"Senpai is mine…"

Osana Najimi's blood turned to ice as a gloved hand reached over her shoulder from behind, pressing the cold blade of a kitchen knife against her throat. Osana was known at school for her strong, assertive personality, but her voice wavered with fear as she spoke to the individual holding her at knifepoint.

"What do you want from me?"

"All I want, is my Senpai…"

The voice from behind was a female one, monotonous and barely above a whisper.

"What? I have no idea what you're talking about. Please, just let me go!" Osana pleaded in exasperation.

"As long as you're around, I can't have him."

*SLASH*

A stream of blood poured from Osana's throat and quickly formed a small pool on the ground, which her lifeless corpse was then dropped into. Above her stood Ayano Aishi, the blood-stained kitchen knife in her hand. A grin formed on Ayano's face before she chuckled slightly, admiring her handiwork.

"How could you?! You won't get away with this!"

Ayano suddenly felt someone firmly grab her wrist – the one with her hand holding the knife. She recognised the student as she tried to fight him off. It was Budo Masuta, the president the Martial Arts club. Panic struck Ayano – there was no way she could win in this little struggle. It wasn't long before he overpowered her, twisting her arm behind her back and pinning her to the floor. Ayano struggled against his grip, but to no avail.

"No, no! Let me go!" She exclaimed.

"No way, you murderer!" Budo snapped. "Someone like you needs to be thrown in prison!"

Ayano cursed her bad luck. She had followed Osana to a secluded part of the school to carry out her plan, but didn't factor that a hero might pass by and ruin everything. Her plot had failed. She was going to get arrested, and that meant she would never have a chance to win her Senpai's love. The thought of losing the only thing that mattered to her made her angry, it made her blood boil, and she felt the rage building up inside of her…

Ayano herself had no idea what she would have done, if all that rage hadn't been replaced with confusion as Budo's unconscious body collapsed to the ground beside her. Hearing running footsteps, she quickly picked herself up and looked in the direction from which it came, but whoever it was had disappeared round the corner. Her phone then chimed and she removed one of her gloves before pulling it out to read a text.

"You're getting a little careless. You're just fortunate that I found you on time. You might not be so lucky the next time."

Ayano looked around the scene. Budo wasn't dead, so Info-Chan must have gotten her hands on some tranquilizer. She couldn't find a syringe anywhere too. Her mysterious provider must have taken the evidence with her. Ayano sighed in relief. There was only one thing left to do. She picked the knife up with her gloved hand and crouched over the martial arts master, intending to end his life right there and then. However, she decided against it just as she was about to plunge the knife into him. Budo might just be of some use to her, and besides, nobody would believe that Kokona Haruka had taken him on by herself after killing Osana.

Ayano dropped the knife behind a nearby trashcan, making it easy enough to find, but not suspiciously easy. She would chuck the gloves in the incinerator after deciding what to do with the unconscious martial arts master.

"How could you?! Osana was my best friend! How could you take her away from me? You're scum, Kokona! You're absolute scum!"

A crowd of students were gathered at the school gates, watching Kokona Haruka get arrested. Taro Yamada was at the front of the crowd, making it clear to her how hurt he was at her supposed betrayal. Kokona was his classmate and friend. He was astonished and disgusted that she could, and would, actually commit murder, and that she would especially kill someone he was so close to.

Tears streamed down Kokona's face as the police dragged her away. "Taro, no! Please, I had nothing to do with it! You have to believe me, Taro!"

Taro just shook his head, tears threatening to spill from his own eyes. He was seething and his jaw was clenched in anger and resentment towards his former friend. He then turned around sharply and strode away through the crowd of students who instinctively parted and cleared a path for him, knowing how enraged and devastated he was at that moment.

Ayano stood among that crowd, hiding the smirk on her face. Her phone then chimed again.

"Good work, but I can't let you have all the credit. You'd have been the one getting dragged away by the police if I hadn't been there ;)"

"Ar- are you alright? Wake up… please… wake up!"

Budo opened his eyes to find himself restrained to a chair by rope. He then turned to the cyan-haired girl who had spoken. She too, was tied to a chair, and had cuts and bruises on her face, arms and legs. She was wearing the uniform of his school, and he immediately recognised her.

"You're… Saki Miyu, that girl who disappeared last week!" He then looked around at the place they were in, which appeared to be a basement of some sort. "Where are we?"

Saki replied in a weak voice. "That girl from school… Ayano… she brought us down here. This… must be her home. She- she's insane, Budo. That is… your name, isn't it? I recognise you too."

Budo nodded. "Yes, and I know she is. I- saw her murder someone in cold blood. I tried to apprehend her, but…"

Saki's eyes widened in fear. "No… oh no… she's already done it. She told me what she was going to do. Osana Najimi… is dead?"

Budo let out a sigh. "I'm afraid so, but… why is Ayano doing this?"

Saki took a deep breath. "Ayano is obsessed with this guy at our school named Taro Yamada. She somehow found out that both Osana and my best friend, Kokona Haruka, were interested in him too and planned to get rid of the both of them at once. When she discovered that Kokona was in the Cooking club, she followed her after school so that she could use a knife with Kokona's fingerprints on it to kill Osana and frame Kokona for the murder."

Budo listened in stunned silence, shocked at how many of his classmates were involved in this mess. He saw Kokona, Osana and Taro in class every day, and never knew what was going on.

Saki was sobbing as she continued. "I noticed Ayano stalking Kokona last week, and when I confronted her privately, she- she knocked me out and took me down here. Kokona has probably been arrested by now… Poor Kokona! I- I can't believe this!"

Budo gave her sympathetic look. "Saki… Saki please, just calm down…"

Saki shook her head. "You don't understand! Ayano's a monster, she-"

Saki cut herself off as footsteps were heard coming down the stairs to where they were.

"Saki, Saki, Saki…" Ayano began with mock disappointment. "I bring you a friend to keep you company, and you call me a monster in return…"

Ayano approached Saki, pulling out a small pocket knife. "Looks like you need to be taught a lesson…"

Saki trembled as Ayano came closer. "No, what are you doing?! Not again! Stay away! No!"

"Don't do this, Ayano! Please, leave her alone!" Budo watched helplessly, deeply resenting the fact that he could do nothing for the poor girl.

Ayano's laughter echoed throughout the basement, followed by Saki's screams.