So much had happened in the last week that Ayano was finding it hard to keep up with it all.
Firstly, Taro was actively making time to get to know Ayano and see her during school hours, the days and weeks were looking brighter than ever. She had been ecstatic with the development. The Occult club often dragged her to the library to find more information about the paranormal and people were actually asking for her help. It felt nice being more than just a wallflower…
She supposed that the Occult club had gone around telling everyone about how Oka had cracked her head open on the stage. About how Ayato had swooped to prevent any major blood loss. "I'm no hero, I was just doing the right thing" She had explained softly to those who questioned her about it.
She made sure to keep well away from the drama club to prevent any trouble, though she noted that everyone had now dyed their hair royal blue apart from Kokona. All the members, however, wore a white and gold accessory. Ayano had even managed to give Sakura from the gardening club some advice on successfully confessing her love for Ikura from the sports club, which put her into Asu's line of sight.
Asu, in Ayano's opinion, was a bit boring. Bland. Milk toast. Predictable. Apart from the sports club, there wasn't much else about her. It was as if the sport club was her entire personaility. Ayano was certain that there must have been something else under the surface. On Tuesday, however, things got strange…
Asu had snapped at anyone who did as much as glance over at her bento. Then, she started making the same bento over and over again, each time stating something was wrong with it. She must had made it about twelve times before accepting it. Furthermore, when Saki attempted to offer some food from the cooking club in the center of Akademi, Asu rebuked and insulted her so viciously that Saki cried.
"What are you doing offering that crap to me? It doesn't even look like its been cooked or prepared properly. What are you trying to do? Poison me?! What a fucking disgrace you are to your own club! Maybe if you spent less time whoring yourself out then you would be able to cook properly! Speaking of which, did you find that bra you were looking for. You know, the one all the boys were probably paying to see you take off"
What had followed was Kokona spewing such a barrage of insults that Kuroko escorted them both to the guidance counsellor along with a distraught Saki. Ayano couldn't help but eavesdrop as she passed the office.
"What else was I supposed to do? She not only accused Saki of trying to poison her but called her a whore for losing her bra!"
The silence was telling and deadly.
"Is this true?!" Genka demanded.
"I'm afraid so. Ms Kunahito. I stepped in as Miss Rito made that... remark. Disgraceful" Kuroko's voice dripped with venom, she had been shock to the core to here someone like Asu speak to someone else like that.
"Miss Rito, you should be absolutely ashamed of yourself! Such disgusting behaviour will not be tolerated in the Academy!Do yourself a favour and go home. Don't bother returning until Friday or I will see to it that you are expelled! Now get out of my office!"
Asu stormed out the office and left. Ayano had hide behind some of the lockers as she stormed out.
"Miss Haruka..." Genka continued "I should really be telling you off as well. But I can appreciate your effort to be honest with me despite the temptation to make her look worse. That and you were standing up for your close friend. This is why I am not sending you home this time. You're free to leave."
Ayano walked away upon hearing those words but turned back see Kuroko looking towards with doubt in her eyes. As if she too was confused by the events that had just unfolded.
Info-chan had been on her case all day. Ayano was now seriously concerned.
Info-chan had the audacity to tell Ayano to just 'kill the bitch and be done with it'. Ayano got a new phone and sim using the money from her part time job and destroyed her old one. She had made sure to transfer all her number's over apart from Info-Chans...
_That Friday, Asu appeared dishevelled and withdrawn, as if she were seriously ill.
Ayano found her sitting under the cherry tree at the back of the school while walking with Taro through the grounds during the lunch hour. Immediately, Ayano knew something about her was off. Something was really not right.
Asu seemed to storm towards them, stopping within a foot away. "What is it?" Taro asked with suspicion in his voice.
"I want to talk to her" She looked to Ayano "alone". Taro went to reply bit Ayano stepped in. "I'll be fine. If I need anything then you will be the first to know". Taro nodded and sat down to read his book that he brought today. Asu and Ayano walked over to the tree. She knew that she was in sight of other students so she was not too concerned.
"Why are you interfering?" Asu aggressively spoke.
Ayano looked back at her cock-eyed "Excuse me?"
"He should be with me! Talking to me, walking with me, eating with me! Stop getting in my way before I make you!" Something in the last sentence struck Ayano as Asu continued to ramble until she was frothing at the mouth.
The saliva turned to blood and Asu's eyes turned a nasty shade of black as liquid spewed down her face. A demonic sounding screech emitted from 'Asu's' throat.
'Asu' pulled out a knife swung it madly. A scream came from an unknown person as Ayano dodged, the blade caught a touch of her ponytail. "Stop it! Stop moving! Stop talking! Stop breathing!" 'Asu' shrieked in a different voice. The blood was now coating her uniform as she continued to attack.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Kuroko could be heard, Ayano realised that she had been distracted at a bad time as the knife cut its way through her left hand. Slicing muscle and blood vessels indiscriminately. Her life blood poured from the wound and the pain overwhelmed her senses all at once.
The next part had been a blur. Ayano could recall screaming at the top of her voice as each beat of her heart made the pain in her hand worsen. She could remember the iron smell of her own blood as it poured to the ground and pooled. The pain had felt endless as she screamed Taro's name. She was certain her throat would be sore from all the screaming.
She recalled the tight warmth of Taro hugging her as she wailed when the paramedics arrived. The ride in the ambulance had felt like an eternity. She clung to Taro, afriaf that anyone who wasn't him would do further harm to her. The part she could remember most was when a nurse offered to call her mother, only to pass the phone straight back to Ayano upon hearing her mother's response to the injury. She figured that her mother had angrily berated the nurse.
"Ayano! Oh sweetie. Who did this to you?" Her mother sounded clearly distressed over the phone.
Ayano sniffled "I-it's fine Okasan. She's been arrested-"
"Your father and I will be heading straight home." Ryoba made it clear that she wasn't going to just leave it "We'll make sure to get your favourite snacks too darling. Please just look after yourself. Ok sweetie?"
Meanwhile in America, Jokichi found himself stood with the mutilated corpse of the journalist who had accused Ryoba of murder all those years ago. A thoroughly clean Ryoba entered the room. "We're going straight home" Rage was present in her smooth voice, Jokichi was wondering what had change in one phone call until she answered for him. "Someone has harmed Ayano, she was crying down the phone about how she was stabbed by a classmate…"
While a part of him was relieved that his daughter was actually presenting normal emotions, the primal fatherly side to him longed to watch Ryoba choke the life out of whoever harmed their daughter. His little girl!
_In a space of the afterlife that resembled an abandoned Shinto Temple, eight girls surrounded one with a mauve ponytail in the middle. They were arguing with the one in middle.
"How could you do that to her!" Kaguya cried in anger out "She is good and innocent! She didn't harm us or anyone else! But no, you hafd to go off and stab her because of what? No reason!"
"Ritsuko made sure of that" Honami spoke up from the side.
Ai stared straight at Sumiko, daring her to respond.
Teiko shook her head tiredly "You had one job. One job! Scare her into staying good. Your job wasn't to interfere with the boy's love life, now you've left a trail of destruction and injury in your wake and that girl Asu will be blamed for it.."
"The Aishi bitch didn't deserve him!" Sumiko screamed "I wanted to harm Ryoba where it would really hurt the most! Why are you attacking me for that? I was getting that filth out of the way!" The argument starred up again until a single voice boomed loudly, silencing the rest.
"Enough" Sonoko haulted the argument, everyone knew that she had been through the worst of it and died the latest. "We had a plan and you very nearly ruined it. You don't get to reap your rewards Sumiko!. You would have sentenced us to wandering the streets for an eternity while you bathed in your afterlife. What aboutn the rest of us who suffered at Ryoba's hands!"
"You disgust me, you vile creature" Komako spat as a black and purple flames burned up Sumiko's body, dragging her to Yomi. She landed straight in the middle of a huge throne room. The obsidian walls with white and purple furnishings loomed over the young Sumiko. A shadow of a tall woman reached over from her throne and grabbed Sumiko.
The figure held the girl up, allowing her eyes to glow a horrifying shade of indigo. Sumiko's mortal body melted away, she screamed as she watched the skin and flesh drip from her bones. Then, a pool of mulch was all that was left of the girl apart from her skull. The figure picked up the skull and let the mulch land on the ground to be eaten by demons.
The figure passed the skull to the shade of a woman in a dark green kimono who was sat on her shoulder...