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It was the middle of the day when Bae handed in the flyers Ruri requested to her in the room before walking back to the Journalism Club room. She took a seat behind the desk and started writing an article and a memorial on Hiroko Nakagawa.
'Hiroko Nakagawa was nothing but a kind diligent, and member of the student council who had nothing but love for the school. An intelligent who was always ready to help others in need and never turned down a request that was not beyond her limitations. She always advocated for the students who got in trouble with her phrase, 'There is a good in everyone and…'
She paused, scrunched up the piece of paper, and tossed it in the overflowing trash bin. Gripping her hair in frustration, she groaned loudly and wished someone could help her write something to improve the school's atmosphere but it was just wishful thinking. Ruri was focused on the preparations for the upcoming events, and Emma was suspended for two weeks for smoking on school property, but what made things worse were the rumors surrounding Hiroko about being the murderer. Although there was nothing linking her to the murder, it damaged the dead girl's reputation and increased the paranoia among the students.
Suddenly, her phone rang and she answered it in a cheerful voice. "Bea Glowheart; Leader of the Journalism Club how can I help you?"
"Bae it's me,"
"Emma?" she adjusted herself on her seat.
"I don't have much time. I need you to do me a favor."
"What is it?"
"I need you to ask one of the student council members to Ms. Haru if her key card is still missing."
"What why?"
"I'll tell you when you get the answer."
"Okay," she stood up. "I'll ask Ruri to…"
"No don't ask that girl."
Bae was shocked by this. "Why Ruri is…"
"That girl is an airhead. She won't properly do the task you ask of her and forgets things easily after 30 minutes! She won't give you what you wanted."
This information puts Bae in a dilemma because Ruri was the only 'friend' she had in the Student Council. The rest didn't like her thanks to her pushy nature and no respect for boundaries. Ending the call, she pondered on whom to go to with her request until she remembered Itsuki. She didn't have a bad record with him and, everyone knew him as a nice person. Grabbing her camera and voice recorder, she locked the room and rushed to the student council room.
Meanwhile, Itsuki was hanging the picture of Hiroko Nakagawa on the walls of the student council room and gave a deep sigh.
"You could have made a good friend," he muttered. "Rest in peace, Hiroko Nakagawa."
"Psst!"
Startled, he looked around until he saw Bae standing near the door signaling him to come to her so he walked out of the room.
"Can I help you?"
"Hi, Itsuki. Can you do me a favor?" she asked.
"Sure what is it?" he asked giving a warm smile.
"Can you help me ask the Biology Teacher if her key card is still missing?"
He raised an eyebrow at that. "Why? Do you want to get something from the school's archive?"
"Um…yes! Yes! I want to search the archive for something really important." She gave a nervous chuckle. "Sorry to bother you, but if you don't want to do it, I can go in myself, and..."
"Whoa hold on there. I didn't say I wasn't going to it," Itsuki raised his hands in protest. "She must be in the teacher's lounge by now. Why don't we go together and ask hmm?"
Bae nodded and they went to the teacher's lounge. A few minutes later, they walked out with a disappointed look.
"Bummer. She said she hasn't seen her key card for weeks," he put his hands in his pockets and looked down. "And the rest of the teachers are busy. Do you want to wait until lunchtime?"
"Sure!" Bea pipped up with a smile. "Thanks, Itsuki! I will see you during lunch!"
"Yeah, bye!" he waved, and she waved back and ran down the hall. Once she was out of his sight, he slowly put down his hand, and his smile slowly transformed into a sad frown. "Oh well, back to work."
Bae rushed back to her club room, closed the door, and dialed Emma's number. It took a few rings and when she answered, there was unidentifiable noise in the background.
"Emma?" she could hear Emma breathing loudly. "Emma, are you alright?"
She heard a loud screech that ached her ear, prompting her to remove the phone from her. What followed was a massive grunt, an ear-piercing scream, and something with a bass voice speaking in a weird language. Her eyes widened in panic, and she moved the phone closer to her ear in an attempt to figure out what was happening.
"Emma? Emma, are you there?"
There was a pant and Emma finally answered the phone. "Hello?"
"Emma!" Bae exhaled. "Oh thank goodness you are alive!"
In the other line, Emma cursed and looked at the corpse of the spirit monster she just killed then at the injured fox with three tails. Picking up the creature, she crouched down in a standing position and started running at top speed. Soon she was in her apartment tending to the creature's injuries while keeping the phone to her ear.
"Hello?"
She grunted when the creature nipped her. "Yeah?"
"Are you okay? What happened?"
"Yeah. I'm fine." She replied pouring some antiseptic on the piece of cotton wool. "Yes, I am fine,"
"What was that noise I heard?"
"I was playing a video game," she replied as the creature yelped when the antiseptic cotton came in contact with the open wound and nipped her hand again. "A violent video game,"
Bae was aware she was lying and was irritated by her attitude toward the matter. She closed her eyes and pursed her lips, returning to her cheery demeanor.
"I got what you wanted."
"What did you get?"
Bringing the phone close to the voice recorder, she hit the play button and they listened to their conversation. Emma eyes narrowed her eyes and proceeded to take out the bandage.
"So she is telling you that she didn't know that her key card was missing this whole time?" she asked.
"Well…it looks like it," she replied.
"The culprit is an opportunist."
Bae's eyes widened and she blinked twice. "What does that mean?"
"I found her key card on Hiroko Nakagawa's body,"
The room went deadly silent and Bea could hear Emma muttering the words, 'hold still,' under her breath. "What did you say?"
"Hiroko's death was not a coincidence. It was a setup."
"How?"
"What did the police say?" Emma asked back.
"They…" she swallowed saliva. "They said she was strangled for a few minutes before being hit repeatedly on the head until she died."
"And from the dried blood on her hair and face, it was clear that she killed earlier before being stuffed in the locker." She finally laid the bandaged creature on the mat near the TV. "The killer knew that the keycards could also open the maintenance room. The killer steals it from the teacher, and plants the keycard on Hiroko's body as evidence for the police to find and implement her."
"Closing the case and letting him go free."
"Exactly," there was a pause on Emma's end. "I hate to admit this but Hiroko was an easy target."
"Why do you say that?"
"She isn't observant like the rest of the student council members and she had a weak self-defense so it was easy for the killer to eliminate her." She said. "Not to mention that Hiroko was a kind soul. Maybe she wandered into the killer's trap due to her kind nature."
Hearing this only saddened Bae because apart from Ruri, Hiroko was also one of her friends in the student council. She slowly sat down on the chair and pursed her lips. "So, where is the keycard now?"
"Where do you think it is?" she asked back.
It only took her a few seconds to find the answer. "It's with you?"
"Yes."
"Why are you…"
"That's not important. Besides, I was wearing surgical gloves when I picked up the item and dusted it for fingerprints."
"Oh! Did you see anything?"
"No. It was wiped clean."
Like water in a pot of rice slowly boiling over was the only way to describe Bae's suspicion about Emma. Ending the call, she looked at her picture wondering if she had made a terrible mistake. Hiroko was a nice and caring girl who didn't deserve to die the way she did and Emma's actions of withholding evidence only made things worse.
'But the student council members have been keeping an eye on her for a while now,' she thought. 'So why did they report her when she was found with a pack of cigarettes in her bag?'
Then it hit her; Emma was set up but how can she prove it? Ironically, it was a Thursday and the second period was P.E so she left to take part in the track and field events. During the shotput, when it was her turn, she stepped out of the line and picked up the biggest shotput with one hand.
"What? She is picking the big one?"
"Impossible!"
"That's for the boys!"
"Is she nuts?"
Confused by all the murmuring, she got into position, braced herself, and threw the equipment. The crowd watched in awe as the metal ball flew through the air and landed past the makeshift 19.07m mark.
Everyone including the coach gasped in awe and Bae shrugged with a smile. "I am stronger than I look,"
P.E. class ended with Bae helping Bramble carry the rest of the sports equipment into the storage room in the auditorium.
"Wow! How did you get so strong?" he asked.
Bae dropped the bucket full of shotput and stretched. "I was raised and trained in a Shaolin Temple in the mountains in China. Part of the training was hiking with heavy objects from place to place no matter the weather."
"Wow! That sounds amazing!" he exclaimed.
She chuckled. "It isn't as great as it appears. When I was three years old, I and the other monks went on a four-day hike from our temple to a settlement in the valley. We even went for a walk in the freezing night.
"Whoa," Bramble exclaimed, shivering slightly. "I would not like that. I hate winter."
"That makes sense. You enjoy being active."
He chuckled, flashing a beautiful smile.
"Bramble," a voice cried out, and they turned to see a tall, skinny female student with dyed blonde hair and green contacts standing at the storage room's entrance.
"Are you ready for our study session?" she asked.
"Yeah. Just a sec!" he replied.
The girl smiled and skipped away happily.
"What's with you and Mio?" Bae asked confused.
"Oh," Bramble rolled his eyes. "She is my study partner."
"Hmm," she hummed placing the jump ropes on the top shelf. "But what about you and Gina?"
"We broke up,"
"Huh?" she looked at him in shock. "Why? What happened?"
"I don't know. After what happened, she became scared of almost everything. She stopped answering my calls, she stopped talking to me then she broke up with me by text a few weeks ago. We have not spoken since."
"Awee, that's so sad," Bae consoled him by tapping him on the shoulder. "Things will get better soon."
"Really? How sure are you of that?" he inquired. She just gave a comforting smile and left to the girl's changing room. After changing to her uniform, she hastily departed to look for Itsuki in the student council room, but he was not there.
"Do you know where he is Ruri?" she asked.
Bae moaned in dismay, and Ruri shrugged back. "Say, why was Emma suspended again?"
With a smile on her face, Ruri sat down at the table, taking another sip of her tea. "Why are you asking? Are you infatuated with her?"
"No, no, no! All I'm confused about is that," she answered.
Ruri laughed, her smile remaining intact. "Gina Katsuki claimed to have seen her smoking near the maintenance room so we searched her and found a pack of cigarettes in her bag," she continued, putting her elbow probingly on the table.
"But Emma doesn't smoke!" Bae said.
She shrugged and looked away trying to hide the growing smile on her face.
"Is it just me or am I sensing foul play here,"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you were the one looking after her that day and the one who took her to the Guidance Counselor's office. Emma doesn't smoke so there should be some evidence linking her away from the accusation. Maybe you saw something?"
Ruri shrugged again confirming Emma's words about her being an airhead and it irritated her. Annoyed she walked out of the room and headed straight to Ms. Mishema's office to see her.
Meanwhile, Emma's profile emerged as Ms. Mishema was occupied with inputting something on her laptop.
"An orphan, sixteen years old, living by herself in an apartment. She had previously attended this school before being moved due to bullying." She muttered pointing her cursor to the tab on her computer. Clicking on it, brought up an article about the tragic Madeline High event along with a photo of Emma, who was covered in blood and with a sad expression on her face. "They said she was found in the forest near a shrine."
After entering a few characters, the shrine's location was displayed. "Wait, I know this place,"
Hearing the knock on the door, she swiftly adjusted the contents of the screen before inviting the visitor in and was not surprised to see Bae.
"How can I help you," she inquired.
Nervousness seized Bae like a claw as she took a seat in front of the stern woman sitting before her but she took a deep breath and relaxed. "I want to talk to you about the….smoking incident." "
It's about Emma isn't it?"
Bae nodded. "I know it is too late to say this but Emma doesn't smoke. I've been to her place several times and...
"I am sorry, Bae, but you know the rules," she said interrupting her.
"I understand, but I believe it's a set-up." She responded.
"So you are saying the student was lying to me?"
Bae nodded firmly.
"Then care to explain this found in her person?" She hit the table with the pack of cigarettes.
Bae scowled as she carefully examined the cigarette pack. "The wrapping around the pack is still there."
"Excuse me?"
"The witness claimed to have seen Emma smoking that day close to the maintenance room. So why is the box still full?"
This made Ms. Meshema stare at the blue pack she was holding. The box's plastic wrapping was still on it. She gave herself a slight blush of shame, coughed, and turned her head aside. Bae watched with amusement as the 35-year-old woman groaned and took off her glasses while muttering something under her breath.
"So, why didn't she deny it?" she said abruptly.
"What do you mean?"
"The box was still full, I was accusing her of smoking and now…" she clenched and unclenched her hand. "Why didn't she defend herself?"
Bae found the question unusual because it was true. She knew Emma was strange, but she wasn't an idiot; it was her mysterious aspect that bothered her. Why was she acting like this?
Suddenly Itsuki rushed into the room in a panic, "Ms. Mishema! Something bad happened."
"What is it?" she asked standing up abruptly and knocking her chair backward.
"Just…"
Then someone screamed, driving everyone in the room to run downstairs and outside the building in the direction of the sound. Itsuki led them to the school's outdoor cafeteria, where a group of pupils had formed murmuring loudly. Ms. Mishema and Bae slipped past the crowd to see Bramble still wearing his gym gear, lying in a pool of blood but still breathing. His eyes were wide, his mouth was agape in disbelief, and beside him lay a metal bucket with a few shotput balls.
"Where is the nurse?" Ms. Mishema yelled. "Where is she?"
No one responded. The ambulance arrived, and as the paramedics loaded Bramble onto the stretcher, someone yelled.
"Hey, Bae! Isn't that the bucket of shotputs you brought into the storage unit?" someone yelled.
"Huh?" She stared at the bucket, and her eyes widened as she recognized it as the one she had carried earlier.
"Yeah, she was able to carry that thing with ease!"
"Oh my god! Do you believe she did it?"
"Of course she did it. What are you expecting?"
Bae recognized the last voice as Gina Katsuki's and it heightened the murmur among them. Confused, she tried to run from the scene, but some students rushed on her and held her to the ground. Bae fought to remove them, but other classmates joined in choking her.
"Hey!" Ms. Mishema yelled as she and the rest of the student council pushed the students off her. "Stop it!"
Bae was freed from the student after much struggle, and she was brought into Ms. Mishema's office. The rest of the students cried and yelled outside the office, demanding that she be let out, but Ms. Mishema barred the door with her desk and locked it.
"Ms. Mishema," Bae called out in a terrified voice.
"You stay here until the police arrive," she replied.
"But I didn't do it," her eyes welled with tears.
Ms. Mishema gave her a suspicious look as she turned to face her. "We'll see,"
Meanwhile, a mother and father were sitting on the couch in the living room staring at the strange girl who walked into their house earlier and asked to see their daughter's bedroom but what they found together shocked them.
"Did you know about this?" the 45-year-old man asked his wife.
The trembling woman shook her head and looked back at the girl who stared back at them. "What is happening?"
Emma gave them a sympathetic look. "I'll sort this out. I promise."
The woman shook her head and started crying as her husband rubbed her shoulders in a comforting way. Emma left their house and walked home. When she arrived there, she checked her phone and was surprised to see dozens of missed calls from Bae and Itsuki. She tried calling Bae's number but got no answer, so she dialed Itsuki instead.
"This jerk should better pick up," she muttered, dialing the number again. "Pick up!"
"Hello,"
"What happened Itsuki?" she demanded.
"It 's Bae. She has been arrested."
"What?"
"A student was fatally injured and the police think Bae did it."
"That the...what proof do those idiots have?" she demanded.
"Her fingerprints were on the object that was used to injure him." He replied nervously adjusting his tie. "Listen I don't get the situation but…"
"Screw that! I am coming there right now!"
"No don't come!" Itsuki warned. "Don't! It's not safe!"
"What do you mean it's not safe?"
"It's the students! They are rioting!"
"What?"
"Listen. I'll call you back!"
With that, he ended the call. Cursing herself, Emma ran back to the school grounds and was shocked to see police cars surrounding the premises with students being led out of the premises like prisoners but the tension was high; windows were broken, doors were broken and some of the plants were destroyed. Angry at herself for letting things go far, she ducked underneath the yellow tape snuck into the school's building, and went straight to the Headmaster's office. It was locked so she used the keycard she took from Hiroko's body to open the door.
The Headmaster's office was as mundane as always but Emma nearly wanted to vomit at the sight of his office. Sighing, she quickly sat down typed in a few digits to unlock his computer, and started her search.
While warmer days were on the horizon for Barusa Town's east side, the town's citizens still had to endure frigid winter nights. Bae, still in her nightgown, sat at the dining table in her modest traditional apartment, tears welling up in her eyes as she recalled the horrific police questioning. Her eyes pinched again and she let the tears fall, trickling down her cheeks and falling into her cup. Then she saw on her phone that Emma had left her a message. She read it while wiping away her tears, surprised.
'Hang on my friend. I will get you out of this,'
ns 15.158.61.6da2
