Utsuro no Hako:Volume 6 Scene 4 (1)

scene 4: Piercing at Fifteen 1/3

• 1. RIVERSIDE – DUSK
• A broad river, viewed from midair, is glowing in the evening light. Two junior high school students in their last year, DAIYA and KOKONE, stand out from the crimson glow of twilight. They walk hand in hand while looking straight ahead.
• KOKONE (MONOLOGUE)
• Daiya and I have been together for as long as I can remember.
• DAIYA squeezes her hand.
• KOKONE (MONOLOGUE)
• He’s present in my every memory.
• She releases her grip on his hand.
• KOKONE (MONOLOGUE)
• The only way to move on from the past is by parting from him.
• 2. KOKONE’S ROOM – 17:00, HALF A YEAR AGO
• The two of them are sitting on KOKONE’s bed, still wearing their school uniforms.
• KOKONE
• Mm… ahh…
• DAIYA pulls his lips away from hers. KOKONE is wearing glasses, and her hair is raven black. She casts her eyes down in an embarrassed manner.
• KOKONE (MONOLOGUE)
• It’s all thanks to Haru-kun that my relationship with Daiya finally changed. Only after seeing Haru-kun and me together did Daiya become aware of his feelings and ask me out. But in my honest opinion, it took him way too long to get here.
• DAIYA entwines his fingers with hers and begins stroking KOKONE’s hair with his free hand. His gentle smile charms KOKONE and she presses her head against his chest.
• KOKONE (MONOLOGUE)
• After all, I’ve always been in love with him, from the time we played house as kids. I was perfectly aware of my own feelings and his, even though he had yet to notice them himself.
• DAIYA puts his arm around KOKONE.
• KOKONE (MONOLOGUE)
• Before going out with Daiya, I told Rino that I’d always loved him. She gave me a suspicious look and asked whether that was truly romantic love, but I definitely think so. At least in my memories, I’ve always felt that way. I’ve always hoped that he would reciprocate my feelings.
• The camera pulls back to show a full-on view of KOKONE’s room. The setting is muted. Brown and white objects like her desk, a sound system and plush toys are scattered about.
• KOKONE (MONOLOGUE)
• My room is saturated with Daiya. When I listen to love songs, his face would come to mind, and when I read a romance manga, I would identify with the feelings of the protagonist to the point of tears at times. I would sometimes write ‘Kokone Oomine’ in my notebook while studying and smile to myself. I was always thinking about Daiya in this room.
• DAIYA
• Kokone.
• KOKONE
• Mmm?
• KOKONE (MONOLOGUE)
• Just recently, Daiya has started calling me by my first name. I’ll never forget the first time it happened. Oh, his tomato-red face has been forever seared into my memory, from that time he failed miserably at suavely saying my first name.
• DAIYA
• I love you, Kokone. Forever.
• KOKONE
• Mm. I believe you.
• DAIYA smiles happily like an innocent boy.
• KOKONE smiles in response.
• KOKONE (MONOLOGUE)
• I really do, from the bottom of my heart. Not because I’m blinded by love, but because I can feel that he must be telling the truth.
• KOKONE traces DAIYA’s lips with a finger.
• KOKONE (MONOLOGUE)
• I would give up anything for his happiness.
• 3. RIVERSIDE – DUSK
• KOKONE steps into the river without removing her sneakers.
• KOKONE (MONOLOGUE)
• My world was warm. Warm like Daiya’s body. That gentle world I lived in gleamed lightly, just like a French movie I had once seen, and made me feel as though I was surrounded by the purest bliss.
• Step by step, KOKONE walks further into the crimson river.
• KOKONE (MONOLOGUE)
• But I was mistaken. I didn’t realize that other people didn’t live in the gentle world that I dwelled in. I didn’t know that the world others saw could be cold, stained, or fierce, and that coming into contact with the worlds of such people would also—
• Some garbage floating down the river touches KOKONE’s soaked body.
• KOKONE (MONOLOGUE)
• Stain my own world.
• DAIYA quickly follows her into the river.
• KOKONE (MONOLOGUE)
• Daiya…Don’t tie yourself down with your promise to love me forever. Your happiness is more important to me than my own. I’ll do anything for you, so—
• She gets embraced by an equally soaked DAIYA.
• DAIYA
• Kokone, don’t worry. I’ll stay with you.
• KOKONE trembles in his wet embrace.
• KOKONE
• You’re cold.
• DAIYA hurriedly lets go of her.
• KOKONE (MONOLOGUE)
• Should I keep you from becoming happy, I’ll make it easier for you to throw me away, okay?

◇◇◇ Kazuki Hoshino – 09/11 FRI 22:15 ◇◇◇[edit]

We should avoid Daiya’s [servants].

While we still didn’t know what to do next, we left the underpass to avoid coming across any [servants]. It would be a bad idea to stay there any longer.

We had no choice but to leave Iroha-san behind. Of course we didn’t want to, but the artificial blood would have made us look way too suspicious if we carried her home; plus, we would lose precious time. I regretted it, but she’d have to hang on for two hours until we could put an end to this battle.
Haruaki suddenly and uneasily says, “……Um, Hoshii, I’m not sure if I should tell you, but…”

“Mm? What’s the matter?”

“You’ve got one hell of a scary look right now! I bet you’ve gotten really cross with Daiyan, haven’t you? Leaving that senior girl behind makes perfect sense, too, but you were totally cold when you did it…”

“Huh?”

Was I?

I didn’t notice myself…but I guess it’s true. Something’s definitely not right with me at the moment, considering that I just silently called Daiya a blind bastard.

“I guess it’s natural to lose it when he stole Maria-chan from you, but if you don’t calm down, you might lose ground, no?”

“Yeah.”

Calm down, Kazuki. Calm down and come up with a way to get Maria back.

“And to be honest, I still want to help Daiyan…although I know it won’t be easy.”

Truthfully, helping Daiya had completely slipped my mind. I was ignoring everything except for Maria.

“…Yeah.”

Of course I also want to save Daiya if possible, but if I think about Maria right now, I can’t help but get angry at him. I can’t keep myself from thinking that such cheap pity would only get in my way.

On the other hand, if I avoid thinking about Daiya, I might end up defeated. But yes…I’d better think about something else now, about something that lets me forget about my anger. And that’s— “……Kokone.”

Right.

In that case, the first thing that comes to mind is Kokone Kirino.

✵

Two days ago on the evening of September 9th, Kokone called me into her room.

It was the first time I’d seen it. The room was steeped in dark colors and seemed superficially stylish. However, it also made a strange impression on me. In a way, the room seemed to lack coherence and its style seemed fake; a room like that really didn’t suit Kokone. I could sense some sort of artificial obligation on her part that drove her to live in such a room.

Well, I couldn’t help thinking that way, knowing what I did about Kokone.

That room represents her transformation.

And it stands for—forgetting Daiya.

“…You don’t need to hide it anymore. Tell me what happened to Daiya.”

Kokone has decided to abandon her denial of Daiya and engage with him instead.

The first thing I thought upon hearing that was:

Thank God.

I had planned to tell her about Daiya either way. No… I had no other choice. Disregarding Kokone or keeping her in the dark in a fight against Daiya would be impossible.

Thus, I was grateful that she had made up her mind and prepared herself of her own accord. After all, the things I had to tell her were sorrowful topics that I would have rather kept silent about.

—The mistake that Daiya committed in the past.

—The pain that Daiya is suffering in the present.

—The tragic end that awaits Daiya in the future.

That knowledge would surely cause her to blame herself.

That knowledge would surely sadden her.

That knowledge would surely keep tormenting her.

But I told her nonetheless.

I told her everything about Daiya.

Kokone lost her voice that day.

When I finished my explanation, she just kept gazing at the wall behind me in a completely dumbfounded manner.

Since all she would do was breathe rhythmically without displaying any other reaction, I left for the time being.

The following day, she told to come to her bedroom once more. When we greeted each other, I noticed that her eyelids were swollen, but apart from that she looked like she always did.

But once I had closed the bedroom door, she immediately started undoing her shirt buttons.

It was all so sudden that I couldn’t react properly. I should have looked away, but I just stood there, flabbergasted.

With a deadpan look throughout, she finished removing everything from her upper body except for her bra. She then turned around and showed me her back.

“Look!”

I almost asked what I was supposed to look at.

But I noticed on my own.

First, I noticed the “mark” below the hook of her bra.

It was a burn scar, most likely inflicted with a cigarette pushed against her skin. And not just once; there were so many grim and violent burn marks all over her back, it looked as if someone had dumped a giant heap of trash on a pure white snowfield.

And all those burn marks formed meaningful phrases; the obscene kind that you’d be hard pressed to find in even the filthiest of public toilets.

“———”

Squashed.

My feelings were squashed.

Those marks had an immense impact.

“Uh..uh…”

Tears began to stream, unbidden, down my cheeks.

Thoughts like “poor Kokone, it must have hurt, they won’t ever completely disappear, that must be why they broke up” only came up later. At that moment, my only possible response to the sight of those marks was to burst into tears.

Kokone turned around to face me. Ignoring my overflowing tears, she cheerfully said:

“You’re a lucky guy, Kazu-kun, aren’t you? Getting to see a hot girl with E-cups in her undies!”

While she joked like always, Kokone was…crying.

So our talk continued as we both sobbed.

“A childhood friend of mine named Rino did that to me,” Kokone said as she rebuttoned her shirt. “As you know, Daiya had great looks and superb grades; he was very popular back in the day—to the point where some people called him the prince of our school, in fact. He wasn’t always so gruff and didn’t used to have silver-dyed hair and piercings. Oh, I was such a poor match for him. I looked really drab, with my totally unstyled black hair and lame, oversized glasses. Pretty much a plain old run-of-the-mill girl. You’d totally laugh if I showed you a picture! …Although I can’t laugh myself.”

I shook my head.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re a good match or a bad match! I’m sure Daiya didn’t care.”

“Mm, he didn’t mind at all!” Kokone finished buttoning up her shirt and looked at me. “It’s the girls who had fallen for Daiya who cared.”

I started to realize how those marks might have come about.

“…Did that girl you mentioned, um, Rino, care about whether you were right for him?”

“Mmmm, not all that much, I think?”

“So…?”

“Err, let me tell you one thing at a time. First off, a couple of things about Rino: She’s one year younger than me and was also one of Daiya’s childhood friends. The thing is, she’d also liked Daiya for a long time, although I fell in love with him first. But she gave up on him and started dating a boy named Kamiuchi. The person…Daiya killed.”

That was a surprise. I hadn’t known about their backstory. Daiya’s reactions to Koudai Kamiuchi within the ‘Game of Idleness’ seemed relatively mild, all things considered.

But given the final outcome, it’s easy to suspect that their common history might have driven Daiya to choose a murderous resolution to that game.

“Kamiuchi did a horrible thing to Rino, and I don’t really get why he did it. Rino was still deeply hurt, so she tried to ease her wounds by demanding Daiya’s attention.

But you know, Daiya and I were already a couple by then. He loved me, not her. He was gentle with her, but they’d never be more than friends. When Rino realized that, her wounds got even worse. She kind of went psycho after that. She somehow got mad at me because in her mind, I’d snatched him away from her.”

Kokone was still crying, and paused to blow her nose.

But the flow of tears didn’t stop.

“Rino claimed that she only started dating Kamiuchi because I’d stolen Daiya from her, so I was responsible for what Kamiuchi did to her. At that point, Rino really believed that I was to blame for everything.”

“And that’s why she did that to your back…?”

“Yeah, but I don’t think she would have gone that far if she had been alone.”

“Which means that there were…”

“Right, there were several people involved. You see…I think the problem was that there were lots of people around Rino who could share in her hate and escalate it even further. It was unfortunate that no one realized that Rino was out of her mind, so things escalated from there.”

I finally understood what she had meant earlier.

“The girls who thought that you didn’t suit Daiya?”

“Yeah. They didn’t just have a problem with it…they seemed to think that I had committed an unforgivable sin. I was some kind of wicked witch who was keeping their prince all to myself!”

…What the hell?

I don’t get it. An unforgivable sin?

Kokone and Daiya were a couple in love. That’s all.

“What the… but that’s stupid, no matter how you look at it. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“It doesn’t matter whether I was wrong or not. A bunch of people were annoyed by me, so they wanted to do something about it. That’s all. It doesn’t matter if they were just jealous. It’s much easier to attack someone you don’t like if you tell yourself she’s evil.”

“How could they think you were evil when you hadn’t done anything wrong?”

“That’s simple; they just created some trumped up reasons. You know, things like ‘ew, that girl doesn’t greet us properly’ or ‘she’s arrogant’ or ‘she’s acting like a bitch’ or ‘she wants to use Daiya to show off’ or ‘she seduced him with her body’. They come up with whatever they feel like. And then when they had their group trash-talkathons, they could egg each other on and make me out to be a figure of evil. People instinctively do stuff like that without really thinking about it. They create a fake enemy and then take the offensive to vent their annoyance.”

Suddenly, the two classmates who had spoken out against Kokone came to mind.

As far as I could tell, they were also badmouthing Kokone out of jealousy. They got ticked off because she’s popular with the boys and vilified her to relieve their irritation. It might have also pissed them off that Kokone was on good terms with Daiya.

Considering her history, no wonder Kokone freaked out.

“You know, Rino only went so far overboard because she was encouraged by the people around her. They weren’t even aware of how evil their acts were. They thought it was right to teach a devil like me a lesson. Who knows, maybe they even thought they were performing an act of justice? One thing is clear: They didn’t realize what they were doing. And that’s what made them lose touch with reality.”

“What the…that’s obviously just ridiculous if you possess even the slightest bit of objectivity…”

“But they couldn’t see that. They had stopped thinking.”

“…Stopped thinking?”

“Yeah. It’s the thing that Daiya often rails about.”

Aah.

It’s the thing that Daiya detests.

He thinks that it’s the mindless fools who destroyed their happiness, and because of that, he wants to create a world without them using a ‘box’. So that what happened to Kokone won’t ever occur again.

“I think it was about a month later that they finally came to their senses. A few of them even apologized to me after realizing what they had done. But what’s the point? Why would I forgive them? My burns won’t go away thanks to an apology, will they? There would have only been a point if they came to their senses before doing that to me! How dare they try to relieve their guilt by apologizing? …When I said something along these lines to them, they actually complained that I was horrible for treating them like that when they were apologizing. Well, fuck’em, those filthy whores!”

Of course, Kokone was still crying while spitting out such vulgarities.

“I can’t return to who I was, no matter how much they apologize. I can’t return to the time when I didn’t hate anyone.”

She continues.

“My relationship with Daiya won’t return, either.”

But there was one thing I didn’t get.

“Why?”

“Mm?”

“Why did you need to split up? He still loved you even with those silly marks on your back, didn’t he? I mean, didn’t he care for you? Why did you have to split up?”

Kokone grew silent.

She gazed at the ceiling as she sniveled. I gathered that she was trying to organize her thoughts.

Only then did I realize that my question might have been cruel. Was there really a point in asking her that? After all, their unwilling split-up is already set in stone. Explaining why it happened is bound to be painful.

While I was regretting my question, Kokone finally opened her mouth.

“Kazu-kun. Do you think I’m cute?”

“Huh?”

I thought that she was just kidding around like she normally did. I thought that she was trying to evade my question.

“Am I cute? Properly cute?”

But her expression was incredibly serious.

I had no idea why she was so desperate, but I could read from her face that I wasn’t allowed to answer flippantly.

“…You are cute!”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I’m not engaging in flattery, I really do think so. And I’m not the only one; you’re popular with the boys from our school, aren’t you? Didn’t you tell me the other day that the number of confessions you’ve gotten was in the two-digit range?”

“You’re right. I’m totally popular. At the moment, my value is higher than that of that blatantly rowdy and delinquent Daiya, right! Hell, I’m a luscious high school girl! With an E-cup at that! I’m invincible!” However, the grin she had frantically assumed while engaging in self-praise disappeared instantly, and her lips started to tremble. “……But it’s no use.”

“N-No use…?”

“I can’t get rid of the impression that I’m just a fugly bitch. I can’t help feeling like a worthless pig.”

“W-Why? I can assure you, that’s just—”

“I know! I’m sure I’m pretty cute! I know! I worked hard to become like this, after all! I went to such lengths because I thought it would get better if I really became popular!” Kokone grabbed roughly at my arms. “But it was no use…! Those feelings don’t go away even though I realize that it’s just in my head! I can’t help but feel ugly! The impression that Daiya and I don’t match and that I’m a worthless person won’t disappear! Objective facts and popular esteem have no effect!”

“B-But why?”

“It was inevitable! Do you think that it wouldn’t have any effect on me when people honestly think that I’m a wicked devil? Even worse, I used to be a shy and silent girl, don’t you understand what that means? Do you think I could in all honesty still think positively of myself after being treated like shit, burned with cigarettes and told off as a devil, a bitch, a whore? I can’t! I couldn’t! Can you imagine a whole bunch of people doing horrible things to you? Who are seriously thinking that you’re just scum who deserves it? Of course I would start to think so, too! Of course I would think that I deserve it! That was the only way to put up with all that stuff! Those marks have stolen all my self-confidence, self-respect, and everything I hold dear!”

A trauma that can’t be healed by the truth.

I don’t think that I fully understand it.

But there was one thing that I did understand.

Kokone’s iron grip was hurting my arms.

“I thought that my self-hate would drive me into my grave. So, I, so, I—” Kokone wiped her tears away. “I had to overcome it!”

Kokone had no other choice. She would have broken otherwise.

“I had to change, I had to abandon my old self!”

That’s why Kokone started wearing contact lenses and dyed her hair; she tried to become fashionable. She tried to take on a cheerful personality and become popular—and succeeded. She tried to regain self-confidence by looking down on the people who spoke ill of her.

But at the end of the day, the shadow that had rooted itself in her heart didn’t disappear. She couldn’t regain the things the marks had stolen from her.

And—

“I also had to abandon my love for Daiya!”

Her past and Daiya were so closely linked, that there was no way around abandoning Daiya—her past—as well.

Kokone finally noticed how tightly she was gripping my arms and released me.

“…I’m sorry, Kazu-kun.”

I shook my head.

I’m to blame for making her say such things.

She took a deep breath to calm herself down.

“I didn’t want to split up with Daiya, either, but there was no other choice. It’s unbearable even if he just hugs me, seriously; my entire past leaps at me when he does, intimidating me like a giant menacing truck. My back fires up and starts to ache like when they burned me, and then I feel I’m a worthless person. I can’t help it. So… being with him is agonizing.”

They simply couldn’t be together anymore.

That’s the reason their relationship ended.

—That’s terrible.

That’s the only comment I could make.

Suddenly, Kokone said to me, “Hey, Kazu-kun, you once confessed to me, didn’t you?”

“Uh-eh?”

Why is she bringing up that ancient history? I looked her in the face, but I couldn’t read her intentions from her smile.

I never confessed to her. Well, I technically did, but it was really the act of a girl who took control over my body.

But as far as Kokone knows, I actually confessed to her.

“I was thrown for a loop! Unlike all the other confessions I’ve received, I was happy about yours. I thought that becoming your girlfriend might be the right choice. You wouldn’t care about the burns on my back, after all, and you’d accept me as I am.”

“…Um, Kokone—” I said, but she continued before I could explain anything.

“I thought that Daiya might finally be able to move on, too.”

I held my breath. Not quite sure what to say, I just waited for her to continue.

For whatever reason, Kokone put on a mischievous smile when she saw my confusion.

“I totally didn’t expect that Mari-mari had a hand in your confession, though!”

…come to think of it, we never corrected the excuse that we came up with to explain that situation.

“I-I’m sorry…Um, to tell you the truth, it was actually because of someone else’s ‘box’. The explanation Maria gave you was just a convenient white lie…”

“…Aaah…I see, a ‘box’, was it! Now it finally adds up. Man, those ‘boxes’ sure cause a lot of trouble, don’t they? …But I guess in retrospect, I’m grateful? I think it was necessary for me to earnestly think about going out with you, Kazu-kun.”

“Why…do you think so?”

“Say, do you remember that I burst into tears during our music class?”

“Yeah.”

That was the incident when I was getting a beating from Daiya after I regained control of my body. Afterwards I learned that the ‘owner’ had not only made me confess to Kokone, but even urged her to respond.

“You know, Daiya and I, we thought that it would be best for us if we started seeing other people. We really intended to do so when we found a worthy opportunity. And that opportunity arose when you confessed to me. I imagined myself going out with you and Daiya dating a different girl. But when I looked at Daiya while thinking those thoughts—”

She smiled bitterly.

“I burst into tears.”

She quickly lost even that bitter smile.

“And then I finally realized.”

She contorted her face in a painfully bitter and sorrowful manner and said:

“I was still deeply in love with Daiya.”

I was sure she wanted to deny her feelings. Over and over. That’s what her bitter expression conveyed to me.

“In reality, I wanted him to be there only for me.”

For if she admitted it, she would no longer be able to wish for Daiya to become happy with someone else.

“I realized that my feelings for him wouldn’t go away even if I went out with you, Kazu-kun. And I kinda also realized that it was the same for Daiya. Our problem won’t be resolved until I return to who I used to be. As long as I can’t accept him like I used to. Even if it’s a hopeless cause, that’s the only way.”

A tragedy.

“Daiya couldn’t bear it any longer, could he?”

The world around them changed, but they couldn’t. They couldn’t accept reality.

“So he obtained a ‘box’. But doesn’t that—” unable to bear it any longer, Kokone pressed her forehead against my shoulder. “Doesn’t that mean it’s my fault that Daiya’s life has gone off the rails?!”

I couldn’t see her face.

“I’ll do anything. I’ll do anything if I can save him. If we need a ‘box’, I’ll do it! Take my life and do whatever you want!”

I unwittingly repeated those alarming words, “…your life?”

“Yeah. I’m serious.”

She was. For sure.

She was willing to sacrifice herself for Daiya.

And as a matter of fact, Daiya has already sacrificed himself.

Had it not been Daiya but Kokone who resorted to a ‘box’ first, it would have led to a different yet similar tragedy.

Their feelings for each other are destroying each other.

That’s their ugly yet beautiful romance.

Aah. Let’s pretend that incident with Kokone’s back never happened.

There would have been no problem with their romance; it would have stayed enviably perfect. No ugliness would have existed. They would have been happy with each other.

One single misfortune disturbed the equilibrium.

All it would have taken was one fewer mistake. What if Rino hadn’t been Daiya’s childhood friend? What if Rino hadn’t gone out with Koudai Kamiuchi? What if he hadn’t done that horrible thing to Rino? What if Kokone and Daiya had hidden their relationship? What if Kokone had had a slightly bolder personality? What if there had been someone who stepped in to stop the bullying? What if Daiya had noticed Rino’s absurd plan? What if Haruaki had been more open about his affection for Kokone? What if I had known them since middle school? Just a tiny difference could have changed fate, and we might have been laughing together right now about the past.

Even as such thoughts come to me for the first time, I realize that Kokone and Daiya must have thought about those what ifs a thousand times, and they must have hated this world for ruining them. But for the smallest “what if…”

That is the true reason Daiya is fighting his losing battle of correcting a world he doesn’t even care about.

…What about Kokone, then?

“Kokone.”

“Mm?” she muttered as she pressed her forehead against my shoulder again.

“What would you use a ‘box’ for?”

“I would use it for Daiya! I would wish for a world where we can be happy!”

But there is no such future.

Daiya has reached a point of no return.

That ‘wish’ won’t come true, and Kokone must be aware of that.

“But I’m a bit uneasy: Could I use it without putting any strange stray thoughts into it?”

And that’s why she said that.

She finally raised her head, wearing a weak smile, and said something to me that was enough to convince me that she could never return to who she used to be.

“Could I fulfill that ‘wish’ without also wishing for everyone but Daiya to go to hell?”

✵

“Ah, no no! Sorry! I don’t want you to die of course! Ah-uh, Haru-kun neither! I totally think the world of Haru-kun, really!”

She quickly and not quite successfully tried to gloss over her initial statement. Because she said she was fond of Haruaki, I inadvertently replied with the following question:

“Didn’t you think about dating Haruaki?”

Kokone widened her eyes, and then smiled sadly.

I immediately realized: Aah… Kokone was perfectly aware of his feelings for her.

“I did!” she said in a cheerful unaffected tone. “But it’s no good. Haru-kun knows my past.”

“What’s with that queer look you’re giving me, Hoshii?” Haruaki says to me with a frown as we walk along some godforsaken street.

I recall what he confessed to me the other day.

—I had a crush on Kiri.

• 1. RIVERSIDE – DUSK
• A broad river, viewed from midair, is glowing in the evening light. Two junior high school students in their last year, DAIYA and KOKONE, stand out from the crimson glow of twilight. They walk hand in hand while looking straight ahead.
• KOKONE (MONOLOGUE)
• Daiya and I have been together for as long as I can remember.
• DAIYA squeezes her hand.
• KOKONE (MONOLOGUE)
• He’s present in my every memory.
• She releases her grip on his hand.
• KOKONE (MONOLOGUE)
• The only way to move on from the past is by parting from him.
• 2. KOKONE’S ROOM – 17:00, HALF A YEAR AGO
• The two of them are sitting on KOKONE’s bed, still wearing their school uniforms.
• KOKONE
• Mm… ahh…
• DAIYA pulls his lips away from hers. KOKONE is wearing glasses, and her hair is raven black. She casts her eyes down in an embarrassed manner.
• KOKONE (MONOLOGUE)
• It’s all thanks to Haru-kun that my relationship with Daiya finally changed. Only after seeing Haru-kun and me together did Daiya become aware of his feelings and ask me out. But in my honest opinion, it took him way too long to get here.
• DAIYA entwines his fingers with hers and begins stroking KOKONE’s hair with his free hand. His gentle smile charms KOKONE and she presses her head against his chest.
• KOKONE (MONOLOGUE)
• After all, I’ve always been in love with him, from the time we played house as kids. I was perfectly aware of my own feelings and his, even though he had yet to notice them himself.
• DAIYA puts his arm around KOKONE.
• KOKONE (MONOLOGUE)
• Before going out with Daiya, I told Rino that I’d always loved him. She gave me a suspicious look and asked whether that was truly romantic love, but I definitely think so. At least in my memories, I’ve always felt that way. I’ve always hoped that he would reciprocate my feelings.
• The camera pulls back to show a full-on view of KOKONE’s room. The setting is muted. Brown and white objects like her desk, a sound system and plush toys are scattered about.
• KOKONE (MONOLOGUE)
• My room is saturated with Daiya. When I listen to love songs, his face would come to mind, and when I read a romance manga, I would identify with the feelings of the protagonist to the point of tears at times. I would sometimes write ‘Kokone Oomine’ in my notebook while studying and smile to myself. I was always thinking about Daiya in this room.
• DAIYA
• Kokone.
• KOKONE
• Mmm?
• KOKONE (MONOLOGUE)
• Just recently, Daiya has started calling me by my first name. I’ll never forget the first time it happened. Oh, his tomato-red face has been forever seared into my memory, from that time he failed miserably at suavely saying my first name.
• DAIYA
• I love you, Kokone. Forever.
• KOKONE
• Mm. I believe you.
• DAIYA smiles happily like an innocent boy.
• KOKONE smiles in response.
• KOKONE (MONOLOGUE)
• I really do, from the bottom of my heart. Not because I’m blinded by love, but because I can feel that he must be telling the truth.
• KOKONE traces DAIYA’s lips with a finger.
• KOKONE (MONOLOGUE)
• I would give up anything for his happiness.
• 3. RIVERSIDE – DUSK
• KOKONE steps into the river without removing her sneakers.
• KOKONE (MONOLOGUE)
• My world was warm. Warm like Daiya’s body. That gentle world I lived in gleamed lightly, just like a French movie I had once seen, and made me feel as though I was surrounded by the purest bliss.
• Step by step, KOKONE walks further into the crimson river.
• KOKONE (MONOLOGUE)
• But I was mistaken. I didn’t realize that other people didn’t live in the gentle world that I dwelled in. I didn’t know that the world others saw could be cold, stained, or fierce, and that coming into contact with the worlds of such people would also—
• Some garbage floating down the river touches KOKONE’s soaked body.
• KOKONE (MONOLOGUE)
• Stain my own world.
• DAIYA quickly follows her into the river.
• KOKONE (MONOLOGUE)
• Daiya…Don’t tie yourself down with your promise to love me forever. Your happiness is more important to me than my own. I’ll do anything for you, so—
• She gets embraced by an equally soaked DAIYA.
• DAIYA
• Kokone, don’t worry. I’ll stay with you.
• KOKONE trembles in his wet embrace.
• KOKONE
• You’re cold.
• DAIYA hurriedly lets go of her.
• KOKONE (MONOLOGUE)
• Should I keep you from becoming happy, I’ll make it easier for you to throw me away, okay?

◇◇◇ Kazuki Hoshino – 09/11 FRI 22:15 ◇◇◇

We should avoid Daiya’s [servants].

While we still didn’t know what to do next, we left the underpass to avoid coming across any [servants]. It would be a bad idea to stay there any longer.

We had no choice but to leave Iroha-san behind. Of course we didn’t want to, but the artificial blood would have made us look way too suspicious if we carried her home; plus, we would lose precious time. I regretted it, but she’d have to hang on for two hours until we could put an end to this battle.
Haruaki suddenly and uneasily says, “……Um, Hoshii, I’m not sure if I should tell you, but…”

“Mm? What’s the matter?”

“You’ve got one hell of a scary look right now! I bet you’ve gotten really cross with Daiyan, haven’t you? Leaving that senior girl behind makes perfect sense, too, but you were totally cold when you did it…”

“Huh?”

Was I?

I didn’t notice myself…but I guess it’s true. Something’s definitely not right with me at the moment, considering that I just silently called Daiya a blind bastard.

“I guess it’s natural to lose it when he stole Maria-chan from you, but if you don’t calm down, you might lose ground, no?”

“Yeah.”

Calm down, Kazuki. Calm down and come up with a way to get Maria back.

“And to be honest, I still want to help Daiyan…although I know it won’t be easy.”

Truthfully, helping Daiya had completely slipped my mind. I was ignoring everything except for Maria.

“…Yeah.”

Of course I also want to save Daiya if possible, but if I think about Maria right now, I can’t help but get angry at him. I can’t keep myself from thinking that such cheap pity would only get in my way.

On the other hand, if I avoid thinking about Daiya, I might end up defeated. But yes…I’d better think about something else now, about something that lets me forget about my anger. And that’s— “……Kokone.”

Right.

In that case, the first thing that comes to mind is Kokone Kirino.

✵

Two days ago on the evening of September 9th, Kokone called me into her room.

It was the first time I’d seen it. The room was steeped in dark colors and seemed superficially stylish. However, it also made a strange impression on me. In a way, the room seemed to lack coherence and its style seemed fake; a room like that really didn’t suit Kokone. I could sense some sort of artificial obligation on her part that drove her to live in such a room.

Well, I couldn’t help thinking that way, knowing what I did about Kokone.

That room represents her transformation.

And it stands for—forgetting Daiya.

“…You don’t need to hide it anymore. Tell me what happened to Daiya.”

Kokone has decided to abandon her denial of Daiya and engage with him instead.

The first thing I thought upon hearing that was:

Thank God.

I had planned to tell her about Daiya either way. No… I had no other choice. Disregarding Kokone or keeping her in the dark in a fight against Daiya would be impossible.

Thus, I was grateful that she had made up her mind and prepared herself of her own accord. After all, the things I had to tell her were sorrowful topics that I would have rather kept silent about.

—The mistake that Daiya committed in the past.

—The pain that Daiya is suffering in the present.

—The tragic end that awaits Daiya in the future.

That knowledge would surely cause her to blame herself.

That knowledge would surely sadden her.

That knowledge would surely keep tormenting her.

But I told her nonetheless.

I told her everything about Daiya.

Kokone lost her voice that day.

When I finished my explanation, she just kept gazing at the wall behind me in a completely dumbfounded manner.

Since all she would do was breathe rhythmically without displaying any other reaction, I left for the time being.

The following day, she told to come to her bedroom once more. When we greeted each other, I noticed that her eyelids were swollen, but apart from that she looked like she always did.

But once I had closed the bedroom door, she immediately started undoing her shirt buttons.

It was all so sudden that I couldn’t react properly. I should have looked away, but I just stood there, flabbergasted.

With a deadpan look throughout, she finished removing everything from her upper body except for her bra. She then turned around and showed me her back.

“Look!”

I almost asked what I was supposed to look at.

But I noticed on my own.

First, I noticed the “mark” below the hook of her bra.

It was a burn scar, most likely inflicted with a cigarette pushed against her skin. And not just once; there were so many grim and violent burn marks all over her back, it looked as if someone had dumped a giant heap of trash on a pure white snowfield.

And all those burn marks formed meaningful phrases; the obscene kind that you’d be hard pressed to find in even the filthiest of public toilets.

“———”

Squashed.

My feelings were squashed.

Those marks had an immense impact.

“Uh..uh…”

Tears began to stream, unbidden, down my cheeks.

Thoughts like “poor Kokone, it must have hurt, they won’t ever completely disappear, that must be why they broke up” only came up later. At that moment, my only possible response to the sight of those marks was to burst into tears.

Kokone turned around to face me. Ignoring my overflowing tears, she cheerfully said:

“You’re a lucky guy, Kazu-kun, aren’t you? Getting to see a hot girl with E-cups in her undies!”

While she joked like always, Kokone was…crying.

So our talk continued as we both sobbed.

“A childhood friend of mine named Rino did that to me,” Kokone said as she rebuttoned her shirt. “As you know, Daiya had great looks and superb grades; he was very popular back in the day—to the point where some people called him the prince of our school, in fact. He wasn’t always so gruff and didn’t used to have silver-dyed hair and piercings. Oh, I was such a poor match for him. I looked really drab, with my totally unstyled black hair and lame, oversized glasses. Pretty much a plain old run-of-the-mill girl. You’d totally laugh if I showed you a picture! …Although I can’t laugh myself.”

I shook my head.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re a good match or a bad match! I’m sure Daiya didn’t care.”

“Mm, he didn’t mind at all!” Kokone finished buttoning up her shirt and looked at me. “It’s the girls who had fallen for Daiya who cared.”

I started to realize how those marks might have come about.

“…Did that girl you mentioned, um, Rino, care about whether you were right for him?”

“Mmmm, not all that much, I think?”

“So…?”

“Err, let me tell you one thing at a time. First off, a couple of things about Rino: She’s one year younger than me and was also one of Daiya’s childhood friends. The thing is, she’d also liked Daiya for a long time, although I fell in love with him first. But she gave up on him and started dating a boy named Kamiuchi. The person…Daiya killed.”

That was a surprise. I hadn’t known about their backstory. Daiya’s reactions to Koudai Kamiuchi within the ‘Game of Idleness’ seemed relatively mild, all things considered.

But given the final outcome, it’s easy to suspect that their common history might have driven Daiya to choose a murderous resolution to that game.

“Kamiuchi did a horrible thing to Rino, and I don’t really get why he did it. Rino was still deeply hurt, so she tried to ease her wounds by demanding Daiya’s attention.

But you know, Daiya and I were already a couple by then. He loved me, not her. He was gentle with her, but they’d never be more than friends. When Rino realized that, her wounds got even worse. She kind of went psycho after that. She somehow got mad at me because in her mind, I’d snatched him away from her.”

Kokone was still crying, and paused to blow her nose.

But the flow of tears didn’t stop.

“Rino claimed that she only started dating Kamiuchi because I’d stolen Daiya from her, so I was responsible for what Kamiuchi did to her. At that point, Rino really believed that I was to blame for everything.”

“And that’s why she did that to your back…?”

“Yeah, but I don’t think she would have gone that far if she had been alone.”

“Which means that there were…”

“Right, there were several people involved. You see…I think the problem was that there were lots of people around Rino who could share in her hate and escalate it even further. It was unfortunate that no one realized that Rino was out of her mind, so things escalated from there.”

I finally understood what she had meant earlier.

“The girls who thought that you didn’t suit Daiya?”

“Yeah. They didn’t just have a problem with it…they seemed to think that I had committed an unforgivable sin. I was some kind of wicked witch who was keeping their prince all to myself!”

…What the hell?

I don’t get it. An unforgivable sin?

Kokone and Daiya were a couple in love. That’s all.

“What the… but that’s stupid, no matter how you look at it. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“It doesn’t matter whether I was wrong or not. A bunch of people were annoyed by me, so they wanted to do something about it. That’s all. It doesn’t matter if they were just jealous. It’s much easier to attack someone you don’t like if you tell yourself she’s evil.”

“How could they think you were evil when you hadn’t done anything wrong?”

“That’s simple; they just created some trumped up reasons. You know, things like ‘ew, that girl doesn’t greet us properly’ or ‘she’s arrogant’ or ‘she’s acting like a bitch’ or ‘she wants to use Daiya to show off’ or ‘she seduced him with her body’. They come up with whatever they feel like. And then when they had their group trash-talkathons, they could egg each other on and make me out to be a figure of evil. People instinctively do stuff like that without really thinking about it. They create a fake enemy and then take the offensive to vent their annoyance.”

Suddenly, the two classmates who had spoken out against Kokone came to mind.

As far as I could tell, they were also badmouthing Kokone out of jealousy. They got ticked off because she’s popular with the boys and vilified her to relieve their irritation. It might have also pissed them off that Kokone was on good terms with Daiya.

Considering her history, no wonder Kokone freaked out.

“You know, Rino only went so far overboard because she was encouraged by the people around her. They weren’t even aware of how evil their acts were. They thought it was right to teach a devil like me a lesson. Who knows, maybe they even thought they were performing an act of justice? One thing is clear: They didn’t realize what they were doing. And that’s what made them lose touch with reality.”

“What the…that’s obviously just ridiculous if you possess even the slightest bit of objectivity…”

“But they couldn’t see that. They had stopped thinking.”

“…Stopped thinking?”

“Yeah. It’s the thing that Daiya often rails about.”

Aah.

It’s the thing that Daiya detests.

He thinks that it’s the mindless fools who destroyed their happiness, and because of that, he wants to create a world without them using a ‘box’. So that what happened to Kokone won’t ever occur again.

“I think it was about a month later that they finally came to their senses. A few of them even apologized to me after realizing what they had done. But what’s the point? Why would I forgive them? My burns won’t go away thanks to an apology, will they? There would have only been a point if they came to their senses before doing that to me! How dare they try to relieve their guilt by apologizing? …When I said something along these lines to them, they actually complained that I was horrible for treating them like that when they were apologizing. Well, fuck’em, those filthy whores!”

Of course, Kokone was still crying while spitting out such vulgarities.

“I can’t return to who I was, no matter how much they apologize. I can’t return to the time when I didn’t hate anyone.”

She continues.

“My relationship with Daiya won’t return, either.”

But there was one thing I didn’t get.

“Why?”

“Mm?”

“Why did you need to split up? He still loved you even with those silly marks on your back, didn’t he? I mean, didn’t he care for you? Why did you have to split up?”

Kokone grew silent.

She gazed at the ceiling as she sniveled. I gathered that she was trying to organize her thoughts.

Only then did I realize that my question might have been cruel. Was there really a point in asking her that? After all, their unwilling split-up is already set in stone. Explaining why it happened is bound to be painful.

While I was regretting my question, Kokone finally opened her mouth.

“Kazu-kun. Do you think I’m cute?”

“Huh?”

I thought that she was just kidding around like she normally did. I thought that she was trying to evade my question.

“Am I cute? Properly cute?”

But her expression was incredibly serious.

I had no idea why she was so desperate, but I could read from her face that I wasn’t allowed to answer flippantly.

“…You are cute!”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I’m not engaging in flattery, I really do think so. And I’m not the only one; you’re popular with the boys from our school, aren’t you? Didn’t you tell me the other day that the number of confessions you’ve gotten was in the two-digit range?”

“You’re right. I’m totally popular. At the moment, my value is higher than that of that blatantly rowdy and delinquent Daiya, right! Hell, I’m a luscious high school girl! With an E-cup at that! I’m invincible!” However, the grin she had frantically assumed while engaging in self-praise disappeared instantly, and her lips started to tremble. “……But it’s no use.”

“N-No use…?”

“I can’t get rid of the impression that I’m just a fugly bitch. I can’t help feeling like a worthless pig.”

“W-Why? I can assure you, that’s just—”

“I know! I’m sure I’m pretty cute! I know! I worked hard to become like this, after all! I went to such lengths because I thought it would get better if I really became popular!” Kokone grabbed roughly at my arms. “But it was no use…! Those feelings don’t go away even though I realize that it’s just in my head! I can’t help but feel ugly! The impression that Daiya and I don’t match and that I’m a worthless person won’t disappear! Objective facts and popular esteem have no effect!”

“B-But why?”

“It was inevitable! Do you think that it wouldn’t have any effect on me when people honestly think that I’m a wicked devil? Even worse, I used to be a shy and silent girl, don’t you understand what that means? Do you think I could in all honesty still think positively of myself after being treated like shit, burned with cigarettes and told off as a devil, a bitch, a whore? I can’t! I couldn’t! Can you imagine a whole bunch of people doing horrible things to you? Who are seriously thinking that you’re just scum who deserves it? Of course I would start to think so, too! Of course I would think that I deserve it! That was the only way to put up with all that stuff! Those marks have stolen all my self-confidence, self-respect, and everything I hold dear!”

A trauma that can’t be healed by the truth.

I don’t think that I fully understand it.

But there was one thing that I did understand.

Kokone’s iron grip was hurting my arms.

“I thought that my self-hate would drive me into my grave. So, I, so, I—” Kokone wiped her tears away. “I had to overcome it!”

Kokone had no other choice. She would have broken otherwise.

“I had to change, I had to abandon my old self!”

That’s why Kokone started wearing contact lenses and dyed her hair; she tried to become fashionable. She tried to take on a cheerful personality and become popular—and succeeded. She tried to regain self-confidence by looking down on the people who spoke ill of her.

But at the end of the day, the shadow that had rooted itself in her heart didn’t disappear. She couldn’t regain the things the marks had stolen from her.

And—

“I also had to abandon my love for Daiya!”

Her past and Daiya were so closely linked, that there was no way around abandoning Daiya—her past—as well.

Kokone finally noticed how tightly she was gripping my arms and released me.

“…I’m sorry, Kazu-kun.”

I shook my head.

I’m to blame for making her say such things.

She took a deep breath to calm herself down.

“I didn’t want to split up with Daiya, either, but there was no other choice. It’s unbearable even if he just hugs me, seriously; my entire past leaps at me when he does, intimidating me like a giant menacing truck. My back fires up and starts to ache like when they burned me, and then I feel I’m a worthless person. I can’t help it. So… being with him is agonizing.”

They simply couldn’t be together anymore.

That’s the reason their relationship ended.

—That’s terrible.

That’s the only comment I could make.

Suddenly, Kokone said to me, “Hey, Kazu-kun, you once confessed to me, didn’t you?”

“Uh-eh?”

Why is she bringing up that ancient history? I looked her in the face, but I couldn’t read her intentions from her smile.

I never confessed to her. Well, I technically did, but it was really the act of a girl who took control over my body.

But as far as Kokone knows, I actually confessed to her.

“I was thrown for a loop! Unlike all the other confessions I’ve received, I was happy about yours. I thought that becoming your girlfriend might be the right choice. You wouldn’t care about the burns on my back, after all, and you’d accept me as I am.”

“…Um, Kokone—” I said, but she continued before I could explain anything.

“I thought that Daiya might finally be able to move on, too.”

I held my breath. Not quite sure what to say, I just waited for her to continue.

For whatever reason, Kokone put on a mischievous smile when she saw my confusion.

“I totally didn’t expect that Mari-mari had a hand in your confession, though!”

…come to think of it, we never corrected the excuse that we came up with to explain that situation.

“I-I’m sorry…Um, to tell you the truth, it was actually because of someone else’s ‘box’. The explanation Maria gave you was just a convenient white lie…”

“…Aaah…I see, a ‘box’, was it! Now it finally adds up. Man, those ‘boxes’ sure cause a lot of trouble, don’t they? …But I guess in retrospect, I’m grateful? I think it was necessary for me to earnestly think about going out with you, Kazu-kun.”

“Why…do you think so?”

“Say, do you remember that I burst into tears during our music class?”

“Yeah.”

That was the incident when I was getting a beating from Daiya after I regained control of my body. Afterwards I learned that the ‘owner’ had not only made me confess to Kokone, but even urged her to respond.

“You know, Daiya and I, we thought that it would be best for us if we started seeing other people. We really intended to do so when we found a worthy opportunity. And that opportunity arose when you confessed to me. I imagined myself going out with you and Daiya dating a different girl. But when I looked at Daiya while thinking those thoughts—”

She smiled bitterly.

“I burst into tears.”

She quickly lost even that bitter smile.

“And then I finally realized.”

She contorted her face in a painfully bitter and sorrowful manner and said:

“I was still deeply in love with Daiya.”

I was sure she wanted to deny her feelings. Over and over. That’s what her bitter expression conveyed to me.

“In reality, I wanted him to be there only for me.”

For if she admitted it, she would no longer be able to wish for Daiya to become happy with someone else.

“I realized that my feelings for him wouldn’t go away even if I went out with you, Kazu-kun. And I kinda also realized that it was the same for Daiya. Our problem won’t be resolved until I return to who I used to be. As long as I can’t accept him like I used to. Even if it’s a hopeless cause, that’s the only way.”

A tragedy.

“Daiya couldn’t bear it any longer, could he?”

The world around them changed, but they couldn’t. They couldn’t accept reality.

“So he obtained a ‘box’. But doesn’t that—” unable to bear it any longer, Kokone pressed her forehead against my shoulder. “Doesn’t that mean it’s my fault that Daiya’s life has gone off the rails?!”

I couldn’t see her face.

“I’ll do anything. I’ll do anything if I can save him. If we need a ‘box’, I’ll do it! Take my life and do whatever you want!”

I unwittingly repeated those alarming words, “…your life?”

“Yeah. I’m serious.”

She was. For sure.

She was willing to sacrifice herself for Daiya.

And as a matter of fact, Daiya has already sacrificed himself.

Had it not been Daiya but Kokone who resorted to a ‘box’ first, it would have led to a different yet similar tragedy.

Their feelings for each other are destroying each other.

That’s their ugly yet beautiful romance.

Aah. Let’s pretend that incident with Kokone’s back never happened.

There would have been no problem with their romance; it would have stayed enviably perfect. No ugliness would have existed. They would have been happy with each other.

One single misfortune disturbed the equilibrium.

All it would have taken was one fewer mistake. What if Rino hadn’t been Daiya’s childhood friend? What if Rino hadn’t gone out with Koudai Kamiuchi? What if he hadn’t done that horrible thing to Rino? What if Kokone and Daiya had hidden their relationship? What if Kokone had had a slightly bolder personality? What if there had been someone who stepped in to stop the bullying? What if Daiya had noticed Rino’s absurd plan? What if Haruaki had been more open about his affection for Kokone? What if I had known them since middle school? Just a tiny difference could have changed fate, and we might have been laughing together right now about the past.

Even as such thoughts come to me for the first time, I realize that Kokone and Daiya must have thought about those what ifs a thousand times, and they must have hated this world for ruining them. But for the smallest “what if…”

That is the true reason Daiya is fighting his losing battle of correcting a world he doesn’t even care about.

…What about Kokone, then?

“Kokone.”

“Mm?” she muttered as she pressed her forehead against my shoulder again.

“What would you use a ‘box’ for?”

“I would use it for Daiya! I would wish for a world where we can be happy!”

But there is no such future.

Daiya has reached a point of no return.

That ‘wish’ won’t come true, and Kokone must be aware of that.

“But I’m a bit uneasy: Could I use it without putting any strange stray thoughts into it?”

And that’s why she said that.

She finally raised her head, wearing a weak smile, and said something to me that was enough to convince me that she could never return to who she used to be.

“Could I fulfill that ‘wish’ without also wishing for everyone but Daiya to go to hell?”

✵

“Ah, no no! Sorry! I don’t want you to die of course! Ah-uh, Haru-kun neither! I totally think the world of Haru-kun, really!”

She quickly and not quite successfully tried to gloss over her initial statement. Because she said she was fond of Haruaki, I inadvertently replied with the following question:

“Didn’t you think about dating Haruaki?”

Kokone widened her eyes, and then smiled sadly.

I immediately realized: Aah… Kokone was perfectly aware of his feelings for her.

“I did!” she said in a cheerful unaffected tone. “But it’s no good. Haru-kun knows my past.”

“What’s with that queer look you’re giving me, Hoshii?” Haruaki says to me with a frown as we walk along some godforsaken street.

I recall what he confessed to me the other day.

—I had a crush on Kiri.

—Oh, but you know? I don’t have those feelings for her anymore.

—Don’t mind me if you want to go out with Kiri, Hoshii! You guys would make a great match.

Did he know that he can’t save her? That he would only make her suffer like Daiya has because they know about her past?

Is that why, like Kokone and Daiya, he told me that I should go out with Kokone?

Is that why, like Kokone and Daiya, he has no other choice but to disregard his own feelings?

Although, if I asked him that, he would just evade my question.

Perhaps he doesn’t really know either.

“…Haruaki…?” I ask something else instead. “You said that Kokone is broken, didn’t you?”

My words seem to have surprised him; he unwittingly stares at me. But after taking a deep breath, he regains his smile.

“Yeah, I did.”

“What makes you think so?”

Haruaki puts his hand under his chin and thinks for a few moments.

“If for example, you saw someone drowning before your eyes and you could easily save him, would you do it? Please imagine it and answer me seriously.”

I imagine someone drowning in the sea, a boy who is desperately screaming and flailing about. I am carrying a life preserver and could save him without any personal risk.

“Well, sure, I would save him!”

“Why?”

“Huh? Isn’t it normal to save someone if you can do it without a problem? There’s no deeper reason to it. Well… but if someone died before my eyes, I think I would have regrets. Or even worse, I might end up permanently traumatized.”

“Right? It’s the same for me.”

That’s self-evident.

But posing that question suggests—

“Do you want to say that Kokone wouldn’t?”

“No, she told me that she would.”

“Oh…”

I was caught by surprise. Given the course of our conversation thus far, I was quite sure she would reply differently.

But Haruaki isn’t done yet.

“But when I asked her the same question, she first asked the following:” He smiles bitterly. “Who is the person?”

At first, I fail to understand what’s wrong with her question, but then I start realizing that something’s off about it.

“Normally, you would save that person unconditionally if you can. Because normally, you’d imagine it’s someone weak who deserves and needs your help.”

Some people might ask the same question as Kokone did without any deeper meaning.

But if Kokone had casually asked that question, Haruaki wouldn’t be mentioning it now. He noticed something abnormal.

“But Kiri doesn’t just think it’s someone who needs her help. She starts by worrying that it might be a trap, set to hurt her. Kiri can’t even save someone from drowning until she knows whether it’s an enemy or not. Imagine how suspicious she has become of the world. And that ties her hands, even though she would regret letting that person die as much as we would.”

Why did he ask her such a question anyway?

Maybe he had guessed to a certain degree that she would answer like that? Maybe he had acquired a certain understanding of Kokone and wanted to confirm it by posing that question?

“Because of the bullying she’s encountered, Kiri considers others as enemies by default. That keeps her from making the right decisions. She is drowning in negative feelings, hating her fate and everyone and everything that made her who she is today. Kiri can’t escape, and therefore she can’t do what she wants; what she’s supposed to do. To me—”

Haruaki pauses for a moment.

“To me it seems like she’s broken.”

I realize upon hearing those words: He still has a crush on Kokone.

After all, Haruaki has a much deeper understanding of the darkness surrounding her than I, even though I have heard about it from her firsthand. There’s no way he could acquire such insight without still deeply caring about her.

Haruaki continues with a tinge of resignation.

“As long as Kiri can’t put herself first, she won’t change.”

I’m sure Haruaki is hoping that things are different for her sake. Not that he wants to date Kokone, but that her relationship with Daiya could resume. He is wishing for her to become happy with the man she loves and loves her back.

When I arrive at this conclusion, a new thought crosses my mind.

—Putting one’s happiness above anything else.

Haruaki said that she needs to become able to do that.

But is he capable of that himself?

Is there a solution?

What are the proper relationships for these three people?

If only they could turn back time, that would be outstanding.

But even if they used a ‘box’ that could grant any ‘wish’, that’s impossible.

What they need is to build a new, ideal…or at least stable, set of relationships.

But I still fail to see a solution, and I’m sure they don’t either.

I don’t see a goal we can strive for, so there’s nothing I can work toward.

The one thing I know is that as long as Daiya’s ‘Shadow of Sin and Punishment’ exists, they can’t move forward.

Aah, but that’s not an excuse. I’m not trying to fool myself anymore.

I act only for Maria’s sake, and not for my friends Daiya, Kokone and Haruaki. I’m not going to crush the ‘Shadow of Sin and Punishment’ for their sake; I’m only doing it in order to save Maria.

Saving them is out of my hands. I can only pray that the final outcome of my efforts will happen to make them happy as well.

But I do pray profoundly for such an outcome.

I pray, hoping that my prayers will lead the way to a novel solution.

“I hope you’re okay with that, Haruaki…”

“……Mm?”

Apparently, he accidentally heard my whispers.

“Nothing.”

I’ve rearranged my thoughts.

I’m calm now.

I should focus on what’s within my grasp.

That is, squashing Daiya’s distorted ‘wish’.
Right—I’m a being that crushes others’ ‘wishes’.
“Haruaki, what should we do next?” I ask, having settled my priorities.

“Hm…I guess the safest choice would be: wait for the ‘Wish-Crushing Cinema’ to end.”

“Probably, yeah.”

But neither of us feels confident. We know all too well that Daiya expects us to play the waiting game. Therefore, he will definitely go on the offensive to destroy the ‘Wish-Crushing Cinema’ with his native cunning and his ‘box’.

Time is getting short, so he may choose desperate measures. He will try to hunt me down with the ‘Shadow of Sin and Punishment’. He will activate the thousand [servants] who he used before when searching for me and Maria.

Being hunted by a thousand people was a terrifying experience. I felt as if the entire world were persecuting me.

But his next [order] won’t be anything as harmless as a scare tactic. In the worst case, he might [order] them to kill the one he believes to be the ‘owner’. He might try to kill me. He might use his thousand [servants] for a direct attack.

It comes as no surprise that I’m trembling.

They say a cornered rat will bite, but Daiya couldn’t be less rat-like. I may have cornered him, but he’s a lion. One small slip and he might turn the tables at the very last moment and crush me to death in his jaws.

“What should we do…”

“Hm…no, I guess our only option is to hide. He can’t attack if he can’t find you, right?” Haruaki says. He’s correct. “I mean, it’s almost impossible to find someone who’s hiding within two hours, even with a thousand searchers. They can’t leverage the Internet properly either, at least in such a brief span of time… And if we hide, we’ll hide together with Kiri, okay? We don’t know when Daiyan will start to wonder if she’s the ‘owner’. …Ooh! I was just rattling on, but that might be a great idea, actually! I think we’ll be OK if we hide where she is right now!”

As an aside, Kokone is currently hiding in the dorm of a baseball club, thanks to a friend of a friend of Haruaki’s who’s got some mutual baseball interests. Until a bit earlier, Haruaki was there himself.

We brought her there after hearing the details about the ‘Shadow of Sin and Punishment’ from Yuuri-san. We thought that it would be harder for the [servants] to find her if she hid with a casual acquaintance rather than being on the move. Daiya doesn’t know about that connection, let alone the location of that dorm.

Indeed, we should have no problem holding out there for two hours.

However, in that case—

“Daiya won’t let us stay hidden.” He won’t let such a situation come to pass. “He will do something to lure us out. Should he use Maria to threaten me again, I’ll have no choice but to play along.”

“Uh, I see…”

“…mm? But…” I say, as an idea pops into my head midsentence, “…yes, we just have to make sure he can’t threaten us…?”

Haruaki tilts his head. “Hm? What do you mean? It’s up to him if he wants to threaten us or not, no?”

“We just have to do this.”

I take out my cell phone and turn it off.

“…? Uh, how does that keep him from threatening us?”

“You can only threaten someone if you can get in touch with him. No matter how much you want to order someone to do something, you simply can’t as long as you can’t reach him, right?”

“Hm? Well, yeah, but if Daiyan were about to harm Maria-chan, she would be in danger whether or not he reached you, wouldn’t she? Aren’t you just ignoring the risk she’s in by covering your ears?”

“But Daiya doesn’t actually want to harm Maria, right? That’s only a pretext to lure me out! If he can’t make that threat to begin with, there’s no point in laying hands on her.”

“…I see.”

“Therefore, I’ll hide as you suggested, and then I’ll arrange things so that Daiya can’t get a message to us. Once I’ve done that…”

“…Daiyan will no longer be able to call you out and you can hide and wait! …Er, that means that Kiri and I also have to turn off our cells. He could also try to use us to reach you, after all. All right! I’m going to e-mail Kiri to turn hers off, then I’ll also turn off my phone.”

Haruaki starts composing an e-mail.

I suddenly wonder if I should have realized this sooner. Maybe that would have made our lives a lot easier?

…No, not really.

That strategy would have worked if I’d been on my own, but back then I had to protect Maria. I couldn’t just bury my head in the sand without putting her at risk.

Ironically, this method only works because of Maria’s absence, and because I’m just as cornered as Daiya.

“Okay. Let’s join Kokone ASAP before the [servants] find us.”

“Gotcha! Then let’s—” he suddenly breaks off.

“Haruaki?”

Haruaki is frozen, staring at his cell phone.

“…Did Daiya already send you a message?”

He ignores my question and pokes at his cell phone with look of deadly seriousness. He loads his 1seg^[1] TV app and stares at the screen.

…Why would he suddenly want to watch TV?

He seems to be unable to find what he’s looking for, so he switches to his browser and starts a web search.

“What’s wrong, Haruaki?”

“…Kiri sent me an e-mail and told me to turn on the TV. Whatever it was, it was only on for a few seconds anyway. She must be pretty confused, too.”

He falls silent again, but after a few moments he finds what he was looking for and raises his head.

“…Hoshii. Looks like we were a hair too late,” Haruaki says as he holds out his cell phone.

It’s displaying a news program from a video site; the weather forecast, to be exact, broadcast live with a city in the background.

“——Huh…”

However, there is something quite inappropriate in that forecast.

A naked woman. A skinny, fifty year old brunette is crawling on all fours and barking. There’s something written in large letters with a permanent marker on her body below her pendulous breasts, but it’s hard to make out because of what she’s doing.

“Come to the cinema!”

It’s only displayed for an instant, though; the camera pans away instantly and the show moves back to the studio. The video ends there.

“…Hoshii, can we really keep ignoring Daiyan if he’s even willing to use the TV to threaten you? …We can’t, can we?”

“Yeah… we can’t.”

Let’s pretend Daiya ordered one of his [servants] to announce on TV that Maria Otonashi will be killed if I don’t come to the cinema. In that case, he wouldn’t care if the message reached me or not, because he could carry out his threat on the assumption that I saw his message.

I can’t ignore that risk.

If I keep ignoring him, he might just escalate his tactics. He might even make his [servants] do something that would ruin my everyday life forever.

Right now, I’m considering the worst case scenario: Daiya might harm Maria.

Now that I’ve learned of his tactics, I can no longer feign ignorance. Even threats that don’t reach me have an impact.

“Tch!”

Now, it’s actually much worse if I don’t receive his messages. Since there’s no point in keeping my cell phone turned off, I switch it back on.

As if by magic, I immediately receive a call.

I flip open my cell and take a look.

“Kasumi Mogi”

“Found youuu!”

I haven’t picked up the call yet.

The ring tone that’s still playing confirms it, but there’s an unfamiliar sound accompanying the ring tone.

Screetch screech screech screech.

The sound of wheels.

The sound of a wheelchair.

◆◆◆ Daiya Oomine – 09/11 FRI 22:12 ◆◆◆

Why should I put all my eggs in one basket?

I think highly of Iroha Shindou, but I never expected that her mission would have a 100% success rate. Because of my time limit, it would be fatal for me if I relied on just one person and that person failed to deliver.

Therefore, setting up Shindou’s attack wasn’t the only thing I did with my [servants]. While she was working toward showing Otonashi how Kazu would betray her, I also had a few other things going in parallel.

I also tried to convey a message to Kazu over the TV. I gave [orders] to eleven sinners who I considered guilty enough to turn into ‘Dog Humans’. Their task was to write “Come to the cinema!” on their naked bodies and expose themselves on TV. There’s no way to guarantee that they successfully accomplished that goal, but my guess is that one or two of them must have succeeded.

When Aya entered the cinema, I first thought that that maneuver was now a waste, but it just acquired new relevance.

That maneuver prevents Kazu and the others from breaking off contact with me.

He just needs to wait until the end of the ‘Wish-Crushing Cinema’ to defeat me, so his optimal strategy was to hide from me and break off contact. But if I’m able to create a massive commotion on TV and it even spreads over the web, there’s a high probability it will reach him or his allies, and then he will realize how risky it is to shut off communications.

My ‘Shadow of Sin and Punishment’ is a lot more effective when I can establish contact.

We are still in the entrance hall; Piercing at Fifteen has not started yet. Since my actions will be highly circumscribed once the movie begins, I have to map out my strategy in advance.

17 minutes are left until the movie starts, but I only have 12 minutes because we’ll be teleported into the theater five minutes before that. Damn…I’m constantly short on time.

“So, to summarize,” Aya starts to recap the plan I have given her. “We’ll have Kasumi Mogi use the ‘Flawed Bliss’. Since she is still in distress due to her disabilities and unrequited love for Kazuki Hoshino, she won’t turn it down. And then I will forget about Kazuki Hoshino.”

I nod. Aya continues.

“Since Hoshino doesn’t want Mogi to recall the ‘Rejecting Classroom’ and her partial paralysis makes her a liability, it’s safe to assume that he hasn’t partnered up with her. In other words, once your [servants] have made contact with her, you can carry out your plan without worrying that he’ll get in your way. Moreover, she’s a sitting duck because we know that she’s in the hospital.”

Well, to be honest, I don’t care about Mogi as long as Kazu comes here. But of course I stay silent.

“Kasumi-san…”

The cheeky little minx butts in again. Shut up, bog body bitch.

“…You’re saying rude things about me in your head, aren’t you? It’s written large all over your face! I’m really good at reading expressions, you know?”

I decide to join her one-sided commentary.

“…I’ll ask just because: You know Mogi?”

“Well, she’s a rival in love and we share the same enemy, after all. We occasionally exchanged information at the hospital. Ehehe!”

“Planning the perfect crime to get rid of Otonashi, huh? How’s it going? Is that wheelchair substitution caper coming together? Pretty clever to use the fact that people think Mogi is unable to move on her own for your alibi!”

“Why is your murder scheme so specific?! Could you please change your opinion of me?! It’s about time you did!”

“But putting that aside, why did you suddenly speak up when we mentioned Mogi? Is there something on your mind?”

“Eh? …No, nothing in particular…”

What a waste of precious time. I should just permanently ignore that girl already.

“All right.” How am I going to use Mogi…?

Although to be honest, it would be more effective to use Aya rather than Mogi as a decoy for Kazu. It may sound pretty obvious, but it’d be optimal to have my [servants] threaten him with Aya. They could tell him something like this:

“If you don’t come into the ‘Wish-Crushing Cinema’ before the day ends, I will kill Maria Otonashi.”

I guess I could go with a time limit set to five minutes before midnight. That threat would be effective; Kazu couldn’t be sure whether I’m serious about killing her or not, since I’m obviously stuck between a rock and a hard place.

So why do I plan on using Mogi nonetheless? Why do I need to take this step when I’m going lose a considerable amount of time by involving her?

Sure, Aya has to believe that we’ll have Mogi use the ‘Flawed Bliss’. But there’s another reason.

Like I just said, using Aya is a very effective threat.

The problem is that it’s too effective.

If I used her, my victory might seem certain.

To whom?

—To ‘O’.

“I just had an idea about how to get Kazu here,” I say to Aya.

“Tell me.”

“We’ll just have one of my [servants] break Mogi’s fingers.”

“……What are you talking about?”

As I expected, she wrinkles her brow.

“We’ll force him to come here by making him watch as her hands are ravaged. He can’t possibly keep listening to the sound of a girl’s fingers breaking, especially one he used to love, can he? Especially since that girl only has use of her upper body; her hands are even more dear to her!”

“I won’t approve of that!”

“I thought you didn’t like Mogi? Didn’t she even stab you once?”

“How many times do I have to repeat myself before you get it? My personal feelings are of no consequence. I won’t let anyone get hurt, no matter who it is.”

Well, I expected such a reaction. There’s no point in getting on her bad side right now.

“…Okay. I’ll scrap that idea.”

I pretend to give in.

She can’t check on the [orders] that I give, so it doesn’t matter what I tell her. There’s no need to keep my word. I’ll break Mogi’s fingers whether Aya approves or not.

That fake speech was for the benefit of ‘O’. I need ‘O’ to believe that this is my trump card.

For Maria’s sake, Kazu might abandon Mogi even if her fingers are being broken right before him. Kazuki Hoshino is capable of anything, no matter how extreme, once he has made up his mind.

I’m sure ‘O’ realizes that as well. For that reason, ‘O’ won’t take my victory for granted; she will conclude that she can continue to observe without interfering because it seems like my plan will fail.

In reality, threatening him with Aya will be my real plan. But I’ll keep that to myself by making ‘O’ believe that threatening Kazu with Kasumi Mogi is the crucial point.

It’s arguable whether it’s even possible to deceive a being like ‘O’.

My answer to that is:

—It is.

It seems that ‘O’ can observe the whole world. However, ‘O’ said it’s similar to looking at the earth through the lens of a satellite camera. If that’s true, it should be impossible to understand what my intentions are at the finest possible level of detail. That’s the weakness of ‘O’.

Therefore, my deception is possible. Like a conjurer who distracts his audience with a gaudy performance while carrying out his trick, I will hide my plan to threaten Aya by threatening Mogi for now.

Of course I can’t say for sure how ‘O’ functions, so I can’t just relax. I have to be prepared to change my plan on the fly if necessary.

But I’m already in the process of understanding the thought patterns of ‘O’. I was almost led astray by her god-like powers, but—for better or for worse—I found out her true identity, allowing me to analyze her more precisely.

The nature of ‘O’ is not that of a god or a devil, but that of a peculiar human. Her intelligence seems to be very high, but it doesn’t exceed the bounds of humanity, either. There’s nothing truly mind-boggling to worry about. I bet the personality of ‘O’ was created in imitation of the real ‘Aya Otonashi’ by a certain little sister.

In that case, I should be able to predict her course of action with my keen analytical skills.

For example, there is one thing I can say for sure. ‘O’ is going to appear before me once more before this day is over.
“…Iroha!” Yanagi yells suddenly. I turn toward her.

Iroha Shindou is standing in front of the info panel. She’s obviously exhausted; her clothes are covered with red paint and her face is stained with dirt.

“W-What’s wrong, Iroha? Isn’t that blood? Are you wounded?”

All aflutter with worry, Yanagi rushes over to Shindou.

“It’s artificial blood. I’m not wounded…but I guess you could say that I was killed.”

“W-What do you mean?”

“My ‘box’ was destroyed.”

Yanagi’s eyes widen in surprise, while Aya frowns sternly.

I also have a bunch of nagging questions, but there is one thing I have to say first.

“What’s with this silly performance, ‘O’?”

Yanagi and Aya turn their surprised faces from ‘O’ to me instead.

“……Oh?”

Shindou’s exhausted expression changes back to her usual look of gentle charm.

But I have to say—I go off on a complete tangent while looking at her face—that gentle expression and the look on Kazu’s face when he sent me here really resemble one another.

“Geez, it’s really regrettable that you won’t let me deceive you at all, Oomine-kun! Would you mind telling me what gave me away?”

“…Well, just a gut feeling.”

In reality, I’ve been expecting her arrival for a while. Given her personality, ‘O’ will want to observe me and Kazu close-up.

Of course I don’t tell her any of that. I mustn’t let her think that I can win, so I should avoid raising uncalled-for suspicion by giving up my real plans.

‘O’ doesn’t seem to suspect a thing. I guess she’s not too interested.

“……’O’.” Aya has been scowling at us with hatred in her eyes while we talked.

“Long time no see,” ‘O’ says.

“Have you finally decided to give me a new ‘box’?”

“There’s no way I would do that, is there? I even bothered explaining to you once that you’re about as interesting to observe as a vacuum cleaner. I have no plans to intervene for someone like you who’s basically a dumb robot!”

While observing them, I wonder: What’s with all this crap?

Why does ‘O’ act so offensively while claiming that she has no interest in Aya? ‘O’ doesn’t act like that around anyone else. Why doesn’t that make Aya suspicious?

This train of thought is forcibly interrupted by ‘O’, who focuses her attention on me once again.

“Oomine-kun. I want to tell you something. Can you spare me a moment?”

That’s surprising. ‘Surprising’ because I was convinced that ‘O’ wouldn’t depart from her neutral stance as an observer unless Kazu were to fall behind.

I look at my watch while pulling myself together and reflecting on my failed predictions.

22:19

“I hope what you’ve got to say is worth my time? I have fewer than six minutes left to talk freely. If you’re just looking to chat, then I’m afraid I’ll have to refuse.”

If I choose to listen to ‘O’, I will have no time left before I get forcibly transported into the final theater, and I won’t be able to act freely anymore.

“It’s something important!”

That’s all I needed to hear; I can’t turn down her offer now.

“Got it.”

I have nothing left to do anyway, except for repeating the plan to Aya. I have already given my [orders] regarding Mogi; one of my [servants] and fanatical believers is already on the way to Mogi’s hospital.

“Excuse me, but could I ask the others to leave? This is for Oomine-kun’s ears only,” ‘O’ says to Aya’s dismay.

“Wait. Why—”

“Sorry,” I cut her short, “but there’s no time for questions. Please just hold back your objections for now.”

While Aya still seems displeased, she doesn’t say anything else.

As soon as Aya and Yanagi have disappeared, I quickly start the conversation. “Make it short,” I tell ‘O’—who is still assuming the shape of Shindou.

“Mm, I shall,” ‘O’ agrees, and gets straight to the point. “Kazuki-kun and I have become enemies.”

She drops a bombshell.

“———”

I’ve been caught by surprise. To be honest, I would like to mull over this revelation for a bit, but time is running out.

Ignoring my unsettled feelings, I ask a question of paramount importance for me.

“Are you on my side, then?”

My heart and mind may be in disarray, but I’m still able to put two and two together. There’s no time to confirm or delve further into her statement right now; I have no choice but to assume that she’s telling the truth, and ask if it’s advantageous for me.

“I won’t side with you.”

“Why not? Kazu has become our common enemy, hasn’t he?”

“I don’t think that your approach is sufficient to break his will. In other words, I see no benefit in helping you.”

“But you won’t get in my way to make him win, right?”

“No, I won’t! In fact, let me tell you something that will please you: Your plan of using the ‘Flawed Bliss’ right before Kazuki-kun’s eyes is the best action you can take at this point. I promise.”

There’s no time to confirm that, either. I’ll have to take ‘O’ at her word.

“Let me ask another question; why has Kazu become your enemy when he used to be the person you were most interested in?”

“You make it sound as if he couldn’t become my enemy because he attracted my interest, but it’s exactly the opposite! He attracted my interest because we’ve been enemies all along.”

“Don’t waste my time. I want to know what has turned you against each other.”

“Now aren’t you a boring fellow? If you consider me a being that preserves Maria Otonashi as ‘Aya Otonashi’, then you can consider Kazuki-kun a being that erases ‘Aya Otonashi’ from Maria Otonashi. It’s completely natural for us to oppose each other, is it not?”

“I guess so. He may believe that too. But…so what? Sure, Kazu is exceptional, but he’s also just a human. Are you telling me that he has a special power that lets him erase you, even though he’s just a human?”

“Yes, he does. Kazuki-kun has obtained the power to forcibly crush ‘boxes’.”

I’ve been proceeding without pause up to this point, but I’m forced to stop momentarily.

“…a power to crush ‘boxes’?”

Isn’t that cheating?

For a moment there, I thought she was talking about the ‘Wish-Crushing Cinema,’ but that’s wrong. That ‘box’ is specially tailored to crush my ‘box’.

“Why does Kazu have such a power?”

“Just like I did, he has received a power from the ‘Flawed Bliss’.”

“I don’t understand. How would Kazu have gotten a power from—No, I’ll have to swallow that for now, but there’s still something that doesn’t make sense. I don’t know exactly when Aya obtained her ‘box’, but I’m pretty sure they didn’t know each other at that point, right? Then how can Kazu have been influenced by the ‘Flawed Bliss’?”

“It’s not all that difficult: My counterpart existed from the very start, but that position was left blank because Maria Otonashi was unable to imagine something capable of opposing me. But the role of the counterpart was there—just unoccupied! And eventually, someone worthy of that position appeared: Kazuki Hoshino, the aberrant human who was a ‘savior’ for a certain being. There was but a slight time lag.”

I see. The powers of a ‘box’ allow for causality violations.

That being said, something else has been bothering me.

“There’s something I want to know.”

“What would that be?”

“What the hell are you?”

“‘What’? Now that’s a crude question. Your question’s wording is too vague to answer!”

“I know that you’re based on the real Aya Otonashi. I also know that you’re under the influence of the ‘Flawed Bliss’. However, I don’t quite get how Kazu is your counterpart, and how he can erase you with his special power.”

“Aah, your understanding was incomplete? You see, the primary purpose of the ‘Flawed Bliss’ is to let me exist as ‘O’, because that’s how it grants ‘wishes’. As a consequence, I would no longer be able to exist as ‘O’ if the ‘Flawed Bliss’ were destroyed.”

Those new truths leave me completely amazed, but I have no time left to deal with my emotional confusion. I try to respond to ‘O’, depending entirely on dispassionate logic.

“Does that mean that, strictly speaking, I have used Aya’s ‘Flawed Bliss’ as well?”

“I suppose so. I wouldn’t exist without the ‘Flawed Bliss’, after all.”

“But doesn’t that mean that it’s untrue that Aya loses her memory when she uses it? After all, she still remembers everything even though I am using a ‘box’.”

“Oh, it’s not a lie. She only loses her memory when she decides to use the ‘Flawed Bliss’ of her own accord.”

“What a convenient exception.”

“I wonder…Don’t you think that that’s what the ‘boxes’ are like to begin with? Maybe you should think some more about why she loses her memory, anyway.”

Upon hearing that advice, I recall the farcical conversation ‘O’ and Aya engaged in earlier.

Why is Aya so dense when it comes to the question of just who ‘O’ is? That’s what I thought back then.

I realize why.

The answer is: Because otherwise, the ‘Flawed Bliss’ wouldn’t work.

Aya mustn’t realize that ‘O’ was created by her ‘Flawed Bliss’, let alone that the character of ‘O’ strongly resembles that of the real ‘Aya Otonashi.’ She mustn’t find out how her ‘box’ grants ‘wishes’. If she did, her ‘Flawed Bliss’ wouldn’t be flawed but simply defective.

Therefore, she has to forget whenever she learns the truth behind that system.

Aya and ‘O’ are merely actors in a grand game of cat-and-mouse: she supposedly obtains a new ‘box’ from her nemesis, so that she can make her ‘wish’ perfect and unflawed.

However, she won’t ever be able to obtain the ‘box’ that she’s yearning for. Of course not.

The very act of fighting against ‘O’ means that she is trapped in the ‘Flawed Bliss’ herself.

“———”

What the hell?

How futile is that? That’s like making sandcastles that collapse as soon as the tide comes in. That’s what Aya has been doing all this time? That’s what she has killed her own personality for, spending a whole lifetime in torment? That’s what she is risking her life for?

“……”

Has Kazu noticed how futile her efforts are? No, I’m sorry to say this, but he’s not smart enough to analyze her so critically.

But he must be intuitively sensing the underlying tension.

He must be grasping the truth of her ‘box’ by instinct.

Right; that’s what Kazuki Hoshino is like.

Therefore, he will try without fail to crush the ‘Flawed Bliss’ in order to free Maria Otonashi from this self-defeating system. And needless to say, the ‘Shadow of Sin and Punishment’ will be in his way.

“How exactly does Kazu crush ‘boxes’? How can he crush mine?”

“If Kazuki-kun touches your chest, he can take out your ‘box’ and destroy it. He did just that with Iroha Shindou’s ‘box’.”

“…What? Shindou was really defeated? …No, more importantly—”

—Just by touch? Huh?

That’s not good.

I’m currently trying to get him into the ‘Cinema’. However, if I manage to do that but he can destroy my ‘box’ just by touching me—

“Hell, I’m up against the wall.”

If I wait here, my ‘box’ will be destroyed, but if I call him here and he touches it, it will be destroyed just as well. What is this shit? That’s unfair as hell!

Okay, I should think this through in specific terms. For example, I could put my arm around Aya’s neck and take her hostage to prevent him from touching me.

However, that’s impossible. I’m not morally opposed, but it’s physically impossible; I will be in the theater by that point. The ‘Wish-Crushing Cinema’ forces an unbearable listlessness upon me when I try to do anything other than watch the movie that’s playing. I can’t threaten Aya while resisting that listlessness.

So do I have to make Aya use the ‘Flawed Bliss’ and forget about him whether he’s here or not?

But that’s not possible, either; things won’t go so smoothly. Aya said that she won’t use her ‘box’ on anyone who doesn’t literally ask for it, and her principles are unbending. I don’t have enough time to pressure Yanagi or Mogi enough to make them want to use a ‘box’. Kazu would crush my ‘box’ before that.

…No, there’s another basic concern that arises if the power of the ‘Flawed Bliss’ is equivalent to using a ‘box’ from ‘O’.

“Can a person who has already used a ‘box’ use the ‘Flawed Bliss’?”

‘O’ answers me without showing any special reaction. “You can’t use the same ‘box’ twice, but if it’s a different one, then it’s possible! Personally, I won’t give a ‘box’ to the same person twice, though.”

Which means that in theory, Yanagi and Mogi can use the ‘Flawed Bliss’. But how do I get them—

“……Gh!”

My thinking suddenly slows down. I’m approaching my limit. My head hurts because of the information dump that I have yet to fully process. I’m probably at my limit when it comes to astonishing facts that I can accept and understand without switching off my mind.

I look at my watch. I have one minute left before I get teleported into the theater.

“‘O’.”

But there is still a matter that I have to confirm no matter what. Something I’ve wanted to ask ever since I found out what ‘O’ really is.

“Yes?”

Depending on the answer, my will might break. That’s how crucial my question is.

“Is the ‘Flawed Bliss’ an external ‘box’?”

There are two types of ‘boxes’: external and internal. The type of a ‘box’ is determined by how strongly the ‘owner’ believes that his or her ‘wish’ can possibly come true in the real world.

So let’s pretend the ‘Flawed Bliss’ were an internal ‘box’, reflecting the scenario where an ‘owner’ didn’t believe in her ‘wish.’ While it can vary depending on its level of power, an internal-type ‘box’ usually does not affect the real world. That means that all the miracles that have been called forth by a ‘box’ up until now—the ‘Rejecting Classroom’, the ‘Sevennight in Mud’ and the ‘Game of Idleness’—would have taken place in a fake world. This whole story would be no more than a dream of Aya’s.

Of course, the same would apply to the ‘Shadow of Sin and Punishment’.

I can’t accept such a laughable outcome, nor would I be able to endure it.

If her ‘box’ is not external, all my actions will have been rendered futile.

“Yes, it is; and level 10 even. She believes that she can make others happy with absolute purity. Rest assured, your concerns are superfluous.”

It sounds like she’s telling the truth.

Aah, that’s a relief. The things I’ve done won’t be rendered null and void.

All of it—my plan to improve the ethics of the world, the punishment I have inflicted on previously unpunished sinners, the pain I’ve suffered due to the ‘Shadows of Sin’, the damage I have dealt upon Iroha Shindou, my murder of Koudai Kamiuchi, or the many lives I have twisted with my ‘box’; nothing will be rendered null and void.

I’m relieved… I should be.

Truth be told, as an ‘owner’, I’ve instinctively realized that my ‘box’ is an external one. But since I’m a person who doesn’t trust his gut instincts, and this is a matter of crucial importance, I wanted to have additional confirmation.

All right, there’s another vital question; one that arose when I heard about Kazu’s power.

“Kazu is a being that crushes ‘boxes’, right?”

“That’s what I said, yes.”

“We could become ‘owners’ because we were attracted by our ‘boxes’ and accepted them. But a person who destroys the ‘boxes’ is essentially the opposite of who we are.”

‘O’ is listening to me with an ever so gentle and sublime smile.

“Can someone who denies ‘boxes’ so much become an ‘owner’ himself?”

‘O’ gives me a short and precise answer.

“No.”

✵

Right after that exchange, I experience my n-th teleport and end up sitting in front of a screen once more.

In five minutes, the last movie, Piercing at Fifteen, will begin.

I am surrounded by inanimate individuals who are mere shadows of themselves. Compared to the audience for the other movies, the number of faces that I recognize among those expressionless puppets has increased. Behind and to my right is the real Yuuri Yanagi, and behind and to my left is Aya Otonashi. The version of ‘O’ who had taken on Shindou’s appearance is no longer present.

Moreover, the abnormality particular to this ‘box’, the pitch-black void, has come even closer and is only two seats away from me. The absolute darkness—the abyss.

Finally, next to me sits—
“Ah.”

Of course.

Kazu can’t become an ‘owner’. He couldn’t have created this ‘Wish-Crushing Cinema’. In fact, he couldn’t possibly create a ‘box’ that exists solely for the sake of crushing my ‘wish’.

Then who is the real ‘owner’ of this ‘box’?

Someone who thinks only of me—

Someone who could make a ‘wish’ just for me—

There is only one person who could do that.

Ah, sitting beside me is the lead character of this final movie.

——Kokone Kirino.

The air conditioning in this theater is too strong. I feel as if the unnaturally cold air is ripping holes in my skin. I touch my piercing. I have already created so many holes in my body, but it’s still not enough. There aren’t enough openings.

Kokone.

No matter how many holes I make, you just won’t leave my body. Just seeing you like this causes you to return. The warmth you gave me when I embraced you won’t stay away from me. The gentle warmth that used to surround us conflicts with reality, and seeks to drive me crazy with the grinding sound that it produces.

There is no way in hell that I can finish watching such a movie.

My mind is going to break in the midst of this movie.

Why—

Why——

Why———

Why did it come to this?

The ‘box’ I’m opposing is Kokone’s?

I’ve been fighting against Kokone?

No.

We’re not fighting, no. Something’s awry.

Then who am I fighting with?

What am I fighting with?

How could we have become happy?

Wrong.

It’s wrong to have such thoughts.

I didn’t choose happiness.

I chose justice.

This outcome was to be expected.

This has always been a story of my ultimate ruin.

Aah, my mind will break soon. I’m going to plunge into ruin. But that’s fine. I just have to grasp, seek, and act on what’s right, and my body will keep fighting on its own.

I know what this situation is.

It’s called despair.

But a long time ago, I already gorged myself on more despair than I can bear.

Aah.

The screen flashes white, and in the next moment projects a red light. A familiar scene is coming up—the end of a world.

We shall now see the cheesy love drama of a naive middle schooler. It’ll be a smash! Get your tissues ready! You all love this shit, don’t you? Stuff where someone suffers, where you can feel good as you shed some tears of pity. Why don’t you have some popcorn as you enjoy the show?

May I ask for a round of applause, everybody?

Clap.

Clap.

Clap.

Clap.

Clap.

Clap clap.

◇◇◇ Kazuki Hoshino – 09/11 FRI 22:31 ◇◇◇

Mogi-san isn’t able to roll her wheelchair on her own yet.

That means she didn’t come here by herself, and she wasn’t the person who said “found you.”

“Heh, haha! Lucky me!”

An innocent looking girl is pushing Mogi-san’s wheelchair.

But that impression of innocence only lasts for a split second. Originally inspired by my fleeting glance at her plainly bobbed black hair and neat blue sailor uniform, once I look her in the eye, that false facade is blown away.

We’re in an empty alley. Under the glare of a street lamp, her eyes are glittering so strongly that one could almost believe that they’ve lost their ability to reflect light properly. Her eyes look like aluminum foil constructs.

Those eyes are abnormal.

“Found y-o-u. Kazuki Hoshino, Kazuki Hoshino, Kazuki Hoshino!” she says in a lively fashion as she spins around. Suddenly, she stops and scowls at me with lips pressed tightly together. “Master Daiya’s enemy.”

I instinctively realize that she is one of the fanatics that Yuuri-san mentioned.

“Mogi-san… what’s going on…?”

Mogi-san’s face is chalk-white. She is still in her pajamas; she was probably kidnapped by that fanatic.

“S-She just turned up and abducted me without a word…I was really scared…but I can’t defend myself…”

Right, she can’t fight back in her current condition. This girl—no, Daiya—has definitely resorted to dirty tactics.

“I had no idea what was going on. Before I knew it she had taken me out of the hospital, and then she took away my cell phone and called you, Hoshino-kun. Only then did I realize why she carried me off.”

“My cell rang roughly at the same time as when we were found…which means that we just happened to be nearby…”

We happen to be near the hospital right now. It’s unfortunate that Daiya’s minion found us so quickly, but I guess I would have picked up when Mogi-san called anyway. It was only a matter of time until this aluminum-eyed girl would have found us.

The girl starts stroking Mogi-san’s hands and begins to speak once more:

“I’m breaking them.”

“Huh?”

Because those words didn’t seem to match the situation at all, I have no idea what she’s talking about.

“I’m breaking her fingers. You know, this girl’s. Sorry.”

Mogi-san’s eyes widen, and she looks up at the girl.

Taken by surprise, I try asking some obvious questions to play for time.

“W-Why would you do that?”

“Um…because I was [ordered] to. By Master Daiya.”

“Wait a sec!” Haruaki stops passively watching and steps in. “What good will that do?”

“What good? As I said, this was an [order].”

“That’s not what I’m talking about! What’s your aim? Daiya Oomine wants to demand something from Kazuki Hoshino, right?!”

“Ah, right. Exactly! I was told to force Kazuki Hoshino to enter some kind of ‘Wish-Crushing Cinema’!” the girl answers as though she doesn’t care at all about her actual objective.

As a fanatical believer in Daiya, she probably doesn’t care about the means or ultimate ends of what he tells her to do. She just blindly executes her [orders] with zero sense of priority.

“Do you feel nothing when you look at Kasumi? How can you be cool with this?” Haruaki reproaches her, visibly pressured by her statements.

After hearing what he has to say, the girl leans over Mogi-san and tilts her head forward at a right angle, looking at her face from an upside-down perspective. Mogi-san utters a little shriek as a face suddenly appears before her.

“I’m sorry for her,” the girl admits, much to our surprise. “But I’m more pitiable.”

“W-What?!”

The girl raises her head and whispers, “I’m infected with AIDS, you know? I’m going to die in the near future. Mm, I’m so pitiable.” But her tone stays indifferent throughout. “So? She’s also pitiable, and what of it?”

Nothing matters. To that girl, Mogi-san’s being “pitiable” is just another thing that doesn’t matter.

The one exception is her belief in Daiya.

She’s insane.

Haruaki is left at a complete loss, overawed by her insanity.

I’m convinced that this girl will break Mogi-san’s fingers one by one without batting an eye. Without feeling anything, without thinking about what she’s doing.

I look at the girl and,

“…………Hah…”

I can’t suppress a sigh, followed by a laugh.

“Whoa whoa!”

—What’s wrong, Daiya?

Are you okay with this, Daiya? What happened to your hatred of mindless people? Isn’t this girl the very textbook example of a mindless fool?

“What’s so funny…?” the girl asks as she glares at me with her aluminum foil eyes.

Are such eyes scary?

Not to me.

Quite the opposite, actually: thanks to them I can perceive her as just an obstacle.

They let me perceive her as a meaningless obstacle to which rules don’t apply.

Becoming thoughtless, blind and obedient, and abandoning all independent thought—”Eh? Ah!”—also creates lots of openings.

The girl lets out a startled gasp when I suddenly rush toward her. However, her lack of independent thought keeps her from reacting properly.

I jump behind her and strangle her with both hands.

“Ah, gh!”

She lets go of the wheelchair in surprise.

“Haruaki!”

Despite being thunderstruck by my sudden action, Haruaki follows my lead. He quickly grabs the wheelchair and drags it out of range.

As she coughs away, I grab her collar and forcibly push her to the ground, without releasing her for a single second.

Her eyes have lost their aluminum foil-like glimmer and are now just wide open. Her panic is clearly visible.

But so what?

You can go feed that panic to a dog or whatever.

“You know, fanaticism is all well and good, but…”

I hold my right hand above her, pause, and then thrust it into her chest like a sword.

“GHA!”

“You also need will and resolve.”

I take out one of the mass-produced copies of the ‘Shadow of Sin and Punishment’.

“Ah…”

The girl looks at the object that I’m holding; a coarse ‘box’ that looks like a black soybean.

“S-Stop! M-My link! My link to Master Daiya is breaking off!” she screams desperately.

I sneer.

“Such a thing never existed! Just be quiet, will you?”

I don’t need to hold back against people that stand between me and Maria.

Crush.

—Plopp.

It was laughably fragile; like squashing a pill-bug.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

The girl faints, just like Iroha-san did when I crushed her ‘box’.

“……Hah.”

What an empty feeling.

I did something that I was capable of doing. That’s all.

I stand up and wipe some of the dust off my clothing while looking down at the girl. Suddenly, I notice that Haruaki is still staring at me all wide-eyed.

“…What’s wrong, Haruaki?”

“…Aah, um…I was just surprised by what you just did.”

“Aah, now I’m able to remove ‘boxes’ and crush them.”

“O-Oh, I see…”

Despite my explanation, however, he still seems uneasy.

“…? Is there something else?”

“Ah, yeah. Um…you sure don’t hold back, do you?”

“Hold back? Why should I? That girl was about to break Mogi-san’s fingers, wasn’t she? She wouldn’t have hesitated, and you know that, don’t you?”

“Y-Yeah. What you did was, yeah, correct.”

Correct.

Yes, correct.

And that makes me wonder why Haruaki’s so unsettled.

Anyway, Mogi-san is my priority right now. I crouch down and smile at her.

“Are you okay?”

“T-Thank you.”

Even though I speak to her gently, she seems to be just as unsettled as Haruaki is.

“……”

…Okay, I’ll admit it. My behavior was a bit strange.

While I silently try to justify my actions, seeking to convince myself that there was no room for any restraint, I gaze at her and notice something.

“Mm? Mogi-san? Is there something hidden in your left breast pocket?”

“Uh,” she utters as she averts her gaze.

What’s with that reaction?

What…? Before I can get any further, Haruaki pats my back.

“We’re in trouble, Hoshii! That scream freaked out the neighbors!”

I look around and notice that the entryway light of a nearby house has turned on, accompanied by raised voices.

Of course. Maybe there’s not much traffic around here, but it’s not completely desolate like the underpass where I dealt with Iroha-san. That makes me realize once again just how reckless the aluminum foil girl was, trying to commit a crime in such a place.

“What should we do? I don’t want to lose time here having to explain what happened!”

“Although I’m concerned about her, we need to take off. Let’s at least lean her against a wall; if we leave her lying on the ground, they might think that we assaulted her. I guess the police will take care of her.”

I nod, and we proceed per Haruaki’s suggestion.

✵

After hurrying off, we head toward the dorm where Kokone is hiding.

However, we have a problem. Mogi-san.

She doesn’t know about the current state of affairs. But I can’t just tell her about the ‘boxes’ and get her involved.

On the other hand, we can’t drop her off at the hospital, either, because Daiya might give another [order] that targets her.

Should we partially explain what’s going on? And is it okay to involve her even though she can’t even move on her own?

“Mogi-san, what do you want to do now?” That question escapes my lips, as I’m unable to come to a decision on my own. Yet, I know that she’s incapable of making an informed decision when she’s so completely in the dark.

Haruaki continues to push her wheelchair, and Mogi-san remains silent for a few seconds. She finally replies in an uneasy manner:

“What would…work best for you?”

That sounds like a perfectly legit question, but something bothers me.

What she’s saying simply isn’t natural. Wouldn’t you normally ask what’s going on first, or act all confused?

“I’m sorry, Mogi-san!”

“Eh? Ah!”

That thing she’s hiding keeps bothering me.

I thrust my hand into her jacket and feel something hard. She turns bright red and offers some slight resistance, either due to panic or embarrassment from my touch. But she resists so weakly that I easily take that hard object away from her.

It turns out to be—

“A stun gun…?”

Why? Why is Mogi-san carrying such a weapon? Did she really have the time to secretly pick up a stun gun when she was abducted by that fanatic? Why would she even have a stun gun lying around in her hospital room, anyway?

The most reasonable answer would be:

Mogi-san prepared the stun gun in advance.

In other words.

She knew that she would be attacked by one of Daiya’s fanatics.

“……”

Moreover, I noticed something when I touched her.

Something that’s easy to notice now that I’ve obtained the ‘Empty Box’.

—Mogi-san is an ‘owner’.

—Mogi-san is a [servant].

If she knew that she would be attacked, why didn’t she use the stun gun right away? Who was this stun gun meant to be used on?

What kind of [order] did Daiya give her?

If he gave her an [order], who would the target be…?

“I didn’t want to say it,” Mogi-san whispers. “I didn’t want to say that I regained my memories of the ‘boxes’. Because—”

She weakly squeezes my sleeve.

“Because I also remembered that I gave up on you.”

“Eh?”

I totally didn’t expect that.

I thought that as a [servant], she was [ordered] to attack me, but now that I think about it, Daiya wouldn’t bother using Mogi-san so inefficiently.

Then the reason she seems so uncomfortable is…

“I recalled what happened within the ‘Rejecting Classroom’,” she says sadly.

…because she didn’t want me to know that her memories of those days of despair have returned.

“But I’ve almost completely forgotten about the details, probably because my memory was already pretty mangled and disordered when I was inside that ‘box’.”

That was a real stroke of luck. If her memories had returned completely, she might not even be able to talk to me.

“But I must have caused you and Otonashi-san a lot of trouble. I somehow know that. And there’s something else I remember.”

She lets go of my arm.

With the brightest smile she can muster, she says:

“You clearly rejected me.”

Right.

Our romantic relationship ended then, once and for all.

It ended.

I spent a lifetime to end it.

That decision is absolute and must not be revoked.

And yet I was so heartless as to keep a picture of her beaming smile on my cell phone. That was a mistake. I didn’t properly stay the course.

“But that doesn’t change anything, Hoshino-kun. You have been and will remain my source of hope.”

Mogi-san seems very cheerful as she speaks to me.

She can accept that? Well, that’s still not an excuse for me to avoid saying anything; I owe her so much more and she deserves to hear me say it.

But it’s Mogi-san who lets me off the hook.

“Mm, but right now we shouldn’t be talking about me, correct?”

“Well, but—”
“Oomine-kun is planning to make Otonashi-san lose her memory!”
“——!”

The things I wanted to say to Mogi-san are all blown away.

I’m really sorry, but she’s right—I have a new top priority right now.

After all, Maria losing her memory would be—a fatal blow.

My goal is not simply destroying Maria’s ‘Flawed Bliss’—it’s persuading her to abandon her ‘box’ of her own accord.

But there’s obviously no way to persuade her if she loses her memory. In Maria’s eyes, I would be reduced to just another stranger. Given her iron will, it’ll be hard enough for me to convince her as she is now—god forbid I end up trying to do it as a stranger to her.

Letting her lose her memories of me is equivalent to losing all hope.

But how would they do that? …No, it’s easy enough, isn’t it? They just have to use the ‘Flawed Bliss’ on someone. Maria mentioned that she could erase her memory using that method.

“Tch, Daiya…!”

Not bad! No matter how tightly he’s cornered, he still manages to hit me in my one soft spot!

“Mogi-san,” I address her as I grind my teeth, left with no choice but to collect more information. “How did you learn about that?”

“You have already noticed that I’m in possession of a ‘Shadow of Sin and Punishment’, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I received an [order] earlier.”

“What did it say?”

“I was told to prepare for an attack by a [servant]. And I was told to get in touch with you.”

In other words, that stun gun really was meant to defend her against that girl, after all. She probably refrained from using it right away because the girl stole her cell phone and because she knew that the girl would try to establish contact with me.

“You wanted to get in touch with me to tell me about Daiya’s plan to erase Maria’s memory, right?”

“Right!”

Okay, got that. I have, but…

“But hold on, why would Daiya do that? Why would he want me to find out about his plans?”

“Eh?”

Mogi-san’s reaction makes it all clear.

Right. Of course he wouldn’t do that.

That [order] comes—from a different [master].

But there should only be one person apart from Daiya who has the power of a [master], namely, Iroha-san. I doubt he would entrust anyone else with that power. Besides, Iroha-san said that she was the only other [master].

“But—”

But there is one person who Iroha-san might have secretly given that power to. Someone she trusts, someone sensible enough to stop her when it came down to crunch-time.

The name of that person is—

“Yuuri-san.”

Surprise shows on Mogi-san’s face.

“…What?”

I was pretty confident that my reasoning was spot on, but it seems like I got the wrong idea.

“Looks like…I was wrong?”

“You’re not!”

“Hm?”

“Why do you address me by my last name even though you use Yanagi-san’s first name when you talk to her?”

“……”

Huh?

“You’re bothered by that?”

“I-I am!” she complains while blushing.

As it seems, I was wrong about being wrong.

“…Um…”

Anyway, the originator of Mogi-san’s [order] was Yuuri-san, after all. She wanted to communicate what happened inside the ‘Cinema’ to me by using Mogi-san.

That proves that I was right to send Yuuri-san to Daiya.

However.

Sending her there also created a problem: Daiya might use Yuuri-san to erase Maria’s memories of me.

“Hoshii, what next? The situation has taken quite a turn. Hiding like I suggested before is pointless, right?”

I nod.

“I don’t think we can avoid Daiya’s threats by hiding anymore.”

“Yeah.”

“And his [orders] are likely to become more extreme. He can even use the media, after all.”

Haruaki falls silent, perhaps thinking back to the woman who appeared as a ‘Dog Human’ on TV.

“His fanatics are also dangerous, although we were able to fight off that aluminum foil girl without too much trouble. I really didn’t think that they believed so blindly in him! I’m afraid that they might attack us even without being [ordered] to, once they learn that Daiya is about to lose his power.”

“Ugh, then what are we gonna do?”

There’s only one solution.
“I have to enter the ‘Wish-Crushing Cinema’.”
I would have preferred to just wait it out, of course.

However, I will enter the ‘Cinema’.

That means that I’m going to use the ‘Empty Box’ to destroy his ‘Shadow’. In other words, I’m going to use my power to crush ‘boxes’ before Maria’s very eyes.

I didn’t want to demonstrate that power to her.

I mean, is it possible to persuade her to choose to abandon her ‘box’ when she knows that I could easily crush it? That’s like an attempt to persuade that comes with coercion and threats; like holding a knife and telling someone “cut yourself with a knife please. Oh, but I certainly won’t do anything to you!”

I know that Maria has permanently abandoned me, but doing that will further aggravate the situation.

That said, I have no other choice.

If I sat on my hands by staying here in the real world, and Maria lost her memory because of Yuuri-san, my defeat would be absolute and irreversible.

I gaze at the palms of my hands.

They’re completely normal hands, and smaller than Haruaki’s.

But the haughty power of crushing ‘wishes’ dwells within them.

“With these hands, I will defeat Daiya,” I say as I clench my fists.

Haruaki has been watching me and nods slightly at this juncture. “I see, you’re going to Daiyan.”

After he speaks, he gazes into the distance, thinking—or wavering—about something.

“I have a request,” he says as he fixes his determined gaze upon me. “Take me and Kiri with you.”

He bows his head.

No, he goes even further. He gets on his knees and prostrates himself before me.

“H-Haruaki…”

“Please!” he shouts as he presses his forehead against the ground. “I want to save Daiyan, and if anyone can do that, it’s Kiri. Their relationship is as broken as it gets. They torment each other, I know. But still…but still I think that she is the only one who can save him.” He raises his head, eyes slightly wet. “I want to help them so that they can live with each other! Even if things end poorly, I want to see things through to the end, no matter what it takes.”

The seriousness of his request is evident.

However, I hesitate to respond.

I’m considering the disadvantages that would accrue if I bring them with me. Maria is and will be my top priority.

I’m disgusted by my cold-heartedness, but then again, I’m Maria’s ‘Knight’.

“Hoshino-kun…”

At first, I thought Mogi-san was about to reproach me.

But something’s weird; she has turned pale.

“…What’s wrong?”

“I just, I just got a message from from Yuuri-san,” Mogi-san continues. “Otonashi-san has become a [servant].”

1. Nhảy lên ↑ 1seg (ワンセグ wansegu?) is a mobile terrestrial digital audio/video and data broadcasting service in Japan, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Peru. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1seg)