The Threat Letter

The sound of shattering glass tore through the sleeping house.

CRASH!!

For one brief moment...

Everything fell silent.

Then—

A light flickered on upstairs.

Another followed.

A bedroom door swung open.

Rapid footsteps echoed down the hallway.

"...Huh? What was that?!"

"...What's going on?"

Principal Takeda hurried down the staircase, still dressed in a wrinkled pair of yellow pajamas.

His glasses sat crooked on his face.

He reached the bottom of the stairs and froze.

A cool night breeze drifted through the living room.

The large front window had been completely shattered.

Countless shards of glass glittered across the deep-black tiled floor, reflecting the moonlight.

"..."

"...Whaaat?!"

He cautiously stepped forward, moving slowly.

His slippers crunched softly against the scattered glass.

Both his eyes swept across the entire room.

Nothing appeared to be missing.

No overturned furniture.

No muddy footprints.

No sign that anyone had even entered.

Then...

He noticed it.

A smooth stone rested quietly in the middle of the floor.

Something white had been carefully wrapped around it.

"Huh?"

"A rock?"

He frowned and slowly bent down.

Then picked it up.

It was heavier than he expected.

A folded sheet of paper had been neatly taped around it.

He blinked in confusion.

"...Wait a minute..."

"...Who tapes a letter to a rock?"

With growing confusion...

He carefully peeled away the tape.

Out of habit...

He folded each strip neatly and placed it on the table in the lobby.

Only then did he unfold the paper.

Thick blue handwriting filled the center of the page.

He began to read.

I like what I like.

I hate what I hate.

Tomorrow...

I hate people going to school.

If you do one thing I hate...

I'll do ten things you'll hate.

Think carefully.

"..."

Principal Takeda stared at the note.

"...I like what I like..."

He read the first line again.

Then the second.

"...I hate what I hate..."

His eyebrows slowly drew together.

"What does that even mean?"

"Who writes something like that?"

He turned the paper over.

Blank.

Completely blank.

Only those seven short sentences.

He read the note a second time.

This time...

The strange wording didn't seem funny.

It seemed...

Unpredictable.

As though whoever had written it...

Didn't think like an ordinary person.

His gaze slowly drifted toward the shattered window.

Beyond it...

The street remained perfectly still.

No movement.

No footsteps.

No voices.

Only darkness.

The realization slowly settled in.

Whoever had done this...

Was already gone.

A faint chill crept down his spine.

What if something happens to my students because of a decision I made?

Will I ever be able to forgive myself?

He looked back at the note.

Then at the broken glass scattered across the floor.

"This isn't some childish prank..."

Without wasting another second...

He reached for the telephone resting on a nearby cabinet.

His fingers hesitated for only a moment before dialing.

"Police."

The call connected.

"Hello."

"I'd like to report property damage."

He glanced toward the shattered window.

"Someone threw a rock through my living room window."

A brief pause.

"No."

"They never entered the house."

Another pause.

He looked at the folded note in his hand.

"They left this instead."

"A threat."

He listened quietly for a while.

Then nodded approvingly.

"Yes."

"I'll wait here."

The call ended.

Without setting the receiver down for long...

He searched through his contacts again.

Another number.

Another ring.

The call connected.

"Monika?"

"I'm sorry for calling so late."

"We've got a serious situation."

For several long moments...

He explained everything.

Monika Kagenou remained unusually quiet on the other end.

"Yeah."

"I don't think we should open the academy tomorrow either."

"Not until the police finish investigating."

He listened again.

Then slowly nodded.

"Yes."

"Please cancel all classes tomorrow."

"Notify all the students and teachers immediately."

"We'll discuss everything after sunrise."

The call ended.

Principal Takeda slowly lowered the receiver.

For a while... He simply stood there.

The cool night breeze wandered freely through the broken window.

The folded note remained clutched tightly in his hand.

Its childish words somehow felt even more unsettling in the silence.

I can only hope...

You're bluffing.

Outside...

The wind gently swept a few tiny pieces of broken glass across the pavement.

The empty street remained perfectly still.

As though no one had ever been there.

Far away...

Two naughty boys were already making their way home beneath the moonlight...

Completely unaware...

That their ridiculous holiday operation...

Had become a housefull blockbuster.

But there was one unsettling thing...

Why had the principal asked Monika Kagenou, of all people, to cancel the class?

It didn't make any sense.

Why ask a teacher with only three weeks of experience to cancel all the classes for the entire school?

And the most unsettling part was...

She wasn't even in Hashito City right now.

Monika Kagenou was almost 250 Kilometres away from Hashito city.

But no one knew where...

At least...

Not yet.