Chapter 10: A Plan to Eliminate (?) (The Chronicles of Time)
She followed him out of the room, and they both made a turn and stopped at the dead end that awaited before them.
“What now?”
“Hold on,” he snapped his finger and the wall dismembered itself, a private room was exposed. The wall reformed itself behind them after they entered.
“Whoa!” she exclaimed. “Since when were you able to create a place like this? I didn’t even know it existed!”
“If you had known then it wouldn’t be a secret.” He laughed humorously. He took a glass pitcher that awaited them on the table and poured two cups of water. “Now, let’s get to the reason why I brought you here.”
Her expression turned stern as she accepted the glass. “You found out the identity of the sender?”
“There’s nothing that I can’t do,” Yuu smirked, twirling his finger. He grabbed the doll that descended from above and threw it against the wall. An invisible needle pierced its core and stabbed it so that it remained in its position. It started tearing itself into pieces and its stuffing floated towards the table and assembled itself swiftly. He took a sip, and peered down at the surface. “Let’s see…Aoko-san was it?”
She stood there, dumbfounded. “Hold on…Aoko-san? No way! She’s like, one of the nicest people in the class - no, the entire school!”
He shrugged nonchalantly at her polished reputation. “Well…seems like some people can be two-faced no matter how innocent and amiable they may seem. Magic never lies.”
“B-but she gave me some chocolate before! Like…a couple of days ago?”
“Didn’t you get a headache after that?”
“...yeah.”
“That’s because she added theobromine in it,” he swung the handle of the cup around.
“But why - “
“ - would she do that you ask?” He interrupted. “That’s because you’re close with Natsumi. I’m aware of the reason why she targets Natsumi and the people around her persistently, but it’s better if we make her confess, otherwise my theory will just pass as an unreliable conjecture without any proof. It’s a convoluted matter. I’m sure you already know this, so why are you acting completely ignorant?”
Her golden eyes wavered and she lowered them. Hearing his formal speech made her head even more muddled. “It’s just…I…it’s hard to believe that such a kind person like her…would do something like this. And plus - Natsumi is super kind! Why would she even try and harm such a person like her?”
“...you’re too kind,” he sighed with frustration. “I would never let you be in charge of handling a mission that involves murder and blood.”
“Why would you task me with such a thing?” A mind boggling thought hit her. She took a step back from him and shrieked: “D-don’t tell me…y-you’re planning on k-k-killing her?”
He gave her a look. “Do you think I would kill her? Punishments these days aren’t as harsh - I say we’re being too lenient by just killing her.”
She turned pale. “Y-you’re g-gonna do s-something even worse t-than d-d-death?”
“I’m capable enough to do so, but…I can’t.” He expressed his disappointment as he set down his cup and his shoulders sagged. “If I do that, I have to leave no traces, and Japan is a really bothersome place, don’t you know? You can’t always kill without leaving a trace; even if you try and erase the magic that was used, it’ll still leave small fragments behind. The Japanese gods aren’t that easy to escape, and since I’m in their territory - I gotta play by their rules. For now.”
“Whoa. Sounds like you have a lot of restrictions binding you, huh?”
“Of course! Without those rules and those nagging geezers on me, I would’ve blown this entire world up already!” He boasted smugly.
“Wipe that arrogant smile off your face,” she shuddered at him with displeasure. “You act so aloof at times that it’s irritating.”
“Thank you for your feedback, I’ll continue on with my act.” He added a little curtsey. “Comments are always welcomed.”
She chuckled at his humor. “So what will you do about her?”
“Well, when something has swallowed poison, all we have to do is wait for it to spit it out on its own volition, right?” He said cleverly.
“...I never heard that quote before, did you just make it up?”
He raised his head with a pointed nose. “Yeah, I’m a genius.”
‘Ugh.’
***
She tapped her pen impatiently, glancing at the reflection of Yuu in the window and Himari’s seat. The seats were occupied, but something didn’t feel right. They were so absorbed in their work and their habits were off. Something was wrong about them.
“Yuu?” She whispered underneath her breath, confident that he could hear her with his powers. No reply stirred up suspicions. “Yuu?”
There was no way he would be incapicitated, at the very least he would choose to talk to her telepathically or respond in some other form. Her brows crinkled.
“Himari?”
They were like mindless puppets programmed to pretend that they were concentrating on work and nothing else.
‘This must be Yuu’s doing. Just what are they up to?’
She shot a peek at Akira who was seated a couple of rows behind her. He caught her gesture and nodded in understanding.
“Those are realistic dummies - doppelgangers basically.” He reached out to her telepathically. She nodded without turning around to not arouse any weird looks. Understanding her, he continued on. “I can’t feel their presence anywhere, but there’s no way they would leave the school building because that would trigger the security circle I drew around the entire building and its surroundings. I would be able to tell who enters and who exits–no matter how powerful Yuu is.”
'Well that’s good to know,' she thought to herself, pleased. 'At least now I know the two aren’t playing hooky.'
She paused at the words that passed through her mind. Her stare remained vacuous until she realized the hidden meaning behind her words and her sense of relief. It couldn’t be…
“Haha…there’s no way,” she assured herself weakly.
“Izanami-san, would you like to share with the class what it is you’re not sure about?” The stern voice shook her.
“Uh? Huh?” She blinked blankly. “I-It’s nothing!”
“Then would you care to answer this question?” He raised an eyebrow presenting her with no way out.
She shrank back, mentally slapping herself on the forehead. “Ah…ha…sure.”
***
“Sora!”
He turned around towards the direction of the voice that called his name, then narrowed his eyes. “Ugh, what do you want?”
“Come on, don’t be like that!” She slapped him playfully with a grin. “It’s not anything bad, don’t worry!”
He grimaced; his intuition told him that there’s something off. Himari only approached him whenever she wanted a favor from him–and more than half of the time: it's nothing good. “With that tone…you want something don’t you? It better not be anything as bad as last time. Remember when you bribed me with snacks and desserts only to have me sneak into someone’s house to fetch something and I almost got caught? They reported to the police that a burglar came, you know?”
She shrugged. “Well it’s not my fault that the “victim” decided to steal from me. She should’ve known that I would’ve caught up and found out what she was up to. Besides, it isn’t that bad!”
He raised an eyebrow doubtfully. “...fine, what is it?”
She grinned mischievously. “Aoko-san is part of the student council committee isn’t she?”
“...yeah?”
“Can you invite her the next time we have an outing?” She clapped her hands together.
“Please?”
“Isn’t she in your class? Why don’t you ask her yourself?”
“Well you see…I’m a bit shy, and I don’t want to startle her all of a sudden. We barely talk in class after all. So it would be better if someone who interacts with her often asks her.”
His insides churned at the sight of her acting like an innocent and bashful lamb. “Ugh…don’t play coy.”
“So is that a yes?”
“I’ll think about it,”
“You better do it! A lot is on the line here!” She demanded forcefully.
He dodged her hand. “Geez, calm down. It’s not as if you’re going to battle or something. Are you planning on killing someone? It’s just a hangout, no need to be so bossy.”
“Just do it.”
***
She shifted around in her bed, still fully conscious. It was clear that she won’t be getting any sleep. The thought of Himari and Yuu sneaking off so surreptitiously like that in broad daylight pestered her.
‘I mean, it's none of my business! Why should I be concerned?’ She jammed her eyes shut and shook her head. ‘Yuu is just a big jerk! And - and - and Himari wouldn’t do something like that. Yuu must’ve done something to her or tricked her!’
She nodded at that satisfactory hypothesis.
“Well I’m sorry that I’m such a big jerk,”
She jolted. “…Coming into someone’s room in the middle of the night and disturbing their sleep must be your favorite hobby, huh?”
“Technically, I’m not disturbing anyone’s sleep because you’re not asleep, and it’s not the middle of the night either because while you’re here moping about something, the others are downstairs watching a movie.” He threw a piece of popcorn into his mouth and bent down, the contents inside the bucket shaking and rustling. “Want some?”
She buried her face in her blanket. “'Wo.”
“You know you want it,” he wagged the bucket around her with amusement. “C’mon, don’t sulk. It’s not fun, you know?”
“...so I’m just a form of entertainment for you?” She mumbled.
“What? I can’t hear you.”
“Ah, whatever!” She bursted from her cover and got off her bed grumpily. “Just leave already, you freeloader!”
He stared after her in confusion as she stormed out of the room with displeasure.
“What’s with her? Is she on her period?”