I'm lying on the couch in the living room, looking at the ceiling hopelessly.

"What can I do about a demon, huh? I don't have a lot of time until Kaori comes back from the trip with grandparents."

I close my eyes, the memory of Carmilla's sword made out of ice flashing before my eyes.

"She always was prideful, but she wants to kill me without inflicting much pain, just because I'm Haruki's friend."

"What should I do? I can't kill a demon! They're powerful, right? Magical, whatever!"

I take the TV remote and turn the TV on.

"That's a nice thing... this city has its information channel, it's very comfortable when you're curious about what's going on."

The voice from the TV starts to speak.

"Breaking News! Yet another body was found near the abandoned shrine! Who does that and why? We don't know! But the police are trying to figure out the identity of that serial killer. The identity of the 442nd body is still unclear, due to the chopped-off fingers and massacred face."

"Huh...? I'm not watching the news, like ever, but I remember what Haruki told me about the shrine... that it all was top secret in the police... why did he lie?"

"But damn, already 442? That's wild to think about... wait? Wasn't the shrine falling apart when we were running away?"

"Hell yeah, it was!"

I turn off the TV, looking over at the clock to see the time.

It's already 3:40 AM, huh?"

"I need to think of something very fast, or else Carmilla will try to hunt me down yet again... Ehh... she and her pride."

"Pride...?"

"Oh my God, I'm a genius!"

I get off the sofa and I run to my room.

I sit down before my pc and I look up my high-school view from the video that's recommending the school.

"Every high school does that stupid video that has a drone flying around it, recording it from every side. As a promotional video it sucks, but it'll save my ass~!"

I take out one of my notebooks and I start to draw the whole plan of the building, drawing a big circle above the girl's changing room, with a big smile on my face.

"What am I doing? Oh, it's simple~! Carmilla is a very prideful individual, it's clear that she is down bad for Haruki, but she won't admit it herself~! I've always teased her, asking when she will make a move towards Haruki for real, tho she always went full tomato and lashed out at me with fury~."

My smile widens further as this plan is perfect and there's no way that it won't work out. I throw all the books out of my bag and put the plan inside along with a black box I've taken out of my drawer.

I leave my room, heading to Kaori's.

"I'm sorry Kaori, but I need to borrow your camera for some time, tho I'm sure you wouldn't be mad at me~!"

I hum a song under my nose as I enter her room, taking the camera that is lying on her desk.

"Oh...?"

The camera had a printed photo of the two of us back in the amusement park, smiling together. The photo makes me tear up a little.

"Oh, Kaori... you're really something else..." I take the photo, and I pin it to the board that she pins her photos on.

I shake my head, closing my eyes for a moment.

"Thank God you're away... I cannot drag you into this shit I've been dragged in myself..." I let out a sigh, leaving her room.

I put the camera into the bag.

After a moment I'm dressed up in black pants and a black hoodie.

"Okay, so only the mirror now..."

I look over at the clock.

"Already 4:10?! I have less than two hours! I need to keep my pace up!"

I leave my house, closing and locking the door behind me.

About 10 minutes later I entered a 24/7 mirror store, in search of a particular mirror.

I walk around the store, there are barely any people at that time.

"Not here..."

I walk through another section.

"Not here."

Another section.

"Not here."

Before walking into the last section I just stand still for a second, scratching my chin in wonder.

"There are many cameras here, if they somehow find out about the mirror, it might lead them to this shop."

"I wonder if the hood will be enough to hide my identity, at least for some time..."

"...Ehh I'll figure something out."

I walk into the last section and I stop in the middle of it to look at one particular mirror. It's not a big mirror, but rather a small one that could easily fit into my bag.

"Finally! A two-sided mirror... I've been searching for you yknow~?" I smile at my reflection, putting my finger on it.

"Hmmm... it's a little expensive..."

"Whatever! I was prepared for this haha~! I have some extra money to spend anyway!"

I take the mirror and I start to walk towards the checkout, a wide smile on my face.

The cashier takes the mirror and scans the code.

"It'll be 3,078 yen." The cashier says in a monotone tone, he's clearly tired.

"Another student who needs to work part-time huh?"

I take the money out of my wallet and put it in front of him.

"Now that I look at you... you look very young. Highschooler?"

"Yeah."

"May I ask what you need a two-way mirror for? You're not trying to do anything bad with it, aren't you~? I mean you're a high schooler after all." His tone changed into a cheeky one.

I just smile, rolling my eyes slightly as I reach for the mirror.

"Of course I am! Like why would I be buying such a thing in the first place~? It's obvious that it has something to do with girls, so what? Will you do anything with it, sir~?"

"No~! Oh kiddo, you think that after you reach your 20s, you suddenly become a boring gloomy bastard~? Don't forget that I also was a high schooler once, I've had the same plans as you, tho I've never executed them~... You're brave for doing this. We could say that I'm on your side, so I'll be praying for you to succeed~..."

"Very well then, goo-..." Before I could finish, he interrupted me.

"But before you go I have two things to say kiddo. Wanna hear them?"

"Advice, huh? Sure why not, you're the one experienced here, sir." I shrug my shoulders.

"Put a transparent foil on the mirror, but do it so precisely that it won't be noticeable. It will prevent your targets from realizing that's a two-sided mirror."

My eyes widen as I didn't think about that earlier.

"Give me that mirror for a moment, kiddo." He gestures to me to hand the mirror to him and I do it quickly.

He puts his index finger to the mirror.

"Look closely."

"See? There's no gap between my finger and the mirror. This is how you check if it's not a two-way mirror."

He takes out some transparent plastic wrap from under the counter, precisely applying it to the mirror.

The mirror looks the same, but when he puts his finger on it, there is a small gap between his finger and the mirror now.

My mouth hangs open, my eyes wide in surprise.

"This guy... is it... Yeah... It is... Male solidarity!"

"Thank you, I guess? But what's the other advice?" I ask curiously, craving for his wisdom now.

The cashier leans over the counter and pats me on the shoulder.

"When it comes to girls, you need to remember this one thing about them..."

"And what is that thing?"

"In the end,d everyone finds a girl whom they like more than the other ones, and if it happens to you, and she will give you signs, more or less obvious signs, then fight for her, no matter what."

I swallow my saliva and look at him with sudden confusion. "Why are you even telling me that, sir? I mean... you shouldn't be supposed to care about my life by any means, right?

"You're right! Your life is none of my business, young fellow, but I'm telling you that because a long time ago I made that mistake, which I still ask myself 'Why didn't I fight for her?' To this day. We could say that I'm just trying to value myself by helping you~."

He then gives me a thumbs-up and smiles widely.

"You better find yourself a good wife, or I'll hunt you down~. I wish the best for you kiddo!"

I try to force a smile, but only a nervous imitation visits my face.

"No one other than Haruki sees me as a friend. No girls even look my way at school. My goal is simple, I'm not looking for a relationship or anything. I just want to clap, even a prostitute would be fine, I'm not picky... or at least this was my mindset before I found out that demons exist! I want to clap a fine demon chick! This dream is one of the only two things I care about! No one's gonna stop me from achieving my goal!"

My smile fills up with confidence and determination as I put the mirror inside my bag.

"Yeah! Goodbye and thanks! But you shouldn't worry for me, sir! I will do it for sure!"

I offer him a fist bump.

"Believe me~!"

He starts laughing, almost crying out of laughter as he fistbumps me.

"U-Yeah haha~! Do it kiddo~! But when you do... visit me and tell me everything~!"

I leave the store with a wide smile on my face.

"This guy... he's just like me, tho he's focused on the wrong aspect..."

After some time I'm standing before the high school building.

"Shit... It's 4:50 already..."

I look at the sky which starts to get less dark every minute. "The sun will come out in about 30 minutes, so I need to do it quickly."

I take my balaclava out of my bag and I put it on.

I put the bag on the ground as I started to climb up the fence that surrounded the building.

"I'm glad my big brother forced me to attend climbing sessions when I was a kid."

I smile at the memory of constantly falling off the climbing wall.

When I'm on the other side I start to climb down slowly. When I'm about 1 meter above the ground I just jump down.

I put my hand in between the fence bars, reaching for my bag, which I successfully squeeze between them.

I open the bag, taking out a flashlight and a map out of it.

I turn on the flashlight, pointing it at the map as I try to figure out in which direction the back door is.

"I'm on the west of the building so the south should be this way..."

I put the map along with the flashlight back into the bag as I start to walk slowly, trying to be as quiet as I can.

After a moment I'm finally standing before the back door. I take out the flashlight and search for a small window that's somewhere near that door, slightly above the ground.

"Found ya~"

"It's just like in the video... there's no window here, only the frame!"

I crouch down before it, trying to measure it with my hands.

"I'll fit in here, tho I don't know if I will be able to find the way under here. I was never in the school basement, because this place is not accessible for students."

"There's a chance I won't make it in time and be caught, suspended d and everything."

"That's a real gamble... but! Without a sacrifice, there's no way to catch the mice haha~!"

I joke comparing myself to the cheese in the mice traps and Carmilla to the mice.

I crawl into the basement through the small window.

I fall hard on my butt.

"Aghh!"

"Shit... my ass... ehh whatever."

I reach for my bag and I start to walk through the basement.

"This place is weird, it looks like it's been here since the steampunk Era haha! It's also very hot in here, the boiler is probably located close to me."

I start to walk quicker, my body is getting sweaty because of the heat.

"I need to be quicker, I don't have much time left until the first teachers and the janitors arrive."

The basement is like a labyrinth filled with pipes, there's not even much space as the walls are about 1,5 meters apart.

Finally, I stumble across the stairs that are leading to a closed door.

"Finally! The stairs!"

I run up the stairs and I reach for the door handle, trying to open the door. My eyes widen as the door is closed.

"Holy shit! No! It's closed! Fuck! Fuck! I need to use it right now?!"

I take out a small black box out of my bag.

"Haven't used you since middle school, my old friend~."

I open the box and take out an automatic lockpick.

"I know that you're old and rusty, but please don't fail me now. I need to use you one more time later."

I successfully pick the lock without breaking the lockpick. My heart is beating so loud that I can't even describe it.

"Oh god... I've just realized how scared I am..."

I start to walk down the campus hallways, heading toward the room where the janitor keeps all the keys. I clench my fists while breathing heavily.

"I feel how sweaty I am underneath all those clothes... but that's not just from the heat. My hands are shaking, and my heart is beating fast, but that's not entirely from the fear of the lockpick breaking..."

"...No, I've picked the wrong words... it's indeed because I feared that the lockpick would be broken after picking that lock... but why was I scared?..."

"...I fear her... I fear that Carmilla will kill me again... I don't want to die! What if the next time won't be painless, but a literal torture, huh?!"

"The truth is that if this lockpick will fail me, then I won't be able to do anything... my plan will fail... and she will kill me again..."

"I was yapping about how I don't care that I've died... but deep inside I fear death... I'm just a human... I feel... I hear... I cry... and I suffer..."

I tightened my teeth and hit myself right in the middle of my face.

"Shut the fuck u,p Shoji Nakamura! This path you've taken is all your responsibility! You shouldn't feel down or else your plan will fail!"

"Keep your head high! Believe in yourself, or else you'll fail!"

"Yes... I'm right! I will survive! And then I'll bag a nice chick!"

I start to pick the lock of the door that leads to the room in which all the keys are located.

"It's the first and the last time I am doing this in this school. I'm glad the cameras are turned off now, or else this would be even harder to do without being caught."

I successfully open the door and I walk in, turning on the light.

"This room is messy! It doesn't even look like a janitor even cleans here, not to mention that he spend most of his time here!"

I walk up to the desk on which a lot of paper sheets and old cans of beer are lying.

"I see that even the staff needs to relax sometimes, huh?"

I take my phone out and I start to take a bunch of photos of the room and all the alcohol.

"Might come in handy if I was to blackmail that old man for a favor~"

I open the drawer and I take two keys out of it.

"Found ya~"

"Oh?"

I look at the rotary dial telephone that's on the desk.

"Hahaha~! What the hell? Why does Bro have this old ass telephone here? It's 2024, not 1980 haha~!"

"That's so stupid~! Why is he keeping it here? Is it valuable, or something?"

"Ehhhh! Whatever!"

I leave the room, closing the door softly.

I take my phone out of my pocket.

"5:10 huh? I'm slightly off with time... I need to be a bit quicker..."

I start walking faster, heading towards the girl's changing room.

"Thank God that the two rooms aren't so far away from each other~ Because that would be a big issue~"

After a moment I'm standing before the changing room door.

"Here goes nothing~!"

I unlock the door with the key I've taken from the drawer and I open the door quickly.

My eyes widen as I see the inside of the changing room.

"..."

"IT'S UNFAIR! WHY DO GIRLS HAVE SUCH A NICE CHANGING ROOM HUH?! I MEAN I UNDERSTAND THAT GIRLS SHOULD HAVE A CLEANER ENVIRONMENT THAN BOYS AND THAT IT WAS AN ALL-GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL... BUT HUH?! WHY?!"

"That's unfair..."

I continue pouting as I walk into the room, searching for any mirrors. The mirror is hanging in the most open space they could've chosen.

"That's the perfect place for my plan! I'm so lucky, I don't even need to search for the place..."

A sudden realization hits me and my eyes widen. I walk up to the mirror, looking directly into it.

"Could it be that..."

"...Some man, or woman of culture..."

I grab the sides of the mirror and I remove it off the wall, revealing a small hole in the wall where another camera is located.

"...Has already done what I wanted to do?!"

I carefully put the mirror down on the ground, then I grab the camera and start to look through the saved videos and photos.

"OH MY GOD! THAT'S... THAT'S A JACKPOT! JACKPOT! IT'S JUST LIKE IF IT WAS RAINING GOLD! OH MY FUCKING GOD! SO MANY GIRLS IN ONE VIDEO... OH MY FUCKING GOD..."

I open my bag, but before putting the camera inside of it I just stop.

"...No..."

I raise my fist into the air, while my eyes start to tear up.

"I can't do it... this treasure belongs to another person... they've worked hard for it... very hard! As a fellow man of culture... I cannot do it!"

"One day... I want to meet that person and personally congratulate them for doing this before me!"

I grip my hoodie dramatically.

"It hurts to think that there is someone who thought of it earlier than me... Agh!"

I put the camera back where it originally was and then I take out Kaori's camera out of my bag.

I start to press a couple of buttons on it.

"Hmmm... how do I use it..."

"Click"

"Oh yeah! Schedule recording..."

"When do have PE today...? Uhh... it was somewhere around 2 PM, I guess?"

"So... 2 PM to 4 PM..."

"Click"

"Confirm? Yeah yeah, I'm confirming!"

I put the camera next to the other one.

I pick the mirror up from the ground and I cover up the small hole in the wall with it.

"That saved a lot of time for me. I can slowly leave the place, without being scared of the time running out."

"I guess it's about the time to go."

I look around the changing room for the last time with a big smile on my face.

"I'll visit you again in a couple of hours, my dear friend~."

I walk out of the changing room, closing and locking the door behind me.

"Now I just need to pay another visit to the janitor's cave and put the key back into that drawer of his."

I huff pridefully, pushing my chest out.

"Simple work hah~!"

After a moment I walk into the janitor's room and put the girl's changing room key back in the drawer where it belongs.

I take off my balaclava, wiping the sweat off my face.

"Finally! Oh god! I'm so sweaty right now... it's too hot in those clothes..."

I walk out of the room, closing it with the key from the drawer.

"I need to keep that key. I hope the janitor doesn't notice the lack of it, and if he does, I pray that he'll just think that he lost it somewhere."

I walk through the school's hallways, trying to find an unlocked room that has a window inside of it, because the windows on the hallways always have bars on the other side.

"I can't just take the key to a class, because someone can lose a key to one room alright! But it's a lot more suspicious if you somehow lose a key, and then you pass by a classroom and notice that the temperature inside is a little bit lower than that in the hallway, but you cannot open the door, so you check the classroom from the outside, finding out that the window is opened."

After trying to open a door for about 6 tries, I'm starting to hear weird sounds coming from the end of the hallway.

"What are those sounds? Are they coming from the Administration Office or what?"

"No... that's none of my business..."

I start to walk away from the source of the sounds, tho just for a moment because my curiosity takes over and I turn around, walking even faster towards the end of the hallway.

"I NEED TO SEE IT! I NEED TO SEE WHAT IS GOING ON IN HERE SO EARLY IN THE MORNING WHEN NO ONE'S SUPPOSED TO BE THERE!"

I put my balaclava back on my head as I sneak into the Administration Office.

The sounds just keep getting louder and louder with each second as I get closer to the source which seems to come from the principal room that's in the office.

"Oh god... the door is slightly opened... what do I do?! There's a window here... I can leave just now... but my curiosity! I want to see this!"

I peek inside and the sigh that meets my eyes is rather questionable. It's Mr. Muraoka and Mrs. Takahashi doing some rather questionable things.

"WHAT THE HELL?! IS THAT REAL WHAT I AM SEEING?! Is Mr. Muraoka... my favorite principal ever... giving having sex with Mrs. Takahashi, who's pushed against the desk?!"

I just stare at them two and it seems that they're too focused on having fun to notice my presence. It seems that the sounds were Mrs. Takahashi's moans, but it's not the moans that catch my attention, it's the nonsense that's coming out of her mouth.

"What is that foreign language she's speaking in?"

"Never mind, I don't care~! I mean! Gramps got a taste for real! This moment is too good..."

"Too good to not catch haha~!"

I smirk playfully and I take out my phone, peeking at its camera slightly to record them.

I just stay here for about 30 seconds, catching their every move, moan, and word on the camera.

Then I just go to the main room in the office and sneak out of the building via the window.

"Finally... everything's set... "

I yawn, rubbing my eyes.

"Now just go home... and take a shower... then school... and later... the camera..."