The Web

Sakayanagi Narimori and Wolf Spider sat quietly, looking at each other without saying a word.

Suddenly, someone who looked like a secretary rushed into the room and called out urgently, "Chairman, Kato Satsu from Class 1-D, he...!"

"He injured a staff member, right?"

Before the secretary could finish, Narimori cut in.

The secretary froze. No one could possibly have gotten to the chairman faster than he had.

Yet judging by the situation, the chairman seemed to already know what had happened to Satsu. That was simply impossible!

"Yes..." the secretary replied blankly.

"I understand. Leave!"

Realizing this wasn't the time for him to speak, the secretary left tactfully despite his many doubts, leaving Narimori and Wolf Spider alone in the room.

"How was that, Chairman? I wasn't lying to you, was I?" Wolf Spider said with a smile.

Narimori's expression was grim. What he hadn't expected was that the person before him could get news from inside the school even faster than those who worked there.

It was almost as if he could see the future. Not long ago, Wolf Spider had approached Narimori and accurately predicted that Satsu would beat a staff member so badly they would be gravely injured, or even killed.

When Wolf Spider asked Narimori to let him handle the matter, Narimori had refused outright at first.

If this really happened, then the school should handle it, not some outsider from who knew where.

But Wolf Spider had accurately recited every detail about Narimori, even what he'd eaten for breakfast.

Realizing this man was no ordinary person, Narimori eventually relented, on the condition that the school retained the right to change the final decision, and handed the matter over to Wolf Spider.

"Since you knew this was going to happen, I assume you've already taken action," Narimori asked.

"Of course! Unless something unexpected happened, everyone at the scene, including the young master, is in the security room right now," Wolf Spider replied confidently.

"Who are you people? What are you trying to do?"

Wolf Spider didn't hurry to answer. Instead, he took a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. After exhaling a cloud of smoke, he said gravely,

"The Web."

"In any case, you'll have to look after the young master for the next three years, Chairman."

Wolf Spider didn't reveal their purpose. He knew perfectly well what would happen if he did.

With his level of clearance, simply saying their name was already the limit.

"I won't let a lunatic who might accidentally kill someone stay at this school!"

Narimori slammed his fist on the desk. He clenched it so hard that his fingers had already turned slightly white.

"Kato Satsu has to be expelled!"

Faced with Narimori's roar, Wolf Spider barely reacted. He simply said, "Your daughter is young, and her health is poor. If something happened to you, what would become of her?"

"Are you threatening me?"

There was no ashtray on the desk, so Wolf Spider simply stubbed out his cigarette against it. Then he blew smoke in Narimori's face and gave a light snap of his fingers.

"Believe us. We have the means."

As soon as the words left his mouth, a red laser dot appeared out of nowhere on the desk. It moved slowly, finally coming to rest on Narimori's temple.

"Mr. Narimori, I really don't want your brains—or some student's—to end up on my clothes."

A long while later, Narimori sat alone, leaning back in his chair. He pressed a button on his desk, and the secretary promptly came in.

"Find Arisu for me, and also...!"

Narimori's lips moved, as if the words were difficult to say.

"Chairman?"

"Help me... contact Ayanokoji Atsuomi."

Meanwhile

The atmosphere in the security room, with its pure white walls, was cold and tense, as if even the air had frozen.

Satsu and Ichinose sat facing each other, with only the three of them in the room.

The walls were spotless and entirely undecorated, making the shadows of the three people seem especially clear.

Although fear and wariness showed plainly on her face, Ichinose still spoke softly as she comforted the girl in her arms.

"There, there, Chihiro. It's okay. We're safe here."

Ichinose gently patted Chihiro's back, trying to calm her down, but it didn't help at all. Chihiro continued to cry uncontrollably.

She lifted her head slightly and looked at Ichinose through tear-filled eyes. "But I'm still scared. He didn't even bring handcuffs. There's nothing restraining him."

Hearing Chihiro's words, Ichinose couldn't help looking at Satsu, who sat across from them.

He sat there, utterly unlike the frenzied person he'd been before. The twisted smile had vanished, replaced by a pair of clear, rational eyes.

His black hair was a tangled mess, and the staff member's dried blood clung to several strands, dark red like rust that had set.

His hands were stained with blood as well. Most of it had dried, forming a thin crust.

But the wound from the fruit knife on the back of his hand had yet to stop bleeding. Blood continued to seep out.

Satsu paid it no mind, letting the blood slide slowly down his index finger and fall to the floor, where each drop bloomed into a tiny blood-red flower.

"What happened to me just now? I never meant to hit him that hard." (Kato Satsu)

"It was like the bloodthirsty instinct of a beast. I couldn't control that surge of emotion at all. I could only watch as it swallowed my reason." (Kato Satsu)

"That wasn't an emotion a human should have. This body... there are secrets about it that I don't know. Before the original owner... took his own life, what... did he go through?" (Kato Satsu)

The heavy sound of the iron door opening drew the eyes of all three of them to the entrance.

Wolf Spider came in, followed by two men and two women wearing security uniforms. Each of the men carried different items: clothes and medical supplies.

The women went straight to Ichinose and Chihiro, gently soothing them.

Only after Ichinose and Chihiro had been led away did Wolf Spider speak. "We've found out what really happened."

"Every video from the scene shows how out of control you were. We have reason to suspect that you have a mental illness."

"Also, it's indisputable that the staff member intended to attack you. You were just acting in self-defense."

Satsu said nothing, sitting in place and listening quietly to Wolf Spider.

"You're free to go, but you should clean yourself up first."

As he spoke, the two men behind Wolf Spider stepped forward and began cleaning Satsu up on the spot.

Satsu didn't resist at all. He tried to suppress his wildly fluctuating emotions, so he wouldn't lose control like that again.

"Something this serious, and it's already over?" (Kato Satsu)

After leaving the security room, Satsu looked up at the sky. The sun had already set, and he'd lost quite a bit of time.

"Oh no! The gathering!"

Elsewhere in the city, inside a hotel

Snow Spider's phone kept ringing. She'd received a great many messages.

Anderson came over and asked, "A message from Wolf Spider?"

"Yes."

Snow Spider opened her phone and read the messages aloud, one by one.

"1. Confirmed: as expected, the young master has mild hemophilia."

"2. The young master's mental state is worse than expected."

"3. This matter involving the young master has been properly resolved, but the school will certainly keep him under secret surveillance for quite some time."

"4. The young master's right hand appears to be permanently disabled."