Ch.158Chapter 24. Flesh (3)

“Well then…”

Yuu swallowed dryly and spoke.

“Then with this, Kotone will…?”

“It’s not immediately possible.”

However, Kagami shook her head, denying Yuu’s words that contained a faint hope.

“I must have told you before coming here. It’s a method with extremely minimal possibility and potential danger.”

Kagami continued speaking while staring intently into the refrigerator.

“And because it’s a method with minimal possibility and potential danger, I need to research more thoroughly and prepare. I’ll have to move what’s in here somewhere else.”

“…Why?”

“Because there will be others who want this. Until now, since Kotone was cooperative with government work, there was no reason to touch her, but now that they’ve found a possibility of her becoming an enemy, they won’t simply ignore it.”

“So, it can’t be done right away?”

“…You seem concerned about school.”

The third semester starts in early January. Only two days remain.

If Kotone doesn’t return to school by then, how will the school react?

Missing?

Yuu placed hope in that word, but Kagami calmly pushed that hope away.

“Probably, Kotone will be considered dead. No, in the current situation, she is as good as dead.”

“But then.”

“I won’t give you false hope. I don’t want to hold onto such hope either.”

Kagami closed the refrigerator and stood up, turning toward Yuu.

“Let me tell you once more. There is a possibility. But methods to bring back the dead are very tricky, and they only work for certain people. Moreover, if something goes wrong… it could go in a ‘strange direction.'”

“Strange direction…?”

“It means a monster with Kotone’s appearance might be born. If not that, well…”

But Kagami, with narrowed eyes, didn’t continue her words.

“No one else should know about this. So, for now, it’s safer to follow government guidelines.”

“But if that’s the case.”

“Yes. Kotone Kurosawa is a dead person. She’ll be processed that way institutionally, and the school will be informed. Even if they don’t know exactly what I’m planning to do, they’ll take preventive measures.”

Yuu’s arms hung limply.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you what you wanted to hear.”

“Then, the other children too…?”

Kagami nodded.

“At the very least, this method must never reach the Yuuki family. Throughout history, methods to bring back the dead always involve unorthodox means.”

One corner of Kagami’s lips curled up crookedly.

Even Yuu, looking directly at Kagami, couldn’t tell whether she was mocking herself or those who deliberately don’t use useful methods like the Yuuki family.

“But, I’ll make you one promise.”

Kagami said.

“If it succeeds, Kotone will return.”

“…”

Yuu looked at Kagami for a moment, then nodded.

“If there’s anything I can do to help.”

“That’s kind of you to say. Thanks to you, things might become a bit easier.”

Kagami gave Yuu a slight smile.

At least that expression seemed genuine.

*

January 7th. Friday.

Getting up early to go to school is something most students find bothersome and dislike, but not many dislike meeting friends at school.

Because of shared hobbies, the same route to school, or simply sitting next to each other in class. Meeting in club activities, or just randomly starting conversations by chance.

Each reason might seem trivial on its own, but such beginnings can lead to lifelong friendships.

“Hello!”

Even students who had been grimacing with fatigue until leaving home were waving and greeting each other as if they’d never been tired when entering the classroom.

“First time seeing you since Christmas!”

“Well, everyone was busy…”

As Harumi spoke with a smile, Mako smiled back with slightly lowered eyebrows.

Mako’s father had been discharged from the hospital, but it seemed he was still unwell. Though there weren’t major changes in their daily life, it’s difficult to maintain a bright expression when seeing a family member in pain.

Still, Mako’s expression looked much better than before Christmas. Whether thanks to the Christmas party or not, Harumi thought it was fortunate.

“Yuu-chan—”

Harumi, turning to Yuu with a smile, was startled.

Yuu’s face showed her usual expressionless look.

But when you know someone for a long time, you can somewhat sense the emotions behind that expression. There are different kinds of expressionlessness, aren’t there? There’s quite a difference between lying face down on a desk and staring blankly out the window.

As for Yuu now,

“Yuu-chan, did something happen?”

Harumi asked Yuu, who was staring blankly into space. She had seen this expression before. Usually when Yuu had something on her mind, often when she’d seen people spreading unpleasant rumors about her.

It was an expression Yuu often made in middle school when they were in the same class, and now she was making that expression again.

Why?

Come to think of it, it might be more surprising that she hadn’t made such an expression since entering high school. In middle school, after spending years together, the other children eventually understood that Yuu wasn’t a particularly harmful person, but high school naturally had many unfamiliar faces.

…Hmm?

But as Harumi thought about this, she tilted her head.

The timing seems a bit strange?

Yesterday was still vacation, so even if school kids were gossiping about Yuu, she wouldn’t have heard it.

Maybe it’s a family matter?

“Yuu-chan?”

“…Huh?”

Only after Harumi called a second time did Yuu finally respond.

Making eye contact, Yuu, already pale, looked even whiter. Her face could almost be described as ashen.

“…Did something really happen?”

When Harumi asked worriedly, Yuu fell into thought for a moment.

Whatever she was thinking about, it clearly wasn’t something light. The more she thought, the darker her expression became.

“Yuu?”

Mako also asked worriedly, seeing Yuu’s face.

And perhaps hearing their conversation, the surrounding students began to pay attention. Mako was friendly with many classmates, and Yuu and Harumi had become acquainted with the class through her. Though not best friends, they often hung out together when Mako was involved.

“Um…”

Yuu, opening her mouth, looked toward the front.

Her gaze was directed at Kotone and Koko’s still-empty seats.

For Mako and Harumi, who alternately looked at those two seats and Yuu, it wasn’t difficult to guess what problem Yuu was concerned about.

“Did something happen to them?”

Come to think of it, it was strange. Kotone and Koko always arrived a bit early when coming to school. Their home was so far away that they might be late otherwise.

Yet their seats were now empty.

Could she know why Kotone and Koko weren’t coming to school?

Both Mako and Harumi had been in contact with Kotone. At the end of the year and the beginning of the new year. They hadn’t exchanged anything significant, but at least communication hadn’t been cut off.

So, if something had happened to Kotone and Koko, it was likely within the past few days.

Harumi’s face became somewhat serious, and Mako’s face turned pale.

“Yuu—”

But before the two could ask Yuu anything, the front door of the classroom opened.

The person who entered was their homeroom teacher, Suzuki.

And Suzuki’s face was as pale as Yuu’s. No, perhaps even worse.

Not the usual smiling face greeting the children happily upon entering the classroom, but the expression of someone who doesn’t quite know what to do.

As she entered the classroom, Suzuki’s eyes lingered briefly on Mako, Harumi, and Yuu.

Yuu seemed to already know the situation, but Mako and Harumi found that gaze somewhat frightening.

Though nothing had been said yet, that gaze alone made them feel as if they’d already heard that something was wrong with Kotone and Koko.

“Ah, it’s okay. Stay seated.”

As the class representative was about to stand, Suzuki showed an awkward smile and slightly raised one hand. The representative sat down, looking a bit confused.

The classroom atmosphere was divided between Mako, Harumi, Yuu and those around them, and the other children who hadn’t yet heard their conversation. The common factor was the murmuring and unsettled atmosphere, with the difference being that the children around Mako were conversing much more quietly and cautiously.

Suzuki observed the children for a while, then took a deep breath as if about to dive into water.

“First, I have news to share.”

The children fell silent. Not because they were particularly obedient, but probably because most were curious about what their homeroom teacher was going to say.

“First…”

Suzuki moved her lips, deliberating each word.

“Right at the start of the semester, I have bad news. Kotone Kurosawa will no longer be able to come to school.”

Mako’s mouth opened slightly.

The children murmured.

“Did she transfer?”

One of the class children asked, raising their hand.

Suzuki shook her head.

“No, it’s…”

Suzuki, with a pale face, closed her eyes dejectedly for a moment before finally speaking.

“…Kotone has left us.”

For a moment, the classroom fell into silence.

“Teacher?”

Mako, who hadn’t been able to say anything until then, cautiously raised her hand.

The murmuring class fell silent again at Mako’s movement.

All the classmates knew. That Mako and Kotone had always been close. Initially, Mako had one-sidedly looked after Koko, but at some point, Kotone had naturally joined Mako and her friends.

Since the exact meaning of “left” wasn’t clear yet, everyone was cautious. Mako also seemed a bit confused.

When Suzuki made eye contact, Mako asked in an even more cautious voice than when she raised her hand.

“By ‘left,’ do you mean…?”

“…”

Suzuki didn’t directly explain the meaning.

Instead,

“When Koko returns, I hope everyone will warmly welcome her.”

That was her answer.

Kotone had left. She wouldn’t return.

If she had transferred, she would have gone with Koko. Even if she couldn’t attend school for some reason, there would be no reason to hide it. They could simply say she had to quit school due to circumstances.

Moreover, Mako was in contact with Kotone. If there had been such complicated circumstances, it would surely have been mentioned before.

“…”

Mako’s hand fell limply.

Harumi just stared blankly at Suzuki with her mouth wide open.

Suzuki bowed her head slightly, then began gathering the items she had placed on the teacher’s desk.

The tears that seemed to glisten in her eyes were probably not an illusion.

*

In dramas or movies, when a student dies, sometimes flowers are placed on their seat.

But no one expected to actually see this in real life.

“…”

Mako spent the entire day staring blankly at that single flower someone had placed there.

She didn’t openly show grief by crying or trembling. She just looked as if she had lost her mind.

By the end of the second period, seniors came down from upstairs. They were Kaoru and Izumi, seniors from Kotone’s club.

Yuu brought the two, who were lingering outside the classroom, inside.

Both stared endlessly at Kotone’s seat with expressions of disbelief.

“Why… why?”

Izumi murmured, but no one could answer that question.

Well, to be precise, there was one person who could. But Yuu couldn’t bring herself to tell them how Kotone had died.

How much did these people know about Kotone? Yuu had only recently learned about what Kotone had been doing. So she couldn’t be sure how much the people around her knew.

“…”

Izumi kept pushing up her glasses and wiping away tears. Kaoru, standing silently beside Izumi, placed the bread she was holding on Kotone’s seat. It was a croquette from the school store.

The two were about to say something to Mako, Harumi, and Yuu, but after seeing Mako’s face, they closed their mouths.

Then, with shadowed faces, they left the classroom again.

Just before leaving the classroom door, the sound of Izumi sobbing loudly could be heard. Kaoru embraced Izumi’s shoulders.

Mako and Harumi looked like they didn’t know what to do.

Yuu understood. She felt the same way.

Moreover, this death itself was somewhat incomprehensible.

Normally when a student dies, there would be a funeral, and friends might visit. But right now, no one even knew where Kotone was.

In the end, Yuu also didn’t know what to do with her heavy heart.

The only advantage she had over the other children was that she held at least a faint hope.

*

During the next break.

Unable to bear the stifling air in the classroom, Yuu went outside.

Mako and Harumi didn’t follow. Though she felt sorry for them, Yuu thought it was fortunate. She had no idea how to answer if they asked questions.

But after encountering the worst possible person to meet right now, she changed her mind.

Meeting Yuka, who still seemed out of her mind, was far worse than lying to Mako and Harumi.

“…”

The emotions Yuu felt upon seeing her were complex in many ways.

She remembered Kotone’s death and Yuuki screaming in front of her. Thinking rationally, Yuuki probably didn’t want to kill her. She had already heard that it wasn’t so much Yuuki who stabbed Kotone, but rather the act of some being watching from afar.

But still.

Dark emotions did arise.

Yuuki was standing in the corridor. Specifically, at the boundary between Yuu’s class and her class.

Was she perhaps trying to go to Yuu’s classroom? To see Kotone’s seat?

Yuu clenched her fist.

When their eyes met as Yuu walked down the corridor, Yuuki slightly opened her mouth as if to say something.

But she soon closed it again.

It was the same for Yuu.

Though she wanted to say something to Yuuki, when their eyes met, words wouldn’t come easily.

She thought of her friends in the classroom who still couldn’t fully accept the situation.

Yuuki seemed to still be trapped in that moment.

How would it feel if someone forcibly put a knife in Yuu’s hand and moved it to stab and kill another friend?

“…”

Just imagining it made her heart race violently.

So, Yuu decided to say nothing.

…There was also a warning to be careful of the Yuuki family. Though she still didn’t know the exact reason.

As Yuu passed by silently, Yuuki’s head lowered again.

Her back view looked pitiful.

That misery strangely infected Yuu’s heart as well, making her feel even more troubled despite having left the classroom.

*

“…What about the funeral?”

Mako, who hadn’t said a word since being informed by the homeroom teacher until school ended, finally spoke on the way home.

“Mako?”

“We need to say goodbye.”

Mako’s voice was choked with tears.

Had she been holding back because they were at school?

Mako’s eyes were brimming with tears.

“To end like this… it’s strange.”

Certainly, it would feel that way. They say there’s never time to prepare for death, but not even giving time to say goodbye was too much.

“I can’t believe it. Is it really true?”

Mako continued.

“Even so… even so, this is too much. Were we just not invited? Or was there nothing like that at all? That’s too sad for Kotone.”

Yuu tried to speak, but her throat felt completely blocked, and no words came out.

It was true. Yuu had witnessed the scene. And the very next day, she heard that Kotone might be brought back to life.

She wasn’t at ease. Yuu was also sad and troubled. But perhaps because everything happened so quickly, she hadn’t thought about it.

If Kotone had really died, yes, there should have been a place to say goodbye.

“Even though she has family? What about Koko? What’s happening to Koko now? Her sister died like that. She must be crying…”

What should I do?

Yuu was also confused.

As Yuu just fidgeted with her fingertips, unable to do anything, Harumi embraced Mako’s shoulders.

“…”

But even Harumi looked like she didn’t know what to say.

The three stood there on the roadside for a long time.

Harumi glanced at Yuu. She was probably recalling what happened in the morning. Mako seemed too distraught to remember, but Harumi seemed to remember Yuu’s troubled expression.

Yuu found the situation a bit frightening.

And only now did she think that Kotone must have felt this way all along.

“It’s so sad, too sad…”

Mako’s sobbing voice was incredibly painful.