“Tane… hara...?”

Reina covered her mouth with one hand, visibly repulsed. “Oh my… god…”

“No… no way…” Ryuko breathed, eyes wide.

Cho let out a shriek as she buried her face into Ryu's stomach, the boy sharing an equally horrified expression.

“W-WATARUUUU!!!!” Takeshi screamed.

Everyone stood frozen solid as they gazed at the body of their friend. No one dared to make a move, drowning the hallway in a vicious silence. A silence that was eventually broken by the pounding footsteps of the teachers.

“Everyone alright?! What happened?!” Takagi yelled. Right on his heels, Sakurai covered her mouth with both hands once she saw Wataru.

“Oh my-, Tanehara!”

“That's-!” Koharu gasped.

Now before the same sight as everyone else, the adults also recoiled in shock.

“H-Hey! He's not dead, is he?!” Akko asked.

“Somebody tell me what happened here!” Takagi demanded.

“I-I don't... I just-I… f-found him…” Yuuna answered, her body shaking along with her voice. As she spoke, she fell to her knees while hugging herself. “W-Wataru, he's not... That's... I-I…”

“...” After surveying the scene for a while, Takagi eventually let out a sigh. “Everyone, go back to your room for now. We'll discuss this later.”

“Teacher, he's not… d-dead right?” Cho asked. “He's… okay, right?”

“We're going to check him right now, Koime. Don't worry. Just go back to your room,” he answered.

She nodded and tried to take a step, only to nearly fall over from her shaking legs. Luckily, Ryu was there to support her, and she gripped onto him tightly to keep her balance.

“O-Okay…” she sniffled.

As the students began to walk off back to their room, Emi took notice of Yuuna, who remained shivering on the floor. Slowly, she knelt down next to her.

“C'mon, Asano. Let's go back to the room together, okay?”

“I-I... Wataru's... N-No…” Despite her mumblings, she allowed herself to be helped to her feet by Emi, who, along with the rest of the group, reluctantly headed back to their room.

-----

Having brought Wataru's body into the teachers' room, Takagi removed the fingers he had pressed to the boy's neck.

“H-How is he?” Eika asked.

His body is still warm, and he doesn't have any other injuries. But, as expected…

“No… no pulse…” he answered solemnly.

“No, it can't be...!”

As Eika cried out, he ran a hand through his hair, smoothing back the strands that had fallen into his face. “How could something like this… happen to him?”

Tanehara… why? Why would you… hang yourself?

“This… this wasn't supposed to happen…” Eika whispered as she turned away.

“I-I can't get through to the police! There's no signal!” Koharu shouted as she removed her cellphone from her ear.

“I was browsing the internet earlier, but now I've got no bars. What the hell's going on?” Akko asked.

“Everyone, please come here!” At Sakurai’s words, the other teachers moved to stand next to her at the window. She directed their attention outside, only for them to bear witness to a miraculous sight.

“Is that… fog?” Takagi asked.

“Why is there fog all of a sudden? It was completely clear when we got here!” Akko exclaimed.

“That's not all,” Sakurai continued. “I checked some other windows, and it seems like the fog is completely surrounding the building.”

“Surrounding the building? What's going on?!” Koharu screamed.

Takagi put a hand to his chin in thought. “We can't reach the outside world, and this mysterious fog has descended around us…”

Sakurai nodded along with his words, then made her way towards the door. “We have to notify the police as soon as possible. If we can't call them, then I'll drive to the nearest station and bring them here. Can I borrow your car, Eika?”

“U-Um, yes, of course. Here.” Eika handed her car keys to Sakurai as she passed and quickly left the room.

“Ah, wait! Someone should go with you!” Despite Takagi’s warning, no reply came save for her retreating footsteps. Takagi put a hand to his forehead in exasperation. “Ahh... Well, as long as she doesn't drive too fast, she should be safe.”

“Wh-What should we do now?” Koharu asked. “It'll be a while before she comes back, right?”

“The students are probably feeling uneasy right now. I should go and see how they're doing,” Takagi said.

“I-I'll go with you,” Eika offered. “I need to apologize to them for all of this.”

“Alright. Mister Ogino, Miss Shinkai, can I ask you to stay here and keep trying for a signal?”

The two of them shared a nod. “Y-Yes, of course,” Koharu answered.

“Thank you. Let's go, Miss Yamamuro.”

“Right behind you.”

The two of them left the room and headed for the students' room, however they only made it a few steps before a large slam followed by the sounds of thrashing and pained moans from inside of the teachers' room stopped them in their tracks. They quickly turned and rushed back to the room.

“Is everything alright?! What's-!”

“O-Oh my goodness!”

-----

Meanwhile…

“Holy crap…” Ryuko whispered as she hugged her knees closer. “That… really was Tanehara, right? That wasn't just, like, a fake or something?”

“It certainly looked… real,” Reina responded.

“But I mean, th-that was Wattan right? In the… in the n-noose?” Cho asked.

“D-Didn't we just say that it was the real him?” Takeshi asked, glaring slightly despite his nervous tone.

“No, I mean like... It was a noose, so... That means that Wattan... He…”

“Y-You're wrong!” Yuuna shouted. “W-Wataru wouldn't do something like that!”

Noticing her state of distress, Taitchi pitched her a question. “What did you see, Asano? Was it like that when you found it?”

“Y… Yes, it was…” she replied. “But, that doesn't mean anything! Wataru's the kindest person I know! H-He was… is, so happy... There's no way… he would ever do that…” Her head fell into her hands as hot tears began leaking from her eyes. “Th-There's no way he can be dead! Because… because...! I never got to tell him… how I feel…”

“Yuu-chan…” Cho whispered sympathetically.

“Ryu won't believe it… Tanehara's not dead!”

“L-Let's just forget that for now,” Takeshi said. “Why the hell was he in a noose in the middle of the hallway in the first place?”

“M-Maybe it was-” Kaho started, but what interrupted when the group suddenly jumped as they heard a loud slamming sound from outside.

“Wh-What the hell was that noise?!” Reina asked.

“R-Ryu heards it! Teachers' room!”

Taitchi nodded. “Let's hurry.”

The group quickly rushed out of the room and ran straight next door to the teachers' room. As they stepped into the already-open door, they recoiled at the sight of Akko and Koharu's mangled bodies.

Having been leading the way, Taitchi quickly turned and smothered Reina, blocking her vision with his body while ignoring her complaints. Unfortunately, most of everyone else was privy to the full view of the corpses. Cho let out another cry as she fell to her knees, and the others could only stare in shock at the brutality of the sight.

Only Emi struggled to see the scene from behind the mass of classmates. “What?! What is it?!”

“I-It's...!” Ryuko tried to speak, but found the words caught in her tightening throat.

“Wh-Why?! WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?!” Cho screamed, gripping the sides of her head with both hands.

“Everyone out!” Before they knew it, Takagi had appeared and ushered the students out of the room before shutting the door, with Eika hot on his trail.

“T-Teacherrrr!” Snot running down her pale face, Cho practically leaped into Takagi's arms, burying her head in his chest as she bawled.

Takagi gently rubbed her back to calm her as he addressed the group. “Everyone, let's go back to the room. We need to talk.”

-----

“S-So how was Tanehara?” Reina asked. “Was he… Was he dead?”

“Unfortunately… he was.” Takagi answered. A silence descended over the room, and all eyes naturally fell on Yuuna. Takagi reached over and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“I'm… I'm sorry, Asano.”

“...” Her only response was silence.

Not wanting to push her, he removed his hand and turned to the others. “His body was still warm, so his death must have happened recently. Did anyone see anything?”

Ryuko nodded. “W-We were playin' Truth or Dare a while ago, and Tanehara left to getta drink at one point. That was the last time… we saw him.”

Reina cast a glance toward Yuuna. “Asano went after him. Could she have...?” However, as she gazed upon the girl’s almost broken expression, she paused. “That's… not likely, is it…”

“Of course not!” Emi said, fists clenched. “None of us would ever do something like that!”

“Then how do you explain what we saw in the teachers' room?!” Takeshi retorted. The room suddenly went quiet at his words.

“What… happened in there?” she asked, brows furrowed. No answer came, as no one could build up the courage to respond to her words. “Um…?” Emi glanced around, watching as everyone averted their gazes one by one. Eventually, her eyes turned to Takagi. “Mister Takagi?” She watched the man’s face fall as he remembered what happened.

“Mister Ogino and Miss Shinkai. They unfortunately died in the teachers'-”

“Bullshit!” Takeshi suddenly shouted. “They… they killed each other, didn't they?!”

Reina’s eyes widened in terror. “They… what?”

“I-I mean, it's just…” Ryuko stammered. “The way the bodies looked when we saw 'em... It looked a lot like they… r-ripped each other's throats out with their fingernails, right?”

“You're… you're right, but-” Takagi started, only to be cut off by Takeshi once again.

“What the hell is going on?! Why would they do something like that?! And why did Wataru hang himself?!”

“It's the curse.”

Everyone turned to face Kaho, who was sitting in the corner of the room away from everyone else while clutching her sides.

Ryuko’s brows went up at her words. “The curse? You don't mean…”

“Yes! It was K-Kurokami that did it! He k-killed Tanehara!”

“No, that c-can't be right,” Reina said. “Wasn't it Sato and Tsuruya that were messing around with the statue? Why would it kill Tanehara of all people?”

“H-He's not dead…” Yuuna mumbled.

“He is! It's the B-Black God's Curse!”

“Black God's… Curse?” Takeshi asked.

Kaho hugged herself a bit tighter, trying to pack herself into the corner as much as possible. “First Kurokami targets someone and curses them. Then slowly, over time, everyone around that person starts d-dying! That's the Black God's Curse!”

Ryuko’s eyes shot open. “No way... You serious?”

Kaho nodded, then suddenly pointed accusingly at Ryuko and Takeshi. “I-It's one of you! He definitely cursed e-either Sato or Tsuruya! Th-There's no other explanation!”

“Well, Sato was the one who fell into the statue and broke it…” Reina noted.

“B-But wasn't Ryu-chan the one who pushed him? It could be her too!” Cho countered worriedly.

“There's no use assigning blame on anyone right now,” Taitchi said. “We're all stuck in this situation together.”

“B-But if the curse is targeting o-one of them, then that means the r-rest of us are in danger!” Kaho said.

“If this really is the work of a 'curse'... then there has to be some way to break it, right? Do you know anything, Okeda?” Takagi asked.

“W-Well…” She put a hand to her chin in thought. “The only way to break the Black God's Curse… is to k-kill the cursed one.”

“N-No way…” Ryuko breathed.

“Kill… the cursed one...? You... You're kidding, right? This is all just one big j-joke, right?” Takeshi stammered.

“Okeda, are you absolutely sure that's the only solution?” Taitchi asked.

“O-Of course I am! I wouldn't j-joke about this!” she snapped.

“So it's really… us or them?” Reina asked hesitantly.

Cho looked similarly unsure. “Either one of them dies… or we all die? That's…”

“O-Or we could always kill the b-both of them, just to be sure,” Kaho added.

“No! I refuse to believe that!” Emi shouted. Her face fell a moment later. “There's no way that I'll… that I'll…”

“Th-There's no ifs, ands, or buts about it!” Kaho shot back. “W-We have to do it or else we'll all d-die!”

“Okeda, that's enough! Scaring everyone won't help anything. There has to be another way,” Takagi said.

“Other way...? O-One of us...? What are you guys...?” Takeshi looked shaken as he watched his friends fervently discuss their deaths.

“Y-You can't just condemn us for somethin' we didn't even do!” Ryuko argued.

Kaho shot a glare at the both of them. “B-But you did! If only you weren't h-horsing around at the shrine, none of this would've ever h-happened!”

“B-Back off! How were we supposed to know about any of what you just said?! This isn't our fault, right Takeshi?!”

“...I-If anyone's the cursed one… it's Ryuko, right?”

Ryuko’s eyes widened at his words. “Wh-What? Takeshi, what're you...?”

“I-I mean she was the one who pushed me into the statue right? S-So it's not my fault…”

“Takeshi...?” Emi asked worriedly.

“S-So if we're gonna kill someone… it should be her and not me. I-I'm not the cursed one... It's Ryuko.”

“A-Are you kiddin' me?!” Ryuko said, face twisting with anger. “How can you even say that?! You're the one who broke the damn thing! I-If anyone should die, it's you!”

“Ryuko...? Guys, stop…” Emi held her hands up placatingly, but the two ignored her.

“You didn't have to push me when I hit you. I was just trying to swat a fly, s-so it's your fault,” Takeshi replied as he averted his gaze.

Feeling the tension rising, Emi attempted to move between them, only for Ryuko to roughly shove her out of the way as she stood face-to-face with Takeshi. “You asshole! Are you really tryna blame this on me?!”

“It's gotta be you! I didn't do anything!”

Clenching her fists in anger, Ryuko barely registered the motion of the punch she sent his way. The satisfying crunch along with the way he held his nose brought her back to her senses, but her rage was far from quelled.

“It was you! You're definitely the cursed one! And I'm gonna kick your ass until you admit it!”

“Screw you!” Takeshi barked before he tackled her to the ground, where the two of them began fighting.

“Break it up, both of you!” Takagi ordered.

“Calm down! Fighting won't solve anything!” Taitchi added. The two of them worked together to grab Ryuko while Ryu wrapped Takeshi in a hug before they pulled hard to separate them.

“L-Let go'a me! He's the cursed one!”

“Hands off, Masuta!”

“F-Fighting's not good, Sato!”

Feeling the pressure in his hold squeeze uncomfortably tight as he fought, Takeshi grunted.

“H-Hey, aren't you holding on a little too tight there?! Get off meeee!”

-----

After getting the both of them to calm down, the group continued their conversation from before.

“S-So what happens now?” Cho asked, hugging her pillow tighter to her chest. “W-We're not gonna kill them, are we?”

Takagi answered firmly. “No. Nobody's killing anybody. We're gonna talk this out and figure out a solution.”

Taitchi nodded in agreement “First of all, how do we know that those deaths weren't just coincidence?”

“You saw it too, didn't you?” Takeshi said as he stuffed some tissues up his broken nose to block the blood flow. “People don't just claw their throats out for no reason.”

“And then there's what happened to Wattan. I can't believe he would h-hang himself for no reason either,” Cho added.

“Not to mention, a fog has mysteriously appeared around the ryokan. And the cell signal got cut off as well,” Takagi explained.

“I-I'm telling you, it's the Black God's Curse! Why won't a-anyone listen to me?!”

“Listening to you only sparked a pointless fight,” Reina said. “There's no reason to go around pointing fingers when we don't even know for sure what's going on. What we need is a solution.”

“I'll give you a solution. I'm gettin' the hell outta here,” Ryuko said as she got to her feet. “Anyone with a brain's welcome to come with me.”

“Tsuruya, I don't think that's a good idea. It'll be hard to see in the fog, and Sakurai's already going to get help,” Takagi said.

“You let Teach go alone?” she replied, staring at him incredulously. “What if something happened to her on the way there?”

“Th-That's…”

She quickly shook her head, digressing. “Look, either we find her and help her if she's in trouble, or we run into the cops as they're comin' back here. Either way, it's a plan, right? Better than what we had before.”

“She's got a point. I'm with Tsuruya,” Reina said, standing.

“Then I'll go too,” Taitchi said as he did the same.

“I'm c-coming too,” Kaho said. “I still think Sato's the o-one who's cursed, so I wanna get as far from him as p-possible.”

“C-Can I come too, please?”

Ryuko nodded, smiling. “Of course you can, Emi. Now let's make like a tree and leave.”

“What about the rest of us?” Takeshi asked.

“Look, it's not like I buy into this curse crap, but if people start dying on either side then we'll know for sure who the cursed one is, right?” Reina answered.

“Are you serious? You're gonna turn us into lab rats?” Taitchi narrowed his eyes at her.

“Then look at it this way. The five of us will go and get help. It'll be faster if some of us stay here. That satisfying enough for you?” she retorted, crossing her arms. Taitchi sighed and shook his head, but didn’t say anymore.

“I'm going as well. I can't let my students head out on their own,” Takagi said.

“...I'll go too,” Eika agreed. “I won't leave the ryokan, but I want to try and find out what's going on around here.”

Cho fidgeted, looking torn between the two options. “I… I don't want Sato to be alone so… I'll stay here,” she ultimately said.

“Ryu will stays. Protects them.”

“...” Yuuna remained silent, but made no moves to stand up.

“Then it's settled,” Ryuko said. “I promise, the next time you see us'll be with a load'a cops on our tail.”

“O-Okay… be careful…” Cho whispered.

“And remember everyone, we're all in this together. We'll get through this as one,” Emi said reassuringly. Everyone nodded in agreement, and the group led by Ryuko headed immediately to the ryokan's front doors.

“Wh-What the...? This door's stuck or somethin',” Ryuko grunted as she pulled on it.

“It won't budge at all,” Taitchi said.

“The windows won't open either!” Reina shouted.

“Excuse me, Fukuoka.”

“Oh, um, right.” She backed out of the way as Takagi approached the window.

“Do you mind, Miss Yamamuro?”

“I-It's fine. As long as we can open an exit,” Eika replied. He nodded, then raised an arm before jamming his elbow into the window. However, the glass failed to break.

“Darn, it doesn't seem like these are even real,” he groaned as he massaged his elbow.

“I'll go and try the back doors. Maybe we'll have better luck there,” Eika said.

“I'll come with you.” Reina sent a glance to Taitchi. “Let's go.”

“Yeah.”

“Stay safe, all of you,” Takagi said. The group of three headed off in a different direction, leaving him, Ryuko, Emi and Kaho behind.

Ryuko sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. “What's goin' on, Teach? I feel like I'm losin' my mind here.”

“M-Me too. Everything was so boring and plain before, a-and now people are dying all of a sudden.”

“It'll all be over soon, everyone. We just have to find a way out of here. The police won't be much help if they can't even get in.”

“Akemi's right. We just have to stay calm and figure a way out of here.”

“Wh-What way out?!” Kaho snapped. “It's not like a door's just gonna randomly ope-”

*Click*

A sudden click made them all turn to the front door.

“Uh…” Hesitantly, Ryuko reached out and tried it, only for it to open effortlessly. “It's… it's open.”

“What? That's i-impossible, how can a door j-just open?” Kaho asked in disbelief.

Takagi shook his head. “Let's not try to rationalize what we can't understand, and just focus on what we can. The door's open now, so let's go.”

Following Takagi's lead, the group headed out of the ryokan and approached the fog.

“Whoa, this fog is, like, thick as hell. I can't see anything past it,” Ryuko said as she squinted into it.

“Let's stay together. It'll be easy to get lost in this,” Takagi said. The group huddled up closer and, after a moment’s hesitation, started into the fog.

“I c-can't even see two feet in front of me…” Kaho muttered.

“Stay close to me. Depending on how far this fog goes, we could be at this for a while,” Takagi ordered.

Minutes passed as they walked, until they discovered something that froze everyone's blood cold.

“Hey… isn't that… a car?” Ryuko asked, staring at the two red tail lights casting a visible glare in the fog.

“That's… that can't be... Sakurai!” Takagi suddenly took off into a sprint after the lone vehicle sitting in the middle of the road. With no choice, the students followed after him.

As he approached the driver side window, Takagi began banging on it frantically “Sakurai! Sakurai, are you-, Ah!” But suddenly, he took a stumbling step away as his eyes widened in horror.

“Mister Takagi? What's-” Emi watched her teacher's reaction momentarily before slowly moving to peer through the driver side window. “Huh...?!” She too gasped at what she saw, covering her mouth with both hands.

Staining the driver seat was a massive pool of blood. It coated the steering wheel and a bit of the passenger seat, and even the inside of the window. However Sakurai herself was nowhere to be seen.

“Sakurai... SAKURAIIIIIII!!!!!!!” Takagi let out a despair-filled scream as he fell to his knees.

Kaho grabbed her head in anguish. “Ahhhhh! I c-can't take this anymore!”

As the two of them cried out, Ryuko ran up and pulled on the door handle, but it didn't budge.

“I-It's still locked. And the keys… are still in the ignition, too.”

“B-But if the car is locked, then how did she… where did she go? And why is there so much blood in there?” Emi asked.

“I-It's the Black God's Curse! It g-got Miss Sakurai for trying to leave!”

“Again with that curse... Damn it!” Ryuko suddenly stormed off, back towards the ryokan.

“Wait, Ryuko!” Emi’s words failed to stop her childhood friend, so she ran over to Takagi, who slammed a fist against the ground.

“Damn it...! Sakurai, why...?! How could I let this happen...?!”

Emi grabbed his shoulders and shook him roughly to bring him to his senses. “Mister Takagi! Mister Takagi! Snap out of it! Mister Takagi!” Seeing as he wasn't listening to her, she raised her hand and brought it down across his cheek in a sharp slap. “Mister Takagi!”

“Huh?” Her teacher seemed to blink out of his stupor, gazing up at her with wide eyes. “Oh, I-I'm sorry, I… don't know what came over me.”

“I-I can't say I know exactly how you're feeling right now, but I understand at least a little, because I cared about Miss Sakurai a lot too,” Emi started. “But for the people who have died, we have to make sure we protect the ones still alive. And right now, Ryuko's going off on her own, so we have to catch up and make sure she's alright!”

“You… you're right... No, you're definitely right!” Getting to his feet, Takagi used his sleeve to wipe the tears that had been building up in his eyes. “I can't sit here wallowing when my students are still in danger. I have to do something, anything I can to save them. It's what Sakurai would have wanted. Let's go!”

“Yeah!” Emi cheered, then turned to Kaho. “Okeda!”

“D-Don't look at me like that. I'll go, b-but don't expect any kind of stupid cheesy speech from me,” she replied, glancing away.

With Takagi leading the way, the three sprinted back towards the ryokan. Once they got back inside the front doors, they glanced around for Ryuko.

“She's not here... Where could Tsuruya have gone?” Takagi wondered.

“Well I mentioned the curse just before she r-ran off so…”

“The shrine!” They quickly headed for the shrine, spotting Ryuko almost immediately as they got there.

“Ryuko!” Emi called.

“Tsuruya, what are you doing?!” Takagi shouted.

Ryuko shouted back as she brandished a shovel. “I'm ending this stupid curse once and for all!” Winding up, she let loose a powerful swing into the statue, shattering it into even more pieces than before. Satisfied, she let the shovel fall as she released heavy breaths.

“Haahhh… hahhh… hahh... There! It's over! Now we can-”

 

“A̪͢h͑̂̏̓h̨͐ĥ̳͇̤̗̘̣͑ͦ̈ͪH̨̗͋ͪͥͧ̉H̰̟͖͆͛̚h̩̤̯̺̄h̵͙͓̼̖̹͈̠͒H̤͆ͥ͒̓͢H͕̖̙̯͎̘͐͆h̤͔͕͓̓̾̍ͧ̇͟h̸̰̖̞̣̺̅̍̓ͮh̥̹̪̹̺ͭ̋̑͌͑ͨ͜h̰̮̞̙̺ͦͥͬ͢ͅH͕̥̤̹̜͌̾̉Ḩ̰͙͚̣͍̠ͭ̚Ḧ̖̥́ͭ̾͛͒̎̕h͍̘͙̹̓̉̌h̖͖̺͍̱̲̪̀h̨̲͈̥͓͔̭͇͛̈...!”

“Eh?”

Everyone turned to Kaho, who clutched her head as her body shook violently.

“Okeda, what's wrong?” Takagi asked.

“Okeda!!” Emi called worriedly. As the two of them tried to approach her, she threw her hands out, roughly shoving them back.

 

“Āͯ̿͐ͭ͌ͦ͏͏̦̳̻̙̟̝̥ͅc̗̬̘̪̜̮ͪ̅̏̇̋̚͜ḳ͙̞̳̎̃ͅ! ̡̼̭͇̱̻̣ͪ̅̎̈́̿ͨͤͣ͠H̼͕͓̣̠̩̖̏ͮͩ̌ͣ̏ͮ͡ȁ̰̬̰̦̗ͣͨ̒͛ͨͯ̊͡ͅͅa̧̮̣̲̯͈̺̮ͦ́ͧ͗͂̐ͪ̚ą̷̐̃͏̰͍̘̱̣̹͔a̻̠ͫͣ̇̏̊͒͗a͌̚͝҉͖̯̱̹͈̣̬͙h̝̪̟̺̤̳̭ͦ̈ͤ̂̎̿̋ͩͬ͘h̴̵ͤ̀͆͏̣̯̱̪h̺̮̳ͤ̈́ͥ̊͐͗͑͌̀̕ͅh̶̺̠̞͉ͦͩ͠h̸̛̦͎͔̹̲̻͇̝ͨ̊h͎̪̯̥͉̒̂ͤ͐ͦ͆̀̿̕͡ͅh̢ͩ̏̈́̚͢҉̫̖̜h̶̡̩̙͔̲̮͚͔̐ͬ͒...!!!”

The three of them could only stare in shock as Kaho screamed in what was clearly blazing hot agony. Eventually, she went silent, and her hand slipped into her skirt pocket to retrieve a pair of sewing scissors, which she gripped blade-down in her fist.

Ryuko gawked at the sight of the impromptu weapon. “What the...?!”

“Look out!”

Takagi barely managed to shove Emi out of the way just in time to avoid Kaho's leaping stab. Using her momentum against her, he attempted to disarm her of the scissors, only to find that her grip was too tight, almost unnaturally so.

What… what happened to her...? It's like she's not even human...!

Before he could inquire further, Kaho turned her attention to him, aiming her next attack for his neck. He dodged the slash and gripped her wrists to block her next swipe, locking them in a physical struggle.

“You two, run! Go and check on the others! I'll deal with this!” He shouted to Emi and Ryuko.

“No! I want to help Okeda!” Emi said.

“She'll be fine! You'll be doing… more harm than good by being here!”

“B-But-!”

Ryuko suddenly gripped her wrist. “Teach's right. We're not gonna be helpin' much by standing by and watching. Come on.”

Emi stared at Takagi and Kaho for a few moments, before turning away. “F-Fine…” She reluctantly allowed herself to be led away by Ryuko as Takagi turned his attention to Kaho.

“Okeda, I'll give you one more chance to stop this. I don't want to hurt you.”

Kaho didn't respond to his words at all, only glaring at him with eyes of pure rage as she continued trying to push the scissors closer to his face.

“Ah-!”

All of a sudden, the amount of strength she was putting into her hand increased immensely, and he had to throw himself out of the way in order to avoid the powerful stab she attempted.

It seems like she's getting stronger over time... I have to be careful not to get- “Ghh!”

Before he could even realize what was happening, Kaho had latched onto his neck and raised him up off of his feet with superhuman strength.

“Khh...! Oke… da...!” he gasped as he struggled in her grip.

In the next moment, he was thrown through the air much farther than a girl of her size should have been able to throw a grown man. Crashing through some pottery as he collided with the ground, it took him a while to get his bearings.

He put his hand on his head to quell the throbbing headache that was beginning to form, but as he opened his eyes to check on Kaho's position, they shot open to see that she was right in front of him, thrusting the scissors into his face with both hands. He barely managed to grip her wrists again, and they entered another struggle, only this time the scissors were moving much more easily towards his eye.

I can't… stop her...! No...!

His strength fading, the scissors eventually pierced just above the socket, creating a trail of blood that spilled into his right eye.

Is this… the end? I'm sorry… Sakurai... I wish I could see you one more time… so I can apologize…

The next thing he knew, a figure appeared behind Kaho wielding the shovel that Ryuko had used to destroy the statue. They brought it across the back of her head with a loud clang that knocked her to the side and off of Takagi.

“Huh...? Who…” As the figure offered him a hand, he recognized the familiar warm smile and voice.

“Are you alright, Takagi?”

“S-Sakurai…” Almost in a daze, he accepted her hand and allowed her to help him to his feet. “B-But how? We saw the car, a-and all of the blood!”

At the mention of the blood, Sakurai lifted a hand to massage her shoulder, which had been wrapped with strips of cloth from her coat. Blood was clearly staining the cloth from underneath.

“I'll explain later,” she said. “Right now, we have to make sure the students are okay. Was that Okeda I just hit?”

“Yeah, she…” The two turned to face Kaho, who laid motionless on the ground, scissors still clutched tightly in her grip. “...I'm not sure, she just… attacked us.”

“She attacked you? Are you okay?”

Takagi put two fingers to his wound and examined them. “I'll be fine. She didn't cut too deep. This is just a flesh wound.”

“E-Even so, I'll clean and dress it so it doesn't get infected.”

“That would help, thanks,” He nodded appreciatively as she began dabbing at his wound with a handkerchief. “But… what should we do with Okeda?”

“I'm not sure... If she's not feeling well, maybe we should restrain her and-” The sound of punctured flesh turned their heads back to the girl lying a few feet from them. The sight of the scissors embedded deep in her stomach shocked them both.

“Okeda!”

“Okeda, what are you-?!”

As they shouted at her, Kaho removed the scissors and re-sheathed them before repeating the process. Again and again she drove the scissors into herself until her strength gave out and she moved no more, the object handle-deep in her ribcage. The two teachers could do nothing except stare in horror at the sight of their student's corpse.

To Be Continued.