"I fell asleep..." "Wanna just go to sleep?" "Yeah, all right." "We'll call off the test of courage." "Let's just go to sleep." "Huh?" "I don't see Kotarou anywhere." "Oh, he probably just went out to pee." "What was that noise?" "It came from outside." "I see a light." "It disappeared." "Hey, I don't see Kotarou's lantern." "Maybe that light was Kotarou?" "Let's go take a look." "Hey, look!" "7" "What is this?" "It's blood!" "Hey... this is Kotarou's kimono, isn't it?" "The monster!" "The Bellflower Monster got him!" "Ow..." "My lantern!" "Wait for me!" "They remembered me?" "What's that sound?" "Hey, what's wrong—" "It's him!" "It's the Bellflower Monster!" "Cultural Anthropology Research Club" "When the boy finally made it to the village," "Today's Discussion Topics Culture Festival Plan An Introduction to Cultural Anthropology Monster Display the adults all went out to look for the other boys." "But all they found were burnt lanterns, and bloodstained kimonos and sandals." "Field Work:" "Cultural Anthropology Research Club" "And that's the story as it was recorded in the club bulletin." "There's a story like that in there?" "That's a pretty scary story to tell to kids." "It'd get an R rating these days." "A local elderly man actually recounted this tale, right?" "Bellflower Mountain's right behind our school." "Knowing that makes it even scarier." "Well, it's definitely creepy, but..." "What's the point of this story?" "I can't figure it out." "Aooni..." "That's right." "Aooni." "Aooni" "You guys don't know about Aooni?" "Aooni?" "What's that?" "Senpai, you've never heard of it?" "No, I haven't." "Wait a second." "Here it is." "Free Game:" "Aooni" "Aooni started as a freeware horror game, but it grew in popularity until they started making comics and movies out of it." "Now that you mention it, I think I may have heard of it." "So you're saying that the Aooni game is similar to this story?" "Not really." "All they have in common is the monster's color." "Then what..." "Before the game came out, how did you imagine the blue monster looked?" "You've never heard a story where they just ate people, right?" "And it's not like a fairy tale to have a specific description like, "like a bellflower."" "So I actually wrote an email to the guy who wrote the Aooni game and told him I'd found this folk tale." "And get this!" "I got a reply almost immediately!" "Ta-da!" "I was a fan of the Aooni game, so at that point, it was basically just fan mail." "But when I saw his reply, it really surprised me." "He lives in Tokyo now, but he said he lived in this town up until elementary school." "He heard about the Bellflower Monster from his grandpa when he was little." "I see." "That explains why they look similar." "Now I understand why the game resembles the story, but what's this got to do with our display for the culture festival?" "It means that the original story used for a game everyone knows was actually from our hometown." "It's a new folklore monster." "A monster that was almost forgotten came back in the form of a game." "Don't you think that's really interesting in itself?" "Yes, it certainly is interesting." "I'm going to see the game's writer this Saturday." "Manabe-kun, will you come with me?" "Me?" "Just us two?" "That's right." "I'll go!" "I'm a lot more reliable than Manabe." "I want to go, too!" "M-Me, too!" "There's no point in all of us going." "Murakami-kun, I want you and the first-years to do some more research here." "Find out if this story is still told anywhere." "And it's possible that it's not just a fairy tale." "That's what I think." "Yeah, it's a little different from typical folk tales, isn't it?" "It seems strangely real." "Well, everyone?" "Don't you think this will make an interesting project?" "Man, no fair, Prez." "If you were hiding a great idea like this, you should've told us sooner." "I figured if anyone else had a good idea, we could do that instead." "I'm partially in this out of personal interest, after all." "But this is one of the monsters that Karin-chan wanted to do something with, and since it's a video game that everyone knows, it'll probably attract a lot of attention, right?" "Well, if you ask me, you should take me, not Manabe." "Why?" "The city's filled with dangerous folks." "I'll protect you." "I don't know..." "I still think I'll take Manabe-kun." "But why?" "Are you saying I have some sort of dangerous allure?" "Whatever." "I'd feel safer with Manabe-senpai, too." "You'll still have Konaka-kun." "If there are two sheep, you don't have to worry about being eaten." "Is this the "Wolf and Sheep Puzzle"?" "I wouldn't eat Konaka, anyway." "I mean, I wouldn't eat Karin-chan, either..." "Konaka-kun." "Take care of Minazuki-san while we're away." "Okay." "All right, it's settled." "Fujimoto-sensei, is that all right?" "Huh?" "Uh..." "Yeah." "Yo." "Delivery for you." "The questionnaires from before, right?" "Thanks." "What's wrong?" "That was Tachibana-senpai, wasn't it?" "I smell something." "Give it to me." "What are you talking about?" "I won't tell the school." "Fine." "So?" "You're done here, right?" "You're so cold, Sensei." "One of your students has come to you seeking relief from the depths of entrance exam hell." "You could at least spare a smile." "It's because this room's got A/C, isn't it?" "Figured me out, huh?" "You're quite the playboy, Murakami-kun." "I bet you always talk like that to girls, don't you?" "That's not fair." "I'm just being honest." "The club president thinks I'm a playboy, too." "From the Anthropology Club?" "Takashiro-san, right?" "Are you after her?" "Don't say it like that." "I just want to appreciate cute and beautiful girls, that's all." "She's going to Tokyo for a research project for the club." "And she chose Manabe to go with her." "I know I'd be the better choice..." "Tokyo?" "The Anthropology Club's going to Tokyo?" "Why?" "Have you heard of a game called Aooni?" "She's going to see its writer." "Something about how it might've been based on a folk tale from around here." "A game based on a folk tale from around here?" "She dug something up from somewhere." "A story about how a monster on Bellflower Mountain ate some kids." "She says the writer of the game is from this area and based it off of that story." "Sensei!" "A bee!" "Where'd it go?" "It's over here." "I see a lot of them at school lately." "Is there a hive around here or something?" "Got anything to smack it with?" "Don't do that." "Let it go." "Sensei..." "I'm in love." "I figured you'd be killing time here." "We're leaving." "Right." "Okay, Sensei..." "I won't be able to see you for a while, but don't forget about me." "Come on, we're leaving." "I don't think I'll remember you." "Aw, come on!" "Tachibana was just in the nurse's office." "Tachibana?" "The third-year?" "Yeah." "Hey, did you know?" "Know what?" "The rumors about Tachibana." "Oh, yeah." "The one that says he's banging all the girls in the school." "I'm sure it's an exaggeration." "But I think he's banging Mifuyu-chan." "No way." "When I passed him in the nurse's office, he smelled just like her." "I can tell." "I'm sensitive to stuff like that." "Hey, want to go interrogate Tachibana right now?" "No way." "You're just jealous of him, aren't you?" "I don't know if you should be saying that, Manabe-kun." "What do you mean?" "I heard from Konaka that he's going after the president, too." "This is a crisis for the club, right?" "Fine." "I'll go with you." "Man, just be honest with yourself." "Tachibana is the only member of the Chemistry Club." "The club room's in the basement." "This is pretty dodgy." "It's locked." "Guess he's not here, then." "Let's go." "Hang on." "I'm pretty sure it's around here..." "Found it!" "How do you know where the key is?" "Konaka told me." "How does he know?" "He hates Tachibana." "Why?" "Probably because Karin-chan likes Tachibana." "Oh, so that's it." "So he's spent a lot of time investigating him." "Okay, it's open." "What is this place?" "Some kind of lab?" "I didn't realize our school had such a big basement." "What kind of flower is this?" "Jeez, what do they see in a creepy guy like him?" "Hey, Manabe." "Hey!" "What are you doing?" "Oh... nothing." "You okay?" "Anyway, let's take a look back there." "Looks like it goes on forever." "Damn." "It's locked." "We can't get in like this." "Let's look for the key." "Anyway, why is there a room like this in the school basement?" "No idea." "Isn't this school kinda weird, anyway?" "Even the windows have steel shutters on them." "What?" "Shh." "Did you hear something?" "I don't hear anything." "It was a joke." "At least be a little scared." "What the heck?" "Let's just go." "Fine." "We couldn't find the key anyway, so let's just go." "President Takashiro" "It's the president." "Hello?" "Manabe-kun, about our trip to Tokyo on Saturday..." "Yeah?" "It's canceled." "Postponed?" "No." "I just had a visit from the police." "The police?" "The writer of the Aooni game died yesterday." "What?" "But how..." "He jumped off the balcony of his condo." "He'd written on a notepad that he was going to meet me." "D-Does that mean they suspect you?" "It's not that." "They were just checking up on me." "Anyway, this changes things, so I think I need to talk to everyone." "Can you get the club together after school?" "Okay." "So now we can't talk to the writer of the Aooni game about our project." "I want to hear your thoughts on what we should do about our display." "What?" "You want to change our topic?" "The theme was only worthwhile because of its connection to the Aooni game." "Wait a second!" "Why'd the writer kill himself, anyway?" "The police said they hadn't found a motive yet." "That makes no sense." "Who agrees to meet someone and then commits suicide?" "That's not right!" "Well, I agree that it's odd, but..." "Hey, Murakami, you're not thinking that" "Aooni had something to do with this suicide, are you?" "Yes, I am!" "Who wouldn't think that?" "There's no way." "It's impossible." "How are they even related?" "Well, I don't know..." "But it's strange, isn't it?" "The timing of his suicide, I mean." "Found it." "There's an article about the writer here." "What does it say?" ""There was no note found at the scene," "Jumped to His Death?" "and a male acquaintance said he had no idea why his friend committed suicide." "So the police are investigating the possibility that it was an accident, not suicide."" "Maybe he was murdered!" "U-Um, anyway..." "We can't talk to the writer of the Aooni game now." "We should decide what we're going to do from now on." "Yes, we need to discuss that." "Did you find out anything about this club bulletin?" "Yeah, and it wasn't easy." "I went through all the bulletins from around the same time to look for any names of club members from back then." "Then I matched their names to ones in old graduation albums." "And there was one person I was able to get in touch with." "I see." "Nice work." "It was Konaka-kun who told him to do that, though." "A good leader knows how to make good use of his subordinates." "And I noticed something even more important." "Even more important?" "Yes." "Take a good look at this." "You said that there was no publication data on this bulletin." "But all the other bulletins from that time have info printed on them." "Like this one, and this one." "And this one." "You're right." "Look right here." "Around the binding." "The color's different?" "Wait, if it hasn't faded, that means..." "There was a page behind it?" "The page was probably torn out and put somewhere else." "I looked to see if it had been stuck in between something else, but I couldn't find it." "Even if there used to be one more page, the story was complete, right?" "It may just have been a blank page." "Maybe..." "Maybe, but..." "But think about it!" "This story wasn't written down right when they heard it, right?" "There should be a tape somewhere." "If one of the club's members from that back then has the tape..." "That's a great idea." "If we could hear the original, that alone would be interesting." "Let's get them to try to find it." "So we can leave the theme as it is, and maybe we can continue this by searching for the original tape and talking about how it found its way back into the modern world." "But isn't that kind of a waste?" "A waste?" "I mean, it's possible Aooni had something to do with the game writer's death, right?" "Isn't that amazing?" "Amazing?" "What do you mean?" "If, just hypothetically, he did die because of Aooni, that's the same as being killed by the monster called Aooni, right?" "No, Minazuki-san, I don't know if it's good to think of it that way." "No..." "Yeah." "Karin-chan's right." "Aooni fans will be all over this news right now." "If they find out he died right before we were going to meet him, it's sure to grab everyone's interest." "I don't want to use this news in that way." "I'm not talking about using it..." "Shouldn't we do our own investigation?" "Then we can decide for ourselves what we should make public and what we shouldn't." "The cops don't know about the folk tale, right?" "I did tell them about it, but they didn't seem to care." "All the more reason!" "We need to do our own research!" "Yes." "That's right." "Right now?" "Yes, thank you." "I'll be right there." "Was that the old club member?" "Yeah, he says he has time now." "Then I'll come with you." "Ah, me, too." "I'll go, too!" "You'll come too, right, Konaka-kun?" "Yeah." "Watanabe" "Hello, welcome." "Thank you for having us." "There we go." "The Cultural Anthropology Research Club..." "I'm amazed it's still going." "So what's this about a bulletin we put out?" "Right..." "This is it." "I remember this." "Can I take a look?" "This was written when you were in the club, wasn't it, Watanabe-san?" "Please look at the last page." "The last page?" "Huh?" "There's no publication data." "I knew it!" "Do you remember what it said?" "This one ended with the story of the Bellflower Monster, right?" "Who went out to listen to this one?" "It was a pair of good friends who were a year older than me..." "Is something wrong?" "No, I just remembered." "Yes, it was Sekiguchi-san." "What do you mean?" "Well, you see, Sekiguchi-san was the club president at that time, and he was the one who did most of the field work." "But he did something terrible 15 or 16 years ago..." "Something terrible?" "What type of thing do you mean?" "He killed his wife and disappeared." "He had a young child, too..." "The police did everything they could to find him, but since they didn't, he'd probably committed suicide." "So, yeah, you won't get the chance to talk to him." "The other senpai..." "Oh, right!" "It was Fukuda-san." "Fukuda-san, one year older than you..." "Do you mean Fukuda Kaoru-san?" "Do you know how we can get in touch with this person?" "No, I think there was a name change when Kaoru-san married." "What was that new name?" "I'm afraid I don't know any contact info." "But wait a second..." "I may have something for you." "Here you go." "When we were transcribing the tapes back then, we did it all here." "Which means I got to keep all the tapes." "Score!" "This is what we wanted!" "Are these... tapes?" "They look like movie spools." "I guess you've never seen these before, huh?" "They're called open-reel tapes." "This is what we used before cassette tapes." "We borrowed the tape deck from the school." "Let's head back and ask." "Thank you for taking the time to talk to us." "Oh, no, I'm glad we talked." "It brought back a lot of memories for me." "U-Um..." "The Bellflower Monster, huh?" "How did that story go again?" "There was a weird rumor going around back then, actually." "Sekiguchi-san's wife was killed around four or five in the morning." "The neighbors heard loud screaming and banging noises, so they looked outside, and they saw a huge shadow that didn't look human running from the house." "It was a demon with deep blue skin, they said." "And..." "And?" "I think there was a picture of some kind of flower on the last page here..." "I borrowed the tape player... but does anyone know how to use it?" "Give me a second." "It's on this site." "That should do it." "Okay, let's play it." "Um, the date is July 25th, 1976." "This recording is being made by Miyata Kayo-san of Matsudani Village." "Go ahead." "This isn't the one about the Bellflower Monster, is it?" "The cases only have numbers written on them, so let's listen to the start of each tape in order." "This is the last one..." "Okay, I'll play it." "July 30th, 1976." "This recording is being made by Asakawa Tomezou-san of Kiritani Village." "This doesn't have the right name, either." "Wait, the one in the bulletin is a fake name." "That might be his real name." "His accent is really hard to understand." "Could the club members back then actually understand this?" "Well, that's the end of that." "What a waste of time." "Shh!" "He's saying something." "I can't make it out." "Turn the volume up a little." "A woman..." "Did I just hear him say "woman"?" "A woman..." "A woman the color of a bellflower?" "A monster?" "I don't understand this at all." "And that's what they say..." "Thank you." "Huh?" "Did I just hear..." "What?" "I think I recognize that voice." "Nah, it can't be." "The guy named Sekiguchi-san who recorded this killed his wife and went missing, didn't he?" "But two people made this, right?" "The other person was a woman, wasn't it?" "Oh, yeah." "Then maybe I imagined it, after all." "Is it that late already?" "Hatano-sensei, the nurse..." "She's from this area, right?" "What about it?" "Hatano-sensei might be able to understand what they're saying on the tape." "I see!" "Can you go ask?" "Okay." "Nurse's Office" "Did she leave already?" "No, wait a second." "She's still nearby." "This way." "You're kidding me..." "Sensei!" "Mifuyu-sensei!" "Can we have a moment?" "There's something we want you to listen to..." "Me?" "Well, I have time, but you guys should go home." "I know, but it won't take long." "Please." "Oh, all right." "Is Tachibana-senpai staying late for his club again?" "I guess there's something he wants to research." "Have you heard the rumors about him?" "Yes, I have." "He may not look it, but he's not a bad guy." "Ah, Sensei..." "Cultural Anthropology Research Club" "Thank you for coming." "What's all this about?" "I want you to listen to this..." "Oh, I see." "That really is a strong accent." "Even I can't tell what he's saying." "I'm sorry." "Are you okay, Minazuki-san?" "I'm fine." "It just startled me." "Can I go now?" "Where are you going?" "Leave me alone." "She seems kinda mad..." "You've got a lot to learn." "There are some things girls just don't want to talk about." "Oh, jeez..." "No..." "What?" "Our eyes have gotten used to the dark." "It's not completely dark outside yet." "I'm sure we had a flashlight here somewhere..." "Over here?" "Konaka..." "What are you doing?" "Well, whatever." "Go take this to Karin-chan." "She might be freaking out, so it's best to be safe." "No, it's okay." "Senpai, you go." "She doesn't like me." "Oh, fine." "I'll go check on her." "Who..." "Who's there?" "Club President?" "Who's there?" "This isn't funny!" "Karin-chan, are you there?" "Senpai?" "I guess I can't go looking for her in the girl's restroom, huh?" "Karin-cha—" "What?" "Senpai?" "Murakami-senpai?" "Are you there?" "Senpai?" "I heard a scream from this direction!" "Hey..." "What the hell is this?" "That's Murakami, isn't it?" "W-Wait..." "What kind of stupid prank is this?" "Wh-What's going on?" "M-Minazuki-san..." "M-Minazuki-san..." "Who..." "Who would do this?" "It's Aooni..." "Aooni got them!" "Don't be stupid!" "There's no such thing!" "But look at that!" "I-It might be a wild animal..." "It can't be Aooni." "Even if the folk tale is true, it lives up in the mountains." "And in the game, it's in a mansion!" "What would it be doing in our school?" "!" "Monsters..." "Monsters... appear because people believe in them." "Am I wrong?" "When we thought it was just a monster in a game, we were fine." "But the minute someone started believing in it, it took on physical form and became real!" "Calm down!" "There's no such thing as Aooni." "There just isn't." "Understand?" "Anyway, let's get out of here." "Come on, let's go." "W-Wait up!" "Damn, it's not opening!" "What's going on?" "!" "What about that side?" "No luck..." "None of the windows in the hallways will open, either." "What's going on here?" "We're trapped!" "Who would do that?" "Let's get somewhere safe and call the police... or an ambulance..." "Anything!" "Let's just get help!" "You're right." "Let's do that." "What's the safest place?" "A classroom, right?" "It's too dangerous to split up." "We should go to a classroom and wait this out." "Wait a second." "Can I go grab the tape?" "Looks safe..." "Okay, let's work together to make a barricade." "That's probably good enough." "No Signal" "Is it because of the weather?" "What about you guys?" "No luck here." "No good..." "Nothing here, either." "Oh, right." "Tachibana-kun..." "I forgot about him." "We don't even know where he is." "There's nothing we can do, is there?" "But there's a phone in the faculty office." "We might be able to use that." "These kinds of storms don't last long." "And Tachibana-senpai can take care of himself." "You're right." "But I'm really worried." "Wait a minute..." "What?" "If there's no monster like Aooni in the school, then that means it must have been a human who killed them, right?" "I guess it does..." "Then isn't it possible that Tachibana-senpai did it?" "Wh-What are you talking about?" "A human couldn't kill someone in an insane way like that!" "Then do you think something like Aooni is real?" "!" "That's not what I'm saying..." "But it can't be Tachibana-senpai." "More importantly," "Tachibana-kun was doing a lot of research in the basement, right?" "What was he researching?" "It wasn't biotechnology or something like that, was it?" "In the basement?" "I mean, I don't know, but I don't think that's possible." "Sensei, I told you we were going to Tokyo, didn't I?" "To meet the writer of the Aooni game." "Y-Yes..." "Did you tell anyone else about that?" "Tachibana-senpai, maybe?" "Wh-Why?" "Did you?" "Or didn't you?" "I might have." "That's not a problem, is it?" "You didn't tell me not to tell anyone." "Konaka-kun, what are you getting at?" "Sensei, the writer of the Aooni game died." "He fell off the balcony of his condo." "The police are trying to put it down as a suicide, but hypothetically..." "If it wasn't suicide, but murder..." "If the goal was to keep us from talking to the writer of Aooni..." "He was killed to stop us from meeting him?" "Why would someone go to such lengths?" "I don't know." "I don't know, but..." "But it's perfect timing... or bad timing, depending on how you look at it." "It makes sense, doesn't it?" "But that means the killer must be someone who knew you were going to meet the writer." "Murakami told Hatano-sensei about it." "And Hatano-sensei told Tachibana-senpai." "That means, outside of the club's members, you two are the only ones who knew about it." "That means I'm a suspect too, right?" "When... that happened... to the two of them, you were with us, so you can't be the killer." "Even without an alibi, I don't think you could do it, but..." "I'm sorry." "I think what you're saying makes sense, but I can't abandon him." "And we have to call for help, too." "I figured you'd say that." "I'll go with you." "We'll be back soon." "Konaka, take care of the president, okay?" "Right." "The lights are on." "Let's go." "The emergency generator?" "Tachibana-kun!" "Tachibana-kun!" "Are you okay?" "What happened?" "It ran away..." "What do you mean?" "Don't let it get outside..." "Who..." "Who ran away?" "Tachibana-kun!" "Sensei!" "Let's just get back to everyone else." "You're right." "President!" "Konaka!" "Open up!" "It's really you, right?" "It's me!" "Open the door already!" "Hatano-sensei and Senpai are here, too!" "Is anyone coming to save us?" "No." "We stopped by the faculty office and tried the phone in there, but it didn't connect." "We'll have to get out on our own when the rain stops." "No way!" "It's night!" "And what was that thing, anyway?" "I don't know." "I don't know, but..." "Senpai seems to know something." "Don't you, Senpai?" "What are you talking about?" "Don't play dumb!" "Murakami..." "Murakami was killed by something!" "You were keeping something down there, weren't you?" "!" "No!" "That's not true!" "Stop it!" "Come on, let go!" "I was taken in by my grandparents on my mother's side right after I was born." "I never knew what my parents looked like." "When I was a little older," "I learned that my dad had been obsessed with going up Bellflower Mountain." "And one day, not long after I was born, he killed my mother and vanished..." "Does that mean..." "My dad's name was Sekiguchi Tooru." "Your senpai." "A member of the Cultural Anthropology Research Club." "I found out from his diary that when he was doing field work in the mountains, he found something that wasn't of this world, and he was trying to find it again." "He graduated, got a job, and even married, but he still couldn't seem to forget it." "I think my dad found it." "And as a result, my mom died, and my dad disappeared." "It's possible he died." "I wanted to find out what it was, no matter what." "So I deliberately chose to come to this school, and whenever I had time, I went up Bellflower Mountain." "I thought maybe I could find what my dad had found." "And that, if I found it, maybe I could figure out what happened to my dad." "Maybe I could find him." "So you knew the story of the Bellflower Monster right from the start?" "Yeah." "You heard we were going to meet the writer of the Aooni game, right?" "I don't even want to think this, but you didn't kill him, did you?" "No!" "I wanted him to stop bringing up that old story!" "And I wanted him to tell me the story of the Bellflower Monster again..." "Wait..." "I met him... and then..." "What's wrong?" "What happened?" "Come to think of it, I took a flower..." "Help me!" "Open the door!" "M-Minazuki-san?" "You're alive?" "Hurry!" "Open the door!" "Wait there!" "I'll open it now!" "Wait!" "That's not Minazuki-san!" "She's dead!" "Help me..." "Open the door..." "Then who is that?" "Hurry... hurry..." "Open the door!" "Open the door!" "Hurry..." "Hurry, open the door!" "Hurry, open the door..." "Open the door!" "Hurry... hurry..." "Hurry..." "Open the door!" "What was that?" "Aooni!" "What's going on here?" "Say something!" "Damn it..." "Hey, are you in there?" "Are you okay?" "Fujimoto-sensei?" "What's he doing here?" "The police told me what you were up to." "I thought you might still be here, so I came to check on you." "Are you all safe?" "Thank you." "Sir!" "Is your name..." "Is your name Fukuda Kaoru?" "That's right." "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before." "Senpai..." "Does that mean our teacher knew about all this from the start?" "Did you know that Tachibana-senpai was the son of the guy named Sekiguchi?" "Yes." "I knew that his wife's maiden name was Tachibana, and he looked just like a young Sekiguchi." "When he came to this school, it was the first thing I checked." "Ever since then, I've been watching over him." "Fujimoto-sensei is..." "Fukuda-san?" "He said the name changed after getting married, so I was sure it'd be a woman..." "I feel a little responsible." "After we made that recording, we all went up Bellflower Mountain several times." "That's when we found a strange creature." "To me, it looked like a tiny, grotesque plant." "But to Sekiguchi, it looked like the most beautiful woman imaginable." "He said he wanted to see her again, and to catch her if he could." "So then he went back into the mountains many times." "But we graduated without ever seeing the thing again." "I forgot about it, but Sekiguchi couldn't, I guess." "When I heard about the murder, I knew exactly what had happened." "He'd found it." ""It"?" "Do you mean that strange creature?" "Remember what it said on the tape?" ""Those who make love to the woman of Bellflower Mountain are struck with necrotic phallic autotomy and become the Bellflower Monster."" "...struck with necrotic phallic autotomy and become the Bellflower Monster." "He was talking about some kind of Bellflower woman, not just the monster." "Tachibana-kun, you didn't sleep with that weird creature—" "She's not a weird creature!" "She's a noble and beautiful creature." "Much more than any human..." "Necrotic..." "What is "necrotic phallic autotomy"?" "It's when your genitals rot and fall off." "It seduces humans and turns them into robots that carry out its will, most likely." "That's how that plant has bred all this time, no doubt about it." "Then if we kill the plant, will that get rid of Aooni?" "I don't know for sure, but it may be possible." "That's right..." "The flower!" "The one in the basement!" "No!" "What?" "Run!" "The main entrance!" "I opened it when I came in, so it should still be unlocked!" "We can get out that way!" "Hurry!" "It's following us!" "You can do it!" "We're almost there!" "Sensei!" "We're trapped!" "What do we do?" "!" "It hasn't noticed us." "If we go now..." "Let's hurry!" "Why?" "Why isn't it open?" "!" "We'll have to find another way out." "Another way out?" "!" "Shh!" "It's getting closer!" "We can't stay here!" "Let's move!" "To where?" "The basement!" "He said that if we destroy the flower in the basement, that may get rid of Aooni!" "It's our only hope, isn't it?" "W-Wait!" "Konaka!" "Konaka is..." "Konaka-kun!" "Wait!" "Stop." "It's hopeless." "You won't make it in time!" "Damn it!" "Even Konaka?" "I'm sorry, but we have to hurry while we can!" "There it is!" "If we destroy this..." "Manabe-kun, it's coming!" "Damn it!" "This is getting us nowhere!" "Hurry, Manabe-kun!" "What do we do?" "!" "Hide, you two!" "Where'd Sensei go?" "I think she hid somewhere..." "What should we do?" "Look!" "The generator fuel!" "We can use it to burn the flower!" "I'll distract it so you can light the flower on fire." "There should be a lighter in the desk." "I can't..." "It'll be fine." "Once this is over, let's go to Tokyo together." "What's this, Manabe-kun?" "Your legs are shaking." "Are you okay?" "Okay, here we go." "Got it." "Why?" "!" "Don't do this now!" "Hurry, President!" "What do I do, Manabe-kun?" "!" "It won't light!" "What do we do now?" "I've got fire!" "Sensei!" "Get back!" "I can't!" "You can't be serious!" "Damn it!" "Manabe-kun!" "I'm coming!" "Manabe-kun!" "Sensei..." "Why?" "I had no choice." "How could it end so horribly?" "It was horrible, yes." "But it isn't over yet." "What do you..." "Sensei?" "I'm sorry." "Oh, Konaka-kun..." "You survived?" "Hatano-sensei!" "When Aooni was attacking me, I got wedged in a gap in the floor..." "That's just like you!" "Hey, I don't see everyone else..." "They didn't make it." "No way..." "What happened to the flower?" "It burned up." "But it didn't affect Aooni." "No..." "But it was a good ending." "I couldn't help but get all excited by it." "Sensei?" "Sorry, Konaka-kun." "You can't beat that thing by destroying the flower." "Sensei, what are you..." "If this thing exists, more people might start looking into us." ""Us"?" "Yes." "Us." "We've been living here longer than you." "But you humans keep destroying our habitat, so we had to take measures to defend ourselves." "We're trying to live in secret as much as possible, but humans grow curious and try to find us." "They talk about us in their folk tales, so we have to destroy anything that would lead them to us." "Hey, Konaka-kun, did you know?" "You can use a flower's smell or its pollen to erase people's memories or control them, they say." "Who went to listen to this one?" "Wait..." "I met him... and then..." "Oh, yes!" "I must thank all of you!" "You told me about the human who made the game about us, didn't you?" "Well, I don't really think a freeware game would lead anyone to us, but more people like you might appear." "So just in case, I had Tachibana-kun deliver these beautiful flowers to the game's writer." "So that suicide was..." "Well, tomorrow's a school day, so let's end this now." "Oh, right." "You know that rumor about Tachibana-kun, right?" "The one that says he's sleeping with all the girls in the school?" "If it was true, do you know why he'd be doing that?" "A honeybee takes nectar from a flower, but it also takes pollen to it, helping the plant to breed." "A plant can't move on its own, so it relies on another creature to fertilize it." "Perhaps these beautiful flowers are no different." "By the way, once that worker bee is done with its duty of pollination, what happens to it?" "And what about the one it delivered the pollen to?" "Anyway, sorry to interrupt class." "Aooni is very hungry." "W-Wait a second..." "Good morning, Mifuyu-sensei." "Good morning." "Huh?" "What was in this room?" "I don't know." "It's probably a storeroom, right?" "Oh, we'd better hurry."