"Listen up gang! You've done nothing but sit around on your buts lately. It's no good for you. That's why I've organized a training camp. We're going to go to a small retreat in the mountains so I can whip you up into shape!"
"But this is the Light Music Club, wouldn't that time be better spent practicing?" spoke Azusa.
"Nonsense. A healthy mind is more important. Exercising is good for you, it'll be productive. You've been in a slump recently, right? It's been a while since you last wrote a song. This'll help clear your head."
"I don't suppose we get a choice in the matter, do we?" asked Ritsu, who sat lethargically in the corner.
"Nope."
They took a coach to the retreat. Luckily it was not too far away, and the journey took less than an hour. When they arrived Yui was the first to step out. She stretched her and went on ahead, taking a look at the scenery.
"This actually doesn't look too bad," Ritsu said, turning to Sawako.
"Of course it doesn't! Have some faith in your teacher. I've stayed here before. It's beautiful, isn't it?"
"Yes, I'm beginning to think that coming here was a good idea."
Sawako smiled, then gathered all the members up and lead them to the log cabin.
"It's getting pretty late now. We won't be able to do any training today, but how about we cook some marshmallows, I brought a bag with me."
Sawako took a bag from her pocket and smiled, then walked over to a fire pit which stood in the middle of a small expanse of grass. Ritsu eagerly helped, and they soon had a roaring fire. They sat together and warmed up, before each grabbing sticks and roasting the marshmallows over the flames.
There was a brief moment of silence, so Azusa decided to speak up and start a conversation.
"E-Excuse me. Miss Sawako. I was just wondering, are you married? I didn't see a ring on your finger. Or could it be that you have a boyfriend?"
Sawako spat her marshmallow out in shock and turned to her. Yui quickly leaned towards Azusa and whispered in her ear.
"We don't bring that up. She's a bit sensitive about it you see... She's still single after all these years."
Azusa turned back towards Sawako and bowed her head apologetically.
"S-Sorry. That was rude of me. Forget I said anything."
Sawako accepted her apology, but remained silent for the next few minutes. She eventually stood up and dusted herself off, then started to put out the fire.
"Ok, it's time to go to bed. You'll have to be up pretty early, so prepare yourselves!"
Sawako lead them into the cabin and located her own room while the others looked for somewhere to sleep.
The next morning, the group was rudely awoken as Sawako flung the door open and clapped her hands together. She wore a military beret and combat clothing.
"All right, you lazy lot! Get outside on the double."
"But it's seven in the morning!" Yui complained.
"You'd better get up, unless you want to be doing the obstacle course wearing a maid outfit!"
Yui groaned and shook herself awake, then clumsily put on her clothes. Azusa turned to her and spoke in a low voice.
"Don't you think she's acting a bit strange? Well, stranger than usual at least.
"You're right... She's acting a bit odd. Maybe it's altitude sickness or something..."
The group soon got ready and met up with Sawako outside. She took a silver whistle out of her pocket and blew on it.
"Ok. I want 15 laps around the cabin now!"
"15 laps?!" Azusa complained.
"Now!"
The group moaned and begrudgingly started to run. After the seventh lap Azusa had difficulty keeping up. By the twelfth she had collapsed onto the floor, completely exhausted.
"Why aren't you running?" Sawako asked as she prodded her cheek with her finger.
"I-I can't go on... It's too much..."
Sawako gently picked her up and put her arm around her shoulder.
"I must have pushed you too hard. I'm sorry. Why don't you have a lie down?"
"R-Really? Thanks."
Sawako stopped the others and spoke up.
"I'm going to take Azusa inside for a bit. Keep practicing while I'm away!"
Sawako was gone for much longer than they had expected. It was almost twilight by the time she appeared again. The group had given up long ago and were now lying flat out on the grass.
"Sorry about that. Azusa's gone to bed early. You must have worked hard, how about I cook us something to eat?"
The group eagerly got to their feet and followed her inside. She led them to a table and began to carry in an assortment of bowls containing soup. She placed a large silver platter in the middle of the table. The contents were hidden by a lid, but Yui guessed it must have been roast chicken or turkey. Sawako passed around several cups of tea and they began to eat.
"This soup is really good!" Exclaimed Ritsu who devoured it greedily, "what kind of meat did you use? Chicken?"
"No, I used something else. It's a special recipe you see."
"Ritsu took another bite, then abruptly stopped.
"H-Huh? What's this?"
She spat something out onto he table and looked in horror. It seemed to be a human finger. Not just anyone's finger. Judging from the colour of the nail there was only one person it could have belonged to.
"Y-You monster! This is Azusa's! She uses the exact same colour for her nails! Y-You bi-..."
She was suddenly rendered unable to speak as she began to vomit over the table. The other girls started to do the same.
"W-We've been eating Azusa?!" Yui asked as her face started to turn a deathly pale.
"Well, she just couldn't keep her mouth shut could she? All that stuff about me not having a boyfriend... Ridiculous!"
"Y-You'll never get away with this!"
Yui grabbed a knife and started to move towards her, but stumbled and fell back into the chair.
"What was in that tea?!"
"Don't worry! We haven't finished eating. You haven't tried the main course yet."
She lifted the silver platter to reveal Azusa's severed head. An apple was lodged in her mouth.
"You're still hungry right?"
Sawako dragged Azusa's head towards Yui and tried to force it into her mouth. She ended up breaking her jaw, but managed to get it half-way in. Yui could only watch in terror as her body became paralyzed.
—
Ui paced up and down looking at the clock. She wondered why Yui was late, but reassured herself that Sawako was looking after her. She snapped out of it as she heard a knock at the door. When she raced to open it, she realized that no-one was there.
That's strange, she thought. Perhaps it was a prank caller. She looked around again, then noticed a neatly wrapped box at the doorstep. There was a note tied to it which read:
We're back safe, don't worry!
We've decided to go back to the club room for something to eat. Yui said you'd be hungry so I cooked this.
-Sawako
Ui took the box inside and placed it on the table before unwrapping it. It was a plastic container of some sort, full to the top with soup. She took out a pair of chopsticks and soon started eating.
This is delicious! she thought. In fact, it might have been the best soup she had ever tasted. She poked around the container to find another chunk of meat. A spherical object suddenly popped into view. She soon realized that in the middle of the soup, a human eye was floating, staring back up at her.
