“I-I-I-” Ena burst into tears. “I didn’t- this wasn’t- I- why did it- he-”

 

Robert turned his head towards her “What is in that? Why do you all look so scared? Why is Emilia’s body like that!?”

 

Ren started to rise from his position and moved towards Ena. “I don’t know how OR WHY YOU HAVE THAT but it’s clear to me that this has something to do with you.” He started to walk towards Ena.

 

“Ren… don’t…” Shiro grabbed his hand as he went to punch Ena.

 

“But she! …” 

 

Kurono looked towards the three.  “Ren. Don’t.” 

 

“Ena, can you explain this?” Kurono looked at Ena.

 

“I-I can’t…” Ena wiped her tears away.

 

“Wait what is- oh no…” Shiro heard the footsteps of their classmates approaching.

 

There were gasps as their classmates came down to the basement. “What happened here!?” One of the guys screamed from the crowd.

 

“I don’t know but I think Ena’s responsible.” Robert turned to the class.

 

“We can’t just assume that…” Shiro walked over to Robert.

 

“Can’t we? So far you’ve been questioning Ena on that vial, the one that has the same colour as Emilia’s blood.” 

 

One of the girls in the class backed away from the rest. “E-Emilia’s d-dead?” She ran out of the basement in fear, followed by a few others.

 

“I think Robert’s right.” Another voice came through the crowd.

 

“Yeah.” A few voices followed after.

 

“”W-wait I-I.” Ena was still crying.

 

“Didn’t you say you couldn’t explain before?” Robert turned back around to Ena. “I don’t think that’s going to change.” 

 

He slowly approached the crying girl, his hand reaching into his right jean pocket and pulled out a shining silver kitchen knife. “W-wait th-this w-wasn’t-” 

 

`slice`

 

The sound of a knife going through her heart cut her voice off. 

 

“ENA!!” Shiro and Kurono screamed as he pulled the knife from her chest.

 

“You get what you give.” He said seriously as he walked through the people in the class.

 

“She deserved it.” Shiro heard multiple people saying he was in the right.

 

“Someone who murders someone else, even a supposed murderer when it wasn’t in self-defense and without enough evidence isn’t someone who is in the right…” Shiro clenched her fist as her eye’s teared up at the sight of Ena’s lifeless corpse on the ground.

 

“You want someone who could have killed any of us to stay walking around the school?” One of the girls said to Shiro angrily.

 

“I just don’t want my friend killed in front of me.” Shiro snapped back at the girl.

 

“A murderer might I add.”

 

Kurono walked up behind Shiro. “We can’t be sure of that.”

 

“Are you both too fucking stupid to see the facts in front of us, didn’t Robert explain it clear enough?”

 

“Are you so fucking stupid that you believe a guy who I don’t even know if Ena knew properly, when me and Shiro have been friends with her for years.” 

 

Shiro’s eyes had stopped watering, she looked dead into the girl's eyes. “You fucking…” Shiro clenched her fist and with all her strength punched the girl in the face, knocking her out. 

 

“Shiro…” Kurono looked at the girl’s unconscious body.

 

She was no longer in a safe environment, the people around her were giving dirty looks. Pushing through the crowd, she ran out of the basement into the summer heat haze that was outside. She ran through the desolate streets of the town, to Emilia’s house, as she suspected inside was a uniform covered in blood. Shiro’s head was hurting, she fell onto Emilia’s bed, slowly fading into sleep.

 

“Ena… You didn’t… right…?”

 

“I w-would never why w-would I?”

 

“Huh? Aren’t you supposed to be dead…”

 

“Y-you said it yourself, you feel like y-you're here but c-can’t physically feel.”

 

“Oh… I see… I’m dreaming… I won’t get answers here…”

 

“J-just r-remember I’m not permanently d-dead, you c-can loop.”

 

“I need answers first…” Shiro rubbed her eye’s as she awoke in Emilia’s bed.

 

“I fell asleep… I feel like I need to get some fresh air...” It had now become dark outside.

 

“Girl found in lake - More info has become available about the girl who was found in the lake - Her eye’s are a dark blue, blood type AB, around 5’10ft tall. A stab wound was found to have penetrated her intestines. Anyone with further information is urged to contact authorities.”

 

Shiro picked up the paper from Emilia’s mail box. “Authorities…? Who were they again…? Wasn’t there already a paper published about this today…?”

She put the paper back into the mailbox. “The lake might be a good place to get some air…”

She knew that a place like that had a high chance of getting her killed in this situation, especially in the middle of the night but she’d need to die soon anyway if she was going to save and prove Ena innocent and solve what was happening.

 

The night was just as hot as the day, cicada’s were still singing as loud as possible, the stars were clearly visible shining down onto the world, twinkling brightly in the sky. Shiro stopped halfway to the lake, just looking on into the sky, holding tears back as she remembered everything that had happened. How long would this go on if she really was in a loop and how would everything be solved? Was a happy ending even possible at this point? Who was behind this? Could someone else be in a loop? Surely she wasn’t the only one experiencing such weird things.

 

She continued walking the empty streets, not a single light in any home turned on. It was an unnaturally lonely atmosphere. Almost as if the world was missing people. She climbed over the small mountain that hid the lake from view, through its wide variety of flowers. As she approached the lake she saw a guy sitting with his back on a tree next to the lake, a red liquid running down his face.

“Don’t… Not again… Please can I just...” Her eyes started watering again. “Ena and Emilia are already…”