“How are we supposed to find her…” Uzuki trembled under the force of Aoi’s vicious glare. Her heart skipped a beat. She didn’t dare show the slightest resistance. “We should just go to the police or get a teacher.”
“Ha? Get them? Don’t be ridiculous!” Aoi walked right up to Uzuki and grabbed her by the collar. “We illegally snuck into the old school building late at night to mess around, and now someone’s gone. Have you even considered the fallout? She vanished. It’s not like some human trafficker kidnapped her. We looked for her that day too, didn’t we? Even if we racked our brains, there was no way we could find Minako ever again. We already did everything we possibly could that night. Under no circumstances can this get out. Do you know what will happen to us if it does? We’ll be scolded. We’ll be disciplined. We might even be expelled. We’ll all be ruined together. A stain like that will follow us for the rest of our lives, don’t you get it?”
“Uzuki is as naive as ever,” Kaoru chimed in from the side to back her up. “No, I wouldn’t call it naive. It’s more like brainless.”
Minako had disappeared into the mirror. How could everyone be so heartless?
Uzuki’s shoulders trembled. A lump formed in her throat.
This was way too strange.
“Listen, Uzuki. Even if we did go to the police, how would we explain it?”
“It was the Case Five event of the Seven Wonders… the mirror swallowed Minako…”
“Go on, try to explain that to me. Can you make it clear? Seven Wonders? Don’t be a joke, Uzuki. Do you really think adults would believe that?”
The venom in Aoi’s eyes was completely alien to Uzuki. Those bloodshot eyes reminded her of her late mother, Fumiko. Uzuki didn’t understand why she was connecting Aoi to her mother in this moment. In Uzuki’s mind, Aoi was clearly a kindhearted person, the core of their social circle. Everyone was drawn together by Aoi’s charm. That’s how their little group had formed. In class, everyone loved Aoi too.
So why was this Aoi so terrifying right now?
A cold smile formed on Aoi’s lips that gave Uzuki a visceral feeling of nausea.
It really was so frightening…
“Amano,” Uzuki cast a pleading look towards Amano.
Amano, the Class President everyone always trusted, had a gentle gaze. She was one of the top figures in the class, just like Aoi. Though she held the title, she was reasonable and had high hopes of running for Student Council President. If it were Amano, surely she’d take Uzuki’s side.
“Uzuki, did your brain break?”
For a split second, Uzuki thought her own ears had broken. She couldn’t understand what Amano was saying. She parsed the words one by one, finally grasping that Amano was insulting her.
“You keep telling all of us to search for her, but bottom line, none of us have any obligation. Minako went missing when she was with you. You are the one responsible.” The face of Amano, usually as pure as an angel, was now completely twisted. “What’s wrong, Uzuki? Don’t give me that innocent look. You always hide behind us and refuse to think things through. That’s why your brain broke, right? So pitiful. Now, at this point, please don’t try to shirk your responsibility, okay?”
“Shirk responsibility…” Uzuki clearly remembered that it was Aoi who first proposed exploring the old school building. How, in the end, did it become her own fault?
Uzuki stared numbly at the group.
Were they really her friends?
They felt so alien. So disgusting. So twisted…
Minako had indeed been with her when she vanished. Uzuki couldn’t deny that.
“If we go back to the old school building to look, maybe we can find her…”
“That’s so strange. Since you claim the Seven Wonders are real, why are you now asking us to go look for her? Are you hoping we all disappear too?” Kaoru, always one to follow the wind, spoke coldly as well. “Just as Amano said, this is your fault. We’re obviously not planning to hold you responsible anymore, yet you keep being so relentless.”
It felt like a knife had been plunged into Uzuki’s heart.
The image of her mother’s venomous, snake-like smile surfaced from the depths of Uzuki’s mind. Everyone’s stares turned icy cold, as if they were looking at a complete stranger.
“You just act without thinking, don’t you?” Aoi bent down and picked up the lunchboxes belonging to Amano and Kaoru, pointedly leaving Uzuki’s where it had fallen.
“If you want to search, go search by yourself. Don’t drag us into it.” Amano placed her hand on Uzuki’s shoulder and leaned in close to her ear, her voice sickeningly sweet. “If you go tattling to a teacher… I’ll make sure your life at this school becomes impossible.”
Uzuki’s entire worldview crumbled.
In class, Amano always maintained the image of an airheaded, innocent girl. The boys worshipped her cute face, calling her the “Angel of Kaijo High School.” Yet this Angel-sama was now revealing a dark side.
“Minako was my friend too. I’m even more torn up about it than you are, Uzuki. What right do you actually have to shout at us? You were the one who didn’t take care of her. Every time we went out, your only answer was ‘Whatever.’ You always just reaped the benefits without doing a thing. You thought you were being considerate of our feelings, but you were nothing more than a pathetic parasite. This time, you’d better at least show some conviction.”
Aoi stood up, took her own lunchbox, and walked out of the classroom, leaving Uzuki completely alone.
“I’m sorry, Uzuki. To be honest, I never actually considered you a friend. I only barely maintained a friendly relationship with you for Aoi-chan’s sake. A person like you… as soon as high school ends, I’m deleting your contact info. You didn’t seriously think we all actually liked you, did you?”
Amano also stood up, giggling, and followed behind Aoi.
“Goodbye, Uzuki. Honestly? Your tattoos are disgusting. And don’t go thinking you can get all cocky just because you found a decent-looking boyfriend…” Kaoru left with the other two girls without looking back.
That was so typical of her. In order to fit into the group, she could always remain detached. She always managed to find a place for herself in any collective.
It was over.
Uzuki stared at the overturned lunchbox on the floor, her heart a churning mess of emotion. Suddenly, she caught sight of a window facing the school’s front gate. A blood-drenched Minako seemed to be standing right there, beckoning to her.
— Come quickly, Uzuki.
— Come keep me company, Uzuki.
— Let’s be together forever, Uzuki.
The small social circle that had consumed Uzuki’s entire spirit finally shattered in this moment. Stumbling, she walked towards that window. If she jumped, maybe she would finally be free.
“It’s my fault…”
Uzuki repeated Amano’s words to herself.
Maybe it really was.
The feeling of losing a friend was truly unbearable.
She wanted so badly to just end it all and be done with it.
Down on the sports field, boys were in the middle of athletic competitions. Girls were walking together in pairs. School life really was wonderful, wasn’t it?
Tears streamed down Uzuki’s exquisite, doll-like cheeks. Her eyes were filled with the grief of being abandoned. One hand touched the edge of the window as she leaned her head out.
Her gaze snapped sharply to a figure below. Gao Sijin. On a twenty-nine-degree day, Gao Sijin was standing right at the school gate, waving at her. He looked extremely anxious.
He’s still here.
She absolutely could not die.
At the very least, she couldn’t die right in front of him.
Uzuki raised her hand and gave Gao Sijin a small wave back. She pulled her head back inside.
