Shit! They usually don't lock this room… what the hell is going on?
The sound of footsteps approaching from around the corner startled Ayano, forcing her to abandon any more attempts to get into the Drama Club room. She quickly left the scene, not interested in any teachers catching her snooping around this early. She retreated to the rooftop to reassess the situation. Looks like the club president locked the room this time. I'll have to wait until he gets here before I can do anything else. Ayano paced around the rooftop for a while before she decided to climb onto the AC unit to get a better view of the incoming crowd. She leaned back against the duct behind her, letting the feeling of cold metal against her back relax her. After a while, students started slowly filtering through the now-open gate. Sure enough, there was Mai, her long pink hair making her easily identifiable at a distance. Ayano swore under her breath. That girl always came to school oddly early, and normally that'd be a good thing for Ayano – an easy scenario for murder. Less people to hear her scream, and other early students would be tired enough to dismiss suspicious behavior. If only that damn room had been open.
Ayano let her gaze shift away from Mai and back to the front gate. There was another student she'd need to look out for if she wanted to get that prop – the president of the Drama Club, Kizano Sunobu. She sighed and tugged on her hair absent-mindedly. I really hope I can avoid running into him, he's just so–
"Hey! Ponytail!" Osoro gave the AC unit a kick to get Ayano's attention. "It's dangerous to climb up there, you know." Speaking of people I didn't want to run into…
"What do you want?" She asked, her voice dripping with venom, "Because if it's to settle your stupid little grudge with me, then I think I'd rather stay up here."
"You-" He seemed taken aback by her sudden aggression. "Finally dropped the nice girl act, huh? No Budo around to make goo-goo eyes at?" Ayano glared down at him, not dignifying his schoolyard taunt with a response. "What's the matter? Don't want to talk to me without your boyfriend around?" Osoro sneered.
"He's not my boyfriend," she said, "And besides, you seem pretty happy he's not here. You into beating up poor, defenseless girls, Osoro?"
"Please. We both know you're not defenseless." Osoro's gaze narrowed, his amber eyes burning into Ayano's face.
"... What the hell are you talking about." Ayano's voice was low and dangerous. Does he know? There's no way… right? She shifted her position on the AC, ready to pounce on Osoro if he gave the slightest hint he knew about her unsavory activities in the school. No witnesses.
"No 'poor defenseless girl' would make me throw away her garbage," he scowled, "and disrespect me right in front of my men."
Ayano relaxed. "I see. Have you considered I may be stupid and reckless?"
"Bullshit."
"Why?"
"The first time I saw you, you were doing schoolwork. Not stupid. When we were waiting for you at the front gates, you climbed over the back wall to avoid us, and you only faced us head-on when Budo was there. Not reckless, either."
Ayano blinked in surprise, taken aback by how closely he'd been thinking about their interactions. "You really thought about me a lot, huh?" She mused, resting her chin on her hand.
"You wish, you psycho bitch," he laughed.
"Ha, ha. Now, what do you want?"
"I did come up here for a smoke, but seeing you was just plain lucky. Come down and let's settle things."
"Settle things how? If it has anything to do with fists, I'll politely decline."
"That's fine," Osoro leaned back against the AC unit, lighting a cigarette and taking a puff. "I have all the time in the world to wait for you. And I know you're not the type to miss class." Ayano tried her best to control her face, but she couldn't help but glare down at Osoro. He wasn't going to make this easy for her.
"... Wait." Ayano finally spoke after a few minutes.
"What."
"I think we can settle this without fighting."
"Please," he scoffed, "like you have anything I'd want more than breaking your smug fuckin' face."
"You'd rather break my face than the face of the guy that got you suspended?" That got his attention. Osoro sprung forward from his lazy lean, looking up at Ayano with a glare, his half-smoked cigarette dangling from his lip.
"How the fuck do you know that?"
"Like you said, I'm not stupid. I know people who know things."
"You're in with that goddamn Info-Bitch? Fucker loves spreading my business around but wants to charge me two grand for the guy who got me suspended. Like I can't figure that shit out on my own."
"I could help you," Ayano offered, "on the condition that you leave me the hell alone after I find who it is."
Osoro hesitated. He took a final drag from his cigarette before grinding it out beneath his heel. "Fine." And with that, he left.
Ayano breathed a sigh of relief, but she couldn't relax for long. It was impossible to miss the bright purple hair from her vantage point on the roof. Kizano Sunobu, you'd better have the drama club room key. She leapt down from the AC unit and slowly made her way to the Drama Club room, hoping Kizano would unlock it and leave before class started. Nothing was going her way today, because the second she walked through the open Drama Club doors she heard the obnoxious voice of the club's president.
"Welcome, Darling! What brings you to the Drama Club so early? Here to get a jump on audition signups? We always have space for more background characters!" Kizano said cheerfully, not even bothering to look over at Ayano – he was too busy adjusting his hair in the club's mirror.
"No, I uh… came to see when the next play is. I'm already in a club, you see."
"What club? I'm sure whatever it is, you'd have so much more fun here. I play all the lead roles, but you could always be a supporting character or work behind the scenes!"
"Martial Arts Club. And that's– "
"Oh. That disgusting club. You'd be much better off quitting and joining us instead of those sweaty brutes." Kizano gave his hair a final pat and started rifling through the costumes, taking a quick inventory before class.
"I'll stick with Martial Arts. I'd rather not hop around clubs, you know?" Ayano said, shoving down the anger bubbling in her chest. Ugh, he's such a condescending prick.
"But you wouldn't! I'm sure if you only gave it a try– Hm." Kizano stopped short. "Some of these are missing," he mumbled to himself. Ayano took his distraction with the costumes as an opportunity to start edging her way toward the door. She didn't want to spend more time with Kizano than she absolutely had to, but her escape attempt would have to wait a little longer. "Darling, have you seen any masks or wigs floating around school? I seem to be missing some props here." Shit. Those props were literally up in smoke by now – she'd shoved them in the incinerator after she was done handling Musume's delinquent problem.
"No, but I'll be sure to keep an eye out!" Ayano shouted behind her as she finally made her escape from the Drama Club room just as the bell rang. Killing Mai would have to wait until lunch.
Ayano was struggling to keep her eyes open. Class today seemed duller than usual, and getting only a few hours of sleep wasn't helping. She could feel Osano's eyes burning into her skull from the neighboring seat and resisted the urge to whip her head around and glare at him. Gaining a reputation as an aggressive jerk would only hurt her. Thankfully, she didn't have to resist it much longer, as the chime of the school bell finally graced her tired ears. She nearly leapt out of her seat to rush to the Drama Club room before Kizano could get there. Unfortunately for her, Osano was faster. He stood in front of her, blocking her way forward. I don't have time for this shit. Ayano dodged around him, not bothering to look back at his dumbfounded expression. She sprinted to the club room and through the now-open doors. She grabbed the magical girl wand from where it leaned against the wall and got out fast – avoiding the prying eyes of students who were only just beginning to stream out of their classrooms to lunch.
Ayano held the wand negligently at her side, doing her best to blend in with the students that now crowded the hallways. In times like these, she was glad for her rather plain appearance as nobody even spared her a second glance on her way up to the roof. It didn't take long for Mai to show up, her bright pink hair swaying behind her. Ayano waved her over cheerfully, and she walked over hesitantly. Not even a loner like Mai could resist the pull of social convention, as she smiled at Ayano nervously.
"Um, did you need something?"
"Yes, over here!" Ayano led Mai back behind the AC unit where they'd be all alone. It was far enough away from the rest of the rooftop frequenters that any noises could be covered by the rumble of the old unit's fan.
As soon as Mai was out of eye and earshot of anyone else, Ayano dropped all pretense. She was sick of this stupid day, sick of these stupid people who kept standing in her way, sick of how she kept having to skip lunch to finish jobs, and sick of Mai's stupid, stupid face. She swung hard, and Mai was barely able to get her arms up in time to protect her face. Crack! The prop smashed into the girl's wrist. Seething with anger at her resistance, Ayano aimed for her legs next, and Mai went down like a wounded animal. The fool was sobbing, clutching at her shattered wrist. Her tears blurred her vision, and she didn't see the next blow coming before it connected with her jaw – blood filled her mouth and a few of her teeth flew out onto the ground next to her.
"What a fucking mess. You can't even have the decency to make my job easier?" Ayano spat, her next blow landing on Mai's arm.
"Please, sto–" Mai's pleading was cut off by the guttural shriek that bubbled out of her throat as Ayano stepped on her broken wrist and ground it under her heel.
"Don't waste your fucking breath. Begging won't change the fact that you're going to die here." Ayano's next few blows connected cleanly with Mai's face – her shrieks were wetter now, blood and snot bubbling out of her nose, mixing with the tears and saliva that spilled from her eyes and mouth. Disgusting. Ayano kept swinging, even after Mai stopped resisting, after she stopped breathing. It was only after the wand broke against the concrete of the rooftop that she realized the yelling was coming from her. She sat heavily, leaning against the AC unit to catch her breath. Her hand trembled slightly as she brought her phone out of her pocket to snap a picture of the mangled corpse with the now-bloody broken prop. Fuck… now I need to get rid of this.