~Two days later~
Ryuusuke hugged his knee with crossed arms as he was thinking to himself about what happened to Midori.
"𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐢𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐢 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭... 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐬. 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞? 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈'𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬. 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐡𝐞, (𝐘/𝐍), 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧."
He stopped thinking as he heard the sound of the door squeaking, he saw Midori with a black shirt and a short skirt.
"Midori..." Midori approached him as she picked the bento up.
"Sorry, I couldn't come lately. You must be hungry. I brought you some dinner here."
"Midori. So then..." Ryuusuke looked at her with slight shock.
"Yes... I wrestled with it a bit, but it's okay. Did you think I wasn't coming back?"
"Y-Yeah. I thought you wouldn't want to see me again. So you forgive me?"
"You must be hungry. Hurry and eat."
"Yeah. Thanks." Ryuusuke moved the lid of the bento before his eyes widened as the thing inside the bento wasn't food, but it was a dead rat instead.
"AAAH!" Ryuusuke brushed it off as he stuttered shockingly. "That's..."
"HAHAHA!" Ryuusuke looked up to Midori as she happily enjoyed it.
"I got you, huh?! This is just the right dinner for someone like you! Did you think I would forgive you?! You killed my aunt and the child she was carrying... my cousin! I DECIDED I CAN'T FORGIVE YOU! I DECIDED TO HATE YOU FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!"
"M-Midori..."
"So I... met the crossroads boy that day."
Ryuusuke's eyes widened at the fact. "What?!"
"He told me to hate you forever. I couldn't stop shaking after he said that. It didn't feel like the words of a stranger for some reason. I got this feeling that he and I had some kind of connection. And that he hates you. I've thought about who he could be. And there's one person who fits. My cousin. The baby my dead aunt was carrying. The baby was alive in this world but killed before he could be born. Maybe he's trying to get revenge on you now, with the same method you used as a child."
"So then... you're saying the crossroads boy... is really your aunt's child?" Midori didn't respond to anything as she turned away from Ryuusuke.
"But when (Y/N) said she felt something about him? It couldn't be possible, right?"
"Maybe he wants to do it through her." Ryuusuke's eyes widened, so the crossroads boy was trying to use you to take back on him, or he thought so.
"I hope you suffer horribly. I hope you learn just how painful it is for people to hate you." Ryuusuke quickly stood up and went to Midori who walked out of the door. "Ah! Midori, wait! Where are you going?!"
"What? Do you think I'm going to kill myself because I met him? Don't be stupid. There's no way my cousin would make me kill myself."
"Midori!"
She then turned back with an emotionless face as she walked toward the heavy fog. "This is bad. I'm actually worried."
He ran out of his hiding place as he was trying to catch up with Midori. "Midori! Dammit... The fog's so thick!"
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You received a message from Ryuusuke, saying that Midori knew what happened to her aunt and she received the fortune from the Crossroads Boy, turning her to hate him. He grew worried about her, so he came out of his hiding spot to look for her.
You growled at his stubbornness as you secretly sneaked out of your house by going through the window to not get noticed by your parents. You headed to the town and hurriedly wandered around the town without taking a breath.
You suddenly bumped hard into someone in the corner. You dusted your face as you looked up to apologize. "I'm sorry, I was in a hurry--" You stopped mid-sentence as you met with the familiar girl.
The girl was wearing her school uniform which wasn't from your school. She looked down at you with her emotionless but in her eyes, you noticed the fury and jealousy.
"You..."
"Huh?" You hummed before she grabbed your forearms and pulled you up roughly. "I finally find you! You're the one who steals him from me!"
"What?!" You exclaimed with shock as she kept shaking you violently.
"You said he'll realize my love but you're taking it away from me! You're the one who ruined my love! And you'll never be happy again!"
"What do you mean? I didn't do anything, he's approaching me first!" You pushed her away before she then grabbed your wrists tightly which would cause bruises later.
"I'm going to make your life more miserable than you ever want to be. He'll be mine, and mine alone!"
You grew horrified as she grinned wickedly like a maniac, she giggled before she abruptly pulled you along with her.
"WHAT'RE YOU DOING?! LET GO OF ME!"
"YOU'RE COMING WITH ME! LET'S HAVE A WALK!"
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~Meanwhile~
"Still... Is the boy really her aunt's child?"
Ryuusuke kept searching around for Midori as he noticed the group of girls. "Excuse me, have you seen a middle school girl around here?"
The girls turned around to him but he realized his mistake. "Oh, no!"
"Ah! It's him!" The girls cornered him into the wall as they all expressed their feelings and admiration for him.
"I LOVE YOU!"
"I LOVE YOU SO MUCH I COULD DIE!"
"I WANTED TO SEE YOU!"
"My prince at the crossroads... please speak to me."
"Me too."
"Me too."
Ryuusuke went silent for a moment before he said to the girls shakingly. "All of you... come back to your senses. Look in a mirror. Your skin and bones... if this keeps up, you'll die."
The girls went silent before they all frowned at his different answer. They started to gossip. "Weird... I heard it would be very thrilling when we heard his words."
"And this guy's wearing white clothes. I'm pretty sure he wears black."
"Forget about him already! You're making a terrible mistake!" The girls went silent as Ryuusuke felt slightly relieved. He then suddenly heard someone struggling as two people emerged out of the fog, his eyes widened as they were you and the other girl.
"Hey, everyone!"
The girl pushed you down to the ground as they all stared at you.
"Here is the girl who stole him from us! Look at her ear!"
She grabbed the back of your head up and pushed the strand of your ear, revealing the earrings to them. The girls gasped before they glared down at you.
"It's true!"
"She has his earring!"
"She steals him from us!"
"She deserves to die!"
"Wait, No! Get away from her!" Ryuusuke shouted before he got pushed away as the girls started to surround you in a circle.
They raised their legs before beginning to stomp their feet on you. Luckily, you were able to escape from them by crawling under their feet.
But unfortunately, the same girl who dragged you to be stomped has noticed you crawling out.
"Hey, she's escaping!"
"WHAT?!"
As the girls started to corner you again, they all stopped in mid-air as the sound of someone screaming came far away.
"Huh? That screaming it's super loud. A whole bunch of voices at once..."
You looked at the way as your eyes widened with realization. "Wait, is that?"
Your hand suddenly got pulled by the crazy girl as she followed the voice.
"It's the boy at the crossroads!"
"Yes! They've found the real crossroads boy!"
"Come on... We have to hurry!"
"Wait! (Y/N)!" Ryuusuke shouted before you disappeared from the crowd.
You felt suffocating as the girls all squeezed you and screamed to the Crossroads Pretty Boy. You tried to get out of the crowd but the force was stronger as you got pushed back into the crowd.
You found yourself in front of the crossroads boy, along with the crazy girl. You covered your mouth as you stared up at him.
"I LOVE YOU SO MUCH I COULD DIE!"
The crossroads pretty went silent for a moment as he stared at the girls before he laid his gaze at you. His long arm went towards you before pulling your head to his torso. The crazy girl's eyes widened as she felt betrayed and angry.
"𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝗲."
The girls went silent for a moment before they raised their box cutters and pressed on their necks mindlessly. You tried to escape from his hold as you heard the splashing sound of the blood sipping out from their necks.
You had tears at the corner of your eyes with gritted teeth as you witnessed these girls commit suicide because of the Crossroads pretty boy. Your hands clutched his black shirt as you tried to push off.
Once the sound of splashing ended, the crossroads boy raised your face with his finger on your chin, you met with his bloodied face and a slight grin.
"What have you done?" You asked with a low voice.
He didn't say anything to you but stared at your face, his right hand placed on your cheek as his fingernails brushed on your earlobe, making you feel ticklish. You then felt sleepy before your eyes closed out and your legs felt weak.
The Crossroads pretty boy quickly caught your body as he lowered your body gently down to the ground. He kept staring at you for a moment before he sensed someone familiar was heading toward him.
He then kept his hands inside his pants before he walked past the corpses.
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.
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"The screaming suddenly stopped. What happened...? Is (Y/N) okay?!" Ryuusuke panted as he turned every corner before he stopped at something unexpectedly. "Ah... What is that...? The fog's... turning red. What... what happened?"
Ryuusuke and some people had witnessed the red fog before he saw someone coming out of the fog. His eyes widened as it was the crossroads pretty boy with blood showering his face.
"Th-The crossroads boy..." The people also witnessed the crossroads boy walking past as their presence froze.
"𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞'𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦. 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐠..."
"W-WHAT IS THIS?!" He shouted in shock, he then tried to shake his fear as he walked past the girls, trying to find you among the corpses.
He later sighed in relief as he finally found you who just passed out with no slice wound on your throat. He lifted you bridal style as he carried you up, he noticed the crazy girl had killed herself.
"As I don't know her, It's good now that she died. Or she will lead them to hurt (Y/N) again."
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"𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞. 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝟐𝟎𝟎 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐣𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐝. 𝐎𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚."
Ryuusuke gripped the back of his head in stress, he was tired of all of this mess and wanted this to end already.
"Hmph. Don't play the hero of this tragedy."
Ryuusuke lifted his face to see Midori standing at the door. "Ah!"
"The town's in real trouble right now. The media have called for everyone to be on the lookout for a boy who caused the mass suicide. The police are looking for him, too, as an important suspect. Yes... the one they're looking for is you! The world still thinks you're the boy at the crossroads."
She pointed her finger at his face as she yelled at him. "And you really are the true culprit. The seeds you sowed ten years ago are why all this is happening now!"
Ryuusuke stared up at her as he couldn't believe that the girl he had crushed would speak to him so cruelly. "If I told the police, they'd arrest you. But I won't report you yet. I want you to suffer more."
She picked up the box that had the dead rat before she forcefully pushed it into his face.
"C'mon! Eat up!"
"𝐌𝐢𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐢 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐰 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐞. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞-𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐟𝐮𝐥."
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"𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐚𝐲."
"MURDERER! GIVE ME MY AUNT!" She had a wooden stick and she used it to hit Ryuusuke multiple times.
"𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧."
"YOU DEMON! MURDERING MONSTER! GOD OF PESTILENCE!" She stopped hitting as she panted heavily after that.
Ryuusuke rubbed his arms in pain as he couldn't bear to see Midori in this state. "Midori! Stop this already! I can't watch you like this anymore! He's definitely possessed you!"
He put his hands on Midori's shoulders as he began to tell her his plan. "Listen to me, Midori! I'm going to the police! I'll turn myself in! I probably won't get out for a long time. So this is goodbye for us! Please, I'm begging you. Cast aside your hate! Otherwise... if this keeps up, you'll..."
Midori froze for a moment in realization, she then quickly walked out of the house, making Ryuusuke confused, and followed her behind.
"Midori! Midori!" He watched Midori among the fog before his eyes widened as he saw the blood sipping out of her throat.
"MIDORI! MIDORI! MIDORI!" Ryuusuke called out to her as he tried to hold her throat to stop the blood.
"Ryuusuke..." Midori didn't open her eyes as she kept talking to him, making her cough out the blood. "He... He told me to hate you for the rest of my life... And now... this means I've hated you for the rest of my life... now... I don't... have to... hate..."
Her hands went limped before her head crawled to the side.
"MIDORI!"
Ryuusuke's hands were shaking as he stared mindlessly at the corpse of his loved one. His eyes went blank as he looked at the box cutter in her hand.
"Ryuusuke!"
He suddenly heard your voice in front of him, he looked up at you with a blank expression. You were wearing a gray dress, long black socks that reached your knee, and black shoes.
Your eyes widened at the corpse of your friend, you couldn't believe that this would happen to her.
"How... could this?" You stuttered as you pointed at her. Ryuusuke looked down at her as he mumbled, answering. "She slit her throat to get out of control."
You looked down at her as you stood frozen on the spot. You then tried to lighten up the mood by telling him something. "Ryuusuke, I think I know who the crossroads boy is. Maybe we can search for that-"
"Where were you?"
You quickly shut up as Ryuusuke said in a quiet voice. "I was at my house. I need to hide for a while before I can go back to school."
"Why didn't you come after that incident?"
"I'm sorry that I didn't come back here. But I have something-"
"Why do you have to hide? No girl tries to kill you anymore, so why?" You began to feel unease as you gripped your shirt tightly. "If you were here, Midori wouldn't have to kill herself."
"What are you saying? Are you saying that..."
"You once comforted Suzue to rest in peace and made Tejima back to normal. Why didn't you do the same to Midori?"
You grew silent as Ryuusuke began to mumble hopelessly. He suddenly looked up at you as he stood up.
"Or... did you know already that... she would die because she was in control?!"
"What?! What do you mean? Why would I do that?!" You shouted as you felt angry for being blamed for a ridiculous reason. "I can't get out of my house all this time! Don't you get that?!"
"You're lying! You just trying to let her die without helping her with anything! And why would you hide?! Tell me the truth!"
"THE CRAZY GIRL'S GHOST IS TRYING TO KILL ME, DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?!" You finally ran out of patience as you screamed in front of him.
Ryuusuke was stunned as he moved back a bit from you. "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT I'VE BEEN THROUGH, DON'T BERATE ME!"
Ryuusuke stared at your teary eyes as you began to sniff. "I was going to tell you about the crossroad boy, but since you aren't in a mood then, I will go now! Bye! Happy for that!" You abruptly turned away and disappeared into the fog.
Ryuusuke couldn't do anything as he was struck by anger and grief. He inhaled deeply as he tried to calm himself down. He looked down at the box cutter before he went to grab it. His face looked up as he began to initiate something.