Profound Consequences~ Oumasai

Rushed

Shuichi's POV

How the hell did a get myself roped into this? I wondered. I scanned the paper in my hands and rushed to remember it.

At last, at last, at long last

Young guard dog and little lost girl

Sealed within an iron cage

At mountain's bottom, within the darkness

At last, at last, at long last

How many will there be by dawn?

Will there be two or just one?

Will the guard dog run far away?

Or did it eat the little girl?

At last, at last, at long last.

This seance is insane. What am I doing here? I'm sorry to be the nihilist here, but the idea that Angie will speak through Tenko and reveal her killer is just, well, it seems to easy. I don't exactly believe in the ritual, but it can't hurt...

Tenko curled up with her head on the marker stone as Korekiyo placed the cage atop her, then the sheet, and then the dog statue, creating a sacred sort of edifice.

The lights went out, and we started to sing.

A thudding sound shook the room for a moment, my first thought was that Himiko had falled through the floor in her corner, but the lights didn't go up and we finished the song.

Unsurprisingly, there was no answer from Tenko in the strange edifice Korekiyo had erected around her. We carefully dismantled the circle backwards, careful not to disturb the salt. Finally, the cage was pulled up and revealed yet another cadaver.

Tenko's body was in the same curled position it had been before the cage had been put over her. Blood poured from the open wound in her neck, hiding the layers of flesh something must have sliced through. Her skin was split open in an unnatural way, curling near the incision. A bit of pearly, reflective bone showed through. 

I heard a scream somewhere in the room and saw Himiko dive towards the corpse, tears rushing from her eyes, like the way the coffee used to spill what I was little and I used to knock the mugh out of my mom's hands by accident. I couldn't call they thing laying on the floor Tenko- Her protective and fighting spirit had drained from it. 

Damn, well it looks like I have to investigate more murders. I studied everything in the room. That was mainly Korekiyo's setup. 

"Anything Useful?" Maki came up behind me and put a hand on my shoulder. 

I sighed. "Well, something about the magic circle looks a little different than it was in the book, but I haven't found much. That and the fact that there was a really loud thud in the middle of the seance. That's when I assume the murder took place, although I can't tell how."

She nodded. "If you've done what you can here, maybe you should start investigating Angie's death as well."

"You're probably right." I said. 

We exited the plain room, turned the corner, and saw yet another horror lying in wait. 

This time it was Kokichi- Kokichi who had hit me upside the head with a pillow, and teased me in the trial, and kissed me that night- I rushed to him, my hand flew to his neck to check his pulse-

"It's a lie!"

I clasped my hands behind his neck. "Goddammit, don't ever do that again." I said. Then we were kissing. 

"Um...Saihara?"

I broke the kiss. "Uh.. Hi Maki..."