Returning to the Academy was something else entirely after her incident with Asu.
It had gone around like wildfire that Ayano had been randomly stabbed while attempting to talk to Asu, so many of the students gently but warmly welcomed her back. Osana and Raibaru had been two of these students.
"Hey Ayano. How are you feeling?" Osana asked carefully with Raibaru standing behind her, a glint of pity could be seen in the way Raibaru's eyes shorn yet Ayano did not feel at all offended. "I'm… getting there" She responded quietly while bringing attention to her bandaged hand. She was not allowed to move it for the moment, she considered herself lucky that it was not her dominant hand.
"Ah, I see… Well, I wanted to give you something" Osana held out a little box with pink wrapping "Kyuji told me about how you were the one to help him develop the courage to talk to me. I didn't actually realise just how much I owe you, Ayano. He's kind, protective and he loves my cat which Taro is sadly allergic too" Osana pouted. 'That's useful' Ayano thought. She took the box and opened it, inside was a moonless black phone charm with the words 'Yan-chan' spelt out in blocks. A three-legged raven pendent sat on the end of it.
"I-I didn't know you made phone charms" The words tumbled from Ayano's mouth out of shock, she had never been given a gift before from anyone apart from her parents and Taro. "I make charms and decorate phone cases to sell on Etsy…" Osana quickly explained.
She continued "I wasn't sure of animal you would have liked on there but everyone thought that you were cold and mysterious like how the raven is viewed but… they're actually really smart and can develop loving attachments to people. I chose Yatagarasu as the charm because of how much you helped me..." Ayano wasn't sure how to feel, just a few weeks ago she seriously considered killing the girl in front of her and now her actions were clearing changing how people were viewing her…
Ayano smiled brightly as her eyes watered "I love it, ravens are my favourite birds" She wasn't even lying at this point in time. She had seen some funny videos online of the Tower Ravens from the Tower of London in the UK. Though, she was unsure of how they showed up on her YouTube in the first place. They brought her comfort when she had trouble sleeping. She attached the handmade charm to her phone, the weight felt just right.
Ayano was pretty dumbfounded by her newest rival. Muja Kina was the girl who she had caught blushing after talking to Taro. She was a shy girl yet a very driven one at that, She spent every bit of her free time in the infirmary or in the library to boost her chances of a career in nursing. She held nothing but respect for this girl, it was known that she was sickly but she wanted to help other people like her.
Ayano had believed the girl had a crush on Kaga judging by how much they spoke together in the science club.
Muja had friends but word was she was ill with something that compromised her immune system, though no one who knew dared to spill the secret. Musume was becoming increasingly interested in what the unknown condition was which clearly worried Muja a bit. Musume and her group were good at hiding it but their snide remarks and double-sided compliments didn't slip past Ayano.
Koroko was the only one who was actually genuine most of the time.
Ayano had met Muja by chance when she had slipped and fallen. Ayano narrowly missed falling with her, ignoring Hoshiko's laughter as she helped Muja up to her feet. "Hello Ayano" Muja greeted sweetly "Would you be able to help me to the nurse's office please?" noting her new limp as she winced, a twisted ankle. "Yeah, lean on my shoulder. I'll get you there in no time"
They made their way to the infirmary slowly but surely, Ayano gently shifted Muja onto the hospital bed as the Nurse came over. "I told you to be more careful when carrying all those books Miss Kina. Did you trip up again?"
Muja nodded. "Ayano helped me here"
The Nurse sighed exhaustedly "Well, thank you Miss Aishi. Thank goodness you weren't forced to walk on that. Its about time for your medicine anyway" The nurse walked away and returned with a bottle labelled as Biktarvy. "Here you are" The nurse spoke as she passed one of the pills over to Muja.
Ayano left the office, though for some reason Hoshiko was running away, that wasn't good…
The next morning, she had found out why Hoshiko was running.
Hoshiko had caught a picture of the nurse holding the bottle and updated that god forsaken hate blog of hers with the image and the very damaging revelation that Muja had HIV. It turned out that Biktarvy was a common medicine for the condition.
Whispers were very present though the academy, Muja was clearly more withdrawn than ever before. Ayano made a mental note to speak with her at lunch.
Lunch with Muja was actually pretty pleasant, even more so when the occult club gladly accepted Muja eat with them so she wasn't alone. Ayano made sure the topic did not fall onto the disease that ravaged her. What surprised everyone was that Koroko had approached them with an ashamed look on her face.
She walked up to Muja, having clearly been crying.
"Muja… I…" Her voice broke, a tear fell from her eye. Muja watched the girl "I'm really… sorry. I'm so sorry about what Hoshiko did…" The tears ran down her face like a waterfall, ruining her makeup as she continued to sob "I never expected them to do this, I tried to convince her otherwise. I really did! I tried-" She was silenced by Muja hugging her tightly.
"You didn't do anything to hurt me, I know that." Muja spoke determinately "Besides, it will take more than that to break me down. My immune system is permanently compromised, I have a lot more to worry about than some girls spreading rumours about me!" The words were soft but held the strength of a newly forged sword. The Gyaru girl continued to weep and everyone in the room saw a very raw, vulnerable Koroko instead of her angelic persona.
Muja seemed to vanish after lessons ended, Ayano had finished cleaning the rooftop when she noticed a commotion. The bullies were having an argument with Muja and Koroko, who had removed her makeup. "Seriously, why are you making friends with this freak?" Musume asked sharply "Surely she'll pass that HIV stuff onto you. Isn't it contagious or something?"
Koroko, however, did not back down. "Shit like this just proves how shallow the lot of you are. Guess what, I made a mistake in joining your damned clique Musume! I'm done with you!" Koroko yelled loudly.
Muja looked shocked. "Koroko, you don't need to go that far..."
"You don't understand Muja. I do! The only reason I joined these shallow bitches was because I had been bullied in middle school. I ended up becoming something I hated more than anything else and this is the end of it! I've had it!"
Hana and Hashiko both looked torn. In the end, Hana shook her head.
"You know what, Koroko is right. I can finally admit it" She finally spoke up "All this picking on people, constantly pretending to be someone we're not. It's getting real tiring. I just want to be myself again." The tension was so thick you could cut it. Hoshiko had lit a cigarette and was smoking, before flicking it at Muja who yelped as it burnt her.
"Whoa! Hoshiko, we agreed not to harm anyone like that!" Musume was a stunned at what had happened "Burning people is not cool!"
Hoshiko rolled her eyes "What does it matter? They are beneath us anyways. Do you have any idea about how much I wanted to hear that creep Horuda scream while we burnt her? If it weren't for you being a wimp, we could rule this damn academy in place of the student council!" She spat back at her friend
Ayano was about to intervene when the scent of lillies suddenly seized her as a girl with long black hair approached the commotion. Ayano could not recall seeing the girl before but instinctively felt a mix of primal fear and terrible despair. The feelings themselves felt like they were suffocating her, as if they were making her throat close up.
Hoshiko turned to face the girl. "What do you want? We're, like, having a private discussion here. Go away!" She spat rudely. The unknown girl reached out her hand which lifted all the bullies into the air. They wailed for help, Koroko was left on the ground with Muja who watched on in horror.
Ayano tried to move but fell on her front. She looked up to see Hoshiko trying to claw at where the hold was around her neck was getting tighter, her eyes bulged as the attempt became more desperate.
Saliva poured down her now sickly purple lips with her tongue hanging out. Before a sickening C-R-A-C-K finished Hoshiko's life. The girl motioned with her hand to throw the body over the railing. A splat later and screaming could be heard. Ayano went to move again but the girl turned to face her. Two black holes where her eyes should have been told Ayano all she needed to know, the girl's neck had visible rope marks on it and blood graced the girl's fingertips. "Stay out of this" The words were crooked and spoken harshly. She then placed everyone back down and disappeared.
Musume, still in shock, blurted out "Where did she go?! She killed my friend! Oh god! Hoshiko!" Musume wept bitterly with the rest of the group in tow. Muja was so horrified that she was frozen to the ground. Musume then spoke but something seemed wronf, Muja noticed.
Muja spun Musume around to find something horrifying, half her face was drooping. "O-oh my god! Someone call an ambulance!" Muja screamed while trying to pick up Musume. Koroko was on the phone when Ayano ran over
"What's going on?"
"Musume is having a stroke, we need to get her downstairs now!"
Bringing her downstairs felt like forever when time was off the essence. Hoshiko's body had been covered over as the ambulance arrived but blood could still be seen pooling on the ground. As Musume was loaded into the ambulance, an older couple could be seen bellowing in the distance. It didn't take long for Ayano to realise that they were likely Hoshiko's parents…
MUJA POV
The wait in the hospital thankfully had not been long one. Musume appeared to be ok for now but she was not quite out of the woods yet as the doctor had just told Mr Rokuda. Musume's father.
Mr Rokuda appeared from behind the door to Musume's room and sat down by Muja. His sharp features were riddled with both worry and relief. "I was… told what you did." He started up "For my daughter..."
"It was nothing sir. I was only doing the right thing" Muja felt embarrassment rise in her cheeks, she was not used to taking compliments. Especially of this magnitude. "You know. The doctor told me that if not for your quick thinking, my darling daughter would have been way worse off. Maybe even…" He did not carry on but Muja knew exactly what he was saying.
He wiped his eyes "You saved my daughter's life without a doubt." He stated matter of factly. "I have friends, important friends in the world. You like to study medicine, so I've been told. There is a fantastic school in Sweden, The Karolinska Institute its called. It's one of the most prestigious universities of medicine in the world and I'll pay for all your education"
Muja looked horrified. "Sir! You don't have to do that for me!"
Mr Rokuda nodded knowingly "I know. But, you saved me from having another heartbreak. I lost Musume's mother when she was born thanks to a bad doctor and today I nearly lost Musume too" He paused "You have done more for me, a total stranger, than many of my family have. I would be honoured to help you take the next step into the future. Will you accept my offer?"
'Taro…' Muja thought of the sweet boy with black hair 'I can't sacrifice what little future I could have for a boy. I'll find another…' She nodded.
"In that case, Mr Rokuda. I'll accept your generous offer"
The Student Council was on videocall with Megami and she was not happy in the slightest.
"Explain what happened to the best of your ability and make it snappy!" Megami spat.
Kuroko explained everything that have happened in the past couple of weeks. Ayano was clearly the number one suspect in Megami's mind if anything happened out of the ordinary. Kuroko had seen with her own two eyes that she was not the one causing these weird things to happen, they just happened around her.
"I don't see why Aishi wasn't arrested. She clearly caused the Incident with Asu. How could the police not figure that out for themselves." She waved off the comment of the girl being the innocent bystander.
Kuroko was getting fed up with Megami's attitude "Oh yes. She manipulated Asu into stabbing her hand. because of course that's what she would do. Megami, what part of 'Ayano is innocent' do you not understand? This is getting us no where!"
Akane spoke up "If anything, she seems to be more involved in the Occult club in recent weeks. Everyone in there is effectively harmless. I think she is innocent."
Aoi thought about her answer to the debate. "Nothing for me to report"
Megami shook her head "Find something. I want her gone before I get back. Am I clear?" before shutting off the video call.
Akane was very concerned "What is happening?"
Shiromi stated plainly "She's acting strange. Very strange"
Kuroko felt increasingly irritated. She took a deep breath. "She's... I can't say. It could just be pressure from home but..." No matter what Megami had to say, Kuroko was certain that Ayano was in fact innocent. Just what was Megami thinking?