Zaregoto

Art begins with foolishness and ends with foolishness.

If you were to call one of these things unnatural -- in this case, which was the most unnatural?

Me, a user of nonsense that was being used by nonsense? A contractor that was called the strongest without any proof? A girl named Hime-chan who wanted to escape from an abnormal school? Shiogi-chan and others who wanted to capture her? Yet within this area called a school, within the confines of the Hanging High School, it was hard to call anything outstandingly abnormal.

"--Hah. So... What to do?"

Aikawa-san mumbled after had taken off the scarf from her uniform, made a sling with it, and had set my arm. She mumbled, but as opposed to seeming troubled or bothered, she seemed to be enjoying herself.

I thought that Aikawa-san in a high school girl outfit wasn"t bad at all, as I responded with a mumbled "indeed." I had thought I would definitely find it odd, but apparently when you are as beautiful as Aikawa-san, it did not matter what you wore. It was like, hmm, well life is filled with hardships.

"We let that strategist girl get away, so my cover"s probably blown. I was hoping I"d get away with it by using Ii-tan as a decoy..."

"Ahh... I"m sorry, for it being my fault."

I immediately apologized, but did this person not just say something like, decoy?

"How troublesome-. What should we do-?"

Hime-chan too absentmindedly returned comments, lacking any sort of tension whatsoever. These two seemed to lack any sense of urgency. Leaving Aikawa-san aside, Hime-chan"s lack would be a problem. Given that she had been captured easily before, it seemed she lacked the combat prowess of say, Shiogi-chan.

"Hime-chan, are you actually really strong?"

"Nope. Hime-chan doesn"t need strength."

"The era of knowledge?"

"Yup. The wise people of old always said."

Hime-chan did her habitual action of raising her fingertips and then dropping them, then pointed a finger toward me.

"Illness comes from chi!"

"....."

Was she talking about knowledge is power?

It was certainly not the words of someone wise.

"Yes. Hime-chan is actually quite a failure. That"s why Hime-chan hates this school and want to leave, but they won"t let her. Hime-chan wishes they"d just let her escape, but they"re, for maintaining secrecy, and stuff. That"s why Hime-chan asked Jun-san."

"Relying on others."

"Ah, Hime-chan doesn"t want Master, of all people, saying that to me-," said Hime-chan in a condescending way as she shook a finger. This girl was quite well-versed in hand gestures. "Ah, by the way, Shiogi-chan is actually the most talented of thestudents of this school. She"s a third-year, an uppercla.s.sman."

"Hmm..."

"That"s why, Master, you don"t have to feel down over having your shoulder dislocated. Even if the opponent was a girl, there"s a difference in talent, you know, talent. No, maybe it"s more like a different level. No no, maybe not level but more like an atomic difference..."

"....."

This girl was sort of annoying. Was her true personality poking its head out because of Aikawa-san"s appearance? Like her cover was slowing being torn apart and her true form was showing. What was the meaning behind those tears earlier?

"Hah. Anyways, let"s give up on a forcing our way out the front gate," Aikawa-san said, as she raised her bangs. "Hagihara Shiogi -- I"m not afraid of her label as the top of the school, but I"m not good with that type of person, so I"d prefer avoiding dealing with her."

"Ah, is that why you let her go? But don"t you have opponents you would rather not deal with?"

"Yeah, of course. Full of confidence despite not having anything -- filled with pride despite being completely empty -- people with inconsistencies like that are troublesome. Because I don"t get them." and Aikawa-san looked at me with scrutiny. "This includes you, you know? Ii-tan."

"Eh... but, that makes Shiogi-chan and I sound similar."

If anything I thought Shiogi-chan was the same as Aikawa-san.

"Nah, that"s just the recklessness of the young. My haughtiness and her arrogance have different meanings. Even from that perspective you and her are similar. Especially the part where you both come up with strategies, and then fail because of them, it"s so similar. Heh, strategist -- nice joke. Anyways. I thought it"d be great if you could get Ichihime out of there... but there"s no helping it since we"ve come to this. Let"s do the opposite of the plan."

"Opposite?" volleyed Hime-chan.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Although you could argue that this is the more standard method, but -- we"re going on offense. Press forward to the faculty room and then talk to the dean. A negotiation for Ichihime"s exodus.

"Simple, right?" said Aikawa-san as she curled her lips.

I couldn"t even act surprised. But once more for another countless time, again, I felt admiration. If I had only thought about messing with people and escaping to this point, then Aikawa-san lived only thinking the opposite. To stand before the opponent and declare war, then boldly and proudly attack. She simply thought of that.

"But, Jun-san--"

"It"s fine, Ichihime. I didn"t like that a.s.shole to begin with. You didn"t like that a.s.shole either, right? You could say it"s a good thing we"ve been given the opportunity to bash that a.s.shole. So, now that it"s decided -- let"s go."

Having agreed to the idea that she had suggested, Aikawa-san began walking. Snapping out of it, Hime-chan and I hurriedly followed after. It was like it was secretly agreed upon and decided who here was the protagonist and whom were the side characters.

Authoritativeness, thoughtfulness, and then a.s.sertiveness toward action.

Powerful conquest through indomitable strength.

Genuine confidence and pride.

There was no paradox when it came to Aikawa Jun.

You could say the road from there was like "Live with Aikawa Jun" and you would be 120% accurate and completely have comprehended it.

What was certain was that there was nothing in this school that could stop Aikawa Jun. Organic or mechanical, it did not matter as she took everything out with a single blow, and she mowed down, exterminated, repelled the obstacles that I a.s.sumed to be students from this school that appeared here and there, and the traps that were littered all over the school she cared not for as she stomped right into and through them, simply and brutally, with nothing but absolute power, sewing chaos and confusion here and there, and at the end of what seemed like the start of a hurricane -- or rather the hurricane that was like the start of the end, we escaped from the building, walked through the outdoor connector hallway, and arrived at the back entrance to the Faculty Ward.

She was so overpowering that it was meaningless for a being like me to explain. As Hime-chan and I had been bothered so much by just a few students until Aikawa-san arrived, it was like we were nothing.

"You say it was like, Master, but really we"re nothing. Hime-chan and Master, we didn"t do anything getting here."

"If you are going to state such an observant thing, it"s best to avoid using direct, emotional expressions. It is basic for users of nonsense to express things as vaguely as possible."

"Hime-chan isn"t something weird like that!"

She said weird.

"But wow, Jun-san. She"s even better than she was when I met her before. It was really like a flourish of a happoubijin (someone beautiful from every angle)."

"You mean the flourish of hachimenroppi[1] (jack of all trades)."

"Ah, yeah. Master was the happoubijin."

"... How rude."

"Huh, so you deny it."

"Well... I guess that the being that is me may possibly have the trait of being a happoubijin, is something that I may or may or not or may or may not acknowledge."

"So does Master think?"

"Y"all need to shut up," Aikawa-san scolded, as she stood in front of the door to the faculty ward. "It"s fine that you two are already friends... but doesn"t it seem odd? I"ve been thinking the whole time."

"What exactly could be odd?"

"We"ve been attacked by students this whole time, just students. Isn"t that odd? Ii-tan and Ichihime I can get a bit because maybe it"s like practice training... but now I"m here. Aikawa Jun, y"know? Isn"t it manners for teachers or security to come greet me?"

It was hard to tell if she was being careful or being extremely confident. However as Aikawa-san said, we were only being obstructed by young girls, all wearing the black uniform... like Hime-chan, Aikawa-san, and I.

... Huh?

Like me?

"Um, Aikawa-san. Since my cover is blown, there is no longer a need for me to be in this outfit anymore, right?"

"Ahh... who cares, you look cute."

"... no, but..."

"Kyah. Ii-tan moe moe."

"....."

That made it really awkward to change clothes. Or rather, it was like she was forcing me to keep on wearing this outfit. I felt like she was toying with me, but in any case, I returned to the original topic.

Aikawa-san"s suggestion -- to strike the core in the middle instead of fleeing outside -- relied on its absurdity to succeed. It was like a surprise attack. The opponents believed themselves to be the pursuers -- they believed themselves to be the hunters. That was why it would be odd for them to expect being attacked. Perhaps they are still thinking that we are running around inside the school. Then, maybe it just meant that they were feeling overconfident? Even if the opponent was Aikawa Jun, it was not like they were being hunted--

"That might be it -- ah, what a pain."

"A pain -- but it"s easier that way. The strong people don"t show up."

"When I said pain, Ichihime--"

Aikawa-san took a big step back, then struck the door with the tip of her toes -- and kicked down the steel door. Clang clang -- the door sounded as it crumbled. ... It must have been rusted, right?

"I meant that we have to open doors like this. It"s an emergency door that has no keyholes or anything, so we have to do this to sneak in like c.o.c.kroaches."

"....."

I see, Aikawa-san preferred walking in through the front door, announcing her name and presence amid a brazen force. However not a single teacher showed up, so we were able to come here without being seen. And because we were not caught, we would be forced to keep sneaking, so we would have to enter through the back door, and that annoyed her. What a show-off.

"The dean"s room"s on the top floor. She really likes tall places -- over here."

Unlike me, Aikawa-san had a perfect memory, so the blueprint was stored squarely in her brain, and she led the way down the emergency stairs and paths like a long-time tour guide. Hime-chan followed behind, uttering strange faux j.a.panese like, "Uuu. Fools and scissors are painful pleasure, yo!"

"We have to avoid the faculty room... ah, what a pain. I don"t care about strategies and traps and such, gather numbers and force and use advantageous terrain and just bring it already."

"But then we"d go nowhere."

I did not know the past that was shared by Aikawa-san and Hime-chan, but given how they were speaking casually to each other, they must be very close. Despite this being a reunion, they showed no signs of having been apart, and they did not even exchange greetings or introductions or even praise following the time apart. I felt like that expressed even more the level of intimacy between the two. Aikawa-san was like a big sister, after all, and Hime-chan was the type that made you want to take care of her, so if you were to say that they were a perfect match they I would have to agree.

"..... Hm?"

... no, wait. If that were the case, then am I not very much a pointless character? That"s not good. That is a terrible punchline for having tolerated this outfit. I decided to ask Aikawa-san a question, to justify my existence.

"Um, from what I heard earlier, Jun-san, it sounds like you are familiar with the dean, so what kind of person is he? The dean."

At this point, I could only imagine him as some incredibly sick person. He gathered young girls and made them go through special training. What sort of harem is that?

"Origami Noa[2], turned 39 this year, and uh, a.s.shole"s a she."

"Origami, that surname..."

Yeah, Aikawa-san nodded with her head turned back over her shoulder.

"Akagami, IIigami, Ujigami, Ekagami, and Origami[3]. The bloodlines of the four G.o.ds and a mirror. Noa isn"t a direct descendant though, as she"s more of an offshoot branch, so her connection to the main house isn"t very strong. This school itself isn"t really related to the Origami house. If anything, it"s more on Rule"s side."

"Rule[4])... that would be the j.a.panese ER3."

If you were to call the ER3 system a community, then Rule would be called a network, but that aside, what both organizations did was not too different. Then this place was a bit like the program at ER3... I suppose.

"Right. The story is that forty percent of graduates slide over into Rule. Others sorta scatter... The most talented students and such go to ER3 I think? Popular opinion is that they"re superior anyways. That Hagihara"s probably gonna end up like that too?"

As expected, unlike me, Aikawa-san knew of the inner workings of this place, and also knew of alumni of this place. Hmm, from what I gathered from general nuance, this place was like a place for nurturing talent. In that meaning it could be taken as a nursing school, and the label as an educational organization was not incorrect.

Still, however. Not allowing leaving, instead capturing you if you try to escape, making students call themselves strategists, and being called the Hanging High School - when you combine all of that, do you really end up with something that can be called an educational organization?

"Originally, this Sumiyuri -- the main body of theHanging High School was build by Noa"s mom. At the time it was still relatively... well, relative to now, was a relatively regular school. But then a year and a half ago, that mom hung herself and died. And then once Noa inherited it, things went nuts. It"s hard to explain what exactly went nuts, but--"

"The air went nuts."

Hime-chan said, in a rare display of precise wording. I could not see her facial expression -- but it was probably clouded over again. Hime-chan is a second year now, so by the time she matriculated, the dean had already changed, I a.s.sume.

"For a while after matriculating, it was obviously a good-for-nothing school anyways, but it was tolerable. But the wheels started coming off... Hime-chan can"t call a place where friends die a school."

"... is how it is," Aikawa-san said as she vigorously patted Hime-chan"s head, and then continued. "But you know, the only way you can tell something"s gone nuts is if you look at it from the outside. Unless you compare it to something, you can"t tell the difference between abnormal and normal, so you"ll obviously just a.s.sume you"re normal. And then the school can never be seen from outside. Insanity permeates deeper and deeper -- until it"s out of control, and then we end up where we are."

"... was there no one else, other than Hime-chan? Students that thought this was abnorma, that this was insane. Students that wanted to leave."

"Ahh, yeah. A long time ago."

Hime-chan"s nonplus answer was enough to silence me.

"Despite what I said earlier... I personally don"t think Origami Noa"s that bad of a person. I mean, I"m not gonna lie, I don"t like her, and I"d love to give her some choice words. That a.s.shole only looks at other people as a number, and can only understand death as a statistic. One person"s death just means it wasn"t two. Thinks numbers are everything, that a.s.shole. But you know... that doesn"t mean her ideals are really that off."

"An old acquaintance...?"

"Pretty much. We split ways two years ago, though."

That was why it was a two-year reunion, said Aikawa-san in a jesting manner. But I also felt that her behavior seemed a bit forced. Why Aikawa-san, who lorded over the ability to fool people on a level dimensions above this user of nonsense, needed to act in such an obvious way I could not understand.

"But Jun-san. Please do not get swept away by your emotions."

"Who do you think you"re talking to, man. We"re going to talk about letting Yukariki Ichihime"s departure. I know, I know."

"That is good."

I felt like a man who had performed his duty, and stretched my back a bit to stand a little taller, then turned to Hime-chan, who had been silent for a bit, and said, "Then."

"What are going to do when you get out?"

"..... Good question," Hime-chan answered. "I think I want to do a lot of fun things."

Her words sounded like they came from someone who had never experienced something fun.

"I want to live a fun life, where every day is a Monday."

"That is the worst."

I responsibly pointed out, but my soul felt as if it had wandered elsewhere. I felt like I had been prodded. Deep down inside me, at the weakest spot -- an old, nostalgic feeling, was being prodded with relentless care. Truly... similar, that was not all it was. Hime-chan was very much the same as her. Then -- I thought. This was a chance for atonement and punishment for me? I did not feel that I could nullify destroying someone by saving someone -- though I did not know what it meant to save someone in the first place, though--

"Don"t be dumb, user of nonsense."

Aikawa-san snapped at me.

"Alright, we"re here, top floor--"

Aikawa-san effortlessly opened the emergency door. The all-rounder contractor Aikawa Jun, who displayed top-cla.s.s proficiency at every skill. Even if you were to ask her to read minds, imitate voices, and pick locks, she would be second to none.

After a short walk down the hallway, a door that felt like it would be incredibly thick awaited us. It was not the type you would expect to see equipped in a school. Bulletproof? It was a steel door that almost seemed like it would be nuke-proof, such was its insulation.

Aikawa-san care-freely knocked (I wondered if Aikawa-san was having a "knocking is trendy" moment), but there was no answer. Of course. Then, and she went to place a hand on the door knoc, but then she realized there was no door k.n.o.b. Or rather, like the back door, there was not even a key hole. Instead, there was a fingerprint-check panel.

"d.a.m.n. Even I can"t get through that."

"Really?"

"Even I can"t just change my fingerprint. Hime. How are these?"

"All the doors in the faculty ward are like this," Hime-chan explained with detail. "It"s designed so that only the teacher themselves can open the lock. They put a palm to the checker, then press, to lock. And then you place your palm again to unlock."

"Ahh. So there"s no chance of a spare key... we shoulda brought Kunagisa-chan."

Indeed, had Kunagisa been here, she would have messed directly with the circuits and then unlocked the door really easily.

Speaking of which, did Kunagisa know about the secret of this school? When she told me about the school, she had not said anything of the sort. However she also disliked talking to me about these things, so it was probable that she knew and just did not tell me. In any case, if the school was like this, then obviously you would have trouble getting a uniform. I finally understood why Kunagisa had quickly given up on getting her hands on a uniform.

Hmm? Then how did Aikawa-san get a uniform (or rather, two of them)?

... Hand-made?

"Can you lock it normally from inside?"

"I don"t remember. I think so, though."

"I see. Then, she must be inside. Acting like she"s gone... a.s.shole."

And then I finally realized that there was a security camera right behind us. I quickly told Aikawa-san, but she seemed irritated by that, snarling, "I already cut those lines." I looked more carefully and realized that the security cameras did not seem to be functioning.

"I already did all those little things before I went to save you two... I shut off the security alerts, too. Don"t worry about silly things. Ahh, s.h.i.t. How"re we supposed to get in?"

"But if there was no response from knocking, then maybe the dean isn"t inside?"

"Nah, Noa"s like me, she doesn"t care enough to run. Confining herself in a castle? Or maybe she just feels invincible... either way, she"s obviously making fun of us."

Alright, now I"m mad, grumbled Aikawa-san, and then she took out what seemed like a black clump from inside her shirt. It was square, and was small enough to fit in one hand - most people would call it a stun gun. The brusque appearance caused primal fear in those that saw it.

"... How rare for Jun-san to be armed."

"Yup. This was a special case. I needed to drag someone out unharmed... well, whatever. Anyways, let"s..."

Aikawa-san pressed the tip of the stun gun to the print checker, then flipped the switch. Sparks flew and made seeing difficult, and a moment later I heard a dull bddt bddt bddt sound. By the time I could see again, the checker had been crushed to bits. An uncomfortable smoke rose from the rubble.

"That, has a lot of power..."

"Yeah. It"s a special hand-made item. I still haven"t even removed the limiter. If you hit a person with this, it"s dangerous enough to make them lose two, three days worth of memories."

Aikawa-san said, but that must be an exaggeration. No person would lose memories over that.

And Aikawa-san peered into the circuits at the back of the checker with an apathetic look.

"Hmm, the circuits fried pretty nicely. All that"s left is simple... a Maizin-type[5] circuit. Predictably ordinary and standard. Well, hang on a second."

And then Aikawa-san stuck her hand into the back of the checker, and then mashed stuff around with her bare hands. It looked like she was blatantly running the risk of being electrocuted, but maybe Aikawa-san has some special coating on her skin? After a bit, she said, "Alright. Unlock complete," and then pulled the door open. That abnormal thickness implied that it was normally automated, but because the circuits had been fried, that functionality no longer remained.

"Hm. It"s pretty heavy..."

Aikawa-san used both arms to pull the door to the side. Dsss, dssss, a terrible sound that you would never imagine came from a door echoed through the hall, as the door slowly opened.

"....."

But wow, that was some unbelievable strength. She did not display the behavior of a person who was about to begin conversing. She was clearly wanting a fight with the master of the room. Aikawa-san was a very belligerent, bloodthirsty person, so I felt tense, figuring that sort of situation would be inevitable. Jeez, for once I wish she would learn from a certain failure of a human. He was a really good guy.

"Jeez. Jun-san you"re always like, headlong-."

Even Hime-chan, who adored Aikawa-san, had an exasperated look on her face. Although, that exasperation also seemed like a relieved oh good, it"s the Jun-san of old.

The door opened about halfway, and after Aikawa-san, Hime-chan entered the dean"s room,

And, found the twelve pieces of Origami Noa"s dismembered corpse.

"....." "....." "....."

Upper torso, abdomen, waist, both arms, hands, both thighs, and both feet -- having been ripped apart, the pieces that used to comprise Origami Noa, in too gruesome, in too atrocious a way, were scattered about the room. The smell of blood, the smell of cerebrospinal fluid, the smell of meat. The rug and furniture that looked expensive were drenched entirely in blood. It was actually surprising the smell did not seep outside.

As for Origami Noa"s head -- it was dangling from the ceiling. Her long, black hair was tied to the fluorescent light on the ceiling.

It was like a scene out of a nasty snuff movie. Her face, st.i.tched onto the head, looked more youthful than her age of thirty-nine, but that did not matter.

A head hanging from the ceiling. What other than fear and shock could you feel?

"-- Anyone," Aikawa said in a quiet voice sans emotions. "Did anyone see someone leave this room?"

I stayed silent as I shook my head. Hime-chan did the same. None of us looked at each other. Our eyes were pinned to the dismembered corpse in front of us, as if they were truly pinned to them with nails.

"---... hah. They make me laugh."

Aikawa-san said with a venomous, barely-audible voice, and then she began moving around the room. Her shoes were dirtied by blood and meat, but she did not seem to care at all. Under the table, or perhaps inside the sofa... she investigated every place that a person could possibly hide.

Next, she walked past me, toward the door. I could not help but lean over her shoulder to take a look. She was checking the lock system. Aikawa-san had destroyed the outer section, so the inner section was relatively undamaged.

"Hmm hmm... I see. Nothing to do."

Aikawa-san mumbled, and I finally realized the reality that a gruesome corpse was splattered in front of a girl, Hime-chan. That was, however, too much -- and yet, Hime-chan"s eyes, which gazed upon the head dangling from the ceiling, were terribly cold.

"Ahh ah..." Hime-chan let out.

As if had she continued she would have said "huh, so I guess she died," it was that sort of impression. Without any interest, yet understanding only the significance of the happening, or perhaps as if she had just been told that it had already been extinguished, that sort of reaction.

"... it has begun after all."

"Hime-chan..."

"No worries, Master," Hime-chan smiled as she turned to me. A smile with a tad bit of darkness mixed into it. "I may be a failure, but I"m still a student from here. This isn"t enough to shock me."

"... I see. That is good."

Not good. Not good at all. But I could not step in. Could not step in. I could not take the step in -- to Hime-chan"s soul. One sentence, "What are you thinking right now?" was all I needed to ask, and everything would be clarified, but I could not do that.

To interact with someone using true feelings unfiltered by falsification or nonsense means to wound each other. I did not want to hurt Hime-chan by clumsily stepping into her circ.u.mstances -- and most of all I did not want to be hurt.

Anymore. In this situation.

Boom, came a sound from behind.

It was the sound of Aikawa-san closing the door.

"Well this kinda sucks -- right?"

"Ah, yes..." I answered Aikawa-san. That was my way of, escaping. "The dean... being, killed. That takes away the point of having risked danger to get here..."

"Not that. Who cares about that. That just means we have to take a different route. There"re infinite routes for getting what you need. Jeez -- I figured something was up, we got to this room too easily. So that"s how it is. That means that order is coming from somewhere, doesn"t it."

"... What do you mean?"

"Ii-tan. The problem I"m having right now -- is that this is a closed-room murder."

"-- Hahh?"

I made an odd noise.

Because, of course? Well, yes, the door is controlled by the palm print, and then after you force open the door, you find a dismembered corpse and a dangling head -- yes. The door is not an autolock, so it is a closed-room murder, that label is perfectly acceptable. But, who cares about that? The dean, Origami Noa being killed means talking through this, or rather even figuring out who the enemy is becomes the problem--

"Is this really the time to be debating whether it is a closed-room murder or not? Are you confused because an acquaintance was killed? Get a grip. This is not like you, Aikawa-san--"

"Don"t call me by my surname. Only enemies call me by my surname." Aikawa-san glared at me. "I"m calm. You know, Ii-tan. I"m not just being prejudiced when I say closed-ro0m murders are normally irrelevant. I"m laughing at them because there"s literally no meaning behind it. For example, the Karasu no Nureba Jima (Island of the Wet Crow Wing) case in April. What was the point of the closed-room murder then? That was just a closed-room murder for the sake of being a closed-room murder, right? In this case I"m not looking for how natural it is, I"m looking for the reason. Using the impossible to pull yourself off the list of suspects is one option, but no matter what you do, the nonexistence of proof cannot be turned into a nonexistent evidence. That sort of tomfoolery, there"s no point to it. If you concoct a plan, you die by the plan -- that"s all there is to it."

Well, that is true, I think. However.

"But in this case we"ve got a big meaning. An abruptly out-standing meaning. Right, hey. How did we get into this room?"

"Well, Jun-san broke down the door--"

"Yeah. An obvious action of a trespa.s.ser... the actions of a suspicious trespa.s.ser trying to escape from the school. And then what"s left in this room is a brutalized corpse. Isn"t it clear who gets to be the suspect?"

"... Ah."

... So that is what the meaning was.

In other words, the person behind this situation -- succeeded in framing us for the crime. By creating a closed-room murder situation. Ahh, indeed, in this situation, who but us could anyone suspect?

"Jun-san, this..."

"We"ve been had, in other words."

However Aikawa-san seemed to show no signs of humiliation, instead appearing to praise the schemer, cynically laughing, "Really, they make me laugh."

No... wait. This, were we more than, as Aikawa-san said, no, maybe worse-off than what she said? The sense of urgency had finally caught up amid my confusion. We were already being pursued by Shiogi-chan, but now we were being framed for murder of the dean--

Aikawa-san sighed, "oh jeez," and began gathering the dismembered parts of the dean that had been flung every which way.

"... Pretty rough cut. Blade... or more like a chainsaw, I guess. Yeah. If you think about the pain of dismembering a human, that would be best."

"The clumps of meat were flung around pretty wildly, so it seems like it," Hime-chan nodded. "Dangled her from the ceiling and hack and slashed away with a chainsaw, I think?"

The two conversed in a lighthearted tone about this -- but is that not cruel? A chain. With that, a human body.

"Can that fluorescent light actually hold a person"s weight?"

"If you distribute the weight evenly... maybe, I think."

"... gosh, what a pain, Noa."

Aikawa-san spoke not to me or Hime-chan, but rather to the head of Origami Noa dangling in the air. Of course, the head did not respond, but Aikawa-san continued, unperturbed. Depending on the angle from which you looked at her -- she may have even looked saddened, despite her smile.

"You were so close to reaching your ideal... but these things just don"t go as planned. But that"s why it"s fun, even though you wouldn"t get what I mean... I wanted to say one thing to you, but... whatever. I"ll forgive you for everything now."

And the Aikawa-san crouched down one, then jumped, and untangled the hair wrapped around the fluorescent light. Thud, the head rolled on the ground, and Aikawa-san quickly scooped that up and placed it with the rest of the meat pieces.

"Hmph. Anything missing... well, some connecting pieces are missing. Anyways."

Aikawa-san -- Aikawa Jun, beyond anything I had ever seen before, had a smile that was more sinister, more malicious, more horrible than any other.

"This is getting fun."