The Corpse Rose

"Where are most of the bruises on your body?"

To ease the awkward atmosphere, Bai Yuze suddenly asked where the bruises were.

"Many of them are on my back. I have a few on my limbs, but they're mostly hidden by my clothes."

"Now that you mention it, my wounds are also hidden by my clothes, and so are Yuigahama's burns."

Yukino nodded and analyzed the situation based on what Bai Yuze had said.

"I think we have identities in this strange house. I have this feeling that as long as we stay in this room, we don't need to worry, no matter what happens. It feels just like..."

"Home!"

Bai Yuze said what Yukino had been trying to express.

"I feel that way too. I suspect our identities might be children who live in the house."

"Why not adults?"

Yukino was a little puzzled. After all, both "children" and "adults" could have a home.

"Only children don't need to worry about what might happen in the future, because the adults at home will take care of things. Adults have a lot of pressure on them. They can't be as carefree as children."

"Adults have a lot of pressure on them..."

Yukino suddenly thought of her mother's stern nature and her older sister's false smile. Without realizing it, her outlook began to change...

"Right now, we need to figure out one thing: where have the 'adults' in this house gone?"

If there were children, then there should be adults, too. But so far, the house only seemed to have children, which was clearly strange. What was more, as "children," they had been injured. No adult who cared about their own children would let them come to harm, unless... the adults themselves had caused it!

"I don't know. We have too few clues. We can only look for more once it's safe."

They exchanged a glance, then fell silent.

Yukino sat on the broken bed with her eyes closed, while Bai Yuze leaned against the wall and reviewed the rules in his mind.

After an unknown amount of time, someone knocked on the wooden door of Room 104.

Knock, knock, knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock, knock.

"Xiaoze! Xiaoxue! Open the door!"

A voice came from outside. It was Yuigahama's!

"Yuigahama?"

Yukino was surprised. She didn't know what time it was, but her intuition told her that at most two hours had passed—nowhere near long enough for it to be safe.

"Boo-hoo, Xiaoxue, open the door! The corpse in Room 102 moved! Boo-hoo!"

Crying came from outside. Yukino started to get up, but saw Bai Yuze gesture for her to be quiet.

"Is that you, Yuigahama? Are you all right?"

Bai Yuze walked up to the wooden door, with only the door between him and whoever was outside.

"Xiaoze, help me! That corpse is terrifying! Open the door!"

"Don't panic. Where is the corpse now? Did it get out?"

As he questioned the voice, Bai Yuze bent over and braced the door with both hands.

"It ran into Room 101. It's coming out any second! Open the door!"

The voice outside grew more frantic, and the knocks grew louder.

Bang, bang, bang, bang! Bang, bang, bang, bang!

"Is that so? Looks like it hasn't found you yet. Don't panic. I'll look for the key first, okay?"

Bai Yuze's voice was reassuring, and Yukino couldn't help rolling her eyes at what he'd said.

"Never mind that Bai Yuze is holding the door shut and doesn't have a free hand to look for a key. Even if he did, the door would need a keyhole!"

That's right. It was an ordinary wooden door with no lock. It could be opened with a gentle push, yet Yuigahama outside kept insisting that someone inside open it for her. So the Yuigahama at the door was fake.

How could they tell if Yuigahama was real? Yukino smiled faintly. Knowing Yuigahama, she'd probably just push the door open and then cry and fuss until someone comforted her.

"Did you find it?"

The voice outside stubbornly kept asking. Bai Yuze could only lie.

"If I can't find it, go hide in Room 105 for now. Once the danger is over, we'll come get you."

There was a moment of silence outside, followed by the sound of footsteps moving away.

"It left?"

Bai Yuze was surprised. He hadn't expected the thing outside to be so easily fooled, like an innocent child!

But for the sake of their safety, he kept bracing the door with both hands, in case the thing outside tried to force its way in.

"It should be gone," Yukino reminded him, then couldn't help laughing. "That clumsy lie of yours was so obvious. Only a monster would believe it."

"Can't help it. I've never lied to anyone in my life."

Bai Yuze shrugged. He wasn't a professional con artist; naturally, he couldn't come up with a brilliant lie.

"Do you think Yuigahama will be all right...? If a monster is imitating her voice to trick us, it'll surely try to trick her, too... What should we do?"

"Then all we can do is wish her luck."

Bai Yuze sat down on the floor with his back against the door and closed his eyes, trying to calm his pounding heart.

Yukino fell silent, too.

Time flew by.

Suddenly!

Bai Yuze heard hurried footsteps in the corridor. Just as he tried to make out where they were coming from—

Bang!

"Ah!"

Someone kicked open the wooden door of Room 104! Bai Yuze, who was sitting behind it, bore the brunt of it.

"Hey! Why were you sitting behind the door?"

Bai Yuze's cry of pain left Yuigahama's mind blank for a moment. When she came to, she asked in bewilderment.

"It's a long story. But why didn't you knock?"

Bai Yuze rubbed his lower back. The force of the door opening had nearly wrecked it.

"Boo-hoo, Xiaoxue! I missed you so much!"

Yuigahama suddenly threw herself at Yukino. Her voice was frightened and plaintive, like a little cat curled up in a corner, crying after being startled.

Yukino seemed to really think of Yuigahama as a cat. She stroked her head and spoke gently.

"What happened? Did something happen tonight?"

"Boo-hoo... Someone... someone came knocking... It even pretended to be you two!"

"What happened after that?"

Yukino asked patiently.

"I was going to open the door, but then the corpse in the room suddenly moved. It pulled the Scalpel out of its neck and stabbed it into the wooden door. After that, the knocking stopped.

"I was so scared. I crouched in a corner, afraid to let it out of my sight. I waited until the time we'd agreed on, and only then dared to come find you."

After hearing what Yuigahama had gone through, Bai Yuze pushed past the door and ran to Room 102. It was just as Yuigahama had said: a Scalpel had pierced the wooden door, and the corpse stood behind it, apparently watching Bai Yuze through the crack...

Or perhaps it was watching everything outside the door...