Behind me were three girls. The one who had caught my eye was at the front, with a somewhat serious tone and look. To her left and right were two more girls, apparently a little scared.
They were looking at me, although they broke eye contact as soon as I looked back at them.
"… Me?"
"Yes, to you!"
As the girl spoke, the people who hadn't yet left fell silent, staring at the group of four now causing a ruckus. I could feel everyone getting closer, along with murmurs too faint to understand from a distance.
" I'm just going to ask you one thing…"
"…?" I didn't quite understand what it had to do with her. Her name doesn't come to mind right now, but I think it was something like Otsuki… No, her last name was Otsuki.
"…" "…" Both of the girls behind her were quiet. I don't think they were even from this class. Did they come in after leaving their own? Did it take me that long to get up?
"Well, I guess you've heard anyway…"
"… About what?"
Otsuki looked both surprised and disappointed by my answer.
"…Some rumors. Rumors that have been circulating around the school since Monday."
I just kept quiet and let her talk. I still didn't understand anything.
She sighed, treating me like a lost cause. "…I find it shocking that you haven't heard…" I thought it would be some gossip about &$%"! and why I wasn't going to class, but from there, it all went downhill.
"…What a shameless woman." She finished the sentence with an insult.
"...Hey?"
"Anyway… Everyone's talking about what happened on Saturday. Before I say anything else, I'm so sorry for your loss." The moment he started talking, the whole class leaned closer to pay attention; it was like a soap opera.
I was getting nervous. Besides, they've already mentioned something about this last Saturday. I assumed the whole class would know, but the whole school?
"Likewise, I'm still unsure what to believe…" Throughout her explanation, she sounded slightly angry, I don't know what about. I can't think of anything. She was speaking in a very ambiguous way.
"…I figured you'd heard. And, thank you for the condolences," I replied.
" No, I don't think you're understanding me…" She emphasized. What could I possibly not understand about something so clear and so recent?
"About what? I really don't want to talk about it anymore." She tried to keep her voice low. Loud enough for me to hear, but low enough to avoid attracting attention. She tried to end the conversation.
Everyone in the class was standing in front of me, paying attention. Their eyes were expectant, searching for something.
"Wha-… No, you really don't know what I'm talking about…" After making sure she was right, Otsuki asked one of the girls behind her a strange request, not because it was unique, but because of the given situation.
"Tsukiyomi, can you play the video?" He asked the girl on his right.
It didn't take long for her to pull out her phone and unlock it. After searching for it for a bit, she played something for me.
"I still can't believe what they say happened, just look at it for me."
He put a video on his phone. He came over to me just to show it to me.
At the beginning of this, there were the two girls from now, the ones who were next to him, walking down the street.
[Hey, Atsumi!] Tsukiyomi was waving at the camera, which was in selfie mode. [Holi holi!], the other girl was behind her.
[Look, we were going to your house, to get you out of it and stay the night with us.] Both of them had a cheerful and lively tone.
[We'll convince your parents, don't worry.]
[Yes. And if they don't let you stay over, then we'll sleep at your house!]
Both of them had a cheerful tone of voice, despite the late hour. They were walking while they talked.
[It's no good for you to force us out! Like you do other times...]
[When we get to your house, let us know if you can, okay?]
[That!]
[Well, we're there in-] His sentence was briefly interrupted, but not of his own volition.
[ AAAAAHHH!!! ] A sudden scream could be heard in the distance. It sounded agonized, desperate. Broken.
[...What was that?!]
[H-he didn't come from far away…]
The intonation and expression of both showed clear surprise and concern.
[Do you think we should go?]
[I don't know... It gives me the creeps... I don't want to get into trouble.]
The phone started recording on the floor. They weren't paying attention to what it was recording.
[What if it's something serious?]
[Yeah… but…]
[We can take a look, and if it's something bad, we can record it with our cell phone as evidence and call the police.]
[Y-you really want to do something like that?…]
[Nothing good can come from a scream like that… I promise we'll leave as soon as something strange happens.]
[...Without a second thought.]
[Yes. Don't worry. I'd be upset if the news later said something had happened around here.] Tsukiyomi was the one who insisted on going to see where the scream was coming from. She continued talking, now to the camera.
[Atsumi, if we don't make it to your house, find our bodies for our sake, okay?]
[S-leave that teasing for another time!!] Tsukiyomi was in the same cheerful and silly tone as before, while the other girl was flustered.
[I'll continue the video later, for now, I'm going to cut it.] Just like he said, the video is over.
The only interesting thing I could take away from the video was the scream. I don't know if I recognize it, and I definitely haven't heard any screams in my neighborhood recently…
"There's more."
"...Y-yes." I was still confused. Maybe they were just surprised that I didn't know about the rumor, and that I hadn't mentioned it to anyone.
The rest of the class watched our interaction, not wanting to watch the video at all.
I was tense. More than anything that might appear in the video, it's because of the entire class's attention to the situation. Can't you go home?
Tsukiyomi posted the following video. Several voices could be heard in the distance, but one stood out.
[ I… ] At first, I couldn't hear her well.
The girls were about to peek around a corner. In the video, the front camera was on, recording them silently walking toward a street, hugging the wall.
[W-we've already arrived, we don't know what's going on yet.]
[Yes, Tsukiyomi is going to do the honors of peeking in.]
[W-Why me!?] Both of them tried to speak quietly, so that they couldn't be heard. The voice in the distance was still faint.
[You were the one who wanted to come here!]
[Ugh… O-okay, I'll do it.]
The phone was shaking slightly as it got closer and closer to crossing the corner.
[ I… ] That was enough for me to understand everything. I went from being nervous and intrigued to agitated and pressured.
The cell phone peeked out from around the corner.
[What's…] Tsukiyomi's voice instantly fell silent.
[...Huh?] She zoomed in with the camera, so that the scene could be seen better.
An ambulance was stopped in the middle of the street, in front of a house. Outside, two police officers were standing next to an SVA ambulance, with their respective vehicles nearby. A boy was sitting on the street, his hands covering his head, staring at the ground, hunched over.
Blood.
[…] You could tell Tsukiyomi was in a state of shock, not only because of the scene, but also because of the prominent voice.
[ I KILLED HER! ] Just hearing such a broken and desperate scream made me back down. That could have woken more than one person up.
Both police officers were trying to help the boy, holding him down and doing everything they could to calm him down, but their efforts were failing in the face of the young man's drastic attitude.
No wonder people in nearby houses came out to see what was happening.
His jacket, pants, and hands were lightly stained with blood. He had a handprint on his right cheek, also drawn in blood, and his hair was also stained with blood.
He kept saying the same phrase, "I killed her…"
[ WITH MY OWN HANDS… ]
As her cries continued, the scene continued.
Five people left the house, carrying a stretcher with one person on it. The stretcher was stained with blood, as were the paramedics.
As soon as they left, the boy looked up and was stunned by the scene. He tried to say something, but couldn't. He just stammered.
He was about to get up and throw himself at the stretcher, but…
[Don't look. Calm down, everything will be okay. Look me in the eyes, she's going to-] One of the police officers in front of the young man tried to talk to him while holding him by the shoulders, trying to block out the gruesome scene with his body.
[AMAYA !!! ] No…
Both men had to restrain the boy, who tried to rush towards the person on the stretcher, screaming desperately while doing so, but at the same time, displaying pure, almost animal rage.
[ NO! DON'T TAKE HER! PLEASE! No...]
Gasps and moans could be heard from the young man as the paramedics loaded the girl into the ambulance.
[…]
[W-what is-?]
[Don't come any closer, Hina. Let's go. We'll meet another day] Tsukiyomi said to the other girl, as she turned away, forgetting to finish the video.
They both sounded nervous, Hina hesitant, but Tsukiyomi sounded terrified.
The video ended there. I couldn't take it anymore.
Weight, pressure, tightness, tremors, nausea. A tense aura enveloped me, as everything took on a darker hue, but at the same time, it lost its color.
Tsukiyomi was crying in class. She was crouching down, covering her face. Hina was trying to calm her down, though she was also agitated.
"C-come on… explain this… to everyone… please." Even Otsuki was somewhat conflicted after watching the video again.
People already knew all this. They'd already seen it. They were talking to each other. About me. Blaming me.
For my part, I tried to get away from them step by step, but my legs wouldn't respond.
They were shaking. It was as if I was deliberately hitting the ground. I didn't feel capable of saying anything at that moment either.
"I-I…" The few words that came out of my mouth were too weak to be heard.
Every time, I could hear my name more and more in their mouths.
Riku. Riku. Riku. Riku. Riku. Riku. Riku. Riku. Riku. Riku.
The voices speaking among themselves gradually pressured me to speak.
The faces of the people around him grew darker and darker.
His eyes were the only thing that still shone.
All marked on me.
They wanted to know the meaning of my words.
The only face I could make out was Otsuki's.
Hate.
Doubt.
Hope.
Every second I remained silent increased the tension in the class.
Everyone was staring at me. I couldn't tell what the other people's screams were saying; I just knew they were directed at me.
Pressure.
It was all dark.
Pressure
I was going to speak.
Pressure.
I wanted to make it all stop.
Solution.
"I don't…"
Request.
"Say something!" Otsuki exclaimed, waiting for a clear answer. Yes or no.
Answer.
" She committed suicide…"
Silence.
Everyone understood that I said something, but not what I said. They were waiting for me to say it again.
"What did he say?" "Did you hear that?" "Say it again!"
"You haven't done anything, have you?" Tsukiyomi tried to convince herself that what she thought was a lie.
But he couldn't speak.
Nothing came out of my mouth.
I couldn't see anything anymore.
Black.
I was lost.
I couldn't do anything.
He wasn't able to do anything.
I wanted to shrink back and cover my ears.
But I couldn't do that either.
Everyone would look down on me even more if I did.
My soul trembled.
I felt nothing, but I understood everything.
I could still hear all those voices.
That weak cry behind the impenetrable wall in front of him.
I was scared. I'd never felt so terrified, so pressured.
Everything was horrible. Everyone was staring at me. I had no one on my side. Everyone was against me.
I felt...
...so lonely.
"What's all the fuss about?!" An angry teacher burst into the classroom. For a moment, I could see everything again.
The whole class turned to look at the teacher, except me.
. ..Now.
There was no one behind me. I could run. I was going to run. I turned around.
I stopped seeing all the people there. It seemed like I was alone.
But when I turned around, something prevented me from leaving.
Someone was blocking my exit.
A white place.