"Kirima Nagi? Why would she?" cried out Yurihara when she heard Saotome'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."
Saotome told Yurihara about Kirima 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 Kirima was taking down one after the other - all of 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. Why is why she hasn't caught wind of us yet," he said quietly.
But inside, he knew just how precarious of a position they were in. If they had been just a little bit late in disposing Akiko, Kirima would most certainly have deduced what was wrong with her. It had been a very close save.
"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 Kirima all too well.
"But her current plans 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?"
Saotome 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..." Saotome started to say, when suddenly-
"-what are you doing here, Echoes?" a cheery girl's voice asked, as the door to the changing room swung open.
From the stripes of 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-!" Saotome 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 Saotome, 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!" Saotome 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!" Saotome yelled, glancing down at the girl's corpse. Looking closely, he recognized her face. "She's... Kamikishiro Naoko?"
She was Kirima's few precious friends. That's why he knew her. Kirima 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 Kirima'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 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 she was greeted with a warm and knowing nod and a luminious smile.
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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, Saotome 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. Saotome 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 phrases, "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 hint of evil and of deeply person 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.