"Seriously? Someone died in the old school building? This isn't some twisted joke, right?"
Students crowded the corridors and playground, buzzing with discussion. The news spread through the school like wildfire. Those who doubted it at first were quickly forced to accept reality.
"The police are here, so it can't be fake. The old school building's been sealed off, and the chairman and teachers are all there."
"Who died? A student?"
"If it were a student, it'd be a massive scandal. The school's reputation would be ruined. Luckily, it was just a contracted coach—but the school still can't escape responsibility."
"Breaking news! The baseball coach was eaten alive by stray dogs! I heard there wasn't a single intact piece of flesh left!"
"That brutal? What were they—wild dogs, lions, or tigers?"
Katase Shoya hurried past, listening in silence. He couldn't accept it. He knew Akane hadn't gotten along with the coach, yet he'd still trusted the coach's words and hoped they could reconcile. This was the result.
The coach's death had left deep scars on the girl he cared about.
He couldn't forget the look in Akane Nanao's eyes earlier—calm, sorrowful, utterly devoid of light. It pierced straight through his heart.
If Coach Tougou truly had harbored malicious intent toward Akane, didn't that mean he himself had pushed her into hell? But Tougou was dead now. There was no way to confront him, no way to seek answers. Only a suffocating knot of resentment remained in Shoya's chest.
"Akane…"
Katase Shoya stopped in his tracks. Like many other students, he looked toward the playground. The police were there—and reporters as well, microphones in hand, interviewing students. Was this being broadcast live?
In the infirmary, an interview played on the television screen, but Akane Nanao and Kanna Hiiragi paid it no attention. They hadn't gone to look for their senior—instead, Fuyuka Tosaka came to see them.
"Tosaka-senpai?!"
"You seem to have been badly frightened," Fuyuka Tosaka said with a small nod. "But it's good that you're alright. I didn't mention your involvement to the police. It's best to avoid unnecessary trouble. Get some rest."
Fuyuka Tosaka's expression was complicated. She had once believed the old school building was quiet—a suitable place to end her life. Who could have known something like this would happen, forcing her to abandon that plan?
"Senpai… were you there at the time?" Akane Nanao asked, her eyes wide and heart pounding. "Were you in the old school building back then?"
"…Yes."
She admitted it.
Akane's heart raced. If she remembered correctly, that scumbag coach had been staring upstairs before he died. Had he been looking at Tosaka-senpai?
Tosaka-senpai saved me.
"I was there," Fuyuka Tosaka said quietly. "And… I'm sorry I couldn't save the coach."
Akane Nanao froze. "Huh? You're… sorry?"
"I heard he wasn't an official teacher, but since you were involved… and he died right in front of me…"
I understand now.
"Um, Tosaka-senpai," Kanna Hiiragi said with an awkward smile, suddenly realizing something, "we absolutely didn't get along with that pervert. He even tried to assault Akane. If it weren't for those stray dogs, she might not have escaped safely."
Fuyuka Tosaka: "???"
…Huh?
"So it wasn't Tosaka-senpai after all," Akane Nanao said with a weak smile, finally understanding. "At first, I thought you were the one who saved me. But since that's not the case, it must've been a coincidence. After all, I thought you were the only one in the old school building."
Moreover, the fact that senpai came to visit me on her own shows how kind she is.
She just didn't know the true nature of that scumbag.
Fuyuka Tosaka's thoughts were in complete disarray. After hearing Akane's words, she instinctively said, "There was someone else."
"…Huh?"
"I wasn't the only one there. There was another person in the old school building."
"..."
"..."
Another person?!
Akane's heart began pounding violently. Goosebumps spread across her body as she asked in a trembling voice, "Tosaka-senpai… who was it? Who was that person?"
Akane's reaction was unusually intense. Even though Kanna Hiiragi was also grateful to that mysterious person and curious about his identity, Akane's agitation far surpassed her reaction to seeing Katase Shoya.
Kanna Hiiragi hadn't experienced her friend's emotional journey, so she couldn't truly empathize with her. For Akane Nanao, however, the sense of fulfillment and happiness—having her inner prayers and wishes answered, moving from despair to hope—was something she would probably never forget for the rest of her life.
She wanted to see that person.
"I don't know, I don't know his name," Fuyuka Tosaka said awkwardly, having forgotten to ask. "But he is a student at our school."
Even so, the boy didn't feel like the right person to her. He looked completely ordinary, and for some reason, that made her uneasy.
Just as Akane Nanao was about to press for more details, the sound of a television interview suddenly grew louder, drawing her attention.
"It's a ghost!!!"
A girl on the screen screamed hysterically, "It has to be the ghost of the old school building! I went there last night—I saw it with my own eyes! All those unbelievable school legends are real!! Only a ghost could do something like this!"
The girl was visibly excited, as if she had uncovered an earth-shattering truth. The three girls, including Akane Nanao, fell into silence. Whether the claim was true or not, the terror surrounding the old school building was clearly reaching a new height.
Now that someone had died there, who would still dare to go?
The reporter, clearly embarrassed, gently persuaded the girl to step aside. "That is her statement. As for whether this incident was caused by the ghost of the old school building… I don't believe the police will seriously consider that possibility."
"Based on the current progress of the investigation, this appears to have been an accident. Regarding the stray dog attack incident—let's move on to interview the next student. Please wait a moment!" Kazuma, who happened to be passing by, was stopped by the reporter.
"What you saw might really have been a ghost," Kanna Hiiragi said, trying to lighten the heavy atmosphere.
Before she could say anything else, Fuyuka Tosaka suddenly fixed her gaze on the television and pointed.
"It's him."
"Huh?"
"The other person who was there—it was him."
The two girls quickly turned their heads. The face on the screen was both familiar and unfamiliar, leaving them momentarily stunned.
The first image that surfaced in Kanna Hiiragi's mind was Kazuma leaving the rooftop in a hurry. At the time, he had said he had something urgent to attend to—
"Excuse me, may I interview you about this incident…?"
The reporter's voice echoed from the television.
"Coach Tougou, your death was truly tragic—" Kazuma appeared on screen, his expression filled with sorrow. "I'm sorry. I couldn't control my emotions."
"It's alright, I understand. Were you close to the deceased?"
"Not really."
"..."
"Although I'm not a member of the baseball club, I've heard his name many times. He was truly an excellent coach… who could have imagined this would happen…"
Kazuma covered his face with both hands. "Coach Tougou, although you've passed away, you will live forever in our hearts."
The infirmary fell completely silent.
Watching Kazuma wipe his eyes on screen, putting on an exaggerated display of grief that was clearly forced, Kanna Hiiragi screamed internally:
Kazuma, what are you doing?!
Fuyuka Tosaka stared at the screen in disbelief. "He was the one in the old school building back then… but he doesn't really look like the person you're searching for, does he?"
Akane Nanao couldn't help herself. A soft laugh escaped her lips, nearly turning into full laughter. It was the first time she had smiled since her emotional breakdown, and her mood inexplicably lifted.
"No, he's exactly the person I'm looking for," she said lightly. "Thank you, Tosaka-senpai. If it weren't for you, this guy would definitely keep pretending to be clueless."
She hummed softly to herself.
Standing nearby, Kanna Hiiragi suddenly noticed a strange gleam in Akane's eyes.
It seemed that she had changed—if only a little.