After staring at the picture for hours trying to find any clues, somebody knocked on his door. Mizuto dropped the picture in fear. He stuffed it under his pillow and walked over to the door. He opened it up.
“Hey, babe. I heard that you went home early because you’re sick. I brought you some tea to maybe help you out.” Naru smiled.
“Oh. Thanks, Naru. I’m feeling much better, thanks for coming though. Please, come in.” Mizuto stepped to the side to let Naru in.
Naru walked in and set the tea down on the table in the middle of his room. She walked over to his bed and flopped down onto it.
“You feeling better?” She asked.
“Yeah. Thanks for asking.” Mizuto nodded.
Naru grabbed his pillow and hugged it. She noticed the picture of Azu laying under it.
“What’s this?” She picked up the picture out of curiosity. “Isn’t this Azu? Wanna explain why you have a picture of another girl hiding under your pillow?”
“Look at it harder.” Mizuto rolled his eyes.
“Oh crap. Oh… That’s gross… That doesn’t help your case, Mizuto.” She threw the picture at him in disgust.
“I found it under her desk in class. I think this is big.”
“What do you mean by big?” She asked.
“I don’t think Azu was kidnapped. I think she was murdered.”
“Oh wow… This… This is a lot. Wow.” Naru sighed. “Are you sure? What if it's fake.”
“That looks pretty well, Naru. The last time I checked, Azu wasn’t into photography or special effects.” Mizuto said.
“So what are you even planning on doing with this?”
“I want to find out who murdered Azu and send them off to jail.”
“Why so much for a random classmate.”
“Azu was a good person. She doesn’t deserve to be murdered and forgotten.”
“What if you get hurt while searching? Are you sure this is a good idea?”
“This is what I want to do.”
“Alright. If that’s what you want. I’m gonna help you though. I’ll be with you the whole way. I’ll be your bodyguard!” Naru said.
“You sure you also wanna get dragged into this?” Mizuto tilted his head.
“Of course. I gotta help my boyfriend.” Naru smirked.
“Alright then. I’ll take your help.” Mizuto held his hand out to her.
Naru shook it.
“It’s a pleasure to work with you,” Naru nodded, “So, where are we starting?”
“I’m gonna-”
Mizuto was cut off by his lights flickering. After a little bit, the light turned off completely. Mizuto took a step back and tripped on his table. He fell onto the ground and let out a grunt. His closet light was on again. He got up and held onto his dresser as he looked into the closet. Azu stood there staring at him. She held up her arm and pointed behind Mizuto. Mizuto turned around and looked at his bed. The light barely showed a body lying there. It was Naru’s body. An arrow was stuck in her forehead. His bed sheets were soaked in her blood.
“What- Naru?” Mizuto coughed and tried walking over to the bed.
“Mizuto. Look at her closely.” Azu whispered.
Mizuto wobbly walked over to the bed. He looked at Naru’s bleeding dead face. Mizuto covered his mouth trying to hold back his vomit.
“Mizuto. You’re the first person to ever be able to see the dead.” Azu walked over to Mizuto.
“See the dead?” Mizuto turned around and looked at her with his eyes wide open.
“Looks like Chunya has been slowly giving human powers without our creator knowing,” Azu said.
“Chunya? Y-You, mean the guy from that old folk tale? The one about the man taking over Earth with a portal to the underworld?” Mizuto asked.
“That’s right. Chunya is real. He’s trying to corrupt the world by giving random people powers until he finds one that can help him unlock the portal to the afterlife.”
“T-This is a lot to take in, Azu… How do I know you aren’t just a figment of my imagination?” Mizuto asked.
Azu pulled out a crossbow and aimed it at his head.
“Azu? What the heck?”
“Maybe soon you’ll believe me.” Azu chuckled.
He closed his eyes as the arrow went straight into his forehead. He opened his eyes and was staring at Naru. Mizuto looked around the room. It was back to normal.
“Finally you moved. You just stared at me for 3 minutes. Wanna explain whatever that thing was?”
“Dunno…” Mizuto took a deep breath.
“Alright then. I’m just… gonna go home. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, ok?” Naru hopped off the bed and walked over to the door.
“Yeah… sure. Cya tomorrow.” Mizuto nodded.
Naru opened the door and walked out. Mizuto looked out the window and watched Naru leave his house and go home. He sighed as he tried to unpack the information that was just given to him.
