I thought the rain would cool down my boiling heart.

But as my body got cold, I started to feel miserable.

My bare feet were all swollen, and the throbbing pain I felt made them seem twice their normal size.

The gravel road continued forever.

I didn't even know what direction I was headed in anymore.

I could no longer hear my pursuer.

I had probably lost him by running through the woods like mad.

My body was covered in scratches.

I finally started to feel the pain from that.

I felt both cold and hungry.

There was no place nearby to take shelter from the rain.

I was just on a little path in the woods.

My worst fear was that I could end up heading back towards the orphanage

after bolting and losing my sense of direction.

I had crushed that man's finger.

I didn't think I bit it off, but I was sure it would leave a scar.

Taking that into consideration, it was very clear to me what kind of torture awaited me back at the orphanage.

Therefore, I'd have to reach The House of Love and Mercy.

If only it had been daytime. Then I could easily have found the right way to go.

However, with this rain, there was nothing I could do.

But I couldn't stop.

I had to keep walking until I reached something.

I wondered if Eriko and the others had escaped safely.

I didn't know how many people came after us, but at least one came after me.

In other words, it meant they had a better chance.

Did they reach The House of Love and Mercy?

Were they drying themselves with soft towels?

And if they still remembered me, would they save a towel for me too?

I felt so cold.

I wanted to find shelter and sit down.

But there was nothing of the sort.

I saw a tree that looked like I could take shelter under it, but the branches and leaves were dripping with water.

It was then that I realized that the sky was gradually getting darker.

Would this day end in rain?

There were no street lights where I was.

Soon enough it would be totally dark.

Then I wouldn't be able to walk any further.

I just wanted to sit down, even if it was raining.

But if I did sit down, I probably wouldn't be able to stand up again.

So I endured.

If I hadn't escaped with Eriko and the others, I wouldn't have had to go through such misery.

But compared to what I had to go through at the orphanage, this was nothing.

Thinking about that was the only way to make myself move.

But, when I thought about that...

It's true that this freezing cold rain was far better than my life at the orphanage.

But that was only when compared to the life at the orphanage.

Was it better than the normal lives of normal kids my age?

I didn't even need to think about that.

When my parents were alive, although we weren't rich, we led a normal life.

The gentle smiles and forgivable selfishness.

The sound of my mother cooking breakfast in the morning, the sound of a newspaper being folded...

precious memories like that.

I didn't need anything else.

I had plenty of friends. I had fun at school.

I didn't like my teacher, but I liked studying.

I had everything I needed.

That was enough for me.

I never complained.

I never did anything bad.

So why was this happening to me?

Everything went downhill after that train accident.

The die of fate kept rolling a one.

The die never showed its good side to me.

If the accident was my fault, then I could have accepted it.

But it wasn't.

I wasn't even there.

I waited for my parents at home.

I liked going to the mall with them.

We always had a meal at the restaurant in the mall.

I always told them to let me know if they were going to the mall.

But on that day, they went without me while I went to my friend's house to play.

My friend wasn't in, so I went back home.

I didn't see anyone at home and found a note that said they were going to the mall.

I regretted going to my friend's house. I waited at home.

They didn't come home. They were still gone by dinner time.

I was getting hungry, and got angry with my parents for leaving me.

I thought they were having dinner at the mall restaurant without me.

If I hadn't gone to my friend's house, I would be eating dinner at the restaurant too.

I loved the little flags that came with the kids' meals.

I was collecting those flags...

Yes, I was.

I was trying to collect twenty of them, thinking that once I collected twenty, something wonderful would happen.

But I couldn't collect twenty of them.

I only needed one more...

If I had one more, maybe the accident wouldn't have happened.

A very sad memory of a flag from a kid's meal...

I kept waiting for my parents to come home from the mall.

I was hungry, so I started to eat some dried fish.

If I ate too much, my mother would find out, so I was careful not to gorge myself.

Then the phone rang.

I assumed it was from my parents.

I answered the phone in an angry manner.

But it wasn't them at all.

............

What happened to the house?

We had rented it, so maybe somebody else had already moved in.

What happened to my room?

What about my desk and all the flags that were in the right middle drawer?

If it wasn't my house anymore,

then where was I supposed to go?

Even if it remained my house,

my parents wouldn't be there to welcome me or protect me.

Just because I didn't have my parents to protect me, the whole world became so cruel.

How could anyone take me away from the house I was used to living in, just because my parents were gone?

Why didn't they just leave me alone?

They asked me many things.

They tried to confirm many things.

But how could I have understood any of the forms they gave me?

I was asked a yes or no question. I had no choice but to answer yes.

And before I knew it, I ended up at the orphanage.

It was beyond heartless.

I didn't do anything wrong.

I was just a little girl.

I had to sign so many papers...

but why this?

The warm and gentle world ended suddenly without advance notice.

And I was thrown into the cruel and merciless world alone.

Was this the real world?

Did I have any allies at all?

Just because my parents died and I didn't have any relatives, the world had become so sad.

When is the die going to come up with a six instead of a one to make up for the continuous series of the latter?

"......Ooh..."

Tears were pouring down my cheeks.

The salty taste further saddened and irritated me.

I couldn't do anything but cry...

But no matter how hard I cried or pitied myself...

The cold rain wouldn't warm my body

or save me.

I didn't even know where I was or in which direction I should go.

Eriko showed me the map to The House of Love and Mercy when we were planning our escape.

But we only learned the shortest route.

I was completely lost.

But strangely, after I finished crying,

I felt a groundless strength within myself.

I once learned that tears wash away particles in the eyes.

But there is a different purpose to them too.

Tears also wash away what's in the heart.

I clenched my fists and forced my feet to move. I headed in the direction that I believed to be correct on the gravel road.

The rain was still pouring.

And it was getting darker and darker.

I roared at the sky amidst the rain.

My sadness was turning into anger.

"You stupid God!

Why?!

What have I done to deserve this?

What did I do?

I didn't do anything!!

I was just living a normal life, that's all!!

So why this?!

My daddy told me there are good things and bad things in life, but neither lasts for long!

That means this misery won't last that long either, right?

I won't be all alone in this miserable place forever, right?

Isn't that right...?"

As I looked up, I felt the raindrops hit my face.

There is no God. I knew that in my heart.

But such disbelief wouldn't save me.

If I believed he was there, I should have been saved.

No, I needed him to BE there!

Was he going to answer me?

I heard thunder.

Then I realized

he was there.

He was there, and he was listening to me.

In his eyes, everyone was supposed to be equal.

And he was listening to me.

"I've gone through enough!

More than enough!!

If I was too happy before, then I could take this misery.

But I wasn't!!

I was living a normal life.

If you ask me if I was happy, then...

sure, I was.

But this is what I get in return? That's not fair at all!!!"

I heard thunder again.

He was listening.

I continued.

"If...

If this fate of mine was your mistake,

then let me be free!!

Please end my misery and let me be happy again!!

But if...

this is, in fact, my fate, and I'm supposed to live this way until the end,

then I don't want it!!!

Kill me!!

Kill me now with your lightning!!

Just finish me off now!!

Come on!!

Kill me ruthlessly, right here and now!!!"

I heard thunder again.

It was loud enough to make me shiver.

Normally, I would just hide in the house and wait until the thunder went away.

But on that day, I wasn't afraid.

"Come on!!

Kill me!!

Miyoko Tanashi is right here!!

Just like you killed my parents, take my life too!!!"

The heavens replied to my provocation.

The heavens took aim at me, a lowly human who dared sling constant, insolent insults at them.

That was my wish. I opened my arms.

He's God, so he wouldn't miss me.

However, I guess even God makes mistakes sometimes.

Although he's supposed to be fair, he had been unfair with me.

"Come on, kill me!!!

Take me to Heaven!!

But if you fail to kill me, then...

Try turning my destiny around!!!!"

".........Pitiful child..."

A flash from Heaven.

I thought I smelled something burning just before it hit.

The sheer force knocked me to the ground.

It was a strange experience.

It was something that had just happened,

but it already felt like it happened many years ago.

I had no idea how long I was down for.

I smelled something odd.

The bad stench woke me up.

When I looked, I saw that a huge tree behind me had been split open. Its leaves were smoldering.

I looked up, and saw sparks in the darkness.

I couldn't understand what just happened... I just stood there...

The thunderbolt had struck.

It didn't strike me. It struck the tree behind me.

I didn't get to die.

He was telling me to keep walking in the woods in the cold rain.

I won my bet with God.

I bet my life.

I bet my life against the lightning and thunder.

It could have killed me instantly.

But he missed,

so he had to fix my life.

I looked up at the sky, laughing and bragging that I was still alive.

I heard thunder again. It was acknowledging its loss.

Come on, God.

Save me.

I won the bet, so save me from this misery.

............

I stood there.

I waited for God to do something while the rain poured down on me.

But he didn't answer me again.

I couldn't hear the thunder anymore.

Again, I felt the warm tears pour down my cheeks.

What was I thinking?

If there was a God in Heaven, he wouldn't have let anything like this happen to me...

My miserable life was the proof of God's nonexistence.

The darkness was about to swallow me utterly.

Would I have to sleep out there?

God must have wanted me to die slowly in this cold rain instead of granting me an instant death by lightning.

I wished the sun would go away.

I wished the sun would never rise.

I wished that, as the woods had grown completely dark, my existence would be hidden by that darkness.

I wished that I could just disappear...

Had it been an eternity, or was it a matter of seconds?

I couldn't even tell time in such darkness.

It was then that I saw something.

It was

a light.

I noticed it only because the woods were so dark.

But was it really there?

Had it been there this whole time?

I felt like the light was inviting me towards it.

It was a fluorescent light.

I didn't normally like fluorescent lights, because I always thought they looked cold.

But I didn't feel coldness from that white light.

I made myself believe that the light was a guide sent by God.

I had to believe, otherwise I wouldn't be saved.

The light reflected in a puddle.

It wasn't a muddy puddle.

It was a puddle on asphalt.

I had made it out of the woods and was on a paved road.

The light was a street light.

Being on a paved road didn't really resolve anything.

It was just a country road.

It was a road that went through the woods, so there were no houses, no shops, and not even a single car going by.

There weren't too many street lights on the road, so it was still very dark.

My feet touched the asphalt.

It felt so different from the gravel I had been walking on earlier. It felt almost merciful.

My feet had grown used to walking on gravel,

but after feeling the softness of asphalt, I never wanted to go back to the former again.

I could only choose between heading left or heading right.

I was grateful to God for leading me to this asphalt road, but I wished that he had given me a little more guidance.

Such a little bit of luck couldn't make up for all the unhappiness I'd gone through.

...And that was when...

I sensed his guidance.

I saw another light in a distance.

It was only on the right side.

I headed towards it.

And when I got there, I understood what it was.

...I was amazed to find it there.

...A telephone booth.

Who would actually make a call in the middle of nowhere?

A telephone booth in the countryside was rather unusual.

There were plenty of red public phones all over, but I had always thought telephone booths only existed in big cities.

It almost looked as though the telephone booth had been put there as punishment for doing something bad.

When I thought that, I felt bad for the lonely telephone booth... it reminded me of myself.

Even if I went inside the telephone booth, what could I even do in there anyway?

I already knew the answer to that question, but no matter what, I just had to get in there.

The door squeaked as I opened it. There were lots of moths and other bugs flittering around the light.

I usually hated bugs, but in that moment I felt like that they were my friends, sheltering from the rain like me.

There was no heater,

but it was still very warm inside of the booth.

It sheltered me from the cold rain.

Soon enough, I crumbled to the floor.

The warmth from the fluorescent light embraced me gently, and I felt like it was telling me that it was okay to cry.

But I had no more tears left, because I cried them all when the lightning struck.

Aching scratches covered my body.

My calves were in pain too.

Everything hurt everywhere and I didn't want to get up ever again.

I wished I could fall asleep.

But if I did that, the staff from the orphanage might find me.

The windows on the booth were high up, so if I sat down I wouldn't be visible from the outside.

But as it was the only shelter in these dark woods,

the staff would be sure to check it.

That was why I couldn't stay there for long.

(Telephone booths from back then weren't completely made of glass, so it was possible to hide inside one.)

My exhausted spirit understood that I had to move.

But I just couldn't make myself...

Maybe... I was experiencing some kind of vision...

I felt a strange calmness that I'd never experienced before.

I didn't feel that I was myself.

It was very strange.

I thought that maybe I was killed by that lightning.

I'd assumed I was still Miyoko Tanashi, but maybe I wasn't her at all.

I seriously considered those things.

Then I started to think that the telephone booth had something to do with it.

Because God led me there.

He couldn't have done so just because it was providing shelter from the rain. There had to be something else.

I wondered what it was.

Could there be something in the booth that could save me?

But what?

A telephone booth is used to make a phone call.

But I didn't have any money.

But then...

I noticed something that looked like copper.

...My heart skipped a beat.

The ten yen coin I saw wasn't there before.

Did I just miss it?

I didn't think so.

It must have just showed up.

In other words, this ten yen coin was guidance from God.

He was telling me to make a call with that coin.

But... who?

There was no telephone book.

In that case,

I could only call a number I knew.

Did God want me to do that, then?

There was only one coin.

I could only call one number.

And I couldn't talk for that long.

I had challenged God earlier, so it was just a matter of course to think that God was challenging me in return.

I had only one chance, and he wanted me to test my luck with that chance.

I left the phone booth and looked up at the sky.

Then I yelled in my heart.

You're on, God!

I wondered who I could call.

Who?

My house?

My parents were dead, and I had no relatives.

Even if I called, nobody would answer.

Actually, the phone bill wouldn't have been paid for a long time, so the phone line would already be disconnected.

My house was my lost life itself.

No, the debris of my life.

...Calling home would simply be an expression of regret...

...which ran counter to the positive attitude of one trying to change their life.

So surely using the coin to call my house was wrong.

Which meant... I had to cast this ten yen coin towards my future.

Future.

My future?

What future, anyway?

Then I heard a huge thunderclap, which cleared my mind.

In that clear state of mind, I saw something from the past.

It was the last sight of my father.

His final moments on the hospital bed. Though suffering from pain, he tried to tell me something very important.

"If by chance...

I am to die,

turn to Dr. Takano.

Dr. Hifumi Takano.

Say it for me."

"Hi

fu

mi

Takano."

"That's right.

Dr. Hifumi Takano.

He's my former teacher.

He will

help you...

cough

cough!!

Cough!!"

"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!!!"

Many doctors came into the room in a hurry.

He wanted to tell me something else,

but the doctors stopped him from talking, so it wasn't audible.

It shouldn't have been... but it was to me.

I heard it.

I heard it, but I didn't want to hear him say it while suffering, so I pretended that I didn't hear...

He said it while coughing.

I heard it.

They were numbers.

......I swallowed once.

That's right,

...It was...

a phone number.

He knew nobody would take me in, because we had no relatives.

He told me to get in touch with him,

Dr. Hifumi Takano.

He tried to tell me his phone number...

Ahhh, what had I done?

He tried so hard, using his last chance to tell me the most important thing...

The thunder from earlier had made me remember it.

The number I couldn't remember even once came out so smoothly.

I dialed it in.

This really was it.

This was the number for my father's teacher, Dr. Takano.

But my hand stopped just as I tried to put the coin in.

What if I hadn't remembered it correctly?

......No, there was no need to hesitate.

I had to believe in myself.

This had to be the correct number.

I had to dial it before I forgot it again.

I picked up the phone and put the coin in.

Beep...

I heard the dial tone on the other end.

At that point, I decided to kill myself if it didn't work.

I could go back into the woods and wait for another lightning bolt.

I could lie down and let the rain water drown me, too.

I could also fall asleep in the middle of the road and wait for a car to run me over.

I made up my mind and put the coin in.

I didn't hesitate any longer.

I dialed the number at once.

But,

I had to be careful.

If you dial quickly, sometimes you can make mistakes.

I was getting irritated, and that almost made the phone number go vague in my head.

I dialed the last digit,

and heard some electronic sounds on the other end.

I hoped that I dialed the correct number.

I didn't know what to say to Dr. Takano if it did connect.

Where was I?

What was I supposed to do?

What was I supposed to ask him?

I didn't know any of those things.

Making a call isn't cheap.

One ten yen coin would only buy me short time to talk.

The line must have connected then.

I heard a ring tone.

I only had a short time once someone answered the phone.

I thought for a moment that I should put the phone down.

Then I could at least get the coin back.

I could call back after sorting out my thoughts.

But then, someone answered.

"Hello,

this is the Takano residence."

".........Ah,"

I felt like I was suffocating.

......My memory had been correct.

I couldn't tell the age of the speaker, but it was a grown man's voice.

Anyone who was my father's teacher must have been quite old.

Never mind that.

I had to hurry and say something.

Hurry, hurry...

"Ah...

are...

are you Dr. Takano?

Uh...

ooh,

Dr. Hifumi

Takano?"

"......Hm?

Yes, who is this?"

He must have been suspicious.

I couldn't blame him.

A stranger was asking him about his name. Of course he'd get suspicious.

"I'm sorry...

I'm Tanashi.

Miyoko Tanashi."

"Tanashi-san?

Yes."

"Uh... My father told me to get in touch with you.

His name is Takemitsu Tanashi."

"...Tanashi

...Tanashi.

......Ah, Tanashi-kun!

I remember him!!"

His voice suddenly changed.

Dr. Takano had remembered his old student.

"I'm his daughter!

He told me to call you..."

"Did something happen to Tanashi-kun?"

Aah, not good.

I was going to run out of time...!

"My parents died in a train accident.

And I was told to call you."

"Tanashi-kun is dead...?!

I see...

Both of them?

I'm sorry to hear that.

I knew him from when I was teaching at a college.

He was a very hard-working young man.

I think the last time I saw him was at the wedding..."

Obviously, he didn't know I was born.

But he remembered my father.

That was truly a stroke of luck.

"So, what did Tanashi-kun want to tell me?"

"Ah... well........."

I didn't know what to say.

I was only told to call Dr. Takano.

How could I tell him that?

My time was running out.

I felt more and more anxious by the minute...

...Phone calls are disconnected without notice.

But somehow, I sensed it.

I only had enough time left for one sentence.

So I decided to say one sentence filled with all of my hopes.

"H-Help meee!!!"

The phone call got disconnected.

Maybe he only heard part of what I said.

I could only hope he was able to sense my despair.

I couldn't hear anything from the receiver anymore.

But I actually talked to Dr. Takano.

I confirmed that Dr. Takano existed.

He existed, and he remembered my father.

If he grieved over his student's death, he would come visit my house.

And he would find out I was sent to an orphanage.

Then he would come get me.

That's when tears flowed down my cheeks again.

I'd thought that my life was hopeless.

I never knew that finding even a grain of hope could make me feel so happy and strong.

The voice I heard on the phone was so warm and dependable.

My father must have thought about me for a long time in that hospital bed.

And came up with a name that he could trust his daughter with.

Dr. Hifumi Takano.

So I could trust Dr. Takano.

I had to believe that he would find me.

But it might take more than just a few days.

I'd have to wait patiently.

A few days?

A month? More?

I could only wait patiently.

Either way, I couldn't stay in the telephone box. The staff would easily find me there.

I went out into the rain again.

But this time, the rain felt a little warmer than before.

I had wished to die by lightning.

...But after that phone call,

I was filled with hope and the will to live.

I wanted to live, and that was why I felt pain all over my body.

When I still wished to die, I didn't feel anything.

I had to wait patiently until Dr. Takano came to pick me up.

I had to get to The House of Love and Mercy.

That would be the best place to wait for him.

I didn't think the orphanage would tell him I escaped to The House of Love and Mercy.

But The House wouldn't stop me from calling him.

All I'd have to do was call him again and let him know where I was.

But I didn't know where I could find The House of Love and Mercy.

I couldn't see any signs anywhere, and I didn't even know what direction the orphanage I escaped from was in.

But I couldn't just stop.

I had to walk.

I had to find shelter.

I had to find someone and ask for directions to The House of Love and Mercy.

I had to keep going, because I finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel.

The chills and throbbing pain tormented me, but I couldn't die until I met Takano-sensei.

I wished a car would come by.

If it was someone who lived in the area, I could ask.

But the police wouldn't do me any good.

I was sure the orphanage had already called the police about our escape, and they wouldn't be forgiving.

The police were sure to send me back to the orphanage.

Either way, I wished that someone would show up.

Otherwise, I'd have to keep walking on the asphalt in the darkness forever...

How long did I walk?

Still no car...

Just as I couldn't help but think that maybe the world perished, leaving only me behind, a car showed up.

I sensed the car coming up behind me, so I turned around. I saw their headlights approaching me.

...I thought for a moment.

Should I stand in the middle of the street to stop the car?

It was so dark.

I didn't think the car would notice if I just waved at it.

But if I were to stand in the middle of the street, I could get run over...

While I thought, the car was getting closer and closer.

When I made the phone call, I panicked and didn't know what to say.

So with this car, I'd have to think very carefully.

If I couldn't think of anything, then I should just let the car go.

With those thoughts vaguely on my mind, I was incredibly surprised when the car slammed the brakes with a screech and came to a stop.

...Maybe I wasn't all there after that miraculous experience of lightning striking near me.

...I had half lost my mind in those dark woods, so I probably wasn't thinking very straight.

Because...

The car had stopped after recognizing me. In other words, the driver knew who I was.

...And the only people in the area who would recognize me were...

Suddenly, a chill ran through my whole body.

I started to dash away.

I heard a voice calling after me.

I no longer had the strength to run.

My feet were trembling, and I couldn't make them cooperate.

I realized then that I shouldn't have sat down in the telephone booth.

That was why I couldn't keep running.

I was suddenly grabbed from behind, the collar of my clothes almost choking me.

I heard fabric being ripped.

I fell in a puddle, and a staff member got on top of me.

...This time, his finger wasn't in my mouth.

All I could do was struggle.

As I did so, I remembered all the scary stories Eriko and the others told me.

All the torture the child who was caught had to endure.

The Drowned Ducky Punishment, the Mashed Caterpillar Punishment,

and the Splayed Piggy Punishment.

The names of those eerie-sounding punishments came to my mind.

I screamed and struggled with all my might, but it was too late.

I was shoved into the back seat of the car.

Why couldn't they just let me go?

Simple: they didn't want me talking about them to anybody.

The staff were yelling and screaming while chasing me, but once we were in the car, they went silent.

It was like the grim reaper had come to get me.

Whether I liked it or not, I had to come to terms with the fact that my luck had run out.

But...... but.

I had called Takano-sensei.

...So I knew he would come to get me.

I didn't know when that would be, but I knew it would happen some day.

So, I wanted to live. I would be saved if I lived.

I couldn't even imagine the kind of punishment that was waiting for me.

But even so, I said to myself...

I have to live!

I'd already found the light at the end of the tunnel.

All I had to do was endure until I reached it.

The car stopped.

We had arrived at the front gate of the orphanage.

The two staff members grabbed my shoulders so I wouldn't run.

...My shoulders were very skinny, so it hurt a lot.

I was scared.

Scared of what I would have to go through.

We went through the door, and I was finally sheltered from the rain.

...In a way, I wasn't sheltered at all, though.

It was the middle of the night, and long past time to turn all the lights off.

The orphanage should have been quiet.

But... I heard a noise.

It was a strange noise.

The noise of a shower.

The noise of metal objects crashing into each other.

Also the staff's yelling and screaming.

A chill went down my spine.

...Ahh, what could I possibly write down to fully describe this fear...?

A staff member knocked on the door of the storage room, and the door opened.

...The moment it did, an angry roar issued from inside.

The sight leapt into my eyes.

...I couldn't completely take in the bizarre scene before me.

Two staff members were hitting a mat with bamboo swords while yelling violently.

It was a mat

used in... you know,

the one you use when you do gymnastics.

But why was it rolled up like that?

The rolled-up mat was tied with a string and was standing up in the corner.

The staff members kept hitting it.

Usually words are said to a person.

But why were they yelling at a rolled-up mat? The way they were hitting and yelling at it, it was as if they'd gone mad.

But wait... I could see something sticking out from the top of the rolled-up mat.

It was...

let me see...

whose shoes were those?

All of a sudden, I froze, and couldn't think anymore.

One man stood in front of me.

The man's pinky finger was wrapped in bandages.

My eyes

moved upwards from his pinky finger

and met with his.

...The beast's eyes met mine, peering with intent to devour me.

I squeezed out a voiceless scream.

My voice didn't come out, so it was more like a goldfish opening and closing its mouth.

The beast stuck his little finger in front of me and roared.

I couldn't tell if it was a word or a meaningless shriek,

but I was certain it was something abusive.

I was scared.

I didn't want to die.

I wanted to live.

I knew that Dr. Takano would show up to save me.

That was why I had to live, and submit myself to the fear.

"I... I'm sorry, I'm sorry!

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!!

Ahhhhhhh!!!"

The hand with the bandages grabbed my hair and dragged me along.

All I could do was apologize and beg for forgiveness while hoping the beast had even a tiny bit of mercy in him.

I was like a broken, apologizing doll.

A mad doll, that kept muttering apologies until its key wound down.

I was their toy... shedding tears, coughing blood, and apologizing in place of clicking gears.

I could see into the shower room while he dragged me along.

The door was open, and I heard wailing from the inside.

What I saw was very strange.

There was a locker on its side in the shower...

what an odd sight...

A locker was taking a shower, sideways.

...I'd never even imagined anything like it before.

The locker was taking a cold shower while two staff members hit it with bamboo swords.

That explained the metallic noise I heard before...

The beast didn't want me to see that.

He pulled my hair violently and twisted my neck so that I looked in the opposite direction.

Then I realized.

He didn't do that to stop me from watching that shower.

He did it to make me look at something else.

I saw a window and a courtyard.

Usually it was too dark to see anything.

But the lights were on, and the courtyard was very bright.

Then I saw it.

Inside of the henhouse,

I saw XXXXX.

What is that?

XXXXXX, and XXXXX... XXXXX!!

That hair was Eriko's.

XXX?

XXXXX!!!

But why was she XXXXX!

That was far too XXXXX!!!

"Waaaaaaaaaaaah!!

I'm sorry,

I'm sorry,

I'm sorry, sorry, sorry,

I am sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!!!!

Aaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!"

I don't want to die!!

I know Dr. Takano is coming to save me, I know he is coming!!!

I was taken to the staff bathroom.

It stunk of ammonia.

I saw an XXXX, which just doesn't fit in a bathroom.

Why was this in the bathroom, I thought.

He's not planning to XXXX me with XXXX, is he?

No way!! No, no, no, no!!

"Tanashi,

this is your punishment for breaking the rules, okay?

Everyone must follow the rules.

If you don't, you get punished. Do you understand?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!!

I'll never do it again!! I'll do everything you tell me to do!!

I promise, I really do!!!

Please spare me!!

Please spare me from XXXX!!

No, that hurts, no, no, no, no!!

Nooooooooooooooooooo!!"