Hayato thought about why Kazuya had followed them and figured out the reason pretty quickly. He had a conflict with Kawasaki, and if Kawasaki harbored any desire for revenge, Kazuya alone in the art room might not be able to handle it.
Chiharu was Kawasaki's girlfriend. With Kazuya in conflict with Kawasaki, she'd basically help her boyfriend. Facing that male-female duo combo, Kazuya as an ordinary person would have a hard time dealing with them.
"Hayato-san, I still trust you. By your side, I feel so much safer."
That overwhelming sense of security made Kazuya grin.
"Back at the shoe lockers on the first floor, I did push that guy to buy myself escape time. But please rest assured, I would never do anything to betray you or Fujibayashi-san. If I ever do something to wrong either of you, may lightning strike me down five times."
He proactively explained, wanting to eliminate any lingering reservations in Hayato's mind.
Nobody liked people who deliberately harmed others. He was no exception. Having already done something like that, he needed to make a statement to regain trust.
Hayato didn't say much, just told Kazuya to keep up and do his part. If they encountered the ghost, don't shout or panic.
Kazuya nodded vigorously to show he understood.
"Hayato-kun, where should we start searching?"
"Let's begin with the fourth floor."
He looked at the student council office in front of them.
He inserted a key, twisted it, and the classroom door opened. The key quickly disappeared.
Click.
The lights came on, illuminating the large, empty student council office.
"Keep watch outside."
"Got it, Hayato-san. If the ghost comes, I'll notify you immediately."
Kazuya stayed by the door, watching both sides of the hallway, constantly alert. Occasionally he'd walk to the hallway edge and look down, as if checking whether the ghost was on the first floor.
Sounds came from inside the office. The PA system.
[Yuuko is an excellent student. I suggest we invite her to join the student council.]
[There's a report claiming Yuuko has an inappropriate relationship with ■■■■.]
[The rumors are spreading more and more. The school requires the student council to address the student situation.]
[Stopping the continued spread of rumors and maintaining school order is what we as the student council should do.]
Four sentences. Hayato did a quick analysis.
Rumors about Yuuko and someone had caught students' attention and spread, causing unrest that made the school demand the student council step in.
That blurred name could be the key figure in this incident.
"Hayato-kun, I'll start searching."
Fujibayashi Ryou had thought about it too, but couldn't think of any hints pointing to the target item.
"Search around here. We might discover more clues."
The two of them started searching the student council office.
From desks to bookshelves to cabinets on the other side, they checked every place that could hide something. But they found nothing.
The library.
[Yuuko looks so beautiful when she reads. So elegant.]
[That's the new teacher, right? He's so handsome, I almost thought he was a transfer student from our school.]
[Wow! The combination of a handsome guy and a beautiful girl never gets old.]
The administrative office.
[Teacher ■■ is retiring soon. We need to hire a new teacher.]
[The top student in Year 2 is still Yuuko. She's truly our... cough cough...]
[Another student is dating. All they know is romance instead of studying properly. Sigh!]
The last room left on the fourth floor was the chairman's office.
Same process: open the door.
Lights on.
The spacious office was luxuriously decorated. Black bookshelves lined both sides, books and documents sitting quietly on the shelves. A gray solid wood desk paired with a black leather chair further displayed the office's understated luxury. Everything proclaimed the noble status of whoever used this office.
Hayato and Fujibayashi Ryou entered.
Within three seconds, the speaker installed in the chairman's office also began playing.
[The latest comprehensive exam results for all three grades: Year 2's top student is still Yuuko.]
[List of newly hired teachers and transfer students. Chairman, please review.]
[The rumors are spreading more widely. Should the school officially intervene?]
[I suggest letting the student council handle it!]
Rumors.
What were these rumors about?
Dating?
Did this school forbid relationships?
Hayato knew plenty of Japanese high schools prohibited dating, but that didn't stop students from dating privately. As long as they weren't blatant about it and didn't provoke teachers, schools and teachers would usually turn a blind eye.
The two threw themselves back into searching.
"Hayato-kun..."
Suddenly, Fujibayashi Ryou found something on the desk and called Hayato over to look.
Hayato saw a name on a book.
"Yuuko."
He faintly picked up on some information.
As for the photo frame on the desk, it only contained half a photo. A middle-aged man in a suit stared seriously and solemnly toward the camera.
Thud.
"Hayato-san, she's here!"
Kazuya rushed in, shouting with a nervous, trembling voice.
The ghost had come!
"Let's go."
But they were blocked.
Fujibayashi Ryou and Kazuya both hid behind Hayato.
Five meters away, the ghost in her blood-stained black shirt stared at the three of them. Her long black hair hung loose, the tips touching the ground and continuing to grow longer.
Rustle rustle rustle... The sound of constant approach.
Kazuya's forehead broke out in cold sweat.
Were they going to die here this time?
"Run."
At his command, Hayato immediately grabbed Fujibayashi Ryou and ran.
Kazuya ran too, but suddenly realized there was no ghost in front of them at all.
Huh?
He turned his head and found the ghost was already a dozen meters behind them.
In that instant, he realized something.
"Hayato-san, you're amazing!"
Kazuya shouted wildly.
That had to be a teleportation ability!
Only that kind of power could let them escape like that.
Too strong! Following Hayato and clinging to him was the wisest decision of his life.
The ghost slowly turned, looking toward the direction where Hayato and the others had fled. Her blood-stained shirt seemed to have darkened a few shades.
"The third floor teachers' office is open?"
After going downstairs, the three of them headed straight for the teachers' office.
This was Teachers' Office No. 3, which should have had a locked door.
"Maybe you remembered wrong, Hayato-san. Let's hide inside for now."
This place could temporarily shelter them from the ghost.
The broadcast played.
[It's such a shame that someone as excellent as Yuuko won't join the student council.]
[The newly hired teacher is apparently very handsome. The single female teachers at our school are in luck.]
[Rumors? There's no basis at all. Probably just some idle female students gossiping again!]
Still information related to Yuuko and some rumor.
Every broadcast throughout this school building so far had been related to Yuuko and rumors.
So what was this rumor?
If they knew the specific details of this rumor, they'd know the most important background information for this supernatural scenario.
But would this background information help them clear the game?
Normally it should, otherwise all this background information would be meaningless.
But none of this information revealed anything about where the "bones" were located.
So something had to be wrong somewhere.
"Normal games don't give meaningless messages. Even false information has meaning. So these broadcasts must be hinting at something, hiding important intel."
And now, Hayato realized another problem.
Following the pattern so far, every classroom with broadcasts had been initially in a locked state.
These classrooms couldn't be entered by force.
Only by using keys, or...
"Someone died."
After the tall guy died, Year 2 Class A's originally locked classroom door had opened.
So someone had died.
Hayato looked at Fujibayashi Ryou and Kazuya near the door. These two had been with him the whole time. The probability of them being the "dead person" was very low.
If Fujibayashi Ryou and Kazuya could die without him knowing, he'd already be dead too.
Which meant something had happened at the art room.
Year 2, Class D.
[Yuuko, I like you! Please go out with me!]
[So many boys confessed and all got rejected. Heh, what's so great about that kind of woman anyway?]
[Her shoe locker got stuffed full of love letters again? I heard there was even a teacher's letter? Haha, that joke went too far. That's impossible. A teacher would be too ridiculous.]
[She's so cold. Not likeable at all. If I had a rich dad, I'd definitely be that popular too.]
Year 2, Class G.
[Yuuko disappeared? Was she kidnapped? Is she dead?]
[If the rich girl got kidnapped, she's in trouble. Who knows what kind of torture she'll suffer.]
[Serves her right. She acts so cold and aloof at school all the time, always treating us with that attitude. If I caught her, I'd torture her for three whole days and nights, then do this, and then that...]
[Hey hey, someone said they stayed late at school and saw Yuuko.]
[Don't scare us! How could that woman still be at school?]
First floor physics lab.
[Another student got scared and took leave. Apparently there's a vengeful spirit.]
[Don't scare people, okay? How could the school have that kind of thing?]
[Yuuko came back for revenge. She's taking revenge on us.]
[I'm dropping out. I don't want to study here anymore. I'm dropping out.]
First floor, Year 3 Class F.
With one extra unused key, Hayato used it on Year 3 Class F.
[Yuuko-kouhai, the wronged has a culprit and the debtor has a creditor. We're innocent. We never said anything bad about you.]
[We really didn't spread rumors about you and... AHHHHH!]
[It has nothing to do with us. You should take revenge on the person who killed you!]
[We really don't know where your head is. Please spare us!]
[Run! Go to the chairman's office. It's safe there. Someone survived by hiding in the chairman's office all night.]
In that moment, screams echoed continuously.
Even through the broadcast, they could feel the extreme panic of those involved.
Fujibayashi Ryou unconsciously hugged Hayato beside her. Even after noticing what she'd done, she had no intention of letting go.
This place was too dangerous, too scary. Only by Hayato's side could she feel safer.
Third floor biology lab.
[Several teachers have mentally broken down. Even the most optimistic and cheerful ■■-sensei can't take it anymore and wants to resign.]
[Suicide. The chairman committed suicide. What's happening? Can our school be saved? I don't want to die!]
[There's a body in the lab! Ah, a body! Teacher, there's a body in the lab! Teacher, call the police quick!]
[The teacher already fainted from fright.]
They'd searched all the locked classrooms in the building.
Each classroom had provided a broadcast message.
"H-Hayato-kun, what do we... do next?"
"Go to the chairman's office..."
Hayato organized the information they'd gathered.
"Up to now, besides mentioning her and the rumors, the broadcasts have explicitly mentioned the chairman's office as a location, and the only bone-related information mentioned was the skull."
He looked at both of them and continued.
"The key item for clearing this should be the skull. We need to find it."
"It's in the chairman's office?"
Because the ghost had suddenly appeared earlier, the three of them had immediately left the chairman's office without thoroughly searching every corner. So the probability of the skull being in the chairman's office was high.
Everywhere else, they'd basically searched, even checking the bathrooms. But there was no skull.
"Stay close. We're going to the chairman's office."
Fujibayashi Ryou immediately nodded to show she'd stay close. Kazuya even more so. Now that the light of victory had appeared, there was no way he'd back down here.
With Hayato around, he felt reassured.
As long as he stuck close to Hayato, he'd definitely be safe.
A few minutes later, the three of them reached the fourth floor. Rounding the corner, the fourth office ahead was the chairman's office. But right now, a blood-stained figure stood at the doorway, becoming the most dangerous obstacle.
"This... what do we do?"
The ghost was blocking the chairman's office entrance.
How were they supposed to get in?
Kazuya's head hurt!
But this also made him even more certain the key item for clearing was in the chairman's office.
If only they'd found it earlier during their last visit to the chairman's office.
Fujibayashi Ryou stayed by Hayato's side, watching his profile from the corner of her eye, waiting for Hayato to make a decision.
"Hayato-kun, what if... I... act as bait?"
After confronting each other for a while, with the ghost just standing motionless guarding the chairman's office door, Fujibayashi Ryou carefully offered a suggestion.
Kazuya was shocked. This timid girl actually dared to suggest being bait?
He couldn't match that!
He wanted to speak up and offer himself, but found he completely lacked the courage.
Right now his mind echoed with the screams from the broadcasts, with his friend Sawano's pleading look before death.
Kazuya absolutely didn't dare.
Hearing the girl's suggestion, Hayato couldn't help but ruffle Fujibayashi Ryou's hair.
"How could I possibly need you to do something that dangerous?"
With time-stop, entering the chairman's office should be easy.
But Kazuya's expression changed.
If Fujibayashi Ryou wasn't doing it, that meant he'd have to!
Looking at that ghostly figure, Kazuya couldn't help but tremble.
If only Chiharu had come along too. At least there'd be someone to share bait duty with.
--
The illustration in the comment