Aoi was too scared to even try to breathe as Cho peered over the balcony ledge, drawing her prey into their line of sight. 

Down below, Noriko and Hiro raced each other to the stairs of the building, disappearing from view as they ran underneath the extended corridor where Cho stood. Noriko's cheers of victory echoed up the stairs, followed by muffled protests from Hiro, who sounded a little further away. 

Hiro is here too, Aoi pointed out, relief flooding her trapped form. I'd like to sssee you garrote them both, Kimura-sssan. 

Cho leaned over the ledge completely, and yelled out: "Hey, Hiro! Save us a seat!"

Hiro jogged out backwards from under the balcony, a trusting grin on his face as he looked up to see his schoolmate. He raised a hand in the air, eyes crinkling at the corners. "No problem!"

Aoi had never wanted to slap herself in the face more than in that moment as she watched Hiro turn around and break into a sprint towards the dining hall.

"You were sssaying?" Her lips curled into a smirk, Cho's lisp deliberate and mocking. 

Aoi's thoughts froze for a split second. What did you do to me?

The smile continued to play on her lips. "Nothing—"

"Aoi? You coming?" 

Cho spun around smoothly, as if she hadn't just looked like she was having a conversation with herself, devious smirk melded into a mellow smile befitting Aoi's quiet disposition. Noriko beamed at her friend with the innocent radiance of an angel, a clueless butterfly unaware of the gossamer trap closing in.

"Lead the way." Cho gestured with her chin, waiting for the ballerina to turn her back to her. 

Kimura-sssan, pleassse—

Noriko paused mid-turn, peering at Cho, whose smile had morphed into a leer, muscles itching to pounce. "Where's your violin?"

"I'm not going to need it for this." 

Before either Aoi or Noriko could react, Cho grabbed the girl in front of her, looped the strings around her neck, and pulled hard. Noriko let out a strangled cry, thrashing around in Cho's arms, hands shooting up to pry the strings away from her attacker's grip. 

Cho yanked harder. Her knee flew up, ramming into Noriko's back. The ballerina toppled forward, and both girls tumbled down the stairs, still wrestling with one another. The strings wound tight around Aoi's fingers, the flesh reddening where they dug into her skin. Cho crossed her wrists with a grunt of effort, tightening the garotte. 

Kimura-sssan, please, ssshe is inno-sssent!

Aoi watched helplessly as Noriko gasped for air, legs jerking in all directions as she tried desperately to wrest free. Her elbow stabbed into Aoi's ribcage, knocking the wind out of the murderous spirit. 

Cho stumbled back against the wall. Noriko bashed her chin in with the top of her head. The garotte loosened. The ballerina scrambled to her feet. She dashed for the last flight of stairs, her breaths shallow and erratic. 

Her foot got to the second step when Cho launched herself at her, a primal shriek ringing in the stairwell. Years of ballet training proved useless as Noriko lost her balance and fell forward again, crashing to the ground like a baby bird kicked from its nest. Cho landed on top of her back, face slamming into the girl's bony shoulder. 

Cho seized Noriko by the hair, sinking her fingers into the ballerina's bun and wrenching her head back to expose her neck. She hooked the strings around the girl's throat, teeth clenched hard as Noriko thrashed under her. 

Kimura Cho, let go! Aoi screamed from her prison, fighting the spirit's control as Noriko began to weaken. The phantom's chill sought to suppress her, but the cold was sparse and wispy, far from the biting frost that had ransacked her mind multiple times before. Somewhere between Cho's laser-focus on murdering her self-declared rival's child and Aoi's increasing attachment to the spirit realm, the ice spiders had lost their venom. 

It clicked in Aoi's head. She made to smile, and the corner of her mouth twitched. 

What wasss it you sssaid, Kimura-sssan? My will ssshall be yoursss? 

The cold clawing at her in vain, Aoi forced her way into Cho's memories. The storage room reappeared before her. Hexagons surrounded her, edges shaped by spectral cobwebs and filled with visions of the spirit's past. Her eyes skimmed over them, falling on the ones buried deep in the darkness. Aoi reached out and tore the silk strands apart, unleashing Cho's recollections of her final moments as they played out in her mind's eye.

Kenjiro and Kanako wrapped in an embrace in the gardens, him planting a kiss on her oh-so-tiny nose as the girl giggled. 

A twig snapped, Kenjiro's gaze darting around as she retreated into the bushes, her vision blurred by pearling tears at the corners of her eyes.

Stairs ran underneath her feet, teardrops rolling down her face and falling onto the tiles.

Teetering on the balcony ledge, the view of the whole school spread out before her.

She jumped. 

The cold was there to catch her.

Cho screeched, a bloodcurdling cry that shot needles through Aoi's spine. She dropped Noriko, hands flying up to her temples as she fell to her side and continued to scream, tears streaming down her cheeks. "You little wretch!"

The room crumbled around Aoi. The hexagons froze and shattered into fragments, circling the girl in a frenzied tornado, slicing into her skin. Aoi yelped and tried to shield herself, but the shards whirled faster, cutting and stabbing into her flesh until the girl's screams mingled with the spirit's. 

Whatever pretense Cho had put on to pose as Aoi was quickly thrown out the window. Caught up in her traumatic life story, the aggrieved spirit wailed and cried and screamed, curses and sobs melded into a chord of bitter lament. She tore at her hair, messing up Aoi's already-rumpled uniform, kicking and lashing out at nothing. The steel strings loosened around her knuckles, forgotten.

Noriko let out a series of strangled coughs, air finally surging into her lungs. She pulled herself to her feet, determined to put as much distance between her and the thing that had just tried to kill her. 

Her rustling alerted Cho, who whipped her head in her direction. Their eyes met. 

Cho regarded the girl with a glassy, tear-stained gaze, as if she was trying to figure out what she was staring at. With her matted hair and limbs flopped on her sides, she looked more like an abandoned little doll than the introverted violinist Noriko knew. The ballerina felt her muscles tense up. 

Then those pitch-black, predatory eyes snapped into focus, and the possessed girl's fingers twitched. 

Noriko bolted out of the building with a scream. Cho leapt to her feet, wrapping the violin strings around her knuckles before giving chase. With her splintered storm keeping Aoi at bay inside her own head, there was no stopping her now. 

Cho hot on her heels, Noriko darted round the corner into the gardens, hands scraping at the moss in the wall. The spirit raced after her, following the desperate cracks in the greenery.

The cadets came into view, fanned out in some elaborate formation with their backs to the fleeing ballerina. Noriko almost sobbed in relief. She ran over, waving her arms.

"Help—"

Cho lunged for her throat, jumping onto the girl's back. Noriko doubled forward from the sudden weight, but Cho hung on, legs flailing in all directions. She gritted her teeth, entirely fixated on twisting the strings around the ballerina's neck. 

Noriko struggled to dislodge her aggressor, trying to slip her fingers between the garrote and her neck. Her legs gave out, and both girls pitched forward to the ground. Cho held on, landing flat on her bottom with Noriko between her knees, the wires intact. She jerked at the strings. Noriko writhed in her grip, kicking frantically as gurgled cries escaped her lips. 

The scuffle alerted the cadets, who swarmed around them in panic. A few ran off in different directions, the rest clamoring to see what was happening. Hands grabbed Cho by the arms and pulled her off the stone floor, the spirit hissing and spitting in retaliation. 

Noriko took in several lungfuls of air, gasping as she ran her shaking fingers along the redness of her throat, barely believing she was still alive. 

Cho charged for Noriko again, the girl blanching in terror, only to be pinned back firmly and her arms forced behind her back. Her weapon rendered useless, the malevolent spirit shrieked in anger, features contorted into an expression of pure hatred and gaze pointed directly at a trembling Noriko. 

"Excuse me! Make way!" Miss Sugiyama burst through the throng of uniformed teenagers, along with a few other supervising teachers. Shock blazed across her face as she laid eyes on Aoi's malicious scowl. "Tsukada-san?"

Cho snarled at her, squirming against her detainers in vain. 

Miss Sugiyama took a step forward, grasping Aoi's chin and forcing her to look straight into her stern eyes. Cho attempted to bite her, but Miss Sugiyama kept a firm hold, studying the girl's venomous glare. "You're not Aoi, are you?"

The spirit spat in her face. Without flinching, Miss Sugiyama slapped an ofuda onto Aoi's forehead, causing the girl to erupt into convulsions, foaming at the mouth. Screams burst from her lips; shrill, piercing tones that sent the cadets backing away in horror as if she had grown protruding mandibles. Only Ms. Sugiyama remained in front of her, thin brows furrowed in concentration and mantras rolling off her tongue like it was the most natural thing in the world. 

The phantom fragments slashing at Aoi withdrew and vanished. When she came to, Aoi found herself sprawled on the ground, a paper talisman flapping between her eyes. She moved her arm, a little incredulous when her limb responded the way she willed it. Her skin was marred with cuts, the tiny nicks serving as proof of Cho's doing. 

"Tsukada-san?" 

She looked up into Miss Sugiyama's eyes, gaze shifting behind the stern matron to lock with Hiro's, seeing a mix of concern and shock in them. The cadets around her all recoiled as she made to sit up, prompting her to freeze in place. Aoi's stare landed on Noriko, who tried hard to offer her a smile despite the fear burning in her pupils. 

Then she noticed the strings coiled around her knuckles. Her eyes widened, her chin jerking up to face everyone in the garden. "It wasn't me, I—"

Miss Sugiyama pulled her into an embrace. "I know. I should have realised sooner, I'm sorry. Are you okay now?"

Aoi stiffened, tensing up. Dread seeping into her veins, she waited for the whispers, for Cho to pipe up with a snide remark, or present her with another violent proposal and slam her back into her frigid cell and slaughter everyone in the gardens. 

Silence.

"I-I..." Aoi shut her eyes and allowed herself to settle into the calming warmth of her teacher's arms, utterly different from the hostile cold she had been trapped in. "I... I think so."