A/N: Welcome back to Another: The Call for Blood! Christ, I must be loving writing this, the amount I've been chugging out lately. Anyways, enjoy Chapter 4- Heart Attack!
Chapter 4- Heart Attack
The day after Sanae's death, Adam had needed to sprint across the rooftops even faster than he usually did, as he had slept in. As he raced through the gate, he saw several police vehicles in the parking lot. "Must be here about Sanae." He thought, as he ran up the stairs to his class. As he got close to Class 3-3, he saw Kouichi walking down the corridor. Walking past him without talking, Adam entered the class, and dumped his stuff at his desk, before he saw Izumi gesturing for him to come over. Walking over to her, he saw Yukari, Teshigawara, and the rest of their friends: Tomohiko Kazami, Takako Suguira and Yuuya Mochizuki, were present. "What's up?" he asked, spinning a chair round to face them, and sitting down. "I've been told that you wish to talk to me?" Izumi asked, before Adam shot a look to Yukari, who nodded, before he sighed. "Yeah. I wanted to know what we can possibly do about the Calamity. Clearly, the countermeasure you put in place before didn't work, as Sakakibara broke the conditions. Now, we need to come up with something else. Any ideas?" he asked, before Izumi frowned. "I've been thinking about it myself, and I've come up with a possible solution. Only problem is, you might not like it." She said, before Adam sat up straighter. "What is it?" he asked, before Izumi sighed. "We make Kouichi non-existent as well." She said, before Adam's eyes widened. "You sure that will work?" he asked, before the girl shrugged. "Best we can hope for." She said, before Adam nodded, and she turned to the rest of the small group. "Spread the word. From now on, Kouichi is to be treated non-existent as well. I'll find Kubodera and Makami, let them know as well." She said, before the group nodded, and broke away to spread the news around the class, while she left the room.
After Adam had finished telling the people he chose about the new countermeasure, he went back to his desk, as the teachers and Izumi walked back in. Smiling to the auburn-haired girl, Adam got his books out of his bag, and looked back towards the front of the room, as the teacher got started on the lesson.
Eventually, the school day ended, and the students left the room quickly, probably due to fear of running into Kouichi. Adam, Yukari and the rest of the group had decided to head up to the roof before going home, except for Mochizuki, who decided to go home with his friend, Ikuo Takabayashi. Currently, the group was all standing at the railing talking. "So, Izumi, what if this new countermeasure fails?" Adam asked, before the Head of Countermeasures shrugged. "Not too sure myself, Adam." She said, before Adam nodded. "Seems that's all we can hope for, that it succeeds." He said, before leaping up on the railing, to the shock of all those present. "Adam, are you crazy? Get down from there!" Yukari yelled, before Adam smirked. "I'm fine. Balance is my middle name." he said, before he proved his point by standing straight up on the railing. After ensuring he was stable, he turned his back to the group, then backflipped off the railing, landing feet first next to Teshigawara. "See?" he said, before Izumi slapped him. "You fucking idiot! What if you had fell off?" she yelled, before Adam smiled. "Trust me, I'd be fine." He said, massaging his burning cheek, before Izumi growled. "Well, just don't take unnecessary risks like that, especially in a situation like this!" she said, before Adam nodded. "Yes, Ma'am." He said, bowing as he did. "Okay, so should we start heading home?" Kazami asked, before Izumi nodded. "Good idea." She said, before she led the group out the school.
As the group walked through the town, Adam engaged in a pleasant conversation with Yukari, while the others talked amongst themselves. Eventually, when they reached the crossroads they'd usually part ways at, they heard a phone go off. "That's mine." Teshigawara said, before taking the phone out of his pocket. Looking at the screen, he said, "It's Mochizuki.", before putting the phone to his ear. "What's up, Mochizuki? Wait, hang on a second. Did you say Sakakibara?" he said through the phone, causing the group to look at each other. "And Takabayashi, what about him?" he aksed, before his face fell. "Yuuya, we'll be right there." He said, before he hung up, and looked round the group. "Mochizuki just said he's with Takabayashi and Kouichi at the waterside over there." He said, nodding his head towards a bridge a fair distance away from them. "He says something's wrong with Takabayashi." Nodding, Adam said, "I can get there faster than all of you. If I get going now, I can be there in 5 minutes, tops.", before the group looked at him in confusion. "How's that? You'll be going the same way as us." Kazami asked, before Adam shook his head. "No, I'll be going a different way from you. Just, you lot, get going. I'll meet you there." He said, before the group looked to each other, and nodded. "Alright, we'll…see you there, I guess." Yukari said, before the group departed, leaving Adam alone. "Wheeew, that was close. Now to get moving." The Assassin thought, before grappling up to the rooftops, and running across the skyline towards the bridge.
Meanwhile, the rest of his group were hurrying through the streets, with Teshigawara leading the way. "I wonder why Adam chose to go a different way." Both Izumi and Yukari thought, before Teshigawara held up a hand, causing the group to stop. "You hear that?" he asked, before the group stopped and listened intently. "Sounds like…footsteps?" Kazami said, before Takako looked round. "There's no one here." She said, before the sounds got louder. "Is it above us?" Yukari asked, causing the group to look up, as a figure silhouetted by the sun leapt across the void between two rooftops, and vanished. "Was that Adam?" Teshigawara asked, causing the group to look at each other in confusion. "If it was, he was right when he said he'd be there before us. If not, not our problem." Izumi said, before the group nodded and continued running. Eventually, they reached the waterfront, where they saw Adam, Mochizuki and Kouichi all crouching round Takabayashi, who was limp on the ground. "What happened to him?" Takako asked, before Adam looked up. "He's suffered a heart attack. There's nothing we can do… he's gone." He said, before the girls covered their mouths in shock. Leaning over the boy's body, Adam placed his fingers on Ikuo's eyelids, and shut them. "Requiest in pace." He whispered, before straightening back up. "Someone needs to call his family." He said, before Yuuya nodded. "I'll do it." He said, pulling his phone out of his pocket. "And we need to report this, to the police or the hospital." Adam said, before Izumi nodded. "On it." She said, getting on her own phone.
Soon after, the police arrived, and after questioning the students, they allowed the group to go home, and the friends were now silently standing on a deserted street. Kouichi was the only one who wasn't present, as he had left when nobody answered him. Now, the group were struggling to make conversation, after what they'd just seen. "This Calamity's starting to piss me off." Adam said finally, pushing himself off the wall he had been leaning on. "Adam, hang on a second. We can't be too sure of this being down to the Calamity. Takabayashi always had a poor heart." Yuuya said, causing Adam to nod, before taking a deep breath. "That may be, but I think it's too convenient." He said, before he fixed Izumi with a look. "Seems our new countermeasure didn't work, if this was the Calamity striking again. If it wasn't, we should keep up the fact that two people don't exist in our class." He said, before Izumi nodded. "You're right." She said, before looking at her watch. "I need to get going. You lot, take care going home." She said, before walking off, Takako following her closely. "See you guys tomorrow." Teshigawara said, before pulling Yuuya and Kazami away, leaving only Adam and Yukari alone. "I need to get going as well." Yukari said, before going to walk away, but Adam fell in stride beside her. "I'll walk you home." He said, before Yukari nodded, and the two silently walked towards Yukari's house.
After reaching Yukari's house, Adam bowed to her when she reached her door, said, "See you tomorrow.", then turned to walk away, before Yukari grabbed his arm. "Adam, one question. Did you take the rooftops to reach Takabayashi earlier?" she asked, before Adam's eyes widened. "How did you know that?" he asked, before Yukari frowned. "You leapt over the group earlier. We couldn't see it was you, due to the sun, but I had a feeling it was you. Turns out I was right. One last thing: How did you get up on the roofs so easily, and so quickly?" she said, before Adam turned away from her. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you, Yukari. And believe me, it's better that way." He said ominously, before looking down at his arm, which Yukari still gripped on to. Looking down as well, Yukari gasped and let his hand go. "I'll see you tomorrow, Yukari." He said, before he walked away. As he walked down the street, he could feel someone watching him, but every time he turned around, there was no one visible on the street. "I hate being tailed." He thought to himself, before he grappled up to the rooftops, and started to run. Eventually, he reached his house, and clambered through the window.
Placing his bag on his table, he walked over to his desk, and opened his file on the Calamity, flicking through to the "Victims" page again. Grabbing a pen, he wrote, "Ikuo Takabayashi, member of Class 3-3, died of a heart attack.", before he paused. Sighing, he added, "Heart problems were already present. Unclear if Calamity is to blame.", before lowering his pen. Groaning, he dragged himself over to his closet, and threw it open, revealing his Assassin's robes. As he went to put them on, he heard his front door being knocked. Groaning, he shut his closet, before going over to the door, and opening it. On the other side, he saw Yukari standing there. "What are you doing here, Yukari?" he asked, standing to the side, allowing her to enter. "I didn't feel too safe being on my own, not after all that's happened lately." She said, before Adam noticed she had not only changed into casual clothes, but she had a bag on her back. "Sorry to ask this out of the blue, Adam, but could I stay here tonight?" Yukari asked, causing Adam to blush slightly. "Yeah, sure." He said, causing Yukari to smile, but he held up a hand. "One question: Why'd you come to me before anyone else?" he asked, before Yukari looked at her feet, blushing brightly. "I feel safest around you." She said, catching Adam off guard. "Oh, I had no idea." He said, before gesturing towards his bathroom. "You can use the bathroom as much as you need to, as well as stay as long as you need to. I swear, no harm will come to you while you're here." He said, before Yukari nodded, and went into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. Quickly, Adam yanked his Hidden Blades off of his arms, and shoved them in his closet, before shutting the door. Walking over to his couch, he flopped himself onto it, and waited for Yukari to come back out. When she did, he said, "Feel free to take the bed. I'll sleep on the couch.", before she shook her head. "No, Adam, I can't…" she went to say, but Adam cut her off. "Please, you'll be doing me a favour. I've slept in worse places than a couch before." He said, before Yukari relented and nodded. "If you insist." She said, before she placed her bag on the floor next to the bed.
"You hungry?" Adam asked, getting off the couch, before Yukari nodded. "Yeah, I partially ran the way here." She said, before Adam smirked. "Well, let's see what I can do." He said, before heading over to the kitchen. Soon after deciding what to cook, Adam was standing next to a boiling pot of stew. Soon after that, the two students were chowing on the food. "So, you think that Takabayashi's death was just an accident, or if it was down to the Calamity?" Yukari asked, before Adam shrugged. "Either way, we're down another life. It just seems too convenient to just be an 'accident', don't you think?" he asked, before Yukari nodded. "I'll give you that one." She said, before looking out the window, her face solemn. "I saw the file you've compiled on the Calamity, Adam." She said, causing Adam to snap his neck towards her. "You're a bit too curious for your own good." He said, causing Yukari to smirk. "It's in my nature." She said, causing Adam to smile himself. "Right, well, it's getting late. We should get to bed." He said, before standing up, picking up the plates and placing them in the sink, reasoning he'd clean them later. Looking back to his bedroom, he saw Yukari climbing into the bed. "That's a first. A girl, spending a night in my house." Adam thought to himself, before he shook his head, and entered the room. "Just gotta get something from under the bed." He said, before laying down beside the bed, reaching under it, and pulling out a second cover. "You could always sleep in here too, Adam." Yukari said, before Adam blushed. "Nah, I'm alright with the couch. Goodnight, Yukari." He said, before exiting the bedroom, shutting the door behind him. "Goodnight, Adam." Yukari called back, before frowning. "Dammit! So close, Yukari!" she thought to herself, before taking off her glasses and placing them on the bedside table. Sighing, she turned off the lamp, and turned over, letting herself fall off to sleep…
A/N: And another chapter down! I bet you lot can guess what I'm aiming at with this chapter, which may seem odd given the nature of Another, but I would point out there are two tags on this story for a reason. That, and the anime itself is quite bad for teases. Anyways, I'll see you in Chapter 5- Blade. Madman out!