The Killer
written by ejo

Summary:"I murdered Mikan Sakura and there will be more to come. It's far from over." – The Killer

.

.

"Only death will set her free."

.

.

HOTARU IMAI;

"He or she wanted to scare us with this." I held out that piece of crumpled paper and threw it in the trash bin. I wanted them to see that I was not afraid. "I'll find you, and once I do, I'll make sure that even the angels won't take pity on you. I'll avenge my friend's death even if that's the last thing I do."

Nogi placed his hand on my shoulder, to show support. He had a determined look etched on his face as he stared at me. "I'll help you, Imai."

I nodded approvingly.

Hyuuga stepped forward, making everyone glance at him. "I'll help too." I felt my lips drawing a smirk. Of course, he would help. He should be.

"Anyone else?"

Among the crowd, Tobita stepped out. He had an obvious look of displeasure like he was forced to comply. Everyone watched him and studied his actions. "I'll help as well," he said.

"I can't." Harada-sempai blurted as she stormed out of the room. Andou followed her afterwards, I bet he saw her tears popping out. I don't want to force them in trying to help me, we all had our reasons for liking and hating the girl—forcing wouldn't help out at all.

"I'll pass," Anna said as she gave out a bleak smile. So did Nonoko.

A few others backed out as well and all was left was I, Hyuuga, Nogi, Shouda and Tobita. All of us stood in the room, our eyes clashing and unknowing of our next move. I looked down at my feet, wondering whether this was a good idea or not.

"Hey," Hyuuga called. He had a serious expression etched on his face. On his left was Nogi who was busy flicking his fingers in search for comfort. "First things first: we need to know each other's opinion on who we think the killer is." He turned to Tobita. "You?"

Tobita cupped his chin. "I believe it's… nah, never mind, it's just a guess."

"Who?"

He turned to me, his brown eyes fixated on my purple ones. "Imai-san." I unintentionally scowled at his comment. How dare his accused me! I should have known that Tobita will bring us all down.

I quirked a brow. "You're delusional, Tobita-san." I didn't know whether he was making a face or his expression was really like that. He fixed his glasses by pushing it up to his nose's bridge.

Shouda looked bored. She continued to scowl in my presence as if she hated being in here. Among all of us, I suspect if there would be anyone who would kill Mikan, it would be most likely her. Mikan never exactly told me the reason why Shouda hated her, but I knew she caused Mikan some problems in the past. Something about Tobita.

Time to connect the pieces. Starting with. . . Nogi.

"Nogi-kun, don't you think it's suspicious?"

Nogi flinched and turned to me. "What is?"

"Mikan asking you to meet her." I informed him. "She told you to meet her in the Student Council Room and yet at that time she was in another room—our classroom. Do you have any idea why she was there?"

Nogi stared downwards, his eyes meeting the floor. He bit his lower lip and shook his head. "Not at all."

Natsume cupped his chin. "Maybe the murderer asked her to meet her, without knowing that the baka planned to meet Nogi first."

I nodded at his suspicion, but I was willing to listen more to the other's opinions. I glanced at Shouda and for the first time I saw an expression that I had never seen before. For the first time, I felt that she was actually thinking!

"If the murderer asked Mikan to come, Mikan must probably have known this person's identity, right?"

"True," I agreed. "Mikan might be an utter idiot, but she must have learned from last year's incident of not talking with strangers." Memories of last year's Christmas Ball flashed inside my mind. Umenomiya was almost kidnapped, if it weren't for Mikan who happened to pass by. Mikan was scared out of her wits at that time.

"Wait!" Tobita cried. "Didn't Mikan ask Nogi-san to meet her in the Student Council's meeting room? There's a possibility that Nogi-san lied and made the entire story up."

Hyuuga charged toward Tobita and tackled him, causing the four-eyed kid to fall on his butt. Hyuuga was filled with fury. "Ruka won't lie!"

Tobita, who was usually calm and timid, shot a glare at him. "The only reason why I'm in this stupid group is just to clear my name! I shouldn't be putting up with this! I hate you all!" And with that, he left the room in a hurry.

I raised my hands in assurance. "So before we start accusing one another, let's ask each other's alibis and any other information they know with regards to Mikan's death. Let's eliminate the suspects." I suggested.

Shouda shot her hand quickly. She looked troubled. "You might think I'm the most suspicious out of them all since I have a past dispute with the victim, but I swear to God, I'm really innocent." She stated. "Before Mikan's death, a received an anonymous letter, telling me to go to the gazebo at 1:30pm. All that time, I had been waiting for that person to come, but didn't."

"Do you think the suspect send that to frame you?" Nogi asked.

Shouda's eyes were swelling with tears. She fought back to keep the tears from falling. "I think so. I'm also scared."

"Why?"

"That letter… The one that sempai found… I think the letter's referring to me. I think I'm the next victim." She hugged her knees and kept on trembling.

I rested my hands on her shoulders. "Don't worry, Sumire." It was weird addressing her first name, after what Mikan had gone through her, but this was a situation where everyone needed to cooperate. We need everyone to find the culprit. "We'll find the killer before he or she gets his or her next victim."

A couple of minutes passed, Hyuuga, Nogi and I exchanged information on regards of our previous whereabouts before or during the time Mikan was killed.

Of course, I memorized everything in a jiffy, the problem was: Sumire Shouda's memory size. With all her summer slutty pics and her endless ranked boy list, she can't even memorize this. No worries though, I'm very flexible.

Suspect List:

Imai, Hotaru; Library; A floor level under the classroom.

Shouda, Sumire; Gazebo; Three floors under the classroom, just outside.

Hyuuga, Natsume; Botanical Garden; Behind the gym.

Nogi, Ruka; Student Council Room; Same floor level of the classroom, other building.

Hyuuga grabbed the paper and carefully studied everyone's locations. Among the four of us, my location was closest to the victim. "We need to gather the other suspect's alibis before we could make our hypothesis."

Shouda snatched the paper. "Don't you find it strange?"

I peeked at the paper, curious on what clue Shouda had found. "Did you find something?"

"Yesterday's classes were cut short, right?" Everyone nodded. "Due to Nonoko's chemistry project, everyone was ordered to evacuate immediately. If it weren't for her accident, Mikan's body would have been found earlier. So what if. . . that accident wasn't on purpose at all? What if it was intentional to divert on finding Mikan's body early?"

I grinned. "So the wheels of the brain have finally turned."

Nogi shifted on his spot, finally getting the hang of it. "What about the murder weapon?"

"Blood scattered on the floor, so a hard and heavy object must had been used. If the suspect brought the weapon on his or her home, there's a possibility some of the students would have notice it or the school's security camera. Nobody would have expected to carry a bag because of Nonoko's sudden science project failure. It would take a planned and known preparation for this to be executed." Hyuuga explained.

"Meaning?"

"There are three possibilities: one, the murder weapon is still in the school's vicinity; two, Nonoko might be the murderer; and three, there's an accomplice."

"I think it's for the best if we separate ourselves by pair. The first group should interrogate Nonoko while the second group should go to the security guards' building to gain access to the security camera videos." Shouda suggested.

After spending my time with Shouda, I figured that she wasn't that bad. We have been classmates quite a few times, but I never got the chance to talk with her much. Both of us belonged in different cliques. Unlike what Mikan told me, she seemed completely different from what I imagined. She maybe the type who would pose for Playboy Mag and date a couple of guys at the same time, but she wouldn't stoop low as to make rumors about her ex-friend.

"Hey Shouda," I called. "I want to confirm something."

Without turning around to face me, she continued to walk forward. "What?"

"Did you spread that rumor?" I asked. "The one about Yuu and Mikan?"

For a short second, her straight-forward pace suddenly turned abruptly slow. My words must have probably triggered something in her mind. And I intend to know what.

This time around she halted and faced me. My eyes and hers were locked in a serious manner. "I-Imai, there are things in this world that are left to be buried in the past."

"You've know Mikan more than I do. Our friendship went well because you were out of the picture… so why? What happened between the two of you? If you really made that rumor, there must be a reason. Sumire Shouda, you're a rational being, and I believe you won't lie like that."

Shouda heaved a frustrated grunt. "Are you profiling me right now?" I smiled and then she continued talking. "Mikan was completely different before. Right before you transferred, she had a major crush on Tsubasa-sempai, but everyone in school knew he likes Misaki so Mikan have to conjure a plan. Being her best friend that time, she shared her thoughts with me."

I swallowed. This was my first time hearing a different side to this story. I have known this infamous rumor, but I only realized now that I have always been listening to it from one person: Mikan. It was my first time hearing Shouda's side.

"Of course, I disagreed with her ideas. She was… crazy. She wanted to do something mean to Misaki-sempai. She wanted to taint her name so that Tsubasa-sempai would leave. When Mikan realized that I continued disagreeing and discouraging her, she started to doubt our friendship. So those rumors you have heard about her virginity being taken by Tobita was an utter lie. She, herself, spread those rumors for two major reasons. First, to blame me so that the other students would lose their confidence on me that if ever I spread her ideas of wanting to hurt Misaki, no one would believe me; second, to lure Tsubasa."

"Lure him?"

"Believe it or not, it worked. Tsubasa was still a virgin at that time and he lacked experience. So in order to gain one, he needed someone who had experience sex before, so he went for Mikan. They dated a couple of times but most of them were held on a bed. In the end, it didn't work out and both of them moved on. Surprisingly, Mikan was okay with it. I thought she was going to be berserk."

"Are you the only one who knows about this information?" I asked.

She shook her head. "I don't think so. I think Tsubasa-sempai, Misaki-sempai and Tobita know about this."

Outside the chemistry lab, sounds of liquid bubbling were drifting in the air. Soft clattering of utensils was heard. Nonoko was probably inside.

We opened the door and entered the room, only to be greeted with thick smoke. At the other side of the room, I heard soft coughing. "Who's there?"

"Nonoko, is that you? This is, I, Hotaru and Shouda. We need to talk."

"Fine, but let me open the windows first or else we'll suffocate."

After opening the windows, the room was suddenly free from the heavy smoke. Nonoko was in her complete laboratory uniform and in her hands were a couple of test tubes.

"What are you experimenting on?" I asked.

"Just… something." She replied. "What made you guys come here?"

"We want to interrogate you."

"About? Wait, don't tell me. It's about Mikan, isn't it?"

Both of us nodded in agreement. Nonoko sighed and placed her test tubes down. "Stop acting like detectives. The police would solve her murder easily. Plus, I have nothing to do with her death. I was in a completely different building at that time and I don't have any connection with her death."

"You think you don't have a connection, but you really do. Or are you just trying to hide it away from us? We're not as stupid as the police."

"W-What are you babbling about?"

"Remember your little accident before 2pm? How can we be sure that it's not some incident to help you reduce any witnesses for Mikan's murder?"

"It's really an accident. I don't know what happened with the Glycol Fog." She explained.

"Glycol?"

"I'm trying to make some fog juice for the drama club's next presentation. Ask Misaki-sempai. She was the one who asked me for it."

"Did you find any clues?" Nogi asked.

"Just some Glycol Fog that Misaki-sempai asked for and nothing else." Sumire replied.

"Did you find anything?" I asked.

Nogi nodded. "Among the students who went home and right after 10 minutes from 2 o'clock, we spotted Tsubasa-sempai carrying a huge backpack."

"Okay, let me try to connect the pieces. There are three possibilities that could occur. One, Misaki-sempai handed out that task to Nonoko so that it could be a distraction for the students so that she can easily kill Mikan and hid the murder weapon inside the school. Two, Tsubasa somehow managed to trigger the accidental fog juice, killed Mikan and took the weapon home. Three, both of them are an accomplice. Misaki triggers the fog juice while Tsubasa kills Mikan and takes the weapon with him."

"A possibility," Hyuuga said. "But something feels wrong."

"What?"

"I can't point it out but there definitely is. It feels like there's a hole."

Sumire rose from her spot. "Maybe the note I received would give us a clue. I'll get it from my locker." She left the room and disappeared from our sight.

If only I have known that she was going to die, I would have never let her leave.

End of Chapter

A/N: Sorry guys if you do find it messy and rushed. I was doing fine in the beginning of this chapter, but towards the end, I lost focus and I kept on writing half-heartedly. If there's a willing proofreader who'll fix this chapter, please let me know.