Part 73: Episode 65: Emergency
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Look away, Kawara. Looking will only hurt you.
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Ah… aah…
As I recoiled at the contents of the box, the emergency siren began to blare through the school.
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Alarm: We have entered a state of emergency. All students please evacuate to the gymnasium.
Alarm: Repeat, we have entered…
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Coo, coo!? (What is happening? Why is everything red!?)
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I don’t know…
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Bah! Until we know what’s going on, there is nothing to do but follow instructions.
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What are you spacing out for, Kawara!? Come on!
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N-no… I-I don’t want to leave Goon here alone…
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It… can’t be…
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Come!
Sakuya started to drag me along, so I reluctantly got up and followed the class into the gym.
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No one seems to know what’s going on, though. The gym echoes with whispered speculation.
Student A: Hey, did you see the box?
Student B: Yeah. You had… that, too?
Student A: Yup. Well… The class rep opened it and I didn’t see, but… Apparently there was a human’s arm in it.
Student B: Ours had half a leg. It was really gross…
From the snatches of conversation I hear, it sounds like all the print boxes had pieces of a human corpse in them.
Were they all pieces of Goon, I wonder…?
Nobirdie seems particularly concerned. Which isn’t all that odd: it was grotesque, but it’s not like it was a dead bird. Just some primate…
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We’re not supposed to have one until next month.
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Do you suppose it has something to do with that distasteful box? That was definitely Lourde’s…
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Bah! Won’t someone explain this ridiculous state of affairs already!?
Yeah. Someone, tell me what’s going on.
This is a bad dream, right? Someone wake me up… Someone…
As I wished for this, the siren stopped, and the familiar chime of the PA system played.
Everybirdie turned their heads to the gym’s display.
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Is everyone here? This is Ichijou Mino, the headmaster.
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The headmaster…?
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It seems we have gathered together without panic or noise. Excellent.
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Unfortunately, there has been a natural disaster outside. This school is a designated evacuation site, so please remain here a little longer.
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Natural disaster? Nonsense. The weather is perfectly clear.
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Coo! (Okosan felt no earthquakes!)
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It’s not like we’re anywhere near a volcano, or anything…
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I demand an explanation, headmaster! Just what is going on outside!?
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Does this have something to do with Lourde Goon!?
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Why have you brought us here!?
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I repeat. There has been a--
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No, imbecile!
The screen shut off halfway through the headmaster’s repetition.
The gymnasium erupts in whispered discussion once more.
Well, that changed nothing. I still have no idea what’s going on…
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…No, um… Yes, I am.
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…This could prove to be a very bad day for us all.
Could prove to be? It already is.
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Coooo! (Mister Nanaki! Goon is missing!)
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Coo! (She must have run off somewhere! Okosan will go look for her!)
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San, no, she’s…
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……
San is an older breed, much closer to pigeons of the human era. Maybe he doesn’t understand the concept of death…
Trying to explain would only hurt myself.
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The headmaster has proven entirely unhelpful. What should we do, Nanaki?
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Well, we can’t exactly carry on with class…
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…I agree with San. Let’s go get Goon.
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I’m fine. There’s nothing wrong with me.
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Sir, we can’t just leave her there like that. May I go back to the classroom, just once?
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Well… The principal did ask us to remain here. But he didn’t say we couldn’t leave the gym, now did he?
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……
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…Thanks, Sakuya.
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Do not flatter yourself. I am not doing this for you.
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…Lourde was foolish, loud, and had no manners or sense.
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But she never deserved anything like this.
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I swear, by my blood and name as a Le Bel… I will find the one who did this.
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…Right.
The music stops.