Cousins

The next day, Alice decided to approach Belle, since her curiosity was killing her. While Belle was walking through the hallway, Alice walked in front of her, startling her.

"Eek!... What do you want?"

"I want to know why you hate me so much."

Belle's face seemed to contort in rage. She seemed furious at Alice's confusion.

"You killed my cousin!" Belle yelled at her.

"I don't even know who your cousin is."

"... It's Seiko, you bitch."

Alice's eyes widened as she realized who she was talking about. She looked down at the floor, remembering the girl who would always follow her back in high school.

"B-But I didn't kill her. Sensei did."

"YOU FUCKING IDIOT! An anomaly dies once they were created! Killing them after is just a sign of mercy!"

Alice called back to one of her lessons with Yoshi over the summer. He said the same thing Belle was saying. He talked about how anomalies die at birth, they're in constant pain while they exist, and killing them is a sign of mercy.

"BUT YOU CREATED HER! It's your fault!"

"..."

Alice had nothing to say. It was her fault, she couldn't deny that. But at the same time she didn't know this would be the result, nor was it guaranteed that Seiko would even become an anomaly. And it was even less of a chance that Seiko would even pursue Alice. It was a 0.005% chance, and she just got unlucky. But Belle still blamed her for it.

"What exactly do you want to do to me?" asked Alice.

Belle moved her skirt to the side, revealing her pistol on her hip. She grabbed it and put it at Alice's temple.

"Isn't it obvious?"

The two stared dead in the eyes of each other. Alice contemplated Belle's decision, but it made sense. Even if Belle killed her right here in the middle of school, no one would really care. The higher-ups and most people in the academy by extension wanted her dead. She could control her power to an extent, but she still was like a domesticated lion in a human home. They couldn't say she'd stay safe forever.

Belle pulled back on the trigger, but before the bullet came out, Alice knocked the pistol away, making the bullet go through the roof. Bell fired two more shots at Alice's head, which nicked her cheek. Before Belle could shoot another round, Alice chopped her wrist, making her drop the gun. She grabbed Belle's leg with hers and threw her to the ground.

She extended her hand, placing it on Belle's stomach while she was on the ground. She pinned Belle down and sat on her lap.

"One move... one word, and I activate my powers. I'm strong enough to where even if my death mist doesn't kill you, it will make you unable to function for years."

"You wouldn't..."

"There's no one around for me to worry about killing. Just you and me... Let's talk. What good will killing me do?"

"Is that even a question? Closure!"

"Closure for what? A death that I didn't even know was possible..."

"You don't understand... me, her twin sister, her parents, all of us have been suffering because of the actions you made! I don't care if you didn't know! You still killed her!"

"I didn't. She took her own life. We don't even know if it was because of me or not."

"Then why did she gun after you when she died?!... Why..."

"I know how you feel."

"Shut the fuck up! YOU KNOW NOTHING!"

"I do. You feel pain and you need to take that out on something. The death of a loved one is never an easy thing to process... great, now I sound like an anime protagonist."

Alice got off of Belle and offered her a hand up, but Belle smacked her hand away. She looked into one of the windows and saw the spirit of her father.

"Remember my child, do to others what you want done to yourself."

Alice blinked and her father vanished. She held her head up in exhaustion. "I need sleep."

Belle locked herself in her room for the next few days. She was on her knees on her bed. She was looking down a a photo of her, Seiko, and Seiko's twin sister when they were little kids. She looked at the photo and sobbed, wiping tears from her eyes. The spirit of Seiko appeared in front of her on her bed.

"You know it's not her fault, right?" said Seiko's ghost.

"B-But... you're still dead and..." tears began to fall down Belle's face. "It's not fair! Why did you..."

"Please don't blame her, Belle. You should blame me if anything for taking my own life."

"P-Please, Seiko... don't leave me!"

Suddenly, someone knocked on her door. Belle got up to answer it and when she opened the door, she saw Alice. Seiko's spirit vanished before Alice could see her.

"What do you want?"

"Can we talk... please..."

"Why would I ever talk to you, murderer?"

"..."

"... Fine, come in."

Belle let Alice enter her room. She forced Alice to stand in the middle as she sat on her bed.

"What the hell did you want?" Belle asked harshly.

"I... wanted to say sorry... for Seiko's death."

"You think an apology is gonna be enough?"

"..."

"I lost my best friend... and she got turned into an anomaly because of you... You don't understand how much that hurts. No amount of apologies are gonna bring her back."

Suddenly, the two got a message on their phones. It was a message from Taiyo to meet them at a high school 20 kilometers away.