The interlude of a lonely girl in the dark
School had been boring for her for a long time, and lately, it hadn't brought her any joy at all. How happy she was when this year she managed not only to become a prefect but also to join Gila Terikoto's group of girlfriends, even if not from close ones but still. But then she constantly had to choose: to fulfill the duties of old age properly or to be Gila's girlfriend. As a girlfriend?.. On the pick-up… Her duty and some beliefs about doing the right thing constantly contradicted what she had to do to remain a girlfriend, and she was already wondering if she had already made too serious a mistake. After all, she is far from people who cannot be moved with a lever. Yamagawa shivered. Cold. It's dark and dim. And the weather is gloomy, and my soul is dull.
If in summer, spring, and early autumn, there were not so few people at school until the evening, then in late autumn and winter, the students preferred not to linger. Natsuki Yamagawa really didn't want to sit here herself, but there was nothing to do. No matter how she felt about Ama, who was responsible for the extra work that had been dumped on her today, the work had to be done, yet she was the headman and was responsible for certain things. And even if, at Gila's "request," she tried to put more work on Ame, you can't trample on Kenta-sensei, and she did not doubt that he was behind the "delivery" from Mizuri-sensei. Yamagawa was already close to the finale; she had redone almost everything she was going to when suddenly the lights went out all over the floor…
Yamagawa immediately remembered all the school legends repeated not so long ago on an unscheduled trip. With slightly trembling hands, she lit a flashlight on her smartphone and decided to go out into the corridor; it was even scarier to sit in a dark classroom at a dark school. Tonight, which had almost become night, was moonless on top of everything, and even though the lanterns were burning outside in the schoolyard and it was relatively light, here, alone in an empty classroom, it was cold, dark, and very scary.
Yamagawa went out into the hallway and turned on her smartphone to see something. A little away from herself, she heard soft footsteps, and in the trembling light of the smartphone light, the figure of a short, petite girl with loose hair appeared. The smartphone immediately fell out of Yamagawa's trembling hands and, shining the beam of a running flashlight in all directions, flew somewhere toward the approaching figure. The figure was dark, and Yamagawa shuddered. She took a few more steps and stopped for a second, clearly looking at Yamagawa, and a light laugh echoed down the corridor. Yamagawa's legs gave way, and she fell to her knees.
— Red or blue, Yamagawa-san — The light of the smartphone illuminated the girl who came up a little, and she looked really scary. Yamagawa, already terrified, turned so white after these words that she began to look like a ghost. She was too scared to say a word. The story of Hanako-san asking about color and, as a result of the answer, either extracting red blood from the victim or strangling for the sake of a blue face was retold in their class not so long ago. But as time passed, she was silent and still alive, so after a while, Yamagawa came to her senses a little. Yamagawa, even in such a depressed state, managed to realize something. The voice asking her was not otherworldly and was even slightly familiar to her. The figure moved her hand, reaching into the hidden pocket of her skirt.
After a moment, another sound rang out in the silence of the empty, dark corridor. Clear sound. This sound was not otherworldly, but in class 3-2, after a bright "dance with stationery knives," each of Hideki and Kyoko's classmates clearly remembered this sound—the sound of the extension of the blade of a stationery knife.
—Yamagawa-san,— Yamagawa finally identified her. Kyoko Ame, of course. She wasn't an otherworldly ghost or an evil, vengeful spirit at all. But for Yamagawa herself, there was no longer much difference. An evil, vindictive classmate was not much better for her personally than an evil spirit. "I'll tell you a story, Yamagawa-san.
A quiet voice could be heard in the silence of the school:
— Once upon a time, there was a girl who decided that in the third grade of high school, she had a chance to make friends;- Listening to the story of Yamagawa—-san, she immediately thought that this beginning could be her story, - And once upon a time, there was a guy who had long been desperate not only to make friends at school, but he did not expect that he would have close people at all. And the girl of her "friend" was blackmailed into confessing to the guy so that he would turn her down. Isn't that right, Yamagawa-san? And then they forced her to break up with him. And when they started to converge again… Do you know, Yamagawa-san, that Hideki almost lost his hands? I'm already silent about everything else. You also need to be able to bind, but three super brave guys were so afraid of him that they tied him up so that he would have to cut off his hands… Do you want to know what it's like to live without hands, Yamagawa-san? Well, or not be able to use them, eh, Yamagawa-san? The dark figure waved his hand, which held a stationery knife, and there was another click.
A quiet, even gentle voice somewhere and a click startled Yamagawa-san so much that if she hadn't been in the toilet shortly before the lights went out, a puddle would have already spread out under her.
— Not... no… Don't, Ame —sama… I'm not…
— Don't you need to? You "don't" what? Is it not your fault? Didn't you know? Didn't participate? Didn't you support it?
Headman Yamagawa lowered her head. She couldn't say anything against it. She knew. I knew it perfectly well. The fact that Kazumi Hideki is being bullied. The fact that Kyoko Ame herself is being bullied. She knew everything perfectly well, and even if she did not directly participate, at least she did not stop, which means she tacitly supported. Yes, she had her reasons. Yes, she felt bad about her actions, but she did not stop herself and did not even think to stop others. She was scared; she was afraid to be alone. And she didn't do anything. She couldn't do anything. Couldn't... or didn't want to?
"Yamagawa—san, I'm giving you a chance—a chance not to feel guilty for the rest of your life. You initiated the situation where Hideki and I ended up on the committee for the organization of the holiday. So someone asked you to do it. There was a series of clicks, but Yamagawa realized that it was the noise of the blade closing, after which Kyoko put the knife in her pocket. "Tell me, at least in general terms, what they're up to, and I'll try not to hurt you too much." My Hideki-kun is very smart, and if I guessed that you were involved, then he would guess, too. Maybe after what happens, but he'll guess for sure. I might not be particularly cute right now either, but compared to Hideki, if he gets mad… He'll probably regret it later.… Or not… But it won't really matter to you anymore.…
Yamagawa was trembling slightly, but whether it was from cold, fear, or something else, she didn't know herself. — On holiday… You should be on stage at the very end of the celebration…
—I see..." Kyoko drawled. This piece of information was already important and allowed at least something to plan. — All right. I won't share my doubts with Hideki yet, but if you tell me new useful information no later, it will be hard for me to protect you. But that's enough for me now. Okay. Kyoko Ame grinned, and Yamagawa wished with all her heart that she had been tempted the easy way and had tried to become Ame's friend. If she were half as supportive of her as she was of her Hideki, then her school life would have given her a real friend. But regrets were pointless now. Ame decided to finish by tomorrow. Kyoko kicked her smartphone, still in flashlight mode, closer to Yamagawa, and disappeared into the darkness. Soon, the lights came on, but it took at least ten minutes before Yamagawa was able to get to her feet. By the end of those ten minutes, she had made her choice.
If you look indifferently at the torment of someone else, it means that one day, someone will look at yours just as indifferently. The truth that Yamagawa has finally fully realized may one day determine other actions in her life.