Water Works

A step backwards in time and back in the school, Hiroshi rushed to get to his friend. “Don’t!” Tatsuya shouted, holding up his hand towards him. “This is my fight. I’ve got her attention, you go where you need to be!”

“You can’t beat Saki alone!”

“Hey, have a little confidence in your friend!”

“She’s been protecting Yuki from bullies since school started, she’s better in a fight than you are!”

Hearing the way Tatsuya coughed worried him a little. He knew that Saki’s attack caught up to him. “I’m fully aware of that. But someone has to stop Takako and that should be you! Only you know what must be done, what has to be done! I can’t do it!”

Grimacing, Hiroshi’s face betrayed his distaste for what Tatsuya said. But his expression twisted and changed understanding the situation. He put himself on the course and he knew what he needed to do as Tatsuya told him. As all the thoughts ran through his face, he finished reconciling things with his fate. “Fine, just stay alive until I kill Takako! If Yuki’s right, Saki should come back to her senses!”

“Of course! I’ve got no plans on dying today!”

With the needed assurance from his friend, Hiroshi ran into the hall and away from the battle between two friends. ‘Please, be safe…I’m sorry for dragging you into this… I’ll finish this for all of us!’

Chapter 346 – Water Works

It was a little miraculous, but the part of the hall behind where Saki guarded held together (part of which was only because time-wise, this was before the fighting escalated). While it was darker than usual with most of the lights out by now, Hiroshi found it familiar still. It should be, it was his school until a couple of months ago. Which only made it even more unsettling for him.

He felt like he was going through a haunted house built inside his school, except everyone forgot to actually put out the decorations. ‘So unnerving…it’s like a horror movie…’ Chills went down his spine even as he worked to ignore as much of it as possible. Everything was only made worse by the fact that it was his school.

Hiroshi focused on the end of the hall. When it was a proper school it was just a normal end of the hallway. There were stairs going up to the third floor and down. Nothing out of the ordinary. However, now it seemed that it was completely blocked off. It was a makeshift construction with some awkwardly placed sliding doors and a wall taped together. ‘Now it looks like a haunt house…’

No guards protected the door, something he felt as odd. However, they could have been sent to fight in their invasion, which seemed to be predicted by Yumi. It benefited him either way. “Takako’s behind there…”

There was some uncertainty still in Hiroshi. Behind the door was the unknown. Only those part of Takako’s army went back there. No one ever survived. He wasn’t sure what to expect from it. Given how the rest of the school turned out, it seemed only natural that the place with the boss would be taken to the extreme end of it.

Grabbing the handle, he hesitated more thinking about the possibilities. ‘Will I be able to keep my sanity? Can I kill her while surrounded by whatever depravity that she’s carrying?’ Hiroshi’s hand shook a little as he tried to keep himself together.

“Are you coming in?” a voice whispered through the door. It felt distant, barely making it through the distance to him.

He didn’t really recognize the voice. It was clearly a girl’s voice, but for him it could have been anyone. ‘Is that Takako? I never really met her other than when she was with Saki. So I mostly just know what she looks like and even then I needed someone else to verify.’

However, he had an invitation, not that he planned on asking for one. But the fact that someone knew he was outside the door unnerved him a little. ‘She’s able to see or sense me? I don’t want to be thinking like Yuki, but if this is like anime maybe she can sense power? We haven’t had anyone develop that ability though.’

“I know you’ve come, Hiroshi Kuroda.”

‘She even knows me.’ There was a bit of panic as the horror environment really started to affect him. ‘She just knows me from Saki and the others.’ He tried to calm himself. The longer he stood still the harder it became to move. Hiroshi started to fear that he wouldn't be able to do anything. ‘I never imagined her presence would be so overwhelming and she’s only speaking to me.’

“Do I need to get someone to open the door for you?”

‘Someone else? Damn, I don’t need to be fighting someone before I even reach Takako.’ The thought of there being anyone else inside other than Takako forced Hiroshi's hand. He made the move out of resolve and control. Takako had too many pieces in her favor. He needed to act first rather than after her.

To his surprise, the rest of the hallway didn’t look much different from the part behind him. In fact, it actually looked better off than the rest of the school. It looked very clean as though it had been untouched by any of the corruption made by Takako. Such an appearance made the whole thing just more unnerving to behold. But he made his first move.

“You feeling brave now?”

‘Damn her voice is getting on my nerves.’ He could feel the overwhelming confidence coming from her. She was in control of everything and wanted everyone else to feel it. In so little effort, she easily fixed her position as dominant. ‘This feels nothing like the girl I remember hanging around Saki.’

He cautiously walked down the rest of the hallway. Once he reached the end of the hall with the last classroom, he saw where the doors came from. Instead of doors, there was a black sheet hanging over it. ‘A little on the nose…like their uniforms…’ The almost cliché nature he saw started to give him back his composure.

Drawing back the sheet, he saw numerous more hanging through the classroom. Without the desks and chairs orderly placed in rows, the room had a larger scale to it. It almost didn’t feel familiar to him, like the inside was larger than the outside.

“Welcome to my room,” the voice echoed through the large space. They were still out of sight, but clearer to hear.

Hiroshi glanced around the room trying to get a read on the space and anyone that might be hiding. “I like what you’ve done with the place. I always thought the school would look better with a little black.” The joking helped him forget a little about everything still unnerving him.

“You sound nervous. This your first time in a girl’s room?”

“Nah, I’ve been in plenty.”

“Is that so? My style’s a little different from other girls.”

“I noticed.”

“How you enjoying the new curriculum I’ve introduced?”

“Very educational.”

“I thought so.”

The casual nature of how she spoke to him while still maintaining the dominance made it difficult for him to even think of her as a teenager anymore. She seemed like someone else. The atrocities he saw her allow or create didn’t seem like that of someone that was still a child. It never made any sense.

He finally arrived through all of the sheets to the source of everyone’s pain and misery. Despite having a grand attempt at a throne to sit upon, it was still just a small teenage girl. The look in her eyes went beyond any darkness the rest of the school presented. She was the source of darkness. It was a conflicting paradox to stare at. “Takako…”

“We meet again.”

Hiroshi paused darting his eyes around the room for any signs of someone else. He wasn’t going to ignore the threat she made earlier. Nothing came to him for the moment. It seemed safe. “Do you really remember me?”

“Not so much, about as much as you likely remember me.”

“For someone that was supposedly a vegetable, you’re looking pretty alert.”

Takako casually ran her finger down her cheek until she rested her head in her hand. “What can I say? I got better.”

“I think this goes beyond just getting better. How’d you get better?” It was one of the biggest mysteries that had yet to find an answer. Those that knew her and her situation, knew it was impossible for her to recover. Yuki and Saki never explained the details to him. He just knew what they wanted him to know. The kidnapper that grabbed Saki took Takako as well. The only difference was that the whole incident left her completely traumatized and mentally scarred.

He never fully accepted their explanation at face value. But given the situation and the way it affected them, there was never a place where he could just force the truth out of them. It was a delicate subject, especially for Saki.

Takako leaned forward a little from her throne of chairs and desks. “Oh you haven’t earned the right yet to be asking me such questions.”

“Right? The hell?”

“I let you inside as a courtesy from one leader to another. But I’m still waiting for the King to appear.”

“King, what King? What the hell are you going on about?” Hiroshi took a step forward only to be suddenly cut off by a new figure, one that he hadn't seen in the room before. It was another girl, one that seemed about as familiar to him as Takako. ‘How’d she get in here? Is this the person that Takako was threatening me with?’

“You’re not allowed any closer to Takako,” she stated clearly.

He looked up beyond the girl to Takako. “Afraid to face me, leader to leader as you said?”

“As a leader, you must prove yourself worth my time. My time is already reserved for the King. So you’ll have to show yourself to be more interesting than him.”

“King again?! What the hell are you saying?”

She grinned down at Hiroshi. “So you don’t know. I guess they really don’t trust you.”

“What are you talking about?! Tell me!”

“You’re just a pawn in this game. Kill Hitomi and maybe I’ll reconsider your position in this game.”

He grabbed at Hitomi’s shoulder trying to push her aside, but found that she was stronger than he imagined. She batted him away and twisted his arm keeping him down. Hiroshi clutched his shoulder while struggling with Hitomi’s strength. “Damn your game!”

“But I thought you enjoy games. That is the sort of power you got from him.”

His eyes widened a bit in surprise that Takako knew what his power was. “What?!”

“You like jokes and things that are entertaining. So Hitomi should amuse you.” Takako turned her eyes down to Hitomi staring at the back of her head. “You know what he wants to do to you, Hitomi.”

The light in Hitomi’s eyes suddenly dimmed a little. A strange sense of awareness came over her as she seemed to be picturing it. “He wants to kill me! A-and that’s not all! After he kills me, he’s going to t-tear off my clothes! A-and…and…and! Even that too!”

“Especially that, Hitomi. He wants to do that and more. That’s just the sort of man he is.”

“NO!”

“You know what to do.”

Hiroshi wanted to protest the slander, but the pain in his arm occupied him. Yet he could see the gears turning in her head as she seemed to be imagining everything possible. All of the worst things that could happen to her. Things that he would never do, but she didn’t seem to understand that.

And then something happened that he didn’t understand. She started to cry. It was slow to start, but it became loud. And it wasn’t because of her voice. No, he heard a massive roaring river of water pouring down upon him. The mass of the water slamming into him pulled his body and strained his shoulder. However, Hitomi let him go, allowing him to be taken away by the sudden appearance of a wild river inside the classroom.

The water crashed upon the walls pounding him into it before spreading out in all directions. ‘Can’t…move…’ He tried to stand or even crawl away, but the pressure of the way was too great. It had him pin up against the wall. Through all of the roaring he couldn’t hear the cracking of the wall as stress built up.

Then it was all over. The water finally eased up and he dropped to the floor completely soaked. He coughed and choked on the water that forcibly entered his mouth. The entire room filled with water now. At least half a meter of standing water hung around as it was still trying to pour out into the hall. “Ugh…”

“She should be able to entertain you.” Takako leaned back in her throne. “You have my permission to kill him if you so desire.”

“I won’t allow you to harm, Takako!”

Seeing Hiroshi standing back up on his feet and preparing for the fight to come, Takako smiled. “Will you be able to kill her? A girl able to literally cry rivers.”