Chapter 14 - Arthur CunninghamTuesday, October 17thShould you ever visit the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, as you peruse the works of art that decorate the space’s distinguished walls, there stands a masterpiece that has etched its way into my very soul — Rembrandt's 'The Night Watch.'

  The vibrant strokes depict a scene of disciplined camaraderie, each figure poised in valour, unified by a shared purpose that transcends individuality.

  When my eyes first lingered upon its sprawling canvas, I was captivated - not only by its artistic brilliance - but by the profound symbolism it exuded.

  Amidst the dimly illuminated chaos, I found a representation of unwavering unity and the spirit of perseverance in the face of adversity.

  Now, I find myself looking to Rembrandt’s triumph for strength, seeing the faces of my allies and I in the figures that occupy the piece’s centre.

  Whether our own tale will be one of unyielding resolve, or tragic ruin, is for us to decide.

  “Let’s go over what we know.” Started Hoshino. “Every night, whilst we’re fast asleep, our ‘spirits’ are taken away into that other world, a mirror version of Shibuya, where we fight for our lives. Supposedly, avoiding sleep or trying to run away to somewhere else won’t help.”

  I nodded in assent, deciding to contribute my own observations.

  “Indeed. Moreover, the space is haunted by those creatures, Noise, whose singur goal is to take us out for the essence that we possess and manipute, EXS. As such, it is possible for us to sustain injury and likely perish in that other pne – in which case, our fate in the real world could also be death, though that remains to be seen.”

  There it was again – the rigid silence that swept upon us as if a gust of wind. I cleared my throat.

  “Of course, so long as we look out for one another, I believe such a tragedy will never come to fruition.” I added.

  “Also, it seems that any injuries sustained over there don’t carry over into the real world,” Junko remarked pensively. “I had sustained some minor cuts and bruises in that st fight that had vanished by the time I woke up. The mental strain aside, I was in perfectly normal physical condition. I assume so long as we make it to the end of the night alive, we’ll be perfectly fine in the waking world.”

  Mizuko’s head bobbed as she sighed in what appeared to be relief.

  “Understood.” She said, before closing her eyes as if bracing for something. “There’s another matter I’d also like to discuss.”

  With the whole gathering’s eyes on her, she reached into her breast pocket and seemingly pulled something out.

  “I received this in my locker yesterday,” She began, the metallic shine of the object fshing brilliantly in our eyes. “Some sort of pin.”

  My heart rate started to accelerate.

  “I-I also received one.” Reaching into my trouser pocket, my fingers found the steely texture of the item, and I yanked it out. Looking at it now, it was incredibly clear what the meaning of this was – how did I not see it sooner?

  One by one, our group members dispyed their own pins, identical in structure, with only the image inscribed on the front varying between us.

  “No fucking way.” Katoru muttered. “Is it me, or… does the image on this junk rete to those crazy things we were pulling off yesterday?”

  “That’s exactly right.” Expressed Mizuko. “My own badge has a rather jagged-looking snowfke dispyed.”

  “I – I have a Sock and Buskin!” Kozuki squeaked. Was this really the same girl that stood so brazenly before us some hours ago?

  As expected, my own badge branded the unsightly visage of a wolf, though curiously, one eye was red and the other blue, despite my distinct ck of heterochromia.

  “Then that settles it… “Mizuko continued. I noticed the smallest bead of sweat form on her forehead, and I felt a surprising surge of anger that someone as beautiful as her was being subjected to all this madness. “My only question is, who went and pnted them?”

  It seemed that, for every answer, five new questions followed. We were going around in circles.

  I broadened my awareness to other things I noticed st night, and as my rays of attention and analysis converged onto one such lead, a gasp left my mouth involuntarily.

  “Rusuban and Kurogane are missing, but…Reaper. D-Do we even know who they are? They didn’t even reveal their voice! Do you think they could be…”

  I could hear my heart palpitating like a drum - I almost didn't hear the rooftop door swinging open with a loud bang.

  “Apologies, everyone.” Kinoko sighed sheepishly. “I was looking for Kurogane, but I haven’t caught sight of him all day. I’m not sure he was even in attendance.”

  Hoshino’s eyes narrowed, as if about to reprimand him, though her annoyance soon gave way to realization.

  “Shit, that’s right, he wasn’t in homeroom. I…” She began to rub the back of her neck, eyes closed. “I don’t really pay attention to him, so…I guess I missed it.”

  Despite Junko’s expression clearly scrunching up in what appeared to me as irritation, nobody said a word. Likely because the same could be said for us.

  “No matter.” Rusuban exhaled, closing the door gently and standing beside Mizuko.

  His proximity to her was wholly unnecessary in my estimation, so I elected to watch him very closely in case he tried anything ungentlemanly. “What have we discussed thus far?”

  After being caught up on our conversation, he turned his gaze to the setting sun, and the first signs of evening.

  “I see.” He pondered. “Though in the case of the pins, I’d argue they’re more than just symbols. Why go out of their way to deliver these to us if all they served to do was describe information we’d come to learn soon enough anyway? No, I’d say…”

  He turned to us, the breeze allowing his green locks to flow freely in the wind.

  “I’d say these pins are a warning.” He concluded. “Juno, or whoever is the mastermind behind this entire thing, is here. In this school. In this city. Watching our every move. That was the message they were trying to send – that they’re much closer to home than we could’ve ever imagined.”

  My legs began to shake involuntarily. I lowered, taking a seat next to Kozuki, who instinctively shuffled over, withdrawing her limbs into her own space.

  “I don’t know what they’ll do if we try to tell someone about all this,” Rusuban resumed. “And considering what they’re capable of, I don’t intend to find out. Like anybody will believe us, anyway…it seems all we have is each other.”

  At this, his eyes became hard with resolve.

  “For the other two, Kurogane and Reaper, I can’t speak. But as for myself, I promise that I will do everything in my power to make sure that you all get through this – even if it costs me my own life.”

  I was taken aback by the sincerity of his words, and felt my vision becoming blurry.

  As I removed my gsses for a brief moment, the position of the sun burning bright on the horizon made Kinoko appear almost angelic.

  “We’re all in this together, and so long as it remains so, nothing will stand in the way of our saga’s victory!” He assured, before looking sheepishly at Miharu. “I believe those were the words, yes?”

  At his attention, she became surprised, as if having been caught daydreaming, before nodding her head vigorously with smiling eyes.

  It was clear we’d all been caught off guard by his moving words.

  Well, most of us.

  “Whatever,” Groaned Katoru, arms folded, though I observed the slightest, smallest beginnings of a grin forming on his lips. “Just don’t go sicko mode on us again and maybe we’ll still be sucking air this time next week.”

  Of course, I couldn’t forget what had happened the night before – the coldness in his voice when he’d let that Noise attack Daisuke within an inch of his life – but while the punishment had been a tad excessive, there was no telling what Kurogane would’ve done to us had Katoru not won that battle.

  Regardless, I couldn’t sense any of that same darkness in Rusuban’s cadence now. I felt I could rely on him to follow through, or at the very least, cooperate with the rest of us.

  “Come to think of it, Kozuki – aren’t we partners?” He mused thoughtfully. “Well, not in that way, of course…unless you’re not doing anything ter?”

  At his teasing, Miharu’s cheeks almost became the same shade of red as her hair.

  “Ow!” Rusuban winced once Hoshino’s fist had found his left shoulder. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding, sheesh. I was talking about that leaderboard thing – everybody was partnered up, correct?”

  “Right,” Junko, my own ‘partner’, contributed. I had noticed her eying the rather quiet Furusawa surreptitiously, but opted to say nothing. “Remember that moment near the start when it felt like we were dying? I think whoever we reached out to then became our ‘partner’. Juno called it a ‘Pact’. I’m not sure what exactly that means, though.”

  “We’ll have to ask when…when we’re there next.” Mizuko concluded. I supposed she may not have had the strength to say ‘Later tonight’.

  With several nods of assent following, it seemed our first meeting had come to a conclusion.

  Well, except for one st thing I needed to set straight.

  “Rusuban,” I called. “I hope you don’t mind – I have a question for you.”

  I scanned his reaction for anything conspicuous, but came up with nothing.

  “Ask away.” He cheered.

  “Do you mind telling us what your ability does?”

  As expected, I wasn’t the only one wary of the fact that he and the enigmatic Reaper were the only among us whose abilities hadn’t been revealed in the slightest.

  I felt numerous eyes centre in on him, equally scanning him for any suspicious behaviours.

  Despite his inspiring words undoubtedly lifting our morale considerably, he would have to work harder than that to completely alleviate our wariness, especially after Kurogane’s treachery.

  “It’s kinda me, in all honesty.” He chuckled, as he pulled out a familiar object from his pocket.

  “Some kind of pnt?” I inquired, after having risen up from my seat to inspect the trinket.

  “Looks like it,” Kinoko guessed. “I think maybe I could have control over pnt life? How about we stop by Miyashita Park during the night to test it out?”

  I pondered his offer.

  If he was hiding something, this was an illogical move – he’d only be backing himself into a corner by proposing he dispy his power.

  In the case that his presentation failed to deliver...

  Well, I’m sure we would figure something out.

  “Very well,” I agreed after surveying the group’s expressions. “I look forward to seeing what you’re capable of.”

  He nodded, and a few beats of silence lingered in the air until a distinct groaning and rumbling cut the strained atmosphere clean in half.

  “Sorry,” Furusawa apologized self-consciously, a hand on his abdomen. “I haven’t eaten all day. This whole thing has had me really worried.”

  “Then why don’t we call it a day?” Mizuko suggested. “I suppose ignoring our health will provide no benefit. Let us remain diligent in our day-to-day undertakings.”

  “Agreed.” Rusuban confirmed. “I shall see you all again soon.”

  With that, we began to arrange ourselves, preparing to go about the rest of our daily lives with the lingering threat of the Hollow Night still haunting our tired minds.

  “Hoshino,” Akio approached her, nervous. “I-I was wondering if you wanted to grab something to eat? I-If you’re heading by Center Street there’s this really good pce I frequent.”

  In response, Hoshino looked slightly confused, as if Furusawa had been speaking another nguage, her cheeks almost imperceptibly becoming rosier.

  “Sorry, not tonight.” Hoshino stammered once she registered what had been said. “I have to catch up on study with a friend of mine. I’m sure someone else’d like to go, though.”

  Crestfallen, Furusawa scanned the rest of our cohort, but none would return his eye contact, to his chagrin.

  That is, until an arm suddenly draped itself around his neck.

  “Fuck dude, that was hard to watch.” Admitted Katoru. “But shit, if you’re buying, I can’t say no to free food.”

  Furusawa sighed comically, and several among our cohort released hearty chuckles at the tragic turn of events.

  Soon enough, starting with the freeloader and his reluctant benefactor, we slowly began to filter through the rooftop’s door, and down the staircase, though I noticed the others treading carefully, as though they were afraid of stepping on something.

  I was almost the st to leave when I noticed Rusuban and Mizuko had lingered behind, exchanging hushed words.

  Stepping past the threshold signified by the door, I tried to discern what was being communicated before friction itself had failed me, my feet completely losing their bance.

  With my hand catching the door handle, I was able to quickly lift myself back up, but the accident hadn’t gone unnoticed.

  “You okay over there?” Called Rusuban. “Apologies – I just needed to talk to Shirogetsu-san about some Student Council business. Go on ahead!”

  At that point, however, my mind was no longer pre-occupied with their conversation, as my eyes took in the suddenly squeaky clean shine of the floor leading to the downwards staircase.

  Somebody had cleaned it in the time we spent up here.