Declaration of War

“Today is the last day we’ll eat breakfast together.”, Arata made the announcement while preparing the breakfast for us. “Your life will regain some normalcy.”

Tomorrow is the first day of school after the summer break and from the beginning Arata had said that he would only keep watching me during this period. To tell the truth, I’m surprised he is still coming after Hayato’s death caused an uproar in the investigation team. Arata is probably only keeping his initial promise with me.

“Will the police keep watching me?”, I asked.

“Don’t worry, you’re no longer the prime suspect. We’ll keep checking on you every now and then for safety reasons.”, Arata brought the food to the table. “I don’t think the murderer will target you, but it’s better to avoid any possible problem. That said, there’s still one detective who is still convinced that you’re the murderer.”

After he mentioned that, I remembered what happened when I left the cemetery that day.

“Just continue with your life and he will not do anything to you.”

How much can I believe in Arata? Does he really believe that I’m not the killer?

“I know it was because of your job, but thanks. You coming here everyday made this summer break be less painful for me.”

Right now, I can only believe... No, I should believe in him.

“You don’t need to thank me. And once again, forgive me for failing to protect your friend.”

I couldn’t answer that. And in silence, we ate our last breakfast together.

That afternoon I was laying in my bed, trying once again to understand the entire situation.

Both Mei’s and Sakura’s death are easy to explain and both can be connected to the same reason. Mei probably knew something and someone killed her because of that. Sakura helped Mei hide an object and she became a target too.

Because I found Mei’s body right after her death, the murderer tried to use that to frame me for the crime. That’s why Sakura’s body was left near my house. And following this idea, the murderer killed Sora and Hayato.

There’s still two deaths I can’t even think about anything that would explain them… Akira’s death was utterly bizarre, with numerous events that makes no sense. And there’s the mysterious faceless male body I saw in the same dumpster I found Sakura that day. I talked a lot of with Arata this summer break and he never mentioned them. Well, Arata never mentioned that he knew about my trips to the school at night and if the other detective knows about them, I’m pretty sure Arata knows about them too.

But let’s ignore the police for now and focus on the murders.

After killing Sakura, the murderer sent me that message using Sakura’s phone to try to draw the police’s attention to me. I think the fact that I found the body was just luck or the lack of it. The police would think I killed Sakura when she went to visit me and I must say it worked.

But it’s seems like the murderer made a bunch of mistakes by killing Sora and Hayato. If I was the murderer, killing Sora on the same day he antagonized me wouldn’t make any good, I wouldn’t gain anything with it. The murderer failed to understand this and just rushed to kill him.

Now for Hayato… I can only think the murderer didn’t know about the police seeing Hayato as the new prime suspect. So when the murderer heard the news about the possibility of me being removed of the list of suspects he panicked and killed Hayato, trying to recreate the same situation with Sakura. And in the end, he just helped to remove the suspicious from me.

It’s strange for the murderer to commit such mistakes. It’s like he isn’t really trying to frame me for all those deaths. It’s like he is… Playing with me. It’s like he is telling me that he’ll keep killing people around me… Does the murderer wants me to find out the truth? Is this just an insane game?

If the murderer wants to play game…

I got my phone and typed a message. “‘I… will… find… you’. Done.”

After sending the message I went to the kitchen to get something to drink. And when I arrived there, I saw something from a nightmare: blood everywhere and Sakura’s body was on the floor. I didn’t get nervous at all, I just closed my eyes, took a deep breath and when I opened my eyes again everything was back to normal.

I’m tired of this.

I prepared some tea and returned to my room, there I saw the phone’s screen showing an alert indicating that I got a new message. Without wasting any time, I checked its contents.

“I’m looking forward for that.”, I read to myself the message sent by Sakura, no, by the murderer.

One thing I had learned from Arata was that the police never found Sakura’s phone. At first I thought the murdered had disposed of it, but now I know that’s not true.

The murderer acknowledged my challenge and now the second part of the game would start.

The following morning gave me a strange feeling. Arata only came here during this last summer break, but I was really feeling his absence.

No one to speak with, no one to share a meal with. A complete silent breakfast.

When I was finishing my preparations to go to school, I received a message from Hina asking me if I would go and I gave a positive answer. She is probably worried with me, worried with how much Hayato’s death would affect me. But I already shed all the tears I had and now it's time to end this tragedy.

I completed my morning routine and before I opened the door, I looked behind me and said: “I’m going.”

There was no one there, no one to say goodbye for.

I opened the door and a girl was waiting for me outside.

“Let’s go together?”, the girl, Mei, asked me.

Once again I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and opened my eyes one more time, but Mei was still there.

Am I really crazy now?

“Sure, let’s go.”, I answered to my hallucination.

Mei smiled and started to walk by my side. A silent walk while I tried to understand that situation. Mei is certainly dead, there’s no mistake about it. But for the second time I’m seeing her like she was still here. I can only reach one conclusion: I unconsciously created something like an imaginary friend to help me keep moving forward. While I don’t like the idea that I’m really losing my mind, maybe I should accept anything that keeps me strong. And if this Mei is just a product of my imagination, I can just ignore her too.

Or that was what I thought.

While on the way to the school, Mei kept trying to talk with me and she even got mad because I wasn’t answering her, so I gave up and started to talk whenever there was no one looking in my direction.

And when we got to school, the fact that I was talking with myself got even more clear with no one interacting with Mei.

What should I do? If she tries to speak with me in the classroom…

Although I was distracted with this problem, I still noticed how silent the school was. It’s not that everyone is literally silent, but it seems like everyone is keeping their voices low. A sad atmosphere dominated every single corner.

“The fact that the killer is still out there is making everyone anxious.”, Mei said.

“Yeah. This won’t get any better if the police don’t catch him.”

Oh, I replied to Mei when there’s a bunch of other students near me.

I arrived in the classroom and inside the atmosphere was even more heavier than outside. I avoided making eye contact with anyone and just went to my desk.

Some minutes later, Naoto arrived.

“Good morning. Are you sure you shouldn’t stay home for a few days?”

“Thanks for your concern, Naoto, but I’m fine. I can’t just close myself and hide from the world.”

“Naoto, can you come here for a bit?”, a girl called him.

“Sure.”, he answered. “If you need anything, if you feel bad, talk with me.”

I watched Naoto leave and Hina arrived at that same moment.

“Hello! Are you ready to study?”, she asked me.

“Hi, Hina. I must say that if I had a choice, I would like to not have to study.”

“You can’t choose that! So let’s be full of energy and fight!”

At that moment, the teacher entered the classroom, as if Hina had summoned him.

Hina was acting a bit different than normal, but I understand why, she wants to raise my spirits, to keep me from remembering that Hayato was no longer here. And while the teacher was making a speech, I looked around the classroom, seeing those empty desks waiting for someone who would never come back. Three desks in total, because Mei was sitting on hers.

How can I make her disappear?

As that thought appeared in my mind, Mei looked in my direction and waved for me.

I was the only one eating in the rooftop during the lunch break. The school had opened the place once again but it seems like the students are avoiding it. Both Naoto and Hina asked for us to eat together, but I said to them that I wanted some time alone and they respected my wish. And I didn’t asked that because I wanted to think about something in peace, there was another reason for that…

“This is so good!”, Mei said after taking a bite of her sandwich.

I just didn’t want to deal with this illusion with them near.

“What should I do…?”, I asked myself after a big sigh.

“Huh? What’s the problem?”

“You’re the problem.”

“Oh? You don’t like my company?”

“It’s not that...”

Well, it is that.

“Is that true? You were being cold with me this morning! And we talked like good friends that day in the cemetery.”, Mei said.

There’s no one here, so maybe I should just accept this for now and speak with her.

“I’m sorry, but it’s difficult to interact with someone who is dead.”

“Souma, you have to try this sandwich tomorrow!”

Now you are going to ignore me!?

“And? What is your plan?”, she asked me.

“Plan?”

“Aren’t you going to do anything about the serial murder case?”

“I’m thinking in coming here tonight to look for whatever you hid.”

“Do you have any idea on how are you going to search for it?”

“Can’t you just tell me where it is?”

“No.”

As expected from an imaginary friend.

Still, Mei has a point. We already searched the buildings, so the object should be in the schoolyard, but knowing this don’t make anything easier.

I looked at Mei trying to think about a place where she could use. A place where a photo, a paper could be placed and no one would find it easily. After some time thinking, I remembered something.

“Mei, you were part of a school club, right?”

“That’s right.”

Knowing that my hallucination wouldn't know anything I don’t know myself, I got my phone and sent a message to Hina asking if she knows what club Mei was part of.

I didn’t wait long to receive a reply from Hina revealing that Mei was a member of the gardening club.

“That’s it!”, I said as I got up to take a look at the school grounds.

There was a lot of small gardens everywhere.

“That’s a good way to make sure no one would find it. You buried it, is that right, Mei?”, I looked at the fake Mei who was beside me and she replied with a smile.

As soon as I returned to the classroom with the end of the lunch break, Hina rushed to speak with me.

“I know why you asked that and I’ll ask you to not do that.”

“Not do what?”

“You’re thinking in coming here tonight and resume the search for whatever Mei hid here, am I right?”

“I...”, I don’t finish because I can’t find the right words to say.

“Please, don’t do that. Don’t leave your house at night! If something happens to you too, I… I...”

This hurts me a lot, but I have no option besides lying.

“I understand, I won’t come here at night.”

“Thank you.”

I’m sorry, Hina, but I can’t stop now. I need to end this myself.

At that moment, Naoto and the teacher entered the classroom and it was time for a long class.

“That’s all for today. Everyone should go home, any after school club activity is still suspended.”, the teacher announced after a lesson that seemed like it would never end.

I walked with Hina and Naoto to the school gate where we parted ways. Still, I wasn’t alone, or should I say that I was alone? Because Mei was walking with me.

“So what are we going to do?”, Mei asked.

I spent a moment wondering if I should speak with her and decided to do so. “Tonight I’ll search for any place where you could bury an object in the school.”

“Oh… I go with you.”

“Do whatever you want.” You’re a daydream anyway.

After arriving at home, I got some snacks to eat and went to my bedroom. To my surprise, Mei was there sitting in my bed reading something.

Why is she here, my stupid broken mind!?

I still couldn't make her disappear, so I let her there and turned on my video game. But it wasn’t long before she started to speak with me. If anyone could see me right, that person would probably see something very sad: A lonely boy speaking with himself.

At 9 PM I left my home with Mei.

Once more, the city was silent. Not even the cat, Tama, was anywhere visible. I could feel a gentle summer breeze, but I didn’t pay attention to it because it wasn’t the time to appreciate the small but good details of life.

After arriving at the school gate, once again I checked if I was alone before jumping it. Mei did the same.

We stayed silent until we reached the center of the schoolyard, when Mei spoke. “How are we going to do this?”

“There’s no option besides checking every place with plants. We can probably ignore anywhere with only big trees or grass. I imagine that the gardening club would keep the gardens and try to raise some different plants.”

“Still, there’s a lot of places to check.”

“I think we should look for places with new plants or for irregularities in older gardens. To dig a hole, I think you would have to remove whatever was there before…”, something catches my attention. “There’s someone in one of the windows!”, I said to Mei while pointing to a shadow in the first floor of the second building.

“It’s too dark to be sure, but it really seems to be a person. Oh, whatever was that, it went away.”

“I won’t let it go!”, I rushed to the second building.

There’s only one entrance, so there’s no escape for whoever is there!

“Wait for me!”, Mei said while running.

I entered the building and I went to the right side of the corridor, the same direction where the shadow was while using a flashlight to show me the way.

The corridor was empty and every door was closed. Still running, I opened every single door to check inside and I found nothing.

“Did you find anything?”, Mei asked after finally catching me.

“No, there’s no one here.”, I said while leaving the last classroom.

“It was just our imagination?”

I think you should say “my imagination”, because you’re part of it too.

“Let’s close the doors and check the other side.”, as soon as I said this, the door of the first class in the right side closed.

“What was that!?”, Mei asked.

I went running to the door and tried to open it.

“It’s locked!?”

I used the small glass panel in the door to check inside the classroom, but I couldn't see anything strange. I tried to open it again and it was really locked.

“How is this possible!?”

“Do you think we can open it?”, Mei asked.

“Maybe if we find something outside… But I’m not sure of what we can use.”

We returned to the schoolyard and started to look around trying to think of anything we could use to force the door open. Then, a sound broke the silence.

“The school gate?”, I said while trying to keep my voice low.

I grabbed Mei’s left hand and ran with her to the left side of the first building. We stayed there in silence, looking in the direction of the school gate. After some seconds seeing only darkness, a shadow appeared walking in the direction of the center of the schoolyard.

Who’s that?

The shadow stopped and it was too distant for me to identity whoever was there.

I need to get closer.

I went to the back of the building and walked to the other side. There, I tried to see the shadow but it had disappeared.

Where did it go?

After trying to find it for some moments, I started to slowly walk in the direction of the center of the schoolyard.

No one on the right, no one on the left, no one in front of me. Then I heard a sound from behind and while I was turning myself to have a look, someone grabbed the collar of my shirt.

“What are you doing here!?”, the detective who works with Arata asked.

“I could make the same question.”

“Are you think this is funny!?”

“Please, release me. You’re a cop, right?”

“Fine.”, he released the collar of my shirt. “Now, answer my first question!”

“I’m trying to find anything that could help find the killer.”

“Are you trying to play the detective? How about you behave yourself and just stay home, letting the real detectives do their work?”

“I’m not doing anything bad.”, I don’t really know what to say to not make him angry. In truth, entering the school at night by jumping the gate is something bad.

The detective stayed silent for a moment, with his eyes basically piercing me before finally saying something. “If you think this is a game and want to play, you can do that. I’ll keep my eyes on you.”, he said while showing a key, and it was probably the one that could unlock the school gate.

“I don’t mind if you stay all day watching me.”

“Let me tell you something good: If you think Arata fully trusts you, you’re mistaken. I’m still watching you because he let me do this.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“So, what are you going to do now?”

“I’m not in the mood to continue searching anymore. I’ll go home for this night.”

“Oh? Sorry to spoil your fun.”, he said sarcastically.

“So, if you can excuse me.”, I started to walk to leave the school.

“I can’t wait for the moment when I finally throw you in prison. You’re the killer, you’re crazy, you believe in your own lies.”

“I don’t think a detective should be speaking like that.”

“Make jokes while you can, Souma. Your days are counted.”

When I was nearing the school gate, I could see it open, confirming that the detective had its key.

After exiting the school, I looked behind me, but I couldn’t see to where the detective went and I just resumed my walk.

“If the detective entered the school when we heard the school gate being opened, what was that shadow in the second building?”, Mei appeared besides me.

“That guy made me so mad I even forgot to mention it to him.”

“You should ignore him, he is just provoking you.”

“I think you’re right. Still… Can I really fully believe in Arata? I know we passed this last summer break basically together, but it’s a fact that he is still hiding something from me.”

I was in front of my house when Mei said goodbye and left. I started to unlock the door, but the curiosity made me return to the street to look in the direction Mei went and I still could see her silhouette walking in the distance.

She can’t be a ghost, right?

I balanced my head trying to remove this stupid thought from my mind.

Things like ghosts doesn’t exist!

I entered my house and for now I should just rest.