[SS] Through the Eyes of the Silent Dolls

"If you want to look inside of it, I would not stop you. I think it's a good idea. The only problem would be upsetting the council."    

“Well, if you really want to take it apart, just make sure you can put it back together again. I’m not sure how doll-crafting is done, but I’m pretty sure removal of parts is not as easy as pressing a button to release some kind of lock. Even if there is some method of replacing damaged parts, I’m not sure what it would be.”

Upsetting the council was what Nori had been worried about when he first mentioned wanting to look inside it. Kohaku's point that he could take it apart if he could find a way to put it back together gave a small ray of hope that he would be able to take the doll apart but at the same time she was right that the method for that probably wasn't going to be easy. Especially since he didn't know anything about how the dolls were put together.

It seemed for now he would have to refrain from looking inside the doll at least until he  figured out how to properly take it apart so that it could be put back together again. For now he would just have to see if he could find any clues to the culprit by looking at the doll's exterior.

"Come to think of it, most of the dolls were centered around areas connected to 2-A and 2-C. Though, the extra dolls in those third year classrooms still don’t add up.”

Nori was taking a look at the doll's golden gardening shears when he heard the girls' discussion and turned his attention back to them. Putying the shears he walked back over to Kohaku and Kana and took a look at the map.

"Could it be possible that the dolls have been set up to look at a certain person or group? If a majority of them are in the 2-A and 2-C classrooms the dolls could be directed at someone in one of those classes or the culprit themself is in one of them. If that's the case the doll here could be justified because everyone goes through the entrance but the third year dolls don't really fit the pattern unless they're just decoys. Though this is really just speculation.

Kana closed her eyes, and put a finger to her lip as she thought the situation over. Nothing came to mind, outside of checking the area, and confirming the dolls have nothing inside. There were still too many variables and unknowns. "Hard to say without checking, though it could be a wild goose chase. Though this entire investigation might be as well." Kana shrugged her shoulders, she had accepted long ago that they might not find anything by simply checking the dolls.

Still without any leads all she could consider was just checking each doll still. Like Nori said, all they were doing was speculating."Did you have an ideas for checking inside the doll, Kinoshita-kun? If we have no way to repair it, it may still be worth breaking it. Despite gaining the ire of the student council, I think it could be worth the information."

While they were still here that seemed to be the only option left, and she was curious about it herself. Kana didn't particularly wish to mess with it herself, so she hoped by asking that Nori might return to checking it. She'd rather not upset the student council, but if it came down to it, she would simply break the doll and find out, at this point.

"And do we have any other ideas in general? It feels like we're running into a bit of a wall. Should we just check each doll after this?"

“On one hand, breaking apart the dolls could net us some information the council may have overlooked due to a small sample size.” Kohaku recalled the fact that Reiji had mentioned the student council only taking apart one of the dolls. After all, they had multiple reasons for maintaining the crime scenes to the best of their abilities.

“If you want to break the dolls, I’d suggest at least waiting until there is no chance the Student Council can stop you.” The girl who was usually conscientious about the rules suggested committing the act in secrecy. At the very least, that way there would be no chance they would be interrupted or noticed during the day. If the act could not be attributed to them, then it would avoid bringing any unnecessary trouble to them.

“I figure out how to dismantle the dolls myself.” Kohaku said, running her fingers along the hair of the doll. “Once I do so, we can work on doing it without causing any damage.”

The problem is that it would require time. The lunch break would be over in less than ten minutes and figuring out how to dismantle the dolls would definitely take much longer than the available time. That meant she had to wait. Disassembling the doll could wait.

Still, the main problem was that like Kana had said, until they could dismantle the dolls, they were hitting a wall. “At this point, I think checking Class 2-C would be the best option. Even if we can’t get much without dismantling the dolls, we can at least try to gather some information from the surroundings.”

"Did you have an ideas for checking inside the doll, Kinoshita-kun? If we have no way to repair it, it may still be worth breaking it. Despite gaining the ire of the student council, I think it could be worth the information."

"I don't really know how these dolls are put together so the quickest method would seem to be breaking the doll. I can try to do as little harm as possible but I can't guarantee that it won't take considerable damage"

“On one hand, breaking apart the dolls could net us some information the council may have overlooked due to a small sample size.”

Nori moved back over to the doll. The group seemed to have decided that breaking the doll would be beneficial to the investigation, now he just needed to figure out how to break it enough so they could see inside but at the same time leaving the doll as intact as possible. While the student council was probably going to get upset with him for breaking one of the dolls they were trying to preserve for investigation, it was possible that they would be more forgiving as long as he didn't completely destroy the doll.

“If you want to break the dolls, I’d suggest at least waiting until there is no chance the Student Council can stop you.”

“I figure out how to dismantle the dolls myself. Once I do so, we can work on doing it without causing any damage.”

Nori had been holding the doll trying to figure out what would have been the best method to break it but as he was considering using the doll's own shears to break it open Kohaku said she had figured out how to take apart the doll. "How much time would you need to take the doll apart?

"And do we have any other ideas in general? It feels like we're running into a bit of a wall. Should we just check each doll after this?"

“At this point, I think checking Class 2-C would be the best option. Even if we can’t get much without dismantling the dolls, we can at least try to gather some information from the surroundings.”

The dismantling of the doll was going to have to wait as Kohaku and Kana had decided that checking the other dolls should take priority. "So let's go check the dolls in 2-C" Nori headed off in the direction classroom 2-C while still holding the doll from the entranceway under his arm. Even if they couldn't break open this doll to get information maybe he could use it as something to use for comparison when looking at the other dolls. While it was incredibly unlikely there could be some kind of clue hidden in the similarities and differences of the dolls.

Since they had agreed to put dismantling aside for now, they were going to go ahead and check out the other classrooms. Since it was Nori and Kohaku who were familiar with the doll's locations she would allow them to lead her around for the time being. She knew where room 2-C was of course, but she would still rather just allow them to led her for the time being.

She noted that Nori had brought one of the doll's along with. Was it so he could break that one specifically to check on it's contents? It could also be to compare, though judging on information they knew it was unlikely the outsides of the dolls had any relevant information still.

Carrying the doll through the school might give other students the wrong idea though. She would prefer that they don't get accused of openly messing with the dolls, or even be suspected of involvement with the crime itself, so she stayed slightly off to the side for good measure. Even if Nori somehow ended up with rumors about him due to this, Kana would try to make sure she avoided it.

This would probably be the last stop they could make before the lunch break. There were less than ten minutes left until afternoon homeroom would begin. Still, that would probably be enough to make some cursory observations of the doll in 2-C. As she made her way to the entrance of classroom 2-C, she noticed what Nori had been carrying with him. Much to her dismay, he was carrying the doll with the shears. It was amazing nobody had said anything about it.

“Kinoshita-san, please make sure you put that doll back before the homeroom period starts.” Kohaku gave him a quick warning to Nori before entering the classroom through its backdoor. If she was right, the doll should have been…

“There it is.”

Without any regard for the prying eyes and murmurs from the students who were questioning the presence of someone from another homeroom this late in the lunch period, Kohaku made her way down to the doll that was placed in 2-C.

Sitting on a bookshelf in the back of the classroom, just like the doll that was in 2-A. The design of the doll sitting there held a world of difference from the other dolls she was accustomed to.

If compared to the other dolls, this one would be noticeably taller than the others she had seen. The dress it wore was a pure snow-white, composing of multiple ruffles and pure white boots. She had long, wavy, light-blonde hair which was tied by two white roses on either side of her hair. But, the main point of discomfort here was the eyes. On one hand, her left eye was a normal amber-yellow color. On the other hand, she held no right eye. Instead of an eye, there was a white rose with three thorny stems spreading out from it.  

In combination with its elegance, even Kohaku could not help but feel the obvious eerie atmosphere that this doll seemed to produce around itself.

To Kohaku, none of the other dolls seemed to provide this same atmosphere. It was truly a strange one.

“Kinoshita-san, please make sure you put that doll back before the homeroom period starts.”

Nori hadn't even noticed that they only had a few minutes left before lunch break ended until Kohaku had warned him about putting the doll back. With the time they had left the doll in 2-C would be the last one they could investigate before they ran out of time. He just had to hope that they found something of significance or he would have to go with plan B and he still didn't know how he would get into the school after hours

As they entered 2-C the students in the room began murmuring and eyeing them with suspicion. He wasn't sure if it was because they were students from another homeroom or because he was carrying one of the dolls with him but either way the group seemed to be the center of attention at the moment.

“There it is.”

The doll was impossible to miss and Nori didn't even want to go any closer to it. The doll didn't even have a right eye, instead there was a white rose in its place. To make matters worse the stems coming out of the rose was thorny. Was this doll deliberately made to be as creepy as possible. He didn't have any idea how the students of homeroom 2-C could possibly focus with this doll sitting on the bookshelf behind them.

Despite his desire to not go any closer to the doll, Nori walk over to the bookshelf and placed the doll from the entranceway next to it. Then stepped back to get a good view of both of them.

"What is with these dolls' eyes? We have one with heterochromia and the other has a white rose instead of a right eye. Also why couldn't the culprit picked less disturbing looking dolls? I mean this has a thorny stems coming out of it absent eye and this one is carrying a pair of shears."

Nori wasn't really expected an answer to these questions, he was just voicing his displeasure at the dolls' disturbing appearance.

Unexpected the rest of the students seemed to be staring at them, with a mixture of confusion and suspicion. She figured a majority of that was due to Nori for now, Kana simply smiled as she walked by them, it was obvious to these students that she was with Nori. She wouldn't be able to escape any potential suspicions they might have of her as well, luckily she didn't stand out as much as Nori did, though.

Not too differently from the rest of the group, or the students that saw it in general, Kana couldn't help but think the new doll was particularly creepy. However that alone wasn't a clue. Besides it's design difference, there was nothing in particular to note at a glance. She watched as Nori sat the other doll next to it, which would let them more easily compare. For a moment she considered whether it would be worth gathering all of the dolls for similar comparisons, but they didn't have time for anything like that for now. 

Kana walked closely to the dolls, carefully looking them over. They only had a very short amount of time before they had to go, but she figured she'd check with the group one last time."So, what do you think? It's creepy, sure. They have unusual eyes, but not really anything that might be a clue without possibly diassembling them." As she said that, she tried peaking around the dolls.  She knew better, given that the student council supposedly had checked them, but she wasn't sure what else to do after seeing them. 

"Perhaps we should simply resume this later when we might have a bit more free time and freedom? She asked them, though at this point she was pretty certain that they would want to. Even should they decide to flake, she would come back on her own, though. More importantly she didn't like the atmosphere of the classroom with them all being stared at. "More importantly, I would like to escape gaze of the students in this room, though. I feel like we'll somehow end up being accused of being the culprits at this rate." She tried to speak quietly enough so that no one overheard her.

In the end, this was the limit of their observations. No matter what they wanted to gain from looking into these dolls, there was only so much they could do while the prying eyes of the students were upon them. Be it from the student council or even the regular student body, suspicion arose all around those who went near the dolls. It was only natural. The dolls which aroused so much suspicion were being handled by strangers. That kind of thing was, without a doubt, suspicious.

“I guess this is as good as we’re going to get without actually tampering with them.” Kohaku gave off a short sigh after responding to the others. It was a bit frustrating, but there really was nothing that could be done at this point. “Well—“

“Hey. What do you guys think you’re doing here with one of those things?” Before Kohaku could suggest organizing a time and place to meet again after school, an irritated voice came from behind them, cutting off Kohaku’s words.

As she turned back to discern the identities behind the voices, she saw three girls walking up to them. “Really, if I didn’t know better, I would think you three were the culprits.” The one with a motormouth was the one standing front and center in that posse of three. She had a short black ponytail and blue-eyes and her face held an arrogant grin. Though, given the stature and arrangement of the group, she likely held a position in it as the leader. At the very least, the only thing that could make it more evident was if she was wearing the stereotypical banchou jacket and brandishing a wooden sword.

However, at that moment, it seemed like the gazes from the class immediately vanished as the three made contact with Kohaku, Nori, and Kana.

“Come on, Eri. Don’t tease them. They’re just idiots who wandered onto the wrong turf by accident.” The one on the left with the short brown hair and eyes to match said to the leader while sniggering.

“Well, they were asking for it.” The blonde one on the right with black eyes pointed towards Nori and the doll he was carrying. “I mean what kind of loser carries one of those things around. Wait…is that the one from the entranceway? Did you seriously decide to take that thing out of the entranceway and carry it around with you?”

As the three continued to heckle Kohaku’s group, Kohaku caught a glimpse of a person peering through the gap of the slightly open door that they had entered through. She could not discern much aside from the pinkish-red frames of a pair of glasses. But, Kohaku decided to stay silent about it.

“You don’t seem like the type to be on the student council, weirdo, so listen up.” Eri spoke up next, crossing her arms and looking directly into Nori’s eyes. “Stop messing with the student council’s work. Seeing Reiji-sama all stressed out because of someone else’s tomfoolery is not an experience we find pleasant. Even you, senpai.” Eri said, putting emphasis on ‘senpai' as she glared at Kana.

The other two nodded in agreement before the brown-haired one hastily looked around the room. “Seriously…when the hell is Kirihara going to get back with the stuff?” She muttered, outside of the audible range of loudness of anyone else. “She’s already enough of a loser as is. Is she trying to make us angry?”

The other two seemed to have come to the conclusion that they weren't going to find anything significant about the dolls without taking them apart. Kana also had a good point, it would be troublesome if they ended up being accused of being the culprit. So maybe leaving and coming back to look at the dolls again later would be the best idea considering their current situation. However, just as Nori was planning to take the entranceway doll back to its place a irritated voice appeared behind them.

“Hey. What do you guys think you’re doing here with one of those things? Really, if I didn’t know better, I would think you three were the culprits.”

Well, that was just great. They were had just decided to leave so that they could avoid this exact scenario but it seems they hadn't reacted quick enough. Turning around he found himself facing three girls with the one speaking being the one positioned at the center of the group. The girl had a arrogant grin on her face, it seemed quite clear that the three girls were here just to antagonize Nori, Kohaku, and Kana.

The fact that the rest of the students in the room stopped gazing at Nori and his group when the girls appeared made it clear that the three girls had a reputation for this kind of behavior or at least had made the rest of the students afraid of them. This was going to be a bothersome confrontation and was going to get in the way of their investigation.

“Come on, Eri. Don’t tease them. They’re just idiots who wandered onto the wrong turf by accident.”

Now the new group was just making Kinoshita angry. They were definitely looking for a fight and he was willing to oblige. Why did it seem that everyone he ran into today, excluding Kana and Kohaku, seemed to think that they were superior to everyone else? Before he couldn't say or do anything to the student council member as he wasn't trying to pick a fight but it seemed he would be able to dish out a bit of justice on these three. Also since when were there turfs in this school?

“Well, they were asking for it. I mean what kind of loser carries one of those things around. Wait…is that the one from the entranceway? Did you seriously decide to take that thing out of the entranceway and carry it around with you?”

“You don’t seem like the type to be on the student council, weirdo, so listen up. Stop messing with the student council’s work. Seeing Reiji-sama all stressed out because of someone else’s tomfoolery is not an experience we find pleasant. Even you, senpai.”

“Seriously…when the hell is Kirihara going to get back with the stuff?She’s already enough of a loser as is. Is she trying to make us angry?”

Kinoshita had run out of patience. He managed to form some form of a smile on his face but it didn't take much power of observation to see that it was a counterfeit. Instead of the happy presence usually produced by a smile this one created a feeling of uneasiness. In his eyes it was easy to see his growing malice.

"I'm sorry, there seems to be some kind of misunderstanding here. All we're trying to do is see if we can find out anything about the culprit behind the dolls. I just brought the doll from the entranceway here to see if there was any similarities or differences that could provide any clues."

He slowly began walking towards Eri, the closer they were the longer it would take them to step out of the range of his Atomic Restraint. Targeting the leader's body he began lowering her core body temperature. It wasn't nearly enough to be danger in anyway but it would cause her body to natural react to the cold and begin shivering.

"We've already talked to Reiji-san about this so I doubt our investigation is going to cause him anymore stress then he is already under. However, I can imagine that he wouldn't be very happy to hear that due to the interference of three girls our investigation failed to bear any results."

He told a bit of a lie since they never told Reiji that they were going to investigate the matter themselves but the girls seemed to practically be fangirls of the student council member. So using his name could possible deter the girls' motivations. As he drew closer he decreased Eri's body temperature once more to increase the amount of shivering to the point where it would be very visible.

"You seem to be trembling, I'm not scaring you by getting closer am I? Going from your way of speaking I thought you would be braver than that. You aren't that kind of person are you? A coward who picks on those that seem to be below them just so that they can feel more powerful. I don't think Reiji-san would want to be associated with such a person, much less be defended by one. Though you could always prove me wrong by helping us out and you would get to help reduce the amount of stress on the student council as well.

He was making a few assumptions about what kind of people the girls were going from how they spoke about Reiji and their attitudes. If what he said got them to shut up then he was happy with the results, if it got them to join them even better. More people included in the investigation would increase their chances of finding something. He just had to worry about the third possibility, which was an argument breaking out. He was betting on their admiration for Reiji being stronger than their hatred for him, which he probably just created by making the comments he did.

It didn't come as much of a surprise, although she and the others had hoped to avoid this. It seemed that they were going to be antagonized by another group of students. She had initially planned to handle this diplomatically, after listening to what they had to say, but as she began to step forward, she saw Nori step up to them. While she didn't particularly enjoy being picked on, she hadn't taken it too seriously. Nori on the other hand seemed that he had taken it somewhat seriously.

Kana would have preferred to have settled it, but she wasn't going to stop Nori either. As she listened to him, she could only help but wonder how this was going to end up. She wouldn't be surprised if a fight broke out due to this, but if one did, she was ready to try to stop it. For the time being she would let Nori try to settle it his way.

She simply would keep a close eye on them and Nori to make sure things wouldn't escalate too far. Kana crossed her arms, and kept still, until things played out a bit further. On the off chance he could get them to help, it would prove to be slightly valuable as well, though she personally didn't see that being too likely, they did seem to think highly of Reiji. She didn't like these sort of methods, but she felt it might improve the chances if she backed him up.

"As he says, the quicker we get this settled, the less work there will be for Reiji and the rest of the student council. The least you could do is not inconvenience the investigation even further."

While there wasn't any actual direct lying, she didn't feel well trying to manipulate them on false pretenses, but it was better than the alternative of worse rumors being spread. At least until they get this resolved.

Eri found herself unconsciously taking one step back. These defiant pricks were beginning to get on her nerves. But, that should not have been enough to simply cause her to step back. No, there was more than just the appearance of some rebellion in her face going on.

Her body had begun to feel an unnatural chill. It was more than a simple chill running down her spine from intimidation. After all, such words would not normally be enough to intimidate her, but merely irritate her.

So, why was her body running cold and why was she shivering?

“Eri!” The two girls who were her direct lackeys (and friends, though she would never admit such) grabbed her arm and forehead to feel her body. “You…don’t feel cold or hot.” One of the girls spoke while the other nodded along.

At that moment, Eri’s mind snapped. The cause of her body feeling cold was not some sickness or some weird condition she had never heard of. There was only one explanation.

“You.” She glared into Nori’s eyes. As she breathed out her cold breaths, she stared directly into Nori’s eyes and took one step forward. “Do you really think some coward like you has any right to talk?”

It was clear. Nori was the doing something, likely involving his ability. Its identity was an unknown, but it did not matter. This stuck-up hero wannabe was just some hypocrite who thought he could obfuscate his attempt at coercion as simply being the one who had done nothing wrong.

Fat chance.

There was no way she would let that go off unchecked. Following Eri’s suit, the two other girls directly on either side of Eri creating a straight line perpendicular to Nori’s gaze.

“That’s enough.” Kohaku grabbed at Nori’s shoulder and pulled him back slightly. If she was athletic enough, she could have probably pulled him back a few steps. But, the couple of inches she had pulled his upper body back by was more than enough. “There’s nothing to gain by staying here.” She gave a calm, almost distanced assessment to the situation.

In the end, they had too little time to investigate anything beyond what they had already seen and getting into an argument with Eri and her group was not something worth wasting their time on.

“Let’s just regroup and make plans in the hallway.” She said looking to Kana.

Despite the cold, Eri decided to keep up a sense of bravado. “That’s right. Get lost. And just make sure you don’t get in Reiji-sama’s or my way.” But, as soon as Eri said that, she received a simple look in the eyes from Kohaku. “What do you want, silver?” But, unlike Nori’s intimidation, Kohaku’s was more…welcoming? At the very least, it was not one of condescension or hatred. But, it was definitely not one of understanding.

Kohaku remained silent as she merely kept her warm gaze on the Eri. All the while, the words of a certain scarred girl she wished to refute began to ring in her head.

“Fuck it. Just go.” Eri relented as she turned back. That gaze was irritating. Was she really trying to offer warmth to someone like that who was antagonizing her? How annoying. How utterly annoying.

With that, the two lackeys, confused, chased after their boss who decided to turn around and walk away.

“Eri!You…don’t feel cold or hot.”

Damn! It seemed the three girls were starting to figure out that he was using his ability. His intimidation definitely wasn't going to work now. No one took well to being manipulated especially when it was done through fear and it only made it worse that the fear he was induced was a fake produced by his ability. At least there was no way for them to tell exactly what his ability was, he would still have that advantage of a fight broke out and they were all still in range.

“You. Do you really think some coward like you has any right to talk?”

Coward huh? It was true he had used underhanded tactics to try to intimidate Eri so his actions could be considered cowardly. However, if he had been straight forward his intimidation it was very likely that he would have gotten in trouble with the school and his irritation with the girls' comments had blinded him from seeing any other solution other than violence or intimidation. A moment later he would see the girls line up in a straight line in front of him.

A genuine smile formed on Nori's face, it looked like they were going to resort to violence. He prepared to target the two other girls as long as he was careful about how much he lowered their temperature there wouldn't be any obvious evidence that he did any thing. However, a moment later he felt someone grab his shoulder and pull him so that his back bent back slightly.

“That’s enough."

"Tch"

“There’s nothing to gain by staying here. Let’s just regroup and make plans in the hallway.”

“That’s right. Get lost. And just make sure you don’t get in Reiji-sama’s or my way.”
Kohaku had calmed Nori down only for Eri to anger him all over again, if it wasn't for the fact that he didn't want to lose the aid of Kana and Kohaku he would have reached out with his ability again. He couldn't imagine that his two comrades in the investigation weren't to happy about his behavior thus far and making it worse didn't seem like a good idea.

“What do you want, silver? Fuck it. Just go.”

Kinoshita watched as the three girls walked away and sighed deeply once they were no far away enough to no longer be a threat. He turned back to Kana and Kohaku with an apologetic look on his face. "Sorry about that, I got a bit out of hand"

His apology was as if he was had only done something minor such as forgetting to pay them back or for accidentally bumping into them instead of almost dragging them into a full out fight with three other students.

At first Kana had believed that Nori's intimidation was a success, however, given their reactions, most notably Eri's, something had been off. After watching the scene unfold just a bit longer, it seemed they had been under the effect of an ability. Nori had been doing something to them while trying to coerce them. She hadn't agreed with the tactic to begin with, but that was even worse. It didn't exactly create a negative opinion in her mind, in fact she was interested in the type of life someone would lead if they abuse their powers regularly, but still attended a school like this. Certainly it must be more interesting than her own. However, it wasn't time to dwell on that thought for long.

Kohaku made sure to stop Nori before things escalated any further. Kana had intended to do that, but ended up lost in thought for a moment. She sighed quietly. It wasn't like her to lose focus. After Kohaku suggested they regroup out in the hall Kana nodded. "Yeah, that would be for the best.

Before Eri left, she made sure to apologize, calling out to her. "I'm sorry for the trouble we caused. She didn't expect any sort of response, but she felt obligated to apologize for the group.

Kana wouldn't consider herself close friends with them quite yet, after having just met this lunch break, but she felt obligated to console Nori none the less. "It's fine, Kinoshita-kun, we all have moments like that. Lets try to make sure that doesn't happen again, though, alright? We don't want to draw more attention than we need to. It's already gotten pretty bad after all this.

Kana began to head out to the hall, waiting for just a moment to make sure Nori wasn't going to linger around any longer, and also to make sure that Nori or Kohaku planned to grab the doll that they brought with. After all that, it wouldn't have been too surprising if they had forgotten it.

At the very least, the situation had de-escalated. Eri had seemed to ignore any apology given by Kana as she simply made her way to what was likely her own seat. On the other hand, it seemed some other students who were already in the classroom gave quick apologetic bows. It seemed like Eri and her posse were not very well-received by the others in the classroom. 

Kohaku simply nodded to Nori’s apology as she headed out the door they had entered from. As she made her way to the door, she had noticed that the door was now completely closed. Whoever had been watching from the crack in the doorway was likely no longer watching anymore. Quickly opening the door to reveal the person would likely not work, so Kohaku opened the door and surely enough, nobody was behind it aside from students rushing past to get to their classrooms now that the lunch break was nearing its end. 

However, as she entered the hallway, she noticed one girl who felt out of place in the end-lunch rush. While this girl seemed to be leaning on the wall calmly on first glance, closer observation would note a far from calm atmosphere around her. She was a shorter than average girl fiddling with a small plastic bag in her left hand and tapping away a smart phone with her right. She was wearing the standard issue uniform for the school so, there was very little reason to doubt that she was a student at the school. She had short, black hair that reached to around her shoulders and a pair of glasses with a pink frame that Kohaku had remembered seeing through the crack of the door in class 2-C’s homeroom. 

So, it was her who was watching from outside. Kohaku made the connection before promptly turning away from her and to the group, hoping that Nori had brought the doll he had taken from the entranceway with him.

At this point, the lunch period was about to end, so they needed to make sure to decide on the next step for the investigation. At this point, it was clear that investigating the dolls during school hours would net minimal information. They would either be under the eye of the student council or some crazy group like Eri’s. They could not handle the dolls during this time either. In which case…

“We have two options. The first is to hide in the school until everyone else has left.” It was obvious that this was a terrible idea for multiple reasons. “The second is to sneak into the school after hours.” This option, while still risky, was far more feasible. Though, Kohaku definitely found it strange that she was suggesting the option of breaking in after closure. Was she really willing to bypass the rules like this? “I’ll be able to gain information on how to dismantle and reassemble the dolls in the meantime. However, we won’t be able to use that information while any of the other students are around. Though, if you two can come up with other options, do bring them up.”

Kana seemed to have accepted Nori's apology, so that was a bit of a relief for the masked villain but he wasn't sure what Kohaku was thinking. She had been the one who had stopped him getting in a fight with the three other girls but she only nodded without speaking a word in response to his apology. At the very least it didn't seem like Kohaku was still planning on working with him in the investigation despite his outburst.

Nori watched as the two girls exited the classroom before turning away from the group and heading over to the shear wielding doll that he had taken from the entranceway. The doll still creeped him out but regardless eh needed to return it to where he found it. Picking up the doll, he throw it over his shoulder and carried it out into the hallway. There wasn't much time left in the period but as far as he could tell they had enough time to make a plan and return the doll to it proper location.

The recalling the conflict with Eri and her group over and over again in his head. It was obvious that he had taken things to far and only caused the situation to escalate towards further chaos yet at the same time part of him still wished that Eri had started a fight with him. Of all the things Eri said however, the word coward kept repeating over and over again like a broken record as he reflected on the events that had just unfolded.

“We have two options. The first is to hide in the school until everyone else has left.” “The second is to sneak into the school after hours.” “I’ll be able to gain information on how to dismantle and reassemble the dolls in the meantime. However, we won’t be able to use that information while any of the other students are around. Though, if you two can come up with other options, do bring them up.”

"Sneaking back into the school seems like it would be the best idea unless we can get permission to enter after hours. Where should we meet up if we do have to sneak into the school?"

After grouping up again outside the class room, and Kana making sure Nori had remembered the doll, Kohaku went over a couple of their options. Both effectively would reach the same result, and both inconvenient in their own ways. Kana herself would much prefer sneaking in as opposed to waiting on school grounds, but if the other two had preferences otherwise, she would be willing to follow through with that as well.

After the little incident they had, it was possible Nori was feeling bad about himself still. She had tried to reassure him, but she didn't know him well enough to be sure if it was effective. She was sure he'd be alright by nightfall, however, so they would be able to get their task done later that evening. Kana, however, decided to make a mental note to watch over Nori more carefully for as long as they were teaming up. She wouldn't want another incident like that to happen again.

After Nori responded to Kohaku, she returned her attention to the conversation at hand. Kana made sure to scan the hallway for anyone who might be listening in on the coversation before speaking her part. "I'm for sneaking in as opposed to waiting in the building as well. I'm not sure if we'd be able to get permission for anything like that, though. If we need a way as far as sneaking in, if you don't already have a method in mind, I know a way we could get in through the windows or a door. With my ability I could unlock them through the outside, though it'd be easier if I look at where the lock is from the inside first." She didn't elaborate too much on what her ability was to them, not that she was trying to hide it. With her telekinetic ability, it was easy to turn levers or locks from outside of a room, though without knowing where it is before hand, she would have to try to guess it's location.

Kana wasn't too concerned as far as where they were to meet up. Anywhere would be about the same. "So once we decide on a meet up location, that should be it for then, right? There isn't much else to go over. Unless you have a specific place you would rather meet up, anywhere outside the school grounds is about the same, or maybe we should meet up somewhere outside the school grounds?"

It seemed the consensus of the group fell to sneaking into the school at night after everyone had finished up. It was not, by any means, an ideal option for someone who strictly followed the rules. But, for the sake of the mental well-being of others, she could not avoid stepping on some toes. At this rate, things would deform into a state that could not be recovered from and the administration was doing nothing to prevent that.

“In that case, it would be best to decide on the meet-up location after school. For now, let’s just share our numbers.” Kohaku picked her phone out of her skirt pocket and activated the infrared communication feature. As soon as the other two did the same, all of their numbers would be added to each others’ contacts. “We can call an hour before the actual meet-up time and decide on a location to meet. In the meantime, I can figure out how to disassemble the doll without damaging it.”

But, before the other two could pull up their phones to share contacts, another sound interrupted them.

“Ummm….” It was the girl in glasses who had been leaning onto the wall before. The bag she had been holding in her left hand was now sitting in her left elbow as both of her hands gripped onto the smartphone she was looking at. The fingers on the phone were aimlessly fidgeting so she was likely not doing anything in particular on it. “Get a grip, Nanami. You finally resolved yourself so just talk.” Upon closer inspection, she was also sweating. The poor girl was incredibly nervous. “Look, please avoid getting on those girls’ bad side again. If you do, things will end up…”

It was obvious to Kohaku that she was distraught, nervous, and trying to force herself to talk. “Nanami-san, was it? What’s wrong?” No introductions, no easing in. Kohaku just cut straight to the point. As always, the girl had the tact of a bulldozer.

“Please. Just stay away from those three! Otherwise, Eri will just…”

The group seemed to have decided on sneaking into the school after hours, now all that remained was picking a location to meet up. However, just as Nori started taking out his phone to share his number a girl with pink framed glasses approached them. It wasn't someone else coming to question why he had the entranceway doll was it? He didn't want to deal with another person like Eri. A look of minor frustration would appear on the masked villains face as he eyed the girl approaching the group with the Eri incident happening so recently he didn't have much patience left, if he even had any patience to begin with.

“Ummm….”
“Get a grip, Nanami. You finally resolved yourself so just talk.”

Kinoshita's expression would change quickly as he noticed how nervous the girl in front of them seemed to be. He had jumped to conclusions too quickly and there was no need to make Nanami anxious then she already was. It was a bit of an impulsive decision but he decided to use Atomic Restraint but this time his intentions were completely different from the incident before. The effect would barely be noticeable even by its target but he hoped by cooling Nanami down he could help quell her nerves.

“Look, please avoid getting on those girls’ bad side again. If you do, things will end up…”

It those girls causing the trouble again and Nori could feel his anger rising all over again. Yet he kept this anger hidden to avoid scaring Nanami before he could figure out what she was so panicked about.

“Nanami-san, was it? What’s wrong?”
“Please. Just stay away from those three! Otherwise, Eri will just…”
"Nanami, what will Eri do?"

Just as they were finalizing their plans, and sharing their contact info, a girl had begun to approach them. Seemingly one who was afraid to speak. After convincing herself, she simply warned them against upsetting Eri. She understood the intent could be either Nanami didn't want the group to make their own situation worse, or possibly, them upsetting Eri might negatively impact Nanami as well.

Kana left it to the other two for now, they were already inquiring about it, and there wasn't much else to ask, nor did she have a way to help calm her down. For the time being Kana would just try to observe and gauge the situation. It seemed unlikely this would help lead to anything of use for solving the doll incident, but they couldn't just walk away from the girl, after she was panicking like this either.

More importantly, would this lead to another confrontation with Eri? Given how Nori acted before, she would hope to avoid that. If it came down to it, she was already getting ready to stop Nori, if he wanted to head back into the class room.

Nanami stared into Kohaku’s eyes and then Kana’s. Then back into Nori’s eyes. They did not seem to be bad people in the slightest. They probably would understand her if she decided to open her mouth and talk. All she had to do was open her mouth and say the simple words ‘Please, help me escape Eri’.

All she had to do was simply say it and they would probably help her. Perhaps everything would finally come to an end.

There’s no guarantee that things will come to a clean end.

Her slow steps to crying for help ground to a halt as those words echoed through her head. Getting others involved would only cause more people to get hurt. In the end, Eri was a walking mass of concentrated malice. There was no telling what she could do. Blackmailing and extorting two for the safety of the other two, perhaps extorting her to push the bullying away from her onto someone else, and spreading malicious, false rumors were just three things that came to mind immediately and she was sure that whatever Eri could come up with would be far worse than those two basic acts of bullying.

And this girl named Kirihara Nanami would be responsible.

Responsible for pulling someone else into hell with her.

Was Nanami really willing to bear that kind of responsibility?

“She’ll only make things worse. Please, just don’t get involved with her any further.” She quickly squeezed out those words before clutching at her phone again and running into the classroom.

She can’t even say ‘help me’.

It was fairly evident that Nanami was likely a victim to Eri. The extent was something Kohaku could not fathom, but she was in pain. As the period was coming to an end, all she could do was simply try and think of what to do. At the very least, she was well aware of something happening that she could not let slide, but she was unaware of the details or how to resolve it.

“There’s got to be something.” Kohaku muttered before turning back to the others, holding out her phone to signal the others to share their contact information.

The girl named Nanami seemed to be hesitating, it was pretty obvious that something had her frighten and Nori was pretty sure he knew what or more accurately who she was afraid of. All the girl had to do was speak her mind and he was pretty sure that his group would take action. He already had a bone to pick with Eri and he was pretty sure Kohaku and Kana would get involved if Nanami told them Eri was bullying her. However, the words never came.

“She’ll only make things worse. Please, just don’t get involved with her any further.”

As he watched the girl run back into the classroom his hand clenched into a tight fist. Nanami was too afraid of her oppressor to even cry out for help and his wrath was only incited further by the fact that the person that was most likely bullying the girl was Eri. A moment later Kohaku turned around with her phone, signaling Nori and Kana to share there contacts. In response, Nori took out his phone, shared his contact, and made sure the contacts were shared to his phone

Putting his phone is his pocket he turned around and began walking back to the entranceway. It would only cause more trouble if he got approached again for holding the doll. "Just going to return this doll to its proper place. See you two again after school"

After observing the situation with the girl, nothing really came of it. A warning which didn't really mean much. Any of them could probably tell that the girl was being bullied, and Kana wasn't any different, but regardless of whether it was as it seemed, if she wouldn't even let them know, or try to resolve the situation, whether by letting them know, or asking for it, Kana had no intention of simply offering her any aid. It may seem a bit cruel, but if someone can't even try to help themself, then she wouldn't go out of her way to help them either.

Afterwards, the three finally got around to sharing their contact info, and Nori headed to return the doll back to the entrance way. Kana let a sigh of relief pass from her lips. Somehow this little ordeal ended up being more draining than expected, despite lasting so short a time. The little ordeal with Eri being the primary cause, but it didn't help that Nori had brought the doll with them. Hopefully when they met up later, they'd be able to discover something. She waved to Nori, as he walked off, and it was just Kohaku and herself for a moment, though it wouldn't last long.

"I'll see you later, Kira-san. Hopefully things will go a bit more smoothly then." And with that, Kana began to head back to her classroom, looking forward to when they would meet up later.

The sound of footsteps echoed as everyone else made their way out of the hallways. The rest of the group had left, leaving only Kohaku to ponder in the center. As she made her way back to her homeroom, letting her footsteps echo throughout the hallway, mixing in with the few teachers who were frantically running to their classrooms, she pulled out her phone and started writing down some notes, under memo she called “Facts”.

She did need to regroup all of the information that she had gained throughout the various incidents of the day in the end. Bullet point after bullet point, she jotted everything down into an organized set, erasing her previous notes bit-by-bit in favor of the new set.

As she sat down in classroom 2-A, she made a single note at the end of the memo.

Remember to call the doll manufacturer after school.

There were too many unknowns at the moment. The identity of the culprit was far too foggy. Unfortunately, the entrance of the homeroom teacher into the classroom meant only one thing. It was time for the current chapter of the investigation to come to a close.

As the last page of the chapter is being flipped, it is time to review the facts of the case.

Facts:

1. Since the beginning of the school year, a number of dolls have been showing up on the school grounds. They have appeared in numerous places, though the speed of propagation spiked in the last two weeks. 
   
2. Currently, dolls have appeared in all of the second year classrooms, the second years’ locker room for girls (though not the boys’), and in two of the third year classrooms. Two have appeared in 2-A and 2-C. The original doll appearance was also in 2-C. The dolls were most frequently placed in areas connected to 2-A and 2-C.
   
3.  The doll in the locker room and the old one from 2-C were broken by the Student Council. No evidence of cameras were found. Though, the dolls were smashed so any evidence might have been destroyed or overlooked.
   
4. The dolls all came from a popular shop in the School Garden that does custom orders. Unfortunately, the money trail was cold. Likely, customer confidentiality played a role even if the student council refuses to admit it.
   
5. The dolls were kept generally out of sight and inconspicuous so as to not be intrusive, though the feeling of a creepy object watching can still be intrusive.
   
6. All visual evidence such as security cameras had missing data. Though, the possibility of ambushing the culprit in person stands.
   
7. The entranceway doll was placed in the table closest to the main hallway.
   
8. It might be a good idea to dismantle the doll. Probably.
   
9. The culprit will likely return to the dolls so it’s best to give the illusion that it was not damaged.
   
10. Eri and her group are far from pleasant.
    
11. Nanami is likely being bullied by Eri.
    

---

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

Beneath the voice of the teacher, my index finger rhythmically percusses against the table. I can’t say I enjoy this situation one bit. It’s not like it’s been the first time some people decide to team up and become amateur investigators for the sake of scoping me out. Every time someone has decided to play detective, it usually ended in frustration, loss of interest, or both.

The current group will probably end up the same.

So, they’re of minimal concern at best.

The problem remains that amping up the doll appearance frequency didn’t produce the effect I was hoping for. Should I cut down and remove the consistency or should I bring and replace even more…

Mmmm…

What should I do?

---

Chapter 2: Moonlight Through The Window. Refract_And_Split.

A clear, starless, yet cloudless night had fallen over Academy City. Kohaku, having switched out of her regular Nagatenjouki uniform into something more casual, made her way over to the rendezvous point that the three of them had decided on in the phone call.

She had run into some trouble along the way. An occasional falling flower pot. The feeling that she was being watched. No matter how much it happened, she could not figure out what was going on around her.

I have to get to the bottom of this at some point.

But, for now, such was likely irrelevant. It was some of those weird things that compounded with strange phone calls and e-mails she would receive every so often. At the very least, all of those incidents had happened in the middle of her path and had stopped at least fifteen minutes prior.

The rendezvous point was simply an intersection about a block away from the school. Due to District 18’s restrictive nature, it was unlikely that they would be found trying to enter the school this late, so there was no harm in meeting up close to the actual target.

Since she had taken the time to procure the information about the dolls she had promised, all that was left was to wait for the other two to show up.

Only a fool wouldn't notice the looks directed at Nori as he made his way down the hall to put the doll back. Taking the doll with him probably wasn't the best idea. Not only had they gained nothing from comparing the dolls, it also led to a conflict with Eri's group and suspicion from other students. At this point, he just wanted to find the culprit, get his revenge, and get on with his life. Ahead of him he could see the table that the doll had been originally positioned on. The location still seemed suspicious to him but anymore investigation would have to wait till later. When he came with in a few feet of the table he tossed the doll on to it with just enough effort to make sure it didn't break on impact. Then quickly turned around and headed towards his next class.

---

Nori had shown up to the intersection early, he had changed out of his school uniform and was wearing his usual blue track suit. His red eye mask was still on as always and he was wearing a pair of black gloves. What the normal observer wouldn't notice was that he had a baseball hidden in the inside pocket of his jacket. He patiently waited for the other two to show up while leaning on a wall near the intersection. Hopefully, Kohaku had figured out how to dismantle the dolls so that they could finally take a look inside dolls, which at this point seemed to be their only lead. In the distance, he could see someone's silhouette approaching and began waving at them.