Seio Gakuen Class 5-2

The sound of the key turning made Koyuki jump away from me.

"Nee-san. Are you already home?" A young boy's voice could be heard from beyond the door.

We scrambled hastily to get away from each other. The door opened and a young boy entered the house. He had brown hair with equally dark eyes and he had a plump build. He was wearing a light blue collared shirt with short sleeves. He also wore a pair of baggy jeans and sneakers. He was probably around ten years old. His eyes widened when he saw Koyuki and I standing in front of the door.

"Ah. Hi, Katsuo. I thought you are at your friend's home today." Koyuki said nervously and she hurriedly tried to cover up her embarrassment.

"Oh, that's right. I come back to grab my phone. I left it in my room. I think." Katsuo said as he scratched his head. He then looked at Koyuki and then me with a puzzled expression on his face.

"Nee-san, who is that person?" he asked curiously.

"Why don't you say hello to Kamiya-san, Katsuo?" said Koyuki with a nervous laugh.

"Who is he? Is he your boyfriend?" Katsuo said with excitement on his face.

"No, he's not," Koyuki answered with a serious face.

Ouch.

"He, he. You don't have to hide it from me, Nee-san," Katsuo said as he smiled mischievously,"Don't worry. I won't tell Mom that you're seeing someone!"

Koyuki blushed bright red. Her cheeks became as red as tomatoes.

"Just pretend you don't see me," Katsuo laughed as he ran inside.

Koyuki said sheepishly, "Don't worry about Katsuo. He's a good kid."

"Yeah. I can see you two are quite close to each other," I replied with a chuckle. "Guess I better get going."

I took one last look at Koyuki before heading to the door.

"Wait, Kouichi-kun. May I have your number?," Koyuki said as she held out her cell phone.

"Sure," I replied as I took the cell phone from her and inputted my number into the contacts.

"Here you go. See you later." I returned her cell phone before I headed for the door.

"Bye, Kouichi-kun." Koyuki waved goodbye and watched after me until I was out of sight. She then closed the door behind me.

As I was walking down the corridor, I could hear Koyuki talking to her little brother. A little smile passed over my face.

***

It was still raining outside and the raindrops pelted hard against the ground. The pitter patter of the rain drops echoed in the streets and buildings. Several people, who I assumed were the occupants of the apartment building, were hurrying inside. They were probably rushing back to their homes to avoid getting drenched by the heavy downpour. It seemed that the rain was getting stronger than before. The sky darkened further and the sound of thunder could be heard in the distance.

I could see the lights of the houses getting dimmer and the streets gradually becoming darker. It was late in the evening, around 9pm. I brought out my umbrella and started heading back home. I noticed a shadow of a person sitting down on the bench near the front gate. The person was wearing a hoodie and was covered by a black raincoat. I could not make out his facial features because of his hood but he had a strong build. The figure seemed familiar but I couldn't place him.

After a while, the person stood up and started heading away.

Who was he? Could he possibly be Koyuki's stalker? Did he follow us all the way here and wait?

I got a bad feeling and wanted to follow him but the rain had gotten heavier so I decided to turn back.

I walked past several people who were rushing home from work or school. Some were holding umbrellas to protect themselves from the rain. Others were just letting it all hang out. They were either laughing loudly as they chatted with their friends, or were busy texting or chatting on their phones.

It could be anybody, not necessarily the stalker. Maybe I was just being paranoid. With these thoughts in my mind, I arrived at the bus stop and rode the bus back home.

***

Seio Gakuen. Class 5-2.

It was Monday, two days after the incident at Koyuki's house. I already received the link to Noboru Minoru 'Guropeji' video from Kyougo. When asked about the misplaced link, he explained that it was a different link he got from a friend. He accidentally mixed it up with Noboru Minoru video. After I got the link, I subsequently sent it to Detective Inspector Saito. He confirmed that it was indeed the video of Noboru Minoru and thanked me for sending it. He then informed me that they would investigate the matter. I also informed him about Koyuki's predicament with the stalker. He promised that they would investigate that as well.

In front of the class, our science teacher, Mr. Hayashi, was giving a lecture on DNA. He then proceeded to show a few slides showing the structure and function of the DNA. He then moved onto how a virus replicates itself within a host cell and infects its target. Finally, he showed a slide showing how a gene could mutate and lead to cancerous cells growing uncontrollably.

When I looked around, there were few students paying attention to him. Most of them were playing games on their smartphones. There were some girls who were whispering to each other and giggling about something. I guess biology wasn't everyone's favorite subject. When I turned over my shoulder to look behind, Kyougo was looking down at his cellphone screen. He must have been playing a game on his phone. As always, Kyougo Aramaki was doing whatever he pleased without any regard to anyone else.

The bell rang signalling the end of the class. The class broke into a ruckus and rushed towards the door. The noise of the classroom grew louder as everyone made their way out. Some of my classmates started gathering around in a corner, chatting animatedly about something. Kyougo Aramaki sat in his usual spot in the back row and continued to play with his smartphone. His eyes remained fixed on his phone as if he was hypnotized. The girl beside him was whispering something in his ear and he nodded his head repeatedly. It was Haruka Uchida. She was wearing her hair in pigtails; the same hairstyle she always had. She was a quiet girl but she was usually very friendly and easy-going. Kyougo glanced up briefly and smiled at the girl before turning his gaze back on his phone again.

I was just about to leave the class when I heard a mention of 'Guropeji' from the corner of the room. Did I just hear they said 'Guropeji'? That can't be right... I thought to myself as I approached them.

"Oh yeah, you guys go to the website too? What did you think?" one of the guys with a crooked nose said in a low voice.

"Yeah, it was really sick!" another guy with spiky hair added.

"What video did you watch?" the crooked nose asked the spiky hairy guy.

"It was of a girl being r*ped and stabbed to death." The spiky haired guy answered with a sinister tone. "It was a bloodbath I told you.."

"Wait 'til you hear what I saw! This video had a guy being boiled alive inside an iron cauldron. Brutal." said the first guy again, smirking.

"No thanks," one of the girls with curly hair replied nervously. "We don't want to know that kind of stuff..."

"Sickos, why would you even watch that kind of video anyway?," the second girl with short hair said. "It's so cruel."

"You don't understand," the spiky haired one replied as he gave them a wink, "That's why it's so fun to watch!"

He then proceeded to describe his experience watching the video as if he were talking about a movie. I could see from their faces that they were completely grossed out by it. The two girls shook their heads as they tried to pretend they didn't care.

"Well, I doubt they are real anyway," the third girl, with straight black hair replied as she shrugged her shoulders. "People are probably faking it."

"Hey, come on, it isn't fake! I can tell that much for sure." The guy with the crooked nose replied as he rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"But that's just unbelievable." The third girl said, shaking her head vigorously. "How could someone do that to a person? I refuse to believe they are real. They must be staged."

"Now you guys get me curious," the third guy with round face said. "Show me the video. I want to see that for myself."

"Here? In school?" The curly haired girl protested. "Are you crazy?"

"Come on, it will be fun!" The spiky haired guy grinned widely.

"I'm not going near that web page. Not today and not ever." The curly haired girl shook her head and left hurriedly.

"So, what about you two?" The crooked nose asked the remaining two girls, "It was 'fake' anyway, right?"

The two girls looked at each other for a moment before the black hair girl finally answered, "Sure, why not?" as if in defiance of the guys.

Because they spoke in low volume, other than me who stood in their vicinity, no one else seemed to notice their conversation. Everyone else who were still around were engrossed in their own conversations or busy texting and chatting. A few people were reading books or magazines while others were playing games on their phones.

"Ha-ha, very nice. You're all welcome. Come on, let's head to the lab. It's better with bigger screen," the crooked nose guy said and started to led them away.

Are they really going to watch this kind of thing here in school? It was almost unbelievable. I wondered how many students were aware of it but were afraid of admitting it out loud. I pitied the girls. They were in for a rude awakening.

Halfway to the door, the spiked guy suddenly stopped and turned around, "Kamiya, are you coming or not? I know you were listening to our conversation just now," He looked at me with a smirk.

Here was the guy who always teased me about being a nerd. The type of person who likes to bully people around him. The type who bat an eyelid when being asked to vote or request for the next gore videos. In short: an obnoxious jerk.

Still, there was one thing I must confirm. I needed to see the voting list, whether the list of people there was the same as the one on Noboru Minoru's video. If they were different, I could then relay the list to Detective Saito so the police could put them under surveillance in addition to the first batch.

With that in mind, I followed after them.