Chapter 36: game over two point O

Nori woke up in the middle of the night having a nightmare. She went out of her bed to go to the kitchen to drink water. While walking down the stairs, she heard noises coming from there that makes her slow down. She tried to be quiet as much as possible. Slowly, she opened the door, letting her one eye to see what is happening. Her whole body stiffened on what she just witnessed. "He…he's the killer", she uttered to herself with Goosebumps running inside her. The two cooks of the house is burning alive in the kitchen like they are just an animal butchering for dinner. She was about to go back upstairs when she turned around, he is already in front of her. "Did you see?" "I…I…don't see…a…anything" Suddenly, one of the room upstairs exploded. "Oh, the time finishes early as expected. See yah", he said waving his hands looking at her while running with a smile on his face. "Why!...Why are you doing this?" He stopped for a moment to face her. "Why? I didn't think of a reason. Why am I doing this? I don't have a particular reason, I just want all of you dead" "You are not a human, you are a devil. You should rot in hell!" He walks closely to her. "I'm sorry darling but hell is closed…because all the devil is here", he whispered.

Everyone is pushing each other going down the stairs in panic. Because of the too much crowd walking down, Akio has been pushed and fall to the stairs. Alliya ran down the stairs first, she saw Nori in front of the kitchen. There's no blood or any scratches in her body so Alliya thinks that Nori might be still alive. She's shaking Nori's body and shouting her name when the teacher came. "No…Nori is not responding". Said Alliya to the teacher with tears on her eyes. The teacher move closer to check on Nori's pulse. "It's too late, she's dead" As the students began to gather around. "Akio has fall in the stairs, how is she?" asked the teacher. "I…I'm sorry but Akio is…dead" "How about Nori?" "Nori is also dead", answered Alliya. "And also them", answered Fuyumi holding the door knob of the door in the kitchen showing them the burned body of the two cooks. "Who's not yet in here", asked the teacher. "Check your roommates if they are here", he added. "Ruqa is not yet in here!", Izumi shouted from the back, the only roommate of Ruqa. "She's a sleepyhead, she must be still sleeping in our room after that explosion", she added. "I'll go and get her. All of you, go outside of the house right now and please no pushing", said the teacher as her ran upstairs.

"The explosion starts in the room where Sana and the others are staying" "Who did the explosion and why Sana?" "No one knows the answer!" "Who is with Sana in that room?" "Asa and Nori" "Suki too" There's a one percent that they are still alive but it is impossible, all the fire around and they are near to the incident, their body must be burned into pieces right now"

"Uh…", Sana went out of the building with some burns in the part of her body. They immediately helped her. "I was in the bathroom when I heard the explosion" "So that is why you are the only one alive" "The explosion starts in your room. Maybe Asa and Suki…can't make it alive" "How about Nori?" "We found her dead body in front of the kitchen"

"The teacher is taking so long to get Ruqa" The sun began to rise and most of them fall asleep as the fire is slowing down. "It is already morning and teacher and Ruqa is not yet here" "They must be…they must be…dead" "Teacher will gonna make it!" "We should've helped to stop the fire last night" "If Suki is dead then…she's not the killer" "Even the cooks, they are not the killer" "So someone among us gathered in here is the real murderer" "Who is not in here!" "Just Ruqa and the teacher!" "What if Ruqa is really the killer. What if she's just faking her sleep last night and start the explosion? What if she already killed the teacher and hiding somewhere else planning on how will she get us all" "Izumi, you're her roommate, right? Are you sure that she was the one sleeping in her bed when you leave?" "You should've waked her up" "I was in too much panic okay. I can't think rightly on that time, all I know is I have to out of the house so I didn't know if Ruqa is the one in her bed" "That's it, Ruqa is the killer" "Wait, we shouldn't give conclusions already. We don't know anything yet" "So what do you want us to do? Wait here until Ruqa will get us all?" "Instead of arguing. I know that our minds are full of lot of things right now and a lot of questions. Who is the killer? Why he or she is doing this to us? Why don't we move our feet to go seek for help" "Seek for help?! How are we going to do that? This is the only house in this place, surround it already a forest and mountains" "It will take an hour and half to walk on the high way" "Then we should start moving" "We should do that, let us stick together and call for help. Anyone out there might be willing to help us"

As decided, the class start to move and walk on the high way. They followed the one-way rocky road where the bus entered on their first day. "I'm tired, can we take a break first", complained one of their classmate as she seat on the roots of a large tree. They began to look for something where they can sit on or lean their back to rest. Benjiro excused himself to urinate. He went a few meters away where the class as when he feels that someone is at his back. "Oh, you are going to urinate too?", he asked. The guy didn't answer and went beside him. "We will go on the high way for help then this will be over, everything will go back to normal", Benjiro said as he opened the zipper of his pants.

After a couple of minutes, the class started to move again. They were already near the high way when Fuyumi noticed that Benjiro is not yet joining their group from the time he excused himself to urinate. She whispered to Kazumi about it. "Someone is missing in our group!", he announced that stops everyone from walking and turn their heads to him. "Before we leave the house, I counted that there are sixteen of us are the only remaining but after we take a break, we are now only fifteen", he added. "Benjiro must be looking for us now, we left while he was still urinating", Hitoshi said. "How did you know that Bnejiro is the one missing in our class, we didn't say who it is", said Kazumi. Now all their eyes are turned to Hitoshi. Norman and Kota ran back to get Benjiro while the others are left judging Hitoshi with their own eyes. "Come to think of it, you were also gone the time Benjiro separate himself from us" "I went to check if there are signals already" "Signals? But we don't have our phones with us" "Teacher asked me to get our phones when Chiasa and Bashira died. We are supposed to contact people from outside but this place has no signal" "Then you should give our phone back and not just yours" "Then go and get your phone on that house. I hope it is not yet burned" "Tsk…"

Norman and Kota went back afterwards "Benjiro is gone, he already left us" said Norman

"What?! Did he went on a separate way? The killer might get him?" "Stupid, he's already dead" "Can you explained to us what is happening, Hitoshi" "I don't have nothing to do with Benjiro's death, wait. Are you giving me the blame just because I know that it Benjiro who is missing?" "Then how did you know?" "A…wild guess…I think" "Do you expect us to believe that? C'mon Fuyumi, we should go", said Kazumi as he grab Fuyumi's hand and walked away. Fuyumi let Kazumi drag her away while looking Hitoshi with her pity eyes. Hitoshi flashed a weak smile of Fuyumi and wave his hand to her as a goodbye. "You should be thankful that we don't think like you. We won't kill you this time because we don't want to end up a murderer like you but, if you will come to get us again then we won't hesitate already to end your life" They all turned their back to him and leave him.

The sun is beginning to set and yet, they are still waiting a car to stop for them. Well, no one dare to give them a lift, they are too many, and one small family car is not enough to carry them all. It was already passed six already and the wind are starting to get cold when a truck stopped in front of them. It gave them a bit shock when they learned that a girl in her late twenties is the one driving that truck. It is unusual for a woman, especially in her age in driving this kind of a car. She was wearing a striped violet and white shirt that really matches her looks with her brown hair that is loose until to her shoulder. Her bangs are covering her sky blue eyes a little. She has silver dangling earrings on her ear and a small silver ring on her middle finger on her right hand. Matching her stripes shirt is a denim tattered pants that is folded with and a black sneakers. She smiled at them that makes the boys blushed a bit. "It is not good for a handsome and beautiful young people like you to be in this kind of place this time", she said as she flashed a smile with her eyes closed. "Handsome, did she says I'm handsome", says Yamato to Daichi while holding his face with his both hands that are still pinkish. "C'mon I'll give you a ride but I am afraid that I can't take you to the town this time of the night. The road are still in construction so it will be hard for us to travel especially that it is dark. If you want, I will let you stay first at my house for tonight and I will bring you to the town tomorrow. Don't worry I am living alone and I am not a bad person, I won't harm you" 'Guys, what are you waiting for, we should get in. we are waiting her for how many hours and now an angel came, we shouldn't let it pass or else you want to sleep in here", said Yamato to everyone then he faced the woman again with a smile and a pinkish face. He's trying to be cute when he asked, "What was your name our angel" with hearts around him. "Ni…Nina" "Oh Nina, what a beautiful name just like your face. You are like an angel brought from above to save us in this situation we are in. won't you mind if I will sit beside you?" "Ah…sure" Yamato opened the door and make himself comfortable. "C'mon guys, hop on", he called to his classmates. "I don't think we can trust that woman", Fuyumi whispered to Kazumi. "I know but it is much better than spending the night beside the road" Then everyone hopped in.

"So what are you doing beside that road, it seems that you are all in the same age. Are you classmates?" "Yes we are all sophomore students at—" Yamato didn't finish what he was saying when Nina suddenly stepped on a brake. "I'm sorry, there was a cat on a road" "It's okay, which happened often" "So… you are camping?" "We are on a field trip" "Oh then why do you end up like that and it seems that you're population are not that as many as a class and you should have a teacher or two with you, and a service" "That is the problem here. We start in thirty one students down to fourteen. My classmates are dying one by one and even the teacher. The cooks and the care taker where we should stay during our field trip is also dead until we found out that the killer is one of our classmates. Field trips are supposed to be fun and not a worst nightmare" "Where are your service?" "The bus we rode will not pick us up for five days because that is what our teacher told to the driver" "That was too bad. You are too young to experience things like that" Nina pet Yamato's head while her other hand is on the wheel. Yamato's face blushed again.

"Okay everyone, this is my house. It is not that big but I would like all of you to feel at home and don't hesitate to asked me if you need something. Nina's house was a small bungalow with a small chimney, two bedrooms, and a bathroom outside the house. There were lot of firewood on the entrance and a small garden of vegetables on the backyard. A brown dog barks at them as they entered the house and look around the place. "Fluffy, they are visitors, behave", Nina said as she pat the dog's head a little then enter. "Your dog's name is Fluffy?" "Hmm… cute right" "Your house is kinda—" "Cool. It is cool for a girl like you to live on a house like this. At first look, it seems that a man is the one living in here but who would think that a lady like you is the one staying in here" "What do you do?" "As you see in my backyard, I plant vegetables and sell them on the market. I just had deliver my last harvest of cabbage when I saw you beside the road" Nina let them look around the place more and went to the kitchen to prepare dinner for them.

"Nina, where are your family", asked Fuyumi to her while Nina is cooking in the kitchen. "Uhm, I am the only daughter of my parents. My mother died when I was five due to an illness" "Oh I'm sorry" "It's okay, I already get over it. My father is…married to another woman" "Then why don't you live with them?" "Yeah I was supposed to. I lived with them until I was in high school. They began to form a family on their own and I feel like an outsider when I am with them and I also don't get along with my step-mom a lot and to the kids especially when dad is at work. So I decided to live alone and here I am. I am so proud of myself now that I never thought that I can stand with my own two feet and live alone but look at me now. I can do whatever I want, no judgment and I'm even making my own money" "I am so proud of you Nina. I wish that I also had a courage like that" "Why not, there's no harm if you want to try. At first, you might find it hard but as the time goes by. You will get used to it until you realized that you are already can stand on your own" "Thank you Nina, I will keep that in mind" "How about a husband or a boyfriend. I think you are already on that age to have one" "I didn't think of that but now…I don't have someone special to me yet but I know that time will come that I will fall in love and get married" "When that time come, don't forget to invite us okay" "Sure, you'll be my special guests but promise me also that you will invite me when you get married" "That was still so far" Then the two ladies laugh.

"Fuyumi, aren't you hurt that Hitoshi was the one behind of all this?", asked Izumi to her while they are fixing the beddings in one of the rooms while the boys will stay to the other. "We still didn't know if he was the real culprit. Hitoshi is not that kind of person" "How would you know? He just transferred to our school. Maybe you are just taking his side because you are dating" "What?!! Hitoshi and Fuyumi are dating?!" "They just began dating and it is too sad that we found out that the person you like is the reason why we are suffering right now" "Hitoshi is innocent", Fuyumi began to raise her voice to her classmates. "Maybe you know that he is the killer and you just hid it to us because you are blinded by him" "Don't talk like you already know Hitoshi" "Awww….I'm so touched the way you go in to his side even he is the bad guy" "He is not the bad guy!" "Then how will you explained what just happened" "It…it…it was just…" "See! You can't even think of a good reason. Even a genius like you become dumb when it comes to the person they like" "No! It's not like that. Yes, maybe I didn't know him that well but one thing is sure. Hitoshi will never do that" "Then, maybe you are the one doing this" "Shut up! It is not Fuyumi's fault. She just dragged into this", Nakumi said. "Oh, so you are taking her side now" "Bring it on witch" "What did you just say?" They were about to fight when the door of the room opened. "It is already late at night. All of you must be tired and exhausted, you should take some rest. And no fighting", Nina said.

"You can't sleep also?", Fuyumi startled a little when someone suddenly talked at her back. Kazumi sit beside her and they both gaze at the stars in the cold night. "Are you sure that we are just going to leave Hitoshi there? We still don't know if he really is the real murderer" "I'm sorry", Kazumi bow and play the small rocks in front of him. "Huh?! Why are you apologizing?" "I'm sorry because I didn't protect you from him" "Kazumi, I didn't asked for your protection in the first place and Hitoshi never hurt me" "I already warned you countless times that he is a bad guy but I let you draw closer to him. I should have taken you away from him so things are not hard now. If I just…if I just" Slowly, Fuyumi hugged Kazumi from his side. "It is not your fault. It is my choice and if ever I will turn back the time I will still chose the same because I am happy that I met you guys and I never regret anything about it" "I feel that I am just dragging you into our mess. You should have enjoying your life right now, going on shopping, eating with your friends, studying at the library or going on dates but here you are, sitting right beside me carrying the same burden" "Kazumi as I said since from the start, it is not your fault it will never be. I will still stay by your side whatever happens and if Hitoshi is really guilty then we have nothing to do with it"

"Oh, you already woke up? It is still early, you should get some more rest. I will wake you up when the breakfast is ready" "No, Nina I'm fine. I already get enough sleep. I will help you in preparing for breakfast" "Thank you then, what was your name again?" "Daichi" "Daichi, thank you for giving me a hand" "Anything for you Nina. You are still beautiful even in the morning" "Oh don't flatter me, I didn't fixed myself yet"