Close

Close
Japanese Title	クローズ Kurōzu
Volume	1
Chapter	2
Arc	e-test
Pages	25
Release Date	September 18, 2010
WSJ Issue	42, 2010
Chronology
Previous Chapter	e1. "7"
Next Chapter	e3. Invisible
Debut
Characters	Ryō Kurisu, Kengo Uesugi, Yoshio Arai, Misaki Kamiya

Close (クローズ, Kurōzu) is chapter 2 of the ǝnígmǝ manga.

Summary

It is Sunday, September 19, 12:01am. The seven Yūyami High School students leave the gymnasium, about to begin their e-test.

Moto stutters as everyone leaves. Meanwhile, Sumio makes a promise to take back his mother from ǝnígmǝ. Nervous, Shigeru asks Sumio what ǝnígmǝ is and why they are locked up inside their own high school. Sumio claims not to know. Hiina and Sudō think ǝnígmǝ is crazy, while Aru wonders how ǝnígmǝ knew their desires. Moto is creeped out by everything. Finally, Matsurigi reminds everyone of how ǝnígmǝ told them they all held unique talents. Everyone pauses to think about this. Sumio knows his own talent, the Dream Diary, but still wonders why Shigeru is here. Having known her for a long time, Sumio can't think of any talent she might have. Sudō and Hiina refuse to work with everyone and decide to walk off to find their own way out of the school. Moto reminds them that there's no chance they can get outside from the school if they couldn't get outside from the gymnasium. Hiina brushes his argument aside and calls him slovenly. Moto stutters to suggest staying inside the school for a while. Sumio tries to stop their arguing, but Matsurigi stops him by holding his shoulder. He states a school rule in which students should cooperate and help each other in any situation and insists on a strict enforcement of this rule as student body president. He proclaims that they need unity or else no one will be going or staying and suggests getting the gist of the situation first before doing anything else. Enthusiastic, Sumio agrees with Matsurigi with the intent of taking down ǝnígmǝ. His enthusiasm convinces Shigeru too, but she becomes hostile as Sumio approaches an unsuspecting Hiina and proposes to marry her after they escape. Sudō agrees too with Matsurigi also with the intent of taking down ǝnígmǝ. Matsurigi takes out a handbook and takes a note of Sumio violating another school rule, one involving illicit sexual relations. He promises to punish Sumio when they're done with ǝnígmǝ, to which Sumio is shocked.

Beginning their exploration of the school, the group of seven students notice all doors and windows locked, all phones unable to connect, and all school computers not working even with electricity running. Sinking into their minds is the fact that there's no way they can simply go home by waiting until the morning. They then decide to investigate the exit in Section 3 of the school designated on ǝnígmǝ's map. They come across a striped door with a typewriter in the center. Sudō and Hiina rush past Sumio towards the door, knocking him into the ground. Noticing the door locked, Sumio tells the two that they are wasting their time. They also notice the typewriter, which has all the Japanese katakana characters, an "Enter" button and a "Cancel" button on it. Aru claims that they do indeed have to follow ǝnígmǝ's rules. Shigeru is nervous, as she points out that if the rules are true, the rule about the Shadows must be too. Just after she points this out, the school's public address system sounds of a Mr. Takahashi having arrived in school and calls for the students to come quickly to meet him. Matsurigi is nervous, as no one knows what this announcement means. He scolds all the boys for not reading their student handbooks to know that this announcement is a secret code for an emergency evacuation. He explains that very time an intruder comes inside the school, this announcement is played over the school's public address system, and that each school has their own unique code. The seven then spot a Shadow rushing through the hallway towards them, a black aura that covers the walls, ceiling and floor. Everyone except Sumio and Matsurigi panics and rushes down the stairs. Sumio tries to tell them not to split up, while Matsurigi realizes that the Shadows are the patrollers inside the school to attack them, given that there are no signs of life inside the school. From behind Sumio, the Shadow sweeps Matsurigi, leaving just a shoe on the ground. Shigeru grabs Sumio and pulls him inside a classroom for safety. Inside, Sumio tells everyone what just happened. Moto and Hiina are shocked. Moto asks what happened. Sumio feels as though ǝnígmǝ has the school in the palm of his hand, and that he casted an "enemy" into it (in his analogy, a spider) that enjoys eating the victims that want to get out. As the group tries to figure out what to do, Sudō plans to split up with the rest of the group, claiming they were caught because they were all together. Sumio tries to stop him, but Sudō claims that they'll end up stealing the passwords from each other in the end if they don't find them all. Sumio claims otherwise while Shigeru tries to stop the two from arguing. Sumio reiterates that their school president said they need unity or else they can't get the passwords or save him. Suddenly, Sumio starts to get drowsy, at which he realizes he can predict what to do next. Shigeru explains his talent to everyone, to which Moto is amazed, but Sudō is unconvinced. Shigeru wakes Sumio up to find a journal entry indicating a password in the teacher's desk in room 3-A. Everyone is surprised at Sumio when he exclaims he’s found a password, and even more so when he picks out Password No. 3 in an envelope from the teacher's desk. With the password in his hand, he insists to everyone that despite the possibility anyone could walk out with the password, everyone must cooperate for everyone to get out. As his first act, he throws the envelope to Sudō for him to open. With a wink and a smile, he claims that he cares for everyone. Everyone trusts Sumio and Sudō opens the envelope, revealing a group photo of five students. Sumio reads the instructions for Password No. 3: Depicted in This Photo, the Nametag on the Left Chest of the Student in the Rear on the Right. Everyone is shocked to find that they can't see this nametag as one of the students in front of him in the photo is covering it. Sumio then looks back into his journal entry to confirm the correct photo and realizes that the entry is referring to a timid person, with a crude drawing of Moto Hasekura.

Characters in order of appearance

1. Sumio Haiba
2. ǝnígmǝ (Kirio Imizuka)
3. Shigeru Kurumiya
4. Hiina Kujōin
5. Moto Hasekura
6. Jirō Matsurigi
7. Aru Mizusawa
8. Takemaru Sudō
9. Ryō Kurisu (photo)
10. Kengo Uesugi (photo)
11. Yoshio Arai (photo)
12. Misaki Kamiya (photo)