Kaiya opened her eyes to observe the surrounding darkness. They soon widened as they noticed the predicament that she found herself in.

Her arms were held up by binds against a wooden post. Each of her fingers was also bound. She felt a heavy ache begin to form as she realized that these bindings were the only things supporting her. The board, nailed to the dark and damp wall, left the rest of her body suspended about a foot from the floor. It pained her and she began to struggle. Kaiya could barely move her arms, but the rest of her appendages thrashed wildly in fear. She cried out.

Then, out of the darkness, she heard another source of movement. It seemed that she wasn't alone in this dilemma. It seemed that another girl had awoken. The girl was panicking even worse than Kaiya had been. Her screams etched through the blackness.

Then, she heard footsteps. The other girl's shrieks were quickly subdued to quiet whimpers. Kaiya gasped out in agony and gritted her teeth. She bit her lower lip, tasting the slight coppery taste of blood from the pressure. She felt immense stabbing pains shooting through her fingertips, at her nails.

Someone was forcing iron nails through hers with a hammer. Each crunch was distinct and painful. Tears ran down her cheeks like rivers, and she couldn't help but wail in torture. The female on the other side of the room also began to screech, fearing the fates.

. . . . .

Two girls were walking down the street at sundown, on their way back from school. The first had long and beautiful dark hair, along with light eyes, dressed in her school uniform. The second was dressed in a similar fashion, except that it was modified to look more like a loli. She had shocking crimson eyes and white hair. The first looked like a young adult, while the second still looked only like a child. The two girls seemed like complete opposites from first glance, yet you could almost feel an heir of an existing bond between them. The first youth spoke.

"Risa-chan, I don't know you anymore. Ever since you've been seeing that.. that freaky kid, you've been acting strangely!"

"Kaiya-san-"

"So, what's he to you, anyway? He must be special, if you see him every damn day!"

"Kaiya-san, please, calm down-"

"I will not calm down! You've completely left me behind and forgotten me! You've-"

Risa cut Kaiya off as she embraced her strongly. Tears of frustration could be seen falling from Kaiya's eyes, but she stubbornly scrubbed them away. Her eyes widened when Risa pulled back and smiled kindly at her.

"Kaiya, just because I have a boy in my life doesn't mean that it'll interfere with our friendship. You're still my number one.. Onee-sama."

Risa placed her hands on Kaiya's shoulders, who was staring to the side towards a field of grass, embarrassed by her outburst.

"And as for that freak, well, he's complicated. You'd have to get to know him to understand properly. And everything that you've heard about him, I'd ask you to disregard. They're just silly rumors."

"But, Risa-chan! I'm worried about you.. How are you sure that those are just rumors? You remember how that girl of his, that friend of mine, in Class C went missing last year.. I'm sure that he had something to do with it."

The smile that seemed sewed onto Risa's face didn't so much as twitch for even a second.

"Rumors are rumors. I trust him. He's a good person. I trust him, with my life."

Kaiya's eyes shot upward at the last sentence. She stood there, numbed for a few seconds. A thought crossed her mind.

Could she be giving into that murde- No, that's ridiculous.. No one around here would be capable of something like that.

"I know you're upset. She was one of your close friends. You noticed that she had always been around him. You saw how everyone avoided him. I can see and understand how you came to this conclusion, but Kaiya-san.. Ritsuko-san's dead now. Falsely accusing one of the people she was close to will never change that. It'll only be an insult to her memory."

Tch, the real insult to her memory is letting him continue like this..

Kaiya paused and took a few moments to compose herself. Then, she let out a deep and wispy sigh. She switched her purple handbag to the other arm.

"Yeah.. I guess you're right. I'm sorry that I overreacted."

At this, Risa's features lightened even more so.

"I'm glad. I don't want you worrying over pointless things."

Seeing the confident expression on Risa's face lessened the burning omen-like feeling deep in the pit of worry in Kaiya's stomach. She smiled back towards her.

"All right, then. Be careful. And remember: No sex with Mr. Mystery Man!"

Kaiya burst out laughing, as did Risa, who responded by standing on her toes to appear taller and less childish. She stuck out her tongue to mock her older sister.

"Sex is only for the icky grownups, like Kaiya-aho! There's no real fun involved!"

However, all seriousness of this retort was abandoned when Risa began giggling. She broke off to the right and ran down the path leading into a small break of woods, glancing behind and waving.

"Good night, Kaiya-san! Pick me up early tomorrow night for your friend's party! I want to be made as pretty as Onee-sama!"

Kaiya laughed at this and waved back to her retreating form.

What a sweet kid..

On the way home, she wore a smile.

I guess I don't have anything to worry about.. I know Risa-chan will be fine. I'm sure of it.

Although there was confidence of this swelling inside of her, a type of dread swept across her mind once or twice, along with a few phrases every few minutes. These were quickly forgotten and brushed aside in the act of denial. Denial of what she knew, deep down, was the obvious and filthy truth. Such a thought even slipped out once, but she quickly dismissed it.

"I won't let you touch her, you beast."

As she ran the rest of the way back home in the growing darkness, her anger vanished in an urgency to get home and cook for her siblings as the air grew colder around her, she missed it.

As the snow fell harder and faster as the minutes of her solitary walk drew on, she barely paid any mind to her surroundings. About a mile from her home, she didn't notice a figure dressed entirely in black halt in mid-step at the intersection of dirt roads. The unknown person turned back at the corner where she had switched to a side street. They began walking in the opposite direction. That person appeared to be holding a small purple purse.

"Oh, I'll make sure to return this to you at that time.."

A merciless laugh resounded against the billowing winds of that winter's night.

"I'll have you yet, my dear."