Underneath the Moonlight: REBOOT! || Osorō Shidesu x OC

!!24 - Sneaking Around & A Horrible Discovery

Week 5

I stayed at Osorō's for a total of three days and four nights, recuperating. I didn't go back to school until Thursday.

Kizano was frustrated about me having missed rehearsals, but when I told him I spent three sick days practicing my lines (which was half true — the other half was spent making out with my new secret boyfriend, Osorō), he lit up, proud of me for rehearsing even while I was "sick," as I told him.

Which apparently was also what my father told the school — unsurprisingly. Of course, he wouldn't want word of the truth going around. God forbid the world found out he physically beat his stepdaughter on a semi-regular basis.

Aso was happy to see me — so happy in fact, he hugged me a little too tightly, causing me to yelp from the pain. He let go and asked, "Oh my god, Athena-sama, are you okay?"

I nodded, smiling a strained smile. "I'm fine, Aso. How are you?"

"I'm alright..."

Then, Taro-senpai also hesitantly hugged me. And so did Amao — less hesitantly, and more sweetly.

Osorō found every excuse to pull me away, having me eat lunch with him, Aru, and the gang, and having me meet him in the maze before school, and before cleaning time — and even before rehearsal, making me late to it.

Friday.

Now, when Friday came, I noticed a girl hovering near Taro-senpai at the fountain. I think her name was Mana Tanahashi? She had mint green hair and an artist's smock — and that was all I saw of her before she ran away, blushing after having given Taro-senpai a pink note.

I smirked. Ah, I thought, she has a crush on him.

I wished them luck.

After school, I hurried to the second floor, where the first column of my class was cleaning. Why the school assigned cleaning time that way, I'd never know, and kind of didn't care to know. With Osorō's seat change the second week of school, that meant any time the teacher assigned each column to an area during cleaning time, he'd be cleaning with me. I wondered if we'd be able to sneak away somewhere for a quick makeout sesh... my cheeks flushed just thinking of it.

I was passing through the hallway with the second-floor clubrooms, heading toward the classroom to grab some cleaning supplies, when I noticed a couple of bloody footprints. The hairs on my arms stood up in an instant, and a sinister chill ran down my spine, and I hesitantly followed a small trail of footprints toward the art clubroom... but as I got closer to the door, the stench of blood grew stronger, invading my nostrils.

I opened the door and looked around slowly, while the blood in my body quickly ran cold and my eyes widened. Blood... lots of blood. On the floor, on the art easels... and poking out behind one of them, was a bloody hand. I was scared to go near it, but I needed to know who it was...

It was the dead body of Mana Tanahashi.

I recognized her only because she'd been hanging out with Taro-senpai a lot this morning. Hell, just this morning, I saw her giving him a pink piece of folded-up paper at the fountain, then hurrying away.

This girl, who had been so shyly giving Taro-senpai a gift this morning, now laid bloody and lifeless at my feet.

This girl, who I'm sure had spent the week getting cozy with Taro-senpai, with whom he'd spent lunch, both smiling and happy, now laid bloody and lifeless at my feet.