𝕂𝕦𝕔𝕙𝕚𝕤𝕒𝕜𝕖-𝕆𝕟𝕟𝕒: 𝕛𝕙𝕤𝕜

三十

『ʀᴇᴅ ʙᴏᴏᴋ: ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 30』

After several hours, Yashiro and Kou hunched over in despair. They were surrounded by a multitude of books that held no sort of resemblance towards Hanako. Yashiro sighed under her breath as she quietly thought about the outcome of her curiosity, would she be able to find his book in the end?

"It's no use. . . We haven't found even the slightest clue. . ." Yashiro cried invisible tears as she patted her own head with her two hands, "I don't know what filing system they use in these book stacks. . . And even if I did, what would the title of Hanako-kun's book even be?" An imaginary Hanako popped up in her mind, sticking his tongue out playfully.

"Senpai! There's something in your hair."

"Huh?" Yashiro reached to the side of her head and Kou reached forward, the two of them tapping the butterfly at the same time, the creature glimmering in response.

Kou recoiled at the sight of Yashiro, feeling his heart getting penetrated with cupid's arrow because of her appearance. He can't deny that she looked absolutely stunning with the accessory. The sound of his heart beating faster as she watches the butterfly float away.

"A butterfly. . . Just like the one I saw before." Yashiro grabbed the lamp and hurriedly followed the floating animal, "it might lead us to another clue!"

"S-Senpai!"

They carefully tread through the darkened hallways, seeing that the butterfly had landed on a certain book. Yashiro held up the light to look at the book further, noticing that that on the spine of the white book was her name. "This is. . . My book?"

Kou reached for a nearby ladder, holding onto it's base as Yashiro climbed up in order to reach her book, "it's really here. . . So this has the records of my life at this school. . ." She opened the book cautiously and sat at the top of the ladder. Within the pages were extremely detailed events that recently happened in her school life, her meeting Aoi and her pact with Hanako were all written within the crisp papers.

"Whoa. . . It really does have everything, from the minute you start going here. So detailed. . . " As she read further, she stumbled upon her. . . fanfiction.

'Jiyuu-chan removes her hat. Her heart skips a beat at this sight. She expresses her feelings in a poem. As follows—

For but a moment, I see your face uncovered. You're not my type, and yet. . . Why? For what reason does my heart begin to race? I want to know more. More of the secrets locked in your mysterious heart. . !'

Yashiro quickly slammed the book closed as she breathed heavily, trying to calm her extremely flustered heart and mind. "Well? What did you find?" Kou asked, not noticing her heavy breathing.

"I found out the rumors are true!" She confidently placed the book down onto her lap, "it's not Hanako-kun's book but. . . If we read the future section, we might learn something about him."

Kou's eyes shined in excitement as he started running towards the corner, looking back at Yashiro, "I can do that too! I'll go find my book!"

"Remember, don't read any red books!" She called out to him, turning her attention back to the book in her lap, ". . . And I'll get back to reading. Let's see. . . The future. . . The future. . ." Yashiro mumbled to herself as she flipped the pages again.

Her heart stops for a split second as she witnesses the red page, however, it slowly eased back to a steady beat as she reads the chapter title. 'A red page. . ? Oh, this is where the future starts. I'm kinda scared to learn too much. . . ' Unbeknownst to Yashiro, the bottom corner of the book starts to bleed an ominous red.

Yashiro silently reads through the book, going through different aspects of her future such as her school life and future date. She sighs as she feels herself exhausted just going through her future experiences, but she is startled by the sight of the new chapter: She Learns School Mystery Number 7's and Kuchisake-Onna's True Identity.

"This is. . ." She is interrupted by a boyish scream from the other side of the library, turning to see if Kou is there, but she is surrounded by the empty section of the book stacks. "Was that Minamoto-kun? What. . . ?" She looked down at the book, only to see that the pages were dyed in red and the book begins to ooze the crimson liquid.

"Red?! Why. . . ? It was white just a second ago! Did the color change while I was reading. . . ?" She shook her head, "no. . . Never mind that. I'm so close! I'm so close to finding out about Hanako-kun. . ."

"Just a little peek. . . " She reached out to the next page. 'Her name is. . .'

"This is. . . Jiyuu-chan's real name." Her heart starts to beat faster once more, but Yashiro forgets to notice the large, looming creature that is above her figure, resembling her. The monster quietly raises it's hand to touch Yashiro's shoulder but is stopped by Kou shoving the ladder and catching Yashiro, saving her from its clutches.

"Look out!"

"Minamoto-kun!" She gasps as he skids across the ground and grabs her hand, rushing her towards the door.

"I was reading my book, and the next thing I knew, it was red. . . Then that thing showed up out of nowhere. . . And it looks like me too!" Kou shouted while Yashiro turned around. Whatever the monster was. . . It can most likely shift it's appearance to different people. "Anyway, let's get out of here!"

Kou grips onto the door handle and pulls, but the door refuses to open. The sound of clanks echoed in the room as he continued to forcefully open the door, "i-it won't open!"

"Wh-Wh-What do we do?!" Yashiro panicked and Kou turned around, pointing his staff towards the giant Yashiro creature.

"Dammit! If you wanna piece of me, come and get it!" He unleashed his lightning attack on it, but it widdled away into a small ball of light. They awkwardly stared at the staff with Hanako's seal on it, preventing Kou from using the staff.

"Arrgh! I forgot! That stupid Hanakoooo!"

"J-Jiyuu-chan!" Yashiro called out as she covered her eyes in her hand.

Suddenly, two voices spoke out.

"You called?"