Summer was just over the horizon and slowly approaching as the temperatures began to get more hot and humid outside. The burning sun shone bright in the sky over Nakamura. June had been a rather uneventful month so far with no reported disappearances occurring yet. At city hall, the police chief stood in front of a large crowd accompanied by Katashi, Isamu and the mayor himself. A microphone hooked up to speakers sat in front of him on a lectern. Cameras set up by the news team were broadcasting live to the rest of town. The chief coughed to clear his throat, gripping the lectern firmly before speaking;
"Thank you all for attending and watching this from your homes or businesses. These past several months have been taxing on our fair city and it's citizens. But as of lately we at the Nakamura Police Department with the help of renowned detective Katashi Masakuma, have made a breakthrough in the investigation. Now the news we are about to deliver will not be pleasant to hear for anyone but... This has helped us in figuring out what's been going on. Outside of town deep within the local woods near the river was the discovery of an ancient church that dates back all the way to the early days of Nakamura as a settlement. Within that church contained a trap door for purposes we are unknown of. Well it is there we found out the grave truth of the disappearances... The victims were all murdered. Multiple bodies were found. All of them... Teenage girls. We even discovered a more recent one not too long after the bodies had been taken care of. The police had already notified those parents who's children were missing and have been making funeral arrangements. With a heavy heart my condolences go out to all of those who have suffered from this horrific, terrible tragedy. Unfortunately we do not have a perpetrator identified yet but our brave men on the force and detective Masakuma are hard at work trying to uncover clues and get to the bottom of this mysterious case."
Throughout the audience many were in shock and grief. Several individuals were crying or shedding tears, embracing each other. Others were furious and angry. Even as the chief spoke, the crowd was actively murmuring amongst themselves. Katashi and Isamu were growing weary. They both could feel the tension rising within the people. Questions and comments were already being fired off from the crowd, such as demanding the murderer be brought to justice or what could be done to prevent this from happening again.
"Now I assure all of you we have all grounds covered. Patrols around the suburbs have been expanded and the trail leading to the old church where the bodies were found is on twenty-four seven surveillance. Our eyes are everywhere as we continue to investigate this and hopefully catch the culprit behind all of this. They will be brought to justice swiftly I assure all of you. Under my watch I refuse to let another child die! This is our city and we are a united community!"
His bold confidence and inspiring words did ease the crowd to a degree. A round of applause erupted after his speech had come to a close. Katashi and Isamu were at an impasse for the moment. With June having started a week ago they had their setup at the woods complete, prepping themselves for the next eventual disappearance to come as the pattern had followed.
At the high school word had already spread regarding the last reported body discovered, a student named Sachimi. She was last seen by her two closest friends at Yunaka's party. The girls were still in a state of despair and depression even with the comfort and support of other students. In the teachers lounge, several teachers had all gathered during the lunch period. Uwagi, Ryoichi and Kazuko sat down eating their food. Standing over by the vending machine was Koyami and the art teacher Miss Fujiwaka, a younger woman around the same age and height with short natural black hair and long side-swept front bangs covering her left eye. She had black eyeliner and red lipstick on. In contrast to Koyami's casual attire, Fujiwaka wore a deep purple tank top under a sleeveless black leather vest, red slim-fitted jeans and black boots. She also had tattoos of a black heart with a red arrow through it above her chest and a colorful serpentine dragon around her forearm.
"The atmosphere of the school is... Rather worrying don't you agree?" Koyami spoke after sipping her can of iced tea.
"I agree. The students have been quite sullen I've noticed. Particularly the girls. Even my own art club students, bless them for their positive attitudes, are surely hiding their fears. I'm wondering what we could do..." Fujiwaka pondered.
"Maybe we should hold an assembly in the gym? What do you all think?"
The other three teachers turned their attention to Koyami. The idea had been considered by everyone including the principal ever since the number of students going missing had increased. But with the recent bombshell dropping on the news all across Nakamura, now the truth of the disappearances leading to murders had the entire student body on edge.
"I do know that principal Tanaka mentioned having an assembly to address the recent... Disturbing news that has shaken the town to it's core. At least last I talked to him which was this morning." Uwagi stated. "I think he was considering holding it this Friday after school."
Koyami sighed a breath of relief. Fujiwaka nodded, leaning her arm on Koyami's shoulder.
"Good! The sooner we tackle this the better... We'll all just have to get used to the sulking the students will be doing for the rest of the week." Fujiwaka stated with a hopeful but concerned smile.
The teachers all nodded in agreement. Koyami and Fujiwaka joined the others at the table to continue their discussions from earlier when the lunch period had started.
Gym class was almost to start. Everyone had made it to the gymnasium on time. Senji and the boys had all felt that something was off about class this very day. Most of the girls were huddled together in one corner of the room with a few in particular bawling their eyes out while the others were comforting them. Kanako split off from the group and approached the boys scratching her head. Daiki was confused, Aoi was getting worried while Kaito and Senji were feeling sick to their stomachs.
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"Yeah sooo... Everyone is upset it seems. You all saw the news announcement earlier right? Pretty sure every classroom had it airing live." Kanako asked. All of them but Daiki nodded.
"Wait uh, I wasn't paying attention. What happened?" He asked.
Kaito smacked him on the back of the head. He let out a pained yelp.
"You idiot. The chief of police just broke the news of the murders to the entire town. Now everybody knows what really happened regarding the disappearances." Kaito explained.
"O-ow! Damn dude... Sorry. You're being serious right now?? Holy shit..."
Kanako nodded, clasping her hands together as if she was about to pray.
"It's true. Not only did those girls have friends who are here right now, but one of them was a star volleyball player with a lot of fans. While I personally didn't know any of the victims... Those who did are so torn up right now it hurts my heart to see them crying so hard."
"I-I could imagine. This is awful..." Senji murmured.
With but a minute left before class would start the teacher, Kei Hamada, walked into class. He was tall with a lean, fit build and happened to be the youngest of all the teachers being just a couple years under Koyami. He had short, natural blonde hair spiked up with gel and spray, devilishly good looks and a chiseled jawline. While Koyami was popular amongst the boys, Hamada was popular with the girls. Normally he wore a bright smile and had a peppy attitude to get the student's spirits up and hyped for physical education, but as he saw the girls mourning in the corner and the boys all just staring at them with long faces that peppy attitude and cheerful demeanor washed away in an instant. He walked over to the middle of the gym then cleared his throat, clipboard in hand.
"Everyone! Your attention please!" He shouted. Every student focused solely on him now in an instant the second he spoke up. Hamada let out a deep sigh. "I... Understand that some of you are going through a lot right now with the recent news. Those wonderful students of ours are... Sadly no longer with us. My condolences go out to their friends and family. So instead of the usual class I've decided to do something else today. Let's call this a... Free therapy session. Any of you are more then welcome to do laps around the gym or go work out in the weight room or practice your sports if you're on a team in here or out on the field. Those of you who don't feel like being active today may instead conglomerate in the middle of the gym. Chairs are against the wall as usual if you want to just sit and talk. We've all been impacted by the devastating news from earlier. How you choose to spend today's class is entirely up to you. I'll be over in one of the corners planning out the next few weeks of classes if you need me."
Hamada left towards a corner of the gym with a few of the girls following him. Some of the other girls went to grab chairs and set up in the middle of the gymnasium. Most of the boys split off in several directions to do their own things like run laps or practice their respective sport. Kanako glanced over at the girls talking to Hamada then back to the guys in the group.
"Well I think I'll just go for a light jog. Anyone else?" She asked. Aoi nodded and stepped forward.
"That sounds good to me. I-I'm not really a runner or, well, very athletic at all. A jog works for me." He said.
"Alright. Let's go then."
Kanako and Aoi split off from the group to go jog around the gym. Daiki slapped his niceps then slowly walked away.
"I'm going to the weight room to work on my guns. Feel free to join me there if you guys want!" He called out as he left.
Senji and Kaito remained by themselves now. They looked at each other awkwardly and shrugged their shoulders.
"Come take a run with me outside Senji. Need to chat with you for a bit." Kaito said running a hand through his hair.
"Yeah sure." Senji replied.
Kaito and Senji left the gym building outside to where the track field was located. Right next to the soccer field was the massive track field. The two began running at a brisk pace to stay side-by-side without falling behind or running ahead. Senji was curious what Kaito wanted to talk about.
"Senji I have something I need to get off my chest with you. I've been thinking about this for some time now but... Now more then ever I'm really questioning myself if what I'm thinking could potentially be true or not so bare with me. Got it?" Kaito asked.
"Oh? What's on your mind?" Senji asked anxiously.
"I have a theory about the murders. I think somebody at our school is behind them."
"S-say what now??"
"Think about it. Every victim went missing outside of school. With most of them being reported missing on weekdays or nights. Only a couple of them were reported on a weekend. The victims were all girls that went here. Each of the girls were labeled as 'attractive' or 'cute' by the guys and weren't nobodies either. They were all well-known enough with their own circles of friends and acquaintances. Also each of their last known locations were all within the suburbs, never in downtown or outside of Nakamura period. If it were some random jackass that didn't go here, like a dropout or an adult, why specifically target girls with respected reputations and good looks? Maybe it was some sicko pervert... Or it was someone with a vendetta against the girls. Far as I know only a couple kids are in homeschooling but that's because they're special cases. But I'm ruling out outsiders to the school. Leave that to the detective and police should they find the culprit and prove me wrong."
Senji was baffled by what Kaito was saying. In his mind he didn't seem to entirely doubt his thinking though. He could've been right for all he knows. It was a stretch but he admired Kaito's confidence in his theory and while the outcome would be sickening, his determination could very well bring this horrifying case to a close.
"You know I... I think you may be right. I'll be sure to let you know if I-I come across anyone who may be suspicious." Senji replied stumbling with his words to form a cool-sounding response. Kaito grinned at him, slapping him on the back.
"Yeah? Alright then. I believe someone who goes here... Is a cunning and sadistically sick fuck. Until the truth is found out, I'm going to find out if my theory is right before someone else falls victim to this slaughter..."