I have a feeling that this story may be a rather short one in terms of chapters, because I don't want to destroy the already-uneasy atmosphere I've created. Anyways, here's Chapter 6. I hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: Beelzebub belongs to Ryuuhei Tamura, not me.
Chapter 6- Suspicions Confirmed
I look around me in confusion. Right now, I'm standing in a familiar hallway, which is completely empty. When I look down, I notice that I'm in my uniform, but then, I glance at the clock. It's almost 5:30. I should be going home by now, why am I in the school?
The hallway I'm in is the third floor hallway in St. Ishiyama, but I'm still confused. Before I can ponder this further, I suddenly realize that I'm walking in a certain direction. Yet, it's not my own free will telling me to walk. It's as if someone is controlling me to that direction… as if I'm a puppet. I walk further and further down the hallways, looking around and trying to find where exactly I'm going to.
Suddenly, I stop just before a corner, and I peer over it slightly. To my surprise, I see a rather muscular boy striding up to a female student, and the both of them are arguing. Even though I can't hear what they're saying, I'm able to catch little snippets of their argument. But what shocks me the most is the demonic energy I can sense from the both of them.
"... you see?!" the guy shouts at the girl.
"... you do… Yukimura-san…" the girl retorts, standing her ground.
I frown slightly as I watch the scene. What the hell is going on here? Who is that girl? Why am I seeing this? And why the hell does the guy look familiar?
"... shut up!" the guy snarls.
Before I can react further, there is a blur that sends the girl flying towards the wall. Her head hits the wall and a disturbing crack echoes in the hallway. She lets out a dazed groan, but it's only going to get worse, as the blur descends down upon her.
At that moment, my eyes shoot open as I jolt hastily upright, looking around in fear. My body is drenched in sweat again, and my breathing is fast and panicky. The panic soon goes down as I realize that I'm still in my room, and in my bed. Closing my eyes in frustration, I wipe the sweat away from my forehead before glancing at the time. It's 3:00 am, and I'm so damn tired.
"Damn…" I mumble to myself. "What the hell was that?"
It was quite the disturbing dream that I had, especially when I recall what happened. Who was that girl? And why was I having this nightmare? What could it mean?
I know that I have to be getting more sleep, but at this point, I'm pretty sure that if I try, I'll end up having another nightmare. Again, I decide to get ready for school, despite how early it is. However, I have to be careful not to wake up Hecadoth. I really don't think I want to know what a demon is like if I interrupt their sleep.
Grabbing my uniform, I quietly make my way to the bathroom to have a shower and freshen up for the day. When I'm done my shower, I brush my teeth before changing into my uniform and brushing my hair. However, I feel my body aching with exhaustion, and I know that today is going to be another long day.
Quietly, I make my way back to my room. When I enter, I see Hecadoth sleeping in the futon, his breathing steady. I can't help but admire his sleeping face for a moment. He looks so peaceful when asleep, it's almost hard to believe that he's a sadistic, bloodthirsty demon.
Treading carefully around him, I lie back on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. As I stare up, my mind wanders back to the odd dream that I had. Something is off about it, but I just can't put my finger on what. I couldn't see their faces clearly, but for some reason, both the guy and the girl seemed very familiar. Also, what that guy did to the girl… it was quite disturbing. She must've gotten a rather traumatic injury from having her head slammed into the wall. Just what the hell was going on there?
"Jeez…" I sigh to myself. Should I tell someone about this dream? A part of me tells me to keep it a secret for now, but I shouldn't keep quiet about it for too long.
Eventually, my alarm starts ringing at the desired time, waking Hecadoth up from his sleep. As he stands up, he turns to face me and is surprised to see me already awake. "Yumi? You're awake?" he asks.
I nod. "Some weird-ass dream woke me up," I say as nonchalantly as I can. "And good morning to you too, Hecadoth."
Hecadoth looks at me in suspicion. "Wanna talk about it?" he asks.
I shake my head. "It's fine, I've forgotten it," I lie.
This does little to quell his suspicion, but he fortunately drops the subject as he leaves to go to the bathroom to get ready for the day. While doing so, I get my bag ready for school, checking through my History assignment and my Theatre essay that are both due today.
I suddenly hear the door opening and I turn to see Hecadoth walking in, wearing only his pants hanging low, exposing his V-line. In addition, he is shirtless and his wet hair drips lightly down his back, a towel around his neck. Upon seeing this, I feel my face heating up in surprise. Jeez, it's like I'm a lovestruck schoolgirl in a shoujo manga.
"Whoa…" I trail off.
Hecadoth smirks lightly upon seeing me blush. "Like what you see, Yumi?" he teases.
Flustered, I turn away to try and hide my face. "Oh, shut up," I retort lightly. "It's too early for this."
"You can go ahead and eat if you want," he tells me.
"Oh no, it's okay," I reassure him. As I get my things organized for the day, I sneak glances at Hecadoth's bare chest when I think he's not looking. To be honest, I'm starting to wake up a little, just by looking at him.
After breakfast, Hecadoth and I start walking to school after saying goodbye to my parents. As we walk to school, I glance at him. "So, what did the rest of the Pillar Squad say when you told them that you were staying with me for a few days?" I ask.
Hecadoth smiles wryly. "I heard enough 'good luck' wishes from them," he tells me.
I laugh. "Boys…" I shake my head, still chuckling.
However, I start to think about it. Clearly, they were teasing him about the possibility of him getting laid with me. Even though we haven't even done it yet, I find myself wondering if Hecadoth would be willing to talk about it. I've been thinking about the both of us doing it for the first time, but I'm still a bit hesitant to bring it up. Yet just thinking about it makes me blush and my heart beat faster.
It isn't long before we reach St. Ishiyama. Hecadoth gives me a smile. "Well, I'll see you soon?" he says.
"Yeah. See you soon," I tell him, giving him a short kiss before heading towards the building.
When I enter the classroom, I make my way over to my desk. "Hey," I greet Shizuka. "How was your evening?"
Shizuka sighs. "I got a seriously creepy letter from an unknown address," she tells me. "That was enough to get Tora to be staying over for a few nights."
I nod. "Me too," I say. "It was really scary, and my parents are extremely worried now. I mean, we don't even know who sent it."
"Well, I hope it stops soon," Shizuka says.
At that moment, the chime rings, signalling the start of the day. It isn't long before Satou-sensei comes in, his books in hand. "Okay, everyone," he says. "I hope you all have your assignments that were due today. I'll be coming around to collect them, so make sure you have them ready."
I pull out my assignment as he goes through the rows of desks, collecting them. When he comes around to collect mine, I quickly hand it over to him, avoiding eye contact.
As he takes my assignment and passes by me, I suddenly hear him whisper something that only I can hear.
"Pretty good for a…"
My eyes widen in surprise and I turn to look at his retreating figure. What did he just say? I highly doubt that it was a good thing. In fact, this leaves a very bad taste in my mouth, and I'm unable to focus on the lesson for today.
What did he just say? Does he know that I'm a Konketsuji? In fact, I'm seriously hoping that the chime rings for Ethics next, as I'm pretty anxious right now. Why do I get the feeling that… he knows what I am?
Classes continue to go by, but even after History is over, the uneasiness is still significant. Even Shizuka isn't too chipper about him, and I hear it from her during lunch today.
"He tried to ask me out last week, telling me that if I went out with him, I would pass his class," she tells me.
My jaw drops open. "That's sexual harassment!" I tell her. Great. Now in addition to a possibly vengeful demonic ghost and a stalker, we have a perv teacher to deal with.
Izuma looks pretty troubled by this. "Maybe I should talk to the principal about this," he suggests.
"Don't bother," Shizuka responds, her tone bitter. "I read a bit about him. He's from a rather wealthy family, so he has money and influence. Even if we try, nothing will get done."
"Che…" I shake my head in disgust.
Izuma turns to me. "You know, Tanaka, I actually read a little into that girl you had mentioned, and you're right," he says.
"Izuma-kun?" Shizuka asks.
"Her death, as well as the death of the Demon, are very similar," he tells us. "But there is something that bothers me about the various interviews I read. People who knew her said that she never seemed 'human'."
"How so?" I ask.
"Apparently, she was a delinquent in her previous school in Kobe," Izuma starts. "Both her parents were missing and she had a difficult time making friends in school. People were somewhat scared of her, and often stayed away from her."
"What was her name?" Shizuka asks.
"Shibuya Airi," I answer. "She was a second-year student who was killed in the school."
Shizuka looks down. "You know, I think I remember reading something about her in the newspaper," she recalls. "Your dad is the one in charge of the case, right? Apparently, he found out that she was being stalked for a while before being killed."
"Yeah, he told me."
"Both of you," Izuma suddenly says. "I just got a message from Furuichi-kun. He says that he, Oga-kun, and Hilda-san have found something that is quite important. So, today after school, we're going to Ishiyama to meet them."
After school finally lets out for the day, the three of us make our way out of the school when we suddenly meet Hecadoth and Quetzalcoatl by the gates. "Eh? Hecadoth?" I ask in surprise. "What are you two doing out here?"
"We've also done a little investigation into this," Hecadoth explains. "Quetzalcoatl helped me out because he's someone who knows a bit about the paranormal of the Demon World. We'll also be coming with you to Ishiyama to give some information."
"Okay then."
When we arrive at Ishiyama, we see Oga, Baby Beel, Furuichi, and Hilda waiting by the gates. Upon seeing us, Baby Beel perks up.
"Dah! Dabu!" he blabbers.
Furuichi smiles. "Good, you guys are here," he says.
"What is it that you found?" Izuma asks them.
Hilda turns towards the school. "It's still in the school, so follow us please," she requests.
Following them, we go up to the third floor of the school, making our way into a classroom. Upon entering the classroom, we see several strewn newspapers lying about. "We were told to clean this classroom up, when we discovered this in the cabinet," Furuichi explains. "A huge collection of old newspapers. Like, we don't even know where they came from."
"It may seem trivial, but we have some specific ones that we thought you'd like to see," Hilda tells us.
"It's about that girl who died," Oga adds.
"Dah!" Beel adds, as if agreeing with what Oga said.
I glance at one of the newspapers. The date reads 'November 17th, 1995', almost twenty years ago from now. In bold kanji, the headline reads, 'St. Ishiyama Student Found Dead in School Building'. The photo underneath shows a photo of none other than Shibuya Airi. Yet this photo is different, as she is wearing a rather fancy dress. Must've been from some formal event.
Hecadoth and Quetzalcoatl peer over my shoulder as I read the story.
"'This morning, a St. Ishiyama student was discovered dead on the third floor hallway of St. Ishiyama. Shibuya Airi, a seventeen-year-old second-year student, was brutally murdered last night, with the murderer fleeing the scene shortly afterwards, stealing a necklace that she wore. She suffered an attack to her head before being repeatedly and fatally stabbed by the killer, officers determined. No other witnesses were present at the crime scene. Her body was discovered by some teachers who were on their way to the staff room. Investigation is currently underway. For the safety of all students at St. Ishiyama, the Principal has issued a request that all school clubs be cancelled temporarily, and that all students go home early'."
I look up. Almost immediately, I can feel my nightmare coming back, as I recall what I saw. No doubt, the girl in my dreams is Shibuya Airi.
"What kind of motive could they have?" Shizuka asks. "Why was she killed?"
Right then, Hecadoth picks up a folder. "Oi…" he looks through the folder in surprise. "Look at these." He holds up some photos. Upon looking at them, my mouth drops open in shock.
They are amateur photos of the third floor hallway of St. Ishiyama. But that's not it. It's what is in the photos. To our shock, we see Shibuya Airi, though she is slightly shimmery. Almost instantly, the pieces click in my head. The Demon of the Third Floor really is Shibuya Airi.
"You know, I've been having these suspicions for quite some time now," I say. "But it seems like I'm right. Shibuya Airi really is the Demon of the Third Floor."