𝕂𝕦𝕔𝕙𝕚𝕤𝕒𝕜𝕖-𝕆𝕟𝕟𝕒: 𝕛𝕙𝕤𝕜

十二

『ᴄʟᴀꜱꜱ ᴛɪᴍᴇ: ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 12』

The dolls shook and rattled, the sounds becoming even eerier by the second. They continued to chant the same phrase, 'time is up'. You stepped backward in anticipation and latched onto Hanako's hand. You could feel him squeezing your hand in response.

"Time's up! Time's up!" The dolls started to move closer to your group.

"What the-?!" "The dolls are moving!" Hanako stayed quiet yet his eyes never left the door that leads to the exit.

"Class?" Minamoto and everyone backed up against each other while Yashiro pointed at the hourglass.

"Look! The hourglass has run out!" She turned back at the shrine, "No. . . All we have to do is put it on the. . . "

The dolls cackled and giggled, "Which of you is running late?"

"This really isn't good." You frowned and looked at your surroundings, "We need to get out right now." The group quickly nodded, but before you could even take a few steps, you could hear the sound of snipping.

Hanako shouted, "get down!" and forcefully pushed everyone lower to the ground, nearly avoiding the scissor closing in on them. You took this as your chance to run while the giant scissor recovered.

With your other hand, you grabbed onto Minamoto and Yashiro and started running. You looked over your shoulder to see that the scissors are gaining speed. You were almost at the top of the stairs with the door until Yashiro was dragged downwards by the cluster of dolls.

"The tardy one. . . Is you. . . " The smashed face of a doll held onto Yashiro's leg with an iron grip, making it impossible for the young girl to pull her leg away from the monster.

"Yashiro!" Hanako screamed as the scissors started to close on her neck.

Instead of hearing the snipping sound, everyone heard the echoes of metal clinking together and sparking. You stood in front of Yashiro with your fan and scissors extended to each of your sides, stopping the shears from cutting Yashiro in half.

"Run Yashiro!" She heeded your call and quickly escaped out of the range. Hanako sighed in relief for Yashiro but felt tense knowing that you were neck and neck against No. 2's favored weapon. "Hnng. . . I can't save everyone every single time you know. . . " You felt your arms weakening at the strain of fighting the closing blades.

"But. . . Yashiro could have been hurt." You fought back the pain and proceeded to pull the scissors in the opposite direction, "Hurry up and get to the top!" When your wrists started to feel stressed, you grabbed onto the blade and pulled it apart, effectively ripping it in half.

Crap. . . Not only does she got fast reflexes, but she's also a lot stronger than I thought she was. . . Minamoto gulped while Hanako quickly grabbed you and Yashiro, carrying both of you under his arms, "Okay! Let's go. . . Run away!"

When nearing the top, you could see the Mokke hopping and carrying the different arms. Hanako shouted to throw the arm into the shrine, Minamoto picking his favorited arm and throwing it straight into the shrine with its door closing, and the exit opening. Once running into it and shutting the door, you all noticed that there were several flights of stairs and a multitude of dolls at the sidelines.

Yashiro noticed that none of the other children or was Aoi anywhere to be found, meaning that. . .

They had to get to the very top to find them.

The familiar ring of the phone came back, most likely to deliver another task. Instead of Yashiro answering, Hanako picked up the phone and cleared his throat, "A-Yello?"

The woman's voice returned, "my left arm. . . Please find my left arm. . . Every morning before class, I go make an offering and say a prayer at the shrine. I put my left and right hands together. . . and pray for everyone's good health."

"Do hurr-" "Hey No. 2!" Hanako placed the phone closer to his right ear, "long time no chat. You do remember me don't you?" He smirked when 'Misaki' refused to give a reply back, signifying that even she was surprised at his sudden appearance.

"Class is starting soon." and just like that, the phone call ended.

"You know her?" Yashiro asked and Hanako nods, "I just thought I'd say hi, well. . . we're both Seven Mysteries after all." You raised an eyebrow at his reasoning.

The tone that he gave off didn't suit the concept of saying hi or greeting someone. It sort of felt as if he has done something to No. 2 in the past, but you couldn't be sure. You puffed out your cheeks as you tugged on Hanako's sleeve.

"We should start looking for the arms before time runs out, I might not be able to last very long if I have to fight scissors." You rolled your eyes and pointed at the hourglass.

Minamoto scratched his head in annoyance, "we're looking for arms again? Ugh. . . What a pain." He rotated towards Hanako, "Hey, Hanako! Isn't there some other way to deal with her!?"

"Some other way?"

"You know something we can use against her. . . Like a weakness."

"There is!" Somehow, Hanako managed to get a pointer stick that looked like a hand to explain the nature of the Seven Mysteries. You were somewhat surprised by Hanako's diverse abilities, was this because he was one of the Seven Mysteries? What sort of powers did you hold? You started to bit the inside of your mouth as you pondered.

"She definitely as a weakness. Her divine yorishiro. That's what it's called. Those are what gives us Seven Mysteries our power."

Hanako reaches out to one of the toy monkeys that the Mokke carried, opening up the back and ripping out the batteries, "you might say it's something like a battery. If you destroy it, the school mystery will be weakened significantly."

"So where do we find this divine norishiro?!" Norishiro refers to the paper tab for gluing. . .

"You mean yorishiro." Yashiro sighed.

"Yeah! Where is it!?"

Hanako held up his pointer fingers to his lips, "in the innermost reaches of this boundary."

"it's just what it sounds like—the place farthest inside this world. I suspect we'll find it far beyond that door. At the top of the stairway. . . " You groaned at the number of stairs and tasks you had to do. If 'Misaki' is telling you each body part, it'll take nearly forever to even reach the top.

"The top. . . which means. . . basically. . . So who's excited to climb some stairs?!" Hanako fist-bumped the air in order to encourage others to finish what they started.

"On second thought. . . I might just go home. . ." You sobbed on the inside, "this is too tiring even for someone who doesn't even touch the ground. . ." Hanako told them to start searching for the left arm while he decided to talk to you for a little.

"You didn't have to go Jiyuu." You sulked at his statement, "I didn't want to leave you guys in the boundary. . ." He grinned before ruffling your hair.

"You just wanted to spend more time with me, am I right?" He hummed in curiosity while you sweated. Hanako eventually took the hint and crouched down in front of you.

"Alright, if you don't want to levitate or walk, I'll carry you instead!" He tugged on your hand and you soon leaned up against his back, wrapping your arms around his neck for stability.

"I guess so." You huffed, but rested your head on top of him and closed your eyes and sang quietly.

"Start something new. . . It doesn't have to be big things. . . "

ᴇxᴛʀᴀ:

"Hanako. . ." The boy hummed as you whispered into his ear, "would I be considered a boomer. . ?"

He suppressed his laughter since they were supposed to be searching for the body parts, but with you being so close to him he can't help but get distracted by your curiosity.

"I guess you could be one!"

"Are you a boomer?"

"Nope!"

"Ehhh?"