Trigger Warnings:
Implied torture, implied self (?) harm, suicidal thoughts, murder, lots of murder, tell me if I should add more, I'm not sure what's triggering or not.

Tarou stared blankly at the empty space where the girl had just passed him, twitching erratically and looking ready to jump at him. Aishi..? He thought that was her name but he couldn't be sure. Somehow even with her weird behaviour she still hadn't been targeted by them. A part of his brain offered a reason for that but he ignored it.

"Geez, just look at her! It's like she's obsessed with you, how creepy!"

He didn't bother to turn at the voice. He already knew by now that it wasn't real. Osana had been dead for several weeks and he didn't want to confirm his decreasing sanity by seeing whatever image his mind conjured up of his oldest friend. A door opened noisily behind him and he turned away from the roof's edge to give the person who'd began walking over a quick glance over.

"Yamada, you weren't at your usual spot today," Saikou said, not bothering with a smile.

The other girls had given him smiles. They'd given him proper greetings too. Tarou wasn't sure if he preferred the stark difference between her and the others.

"No, sorry. I'll be there next time," he said flatly.

He wondered when the people he'd grown so closely to had just become the other girls. Maybe when his sister died. When his sister was killed.

Saikou didn't bother asking whether or not he was okay or not either. She always seemed so passionate about keeping him physically safe but never spared a second thought to his mental health. It was another thing he couldn't tell if he was bothered by. There were no apologies for deaths she hadn't caused, no awkward silence over someone they never knew, but there was no sympathy for him either, no jokes or reassuring smiles to cheer him up.

"Have you been eating? I assume you've been up here all break and I see no food," she said.

He hummed in respond, a short nod, and that was that. Tarou watched her pull out her phone and type something quickly, walking off just far enough that Tarou couldn't hear what she was saying as she raised the phone to her ear.

"Hmph, she's so rude. It's like she doesn't even care about you," Osana's voice complained.

"So?" he muttered.

If Saikou didn't care about him then maybe she'd be safe. Maybe her security systems would keep her safe. Maybe she'd die anyway, poisoned by the mysterious killer. Maybe she'd disappear, only to show up days later with cuts and burns all over her body. Maybe she'd be crushed on the stage while she made one of her speeches, her blood splattering across the stage and forever staining the unfortunate people in the front row.

Tarou hunched over, covering his mouth with his hands. He was shaking. Maybe. He couldn't tell what was real anymore. Was he on the roof, Saikou standing alive, still in his line of sight? Or was he on the floor of the occult club, his legs refusing to keep him upright as he stared, frozen, at the body lying in the middle of the room, fresh blood still coming from the slits down her arms and legs?

"Yamada?"

He stared up blearily, only half seeing Megami through teary eyes. For a moment he thought she was there to offer comfort, to finally ask the question. Are you okay?

"It's time for class, I'll make sure you get there safely."

Or that.

Even with the many times he told himself he didn't want those empty questions, forced sympathy, he felt lost without it. Like she didn't care for his well being, like it wouldn't matter if he lived or died as long as she felt like she'd accomplished something.

"Thanks," he said instead, stumbling to his feet while she watched impassively.

He looked around quickly, his gaze sticking on the fence that had replaced the railing after Osoro's death. They would be harder to climb but it wouldn't be impossible.

Tarou turned towards the closest door and walked, not even waiting for Saikou to walk ahead, knowing she'd catch up and lead the way to his own classroom, like he couldn't go down a set of stairs without being targeted by the person who'd only killed girls too close to him. There were moments where he couldn't stand Saikou looming presence but then she'd place a hand on his shoulder and vow to protect him and he couldn't help but feel energised.

She was already ahead of him, glancing back every few seconds like he'd vanish in the crowd. He held up a hand, putting down four fingers slowly.

The blurry vision of Osana appeared next to Saikou this time, walking backwards to stare at him, not giving him a choice about whether or not he wanted to see her. She held up one finger on the opposite hand to his, staring with a sad expression.

"Only a few more hours left until it's over," she mused.

It always happened on Friday, the only exceptions being Osana and Hanako who'd both been killed on a Thursday. Saikou would be prepared though, she had to be, there was no way she wouldn't have seen the pattern. Panic seized through him and he grabbed at her arm, shocking her into turning around and attracting some other student's attention.

"Be careful." His voice came out as a whimper.

She turned around properly and his arm dropped to his side. She looked confident, the opposite of his fragile state. "I don't plan on getting killed by her, you don't have to worry."

And then the conversation was over. Her? It was the first he'd heard of the killer's identity. Did Saikou know who the killer was..? And she hadn't told him? Hadn't dealt with the killer? Hadn't gotten them behind bars, or better...

Killed them herself?

The thought jumped out at him and he flinched, willing it away as quickly as it came. What was wrong with him?

Saikou stopped at his classroom, gesturing to it sharply like he'd miss it otherwise. "I'll see you after class has ended, don't worry about me."

He nodded, attempting a smile that probably ended up closer to a grimace, and rushed to his seat. He was back sitting down and could relax again, or try to anyway. Osana was sitting at Saki Miyu's desk, tapping her finger impatiently while her other hand played with her hair. Usually it took a few minutes for the teacher to arrive so they waited patiently, though Miyu never came, leaving the seat open for Osana, and Haruka looking worried.

Then it happened. Screams. Slightly muted but still there. The other students looked alarmed and confused but two reacted violently, shooting out of their seats. Tarou and Haruka. She stumbled, hitting her leg on the desk with a cry of pain, and slowed down. He didn't. He bolted from the door just as he saw other students getting up.

She'd never killed during class time before. It was always before or after school, or at least, that's when the bodies were discovered. Those were the only thoughts keeping him from completely losing it while he ran down the stairs.

Of course, there was never any point in being optimistic.

There were two bodies. He would've thrown up if it wasn't for the fear keeping him frozen in place, staring at Saikou's limp body. It was the most vulnerable he'd ever seen her. Next to her was Miyu, what looked like a screwdriver stuck in her chest, while she choked in pain, bleeding out. Over Saikou, was a masked girl. She was stabbing downwards repeatedly even though Saikou already looked long dead. The peals of laughter interrupting the student's screams was what tipped Tarou over the edge. He collapsed, pain shooting through his knees and wrists.

There was yelling. The girl spat out various curses and threats, obviously done laughing. More screams.

He glanced up. Someone had approached her, probably trying to stop her, and got a slice across the face for his effort. He was bawling through broken eyes and everyone else left standing in the hallway ran. There was one other on the ground like Tarou, only expressing fear on her face.

The girl didn't pay them any attention. She stood up, calmly brushing her arms and legs like that'd get rid of the blood soaking them With a quick motion she removed the mask and flashed him a smile. The deranged expression startled him into silence. Ayano Aishi.

"Oh senpai~!" she cooed, sauntering towards him.

He tried to stand but fell immediately and settled for awkwardly crawling backwards. He didn't get far before she was right in front of him, looking almost nervous in a screwed up way.

"I did it all for you," she said, like that was supposed to impress him.

"That's so fucked," Osana muttered, sitting cross-legged next to Tarou.

The words were repeated only a second later, though louder and shakier. He didn't look away from Aishi but recognised Haruka's voice.

"G- Get away from him," she said. "Get away from S-Saki."

Aishi turned, staring blankly at Miyu's now dead body. She took a step backwards and kicked it roughly. Haruka wailed, sounding broken from the one action.

Haruka ran past Tarou, letting him get a glimpse at her before she attacked Aishi, a knife in her hand. He didn't know why she'd already had it on her, but didn't really care. Nor did he care that she was planning on killing Aishi.

Because there were two dead bodies on the ground and however this ended there would be a third.

Haruka was taken down in seconds, the knife going straight through her throat like it was no big deal. The one Haruka had been holding skidded across the ground after falling from her hand, straight towards Tarou. He stared at it, reaching out and pulling it closer.

Aishi seemed amused when she caught sight of him. She bared her neck, like an invitation. "Do it quickly or else the teacher's won't stay distracted for much longer."

She sounded so insanely happy it was sickening. He finally stumbled up, taking the knife with him. He shoved it forwards, aiming for her neck, and she sidestepped it easily. He tripped, almost falling back down on the floor, and then there was pain bursting through the back of his head.

In seconds he was unconscious.

I don't know honestly. Originally I was gonna write something with Kizana but I really wanted to incorporate Osana's ghost/Senpai's delusions and thought that'd work better with Megami, aka, the last rival and straight after his little sister died. I stopped writing around 700~ words (when Senpai headed to class) but wanted it to be longer so that's mainly where the remaining 900~ words came from, hopefully there's no obvious decrease in quality in between those points. I also don't know how to write action scenes so sorry for that, whoops.