How Could You? (Souyo)

Culprit

I get cut off as a puff of black smoke engulfs us, separating us.

"Senpai!" Rise screams.

But she sounds so far away.

My vision gets more and more hazy by the moment as I try to adjust to the atmosphere, coughing a great lot.

"Senpai!!" Rise calls again, followed up by a harsh cough.

"Wait there, Rise," I yell back. "I'm... I'm gonna go get Yosuke. Hang in there."

"Don't leave!!" She pleads. "I- I can't communicate with anyone else... Please, Senpai..."

I bite my lip. "You'll be fine."

"But-"

"Kanji and the others shouldn't be far. Try harder, Rise."

"...Okay," she breathes. "Be careful, okay...?"

"Uh-huh."

~~~

Yosuke's POV:

I blink several times, taking in the sight.

My heart is pounding against my ribcase as the smell burns at my nose hairs.

I take a step back, unable to take my eyes away from the sight.

Kubo... Did this...?

"Yosuke?"

I don't even turn my head as Yu runs up to me.

"...Holy shit," he whispers.

I swallow hard.

What the hell am I meant to say?

"...Yosuke," he breathes, putting a hand on my shoulder.

My lip wobbles at the action, and it takes everything in me not to crash into him.

"...It's okay," he says softly. "Stop looking, okay?"

"...King Moron," I whisper. "He's-"

"Don't say it," he sighs, closing his eyes.

"...Does... Does this mean... He's going to be the next body? He's... gonna be the next one hanging from a telephone wire?"

"Yosuke, please stop looking at him," he begs.

But, I can't.

The imagine of the body has been burned into my mind.

His cause of death is not visible, but... The smell is enough to say he's been dead for a few days now at least...

No wonder he wasn't in school.

But... How? How is it even possible that Kubo could do this...?

"We need back up!" Rise calls. "Kanji's down! Someone heal him!"

"...I guess that's our cue to go," Yu mumbles.

But I don't respond.

"...Maybe you should sit this fight out," he says quietly.

"But..."

"If you need to, that's okay, Yosuke," he shrugs. "You... shouldn't have had to see that."

I lick my lips anxiously. "This... Doesn't make any sense..."

"You're in shock," he explains.

"No, Yu," I grunt. "I mean... How...? Kubo didn't go to our school. How could he have known King Moron?"

"...What are you trying to say?"

"What if... Someone else threw him in here?"

Yu's eyes widen.