Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Defy and Comply ❯ Lesson 2: Truth Seeker ( Chapter 2 )

XxXxXxXx
Defy and Comply
Lesson 2: Truth Seeker
By: Melissa Norvell
XxXxXxXx



“I’m not sure if or how I can even explain it,” Lamar closed his eyes and frowned. The cog wheels turned in his head, trying to grasp the correct way to phrase it but there was really no way to approach it unless he planned on just being brutally honest. At this point in time, there wasn’t any other choice for him.

Sunoma arched an eyebrow, not truly knowing what to think about the man before her. “Is there a justifiable way that you can talk about murder?” Killing was killing and to her, there was no real way that you could truly explain slaughtering another person whether it was in cold blood or self defense, there was something immoral about it. ‘He looks so pathetic. I really should call the authorities instead of being so nice to him. Somehow, I don’t feel that he’ll do anything to me even though I know. I feel like…something is wrong and it might involve me.’

After all, Lamar could have just lied to her. He could have let her continue to live under the delusion that he was just some crack head and what was written in his book were lyrics to some screwed up song he was writing. Looking around at the contents of his room, he was obviously fond of rock music and he even had a really strange looking black guitar sat on a stand. It looked very expensive and customized. He was obviously a man of strange taste, caring for the extravagance of some things but the simplicity of others.

How eccentric.

“Why aren’t you afraid of me?” Either this girl was stupid or desensitized to an abnormal level. She had read his book. The fact that she had read an entry where he killed someone didn’t help matters either. Yet there she was, standing there. Why wasn’t she rushing to her phone like any normal human would? It didn’t make sense.

Reaching in front of him, Lamar grabbed her upper arms and stared into her eyes, his own green hues trembling with emotion. All Sunoma did was stare at him with that emotionless gaze. It was as if she felt no hatred, no pity, no emotion at all. She might as well have been a machine. ‘What’s she doing?’

The girl leaned her face in towards his. That stare closing in on him, making him feel more than nervous. It was like the doll-like lolita was staring straight into his soul, ripping him asunder and stripping him down to the bare guilt and shame he felt. Lamar didn’t understand why this girl was even still in his presence and mentally, he was still breaking down in paranoia and apprehension.

‘Why isn’t she taking the opportunity to turn me in? She knows…she knows everything. Here I am in a pit of despair, looking pathetic and she’s not even speaking to me. Is she trying to comfort me? I would smack the hell outta myself for thinking that bullshit. How can she possibly understand my situation?’ His thoughts ran at 100 miles per hour as he tried to assess his situation with the strange girl. His grip on her arms loosened and the man trembled with emotion.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Did the pot wear off long enough for you to process my words?” Sunoma said half-heartedly. There shouldn’t have been any emotions that were needed for something like this. It was a wordless acceptance that Lamar should not have questioned.

“Did you-“ Lamar began to ask before a slender finger touched his lips, silencing him.

‘I’d want someone to understand me or at least let me provide them with an explanation.’ Sunoma figured that was something that she could do for him. She tried to put herself in his shoes, to imagine how it must have felt to be him. What if she had killed someone for a reason that only she knew? Wouldn’t she want someone to try and understand why? Lamar saved her life, so in turn she would try to understand his. To Sunoma, it was a fair enough trade.

‘She’s makin’ me paranoid. She’s not saying shit to me.’ To Lamar, there was nothing worse than silence. Even in his own home, he had to have something running in the background or he would start recalling the incident and reliving that horror that was his past. It haunted him enough as it was and now wasn’t the time to have war flashbacks.

Sunoma frowned, the first facial movement she’d made. Her eyebrows creased and her voice was stern. “Tell me why you did it. Tell me if you did it. I want to know and I want to know if this involves me. Are you trying to let me know something?”

Lamar decided that there was no other way to really approach this. His expression hardened and he leveled her with a serious expression of his own. “Do you go to Shinjinku Academy? I have to know.”

Sunoma was caught off guard by such a query. It was as if this was some sort of life or death situation. In all honesty, it uneased her a little. “Yes, I attend that school. I’ll be graduating in a couple of weeks-“

She was cut off by a dire order, “transfer out.”

Sunoma drew back with an arm bent in front of her and a dramatically offended expression. How dare he suggest, no…command such a thing from her. Who in the hell did he think he was telling her to transfer out before graduation? “Excuse you? I will do no such thing! Why would anyone do that on such short notice? My parents would kill me.”

She came from a prestigious family. Her mother modeled for the most famous fashion line in the world and her father owned a technological facility that manufactured one of the most high tech security systems in the country. If she transferred out at the last minute, she would be a shame to both of their good names and they would more than likely shun her or even worse, cast her out.

Sunoma would not live her life perceived as a failure. Her parents personally hand-picked her to attend Shinjinku, knowing of the prodigies that blossomed inside of its cultivating walls and she wasn’t going to let them down.

“I’m not going to tell you again,” Lamar pressed, putting emphasis on his words so that they would hopefully pierce through her thick skull.

“Why? Are you planning to kill people there? Am I mixed up in your crimes? Don’t tell me you’re a member of the yakuza.” Sunoma pointed at him in accusation. There were a thousand different scenarios running through her mind at this moment. Maybe he wanted to pick off some rich kids. Maybe he was going to do something to the school because one of the faculty members screwed him over. Maybe he was after the principal or the man who founded Shinjinku. After all, the school was only six years old and founded by a multi-millionaire.

“Do you know what happens in ‘graduation’ in that school?” Lamar was almost certain that she was completely clueless as to what happened to the class before hers, or even what would become of her own class. He knew that he was opening up a can of worms but someone had to do it.

Someone had to end the nightmare.

What kind of question was that? Sunoma put her hands on her hips and gazed at him with a perplexed visage. “You have a ceremony and get your diploma. Have you never graduated? I mean, I can understand-“

“No, the graduation procedure at Shinjinku is different,” Lamar informed her, his words laced in darkness.

Sunoma arched an eyebrow. Was there something she was missing? “How so?”

Green eyes averted as he confessed. His voice was low, as if he were trying to keep some sort of secret, regardless if it was only the two of them in the room. “In order to graduate from Shinjinku Academy, you have to kill someone.”

Sunoma put a hand to her mouth as she giggled at his statement. Surely he joked about such a thing. He was just trying to freak her out. “That’s a good one. I thought you were serious for a moment.”

“The book doesn’t lie,” Lamar’s serious expression never wavered.

Sunoma put her hand down and looked to the side, her voice cutting back to one of dire tone. “Tell me…did you kill that Kazoo guy?”

Sure he had written about it, but did he go through with it? The entry was vague. It had only stated that he was set on it, not that it happened.

“I killed them all. I was in the graduating class before yours,” Lamar’s new information shocked her.

Was he serious? Someone like him really attended the same school as she did? Sunoma wasn’t sure how she felt about knowing this. All of this time, she had looked down on him, as if he was some common street thug, but he was actually a graduate of Shinjinku. Everyone who attended Shinjinku held special student titles. They were all students who were already famous or had achieved something great in their lives, so what did this guy do?

Sunoma would ask him later. Now wasn’t the time to prod into the past. However, there was something that birthed an idea in the confines of her mind. Placing a hand under her chin in contemplation, she concentrated on a fixed point in the room as she thought out loud. “If that’s true, then your name should be on the past roster, correct? I’m in the student council. I can find out if you’re lying.”

Some people would do anything to prove a point, and while a part of her was convinced that he very well was a graduate, a part of her wasn’t completely won over by his claim. Lamar could be spouting crap to make her believe his concocted lies. Sunoma had to approach this logically, as strange and off the wall as it all sounded.

“You can’t find the roster, not for my graduating class or any of the others.” Nothing existed, and if they wanted proof of his claims, they weren’t going to find anything. No matter how much the student council dug, there were no documents to even prove that the class existed.

Was that really true? Surely there had to be something from the graduating class. It didn’t make any sense for there to be absolutely no records of them at all. Sunoma wanted to confirm this with the student council. “You know your classmates, correct?”

“I know a limited amount. Mainly the ones I spent my last days with.” Like any other senior, Lamar had a group of people he hung out with. In this case, a group of people he allied himself with in order to stay alive. Some of them were his friends before, some mere acquaintances but they all had deeper bonds as they went through the carnage together.

In many ways, that made it all the more painful.

“Surely there’s something on them. Tell me who they are,” Sunoma wanted to investigate the upper classmen. If Lamar would give her their names, then she could figure out the truth.

“No,” Lamar wasn’t exactly cooperative.

That answer came too quick and was too defiant for her liking. Why would he have any reason to disclose that information? If they really had to kill each other, then he would be saving her class. What gives?

Vexation marred her face as she glared at him. “Then you’re a liar if you can’t provide proper evidence.”

“Then how can I tell you what I had to do to graduate?” Lamar argued with her logic. There was no way that he was going to make up a story about what he had to do to graduate. If she didn’t believe him, then it was going to be her loss figuratively and physically.

“Explain to me how this is so. Shinjinku is a prestigious school. Not just anyone can get in here. What did you get in for anyway? Let’s start there because you don’t look like much.” After all, Sunoma didn’t really know anything about this guy. He was odd if anything and she still refused to believe that he graduated from the same school that she did. Such a person was truly a disgrace to the Shinjinku name.

“I might not be much now, but I used to be a world famous rock star. What exactly are you in there for?” Since she liked to talk about him as if he were nothing, a little cross-questioning was in order.

“My mother was a model for a famous fashion chain and my father was a cooperate man. I’m president of the lolita club and student council social chairman.” Sunoma had no problem introducing herself and her pedigree to this man. When she thought about it, Lamar did fit the rock star stereotype- dressed in black and leather, had dyed hair and piercings. He wore a lot of jewelry and he had that oddly shaped guitar. Even someone as foreign to rock music as her knew that the type of guitar Lamar had was nothing that could be store bought, or even sold over the internet. It was crafted just for his use. It explained his rock memorabilia and framed records as well. No doubt they were records of those he admired, or his own records.

“I never had time for student council or clubs. I was nearly always on tour and cranking out the hits, but I was in a special program that allowed me to finish my work when I had down time.” The program was something a lot of the students were in. A lot of them had jobs already or prior engagements such as his rock tours or acting in movies and serving industries in different ways. Those students were granted special terms and conditions for attending the academy.

“Your name is…”

“Lamar Oosawa.”

“What was your stage name?” She had never heard of a Lamar of any kind. He obviously had an alias.

“That’s confidential.”

“Why?” That was a harmless question. Why couldn’t he answer it?

“Let’s just say after graduation, shit got real. I couldn’t perform anymore.” He closed his eyes and turned his face down. It was definitely not his proudest moment. In fact, if it ever got out into the public, he would have been in a world of shit.

“Let’s say I believed you, that you had to kill your classmates. There are a lot of loopholes in your story,” Sunoma looked thoughtful and then glanced to him, expecting him to cover the loopholes. They both knew the story was crooked.

“You’re tellin’ me,” Lamar definitely agreed with her. It sounded fishy as hell, but even so there were things that he couldn’t provide proof to.

“You mean, even when you graduated you never found anything out?” Sunoma blinked a little, taking her hand from her face as she gazed at him, a little shocked that he would tell her that he didn’t know rather than just making something up to sound like he had a solid story.

“That’s why it’s still goin’ on.”

“Why would they make us kill each other? What purpose does that serve? Why would someone be that cruel? Explain this to me,” Sunoma crossed her arms under her breasts. None of it made any sense, no matter how she tried to slice it. His story was shoddy and lacked crucial details and it was hard for her to decipher such vague information.

“If I knew that answer, do you think I’d be like this? I’ve wanted to know that since I was involved in the last graduation. All I know is that they cage you in the school and they make ya try to kill each other. If you win, then ya get out but the only way you can is to be last man standing.” That was his case, anyway and he believed it to be the case of the previous students before him as well. It didn’t make sense that they would let someone live to tell the tale, but they had.

“What happened after that?” If he graduated, then he knew the outcome.

“You get a diploma.”

Amazing. Sunoma’s eyes widened and she blinked, cocking her head. “That’s it?”

Lamar scratched his head, trying to recall his final moments of graduation. “That’s all that happened to me. I didn’t get it. I don’t understand what the point of it was. Why all of my friends had to die and even furthermore, why no one ever noticed they were dead.”

“That story makes no sense. Surely people would wonder. There are prestigious and even famous people who go to that school,” Sunoma couldn’t believe such a wild tale that ended on such an anti-climatic note. If Lamar graduated and he had to kill his classmates, then he would have been put in jail for multiple counts of murder. All of the victims would have had open cases and the school would have been shut down and put under heavy investigation. Something like that would have made the news, but no such thing ever did.

If this story was true, then someone wanted to keep it highly secret, enough to destroy the rosters and try to wipe the existence of the students off of the earth.

“That’s why I didn’t get why no one’s done anything. Why the authorities haven’t been involved. Why there are no missing person’s cases. I don’t understand it, but I can’t let it go on. It’s like the some sort of sick blood sport, “ Lamar clenched his fists, holding them out in front of him as he gritted his teeth and spoke very passionately towards this subject. It was something real that could not be replicated. “What was it all for? Why did I have to do it? Do they just like torturing people? Was this some sort of sick experiment? It bothers me.”

Sunoma sighed, “to be honest, you sound off your rocker.”

“That’s why I never intended on tellin’ you.” If she hadn’t have been nosy and read his book, he wouldn’t have said anything about it at all. Lamar had his own plans on how to deal with that problem.

“What if I told everyone?” They could all decide on whether or not it was a rumor or the truth. The student body could have the option to transfer out if they wished.

Lamar’s expression darkened. “Something worse will happen. Do ya really wanna risk that?”

This was all confusing. What did he even mean by that question? What was worse than being forced to kill each other? What if he was still bluffing? Parts of his story seemed legit but there were so many unanswered questions that she honestly didn’t know if she should trust him.

“How can you save them if no one knows?” That was the important case in point. If telling everyone got her in trouble, how were the students supposed to be informed? How would anyone be aware of the problem?

The former rock star’s expression became stressed. “I don’t know…I’m running out of time. When graduation hits, everyone will descend into darkness.”

Sunoma was lost in thought for a moment. “You know…come to think of it, there are a few strange things about the school protocol. I’ve always found it odd that every student is required to take a martial arts class or another form of self-defense like fencing or archery.”

“That’s so they can make things interesting. It’s not for physical fitness, that’s for sure.” Lamar was well-aware of the strange rules of Shinjinku. This was also one of the rules that existed a year ago, and one of the requirements that all seniors must meet in order to graduate.

“That and living in the dorms starting two weeks before graduation. That’s odd,” the lolita continued to contemplate out loud. It wasn’t just that, but the fact that they had to purchase dorms even if they were within walking distance from the academy. That had always struck her as bizarre.

“Not odd, convenient,” Lamar corrected her. It wasn’t that hard to think about when she put the clues together.

“Of course, you have the option of staying in the dorms all year. I know a few classmates who do.”

“It makes sense, doesn’t it?”

Clutching her clothes below her breasts, wrinkling them in her hands, Sunoma felt a chill take over her body. Lamar was right. He was absolutely right about the rules tying into his theory about the students having to kill each other, and the more they talked about this subject, the more realistic and similar their own situation came to the students of the past. “I don’t…want to believe a school system would do this. It seems impossible that such a thing exists. It’s absolutely ridiculous.” Her voice was filled with doubt. Words betrayed her feelings and for that moment she felt frightened and horrified.

“It’s true. I can prove it. However, ya have the option to opt out. You can transfer out and live,” Lamar didn’t usually give this option to any student who had knowledge of what was going on, but he wanted to spare Sunoma from what would come. She had refused at first, but hopefully the girl would heed his warning with her new found information and make the wise choice.

Letting her arms fall to her sides, Sunoma’s face lit up with defiant. “I can’t just tell my parents I want out. What reason would I use? I like it here and most everyone is my friend.”

“You have a few options.”

“None I’m willing to take,” Sunoma placed a hand on her chest. “I’m also skeptical of your story. I want to do research on this.”

“Do as much as you want. I doubt you’ll find anything on any of the graduating classes of Shinjiku.” If she could, then she was a better detective than he or a few other people involved as well as his graduating class. They had gone through the school with a fine-toothed comb and found nothing. What made this little lolita think she had a snow ball’s chance in hell?

Sunoma’s face morphed into a determined glare as she headed towards the door, “I’ll be the judge of that.”

“Tell me what you find.”

She stopped before placing her hand on the door handle, “I will.”

With that as her final parting words, she left for the day.



XxXxXxXxXx



The members of the student council gathered in a large room with elaborate white and gold embroidered themes throughout. The room was spacious and lush, adorned with the highest quality décor and furniture. In the center of the room was a magnificent black rug with golden wave-like embroidery around the edges. A long table, big enough for a party of twenty sat on top of it. The legs were gold and the top was made of black marble and around it, seated on both sides of the table with the exception of a lone student on the end, were the members of the student council, all wearing attire of their choosing.

The student at the end of the table cleared his throat, signaling the rest of them to turn their attention to him. He was a noble young man, standing tall and proud with the physically fit body and broad chest that was concealed in a student uniform unlike the typical male uniforms. It was black with white cufflinks and golden tassels that hung from the shoulders like a prince’s uniform. It only helped to accentuate his pale skin and shoulder-length, wavy, blonde hair that was extremely well-kept. His slender blue eyes, framed with long, dark lashes scanned over the students before they stopped on Sunoma. “What did you call this sudden meeting for, Miss social chairman?”

Sunoma stood, addressing her fellows. “Student council president, Inori Mandio, there is something unsettling that I’ve heard regarding the events of graduation. Mind you this is to be disclosed and not leave the mouths of any student council members in this room.” Her gaze hardened as she glanced at everyone with her silent warning.

Kiyomaru was the first to react, a dramatic expression of shock reeled through him as he looked to his friend. “Wait…unsettling? Where did you hear such things?”

Inori looked to him. “We should first question what the information is.”

Seated beside of Sunoma was a girl who wore large, round glasses, dressed in a wide-necked, long sleeved, white dress. She was small in structure and had large, green eyes and curly green hair that cascaded to her mid back. Her most interesting feature were two pieces of hair that shot up and bent forward on either side of her head, looking much like crooked horns in contrast to her many layers of curls. “I admit this seems rather odd that you’d suddenly have information regarding graduation.”

“It might be a myth, Kraki Touya, but I feel it needs to be brought to our attention,” Sunoma stressed the importance of her point.

Across the table sat a girl with porcelain skin and white hair that was reminiscent of a 60’s flip, curving at her cheek bones. Her beauty was uncanny compared to the other girls and she wore bright red lipstick. Her figure was mature with large breasts that poked out of her shirt, nestled in a fancy, lace, black bra that played peek-a-boo with the unbuttoned portion of her short-sleeved shirt. The girl looked at her well-manicured nails with a bored expression. “Get on with it, then. We don’t have time for this. I also have stage practice in an hour.”

Kiyomaru turned to the beauty. “Whatever Sunoma has to say must be important. We should let her explain.”

“Are any of you familiar with the graduating class? The ones who left a year ago?” Sunoma thought she would open her case with a common question. Surely someone had to know someone. Since Lamar wouldn’t give her any names, this might be a good way to gather evidence.

The white-haired girl held her nails up to her face, closely examining her cuticles. “Student records are highly confidential.”

“To look at them would be a violation of privacy, unless of course, you have just reason,” Inori backed up his fellow’s statement. If Sunoma wanted to look in confidential files, he would be the first to put an end to her ways. There would be no shady acts in his student council. It was forbidden to act out of line in such a way. Anyone inducted into the student council was aware of their position.

“I heard they all died before they graduated, “ her eyes narrowed on the bishounen at the end of the table. “Is that just reason enough?”

Everyone began to chat among themselves and whispers and gasps at her claims erupted among the student council members, causing a wave of separate conversations. Kiyomaru reeled back dramatically as a horrified expression crossed his face. He gasped at such a claim. In fact, he could hardly believe the words coming out of his friend’s mouth.

“What did you say?”

Kraki raised her head from the top of her hand, where she was resting it. “They…died?”

The white-haired student shifted her eyes lazily to the others. “Surely you jest.”

“The person who told me was very serious,” her expression hardened. “As student council members we can’t let this fly.” Right now, she definitely had their attention and Sunoma planned on utilizing them to help her figure out whether Lamar’s story proved true or not. One way or another, this subject was going to be investigated. One way or another, she wanted the truth.

Kraki looked a little nervous; a few beads of sweat ran down her discolored face. Just the very thought of something that sinister happening was a lot for her to take in. The book worm looked horrified that Sunoma would even say such a thing as if it were serious. Her voice trembled as she tried to come up with an explanation for it. “I’m sure it’s just a rumor. Surely, someone is trying to play a prank on us. I wouldn’t take them seriously.” After all, she had no proof that such a thing was happening. Unless Sunoma could provide her with obituaries or solid evidence that they had all been killed then there was no use bringing up futile and utterly ridiculous claims.

“Maybe it would be best to check it out and solve this dispute, wouldn’t it?” This would be her challenge. Hopefully it would work with them. If not, then she was going to go out on her own and seek answers to Lamar’s story.

“It would be tampering with sensitive documents,” Inori argued her point. It was against student council code and it was illegal.

“Couldn’t it just be a check and see if they received a diploma? Wouldn’t it just be gathering consensus? Surely there’s a way around it. You’re the son of the man who founded this school,” Kraki could think of a few things that would make it alright to view the documents. Green eyes shifted to the president, waiting for his answer.

Inori looked a little nervous and tried to crack a smile, which failed miserably. “I can see what I can do…but…who told you this, Sunoma?”

“I’m not disclosing it to you, but they claimed that they graduated and their accounts are too real not to ignore. They also brought up some suspicious facts about this school that I’ve always questioned.” Lamar knew too much for her to ignore it. It bugged her, and so did Inori’s suspicious behavior. Why was he trying to make excuses not to look at the graduating classes’ files? Could it be that Lamar was correct in his statement that they didn’t exist?

If so, this would make the case harder to solve. They couldn’t gather evidence from nothing.

“Such as?” The beauty from across the table chimed in.

“Why don’t you explain to me why we have to purchase a dorm, even if we live across the street from the school campus?” Sunoma placed her hands on her hips. Didn’t anyone else think about these things? That rule was just bizarre.

“So you can attend college. Our college is right behind the school,” Inori did his best to explain the importance of such a rule, holding his hand out as if it should have been obvious to decipher.

“But, why stay in the rooms a week before graduation?” When Kiyomaru thought about it, that was a really strange aspect of the dorm rule. He could understand purchasing a form if the students planned to attend college the upcoming year, but to stay on campus right before graduation and live there for only a couple of weeks seemed out of the ordinary.

“To set up for college,” Inori replied. They all should get their rooms before transfers decided to flood in and snatch them from their grasps. Getting accustomed to dorm life ahead of time was effective, as was setting up their dorms beforehand. It taught them independence.

“Makes sense,” Kiyomaru looked thoughtful on it.

“Why do we have to attend a self-defense or physical education class in which we use a weapon?” Sunoma wasn’t just going to settle on one explanation. She wanted to know why the other rules were specific and strange. It had never been customary to have physical education in the form of self-defense mandatory in any educational system, special or not.

“That is a bit odd, and to tell you the truth, I would rather not bother. It makes me sweaty and my nails chip from being overworked,” the white-haired girl pouted with a frown of displeasure. Hard work wasn’t her thing. She would rather bask in the glory of high fashion and the best fragrances money could buy.

The thought of showering with other, less attractive females turned her away from it as well. There was nothing more displeasing than a bunch of sweaty women showering together.

“I’m not for it, either,” Kraki agreed. She wasn’t cut out for physical education in general. She would rather stay engrossed in a good book than be out on the school grounds, sweating and making a fool of herself as she was not very good at anything she tried to play.

“They are essential skills that all students will need with their high-risk jobs. Being well-known and highly regarded is dangerous. You’ll need to know some sort of self-defense in case you run across less than favorable company or a less than favorable situation.” The president tried to explain the absolute need for a self-defense class. There weren’t always points in which body guards would be present and there were always those strange, obsessive fans that would resort to creepy and forward ways of trying to express their love for their idols. In such situations, this would come in handy as a life skill.

“That makes sense,” Kiyomaru agreed. Now that Inori had explained these strange rules, they didn’t seem quite so strange anymore. Then again, Kiyomaru was a very trusting person who believed anything he was told.

Sunoma glared at him for arguing her point. Honestly, he was so naieve. “No, it doesn’t. Those classes have never been mandatory.”

“Why are you insistent on this?” Kraki rose up out of her seat, irritated that the conversation was getting nowhere as she slammed her hands down on her opened book. “Do you have any proof that the graduating class is dead?”

“I want it looked into because of that. What if it’s true?” Had they ever once considered the real danger any of them could be going through? Did they even care? Didn’t anyone take her seriously?

“Listen to what you’re saying. This school wouldn’t be around if that was true. They would shut it down very quickly,” Kraki crossed her arms and glared the lolita down. Right now, she just sounded like a lunatic the more she talked about it. In truth, it was really eerie how transfixed she was on something so morbid in theory.

Inori arched an eyebrow as well and leveled her with a dire stare. “Are you implying something?” Now he was offended. For her to think that his school was shady angered him greatly.

“Inori is the founder’s son,” the white-haired girl noted, glancing over to the blonde with suspicious eyes before they were interrupted with Kiyomaru’s boisterous laugh.

“Ha ha ha!" Kiyomaru threw his hands out to either side with a wide-toothy smile and closed eyes, looking as jolly as ever. “I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about! Nothing like that would even be in existence! It sounds like an urban legend, my friends.”

Sunoma leaned in with a disapproving frown. The fact that even her best friend was making this out like it was some sort of child’s joke really angered her. “Tell me…how is it that all of the other grades are out at this time? Tell me something about the graduating class before us. Prove to me that they are still alive.”

“You can find that out within our classmates,” Inori noted. Several students knew members of the graduating class. It wasn’t hard to find someone who had known them or known of them.

“What do you mean?” Kiyomaru was a little lost on what he was implying.

“There are those with brothers and sisters in the graduating class. They could tell you something without having to soil the hands of the student council.” It wasn’t anything worth demoting anyone from their positions over. The risk was not worth what little they would gain. Inori was certain that they could seek their information in other students, rather than tamper with any documents.

“But who would these people be?” Sunoma folded her arms over her mid-sized chest and cast the president a sideways glance. Did they even exist or was he bullshitting her?

“I know of someone, actually,” Kraki’s meek answer caught the lolita’s ear.

“Who?”

The green-eyed girl turned her head away with an unsure frown. “I’m not sure if you’d really want to talk to him, though.”

Sunoma didn’t know why she was making a big deal out of things. What could possibly be so bad about this mystery student who held possible answers to what was going on, if anything? After all, she was dealing with Lamar and he was the in the bottom of society’s pit. Famous rocker or not, he fell from grace and he was still a crack head to her. “I’ll make that decision myself.”

Kraki played with the sleeves of her dress nervously. “He’s the leader of one of the most powerful yakuza factions in all of Japan. His name is Taiga Daifumi.”




…To Be Continued