"Kobayashi-san, have you seen where Tomoya-kun is?" Miyu asks.
"Isn't he resting in the infirmary? His case was quite severe," Keiko replies.
"No... Could he have left again? It seems they don't understand that they need to rest."
Indeed, everyone is already aware that they will not recover, and some tend to abandon rest to take one last breath of freedom. But this doesn't seem to be true for the boy in question. His condition was so severe that I believe he would have difficulty even walking.
"Keep treating the other patients; I'll go look for him," I offer.
"Oh, that would be a great help, Johann-kun."
Walking through the courtyard, I see a trail that doesn't resemble footprints. It looks more like something was dragged. Initially, it's not what I'm looking for, but since there's nothing more suspicious than this, I decide to follow it.
As I follow the trail in the snow, I notice it leads toward the school gate.
Finally, I come across Haruki, focused as he pulls a garbage bag.
I watch his slow steps as he heads toward the outside.
What is he thinking?
As he gets closer to the gate, I see an endless darkness materializing before him, then taking on that familiar hooded humanoid form. It waits patiently to reap him as soon as he sets foot outside the gate.
"Haruki, what do you think you're doing? Waste isn't disposed of here."
"Ah, Johann-san," he turns to me. "So you caught me. I suppose it's no use trying to fool you."
Combined with a missing student, such a suspicious act makes it easy to connect the dots.
I lower my gaze and ask.
"What's in that bag?"
"What do you think is in it?"
Just as I suspected.
I remain silent while staring at him. Then he continues as he slowly opens the bag.
"As perceptive as always. I thought I wouldn't get caught if I dealt with this quickly," he shows the boy inside the bag.
To be disposing of a corpse in such an unconventional manner without notifying anyone beforehand, it's only natural to assume he's responsible for the death.
I walk up to him to continue the conversation.
"Well, first of all, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. I'd like to hear what you have to say in your defense."
"If I say he died and, out of laziness to bury him, I intend to throw him outside the school to make his body disappear... would you believe me?"
"Not at all. Only living beings disappear; a corpse would remain intact out there, just like the clothes of those who tried to escape."
The truth is, they don't simply disappear—Death's scythe reaps their souls. If it's just a corpse, nothing happens; it's treated as mere inanimate matter.
"I figured you wouldn't believe me, but you're wrong about one point," he closes his eyes, pauses for a few seconds, then opens them and completes, "Tomoya-kun is still alive."
I turn my gaze to the bag and notice that he is indeed breathing. He appears to be in a coma.
If he didn't kill him, then what's the meaning of this? Why would he be trying to dispose of evidence for a crime he didn't commit? Or does he also believe that death is the best way to free his companions from pain?
"What were you planning to do with this? You should know this would be the worst way to perform euthanasia on him."
"This is another point you've misunderstood. I'm not doing this for him."
The conversation I had with Haruki in one of the realities comes to mind. Hasegawa Haruki didn't sample food thinking of the collective good—he did it to enhance his image.
"You're doing this for yourself?"
He lets out a slight sigh and smiles.
"How long have we been stuck here? Five years? I don't even know anymore. I just want to leave this place. At first, I had some hope that this hell would end, but look where we are now..."
I see. So he's not disposing of evidence of his crime. He's about to commit the crime itself.
"And you think doing this will let you escape?"
"Who knows? Either I do this, or I wait for my body to end up like his," he glances at the boy in the coma for a moment, then continues. "You remember the rules announced over the loudspeakers, don't you?"
What?
These words sound strangely heavy to me. It feels like I'm momentarily hearing that bizarre announcement again. Once more, I feel a colossal pressure.
I recover from this terrible sensation and ponder his account.
What is he talking about? Mikoto and I explained to all the students that none of our plans regarding this worked. We tried to circumvent those rules countless times and failed every time. Haruki, being part of the student council, couldn't have forgotten this.
"I thought you were aware that I've already tried something similar. Not with one person but with the entire student body. Why do you think it would be different for you?"
"I have a slightly different idea than what you described. To be honest, I don't know if it will work, but as I said... I have nothing to lose. If you had two choices, which would you pick between the improbable victory or the certainty of defeat?"
The memories of my experiments, where I confined Mikoto and Ailiss and gunned down everyone, slowly resurface to corrupt my mind.
At this point, I can't place myself as an honorable hero giving moral speeches because what I did and would be willing to do to save them is far worse.
"If that's what you want, I won't stop you. But think carefully before you act impulsively. Once you cross the school's boundary, there's no going back."
I don't know what I'm saying—these are mere empty words. Both he and I know that the day we're freed from this game will never come. So why am I clinging to these old expressions about valuing life devoid of any meaning?
Am I telling this lie to him or to myself?
"I thought you'd try to stop me to save him."
"As you said... this boy is about to die anyway. The only thing that will change is that he'll endure much more pain before dying."
"Precisely because of that, unlike me, you did everything to try to save Kaichou and Ailiss-san."
"I see you also have a flawed view of me. Indeed, I did it for them, but I wouldn't do it for anyone else. And thinking about it, if your experiment works, I might do the same to save them. So, go ahead."
Haruki widens his eyes, sighs, lifts his head as he gazes at the sky, and responds.
"I understand... so, there truly are no saints in this world. Still, we are very different... because you care about them. On the other hand, I'd do it without hesitation if I were given the chance to escape, even if it meant leaving everyone behind—including Keiko. I'd do it, even now, because I'm very selfish," he laughs bitterly. "But at least, can you say goodbye to her for me?"
"Alright."
Indeed, this world of repetitions serves to rot everyone... time can destroy anything, even your most intimate desires. It can sweep away all our values.
However, Haruki is mistaken about the nobility of my sacrifice for them. My sick love for them is not without its selfish nature. That became very clear to me when I confined them.
He then resumes walking toward the gate, stopping just before the ominous entity.
He removes the boy from the bag and lifts him, supporting him against his own body.
Finally, he pulls a knife from his pocket and stabs him in the stomach.
"Please, accept this sacrifice, and in exchange, grant me my freedom!" he cries out in despair and throws the boy toward the hooded figure before him.
Haruki cannot see it, but I can see Death reaping his offering.
After seeing him disappear, Haruki runs toward the exterior of the school and, like his victim, has his soul consumed as well.
In the end, as expected, it was a complete failure. Haruki should have realized a simple truth much earlier: why would Death negotiate someone else's life with you when it can simply take both souls? They were both its captives from the start.
Indeed, it was something I hadn't tried before, but observing his experiment did me no good. It seems I will continue blindly searching for a method to free Mikoto and Ailiss from this hell.
It appears that one by one, everyone will disappear... an inevitable end.
...
The repetitions continue incessantly until the number of survivors drops to half—ten students.
This time, most of the victims succumbed to the symptoms of decay, which are now afflicting Keiko.
"Kobayashi-san, please remain lying down. You need to rest as much as possible," Miyu advises.
Keiko's condition has worsened significantly over the past few iterations. What started as mere coughing has progressed to total weakness.
Did Haruki's disappearance have a strong emotional impact on her? Could it have spiritually weakened her?
"Don't worry about me; I'll be—" she interrupts herself with a coughing fit, covering her mouth with her hand.
Her hand is covered in blood. It seems her internal organs must already be failing. As with the others, she must have reached the limit of her exposure to this supernatural reality.
Miyu and Manabu have proven to be the most resilient among those designated as mere passive participants in this game. Thus, they are the ones caring for the other patients.
Besides myself, Ailiss, Mikoto, Miyu, Manabu, and Keiko, there are still four other survivors. Although their condition isn't as critical as Keiko's, they're not in great shape either and require constant medical assistance.
To be honest, I don't see them lasting much longer. Like Keiko, it's only a matter of time before they are swept away by this curse.
"Miyucchi, I reheated the soup you made," Manabu says, holding a bowl.
"Thank you, Manabu-kun," she turns to Keiko. "Come on, try to eat a little. It's delicious; it'll definitely make you feel a bit better," she offers the spoon.
"Miyu-san, you've already done enough for me," Keiko shakes her head, her voice frail.
Miyu sets the bowl of soup down and tries to revive Keiko.
"Not yet, please... don't go," she presses her friend's chest. "Don't leave us alone... one by one, our friends have disappeared one by one. You can't go too," she starts tearing up.
"I'm so sorry, Miyu-san. I really am. But for me, it's... okay now. Finally, I'll get to rest..." Keiko slowly closes her eyes, never to open them again.
Thus, another friend departs. Our numbers continue to dwindle. With this loss, only nine remain, and at this rate, soon, there will be no one left.
"No! Kobayashi-san! Open your eyes!" Miyu cries. "Please! Please..."
"You did what you could. She surely passed away happy to have a friend like you," says Manabu.
"I know..." Miyu wipes her tears. "But why does it have to be this way? Will we never be free of this misery? Will we never simply live?"
I fear to inform her, but all evidence points to the contrary. By definition, in hell, suffering cannot have an end. It is clear that they will not let us rest, tormenting us as much as possible.
As I watch Miyu weep for her friend's permanent departure, I feel nothing. It makes me wonder if, in these repetitions, death has become a more natural condition for me than life itself.
I leave the room and find Mikoto and Ailiss in the hallway. I lower my head, signaling what has happened.
"I understand..." Mikoto says.
It seems you're the only one left. Only Keiko remained of the original student council members, and she has now passed away.
Mikoto tries to appear strong, as a leader should, but it's undeniable that she feels the loss of colleagues who spent so much time with her. I believe that even when she had to kill them, she must have hesitated—enough that Takashi performed most of those duties for her.
I walk to the window and gaze at the starry sky.
I wonder where the Laplace demons are... They've observed my repetitions throughout this horrific ritual.
No one is going mad or battling each other anymore. I fail to see their reasons for keeping us trapped in these eternal loops.
In any case, what do they intend to do when everyone is gone? At this rate, there will literally be no source of entertainment left for them to condition us with.