𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥-𝗖𝗥𝗢𝗦𝗦𝗘𝗗.

25 ᯾ Daydream ᵖᵃʳᵗ ᶠⁱᵛᵉ

"Number four!" Y/n held the palette knife beside Shijima's neck. "I would like to have a deal with you, if you don't mind!"

"Eh..." Shijima sweat dropped as she looked down at what the girl was holding. "Does number eight know that palette knives do no harm or...?"

"Of course I do." Y/n frowned as she let go of the girl. Shijima turned around to see Y/n better. There, the human girl stood with the palette knife on her hand. "But I really don't have any other weapon in this place to threaten you with. I also tried to use my abilities as the hidden school mystery, but it never worked either."

Y/n crossed her arms as she gave the apparition a sharp look. "I'm assuming you and Seven-sama have something to do with that?"

Shijima grinned as she placed her hands on her waist. "You already guessed it, number eight! Why bother asking when you knew it already?"

"The keyword was assume. You literally confirmed it right now."

"Of course." Shijima chuckled as she waved her hand around. "Anyway, the reason why you threatened me earlier was to find out how to escape this world and go back to reality, wasn't it?"

"Yeah." Y/n furrowed her brows. She dropped the palette knife and held the metal bars tightly. "I know there's some kind of way out of this place, a door or something. I already know that killing isn't the only way to escape."

"Number eight..." Shijima paused. "... Or do you preferred to be called L/n-san?"

The girl couldn't even answer back. Shijima already made up a decision of what to call her anyway. "L/n-san. Do you truly want to leave this world? Even though you will die soon if you return to the real world?"

Y/n's lips formed into a straight line as she looked down.

"I think you've forgotten that I'm part of the school mysteries and that I've read my book countless of times already." Her hand began to tremble as she held onto the bars. "I've been ready for my death ages ago—"

"L/n-san." Shijima leaned closer. "You're death is near and unavoidably absolute. You were fated to die after you graduate, yet, here you are.. with the life span of only one year." Shijima paused. "What will you do? Will you return even then?"

Y/n didn't bother to look up at the school mystery. Instead, she continued looking down blankly, no response to what Shijima had just told her.

"Oh my..." Shijima mumbled as she looked down at Y/n's hands. "You're trembling. Can you really say that you're ready..?"

"But..." Y/n looked up at Shijima. Her expression was filled with pain and sadness, yet, her eyes had a spark of determination in it. "But no matter what. If I can just leave this world, it'll be okay!" she exclaimed. "Because I—!"

"Because I'm still alive, right?"

"Huh?" Y/n looked up. Shijima had a blank expression on her face. Her mood definitely escalated from one hundred to zero in a matter of seconds.