J U N  K A I Y O

Looking around the room, I felt the ground shaking beneath our feet. The thunder creaked and cracked in the dark room along with the screams of the other students that were terrified what has yet to come. The light quickly went out, the candles that were once lit was now gone.

Glancing around, I felt Akio's hand intertwining on mine as Hidou and Natsumi tried to put the light back on using a box of matches. When it looks like someone was blowing on them purposely, they stopped trying — looking for another source of light.

"Hidou, what's going on?" Akio asked as Hidou didn't answer our question. Instead, he looked down — frowning before giving us a pitiful look. I could already tell that it was bad since Shizu didn't return the room with the headmaster's files.

"I don't know. Shizu didn't retrieve the files. Without it, we can't solve the case and find out who the killer is. It seems that we don't have any choice but to..." he then trailed off as we heard the speaker giving a loud buzzing sound. All of us looked at it, shocked since no one was running it but, a cold and eerie voice of a girl cuts in — making us think otherwise.

"Such a shame that the last one you sent outside is dead," she said as Hidou's eyes widened. He then glared as Natsumi's blank expression had changed into a frown. Do they know her?

Judging on their looks, I could tell that they don't like her very much.

"Goddamn you, Izumi Eun. Damn you," Hidou cursed as the girl laughed manically, a bit amused at our reactions. Akio finally stood up, walking up to Shin — who was pulling her sister close. I, on the other hand, looked back at the files.

Let me rewind the case back again.

Hidou and Natsumi didn't kill themselves but someone did because they were both superiors of the school. Because of that, someone pushed them from the rooftop.

Choi and Mino wasn't killed by Aya but someone alive did. Aya didn't kill them since to her, they were just her classmates.

Shin, on the other hand, was probably killed by Aya since she was a witness and because he might tell the police. Aya killed her little sister as well because they both had an argument and thought that Aya was cursed — according to Shin.

Katsu Natsubaki was killed during the occult with the girl who performed it. Stopping the incantation, it killed him and made him a ghost rather than being a demon.

Sora Yukiko was killed by her husband since they both had an argument about their child, Aya. Her husband, Tadashi Yukiko, smacked her on the face and she suddenly hit her head on the cabinet — resulting for the stuff inside colliding on top of her.

Matsuko Yukiko, Aya's older brother, had committed suicide because of his depression towards his little sister's death. Haru, on the other hand, was killed by someone. I'm not really sure who but I know that it wasn't Aya. His delinquent attitude might scare a little girl. But, someone else did the killing.

Suddenly, Izumi spoke up – snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Miss Jun Kaiyo, dare or dare?" I grimaced as I heard the choices I have. Hidou on the other hand, interjected. He looked up and glared at the speaker as I could hear someone giggling on the other side.

"That's not fair! You can't do that!" Hidou yelled as I heard her laughing. Natsumi quickly opened the door and ran – probably going to the speaker room. Izumi then stops before giving us an eerie answer.

"I'm the real game master," she exclaimed.

Just to stop the quarrel between them, I answered. I couldn't just let them fight with each other. After all, there was no choice left. We can't just tell how the other ghost dies with her listening to our conversations from the speaker.

"I choose dare."

Hidou gave me a sympathetic look as Natsumi went back to the room, probably hearing my decision. Gulping, I looked at Hidou. He approached me, giving me a tap on the shoulder – a frown plastered on his face.

"I am so sorry."

Suddenly, a girl with white hair appeared in the room as she smirked at me. Looking at the others, they gave me a pitiful look as I came face to face with Izumi. I know that she wanted this from the start. Judging the look on her face, there was no denying it. Suddenly, she nodded at Hidou – probably mentioning him to tell the dare.

He then faced me as I breathed in deeply, trying not to be anxious.

"Kill one student to get you back home, free," he said as the others widened their eyes.

"The choice is yours. The other students may run and hide from you. But, the first person you would see is the one who needs to be killed. So, be careful of walking or chasing around the hallway. Because, you might never know who you would eliminate."

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

The hallways were darker than it was before. The only thing that served us as a light was the candles around every corner. The temperature dropped, suddenly making it could. The sound of rain was heard just outside the academy, pouring down with mixtures of thunder and lightning. There was literally no one around, making me a bit nervous.

And to be honest, I think I could hear my heartbeat thumping very fast in fear of getting killed.

This was the last dare that he gave us. It was the only dare given to us survivors.

Kill one student to get you back home, free.

A shiver ran down my spine as I walked around the hallway, looking for anyone in particular. I gagged a bit, seeing organs scattered around me. I then felt something beneath my shoe as I almost puked at the sight of it. An intestine was lying there, freshly pulled out from a body.

I then heard footsteps coming my way, making me stop before slowly looking up. A figure of a guy stood there as I gulped. He then took a step forward, making me gasp.

I could feel the coldness of my hands as he stood there, sadly smiling at me. He wasn't talking, he wasn't muttering, he wasn't whispering. He just stood there as I gripped the dagger on my hand, trembling a bit.

A few minutes had passed before he had the guts to start a conversation with me.

"So, this is how it ends." I nodded, still gripping the dagger tightly on my hands.

He then nods before walking towards me, making me back away from him. My eyes widened as I saw him dropping his knife on the wooden floor, raising his hands up while his sad smile was still plastered on his face.

"I don't want to kill you, Jun." I looked down at my dagger as he slowly made his way towards me. I didn't know that I had dropped my guard until I felt him hugging me.

Taking the dagger from my hands, I sobbed. Tears fell down on my face as he slowly caressed it, kissing the top of my forehead. When he tightly grabbed my hands — the dagger still intact — I closed my eyes, waiting for him to stab me.

Though, it never came.

Instead, he pulled me close as I felt something against my lips.

Opening my eyes, I saw him kissing me. I then closed my eyes once again as tears slowly rolled down my cheeks. I never knew that love was that painful. When we both pulled away, I hugged him as I sobbed. He then gripped my hands, the dagger pointed at his chest.

I looked up, seeing him sadly smiling at me.

"Death is not the end of our meeting. Who knows? I might survive. If I do, let's start over with a sweet cup of coffee, alright?" he said as I widened my eyes, shaking my head in disapproval.

"N-No, Akio. Please, don't do this," I pleaded as he shook his head, tears falling down his cheeks.

"I love you, Jun. I love you so much."

Suddenly, he retracted it back and quickly pushed it in his chest – stabbing himself with my dagger. I then sobbed, catching Akio with my arms while looking down at him. As the tears fell down my face, I felt a hand wiping them away. He then took his glasses off and put it on me, smiling a bit.

"You look much better with them on," he chuckled before breathing heavily, closing his eyes a bit.

"No! Akio, please. Please, don't close your eyes." Opening them a bit, he gave me a sad look on his face. With all his might, he caressed my face – still wiping the tear stains away.

"Please let me sleep, Jun. I'm a bit tired. I want to rest. I want to forget all the pain. I want to forget everything bad that has ever happen to me. I want to forget. Please, Jun."

Knowing that I had no choice but to let him go, I nodded.

"Okay, I'm sorry. I'm sorry if I've been keeping you awake. I'm sorry if you can't forget the pain on your chest. I'm so sorry for everything, Akio," he then smiled, gripping my hand softly.

"I won't forget you, Jun. Forever and always." Sadly smiling at him, he gave me a sweet smile back.

"I love you."

After that, he closed his eyes.