Another day came and went...

As the elevator doors opened, Alice unexpectedly saw a tall man with silver-blue hair dressed in a purple suit standing in her way. "Good afternoon, Miss Alice. You came down early today."

"Hello Klaus," answered Alice, much to her dismay. "Doesn't the real estate office need—"

"Yes, but I'm on lunch break right now. Care to dine with—"

"I need to run an errand, so goodbye!" Before Klaus could say another word, Alice rushed onto the corner of the street. He's been coming by the work building ever since I began working here. After crossing some streets, she arrived at a diner and stepped inside."Mr. Misaki, Mrs. Misaki, I'm here!"

"Alice! Good to see you!" A woman with blue hair tied in a ponytail greeted the redhead guest. "Are you enjoying Bayview?"

A tall man with brown hair wearing a stained apron leaned out of the kitchen door. "Just give us a couple more minutes, Alice! We're still adapting to online ordering."

"Take your time! I'm getting used Bayview, Mrs. Misaki. It's been a month now, and my job at the radio station is getting tougher as well, since I'm no longer a new—"

"Is my order done yet?!" A loud masculine voice echoed throughout the diner. Everybody turned to face a bald, muscular man with his arms crossed. "I placed a telephone order to avoid waiting for my order, but I still don't see it!"

"I heard you, Julio, " Saki replied calmly. "It takes time to process all the modifications you requested, you know. Komba, where are you?"

A short boy with curly brown hair adjusted his baseball cap and apron. "Yes, ma'am?"

"Go check on Order 756. I need—"

Suddenly, tall woman with dark green hair in a high ponytail barged through the door while still talking on the phone. "Can you all shut up now? I'm inside already!" She cut in front of Alice and sneered. "Do you mind? If you're not here to order, then move away."

"But I was here first!"

"Sellon, this young lady ordered already," Saki defended. "Anyway, how may I help you?"

"Just here to place the usual order for those kids. I originally agreed to be a nanny so I could stay in one place, but now they all receive tutoring from that center down the street, so now I need to be available all the time."

"Tutoring? What did the kids do now?"

"If only they earned all A's on their progress reports, then they wouldn't need tutoring. Then I wouldn't need drive around and pick everyone up. Kids these days have it way too easy."

"Maybe, maybe not." Saki returned to the kitchen and exited with a take-out container. "Sorry Sellon, but this isn't yours. Alice did arrive before you, after all. Here you go, sweetie."

"Thanks, Mrs. Misaki." The redhead paid and ate her food outside after exiting quickly to avoid Sellon's death glare.

"Hey! I haven't seen you before!" called Komba as he exited the back door of the diner to find the Alice. "I'm Komba, by the way. Sorry that Julio and Sellon yelled at you earlier. Mister and Mrs. Misaki are used to their yelling, but it still gets on my nerves."

"Nice to meet you, Komba. I'm Alice. I just moved here and found about this diner after Runo told me about it. Did you start working here recently?"

"I started a couple months ago. How did you know?"

"You said yourself that you still weren't used to their yelling. Julio and Sellon don't look like new customers, either." Alice's phone beeped, prompting her to end the conversation. "I need to go. See you next time, Komba!"

"Bye Alice!"

Alice walked around some street corners before reaching the main road. Not too far from her was Shun, who leaned against his motorcycle while checking his phone. It's okay, Alice. You can do this. "Hi."

"Alice!" He faced her and waved, much to her surprise. "I specifically took time off to meet you today."

"Oh?" The redhead kept her hands together and looked away. "Sorry if I got in the way of—"

"I'm only missing a weekly Q&A session. Nothing to worry about."

"I see. So...why do you need to see me today?"

"Why did you agree to see me today?"

Alice flustered immediately. "You said you had something urgent..."

"Then get on." Shun unhooked two helmets on the back of his motorcycle and handed one to Alice. "I won't take too much of your time."

"Alright." What am I getting myself into?

After a ten-minute drive, Shun and Alice arrived at one of Bayview's harbors. The raven-haired student got off first and removed his helmet. "We haven't formally met. Your bad memories always got in the way every time we see each other."

The redhead also got off, removed her helmet, and walked up to the railing by the edge of the bay. "I know Shiori-san is your mother, and you know that I'm the only survivor from that serial murder three years ago. Most the friends I met here are also friends with you. What else is there to know?"

"You."

Alice blinked. "What about me?"

"Mom had no reason to tell you about me, so I was surprised when you immediately knew who I was. I understand that you moved here to escape, but why now? Why not earlier?"

"Things take time. I mainly wanted to escape the campus itself. I wouldn't have moved to Bayview if Aunt Clara hadn't bought a house here, or if my former workplace hadn't gone bankrupt." Alice looked to the side and saw Shun also staring into the sea. He's not that scary...now that he's not pressuring me. "What about you? What did you do after your mother passed away?"

"I was devastated. She was the closest relative I had. Mom loved her career as a psychologist and spent her time helping those in need. I changed my academic path to follow her footsteps. Mom really wanted to close that locker room murder case, but died because of a hit-and-run. If you don't mind, can you tell me more about what happened that day during the murders?"

Alice grabbed her charm bracelet tightly and asked, "You really think you can help me?"

"There's no going back now."

He's right. I can't let a traumatic event like that hold me back forever. "There were five of us—Taylor, Mira, Chris, Soon, and me. The incident happened during Fall semester. Taylor, Mira, and I were sophomores. Chris and Soon were freshmen. We were all majoring in music therap. After that incident, I changed my major to speech language pathology because I couldn't bear touching my instrument again. I work as a radio host now, hoping to brighten up people's days." Suddenly, Alice felt nauseous and grabbed her arms. "It's happening again. I can't forget..."

"Take it easy. Just look at the water and hold onto the railing," instructed Shun. Once Alice calmed down, he continued talking. "I know you miss your friends, but thinking of them still reminds you of the incident that left you alone. Mom said that this case has a lot of holes, and I want to help her find out why the perpetrator—"

"Don't ever mention Lync Volan to me ever again!" Alice screamed and fell to the ground, hands on her ears while leaning against the railing. "I don't know why he did it. I don't want to know why he did it. It's all his fault!"

"I'm sorry..." The raven-haired student knelt and gently held Alice's hand that wore the charm bracelet. "I wanted to ask if you could take me around your former school to retrace your steps, but maybe next time."

"I... I don't know if I bring myself to it," Alice muttered.

"I'll be with you every step of the way."

Why does he want to find out so much? Is there really something more to that murder than revenge? "I...I'll let you know when I'm ready."

"Thanks, Alice." One step closer...

Shun smiled and pulled Alice in for a hug, and the two enjoyed the sound of gentle sea waves that hit and retreated from the shore.

-x-x-x-x-x-

While sitting on a stool by the bar counter, Dan crossed his arms and complained, "Shun's been acting very weirdly lately."

Sitting next to him was Runo, who took a large sip of her honey grass jelly drink. "As my parents would say—it's as if he experienced a 360-degree change in—"

"I'm sure it's fine." Both Dan and Runo looked up as a young man with sandy blond hair came over a damp towel. "Owning and running this bubble tea bar helps me catch up with current events, yet I miss out on other details."

The brunette consumed his bubble tea and noted, "Joe, you have it easy here—receive orders, concoct drinks, serve customers, and count money. I'm dealing with rigorous police training and an annoying housemate who likes being on both ends of some emotional spectrum each day."

"College is stressful, Dan. Give Shun a break."

"How come you didn't continue studying, Joe?" asked Runo.

"I had issues at home, so I couldn't stay in college for that long. I didn't get very far, but I don't mind running this bubble tea bar. It's a great way to talk to customers about what's on their minds, like how you two are ranting about Shun right now."

"I think Shun likes Alice," Dan blurted. "I can see—"

"Shut up!" Runo smacked the back of the brunette's head. "That's not happening, not after all the crazy things he did to her. Joe hasn't met Alice yet, right?"

"I haven't. I was working on the day of your welcoming party. I don't know Alice in person, but I've heard stories from Julie. I still can't believe that she's the only survivor from that locker room murder, aside from the comatose victim. Shiori-san was still working on the case when she died. Shun's probably still not over it. Speaking of Shun—"

Dan finished his drink and slammed the cup on the counter, "He'd better know what he's doing—"

"Who knows what who's doing?" asked a fourth voice.

The brunette turned around and saw Shun walking over to the counter. "Shun, what are you doing here? Don't you have class?"

The bartender chuckled and cleared the table. "Even the most studious students need a break, Dan. Shun, what brings you here?"

The student handed Joe a printed flyer. "Somebody told me to remind you that their professional fraternity is having their collaboration fundraiser with you next week."

"I almost forgot! Thanks, Shun. Do you want to drink—"

"No thanks, I'm in a hurry. Later."

"Beware of some creep who's throwing water balloons at sidewalk pedestrians from building rooftops!" Dan suddenly exclaimed.

Runo glared at her tablemate immediately. "Did you have nothing better to say?"

"But it's true! Chan told me that someone's playing water balloon pranks. Nothing wrong with warning my best friend, right?"

Outside, Shun saw Alice leaning against his motorcycle while looking to the left, the same direction where radio station and the road to Wardington was. The way she stared into nowhere was so calm—the total opposite of her reaction whenever someone brought up the murder case.

Then a slight gust of wind picked up and blew Alice's hair in her face, in which she flinched after one strand got into her eye. "That's hurts..."

What am even thinking? Shun finally snapped out of his trance and approached the redhead. "All done. Let's go." He unhooked both helmets, but was reluctant to give one to Alice. "Are you sure you're up for this?"

Alice stared at the helmet in front of her, but then grabbed it while nodding. "I'm sure. The only way to overcome my fears and nightmares is returning to my school and recall all that I can. Thanks for coming with me, Shun."

"Anything for you to get better," he replied, just before driving off.

Wardington School of Integrated Health Sciences, or WSIHS for short, was a special university that offered accelerated and blended undergraduate plus graduate-professional course pathways for students who wished to pursue a career in health sciences. The most popular disciplines were pharmacy, physical therapy, music therapy, and speech language pathology. Additionally, WSIHS was an open campus, meaning anyone could visit most areas without a student ID or guest pass.

"I haven't set foot on campus in so long..." whispered Alice, staring at the buildings in front of her from the sidewalk. "Despite that incident, I kept myself together and did everything necessary to graduate early, even though I changed my major."

"Because this place gives you bad memories?" Shun asked, walking up behind the redhead.

"Exactly. I used to look at everything here and not feel anxious before graduating, but coming back now after graduation makes me so uncomfortable."

"Maybe because you knew you needed to graduate, which is why you could stand being here. Now that you're out, you don't need to be here anymore, so your mind wants to reject this place."

"Maybe..." Alice walked and approached the bottom of some stairs that descended from a second-floor door. "This was where we first saw Lync. My friends and I just finished practicing for a recital. We were minding our own business when Taylor bumped into Lync at the bottom of the stairs. She yelled at him loudly because he nearly hit her cello. Then Mira chimed in against Lync, but I insisted that we all stop arguing and proceed to our next destination."

"Did Lync retaliate? What was he doing?"

"We later found out that Lync was a general handyman on campus. Taylor and Mira were intimidating him, thus I apologized to him for their behavior afterwards. He apologized as well before I left." Alice then led the way to one of the theaters. "One time, we were practicing in this theater and saw Lync outside. Someone drew graffiti on the wall back then. Chris and Soon immediately thought that Lync did it and called campus security."

"It seems like everyone except you were mean to Lync early on. What happened after security came over?"

"Taylor insisted that Lync be fired, but the school administrators determined that Lync wasn't responsible, so he stayed. After that, he wasn't so calm anymore." The redhead walked around and showed Shun a shortcut between the theater and the fabric arts department. "We sent our recital dresses here for tailoring and dry-cleaning. After picking up the dresses, we saw Lync hitting the shrubs with a broom. Taylor accused Lync of stalking us, but then he said that he was killing snakes in the bushes, and we all ran away immediately."

This violent, snake-killing Lync isn't anything like the initial report that Mom wrote on him. What caused this sudden change in character? "Are there really snakes on campus?"

"I don't think so. I've seen salamanders, but those are harmless..." Alice's voice trailed off as she walked off slowly and ascended the stairs to somewhere. "Then it came to this..."

Shun ascended the stairs and realized what he was looking at. "Alice, this is the female locker room."

"And also where I saw him for the last time..."

She approached the door and tried to open it, but her hand froze in place. Her heart raced fast as the nightmares came back to haunt her. "Everything was going perfectly... We just finished a recital at the courtyard... I showered first, but then..."

"When did you first realize that something was wrong?"

"By the time I finished packing, he...he...he just..."

"What exactly did Lync do?"

"He stabbed them all...in front of...aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!"

The redhead shoved Shun aside and ran away. The raven-haired student stood up and looked around. Where did Alice go? She couldn't have gone far, but I don't know my way around this campus.

Minutes later, a female student ran out of a restroom and yelled, "Help! There's an unconscious girl in the stall!"

Don't tell me that's— "Excuse me! Can you get everyone else out of there?!" Shun requested. After more girls came outside, Shun ran inside and saw a broken shards on the ground. What the—

He pieced the shards together and recreated a flower vase. I'm missing a piece... He opened all the stall doors quickly and finally saw the unconscious girl.

Alice lied on the floor, leaning against the back wall. On the resting toilet cover was her arm, with the wrist cut and bleeding. The missing vase piece was in Alice's other hand, completely stained with blood.

Her face was eerily calm and pale. A slight wind entered the vents and blew Alice's orange hair around.

Shun applied pressure on Alice's slit wrist and called the ambulance, but still couldn't believe what he was seeing. Why did you cut yourself, Alice? Don't you want to prove that this serial murder won't get the best of you?