- episode 11 -

The attacker swung the baton down, and at the last second Muruto dove in front of Yuriko, shielding her. With a soft grunt, he fell to the side, leaving Yuriko trembling, tears spilling down her cheeks as she failed to suppress her fear. I always thought that I'd be ready for this, she thought to herself, but I'm so scared right now that I could die. Muruto even got hurt because of me, but I can't even move...It's all my fault...

The cloaked person was ready to take another swing with the baton, but a voice stopped the figure short.

"Hey! Don't hurt Yuriko!" Kotoura called out, a few tears falling from her eyes and her legs shaking but her eyes defiant. She hurriedly wiped away the tears and shook her head. "It's not your fault, Yuriko," she said gently, reading her mind and smiling softly at her. "It's going to be all right. Muruto will be fine, too. You'll see." She turned her focus back to the attacker, and Yuriko was left only to wonder at how brave Kotoura looked, hiding her fear, and how ashamed she felt because she had forced Kotoura into this situation. "Get away from Yuriko!"

The attacker smirked and stepped over the quivering Yuriko, baton held low in right hand, and approached Kotoura, who was frantically thinking, Manabe! Come save us! Please!

Hardening her eyes and strengthening her stance, Kotoura shook her head slightly. I can't rely on Manabe to save us. I'll have to try myself to protect my friends. Maybe I can read his mind and get something... So she tried to get a read on his mind, but then her eyes widened, because now she knew who the attacker was... "No, it can't be you!" she cried out, suddenly lost in indecision, but that was when the attacker's baton came down and cracked Kotoura behind the neck.

As she started to fall, the attacker moved to catch her, letting her slump over one arm. "You just had to mess with me, didn't you?" Tsukino's evil self asked as she dragged Kotoura's limp body away.

And all Yuriko could do...

was sit...

and...

watch.

***

When Kotoura woke up, she was tied to a chair in a dark room without windows. "Where am I?" she asked, suddenly panicking because she felt so alone. She hadn't felt like that so much lately because of her friends, but she suddenly recalled all of the empty days before this year, when everyone had hated her... Without meaning to, a tear slid down her cheek, but she couldn't brush this one away because her hands were tied behind her.

Out of nowhere, Tsukino appeared before her. "Yes, cry, Kotoura-san." She paused. "You know, I hate girls like you, but I hate you the most. I hate the girls with friends they can talk to and laugh with, but you don't deserve friends. You're a monster. Monsters like you shouldn't get friends, but you do and I didn't? How is that fair?" She lashed out with the baton, hitting Kotoura on the left side of her face, and she cried out in pain.

"It's not fair that a monster gets to be happy and I get to suffer," she continued ranting, hitting Kotoura over and over again. "It's not fair!" Finally, she dropped the baton.

Kotoura felt a ray of hope. Maybe I can convince her to stop... "Please, Tsukino-san. You don't have to do this. I'll be your friend, I promise. Okay?" I just have to stall until my friends can find me, she thought, her legs shaking even though she tried to still them.

Tsukino tilted her head and smirked. "Why would  want to be friends with a monster like you?" she asked, and Kotoura flinched. Tsukino drew closer, still smiling creepily. "I know what you're doing, but it's pointless. They'll never find this place. Not even Manabe will be able to find you."

Kotoura drew in a quick breath, feeling too scared to fake it anymore. She started crying, her eyes pleading with Tsukino. "Please, Tsukino-san. Please, just let me go."

Tsukino stopped, and Kotoura also paused in hope, but then she whispered, "You're never leaving, Kotoura. I'm keeping you here forever."

Kotoura cried harder, closing her eyes, and as her lids were shut, Tsukino pulled out a sharp knife used to carve up a fish. She pulled back the hand with the knife, and just as Kotoura opened her eyes, plunged the blade into her neck.

Kotoura screamed, blood pouring from her throat and tears falling from her eyes, but Tsukino wasn't done. She stabbed Kotoura over and over again, not minding the blood that had splattered over her. "She's a monster," she muttered excitedly to herself, "And all monsters need to die."

Eventually, she dropped the bloody knife a few feet from the baton and pulled on the cloak she'd been wearing earlier to hide the sight of her blood-covered self. Without a backward glance, she left Kotoura's still-bleeding corpse tied to the chair and went to her apartment to set an alibi.

She didn't feel a shred of grief or remorse over the innocent girl she had just killed. After all, she's a monster, and all monsters need to die.

***

Manabe arrived at the abandoned warehouse an hour later, having tracked her cell phone signal after the others had filled him in. He opened the door, and as he entered, he bumped into something. Swearing, he opened his phone for light and found that he had bumped into the chair that contained the remains of the only girl he had ever loved. Dropping the phone, he fell to his knees, his jeans, socks, and shoes instantly soaked in blood. "No," he murmured, his eyes widening and shaking. "No, no, no, no, no."

"NO!" he screamed, throwing his hands up into the air before digging his fingers into his face. When he finally came back to reason, he fumbled to find his cellphone, wiping off the blood on his shirt, and dialed Moritani, messing up the number twice before it actually going through.
"What's up?" she asked, breathing heavily as though running. "Did you find her yet?" He didn't respond. "Manabe? Hey? Manabe? Did you find Kotoura?"

He paused to shine the light of the cell phone at her face, still trying to deny what he saw before him. It might not be her, he thought, but then the light reflected off a small locket at the base of her neck.

He dropped the phone back into the pile of blood.