“Thank you for becoming my forever friends. I’m really happy.” Uzuki gripped Aoi’s hand tightly, her smile eerily alluring and beautiful.
There had been no earthquake warning today, yet suddenly, the living room began to shake violently. In an instant, the world spun, and the pristine white walls cracked open. One leg of the solid wood dining table snapped without warning, sending the whiskey and sushi platters crashing to the floor.
“Aaaaah!!!”
Amano shrieked at the sudden upheaval. Kaoru’s legs trembled, desperate to flee the apartment. Staying here any longer would be a death sentence. The tremor even drove Shiori out of the wardrobe she’d been hiding in.
The moment Shiori emerged, Uzuki’s gaze locked onto her.
“Long time no see, Minako.”
“Ah, Uzuki…” Back when they were investigating the Seven Mysterious Events at the old school building, Shiori had played the role of Minako. She stood there with an awkward, sheepish smile. “This isn’t the time for that. We need to get out of here—if you’re going to hold me accountable for running off like I did, I’ll apologize later.”
“Hurry, this way!”
Kaoru’s hand was already on the door handle, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t open it. A door that should have swung open with ease now felt as if it had been sealed shut.
The apartment’s crystal chandelier crashed to the floor with a crisp, ringing shatter. One jagged shard flew straight across Amano’s face—the angelic features she prided herself on—carving a deep gash. Blood burst forth in a fountain, and through the wound, the bone gleamed ghostly white beneath.
“It hurts! Aaaaah!!!”
The searing pain dropped Amano to the floor. Aoi stood frozen, her hand still clasped with Uzuki’s from the very beginning.
“Let’s go, Uzuki! I was in the wrong before—once we’re out, I’ll apologize properly, I swear.” Hikita Shiori reached for Uzuki’s sleeve, intent on dragging her to safety.
In a real earthquake, every second counted. But as she caught a glimpse through the window, the scene outside was jarring: the street remained bustling and lively, people strolling leisurely along the asphalt road, a picture of peaceful, carefree normality.
“What on earth is going on?” Shiori couldn’t believe her eyes.
“I haven’t forgiven you yet. But you can leave now. Go back and tell her—if she wants to save her friends, come to the old school building. I’ll be waiting there. If she doesn’t come, I’ll visit you again, Shiori.”
“Her? Who is she?”
Before she could get an answer, Uzuki pointed a finger at Hikita Shiori, and Shiori vanished from the apartment in an instant.
Now the remaining girls finally understood: all of this was Uzuki’s doing.
“I’m sorry, Uzuki! It was all their fault—I tried to talk them out of it, told them not to take things too far, but they wouldn’t listen. They insisted on tormenting you…” Kaoru dropped into a perfect dogeza before Uzuki, pressing her forehead to the floor. She kowtowed until blood smeared her brow. “Please, please don’t take revenge on me! I’m innocent!”
“Very well. You can go, Kaoru.”
“Really? Thank you so much, Uzuki! I always knew you were kind and sweet!” Kaoru scrambled to her feet and opened the door. Her plan was to slip away and put as much distance as possible between herself and this place.
But things didn’t go her way.
Beyond the door wasn’t the elevator—it was the rotting, decrepit hallway of the old school building. The view outside the windows had become pure darkness. A cold, spectral wind carried the whispers of departed spirits, as if they were discussing how best to divide up tasty human flesh.
“You’re all free to leave whenever you want. But I can’t guarantee your safety.”
Uzuki’s lips curled into a smile that stretched into an angle no human could ever achieve, uncannily reminiscent of the legendary Kuchisake-onna. As she did, an ominous black mist began to spread from behind her.
At the far end of the old school hallway, Kaoru saw the portraits of notable figures with scarlet, fiendish eyes staring back at her. She saw the corpse in the art room, stabbed full of box cutters. And she saw the unmanned piano playing a familiar tune—the very same piece they had used to terrorize Uzuki: 《Stepping on the Cat》.
“What do you want from us, Uzuki?”
“Didn’t Aoi say we should be friends forever? If we’re going to be forever friends, we have to be together forever, of course.” Uzuki spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Drop dead, you monster!”
With her face mutilated, a vengeful Amano grabbed a dinner knife and drove it hard into Uzuki’s back.
Blood slid down Uzuki’s body, then dissolved into an even thicker darkness.
“Doesn’t Amano want to be friends too?”
Uzuki’s head rotated a full one hundred and eighty degrees to face Amano—a grotesque, unnatural angle.
The death-defying neck twist made Amano gasp in terror: “Wh-what are you?”
“You toyed with the supernatural. Now my friends in the old school building are very upset.” Uzuki’s voice became a sharp, low hiss.
From the girls’ toilet at the end of the hallway, a mass of pale, blue-white arms emerged. Nearly a hundred arms, supporting one another, scuttled rapidly toward Amano.
“Hanako-san has been so sad, too. You went into the bathroom but didn’t keep her company. She only wanted a nice, warm hug from you.”
The eerie cluster of entwined arms wrapped tightly around Amano’s body. Standing to the side, Aoi heard the snap of breaking bones. Amano couldn’t even scream—three arms were clamped firmly over her mouth, sealing any sound. Her eyes bulged, looking as if they might pop out at any moment.
“It’s all your fault, Aoi! All your fault!!!” Kaoru’s voice erupted in a roar, her mind shattering under the terror. “If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t be in this mess!”
“Who are you to blame me? Don’t shirk responsibility! You were the one most excited about scaring Uzuki from the very start. Now everything’s ruined—we’ll be tormented to death by these supernatural entities.”
Kaoru punched Aoi right in the face. Aoi stared back, incredulous.
The pet had bared its teeth at its master.
“You dare hit me?”
“Why wouldn’t I?” Kaoru’s expression twisted with malice as she sank her teeth into Aoi’s arm, tearing off a chunk of flesh and swallowing it. “You’ve never looked me in the eye all this time—don’t think I haven’t noticed.”
“Didn’t you ride on my and Amano’s reputations to make a name for yourself in class? You ungrateful beast!” Aoi slapped Kaoru across the face, leaving a deep red handprint.
Blood splattered both their faces. Amano had been completely broken by the arm-creature. One of her arms was tossed aside, limp and bloodless like the white plaster models in the art room.
“Amano!”
Both girls screamed.
“Don’t worry. To make sure we can be together forever, I’ve set this room to loop back to midnight every day. No matter what fatal injuries you suffer, you’ll be reborn and revived.”
The sound of footsteps echoed from the far end of the old school hallway.
A woman in a kimono approached with elegant, unhurried steps. She was a beautiful, mature lady who had aged gracefully—though her bloodshot eyes were deeply unsettling.
“Hello, everyone. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Tsukiyuki Fumiko. Thank you for befriending my daughter. Let us now get to know each other properly… How about starting with a little lingchi as an appetizer?”
A few minutes later, Aoi and Kaoru’s piercing, agonized screams rang out in unison.
Without a savior, they would be trapped forever in this endlessly looping room, eternally tormented.
