Katsuki looks really delighted. I don't suppose this is the right time to be delighted, but it's hard to blame him, I guess—having several problems to tackle at once and just about all your classmates (each with different strengths and powers, too) at your disposal is like every strategist's dream come true.

"So, we've got two things to do right now, and since we have pretty much everyone here we can deal with both at once. I say we split it up like this: two of us mindhack Daisuke, two stay to spot, and the rest should head off to the main research building to ambush Kojima. Now, does anyone have any preferences? Team Daisuke should not have a mouse phobia, Team Kojima should ideally be able to fight somewhat, and Team spotter should be able to... uh, spot," he concludes lamely.

"You should probably stay and spot," Natsumi suggests. "Since you're the best spotter we've got."

"I'd much prefer Team Kojima though," Katsuki argues. "I mean, I'm the tallest out of us all and I make a dope jumprope." He motions at Shun's rubber band binds as evidence. "Besides, Anna and Izumi can spot just as well as I do."

"I'd prefer Team Kojima too though," Anna pipes up. "I'm the brain expert here, so I should be able to get the most out of our interrogations, right?"

"Actually I'd also prefer Team Kojima," Izumi remarks calmly from aside.

"For what reason?" Anna asks.

"I want to shoot a gun," Izumi explains matter-of-factly. And that seems to settle it—when no-nonsense Izumi says she wants to shoot a gun, there's very little you can do to change her mind. I find her interest in guns funny and try to catch her eye so that we can chuckle about it together, but she isn't looking at me.

Katsuki sighs. "Okay, I'll stay and spot. Who else's with me?"

I meekly raise my hand. After watching our principal, our nurse and poor Mrs. Sato die right in front of me, I feel like I've had enough teacher-related excitement for one day and don't really want any business with Mr. Kojima and guns.

Katsuki coughs awkwardly. "Probably not you."

"Why? I'm not that sucky of a spotter am I?" I demand, even though deep down inside I suppose I probably am. Numbers and statistics aren't my thing.

"Nah, it's just... yeah..." Katsuki points at Shun and his insane dagger eyes, which still happen to be fixed on me (unfortunately). "I think it'd be better if you leave the area for the moment."

I groan. "So I'm automatically Team Kojima? I can't fight, you know."

Katsuki shakes his head. "I wouldn't say you have to be Team Kojima—just that you have to be Team Anywhere-but-here."

"Which means Team Kojima," I conclude for him.

Katsuki laughs. "Yeah, unless you want to make up a team for yourself. Actually, I'm kind of hungry, so you can be Team Tomomi Raids the School Cafeteria."

I roll my eyes and decline. There's no way I'm going to be raiding the school cafeteria while my classmates are undergoing horrifying ordeals of varying degrees. Katsuki's rumbling stomach can wait till later.

"Okay," Natsumi steps in and decides, "so Team Kojima will be Tomomi, Izumi, Anna and I, Hiroki can't kill mice because mice are his friends so he can stay and spot with Katsuki, and Riri and Yukiya can go deal with Daisuke's mice. How's that sound?"

"Wait, I don't get to set Mr. Kojima on fire?" Yukiya exclaims in shock.

"Wait, you guys are leaving me here with five smelly boys?" Ririka exclaims in horror.

"We're not smelly!" Katsuki complains.

"I guess you two can be Team Kojima too if you want to leave Daisuke to die," Natsumi invites cordially. Daisuke has always had a thing for Natsumi and enjoys following her around like a lost toddler in the supermarket, which for reasons I can't fathom has caused Natsumi to be harsher towards him than she is to everyone else.

Ririka shivers. "Okay, I guess I don't want to leave Daisuke to die."

"Yeah," Yukiya mutters, "Team Daisuke's mice it is."

"Besides, this way you two get to be together," Natsumi adds.

"They're together now?" Anna wonders from aside.

"Are you sure that sending an all-girls group after big and beefy Kojima is a good idea?" Katsuki asks, massaging his temples and completely ignoring Anna's question.

"That's sexist. For your information, I can pack a meaner punch than any of you, and you were the one who got knocked out by Kojima like the night before the last, not me, so—" Natsumi begins hotly.

"Did you have to bring that up?" Katsuki whines.

"Who and who are together now?" Anna continues to wonder, having been too busy studying to care about the goings-on in her classmates' daily lives.

"Riri and Yukiya. By the way, Hiroki and Katsuki are also together, in case you don't know yet," I kindly inform her.

"They are? Wait, they're gay?" Anna's mouth drops open.

"I've been gay for my whole life and you realize it only now?" Katsuki's mouth drops opens as well.

"Shouldn't we be threatening Mr. Kojima with a gun right now instead of sitting here discussing sexual orientations?" Izumi says innocently.

Everyone looks at Izumi, the epitome of reason, and realizes that she is right. Thus, Ririka and Yukiya get ready to head into Daisuke's mind, Katsuki and Hiroki get ready to spot, and the rest of us take off towards the main research building. I can tell that the others are worried—you could see it in their eyes. Hiroki wants to tell us to be careful; he opens his mouth several times, but never ends up saying anything, probably knowing that if he told us to stay safe Natsumi would call him sexist.

I take one last look at Shun, who is still staring at me nonstop. I'd seen on some amateur psychology website that, when someone stares at you for more than six seconds without blinking or breaking eye contact, it means that they either want to have rampant animal sex with you or to kill you. I think I know which one my situation is.

Not that I want rampant animal sex right now, but I still really wish it didn't have to be the latter.

–

"So," Natsumi says happily, taking the lead, "finally it's just us, like in our dorm room. Girls bonding time. Except Riri isn't here."

"Except we have a gun and are going to kill Mr. Kojima," Izumi adds.

"We're going to kill him?" Natsumi's eyes widen. "I didn't know that. I thought we were just going to interrogate him."

"You think I'd let him walk around scot-free after he made me hang out with long-haired witches for such a long time?" Izumi demands incredulously. Natsumi grimaces.

"Tomomi, did you have any idea your best friend was nuts?" She asks.

I chuckle humorlessly and turn to Izumi, feeling nervous all of a sudden. "Um, the witch thing... I guess I'm partly to blame too, for making you wait so long I mean. I tried to get you out once but failed really badly, so..."

I trail off. After getting pulled out of Izumi's head I've felt guilt gnawing away at me ever since. For not being able to save my best friend. It feels like I've abandoned her, and that's one of the most terrible feelings in the world.

Izumi doesn't acknowledge my apology—in fact she doesn't act like she has even heard it. Natsumi quickly tries to remedy the situation by patting me on my back. "Hey, don't be so sorry; it's not your fault that witches are meanies."

It's probably true if you look at it that way, but I would have felt tons better if it were Izumi who said it instead of Natsumi. As it is, Izumi hasn't directly said a word to me yet after she was freed. I don't think that's normal, and it hurts.

Natsumi is pretending that she didn't notice, and clueless-as-usual Anna probably really hasn't noticed, but I honestly think Izumi is angry with me. If she weren't, she would have talked to me already. And I don't blame her, because if I, along with several classmates, were stuck in my own nightmare (I have no idea what it is, but still) and Izumi could choose who to mindhack first, I would be really, really disappointed if Izumi didn't opt to save me right away. I would be really, really disappointed if she in fact left me to be one of the last. I would be really, really disappointed if she tried to save me, failed, and didn't come back to try again after failing. I would be really, really disappointed by all these things, yet they were exactly what I did to Izumi.

But it's different, a small voice says inside of me. You are nowhere as calm and stable as Izumi, and you didn't leave her for so late out of spite but simply because one thing led to another and you knew that Izumi was mentally strong enough to handle anything the nightmares threw at her. Right?

Yet I know the voice is wrong. Just because one acts calm, it doesn't mean that she is less afraid. It doesn't mean that she doesn't need to be saved as quickly as others who are screaming and thrashing and less calm.

I've failed my best friend. I'll probably never get to visit her home for real now. I'll never step on those smooth wooden floorboards, sit on the Shimokawa family's comfy sofa, watch an anime episode with Izumi.

It's kind of funny how we're going to interrogate a stocky, dangerous teacher within a few minutes and all I could think about is that I've lost my best friend's trust forever.