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  “The students that ran away were all slackers to begin with,” the guidance teacher told Saotome at the discipline committee meeting.

  This generalization was so insensitive to the students’ individual circumstances that the committee president, Niitoki Kei, stiffened her tiny body and turned her cute, childish face downwards to hide her steaming glare.

  But Masami was taking minutes, so he wrote the gist of the comment down in his notebook. “Disturbance in behavior precedes disappearance.” As he wrote these words, he was expressionless.

  He never let a faint smile steal across his lips.

  Everything was going exactly according to plan.

  Still, he was left expressionless. Nothing the teachers said and nothing happening around him could change this. He had killed five people without so much as remorse, and here he was, still acting like an ordinary student.

  But when the teacher stated that, “Incidentally, the infamous Kirima Nagi failed to arrive this morning. Make sure to keep an eye on her, hear? No telling what that girl's plotting in the shadows,” Masami's cold heart skipped a beat. He didn't show it, but even now that he had the Manticore, hers was one of the few names that could affect him.

  ***

  Kusatsu Akiko's behavior became strange a month after she had been altered.

  Even when she came to school, she seemed particularly out of it.

  When people spoke to her, she barely seemed to notice, much less reply.

  (... uh-oh.)

  Masami figured that Kusatsu Akiko had begun to break down much faster than expected.

  They couldn't leave her like this. She was clearly evidence. If she collapsed somewhere and was taken to a hospital, they would surely discover her condition, and the ’institution’ that made the Manticore would soon find out.

  So Yurihara was forced to eat Kusatsu Akiko, and the first stage of their experiment ended. Unfortunately, they had still not managed to recruit a second subject with any real success, and it was putting considerable strain on both Masami and Yurihara's relationship.

  “Damn it! Why doesn't it work?!” Yurihara yelled, growing ever more high strung.

  “It's nothing to worry about. We will have many more opportunities.”

  “I know that, but... “ Yurihara said, and then looked up at Masami. “I'm sorry. I'll get it right next time.”

  “We should wait a while,” Masami replied calmly.

  “Why? I can do it now!” Yurihara said almost shrieking, her voice clearly echoing through the empty parking garage.

  “That's not the problem. We're reaching the limit of what we can do in the school. We have to look for more prey elsewhere. But we need to prepare. Not only for more experiments, but for your food supply as well. We've taken care of both of them at the same time so far, but you need other forms of nourishment, don't you?” he said gently, his tone showing a marked contrast to the horrific meaning behind his words. He rested his hand on her shoulder.

  “All right, we shall do as you say.” Yurihara nodded obediently.

  ***

  The day after Kusatsu Akiko vanished, Masami got involved in something a little out of the ordinary.

  During break, he was on his way back from returning a slide ruler he'd borrowed from the teacher's room, when a female teacher came flying around the corner, extremely flustered.

  “Y -you! You're on the discipline committee, aren't you?!” she asked, her face brightening the moment she saw Masami.

  “Yes, Saotome, 1-D,” Masami replied.

  “Thank god you're here! Please keep watch! Don't let her get away!” she shouted, and continued on down the hall.

  “......?” Masami looked puzzled, and walked in the direction that she had come from. It was the staff bathroom.

  Since it had been a female teacher, he poked his head through the door. He had no particular enthusiasm for ladies restrooms, but he didn't hesitate at all in his actions. He simply walked straight inside.

  But once inside, he was badly shocked.

  “Oh, it's you, Saotome-kun,” said Kirima Nagi, in the flesh, standing smack dab in the middle of the white room, nodding at him.

  “S-sempai, what's going...?” He didn't need to finish. The moment he asked, he noticed the unlit cigarette in her hand. “That's... !”

  “Yeah, well, you know how it is,” she said, making no effort to hide it.

  “They caught you, didn’t they? But why... and in a place like this?”

  “Whatever,” Nagi gave him a half grin. It made quite an impact. It was this sort of impression that had made him fall in love with her in the first place.

  “Sempai, urn... “ he tried to talk further.

  She cut him off. “Sorry again about that other thing. I still think it's better for you this way.”

  “Oh, no, that's...”

  “Oh, hey, you were 1-D, weren't you?”

  “Yeah...”

  “Were you friends with Kusatsu Akiko?”

  Masami thought his heart was going to leap out of his mouth.

  “Er, n-not really... “ he mumbled.

  Nagi glared at him. “You knew her?”

  “I went out with her once.”

  “On a date?”

  “No! I mean, uh, it was like...” he said, scrambling to form a coherent sentence

  Nagi looked at his face, and grinned again. “Not what I'm asking. You notice her acting weird lately?”

  “Well, yeah, I guess so.”

  “How long?”

  “Maybe ... two or three weeks?”

  “Matches up... “ Nagi whispered to herself.

  Masami felt a shiver run down his spine, but he didn't let it show.

  “Matches what?”

  “Mm? Oh, never mind,” Nagi said evasively.

  “Something happen to Kusatsu? If there's anything I can do to help, sempai...” he pressed.

  “Nah, it's nothing important.”

  “Of course it's important. I mean, this is deliberate, isn't it?” he said, taking the cigarette out of Nagi’s hand.

  “Hey, Saotome-kun,” Nagi said, troubled.

  “It's something big enough that you're deliberately getting yourself suspended, isn't it? Let me tell the teachers.”

  “They won't do anything! Teachers are nothing but wage slaves,” she said coldly.

  Masami couldn't argue with that. He had suggested it precisely because he had the same opinion. If they left things up to the teachers, everything would be forgotten in no time.

  “Then... “ he persisted.

  Nagi took his hand and held it tightly.

  “Thanks, but no. You're normal, and you shouldn't have anything to do with this.”

  “But...” he said as three male teachers came stomping into the ladies room.

  “You again!” they shouted at Nagi.

  Nagi was unaffected.

  “Urn... “ Masami tried talking to them, but they didn't even look at him. One of them took the cigarette out of his hand, and said, “This is evidence!” thrusting it out towards Nagi.

  She said nothing.

  She was hauled off to the guidance office like a wanted criminal.

  Masami followed after her, looking worried, but one of the teachers told him to go back to his room, so he simply watched them leave.

  There was nobody else around, and the color on his face slowly faded.

  “............”

  From down the hall, he heard the office door slam open. All Masami could do is turn and walk away. There was no emotion left on his face.

  “............”

  Nagi’s choice of words kept echoing through his mind. She had said, “Matches up.” All he could think was that it matched up to the first girl who had ’run away,’ Suzumiya Takako.

  Nagi knew something.

  Something too close for comfort.

  “............”

  His mask cracked for just a second, letting out a glimpse of his true face underneath. His eyes were wither
ed, inhuman, like a man who has just wandered in the desert for a week with no water and let sand creep into every pore on his body.

  5.

  “Kirima Nagi? Why would she?!” cried out Yurihara when she heard Masami’s story. They were in the pool changing rooms where thankfully nobody ever dared to come inside during winter.

  “I don't know. But she's clearly caught wind of something.”

  Masami told Yurihara about Nagi six days into her suspension. During that period, he was stalking the girls that they had planned next to entrap and kill. It quickly became obvious that Nagi was taking them down one after the other -- all of Kusatsu Akiko's Junior High school friends. Today, he'd seen her attack Kinoshita Kyoko, and make her promise never to take drugs again.

  In the shadows of the school, it was clear that she was playing out some sort of hero fantasy of her own.

  “Why?! We did everything right!” Yurihara cried out hysterically.

  “Yes, we did. Which is why she hasn't caught wind of us yet,” he said quietly. But inside, he knew just how precarious of a position that they were in. If they had been just a little bit late in disposing of Kusatsu Akiko, Nagi would most certainly have deduced what was wrong with her. It had been a very close shave.

  “We can't kill anyone else from Shinyo Academy. We don't want her suspecting that you're a student here.”

  “Why don't we just kill her?” Yurihara suggested.

  “Not yet. I don't know how much she knows or how she found out. We need to know that at least.”

  “She needs to die! We won't leave any evidence behind! And she's crazy; nobody'll notice when she vanishes.”

  It was obvious that they were in the same class. Yurihara knew Nagi all too well.

  “But her current parents are very rich. And she's got several hundred million yen in the bank. She disappears, and I guarantee you that it won't be put down as a runaway. When money gets involved, there's no telling who'll come out of the woodwork. That's how human society works.”

  Yurihara remained silent. She looked at the floor, bit her lip, and then whispered petulantly, “...Is that the only reason?”

  “Eh?”

  “Is that the only reason you won't kill Kirima Nagi? There's another reason, isn't there?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Saotome-kun, don't lie to me. You're in love with her, aren't you?”

  Masami looked away.

  “Wh-why do you think that?”

  “Am I wrong? I'm right, aren't I?” she asked as she looked up and glared at him.

  “I... “ Masami started to say, when suddenly...

  “-what are you doing in here, Echoes?” a cheery girl's voice asked, as the door to the changing room swung open.

  From the stripes on her uniform, it was clear that she was third year. And a bright and sunny girl at that.

  “Uh, oops? My mistake, sorry!” she said, scratching her head.

  “Ah! D-don't-!” Masami yelled, pretending that the girl had caught them in the middle of a romantic moment. It was okay, though. She hadn't overheard them.

  “Sorry! Sorry! You two have fun now!” she commented smiling. She was clearly blushing from embarrassment as she started to duck back out the door.

  But at that moment, Yurihara's body shot forward like a bullet. She let out a hiss like a king cobra, and sank her teeth into the back of the third year girl's neck.

  There was a sharp cracking sound.

  “W-wha?!” cried Masami, trying to get between them, but he was already too late. She had bitten through the girl's spine, killing her instantly. It was over before the girl even realized what was happening to her.

  “What the hell were you thinking?! I just told you not to kill at school!” Masami yelled, turning on Yurihara.

  But when he saw her face, his manner changed.

  She was as white as a sheet and shivering violently. “H- how... how is he here?” she whimpered with her latest victim's blood splattered across her mouth.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Him! Echoes! He's here!”

  “Who or what is Echoes?”

  “My ’original'! The over-evolved man!” She hugged her hands to her chest, but that didn't stop her shaking.

  “C-calm down! You can explain later. First, we have to get rid of this body!” Masami yelled, glancing down at the girl's corpse. Looking closely, he recognized her face. “She's... Kamikishiro Naoko?”

  She was one of Nagi's few precious friends. That's why he knew her. Nagi had taken a year off in Junior High due to illness, but she had been in the same class as Kamikishiro at the time.

  (Why is Nagi's friend...? Is this just a coincidence? No, it can't be... )

  He felt the last piece fall into place. Just as they had disposed of Kusatsu Akiko in the nick of time, once again Fate had given them a desperately needed chance.

  “Don't worry, Manticore. The advantage is on our side.” He smiled, and gently put his arms around her trembling shoulders.

  “Eh?” she questioned as she looked up, and was greeted with a warm and knowing nod and a luminous smile.

  ***

  They carried Kamikishiro Naoko’s body to a secret room in the basement. Yurihara leaned over the corpse and began disposing of the evidence.

  As he watched, Masami grinned.

  (I'll make sure you live through this. I promise. Whatever happens to me...it'll be worth it.)

  A single line of a song ran through Saotome Masami's mind.

  For some reason, it was not a song by his beloved group The Doors. He had forgotten the exact name of it. It was just a song that he had overheard somewhere and barely remembered. He couldn't even remember the whole line; just a snippet echoing through his mind like a broken record.

  It was a song by a band that wasn't anywhere near as famous as The Doors; they were a freak band called Oingo Boingo that were famous for their weirded-out tunes. The name of the song was “No One Lives Forever.”

  The pop, cheery tune didn’t match the sinister name, nor the blood-ridden lyrics. Masami began singing under his breath.

  “... No one, no one, no one, no one, no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one no one...”

  His smile continued till the rest of the phrase, “lives forever,” came back to him. The smile contained more than the radiance of one prepared to sacrifice his life for the object of his affections-there was a hint of evil and of deeply personal pleasure to it.

  In front of him came a sound like wind whistling through a crack in the wall as the man-eater consumed the girl.

  Chapter Four

  I Wish You Heaven

  Kimura Akio

  second year, class B

  1.

  “Kamikishiro Naoko is dead. You should forget about her,” was all that was written in the letter. It looked like a computer printout.

  “What?” I picked up the envelope and studied it for a moment, but all it had listed on it was my name, “Kimura Akio” and home address. There was no return address at all, and judging from the stamp, it had been posted in the same town where I attended high school
.

  At first, I thought it must be a prank by one of my old classmates. My little fling with Kamikishiro Naoko kinda became public knowledge after it ended.

  But it seemed a little late for that. Two full years had passed since 1'd last seen her, and it was a little late for this kind of prank.

  Still, she vanished abruptly during my second year, and I still don't know why she disappeared. I don't think anybody knows. Did anybody ever really know what she was thinking?

  ***

  Kamikishiro Naoko and I first hooked up in a pretty strange kinda way.

  This all took place not too long after the spring term had begun.

  I was smoking a Caster Mild around the back of the school one day at lunch, when a boy and a girl showed up. Luckily for me, I was hiding behind a tree, so they didn't see me.

  There was kind of a long, meaningful silence, so I took that opportunity to hide even better, hoping to get an eyeful.

  But they barely even looked at each other, they just sort of stood there, fidgeting.

  (Ah ha... )

  Just as I got it figured out, the girl opened her mouth. “Did you... read the letter?” she said, clasping her hands.

  “Mm,” he said evasively.

  The whole thing was kinda old fashioned, and I was just about to lose interest, when the boy suddenly looked around nervously and asked, “You are alone... right?”

  “Hunh?” she blinked. And so did I. Most people usually come alone at moments like this. Of course, there are some losers that need their friends to goad them on.

  “So you're not gonna beat me up or something?” he asked, relieved.

  What, was this kid afraid of girls or something?

  Then I finally noticed.

  His slippers were blue, and hers were yellow. Our school has it set up so that each grade has a different color. I was wearing green ones. The boy was a first year, and the girl was third year.

  “No, nothing like that!” she exclaimed. The moment that I knew she was my sempai, she started looking extremely grown up... and hot. I'm pretty picky when it comes to girls, but I could tell she had on makeup that subtly made her eyes look bigger. But it was natural makeup, so that the teachers would never notice. It was also obvious that she worked pretty hard at making herself always look cheerful.