Chapter 56: Nightmare

In a restroom at the corner of the hall, she noticed a window without glass. If she was careful, she might be able to crawl out. With this thought, Aiko entered the room. Since there was no light, she had to feel her way around, hoping to find something to step on.

Time was running out. Those two would be back soon, and Aiko was feeling both anxious and nervous. She stopped looking for something to step on and, with a sudden leap, managed to grab hold of the window ledge.

Feeling a surge of hope, she braced her feet against the tiled wall, trying to push herself up. Just as she was about to exhaust her strength, her foot hit something. Without thinking, she pushed off it to help her climb.

"Need some help?" As a voice sounded, she suddenly felt cold hands gripping her ankles tightly...

Aiko screamed, looking back to see a shadowy figure standing below her. Although it was too dark to see his face, she had a feeling he was smiling.

Terrified, she kicked her legs wildly, trying to shake him off, but the man's hand held her tightly.

"So tempting... I can hardly resist," he muttered in a hoarse voice, breathing heavily as he caressed her foot with his cold hand.

"Toyokawa Mito, you bastard, come out here!" Aiko shuddered from his icy touch. She would rather face Mito than let this disgusting man continue touching her.

Aiko shouted, but Mito didn't appear. Her hands were starting to slip.

Then the man laughed. "Toyokawa, she's calling for you. Aren't you going to answer? How rude."

No one replied.

Just as Aiko was about to lose her grip, the man suddenly let go of her feet. Freed, she quickly jumped down, spinning to charge at him and knocking him aside.

Seizing her chance, she ran out toward the hall. She expected to see Mito there, but the hall was empty. Acting on instinct, she bolted for the door.

Just two steps from the door, joy surged within her—if she could just get out, she could outrun them. After all, she was the best in her class at sports.

But then, she realized she couldn't move.

Like last time, her entire body, except her head, was paralyzed.

Horror engulfed her again as she found herself immobilized.

Then a figure slowly walked over from the restroom, stopping in front of her.

In the dim light, Aiko saw his face and, for a moment, forgot her fear, instead seething with anger. "Mito, you bastard, why did you kidnap me?"

Mito gazed at her, then suddenly laughed. "I'm sorry, I'm not Toyokawa."

It was that same hoarse voice.

"Who... who are you?" Aiko could barely speak, recognizing this was the same man who had grabbed her ankles earlier. But why did he look exactly like Mito?

"You can call me Hisanaga." The man calling himself Hisanaga looked at her with a predatory gaze.

Under that look, Aiko felt utterly exposed.

"I don't care who you are! Get that jerk Mito here; I have something to settle with him." Aiko turned her face away, trying to escape his gaze.

Hisanaga chuckled. "Toyokawa, she's calling for you again. Aren't you going to come out? You're going to miss all the fun."

After a few seconds, finally, someone spoke. "Why are you forcing me out? I didn't want her to see me like this."

Hearing Mito's voice, Aiko flared up, looking in the direction of his voice, but she couldn't see him.

As she searched, Hisanaga spoke again. "Aiko, I'm here."

"You... you're Mito?" Aiko was stunned. After a moment, realization dawned. "So it was you doing all this! What did you do to me?" She noticed she still couldn't move.

"Don't you understand yet? I'm both Toyokawa and Hisanaga, though strictly speaking, Toyokawa and Hisanaga aren't the same person," Mito's voice turned hoarse again, his face shifting into a sinister smile.

As he spoke, the light dimmed, then brightened, flickering repeatedly.

"Stop it! I've seen through your tricks," Aiko shouted, her voice trembling.

"Aiko, he's telling the truth. He's Hisanaga; I'm Toyokawa. Why do you treat me like this? If you'd only accepted my feelings, none of this would have happened," Mito, in his usual tone, gently stroked Aiko's pale face.

"Don't touch me! You monster!" Aiko screamed.

"You... you called me a monster?" Toyokawa's whole body shook, his form contorting with rage.

Seeing this, Aiko knew she was dealing with a true madman.

Suddenly, Toyokawa lunged forward, wrapping his hands around her neck. Before she could react, she felt his hands tighten.

"You wretched girl! How dare you insult me! I'll make you regret it a thousand times." His voice turned hoarse as his eyes gleamed blood-red, his face twisted in a look of pure malice.

"Let... me... go..." Paralyzed, Aiko pleaded weakly.

"Wretched girl, I won't kill you—I'll make you suffer slowly." Hisanaga released her neck, grabbing her chin instead to force her head up.

"No... please, let me go..." Aiko gasped, desperately trying to breathe.

Hisanaga sneered, beginning to undo the buttons of her pajamas.

"No, stop..." Aiko started crying.

"You should feel honored that I'm even interested in you." Losing patience after undoing just one button, Hisanaga tore her pajama top open, exposing her in just her shorts.

"Look at you—such a filthy girl but with such a fine body," Hisanaga's eyes filled with lust as he reached out to touch her bare skin.

Though she had never touched a corpse, at this moment, Aiko felt his hands were as cold as a dead body's. The icy, revolting feeling made her entire body shiver with disgust.

"Stop it, I said stop!" Aiko cried out, sobbing.

Just then, Hisanaga actually stopped.

Thinking Toyokawa's other personality had intervened, she looked up, only to see him staring toward the doorway with a strange expression.

"I don't care who you are, but leave now before I lose my patience." Still in that hoarse voice, Hisanaga addressed someone in front of him.