TW; death.
Sando Hishimei is not your ordinary student at Shibuya High School in Japan. He's mysterious, quiet, and remarkably intelligent. Although Sando is widely known, he's more than just a student — he's the school's icon, the model everyone looks up to and follows.
Outside Shibuya High School, banners with his face hang proudly on the gates, titled 'Top 3 Students' — and, of course, Sando holds the number one spot.
But Sando isn't what he appears to be. Ever since he befriended his best friend, Itsuki Araishi, the disappearances of several students have been anything but coincidences.
Each time a female student approached Itsuki, she would go missing just a few days later. When the police came for questioning, Sando's answer always remained the same:
"I apologize, but I don't think I'm guilty. I have never communicated with her at all."
However, the students say otherwise. Some claim to have seen Sando talking to the missing girls a day before their disappearance — yet no one has enough evidence to confirm their suspicions.
Students love to approach Itsuki — he's bright, cheerful, and even a little dumb at times. Itsuki is full of personality, the complete opposite of Sando. Yet, Sando loves being around him, even with his constant gloomy mood and expressionless face.
Itsuki was Sando's only best friend — the one person he needed the most. Because of that, Sando hated the idea of sharing him. That feeling soon grew into something darker and more twisted.
Eventually, students began to notice how others — especially female students — were going missing far too often. And it all started around the time Sando befriended Itsuki. This explained why many became afraid to approach Itsuki… though new female students, unaware of the disappearances, still tried to get close to him.
Though not all the female students who talked to Itsuki went missing right away, some even managed to confess their feelings to him. But Itsuki wasn't the romantic type everyone imagined him to be. Each time he rejected someone, he would hand the love letters he received over to Sando, saying he 'didn't know what to do with them."'
But somehow, that small, harmless action took a dark and twisted turn. The same female student who had just been rejected by Itsuki was later found dead — her body stuffed into a trash can and left to rot.
The students of Shibuya High School were horrified. Some gasped in shock, others vomited at the sight. But the one who seemed the most unaffected was… Sando.
He muttered, "That's disgusting… who would do that…" — his tone filled with concern, though his face showed none. Itsuki, however, thought nothing of it; Sando had always been expressionless, after all.
But even Itsuki couldn't shake off the terrible feeling in his gut — a creeping suspicion that something was terribly wrong. Deep down, he couldn't help but think that someone he knew had done this… and that someone could be Sando.
Monday, March 3rd, 20XX.
Students were chatting and spending time with each other in class, and so were Sando and Itsuki, sitting together at the back while waiting for class to start — there were still thirty minutes left. Itsuki talked endlessly while Sando listened quietly, sketching in his notebook as he usually did.
Then, a female student walked into the classroom — seemingly new — and took a seat beside Sando, in the only empty chair left. For a moment, everyone stared at her in silence before half the class eagerly gathered around her.
Itsuki and Sando didn't join in; they simply watched the commotion from their seats. The new girl greeted everyone with a warm smile and a gentle "hi," prompting the crowd to cheerfully encourage her to introduce herself.
She stood up slowly and began to speak.
"My name's Yumi Araka. Before this, I studied at Yonago Kita High School."
"So you must be good at sports, right?" a cheerful female voice called out from the crowd.
Yumi smiled softly before answering, "Ah, yes, I am."
"Ooo, what sport?" another female voice spoke up.
"I love every sport! It's just that I liked watching the students there play football," Yumi answered softly.
The crowd of students seemed genuinely interested in her. Even Itsuki quietly admired her passion for sports — after all, he was a sports guy himself.
Sando noticed the admiration in Itsuki's eyes. Something inside him darkened — a feeling he couldn't quite name. Itsuki, sensing Sando's sudden shift in mood, quickly cleared his throat and tried to continue their conversation, pretending not to notice the gloomy aura surrounding his best friend.
Class was usually quiet, with most students focused on the lesson — though a few of the male students couldn't help sneaking short glances at Yumi, who was paying close attention to the teacher.
Itsuki, on the other hand, was busy entertaining himself. He spun his pencil between his fingers, bit the top of his pen, and even unscrewed it just to play with the ink inside. Sando kept whispering reminders that Itsuki would probably be called up to solve the math problem on the board, but Itsuki just shrugged it off — until, inevitably, the teacher did call his name.
Sando facepalmed quietly, then tore a small sheet of paper from his notebook and scribbled down the answer. Before Itsuki walked up to the board, Sando discreetly handed it to him.
(What a good friend.)
Lunchtime, around 12:00-12:30 PM
Itsuki and Sando sat at a table near the vending machine — Sando had chosen the spot because it was quieter and farther from the noisy lunchtime crowd, and Itsuki simply followed along as usual.
Sando pulled out two bento boxes and handed one to Itsuki. Delighted, Itsuki opened it to find an adorable bento art inside. Sando had crafted a cute panda out of rice and seaweed, arranged broccoli like tiny trees, and shaped a carrot into a small sun.
Itsuki's mouth instantly began to water — he had skipped breakfast that morning after waking up late and rushing to school to avoid being punished for being late. The sight of Sando's carefully prepared bento made his stomach growl in anticipation.
Itsuki quickly pressed his hands together and cheerfully exclaimed, "Itadakimasu!" before diving right into his meal.
Sando couldn't help but let a small smile tug at the corner of his lips as he watched, then quietly began eating his own food.
As they ate peacefully, Itsuki excused himself to the bathroom for a few quick minutes, leaving Sando alone at the table. It wasn't long before Yumi, the new student, walked up to him.
Sando looked up at her in confusion and asked quietly,
"You need anything?"
"No. I just want to talk — simply talk." Her previously blank expression curved into a faint smile — gentle, yet strangely unsettling.
Sando hesitated, swallowing hard as his brows furrowed. "Go on..."
"I know what you did."
Sando's eyes widened, and he immediately stood up, voice trembling.
"Know w-what!?"
Before he could say more, Yumi calmly placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Relax, Sando. No need to panic... I can help."
Her head tilted slightly to the side as she smiled again — a smile that looked soft on the surface, but carried something eerily dark beneath it.
"Help..?" Sando thought to himself, uncertain whether she was someone he could trust or not. His mind raced, weighing the risk in silence. But deep down, desperation gnawed at him — the fear of being exposed was far greater than his doubt.
All he could manage to say was a quiet, trembling "yes."
Sando hesitated for a moment longer, his thoughts clouded and heavy, before finally making his choice.