Part 34: Shangri-La, Part 5

...Mayu? That was Mayu's voice. I'm certain of it! Mayu! Where are you, Mayu?! Answer me, please! Mayu!!







Background Sound: Rain



My name is Nari Amatoya. I'm a seventh-grader in Musashigawa Girls' Middle School, class 1-6. 'Naana' is a friend I've had since I was a little girl. Her real name is Nana Ogasawara. She'd been with me up until just recently, when we'd randomly gotten ourselves separated in the halls. I did still have another companion with me, but...well, she wasn't really someone I could count on. Like, at all.

Wait, Nari! My feet are tired...

*sigh* That's how it always was with her. I'd lost count of how many things she'd found to whine about in this place. This was Chihaya Yamase, a fellow member of the drama club. Never satisfied, but never willing to do anything about it, 'drama' fit her to a T. If Naana were with us, I'm pretty sure she'd give in to Chihaya's whining and insist we take a break. But I'm not Naana, and I won't be guilted so easily.

Then have a seat. I'll go on without you.
...Noo!
But you're too tired to walk, aren't you?
I can walk!

It really was just like leading a child around. She was as spoiled as can be. I truly felt it wasn't possible for any human being to be more spoiled than Chihaya. ...But it's not like I could really leave her behind, you know? She'd be dead in no time flat, as helpless as she was.

Sound Effect: Thunder



Eep! The hell?! That's dangerous, you know! The ground is slippery here. You can't just jump into me like that!
But...the thunder...
You know, thunder isn't exactly a rare and mysterious danger or anything! It's certainly nothing to get worked up about. Do you jump and grab onto people's shoulders when it thunders at home or at school, too?
Uh-huh. If Naana is around, it's usually her.
*sigh* So am I supposed to be her proxy, then?
Nari... Are you mad?



Uh-huh.
(Seriously? You're just going to agree with that?!)

The two girls head inside.



My head...kinda hurts.
I'll give you that one. I guess this is what they mean when they say 'the air feels heavy.' We shouldn't stay in here any longer than we have to.
I wonder if Naana is really in here...
Well, all we can do is look for her. I'm sure she's doing the same right now, so we're bound to run into each other sooner or later.
How soon, do you think? Maybe Naana is...already...
Again with that crap? Just stop, okay?
But...!
Don't cry, dammit! I'm scared too, you know...

I told myself that I was going to find Naana in this second building, come hell or high water. Failure was not an option.

Background Sound: None

Music: Escaping Samsara (B)



We're put into control of Nari and begin investigating the entranceway.



A decaying human head has been forcibly crammed into the top-left cubby. It mustn't have been easy to make it fit, as there are tiny pieces of flesh and scalp tissue all along the frame. Based on what's left of its facial features and the cut of its hair, this was likely a male middle school student.

That's horrible...
Hey! Seriously, you need to stop shoving!

Chihaya seemed almost as if she were trying to hide behind my body from the sight of the severed head, and she wound up pushing me forward in the process. If she didn't want to see it, she could just not look at it! Why did she need to be so grabby?! Worse still, she was pushing me right into the shelf, giving me an uncomfortably close view of the head, not to mention the...things crawling on it?!

Uwaagh!
OH, GOD, NO!!
See, this is why you should keep your hands to yourself! Honestly, am I supposed to be your shield or something?!



We exit the entranceway and head east, toward the staff room.



Within the hole, there's simply nothing visible at all. It's like a void down there. There's no way to estimate depth. You'd have to be a track star to make it to the other side safely. And even then, it would be risky. Chihaya certainly couldn't pull it off.



We can't proceed to the staff room, so we head south and enter the music room.



Sound Effect: Piano

Ahhh! What the hell?!
Sorry. I accidentally dropped my pouch on the piano.
Geez! Don't scare me like that!



There are portraits of influential people connected with this school, or possibly with this classroom specifically. Not an uncommon thing to find. In this atmosphere, though, it really looks like they're all staring directly at you, no matter what angle you view them from. It's creepy!



We investigate the portraits again.

There are portraits of influential people connected with this school, or possibly with this classroom specifically. Not an uncommon thing to find. In this atmosphere, though, it really looks like they're all staring directly at you, no matter what angle you view them from. It's creepy!

Sound Effect: Uwaaaa

Suddenly, Chihaya tensed up and hid herself behind my back. You're not the only one who's scare, you know...



There's nothing else in the music room, so we head out and up the nearby staircase.



And we enter the art room.



There seems to be a faint, almost imperceptible stain all across it, roughly in the shape of a human torso. But it might just be the lighting...

We investigate the center canvas next.






The inside of the cabinet is blood red throughout, as if someone very carefully painted it that way. Actually, wait, isn't that a tube of red paint inside? And if looks unopened... In fact, it looks completely untouched. There's not even the slightest indication that anyone has so much as moved that tube of paint in years. Which means this red coloring must be...

...from a different tube of paint, ohmygod!



We exit the art room and head north. The game automatically stops us at this space.

Music: None




Was it lightning? But we weren't near any windows, and there was no thunder...



The purpose of that flash was to draw our attention to this shiny thing.



In contrast with everything else in this school, it seemed like a fairly recent item -- a decade old at most, but likely much newer.

What do you suppose this is?
I'm not really sure, but...it kinda looks like a battery, maybe.
Hmmm? Maybe somebody brought a beefed-up phone or a game system in here.

Sound Effect: Item



Though if I gave it to Chihaya for safekeeping, it would no doubt wind up on the ground again somewhere. So I decided I'd just pocket the thing.

Music: Escaping Samsara (B)



The reference room is locked, and the girls' room is empty, so we head back downstairs.



And we return to the pit we saw earlier.



It was hard to ascertain details in this dim light, but he seemed a bit too big to be a middle schooler or high schooler, and he wasn't wearing a uniform.

Who is that? Seems a bit too old to be a student...
I-Is he...dead?
I don't know. U-Ummm... Are you all right?



Aaare you...injured, maybe?

Still no response.

Maybe we should chuck something over there. Or...maybe that would be a bad idea.



A camera? Wonder if it's his...

It was a fairly expensive-looking DV camcorder. And a well-worn one, at that, with dings and chips all over it. Nonetheless, it looked like it probably still worked.

Ahh!!
Wh-What is it this time?!



Video: Entranceway
This video covers the remainder of the update.

Music: None



Mayu... I swear I heard your voice just a moment ago. You can't be far... You were singing...about missing me. Are you okay? Have you been injured? Are you afraid? Are you... lonely?
Dammit, Taguchi, what the hell is keeping you?! It's been well over an hour! I'm waiting here to exchange information with you, when I could be out searching! ...Dammit! Goddammit! Why has it come to this?! Ah, Mayu... I don't care about anyone else, I just want you to be safe. Just you, and I'll be happy!



In my agitated state, I kicked a pair of hallway slippers that was sitting on the ground nearby, and they flew right into the dead girl's face.

Hahaha... What are you doing sitting in a place like that, anyway?! You're dead! You're not worthy of such an honored seat! You're an eyesore!
Hmm? What's that look? You think I'm strange?! What gives you the right... You goddamned stiff!

I grabbed her jaw and began shaking it around, and was a bit startled by the sensation. It felt just like I was touching living flesh. Except this person was very, very cold. Cold as a statue. A statue covered in skin and muscle... but a statue nonetheless.



Haha... I'm terribly sorry. I see now that your eyes have been sliced up, so you really weren't looking at anything, were you? Hahahaha...hahaha... Hmm? What's wrong? Cat got your tongue? If I'd asked you this a few days ago, I've no doubt you'd have been able to voice your objections and slap me right in the face...Ms. Arisa Kaida. Pity.



Want to know a secret, Kaida? You're quite the looker right now...but you're just going to rot from here on out. Just rot and rot... You'll rot until your flesh gets all soft and mushy like soup, your skin starts to stretch and sag, and your eyeballs spill out of your head like raw eggs. The smell you produce will be fouler than any toilet and every part of you -- your face, your mouth, your bowels -- will become maggot chow. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! But before that happens...yesss...let's preserve that beautiful form of yours, shall we?

I flipped my cell phone back on and switched it to camera mode, centering the lens on the lovely Ms. Kaida. Her slashed and broken gaze was focused ahead of her at a downward-facing angle. Yet in contrast to these injuries, she wore a peaceful expression on her face. Almost as if she were posing for me; just waiting for me to hit that shutter button.

Mmmm. What a lovely visage. This will make a splendid picture.

Sound Effect: Camera



Superb! Have you ever heard of a French film called 'Un Chien Andalou'? You remind me so much of it right now! Hahaha! ...Might I take another?

Sound Effect: Camera



Hahahahaha! You may just be more charming now than you were when you were alive! Mmm... Yes, I think you must be... I mean, just look at that face! The line formed by those stiffened cheekbones... Ahh, I'm sorry, but it's just so erotic! And those cuts on your wrist...

I tried poking her wound with my finger and heard a moist, squishy sound as my fingertip was swallowed up. She'd gone cold, but I guess there was still some blood left in her. Either that or decomposition was already well underway. I pushed farther in, digging my finger through the gaps between her muscles until it struck something smooth and hard.



As I drew my face into her forehead, a few particles of perfume scented the foul odor of sweat and sebum that had heretofore been assaulting my nostrils.

*sniff* *sigh* Sealed in a place like this, unable even to wash your hair...but you still found the time and energy to groom! How delightful. And yet...the smell of death and blood suits you so much better! ...So much better...

Sound Effect: Camera




What the hell...have I been doing? Why have I been taking pictures of corpses?!
(I suppose they do say stress is the real killer in situations like this, so anything I can do to relieve my built-up stress...haha...isn't so bad...)



(Come to think of it, Taguchi was taking footage of the corpses in here as well, and he said he was doing it so he could file a police report.)



It's entirely possible that he's met with Mayu and is accompanying her, after all...in which case, standing around here will accomplish nothing.