Wonderland Carnival

Anri

Halo Ten: Anri:

They can't tell anyone what happened to Ringo.

"We can't tell anybody what we saw at the hospital," Chiharu said once they got outside four days earlier. The other girls agreed, but when they got back to school, they discovered something rather unsettling.

"Nobody here seems to remember Ringo," Anri whispered. The deceased freshman's class acted like she never existed.

"Ringo?" they would ask the older three girls. "Who is that?" The girls couldn't understand it.

"Why is this happening?" Noriko asked. They couldn't really answer that question. Even Mikado and Masaomi didn't remember the freshman girl.

"I'm sorry, I would remember such a cutie," Masaomi told Anri when she asked about him. "You have been thinking about some character in an anime or drama." In the end, the girls had to keep Ringo's demise and existence to themselves.

Still, school life had to go on. Anri happened to be walking back to class when she passed the nurse's office. From a sideways glance, it looked empty. The girl found her footsteps drawing to a stop. Anri turned her head and noticed that the office was indeed empty. Even more, Junko's coat lay on the shoulders of the chair unattended. Anri also spotted the black box under the desk. Many students tried to see what was inside with no avail. Nobody could even get close enough to get key. That was until today...

Before she knew it, Anri walked into the office towards the coat in question. From the best of her memory, she reached into the right pocket and pulled out the small silver key. It didn't take long for her to pull out the box, unlock, and open it. Inside threw her for a loop.

She first spotted a large wad of money rolled up in a rubber band. Not really surprising, people tend to hide money for the fear theft. However, Anri looked in even further. She came across a newspaper article clipped out about the Isobe murders back in 1987. Anri picked it up and read the contents. A then-widowed mother, Asuka, went crazy and killed her daughter, Hisayo. Another article talked about another Isobe daughter, Toshiko, had gone missing right after the murder. Police suspected that same thing happened to said daughter. Details of the older daughter's death almost chilled Anri. Why do I get the feeling that I have seen these faces before? Still, that was just round one.

More articles talked about the deaths of a doctor and a secretary. From what Anri read, the case would be cold around this year. Anri couldn't piece together what she was witnessing. Was Junko obsessed with death or something? It would be natural to stop and walk out of the room, but she just had to see more. The Polaroid photos didn't really tell much of anything, but it did raise red flags in a way that her mind couldn't quite grasp. I feel like I have seen these before, she thought. However, there was one more surprise.

Anri came across an application for a marriage license. This really puzzled her. What... is this? Most of the words were smudged out and beyond legible. She couldn't read the surnames or the bride's first name. However, the girl could read the groom's first name.

"Makoto..." Anri murmured.

Meanwhile, the man at Evie's apartment jerked his head upwards.