To Rika-chan who had whispered that, I...

"I'll just go see Mion for a bit."

After taking my leave from them, I left the classroom and headed to the faculty office where Mion had gone to make a phone call.

...It's not like I could do anything, even if I stayed by her.

I just hated staying still doing nothing but wallow in anxiety.

"Okay.

I'll send two of our subordinates to the clinic."

"I don't think she'll do it...

but you'll never know what's going to happen."

"Can we capture her by force if she does?"

"...Honestly, I don't want to do that...

What do you think we should do?"

"We made an agreement with the cops that we're going to give Rena Ryuugu to them right after we find her.

So even if we use force to capture her, we won't get in trouble."

"I'm not worried about losing face. I just feel sorry for Rena!

I really want to settle this calmly, if possible..."

"Well, she's still young.

So as long as she didn't kill someone or something, all she has to do is to apologize, and everything will be fine."

"Ah ha ha ha haa.

...Well then, she might be out of our hands, ah ha ha."

"Oh, I mean, you know... As long as they don't find out about it, she'll be safe.

She'll definitely be safe.

...Nobody really cares about the disappearance of those two anyway.

People think that they ran away somewhere because they did something wrong.

Those things happen all the time.

So, she's fine. Don't worry about it."

"She's out, she's safe, what? Are we playing baseball now?

Wa ha ha.

Anyways, please just be careful."

"Will do.

...So, it's ok to capture her by force, right?"

"...Don't make any mistakes. You have to get her!

Please don't make it like a chase scene or anything like that."

I couldn't help but have a silly chat with Kasai-san.

When I put the phone down, I sensed Chie-sensei was looking at me.

...No wonder, as she had been able to hear the conversation clearly in this tiny room.

Chie-sensei put her spoon down, and with a sad look on her face, she asked the following:

"...Were you talking about Ryuugu-san?"

"Ah... yes."

"Sonozaki-san... do you know why Ryuugu-san ran away from home?

...You're close, aren't you?"

It was hard for anyone to understand Rena's situation, except for me and Kei-chan.

So, most of them thought that Rena just ran away from home.

But after she did, the cops made too much of a fuss over it.

...Ooishi stupidly believed that the scrapbooks were a big scoop, and he overreacted in trying to find Rena.

He had patrol cars running around everywhere in the village. He even used the town council's phone directory to find her.

So, people in the village thought Rena did something wrong and was trying to run from the cops.

What was going to be difficult for me, more than finding her, was to make up a story to retrieve Rena's honor after they detain her.

...Hmm, what about this: Rena went for a walk, fell down and hit her head on the edge of some tofu, and lost her memory.

Ooishi misunderstood something big time, and he thought she was a criminal...

...It was too easy.

Anyway, we did make it clear that Ooishi was the one who misunderstood everything at the meeting the other day.

I had to make the best use of his name while he was feeling down for once.

What I'd have to do was to not make a big deal about this situation...

and to create an environment that allowed Rena to forget everything that happened, in order to get her life back together as soon as possible.

"Everything is going to be fine, Chie-sensei.

...Rena is a little sick right now. That's all.

A fat cop somehow made a lovely mistake and got things twisted around.

You don't believe that Rena did something wrong and that she's trying to run from the police, do you?"

"...Of course not...

But... making her family worry by running away from home isn't a good thing to do, either."

...She had a fight with her father, and she ran away from home for a little while.

...She acted childish, and that's all. Maybe that'd be the best story to go with.

"I wonder if she had some problems she couldn't talk to anyone about.

...I must be a bad teacher, because I never realized it...

I wish I could have sat down and talked with Ryuugu-san before all this happened..."

"Ahahahaha. Chie-sensei, you're taking it too seriously.

You need to relax...

It's normal for young kids nowadays to run away from home for a while!"

"Oh, nooooo. What am I going to do if Ryuugu-san becomes one of those bad kids and starts doing really bad things?!

Au au auuuu!"

Ryuugu-san becomes a bad kid.

↓\nShe does something bad and gets arrested by the police.

↓\nIt's her teacher's responsibility.

↓\nI'll be dishonorably discharged.

↓\nI can't eat curry anymore.

↓\nI'm dead.

"Oh, no. Oh, noooooo..."

...Chie-sensei seemed comically upset by her own imagination.

It looked funny, so I decided to leave her alone.

I made to leave the teacher's office to go back to the classroom, but...

Right then, the phone rang.

"Hello.

This is the Hinamizawa branch school."

Chie-sensei had to answer the phone all day today because the principal was on a business trip.

I exited to the hallway.

...Then, I heard the tone of her voice change.

"What?!

...Wh-Where are you right now?!"

What?! I yelled and looked back at her.

It was probably Rena.

She called the school!

I tried to go back inside the teacher's office, but Chie-sensei gestured at me not to come in.

...Chie-sensei acknowledged what Rena was saying several times, and then, she looked up at the clock.

"Okay.

I'll be there.

...I'm your teacher. You promise me, alright?"

She said only that, put the phone down, and got her purse out of her locker.

"Class president,

I have an emergency to take care of.

I'm going out for a while, so please have everybody study by themselves while I'm gone."

She took her car key out from her purse.

...It was obvious that she was going to see Rena somewhere.

"Chie-sensei, was it Rena?!"

"That's all.

You're in charge of the class, okay?"

Chie-sensei completely ignored me and she ran out into the hallway.

She ran to the schoolyard... and got into her car.

"Kei-chan!"

"What is it?

Where did Chie-sensei go in such a hurry?"

"There was a phone call from Rena!"

"Wha-! What did she say?!"

I ran after the teacher without answering that. Kei-chan followed behind me.

She ran to the schoolyard... and got into her car.

The moment her car left through the gate, I ran out to the schoolyard myself.

I headed for the black car parked near the gate and knocked on the window.

"How are you doing, milady?

Everything is quiet so far."

"I know!

But I need you to follow that car that just left!!

I think she's going to meet Rena!"

"What?!"

Keiichi yelled in surprise, but there wasn't any time left to explain it to him now.

"Rena is very paranoid, so you need to be careful.

Bring her to my house right after you catch her. After that, follow Kasai's orders!

She's my friend!

You better not get her hurt!"

...Rena must've told Chie-sensei that she wanted to talk to her alone.

I could tell that easily from the way she ignored my question.

I did feel a little bad for ruining their promise...

...But it was very important that we caught her before she did something wrong.

We could still make up an excuse that she was just wandering around because she had a fight with her father and ran away from home.

...But if she set fire to the clinic or something, there would be nothing I could do.

"Mion, I'm coming too!"

"Kei-chan...?"

"If the teacher is going to see Rena, it's better if I go!

Please!"

".........

You're probably right.

Okay then, Kei-chan, get on quick!"

"Gotcha!"

Kei-chan opened the car door and swiftly climbed into the passenger seat.

While we were dilly-dallying, the teacher's car was beginning to disappear from our line of sight.

We could only pray we didn't lose sight of her......

"I'm counting on you, Kei-chan!"

"Yeah, leave it to me!"

The car made a rough u-turn on the gravel road, and it chased after Chie-sensei's car at full speed.

...As they tailed the shadow of the disappearing car, I could only pray for this series of misfortune to end on a quiet note.

Chie-sensei's car soon came into view.

...It was travelling at a very fast pace, but thankfully, she was the sort of person who didn't drive above the speed limit.

We passed the stone steps of the Furude Shrine and left the paved road partway, into a coarse mountain trail.

Where we were headed... wasn't even to the dam construction site, where the mountains of trash lay.

We were headed to an unknown location which I wasn't aware of, as I was still unfamiliar with the area.

"Where is this pathway headed to?"

"Most likely into the mountains.

If we carry on like this, we'll reach a route that leads to a neighborhood across the valley."

And as if it nodded in agreement with the driver's words, the vegetation around us opened up on one side, and we saw mountains in the distance and a valley between them.

I saw a stream up ahead and a suspension bridge straddling it.

According to him, there was certainly an unmanned office cabin in the vicinity set up for emergency purposes.

Judging by Chie-sensei's panic, had Rena threatened to jump off from there or something, if she didn't come?

If so, then why exactly?!

.........

.........

That's right.

Just why had she called Chie-sensei out to the suspension bridge...?

The sudden question triggered a throbbing anxiety, which spread across my chest.

...First of all, what did Rena even have to do with Chie-sensei?

I mean, it's not like they were on bad terms. Rena was a good student, so she had a good relationship with her teacher.

But it's not like she had a trusting relationship with her, enough to call her and consult her on such affairs.

And also... why the suspension bridge?

If it was a threat to "jump off if she didn't come\

She didn't have to call her all the way out here...

.........

"―ugh, fuck!!"

I was astonished, finally having understood Rena's intentions.

"Driver, please stop Chie-sensei's car!"

"Eh, ehh?"

"Hurry!!!"

.........

As we noisily rang the car horn, Chie-sensei's car came to a halt, almost close enough to hit us, and she got down looking stunned.

And after recognizing me in the passenger seat of the car behind hers, she tried to yell out, but I beat her to it and cried "We're in big trouble!"

"W-What?"

"Sensei, we've been duped by Rena!

Rena isn't here!"

"H-Huh?"

The teacher didn't understand what I was talking about and donned a confused expression.

But, there wasn't even any time to explain it to her, so I flew towards the phone booth near us, put a 10 yen coin in the slot and dialed the phone number to the staffroom which I vaguely recalled.

.........

......

Please, somebody answer!

Mion, Satoko, Rika-chan, ...I don't care if it's somebody else either!

I had to tell this to the people at school fast!

So, hurry!

Hurry up and pick up the phone!

............

......

And then, after the phone had rang around 10 times and I had almost given up...

The call went through.

"...H-Hello?"

"......"

"Excuse me, this is Maebara!

Please put Mion Sonozaki on the line right away!"

"......"

"Hello?

Can you hear me, hello?!?!"

I didn't know if it was because I was using an old phone, or because the line was too far away, but I couldn't hear anything from the receiver.

And then, when I was about to raise my voice and yell into the phone...

".........

What is it, Keiichi-kun?

I wonder what you want with Mii-chan... I wonder...?"

"—!!"

......My prediction was on the mark.

It was even worse than I had imagined.

"......Re-Rena.

You're over there now, aren't you...?"

"Yup.

I'm here.

With Mii-chan and the others.

Ahahahahaha!"

"...!!"

"It's a shame you aren't here, Keiichi-kun.

It's pretty hard to do this by myself.

They made a lot of noise screaming and crying and it really got to my head, so I ended up hitting them a few times.

Ahahahahahaha!"

"W-What the hell have you done...!

H-Hey Rena!

Listen, Chie-sensei is here with me too!

So calm down and listen to what I..."

"Ah, so you ended up going there, huh?

Then I'll listen to what you have to say here, okay?

Come quick, I'll be waiting for you."

"W-Wait, Rena!!

Stop, don't hang up—!"

Those words fell on dead ears.

Rena who was on the other side swiftly ended the conversation like it was nothing.

"Okinomiya PS to all vehicles.

Okinomiya PS to all vehicles.

A hostage situation has broken out at the Hinamizawa forestry service building.

There are reportedly multiple hostages.

All vehicles are to head to the forestry service building immediately."

"Kuma-chan!!

Sorry I'm late!

What's going on?"

"Hello, sir!

Today around one PM, the Hinamizawa branch school's classroom was taken over.

The suspect's initial demands were to prohibit all entry to the branch school's property and to secure a hotline to us."

"...So they're willing to negotiate with us from the start?

What's going on?"

"Also, the suspect is asking for you, Ooishi-san.

It's Reina Ryuugu."

"Ryuugu-san?

............Very well.

We seem to be inseparable, huh?

I'll be dealing with her until the end."

Ooishi gave a crooked smile.

"We don't know if she has any accomplices.

The curtains are closed, so we can't confirm the situation."

"Have you asked whoever told us about this?"

"No, Reina Ryuugu declared it herself.

Therefore, we don't know what's going on inside.

Right before the crime, the teacher in-charge and one of the students had received a phone call from Reina Ryuugu, and the crime took place while they were away."

"This has been well planned, huh?

Has anyone from the forestry service been taken hostage?"

"Nobody from the service was there today.

All twenty-four hostages are students.

That number matches with the attendance the teacher took this morning."

"Plus the suspect, right?

Have you seen anyone else suspicious other than Reina Ryuugu?"

"No. We've seen someone peeking out from behind the curtain, but it was the suspect herself.

We're guessing there must be at least one or two more of them, though."

"Rena-chan is a good girl...!

For her to do something like this, there must be some mistake...!

Oooh!"

"Are you okay?"

Ooishi ran up to Chie-sensei, who was crying with a handkerchief held up to her face.

Chie-sensei was huddled over, and Ooishi didn't think he could say anything else to her.

"Mr. Ooishi, please...

If possible, I would like to request to be a hostage myself.

I will take the place of the children."

"Let me do that instead!!

It's all my fault, ahhhhhhhhhhh!!"

"Please, don't blame yourselves.

I have things I want to ask you, so I'd appreciate it if you cooperated.

Bonchi-kun!

Please show them the blueprints."

"Excuse me, sir!

Section Chief Takasugi is on the radio!"

"Hello, this is Ooishi."

"Ooishi-san, how goes things?

Kumagai-kun informed me of the situation.

The suspect is underage, huh?

Please keep strict control of the press!"

"I understand.

Also, the suspect is requesting me as a negotiator. Is that okay with you?"

"For now, if that's the suspect's demand, we have no choice.

...It's up to you."

"Ooishi-san...!

Reina Ryuugu's on the car phone!"

"That was faster than expected.

I'll go get it.

.........Thank you.

......Hello, this is Ooishi."

"Ugh...!!"

I clenched my teeth in frustration and rolled up my fists into a ball.

An overwhelming wall of police officers blocked my way, and I felt pathetic for only being able to watch the teachers and the detectives from afar.

The reason behind why Chie-sensei had been phoned and summoned out of the school.

...For Rena who wanted to hijack to classroom, the biggest obstacle was Chie-sensei.

She was someone who had a strong sense of justice.

Even if Rena had held a pistol to her, Chie-sensei probably wouldn't have hesitated.

For the welfare of her students, she would put herself in danger... getting rid of someone like her was the primary step in order to hijack the classroom.

Attacking her from behind would have been her very first line of thought but,

I'm sure she decided taking on an adult directly was a risky affair.

...In that case, it was better to lure her away to someplace..!

Rena had then phoned Chie-sensei, and then told her she wished to seek her advice in someplace private... and asked to meet her near that suspension bridge.

Including Chie-sensei, a good majority of the people thought that Rena had merely run away from home.

...So Chie-sensei probably thought Rena merely had some troubles she wished to discuss.

......Fooling her was that easy.

So... where did Rena make the call from...?

Yes, it was from within the school.

Well, not exactly.

It was most likely from the second floor of the school building, .......from the office room of the Forestry Service.

The Forestry Service at our school was more like a branch office, so it wasn't like the staff were always present.

Depending on the day, they might not even be there.

Rena had known this, and had been hiding on the second floor all this time.

And then, she had made a call to the ground floor from up there, ......and sent Chie-sensei to a faraway place.

It probably wasn't a coincidence that the principal had also been away on a business trip today.

......Rena had most likely snuck into the school yesterday itself.

And then, she had discerned the principal's itinerary and the workings of the internal phone line before she put her plan into action.

......How cunning it all was......

......No, I understood.

...Right now, even as she was possessed by a murderous rage, ...Rena was keeping her composure.

...She was unbelievably calm despite being plagued by her delusion that controlled her.

...And so, just thinking about it made my head spin.

...Because I had even personally experienced what she was going through before.

Also, what was even more unlucky was the absence of the Sonozaki Family bodyguard who had been standing by the gate.

......It was because Mion had sent him to follow Chie-sensei who had set out to meet Rena.

.........Fuck, everything was so screwed up... on so many levels.........

"We're trying to come up with a plan for the simultaneous raids as we speak. We're talking to the prefectural police as well as the Public Safety Division.

We're talking about the entire city, so we need a little more time to prepare for it..."

"You're taking too long!!!

Ooishi-san, don't you realize what kind of emergency situation Shishibone City is in right now?

What are you doing?

Ooishi-san...... you do believe me, don't you?

You're my ally, right?

Right?

Please answer me!!!"

"O-Of course, I am!

But the police department is a little more complicated than you think...

I'm doing my best, I really am!

The thing is

this is on a really big scale..."

...The negotiations weren't that satisfactory, to be honest.

Even as they spoke, it was clear from the overwhelming tension that Rena's patience was wearing thinner and thinner.

"...Okay, call Keiichi-kun over here"

"What?

Could you say that again?"

"Isn't Keiichi-kun there right now?

I'd like to talk to him now so please call him over immediately!"

"...I-I understand."

Ooishi asked one of his subordinates to summon the boy who stood in the front line of the crowd gathered at the barricade.

He immediately jogged over to the car as soon as he was called.

"You must be Keiichi Maebara, I assume?"

"Y-Yes..."

"Miss Rena Ryuugu would like to have a word with you.

Could you please take the call?"

"...I understand."

Ooishi then handed over the receiver to Keiichi and he noticed something happening outside and left the car.

"...Hello?"

"Ah, Keiichi-kun...?

It's good that you came back here."

"Rena..."

"The police isn't believing what I'm telling them.

Could you please tell them that the things I'm saying are true, and that I'm very serious about what I'm about to do... could you?"

".........

What do you mean by... 'what I'm about to do'...?"

"I've just finished pouring gasoline all over this classroom.

So, if I just ignite the lighter I have on hand, all the hostages here will die.

...Could you please let Ooishi-san know about that?"

"Wha-?!"

"Wh-Who are you people?!"

"Move over.

Who's in charge here?"

Several cars had arrived, producing several men. They weren't from the Okinomiya station.

One of the men was wearing a suit, despite the hot weather. He approached me, pushing Kumagai aside.

"...Hey, look who's here.

Good to see you again, Ootaka-kun from the prefectural headquarters."

"Watch your mouth.

I'm ranked much higher than you now, so don't address me so casually."

"Can I help you with something, Ootaka-kun?

I'm rather busy at the moment.

You can't possibly be thinking about taking over this case?

Who approved that, exactly?"

"I did, Ooishi-kun!"

"Ch-Chief...?"

"Takasugi-kun has informed me of the situation.

He also told me that you started all this.

You can go now. The troops will take over!"

"The troops? ...Ootaka-kun, you aren't going to storm the building, are you?"

"I understand the risk.

But we don't have any time left before the bomb goes off.

You've taken too long.

We're here to take care of the mess you left behind.

Just step back for a minute."

I couldn't talk back if both the chief and a guy from the prefectural headquarters gave me an order.

"O...Ooishi-san, who the heck is he?"

"That's Ootaka-kun.

Nfu fu, a long time ago, he was showing off even though he was bad at mahjong, so I taught him a lesson.

Or maybe he's still holding a grudge from when I knocked him unconscious in that kendo tournament."

Obviously, we didn't get along.

"Give me the latest update, Ooishi-kun."

"Are you serious about storming the school?"

"A special unit from the prefectural police department will handle the infiltration.

Your unit will be their backup."

"...Chief."

"Ooishi-kun,

the special unit from the prefectural police department isn't just any old unit.

You've heard about the Second Company, haven't you?"

"What's that, Ooishi-san?

Is this "Second Company" that well known?"

"Do you remember, about five years ago,

when the JRA hijacked that airplane? Flight 472?

I've heard that special counter-terrorist units were put together in Tokyo and Osaka after that incident.

So they really do exist..."

"B-But why would a special unit from Osaka be here?"

Ootaka smiled proudly.

"We just happened to be holding a training session with your prefectural police unit.

We requested their help."

"Na ha ha... you haven't changed, have you?

...You have a bad tendency to escalate matters quickly."

The Company members exited the vehicles one after another and took position.

They didn't move like policemen...

"Ootaka-kun!

Are you really going to have a gunfight here?"

"Don't worry.

They won't use firearms.

They're using riot shields and riot guns.

These guns send out tear gas at high pressures.

There will be no issue with explosions."

"......Wow, I've never heard of such convenient water guns.

By the way, can that toy reach the classroom from across the schoolyard?"

"You don't need to worry about that.

You just move over and let us do our job."

And then, following Ootaka's orders, the special forces took positions at a blind spot visible from the school window and prepared to infiltrate.

Ooishi wrinkled his nose at Ootaka's arrogance and pretentious attitude that didn't give way for counterarguments. Remembering that Rena and Keiichi were having a conversation, he turned on his heel heading over to the patrol car.

And there...

"Detective, we have an emergency!!"

At once, the door to the car swung open and Keiichi rushed over to him screaming.

"What's the matter, Maebara-san?"

"Re-Rena just told me she's poured gasoline all over the classroom...!!"

"Whaaa?!"

Gasoline...?! I didn't hear that there was something so inflammable in the vicinity!! No, it's not about that, right now—!!

"Preparing to shoot, steady—"

"P-Please wait!

Stop, don't shoot!!"

"Fire~!!"

"Uwaaaahhhh!!"

............

......

Our bodies were promptly blown away and hit the ground, we didn't understand what had happened for a moment.

".........

...gh...?"

A high pitched tinnitus violently reverberated within my skull, and an overwhelming dizziness distanced me from my consciousness.

My throat and nasal passage felt irritated from the suspended dust particles and smoldered air.

".....gh."

Spitting out the crunchy debris from my mouth, I dragged my beaten body up into a stance, and faced forward, looking ahead of me.

"............

.........

...Ah.........?"

There were many police officers scattered about on the ground, groaning from the impact.

...A voice of agony filled the air next to me. ...As I faced it, it turned out to be the detective I'd been talking to just now.

"Ugh... ...!!"

His entire body was covered in dirt and debris, and he was bleeding from his head.

As I began to sit down in concern for him, I suddenly remembered Mion and Rena's safety.

And then, I turned towards the direction of the school.

...I

...couldn't believe

...what I was seeing.

"............"

What stood before me was a disordered conglomerate of wood, bricks and other distorted articles mixed in... crudely resembling an enormous camping bonfire.

The flames that had risen up in between that mass burned so high they seemed to reach up into the evening twilight.

Even from this faraway distance, I could perceive the heat and the scorching smell.

"............"

...No.

No, this had to be a dream.

This couldn't be our school.

...

No, this wasn't even a school in the first place...

"............"

I staggered over.

Fumbling forward with my useless legs, I walked over to that monstrosity.

And then before me, amidst the crumbled remains of timber, I discovered a face I recognized and drew a breath before I rushed over.

"Mion...!"

Mion's eyes were wide open, facing my way, with her right arm raised.

Her mouth was slightly open... she probably couldn't speak.

"Thank god... Mion...!"

I had to get her out here first!

Thinking that, I tightly grasped that right arm—.

"............"

It felt light, there was no resistance.

And then, from within the rubble,

'it' came out.

"......Ah..."

And then, a small mass rolled over,

and touched my feet.

Mi

on's

head

had

co

me

a

part

from

her

bo

dy

.

.

.

"U-Uwaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!

Aaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!"