Part 85: Episode 77: Search Cut Short

Either in the lab or possibly gallivanting around like a nincompoop.
This would be a lot easier if we could use our phones.

But, we can’t. Off to the lab.


The trip was thankfully uneventful, and so we found ourselves one turn away from the lab.

I wonder if he’s still in there…?

As we turn the corner--
I heard a loud creaking sound that sent shivers down my spine.

!



Uuhh… fssh… oo… wa…

Of all the--
Sakuya, run!
Oooh… aah, oh…

It made another swipe at us, breaking a nearby window.

Don’t order me around, feral!

Regardless of what he said, he ended up running as well. We made a mad dash away from the scarecrow-man, who was still flailing his arm around.
The music stops.



I turned to talk to Sakuya, but when I looked around me, I was alone.

…Oh.

Shoot. Sakuya and I must have run in different directions.

I hope he’s okay.

Of all the times to run into that thing again.
If it’s lying in wait for us like that, we can’t rely on the noise of its arm to find it. And the dome makes the building dark, so it’s hard to see… I’d better be careful.
Where is it now? I want to head straight to the lab, but…

…?

Did I just hear something?
I could’ve sworn I just heard a page turn…



I saw an unfamiliar bird in here.

What are you doing in here all alone?
…!
Did you see the wall outside? There’s been an emergency, and everybirdie’s supposed to gather in the gym. You should--
…You’re… Kawara Ryouta?
Uh…

He knows my name? Have I met him somewhere before…?

Yeah, uh… Have we met before?

The unfamiliar mourning dove shakes his head.

This is the first time we’ve spoken.
Then why do you know my name…?

Goon…? Oh, right, didn’t she say she made friends with a freshman who’s in the library all the time?

Can I ask your name?
Fujishiro… Nageki.
You were friends with Goon, then? Umm, did you maybe see her after school yesterday? Was she acting all strange, or…

Oh. Shoot.
He didn’t hear the emergency broadcast. So he probably doesn’t know what happened to her, either.

Ummm… she’s……
Don’t worry about it. You don’t have to explain again.
Huh?
I already know.
Oh…

He doesn’t exactly make things easy to understand… Almost as if he’s talking to himself, and doesn’t care whether or not his interlocutor knows what he means.

She washed up here? Do you mean yesterday? If you know anything about what happened to her last night, please tell me!
I do not. Miss Lourde did not come to the library after school yesterday.
Hmm… So she didn’t come in here, either…? Thanks.
I need to hurry back to the chemistry lab, and you should probably get out of here, too. There’s a suspicious individual in the building.
…It was not yesterday that Miss Lourde came here.

The music stops.

What…!?

Before I could question him further about what he meant… he had disappeared right in front of me.