This story is a work of fiction, with no relationship to real persons or groups.
November 1st, 2015
Hey, Takuru...
Will you believe me?
Aoba Clinic
I didn't like the girl named Senri Minamisawa.
She was always alone when she was little.
At day care, everyone would go outside to play.
But Senri would stay inside, reading a book.
She liked being alone.
No, I don't think she liked it.
She pretended that she did
in order to avoid dealing with other people.
She wanted to avoid it because she thought it would only bring her pain and sorrow.
Even in elementary school, her introversion just got worse.
If a person tries to hide in their shell,
no one will try to get close to them.
Why would they? They have lots of other, more fun things to do.
They have lots of other, more fun friends to hang out with.
That's why Senri was always alone.
One day, she told her mother about her problems...
Said she wanted to develop a personality that would help her make lots of friends.
Thinking back, that was when everything went wrong.
The beginning of the hell that was to come.
Her mother took Senri to a certain facility.
She said that they could fix her shy personality.
AH Tokyo General Hospital
It was affiliated with the pharmaceutical firm her father worked for
and had deep ties to the religious organization her mother belonged to.
At first, it was just basic psychological tests.
All the doctors there were nice.
Once the tests were over, she was given candy.
Eventually, she started to look forward to going there.
But her dad was opposed to her visits.
Her mother refused to listen to him,
and eventually he stopped coming home most of the time.
Her mom said he was busy with work.
Meanwhile, the experiments kicked into high gear.
Her eyes were forced open,
and she was forced to watch strange videos for a long time.
She was forced to listen to what sounded like static for hours.
Awful things. Awful things.
Painful things. Awful things.
Again, and again, and again.
One day, a while later,
she felt like someone was watching her.
So she breathed in as hard as she could
and breathed out.
And wished.
Thinking back, nobody was ever going to grant her wish.
Nobody was going to save her.
She failed to realize that, and that's what drove her to despair.
April 2009
If living was this painful,
she didn't want to live.
She thought there was no hope at all.
But...
You okay?
You look pale. Want to go to the nurse's office?
What's wrong?
No... I'm fine.
Really?
Yeah.
I'm Nono Kurusu!
And you?
Senri Minamisawa.
Senri, huh?
Nice to meet you.
N-Nice to meet you... Kurusu-san.
Just call me Nono!
Everyone does.
Nono?
Yup.
Senri-chan!
Come join us!
Let's all play!
B-But...
We're friends, aren't we?
Friends?
Aren't we, Senri-chan...?
N-No, I'm not saying that! But...
I'm glad!
Nono-chan...
I'm going to let go!
Wow! It's your first time, right?
Are you okay?
Yeah. It doesn't hurt.
I have to go.
Really?
Okay. Let's play again sometime, all right?
July 2009
Hey, Senri-chan!
Why do you always leave early? What do you do at home?
You finally learned to ride the unicycle, too.
Senri-chan...
It's just me and Mom at home, you see.
So on my days off I have to do chores all day.
Is it the same for you?
Y-Yeah...
I see. I bet it's hard for our moms.
We should do our best to help them out, huh?
Yeah... you're right.
November 6th, 2009
Senri?
Put up with it.
It's for your own good.
It may be hard to take now, but I'm sure it'll all pay off.
Senri-chan!
Is that her mother?
I'm sorry, but...
Senri-chan, it's dangerous here.
Come to the hospital.
Senri-chan!
Nono...
...chan?
Senri-chan...
A-Are you okay?
I'll save you now!
I-It hurts!
Mom...
Where's Mommy?
No...
I don't want to die!
I'm sure your mom's alive!
So you have to...
I'm sorry, Mom... I...
Nono-chan?
Hey, Nono-chan!
I...
I wanted to be like you, Nono-chan.
If someone was going to die, it should have been me.
I should've died... I should've died in Nono-chan's place!
Hey, did you see a girl around here?
She's about your age.
She looks a little gloomy...
Let's go.
No way.
I'm... Nono-chan?
If I can just become Nono-chan...
You don't mean...
And then I was taken in here.
Soon, Yui... Yuuto, and you came here.
And the five of us, including Dad,
all opened our hearts to one another and became a family.
But...
Even as you left us,
and then came back to our family...
I kept lying.
Living as Nono Kurusu just felt so nice...
And I'd stopped even feeling guilty about it.
But because I kept lying, even to my family,
something awful happened...
If I'd told you all that I was Senri...
If I'd told you I was a psychic hiding her powers in order to live as Nono Kurusu...
Yui would... Yui wouldn't have died, right?
Please, Takuru!
I'll do anything!
Find out who did that to Yui and Itou-kun!
Find the killer who caused all these murders!
Kuru—
I won't lie anymore.
All right.
I'll believe in you, Nono.
November 3rd, 2015
Screw these assholes!
956 Name: Anonymous＠Reproduction Prohibited[sage] Submitted 2015/11/01(Sunday) 11:59:20.20 So we've settled on "Fictional Young Girl"? That's from the law Tokyo passed banning depictions of sex between "fictional youths" in anime and manga, right? But that was like, what, five or six years ago? Does anybody even remember it? 957 Name: Anonymous＠Reproduction Prohibited[sage] Submitted 2015/11/01(Sunday) 11:59:59.37 It's better than "Well-Done" for a chick who got burned to death. Hey, how about "Fictional Underage Girl"? That makes it sound extra sexy 958 Name: Anonymous＠Reproduction Prohibited[sage] Submitted 2015/11/01(Sunday) 11:59:59.49 Little Yui, the underage girl 959 Name: Anonymous＠Reproduction Prohibited[sage] Submitted 2015/11/01(Sunday) 00:00:29.31 Little Yui, the underage girl, huh 960 Name: Anonymous＠Reproduction Prohibited[sage] Submitted 2015/11/02(Mon) 00:00:55.09 And Yui was an XXX-grader, so hawt. Much hotter than that guy from Gottsuan DEATH, or the crazy old lady from Well-Done. BRB going to bathroom
"Fictional Young Girl"?! What the hell?
T-Taku...
Are you okay?
Sorry.
I told you not to check @channel for a while.
Now that you've seen it, I'll tell you...
Itou-senpai's personal information is out there.
People suspect that he's the serial killer.
Itou clearly wasn't himself!
He would never kill Yui of his own voli—
Sorry.
Miyashiro-senpai, do you think...
Freesia Offices
Mind control?
Yeah.
These incidents have involved a lot of people who've been acting strangely, right?
Then when Onoe and I went into the love hotel...
Taku?
Don't you remember, Onoe?
Remember what?
We were walking through a love hotel in our school uniforms,
but the police officer didn't stop us.
Normally he would, right?
True...
I thought it was weird when it happened.
I think you're overthinking things.
No, I'm sure the killer was...
...controlling him.
Controlling Watabe?
He was a famous internet reporter.
Why would he ask to hold a panel with a high school newspaper club?
Because...
Because you were faster with the Sumo Sticker information.
That got people online talking about how he plagiarized you,
so he tried to sweep it under the rug, right?
That's right, isn't it?
It doesn't make sense.
Neither of you two are heavy net users, right?
That's right.
About average, I guess?
And even the two of you thought
he was trying to sweep his plagiarism under the rug.
In other words, doing the panel would've made it obvious what he was after.
It would've just made things worse. There was nothing in it for him at all.
Good point.
Watabe was an experienced internet reporter. There's no way he wouldn't realize that.
What do you mean?
Watabe was being controlled before the cultural festival even began.
That's why he asked us for that panel.
And on the day of the cultural festival,
when everyone was watching...
The stickers that came out of his body when he was killed
weren't the Eleventh Rorschach design.
Why didn't they use real ones?
Because the killer is a Gigalomaniac.
If they screwed up at the scene of the crime and had it infect their mind,
it would trap them where they were.
Excuse me.
Really?
Be right there.
What's wrong?
Report on Victims' Mind Control 1st Case "Don't Look at Me" Yuuma Ootani 3rd Case "Revolving DEAD" Hironobu Kakita 4th Case "Gottsuan DEATH" Tomoaki Watabe
Wait...
Did all the mind control victims...
Arimura?
Yes?
We were bleeding from our eyes, just like the other victims.
I think we can assume that our minds were being controlled.
I agree.
The killer was trying to kill us just like the other victims.
Or perhaps attempting to control us, like Itou,
and cause us to kill someone else.
But I don't have any memories of that time,
and you were just shown a dream where Senri Minamisawa attacked you, right?
Why?
It's the same with the love hotel.
What was the point of controlling us?
What was the killer trying to do?
The motive, huh?
Well, I guess if we knew that, it would be too easy.
Yeah.
Anyway, tomorrow's the last day of the New Generation Madness.
7th Incident
Can you stay with Uki at Aoba Dorm, Arimura?
Of course, that's fine.
I'll go get a change of clothes before I head over there.
Thanks.
Should I stay with them, too?
No, I can't get you two involved.
I think it's safer for you to be apart from us psychics and keeping an eye out.
Okay, maybe I'll go stay at Hana-chan's place!
I can't?
Takashi Shinjou (Police)
Itou!
Miyashiro-kun!
Hey, Itou!
Don't be so loud!
Itou...
Miya... shiro...
Yeah, it's me.
Forgive me. Forgive me...
Please.
I...
I... killed Yui-chan...
Forget that!
Don't say another word!
B-But Yui-chan was your little sister!
And I...
I killed her with my own hands.
Get a hold of yourself, Itou-kun!
Listen!
I don't think you were the one who did it!
There's another person who was the real killer!
The real killer...?
Yeah.
Someone did something to you, right?
Did something to me?
Yeah.
Who was controlling your mind?
Itou?
What's wrong?
Stop.
Or his hippocampus will be destroyed.
I think his mind is still being controlled.
It's so he can't divulge any information.
M-Miyashiro, I think it was...
th-the club room.
The club room?
I-I don't remember... when...
There was someone with me.
No, no more!
Wait!
Itou?
If we can avenge Yui-chan...
I don't care what happens to my head!
I talked with them for a while, and then...
That's right!
They suddenly showed me something.
A picture of you with the rest at Aoba Dorm!
A-And then... And then...
That's right!
They laughed and pointed...
Kill this girl, they said!
And I got scared and tried to run.
And then someone else came in from the door.
And the two of them... The two of them...
Hey, hang in there!
Itou!
Itou...
Looks like he's just unconscious, but who knows?
Miyashiro-kun, leave Itou-kun to us.
Don't you do anything stupid, either.
Right.
Thanks.
What? Nono did?
Yes...
I was nearby when Nono-san was looking for something.
And?!
Senpai.
She stood up and looked really shocked.
Shocked?
Y-Yes.
She was dead pale, too.
And then...
She ran off somewhere.
She noticed something watching the video, right?
And then she kept watching the same scene over and over?
Um, I think so...
Wh-What part was it?
I don't know.
I-I'm sorry...
No, I didn't mean to criticize you.
That's not it...
Sorry.
It's okay.
I think I understand you pretty well, Takuru-san.
How pathetic, Senpai.
Shut up.
It's not your problem!
It is my problem.
You're the one who told me to stay by Uki's side all the time, right?
S-Sorry...
And I actually like Kurusu-senpai a lot.
So when you tell me it's not my problem,
it really pisses me off.
Snap out of it.
If you're panicking like that,
you'll miss things you'd otherwise notice!
That's what Kurusu-senpai would say, I think.
Arimura...
Hey, Uki.
Kurusu-senpai noticed something that surprised her
and then watched the video again and again, right?
Yes...
How was she acting then?
After she noticed something and was surprised...
Um, she looked really serious.
It was kind of scary.
And then?
She focused really intently on her earphones,
as if she was trying to listen to something as hard as she could.
What's wrong?
It's not the video.
There's something in the audio.
Sorry.
This cheap cheese is incredibly hard...
Why's the volume so high?
Maybe...
Miyashiro-senpai?
You couldn't listen intently to noise this loud.
In other words, what she was listening to so intently
was the part with barely any audio.
I see.
Wait a second.
The video gets scary after this, right?
Uki and I will go over there.
But...
Thanks, Uki.
I'm okay now.
Takuru-san...
Thank you, too, Arimura.
Make sure you find Kurusu-senpai, okay?
What was that?
What is this sound?
This sound... It's...
I've heard this before.
You're kidding me!
A-Answer the phone!
Episode 8
Heads or Tails