The Carnelian Sparrow

Chapter 17

Hanako stares blankly at her phone, specifically at a group message actively being updated.

K:[number 1 priority is figuring out who killed rui. only 1 real lead.]

H:[Um. Aren’t Shinju and I suspects too? We were attacked by Rui too after all.]

S:[I mean, we caaaan question each other if it makes you feel better. Hey Hanako, when we were having tea at your place, did either of us do Rui in?]

H:[thats not funny]

K:[agreed. waste of time. both of you have alibis that can be corroborated by adults. only lead is yasu.]

S:[You think she did it? Feels kinda obvious doesn’t it?]

K:[it is too obvious. no other lead though. might be able to get something out of her.]

H:[I want to talk to her. I’m sure she’s in shock given her friend died, but she might know something.]

K:[take shinju with you hanako. we are just covering our bases here but time isnt on our side. im sending her info now.]

S:[Uh. Do I wanna even know how you got her info?]

K:[probably not. doesnt matter. i have access to records i definitely should not have. this is an emergency.]

H:[I agree that this is important but we will need to talk about this later, Koharu.]

K:[doesnt matter. just get yasus story.]

Hanako scrolled several times through the group message as she made her way away from the apartment. She wasn’t comfortable going to someone’s house that she didn’t know, let alone someone who was regarding herself as an enemy just a short while before. Her mind had gone blank as she traveled through the residential side of town, far from her own home. Shinju’s words had long since become static in her mind.

She was only shaken from her trance as Shinju’s hand came down on her shoulder. “Hey! We’re here, right? This is the place Koharu told us to come to, anyway.” During Hanako’s trance, they had made their way through the lobby of an apartment building, and now stood in front of a plain, unassuming door.

Said door opened without either Shinju or Hanako knocking, and a short girl with short black hair stared the pair down. She was wearing an oversized black T-shirt with a wasp on the front and matching, baggy black sweatpants, a yellow stripe going down the side of her legs. “What do you want, Sasaki?” Yasu’s voice cut just as deep as it did when they fought before.

Hanako had started to speak, tripping over her words before Shinju took over. “We’re with the Newspaper Club. We’re trying to figure out who, uh… well, who killed her. Mind if we ask some questions?”

“Not if you’re with those two piece of shit counselors. They put you up to this, right?” Before Yasu could slam the door, Shinju’s palm caught the front, the sharp slap causing Hanako to jump.

“We’re not on good terms with them either. Look, we just wanna figure out who did this. See, we were trying to clear Rui’s name for that broken window before all this shit got out of hand.”

Yasu’s eyes widened. “…That’s not… But I can’t say I don’t believe you, either…” She stood there for awhile longer, then let the door open completely, standing off to the side. “Come on in, then. We should talk.” Shinju and Hanako entered Yasu’s apartment, the latter looking around with more naked paranoia and edginess than was necessary. “For the love of— I’m not going to attack you. Do I look like I’m in any condition to fight anything right now? Especially since you brought your friend with you this time.”

Hanako sighed, entering completely and joining Shinju in sitting down at a small table near the living room window. “S-So, um… are your parents home?”

“No. Let’s not waste any time, alright? You’ll be wanting my alibi, if I had to guess.”

Shinju once again took control of the conversation and nodded before speaking. “If you’d be so kind, yeah. Where were you the day before she died?”

“I was doing something for Rui. Something I regret, and probably something that inadvertently led to all of this going down the way it did.”

“Care to elaborate?”

“Sh-Shinju!” Hanako’s head turned swiftly to stare wide-eyed at Shinju.

Yasu shook her head. “No, she’s got the right of it. Rui, she… she got really freaked out after you two managed to stand up to her. She said she would need the strength of an army to take you two down, and that’s what she did. You two know what kind of person Rui is, right?”

“She wants to be the best, no matter the cost. Being on top, it’s her all consuming thought. It doesn’t matter who she has to trample on to get to the top. Well, that’s just how she is. And if she can’t get her way, she’ll look for someone weak to take it out on. I’ve just never seen her go to lengths like this before.”

“I know you lot won’t believe me, but I can tell you she wasn’t always like this. It was my third year of middle school, and I was touring the high school. I had options, you see. My folks travel a lot, so I could’ve gone to school anywhere. While I was touring, Head Counselor Nagano left me alone around the track. God knows what was going through her head. Well, a couple of third years started giving me a hard time.”

“Rui didn’t like that. She was already known as a threat at that point, so when she stepped in, they started throwing around accusations about an old friend of hers. But Rui didn’t get angry, she just called their bluff. Asked those girls if they wanted to know if the rumors of what she did to Toi Kanashimi were true or not, and they bailed. Cowards…”

“That was how we met. I didn’t know what she was really like. All I knew was that this second year stood up for me. When my parents settled on enrolling me in this school, I tried to stay close to her. She didn’t seem to mind. I asked her about it once. She told me that she felt like I ‘got it’. How unfair this world was, how people get trampled on for no reason. She didn’t wanna see people going through it that didn’t deserve it.”

“I found out before long that she wasn’t really that much better, just more self-righteous about it. But I couldn’t get away, you see. Not out of fear, nothing like that. But I wanted to be on the other side of it for once. I turned a blind eye to Rui blinding another girl. Convinced myself that she deserved it. Oh, don’t look at me like that, Sasaki.”

Hanako jumped again, unaware that she was casting a judgmental gaze Yasu’s way. “…You’re right. Please, continue.”

Yasu sighed. “Let’s skip ahead a bit. Rui comes up to me one day, telling me about you, Sasaki. That you’re some stuck up rich kid who messed up her jacket, and didn’t wanna pay for it. Part of me knew it wasn’t like how she described, but I couldn’t stand the idea of someone, especially one of us,” she added, pulling out her Soul Gem and shaking it gently, “trying to throw weight around.”

“So uh… sorry and all that, I guess. But after that, she decided to take you out herself. That didn’t go so well. After I pulled her out of the fight, she decided to take that army thing quite literally.”

Pulling out a pen and some paper from a nearby drawer, she writes down several names. “She forced some girls to make contracts, using their wishes to make her stronger or something. And I helped.”

Hanako stood up, quivering a bit, the air in the room going still. “How… how could you do something like—”

“Peer pressure and loyalty are a hell of a drug, Sasaki. If you want me to face some kind of reckoning for it, find a Magical Girl court and I’ll gladly stand trial. Until then, maybe ask these girls their story? My alibi is that I was overseeing their contracts with Kyubey and helping them with the basics of fighting. So they could protect Rui, you see.”

“I wanted to stop her. I know you won’t believe me, but I was an inch away from confronting her. This wasn’t right, none of it was. But I stood by, and now… this is the result.”

It was Hanako’s hand that came down on the table, making Shinju jump this time. “K… Kyubey would never do anything like that! Granting wishes that would just… benefit someone else, under pressure like that…”

Yasu merely scoffed. “You have a -lot- to learn, Sasaki, if you think that sunshine and rainbows yarn Kyubey spun meant a damn thing. Now go on. Talk to those girls, get their story. …And let me grieve in peace, okay?”

K:[that was a lot. ok. gonna sound dangerous but we need to split up. hanako can track down akari and chiemi. *Koharu has attached a file! shinju can go question niko. *Koharu has attached a file! i will find mirai and miho. any danger and we meet up right away. got it? send a blank message and that will mean emergency.]

H:[Akari and Chiemi? They’re always together aren’t they?]

K:[probably. safe bet. akari has notes of being too quiet in class. be on guard chiemi might be a guard dog.]

S:[Heh. Now that image is stuck in my head. Thanks! Niko should be easy enough to find. I’m on it!]

Shinju gave Hanako an encouraging pat on the shoulder before starting off. “It’ll be fine, Hanako. We’ll meet up soon, ‘kay?” Before Hanako could reply, Shinju was out of sight.

Hanako herself was barely aware of leaving Yasu’s home and returning to the street in front of the building. She stared down at her phone again.

K:[be careful both of you. newborn magical girls seem volatile. no offense.]

H:[Understood. Be safe yourself, Koharu. You’re meeting two of them alone, and you’re not even a Magical Girl.]

K:[doesnt matter. ill be fine. got a way out if things get rough.]

Hanako didn’t get a reply when she asked what Koharu meant, so she took it as a sign to get on with her own investigation.

S:[so I think I found the place but are you sure??? this girl’s well off enough to go to private school if she lives here!]

K:[i confirmed the address myself when i looked through nikos records. this is the place.]

“Heh, if ya say so, Koharu.” Shinju pocketed her phone, smiling for a moment at the image on her lock screen, then entered the building before her.

The apartment building eclipsed even Hanako’s apartment, both in size and in décor. Red carpet lined the way from the entrance towards the front desk. No one was sitting there, so Shinju made her way straight to the elevator, and pressing the button marked “13”. She had to hand it to Koharu. Her methods were sketchy at best, but she produced results. Niko Segawa’s address was about as clear and detailed as it could have been.

As the door opened, Shinju met the stare of a girl nearly exactly her height, short and messy blonde hair loosely hung behind her, with bangs covering her caramel brown eyes. At least, until she hastily brushed them aside. “Y-You’re—!”

Shinju held up a hand in a casual greeting, showing a warm smile. “Shinju Hayama, Newspaper Club. Doin’ some off-the-record work trying to figure out this, uh… dirty business with Tomato— er, Rui Tomatsu. Got a sec?”

A sigh of both relief and exasperation followed, the girl turning her head away. “I thought you were gonna tell me you’re questioning me on behalf of the defense force or something. God knows the cops have been in and out all goddamn week.” She turned to face Shinju again, holding a hand out. “Niko Segawa, but you knew that already. C’mon, my place is just down the hall.”

Shinju shook her hand, then began walking right behind Niko as she turned to make her way back towards her apartment. “Were you going somewhere, Niko?”

Niko sighed as they reached the door to Niko’s apartment. “I wasn’t trying to run away or anything. I just wanted some air. May as well put that off though. What’re you here for?”

The pair walked through a large, lavish apartment, ivory columns extending to a vaulted ceiling. This was definitely more luxurious than Hanako’s place, that was for sure. Niko led Shinju through the main room, towards a balcony overlooking a vast majority of Mitakihara City. Shinju leaned against the railing. “Woooow, what a view! Ah, I just wanted your alibi for the night Rui died, nothing major.”

“Didn’t I already give you all that?”

“I’m not the cops, Niko. I’m just a reporter for a school paper.”

Another sigh left Niko’s lips as she turned to face the glass door, leaning on the railing beside Shinju. “Right. Well, I got a creepy set of calls and messages from Rui. She said she was on her way, said she had dirt on me if I didn’t ‘make a wish’ for her, whatever that meant. She never showed up. Next thing I know, I see her dead body on the news.”

“Wait, wait wait wait. You didn’t make a wish?”

“What does that even mean?! Don’t tell me you’re in on whatever bullshit Rui was up to, too!”

“If you didn’t make a wish, then…!” Shinju made for the door, only to stop as she felt Niko’s hand on her shoulder.

“What the fuck are you talking about?! What does any of this mean?! A-And why is this happening to me?! First, Rui tells me she has dirt on me, which is terrifying enough, given how important my dad is, then she dies, now this?! It’s too much! So please, just tell me what’s going on!”

Shinju only gave a sidelong glance, awkwardness pouring through her expression. “Erm. Don’t you have any friends you can confide in?”

“You haven’t heard? Those other girls talk behind my back all the time at school, spreading rumors… You must not be paying attention if you really don’t know who I am!”

“I, uh, I really don’t. First year, remember? Well… uh… hm.” Thinking for a moment, Shinju then pulls out her phone. “Here. If ya need to vent, I’ll be around later tonight. But I really do gotta go. If you’re not the killer and all, I gotta track down the real perpetrator, y’know?”

Niko seemed to think about it, then pulled out her own phone, sharing contact information with Shinju as she released her shoulder. “R… Right. I’ll take you up on that. So I’m clear, then?”

“Yep! All clear!” Giving a salute, Shinju returned her phone to her jacket pocket, then swiftly slid the door open, making her way out of Niko’s apartment before she could say anything else. Once clear of the building, she sighed and pulled her phone out again.

S:[Sooooo Niko’s clear. She’s not even a magical girl. Says Tomato was on her way to force her to make a wish, but never showed up.]

K:[that gives us a clearer timeframe. rui was killed before she could get to niko. hanako, any word from the others?]

H:[I’m en route now. My senses are overloaded though. They’ve both contracted all right.]

S:[I got the address here. Need some backup?]

H:[*Hanako is typing…]

K:[shes been typing for awhile now. shinju go check on her ok?]

“So tell me again what happened.” Koharu locked her phone and held it down, but kept it in her hand. “You two told me you’re both each others’ alibi?” She was staring between two nervous, anxious looking girls. One had light red hair, resting disheveled between her shoulder blades. The other, half a head shorter, wore short brown hair, neater than her companion yet still showing signs of unease and a lack of sleep.

The red haired girl spoke first. “You hard of hearing or something, Shirahara? I told you, I was here with Mirai the whole night, and we slept overnight here.” She motioned around to the walls of the warehouse they were standing in, the building abandoned and in disrepair. “She’ll tell you the same thing.”

“Mm… just like Miho said.” The other girl, Mirai, spoke in a much more timid, quiet voice, not making eye contact with Koharu as she sat down, hugging her knees. “Yasu told us about… our new lives and all. After we made our wishes for Tomatsu.”

Koharu folded her arms, still looking back and forth between Miho and Mirai. “So you two learned how to live as Magical Girls, then stayed here together? All night?”

“Whoa whoa whoa! It’s not like that, Shirahara!” Miho’s tone was defensive, and she was practically shouting. “We just… ugh. May as well just say it. We can’t really fight on our own. So we decided to stick together. Alright?”

Mirai sighed, looking down. “Just so. Our powers aren’t really suited for fighting alone. But together… at least, when we’re around someone else, my powers are more effective. It kind of took Tomatsu and Yasu by surprise, to be honest, once they learned what I could—”

Her words were cut off by a buzzing phone in Koharu’s hand, and she swiftly turned to leave. “Whoa, you’re leaving already?” Miho’s voice was laced with impatience.

“Got what I need. You two are clear. Narrowed it down, anyway.” Before either could reply, Koharu left the building.

S:[I got the address here. Need some backup?]

H:[*Hanako is typing…]

K:[shes been typing for a long while now. shinju go check on her.]

S:[On it!]

H:[I’m okay. Was a misunderstanding, but Shinju is here now. Don’t worry, okay?]

K:[its one of those two hanako. just got alibis out of mizutani and kawakami. be extra careful.]

Two more girls, this time confronted by Hanako. One with long hair, tall and lanky, and another, short hair and meek, hiding in a corner behind the other. The taller girl spoke first. “We’ve had enough accusations from the goddamn police today, the last thing we need is you nosy, ignorant assholes bringing it up. We don’t know a goddamn thing. What more do you want?”

“…I’m… not with the police, Takahata-san. I’m with—”

The taller girl slammed her fist into the nearby wall, causing both Hanako and the other girl to flinch. “I know damn well who you are, Hanako Sasaki! You’re with the Newspaper Club. Trust me, you lot aren’t the only ones who know how to dig for information.”

“Calm down, Chiemi… she hasn’t accused us of anything yet.” The smaller girl hid her head in her folded arms, curled up in the corner and trembling in obvious fear and a lack of sleep. “Please?”

Shaking her head, the other girl, Chiemi, turned to gaze out the window of the small bedroom she was standing in. “You’re too soft sometimes, Akari. You know that, right?”

“Regardless… I have questions.”

“Do you even know what you’re doing?” Chiemi spat back. “What would you even do with the truth, anyway? Go to the police? Good fucking luck. Publish this in the paper? The school would lock your asses up, and that stupid cat thing would bring hell down on your head. So what are you gonna do, Hanako?”

Hanako didn’t flinch this time, not looking away from Chiemi’s fiery gaze, knowing exactly what answer she was looking for. “…We labored to clear Tomatsu’s name for the incident with our club room. Horrible though she was, this was the one crime which Rui Tomatsu did not commit.”

Akari looked up, a horrified look in her eyes. “Y-You mean…?”

“I will confront Rui Tomatsu’s killer. If there is no justice for Magical Girls in the world of humans…,” Hanako held out her left hand, a rapier appearing in her palm, pointed at the ground, “…then we must make our own. Is that not so, Chiemi Takahata?”

Chiemi’s hand balled into a fist as it dove into her jeans pocket. “You little—”

“Whoa whoa whoa WHOA! Stoooop!” Shinju’s voice echoed down the hallway before she appeared in the doorframe behind Hanako, hands on her knees and panting heavily. “Jeez, Hanako! Chill! Why’s it always gotta be a fight with you, huh?”

The rapier quickly vanished from Hanako’s hand, and she looked down. “…S-Sorry…” She then pulled out her phone, realizing that she hadn’t sent the message she intended to, which had told Koharu that she arrived at Chiemi and Akari’s location. She had been distracted by arguing from within once she got there, and decided to investigate that first.

Shinju quickly pulled out her phone as well, seeing Hanako’s revised message and nodding. “So let’s try this a different way. What did Tomato make you lot wish for?”

Akari stifled a little giggle at the name, which in turn, put a little smile on Shinju’s face. “Well… um… she wanted us to make her stronger. I don’t understand though. She was always so powerful, even when she was just the school’s bully.”

Chiemi’s face sunk, the anger fading quickly. “It must not have been enough. At this point, she must have wanted to become a god or something. Not that it worked. So much for making me wish for her to be impervious to harm, given the state of the body.”

Hanako’s eyes widened, and she recalled her conversation with Yasu at the same time. She recalled hearing about how Rui wanted to be on the top of everything, no matter what. How she spoke of Rui in the present tense, as if she were still alive. Kyubey’s words before Hanako made her contract, in how durable a Magical Girl really was, and finally, Chiemi’s wish. Before she could utter a word, she dashed out of the bedroom, down the hall and with the slam of the front door, Hanako was out of the house completely, only a large gust of wind to indicate which direction she was going.

“What the hell?!” Shinju quickly retrieved her phone.

S:[hanako! wtf why did you take off like that!!!]

K:[whats going on]

S:[We got chiemis wish but then hanako looked like she saw a ghost and flew off!]

K:[what was her wish exactly?]

S:[she said she was forced to wish rui impervious to harm or something like that.]

K:[and this revelation caused hanako to run?]

S:[yeah! hanako dang it answer the phone!]

K:[its as i thought then. akari fueki killed rui tomatsu]

S:[how do you know that???]

K:[simple. mirais description of her powers didnt add up. once she told me she fell asleep after miho it became obvious to me. ask akari again about her whereabouts last night. tell her that we know mirai can teleport over long distances.]

“Well?” Shinju, now completely pale, cast a hard gaze towards the corner where Akari sat. “Where were you last night, again? Somewhere far from here, I bet?”

Chiemi reached into her pocket again. “Be careful what you say, Hayama—”

“Was it somewhere only someone who could teleport get you back and forth from? Like, say, the school’s track field?”

Both Chiemi and Akari froze, the latter also going pale. She said nothing, and it took a minute before Chiemi could find the words herself. “…It wasn’t long after Yasu left us here. Mirai showed up, talking about knowing where Rui would be, and that we didn’t have much time before she reunited with Yasu. They were on their way to get Niko to make her wish, and then Rui would be invincible. We… we had to stop her.”

“When we got there, Rui didn’t notice us at all. She wasn’t even playing dumb like she likes to do when she’s stalking someone to knock down. I got a clean hit on her, and it knocked her off balance. Mirai dove for her legs to knock her down, but… I didn’t know Akari had that knife on her.”

Once again, Akari went stiff and silent, burying her head in her arms. Chiemi glanced down at her before resuming her story. “I’ve never seen anything like it. But by the time it was over, we all kinda just… came back to our senses, and we noticed Rui was completely torn up. Mirai took us here, and that was the end of it. Hayama, you can’t even think about going to the police—”

“I don’t care about that! Look, you wished for her to be immune to damage or whatever, right? Well, what if that wish actually -worked-?” Chiemi’s eyes widened in a terrifying realization. “We have to go after Hanako. -Now-.”

Hanako had practically flown on the wind towards the school. Luckily, the police tape was all that remained of the crime scene. Investigators had inevitably returned to their offices to analyze evidence and draw conclusions. Unfortunately for Hanako, police tape was all that remained of the crime scene.

Making her way shakily to the track, the chalk outline was all that remained of the original scene. Standing in the middle of the track, Rui Tomatsu slowly turned to cast a sidelong glance Hanako’s way. A sick smile lit her face, with large patches of dried blood matting her hair and peeling in flakes on her cheek. “Well. You sure saved me some time, Sasaki.”