"How do you know about that, Yashiro?"

"YOU HAD A SISTER?"

"Yes, Boy, but I never mentioned it. Yashiro, explain."

"Hanako, I don't think I have much to explain... but you do."

"How did you get that information Yashiro? I'm not going to ask you a million times."

He stays in his place with a dark expression, as if he didn't want to tell me a thing. But he has to, and I'm going to make him.

"When I got hit by the bull, I think I time traveled...? Or it was just a really weird dream. But you were there with your sister. Now that I explained that, I need you to tell me who she is."

Hanako-kun takes a while to think. His grave expression does not change.

"Yes, she is my sister, but she is probably still alive. If not, dead of old age, away from this school. She was not around when Tsukasa and I were killed."

...

"...Was she the one with the keychains...?"

"Hmm?"

"Hanako-kun, did your sister have a keychain with a yin yang and piano?"

"I- huh? I mean... I guess so?"

I frown at this piece of new information.

If that's true, it means... Hanako's sister is...

In fact, dead...

"Um... Hanako-kun I have to go see you tomorrow!" I start sprinting around the festival eager to find Jisatsu before they can catch or ask me anything.

It's almost 9pm...

I got out of the boundary and dashed to the music room. In the music room, there's a tune playing on the piano.

"JISATSU-SAN!" I scream, trying to catch my breath. She stops playing the piano and turns to me curiously.

"Yes?"

And now, for the moment of truth...

"Are you... Are you Hanako's sister?"

The school mystery lets out a sigh.

"How did you figure that out?"

"The keychains..." I whisper. "How are you dead?"

"Well, since you are here, do you wanna play the piano? It's 9pm." She gestures to me to sit on the piano stool.

If I want her to answer my questions, I'll need to play the piano.

I sat down on the chair and started playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, the only song I know how to play. I can see Jisatsu sweat dropping in the corner of my eye.

"NEXT! Yashiro, I'm sorry, but I am a woman with taste."

With a flick of her finger, I find myself outside the music room. When I go back in the room, she's gone.

---------

ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: girly or cocky──────⚪─────────────────

◄◄⠀▐▐ ⠀►►⠀⠀ ⠀ 1:17 / 3:48 ⠀ ───○ 🔊⠀ ᴴᴰ ⚙ ❐ ⊏⊐

It's a morning just like any other day.

On this day, Minamoto Kou has things to do, so he goes to school earlier than usual, gets the class log from the faculty room, and goes up to the classroom.

And then...

"Oh, good morning, Minamoto-kun!"

It's as if time has stopped.

A pink haired boy tends the beautiful summer flowers.

"Mitsu... ba? Why are you... Hey-!" Figuring that they would have a long conversation, Mitsuba Sousuke puts down the flowers on a nearby desk.

He shoves a chalky black board eraser in the middle of Kou's face, leading him to have a coughing fit. The white chalk flies around the damp, classroom air.

"You're late!" Kou's friend lets out an annoyed sigh, "Hpmh- I already changed the flower in the vases, and cleaned the blackboards!"

The pink haired boy aggressively hits the eraser on his head, waiting for his pity. "Are you happy that helpless little me had to do all this?! You and your stupid earrings! It's so dumb!"

Grabbing the eraser while letting out a few coughs, the roles swap in a flash. The exorcist puts on his most menacing expression, "I told you to stop..."

'AHH, STOP! YOU'RE GETTING MY PRECIOUS LITTLE FACE DIRTY!"

...

'No, no, no, no..." Kou finally regains his consciousness, 'why is he here? He's supposed to be in the Hell of Mirrors!"

"Why so quiet all of a sudden?"

"You can't be..." He puts his fingers on his chin, "He's probably got a plan in the works..."

"Huh?"

"You sided with that guy didn't you, you idiot!?"

"W-What?! I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"Shut up! I've been worried! And you..."

Pointing at the scared boy, he continues to scold, "You think you can just come in here and do morning duty like it's nothing?! And wearing that summer uniform... DID THAT BRAT TELL YOU TO DO THAT? TAKE IT OFF! TAKE IT OFF RIGHT NOW!"

"NO! YOU'RE A PERVERT!"

"That's enough!"

---------

'It's strange...

'the mysterious aura that Hanako or that spider guy have... It's not here at all.

'It's almost as if...

'As if he's really... still alive...

'Could it be that guy have really turned him back into a human?

'Or is it possible...

'Could it be that 'Mitsuba'...

'Really came back to life...?'

---------

'Am I going crazy...?'

"You're being weird, Yashiro-san... Do you hate me that much...? You seemed to like me every other day."

"No... That's not it... Hana- Amane-kun..." Yashiro Nene tugs onto the curtain tighter. "It's just that..."

"I DON'T WANT TO CLEAN THE POOL!"

"Let's... Go...!" Amane struggles to pull his friend by her ankles.

"NOO! I DON'T WANNA!" She stubbornly wails like a baby.

"You have to-!"

It's like a father-daughter situation.

"Just a while back, you said you would help!" Not holding onto her feet any longer, he takes out a volunteer slip and waves it in front of Nene's face.

"I said that...?"

"You did. We have to have a few people from each class to help. We had to ask Minamoto too since there were not enough people."

"Minamoto?!"

"Oh, that!" Amane starts waving his hand back and forth with a grin, "Not the older one, it's the younger brother."

"Kou-kun!" Nene happily screams, now willing to follow her friend.

'If I talk to him, then maybe we can figure out what's happening?'

She runs out of the classroom, determined for answers. 'Wait for me, Kou-kun!'

---------

"KOU-KUN!"

"SENPAI!"

They have a long-awaited reunion at the pool. Holding onto each other's hands, they whisper among themselves.

"Hanako-kun is a spirit, right...?!"

"Mitsuba is a spirit, right...?"

They let out a sigh of relief as they excitedly wave their clenched hands. In the corner of the area, they have their private conversation.

"It's weird! Everyone thinks Hanako-kun is their classmate!"

"Same with Mitsuba... But still... What if we're the ones who aren't normal?"

"Eh?"

"Really... He just seems so much like a normal student... Maybe this really is how it was from the start...

"Maybe it's better..."

"Kou-kun?"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

"C-cold... HANAKO-KUN?"

"You're soaked..." Amane looks down at the two.

'Gee, I wonder why...' Nene cautiously takes the towel and moves her vision to her wet arm.

"EEAHH! I'M GOING TO TURN INTO A FISH!" She screams as she aggressively rubs her arm with a towel.

"S-Senpai!"

Amane just watches with a blank expression as if he doesn't know what's going on.

"Huh?" Yashiro examines her normal human arm. "My skin got wet, but there's absolutely no scales..."

"Are you okay?"

"Yashiro-san...?"

Ignoring their calls, Nene rushes to the sink, immediately starting up the tap.

'It's true! No scales!

'How...? Maybe Hanako-kun becoming a human has affected it?

'I don't understand, but... more importantly...

'LIFE WILL BE SO MUCH EASIER NOW!

Kou and Amane bluntly stare at the Daikon girl, celebrating for whatever reason.

"You guys~! We're starting the cleaning!" A purple haired girl waves towards the trio.

---------

"Okay everyone, get ready... and...

"Start~!"

---------

"Hah... So tired..."

After cleaning the pool, Yashiro Nene sits on the bench, bathing in the summer sun.

She could say that was the most fun she's ever had in her life.

"Senpai, here." Kou hands her a soft drink, "Can I sit here?"

"Oh? Thank you! Sure!"

"...About what we were saying before-"

"What, no juice for me?"

Mitsuba Sousuke appears behind them.

"Mitsuba-kun!"

"You two seem awfully close. What are you talking about? Maybe something erotic?! EROTIC DAIKON AND THE EROTIC EARRING!"

Kou shoves a cold can on Mitsuba's hot-headed skin.

"Take this and go. Drink it by yourself."

Yashiro watches the younger students. "...You guys seem really close."

"Nah, not really."

'Oh... And that weird tower suddenly appeared too...

'I should ask about that.'

"Hey, Kou-kun-"

A green haired figure walks by from the other side of the fence. Beside her is another shorter brown haired girl.

"Huh? That girl..."

Kou looks over to what Nene is staring at. "What is it?"

"Over there... Who are they? One of them... That's not our school uniform... and the other girl is wearing our uniform. I wonder what they're doing..."

Her gaze wanders over to one of the girl's sketchbook. "I think she's drawing?"

The pencil swiftly moves across the paper, forming a plant seen in front of her.

The other girl seems to be talking to her and keeping her company, but receives no words as reply. Although, they both seem to be enjoying themselves.

"Nene-chan! Kou-kun! What are you doing?"

"Aoi! Akane-kun! Over there... There's two girls over the fence... Huh?"

Everyone turns their heads to the fence. There's no one on the other side.

"They're gone..." Kou looks around the area.

"What about them?" Aoi walks towards Nene with her usual bubbly expression.

"One of them wasn't wearing the school uniform... and someone in our school was accompanying her, so it's kind of weird."

"A girl in an unfamiliar uniform...and drawing a picture? Then that must be Shijima-san. I'm not sure about the other girl though."

"Shijima-san?" Yashiro Nene repeats.

"Yeah, Shijima-san of the art room. A long time ago there was a girl who was really good at art, but she commited suicide before graduating.

"So that girl was Shijima-san?"

"It seems like..." Aoi continues, "Shijima-san has been a ghost ever since she died, even today. It seems like she's still in the school, drawing pictures that she loves."

"How did she die?"

"Oh... her family was very opposed to her becoming an artist. She would only be allowed to continue drawing until graduation.

"And so...

"She committed suicide before graduating."

Crumbs which used to take the form of a person fall to the ground.

"Aoi...? Akane-kun...?"

"SENPAI, STAY BACK!"

"What... Why...

""

Amane runs to his friend's aid. "What?! What happened?"

"Th- They're..."

Everyone comes to see what caused the commotion. Yashiro Nene stands deadly still.

"....Wha...

"" Everyone besides Kou and Nene break into laughter as if something funny had just happened.

"Huh...?" Kou asks, too confused to feel disbelief.

"They're just broken~!"

"That scream was so loud-"

"It's totally fine, they'll be back to normal in no time!"

"...I need a picture of this..."

"Eh- Eh? Wait... Why are you all... acting like this is normal?" The girl finally comes to her senses.

"Well... It's not that uncommon." Lemon simply states, being followed by another 'yeah'.

Kou starts to whisper as he gets left behind by the laughing crowd. "What the... this is so weird... This..."

His senpai then suddenly comes slowly walking him, eyes full with tears. Her face shows clear shock. "Kou-kun... Kou-kun... Y-You think It's weird right too, right? It's weird, right? This- This kind of thing isn't normal... right?"

"Senpai..."

"Hey!" Mitsuba breaks up the two, "Radish-senpai and Minamoto-kun, come help clean too! Don't just sit here chatting! It's too hard if we're missing two people..."

The pink haired boy starts pulling those two by their arms. "Hurry up, hurry up! We have to keep going!"

"Mitsuba...

He starts screaming out to his deceased friend "

He slowly gets the pieces together.

"Oh... Right... This isn't normal..." He repeats himself.

"Um... Minamoto-kun-"

"FROM THE START! From the start, I thought...

'Maybe he really doesn't know. Maybe he's alive... Maybe Mitsuba's wish came true!'

"BUT NO! There's something... something that seems wrong..."

Kou grabs his hand, looking at him in the face.

"Even so... Such a bother... it doesn't matter anyways.

"

...

"This world is..."

"Not real?" Yashiro finishes Kou's sentence as he seems too shocked to let out any more words.

"So you... you do know something after all?"

And just like that, Mitsuba runs away to hide the truth.

...

Yashiro and Kou suddenly get the idea that the tower is oddly suspicious. Why would a random tower appear in the middle of the school at this random time...?

That is why they go to investigate while something else goes on outside.

---------

"AMANE, AMANEEE!"

"Tsukasa...? Wait-! I can't breathe! Stop hugging me so tight."

"Oi, Tsukasa! What did I say about respecting your brother?!" Tsukasa loosens his grip and runs away to the swimming pool with a grin, dodging the girl's smack.

"(Y-Y/N)?"

"Ah, Amane! Are you okay? Did Tsukasa hurt you?" I quickly turn to my eldest brother and inspect his body.

Then, he starts hugging me out of nowhere, tight enough to choke me.

"O-Oi, Amane! Stop! What's gotten into yo-"

His face.

He stares into my eyes and starts crying tears. They fly down his face like a waterfall.

Tears of joy? Anger? Sorrow? I can't be sure.

"Amane, you cry-baby... Stop crying, I'm here."