They wander around the woods for what seems like hours, cautiously calling out Hiyoko's and Ibuki's names. The woods are deep and dark and unfamiliar to all of them. Sometimes they hear a rustle in the trees or a twig snapping or perhaps an owl screeching, and they have to stop and gather their wits until they muster enough bravery go on again.
The sound that makes their blood run cold is the soft sound of sobbing.
"It's the crying again. We have to leave—"
"Wait," Fuyuhiko says. "That crying doesn't sound like Peko."
He wants to ask how he could possibly know the difference between a ghost and somebody else crying, but perhaps now isn't the time. He swallows his fear and approaches the sound.
Ibuki is kneeling at the base of a tree, her back to them, clutching her head.
"Ibuki? Ibuki!" Mahiru dashes straight up to her friend, arms outstretched, but Ibuki doesn't turn around, doesn't indicate that she heard them.
Something seems odd.
"Mioda?" Hajime repeats slowly.
Ibuki appears to be muttering something under her breath over and over again. She doesn't sound happy either. She sounds frightened. As he draws closer, he can make out what she's saying: "So much sorrow… So much sadness… So much sorrow… So much sadness…"
He grabs hold of her shoulder, spins her around, and finally gets a good look at her face. Her skin is pale and clammy and her eyes are distant, like she doesn't see them, like she's not really there. She stares at some unknown spot over his shoulder, muttering incoherently. Ibuki Mioda is somewhere far away.
"Something's wrong with her," Mahiru says slowly. "Ibuki would never act like this. How do we fix it?"
"I-I don't know," Hajime replies.
"What's the big deal? We found her like you wanted, let's just grab her and go!"
"But is it safe to move her? What if she snaps, or something, and ends up hurting herself?"
"Well we have to do something! We can't just leave her here!"
As they bicker back and forth, Nagito seems to assess the situation, looking around the group and stroking his chin thoughtfully. In one fluid motion, he steps up to Ibuki, lifts his hand, and slaps her hard across the face. The harsh sound reverberates through the trees like a song on repeat.
Mahiru screams, horrified, and even Fuyuhiko looks a bit taken aback.
"Komaeda, what the hell?!" Hajime wails.
"Hmm? I thought you wanted Mioda back to normal?"
"Well, not like that!"
"Men aren't supposed to hit women!"
He feels about ready to sock Nagito in the jaw for his stunt, but then Ibuki is fluttering her eyelashes, eyes focusing. "I think—" Ibuki gulps down a breath, "I think I'm okay now."
"Ibuki!" Mahiru cries, wrapping her arms around her friend like she hasn't seen her in years. Ibuki still looks a bit out of it, the red hand print on her cheek standing stark against her pale skin, but at least she's coherent and responsive again.
"I'm so glad I could do something useful for once," Nagito says smoothly.
Hajime sighs. "It may not have been the most orthodox method, but at least we have Mioda back. Now we just have to find Saionji."
"Good luck with that," Fuyuhiko snorts under his breath. "What are we gonna do, dig her out of the ground? She's long gone by now."
Hajime spins on Fuyuhiko, eyes narrowed and teeth gritted. "You know what, Kuzuryuu? I'm getting real sick of your rotten attitude. All you've done all night is complain. You were the one who decided to join us, so either help us look or shut up."
Fuyuhiko's face is red as he glares daggers at him—and Hajime is fully prepared to get into yet another conflict for the umpteenth time that night—but miraculously he says nothing and simply folds his arms.
The wander aimlessly through the trees, calling Hiyoko's name. Even though they all saw Hiyoko being pulled through solid ground, she may very well be in the same situation Ibuki was, trembling alone out in the woods somewhere. Not only that, but… Hajime looks back at Ibuki, who's bringing up the tail end of the group. Normally Ibuki is excitable and full of energy, but right now she's silent, staring at her shoes as she trudges along. Whatever she experienced, it's clear that it's changed her.
"Hinata, do you really think we'll find Hiyoko too?" Mahiru asks at his side, pulling him out of his thoughts.
He purses his lips into a thin line. On the one hand, he wants to repeat everything that's been spinning around in his head so he can just get it out in the open, but on the other hand, he doesn't want to worry Mahiru with his negative thoughts, so what comes out of his mouth is, "Well, we shouldn't give up hope, right?"
"Well said, Hinata. As expected of the symbol of our hope," Nagito quips dreamily.
It doesn't make him feel better. "R-Right…"
He stops in his tracks and thrusts his arm to the side, halting everyone from advancing any further.
"Hinata, what is it?" Mahiru asks.
"Hide," he hisses under his breath. "Hide. Hide."
Frantically he pushes everyone towards a clump of bushes and signals for them to be silent. Branches and thorns scrape against his skin but he ignores it as he cautiously peeks through the leaves. Crying Peko-chan drifts past with her face in her hands, her movements disjointed and restless. She phases in and out like she doesn't know which plane she wants to stay in. The sound of her pitiful, broken sobs floats through the trees, an awful sort of melody. She's so close. If he reached out right now, he could brush his fingers against the edge of her white kimono. At the back of his mind he hopes she can't smell their fear.
Behind him, somebody inhales.
"H-Hey," Fuyuhiko calls from the back. Hajime whirls around and shushes him sharply, but Fuyuhiko looks distressed. "I-It's not me! Mioda's going mental again!"
"She what?"
Sure enough, Ibuki's eyes have gone distant again. She's muttering something under her breath that Hajime has to strain to hear.
"There's no stopping it…" Ibuki whispers, huddling in on herself, fingers going to her hair. "She's coming. Once the sadness consumes you, you have to control it. Control. Control. Control…" She babbles nonsensically, clutching at the strands of her hair so hard Hajime is afraid she'll actually tear it out. "Control control control control control control CONTROL CONTROL CONTROL CONTROL—"
"Somebody quiet her down!"
Fuyuhiko grabs her shoulders and shakes her roughly. "Hey! Snap out of it!"
With an astonishing burst of strength, Ibuki shoves Fuyuhiko away, screaming. Cursing, Fuyuhiko stumbles and falls hard on his back.
"No control… Have to control… SHE HAS TO CONTROL—"
In the shadows behind Ibuki appears a pale white face, silver hair covering her eyes. Her lips are curled in a grimace, or perhaps a macabre sort of smile. There are tear tracks on her cheeks, but they are crusted and ruddy. Peko-chan reaches out and grips Ibuki's head, almost like a gentle caress, and with a strength unfitting of a little girl, pulls her straight into the darkness of the trees. Ibuki vanishes like hapless prey caught on the end of a line and her scream is but a distant, fading sound.
Mahiru shrieks her name, reaching out towards the darkness where Ibuki disappeared. Hajime has to physically stop her from going after her, in fear that she, too, will be taken away. He hears Fuyuhiko yell, "MOVE YOUR ASSES, BASTARDS!" and practically drags Mahiru by the wrist away from the entity that's taken two of their friends.
Running seems to be the only thing he's capable of doing. First Hiyoko, now Ibuki. The hopelessness starts to settle in. Crying Peko-chan is picking them off one by one. He doesn't know what they can do, but they have to do something, whether it means surviving the night, or…
… or running away for eternity.
He spots an opening in the face of a rocky enclosure up ahead. A cave. "Through there!" he yells without thinking, ducking through the mouth of the cave. When he dares to look behind them, he sees nothing but the blackness of the night.
"Hinata, she took Ibuki! She took her!"
"Yeah, no shit! I hate to say it but I fuckin' told you so. We should've left when we had the chance."
Hajime grits his teeth as he thinks about his lost friends. They're gone, taken, and he couldn't do anything to save them.
"Well, well… What do we have here?"
He turns to where Nagito is staring at the wall of the cave. Hajime shines his flashlight on the spot and immediately feels his stomach bottom out. Written along the wall in what he hopes is red paint are the words, Peko-chan, show me your eyes.
"Aren't those— Isn't this what you need to summon Crying Peko-chan?!" Hajime stutters, eyes raking up and down the wall.
"But who would do such a thing…?"
"I… I don't know." He swallows the lump in his throat. This doesn't make sense, he thinks grimly. She was actually summoned here for us? He inspects the words closely, the way the paint slathers along the dilapidated rock. "… It doesn't look very old. Like somebody did this recently," Hajime murmurs, noting how the paint is solid where everything else is weathered.
"You saying one of us summoned her?!" Fuyuhiko spits.
"I-I'm not saying anything!"
"No… I think Hinata may be right," Nagito murmurs, trailing a finger over the red lettering. "You can see where the heavier spots are lumpy where the paint beneath hasn't properly cured. See?" He pokes at one such spot and it comes away wet on his finger. "I would say it was painted within the last few hours."
"No way… You can't be serious…" another voice croaks.
They all spin around, flashlights pointing at the mouth of the cave. There stands Kazuichi, staring at the painted words with wide eyes.
"Souda! You're okay!"
"I thought you went to get help?"
"That's why I'm here! Something really weird is happening. No matter which way I go, I always end up back at the van. It's like I'm going around in circles, but that's impossible! It's just a straight road! I even tried to cut across the grass and I still ended up right back where I started! How could this be happening?!"
"Well, it's simple, isn't it?" Nagito says smoothly. "She doesn't want us to leave. We saw her crying, and now she won't let us go. She is the one in control of these woods." For a boy who's spent the night running around everywhere with a ghost girl closing in on them, Nagito is oddly collected. In fact, what he sees reflected in Nagito's eyes fills him with a bone-chilling unease. It's as though he's pleased with the way the night is progressing.
Kazuichi stomps over to Nagito and jabs a finger against his chest. "I bet it was you who summoned her, wasn't it?! You planned this whole thing all along! You're always spouting all that weird crap about hope and stuff! No wonder you're so calm!"
"Is that what I am? I'm sorry, I only thought at least one of us should stay calm in this sort of situation," says Nagito. He casts his eyes to the cave ceiling and sighs. "Then again, I suppose it was presumptuous to believe trash like me could handle such an important responsibility." His eyes scan around the group. "Speaking of which… Kuzuryuu, you've been awfully quiet since we got here."
Fuyuhiko starts like he's been lost in thought up until now. "Yeah, you got a problem with that?"
"No, only that your silence could be considered equally unusual behavior, don't you think? Do you, perhaps, know something about the summoning?"
He grits his teeth. "Why would I know anything about that?! You're the one who brought it up, shithead!"
"It was only an assumption based on your conduct. If I'm wrong, then it's my mistake."
Hajime hates this, this downward spiral into dissent. This was supposed to be a night of fun and instead everybody is at each others' throats. If this continues on, he doesn't how long he can keep everybody together. As he steps away from the group—just to take a breather because if he sticks around longer to hear them argue he thinks he's going to scream—he hears the echoing sound of falling rock growing fainter and fainter. He turns around, shining his flashlight deeper into the cave, and feels the color drain from his face. "Guys…" Hajime calls.
"No, really, say that shit to my face again, asshole, and we'll see who knows what's what."
"There's really no need to get so angry. You've all survived up until this point. I have confidence that those of us worthy will survive this ordeal."
"What's that supposed to mean? Hiyoko and Ibuki were just lambs to the slaughter, is that it?" Mahiru pipes up, narrowing her eyes.
"You could say that."
"Guys…"
"How dare you, Komaeda! I don't care whether you… you did the summoning or not, but that is not how you talk about our friends as if they were just some… some stepping stone!"
"GUYS."
Everyone finally falls silent and turns their attention to him. He directs them with his flashlight over to what he's been staring at. "I think we're in a really bad spot right now…" They all gather closer to get a better look. Deeper into the cave is a pit filled with sharp rocks, just like the one in Ibuki's story. He can see where some of the spikes have been cleared away, as if to make a path to get to something in the center of the pit.
"You don't think… then…"
"I think that's exactly it… This must be where Crying Peko-chan died…"
Behind him, somebody screams. Kazuichi has collapsed back, manically pointing at the cave wall. "It just appeared on its own right in front of my eyes, I swear! Something was writing it!" Hajime shines his flashlight to where he's pointing. The message has changed. Over the words Peko-chan, show me your eyes are scrawled a frightening litany that fills him with dread.
DON'T LOOK DON'T LOOK DON'T LOOK DON'T LOOK DON'T LOOK DON'T LOOK DON'T LOOK DON'T LOOK DON'T LOOK DON'T LOOK DON'T LOOK DON'T LOOK DON'T LOOK DON'T LOOK DON'T LOOK DON'T LOOK DON'T LOOK DON'T LOOK DON'T—
It is then that Hajime notices the cave growing foggier, mistier. A chill runs up his spine. The fog is coming from the pit like a natural force come to life. It rises in a heavy cloud, growing thicker and thicker. And then, he swears, it actually starts to form something. Through the misty vapor forms a head, then a body, then a pair of hands. The ghost of Crying Peko-chan towers over them, easily fifty times larger than any human girl, but what he feels strikes him more than what he sees. Sorrow. Unrelenting sorrow, heavier than any sadness he's ever known before. It's like he's in a trance, every happy memory draining away as he stares at the massive ghostly figure looming over them. The blood running down her cheeks are like waterfalls, terrible and mesmerizing. She opens her mouth so wide it looks as though her jaw unhinges and out comes a cacophonous wail unlike anything he's ever heard before, like an earth-shattering shriek, like a blaring siren, like fingernails scraping against metal. Beneath the heavy blanket of sorrow fogging his mind, Hajime manages to utter one word.
"Run…"
He's not fully aware of what his body is doing anymore, but somehow his feet carry him out the cave, back into the woods, and he can only hope that everybody is following behind him instead of stuck in that trance-like state. This time instead of just the pounding of feet and their hoarse screams, he can hear Peko-chan behind them, closing in on them with that vicious inhuman snarl.
"Look!" Fuyuhiko shouts. "Up ahead! There's a fire lookout tower! We gotta climb up there! If we do, we'll be safe!"
"How do you know?!"
"JUST FUCKING TRUST ME!"
They clamor up the stairs, and it's a wonder how he doesn't somehow trip over his own feet in the chaos. Fuyuhiko makes it up the tower first, then Mahiru, then him, with Kazuichi bringing up the rear. Kazuichi slams the door shut behind him as though he believes that thin slab of wood will keep out a malevolent ghost.
Hajime collapses against the wall, panting heavily. He's tired of running, tired of being chased, of being scared, everything. There's a tragic irony in here somewhere; he came here to escape his home and now he'd give anything just to go back.
"How did you know we'd be safe up here, Kuzuryuu?" Mahiru asks, still catching her breath.
"W-Well… She died from falling, right? So she's probably scared of heights… That's all."
"That doesn't make any sense. Why would a ghost be scared of heights?" Kazuichi barks.
"If you wanna go down there and prove me wrong, fuckin' be my guest."
"Guys! Aren't we missing somebody?"
"Not again…" Hajime groans. "For once, can we all just stick together? For once?! FOR ONCE?!"
They all run back out of the tower room and clamor around the railing. Nagito is running to catch up with them, still looking insanely calm despite everything that should suggest otherwise. It's what's behind him that fills their hearts with terror. There's a tidal wave of white fog chasing after him, growing closer and closer to their location. They can make out a face in the mist, twisted and gnarled, and Hajime knows that monstrous entity is Crying Peko-chan.
"Komaeda, hurry!"
Nagito makes it to the tower and starts to climb. Peko-chan collides with the base of the tower—just narrowly missing catching onto Nagito—and begins to circle it, snarling with fury. Hajime can't see him anymore, but he can hear the pounding of his footsteps as he races up the stairs. One flight. Two flights. He's going to make it. He can see him just out of their reach now. He's going to—
—The last step on the stairway collapses under his weight.
He falls straight through the rotten wood, down where Peko-chan's spirit awaits. "Ah… What rotten luck," Nagito murmurs right before he is swallowed up by the angry white tide.
"KOMAEDA!" Hajime shrieks, reaching out but far too late to stop it. Nagito is gone, just like Hiyoko, just like Ibuki. Swallowing back a sob, Hajime runs into the tower and slams the door shut behind him.
"What do we do?!" Kazuichi howls hysterically. "She's out there, waiting for us!"
Hajime steps towards the center of the room, eyes focused on the floor, feeling oddly calmer than he's felt all night. (Maybe this is what Nagito felt all that time.) "Komaeda had the right idea. We have to figure out what she wants if we want to survive. And I think I know somebody who could tell us what that is." No more playing games. No more running around. It's time to put an end to all this. "Kuzuryuu… you were the only one who knew about Crying Peko-chan being scared of heights. You didn't like the story Mioda told, and you always address her in a familiar way." Fuyuhiko starts to say something, but Hajime continues on before he can. "Not only that, but I noticed a pattern. Every time someone disappears, it's not just from making eye contact or anything. It only happens after something happens to you. Like when Saionji was making fun of you. Or when Mioda pushed you over." He stares at him resolutely. "Kuzuryuu… What do you know?"
Fuyuhiko seems to wilt, not only under the combined gaze of all three other people, but also from all the suspicious information laid out before him. He gapes like a fish for a few seconds before finally ducking his head in shame.
"… She was my best friend," he says quietly. "Yes, I knew her, okay? Is that what you wanted to hear? We spent almost everyday together. Hell, we did everything together. Peko was the only person in the whole world who understood me completely. Goddammit, she was my best friend, don't you get it?" He punches a fist against the wall with restless energy. "When I found out what happened to her. I just… I couldn't handle it. We were supposed to grow up together, dammit, and she just died. How was I supposed to feel? And then they— And then she—"
Kazuichi, unable to stay quiet any longer, points an accusing finger in Fuyuhiko's direction. "That settles it! Kuzuryuu summoned Crying Peko-chan!"
"Don't call her that!" Fuyuhiko barks.
"If it wasn't Komaeda, it has to be Kuzuryuu who summoned her! He's the only one who knew Crying Peko-chan!"
"I said don't fuckin' call her that! And I wasn't the one who summoned her!"
"Stop it! Fighting won't help us figure out what she wants!" Hajime says.
"Oh, yeah, that's a great idea. Let's try and reason with a freggin' ghost!" Kazuichi says sarcastically. "She wants to kill us because we saw her cry! Is that enough reason for you?!"
"That may be so, but if what Kuzuryuu is saying is true, then Peko's spirit is just holding some sort of grudge. She still recognizes Kuzuryuu for who he is. It makes sense, they were really close. A friendship like that lasts forever, even in death."
"I've got news for you, Hinata. That ain't Kuzuryuu's friend anymore. She's a malicious, creepy, murdering demon!"
Fuyuhiko abruptly grabs Kazuichi by the collar and shakes him violently. "What did I say? What did I say?! YOU WANNA MAKE FUN OF HER AGAIN, ASSHOLE?! I'LL FUCKIN' KILL YOU—"
"That's just what you'd want, isn't it?! That's why you summoned her in the first place! YOU JUST WANTED TO KILL US ALL!"
"YOU GODDAMN PIECE OF SHIT—"
"Knock it off, you two!" Hajime chokes, trying to get in between them. "Come on! We can't keep fighting with each other like this!"
Fuyuhiko manages to shove Kazuichi against door. It bursts open on its rusted hinges and he slams against the railing. He growls, rearing back to lunge at the other boy, but he is physically stopped before he can do so.
Two white arms grapple around his shoulders like hooks. With clawed hands, Peko-chan catches hold of him over the railing, trying to pull him down to his misty demise. "H-Help!" Kazuichi wails, throwing out an arm desperately before he can be dragged away.
Hajime's mind goes blank, but he knows he has to save him. He launches himself at Kazuichi, managing to catch hold of his shirt and one of his arms. Mahiru is just milliseconds behind him, grabbing hold too.
Even with the combined efforts of the three of them fighting against her, Peko-chan pulls with supernatural strength. At the corner of his eye, he sees Fuyuhiko is off to the side, quivering, but making no move to assist. "Kuzuryuu, help us!" he pleads.
"P-Peko…" Fuyuhiko whimpers, frozen on the spot.
Hajime lets out a frustrated growl. Fuyuhiko isn't going to be any help, but he doesn't have the time to dwell on that right now. "Koizumi, whatever you do, don't make eye contact!"
Beside him, Mahiru sniffles, "But Hinata… What do we do…? She's crying all over…"
That's when he sees them. The gaping wounds all over her body streaming with blood like runny tears. Once he witnesses the sorrow marring her body, it's impossible not to look into her eyes. The fierce blood-red of her irises stands out stark against what are supposed to be the whites of her eyes, now as pitch black as midnight. Bloody tears run down her cheeks in a never-ending stream. Her face is twisted, malformed and grotesque, belonging far more to a beast than a human. He can see every angry crease upon her brow, the corners of her eyes, the bridge of her nose. Her lips are curled into an ugly snarl, baring two rows of razor-sharp teeth. She no longer looks like a ghostly little girl with her pallid features and dainty form, but a demonic, monstrous version of her past self.
The more they pull, the more Peko's claws dig into Kazuichi's skin, marking his flesh with long, bloody gashes. Kazuichi howls in a tortured combination of agony and fear. Hajime feels his strength steadily slipping away and Peko shows no sign of letting go. They're fighting a losing battle against a vengeful spirit.
"Don't let go of me! Don't let go—!" Kazuichi pleads.
He wants to reassure him. He wants to tell him that everything is going to be okay, that they're going to save him, but the words won't form, and he knows why. Because he'd be lying. Peko roars and gives one last powerful tug and the fabric of Kazuichi's shirt slips through his fingers. Kazuichi tumbles backwards over the railing, held fast in Peko's claws, screaming for help. Just like Nagito, he disappears through the white fog, never to be heard from again.
Hajime stumbles back into the lookout tower and tries to remember how to breathe. In, out. In, out. Mahiru collapses onto her knees, knuckles riding along her bottom lip. "But… We were… We were supposed to be safe up here!"
"She's too angry now. Peko's negative energy is consuming her fear. All she wants to do is kill," Hajime hisses regretfully. "It won't be long before she takes the rest of us too. We have to figure out how to appease her spirit."
Fuyuhiko is still silent, staring blankly at nothing in particular. His eyes are far away, just like Ibuki's had been. This must be what it's like to be face-to-face with so much sorrow.
Emotions reach a boiling point and his legs finally give up beneath him. Hajime collapses onto his hands and knees and beats his fist against the ground. This stupid night. That stupid story. Why didn't he just stay at home?
At the corner of his eye, he catches a glimpse of Mahiru's digital camera on the ground. In the chaos, it's somehow been clicked on, presenting to him one of the images she's taken on the digital screen. It's a photo of the writing on the cave wall. Peko-chan, show me your eyes.
But one thing doesn't make sense.
Hajime picks up the camera and holds it up to his face. "Koizumi… When did you take this photo?"
Mahiru's head snaps up. She sees what he has in his hands and makes an aborted attempt at snatching back the camera, but seems to catch herself at the last second. "I-I took it while we were in the cave. You must not have noticed."
"But that's impossible. Your lens was cracked before we were even there. There's no way you could have taken a clear shot like this, unless…" He locks eyes with Mahiru and the realization settles in. "Koizumi. It was you, wasn't it? You were the one who summoned Peko-chan."
Fuyuhiko looks up.
Mahiru is silent. She has her bottom lip between her teeth, worrying at it. Her gaze goes to the floor. "I wanted to make amends…"
A million thoughts swirl around his head, threatening to break his composure. Is this what she wanted? What was all this for? What about all that talk about being friends? All he can manage is a single word: "Why?"
"My childhood friend… She was one of the kids who bullied Peko-chan. Even though I knew what they were doing, even though I knew it was wrong, I pretended I couldn't see. I was too scared to say something before it was too late." She scrubs her arm across her eyes hastily. "I was just a kid back then. We all were. And then they just… died. One by one. I thought Peko-chan had finally gotten her revenge, but then I heard all the stories about people seeing her ghost wandering around. She's still sad. She's still angry. So while I was going through some online forums, I learned how to summon her… I wanted to make amends and put her spirit to rest. For everyone's sake."
Fuyuhiko, who up until then has been silent, scrambles to his feet and yanks Mahiru up by her collar. "You— You knew and you did nothing about it—!" he seethes.
"—It was an accident! They didn't mean for her to die!"
He shakes her violently, rage and anger dripping from his every pore. "You think I care about that?! You think that makes things better?! Peko's dead! THEY KILLED HER!"
"Guys—" Hajime calls weakly.
"Kuzuryuu, I'm sorry—"
"I hope she takes you—"
"Guys—"
"I HOPE SHE KILLS YOU TOO—"
"WOULD YOU TWO JUST SHUT UP!?" he screams. "Do you hear that?"
Silence.
Up until that point, the air has been filled with that metallic, guttural wailing, like a nightmare that refuses to go away. But now… nothing. Not even the chirping of crickets. It's like all the sound has been sucked away.
"She's… gone?" Mahiru breathes.
"… That doesn't seem right," Hajime mutters, eyes scanning around the room. "I don't like this…"
A white hand breaks through the floorboards, grabs hold of Mahiru's ankle, and yanks her down. Mahiru shrieks as her lower-half is forcibly pulled through the floor. She throws out her arms and desperately claws at the floorboards. Hajime launches himself across the floor on his belly to catch hold of Mahiru's wrists. The splintered wood creaks and groans, digging into Mahiru's stomach painfully. The floor sinks where Mahiru is being dragged down, and belatedly Hajime fears the tower may split in two and send all of them crumbling into the hands of Peko below.
"Hinata!" she screams.
He feels that supernatural force working against him again, just like it had with Kazuichi, and his first thought is he can't win. Peko is too strong, too angry.
Across the room, he can see Fuyuhiko huddled in the corner. In a last-ditch effort, he shouts, "Kuzuryuu, you have to forgive Koizumi!"
Fuyuhiko shoots him an incredulous look. "Is this really the time for that?!"
"Yes, it is! Peko's spirit won't rest until you forgive her!"
"What does that have to do with anything?!"
Mahiru lets out another strangled cry. He tightens his grip around her wrists even as the sweat begins to slick his palms. "Kuzuryuu, listen to me! You can move on tomorrow, or the next day, or the next day, but Peko… Peko's a ghost! She doesn't have a tomorrow anymore, just a yesterday that never ends! You need to give her what she wants!"
Down below, he can hear Peko hiss and snarl, hungry for blood and revenge. The tower quakes on its old supports, threatening to collapse from one well-aimed smash.
"Kuzuryuu, just look at what your friend has become! Do you want her to keep suffering like this for all eternity?!"
He can feel his grip weakening, the feel of Mahiru slipping away. She must feel it too because she locks eyes with him, and he can see the look of a girl accepting her fate. "Hinata…" she says, smiling weakly. "Thanks for everything."
"Koizumi…" he sobs, tears welling up in his eyes. "Koizumi!"
If he loses another one of his friends he doesn't know what he'll do anymore. Everyday, something is taken away from him, and he can't let it happen again. They can't take her away too. This can't be the end. He'd rather die, JUST TAKE HIM INSTEAD—
"KOIZUMI, I FORGIVE YOU!"
Peko lets out a mighty roar like she's in pain.
The quaking of the tower stops and the supernatural force holding onto Mahiru disappears.
Hajime's gaze snaps to Fuyuhiko. He's standing there, breathing hard, hands clenched at his sides, like it's taken some herculean effort just to get the words out of his mouth. Quickly, he remembers about Mahiru and pulls her up through the floor, mindful of the sharp edges of the splintered wood.
"… Is it over?"
The air is filled with nothing but the sounds of the night.
Mahiru looks to Fuyuhiko, who looks a cross between sheepish and annoyed. She smiles. "Kuzuryuu… Thank yo—"
In a shower of splinters and rotten wood, Peko bursts through the hole in the floor, roaring and wailing. She snatches Mahiru up, hands curling around her hair and waist. She disappears as quickly as she came, crashing back through the hole with her prey in her clutches, and Mahiru's scream is nothing short of bloodcurdling.
"KOIZUMI!" Hajime screams and screams until his vocal cords are hoarse.
The rumbling of the tower starts again, bigger and more powerful than it was before. The guttural, metallic howling is back like a siren ringing in his ear. Fuyuhiko catches onto the edge of the door frame to keep himself upright. "But I forgave Koizumi! What else does she want?!"
"I don't know! Try and think! She was your friend!"
"I don't— I don't know!"
The hole in the center of the tower grows larger and larger, pieces of the wood breaking off and falling below. The floor sags becoming nothing more than precarious incline. The tower's going to collapse any second now. The whole place rumbles with one more forceful quake, and Hajime loses his balance, sliding across the floor towards the hole. "Shit!" He manages to catch onto one of the floorboards at just the last second before he falls completely through. He looks over his shoulder. Below is a swirling vortex of white, like the fading of dreams, like the drainage of all the world's hope, and he hangs precariously over it. Peko bursts forth from the center of the vortex and grabs hold of his ankle, tightening her claws in a vice-like grip. Oh god, she's cold. "Kuzuryuu! Do something! PLEASE—"
Fuyuhiko looks between him and Peko, back and forth, trembling. He swallows hard, edging closer to the hole where Hajime is dangling for his life. "PEKO!" he yells into the abyss. "Peko, you have to stop!" Peko still holds on tightly onto Hajime's ankle, roaring that tortured sound. She makes no other response, no indication that she hears him. "Listen to me! This isn't right!"
He feels the claws worming under his skin like five fiery needle points. Warm blood gushes down his leg. "KUZURYUU, HURRY—"
Fuyuhiko edges closer to the hole. "Peko, it's okay to be sad! It's okay to be scared! That doesn't make you weak! But what you're doing right now… Trying to keep us from seeing, trying to hide how much you hurt… It's just hurting you more!"
The grip around his leg wavers—
—and then disappears altogether.
When he looks down, Peko is gone. Instead she materializes standing in the tower, looking just like a child again and not that nightmarish form. She tips her head back, revealing her eyes behind a curtain of hair.
"Fuyuhiko?" she whispers.
He lets out a long exhale. "Yeah, Peko… it's me…"
Peko doesn't move, doesn't say anything. She simply stares up at the friend she hasn't seen for years. Suddenly, it's as if nobody else in the universe exists but these two, brought back together after being cruelly torn apart.
"You need to let go of your anger now. I know it's scary. I've been too scared to grow up without you this whole time. But it's time to move on. Let everybody go."
Tears stream down her face, no longer bitter and bloody, but pure and clear. Fuyuhiko reaches out and wipes them away with his thumb, ignoring how cold her skin is. "No more tears, okay?" he says, smiling even as his own tears begin to form at the corner of his eyes. Peko's bottom lip quivers, but she returns the smile and nods. "I promise you… I'll see you again soon."
Peko bows her head and breathes a sigh. It's simple, nothing more than a puff of air, but it means so much more. It means finally understanding the passing of time. It means giving in. It means letting go. From beneath the moonlight, Peko's spirit begins to fade, white wisps floating off into the air like fireflies. Like everything before her, she returns to the earth, at peace.
With a heavy heart, Fuyuhiko watches the last shimmering vestiges of Peko disappear into the night. "Goodbye, Peko…"
Hajime struggles to pull himself back up the tower, kicking up with his legs to get some sort of leverage. A hand appears in his field of vision, flesh and blood. "Hinata, grab my hand," Fuyuhiko hollers. He grabs hold and climbs back up.
For a long moment, they simply sit in the wreckage of the lookout tower, bruised, bloody, and battered. The nightmare is over and neither of them really knows what to do or say. Like Nagito said, they are the survivors emerging from the darkness. He's contemplating the events of the night, all the mistakes and sacrifices and miscommunications that happened along the way, when in the distance they hear a voice calling out, "Hinata? Are you there?"
They exchange surprised looks. As Hajime looks through the gaping hole in the center of the tower, he sees all their friends standing below—Hiyoko, Ibuki, Kazuichi, Nagito, Mahiru, everyone—looking up at them.
"Koizumi… Mioda… You guys are okay!" he sobs, tears springing to his eyes.
Nagito smiles that enigmatic smile of his and shrugs. "It looks like my luck is finally turning around."
To his left, Fuyuhiko picks himself up off his feet, dazedly walking towards the ruined stairs on tired legs. He watches for a second—seeing his classmate in a new light for once—and calls after him, "Hey, Kuzuryuu… Are you okay?"
Fuyuhiko stops and looks up at white shining moon like he sees something there on the rocky surface. "I will be," he says.
When asked where they'd been between when they'd been captured and when they reappeared, everybody replied that their memories were blank. It was as though they'd been floating in a blinding white purgatory, waiting to be released. The mystery of Peko-chan's victims would forever remain a mystery.
Everyone is gathered back around the van. Hajime digs out his phone from his backpack and is relieved to see it working again. He punches in the third speed dial and waits for the line to connect. "Ayame?"
"Hajime! Are you okay? Why haven't you been returning my calls?! Do you know what time it is?!"
"Yeah, sorry… Me and my friends kinda lost track of time, and then I lost reception so I couldn't get your calls, but we're heading home now. I'll help you and dad unpack everything tomorrow." He takes a deep breath and expels it all in one long exhale. "And then I think we have some things to talk about."
"Really?" Ayame sounds surprised, but not angry. "Okay. Just get home safe, okay?"
"I will. See you soon." He ends the call just as Fuyuhiko jams his key in the ignition.
"Please work, please work, please work," Kazuichi chants, hands clasped together.
The engine roars to life.
"We have liftoff!" Ibuki whoops.
"I call shotgun!"
"No fair! You got shotgun on the way here!"
"Worthless trash like me will sit in the back, of course…"
Hiyoko and Kazuichi continue to fight over who gets to ride shotgun. Hajime can't help but smile as he watches his friends' antics. They're a bunch of clowns for sure, but they're his bunch of clowns.
"Hinata, get in already," Fuyuhiko says from the driver's seat.
"Huh? Me?"
"You see any other Hinatas around here? Just get in, all right?"
He looks back and forth between his friends and the door and climbs into the passenger seat without a second thought.
"What? No fair! Why is Hinata sitting in the front? I called shotgun!" Hiyoko whines.
"You snooze, you fucking lose. Now get your asses in the car."
They pile all their belongings in the back of the van, the backpacks and purses and half-finished bags of candy and marshmallows. Hajime buckles up in his seat.
"Careful, the seat belt sticks. And would you stop singing that stupid fuckin' song, Mioda?! It's past midnight!"
They pull out onto the road, steadily making their way back to town. Only when they pass by the town welcome sign do they release the breaths they'd been holding.
It's finally over.
Fuyuhiko drops everybody off one by one. They make sure to watch everyone safely making it through their doors before moving on to the next house. Mahiru is the second-to-last to be dropped off at her place. She throws a smile over her shoulder as she climbs out of the van.
"See you in class on Monday, Hinata."
Then it's just him and Fuyuhiko left in the van.
"I should probably call my sister to come pick me up or something. I can wait at the police station or something, it's right around the corner." He moves to take off his seat belt, but Fuyuhiko stops him with a wave of his hand.
"Don't be an idiot, Hinata. It's the middle of the night. I'll drive you home."
He settles back into the seat and offers an appreciative smile. "Thanks, Kuzuryuu. That's real nice of you."
"Yeah, well don't write home about it or nothin'."
A solemn air settles over the car, but it doesn't feel awkward or suffocating anymore. It's actually… comfortable. Hajime has to take the time to acknowledge the absurdity of the night's events. If somebody had told him Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu would be treating him nicely and driving him home before that night, he'd have laughed in their face. But, he admits, once he opens up, Kuzuryuu's actually a pretty decent guy.
Maybe moving to this place wasn't such a bad idea after-all.
He watches the streetlights whiz by like a light show, counting how many lamps separate his and Mahiru's house. "You know… Peko was really young when she died. She didn't understand what she was doing. Otherwise I don't think she would've done it."
Fuyuhiko peers at him from the corner of his eye, looking neither annoyed nor sad, only accepting. "I think you're right. Peko never wanted to hurt anybody." He lets out a slow exhale. "To be honest, out of the two of us, I was the one who cried all the time."
"No way," Hajime says, gaping dramatically.
Fuyuhiko snorts. "Yeah, yeah. Shut your mouth before you start catching flies. By the way, if you tell anybody what I told you, I'll deny it, and then I'll have you shipped overseas."
"Peko, you have to stop! They're going to keep messing with you unless you— unless—"
She rounded on him, jaw set like it always was when she'd undergone yet another round of schoolyard abuse. "I'm not going to cry, Fuyuhiko. If I do, they'll bother you even more and I don't want that."
His eyes roved over the fresh cuts on her fingers, the bruise on her elbow, courtesy of those rotten kids shoving Peko into a rain ditch on their way home from school. Just the thought of Peko defiantly staring up at her tormentors even as she lay there bloody and bruised was enough to make Fuyuhiko crumple into tears again. He didn't know why he was like this, why every little thing affected him so much, but he knew that Peko was the most important person in his life and he didn't want to see her hurt. He rubbed at his eyes with his sleeve, praying to any god that would listen that he could be as strong as Peko deserved. "If only I didn't— If I wasn't such a—"
Peko reached out and gripped his shoulder. "Stop. Don't think like that anymore. You're honest and I like that. You don't have to change for the likes of them. One day, we're going to grow up together and they won't even matter anymore." She smiled that small, secretive smile she only reserved for him, and whenever Peko smiled at him like that, Fuyuhiko always felt his tears dry away. "So until then, I'll be brave for the both of us."
"That's why she never cried. Because she wanted to protect me."
"Oh… That was… really great of her."
"Wasn't it? Peko was always selfless like that. Always thought about me before she even thought about herself. But you know… I never agreed with her. I wanted her to take care of herself first. But she never listened to me."
More silence.
"… You know," Fuyuhiko says forlornly, "Mioda wasn't totally accurate with her story."
"What do you mean?"
"Well… Peko wasn't alone that night. I was there too."
Hajime blinks, surprised. "You were?"
"Yeah. I was the one they chased into a cave. Peko only came to rescue me, told them to mess with her instead. It was an offer they couldn't refuse."
"She's still not crying? Seriously?"
"You're really starting to piss me off, Pekoyama. If you don't cry soon, we're going back to bullying your crybaby friend."
"Leave her alone! Stop it!" Fuyuhiko launched himself at the three kids hunched over Peko's fallen form, beating his fists against their backs, but they shrugged him off like an annoying pest. He was too small, too weak to take them all on.
"Hey! I just thought of something good!" Kaon, the biggest of the bunch, turned to him. "Kuzuryuu! We'll stop bullying you if you do something to make Pekoyama cry."
"Wh-what?"
Before he knew it, three pairs of hands were grabbing at his sleeves and shoving him forward. "Go on! Make her cry!"
Peko stared up at him, clearly trying hard to keep her face an immovable mask, but he was far too familiar with her to not catch that crease of concern in her brow. "Fuyuhiko," she breathed.
He stood there trembling, hands clenched at his sides. He couldn't possibly do anything to hurt his best friend, but if he didn't do what they wanted, they would surely hurt her more. The dilemma had fresh tears springing to his eyes.
Peko leapt to her feet and shot forward. She grabbed his hand, forced his fingers to fist around the front of her kimono. She stumbled backwards, grip still tight around his wrist, and he was helpless to do much else but follow her lead. He didn't know what was happening. They were so close to the edge that one wrong step would surely be fatal.
"But we're so high up…"
"Hahaha! DO IT, KUZURYUU! DO IT!"
Peko stared at him right in the eyes. He stared back, terror and confusion so evident on his face.
"I— I ca—"
"It's all right, Fuyuhiko," she whispered, right before letting go of his hand and pitching herself backwards over the ledge.
Fuyuhiko screamed, belatedly groping out to catch her. The other kids rushed around him, clamoring to look at the damage.
"Did he just push her?!"
"Is she still alive?"
"I think so. She just hit the ledge."
His breath hitched. Fuyuhiko hurried to where they were crowding and peered over the edge too. Peko had landed on an outcropping of rock a few meters below them. He saw the scrape of blood on her cheek and the twinge in her eyebrows like she was trying to force herself to cry. It occurred to him that this had been part of her plan. She was protecting him once again. Smart Peko. Brave Peko. Shakily, she stood up on both legs…
… The rock began to rumble.
There was a crease of confusion in her brow, like she was trying to figure out where the sound had come from and what it meant, and he had barely any time to register what was happening when the ledge collapsed beneath Peko's feet.
For those agonizing split seconds, time seemed to slow. He was reaching for her, she was reaching for him, little fingers grasping for each other but too far away. They locked eyes, and Fuyuhiko swore he saw the exact moment when her expression morphed from feigned sadness to genuine shock.
Distantly, he heard the sound of someone screaming; a pained, desperate wail like nothing he'd ever heard before. Only seconds later did he realize it was coming from his own throat.
"PEKO! PEKO!"
"Is she— she's—"
"It— It was just an accident! We didn't do anything, right?! It's not our fault!"
"Quick! We have to run!"
Fuyuhiko felt like his head was underwater, all of his senses dulled until everything mixed into a cacophony of colors and buzzing sounds. As the three kids ran out of the cave, the sound of feet slapping against the ground was only secondary to Peko coughing up blood.
"Peko! Peko, wait! I'm coming! Hold on just a bit longer! Please!" He recklessly swung one leg over the ledge, trying to find some sort of purchase with his toes, but there was none. There was no way down, why was this happening, why—
"D— Don't…"
He froze. That gurgling, pained voice struck him like an arrow to his heart. He forced himself to look over the ledge again.
There was so much blood, dripping on the ground, staining her robe and the tips of her hair. She was looking up at him behind half-lidded eyes, fingers weakly grasping at air with what little strength she has left. She was dying. Peko was dying right before of his eyes and he couldn't do anything about it. From behind his tear-stained vision, he saw the corners of her lips—caked with blood—turn up into a smile.
"Don't… c… cry…"
"I ran to get help, but by the time police arrived, Peko was already long gone. After that, nobody bullied me or bothered me ever again." Another solemn silence settles over the car. (What else is there to say?) Fuyuhiko lets out a hollow laugh. "She wasn't crying. She was smiling. Can you believe it? Even when she was dying, her first thought was to make sure I didn't cry."
Fuyuhiko idly drums his fingers against the steering wheel, a rhythmic tap-tap-tap-tap, over and over again. Tap-tap-tap-tap. Tap-tap-tap-tap. "So you know what I've decided?" he says airily, checking over his shoulder as he switches lanes. "I've decided… I'm going to be the one who protects her now."
In a moment of sharp clarity, Hajime realizes just how cold it is in the car. He thinks to ask Fuyuhiko to turn on the heater, but for some reason the words stick to his throat. Instead, he asks, "O-Oh…? How are you going to do that?"
Fuyuhiko glances at him, eyes glinting in the moonlight, and grins. "Easy. You're going to help me."
The temperature seems to drop another ten degrees. Hajime rubs at his arms to keep warm. Beads of sweat start to drip down his forehead; how can he be sweating when it's so cold? "Wh— What do you mean?"
Fuyuhiko lets out a chuckle. "You don't get it, do you? But I finally figured it out. This whole time, Peko wasn't scared. Not when she was alive, not when she was dying, and not when she was dead. She never was. Not my brave Peko. She was just stuck. Waiting for me to free her. I guess you could even say… she was waiting for a ride out."
It's not just the car anymore. Hajime feels his blood run cold like he's been frozen from the inside out. Suddenly the expression on Fuyuhiko's face no longer looks friendly, it looks sinister, eyes too crazed, teeth too prominent, lips stretched too wide.
"But, you know, it couldn't be me who gave her a ride out. Otherwise we couldn't be together. So I got the next best thing." Fuyuhiko turns away from the road to lock eyes with him, and Hajime can see just how unhinged he's become. Hands shaking, he presses desperately at the latch on his seat belt, but no matter how hard he tries, it won't come undone.
"Didn't I tell you? The seat belt sticks."
He tries for the door. It's child-locked.
"Open the door, Kuzuryuu," Hajime says, hating the way his voice cracks.
"I can't do that. Peko needs your flesh." He says it with the air of somebody casually discussing the weather, and the juxtaposition between his words and his tone makes the bile rise in Hajime's throat. "If it makes you feel any better, she'll probably make it quick."
"What do you mean?! What do you pl—" That's when he hears it. The soft sound of weeping coming from the back of the van. He feels it again too, that terrible feeling of being watched like there are eyes on the back of his neck, and he fights every instinct he has to turn and look. "… You had this planned the whole time, didn't you?" Hajime wheezes. "Koizumi learning the truth… The story… That place… Getting us all there… It was all your doing."
"I have to admit, I didn't expect Koizumi to summon Peko on her own. I was going to do it myself and just hide the evidence. And picking you certainly wasn't part of the plan either. Honestly, you were last pick on my list of vessels; that was the trickiest part, really. I wasn't going to accept just anybody, but you pretty much proved you deserve to have Peko reborn inside you. You're the only one who understands her. Though I'm gonna have to do something about the stains this will leave in the car once Peko is through with you." Fuyuhiko goes back to drumming his fingers against the steering wheel again. Tap-tap-tap-tap. Tap-tap-tap-tap. Tap-tap-tap-tap. It's absolutely grating. The rhythmic tapping burrows into his skull like a goddamn drill. Tap-tap-tap-tap. Tap-tap-tap-tap.
He wrestles with the seat belt, clawing at the strap until he thinks his fingernails are going to snap off, but the more he struggles, the tighter it gets. "Kuzuryuu, I didn't do anything!" he howls. "You can't do this to me! It's… It's unfair!"
The tapping stops, and somehow the ensuing silence is far worse than the noise ever was. "Unfair?" Fuyuhiko repeats, spitting out the word like a dirty insult. "You wanna know what's unfair? Unfair is having your best friend taken away from you before you could even grow up together. Unfair is watching all the kids responsible for her death walk away scot-free. UNFAIR IS HEARING EVERYBODY MAKE UP THOSE STORIES ABOUT WHAT A MONSTER SHE IS WHEN THEY DIDN'T EVEN KNOW HER AT ALL. THAT'S WHAT'S UNFAIR."
The weeping grows louder like it's attached to Fuyuhiko's mounting rage. On instinct, Hajime slams his eyes shut. "Why are you doing this?! Koizumi apologized! You guys made amends!"
"Like I give a shit," Fuyuhiko laughs, settling back against his seat. Tap-tap-tap-tap. Tap-tap-tap-tap. "Even after those bullies died one by one, I still wasn't satisfied. That's when I realized… There's no replacing her. I never wanted an apology. I just want Peko back. That's all I ever wanted. It's just like you said, Hinata. A friendship like this lasts forever."
"That isn't what I meant!"
"It's no hard feelings or anything. But if given the choice between Peko or anybody else, I would choose Peko every time." Fuyuhiko quirks a brow. "You understand, right?"
No, he wants to scream, No no never never NO NO NO, but his tongue feels thick and heavy in his mouth. The streetlights overhead flash by in a blur—he's lost count of how many have gone by. The seat belt secures him in place like a constrictor, suffocating and unbearable. His breath comes out in misty vapors. This must be a dream, an awful nightmare. He squeezes his eyes shut and opens them again, only to see that he's still in the car with the terrible chill and the weeping in his ear. His heart hammers in his chest and it's all too much. He wants to cry. He's going to cry. He's crying. "Please…" he moans. "Don't do this…"
"It's too late. It's already started. Just think about how much good you're doing. Hi, Peko. You're right on time."
Hajime doesn't know what possesses him to look in the rear view mirror, but he does and it's too late to take it back. From the back seat, a pair of blood-red eyes stare into his soul, bloody tears, blood on her robes, why is there so much blood.
"You've waited a really long time, haven't you? Sorry I'm so late. I had so many things to take care of. But let's be together again, from now on. Okay?"
The final moments of Hajime Hinata are but a blur of lights, sound, and pain, but he cannot see a thing behind the tears drowning his eyes.
Hey. Listen.
Have you heard the story of the New Kid on the Haunted Road?
He was an ordinary kid like you and me. Just moved into town too. Nobody really thought much about him, neither good nor bad. Nobody even remembers his name. But there was a terrible accident on the highway. The road was too slippery or something, and he was never able to make it back to his house. They never even found his body.
They say on dark and stormy nights like these you can see him on the side of the road, begging for someone to give him a ride home…
Thanks for reading! Comments/reviews are greatly appreciated.
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