Part 1: April
Chapter 7


April 4th. Friday.

Both Tanaka and Yamaguchi diligently paid attention in class as Roku continued to review the history of the war. He also mentioned that starting on Monday, April 7th, quizzes will be handed out and will determine which division of classrooms students will be placed in. On May 1st, most students will be changing classrooms. Other than Roku's lectures and the announcement, the school day wasn't particularly interesting.

"Is your eye healing?" asked Yamaguchi as she strolled home with her brother.

"The swelling is starting to go away," he replied.

"I wonder if those two boys were expelled…" she mumbled. "Or if they ever recovered the original surveillance recordings. Maybe I'll ask Roku-sensei tomorrow."

"I don't think those recordings were even edited." Tanaka kept his voice quiet as they continued to wander home.

"Huh? What'd you say?"

"I wish there was a way to show you exactly what I saw that night."

Yamaguchi quirked a brow. "You were passed out, though. You were probably dreaming."

"I wasn't."

Something's not right here, he thought.

"Were you not paying attention when those two boys confessed what they did to you?"

Tanaka frowned. "'Worthless kids disappear on campus at night'…I'm positive that I did disappear, but somehow at 12:01 AM I reappeared."

"I don't understand what you're trying to tell me."

"Let's sneak on the campus tonight. I'll prove to you that I really did disappear for a short amount of time. I'll prove to you that it wasn't a dream."

Yamaguchi halted in her tracks. "What?! Are you insane?! That's trespassing! We'll both be expelled!"

Tanaka stopped as well. "There has to be a way to get into the school without being caught on camera, then…" He scratched at one of his bandages. "If other 'worthless' students have disappeared on campus before and the security cameras didn't detect a thing, there must be a way."

"Why can't you just let this go?"

Tanaka ignored his sister. "…I got it. We'll have a stakeout tonight."

"What—"

"We won't go on campus. We'll watch the school from behind the gates to see if anything happens at midnight."

"Okay, but," she started to make her way back home again, "let's say something does happen. The school distorts into something like what you described. How are we going to get inside?"

She was right. He couldn't get outside the altered building when he was inside it.

"I don't know," he answered. "We'll have to figure that out ourselves. We'll need to bring weapons, too, just in case we can get inside."

Yamaguchi sighed. "I'll bring a knife, I guess. What about you?"

"I'll bring that wooden sword in my room."

His sister snickered for a split second. "That one you've had since you were a child?"

"I'll finally put it into good use."

"Fine, I'll go with you tonight," Yamaguchi said.

Tanaka exhaled a sigh of relief. "It's settled, then. We'll have a stakeout tonight."

Yamaguchi tried huddling close to her brother for warmth. "It's freezing."

"I know. We only have a few minutes left until midnight."

Both teens were sitting across from the school's main gates on a sidewalk. If a police car or stranger was nearby, they'd scatter away from the dim lamppost and into the darkness of the night. As they agreed, both siblings brought weapons with them.

"What time is it now?" asked the canine-eared female, her teeth chattering a bit.

"Two minutes until midnight."

"If nothing happens, you're paying for the rest of dinner this week." She continued to huddle close to her brother, and Tanaka didn't mind.

"One more minute."

Yamaguchi looked upwards, squinting to stare at the academy. It was hard to notice because of the lack of light, but she could discern its outline.

"Five, four, three, two, one—"

Suddenly, the lamppost's light turned off. Yamaguchi flinched, and her heart started beating fast. "That scared me…"

"My phone turned off," noted Tanaka, staring at his now dead cellphone.

Yamaguchi pulled out hers. "Huh? Mine too…"

Tanaka nudged his sister. "Look up."

She did as she was told, staring worriedly at the green-tinted sky. The moon was red, just like the one Tanaka described in his "dream"…

"This…isn't a dream, right? You're real? You can understand me?" queried the female, remaining close to her brother as they both stood up.

Tanaka extended his arm to point at the school.

Yamaguchi was almost afraid to, but she directed her attention towards Shoudou Academy. The school buildings began to stretch into tall structures reaching for the night sky, and the school itself had a peculiar glow to it. Judging by the distorted school's towering height, it must have been at least twenty-five floors high.

"What just…happened…?" Yamaguchi clung onto her brother's arm.

"So the school does change shape at night." Tanaka began to walk towards the academy's large gates, and Yamaguchi tried digging her feet into the ground. "Don't worry, I'll make sure nothing attacks you."

When they stood in front of the school gates, they automatically opened with a metallic creaking sound. Normally the walkway towards the school building's entrance was full of vibrant flowers and thick trees, but all plant life was dead and wilted. The building's entrance was abnormally tall and had no doors; instead, it led straight into the school.

Tanaka lifted an eyebrow. "Last time I was here, the entrance was sealed off…"

"I don't want to be here," Yamaguchi said, refusing to step into the school after Tanaka did. "Maybe you escaped this place because you were lucky. I don't want to risk disappearing and being trapped in this place."

Tanaka offered out his hand, beckoning Yamaguchi to enter the distorted school. "We're not worthless. We won't disappear, I promise."

The female shook her head. "I said I don't want to be here."

"We're already here, so there's nothing much you can do about that."

Yamaguchi turned around and darted towards the gates of the school. Tanaka pursued after her, calling out her name several times to get her to stop. His efforts turned out to be futile until Yamaguchi stopped dead in her tracks. Tanaka caught up to her, grabbing her arm.

"Stick together with me," he said. "I'm not sure what other dangers lay around here."

Yamaguchi's attention remained fixed on something else, however. "But…"

Tanaka glimpsed in the direction his sister was staring.

That was when he saw her.

Another Yamaguchi.

"I don't want to be here, big brother," spoke the other Yamaguchi, whose voice was slightly different than the one standing next to Tanaka. "The darkness is too scary. I'd rather be at home with you comforting me." A dark aura seemed to surround the female lookalike.

"Who are you?" demanded Tanaka, gripping his wooden sword tightly.

"Big brother doesn't recognize his own little sister? How could you…!" A mischievous grin stretched upon the Yamaguchi doppelganger's visage. "That's expected from a self-centered brother." The lookalike slowly approached Tanaka and Yamaguchi, and Tanaka soon noticed that the other Yamaguchi had bright yellow eyes.

"There's no way that you can be me," Yamaguchi muttered beneath her breath.

"But I am," replied the doppelganger. "I am you, and you are me." The other Yamaguchi was nearing Tanaka and the original Yamaguchi. "Big brother, won't you take me home? I'm scared…I want to cuddle with you…!"

"You stay away from my brother," warned the original Yamaguchi.

"I think you mean my brother. Without me, he wouldn't be where he is right now in life."

"Stop…" pleaded Yamaguchi, refusing to make eye contact with anyone.

"You can't deny anything because you know it's the truth."

Tanaka glared at the lookalike. "Who really are you?"

"I am Yamaguchi," answered the doppelganger, giving a wicked grin.

The original Yamaguchi shook her head. "No…you're not me!" Her voice rose, desperately trying to get her malicious doppelganger to quit her statements.

As if on cue, the Yamaguchi lookalike warped into a monstrous creature: a ball and chain was attached onto its neck with the ball levitating in the air; it had large, floppy ears and a dog tail; its forelegs were longer than its hind legs, causing it to sit on its hind legs; and lastly, a steel mask seemed to be engraved on its face.

"I am a Shadow, the true self!" it called out before letting out a deep growl. "You're never there to comfort me when I'm sad, big brother, so I'm going to make you suffer!"

Tanaka glanced over at the original Yamaguchi, but she was passed out on the ground.

He had no choice but to face the ugly part of his sister.