Chapter 5: Rusty Can
While Yuiru was leading the bob-cut girl away, Houzuki and the others arrived at the gymnasium.
Normally used by sports clubs like the basketball team, the gymnasium was strangely devoid of any signs of people.
The heavy door was not locked and opened easily. The gymnasium was dimly lit, eerie with the twilight shining through the windows placed high up.
Facing the empty and cavernous gymnasium, Houzuki felt an inexplicable sense of dread. It felt like they were being left behind somehow.
“Where could the can be?”
“Let’s split up and search!”
Upon Towako’s suggestion, Houzuki and the biology teacher, Kuroomi Otoya, agreed to it.
While the gymnasium offered a wide view, there were surprisingly many hiding spots.
Especially backstage and in the gymnasium storage room, if unnoticed and locked, they could remain hidden forever. It would be problematic if they were both hard to notice and locked.
Houzuki dove into the wings of the stage to search for the rusty can to end the game of hide and seek, but it was nowhere to be found. All she found were dusty stage props and a desk inexplicably placed there.
“Where could it be?”
“That idiot might be buying us time, but we don’t know how long that’ll last. It’s better to find it quickly.”
As Houzuki listened to the exchange between Towako and Otoya while searching for the rusty can in the wings of the stage, she surveyed the entire gymnasium from the stage.
There was one more place she could think of—the gymnasium storage room.
If it wasn’t in that storage room, they would have a hard time figuring out the whereabouts of the rusty can. If it were hidden in a storage room for gymnasium chairs or something similar, they would need to move the chairs aside.
Houzuki descended from the stage and headed towards the gymnasium storage room.
“Houzuki-chan?”
From behind, Towako calls out, but Houzuki doesn’t respond.
Houzuki, as if drawn toward the gym storage shed, reaches out toward the locked door.
With a tug, the slightly dusty door easily swings open with a heavy creak.
Garagaragaragara.(TN: rattle x4)
Dustiness wafts out from the gap, causing her to involuntarily choke.
Peering into the dim storage shed, Houzuki sees vaulting boxes and balls stacked in cages, all typical equipment for gym class. Stepping into the dusty shed, a chilly air brushes against her skin.
“….?”
There’s something on top of the vaulting box.
Houzuki reaches out and picks up whatever is placed on top of it.
The surface is rough, with something like a label partially peeled off. A smell akin to rusted metal pierces through the dusty air.
It’s a rusty can. Whether it used to contain peaches or not, both the exterior and interior are covered in rust.
“I found it…!!”
With sparkling eyes, Houzuki hastily turns to leave the shed.
“You found it?”
A girl with bobbed hair peers into the shed’s entrance.
“Hiih!”
Houzuki lets out an involuntary scream. Fortunately, the recoil from stepping back prevented her from letting go of the rusty can. If she had let go of the can, her life might have been in danger.
――Huh?
The fact that the girl with the bobbed hair is here makes me wonder what happened to Otoya and Towako.
Where did Yuiru, who took on the role of decoy, go?
“You finally found it, huh?”
The girl with the bobbed hair laughs with a mouth split open to her ears.
“But it’s too late. I’m bored now.”
Stepping into the gym storage shed, the girl extends her small hand towards Houzuki.
Does she really think she can get away with countless unreasonable antics, only to be forgiven with a simple “I’m bored” at the end?
With no way out, Houzuki is tripped by a ball rolling on the floor, falling flat on her backside. Meanwhile, the girl steadily closes in.
Peta, peta.(TN: light footsteps)
Peta, peta.
The girl’s menacing hand draws closer.
Peta, peta.
Peta, peta.
It gets closer and closer.
Peta, peta.
Peta.
She will eventually be caught.
“A rather unruly brat, aren’t you? Despite the effort I’ve put into playing with you, are you getting distracted by other adults?”
The girl’s arm, reaching out towards Houzuki, is intercepted by a male student who appears from the side.
With shoulder-length pure silver hair and bright red eyes shining fiercely, he wears a wicked grin on his well-defined face. He holds the silver knife in his opposite hand, ready to strike, while gripping the girl’s hand.
As the girl turns towards the silver-haired red-eyed male student, he swiftly thrusts the tip of the silver knife into the girl’s bloodshot eyeball.
“――AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!?”
“Hahahaha,what a wonderful scream.”
The silver-haired, red-eyed male student – Yuiru Enen kicks away the girl who thrashes around after her eye is pierced, and then walks towards Houzuki with leisurely steps.
“Are you hurt, Houzuki?”
“……I didn’t expect you’d come to save me.”
Grasping the hand offered by Yuiru, Houzuki stands up and hands over the rusty can.
This will be his meal for now.
Though it’s just a can, there’s no doubt it’s something that forms a part of this bobbed-haired girl.
Yuiru, alternating his gaze between the can and Houzuki, immediately clasps his hands together over the rusty can as if in anticipation.
“I ta da ki ma su”
