Ongoing Cycle

61

Scrambling up from where she sat, [Y/N] rushed over to where she heard the scream. Her expression twisting into wild panic, she rasped repetitively as she ran through the meadow. Roughly pushing the tall weeds away from her to clear the path, she kept on going until she found her best friend. She found the girl on the ground to see that Miku's face was so pale; it was as if she had just seen a ghost. Her dark eyes stayed glued onto something in front of her.

She then took a look at what caught Miku's undivided attention. The second she saw it, she wanted to scream too. There laid a dead body. An actual body that was never going to move again. It was soulless and all it could ever do now was rot away. Whimpering and feeling bile coming up her throat, she quickly pulled Miku back. Wordlessly, her friend did as suggested and the two of them quickly stumbled away from the meadow....away from the corpse.

They fell onto their knees as they trembled in shock and fear. [Y/N] gagged towards the ground, feeling sick to her stomach. The dark haired girl whipped her head to her, her eyes wide in realization. "How did you find this place?" she demanded, her voice low and so serious, it sounded like their lives were on the line.

"Kuro's family owns this property and he showed this place to me a few months - "

Her friend held a hand up to silence her. She grasped tightly on each of [Y/N]'s arms, her face filled of terror. "Listen, [Y/N]. You need to listen," she whispered breathily. "That dead boy over there went to our school. I've seen him in the hallways before. He was a player, so he was something similar to Kuro. They must've been friends or something."

She stared at Miku in bewilderment. Did the sight of that corpse turned her crazy? She was going off from her rocker. How was any of this related to what they saw just now? The fingernails dug into her skin and Miku wouldn't let go. Instead, she continued talking. "I know you recently lost your parents, but I have to speak up on this. Do you not think it's strange how there's so many deaths revolved around you lately? First, Kuro's father, then your parents, and now this boy from our school. I'm not trying to shame Mr. Ideka or anything, but he was a successful business man and he looked terrifying on TV. He was very proud and did not seem to a be person to struggle mentally. He cared for his reputation a lot. So what could be the reason for his suicide? Because it didn't make sense.

"Then there were your parents. I've met your parents a million times before and they were never the type to leave the oven unwatched overnight like that. They're strict and perfectionists, just like you said. How could there have been a fire at your house, of all places? It's so random that I could barely believe it when I had heard about it.

"And now, this boy. People don't go dying everywhere at our school and end up in private properties. He's somehow linked in with this. Oh yeah, and Shou too. I know you think I don't really like him...but when he stopped becoming friends with you, that was so unlike him. It was right after he got a broken arm too and his personality went from cheery to exhausted."

[Y/N] narrowed her [e/c] eyes at her friend. "What are you trying to say?" she said coldly.

Miku lowered her head and with a pained look, she forced out the words. "I think...Kuro killed all of these people."

Her world absolutely shattered the moment she heard this.

The fear present on her face warped into anger as she pushed the girl away from her. Miku was knocked backwards onto the ground, so she accusingly pointed at the girl, her entire body shaking. "You're wrong. Shut the fuck up, Miku. Don't ever say that again."

"Do you not remember what I said before?" her friend said softly. The dark head slowly pushed herself off the ground as tears prickled at the corners of her eyes. "I told you I wanted to become an investigator. The fact that you won't even try to understand my view is heartbreaking. I've been looking into my suspicions lately, because I'm worried about you. Kuro is dangerous. You need to stay away from him."

Tears also streamed down [Y/N]'s face as she shook her head madly in denial. "You have no proof. I'm so sick and tired of you telling me what to do! Stop manipulating me!"

Miku dropped her jaw and let out the loudest, most bitter laugh she'd ever heard. "I'm manipulating you!? You don't see it, do you? Kuro's been manipulating you this whole time, so of course you don't."

She froze. She was being manipulated? She thought back to all those times her boyfriend had been by her side. She thought back to when they shared their family problems. They were so similar to each other that no one else could relate to them. They were in this together. She thought back to the hugs, kisses, and moments they shared. The 'I love you's' that they would whisper and the happiness she would feel every time she was with him. None of them were fake. Kuro loved her and she loved him.

Her friend let out a heart-wrenching sob and faced the blue sky above. "He's a real life yandere, [Y/N]. He's killed everyone because he loves you that much."

A yandere? She racked through her brain to remember what that was. It was that fictional thing that Miku was telling her on Halloween. A kick to the gut was what she felt as she thought about. So his love wasn't fake, but he still killed all of these people. She didn't understand what hell Miku was saying. This was the real world. Not wanting to be here any longer around this girl who was supposed to be her friend, she began walking away. "I'm going home," she said, wiping her tears away and letting out a shuddering breath.