"Hehe! Once again, Dia-chan, Kanan-chan, Mari-chan!"

"Congratulations on your graduation!"

A graduation party at the Ohara family hotel. All Mari's idea. The third-years couldn't decide who would host the celebration, so Mari took the job on herself. Mari's maids were bringing in plates of food. Seeing that they were having a bit of trouble carrying some things, the first and second-years helped them out.

"Gosh, Mari-chan, this all looks amazing, zura!" Hanamaru squealed.

Mari giggled. "Well, you can eat all you like! We've got a whole smorgasbord here, everyone. So, let's eat before this gets cold."

Everyone put their hands together, smiling before saying the magic word.

"Itadakimasu!"

The girls were all chatting while eating, having an all-around good time. The hours passed and it was time for Dia, Kanan and Mari to receive their graduations gifts.

"This is from the first-years!" Ruby said, smiling. She handed the wrapped gift to her sister. Dia smiled gratefully.

Chika passed Kanan's gift to her.

"This one's from the second-years, Kanan-chan!" Kanan laughed, taking the gift.

"Thanks, guys."

You winked at Mari, handing her her gift.

"And this… is from both the second and first-years. Hope you like it, Mari-chan!"

Mari blushed softly.

"Thank you, guys."

"So, shall we open them all together?" Dia asked.

"Mm-hmm."

"Let's do it!"

They were about to open their gifts when Mari's mother came into the room. She gave her daughter a serious look, walking over to her.

"Mari," she said. "Turn on the news, right now." Her mother spoke in English. Mari furrowed her brow.

"Why?"

"Something's happening. Something… very worrisome."

Mari hesitantly went over to the television set in the room and grabbed the remote.

"Mari-san?"

Mari turned the TV on and flipped through to an American news channel.

"… Airports and train stations have shut down. Streets are crowded with people escaping cities by car and on foot as witnesses report 'unexplained mass suicides'. First recorded in Romania, there have now been reports spreading as far as Europe and Siberia. Estimated death toll is in the tens of thousands—"

Mari quickly flipped to another news channel.

"… Don't yet know what is causing the mass suicides in Europe and Russia. They eyewitness reports tell of people experiencing 'psychotic behavior'. Our sources are telling us that this phenomena does not appear to be pathological or viral and U.S. authorities are advising the public to remain calm. There have been no officially confirmed—"

Mari turned the TV off, breathing heavily before setting the remote back down.

"Europe… Papa…"

"Mari…" Kanan went over to calm her friend. "Didn't you say your Dad is… in Italy for work right now?" Mari nodded.

"H-He's been going back and forth from America to Italy for work." Mari brought a trembling hand to her lips. "He… wasn't able to make it today, since he's… at a conference."

Suddenly, there was the sound of glass breaking. It came from the room across from them.

"What was that?"

The second-years were about to rush out of the room before Kanan stopped them.

"Wait, don't go out in such a rush!" Chika turned back to the third and first-years. "Just… take a peek outside. Open the door, slowly."

Chika crouched down to the floor and You opened the door. Riko looked through the crack of the door. She squinted her eyes and soon widened them at what she just saw.

One of the maids had jumped through the shattered window.

The second-years trembled in utter fear at the sight.

"Guys, what did you see?"

"O-One of the maids just…"

"Jumped out the broken window."

"What?!" Dia shrieked. "At this height?! We're at the top floor!"

"… Mama?"

You, Riko and Chika turned back to their friends. Mari's mother was slowly walking towards the balcony. She looked back at her daughter. Her mother's eyes… they were blank. She slowly slid the balcony door open. Mari was about to follow her mother out onto the balcony, but Kanan held her.

"Mari, don't."

Mari's mother turned once again toward her daughter. There were tears rolling down her cheeks right before she turned… and let herself fall.

"Mama! No! No, please, no!"

"Mari! Nngh, get ahold of yourself!"

"Mari-san…"

"Nngh, Yoshiko-chan, shut the balcony door… lock it, and… argh, slide the blinds through! Do it now!"

"W-What?"

"We can't… let anyone here near the windows! Do as I tell you, now!"

It took Yoshiko a second to process what was going on, but she fairly understood that no one could go near the windows. Hanamaru held Ruby's hand as the Kurosawa redhead cried.

"W-What's going on here?"

"That's what I'd like to know," Kanan said lowly. She sighed through pursed lips and turned Mari to face her. "Mari, Mari, focus! Snap out of it." Mari's breathing was ragged as her eyes stayed down. "Mari, look at me." Mari's golden eyes slowly met Kanan's amethyst. Kanan placed her hands on Mari's shoulders. "There are… other guests in the hotel at the moment, right?" Mari gave a slight nod. Kanan sighed through pursed lips. "Okay."

"W-What are you thinking, Kanan-chan?" You asked.

"These… mass suicides… Whatever's happening in Europe… could also be happening here."

"Wait, you mean, people have just been… killing themselves left and right for no reason?"

Kanan laughed.

"There has to be a reason for this… We just have to find out what that reason is, and—" Suddenly, a buzzer sounded throughout the hotel. They all sat still. "Mari, what is that?"

"Th-That's an alarm for… for when we have deliveries for things from Papa. The postman never… he never just comes in, he always buzzes in first."

Just then, a voice came on the intercom near Mari's bedroom door.

"Hello? Is anyone there? Please help us!"

"Things have gone crazy out here! Please let us in!"

"My friends need help! Please, someone, answer us!"

Mari stepped over to the intercom and held the button down.

"Hello? Can someone state their name for me?" Mari said nervously. The girls all heard a collective sigh of relief through the intercom.

"Oh, thank God! Um, th-this is Nishikino Maki! I'm an intern at Nishikino General Hospital! I'm here with… my friends. There are nine of us, including me. No one's injured, but… our families…"

Mari bit down on her lip, thinking. She looked back at her friends.

Kanan gave a nod.

"Let them in."

Maki and her friends, Nico, Rin, Eri, Umi, Kotori, Honoka, Hanayo and Nozomi all await the elevator's ascension to the top floor of the Ohara Hotel.

"Kokoro… Kotaro… Kokoa…"

Nico whimpered her siblings' names and cried softly. Maki wrapped an arm around her friend.

"Nico-chan… I'm so sorry…" Nico cried into Maki's shoulder.

Honoka's shoulders shook as she cried her sister's name.

"Yukiho… Why? Why did you have to go and—!" She bit back her tears.

Eri was biting down on her quivering lip. She clenched her fist, thinking of her sister, Arisa.

"Ericchi…"

Nozomi held Eri's hand. Eri choked back a sob, bringing her hand to her lips, muffling her cries.

Maki looked around at all her friends. Losing their families was more than enough to break them.

But she had to remain composed. She had to stay calm.

They finally reached the top floor. The elevator doors opened to reveal Mari and her friends on the other side.

"Which one of you is Nishikino Maki?" Mari asked.

Maki stepped forward and raised her hand.

"Me," she mumbled. "These are my friends." She nodded back to the girls behind her. Mari smiled softly.

"I'm Ohara Mari. My father owns this hotel…" She nodded back to her friends. "and these are my friends." Kanan stepped up and placed a hand on Mari's shoulder.

"I hate to skip the proper introductions, but we should lead you into Mari's suite. We could use the extra brains, if anything." Maki nodded.

"Sure thing."

The eighteen girls were meeting in Mari's suite. After getting properly acquainted, they spent time discussing possible reasons to why people would be committing mass suicide.

"Is it supposed to be some kind of… virus or something?" Hanamaru asked.

"If this was a virus, I would have known about it," Maki stated. "The hospital would have been all over this, if that was the case."

"Okay then… Maybe this is some kind of… I don't know, chemical thing? Something in the air, maybe?" Yoshiko guessed. Maki nodded.

"W-Wait, th-the news said that… People don't know what's causing these suicides. So, everyone's just… in the dark right now."

"Wait, actually, maybe not," Maki said hastily.

"Maki?" Eri asked. "What d'you know?" Maki blew a breath, not believing that she herself was slowly becoming convinced of this outrageous theory.

"People have been describing this… thing as… I don't know, some sort of… spirit creature… Some kind of… entity that takes on the form of your worst fears."

"And… exactly, who has been describing this kinda thing, Maki?" Umi asked. Tongue in cheek, Maki grumbled.

"Some of the professors at the University. I called it bullshit, so… I-I went and looked it up." There were a few scoffs from both groups, but Maki ignored them. "At first, I didn't want to believe it… until I witnessed…" She choked up. "My parents killed themselves right in front of me. My father slit his own throat with a scalpel and… my mother bashed her head into a window and fell from the third floor of our hospital…"

"Maki-chan…"
"Oh my God…"

Maki rubbed the back of her neck, feeling the tension build up from recollecting her parents' deaths.

"S-So, how do we…"

"How do we survive this…?" Ruby whispered.

"My guess…" Nozomi said. "We just… don't look at what's in front of us."

"Because if we look…"

"We die."