As Renji had said, both of them lived alone.
If judged by Renji’s logic, the killer wasn’t targeting everyone in the class, but those who lived alone within Hayama’s current group.
Of course, setting aside some biased commonalities, the killer’s target could be any high school student living alone, and the successive killings of Tobe and Ooka were just coincidences.
At this moment, Renji entered the classroom.
Like Hachiman, he looked around as soon as he entered.
The atmosphere was very good.
Hachiman nodded in greeting when Renji arrived, then continued messaging, not wanting to bring up such sensitive topics during class.
Unfortunately, Hachiman had such a low presence in the class; how could he know who was still living alone?
“What do you think the killer’s motive was?”
Glancing at Renji sitting in his seat, Hachiman quickly typed to him.
In fact, he had a thought, and he asked this way, as if seeing a gap between Renji’s thoughts and his own.
“Random crimes, probably. I can only say that Tobe and Ooka were too much of a coincidence.”
Renji looked at the message, thought for a moment, and replied that he had already given a hint and couldn’t keep sending them.
However, giving advice wasn’t very friendly to someone as inconspicuous in class as Hachiman.
Because Hachiman couldn’t know that there were several students in the class who lived alone.
“I think this serial killer is doing it for fun or some kind of cult.”
Hachiman’s explanation was quite vague, but Renji understood what Hachiman meant.
“Of course, what you mentioned earlier is also partially possible; someone is deliberately targeting something.”
“And if we can think of this, the police should also be thinking about it.”
Just as Renji and Hachiman were exchanging messages, the classroom door suddenly burst open.
Shizuka Hiratsuka entered, her footsteps heavier than usual.
Her mood seemed even worse than yesterday.
This was logical.
As a teacher who cared about her students, when two students in her class were killed one after another, how could Hiratsuka feel at ease?
If the police didn’t respond and her student was killed, Hiratsuka wouldn’t want to see a third student killed again.
Hiratsuka wanted to go home immediately and commission the family to find the culprit.
Hiratsuka wasn’t wearing her signature white lab coat today, but instead was dressed in formal attire: a black jacket paired with dark trousers.
Renji understood that this might be her formal outfit.
Before school, she had probably already visited Ooka’s family or met with the police.
Hiratsuka’s gaze was very sharp, as solid as two hot stones, probably wanting to catch the killer on the spot and then punch him twice.
Suddenly, Renji had an idea: the performance was fake, but the memory was real.
In reality, this was the exact day he had transferred to the school.
Renji was very curious about what Hiratsuka would do after the performance and how the remaining students would react.
Hiratsuka walked up to the podium but didn’t say a word immediately.
She stood there, leaning on the edge of the podium, silently lowering her head for a few seconds, then raised her gaze and scanned every face in the classroom.
Her gaze lingered on several empty seats, then she heard her take a deep breath, as if this gesture had drained all her strength.
“Classmates.”
Her voice was a little hoarser than usual, clearly a blow to her.
No matter how she thought about it, it would be bad for her teaching career.
“Last night, our classmate Ooka… was killed.”
No one in the classroom spoke — not because they weren’t shocked, but because they were too shocked.
Everyone knew Ooka was dead, from the moment the news appeared in the morning, but hearing it directly from Hiratsuka and hearing it on TV were completely different things.
Deaths shown on TV are very simple and lack realism.
But when Hiratsuka said it, it was different.
She used the name of a teacher who called her student Ooka.
And they had used that name last week and even yesterday, inviting him to go to the store and loading the ball together during PE class.
Hachiman suddenly realized that Yumiko Miura had actually come.
She must have arrived when he and Renji were messaging earlier, so he hadn’t particularly noticed, since she usually came quite early.
She sat down next to Tobe’s seat.
Her golden hair wasn’t neatly curled into big waves as usual today, but was tied in a low ponytail.
She lowered her head, gripping her skirt with both hands, her knuckles white, her lips trembling and biting, as if desperately holding back tears.
Hachiman was focused on Yumiko Miura, while Renji was focused on his leader, as if he was about to melt.
“Ahhh!”
Renji could even hear a series of whispers from the other side.
The current atmosphere in the class was probably making the leader feel uncomfortable, and in a few days, he would cut a few more students.
Renji felt that the other side might be about to take leave and couldn’t stay longer — not just the leader.
Some other members of the class, were also observing.
After all, these were all potential targets; they just hadn’t been chosen this time.
If they weren’t chosen, naturally there would be no related memories left after the performance.
“The specific situation is currently under police investigation.”
Hiratsuka continued, every word filled with anger at the killer and concern for the remaining students.
“There is a high probability that the two cases are related. The police have already formed a joint investigation team, and officers will continue to come to the school today to re-interrogate some students.”
Hiratsuka paused here, her gaze sweeping over several students in the room who lowered their heads, not daring to look at her.
“The teacher knows you’re scared, but of course, the teacher is not afraid.”
“But please go home as soon as possible after school, lock your doors and windows if you live alone, and if you notice any suspicious person or activity, immediately contact the teachers or report it directly to the police.”
“Additionally, there will be an emergency school-wide safety education assembly this afternoon.”
Hiratsuka’s voice was deep, as if she was announcing something even more alarming than the news of death itself.
Renji felt that if it weren’t prohibited, Hiratsuka would probably be saying this while smoking.