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V12 Story II – Part 04

The room was spacious. Unneeded chairs and desks had been pushed to the back, creating a space where a handful of seats formed a circle. Several young men and women sat stiffly, dressed uniformly in similar outfits.

Even as we entered, they remained still, almost like statues. The crisp light from the moon intensified their inanimate impression. They had become components of the circular formation.

I swallowed at the bizarre sight. The girl beside me, studying their pale faces, nodded approvingly. Cheerfully, she started towards the circle. One seat was empty.

She grabbed the backrest. “Oops. Forgot to prepare one for our guest,” she grumbled.

I shook my head to indicate I didn’t need one. I didn’t know what was happening, or what these people were planning, but I had no interest in joining them. Instead, I took a moment to observe their faces.

Most of them looked well-behaved, and all were young. They were likely my juniors.

Casual attire was allowed in this school. Despite the variety in style, the colorless outfits gave them a similar look. The group, stripped of individuality, exuded a hive-like creepiness.

I glanced at the wall clock. It was almost nine, the agreed-upon time.

Where was the fox? And what exactly were the students planning? I needed to find out.

If this séance was just a result of teenage curiosity, it wouldn’t be a big deal. During my time, there were a few students interested in the occult. But if it turned out to be more than just a game, I needed to stop them.

What was inside that plastic bag?

“Isn’t it time you told us what you’re planning?” I asked.

In response, the girl grinned and let go of the chair’s backrest.

The boy sitting next to her glanced at her sideways. All eyes fell on her. Throwing her chest out proudly, she reached into the plastic bag and pulled out its contents.

“Huh?”

Multiple voices exclaimed in surprise. I wasn’t the only one taken aback.

I looked around. The students had half-risen to their feet, some even jumping from their seats. The tranquil atmosphere, like some scene in a movie, had vanished in an instant.

The motionless students started moving. Their faces tightened with fear, disgust, and disapproval at the sight of the object in the girl’s hand.

The girl cocked her head in confusion. “Huh? Wh-What’s wrong?”

In her hand was a bizarre stuffed toy. Its gray fabric was frayed and stained red, with thick black thread running across its surface. The ears protruding from its head suggested it had once been a rabbit, but it was currently distorted beyond recognition. It had been opened and restuffed.

Calling this grotesque creation a stuffed toy was debatable. Fat and bloody flesh was oozing out from between the roughly sewn threads.

Instead of cotton, it was stuffed with minced meat. The sheer amount of filling caused it to sag under its own weight. Its rear end was caked with blackened blood. The blood and putrid fluid dripping onto the floor emitted a rancid, metallic odor. I held my breath.

This was no stuffed toy at all. Just a sack filled with minced raw meat.

The next instant, screams erupted. The boys and girls grimaced in disgust.

“What the hell is that?! Gross, disgusting! No one told me about this. What is that thing?!”

“Hold on a second. That’s way too gross. What are you thinking bringing that here?!”

Clearly, no one had been informed about the grotesque stuffed rabbit she brought.

One after another, the students voiced their disapproval. The girl, not anticipating this reaction, took a step back, bewildered. The sunflower-patterned, plastic bag slipped from her drooping arm.

Desperately, she tightened her grip on the rabbit. Flesh squished out from its ears. Screams echoed again.

The girl, looking genuinely puzzled, tilted her head. “Huh? Why… Are you all mad? Why?”

I was right; she felt only one thing. She was too excited, and because of that she couldn’t grasp the reality of rejection.

She thrust the rabbit forward, and all the students bolted at once. A boy knocked over a chair. Someone shouted to keep quiet, fearing security might come. The girl, still clutching the rabbit, looked around in confusion. She looked like a child unfairly ostracized.

“W-Wait a minute. Didn’t you all want to call Yakko? You said you wanted to summon her, right? So I made preparations according to the fox’s instructions.”

She just mentioned the fox, but I didn’t have a chance to ask her what that meant. Her words triggered a clamor of abuse. The students yelled at her like they were throwing stones.

“We didn’t sign up for this!” “So disgusting!” “I feel like puking.” “Fox? What does that even mean?” “I wanna go home.” “You were the one who brought it up.” “Don’t come near me.” “Stay away, stay away!”

The girl stood there in a daze. A different circle had formed in the room.

The students, who had risen from their chairs, formed a new circle, leaving her alone in the center. They bombarded her with abuses and questions.

The girl blinked repeatedly. Gradually, the endless insults began to sink in, and her expression started to twist. Suddenly, she raised one arm straight up.

She still held the rabbit. Without thinking twice, she swung her arm down.

Squish.

She slammed the rabbit to the floor. Crushed meat burst out and scattered everywhere. Students jumped back, yelping. The circle fell apart. More cursing.

“Shut the fuck up! What the hell is your problem?!”

The classroom fell into complete, oppressive silence. The girl was breathing heavily. Irritated, she stomped her foot, crushing the splattered meat, creating sticky strings.

One boy covered his mouth. Some showed signs of throwing up, but the girl went on.

“You said you wanted to summon Yakko. You said you were serious. So what the hell is this? You can’t do this. What’s going on? You were the ones super interested in the séance, weren’t you? Chisa said she would gather people, and what? Are the Occult Club members just cowards? Or were you just playing around? Was it all just a game?”

No one responded to her. Even I, an outsider, swallowed hard at the menacing look on her face.

In the meantime, I roughly grasped the situation. The girl had wanted to summon someone deceased named Yakko. Another girl agreed and reached out to the Occult Research Club. Following that, they scheduled a séance. But the girl had brought something unusual.

What was the sack filled with raw meat for?

“You were the ones who said we needed a vessel. You said it would be a huge success if it started moving after we put a soul into it. I should’ve expected as much from a pathetic little roomless club. You’re such wimps it’s laughable. Seriously. Zero guts. I… I…”

Her anger reached a boiling point, and she started stumbling over her words. I thought about the vessel. A séance is a ritual to communicate with the dead through a medium. But the idea of actually bringing a spirit into a vessel seemed impossible for students.

“I said we should fill it with rice!” a chubby boy said. “What is that thing?”

“I was told that wouldn’t make it move! Use your head!”

The girl and the boy launched into a fierce argument. I relaxed when I realized they were attempting some amateur séance to put a soul into the rabbit. Theirs was likely a random method cobbled together from occult knowledge found online. Nothing would happen.

It seemed someone had pointed this out to the girl, and I could guess who it might have been. She raked her hair furiously, nearly dislodging her glasses, and screamed from the depths of her stomach.

“This isn’t a game for me!”

“No, it is a game,” someone said coldly.

Despite her screaming, the deep voice resonated clearly in the room. Students gasped. In an instant, sharp silence returned to the room.

“No matter how serious you are, it’s nothing more than a trivial game.”

Someone stood beyond the door.

“Asato,” I muttered.

There was a click. The clock’s hand pointed to nine.