Takakai-san seems... tense?
Throughout their descent to the second floor, (Miko) had been quietly observing Takakai's reactions.
At first, he'd been alert but composed. Yet the moment Kumami possessed student arrived, his demeanor shifted—like he'd spotted something terrible but dared not react.
Then—
[...Did you see? Did you see it?]
Whispers slithered from the cracked dorm room doors.
Not from the ghosts themselves, but echoes of the past, replaying like a cursed recording.
[Look, it's the kids from 3F and 9F. Only three this time.]
[Finally, someone's gonna suffer. Good.]
[The teacher's been waiting by the sink forever. Once these three die, maybe he'll calm down for a bit.]
[Hey, is that a student? He's dressed like a teacher.]
[Fake! It's fake! Someone saw—he's a student, not a teacher!]
miko saw it all in a flash—a memory imprinted on the hallway.
A sadistic teacher who'd haunt the dorms, leaving faucets running to lure students into violating the [Student Conduct Rules]. A twisted game of cat and mouse, where the teacher forced caught students to trap their peers.
The students' counter? Gender deception—sending girls into the men's toilet and vice versa. If the investigator inside answered wrongly when asked "Is this the men's or women's toilet?", it meant danger.
Why did this work?
Because it wasn't just a trick—it was a rule. And rules, in Fujika Academy, outranked even a teacher's cruelty.
As Takakai's Rescue Team member stepped into the toilet, Miko overlaid the past onto the present—seeing a girl's ghost mirroring its movements.
"...Takakai-san."
She tugged his sleeve, meeting his eyes with rare determination.
"To break this, a man must enter and answer 'This is the men's toilet' when asked. Then it'll reset."
She explained what she'd seen, stunning Kumami but barely fazing Takakai.
"You sure? Should I try ordering it as a 'teacher' first?"
"No... The ghosts think you're a fake teacher. Your commands won't work."
Before Takakai could stop her, Miko stepped forward.
Why?
Guilt.
Memories of Takakai—battered, exhausted, still fighting for her—flooded her mind.
I might not be strong... but I'll do what I can!
The toilet was pitch-black.
And there, looming over the flushing pedal, stood it—
A figure skewered by pipes, one glistening eyeball dangling from a rusted tube.
Miko's face froze.
But she didn't scream.
"Is this the men's or women's toilet?" Takakai's voice echoed from the hallway.
"It's... the men's toilet."
The darkness lifted. The monster vanished.
Relief flooded Miko—until she looked up.
There, hanging from the ceiling, was Alice.
[So brave~ Good job!]
The golden-haired girl clapped, her smile widening—
And Miko saw—
A filthy labor camp. Starving bodies. Lice. A blonde child strapped to a table, a needle plunging toward her eye—
"Miko!"
Takakai slammed between them, as Kumami's possessed student lunged at Alice.
A petrifying force locked Alice in place.
[Hit my time limit. I'm falling back to 7F. Sorry for using you as bait, Miko—I'll apologize properly later.]
The possessed student collapsed, its borrowed consciousness spent.
Takakai decapitated it with his cleaver, then dragged Miko away.
"Why'd you take the mask off again?" Miko blinked as Takakai stowed the sheep mask.
"'Again'? So you saw me remove it?"
Takakai laughed bitterly.
He'd figured it out.
Alice had tricked them all.
When he'd entered miko's dorm, it cast an illusion—making Miko and the ghosts "see" him remove the mask.
Thus, to the dorm's horrors, he was no longer a 'teacher'—just a 'fake'.
Why didn't the main building's Alice do this?
Because... it never saw my face. This one did.
A chilling realization:
Alice had been with him from the start.
That weight he'd felt upon waking in the dorm?
She'd been lying on top of him.
That chest is reserved for Maki and Chika! Who said you could freeload, you 80-year-old hag?!
The Stairwell
As they raced for the first-floor staircase—
A flashlight beam cut through the dark.
A figure in a bull mask emerged from below.