Hiyama Takao stood in darkness, behind an electric sounding roar. His grim, serious face was illuminated only by an erratic and fierce shower of sparks. The sound was the tool grinder of the school's vocational shop, and the long shadows cast across the weary middle school teacher's face imbued it with an appropriately sinister quality.
He stopped the grinder and let it spin down, admiring the keen blade's renewed gleam in the darkness. Takao flipped open his phone, its LCD glow providing a new light source. The Murder Diary, a prophetic wonder detailing precisely how to stalk and corner his victims. With it, he should have been invincible, but there was a problem. The police were closing in on him; he was being hunted. He had been overzealous with the rush he felt when the vast power of the Murder Diary had first been granted to him by god himself, and he had done the unthinkable. He shat where he ate; killed one of his own students.
"What an idiot I am!" Takao thought bitterly over the incessant ringing in his ears. Several days earlier he had been attacked by Uryuu Minene, the international terrorist. He had nearly turned the tables on her and killed her, but in the end she escaped using a flashbang in close quarters, and his hearing had not been the same since. At first, he didn't know why a wanted fugitive would come for his life, but it would of course have something to do with his Diary. The pieces were not difficult to put together. He cursed his foolishness again: "If only I hadn't killed that little slut."
It was that whore's own fault. He knew what kind of girl that Yoko had been since he had first saw her. Doing this job for so long, he saw scores of young women come through his classroom. He recognized filth when he saw it, but he would have never done it without the diary. It was unthinkable to break his own rules, but god had tricked him! He had thought himself untouchable, but one thing had become certain. There were other diary owners!
The bomber woman Uryuu was one. Beyond that, he was also sure that someone in the police or government had an oracle of their own, explaining how the police had closed so much distance on him. Even though he had killed one of his own students, he had left no evidence. There would have been no reason to assume that she was any closer to Takao's identity as the Sakurami City Butcher than any of his other victims. It was all the accursed diaries' doing. He had no way of knowing how many diary owners there were, but he knew he had to slaughter them all.
Takao grinned maliciously, but regained his composure. Amano also had one, he was sure of it. He had convinced the administration to run a series of surprise tests to monitor 'student growth,' but the real reason had been to root out statistical anomalies. Of course tests would be no trouble for diary owners, and there seemed to be so many out to get him. If there was a diary owner in the student body, he had wanted to find out. He had suspected that the bastard god Deus had surrounded him with enemies, and sure enough there was one among his very own pupils! He had confirmed his fears, that the very universe and god himself were conspiring against him!
Takao flipped his phone shut, slipped it into his trenchcoat pocket, and slammed his closed fist into the sturdy shop table, gritting his teeth and taking in a deep steadying breath through his nose. With his other hand he brought the sharpened blade forward and rested it gingerly on his palm, admiring it one last time before sliding it home into its sheathe.
"No, God is not out to get me. God is on my side." Takao told himself. He said it again, and then three more times. He let the truth of the words wrap around him like a security blanket. "He knows of my tireless vigilance against the rot of this world, and smiles on my righteousness. This is not punishment, this is a test, and I shall pass."
4/22 - 11:52:14 PM [Hiding Supplies]
"I hid the trenchcoat and my tools in the duffel strapped to the underside of the train platform at the usual place. Had to wait until 12:03:12 to run quietly across the street to avoid the cops patrolling the streets after last night's incident."
4/23 - 12:15:45 AM [Heading Home]
"I made it out of the patrol area around the school and should be in the clear heading home."
Takao was uneasy, carrying two duffels to the place his phone prophesied he would. There were hooks here he had drilled onto the underside of the wooden train platform, weeks ago, for aiding in his dark work. Despite having the far-sight of his phone he felt shivers of fear for the first time in years. He had no idea what other sorts of diaries were out there, and what sorts of actions might result in his capture. It was terrifying and exhilarating at once. Takao felt alive.
After placing one of his two duffels on the hooks, he took another with him. Watching his phone, a police car drove past at precisely 12:03:05, and he bounded silently across the street into the deep shadows of the alleyway beyond, and from there onto the railroad tracks.
Sirens. Within minutes the train platform was crawling with officers. As Takao had known would be the case. They had been impossibly close on his trail for days, and he had grown accustomed to this. He slid a sturdy nylon strap behind the rusted iron downspout of a cluster of homes, and began winching himself up laboriously, meter by meter, to the roof. He had no intention of running just yet; he was going to watch the scene unfold.
They immediately found his duffel. As he had known would be the case. A tall, grizzled man with dark locks drawn into a pony tail stepped out of a car and made his way towards the discovered bag. He drew deeply on a cigarette as he marched up to the bag with impatient annoyance. But it wasn't Takao's tools he had recovered; those were with Takao at his side in the spare bag. His diary had foretold that he would place those incriminating tools down there, but instead he had placed something else equally illegal. Takao took Uryuu Minene's detonator out of his pocket and pressed the button, detonating the bomb he had taken from her during their battle.
An explosion ripped through the night, drowning out the sound of a changing future from his phone and disturbing the tranquil peace. It was better when there was chaos, anyway, when he couldn't hear the feedback in his ears, constantly twisting away like a dagger in his mind. It had been a valuable lesson - he was blind to his prey when they fought back. His diary was purely offensive. The lesson had been taken to heart, but it still stung to be reminded of her escape and his failure. When there was chaos and noise he could not hear it, and he was able to breathe.
Takao peered below, now, as the smoke cleared. What he saw was impossible, yet not entirely unexpected. The man who had opened the bag had dove away at the last moment! He had to be a diary owner. It was the only way he could have known to throw the bag and dive away in the few seconds it took Takao to take out the detonator and change the future. Counting himself, Amano, and Uryuu, that made four oracles. It was three too many. He would enjoy killing them all one by one, but this cop was the biggest threat by far.
"The fact that you arrived here immediately after I placed the bag rather than ambushing me means you did not know I would do it until I did! Your diary only tells you about crimes!" Takao reveled in his glorious victory. "This area was swarming with cops, and when my bomb was inevitably discovered at some point in the future there was bound to be an investigation! Thus, you were able to immediately pounce on the crime after it took place! I have you pegged, cop!"
Takao took a deep breath. He still had to escape. The cop would also know that the crime had just been committed by the same reasoning, and attempt to scour the area. But Takao was a careful man, and had planned this test from the beginning. He stood, took a few strong steps, and flung himself from the roof. He sailed through the air, hearing only the 'iiiiiii' in his ears, before tumbling onto the deck of the next house over. The occupants would no doubt be awake from the explosion, and the sound would no doubt eventually be reported.
Which meant the cop would already know about it.
"Kuso!" he spat. The drop had been more than he had anticipated, and his duffel had nearly slipped from his hand on impact. He opened it, panickedly brought a bundle of rope out, and tied it around the railing of the deck with a quick clip. He could hear voices coming towards the deck door from inside the residence. A siren started wailing closer and closer. This cop was fast. Takao threw the duffel off the balcony, grabbed the rope, and leapt at once towards the railroad tracks. He crashed down rapidly through the leafy overstory of landscaping bamboo, down to the waiting motorcycle and his bag of tools. Shouts from the balcony no longer concerned him, he was on the motorcycle and rocketing away down the railroad, tires rumbling terribly on the bumpy uneven gravel and wood. Its large muffler jutting out behind made the full throttle, eerily quiet ride sound almost surreal when combined with his hearing impairment.
"There mustn't be a chase, there mustn't be a chase," Takao thought as he opened his phone for guidance. The cop's diary was pretty powerful, it seemed. It would find leads as soon as they were left. He had to vanish quickly, without a trace, or he would be caught.
His phone would necessarily tell him his most optimal course of actions that would create the longest series of events lasting out three months, but it would only work if he was stalking someone. Beyond that, its only limitation was being blind to the actions of other diary owners who could also change the future at will. Well, that, and its range. July 28 seemed to be the limit of its power, and it didn't extend further as the days went on. God's test would be over one way or another by that date, it seemed.
"Fine, I'll hunt Amano! Now show me the path forward!" Takao cried inwardly, grinning with the thrill of life pumping through his veins and his long red hair whipping in the cool night air behind him. Far in the distance he could hear the shouts of police investigating the disturbance at the house.
~Zrruuuu~
The future changed.
4/23 - 12:04:32 AM [Fleeing the Police]
"Police car cut me off at the road crossing, I had to take out my blade and drag it across the officer's throat as I rode past. Escaped leaving no evidence behind towards Amano's residence."
4/23 - 12:38:00 AM [Amano Residence]
Evaded the search area by staying on side streets and made it to Amano's home.
Takao began to laugh as he drew the blade from the duffel and readied it. A car screeched to a desperate halt at the end of the tracks in the gloomy patch ahead dimly lit by street lights, and the officer flung himself from his vehicle.
"Moron, you're only hurrying towards your own demise!" Takao laughed even louder and more maniacally. He swept the blade forward, baring his teeth zestfully as it caught flesh and a warm spray of life essence was freed into the darkness. It almost frightened him how useless non-diary owners were. Without knowledge of the future, they were impotent to change it, and as powerless as a leaf in a windstorm to the whims of a man with the prescience they lacked.
Still, taking down the cop-oracle was going to be nearly impossible. Takao had needed to put his life on the line just to find out the cop's identity and future diary ability, and had failed to kill him even with a bomb detonated at close range. Yet the cop was Takao's most dire threat. Something would have to be done, but it would have to be within the law, at least until the final moment. For now, though, it was time to focus on other matters.
"Amano..." Takao breathed with a malevolent smirk.
"Amano..." Gasai Yuno breathed, smiling gently in the dark. "Yukkii..."
