Part 73: Episode 65: Emergency

Look away, Kawara. Looking will only hurt you.
Ah… aah…

As I recoiled at the contents of the box, the emergency siren began to blare through the school.

Alarm: We have entered a state of emergency. All students please evacuate to the gymnasium.
Alarm: Repeat, we have entered…
Coo, coo!? (What is happening? Why is everything red!?)
I don’t know…
Bah! Until we know what’s going on, there is nothing to do but follow instructions.
What are you spacing out for, Kawara!? Come on!
N-no… I-I don’t want to leave Goon here alone…

It… can’t be…
Come!


Sakuya started to drag me along, so I reluctantly got up and followed the class into the gym.

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…


We’re not supposed to have one until next month.
Do you suppose it has something to do with that distasteful box? That was definitely Lourde’s…
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.



Is everyone here? This is Ichijou Mino, the headmaster.
The headmaster…?


It seems we have gathered together without panic or noise. Excellent.
Unfortunately, there has been a natural disaster outside. This school is a designated evacuation site, so please remain here a little longer.
Natural disaster? Nonsense. The weather is perfectly clear.
Coo! (Okosan felt no earthquakes!)
It’s not like we’re anywhere near a volcano, or anything…
I demand an explanation, headmaster! Just what is going on outside!?
Does this have something to do with Lourde Goon!?
Why have you brought us here!?
I repeat. There has been a--
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…

…No, um… Yes, I am.
…This could prove to be a very bad day for us all.

Could prove to be? It already is.

Coooo! (Mister Nanaki! Goon is missing!)
Coo! (She must have run off somewhere! Okosan will go look for her!)
San, no, she’s…
……

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.

The headmaster has proven entirely unhelpful. What should we do, Nanaki?
Well, we can’t exactly carry on with class…
…I agree with San. Let’s go get Goon.

I’m fine. There’s nothing wrong with me.
Sir, we can’t just leave her there like that. May I go back to the classroom, just once?
Well… The principal did ask us to remain here. But he didn’t say we couldn’t leave the gym, now did he?
……

…Thanks, Sakuya.
Do not flatter yourself. I am not doing this for you.
…Lourde was foolish, loud, and had no manners or sense.
But she never deserved anything like this.
I swear, by my blood and name as a Le Bel… I will find the one who did this.

…Right.
The music stops.