EX CHAPTER 3

LUSUS NATURAE

"Well, this is certainly unsightly..." Yuuya muttered to himself. Before him was, for all intensive purposes, a normal, if not greatly decayed wall. However, given the massive, bloody mess of guts and entrails smeared across it, the comment could be quite easily justified.

"You must have been slammed against the wall at high speed from this other end..." Kizami said, looking back at the other end of the hallway. "No human could commit such an atrocious act of mutilation... It must have been a spirit of some kind. Quite sadistic, these dead beings."

"Ha... I suppose you'll be one of them now," Yuuya noted, smirking slightly as he turned back to look at the mess. "I do wonder... what mangled form your spirit shall take? Perhaps it will simply be a moving hunk of intestines. How disappointing for you, Miss..." he said, lowering his gaze. Noticing a name tag at his feet, he reached down to pick it up. "... Suzumoto..."

SNAP!

"Hmm?" Yuuya said, turning around as a sound unlike that of a picture being taken reached his ears. This was soon followed by the sound of approaching footsteps. Raising an eyebrow, Yuuya though about remaining where he was and facing the photo-snapping approacher, but something in the back of his head told him to step back and observe, and thus quickly and quietly stepped around the corner, slipping the name tag into his pocket.

Hiding there, Kizami held his breath as he heard the person take a masculine sounding gasp - presumably seeing Suzumoto's corpse - and suddenly dash forward, stopping right in front of it and less then a few feet from where Yuuya was standing. Curious, he inched closer to the corner and peaked around, looking at the gawking young man whilst remaining hidden.

The man was fairly tall, and had pale blue hair with cold green eyes behind shining glasses. He was wearing an unfamiliar gray uniform with his name tag pinned to his chest, and he clasped a silver phone in his right hand. His expression was one of extreme shock and surprise, however, as Yuuya watched, that horrified expression slowly shifted as a wide grin spread across his face.

"Ahaha... Ahahahahahha! AHAHAHAHAHA!" He suddenly cackled, his eyes wide with a perverse fascination as he stared at the corpse. "My my my! What... what an exquisite work of art! I've never seen anything like it!" He gasped, his face disturbingly flushed as he ran his gaze up and down his find. His gaze vaguely reminded Kizami of when Shimada would stare at Kirisaki, and felt a mix of amusement and mild distaste. A grin of his own began to form.

By now, the man had flipped open his phone and was snapped dozens of pictures from a variety of different angles. "This form is angelic... Like crimson rose petals sewn across this land of corpses! I can't get enough of you, my dear..."

While the man kept talking, Yuuya slowly began creeping back until he reached the turnoff for the next corner, then began walking in place, slowly at first, the n raising the volume of his steps before walking back towards the man and the corpse.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" He asked innocently as he appeared around the corner. The man had obviously heard him, and his phone was hidden away, his face a cold mask.

"Hmmm? It seems I've finally chanced upon someone else," he said. Frowning, Kizami looked at Suzumoto, then sighed.

"Blast... I'm back here..." he muttered, an irritated look on his face, before focusing on the second man, and giving a soft smile. "Ah! Another survivor. It's been an age since I've seen another living person.

"... Indeed," the other one said, giving Yuuya a distrustful look. Years of acting had given him a keen eye for people not telling the truth, and although this strange, tall man seemed genuine, there was something off about him.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Yuuya Kizami, an 11th grader at Byakudan Senior High. Who are you?" Kizami asked, his smile still present. The man stared him down briefly, before giving in.

"... Sakutaro Morishige. Kisaragi Academy," he replied. "Nice to meet you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm looking for someone," he finished, making to move around Yuuya.

"Looking for someone? Perhaps I can help. Who are you looking for?" Yuuya offered, standing in Morishige's way. The shorter man narrowed his eyes slightly, before pulling out his phone. After shifting through it for a second, he showed Yuuya the screen, which displayed a picture of a smiling young girl with brown hair, a pink hair pin and a sailor uniform.

"Her name is Mayu Suzumoto. Have your seen her?" Morishige asked. Kizami looked at the photo. She didn't seem to resemble any of the corpses that he'd...

... wait.

"Did you say... Mayu Suzumoto?" Kizami asked. Morishige gave a nod in response. Yuuya stared at the young man with his eyes wide, taking great care not to look over at the corpse. What he couldn't do however, was suppress the massive grin that spread across his cheeks.

"Huh?" Morishige said, stepping back slightly. "What's so-"

"Pfffff... hahaha! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Yuuya suddenly burst out laughing, clutching his gut as he bent over. "AHAHAHAHAHAHA! Suzu... Suzumoto! HEHEHE!"

"What... What's so funny?!" Morishige demanded.

"You... you haven't... you haven't the slightest clue do you?! This is rich! FUCKING RICH!" Yuuya giggled madly, before letting out another blast of cackles. "AHAHAHAHAHAHA! AHEHEHEHEHE!"

"What the...?! A damn psychopath!" Morishige said, before turning heel and running back the way he came, stalked by Kizami's demented screams.

"AAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YES MORISHIGE! GO! FIND YOUR LOST ROSE! I GUARANTEE A TRULY JOYOUS REUNION! HEHEHEHEHEHE!