track: banquet
You only manage to make it as far as the point where Uehara enters the room before Sakimura pushes you aside impatiently and slams the door open with his shoulder. “Uehara! Uehara, are you-“ His voice falters into a strangled croak. Mori rushes past you, as does Tokigawa and Okuyama. Behind you, you hear Okuyama scream.
“No one else is to come in here! Don't even look!” bellows Mori quickly. “That goes double for you, Iwano!”
Kayano holds Mitsuki closer to her, both expressing looks of concern. Taketatsu turns away, shaking his head. Maeda is fearful and shivering, her hands wrapped around her waist. Sakaki glances at you briefly, and then at the room behind you.
For some reason, you feel compelled to turn around.
Of course, there she is. Uehara is still in the room. She didn’t vanish from it like some magic trick. She was still in there when the door was closed, and she is still there now that the door is open. Sitting there, in the corner where the garbage bag was lying, her back against the wall and her legs sprawled apart. There’s her feet, still clad in her school shoes. A thick pool of blood is spreading across the white floor like a monster extending its slimy tendrils, seeking out gaps to seep into. The entire front of her shirt has been stained rose-red.
That is how much blood there is in the human body.
You are finding it hard to breath. Your gaze moves slowly upwards, to her face. What is left of it, at least. Everything above her upper jaw has been pulverized and crushed into a messy mush of meat and bone and brain. You see pink and white poking out in between red. Fragments of teeth are embedded into the flesh like pearls. Her short hair is tangled and matted from the sticky blood. Whatever is left of her brain is oozing from the flattened and shattered skull, a whitish-grey, jelly-like substance with the consistency of mashed tofu. Her lower jaw still remains intact, as is her tongue, hanging loosely over the side of her slackened chin.
Sakimura sinks to his knees in front of the corpse, gagging in disbelief. You can only stand there, staring at the gruesome sight before you. Just what had happened? It had not even been a minute. You had last seen her less than a minute ago. This was...
impossible.
“This is… Uehara?” Even Mori seems a bit shaken by the sight. “Can you be sure?”
“Yes… those are her clothes. There is… her nametag… and I would know her by sight even if I could not see her… her face…” whispers Sakimura.
“The trauma is horrendous,” murmurs Tokigawa softly.
Okuyama seems to have recovered slightly from her initial shock, her hand placed over her chest. “I… let’s cover her up, Kou.”
“No, wait. We should investigate her body first,” says Mori. “There could be some clues left behind.”
“…clues? What more clues do you need?”
“What do you mean, Sakimura?” Mori’s voice carries a hint of warning, but Sakimura stands up regardless. Tears in his eyes, the high school student strides towards you angrily.
“This bastard here is the culprit! Of course it’s him!”
"N-no, I didn't-" You flinch in the face of Sakimura’s rage, snapping out of the stupor that had engulfed you upon witnessing Uehara's end. Though you hold up your hands in futile protest, Sakimura remains undeterred; he grabs you by the collar and hurls you back into the room. You stagger and drop to your hands and knees. As you try to get up, Sakimura smashes his fist into your cheek, sending you sprawling back to the floor. The side of your head thuds painfully against the floor when you land in the pool of Uehara’s blood. The inside of your skull rings from the blow. You have no idea what is more unpleasant - the pain, or the sensation of the sticky blood adhering to your stinging cheek.
“You fucking murderer!” he shouts, kicking you in the ribs. Something seems to give way, and you curl up on the bloody floor silently, shuddering in agony as you cough and sputter.
“Sakimura, enough!” With one hand, Mori jerks Sakimura back before he can land another blow. His grip is strong enough to restrain the boy with ease.
“Let me go, old man! He killed Uehara! Probably Amanozaki too! I’m going to butcher him!”
“That is not certain yet. From the looks of this place, there was a struggle before she was killed. Look at all the upturned trolleys and equipment, and the blood spatter across the walls. The one who killed Uehara would have a lot of blood on them, yet Shinoseki’s clothes were clean when we saw him.”
“He could have cleaned up! There’s a sink in here, right over there! Are you blind?” shouts Sakimura, twisting and turning around. He lashes out at Mori in his attempt to get free of the older man’s grip.
“Sakimura-kun!” yells Tokigawa.
Mori’s eyes widen in surprise, but he does not seem otherwise perturbed. Moving at a speed that belies his age, he knocks away Sakimura’s punch and backhands the boy across the face hard. The slap is resoundingly loud, leaving behind a spreading red mark on Sakimura's cheek.
“Get a grip on yourself, kid. There is a time and place for you to rage and vent, but it is not here and now.” Scowling, Mori takes out a cigarette and lights up. “You are doing Uehara’s memory a disservice by behaving like a wild animal. I did not know her long, but that is probably not what she would have wanted.”
“But-“
“Whatever conclusions we come to must be after thorough reasoning,” says Mori. As he lectures Sakimura to calm him down, you slowly crawl to your knees. Your flank still hurts from that kick earlier, and your cheek feels like it is burning up.
“We can’t just trust him! Even if he didn't kill her, he could have shut her up in here for all we know!” protests Sakimura.
“I have to support Sakimura-kun on this matter,” Tokigawa nods. “I don’t think Shinoseki-san had entirely nothing to do with… this.”
“I do not trust Shinoseki Adachi either,” mutters Mori, glancing at you. “Uehara’s fate aside, he still has to explain why he went missing just before Amanozaki was found dead. We’ll need to tie him up... to restrain him somewhere while we investigate this. We don’t know if he is guilty, but on the other hand, we cannot be sure he is innocent either.”
Amanozaki’s… dead too?
***
12:10
A. They’re going to tie you up? Uehara is dead, and so is Amanozaki. Something dreadful lurks in this hospital. If you let them imprison you, isn’t it as good as receiving a death sentence? You aren’t about to sit here and wait for that to happen; once you are bound it will be too late to escape. They won't believe anything you say anyway. You run for it.
B. You give in to their wishes. You are innocent, and you are sure whatever they find will exonerate you of your supposed crimes and support your story in a way. If you do as they say and submit to them, surely they won’t harm you. Regardless of whatever happens next, it is probably better for you to stick to the group from now on rather than try and make it on your own.