[Alice...]
It seemed like someone's voice rang out beside him.
[Alice...]
A voice that seemed to be calling out softly, yet also sounded like it was muttering to itself.
[Alice... is here, okay...]
Ringing right against his ear, accompanied by a low, stifled giggle, a voice that sounded as if it were making a self-introduction.
Gao Hai opened his eyes.
He looked to his side and saw Maki sleeping leaning against him, her long brown hair scattered in disarray.
The young girl wasn't sleeping very peacefully, knitting her brows from time to time, probably because she had been teased a bit too much earlier. After all, she had endured quite a shock yesterday, and as a result, hadn't been able to rest well today either; she was likely still very uncomfortable right now. Of course, this was Maki's own choice—who asked her to run out at that critical moment?
Gao Hai looked to his other side; Chika was also leaning against his body at this moment, her head resting on one of his shoulders as she slept soundly.
Chika wasn't sleeping very steadily right now either; she would subconsciously twist her body from time to time, to the point where her shoulder was already exposed outside the blanket, and even the slender rope wrapped around her neck was slightly visible.
She forgot to untie the rope before sleeping. Though, to be honest, he didn't really know how to untie it either, since he and Maki had tied it quite haphazardly back then. He could only wait for Chika to wake up and see how to untie this rope; it was possible they might just have to cut it directly.
Pinned down by two soundly sleeping girls on his left and right, although Gao Hai really wanted to get up for a bit, he ultimately could only lie honestly on the bed.
Come to think of it, his current pace of life was truly decadent enough. To think he actually committed such scum-like, degenerate acts with two girls together, and enjoyed it so much. Oh my, I really am a deeply sinful person. What on earth is with this overwhelming sense of pleasure without any guilt?~
However, with things like this, it feels like the relationship between Kaguya and this group of us has drifted even further apart.
Gao Hai couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
In a sense, Kaguya Shinomiya seems to be the only decent person left in this small squad of his who doesn't mess around with male-female relationships. Eh, strange, why do I feel like tearing up? That's really strange enough.
No, no, now is not the time to think about such things.
Gao Hai frowned slightly; he felt as if he had forgotten something, something that seemed important, yet also seemed unimportant.
The only thing he could confirm was that he was getting a bit drowsy again. After all, having battled continuously with two cute girls for several hours, even with the enhancement of an S-rank body, he still couldn't quite hold out. Thus, after a brief period of wakefulness, Gao Hai yawned, closed his eyes, and fell asleep once more.
***
The night remained deep.
People were immersed in their dreams, waiting for the arrival of the next day.
However, some were having sweet dreams, while others were trapped in nightmares.
Miko Yotsuya opened her eyes in a trance, discovering she had returned to school and was sitting in class.
Am I... currently in class?
Her consciousness remained very unclear; everything seemed to be acting purely on instinct.
Looking around, the students sitting nearby had faces that appeared very indistinct for some reason, blurred as if a filter had been applied.
It seems... I don't see any classmates I know?
The dazed Miko tilted her head slightly.
But because she was in a dream, she only felt somewhat puzzled by this and didn't do anything, continuing to sit in her seat just like that.
The teacher on the podium was still speaking.
She couldn't hear clearly what she was talking about.
The surrounding sounds—there was no way to hear any of them clearly.
What is... going on?
Clap clap clap clap clap—
The teacher on the podium suddenly started applauding.
The surrounding students also clapped and cheered along.
Startled by the sudden applause, Miko couldn't help but raise her head in confusion, looking towards the figure that everyone was gazing at.
That was...
"Hello everyone, I am Alice."
In the midst of giggling sounds, it approached.
"What Alice likes most is making friends. Everyone must become good friends with Alice, okay?"
A smiling voice filled with innocence, incredibly happy.
"Everyone must be with Alice, leave your happiest memories here, leave your most beautiful moments here, okay?"
Amidst everyone's cheers and exclamations, under everyone's gaze, that giggling, happily smiling voice.
Who was that?
Under the bright lights, Miko only felt a wave of creeping horror.
No.
She seemed to hear a voice speaking to her from the bottom of her heart.
No no no no no—
Cannot look!
Absolutely cannot look!
She lowered her head, burying it completely into her own embrace.
She couldn't look at that person, couldn't look at her appearance, couldn't gaze at her...
If she saw... if she saw her...
"Why don't you raise your head?"
The smiling voice rang in her ears.
"Why don't you take a look at Alice?"
"Don't you want to become Alice's friend?"
"Alice really wants to become good friends with you~"
Laughter as innocent as a child's.
A clear voice that seemed to carry no impurities, completely pure from the moment of birth.
A voice that made one feel an incomparable longing, as if it had never been tainted by any filth from birth until now.
But that's wrong.
What she saw wasn't that.
What she saw wasn't something like that.
That was...
Blood...
Sharp needles piercing in from the temples, penetrating through the eyeballs, protruding little by little from inside the eyes, while those eyes were rapidly soaked in fresh blood, trembling ceaselessly.
Teeth were pulled out one by one, then sharp nails were stabbed into the gum bed, before a hammer was raised high and brought down, driving the nails in.
After sawing open the scalp, carefully using a dull small knife and a gel pen to pick open the skin, gradually, peeling off a sheet of skin little by little.
Of course, the most important thing is to fix the hands and feet and body in place.
If they always move around, how can they become good friends?
Once things are dug out, they must be categorized and stored well.
The dirty blood must be cleaned up; can't leave a strange smell for friends.
Must make every friend feel happy; that's what should be done.
Gifts must be prepared properly.
Must entertain friends and guests properly.
If not polite, Mom and Dad will get angry.
Can't let Mom and Dad get angry.
Oh my, oh my, the fingers are moving randomly again.
Can Alice take them away for a little while?
No...
No, what on earth is...
Her chaotic consciousness had completely sobered up.
The only things she could hear in her ears were the miserable howling sounds filling the classroom.
The smell of blood was constantly spreading.
Amidst the nauseating, viscous sounds, the singing voice continued.
She was singing:
"Stepped on a cat, stepped on a cat~"
Then she laughed in a low voice again.
As if she were not in this bloody scene at all.
As if these countless miserable howls had nothing to do with her.
As if she had just arrived in this world, untainted by any filth, so pure and flawless.
She heard cheers ringing out from afar.
In a place that couldn't be seen, someone was shouting, someone was applauding, someone was cheering.
And that laughter drifted past her surroundings.
Then suddenly, it stopped right beside her ear, the sound of breathing even blowing onto her ear.
She was speaking to her, quietly saying:
"Alice wants to become friends with you, is that okay?"
Knock knock.
The sound of a door being knocked rang out from somewhere.
"Alice wants to talk to you, is that okay?"
Knock knock.
A sound that seemed to ring out from a place very close to her.
"Alice is coming in now, sorry for the intrusion Ehehe"
Creak—
The door was opened.
...
...
It wasn't until a long time after waking up.
Her body was still difficult to move even an inch.
It was as if the blood all over her body had been frozen, stiffened by that indescribable horror.
Miko Yotsuya panted heavily, and only after a long time did she finally crawl up from the bed.
She could already see the glimmer of light coming in from outside the window.
By now, it should already be morning; time to get up, wash, and go to school.
"Was it just a dream?"
The young girl reached out to comb through her somewhat messy hair, her gaze holding fatigue that couldn't be concealed.
This bizarre dream, that existence calling itself [Alice], seemed to be a little girl, yet also seemed to be an anomaly that wasn't human at all. It seemed this wasn't the first time. It was just that the contents of the dream would be quickly forgotten after waking up each time; at most, only a faint sense of fear would remain, and she would only vaguely remember dreaming of such a person.
Why would she have such dreams?
Sighing, Miko Yotsuya pulled open the curtains and looked out the window, looking up at the sky, at those things that were still floating there, just having become very faint, faint to the point where they were almost invisible.
There was one thing Gao Hai did not know, and that was that Miko Yotsuya was not like him, who could only clearly observe the existence of those things at twilight and then couldn't see their specific outlines clearly once night fell. For this young girl, she could now see these strange phantoms all day long. No matter the time, no matter the place, nothing would affect Miko Yotsuya's observation of these anomalies.
This matter made the young girl's heart very heavy.
Speaking of which, why did she start dreaming of these strange things?
And although the dreams every night were different, they always involved that person named [Alice]?
Miko Yotsuya couldn't help but recall a mysterious ritual called [Alice's Game] that had become popular in her class recently, said to help people make good friends. It seemed quite a few girls were attracted by this thing, and some girls who wanted to get a boyfriend had even tried this ritual multiple times. There were also quite a few people who said this ritual was actually effective.
Although in Miko's own opinion, this ritual was truly childish and boring—drawing a hexagram on the table, then holding a lit candle, followed by silently chanting "Alice, Alice, please help me, please help me find a good friend" or something like that—she completely couldn't see what was magical about this ritual; instead, it made her feel exceptionally awkward.
It was just that she had indeed observed a few of her classmates performing the process of this ritual, but the problem was, she hadn't seen any strange things happen during the ritual process either?
Forget it, forget it, it's just a dream, no need to care about it.
Thinking this, Miko opened the door and came out onto the corridor.
Then, she couldn't help but lower her head, looking at her feet, looking at the footprints that stretched all the way from the stairwell, extending right to the front of her room door before vanishing.
"Eh?"
The young girl was slightly dazed.
Where did these kinds of footprints come from in her own home?
Did my slippers get wet, and I didn't notice to clean them?
She walked out of the room and closed the door.
As Miko walked further away, the room returned to silence, with only the faint light of early morning illuminating this slightly plain girl's bedroom.
As well as that figure sitting before the bedroom bed, slightly lowering its head.
Unknown when it had sat there, perhaps having sat there for a long time, a figure sitting on the floor beside the head of the bed the whole time, leaning its body forward and lowering its head, almost resting against the pillow.
[Shh, Alice has come to disturb you.]
[You must be good, rest well obediently~]
It seemed as if someone was speaking in a low voice, laughing quietly.
But within the empty bedroom, not a single figure existed, nor did any sound ring out.
________________________________________
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