Don't forget to read the first or last part if you haven't!
Should I talk with her for a little while? Or---
>"...Do you know about that case?"
⬢ >"...Would you kindly be quiet?"
First of all, let's choose the option that gives the canon route.
>"...Do you know about that case?"
"...Uhm... Do you know about that case?" I timidly tried asking.
"I know all about that case the Haguros' idiot son brought about! I don't even want to remember!" Haguro? Haguro is the same as Kaoru's family name...
"Madam..."
"The amount of trouble our Tatara family went through because of that case...! Just remembering it makes me furious!!"
"Err... Is this the case you're talking about?"
Sakura-senpai shoved her hand in her pocket and took out the newspaper clipping. The old lady took a look at it and...
"Hmph!" She said, turning the other way. With this, conversation became out of the question.
It was then that---
"Ah, it's here, it's here, Kaoru's in that bus!!" I, in order to change the atmosphere, spoke in a deliberately cheerful voice.
[Bus stopping and door opening sounds]
[From here, the two routes go the same. They go to the school, hide in the locker room from who they think is the caretaker, go to the science room, get jumpscared by a cat, locate the old science room, go there, find the diary, return to the night duty room, and then Yuuka is sent back to the old science room. That is when the routes truly change, but there'll still be a little more left until the real big differences.]
Some way or another, I reached the former science preparation room. My return here alone went without a hitch, but... this atmosphere... It's really creepy.
That's to be expected, considering it's dark, the air is stuffy, and so on...
Let's just give a quick look around the room and then return to the night duty room. Will there really be... any new discoveries...?
Ah, come to think of it... that diary... wasn't there something else written on it?
Erm... Where did we put it... I think it was atop the desk...
Shining the flashlight on the desk, I find the aforementioned journal. This is it...
"Huh? There's still more..." [Sounds of pages being flipped]
This diary had more to tell.
Today is the day of the harvest festival, done in worship of Tengu-sama.
Tengu-sama is always watching the villagers from the mountains, and if someone commits evil deeds or neglects to be grateful to nature, he will 'spirit them away'.
And, for those who commit particularly hideous acts, Tengu-sama himself will bring death upon them as recompense for their sins... However, no 'spiritings away' have occurred these past few hundred years.
Everyone says it's due to the grace of the family that worships Tengu-sama... the Tataras. But...
Lately, the Tataras' conduct has been... frankly, intolerable...
I suppose this is what it means to hold power... Such thoughts have recently come to mind.
How should I keep the company of Isami, a member of the Tatara family... as a Haguro...?
The next page is blank. Its date is... the day before the spiritings away happened. "As a Haguro"...?
The science teacher, who disappeared together with Isami Tatara... He called himself a Haguro... huh.
[Background turns black, sound of wings flapping]
"Kyah!" Ah... I accidentally dropped the flashlight... I could hear the sounds of the battery lightly rolling around.
This is the worst...
To think I have to search for batteries amidst this darkness... Quick... I need to take back the light... I just... want to cry...
The way I'm rummaging around in the dark for the batteries would seem pitiable for any onlookers... "I-I found them!"
Thank goodness... With this, I can use the flashlight.
Proceeding in this darkness without a flashlight would surely be difficult...
"...Ah..." Come to think of it...
The diary passage from before... 'as a Haguro'...
More knowledge about the circumstances of that time is needed. Speaking of which, Miki seemed to know about the Haguros and Tataras.
Asking Kaoru, a member of the Haguro family, would obviously be awkward, but Miki might be able to tell us about the history of the village...
And, I should ask about that rumor... the schoolgirl preserved in formalin's true form, too...
[Background turns black, strong winds are heard]
I single-mindedly ran down the corridor. I have to... show them the diary...
Perhaps this could be the key to solving the mystery... I have a feeling like that...
I was afraid to be alone, of course, but...
[Piano music]
It happened when I passed by the music room. I'm certain... I can hear piano music. Stop it... already... please...
I doubted my ears, but the music I heard was real. This is the Second Music Room... A room gone unused nowadays...
I resolved myself to open that door... The faint hope that it was Senpai playing a prank filled my chest...
Opening the Second Music Room's door, the sounds I heard suddenly stopped. And... nobody was inside the room...
"...Am I... hearing things?"
I slowly approached the piano. From here, I can only see the piano's back. If someone's sitting on the other side...
When that time comes... I'm not sure I'll be able to keep my sanity.
Walking over to a direction where I could see the piano's front, I saw that the piano's lid was opened. Nobody was there.
"......"
I unconsciously gulped down saliva. I must have misheard things...
The portraits are looking at me... With such a feeling, I instinctually turned around. I felt like the portraits' eyes, which shouldn't have moved, were different from how they were before.
Mustering all my courage, I pointed the flashlight at the piano, atop the chair were... traces left behind as if someone was sitting until a second ago.
Could it be...
Could it be... someone was here? I tried shining the flashlight around the area, but although I could feel the presence of someone, I couldn't see anything that looked like the person I was looking for...
Beneath the desk... The wall... Behind the curtain... No matter where... nothing was found.
"RAAAAAAAAWR!!!"
"Kyaaaaaahhhh!!" Abruptly, someone jumped out from under the piano!
"Hehe~, did I get ya?" Senpai had a grin all over her face. ...I really thought my heart stopped...
Or rather... My heart really stopped for a second...
"Err... Sorry about that earlier. I came here to apologize, but... since I was here... I ended up scaring you."
"...Senpai... You're definitely dying horribly..."
"Ahahaha, you're probably right about that."
Tears wouldn't stop coming out. Surprise and relief and... various emotions were jumbled together... Jeez... Seriously, come on...
Senpai is famously {mischevious}. Everyone in the school has become her victim (?) at least once.
She doesn't have any ill will, but... she can't help herself. Especially in times like these...
"Don't cry, Yuuka. I'm sorry." Senpai bowed her head with a despondent expression.
"I really thought I was going to die!"
"Don't be so angry... Sorry."
"......"
"Hey, Yuuka. Why don't we stop by the restroom and then go back? It's scary going alone, yeah?"
"Why don't you go alone? You came all the way here by yourself, didn't you?"
"Don't be so mad~ Come on, it's fine~"
"I don't care!"
"Come on, let's go! Let bygones be bygones."
"I said I don't care!"
"Yuuka, the drama club's..."
"That rule again? ...Fine, I get it."
"Alright! Then, let's go!"
[Screen fades to black]
"Hey, Yuuka. Are you still angry? Didn't I apologize properly~?"
"...That's enough! I don't care!"
"You're still acting like that... here."
[Screen goes dark]
"Kyaaaahhh!!"
Senpai suddenly turned off the flashlight. "Okay! I won't be angry anymore!"
...And, as that happened, we reached the toilets before I realized it. "Well then, wait here a bit! Here, the flashlight!"
Senpai threw me the flashlight. Jeez, she's really a 'my own way' person, isn't she? "I understand... I'll wait..."
I wonder how much time has passed. Senpai... entered the restroom and there was no sign of her coming out. Did something happen, or...
Perhaps... this is my imagination began running wild again, but... Maybe the bird-like shadow from earlier... abducted Senpai or something...
"......"
There's no way it's something like that. If it was, then I'd expect to hear screaming. If anything, it's more likely to be another prank...
However, returning to the night duty room by myself is... a bit scary... I'll try confirming her situation...
"Senpaaai! Did something happeeen?" No reply.
How strange. I can't see any signs of her being here. W-what do I do!? Should I try opening the stalls?
"Senpai? I'm going to open it, okay?"
"......" There was no reply from inside.
If I open it and there's nobody inside...
Then would the Senpai from earlier be... a ghost's mischief? No way. That... couldn't... be... but... just imagining it gives me goosebumps.
It was then that---
"Hyih!?"
Suddenly, the door to the bathroom opened and I saw a green face fly out from inside...... It was a tengu-like face...
I can feel my consciousness fading... My life didn't flash before my eyes, so... I guess I'm not dying...?
I somewhat feel like... I'm lightly floating in the air...
Huh? I... fainted... but... my consciousness... faintly remains... That person with the tengu-like face... I wonder who they were?
What? I feel like someone's dragging me into the stall... Who? What will... happen... to me....?
"Ugh, uuuhn..." With my head still fuzzy, I slowly surveyed my surroundings. From the looks of it, this is the inside of a toilet stall?
But... I don't remember why I'm in here... Err...
That's right... Senpai entered the bathroom... She didn't come out at all... So I went in to see what happened...
When I tried to open the door, a tengu...
Tengu...
It was a tengu!?
A tengu, that's...
It's no use... My thoughts aren't making sense.
First of all, what in the world was the thing that came out of the toilet?
It resembled a tengu I saw once in a picture book, but is it really something like that...?
[Flapping of wings]
"Hiiih!"
That sound was... the same sound as when I opened the science room's door earlier. Has it been following me... ever since then?
That was... a tengu?
With so many things happening in rapid succession, it's hard to know what's real and what's imaginary...
A tengu... There's no way such a thing really exists... yet it seems as if it's real, but I'm sure it's just due to this unusual situation.
Anyway... I need to clear my head. I won't be able to think of anything until I do so.
"Eh?" The door... won't open...
Looking closely, the inside lock is broken. And it appears that something is blocking the other side.
"Kh!" What do I do... But I have no choice. In a situation like this, I can't do anything but this!
[Bam!]
I kick down the stall door and go outside. I looked around the area, but... Senpai was nowhere to be found.
"Senpai...?" I tried calling for her just in case, but there wasn't a reply as I hoped. No way, could this be a prank, too?
I have no idea how much time has passed since then.
Perhaps Senpai left me behind and returned to the night duty room...? If that's the case, then I'll get seriously angry.
I don't have a flashlight or anything, but... I guess I'll just head to the night duty room...
Outside, the furious snowstorm still raged and strong winds rattled the windowpanes. The snow was sticking to the glass, so the conditions outside were completely unknown.
Total darkness and clattering windows... Just that made me almost faint again.
I can't seem to reach the night duty room... Time feels... really slow...
In the distance, I can see a window with faint light spilling out of it. Thank goodness... I made it safely to the night duty room...
At last, I came back to the night duty room. ...But nobody was in sight. Where did everyone go?
That's right! Kaoru... Couldn't she have recovered? A lot of time has passed since she collapsed.
She probably came to her senses by now. However, the room is poorly lit, so I can't see the inside well. I groped around in search of the light switch, and...
"Owch" I tripped on something. What is it? Let me turn on the lights first...
"Kyaaaaaahhhh!" What I tripped on in the dim room was...
was... Kaoru.
My eyes grew accustomed to the darkness little by little, until the full, unmoving picture of my best friend faintly emerged.
Blood... streamed from Kaoru's head, seeming pitch black. No, she couldn't have died...
"K-Kaoru!? Kaoru!!" I tried calling for her, but no replies came.
I tried touching her body, feeling a coldness clearly distinguishing her from the living.
Kaoru is... dead...?
"NOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Something occurred that I couldn't comprehend. Why did Kaoru die...?
Utterly impossible to comprehend......
I returned to the night duty room, what I thought was a place of tranquility, only to find Kaoru dead...
I... lost my best friend...
...It's no use. Again, my thoughts are going nowhere.
Kaoru... Kaoru...
I wiped my overflowing tears and approached her.
Mustering all my courage, I examined Kaoru's condition. There seemed to be a large amount of bleeding coming from her head. Was she hit over the head with some kind of blunt weapon...?
...I must compose myself and grasp the situation... I surveyed the dim interior as calmly as I could... Huh?
Come to think of it...
When I was here before, I think I saw boots in that corner... They're gone now... Did someone use them?
However... the snowstorm outside is growing worse by the second. It's unthinkable for someone to go outside in these conditions...
Anyway, this place is dangerous. I doubt Kaoru's wound was a simple {accident}. In that case... I have to exit quickly and look for everyone!
Leaving the night duty room, Miki, with her head hanging, stood there.
"Sakura-senpai told me to go to the staff room and look for a phone, but..." Miki kept looking downward.
"...It couldn't connect!?"
"Yes... It was no good..." Did someone cut the lines...?
"Where's Sakura-senpai?"
"She said she was going to call for help."
"Do you mean... she went outside, into the blizzard!?"
"Yeah... Senpai said she would take responsibility... She's going to go down to the village by herself..."
Miki continued hanging her head.
At that time... When I went to the science room alone... The only person who remained in the night duty room was...
....And then, Kaoru was murdered by someone.
That means... Miki likely saw something... Maybe even the moment Kaoru was killed... Otherwise... Did Miki kill Kaoru?
I have to calmly judge these circumstances... The {culprit} who {murdered} Kaoru... I absolutely will find them! For that purpose... I first need to grasp the situation.
Miki Shimohashi. Where was Miki during the time Kaoru was murdered? The staff room? But she's close to the scene now.
And... Sakura-senpai.
Senpai's whereabouts are unknown after she went into the toilet... According to Miki, she apparently went down to the village, but...
What about the caretaker? ...He went home after locking the front gate.
We heard car engine noises then, but... what if that was a front...? There will be no end if I suspect everything.
Speaking of, the person who took the night duty room's boots. ...Was it Senpai?
Or was it someone completely different?
There's something else that caught my attention. When we first came to the night duty room, it was warm... Why is that? Because... someone was there? Or what else?
The other remaining possibility is... spiriting away, maybe? And... the wingbeats from earlier... Those were...
...A tengu?
[Sounds of wings fluttering]
"Kyah!?"
Again. That same sound. A large bird-like shadow passed by the window. Is there something here... after all...?
"That startled me..." Miki held her hand to her chest with wide-open eyes.
"It's cold in here, shall we go back to the night duty room, Yuuka?" Miki's suggestion is natural, but in the night duty room is Kaoru's...
Does the fact that she suggested this to me mean that she isn't the culprit...? I'll follow her proposal and see what happens.
We returned to the night duty room. But it was clearly different from when it was the four of us earlier. Senpai isn't here, and in Kaoru's case...
...Huh? Kaoru?
I slowly looked around the room. However, Kaoru's body, laid down on the table until a moment ago... wasn't there.
"Eh?" Leaving the night duty room and talking to Miki took only a few minutes... Her body vanished in that short span of time... How?
Bloodstains were left behind in the place where Kaoru was. That's all the evidence that proves Kaoru was ever there... But... where is the body in question?
There's no way she was still alive! Something like that is... only hopeful thinking...
Miki may not have noticed the bloodstains, as she kept staring up at the ceiling.
"Hey, Yuuka. Want to go the toilet?" Suddenly, Miki started fidgeting.
"Eh? No... not that much..."
"Let's go! I... can't hold it in any longer..."
"W-wait, Miki... Wait a second!"
Almost forcefully, Miki grabbed my arm and went to leave. But now isn't the time to go to the toilet... "You're coming, Yuuka!"
"Wait, Miki! Why are you so anxious to go to the toilet...? You can go by yourself..."
"No, you're coming with me!"
Miki being this forceful... I've never seen her like this before... Did something... happen? "A-alright... Let's go."
"Quickly!"
"I said alright, jeez..."
"......"
"Hey, Miki... Are we really going to the toilet?" I decided to cut to the chase.
"......"
"Come on, Miki!"
"...Truth is..."
"Truth is?"
"When we were in the night duty room, I saw something... A shadow watching us from above the ceiling..."
"A shadow? From above the ceiling?"
"That's right... From above the ceiling... it was... watching us the whole time..."
"A shadow...? There's no way..."
"No, really. A shadow with a bright red face... kept staring our way..."
"No way... From above the ceiling?"
"...Yes..."
"That's why... I didn't want us to stay there as much as possible! We had to move elsewhere right away! ...I swear I'm not lying..."
"Miki... That bright red face... Did it look like a tengu's?"
"...Yeah... It's like you say..."
That shadow I saw outside the window earlier... Could that have been a tengu, too...?
"Speaking of that... you're familiar with this village's legends, right, Miki?"
"...Eh?"
"I'd forgotten about it after everything that happened... but there was more to that science teacher's diary."
"...More...?"
"...Yeah... Here, look at this."
"The last thing he wrote was... 'as a Haguro'... yeah? What happened... between the Haguro and Tatara families?"
"That's, well... something from 40 years ago..."
Miki began to tell the history between the Haguro and Tatara families.
"To begin with... This village held faith in tengus. And the ones that worshipped Tengu-sama were the Tatara family."
"And, 40 years ago... those spiriting away cases occurred."
"Um... the ones published in the newspaper Senpai had?"
"Yes, those."
"So... how could a person from the Tatara family, who were supposed to worship and appease Tengu-sama, have been spirited away? ...The village was in an uproar..."
"It was a natural reaction, wasn't it? For a Tatara, those who worship and are protected by Tengu-sama, to be spirited away... It was unthinkable."
"Thanks to this... the Tataras' influence over the village was... forfeit..."
"And... those who didn't let that opportunity go... were the Haguros. They spread around the village spiriting away rumors... They drove the Tataras to their {downfall}..."
"The Haguro family... is Kaoru's family, right?"
"Yeah... you might not know this Yuuka, since you just moved in, but... there's a famous story in this village... about the {destiny} that ties both families..."
"So there's something like that..." That type of antagonism still exists in the countryside, huh?
"You see, this is a small village, right? So, this kind of story was soon known throughout the whole village..."
"However, I couldn't say it aloud... in front of Ms. Kaoru..." So that was the reason she kept her mouth shut up until now.
"Oh, yes... Mr. Kosugi... he's also a member of the Tatara family. Rumor says that because of this incident, he was put up for adoption and became a Kosugi..."
[Door creaks open, shuffling of feathers (?)]
A noise came from behind us, interrupting our conversation.
It came from far away, but I could see someone leaving the night duty room. That silhouette had... a really long nose... just like a tengu.
"...T-Tengu-sama...?" Miki spoke with her eyes wide open.
Surely, that silhouette... without needing to be stated... looked like that of a tengu.
"Yuuka, we need to run!"
The faster I try to run, the more I stumble and can't run properly. Miki is already running far ahead of me.
"This is bad! It's going to catch up to me!"
"Yuuka, please run faster!" We ran all the way down the corridor. However...
"Hey, Miki! Listen to me while we run!"
"At this time... W-what is it, Yuuka!?"
"Come over here... I'm certain that..."
"Ah!" It seems Miki realized what I was trying to say.
"A dead end..." Just as I expected, a great wall appeared before our eyes. We were cornered into a dead end...
And... the shadow pursuing us is... slowly but surely coming closer to us... It's... already over for us...
We were trapped, helpless to do anything but watch the silhouette approach...
In a time like this, what do we do...!
>That's right! There's the old map!
>That's right! Try a ramming attack!
The top option continues to the good ending, bottom option leads to more game overs, but...
>That's right! Try a ramming attack!
[I was going to translate what happens here, as these are the last game overs, but since they don't really give any new info, instead, I'll simply explain what happens. Unlike in the other route, the attacker reached us first and grabbed Miki. But, it's revealed that the attacker was the schoolgirl preserved in formalin, and not a tengu (That's probably where the green mask came from). She absorbed Miki (with very gross bone-breaking and slurping sounds, mind you) while Yuuka repeatedly kicked her without effect.]
Somehow... I have to get away from this situation... But how do I do that...
>Run towards the entrance.
>Open the map.
>Open the map.
[Yuuka attempts to find an exit on the map, discovering the backdoor, but that doesn't save her, the attacker's hand grabs her just as she steps outside and she is 'spirited away'. However, we get a small glimpse of the attacker's memory of her love, but most importantly, of her hatred of the land that denied it.]
>Run towards the entrance.
[Before we can run, Sakura's face emerges from the attacker's body, pleading for help. The attacker approaches, but Miki's face emerges as well, revealing the identity of the attacker (which we already know, but Yuuka didn't yet). The attacker was slow enough that Yuuka could reach the entrance.]
Now... What do I do...?
>Turn to look behind me.
>Go outside through the entrance.
>Go outside through the entrance.
[This continues to the encounter with the tengu, but Yuuka still ends up spirited away.]
>Turn to look behind me.
[The attacker was, quite literally, 10 centimeters behind us the whole time. Yuuka's legs freeze in fear as she stares at the attacker's blood-red eyes, but the attacker kept approaching until there was only 2 centimeters between them.]
W-what should I do!? ...Is there even a way out!?
>Run forward as hard as I can.
>Surrender myself.
>Surrender myself.
[What happens is exactly what you expect.]
>Run forward as hard as I can.
[Unlike what you'd expect, Yuuka just passes through the attacker, revealing its ghostly nature. After this, the cat appears and goes through the back door hidden in the wall. Following that, the same encounter with the tengu happens, and she's still spirited away.]
[With that, all game overs had been showcased, except not really. Anyway, let's go back and continue to the canon ending.]
In a time like this, what do we do...!
>That's right! There's the old map!
>That's right! Try a ramming attack!
>That's right! There's the old map!
...That's right! That item I've had in hand for a while... It can probably be used now... The old... map...
"H-hey, Miki... On the old map... where would this area be?"
"Eh? What do you mean?"
"Remember... that black cat!"
"That... black cat?"
"That cat flew out of the science preparation room even though it was supposed to be locked shut, right? That means... there should be a secret path somewhere!"
"W-wait a minute... This corridor's end is..."
"Be fast!"
"I know! Just wait a minute!"
Our pursuer was slowly but steadily coming closer to us. We... don't have much time.
"...B-behind this wall..."
While looking at the old map, I pictured the floor plan of the modern-day school in my head. There should be a path after this dead end...!
I groped around in the darkness for a doorknob... Okay! My hand caught something!
This... should lead outside...
[Snow effect]
Outside was... a raging snowstorm as I imagined... However, escaping from that mysterious pursuer is the first priority. I closed the door shut behind us.
With this... we'll be fine for a while... "Um... Yuuka."
"What?"
"The spiriting away story from 40 years ago... There's still more to it..."
"More...?"
"Yeah... At that time, the Tatara family had reached the peak of its prosperity, but... they were ruined by the 'spiriting away' rumors I told about some time ago..."
"Uhm... The photo and diary from the old science room... Once I looked at that, it clicked for me..."
"Ah, this journal, right?"
"...The Tatara family member who appeared in that journal... Ms. Isami Tatara was, at that time, one of the people who were spirited away."
"And... so was the science teacher talked about in this newspaper... He called himself a Haguro, correct?"
"Yeah... he did..."
"Isami Tatara and... the science teacher she disappeared together with... The ones who started the fuss about the spiritings away were... like I said earlier... the Haguro family..."
"The Haguros... they likely were the science teacher's family... They said... that the Tatara's worship was a sham... that if they were truly faithful, the spiritings away..."
"Wouldn't have happened, right?"
"Yes. That led to the Tataras' downfall and, in turn, the flourishing of the Haguros..."
"I see... So that's what happened."
"Well... it's not out of the realm of possibility, but... I suppose you could say that... the disappearance of the science teacher was really an {elopement}. Between the Tatara's daughter and the Haguro science teacher..."
"The Haguro family utilized that in their scheme for the Tataras' downfall. They claimed the two were 'spirited away'..."
"If the daughter of the Tatara family, who is supposed to be protected by the Tengu-sama, was 'spirited away'... then the family's reputation would be ruined..."
"...And the two, who had already run away, couldn't do anything despite their grief..."
"I see... That makes sense. I think that's valid reasoning. You may be on the right track, surprisingly enough."
[Bam]
A violent noise signals the end of our fleeting respite.
We were negligent. Our pursuer was still there. The culprit who murdered Kaoru was right there... "Okay! Miki, wait here!"
I'm going in alone, so I thought. I didn't feel fear, oddly enough.
The murderer who killed Kaoru, my best friend, might have been there... How dare they kill her... Absolutely unforgivable...
For Kaoru to die in such a way... Kaoru herself couldn't have imagined that at all.
I, too... can't imagine it. That's why I wanted to avenge her... Maybe that was my thought process.
However... on the other side of the door was nobody. "Huh?" Glancing at the floor, there I saw...
"Eh!? Blood?"
On the floor was left a large puddle of blood and, leading from it to down the corridor, scattered splotches of blood. Did this blood... come from Kaoru's body?
When I thought about it... I felt even more frustrated. The killer must have carried the body with him. Where did they go?
What kind of ending... is the culprit drawing...?
"I-is that... blood...?" Miki poked her face in from the door gap.
"Um... this is... Kaoru's..."
"Eh? Ms. Kaoru's... blood...?"
"I didn't want to know, Miki, but Kaoru was... killed by someone..."
"...What..."
"Earlier... I found her dead... in the night duty room..."
"T-that's... a lie, right...?"
"It's the truth. I even suspected you, MIki... I'm sorry."
"A-anyway, this blood..."
"Yeah. We might be able to follow it to the culprit..." We can locate the culprit, the one behind Kaoru's murder...
I want to know who murdered her. Why do that to the innocent Kaoru...?
"This hidden door leads to the outside... That means... the killer took Kaoru's body outside..."
"So that's why the bloodstain is here... Then, the killer must have known that it was connected to the outside."
"Yeah... If that's the case... just who in the world is the culprit...?"
Who is the Culprit?
The culprit and his goal... Before all that, who are they? The one who prevented me from returning while I was in the music room was...
>Kaoru.
>Senpai.
Quiz time, but for a good reason.
>Senpai.
It was because of Senpai. Because of her prank... I had to stay in the music room.
Come to think of it... the schoolgirl's story was...
>Introduced to me by Miki.
>Introduced to me by Senpai.
The dots are connecting in her head...
>Introduced to me by Senpai.
This story was introduced to me by Senpai. Senpai initially invited me... quite forcefully...
Kaoru was invited, too... Then... when Miki came along, Senpai openly made a displeased face...
>That's because she doesn't like Miki.
>That's because it disturbed her plans.
The upper option is funny, but the lower one is the right one.
>That's because it disturbed her plans.
That's probably because it disturbed her plans... The scenario that Senpai had envisioned had to be changed because of the intrusion of Miki, someone who wasn't part of the plan...
And, now, Senpai isn't in here... Apparently, she went to the village, but...
>It's impossible to descend to the village in this heavy snowfall.
>It's possible to descend to the village in this heavy snowfall.
It is possible, but we've only seen one person do it, so we can rule it out for now, lol.
>It's impossible to descend to the village in this heavy snowfall.
It's impossible to descend to the village in this heavy snowfall. That is to say, Senpai is still inside the school. She probably hid herself somewhere...
"Senpai was angry when you came with us, wasn't she?"
"Yeah, she was..."
"And she couldn't reach the village in this blizzard..."
"Are you saying... it was Sakura-senpai?"
"No, much less her carrying Kaoru's body... It just doesn't feel possible."
"I agree... That's certainly..." Senpai may speak like a man, but she's still a woman.
It's naturally hard to believe she could carry Kaoru's body by herself. Thinking further about the bloodstain, Kaoru must have been carried on someone's shoulders.
If she was pulled along the floor, the blood wouldn't have been left in this scattered pattern... It would have been a longer trail. "In that case..."
"There's an {accomplice}... That's a reasonable conclusion, isn't it?"
"Yeah..."
"Rather than an accomplice, maybe they're the mastermind... Do you remember, Miki? The night duty room of that time..."
"Weren't there clear traces of someone having been there? Not to mention the shadow you saw above the ceiling... There was someone else in the room!"
"...I see. But then, who...?"
"Wait a minute. Didn't you say earlier during the story about the Haguro and Tatara families that Mr. Kosugi was originally a member of the Tataras?"
"Well, then... Then there may be a possibility."
What is the Culprit's Motive?
The story Miki told about the Haguro and Tatara families... If that is true, then...
We need to take this person into account...
>Kaoru.
>Mr. Kosugi.
The machete professor...
>Mr. Kosugi.
If Mr. Kosugi is involved, what is his reason? That would be because his...
>Original surname is Tatara.
>Original surname is Haguro.
Quiz time.
>Original surname is Tatara.
Because his original surname is Tatara... The destiny that ties the Haguro and Tatara families...
If this incident is related to that destiny, then we must consider Mr. Kosugi's presence...
Assuming that Teacher and Sakura-senpai were accomplices, what did they try to do...?
>Go outside.
>Roam about the school.
Honestly, even without the knowledge of the other route, this choice is obvious due to the missing boots.
>Go outside.
I see, they were trying to go outside. That's why that was near the hidden door...
However, why was going outside necessary?
>Because they wanted to transport the body in a car. (Conclusion)
>Because they wanted to go to the Tengu's Shrine. (Conclusion)
Only one real choice here.
>Because they wanted to go to the Tengu's Shrine. (Conclusion)
Because they wanted to go to the Tengu's Shrine...
That waterfall, it's rumored that once someone is dropped there, they're never seen again... The ideal spot to hide a body.
I see. Their destination is the Tengu's Shrine, huh...?
"Teacher Kosugi is... the culprit?" Miki seemed shocked at my deduction.
"It's just a what if, in the end. Around here, it's a big deal for your family to come to ruin, isn't it?"
"Yeah, that's, well..."
"If that's the case, then it may be possible that he holds a grudge against the Haguro family members, who brought his family to ruin."
"But didn't Teacher Kosugi go back to the village on the last bus...? We all saw that happen."
"In the bus stop... He should have taken the bus, but did he really ride on it...?"
"There's no way he didn't. Because he took that old lady's hand and led her to the bus."
"Correct. And we even saw him off."
"However, the possibility still remains. For example, if he got off at the next bus stop..."
"He came back by car!?"
"That's right. There's a good chance of that being the case."
"Then, maybe the car noises we heard from the locker room... weren't the sounds of the caretaker leaving, but of Mr. Kosugi coming back?"
"That's possible!"
"Yeah, I think we're on the right track."
"And since he has an adequate motive..."
"Let's go, Miki! Teacher's in the Tengu's Shrine!"
"The Tengu's Shrine! The rumors that the water flow at the top of the waterfall is so complicated that corpses don't emerge from the waters...!"
"That's right! In this blizzard, there is no other safe hiding spot."
"Is Teacher going to throw Mr. Kaoru's corpse from up there!?"
"Probably... But we can't let him do that!"
The bloodstains continued all the way down the corridor. We were following them, but...
"It's as we thought..." The bloodstain's path led to the open entrance and continued even further beyond...
"Sure enough, they're at the Tengu's Shrine, aren't they...?"
"Most likely. If they know about the waterfall's rumors, then they should have hidden there."
"...Let's go, Yuuka! To the Tengu's Shrine!"
"No, Miki, you wait here. I'll be going in alone..."
"Yuuka!? Why?"
"I don't know... I don't know myself, but... I want to continue alone..."
"It's probably because of Kaoru. It's not particularly because of my sense of justice or anything like that... I don't know... how to put it into words."
"...Alright. Please take care, Yuuka."
"Miki... Thank you."
Why did I speak out, saying I was going alone...? Not even I understand the reason. Was it because of Kaoru?
Or, is it because I want to see the end of this matter? What urge drives me is unknown. I truly... don't know.
At any rate, I should proceed forward now. Some pebbles flew amidst the snowstorm.
They would hit my cheeks, but nevertheless, I couldn't afford to stop walking.
Senpai's disappearance, Kaoru's death... We came here only to verify the rumors of the schoolgirl preserved in formalin... We just... wanted that, and yet...
Before we knew it, our adventure had... transfigured into an incident. And, ahead of me was the truth. Probably... the truth I've been expecting...
The tips of all the fingers in my hands hurt, likely because I'm walking in the middle of a blizzard. However, Kaoru... must have suffered more.
Having that happen to her... It must have been more painful, more cruel than this...
Considering that, I can't whine about something as minor as this.
The Tengu's Shrine... It's just a little more until I reach the truth that resides there... I encouraged myself as I walked.
Just a little more... It's just a little more until the truth is made clear.
Should I call this expected? There was no sign of life in the area, only the roaring echoes of the waterfall reverberating in the pitch blackness.
"Kya-------!"
This scream is... Senpai!?
I turned around in the direction of the voice, but all I could hear was the sounds of the blowing snowstorm and the waterfall, and I could not see, let alone hear, her.
I couldn't hear anything but nature's roar.
[The wings appear, fluttering noises]
Suddenly, a black shadow of about three meters in height jumped out of the snow piled up in front of me. That black shadow spread one of its wings and tried to wrap me in it.
Is it trying to abduct me!? Could this be... the true nature of the spiritings away???
"...Ah..."
My stiffened body isn't doing what it's told...
But, perhaps by natural instinct, I slowly took steps back, avoiding being swallowed by that wing.
This is... a tengu!?
However, as I tardily drew away, the black shadow steadily approached. It spread its large wings wide...
With the snowstorm growing stronger little by little, I couldn't even hear the sound of the snow I trod upon. Even what was in front of me was hard to see due to this curtain of snow.
In any case... I had a feeling that if I let it envelop me, it would be the end. For some unknown reason... and only vaguely, but... that's what I felt.
Slowly... slowly I stepped back...
"...Huh?" Before I knew it... there was no more snow-covered ground beneath me... One of my legs suddenly fell.
And... I lost my balance and fell down the cliff.
It was... exceedingly slow. I seemed to be falling at exceedingly slow speeds.
"Is this... the end of my life?" Memories flashed and faded before my eyes. ...Is this really the end?
No! I don't want it to end like this! It was just... just a little more until I reached the truth!!
God... save me...
As luck would have it, I fell onto a rocky ledge that jutted out a few meters from the cliff.
Perhaps due to a mound of piercingly cold snow, my body seemed to be fine...
...But... my body isn't moving... I don't feel any pain, but... it's no... use... Perhaps, on the contrary, not feeling pain was the issue.
...I don't remember where I heard it, but... when humans feel pain beyond their limits, the brain moves to shut it out...
I give up... This is beyond... my limits...
"...Ah... the sun is rising... in the sky..." From the east... I could see the morning sun rising. That was the last thing I remembered.
[Fluttering of wings, cut to black]
By the time I regained consciousness, I already was in the village's hospital. I tried moving my body, but it still hurt here and there. "Um... I..."
"You need to rest. You have bruises and broken bones... You're in pretty bad shape." The nurse beside me smiled.
"Um... How was I saved?"
"Your friend, Ms. Shimohashi I think she's called? She came running to the police."
"Is that so...?"
"She hurriedly came in the morning, and said her friend was in trouble."
"...Miki..."
"Yeah, then they went to the Tengu's Shrine and found you under the cliff... Had they discovered you a little later... You probably wouldn't have survived."
"Ooh, you're awake, eh, sleeping beauty?"
"...Uh... Who are you?"
"Ah, I'm Safuji. A detective from the prefectural police."
"...Is that so...?" He looks like a somewhat flippant guy... The detective had a faint grin on his face.
"Your friend was pretty worried about you." Behind the detective, I could see Miki's figure.
"Yuuka... Are you okay?"
"Yeah... Well, as much as I can when I look like this."
"...That's good..."
"...Thanks... Miki..."
"Seems like this case has quite the deep roots. The feud between the old houses of this village, the Tataras and the Haguros, started well over 40 years ago. What a piece of work."
The detective laughed sarcastically. "Isami Tatara... The girl who was spirited away 40 years ago... A keepsake of hers was found on the Tengu's Shrine."
"Keepsake...?"
"Her last love letter... It was found in the Tengu's Shrine. Pretty romantic, isn't it?"
I ignored the detective's playing dumb and asked, "Was it found in the waterfall?"
"No way! Ah, maybe you don't know? The reason that waterfall is called the Tengu's Shrine is because there's a cave behind the waterfall."
"Eh!? There's something like that?"
"Yep. It's where this village's guardian deity, Tengu-sama, was enshrined. That's why it was named the Tengu's Shrine."
Miki stayed silent, nodding along.
"The events of back then are now shrouded in darkness... The couple that became the origin of the quarrel between the Tatara and Haguro families... {Ryouji Haguro} and Isami Tatara..."
Ryouji Haguro... For the first time, the science teacher's name, until now lost in darkness, was revealed.
"Haguro and Tatara. Teacher and student. The pair who fell in an unforgivable love, after much worry and anguish, threw themselves off the waterfall..."
"However, what if I told you that only Isami Tatara died at that time...?"
"Eh...?" What is this detective talking about...?
"And that the surviving Ryouji Haguro secretly returned to the village, where he had a child. That was..."
"No way... Is that Kaoru...?" Kaoru is the daughter of the science teacher that was spirited away 40 years ago. They're {parent and child}...?
"At least, that's what it looks like to me. Truthfully, the results of our investigation identified Kosugi as Isami Tatara's younger brother. The two were {siblings}."
"Eeh!?"
"...You should understand what this means. Why did Kosugi target Kaoru among all the Haguro family members? I think I have an explanation, despite its paradoxical nature."
"That being a {desire for revenge} to eradicate the blood of Ryouji Haguro, the man who caused Isami Tatara to die alone and brought about the downfall of the Tatara family..."
"So that's why Mr. Kosugi targeted Kaoru..."
"What do you think? It may just be a possibility, but my guess isn't necessarily worth zero points, is it?"
But... Even if that's the truth, for him to kill the innocent Kaoru... just because of the blood she inherited...
Did Kaoru... know about her own father...?
"By the way... About your senpai..."
"You mean Sakura-senpai?"
"Yes, that Sakura-senpai. She's still a bit confused."
"Confused?"
"I don't know what she saw, but... she's still recovering..."
"Um, Yuuka. Sakura-senpai was found holding a tengu mask, she kept mumbling 'teacher... tengu...' over and over.
"That tengu mask... was that what we saw?"
"At the very least, it was different from the thing above the ceiling. Sakura-senpai's mask was green..."
"That... was the face I saw in the toilet..."
That's right, when I fainted in the toilet, I saw a tengu-like face then... That was Senpai's doing, huh...?
"Oh yeah! Mr. Detective! Did you find Kaoru... Kaoru's body?"
"We didn't discover it in the Tengu's Shrine, even after a full-scale investigation... Then Kosugi went missing, too..."
"Eh? Mr. Kosugi, too?"
"Yeah, Kosugi and Ms. Sakura were accomplices..."
"Accomplices... huh..."
"Mm-hm, in truth, the two were {in love}."
"Eh!?"
"The two were mutual lovers. That's why... Ms. Sakura helped Kosugi in his revenge. Of course, Kosugi is the {true perpretator}."
"We've already put Kosugi on the wanted list. And as soon as Ms. Sakura recovers, we'll interview her."
"Is... that so...?"
"Well, I'll be excusing myself. Get well soon." The frivolous-looking detective gave a refreshed smile that didn't suit the occasion and left.
In the end, so many things were intricately connected that I honestly didn't know how many more revelations my head could handle.
"Hey, Miki..."
"What?"
"After everything... what was it about?"
"You mean the case?"
"No, the rumors of the schoolgirl preserved in formalin..."
"How did it circulate, transform itself, and come to us...? And the truth that was hidden within... For some reason, that picked my interest."
"How are rumors born? How do they spread around? Once I go to college... I think I'll research that. By my own effort!"
"That sounds like something you would do... But, that probably isn't a bad idea. I, too..."
[Sudden cut to black]
"...So, after a while, Senpai recovered... but she didn't remember anything about the case. Because of my parent's work circumstances, I had to change schools soon after..."
"Hmm"
"This is the story of my encounter with the occult... What do you think, Junya-kun?"
"Um, let me see..."
"It's just what I think, but... Kosugi planned to commit the perfect crime... that doesn't seem quite right."
"What do you mean?"
"In my opinion..."
[The choices are pretty restrictive this time, only 1 or 2 correct ones per blank. They're not shocking either, just what you're shown in the story.]
[All correct]
"If Kosugi was the culprit... then that's strange. I know this is a hard thing to ask, but... Kaoru was beaten to death, right...?"
"...She was..."
"That doesn't make much sense. Because, if Kosugi did it, he would have wanted to make it look like a "spiriting away" no matter what, wouldn't he? That would be his revenge."
"However, Kaoru was beaten to death... That's why the bloodstains were left behind. In other words..."
"It couldn't have been because of the 'spiritings away'!"
"That's right. Perhaps, the tengu Miki saw above the ceiling... that person was the one behind everything, don't you think so?"
"Then, there was someone else in the school building?"
"Yeah. Kosugi probably found Kaoru's body and thought it was Sakura's doing... So he put on the boots and left to the Tengu's Shrine, carrying Kaoru."
"At that point, since Kosugi was going to the waterfall, nobody was in the school building. That means... the one who pursued you was..."
"A completely different person!"
"That train of logic makes sense, doesn't it? And... that person found their way to the Tengu's Shrine... where they met with Kosugi. Sakura must have witnessed that person at that time too, probably."
"But Senpai was confused for a while after. For her to become like so..."
"Perhaps they made Kosugi disappear before her eyes? If the person you loved suddenly vanished in front of you..."
"Then... you would have become like that."
"Well... This is nothing more than speculation from your story, but... perhaps that person was... a tengu."
"That's an interesting guess."
Abruptly, someone started talking from behind me, and we turned to face the door. There stood Professor Kirisaki.
"It was an interesting story. And, Junya, your speculation is superb."
"B-brother... Were you listening?"
"Yeah, since the halfway point."
"You could have greeted us..." Junya-kun sulked as he spoke.
"...Hm?"
"What's wrong, Ms. Yuuka?"
"......"
...Oh yeah! Come to think of it... A single mystery remains.
The whereabouts of Kaoru's body... It was never found, even though the police were searching for it... I wonder where Kaoru went?
Maybe it's still in the waterfall's basin... No, I don't think that's it... Could it be...
Could it be that I was already mistaken when considered her to be dead?
I believe so. Kaoru is still living somewhere.
She was spirited away and is surely living somewhere, even now...
Comprehensive Evaluation: S Class
Yuuka Chapter - Spirited Away - End
The long-awaited end. For this chapter, that is, because there's one more! But before that, I'd like to put my thoughts on paper, but I don't have many this time.
The only thing I want to talk about is Tengu-sama's actions. First of all, I think it's impossible to know whether his spiriting away is different from Isami's spiriting away. Why? Because the encounter with him always goes the same, whether you get spirited away or not, so we have no clues as to who spirits us away right then. This leads to my next point: no matter the ending, he always spirits Kosugi away. This can be seen even in the first game over, where the old lady talks about losing her son, who is likely Kosugi. That would mean that Tengu-sama disapproves of his actions. But Tengu-sama was probably Kaoru's attacker as well. Does that mean that Kaoru did something worse than Kosugi? Is it still a 'sins of the father' type deal? But then, why doesn't he attack her on the other route?
There's a ton of weird contradictions to his actions. However, I can say one thing: Kaoru does in fact return in Hayarigami 3. Well, to be more accurate, it's someone claiming to be Kaoru. Same name, but a completely different person, to begin with, they're a man and not a woman. I don't know what his deal's about, but that'll have to wait a long, long time.
Anyway, this next chapter is the last, and its called...
Evil Exterminator - Ranko Indou
That's the name. The actual name of the last chapter. However, I'll primarily call it "Ranko Chapter - Exorcist" for the sake of consistency.
Well, see you next time!