After what felt like a few hours of walking around - even though in all actuality it was only about ten minutes - Mitsuki suddenly heard footsteps coming from the direction she was walking in. Against the eerie quietness of the school, the noise resonated several times more loudly than it would have anywhere else.
"... !"
Mitsuki froze in her tracks out of sheer impulse. This was the first time she had encountered another living human here, if that was even what this was.
"Is anyone there?"
She heard an extremely soft, cheerful voice call out to her, clearly a stark contrast from the mental state she was currently in. Just the voice by herself was enough to soothe her mind and take away all the apprehensions she had about continuing forward. After a few seconds, she saw a petite figure with a soft smile emerge from the blackness of the hallway. After explaining how they got there, and reaffirming they had essentially the same story, they decided to introduce themselves to each other.
"I'm Mayu, from Kisaragi High. And you are ... ?"
"Mitsuki, from Byakudan High. Nice to meet you!"
Mayu flashed a soft smile Mitsuki's way and they quickly decided to start exploring the school together. It felt like the two of them had somehow managed to completely defy the school's will of breaking apart even the strongest bonds between people.
That is, until about ten more minutes had passed.
Mitsuki glanced over in Mayu's direction and saw that her eyes looked clouded. Actually, no, scratch that, they were almost entirely black, as if her soul had completely disappeared from her body. The rest of her face looked similar, as if it had been possessed by some kind of dark shadow. And on top of all that, she was wearing an expression that looked outright demonic.
"... ! Mayu, are you OK?"
Mayu just stared at her, looking directly in her eyes. Mitsuki suddenly felt uncomfortable, as if some dark presence had suddenly invaded her.
"Fufufu ..." Her demonic tone completed the picture. This was definitely not the same girl Mitsuki had just met.
Without saying another word, Mayu suddenly lunged towards Mitsuki and forcefully wrapped her hands around her neck. She continued at full speed, running her straight into the wall and further injuring her head in the process.
Mitsuki, half-terrified half-outright shocked at how abruptly the situation had turned, attempted to let out a scream only to find no voice was coming out.
Mayu, somehow, seemed to have an unusually strong grip. The fact that she had to take the hit to her head and couldn't cry out in pain made it even worse. It was more than her being strangled; she felt like her soul was being outright tortured.
"... What is this?! I can't even speak?! That's fucking impossible, she can't be any older than I am! How strong is she?! What the fuck?!"
She couldn't speak, so she just thought to herself, while managing maybe a gurgle or a choke here and there while attempting to speak. After finally realizing that this carefree, cheerful girl she had just met was indeed doing what she thought she was doing to her, she quickly realized there was no way she could get out of it. With tears streaming down her cheeks, all she could think about was the fact that she would never be able to smile or laugh with any of her friends again, nor even warn them of the impending danger that lied ahead of them in case they weren't fortunate enough to be kept in the loop from the get go. And she couldn't help but wonder one thing:
"Why didn't I have even a chance at escaping this hell ... ?"
That was the last thing her mind was occupied with as her consciousness faded to black ...
10. lufan131,
Suzumoto Mayu, Heavenly Host Aligned
, was lynched D1
