Chapter 18: The Day Michikusa Inori Disappeared

「...That's a joke, right? Kasugai-kun~! ...Come on, it's a joke, right?」

Bewilderment. Stupefaction. Anxiety. And then, clinging.

Receiving a voice mixed with so many emotions, I reflected on my own statement. But I shouldn't have made any slip of the tongue.

It's just that this "Inori" is a stranger to me.

I have no such person in my memory. I tried repeating it, thinking it might be a misunderstanding, but still got no hits.

「I'm not joking. ...What's with that face?」

「B-But! Inori is...!!」

Orimoto frantically takes out her modified smartphone. The one whose battery charge stopped decreasing.

She tapped the LCD screen with her fingernail.

The screen that appeared showed.

「This is Inori! You know her, don't you?! No, there's no way you wouldn't know her!」

「Why are you so panicked about this?」

I lower my gaze to the LCD.

It was the scene when I called out to Sera at the shrine grounds. ...Wait, when did she take this photo?

Me, Sera, and Kanzashi-senpai were all visible.

「This girl is Inori. ...Can you see her?」

「......Ah~?」

The spot where Orimoto placed her finger. There's no one there. ...What is she talking about?

I stated my honest impression.

「There's nobody there.」

「......」

The color drained from Orimoto's face.

It was a textbook case of going pale. Her trembling lips seemed to insist on the urgency of the situation.

Did I say something wrong...?

No, but the girl called Inori that Orimoto showed me in the photo isn't there.

There's just blank space.

「──No way. No. No.」

She reflexively mutters "no" over and over.

I reconsidered my words, but they were normal statements. Orimoto can't believe it. She doesn't want to believe it, so she swipes through her smartphone.

Secret photos of me.

Photos from back when Orimoto was still visible to others. All of them have blank spaces.

But that's normal.

──Because no one's in them.

「Here! Inori is in this one too, Kasugai-kun. ...Really, you can't see her? No one??」

「? Yeah. Are my eyes broken?」

Normally she'd say something like "I was wrong to expect anything from Kasugai-kun!"

But this time was different.

A sad color was slowly seeping out. I just can't reach the reason no matter what.

As if something is interfering.

「Inori hasn't disappeared. I can see her! No, Kasugai-kun should be able to see her too. If you can see me, then surely it'll be okay!」

Cold eyes suddenly ignite.

There's no longer any fragment of resignation there.

I just get question marks floating in my head.

「If you don't remember, I'll make you remember.」

Orimoto shows determination with a "hmph".

Words directed at none other than me.

If you don't understand, if you can't comprehend, I'll force it through. She even has that kind of spirit.

──That's so like Orimoto, I thought for some reason.

「Wait here, Kasugai-kun.」

Saying that, Orimoto ran off.

Threading through the crowds returning from the festival, slipping through gaps smoothly. In just a few seconds she was lost in the crowd and I lost sight of her chestnut-colored hair.

「...What? What's happening?」

It was an inexplicable unreasonableness.

Something is happening. But nothing is happening. A universality that should be so.

The answer seems wrapped in smoke.

I gripped the space between my eyebrows tightly.

That expression on Orimoto's face was abnormal. She's not the type to tell lies like this.

Something is up with this Inori person.

Yes──something. And yet,

「...This is irritating.」

While not quite reaching full annoyance, I clicked my tongue at the pointless frustration. Just utterly vexing.

The commotion stops completely. There was a world of difference between having Orimoto there and not.

The streetlight makes a clicking sound.

Insects swarming like moths to a flame.

The faint heat from the crowd was also receding, presenting an appearance of daily life peacefully returning.

─────

Just how many minutes did I wait?

The ambulance to take me would appear soon, I was even feeling that kind of vague atmosphere when it happened.

「──Kasugai-kun.」

A voice.

I turn around.

It was Orimoto.

Sweat is beading on her forehead and neck.

Illuminated by the streetlight, only my shadow and Orimoto's were coloring the ground. No one else was there.

「I brought Inori.」

「You're still going with this?」

Is she leading someone behind her?

Even though there's no one behind her.

Has Orimoto Suzuka finally gone mad from the supernatural phenomenon befalling her?

If you perceive strangeness, you get erased.

If you become aware of strangeness, you get erased.

As if that's the natural way of things.

It's like having the corners of my brain poked at.

「Kasugai-kun just can't see her.」

That's why I felt so inexplicably uncomfortable.

「...There's nobody there.」

But I──can't see anyone.

The stretching shadows are definitely just me and Orimoto.

The sound of breathing. Heartbeats. No matter how I look at it, only Orimoto was visible before my eyes.

「Come on, Inori. Kasugai-kun.」

Orimoto made her usual smile.

Casually talking to someone next to her.

Speaking to blank space. As if there were really someone there, she calmly spun words.

「I understand that feeling. You can't comprehend it, right? I'll explain properly next time, so don't worry.」

Inori. Inori. Inori. Who the hell is that?

I feel like I've heard the name before.

No wait, I haven't heard it before.

Human memory is vague. It beautifies things too. But I don't know Inori, and besides, there's nothing there.

I furrow my brow and stare at the space.

I stared so hard it could bore a hole.

The air wavered──I think. But that doesn't lead to conviction that someone's there.

「...There really isn't anyone there. ...Hey, don't suddenly say scary things, you'll freak me out.」

Could this really truly be a prank?

Did I tease Orimoto too much?

For revenge, this is quite elaborate. Orimoto's tone, gestures, everything is on par with a first-class actress.

Orimoto showed clear rejection at my words.

It was a statement of direct denial.

「She's there, properly. I can see her.」

Orimoto's voice was slightly strained.

Somewhat hollow, as if convincing herself, affirming the existence of the absent Inori.

──Orimoto turns her gaze to the space beside her.

「Inori, it's okay. I guarantee it. Kasugai-kun is unexpectedly kind. ──Right, isn't that right?」

I felt like someone responded to where Orimoto called out. ...It was just a feeling.

「...It's scary, right? People bump into you mercilessly. I'm used to it, but yeah yeah, good girl.」

Orimoto was having a conversation with someone.

It doesn't seem like a one-person play.

I can't hear anything.

Orimoto expanded the conversation with the blank space several times. Occasional silence descending. Eventually Orimoto exhales.

Slowly, slowly.

Long and long.

「Inori is here. She's definitely here.」

It was a warm tone.

「Kasugai-kun.」

「...Are you done talking to the ghost?」

「She's not a ghost. ──Ah, Inori? I think this'll be a bit startling. Sorry.」

Finally Orimoto returns her gaze to me.

「Touch her.」

「...Hah?」

Can't see.

Can't hear.

Doesn't exist in the first place.

Pure justice should be on my side, but the next moment, Orimoto grabs my wrist tightly.

Orimoto's hand has a faint warmth.

It was proof of being alive.

And it was strong.

「Inori's hand is here.」

「W-Wait, wait! What are you suddenly doing!」

「Please. Trust me.」

Orimoto was reaching out not just to my wrist, but to the blank space too. Somewhat below me.

If Inori is there, is she petite?

「Hey now, Orimoto──」

My fingertips were being guided.

Blank space and void. Nothing in the empty air.

And yet, my fingertips touched something, sticking as if drawn by magnetism. ──Soft.

(...?)

In that instant.

A tremendous discomfort that murdered reason shot through my entire body. I broke out in goosebumps.

This is.

Not air.

There's definitely something there. Something with warmth, but with a blurred outline──yes, this is.

──Someone's hand?

「──!」

Instantly, my thoughts exploded.

I'm assaulted by a splitting headache.

My vision wavers unsteadily. High-pitched ringing in my ears makes my legs unsteady. My heartbeat jumps.

Bad. Bad. Bad.

It happened the moment I touched it.

(What the hell is this...!)

A stale chill runs from the depths of my body.

Dense filth rushes over me.

Nausea that gouges the back of my stomach wells up. Would it be easier if I just threw up?

(Gah? What? Something is.)

Dizziness. Ringing ears. No breathing.

Headache, nausea, fatigue.

A sensation of every bodily balance shifting a few centimeters from the correct answer. ──No, that's wrong.

This was approaching the correct answer.

This is the most correct.

(Who is this? Oi, oi... I see.)

The streetlight made a clicking sound.

A flash of insight is born in my thoughts.

It's not like I'm buddies with that person.

I'm not friends with them, and we're less than acquaintances.

Just someone I talked to a little.

A strange relationship where I was forced to eat incomprehensible ultra-sweet main course bread.

I was thanked for calling the police.

There's no way I'd forget.

Why? Why didn't I?

(──This is creepy as hell.)

I'd normally notice, right? It's weird, right?

Orimoto has become invisible to people. Then I should have considered that possibility early on. Thoughts I should have naturally arrived at.

It was as if I was forced not to remember.

When I severed those bonds and chains, the face of a certain girl floated clearly.

「...Strange thing, this is.」

Michikusa Inori.

That name takes shape.

It falls naturally into my heart.

The blank space gets filled by the piece called a name──and golden hair sways in the summer night breeze.

Illuminated by moonlight, faint, hazy, yet the ephemeral fantasy formed a solid existence.

(...She's there. I can see her.)

A sleepy-looking girl appears there.

She's staring at me with a vacant expression.

The stretching shadows just became three.

「Kasugai, terrible sweat. Yeah, looks painful.」

「Don't worry about it. ...Also, we're not close enough for you to worry about me. Right, Michikusa Inori.」

「──Kasugai-kun, you can see her?!」

Orimoto's face brightens dramatically.

Michikusa Inori. A member of Sera Keiichi's harem. Sleepy eyes. Unexpectedly sharp-tongued. Has a petite build.

Her golden hair was swaying gently.

「"Started being able to see" is more accurate. ...Honestly, I couldn't even notice until just now.」

「You forgot about Inori. Isn't that awful?」

「Kasugai, awful man. Inori can't forgive.」

「Guh, this argument is disadvantageous... for… me──」

At the end of my words, my body collapsed.

I wasn't given even a split second to resist.

I'd already been at my limit.

「──Ah──ah?」

I couldn't even tell if it was my own voice. I'd been careless thinking it was all settled. Indescribable agony.

My vision is dark. White? Which is it?

I can't control my body.

It exceeded the scope of mental processing.

I wanted to think it wasn't just because of the minor injuries. I shouldn't need to cause Orimoto extra worry.

(Ah, this is bad.)

I understood that I'd collapsed limply. My body gets thrown onto the hard asphalt.

I can't even move my fingertips.

「──」

「──」

I hear Orimoto's voice.

I hear Michikusa's voice.

But I couldn't even make out what they were saying. The explosive ringing in my ears never stops.

Distant.

There was an illusion of the ground crumbling beneath my feet.

My body was rapidly growing cold.

The flame of consciousness grows weak, weak.

And disappears into darkness.

─────

Afterword

Thank you for the new reviews.

I'm deeply moved by the warm content.

Also I...forgot to schedule the post, so the update was delayed by a day.

I prostrate myself in apology.