor suddenly shouted, "Everybody! Step back!" Apparently he'd been standing among the first to find the scene, stunned. But it was too late. Students weren't listening; some were even taking pictures.
What kind of nerves did these Lycanthrope Academy students have...!
"Huh?"
At that moment I made a discovery.
If the ball was a crystal ball, it was the Seer. The fox mask was the Fox. The bow and arrow were the Hunter protecting the Villagers. The occult book was the Medium.
As for the murdered white cat Lop—was that meant to be the Victim?
I couldn't be sure it all matched perfectly, but I understood the general idea. Everything scattered here was tied to roles in the Werewolf game.
Incredible. The culprit had treated Kanbara the President as the Werewolf and killed her!