Chapter 4

November 19, 2014

Rain was pouring outside. Keira and the girls were all sitting around the table, studying.

"This is so boring," yawned Rin. "Why can't we go to the mall or something?"

"Because we have to study." Even Saki sounded tired. "Or we could go to the lake maybe after we do our work…"

"Ooh. That sounds fun!" said Koyuki. "It's winter too, so the water will be nice and chilly!"

"Umm, no. It's winter; we're not all comfortable being drenched in the cold." Rin sighed. "I hate homework. I'd rather hang out with the guys. Even just flirting…"

"Err, what?" Keira was puzzled.

Saki just rolled her eyes. "Being a fairy and all, she's all about cuteness. Like, flirt with them all."

"What? It's fun! Koyuki needs some work if she wants to catch Ryujin-senpai's eye."

"Hey! I'm not!" said Koyuki defensively.

"You act like a little puppy when you're around him!"

Keira shot Koyuki a glance. Nobody had mentioned what they had learnt about him a few days ago. How he was dating a student… Koyuki had been too saddened to say anything and Keira didn't want to upset her further. She and Kousei had discussed it over their nightly snack at Yusei's uncle's shop.

But that wasn't the biggest issue. The games that the two older students had planned had been cancelled due to the fifth murder; an emergency meeting had called for Ryujin's disappearance.

Nobody talked that night, especially since the death had been a student head. It had been Fira; a Sandslash. Her body had been found in the student council office.

"How can you talk about that right now?" said Saki. "We just lost a friend!"

"Sorry, senpai…" Rin seemed genuinely embarrassed. "What have you and Kousei been doing every night?" she asked Keira.

"What? H-how'd you know?" Keira was shocked.

Saki was working on her math. "It's not hard to notice that two students are gone every night." She looked up. "I know I told Rin to be quiet, but I'm curious as to what you're doing too. C'mon, you can tell us!"

"We just hang out." She shrugged.

"Hang out? Like… make out?" Rin giggled. "Dark types like him are hard to come by. He's funny. I think that I once heard that 40% of all psychopaths are dark types."

"That's typist," said Saki. "We don't categorize."

"Whatever… say, at school, I saw senpai holding hands with some Delcatty. She looked like she was in the same grade as him!" Rin seemed excited.

"There's only one Delcatty in our grade; Mitsumi." Saki frowned. "Are you sure? She doesn't really seem like his type." Koyuki exchanged a glance with Keira.

"Yeah, she was really pretty."

Koyuki spoke up. "Err, who is this Mitsumi girl anyways?"

Saki stopped writing. "Well… she's been with us since grade school. Always popular and everything; she is quite attractive, if I say so myself. Actually, she is a lot more popular than you probably realize. She is a singer for a new pop group."

"What?! That's so cool!" said Rin. "Senpai… you gold digger!"

"A-a pop singer?" Koyuki choked out. "Wait…"

Saki continued. "There are six of them; I can't remember the others' names off the top of my head, but I know she is the lead singer. She doesn't really come to school a lot."

Keira thought about it. That's strange. He never mentioned anything about it when they met up at night. "What's their group called?"

"I think it's like, We6 or something like that. The name is awful, but their music is actually decent." Saki shrugged. "I still don't know if I believe you though. I highly doubt senpai would go for a girl like that. Although she seems nice at school though. Have you seen them together?" she asked Koyuki.

The Glaceon stiffened. "No."

Rin sighed. "I know what I saw, Saki-senpai!"

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"You know, Koyuki… you seem down right now…" commented Rin. "What's the matter?" The four girls were in the bath, chatting as they washed.

"I'm okay… it's just the heat…" The Glaceon stepped out of the bath. "I'm going to the ice bath… ahh! That's better…"

Saki turned to the others. "What are you all going to do about the winter dance?"

Rin shrugged. "Don't look at me. I flirt around only."

"I'm new," defended Keira. "I hardly know anybody, so I highly doubt anybody would want to go with me."

"Well, you're pretty at least. Guys will be interested in you for that reason," said Saki.

"What about you, Koyuki?" asked Rin. "Have you thought about who you want to go with?"

"Err, not really. It's difficult for me to say. I don't really know anybody too well outside of our dorm." The Glaceon splashed around in the ice pool.

"How about somebody within our dorm?" ventured Saki.

"W-well, Yusei is kind…" The Glaceon paused. "I'd actually think he'd be fun to date maybe. But he's only in my PE class."

"What about the other two?" Keira decided to try tease the Glaceon a bit.

"Nwho? Oh, the others?! I don't know about Kousei," she said with a slight blush. "He and I used to be real close, but… nowadays…"

"You are cruel to him," said Rin.

"Hey now! Ever since that time at the beach when…" The Glaceon dipped her head under the water before popping back up. "But senpai… well, I think he's cool too. But if what you're all saying is true, then he's probably going with some Delcatty…"

"How about you, Saki?"

"I don't know either. But maybe I'll try ask out somebody… there is somebody I want to know better…"

"Ooh!" said Rin. "Tell me… is it an older boy? Is he graduating this year?"

"No. Well, you'll see…"

Then the door opened and Kousei and Yusei stepped in. They were both panting. "Saki senpai! Ryujin has been attacked-"

Kousei was nailed in the face with a bar of soap. "GET OUT!" shrieked Saki.

"S-sorry…" The Flareon bent down and tossed the soap back to her. "We'll be going… now… please hurry though…"

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"He'll be okay…" The nurse was holding a clipboard as she talked to the students. "He was shot… amazingly, it missed all vital organs. He'll be out in a few days."

"S-senpai! What happened?" Koyuki held his hand tightly. "You were shot? But how? Why?"

The Vaporeon groaned. "I was going to practice. I was walking through the shopping district… what time is it?"

"It's 7:12," said Keira.

He sighed. "I remember hearing a gunshot… I ducked, and then I remember passing out."

Koyuki whimpered. "Are you okay?"

Rin and Saki whispered to each other. "Yeah."

Then they noticed the Delcatty sitting on the other side of the room, watching them. She narrowed her eyes at Koyuki. "Do you mind giving him some privacy?"

"S-sorry…"

"Mitsumi?! What are you doing here?" asked Saki in shock. "Wait… are you two… together?"

Mitsumi nodded. "Well… sort of…" She looked at Ryujin for awhile.

"So… you're a singer, right?" asked Rin. "Wow… that's cool!"

The Delcatty smiled. "I suppose it is. But I'm really busy normally." She looked at the Vaporeon. "Ryujin is one of my few good friends."

"But you're a popular teen idol! How could you not have too many friends?" asked Saki.

"Well… I have to go to work on and off so much it's tough for me to maintain good friends. Ryujin and I… we like hanging out with each other a lot."

The Vaporeon smiled. "You're pretty too." A flash of jealousy ran across Koyuki's face. He turned to Koyuki. "Is something wrong?"

"No." The Glaceon paused before saying, "Did you ask her out?"

"Well… neither," they both said. "I guess we're a couple," said Ryujin. "But it's more of a friendly than a romantic relationship…"

"What? Come on! You have such a beautiful girl and you say you're just friends? Jeez senpai…" said Kousei.

He smiled. "We go way back. We both know each other a little too well," he said. "She's normally away though, so that's why we've been hanging out."

"Really…" Keira thought back to when she had seen them meet up. It had seemed rather playful than romantic, although certainly affectionate. "Hmm…"

"But why would somebody try and shoot senpai? I still don't get it."

"It's because I'm a head." He looked at them all. "FIra… Ky… Oruki… Zenri… all of them were important figures within the community." He paused. "Fira and Zenri were both student heads, and Ky and Oruki were both baseball stars." With a pause, he said, "I don't mean to brag, but I'm both kendo club head and a dorm head. Somebody is trying to pick us apart… uf… I have to check the mi…" He groaned.

"Rest, Ryujin…" Mitsumi held his hand. "You can talk to him later. Please… let him rest…"

The other students slowly filtered out of the room. "Senpai…"

He locked eyes with Koyuki before turning to Keira. "The mirror. Be careful."

"What? Mirror?"

Mitsumi pushed them out of the room gently. "He needs some space…"

After the two girls had gone, Ryujin sighed. "Mitsumi. Do you think it was right to tell them?"

"I don't know if they even understood what you meant," she said.

He sighed. "Our days of mirror walking… I hoped to stop it. But… maybe that's what we must do to stop the killings…"

Mitsumi blinked. "I've only got about a week more… I… the band is going on a trip…"

He smiled at her. "I'll get better." With a more serious voice, he added, "Get them into the mirror. All of them…"

She nodded. "I'll instruct them. You just get better. One more thing…" She stood up and looked at him. "That Glaceon… her name is Koyuki, right?"

"Yeah. Why?"

She turned around. "Koyuki…"

Get ready for a view shift!