11:02 A.M.

11:02 A.M.

 

I felt like a lot of time had passed since I started searching the Moon Temple for Boogiepop. I was beginning to think I’d never find him.

I let out an exhausted sigh.

“Sakiko, you always give up so easily!”

I could swear I heard Hinako’s voice in my ear. She was a friend of mine from elementary school.

“Whatever. I’m not smart like you, Hina-chan,” I muttered under my breath.

But how much time had actually passed? Since that loud song started looping, I’d completely lost track of time.

And there was no one around now. There’d been a huge crowd filling the Moon Temple, so when had I ended up alone? I couldn’t remember.

And since when was this building made of glass?

I felt like it didn’t use to have windows, but was that just my imagination? The mid-summer sun was shining brightly through the glass walls and ceiling.

There were huge puffy clouds above and the shrill cries of cicadas all around.

Would Boogiepop ever show up here? Had I just been seeing things?

I wasn’t even sure where I’d seen him now.

“Hunh?”

Something felt wrong. That impression suddenly drifted across my mind.

“What?” Hinako asked.

A wave of hot air washed over me. It was so damn humid.

“Was I here?”

I felt like I had been in another building a minute ago.

“Hunh? What does that mean?”

“Um, well…is it even summer?”

“Obviously.”

“Valentine’s Day isn’t in summer, is it?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Hunh…never mind. Just a feeling.”

It was summer vacation.

And I was back in the boonies, hanging out with Hinako again. We were on a picnic. Clearly.

“You’re always like this, Sakiko,” Hinako chuckled. Back in elementary school, her gentle smile had always helped me relax.

“You haven’t changed either, Hina-chan. If anything, you’re even prettier.”

I’d last seen Hinako when she was eleven and just a willowy little kid. She hadn’t even had her period yet. I’d admired how strong willed she was, how forthright she was.

And here she was again.

She’d grown up. Slim, but with a soft curve to her. Very feminine, but in a way that inspired admiration instead of jealousy. I’d always known she was going to be a great beauty.

“Yeah? Thanks,” she said, embarrassed. “You’re beautiful, too, Sakiko. I bet the boys love you.”

“Whatever. None of the boys after me are worth my time.” I sighed. “I’m with Takeshi today, and it’s totally not working.”

Wait, I thought. Who was Takeshi, again? From today? When was that?

“Hunh,” Hinako didn’t seem to think this was strange at all. “But he’s trying so hard to make this fun for you.”

“Fat lot of good it’s doing,” I said. The words came even as my mind reeled.

We were standing in the summer sun, facing each other.

Despite the strong light coming from above, there was an odd lack of light in Hinako’s eyes.

“You’re trying to talk yourself into that, aren’t you? You actually kinda like him, right?”

“I do not!” I shook my head.

For some reason I couldn’t bear hearing Hinako talk like this.

Hinako would never date a boy…

“Hunh…?”

I was surprised to find tears rolling down my cheeks.

“Hina-chan, um… when… when was that?”

When had that happened?

“When was what?” Hinako smiled.

“You know! Just after summer vacation, when I said something mean and you…”

 

…no boys will ever like a girl as scrawny as you. You might as well just die…

 

“And I wanted to apologize so much but…”

I looked up.

Hinako was still smiling.

She said, “But before you could, I died?”

I nodded.

“I made up my mind to apologize after summer vacation, when we saw each other at school, but Hina-chan…”

“Her whole family died in a car accident. What a nightmare.”

“I was just jealous of her, really. I had a crush on Kano-kun, but there were rumors he liked Hina-chan, so… so I was mean to her.”

“She might not have been that upset about it.”

“But I needed to say something!” I cried. “I had to say, ‘I’m sorry.’ Hina-chan, I think you’ll be really gorgeous when you grow up. I know you will. So… so I’m sorry.”

Hinako smiled.

Hinako, all grown up.

No… not her.

That’s right. When this started, the thing told me who it was. I’d just forgotten, somehow.

The King of Distortion.

That’s what the being in front of me was called.

“It bothered you that much?” The thing with grown-up Hinako’s face had a gentle voice.

“Yeah, it did. I’m an awful, awful person. I have no right to be alive. So…that’s why…” my voice shook. “That’s why I want Boogiepop to kill me!”

That’s why I’d chased him.

So the legendary shinigami would kill me.

“Boogiepop, hmm?”

“He’s here!”

I wasn’t sure where “here” was, but I yelled it anyway.

“I’m sure I saw him! I don’t know why he’s here, but he is!”

“Yes, I know,” the King of Distortion nodded. “But would Boogiepop really kill you? Would he save you from your suffering?”

The King of Distortion sounded like it was enjoying itself.

“Can you rely on him? You expect things from him because of rumors, because he’s famous… but is that all?”

“…!”

I could feel myself calming down.

There were cicadas crying all around us. The air was sticky, heavy.

The King of Distortion stood in this heat, not sweating at all.

Watching over me.

“Th-then would… would you kill me? Hina-chan?”

I knew it wasn’t her, but I called her by that name anyway.

“You are suffering,” The King of Distortion said. The sound of the cicadas in the distance had changed, matching the song, that rhythm echoing through my stomach. I could hear it. “The suffering is so great you’ve driven it out of your mind, but it never went away.”

The voice was soft and clear, like a bell rung by an angel come down from heaven.

“There’s no way to erase your suffering. That suffering is the core of your heart now. That’s why—that’s why your wish to ease the suffering in your heart must be turned into gold.”

“Gold?”

“Yes. All that shines.”