Up the stairs, Haruto, Naoki, Tetsuya, and Haruka could hear her deranged, excited laughter.
Haruto's face tightened in confusion. "Why is she laughing like that?"
Haruka started to dismiss it, "She's probably just—" but the sound of her crescendo of deranged laughter cut him off. "No! This is too much." He immediately bolted downward.
Haruto, Naoki, and Tetsuya chased after him.
Some faint echoes leaked into the commons, but students were wandering elsewhere, away from the office area.
Only a lone guard sat near the office corridor, hearing the noises but doing nothing.
A boy approached from the office side, heading toward the muffled sound of the commotion.
The guard stood immediately. "Hey, kid, you can't go there."
But the boy kept walking.
The guard stepped in front of him. "Hey—stop—"
The boy tapped the side of his neck lightly with his hand—the guard collapsed unconscious.
He slipped inside.
Other students, seeing the guard fall, panicked and alerted nearby staff.
Haruto and the others reached the scene.
Tetsuya broke instantly when he saw Shuya—tears welled, his voice cracked as he collapsed to all fours.
"Sh-Shuya…? Shuya…?" He shook as quiet sobs escaped him.
Naoki and Haruka froze in shock.
Haruto's face tightened—lips sealed, eyes wide, stunned into cold silence.
Rina was splattered with blood, staining her clothes and hair. The walls were painted with chaotic streaks.
Kairen shouted toward them, "Hey! Someone stop this psycho girl!!"
Rina leaned close to Shuya's dead face, bending down until their noses nearly touched.
"What happened…? Does it hurt…? Tell me."
Her voice rose in manic, laughing excitement.
"Come on, answer me!"
Daigo's eyes widened when a shadow moved in front of him—the boy from earlier.
Rina raised her hand for the final strike, aiming the spike right at Shuya's nose.
"So you like messing up people's faces with your fists, huh? Now, it's your turn to look ugly! Take this!"
The spike was just about to pierce Shuya's face—its tip hovering inches away—when—
Sshrrk!
A razor-thin katana swept down like a whisper, slicing through Rina's hair with a clean, needle-sharp sound. Strands drifted in the air as the blade glided past her neck, carving a shallow, precise line into her skin. A thin streak of blood and severed hair rolled down her collar.
The boy's voice dropped cold. "Have you crossed the line again?"
Rina's palm froze right in front of Shuya's nose. A faint, deranged smile touched her lips. She turned her head back ever so slightly, letting the blade slide even smoother along her neck. The cut remained light—just grazing the skin—yet enough to draw more blood in a slow, warm trail.
She exhaled softly and that smile widened slightly, a look of strange fulfillment crossing her face.
"It's been a long time…"
Her eyes lifted, sharp and amused.
"…hasn't it, KazeKami?"