Chapter 31. Enoshima.
Tsukino and Chiya bent down, picked up the things they had accidentally stepped on, and examined them.
From the outside, it appears to be a human finger. However, when Tsukino and Chiya picked it up and examined it closely, they easily discovered that it was actually...
"So it's the kind of human model that might be used in teaching." Tsukino and Chiya came to this conclusion, and then planned to walk quickly towards the pool of blood in the center, but obviously someone was faster than them.
Unlike his initial reaction of disgust at the smell when he first opened the door, after entering the classroom, Wang Ma Xiaoji went straight to the place with the strongest smell and the most conspicuous place in the classroom—then stopped at the edge of the pool of blood, squatted down, and stared at the motionless body that looked like a corpse by the light of his phone.
As soon as Tsukino and Chiya finished speaking, Ohma Kokichi almost immediately chimed in, as if he had been waiting for this opportunity: "This one too. Although it looks quite intimidating in the dim light, it's actually just a mannequin... It's both a puppet and a mannequin. The Strange really likes to use these kinds of things."
Hajime Hinata: "This is really... I probably won't be surprised anymore no matter what I see after this."
The strange occurrences in these classrooms were clearly very unusual, and the last vestige of doubt that Hyuga Hajime had was completely dispelled.
But anyway, mannequin fragments are more relaxing than human fragments, right? ...Although in this context, they don't really make you that relaxed.
With the other two's tacit approval, Hyuga Hajime opened the window to ventilate the room, and the classroom, which had been filled with an overwhelming stench of blood, finally smelled a little fresher. Furthermore, given the remarkable adaptability of humans, they could now even move around completely ignoring the smell.
Tsukino and Chiya were inspecting the podium, while Ohma Kokichi was still squatting in place. Just as the others were beginning to wonder if his legs were numb and that was why he couldn't stand up, he suddenly moved.
The purple-haired boy stepped directly over the pool of blood and walked towards the mannequin lying in it.
His steps weren't heavy, but without deliberately slowing down or moving carefully, blood splattered from his movements, staining his trousers. His shoes were even worse, the soles completely covered in red liquid.
However, Wang Ma Xiaoji didn't care about that, or perhaps he had something more interesting to do than his unsoiled shoes, socks, and trouser legs.
He stopped when he reached the mannequin, then bent down and reached out to feel around the mannequin's hand, which was half-soaked in blood.
"As expected."
Wang Ma Xiaoji's fair fingers were inevitably stained with blood, but he seemed completely oblivious, raising his hand to proudly display his new discovery.
"I felt like the model was holding something in its hands, but I couldn't see the spot where it was crouching because of the angle."
"Hey, don't you guys think this looks like the same card Kohinata received?"
The card's material has some waterproof properties, but after part of the card had been soaked in blood for a period of time, some of the original writing was still barely legible, while others were completely illegible.
There were two lines of text on the card.
[To the most important person in this world █████]
[My favorite Enoshima ████]
Enoshima...?
Hajime Hinata softly read out the surname written on the card, his brows furrowing slightly involuntarily.
Of all the people Hajime Hinata knows, no one has this surname. But even he can't understand why seeing this surname suddenly makes him feel more depressed.
A heavy, inexplicable feeling was constantly building up in his chest, as if...
—It was as if it were foreshadowing something terrible that was about to happen.
After such a thought surfaced in Hyuga Hajime's mind, everything suddenly went black.
*******
Suddenly everything went black.
The three people in the classroom were each holding a flashlight or a mobile phone for illumination, but just now, the light from their devices flickered simultaneously.
As if interfered with by some unseen force, the equipment in the hands of the three people worked and malfunctioned intermittently, and the light in the classroom also became flickering.
Each time the light reappeared, it was dimmer than the last. The elongated, distorted shadows were cast onto the blood-stained floor and walls, only to be swallowed by darkness again as the light from the equipment disappeared, over and over again.
Finally, with one last flicker, all the lights went out. Darkness, like a tidal wave, engulfed the entire classroom, leaving only the breathing of the two people around.
...Something doesn't seem quite right?
In the pitch-black classroom, Tsukino and Chiya, who were already on guard because of the malfunctioning equipment, looked precisely at the spot where Hinata Hajime had been standing after realizing something was wrong.
The moment Tsukino and Chiya looked over, the flashlight in his hand returned to normal.
But all he had was his flashlight; Wangma Xiaoji and Hinata Hajime's phones still didn't respond... But at this point, none of that mattered anymore; no one cared about checking the phones.
"Hinata?" Tsukino and Chiya tentatively called out to their classmate.
He placed it very gently, as if he was afraid of disturbing something.
Under the direct beam of the flashlight, the shadow cast by Hinata Studio on the wall was stretched long and appeared particularly distorted.
It was so distorted... it no longer resembled his shadow.
"This is bad," Wang Ma Xiaoji hissed softly.
Outwardly, Hyuga Hajime seemed perfectly normal. He stood there quietly for a few seconds, then, as if he had suddenly received a command, he stiffly turned around and walked towards the front door.
While the other two deliberately remained silent, Hyuga Hajime's voice, repeating the same sentence over and over again, rang out clearly in the classroom: "I have to go..."
It's exactly the same situation as when Hinata mentioned that Natsukawa was in an abnormal state... Is it possession?
However, because Natsukawa's figure was blocked by the wall at the time, Hyuga Hajime didn't notice the moment he disappeared. But the situation is different now.
Tsukino and Chiya followed behind Hyuga Hajime, who seemed to be possessed, while simultaneously taking something out of their bags and holding it in their hands.
It was on this floor that Xia Chuan disappeared from.
At this distance, knocking Hyuga unconscious shouldn't be a problem, but...
Tsukino and Chiya hesitated for a second, and the next instant, just as Hinata Hajime had completely stepped out of the classroom and into the corridor—
Several strips of cloth suddenly drooped down from the rooftop and flew directly into the corridor in a way that defied physics. They wrapped around Hyuga Hajime's limbs and torso, who had no intention of resisting, and strangled his neck, attempting to pull him directly out of the corridor, into the air... or even onto the rooftop.
Hyuga Hajime was already floating in the corridor, but just before those strips of cloth were about to take him to the more dangerous area outside, Tsukino and Chiya timely threw out a fruit knife they had bought at a convenience store after school.
The sharp blade sliced through a piece of fabric, and suddenly a shrill scream, inhuman and agonizing, came from the rooftop.
"Don't disconnect!!"
Tsukino and Chiya had originally planned to continue forward, but now it seemed unnecessary—the other pieces of fabric, as if they felt pain, immediately shrank back at the scream, slipping away with lightning speed to the rooftop beyond the sight of the three on this floor… or even higher.
Oh no...
With a loud thud, Hyuga Hajime crashed heavily to the ground.
Upon seeing this, Ohma Kokichi looked horrified: "Ugh, that hurts... But I've fallen much harder before? Thinking about it, Hinata, who didn't get a head injury, must not have died. Congratulations!"
"Yes, he's still alive." Tsukino and Chiya crouched down and breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that Hinata Hajime's breathing was normal. They nodded to Ohma Kokichi.
But the crisis is not over yet.
A strange, intermittent voice, as if the speaker was not very good at speaking, came from behind them—from the place they had just passed.
"It's broken, how scary. I'm just... waiting."
"Why...didn't they come?"
Tsukino and Chiya turned around, and in the light of the flashlight, he saw... a writhing wad of cloth.
Countless similar strips of cloth were wrapped into a ball, and there seemed to be a figure in the center of the ball, but because it was partially obscured, it was impossible to see it clearly.
The sound is coming from here. Is this... the strange thing that's happening this time?
"Did I... wait too long? Don't you... care about me?"
The fact that the cloth strips had been torn and ripped seemed to have made the strange creature shrink back, causing it to hesitate and remain stationary.
But soon, as its words became increasingly erratic, anger, resentment, or some other emotion took over its strange, simple brain. Once this emotion overcame its fear, it was driven by this resentful instinct to continue acting.
"Ignoring me? Denying me? Hating me? Rejecting me? Didn't you promise to keep your promise? Why... won't you come?!"
"who I am??!!"
The strange roar seemed to contain incredible power, causing Tsukino and Chiya, who were originally trying to take the unconscious Hyuga Hajime away, to freeze in place. Their bodies were as if they were being wrapped and dragged by countless invisible strips of cloth, making it difficult for them to move.
Are we temporarily unable to take action?
Tsukino and Chiya were analyzing the situation in their minds. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Ouma Kokichi seemed to be in the same predicament.
The wad of cloth gradually approached their location, and the figure encircled by the cloth became clearer.
The only saving grace was that, although they couldn't move their bodies, Tsukino and Chiya could still move their lips to make a sound: "Morikawa Yoshiko."
He remembered the name written on the back of the photo frame on the desk where the memorial offerings had been placed: "You are Yoshiko Morikawa".
"..."
The strange creature fell silent, its forward momentum halting, its initial resentment seemingly soothed by the memory of its true name.
It seems you answered correctly.
But just like the situation with the ghost painter, each strange creature has its own unique sore spot.
The demon painter's Achilles' heel is being rejected by others, which is why he wants to kill Yukimura Mio, who said the manga was bad. He is also obsessed with stopping Tsukino and Chiya from killing him. In the end, even though he can't catch up with the person, he is repeatedly provoked by Ohma Kokichi's provocations and refuses to give up following the car.
The strange thing before them—the figure surrounded by strips of cloth—was clearly...
"Why...? Why didn't you come? Why? Why? Why, why, why?"
Despite being surrounded by layers of cloth, Tsukino and Chiya inexplicably realized that the strange creature had its eyes on Hinata Hajime, who was still unconscious.
Is it still impossible to move?
Tsukino and Chiya watched helplessly as the strange creature drew ever closer, until it seemed they could almost see its true form, hidden behind strips of cloth.
His fingers twitched almost imperceptibly.
Just then, Wang Ma Xiaoji, who was standing to the side, sighed dramatically, as if he was unwilling to be ignored.
"Sigh, do you want to know why Kohinata didn't keep the appointment? Because he wasn't the one you were supposed to deliver the message to."
The strange creature ignored this.
But Wang Ma Xiaoji seemed to get excited and continued to mock him relentlessly: "Hahaha, you can't even tell who you like, how lame!"
"The person I like? The person I like..."
These words seemed to touch a nerve with the strange and stubborn heart, and the strip of cloth that was originally pointing towards Qianye and the others immediately turned around.
"Who is it? Who is that? Answer me! Answer me!!!"
Another roar rang out, and even though the strange creature hadn't fully approached, a strip of cloth flew out first, heading straight for Wang Ma Xiaoji's vulnerable neck.
Answer me!
Logically, after wrapping the neck, the pressure of the cloth strip should be eased to give the person a chance to catch their breath and answer. However, the stubborn monster doesn't care about this. It will only demand an answer while twisting the person's neck with the already heavy cloth strip.
However, just as its cloth strip was draped around Ouma Kokichi's neck...
"Aaaaaaah!!"
The strange creature let out a shrill scream.
Holding daggers, Tsukino and Chiya decisively cut the strips of cloth and stood firmly in front of Ohma Kokichi.
This time, the strange creature seemed to be afraid of its cloth strip being damaged, so it immediately pulled back the other half of the cloth strip and even moved the whole thing back a little.
But Tsukino and Chiya knew that this was only temporary.
The strange question remains unanswered. However... if the answer is written on the card placed in the mannequin's hand, they currently only know the surname "Enoshima," and not the person's full name.
Should we escape now? There are stairs leading down at the other end as well. But putting aside the possibility of getting lost in a maze-like situation, carrying the still unconscious Hyuga wouldn't be convenient...
“…%……#￥%…”
I think I heard a sound. The sound was muffled at first, but it quickly became clearer.
"...Enoshima Shield!"
Having woken up at some point, Hyuga Hajime leaned against the wall on the outside of the corridor for support, speaking slightly breathlessly.
"That person's name is... Enoshima Junko."
After saying those words, Hyuga Hajime's legs went weak, and his hand, which had been supporting him against the wall, slipped down. He lost consciousness again.
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Author's Note: There will be another update tonight, at 11 PM [covering face and peeking]
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