Summary
This spring, 107 students will be graduating; including class representative Rina, whose friends compliment her speech as they return to the classroom. After she mentions being part of the production staff for the photo album, she suggests they look at it together when one of her friends fawn over her. Not only is she really talented with sports and academics, but she's also very cute. Rina remains humble as the others agree and admire the pictures they took over time. She feels a sense of nostalgia as she thinks about how they might be forced to split up in middle school, but she had so much fun that she cherishes her precious elementary school days.
Suddenly, while looking at one of the sporting event pictures she happens to see a strange shadow behind her. One girl worries it could be a ghost, but Rina assumes its a prank or just poor quality of the photo. She becomes irritated as they keep discussing it, and she decides to visit the teacher who finalized the album to ask them. Her friend Miyu tags along.
The girls find a couple leave the office and Rina makes an inquiry about their identities. It was Mr. and Mrs. Kaginuma, who wanted to speak to him about their daughter, Reiko, who disappeared the prior summer. Miyu recalls how pretty Reiko was, unaware that Rina is annoyed while trying to return focus to the strange picture. She panics after realizing the strange shadow has gotten larger and is more visible.
She runs back to class and apprehensively informs the other girls about this, just to see them overlooking another album. They notice the strange shadow appear in several more images until Rina angrily snaps and demands an explanation. This shocks her friends and they have no answers, causing her to grow silent as they resume looking. It's then they find a photo of the incinerator and find it unusual as they notice Reiko standing before it, donning a summer outfit. As they realize this must have been taken prior to her vanishing, Rina quickly snatches the album as another girl slowly begins to appear in it. She insist they don't worry anymore, since its just a prank. Miyu is still concerned though, and when she asks if the other girl was her Rina suddenly snaps again.
Rina is stressed out as she storms off, wondering who could have taken this picture. The memories of that day begin to fill her mind...
During summer she located Reiko observing the scenery by the incinerator. She came to offer a hand in friendship once more, since Reiko is always so lonely and she feels bad. Reiko rejects her as she enjoys her solitude. On top of that she doesn't want to suck-up to someone like her to fit in. Rina is caught off-guard by her bold statement, and Reiko remarks that it is her that should be pitied. Rina only likes people who suck up to her in order to make her feel better about herself: a bully who purposely does everything to remain in the spotlight. Everyone fears Rina so they don't say anything.
Reiko prepares to leave when an enraged Rina grabs her and shoves her backwards. But to her horror, she finds Reiko has been knocked unconscious- blood covering the rock her head collided with. She panics and tries to determine what to do when she recalls the incinerator behind them...
She deserved it though, Rina cruelly decides. She deserved it for behaving the way she did, acting like she was better than her because of her prettiness. She doesn't really care though. In middle school everyone will continue to love her and shower her with attention, and nobody will find out.
Realizing she still has evidence to be dealt with, Rina decides to pay the incinerator a final visit. She prepares to toss the album inside, only to take a final glance at the pictures. But what she finds is not just the newly developed image of the incinerator, but a horrifying, charred spirit with long hair beginning to crawl out from it. Rina is terrified and she throws the book into the incinerator. But before she can leave she comes face-to-face with the ashy spirit.
As the school day is coming to an end, Rina's class and Teacher prepare to take a final group picture. Nobody has seen Rina since earlier but they think little of it. Their teacher happens to catch the smoke rising from the incinerator and remarks upon how strange this is, considering it wasn't supposed to be on today.
In the flame, a picture of Rina burns...
Tropes:
- Karmic Twist Ending
- Kill It with Fire: It isn't clear if Reiko was dead when Rina threw her body into the incinerator, but this is how Rina met her end.
- Missing Child: Reiko vanished a year ago, and because they Never Found the Body nobody knows what happened. The same will probably happen to Rina.
- Not Good with Rejection
- Tomato Surprise: Rina isn't the friendly and humble girl she makes herself out to be. That choir performance she said they won and the play she was chosen to lead? She took complete credit for their success and forced a girl to switch roles.
- Villain Protagonist: The first in the series to have a case of It's All About Me. Rina is an unpleasant bully and Attention Whore with no redeeming qualities.
