"Sometimes, the burden of a person's death can cause the other to lose their own life as well."
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"Do you remember the book used to get into the library?" Hanako asked, walking up and down hallways with shelves lined with literature. You shrugged your shoulders. "A weird butterfly showed me and Nene where it was. I don't remember exactly where it went, but I know it's in this area," You answered, gesturing towards the hoard of books in front of you. Hanako sighed, floating to become taller than you. "Then let's just teleport in there!" Hanako said. It had only been a few minutes, but you could tell Hanako was already getting tired of searching.
"I may be a supernatural like you, but that doesn't mean I can do the same things you can," You said, taking a look at the books arrayed neatly in a line. Hanako sighed dramatically, floating away down a hallway of books. "Let me know when you figure it out!" He called, laughing as he left.
You watched as he disappeared. You let out a puff of air, annoyed that he wasn't going to help you. You shook your head and turned your attention away from Hanako, back to observing the books.
"Where's the butterfly when you need it?" You grumbled to yourself, touching and moving around different types of books. You read some of the titles labeled on the spine of the books:
'Poems Of Sharleen M. Davidson'
'Going Home'
'Seventeen Hours'
'The Essence Of A Dreamer'
'What a weird assortment of books,' You thought dimly, and stopped reading, returning your focus to finding the gateway book.
The search was starting to get frustrating. You knew it was on this shelf, but which book was it exactly? You turned around, facing the rest of the darkened library. "Butterfly! Come on! I could really use your help right about now!" You shouted, looking all around the vacant library. You felt weird calling out to an insect, but what other choice did you have? The butterfly knew the answer, and you didn't.
You called out for the oddly colored butterfly a handful of times more, but eventually, you gave up. "The one time I need you, you don't want to show up." You grumbled, turning back around.
You couldn't decide whether you hated this stupid butterfly. Or if you loved it.
There the butterfly was! Perched atop one of the many books, the spine of the book reading the name, 'goodnight.' You thought the name of the book was ominous, but didn't pay any mind to it, there were an abundance of books that had weird titles like this. You reached out for the butterfly, remembering that last time, when Nene did it, the door to the Four O'clock Library revealed itself.
The butterfly looked different, you didn't think it was the same one from last time. This one was almost completely black, with white and gold accents. But like the book the butterfly was placed on, you didn't pay mind to the fact that the butterfly was different.
Before you could touch the butterfly, it disappeared. And like last time, the bookshelf bursted into clouds of fog. You coughed and closed your eyes, fanning away the dust. Like last time, it quickly dissipated to reveal a wooden door.
"Hanako! I found it!" You shouted, turning away from the door. And within the blink of an eye, Hanako was right by your side, as if he never left in the first place.
"Finally!" He exclaimed, acting like the search took years instead of six minutes. You shook your head at his childishness, reaching a hand out and grasping the knob of the wooden door, twisting it and pushing the door open.
And, just as expected, the opening of the door revealed the Four O'clock Library, filled to the brim with black and white books, names labeled on every single one. It looked a little cleaner than your last visit, Mr. Tsuchigomori must've finally cleaned the place up. Lanterns hanging on bookshelves illuminated themselves the moment you and Hanako stepped inside, lighting up the previous pitch black room. Even the lights were brighter than last time, and you could see a lot more.
The bookshelves ran much higher than you originally thought. You could barely see where the ceiling was located, and the sheer height of everything made you extremely inferior.
"So, we're supposed to read into Nene's future, right? Won't we get attacked like last time?" You asked, scanning the tall shelves, looking for the familiar name of your friend. Hanako hummed. "If that happens, I'll destroy them. They're really easy to get rid of, so we'll be fine." He said, confident in his words. You nodded, Hanako was able to eradicate the one from last time, so there wasn't a doubt in your mind that he wouldn't be able to take on three at a time.
"Found it!" You heard Hanako say, and you looked up to find him floating mi-air, taking a book out of its respected place and bringing it back down. As anticipated, the book was titled with gold bold letters:
YASHIRO NENE
Hanako opened it, skimming through her past, chuckling a little at what he read. You glared at him. "We're not here to make fun of what she did in the past." You reminded him. Hanako still skimmed through the book though, laughing a little more before reaching a red page in the book, reading 'FUTURE'. Hanako wasted no time, flipping past the red warning.
"Do you know when it's supposed to happen?" You asked, mentioning Nene's horrible future. Hanako nodded, flipping through a couple more pages. "It should be at the end of the book. Every book ends with when and how they die." He explained.
Hanao quickly flipped to the last few pages. The two of you read its contents.
IS TO BE KILLED
DURING THE SEVERANCE.
CAUSE OF DEATH WILL BE
BY A SACRIFICE FOR THE SCHOOL.
It felt like the blood in your body drained within an instant.
Sacrifice?
What the hell is that supposed to mean?
"Sacrifice?" You asked, shaking. Nene was going to be sacrificed. There's so much that lurks in this school, you knew that. You knew that!
But a sacrifice? In a damn school?
"It must be another apparition that holds the sacrifice." Hanako said, his grip on Nene's book tightened, and the object in his hand started shaking.
"We need to find that apparition." You demanded, just the thought of Nene going through something like that. . . .
It infuriated you.
"No matter what it takes, we'll stop this from happening." You said, glaring into the floor.
The page started turning red, the deep liquid dripping down from the thin pages.
Blood.
Hanako quickly placed the book back in its designated place and took out his knife, ready to fight off the monster that would eventually show up.
But no monster showed itself. You could hear flapping noises, like a bird. You quickly found that it was, in fact, not a bird.
A hoard of butterflies emerged from the darkness of the library, swarming both you and Hanako. Neither one of you could do anything, Hanako's knife never reached any butterfly he swung at. The butterflies continued to aggregate around you and Hanako, occasionally slamming into you. You couldn't see anything, and the only thing that could be heard was the buzzing of thousands of wings flapping in unison. You covered your ears, the noise was so loud! As if it were a clap of thunder, the loudest one to ever be recorded.
But, just as suddenly as the butterflies and deafening noise erupted, it disappeared.
There was no noise.
There were no butterflies.
Everything was just as left, like nothing had ever happened in the first place. After a few seconds, you uncovered your ears, opening your eyes and looking around shakily. You kept your hands close to your ears in case of another sound attack from butterflies. From looking around, you were easily able to locate Hanako, who stood defensively, knife out and ready for whatever might come next. His hair was disheveled, his hat lopsided. You were sure you looked the same as him.
"Do. . do you think that was a new technique for Mr. Tsuchigomori? Y'know, when someone reads into the future. . ." You asked, giving a suggestion for the reason for the butterflies. Hanako shook his head. "No, he wouldn't do something different like that. I would know if he did anything of the sort in the first place," He killed your suggestion, burying it deep underground, never to be recovered.
From what Hanako said, it made you more on edge. If it wasn't Tsuchigomori, then who was it? Why would the butterflies act out like that unless provoked by something? It didn't make any sense.
Hanako seemed to visibly loosen up, but he didn't put his knife away. Eventually, you moved your arms to lay limply by your sides. You turned towards Hanako. "We should leave, before anything else happens." You recommended, extremely uncertain with the current situation.
"Yeah, that's probably a good idea." Hanako agreed. Quickly, the two of you made your way out of the library, illuminated lanterns going out once you walked past them. Reaching for the doorknob, you wasted no time in opening the door. It creaked when the wood scraped against its hinges.
The moment the door was open enough for a person to slip by, black smog clouded all your senses, erupting from the opening in the partially open door. You closed your eyes, covering your nose and mouth, coughing from the sudden smoke attack. Hanako was also caught off guard, redying his knife and covering his face.
The smoke caused both you and Hanako to be pushed back into the spiritual library. The smog never cleared, but it did falter, most of it residing at the floor, restricting sight from the maroon carpeting. The wooden door creaked open, your breath hitched. Someone was coming inside. Was it Mr. Tsuchigomori? It wouldn't make sense.
"Well well. . .Isn't my two favorites! Amane and M/n! I'm so happy to have run into both of you on such a fine night!~" You recognized that voice. The childish tone that didn't help to mask the sadistic words that escaped his mouth. Hanako's eyes widened, recognizing the person immediately.
The wielder of the voice walked through the smog, revealing himself and proving your suspicions on who it was. The Hanako look-alike.
"How long has it been, hmm? Not that long, but it felt like forever! I'm so glad to see you two again!" He spoke up, giggling and bouncing around.
You noticed blood was splattered over his clothing.
Swallowing down thick saliva, you mustered the courage to speak to the danger in front of you. "What. . .what did you do?" You asked, your voice evidently shaky. The boy in front of you took note of your fear, and he smiled impossibly wide. "Oh, this? That's nothing! I just had a run in with Mitsuba and this annoying kid with a traffic earring. Let me tell ya, Mitsuba gave me a wish for people to recognize him, and he was only satisfied with one! Can you believe it! Just one person! So, I helped him, now everyone won't forget him~" He told his story, jumping up and down like a child who's done something right. He tilted his head like a lost puppy. "Aren't I such a good friend?"
Your hands started to shake. What had he done with Mitsuba? Is Kou alright? The questions were eating you alive.
"Hey Amane! I missed you!" He said, running up to Hanako and hugging him around the shoulders.
He went from talking about his run in with Mitsuba and Kou sadistically, and now he was acting like a kid getting the toy he wanted on Christmas. Hanako dropped his knife when his look-alike hugged him, the metallic blade clanging once it impacted the floor, the sound echoing throughout the tall library. Hanako didn't move an inch, frozen, sweating, scared. It was like a repeat of the last incident. That kid would show up randomly, visit Hanako, and leave the Wonder terrified and alone.
"Let's play a game, like old times. I miss those times, don't you?" The boy asked. Hanako didn't answer him, he was lost in his thoughts, lost in his memories.
The boy holding onto Hanako waited for an answer, and was disappointed in realization that Hanako wasn't going to say anything to him.
"Well. . that's disappointing." He pouted, letting go of Hanako and turning to you. He smiled. "Well, guess I should carry out what I came for. . ." He said, stalking towards you.
You backed up, what did he mean by that? Your heart stopped for a moment when your back collided with the wall, preventing you from moving back any further. The boy looked up at you, his smile growing impossible wider.
"Goodnight"
That was the last thing you heard before black dots clouded your vision.
Your ears were ringing.
You felt your body collapse,
You could feel the softness of the carpet brushing your skin.
And within seconds, everything went dark, numb, non-existing.
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"I told you to be careful with them." The green-ette lectured, glaring at the two boys who had retrieved Nene and M/n.
"They're not dead, are they?" The apparition said. Reluctantly, Sakura shook her head. "No." She responded dimly.
The ghost smiled. "Then there's no problem!" He exclaimed happily.
"Just. . .Put them in those chairs, I'll do the rest," Sakura instructed, pouring tea into small porcelain cups.
"This is going to be so much fun!" The childish boy said spastically, floating around the colorful room.
"It'll be interesting, that's for sure."
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