I don't know how long we've been travelling. A long time, certainly. I always snacked between meals, but still managed to be absolutely famished by dinner. Well, admittedly, I tended not to have lunch or breakfast. Now I was wishing I had considering all I'd eaten today was a small chocolate bar and lolly. We could have been walking for days. Either way, I was really hungry, and, well...
"I need to go." I announced suddenly. Nijiko arched an eyebrow.
"Go?"
"Yeah, go. Like, I really need to go."
She was silent for a moment before sighing. "There's a bathroom upstairs."
"Will you wait here for me?"
"Of course. You go."
I nodded gratefully and hurried off to the stairs. There were desks blocking the way, but that didn't bother me, not totally,so I just clambered over them. I kept my gaze straight ahead. Seeing all those bodies was still making me feel so sick. How long had we been here?
The boys' bathroom was heavily boarded up. The girls' was hanging open, but, well, I wasn't a girl. Tentaively, I went in despite my better judgement. It seemed empty and quiet but for the creaking of old wood. I tried the first door, but it was locked. All of them seemed to be locked, actually.
"Boys aren't allowed in the girls' bathroom.' Stated a voice. It felt like a hand of ice had gripped my heart.
"The boys' bathroom is out of order..." I stammered as I stumbled back. "I...I'll find somewhere else to go..."
The spirit of a little girl appeared before me and that was it, I ran out of the room screaming, begging her not to hurt me.
When I came back to my senses, I was stood outside a classroom. I was lost. I let out a feeble cry for Nijiko-san. I didn't want to be alone, I desperately didn't want to be alone, but all I could find here was an empty bucket and the splattered remains of another student. I relieved myselfinto the bucket and went exploring, calling for the names of my classmates all the while.
"Kotani! Nishimoto! Kiyomizu! Anyone?"
The smell of something frying filled my nostrils. It smelled...delightful. Something was cooking, and I was so hungry. My belly told me to follow my nose and I obeyed, stopping outside the school lab. I pushed the door, only to find it locked.
"Hello?" I called as I knocked on the door. "Hello, is anyone in there?"
No reply. I went back to walking.
I found the key to the lab eventually. It was among some human remains, and I still hadn't seen anyone from school. I was tired and scared, and I'd been crying and calling for help. I guess this is what Nishimoto meant when she would tell me I was a mouse rather than a man. I just wanted some company in this hell, someone to be with when I eventually died! Someone would find me eventually, I thought as I sat opposite the corpse of a young girl. She looked to be a junior schooler. Very young. I stared at her a long while, trying to keep from wailing, and eventually I noticed something in her breast pocket. Something bronzey-gold and small, and shiny. I crept forward and, apologising softly, took the item, finding myself holding the key for the lab.
The door slid open happily once I'd turned the lock. "Hello?" I called as I stepped in, looking around. No-one was there, apart from a girl tied to a chair with piano wire, the top half of her body horribly burnt. And yet I could still smell that chip fat smell, the smell of cooking oil. A full circle of the room showed plenty of pots of boiling oil, but nothing to eat. Nothing being cooked. Nothing but the girl...but she couldn't be the source of that delicious smell.
I looked again, and this time, I found a young boy hiding under a table. Well, I say young, he was at least 17, maybe older. He was wearing a school uniform for a school I didn't recognise. "Hello?" I asked. The boy grabbed my shoulders.
"You have to hide!" He hissed, pulling me under the table with him. "I just came here with my friends and brother, and now I think they're all dead."
"Calm down..."
"Have you seem the bodies?!"
"I have...but you can't survive this if you're hysterical. Close your eyes and go to your happy place, that's what I always do."
The boy did so and I took in his dishevilled appearance. He had brown hair and blue eyes, and he was taller and thinner than me. Finally, he opened his eyes. "Have you seen anyone from Ritoruiro Girls' School?"
I shook my head. "You're not from there."
"No, I'm from Pichitsuri University School...my sister is in here somewhere though. I need to find her. If Akimitsu and Kunihide are dead and I already know Noaki is, he's hanging in the toilets upstairs and it's all my fault and-"
I slapped him then. "Shut up and stop panicking!"
There was a loud thump and a groan from beyond our hiding place, and I covered the boy's mouth with my hand. Even so, we were found.
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