As with everyone else, Kyoko heard the blood piercing scream. As with anyone else, she was took aback by this and stunned for a second, looking up. Though unlike most of her fellow victims of the serial killer - not that she knew it as of now - she was completely uninterested with any form of investigating. At all. Kyoko was content that the class was going to go on as planned for everyone...or almost. One of them, Felix if she did not mistaken, just walked right out. What could she do, though?

The class ended, and that was that. Kyoko had managed to almost get it all out of her head as she was heading towards the library. On her way, she saw Ikotsu who seemed to be lost in his mind and heading the other way. That's when she realized that, in her absent mindedness, she had headed towards the location of the scream. Something which she noticed only after hearing voices talking and, before she could stop herself, peeking into the room.

There she saw multiple people speaking. Most were students. Some, she recognized. Then there was someone whom looked like they did not belong. Despite her inner voice telling her to never mind all this and leave, she could not let this be. She stepped into the room, last to enter for now, and spoke up;

"You all shouldn't b-be here. T-this doesn't concern s-students..."
What she intended to be stricly said came out weakly, and low. In fact, they might not even have heard it.

@SimpleWriter@Aurrorian



As the young detectives found their way into the room they quickly started their investigation into finding clues. With honed eyes they search the room for any clues to find the killer:

@Ryteb Pymeroce: The first person to enter was the first one to find a clue as they looked at the strange shard of glass only to realize upon closer inspection that it is more like a shard of a mirror. The Shard looked strange and when he tried to look into it he would only find a shadow of a person looking back at him. Clearly this shard of mirror needs to be examined more carefully to understand its qualities and the connection to the case.

@World Traveler: As the second student came in to examine the scene they would soon find that within one of the lockers he would see a set of cloths. They clearly belonged to a female and were still warm realizing that the death couldn't have happened longer then 20 minutes ago. Inside the locker he would also find the purse, inside said purse would be money and the ID of the student and find out the victim was named "reko Koichi"

@Not Fungus: Aside from the locker containing the students identity their is nothing more of note simply empty lockers or ones with standard supplies for cleaning the instruments that have a small layer of dust indicating the amount of time its been since they were used

AS they investigated the scene they would notice the sound of steps coming into the hallway. They would need to grab anything they could that was of value to their investigation. They also would have noticed that none of the windows were broken and the door into the room wasn't locked. The killer must not have had a difficult time getting in or out of the room. Since they were on the second floor and a window was open it could indicated that the killer jumped out of the window and simply knew to roll when they landed. Closer investigation to the outside would be needed if they decided to find out where the killer may have left.

Clues obtained!

• Shard of mysterious mirror
• ID of the victim: reko Koichi

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@Killy

Once she had the information he listened as she was no doubt thinking about what he said about the ocular fluid on the letters. Then came her declaration that he would be going with her. His eyes went wide and he shook his head vigorously before he typed out Nuh uh, Nope, Negative, Not happening, I am not going anywhere besides don't you need me to examine the grease?" He said hoping that he would have an out that way. Though even if she wanted him to go he would have no choice but to go. He Would get dressed wearing his hoodie of course and taking his laptop into a messenger bag. It's not like Shiba would fight her on it if she kept insisting, he hated arguing anyways.

He signed to Dr. Sakura that he would be going to help investigate. He would be forced to be the Watson to her Sherlock providing information as she gathers it. He would be wearing all black except for his bright blue hoodie in the hopes that people would simply stay away from him as he clung to the most isolated areas around them as they traveled not saying a word as he let her take him to the warehouse.

Felix Volpe

---

A fragment of a mirror? Now we just need the smoke for this bloody magic act.

Okay, lets think about this logically. The music room is on the second floor, and the only exit leads out to the hall. Considering a lack of blood from the dismembered hand of the victim, they somehow exited another way. Why are there mirror shards though...

'The victim screamed'

What? Why would that... wait! In the other circumstances there had been no warning of the attempted killing, or possibly kidnapping seeing as there was no body. The victim saw the killer and reacted, meaning these shards were part of something the killer was using to enter and exit. But how could a mirror help someone move a body?

'Mirrors are magical'

Well yes, the fact that a surface can perfectly reflect the surroundings was magical to earlier cultures. An obscure myth was that if you stood between two mirrors you'd end up trapped. And of course everyone knows that when you break a mirror it's bad luck, but he always put it down to the fact mirrors were quite expensive in a pre-industrial world.

'Breaking the mask reveals what lies beneath'

Okay, maybe he should be taking those anti-psychotics. He just realised he was having a conversation with a voice inside his head. Slipping the mirror shard into his pocket, the voice began to quieten, but it seemed almost desperate.

'Remember... what you... are'

Turning around to the person investigating the locker, he walked up to share what he had found so far.

@World Traveler"Find anything about the victim? Considering my time getting here, the killer couldn't have gotten out the main door. I also think the victim managed to fight back against them, these shards probably came from something the killer was holding. Just confused why someone would walk around with a mirror of all things, especially when committing a murder."

Present Day

"Well, I do have a visitor pass..." I reply behind the blue haired boy, shifting the lanyard around my neck with said identification into better view. I pause to take in the scene of students investigating a crime scene: the spiky haired student looking increasingly like a fox examining a glass shard, the blue haired boy cautiously opening lockers with a yardstick, a third student more determinedly opening another set, and a girl standing beside me looking on nervously. I wonder if it's more than a coincidence of curiosity that these four specific students, and I, were drawn to this area due to the novelty of a criminal like the Death Husband, Blood Eye even. Where would the music teacher of this school be anyways, if not watching their own classroom? If I'm to have an amateur interest in detective work as these other students seem to have, there would lie my first suspicion.

I hesitantly clear my throat to talk again, as the only adult in the room, "Actually, I'm a part time counselor asked to come help your school, in that office. A...secretary was showing me around, until we heard that scream. She ran back to the office to call police, while I was close enough to find my way here. So, since the police are probably on their way..."

I hesitate again. There's a fine line to cross into becoming an authority figure for these students. Except I'm not a teacher or similar person they could possibly respect in the moment, especially with me fibbing. Part of me wants to, but that part seems to think of prodding or even scolding them like younger children in trouble. Another part sees myself no, someone more like Raven in them, with youthful energy not yet tapped by becoming a working adult. I take a breath, then finish my line.

"...we should investigate this as efficiently as we can, before they arrive," I'm about to take another step into the music room, when I hear approaching footsteps, "Oh, somebody's already coming."

As if by instinct, I turn around and march back down the hallway, hoping to meet whoever it is and stall for time. I figure it would make up for my earlier awkward arrival if I fibbed in favor of the students rather than against. It's going to land me in some trouble with the school staff for being up here in the first place anyways.

"Hello, my name's Angela Gong, you can just call me Angela. I'm a part time counselor assigned here by the local Catholic charity, non profit and secular divided of course. More here for career guidance, a bit of financial aid, some basic mental health services including referrals, you know. I was just looking around the school to get to know the place, talk to some students and introduce myself."

"Oh uh, I did just come from that end of the hallway and greeted students there, I think they were cleaning up after independent band or choir practice so they didn't need supervision. Which is funny actually, part of the reason I came up here was because I heard the music room was this way, and the school's counselor mentioned wanting to see the music teacher for something. I couldn't find them inside so uh, would you happen to know where the music teacher could be, maybe their office? I'd like to make a good first impression on my colleague, if you could help me."

Suigin sighed due to a lack of progress in finding any substantial evidence for this case. It's normal for a normal high school student for him to be an amateur in this field. Not finding any evidence and just sitting still is the normal thing to do. It's too bad that his normality was already disturbed though.

He must find something somewhere else to put an end to this case. To protect his bastions of the sacred everyday, he will find the culprit. Even if he's a normal person, his craving won't allow for anything else. Still though...

"Wait, hold on a second," he said to himself. He wonders if these cleaning supplies really haven't been used before. Just by eyesight alone he knows that they've been gathering dust, proving that they shouldn't have been used recently. There's a small chance that it could've been faked so he went and touched all the instruments himself.

He contemplated the details of the case after finishing.

"Just where am I going to find anything else?" He most likely won't be able to solve this on his own. 'No choice but to rely on other's information,' he thought to himself. He sighed as he realized this could've been solved easily if he teamed up with Kenji.

He shook his head out of those thoughts again. He needs to focus on the right thing now. Death Husband first, Blood Eye second. There's a saying to save the most important for last, so he might as well do that. He needs to convince himself that this is something important if he's going to devote a sufficient amount of effort towards it.

He noticed the older woman's scheme. He's actually quite thankful towards her. He should find a way to pay her back. He walked towards the other two students in the room that were investigating. 'The broken glass, the finger, the missing person, the scream, the piano, the location, the lockers.'

@Ryteb Pymeroce @World Traveler "What did you two find? It could be anything at all, just tell me. We should also probably share theories while we're at it." He's going to use them to further his understanding of the case.

Most of the lockers were locked, but one of the far side ones was slightly open with a jacket poking out. As he walked over he heard Kyoko mention that they shouldn't be here. He was about to ignore her when the women who spoke earlier began to speak about how she was a counselor or something. "Well there you go Kyoko." He said without looking away from the lockers. "We are here under the excellent care of part timer."

Devin then watched and actually turned his head when the part timer seemed to run off into the hallway. He realized they were pressed for time and ditched the ruler and pulled the locker fully open. After a quick search through the jacket and bag he found a small purse and opened it up. "Reko Koichi..." he muttered to himself and then took a picture of the ID.

"Hey Feliz you know who Reko Koichi is?" Devin wasn't interested in small talk and knowing that taking the ID would make him look all the more a suspect he left it in the purse. "Her things are here and seem to be the only ones found in the locker. "Suigin you know her?" Devin then somewhat begrudgingly turned to Kyoko. "What about you?"

He could hear the woman talking to someone in the hallway and figured there was still something they were forgetting, but couldn't find. "There wasn't anything out of sorts in her locker, but if she left for a normal reason she wouldn't forget her purse I am guessing..."

The name was so warm it almost made Devin barf a little. Just setting your kid up for needing anti-depressents with that sunshine of a name. He thought to himself as he looked down at the photo of the picture ID. "The fact that the finger is here means the person isn't worried about leaving evidence. In fact they are more requiring of leaving specific evidence." At this point he was musing but he looked over at Suigin. This may be the most reciprocating of a team effort he had given in the past year in any capacity.

This was one of the times where she liked Shiba’s pushover attitude, it meant that she didn’t have to put much effort into goading him into doing what she wanted. “Don’t worry about the grease” she waved her hand as if it wasn’t a big deal “We’ll just go take a quick look” Truth to be told she wouldn’t be able to concentrate on the piper case without at least taking one look at the warehouse. As far as she cared they had all the time in the world to gather clues for the fried piper, and given that the blood terrorist was a higher profile there wasn’t anything wrong with prioritizing it.

Dragging Shiba with her, she gave her goodbyes to Dr. Sakura and quickly ordered a cab. The trip just as expected was a silent one with Shiba being his usual self and Mana impatiently tapping her fingers. Once they arrived she took a quick look at her surroundings, the place was brimming with people, it seemed they had arrived on a busy time. She clicked her tongue, it meant she was going to wander through the sea of people for the owners of the lot. “Let’s go look for whoever’s in charge, you don’t have to say anything, but remember that if they ask we’re on behalf of the police”

@SimpleWriter@Aurrorian@World Traveler@Not Fungus@Ryteb Pymeroce



AS the group had convened and had gotten to work investigating the room the new counselor/ accomplice went to buy them more time. As she went out of the room to stop the faculty members that came up to investigate the noise as well she was able to stall them for a few more moments. The leader of this group was the vice principle Miss Yoshioka Aki she seemed very straight laced and was a strict teacher at the school. Most students avoid her if at all possible thanks to the cold aura she seemed to have around her. She then said "hmph, the music teacher isn't here. She is still in the faculty office trying to sort out the music for the festival. Now please step aside I know for a fact that students don't practice for the band until the afternoon classes." she told her determined to lead her team of 3 faculty office members.

The students were quickly starting to run out time. The best they could do is examine the room a bit more to find any evidence, collect any samples, or investigate the room before the vice principle would barge in and catch them doing something they shouldn't they could either jump out the window and make a run for it to avoid getting into trouble or take a chance to make one final walk through around the room to collect any evidence they could use for later. After all they could simply discuss this at a more appropriate time later

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@Killy

Shiba stayed with her through the trip and remained quiet. As they got to the warehouse however they saw it was brimming with the staff. Clearly they had a new shipment come in. Shiba then grabbed a piece of Mana's shirt and followed her like a child would when they got into a store. He stayed close not wanting to be near any of these other people. Clearly Shiba's isolationism is blindly apparent he was having a hard time handling it.
They didn't need to take long to find the managers office nearby he was a very heavy set man with a large gut looking much like a grumpy Santa Claus he told someone to go and do something before he noticed them enter his office. He then said ""Why the hell are you children in my office. I swear i need to get new security for this place if children could simply walk in." Ais s he said that Shiba got behind Mana shaking in fear and wanting to avoid the fight. If Mana weren't here he would have made a run for it by now. clearly this Manager has no live for people that will waste his time and as they were young he clearly believed they were nobodies that sneaked their way in here

Felix Volpe

---

"Ah crud, it's the fuzz! Every man for himself!"

Felix darted towards the window, opening it before climbing out. It was fair to say Felix was not particularly in her good graces, especially after blowing up part of the chemistry lab with his and Raph's research. The woman was like a bloody battleaxe.

It was only when he was midway out the window that he remembered an important fact. The music room was on the second floor. Too late to abandon his current act, he gripped the side of the window and used it to launch himself towards the drain pipe. He initially missed, leading to a slight bonking of his head, but soon came to his senses and properly grabbed on.

Following that, he slid down the pipe to sweet, sweet freedom. As he walked away, he further examined the shard.

Return the part to the whole...

Cryptic voices in his head again. You know what, fuck it, he has more important things to worry about right now. It probably would be an idea to check it against a mirror, check it is actually part of one. Maybe should let the others tag along, especially that Devin guy. He's not a hardass for rules like Raph.

Present Day

Judging from the air surrounding and forcefully emitted from the Vice Principal, she's an authority figure I wouldn't look to actively buddy with as a colleague, or blatantly disregard if I were a student again. I move aside for her to pass not wanting to push my luck, then make my way back to the counseling office. Inwardly, I cringe as the bathroom excuse I give to the other counselor piles up with my other lies given today, and halfheartedly toss a prayer of forgiveness on top of it all. The other counselor at least seems to take me in stride without a hint of incredulity, continuing where we last left off by showing me my temporary office space before letting me settle in. I set up for the brunt of my work expected to begin at lunchtime.

Eventually I pass the time idly on my phone. When social media didn't suffice to engross me, I find myself tapping open the notepad app, then randomly away at keys while collecting my thoughts.

Why didn't the music teacher go to check on their own classroom themselves? And why was it unlocked, if band practice doesn't happen until afternoon? If I don't get any immediate visitors at the beginning of the lunch period, maybe I'll sneak out again to find that music teacher. Just to ask a few questions.

I nod to myself and start typing what would be my case notes. The only evidence I gleaned from spectating the student investigators was the broken glass, and I think I overheard the fox haired one mention a mirror. Beats me why a mirror would be connected to crime, though the shards could be sharp enough to cut something...or someone. I briefly search the web to update my knowledge on Death Husband, and add that context to my notes.

But now I return to thinking about connections between the particular students I met. Why them, and in such a hurry, when the scene was easily accessible to any set of prying eyes? The Death Husband case has been open for so long, yet with respect to the other counselor, the school has acted lackadaisically in a drastic situation where equal measures should be taken. Did the police ask them to remain open so they could catch Death Husband in the same place? I think back to their last update on Blood Eye, with no new victims nor leads. Well if everyone's so relaxed about everything, except for those students and I, perhaps...

I follow my whim searching for other cases related to Kage Private High. My heart leaps to my throat as the top search result shows the local news coverage of Blood Eye victims, related to some of the students. But I resist clicking the link, I'd avoided looking up who the Blood Eye had also left alive and hurting for their loved ones, not wanting to share the darkness and grief only I could be plunged into all this time.

In other news this is turning into one of the longer days in my life.

Suigin watched the redhead leap out the window. It was quite a ridiculous thing to do, granted it was only two stories high. It's doable, yet crazy thing to do at the same time. Kenji might've done the same thing.

"No, actually he would've just strolled out the door like he owned the place." A twitching smile symbolizing both fondness and irritation.

And just like that, he fell back into somber reminiscence. It's going to be quite the difficult habit for him to break.

There's no telling what in of punishment is in store for him if he's found here. "Whatever, I don't even care anymore. I'll just take the punishment." Because that's what normal students do in a normal world.

He clicked his tongue and prepared to go over the room one more time just to see if he missed anything critical. The whole room must be searched. While he was giving a thorough second go through the room, he stored the scene in his memory like a photograph. Just enough stuff to ge a general layout in his mind.

He then walked out of the room once he was satisfied. Right into the path of someone who would definitely administer punishment. He sighed and prepared for a lashing. 'It had to be her of all people, didn't it.'