The biggest difference between a religious school and other schools is that the former includes more religious rituals. As a traditional Catholic school, Reien Girl's Academy is no exception.
Every morning at 6 o'clock, the chapel of the academy holds a mass to express gratitude to God. Since not all students are believers, attendance is not mandatory. Those who are willing to attend are welcome, while those who don't want to can choose not to come.
Most students choose to attend mass one or two days a week, while only devout believers attend every day. Kaori Tachibana is such a believer. Since the day she entered Reien Girl's Academy, she has never missed a mass unless she was sick or had special circumstances.
This time, she was hidden by her classmates Azaka Kokutou and Asakami Fujino, so she couldn't attend the daily mass. Instead, she prayed to God in her dormitory and preached the doctrine to her friends as a way to express her apology.
Influenced by her, Shizune Seo, who initially didn't believe in God, also started moving towards becoming a believer. Attending mass twice a week became the best proof of her transformation.
Today was the day Kaori Tachibana had chosen to attend mass.
Before dawn, accustomed to waking up early, Kaori pulled Seo out of bed and urged her to prepare early, then went to the chapel to wait. For believers, being late for mass is the greatest disrespect to God.
So, with her messy hair, Seo rubbed her sleepy eyes and listened to her temporary roommate's nagging. She brushed her teeth and washed her face while still half-asleep and finally left her room.
The winter morning was unusually cold. As the cold wind blew outside the dormitory, Seo suddenly felt much more awake. She greeted the nun who managed the dormitory and set off on her way to the chapel.
The scenery along the way was already familiar—bare tree branches, withered greenery, and the plain and somewhat monotonous buildings.
"What a boring place. I admire Kaori for staying in a place like this for ten years. If it weren't for what happened, she probably wouldn't have changed at all."
Numbly staring at the unchanged surroundings, Seo's thoughts wandered.
"Speaking of which, Hayama-sensei will be caught today, and I wonder if Fujino's little boyfriend succeeded yesterday."
Just then, unfamiliar scenes flashed before her eyes. Compared to the real scenery she saw just now, these scenes appeared somewhat blurry, like fleeting shadows, making it hard to distinguish whether they were real or illusions.
This feeling was already familiar to Seo because it was her innate ability to see fragments of the future.
Although this ability is not under her control, and the time gap between the future she sees and the present is not fixed, it can still be very useful at times.
For example, seeing the future exam questions. (// I want this ability!)
Or, for instance, now, in her vision of the future, she sees a scene like this:
In front of the familiar main school building, two police cars are parked, and two uniformed police officers are escorting a poorly dressed criminal into one of the cars. The rotating red police lights on the rooftop illuminate the criminal's face, allowing Seo to recognize the identity of the criminal—Hideo Hayama, the scum who intended to harm Kaori Tachibana!
In the instant when the fragment of the future passes before her eyes, a relaxed smile appears on the girl's face.
"It seems Azaka was successful. She's truly amazing... I wonder how much Mikiya-san contributed to this. By the way, Fujino's boyfriend said he was going to confront Hayama-sensei. I wonder how he plans to do it..."
Muttering to herself, the girl recalls the scene she just saw, hoping to glean some clues from it. Soon, she finds what she's looking for.
"Hayama-sensei seems to have a missing patch of hair on his head, and his clothes are different. They look like pajamas... It must be the work of Fujino's boyfriend. But why is Hayama-sensei appearing at the main school building wearing pajamas?"
Lost in her thoughts along the way, she passes by the sports stadium, which has a sign hanging that reads "Temporary Construction, No Entry," and climbs the familiar slope. She gradually senses that the environment has become somewhat noisy.
"What's going on? It shouldn't be this noisy at this time."
Seo snaps out of her thoughts and realizes that she has already reached the classical clock tower not far from the chapel. There are about a dozen students gathered around the clock tower, and the commotion in the environment is caused by them.
She listens carefully and hears them talking about something above the clock tower as if there is someone up there.
The girl looks up, squinting her eyes, and indeed, she sees a vague figure. Although she can't make out the person's appearance, the clothes they are wearing are the same as what she saw in her future vision.
"Ha... Hayama-sensei!"
The girl almost exclaims in shock but manages to cover her mouth just in time.
After taking a few more glances to confirm that she wasn't mistaken, the girl hurriedly left the clock tower and found a secluded spot to giggle.
"Fujino's little boyfriend is bold. He hung Hayama-sensei on the clock tower. Hmm... I wish I had a man who would do that for me."
While Seo was lost in her idle thoughts, a young woman in a black jacket arrived at the top of the clock tower. Hideo Hayama, who had already awakened but had his mouth covered and couldn't make a sound, displayed a disgusted expression upon seeing her.
Then, the woman punched Hayama in the stomach, causing him to lose consciousness once again from the intense impact.
The impact passed through Hayama's body and spread along the golden bell. The distant sound of the bell resonated throughout the morning campus.
Having knocked out the scum, the woman skillfully traced a cross on her chest and whispered a prayer, "May the Lord forgive my sins."
This scene, spanning a distance of nearly a kilometer, fell into the eyes of a girl with purple hair. The girl suppressed the radiance in her eyes and lowered her head thoughtfully.
"The new Headmistress, Riesbyfe Stridberg, is indeed remarkable."
◇◇◇
One hour later, two police cars drove out of the Mifune City Police Station, heading towards the outskirts where Reien Girls' Academy was located.
At the same time, certain "well-informed" journalists, like sharks smelling blood, began to stir restlessly.
At 8:30 a.m., Hideo Hayama, who had lost consciousness twice, was arrested by Daisuke Akimi in the high school section's health room.
Shortly after, the school's board chairman held a press conference, stating that the school's teacher, Hideo Hayama, was involved in a vicious case related to the mafia, and the specific details of the case were awaiting further investigation by the police.
Soon, the news of Reien Girls' Academy's teachers being involved in a heinous case swept through the entire Mifune City and quickly spread to other areas of Tokyo. Although there were some dissenting voices, the mainstream media's united voice quickly drowned out those voices that should have been the truth.
At noon, Azaka returned to the school after being out for some reason. Along with Kaori, who had been missing for a week, they went to the Chairman's office to discuss terms.
In the afternoon, Kaori left Class 4, which was already decaying, and transferred to Class 1, where Azaka was.
And thus, the storm at Reien Girls' Academy came to a calm.
The students attended their classes and focused on their studies. There would be no more old school building fires, no more incidents of the student council president causing murder and fairy-related incidents for the sake of revenge. And a certain unfortunate person listed in the "sealed designation" would not silently perish in this secluded academy.
The story that was supposed to be called "Oblivion Recorder" ended before it even began.
Perhaps doing so would make the story less exciting, but Shinji would prefer to see a story like this. At least this kind of ending is much better than a tragedy, isn't it?
PS: Shinji: Good Ending is Good.
PS2: Shirou: People die if they are killed...
PS3: Too bad.. I want to see the student council president: Misaya Ouji