Chapter VII

Chapter VII

 

“Just a little longer,” the girl standing behind Asukai Jin said.

Her body was transparent, and few people could actually see her. Even Asukai, who had originally been able to see her quite well, could almost never make her out these days.

“Just a little longer.”

The girl’s feet were floating just above the ground.

No matter where she was, wherever people could stand, her feet would be a few centimeters up in the air.

But she had almost reached touchdown.

“I can almost get through.”

No one could hear her voice.

Or perhaps she never intended it to be heard.

“Mm?”

As Asukai Jin took Orihata Aya up the stairs of The Ladder, he thought he could almost hear a voice he had not heard for awhile.

He stopped and turned his head, but there was nothing there.

“………?

Her hands still handcuffed, Orihata Aya looked up at him, confused. “Are you going to kill me here…?” As always, her manner of speaking was extremely distant.

“N-no…not yet.” Asukai shook his head and began pushing her ahead of him again.

He was already beginning to think that the spectral girl had been nothing but an illusion. His own unconscious had produced a delusional “counselor” to help him make full use of his ability.

The moment he had begun moving of his own accord, he had almost entirely ceased to see her.

In retrospect, the key phrase, “Snow Falls in April,” was one he’d heard from students before. Some common fragment of the female students’ unconsciousness had been giving him remarkably similar dreams, and he had allowed them to influence him.

So he had no one to help him with what he was about to do.

He had to find his own resolve and become the Imaginator. He nodded to himself. He already had.

“Technically, I’m not going to kill you,” he said, in a low voice. “I’m just going to tear away your heart. You will no longer be yourself, but rather something not even worth calling human.”

“…………” This sinister declaration failed to have any effect on Aya’s expression. “Human…” she said under her breath.

“Mm?” Asukai didn’t hear her. “What did you say?”

“………” She didn’t answer.

Asukai grunted in irritation, but didn’t ask again.

What Aya had almost said was, Human? I was never…

“We have a little more time. It’s still early in the evening. People are out and about. This may cause quite a panic, so we’ll wait until most people have settled down—till the middle of the night,” Asukai explained. “I should have some time before the Towa Organization notices that Spooky E has failed to report in and sends someone to take care of the other systems they have placed throughout the area.”

“………” Aya wondered if she even factored into those plans.

“The seed I’ll make from your heart will only be strong enough to influence the people in this town. But that’s enough. As long we can tell them from whatever the Towa Organization sends. As for the next seed, well, I’m sure a suitable candidate will emerge from the people I’ve planted yours on.”

“How strong…an influence?” Aya asked quietly.

“Not that much. None of them would even notice. Their pain will just abruptly vanish.”

“Oh…”

That was fine.

Then Masaki would be able to forget her.

They reached the roof of The Ladder. The place Spooky E had chosen as the perfect spot to disperse his ‘disinfectant’ commanded a panoramic view of the city and of the people’s lives within it.

The sky was darkening rapidly. Aya looked up into that sky and thought of how, when that light had completely vanished, she would no longer have a meaningful existence.

Man, it’s a beautiful night!

She thought she heard Masaki’s voice echoing in her ear. He had said that shortly after they met, back when they were out walking together.

She smiled faintly at the memory. It was enough.

“………”

Asukai Jin looked down at her wordlessly.

This stability, even when facing her own end, was exactly what he needed.

The phone in his breast pocket rang.

“What?” he answered. Only his followers knew this number.

“Someone’s approaching.”

“Who?”

“Him again—the boy playing ‘Boogiepop.’”

“Okay…” Asukai frowned. So he did come, he thought. When he spoke again, however, his voice had not lost its quiet. “Deal with him as planned.”

The person replied, “Roger,” and hung up.

Aya had not heard their conversation. She had not even appeared interested, as if nothing was worth paying attention to ever again.

If I told her… Asukai thought, staring at her fragile profile. If I told her, what would she do?

For a moment, he was tempted to find out. But of course, he said nothing. He just toyed with the notion in the back of his mind.

 

***

 

The motorcycle ran out of gas partway up the mountain.

“Shit—!” I swore, and dumped the bike. I climbed the rest of the way on foot.

There was no green anywhere on the mountain. It had been completely cleared, and parts of it were already paved with asphalt.

A big sign that read, “Paisley Park Construction Site” came into view, and behind it, I could see several towers and other constructions, glowing eerily in the light of the setting sun.

It was surrounded by heavy-duty fences. They looked hard to climb. Too tall, and made of smooth vertical poles leaving no footholds.

“Shit, shit, shit!” I fretted, walking along the fence, looking for a way in.

I had hoped that shaking the fence would dislodge it or knock it over, but it wouldn’t budge, even though it must have been there for years.

I lost my temper again. “Damn it!” I yelled, kicking the fence.

And about ten meters away, I heard a creak.

I snapped my head towards the sound, and found a section of the fence slowly opening—an emergency exit of some kind.

(Did the latch break when I kicked it?)

I darted towards it—but heard a faint rustle and skidded to a stop.

What was it?

“…………”

I moved forward again, slowly…carefully.

The sound kept going, like whatever it was was increasing.

I gritted my teeth.

The door had been opened deliberately. They were welcoming me in.

Common sense told me to retreat.

But if I had had any of that, I never would have come here in the first place. The fact that someone was waiting for me was, really, proof that I had guessed correctly. Orihata was here.

So I had to go in.

“————”

I felt briefly like I was missing something. Which embarrassed me—because I was missing my outfit. When I was wearing it, it was much easier to take on something unnatural, like I was now. It was easier to concentrate, kind of like I was hypnotizing myself into bravery.

But it was gone now. I had to do this by my own force of will.

“Let’s do this,” I said softly, and slipped through the fence into Paisley Park.

The half-finished, skeletal buildings cast complicated and sinister patterns across the ground in the near horizontal rays of the setting sun.

Just walking on those patterns made me feel drunk.

I hadn’t noticed on the motorcycle—or while I was rushing forward—but the wind had gotten really strong.

“Orihata!” I shouted, but the wind stole my voice, and it went nowhere.

I was gonna have to check every one of these buildings.

I started walking.

Behind me, a footstep crunched the sand that lay piled on the asphalt.

Scrunch, scrunch—more than one. Several.

“…………” Ready for anything, I turned around.

And was completely surprised.

“Wh-what?!!” I blurted. The five figures behind me were…

A bear.

A panda.

A penguin.

A cat.

A dinosaur.

All costumes, obviously.

And they were coming towards me.

“Wh-what the hell?!” I shouted, confused. A second later, they lunged at me, so I had to dodge quickly.

“——!” They may have been dressed like a joke, but their movements were completely serious.

Their kicks and punches were extremely accurate.

“Unh…rah!” Moving backwards, I kicked the penguin in the stomach.

But the costume cushioned the blow, absorbing the impact.

But it also twisted my foot…

Uh oh, I thought.

They weren’t dressed up like this to mess with me. It was for protection! And just like I’dd with my own outfit, they were also using theirs to remain focused. They had probably found them stored somewhere in the park. After all—the stranger you look, the easier it is to do something crazy.

(So, the people inside these things are…normal?!)

Who was attacking me?

I tripped the bear and tried to run away to give myself time to figure things out. I figured the costumes would be hard to run in.

I figured wrong.

My passage was blocked by a group of clowns.

“G-gimme me a break…!”

I understood the logic behind it, but it was still bad for my heart.

I changed direction and dashed off again.

But again and again, wave after wave, people in bizarre costumes and clothing, with their faces painted purple, or yellow, or some other weird-ass color, just kept coming at me.

“Augh! Get away!”

I scrambled to avoid them.

“Nothing to be afraid of, Boogiepop-kun,” one of them—too many to tell which—said.

“Nothing to be afraid of.”

“Don’t be scared!”

The others joined in, like a relay race, or a game of telephone.

“St-stay away!” I shouted, finding myself surrounded.

“There’s no reason to be frightened, Boogiepop-kun—” they said, the same thing, over and over.

“You’ll understand soon——”

No matter how many I punched or kicked, they kept on coming. It was as if they’d never heard of using caution.

“St-stop this—!” I shouted, trying to punch a new guy in the face, but he just grinned at me.

“——!”

The face under the makeup was that of a girl’s. Young, probably high school.

Thrown completely, I stopped moving.

Seizing the chance, several others piled on me from behind.

“Sh-shit! Let go!!”

I slammed my elbow into them, but they were the guys in costumes, and my blows had no effect.

“Don’t be afraid—”

“It’ll be over soon—”

Each of my limbs was pinned down by at least three people, and I was completely unable to move.

“D-damn it!”

As I struggled, a male clown brought something towards me.

A needle.

Some sort of drug inside it.

“………!” I gulped.

“Don’t worry, Boogiepop-kun. When you wake up, you’ll be one of us—” he said and stuck the needle in my arm.

“N-noooo!” I screamed. But the clown’s fingers pushed the end of the needle relentlessly, injecting the liquid inside into my veins.

(O-orihata—!)

Filled with rage and despair, the world grew dim before my eyes.

There was a sudden pain in my arm.

I swung my gaze that way and saw that the needle, still stuck in my arm, had been broken in two.

The clown was staring at his empty hands in surprise.

Half the needle was still stuck in me, yes—but the other half was floating in the air above my chest.

“Eh?”

The needle suddenly leapt away, like something was pulling on it.

I looked in that direction—and watched the needle fall to the ground in front of a shadowy figure.

Before I even realized what it was, I thought, Oh, I get it. He must’ve yanked the needle out with some sort of microfilament wire, and that’s what caused it to break and go flying towards him.

How was I suddenly able to make such a calm analysis? My only explanation was that my brain was in such a state of panic that it couldn’t figure out what else to think about.

Why? Because the shadowy figure—standing there, looking more like a pipe than a person, as if it had risen directly out of the dark ground—was a figure I knew well. All too well, in fact, as now I had no earthly idea of what was happening.

Did I know it?

How could I not?

After all the time I’d spent—

“Wh-who are you?” the clown screamed.

The figure in the black cloak answered quietly, “You already know who I am.”

From the voice, it was impossible to tell if it was a man or a woman.

He reached his hand out from under the cloak. There was a stopwatch in it. Glancing down at it, the cloaked figure said, “Three, two one,” and then waved his hand.

A horrifically loud noise rocked Paisley Park.

It was—

 

***

 

I, Suema Kazuko, was riding up the mountain road in the evening, on the scooter my parents had bought for me.

At first, they had been opposed to me even getting a license, but once I started going to cram school and coming home so late, I was able to easily convince them it was much safer at night if I was driving something. It’s at moments like this that you realize just how strangely useful it is to have such a horrible thing happen to you in the past.

Of course, my real goal was to broaden the area I could move in. I wanted to see and know all kinds of things, and this feeling was driving me onwards.

“Um?” I stopped for a moment. There was a motorcycle abandoned by the side of the road.

I put my hand on it—the engine was still warm. It looked like it had just run out of gas and been abandoned. From the way it was lying on its side, it looked like the driver had been in quite a hurry.

“Something’s definitely going on,” I said, swallowing.

Just as I got back on my scooter to drive on, I heard music from up ahead.

“………?” I listened closely.

I’d heard the tune somewhere before. I don’t know a lot about music, but this piece was famous enough that even I’d heard it. It had been used in some kind of commercial or something.

“Is it Wagner…?”

 

***

 

“‘Die Meistersinger von Numberg'?!” Asukai Jin gaped, the flamboyant music roaring all around him.

It was playing on every speaker they’d installed in the half-finished park.

There should have been no power, but the music thundered on even so.

“What’s going on?!” Asukai dialed his phone, trying to figure out what was happening, but nobody answered.

Presumably the electricity had been left connected, the breakers shut off. But someone had clearly flipped them back on again.

There should have been watchmen posted throughout the park. Yet—

“——?”

Orihata Aya blinked her eyes at the bizarrely lively flood of sound.

The composer was known for extremely long, tempestuous music, and one of his loudest, most flamboyant pieces of music seemed to be trying to bring this dying park back to life.

 

***

 

The image in front of me wobbled.

The needle. A quarter of the contents had entered my bloodstream. Presumably, it was an anesthetic.

(Unh……)

The scenery seemed to be swaying.

Events unfolded around me like an illusion.

The clowns rushed at the cloaked figure, who waved a hand—and with that, all the clowns started falling over. And as they fell over, they slid across the ground, moving into one big pile, freezing into place like some sort of dog pile.

Like magic.

The cloaked figure started moving. The guy in the dinosaur costume leapt toward him. The cloaked figure moved his hand again, not even touching the dinosaur, but knocking him over all the same.

There was a trick to it.

He was using thread. An extremely strong, extremely thin wire.

I knew this, but… but he was barely moving, standing bolt upright—yet the way he was grabbing their legs, knocking them over, and tying them up despite their huge advantage in numbers could only be viewed as the work of a magician.

No, not a magician.

A shinigami.

Unlike me, he wasn’t bothered by the gender of his opponents. He never held back, all while that music roared around him like madness itself.

The people holding me saw their companions being mowed down, and jumped up. But they were met with the same fate.

The cloaked figure stopped in front of me.

“So now we meet,” he said, making a strange, asymmetrical expression. Was he smiling? Was he mocking me? “I didn’t plan to come out, but if I didn’t settle things quickly, a certain nosy someone was going to get herself mixed up in it.”

“………” I couldn’t answer.

A few more clowns and a lion attacked, but the cloaked figure dispensed with them without even swaying.

He was moving with the melody and rhythm of the music, like a conductor.

“Music is extremely effective in stirring people’s emotions. Much like makeup. But music can create a response in a great number of people simultaneously. It rattles them, robs them of their rational judgment,” he explained quietly, like a clergyman.

I could do nothing but stare back at him, reacting exactly as he spoke.

The drugs kept me from standing. But even they hadn’t, I was so befuddled I would have toppled over of my own accord.

“Th-this is…” I could hear my own teeth chattering. “This is what I…pretended to be?”

Talk about completely out of my league; talk about nerve.

“Oh, that wasn’t your fault,” the ‘real’ one nodded. “You’d been brainwashed.”

He said it so easily that I couldn’t grasp his meaning for a moment.

“I’d what—?”

“There should be at least one moment during your activities with Orihata Aya where your memories become indistinct. That is when Spooky E paralyzed your ‘fear,’” he said, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

“…………!”

Leaving me stunned, the ‘real’ one moved past me, heading back into the fray.

A moment later, everyone who had attacked him was lying on the ground, no longer moving. They were all unconscious.

The ‘real’ one came back to me. Not even out of breath. He really…didn’t seem human.

“You should probably take that needle out. You can move that much, right?” he said.

I noticed that half the needle was still jammed into my arm.

But the hell with that.

“What do you mean?”

“Mm?”

“Brainwashed? How?”

The ‘real’ one shrugged beneath the cloak. “The usual fashion.”

“But that’s—!”

“You know I’m right,” he said, calmly.

That was true.

But—

“But…then… then…I…”

I wasn’t acting of my own free will?

My feelings were lies?

“I…thought I was in love with Orihata… Was that a lie as well…?” I was stunned, my mind completely blank.

The music thundered on around me.

“What have you ever thought about?” he suddenly asked.

I raised my head, dazed.

He was wavering right and left, probably because of the drugs.

“Have you ever done anything that you are totally sure was of your own free will?”

“…………”

“Adapting yourself to society is essentially being brainwashed to match societal requirements. The only difference from your situation is that the source of it is not clearly defined. There are no humans who have not been brainwashed.”

“……………”

“Now the problem: within that context—within your brainwashed, restrained psyche—what do you value the most? Bound tightly by the world, what do you still desire?”

“……………”

(I’m…)

(I want…)

The music grew even louder.

 

***

 

And then it stopped.

(Wh-what was it…?)

Asukai Jin had a pair of binoculars out and was scanning the park below from atop The Ladder. It was almost dark, so he could barely see—but he could make out several people lying on the ground.

“What…?!”

That ‘Boogiepop’ could not be this good, surely?

Then…he was coming here.

“What’s happening?” Orihata Aya asked. She was tied to a pillar in the center of the roof.

“We can’t waste anymore time,” Asukai said, his back to her. “I have to deal with you right away.”

Even now, Aya’s expression failed to change.

“Oh… Then get it over with,” she said, peacefully.

“Okay.” Asukai turned to head over to her. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks. “……!”

He was too late.

There was a shadow standing directly behind Orihata Aya.

But…something was strange.

The shadow was shorter than Taniguchi Masaki.

“Who are you…?!” Asukai cried.

Aya turned to look behind her.

Her face stiffened. “N-no……!”

The shadow looked like it had risen directly out of the darkness. Its mouth opened. “Don’t be so surprised, Camille-kun. You’ve been looking for me, haven’t you?”

“——————”

“Wh-what?” Asukai looked at Aya, and realized that this figure was hardly her ally. “Th-then who are you?”

“You already know who I am,” the shadow said quietly.

Asukai’s head was spinning.

What in the name of god was going on? He couldn’t get a grip on anything.

But…after all he’d done, he wasn’t about to let anyone stop him.

“Right!” Asukai whipped out the gun he had hidden in his pocket, the one he’d stolen from Kinukawa Kotoe.

He fired without hesitation.

The shadowy figure dodged it with ease.

But by this time, Asukai had raced to Aya’s side. “St-stay still and I won’t have to kill you!” Asukai said, one hand around Aya, the other aimed at the shadow.

“Quite the philanthropist, Imaginator,” the shadow said.

Asukai frowned. “If you know that name—!”

“Then what? You won’t let me live?”

“…………”

“That’s unimportant. Go ahead, do what you’re going to do,” the shadow said unexpectedly.

“What?”

“I mean it. Do whatever you like, see if I care.”

“……………?”

“If you even can,” the shadow said, with a trace of derision.

Asukai glanced sideways at Aya.

Her face was white with fear. She clearly viewed the shadow as an enemy.

(What the hell is he…?!)

He’d never seen anyone like this.

(Even worse: th-there’s no ‘vision’ at his chest…!)

This being was beyond the scope of Asukai’s power.

(I’ve never seen him… I’ve never seen him before…so why? Why do I feel like I already know him?)

It was like he’d met something similar before…but how could he?

“What? Why hesitate now?” The shadow nagged. “Go on, get a move on.”

It was as if he were looking forward to some great joke…but underneath, fundamentally, not laughing at all.

“Argh…” Asukai turned his gaze to Aya.

She shook off her fear and looked back at him.

Then closed her eyes. “Eep!”

Asukai reached for the flower on her chest.

But his hand passed right through it.

“————?”

He tried again, not believing his eyes.

But again, his hand passed right through the vision, unable to grab hold of anything.

“Wh-what? Why?” Asukai panicked.

He had done this so many times, so easily, but he couldn’t do it with hers…!

“Why can’t I touch it?!” he exclaimed.

Aya opened her eyes.

Her expression was tinged with loneliness.

“I thought this might happen,” she said, quietly.

“What? What do you mean?”

“You wanted to do something to humans, right? That’s why you needed me—but that won’t work.”

“Why not?!”

“Because I’m not human,” she said, her voice filled with deep resignation.

“…………!” Asukai’s face twitched.

The shadow spoke. “See? Either way, you had already lost.” It moved towards him.

“Ah…” Asukai staggered back, away from Aya. “H-how can…that be?”

“The moment you first met this girl, your loss was already decided. I may not be Sun Tzu, but clearly, ‘Everything is already decided before the battle even begins.’”

“B-but this is…”

“You and this girl—whatever brought you together, whatever inexplicable, ironic twist of fate that was, I do not know, but you had already lost to it,” he declared, his voice as cold as ice.

Asukai tried to remember when and how he had met Orihata Aya—but he couldn’t.

“Th-that’s just…”

He reeled backwards.

The shadow followed. It passed in front of Orihata Aya, chasing the retreating Asukai.

“If you only look to the future, things like this happen. Imaginator! If you believe yourself to be the only possibility, then some other possibility will arise when you least expect it and sweep your feet out from under you.”

But the shadow’s eyes were not looking at Asukai Jin, but at something behind him.

“Aaaaah…!” Scrambling backwards, Asukai felt his back come up against something hard.

Seven canisters, with a sinister gleam.

“……!” Asukai’s eyes widened.

He reached a hand towards the valve. “In that case…” he screamed, and tried to release the vial of death contained within…

But his hand would not do it.

“Ah!”

It was shaking like a leaf.

He couldn’t do it.

“It’s impossible, Imaginator,” the shadow said, quietly. “Completely impossible. He can never break through.”

Whoever he was talking to, his voice sounded, for the first time, a little sad.

“All you can do is fall. No other possibility remains before you.”

“Ah…”

“Even if snow does fall in April, Imaginator, it will only melt in the warmth of spring. It will never accumulate.”

“Aaaahh…” Asukai’s feet buckled under him.

A huge gust of wind swept across the rooftop.

“——!”

The wind was so strong that even Aya, tied to a pillar, had to fight against it.

The shadow was unaffected, but Asukai was knocked clean off his feet.

He rolled, headed towards the tower’s edge.

“Ah…!” His expression was completely vacant, as if he had given up on everything.

The tower was incomplete, and there was no fence for safety. Even as he tumbled over the edge, Asukai reached his hands towards thin air. Even he had no idea who he was reaching for.

“………”

He opened his mouth, but no words came out. A great emptiness opened beneath him.

 

***

 

Wire glinted.

Several strands hurtled through the air, wrapping around the falling form before it was even out of sight.

They took the form’s weight and stopped it. It hung suspended in the air…

Unmoving.

“And…” The cloaked figure, which had hurled the wires, tied them to a nearby pipe. That was all—it made no move to lift the form.

“……………”

Aya’s eyes widened. “Wh-what did you do?”

“Mm?”

“Did he…die? Did you kill him?”

“Oh, let’s see… Well, he may have a little whiplash.”

“Why did you save him?”

“He was not worth killing,” the cloaked figure said.

“…………” Aya was astonished. She couldn’t think what else to say.

“Without the Imaginator, how much power does he really have? He has simply returned to his former self. He is no longer my enemy.”

“…………”

Aya caught her breath.

The cloaked figure’s enemy…

“So…” Aya said, voice trembling. “So you…would not hold back, if there was a clear enemy?”

“Exactly.” The cloaked figure briefly put his hand inside the cloak.

When it emerged again, it held a knife.

Aya gulped.

The cloaked figure came towards her.

This time, Aya didn’t—couldn’t—close her eyes. She couldn’t close them.

The figure gazed directly into them, pinning her in place. She couldn’t even think…

He stood before her now.

He swung the knife.

“…………!”

Aya saw the blade catch the last rays of light from the setting sun.

“Ah………!” She almost screamed…but the sound was drowned out by the snapping sound a moment later.

The knife had sliced through both the chain on her handcuffs and the rope tying her to the pillar.

“Eh?”

Ignoring Aya’s confusion, the cloaked figure looked towards the seven canisters.

“I guess I can leave those. In the next couple of days, the Towa Organization is sure to be by to pick them up. Best to leave it to the experts,” he said, innocently.

“Wh-why?” Aya asked, looking at her newly freed hands, then at the cloaked figure.

“Mm?”

“A-aren’t I your enemy? Why did you help me?”

“How are you my enemy?”

“B-but…I… I’m not human, and…”

“Yes, you mentioned that. But that has nothing to do with anything,” the cloaked figure said, decisively.

“Nothing?”

“The reason Asukai Jin was unable to harm you has nothing to do with your physical nature. After all, he had already defeated Spooky E. His corpse is over there. If it came down to physicality, that monster would have posed a far greater problem than you.”

“B-but…”

“Asukai Jin seems to have seriously misunderstood his own ability. I do not know exactly what that power was, but it seems to have been something to do with seeing people’s hearts. However, the human heart is not complete in and of itself, and it is not so easily understood. The heart is purely a product of communication with others, and is not to be mistaken for the true self, the ego. Asukai Jin failed to grasp this. No matter how much you change a person’s heart, it will only be fleeting, and eventually, it will return to its original form.”

“……………”

“So from the start, I was ignoring Asukai Jin himself. No matter how much he poked at people’s hearts, it would never amount to anything significant. Even if he had taken your heart from you, you would have recovered. You see, you have something protecting you deep within.”

“Eh…?”

“And because of that, a one-sided power like Asukai Jin’s was unable to affect you.”

Aya put her hands to her chest.

She felt like something very warm was resting there.

When she thought about it, it gave her courage. She knew it was there.

But…

“But isn’t the Towa Organization your enemies? I—”

“The Towa Organization itself is not my enemy. I have no idea what their opinion on the matter might be, but from my point of view, sometimes their agents simply trigger my sensors.”

Beneath his cape, he shrugged.

“…………” Aya could think of no other arguments. This was beyond her understanding.

“If you have nowhere to go, there is a very strange girl called the Fire Witch near you. Talk to her. I’m sure she can help. She’s a lot more sympathetic than I am.”

Aya looked up. “B-but…” There was one more thing she had to ask. One final question. “If you were ignoring him…then why did you come here? Why did you save me?”

“Oh.” The cloaked figure made a strange, asymmetrical expression, kind of like a smile, but more like a sneer. “That is a long story. I’ll say just this—it was not my idea to save you. Someone asked me to.”

“Wh-who…?”

The cloaked figure looked astonished. “Do you really not know?”

“Eh?” There was another gust of wind.

Aya hurriedly grabbed onto the pillar.

When she looked up again, she was alone on the roof.

Alone with the wind.

 

***

 

“Unhh! God… god damn it!!” I groaned, dragging my paralyzed body through Paisley Park. I couldn’t even stand. My head was reeling. It was all I could do to stay conscious.

The ‘real’ one had abandoned me and gone off somewhere. I gritted my teeth in desperation.

“Shit…shit!”

My hand slipped, and my chin slammed into the ground.

“Oww…” Clutching hold of my retreating consciousness, I moved forward again.

And discovered a girl in front of me.

She was on her knees, palms on the ground. On closer inspection, however, she was not actually touching anything, but instead floating just above the earth.

She was very beautiful.

“……………”

I stared at her, dazed.

She had to be a delusion. She was transparent; I could see right through her. For some reason, she was humming. It was a quiet melody, but I got the impression it was a longer, louder piece of music, and only this movement was quiet—like a moment of calm in the center of a storm. It was a very beautiful piece of music.

“And that’s it,” she whispered. She sounded almost relieved. Her voice was so peaceful.“Asukai-sensei was too preoccupied with flaws. I knew that…but it seems flaws are merely a space for something new to be born and can never bring about enough power to break though.”

She spoke in such a small voice, yet I could hear her so clearly, it was as if she was whispering directly in my ear.

She looked at me.

“You…are very impressive,” she said, as if she knew me.

“…………” I didn’t answer.

“This is it for me, there is no more… But as long as there are people as strong as you, I’m sure someone will ‘break through’ one day,” she said, smiling. It was an unbelievably bright, hopeful smile. The polar opposite of the ‘real’ one’s expression moments before.

Then she crumbled, like she was being crushed by something from above.

“……?!” Shocked, I scrambled over to where she had been.

There was nothing there, except a faint white stain on the ground. As if it had snowed in that one spot.

“…………” I was out of it now. All the energy seemed to have been drained completely out of my body. I didn’t know why, but I knew that in that moment, things had been decisively concluded. Everything was finished. The whole thing was over.

“…………”

I heard footsteps behind me.