Chapter 4: The Disapearance Before Exams

The classroom buzzed with frantic whispers as students stared at the whiteboard, the eerie message looming over us like a storm cloud.

"Let's play hide and seek. Find ThE StUdEnT before today and no police or else.."

The handwriting was terrible—almost unhinged. Some letters were capitalized at random, others slanted wildly as if written by an unstable hand. The marker ink smudged in places, as if someone had hesitated mid-sentence, pressing too hard before continuing.

A chilling thought crept into my mind.

Whoever wrote this… was in the school.

And they wanted us to play along.

The Moment of Realization

The teacher, still pale, clutched the attendance sheet. "Who's missing?" Her voice shook slightly.

One by one, students murmured their names as she ticked them off the list.

Another teacher rushed in our class with a terrified look.

Silence.

Then, in a voice barely above a whisper, she said, "Hina Sakato."

A ripple of shock went through the room.

Hina Sakamoto. A quiet second-year student. No one really knew much about her—she wasn't particularly popular or infamous. She wasn't in any clubs. She had no enemies, no ex-boyfriends with grudges, no teachers who would single her out.

And yet, she was the one who had vanished.

"Has anyone seen her since yesterday?" the teacher asked, looking around frantically.

More silence.

A student near the front spoke up. "I think… I saw her in the hallway after school. She looked fine.

She was just packing up."

"Was she acting weird?"

"No… I don't think so."

Another student hesitated before saying, "She lives alone, right? In that small apartment near the train station?"

Whispers spread again. Hina's parents worked overseas, and she'd been living alone for a while. If she'd been taken from her home, no one would have noticed until today.

The idea of someone lurking near her apartment, waiting for the perfect moment to strike, sent a shiver down my spine.

Fear and Denial

"This has to be a joke," a guy from the back said, forcing a laugh. "Right? Maybe she's just skipping school and messing with us."

No one responded.

Skipping school was one thing. But leaving a cryptic, threatening message on the classroom board? That was something else entirely.

"Shouldn't we call the police?" Yuna asked, frowning.

The teacher hesitated. "We—we should. But we don't even know if she's really missing yet. Maybe she overslept. Maybe she's sick."

Renji let out a harsh laugh. "Sick? Then who the hell wrote that on the board?"

The teacher had no answer.

Outside the classroom, the school was in chaos. Teachers huddled together, whispering in hushed voices. Some students were crying. Others texted their parents, asking if they could go home. A few just stood there, watching everything unfold with blank expressions.

Hina Sakamoto was gone.

And someone wanted to make sure we knew.

Making a Choice

"I don't like this," Yuna muttered, rubbing her temples. "This is beyond us. If we get involved—"

"We are involved," Haruto cut in, his voice unusually serious. "You saw the message. If we don't play this 'game,' then what?"

A heavy silence fell between us.

The police should've been the first option. But the note was clear. No calling the police or…

Or what?

Were they watching us? Waiting?

Something about it felt personal. Like the message was meant for us—not just the school, but us.

And that scared me more than anything.

Renji stretched his arms, cracking his knuckles. "Fine. Screw it. We find her before today ends."

I raised an eyebrow. "That's your conclusion?"

"Think about it." Renji leaned forward, his usual carefree grin replaced with something sharper. "If we don't do anything, we'll be sitting here all day, stressing out and waiting for something worse to happen. The teachers are too freaked out to do anything, and if the cops get called, who knows what this freak is gonna do next?"

He had a point.

I glanced at Haruto. He simply nodded.

Yuna let out a long sigh before giving in. "Fine. But we do this smartly. No running around like idiots."

Renji grinned. "No promises."

And just like that, we had made up our minds.

Hina Sakamoto was out there, somewhere.

And we were going to find her.

Before it was too late.

The message on the board still lingered in my mind.

"Let's play hide and seek. Find ThE StUdEnT before today, but police or else..."

Whoever wrote that message was watching. They wanted us to play along.

And Hina Sakamoto's life depended on us winning.

Lunch break turned into a full-blown investigation. Students whispered in clusters, some nervously checking their phones, others staring warily at their classmates. The teachers tried to keep things under control, but the school was spiraling into chaos.

Yuna had pulled us into an empty classroom, shutting the door behind her. "We need to think logically," she said, crossing her arms.

Renji groaned, slumping against a desk. "Logically? There's nothing logical about this! A girl is missing, we have a freaking psycho writing threats on the board, and we can't even call the cops."

Haruto, leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets, spoke up. "The note said to find her before today ends. That means she's still alive."

The weight of his words settled over us.

"But why her?" Yuna muttered, pacing. "Hina isn't popular, she doesn't have enemies, and no one really knows much about her. Why target her?"

"Maybe because she's forgettable," Renji said, rubbing the back of his neck. "If someone else went missing, people would notice faster."

A disturbing thought.

Yuna shot him a glare. "That's an awful thing to say."

"It's true, though."

I stayed silent, my fingers tracing the edge of my notebook. I was supposed to be the one solving this. The detective. But something about this case…

It felt off.

I turned to Haruto. "What do you think?"

He studied me for a long moment before speaking. "I think whoever did this is someone in the school. Someone who knew the perfect time to strike."

Yuna frowned. "But that could be anyone."

"Yeah. It could." I answered.

---

We started from the beginning.

Hina was last seen yesterday evening, heading toward the gym. That was our best lead.

"Alright, let's check the gym first," I said, standing up. "If there's nothing there, we'll search other parts of the school."

Renji stretched. "A classic horror movie setup. Let's hope we don't die."

"Not helping," Yuna muttered.

The halls were eerily quiet as we made our way to the gym. Students were still talking about Hina's disappearance, but no one seemed brave enough to actually do anything.

I tried to push down the uneasy feeling crawling up my spine.

---

The Gym Investigation

The gym was dimly lit, the afternoon sun barely filtering through the high windows. The sound of our footsteps echoed against the polished floor.

"We should check the storage rooms first," Yuna suggested.

Renji walked toward the bleachers, kicking a stray basketball. "Hey, if I were a psycho kidnapper, where would I hide someone?"

Haruto glanced at the equipment room door. "Somewhere no one would think to check."

That made sense.

We split up. Yuna checked the storage rooms, Renji wandered near the sports racks, and Haruto paced near the bleachers.

I found myself near the lockers.

A strange, stale smell filled the air. Sweat. Dust. Something else.

Then I heard it.

A faint, muffled thump

My breath hitched.

I took a step closer, pressing my ear against the cool metal.

thump

Another movement.

"Hina?" I whispered.

No answer. Just more frantic shifting.

I turned sharply. "Guys. I think I found her."

They rushed over, eyes wide.

Yuna swallowed hard. "Is she… in there?"

Renji examined the lock, his jaw tightening. "It's jammed shut."

Haruto stepped closer. His voice was eerily calm. "Which means someone put her in there on purpose."

The air around us felt suffocating.

Someone had locked Hina away, waiting for us to find her.

Suddenly, I noticed a small slip of paper wedged into the side of the locker.

With shaking fingers, I pulled it out.

The writing was jagged, the ink smudged. But the message was clear.

"You're getting warmer."

A chill ran down my spine.

Someone was playing with us.

And the game wasn't over yet.