Saya was walking towards her classroom with her usual smile. She noticed that above the door of her class, a strange device had been installed.
She entered the class. She could hear her classmates chatting, some copying homework at the back. At a distance, she saw her friends who were already waiting for her near her bench.
"Rika, did you watch that show last night?" asked Nene with excitement.
"Yeah, I can't believe they finally got together," replied Rika.
"Hey guys, good morning," Saya said as she walked closer to her friends.
"Hey, wassup," Nene shot back.
"Do you guys know about that strange device installed on the door?" asked Saya as she sat in her place.
"Yeah... apparently those people from yesterday installed it all over the school," Rika replied. "Said it was to keep us safe."
"Oh... speaking of which, do you think Rei would come today as well?" asked Nene with a grin.
"I think I saw him with that woman going on the roof," a quiet voice answered. The girls glanced at Isamu who had just entered the class. He looked like he hadn't slept well, as Saya noticed his eyes were tired and bloodshot.
"Oh look, Saya, your boyfriend is here," the girls teased her. Saya didn't respond.
"Are you doing well, Isamu? Did you sleep well?" Saya asked, now worried.
"I'm fine, don't worry... anyway, where's Kana?" Isamu shot back.
"She's absent today," replied Saya with her hands folded now. Nene and Rika could see her angry mood.
"Cheer up, my queen. I just wanted to ask her something," replied Isamu. "You know that you're the only girl I love, right?" said Isamu as he held her palm. Saya blushed.
"Ahem, ahem! Get seated, everyone." A voice interrupted them. The girls glanced as they saw their teacher enter the class. The students stood to greet her and then went silent.
Isamu walked to his seat, dragging his feet silently.
"After the recent events, I need you all to listen closely," she began. "No students shall enter the third floor, and staying at school past 7 p.m. alone is prohibited."
"Understood!" replied the class at once.
"Looks like school's gotten stricter after the Keiko incident, huh, Isamu?" said a student near his bench. Isamu didn't reply. He kept thinking about what happened last time.
Ezio heard the bell ring with a clanging noise which echoed echoed to the courtyard below.
He felt wind tugging the hem of his overcoat as he saw the the clouds while leaning at the corner of rooftop.
"Looks like you guys finished installing the EMF detectors around the school, huh," Hamura stood in a distance with his hands in his blazer pockets glancing at a blinking device mounted to a vent nearby.
"They're not foolproof," Ezio replied with a steady voice. "But if Mikko shows herself again, we'll feel it before we see it."
Hamura gave a nod and they both gazed at the students at the yard, they were laughing, chatting and playing. "They were told about Keiko. Or at least... part of it. Said there was a murderer on the loose." Said Hamura.
He saw Ezio turned his head just slightly towards him, his sunglasses reflecting the cloudy sky. "That was the right call."
"Even if it's not true?"
"It's true enough." Ezio's tone darkened "Urban legends get stronger as more people fear them or mire people they kill... but especially fear. That kind of emotion makes them realer."
Hamura frowned. "So we're helping it, then? Feeding the fear?"
"No," Ezio said, pushing away from the railing and stepping closer to the EMF sensor. He tapped it lightly. "We're giving the students a reason to be cautious. The fear is already here.
Ezio looked down into the courtyard again— "these students dont know how close death has come near there desks and lockers." He thought.
"It's not just about ghosts," he muttered, half to himself. "It's about what people believe. What they whisper to each other when the lights go out. That's how legends survive."
Just then, the rooftop door opened. Rei stepped out, pulling his hoodie tighter against the breeze. Alyssa followed behind, a tablet in one hand, her other arm wrapped around a thermos of coffee.
"So whats the plan now, Ezio?" Asked Rei rubbing his eyes as if he hadn't slept.
"Energy readings are stable for now." Said Alyssa as she looked at her tablet while taking a sip.
"Then we need to act before it peeks again." Ezio shot back. Rei's eyes narrowed.
"I agree." Alyssa nodded.
"We're calling her." Ezio now smirking.
Rei blinked. "You mean—?"
"Ouija board."
Alyssa gave a grim nod. "we cam either get her to speak... or make her show herself."
Ezio cracked his knuckles, a smirk forming at the corner of his mouth. "Get the Ouija board ready… tonight, we've got a date with Mikko Yamada."
"Hope she's the clingy type. I hate getting ghosted on the first date." replied Rei.
The sun had covered the school in a warm orrange light, all the doors of the school were closed and only one was left open.
Inside the chemistry lab Isamu sat alone at the last lab table, head bowed, shoulders hunched, His fingers were clutched the edge of the bench, Didn't even blink when footsteps echoed softly toward him.
"Everyone's gone home," Saya said softly.
Isamu didn't answer. He saw her stop a few feet from him.
"Why are you still here?" she said
Silence.
Isamu glanced as she took another step closer, setting her bag down gently on the bench beside him. She looked at him, His eyes looked even worse than they had in class.
"I know what you're doing," saya said softly "Pretending you're okay.
Saya saw Isamu's hands finally moved. He let go of the table and wiped at his face, almost angrily, as if scrubbing away something shameful.
Saya sat beside him, she was not too close and not too far. Just enough for him to know she was there.
"You've been like this the entire day now." She said gently.
Isamu's shoulders trembled. A low sound escaped his throat.
"I saw them hurt her, Saya."
His voice trembled.
"I saw kataragi and sujime shove her into the closet. Slam it shut. I saw her crying, begging… and I just…"
He choked.
"…I couldn't do a thing."
Isamu dragged his palms over his face, his breath hitching, shuddering.
"She looked right at me," he whispered. "Her eyes… they looked at me for help like I was the only one left. And I turned away like a coward."
He buried his face in his hands.
"I tried to speak last month, kataragi and sujime beat me to a pulp" he said "teachers don't do a thing cz their parents fund the school."
"I know," Saya said, her voice low "i saw it many times...but im a coward."
He finally looked at her. "I feel like I'm losing it."
"You're not, you're not alone."
They sat in silence.
"If they touch Kana again," Saya whispered, "we don't freeze next time."
Isamu nodded slowly. "Even if they come after us?"
"Let them try," she said. Her hand closed around his. "I'd rather stand with you and be scared, than sit quiet and do nothing again."
Isamu lowered his hands. He opened his mouth—hesitated—then finally said the words that had haunted him most.
"Someone whispers to me now."
Saya narrowed her eyes.
"she calls herself mikko," he said.
"She talks to me. In the mirrors. Whenever I'm alone. Sometimes I hear her laugh. Sometimes she just repeats my name over and over."
Saya felt her fingers twitch toward his. She slowly, she reached out and placed her hand over his.
Rei saw flickering candlelight in the bathroom made shadows across the stall doors. The tiles felt cold to him
Ezio sealed the last of the salt circle, chanting in Italian. Alyssa adjusted the candles, her tablet propped up, sensors ticking faster by the second.
They sat cross-legged, looking at the Ouija board.
"You ready?" Alyssa asked softly.
Rei gave a tired nod. "Let's wake her up."
Rei's fingers hovered over the planchette. He smirked—then flinched.
The planchette jerked hard.
Y O U A R E A L L G U I L T Y
T H E W A T C H E R S W I L L P A Y
Alyssa's tablet screamed. Beeps spiked, readings off the charts. "Guys at the chemistry lab!" She shouted.
Then—
Ascream.
Down the hall. A girls voice. In terror.
Rei shot up. "Saya!?."
They ran.
"Dont tell me we're too late." Ezio grunted
The lab's door was open.
Glass was shattered across the floor.
Isamu's lifeless body lay over the bench, mouth open, eyes wide. Fingers curled like he had reached for help.
Saya was kneeling beside him, trembling. Her hands were shaking, stained with blood.
"No," she whispered. "No, no, no—"
Rei froze as he saw Alyssa's breath caught.
In the far corner, by the blackboard—she stood.
Mikko Yamada.
Ezio looked at her long hair stuck wetly to her cheeks. School uniform torn in places, blood darkening the collar. Her eyes—milky, endless—fixed on them.
Her mouth curled into a crooked, sinister smile.
She raised one finger to her lips.
Shhh.
Then she stepped backward into the shadows—and vanished.
His gaze fell on Isamuand then on Saya, on the blood.
A whisper drifted past them all, faint but cold, like breath on the back of the neck:
"The watchers watched… now they die.