Yori was starting to feel stiff by the time he was let out of the studio along with the other audience members. The joints in his fingers were also starting to ache, no doubt from all of the clapping he had done. However, he waited until he had collected his belongings and confirmed his pay details before thinking about taking some ibuprofen. He sat himself down on a bench just outside the studio, and, ignoring curious looks from some of the other audience members who were leaving, he took the ibuprofen packet and one onigiri out of his cross-body bag, and consumed the painkiller with the food, the way he usually did. He found that he was suddenly quite peckish, though, so after finishing the first onigiri, he took out another from the bag and consumed that too, before washing it all down with water.

Ah, he thought to himself, that means I will need to find some more. He couldn't be going without his onigiri. That just would not do at all. Luckily, he was sure that there was a convenience store nearby. If not, he knew there was one very close to the school itself. So, with the reassurance that he'd be getting more onigiri, Yori got himself up and started the trek back, looking out for the convenience store as he walked slowly and carefully. He was pleased to discover that, though it was a little further than he had anticipated, it was still fairly close, and he ducked into the convenience store.

It was early evening, but this store was not as crowded as he might have expected. A few kids his age, clearly just out from school, some younger children, a few oldies, a couple of salarymen. Yori didn't pay a lot of attention to them, simply pulling along his basket-trolley and filling it not just with onigiri with various fillings, but a couple of bottles of soda and one or two other snacks as well. He queued up behind one of the salarymen and some of the kids, and waited patiently until it was his turn. When he got to the till, the cashier didn't look like they'd be the friendly chatting type, so Yori didn't bother. Instead, once he had paid, he just politely thanked the guy and left.

After a few moments of walking, however, he felt like he was getting stiff again. Perhaps, Yori thought, I should splash for getting the bus. I can afford it after today anyway. Yes, I might as well. He looked for somewhere to sit and saw that there was bench near what looked like a park, surrounded by trees. Nobody was around, but that didn't unduly bother him as he sat himself down and decided to put his shopping bag into his cross-body bag, so that his hands would be free if he needed to hold onto something to steady himself. That, and he figured he may as well eat one more onigiri while he was at it.

As he deliberated over which filling to choose, he thought of the things he needed to do. There'd probably be homework of some sort from some of his lessons, but his classmates were pretty cool about getting that to him when he was out filming episodes. The past few times, it had been that quiet, nerdy foreign kid-Silas, Yori thought-who'd given or left him his homework. He knew this, because if it was left for him, whoever had done so left a note. Whoever left it for him though, he'd have to slog through that, and then he had to think about Christmas presents or cards for the everyone at the orphanage, and pack for his short visit there. He wasn't staying there properly, because they'd had about five kids arrive since the last time he'd visited, in the summer, on top of the three who'd arrived to fill his absence in April. So, they needed the space, for sure. But it would be good to go back-despite what everyone imagined when they heard the word 'orphanage' to him it was still his home. And the workers there and the other kids weren't family, but they were something anyway.

So lost he was in these thoughts, that Yori didn't initially realise that there were footsteps heading towards him from behind. He didn't pay too much heed to them, though, assuming that it was just someone crossing through the park, until they got louder and closer, and then suddenly stopped. Yori suddenly felt a swirl of dread, wondering just what it was about those footsteps that meant he'd picked them out of all the other noises of the city. Because Towa City was one heck of a loud city, he'd realised. Yet he'd heard this footsteps loud and clear, and their absence practically screamed louder than their presence.

This sure is some horror-movie shit, he thought. Oh well, whatever. He started to turn, but before he managed to catch a glimpse of whoever (or whatever it was), he felt something get pulled over his face, plunging him into darkness.


Characters Introduced This Chapter:

Missing Students:

Yori Miyagi, first year, SHSL Studio Audience Member (my OC)