4/30 SAT

Morning

Dojima Residence

I don't see any flesh.

All I see is metal.

I look inside my body by scanning myself with my own self-diagnosis systems. Everything seems normal.

[Affirmative. Everything is normal.]

Right. Nothing human there. The usual. Yet for some reason, I still feel weird. I've been feeling a bit weird for a while. It comes and goes, and sometimes, I feel like I'm not all there.

But I can't let that trouble me. Today's the day. I stop examining myself and I try to ignore the unease in my heart as I get ready to go down and get myself ready for school. There's just one thing I need to pay attention to for now: The funeral. Yuki-chan told me she would bring her special shoes to school and that she'd let me borrow them for the day, so I need to go find her too.

At first, the Dojimas were a bit worried when I told them that I went and got myself a funeral outfit, especially when they heard the price. But they relaxed a bit when I told them that I got myself a part-time job to help me get some money.

*Beep-Beep!*

Right when I'm about to leave to go to school, I hear my phone ring. I look at the number, and I see that it's Yosuke-kun trying to call me. I immediately answer.

"Morning!", I greet him.

"Hello.", He greets back. "So, just so we're clear, you remember what we need to do, right?"

Yeah. I remember. We briefly went over it yesterday, and I still remember what he told me.

"Yep.", I answer him. "After classes end for today, we'll put on our funeral clothes, and we meet up at the bus stop, right?"

"Yeah, exactly.", he confirms. "Then, the bus will take us both to the funeral. Right, well, see you at school, I guess."

He then hangs up. Is it just me, or did he sound really odd? He sounded a lot less cheery than usual. I guess it makes sense, considering what we were talking about.

I put my phone back in my pocket, and I make my way to school.

"Are you almost ready?"

I hear Nanako call me from downstairs, in a monotonous tone. She must've finished getting herself ready, and now she's just waiting for me so that we can walk together.

"Yeah, gimme a sec!", I reply loudly as I pick up my bag and head down to join her. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah.", she answers with an usually tranquil tone. "Let's go to school."

…Huh, that's weird. She's usually shy around me, but today, she sounds more relaxed. Maybe a bit too much. I wonder what's up with her?

"Hey, are you okay?", I ask her. "Ya sound a bit…off."

She hesitates a moment before she answers. "Me? It's nothing. It's just that you just look a bit sick and tired. Are you okay?"

Honestly, I've been trying to figure that out myself. I'm a robot, so I'm not supposed to feel sick or tired.

"I do? Well, thanks for the concern, but ya don't need to worry about me."

I give her a thumbs up and a bright smile to reassure her, which seems to work at least somewhat.

"See? I'll be fine!"

She looks at me, her face lacking any form of expression. I'm not sure if I managed to convince her or not. She shrugs, she and we make our way to school.

As we walk out the door, I notice that the weather is really foggy, which is odd, because I could've sworn that I looked at the weather forecast yesterday, and it didn't say anything about fog for today's weather. Also, there doesn't seem to be anybody else around. Huh. Oh, well.

While we're walking, she keeps giving me odd glances there and there. Seriously, what's up with her? I'd ask her about it, but we don't have the time, since we both need to go to school. Maybe i'll ask her about it later.

Neither of us say anything until we each have to go our own separate ways.

4/30 SAT

After School

Yasogami High School

Classes are about to end for today.

Today's lessons went by in a flash. In fact, I barely even remember what they were about, which is unusual for me. Maybe it's because I was too distracted by what's coming after school today, or maybe it's because I feel weird today, but still. I should really get that looked at. Something feels wrong.

[Everything is normal.]

Uh, right. Thanks, system.

We're all getting ready to leave, and everything seems normal for now.

"Hello, Yura-chan."

I hear someone greeting me, and I turn towards her. It's Yuki-chan, although she sounds really tired. Maybe she had a really exhausting shift at the Inn, recently? Or maybe she's coming down with a cold?

She's got something in her hands.

It's a pair of black shoes. Probably the one she meant for me to borrow so I could go to the funeral.

"These are the shoes I told you about. Make sure that you don't forget to return them to me on Monday, okay?"

Huh. She sounds a lot more…restrained than usual. Maybe she's just feeling a bit down?

[Everything is normal.]

…Right, then. Just roll with it, me.

I smile at her. "Right. Thanks a lot! This means so much to me."

She returns my smile, and she hands me the shoes.

I try to ask her why she looks so tired, but when I look up, I see her heading straight to the classroom door in a hurry with Chie-chan.

I'm a bit perplexed by this, but I shrug. They probably have something important to do today. I think they told me what it was, but what?

I put the shoes in my bag, and I go to the bathroom to change into my funeral outfit.

After I change, I decide to head out to meet up with Yosuke-kun.

4/30 SAT

After School

Shopping District South

I meet up with Yosuke-kun at a bus stop where we both agreed to meet.

Although, there's a lot of fog covering the town, so I have a bit of trouble orienting myself, but I still manage to make my way to the bus stop regardless.

When I get to the stop, I notice that Yosuke-kun isn't there yet. Huh.

Maybe he's running a bit late? Or maybe he's having some trouble with the fog too?

I wait a few minutes, but I don't see him. So I decide to whip out my phone and call out to him.

I dial his number, and I let the phone ring.

And ring.

And ring even more.

But Yosuke-kun never answers.

And after a minute or two, the phone stops ringing. And I hear a voice.

"We're sorry. The number you have dialed no longer exists. Please never call again."

The phone then hangs itself up on me, and starts beeping.

…What the hell?

What's going on? I've never seen it do that before. Also, please never call again? What? Why would it say that to me?

[Everything is normal.]

This makes no sense. I just called Yosuke-kun this morning!

Screw it, then. Texting it is. I start texting Yosuke-kun to find out where he is-

"Hey."

I hear a voice, I jump and I turn my head to my right! I see Yosuke-kun just standing there, looking at me. How did I not hear him coming?

I calm down when I see it's just him, but still. He was probably just screwing with me. He's all dressed-up too, with his own funeral outfit. And he looks really calm. A bit more than I would expect him to, to be honest.

"Damn it, you startled me! What're you, a ninja or somethin'?"

I get no reaction from him. He just stares at me. I guess he's not in a joking mood. Which is fair.

"…Right. Well, I got there a few minutes ago, and I tried calling you, but I couldn't reach you. I then tried to send you a text, but then you got here."

"A text?", he asks in a deadpan tone. "But your phone isn't even turned on."

What? What's he talking about? I look down at my phone's screen. Of course it's turned o-

Huh. He's right, it's turned off. But how? It was turned on just a moment ago.

How did that happen? Was it running low on power, and I just forgot to charge it? Sure, it's weird, since I usually don't forget these things, but…I guess that might explain why it couldn't reach Yosuke-kun earlier?

"We don't have time for this.", Yosuke-kun says dismissively. "The bus Is here."

What? It is?

I turn around, and I expect to see it in the distance.

But instead, I see that the bus has practically materialized behind me! Odd…I didn't even hear it coming. The bus's windows are black, and I can't see anything inside. I also notice that it doesn't even have any light on, either. That's a pretty shady-looking bus.

[Everything is normal.]

Is it, though? I look to Yosuke-kun for an explanation, but he just shrugs.

The bus doors open, and Yosuke-kun walks in to pay his fare. The bus driver doesn't even react to him or acknowledge his presence. He also doesn't turn to look at us or greet us either, which feels a bit uncharacteristic.

I follow Yosuke-kun inside, and as I pay my own bus fare, I notice that the driver isn't looking at me either. He seems really focused on the road, and he's not even moving or twitching a muscle, almost as if he was a statue.

I turn around to my side to look at the passenger seats, and I see that there's nobody else here except for the three of us. I go sit next to Yosuke-kun, and the bus doors close by themselves. I guess the buses here can be like that, sometimes. Right?

[Everything is normal.]

I can't see much out of the windows due to all the fog, but when I look out at the front of the bus, I see the lights turn on. They shine an eerie blue light on the road in front of us, and the bus makes its way to our destination.

Wherever it may be.

4/30 SAT

After School

Saki's Funeral

On our way to the funeral, I noticed that there's still a lot of fog in the area.

It's an unusually foggy day, but thankfully, the bus was still able to bypass the traffic and get us to the funeral without problem. Come to think of it, there were basically no other vehicles on the road apart from the bus.

The funeral itself looks really fascinating, but also really sad. It looked a lot like what Yuki-chan described me, and what I saw online too when I researched the subject. It's a…rather unique experience. But whatever curiosity I may have with the whole thing is severely dampened by the incredibly sad atmosphere that's emanating from everywhere and everyone here.

When we finally got there, I saw a lot of people who were dressed in funeral attire for the ceremony, just like we were.

"Wow. There sure are a lot of people here, huh?", Yosuke-kun whispers to me monotonously.

I nod at him, and I take a moment to look at the people here. Amongst the guests, there are a lot of people I didn't recognize. But there's also some people I knew, even if only vaguely.

I saw some familiar faces from our school. They were students whose names I didn't know, but still passively recognized nonetheless. In the crowd, I also recognized Saki-senpai's family. I saw her mother, her father, and Naoki-kun too. They were all huddled together with what I assume to be Saki-senpai's extended family. A few familiar faces with lots of unfamiliar ones.

As I look in their direction, Naoki-kun notices me and greets me with a short nod. I give him a sad smile and small hand wave.

Hold on…his expression then shifts from sadness to…anger? What? Why does he look angry at me?

[Everything is normal.]

Wait, no, he's not looking at me. Upon closer inspection, he seems to be glaring at something right next to me.

Yosuke-kun? Why is he glaring at Yosuke-kun? I turn to look at him, and Yosuke-kun, who also sees Naoki-kun glaring at him, looks as confused as I am. Still, he tries to be polite and sheepishly nods at Naoki-kun, unable to look at him in the eyes.

Am I missing something here? Well, whatever this is, I'll have to ask about that another time, because now is a really bad time for this kind of thing. We don't want to risk disrupting the funeral with an argument, right? That's the last thing Saki-senpai needs right now, especially coming from a family member and one of her friends.

Anyway, Naoki-kun and the rest of the Konishi family all start walking inside the funeral home.

From what I read on the subject, memorial services depend on local customs, so funerals aren't always the same in every region.

Usually, there are a number of memorial services following the days after the death, depending on the local custom. Come to think of it, I'm not really familiar on how funerals work around here specifically, because while I looked up a lot of stuff about Japanese funerals in general, I didn't think to research how funerals work around here. Still, the traditions have a lot of roots in Buddhism and Shinto, and the most commonly observed are the Buddhist service on the seventh day after death, shonanoka, and the 49th day, shijūkunichi. In many traditions, the urn containing the ashes of the deceased is interred in a ceremony called nōkotsu on the 49th day, and the family stays in mourning until this. A Japanese wake is called tsuya,, and it's usually held really soon after the death.

Of course, Saki-senpai was an exception to that, because she was a murder victim, so there was a delay because the police needed to conduct an autopsy on her corpse.

All guests at the funeral must wear black. Male guests wear black suits with white shirts and black ties, like Yosuke-kun, and female guests wear either black dresses like me, or black kimono. The funeral proper, called kokubetsu-shiki, is usually on the day after the wake. Apparently, it's kinda similar to the wake, and incense is offered while a priest must chant a prayer called sutra. The ceremony differs slightly as the deceased receives a new Buddhist precept name, a kaimyō, which is usually written in Kanji.

According to folklore, the new name is supposed to prevent the return of the deceased if their name is called. The kind of name that the deceased will get also depends on either how virtuous the person's lifespan was, or the size of the donation of the family to the temple. It can be a common and regular name, but people can also buy the most elaborate and lavish names for a lot of money, though I don't know if that's true or not. At the end of the funeral ceremony, the guests and family may place flowers in the casket around the deceased's head and shoulders before the casket is sealed and carried to the elaborately decorated hearse, then transported to the crematorium, which is where bodies are cremated. Speaking of which, if the body hasn't already been cremated, and if it gets displayed at the wake, then it will be dressed in a white kimono.

In some regions of Japan, the coffin is also nailed shut by the mourners using a stone, which apparently comes from superstitions that the body may rise from its grave. After all that, the coffin is also placed on a tray in the crematorium, where the family witnesses the sliding of the body into the cremation chamber. A cremation usually takes about two hours, and the family returns at a scheduled time when the cremation has been completed. Then, the family will pick the bones out of the ashes and transfer them to the urn with special chopsticks, and two relatives can hold the same bone at the same time with their chopsticks. In other customs, they may even pass the bones from chopsticks to chopsticks. Known as kotsuage, this is the only time in Japan when it is proper for two people to hold the same item at the same time with chopsticks. To do so otherwise is usually considered very rude.

Crazy what you can learn about culture just by doing research about something like this, isn't it? How would that even work for me, since I don't even have bones? What, would people just pass around my internal components with chopsticks? Then again, when people finally learn that I'm a robot, they'll probably declare me a monster and decide to scrap my remains and maybe turn me into a toaster, or some shit like that.

Lastly, the deceased's remains are buried in a typical Japanese grave, usually a family grave. Known as haka, they usually consist of a stone monument, with a place for flowers, paper, incense, water and other things in front of the monument and a chamber or crypt underneath where the ashes are supposed to go. And apparently, the guests usually don't follow the family members there.

Part of me finds this somewhat disappointing, but I think it's important to respect their traditions, so I won't push the issue.

Yosuke-kun and I, we've been mostly sticking together throughout the whole thing, and we're both holding Juzu prayer beads, and we've got some flowers too. Apparently, for some regions, guests who weren't there at the wake but still show up for the funeral can still hold prayer beads at the funeral to make up for it if they want. The priest has already finished his chant, the incense is still burning strong, and people are now marching to the front where Saki-senpai's body is to place their flowers next to her.

The family gets to go first, of course. When I see the Konishi family walk up to the front to give out their flowers, my heart sinks when I see the looks of sadness and regret on their faces. Ironically, the fact that they feel sad about her death makes me sympathize with them, but it also makes me feel somewhat warm and tingly on the inside, because it proves that in spite of all the bad things that were going on between them, senpai's family really did care about her.

Her inner thoughts that we heard in the Midnight Channel were wrong, after all. Her family didn't hate her. They never did. Senpai would be happy to know about that. I hope that she's watching this from the afterlife, and that she can now see that she was wrong about everyone hating her. And I hope this will help her find peace.

Of course, she'll probably never truly be at peace until her killer, whoever they may be, is finally caught. But that's why we're here, isn't it? We're here because we care, and because we want to see this thing through to the very end.

After a while, the family members finish placing their flowers, and now it's the guests's turn to place their own flowers. We all take our flower bouquets, and we make our way to the front, where Saki-senpai's body is displayed. Yosuke-kun and I both sat in the middle of the room, so we aren't at the front of the line.

The line passes, and one by one, people lay their flowers at the front. As we move closer and closer to the front, I feel more and more uneasy about this whole thing. Granted, I've been feeling weird, sad and uneasy since this morning, but I think that might just be because I'm really sad. Besides, I'm pretty new to this whole grieving thing, so it might be because of that too. I look at Yosuke-kun, and he looks…shell-shocked.

But he also looks off too. Really off. But I can't place my finger on why. Come to think of it, everything in this place looks just plain wrong, somehow. Everything feels surreal, and even the guests feel like they aren't really there. But maybe that's just me.

[Everything is normal.]

As we make our way to the body, the feeling of unease and sickness keeps growing, but I push it down. After a few minutes, I finally see it.

Saki-senpai…no, Saki-senpai's body is just laying there, looking peaceful, surrounded by flowers, and of course, dressed in a while Kimono. Yosuke-kun cringes and makes a fist with his hand where the beads are. Just staring at her makes me feel really uneasy.

I do the same with mine. We both exchange a look, and then we put the flowers down with the other guests's flowers. Yosuke-kun still looks really tense and miserable. And his eyes look really…dead. Kind of like that Mitsuo person we saw on my first day of school.

In my head, I mentally saw farewell to our dead friend. And as soon as I let go of the flowers, I feel even worse. My head is spinning, my body feels tingling, my vision feels foggy, and my hearing feels muffled. But I push myself to carry on. System, what's happening to me?

[Everything is normal.]

Is it, though? Then again, if that's what it says, then maybe it's all just in my head?

We take one last look at senpai's body, and we go sit back where we were before.

When we sit down, I put my hand on Yosuke-kun's shoulder to reassure him, but he doesn't even react. In fact, he still looks dead inside. He's acting like…like I'm not really here. Is he okay?

"Yosuke-kun?"

I whisper his name to call out to him, but he's still not responding. Come to think of it, everyone is unusually quiet here, even after everyone has already placed their flowers next to the body. Is that normal? I mean, it's supposed to be the end of the funeral, so, shouldn't something be happening right now, and then the family needs to go to the cremation, or whatnot?

After a few minutes, the Konishi family stands up, and they all start making their way out of the funeral home. The guests then start moving out too.

It's getting harder and harder to hide my discomfort. I need to do something about this, because I don't feel right at all. I try to poke Yosuke-kun on his shoulder to catch his attention, but he's still not responding to me.

Okay, I'm starting to think that something is wrong with him, because I don't think this is normal. I keep trying to poke his shoulder harder and harder, but he's still not paying attention to me. I then try waving my hand over his eyes, but he's in a trance-like state. I'm getting worried. But whatever this is, I'll have to deal with it later.

I…I feel really sick, and I don't know why. I need to go somewhere else. Maybe the bathroom? Yeah, the bathroom should do it.

Without telling anyone, I walk out the door, and I try to find the bathroom.

I walk as quickly as I can without making it look suspicious, and I look around the building to see if I can find a bathroom.

I get lost a few times, but after a few minutes, I find what I'm looking for. Oddly enough, there was nobody else in the hallway except me, and the building is oddly silent. But I don't care. I just needed to get away from…from everything.

I go inside the bathroom, and I check to make sure that there's nobody else there except me.

Then, I give myself an internal diagnosis. After a few minutes, it comes back to tell me what's going on. I expect it to find something wrong with me, but instead…

[Everything is normal.]

It just repeats the same thing again. Come to think of it, it's been repeating that all day long, about every few hours or so. What's going on? Is something wrong with my internal systems too?

Okay, Labrys. Calm down. Obviously, something is wrong with me. But panicking about it won't solve anything. I remember reading somewhere that when humans get scared, anxious or panicked, they sometimes try to calm themselves by using stress relief techniques, like taking deep breaths. Maybe I should try it?

So, I start contracting myself, and I start deeply inhaling air inwards. I can feel a ballooning sensation in my chest. I hold it for a few seconds, then I release it to see if it calms me down.

[Everything is normal.]

But it doesn't work. I don't feel any calmer than I did before. If anything, I feel even more anxious and worried than before, because now, I can also feel my heart beating really fast, so I put a hand to my chest to feel it, and-

Wait.

My heartbeat?

MY HEARTBEAT?!

If…If I have a heartbeat, then that implies I have a heart. As in, a biological heart. But that can't be right. I'm a robot! Come to think of it, I don't have lungs either, so I shouldn't have been able to feel them in my chest when I took that deep breath, either!

What the hell is this? System! Explain, NOW!

[Everything is normal.]

No, it's not! Stop saying that! I knew I should've listened to my gut! I knew something was off about all this! This isn't normal! Are my illusions going haywire again? Today, of all days? This is insane! I need to find a way to solve this problem. The problem is, I don't know how.

But I know who does. If I can find Margaret, maybe she can help me again. But the problem is, We're outside of Inaba, and I have no idea if there's a Velvet Room door around here or not. Unless there's a guest living in this area, then I don't see why Igor would place a door around here. I sit down on the floor, and I start considering my options.

Right now, I barely have enough energy to stand up, and I'm not feeling well enough to hide my sickness from anyone. I don't want them to think I'm sick enough to get sent to a hospital. If the Dojimas saw how sick I am and decided to send me to the hospital, then the Doctors might discover that I'm a robot, and then things would get really complicated.

So, I need to contact Igor and Margaret somehow. But how can I-?

Wait. The phone. Margaret…she called me on my phone before, right? Then, the number she used to call me should still be in the recent calls history list.

I take out my cell phone, I go into the recent calls section to find the number that Margaret used to call me. After a minute or two of scrolling down the list, I find her number.

I really hope this works, because otherwise, I might be screwed!

I select the number, and I press on the call button. After a moment, it dials the number.

I hold my breath as I let the phone ring.

And ring.

And ring even more.

Come on, please work…

The phone keeps ringing for about a minute…

But Margaret never answers.

And after a minute or two, the phone stops ringing. And I hear a voice.

"We're sorry. The number you have dialed no longer exists. Please never call again."

To my dismay, the phone then hangs itself up on me, and starts beeping.

Why? Just…just why? What did I do to deserve this? Is whatever's affecting me also somehow affecting my phone? How does that even work? Is it something that would somehow only affect me, and things that are associated with me? I have so many questions, and no one can answer them.

Suddenly, I feel a strange sensation build up in my throat. I put my hand in front on my mouth, I sharply inhale, and I violently exhale air from my lungs with a sharp sound.

*Cough* *Cough*

Wait…this is what humans call coughing, right? Am I coughing? Great, more things that make no sense!

My mouth feels strange, and I feel a warm and wet sensation on my hand. I look down on it.

And my eyes go wide as I stare at the palm of my hand.

Because I'm seeing something that I shouldn't see. Something that nothing like me never should. Something that I've never seen before. A dark, red, and vaguely oil-like substance.

Blood.

I'm seeing blood on my hand.

Startled, I gasp, I get up and press my back against the wall, all while never letting the blood stain out of my sight.

I stare at it for a minute or two, partially out of fascination, partially of confusion, and partially of horror.

This is horrible. I'm terrified. Either I'm losing control of my powers again, or I've been turned into a human. And I have no idea how to get out of this!

[Everything is normal.]

Then, on the other side of the room, I see a mirror. In it, I see my own reflection, which catches my attention.

I walk towards the mirror, and I see myself.

I look like hell. I look really pale, my eyes are bloodshot, there's a bit of blood on the edge of my mouth, my irises are looking yellow-ish, and I see my reflection shivering. Is that…really me?

Everything is going wrong all at once! I feel so awful. How can I get out of this? I need help! I need-

*Knock-Knock*

My head snaps towards the door as I hear a knock.

Panicked, I quickly gather myself, and I use some water from the tap to wash the blood on my hand and mouth away so that nobody gets a chance to see it. Whatever this is, there will be time to worry about it later. I need to focus on the present and get out of this place.

"Yura-chan?"

Wait…Yosuke-kun?

"Are you okay? We saw you go in there earlier, and you've been in there for a while, so we decided to check up on you."

As I hear his voice coming from the other side of the door, I breathe a sight of relief. It was just him, checking up on me. And he sounds really concerned, too!

[Everything is normal.]

"Uh, yeah! Thanks for checking up on me, Yosuke-kun! I'll be okay!"

"Are you sure?", he replies. "We've just been waiting for you at the door!"

"Yeah, like I said, I'll be fine. You don't need to worry about me!"

Aw, that's sweet! He must be really worried about me. His voice sounds pretty energetic, which is a big contrast from how he was earlier.

"That's cool and all, but we really think you should let us in, Yura-chan!"

…What? Wait, what did he-he wants me to let him in?

"What're you sayin'?", I reply. "This is the ladies's room! I can't just let you in!"

"Don't worry about it, Yura-chan! Just let us in already!"

Huh? What's up with him? There's clearly a sign on the door that says he's not allowed inside! Yosuke-kun, I get that you're concerned about me and all, but please take a hint! Still, the fact that he seems to have snapped out of whatever trance he was in earlier makes me wonder about all this. Maybe nothing's really wrong, and it really was just my powers screwing with me all along?

"Just stay outside and wait for me, okay! I'm tellin' you, I'll be fine!", I tell him so that he leaves the matter alone.

"I don't think that's true, Yura-chan! We all know that you really need help! All you have to do is let us in!"

Okay, what part of "ladies's room" doesn't he get?

"Yosuke-kun, please just go. I just need some time alone, okay?"

"But everything will be okay if you just let us in! Just open the door!"

Okay, I get that he's worried about me, but he needs to learn to let go! I get closer to the door, and I start talking louder so that he'll get the point.

"Look, I get that you're concerned about me, but please be patient! I'm telling you, I just need some time to-"

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

"Come on, just open up already! Let us in, and we'll take care of all your problems!"

What is he talking about? He just cut me off, and honestly he's being kind of rude about this-

Wait a minute. Let us in? And…did he say We?

"Come on, Yura-chan! We just want to help you!"

We? Who is we? Now that I think about it, something about Yosuke-kun sounds strange. He sounds…really eager to get in here.

Maybe a bit too eager.

"Just let us inside, Yura-chan! We're all waiting for you!"

"Who's we?", I ask him hesitantly.

"Hey, Yura-chan! You're in there, right?"

I freeze as I hear another voice. A female voice that I know really well.

No way. It couldn't be…could it?

[Everything is normal]

"…Chie-chan?"

"Yup! It's me! I'm a girl, so you'll let us in, right?"

Wait, hold on! What's happening? There's no doubt about it, that's definitely her voice. Why is she here?

"Yeah, Chie's here too!", Yosuke-kun exclaims. "Why don't you just let us in?"

"Yeah, listen to Yosuke, Yura-chan! Just open the door and let us in!"

"Hold up! This is weird! Not that I'm not happy to know you're here or anything, Chie-chan, but didn't you have something to do with Yuki-chan earlier?"

"Hey, don't worry about it! We're both waiting for you here, and we're not alone!"

What? Not alone?

"That's correct, Yura-chan."

Another female voice. A more subdued one.

No…Yuki-chan's voice? What?

[Everything is normal.]

"We're all waiting for you, Yura-chan. Just open the door."

Something's not right. I think my assumption that things were going back to normal were a bit premature.

"EVERYONE, STOP!", I shout. "How are you all here? Why are you all here? How did you all know that-"

"Yeah, just let us in, Yura-chan!", Chie-chan cuts me off excitedly.

"Yeah, just open the door, Yura-chan!", Yosuke-kun shouts aggressively.

"Just join us, Yura-chan!", Yuki-chan shouts in an uncharacteristically energetic tone. "We're all here for you! It's inevitable!"

Something is very wrong here. My instincts are telling me that I should NOT open the door. But why? Those are my friends, aren't they?

Why would I be scared of my own friends?

"We even brought someone else with us too!", Yosuke-kun shouts. "When she saw what was going on, she was really concerned? Right, senpai?"

What? Someone else? Who could they have brought with-

Wait. Did…did he say…

Senpai?

"That's correct, Hana-chan!"

…No.

[EvErYtHiNg Is NoRmAl]

"Hana-chan and his friends were really concerned about you, Yura-chan!"

No, no, no…

[eVeRyThInG iS nOrMaL]

"So why don't you just let us in the bathroom, and tell us what's wrong-"

NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO-

[EvErYtHiNg Is NoRmAl] [eVeRyThInG iS nOrMaL] [EvErYtHiNg Is NoRmAl] [eVeRyThInG iS nOrMaL]

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

I scream in terror and confusion at the top of my lungs, as I hear the all-too familiar voice of a girl who's supposed to be dead.

Saki Konishi. Or her ghost. Or maybe…something worse.

I fall on the floor, I crawl to the opposite side of the room, and I stick my back to the wall while never letting the door out of my sight.

And now, I'm sure of it. Whoever or whatever's on the other side of the door, they aren't my friends. And they sure as hell aren't Saki-senpai either.

What the hell is happening?

After spending a few minutes staring at the door, I finally gather enough courage to shout at whatever's behind the door.

"Who…who the hell are you? WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?"

"We're your friends, Yura-chan! We just want to-"

"DON'T GIVE ME THAT CRAP! I dunno who or what you are, but if this is your idea of a joke, then you got a sick sense of humour! You're the reason for all this, aren't you? I don't believe for a second that you're…that you're her, so drop the act right now!"

This…this is so messed up. And the worst part is that whoever this is, they sound just like Saki-senpai! Not just the voice, but the tone, and mannerisms too. Which implies that whoever this is, they somehow know her well enough to know how to imitate her perfectly. Which makes them even creepier.

"Drop the act? Wow, that's rich coming from you, Yura-chan! Considering how much you like keeping secrets from everyone, I thought you'd appreciate a good disguise when you saw one!"

Wait…did they just-? Did they just imply that they know who and what I am? But how would they even know my secret?

Have they been spying on me, somehow?

Suddenly, my sickness gets worse. Before I have time to react, my vision gets blurry, I start coughing uncontrollably, and I feel something rising up in my stomach.

"How do-*Cough*-you know-*Cough*-about-*Cough*-this?"

My body feels like it's melting. I'm sprawled on the floor, coughing up blood everywhere. There's blood coming out of my eyes, ears, nose, nostrils and mouth!

[EvErYtHiNg Is NoRmAl] [eVeRyThInG iS nOrMaL] [EvErYtHiNg Is NoRmAl] [eVeRyThInG iS nOrMaL]

Am I…dying? Is this what dying is like? But…but I don't want to die yet…I still got so much I want to do…

"Are you okay, Yura-chan? You sound like you're having a hard time in there!"

"Go-*Cough*-to-*Cough*-hell!", I shout back defiantly. But talking is getting really difficult.

Please…Someone…anyone! This is so horrible! I need help!

And that's when the door opens on its own.

"You know, this could've been easier if you had just let me in, Yura-chan."

A feminine figure, clad in a white kimono, strolls in like nothing is wrong, not even paying attention to the blood on the floor. Due to how blurry my vision is, I can't even see who it is. But they're still speaking with Saki-senpai's voice.

[EvErYtHiNg Is NoRmAl] [eVeRyThInG iS nOrMaL] [EvErYtHiNg Is NoRmAl] [eVeRyThInG iS nOrMaL]

Damn it, they've got some serious nerve…and I can't even fight them, because by body's apparently dying!

The figure starts walking towards me. I weakly try to back away from them, but it's no use. I'm already up against the wall.

"Look at you. Just laying there, powerless and dying. You're not just gonna let it end there, are you?"

As they get closer, I can make out their face. Whoever they are, they actually had the gall to make themselves look like Saki-senpai. Their face looks exactly like hers.

But why her? Why would they use her? Is it just to screw with me? What's the point of all this?

When they get close enough to me, they stop and they lower themselves so that their face is about one inch away from mine. I make a fist with one of my hands.

I'm completely at their mercy, and they know it. They smile.

"Hi, Yura-chan!"

I summon all the strength I have left, and I try to punch them in their face.

But they raise their hand and catch my fist effortlessly.

"Wow, so aggressive, aren't we? Well, that's good, Yura-chan!"

They start squeezing my hand, and I start feeling my…my "bones" crack under their fingers. Then, they suddenly squeeze their grip and hard as they can, crushing my hand like a biscuit.

I spit on them as a last act of defiance, which stains their kimono. but I don't think they evenc care.

I think they just broke my hand. I would scream, But I was already in horrible pain from earlier, so instead, I just start spasming uncontrollably. Also, my broken hand feels really cold, and my breathing becomes frantic and uncontrollable.

[EvErYtHiNg Is NoRmAl] [eVeRyThInG iS nOrMaL] [EvErYtHiNg Is NoRmAl] [eVeRyThInG iS nOrMaL]

This must be what humans call going into shock.

My vision starts going black. I'm think I'm about to faint and lose consciousness.

"Excellent! Make sure you keep that fighting spirit of yours, Yura-chan! You're going to need it for what comes next!"

What? What are they…talking about? Can't focus right now. My body is too much pain…can't think straight…losing control…

They…they look like they're laughing at me.

"But hey, don't worry! You won't need to do this alone! I'll be with you all the way."

All the way?

"Yes! All the way! After all, you and I are the same, so it's only natural that we'd do this together!"

They then dig their nails into…their own face? As I black out, I Try to squint my eyes and focus to see what they're doing.

They start peeling their own skin from their face.

I expect to see things like muscle, veins and blood under their face, but I don't.

Right before I lose consciousness, I see what's under their skin for just a moment.

[EvErYtHiNg Is NoRmAl]

I don't see any flesh.

All I see is metal.