Uzuki had lost a friend she’d only just made. The pain inevitably dragged her back to memories of being controlled by her mother, who had forbidden her from having friends. Anyone who showed Uzuki kindness would simply vanish.
And now, Minako had vanished too.
Amano, Aoi, and Kaoru exchanged glances, looking utterly bewildered.
“We just investigated the Third Mystery ourselves. There was no Hanako, and all the other Mysteries turned out to be fake too. Nothing happened at all,” Aoi said, arms crossed, glaring aggressively at Uzuki. “You sure you didn’t just mess this up?”
It was a gaze of pure distrust. Uzuki wiped her tear-soaked eyes, choking on sobs so hard she couldn’t speak. The barrier forming between them left Uzuki feeling ice-cold. The fashionably dressed Aoi, coddled by her wealthy upbringing, always spoke her mind bluntly, never sparing a thought for the feelings of others.
“Alright, Aoi. Uzuki isn’t a liar. You shouldn’t use that tone with her.” The eternally helpful Amano immediately stepped in as the peacemaker. But that somewhat ditzy, silly smile Amano always wore now struck Uzuki as vaguely sickening.
Amano clearly didn’t grasp the severity of the situation. Or perhaps she was just paying lip service to the idea that Uzuki wouldn’t lie, while deep down she was siding with Aoi.
“If you’re trying to scare us by spouting a bunch of nonsense here, I’m going to get really angry,” Aoi stated, glaring at Uzuki with visible irritation.
Kaoru hadn’t said a word, merely standing to the side and watching. However, judging by where she’d positioned herself, she, too, was on Aoi’s side. Uzuki’s friends at school didn’t believe her. This realization made Uzuki’s tears burst forth anew. She wailed loudly like a child, her mental defenses shattering completely.
“I- I’m not…” She hiccupped, unable to form a complete sentence, “I’m not lying!”
Amano furrowed her brow. The innocent, cute persona she usually maintained slipped, revealing an expression of pure impatience, as if she were just wearing a mask of a model student. That look made Uzuki feel even more lost and uneasy.
She wasn’t lying.
Minako had truly disappeared. Right in front of the mirror, erased from existence along with the sound of her ringing phone…
A bitter, aching sensation made it impossible for Uzuki to remain standing.
“She doesn’t seem like she’s lying,” Kaoru, who normally acted as nothing more than a background companion to Amano and Aoi, finally spoke up. “Why don’t we go back to the Old School Building and investigate again? Let’s go look for Minako together.”
Uzuki’s hand still clutched Minako’s shoe…
“I’m sorry. I was a bit too harsh just now. Stop crying, your face is a mess.” Aoi stepped forward and placed a hand on Uzuki’s shoulder in a consoling gesture.
“There, there, Uzuki. Everything’s going to be fine.” Amano also gently stroked Uzuki’s hair. “Once you’ve calmed down, we’ll all go look for Minako together. I’m sure everything will be okay.”
Would it really be okay?
Uzuki didn’t think so. Clenching her jaw, she followed behind the group, wiping her tears with her sleeve. If she had known it would turn out like this, she never would have come. She really should have listened to Sijin’s advice back then…
Perhaps she simply wasn’t qualified to have friends.
The group entered the Old School Building. In Uzuki’s eyes, it was as if the food was walking right back into the monster’s mouth. Kaoru stayed by Uzuki’s side, supporting her. Although Aoi had apologized just moments ago, she kept walking at the front of the group, refusing to look at the pitiful, distressed Uzuki behind her.
The Old School Building was cursed.
They arrived before the same mirror from earlier. The mirror reflected the four girls’ figures, hazy and indistinct, flickering in and out of visibility in the darkness.
“This is the mirror?”
Uzuki nodded.
This was where Minako had vanished.
They continued along the path they had taken earlier, checking the music room. The silent music room showed no abnormalities. The portraits of famous figures did not gaze back with red eyes. The staircase remained at a consistent 12 steps the whole way. The paintings in the art room that had induced such physiological unease were all gone now, too. The pigment that had dripped out earlier had vanished without a trace. Even the toilet where Hanako had lingered was completely normal.
The Seven Wonders were fake. Everything Uzuki had described was a lie; she was making it all up. Except, Minako was undeniably gone. Minako from the other school’s Supernatural Club was Aoi’s friend. Aoi pulled out her phone. The signal was at full strength, but the call wouldn’t connect.
“Minako probably just went home. Even if the Seven Wonders were fake, the atmosphere in the Old School Building is really gloomy. She must have just gotten scared.”
“What should we do next, then? Are we still waiting for the last Mystery?” Amano asked.
“It’s way too late already, and after all this chaos, I’m definitely not in the mood for it. Anyway, let’s just go home. I’m sure Minako will come to school on Monday,” Aoi declared with complete confidence.
“Let’s look a little more…” Uzuki murmured.
“Shut up!”
Aoi shot Uzuki a look sharp enough to pierce right through her, deeply wounding her heart.
“I agree with Aoi’s suggestion. Let’s call it a night for now. Uzuki, you should go home and rest early. Don’t dwell on it anymore. Maybe Minako was just playing a prank on you. If I see her, I’ll definitely have to give her a good scolding. What a terrible, childish prank, scaring you like this.”
Tenderly protected by Amano’s words, Uzuki once again left the Old School Building with the group. From beginning to end, Kaoru hadn’t said much. She was a girl who could read the situation, seemingly worried that associating too much with Uzuki would make Aoi dislike her, causing her to be cast out of their little clique.
“I’m heading home.” Aoi stood at the school gate. “Uzuki, stop crying. I already apologized, what more do you want? You think crying is going to solve anything?”
This small social circle was steadily losing its original warmth.
The stylish but reliable Aoi was becoming aggressive. Amano remained the gentle Amano she always was. And Kaoru, after saying a quick goodbye, left in a hurry.
“See you Monday.”
The girls of the clique parted ways, each heading in their own direction, leaving Uzuki alone once more.
So helpless…
She turned her head back to look at the school’s Old School Building. Under the pitch-black night sky, she could almost hear the monster’s mocking laughter. Even her own mother had cursed her to a life of misery. Was it truly impossible for her to find any happiness?
Exhausted in both body and spirit, a fleeting thought of ending it all surfaced in Uzuki’s mind.
“Uzuki!”
A familiar voice called out in the distance.
“Sijin?”
Uzuki lifted her head. At the end of the asphalt road, she saw a clean-cut man in a white short-sleeved shirt. His refined, handsome features radiated the same gentleness Uzuki had always yearned for.
Gao Sijin was standing right before her.
Unable to restrain her emotions, she dashed toward Gao Sijin like a moth to a flame, throwing her arms around his waist. The tears she’d thought were long dry burst forth anew, soaking into Gao Sijin’s clothes.
She had wanted to hold it in, but she simply couldn’t.
Even if Gao Sijin was Cousin Rio’s future husband, Uzuki needed to find support, however temporarily, like a drowning person grasping for a piece of driftwood.
“Uzuki, come and sleep at the apartment I share with Qingxue tonight.”
Gao Sijin gently patted Uzuki’s head. In that single moment, Uzuki found the will to keep living.
