"............Give it a fucking rest..."

Keiichi's growl resounded from the pits of his stomach.

...What a delightful sound. It was like he wanted to rip me apart.

"Awake at last, are we?

I lied to you before, you know.

...About having wanted to give Shion the most miserable death of all, but locking her up because I hadn't thought of a good way yet.

That was a lie."

I smiled menacingly as I laid out the huge nails and hammer specially made for the nail table.

"I'll kill her, but only after her soul drowns in the screams of the many people who died because of her.

...Wouldn't that be poetic?

Heh heh heh heh!!"

"............Who...

are you?"

"Hah?

I'm Mion.

Mion Sonozaki.

Did the fear drive you out of your mind?

Heh heh heh!"

"...No, you're not.

There's... no way you can be Mion Sonozaki...!"

My hand stopped dead in its tracks.

...Kei-chan?

Shit.

I'd decided it would be too late once we reached Shion's cell.

So the name-guessing game is already over.

...Oh well, whatever.

Bring it on.

I'll listen to you.

This is your last chance.

"...Oh yeah?

Then if I'm not Mion, who am I?"

Come on, Kei-chan.

...Guess who I am.

Try and save Mion, the girl who fell in love with you.

And then, I heard it. I most definitely heard it.

Keiichi's mouth trembled as he spoke the words, yet his eyes shone with a strong conviction.

And he spoke the truth.

".........You're Shion, aren't you?"

"........"

........Wow...

You're right. You actually won... You're amazing Kei-chan...

Heh heh..... heheheheheh.....!

A strange feeling fills my chest as I shiver.

I had convinced myself there was no way he could guess.

But he did... and I couldn't help feeling a bit surprised.

This Keiichi had yet again pierced through my disguise.

"You aren't Mion.

...Give me back the Mion whom I was with until just now!"

"............"

Who... are you?

"Huh...?"

...You aren't Mion, right?

"...huh?

Like I said, I'm Mion..."

No, that's not it. That wasn't what I meant.

You aren't Mion...

"Hehehehe...

Why do you think I'm not the older sister?"

I don't know... Just a feeling.

In my mind, memories of the time Keiichi recognized me at the toy store had been revived.

Yes.

Even back then, Keiichi could tell that I wasn't my sister Shion.

I had feigned composure and offered a comeback with a straight face, but on the inside I was shook.

We were both capable of becoming Mion or Shion... But because I was the real 'Mion', and was only Shion legally on paper, reversing the roles was even more easier for me.

Our tones of speech, quirks and even our auras... We had both mastered each others' habits so perfectly, even our own parents were unable to tell us apart.

In fact, wasn't that exceptionally sharp Rena not able to figure out I wasn't her best friend Mion after all, despite being so close?

So why?

Has this Keiichi actually seen through my disguise twice?

"Hehehehe...

Why do you think I'm not the older sister?"

My ears perked up, eager to hear the answer. Keiichi's reply was a soft murmur like an insect's whisper, as he gasped for breath in pain.

His voice was so quiet, it was nearly inaudible. But I could almost recognize the words on his lips.

Yes... "Just a feeling\

"Wow..."

...Heh, heheheh, hehehehehehehehehehe...!!

Yet again. It was "just a feeling".

Didn't he say the exact same thing to me, that time at the toy store?

Hahahahahahahahahaha. How nice, how nice! What a splendid answer!

You'd think why my sister of all people fell in love with him?!

Ahahahahahaha, ahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!

".............."

...............However.

No... rather, it was exactly because of this.

Along with my raving madness, the blood that was simmering in my veins until just now rapidly began to turn chill and coagulate. If I were to describe it, it felt like stagnant muddy water flowing through a gutter.

Even now, it was all so hilarious I could fall over laughing, but I didn't smile. On the contrary, my face was vacant and austere, like a Noh-mask of frigid ice.

And then.

The darkness seeped into the innermost depths of my mind, and I was already parting with my self-restraint as a human being.

"..............."

I reach out and touch Keiichi's hair, matted with sweat and caked with blood. Keiichi whips his head away at once in disgust, as if he were staving off a housefly — and glares at me defiantly.

"Don't touch me!

...You damn demon...!!!

Give her back!!

Give Mion back!!!

Give me back my best friend Mion!!!"

Having lost liberty over his whole body, he continued to howl and cry as if he were spewing blood.

...I was supposed to have sold my soul to the devil and become a demon, but faced with such a bitter rejection, I felt the crumbled remnants of my emotions stir within me.

Munch, crunch, munch, crunch, munch, crunch......!!

My throat begins to itch. The crooks of my elbows, my wrists, and every other joint in my body begins to tingle and prickle... and I feel irrationally restless.

The more the restlessness and irritation piled up, the more this squalling, whimpering person beside me felt bothersome, revolting... so awful I could slaughter him right away.

To be frank... until just now, I had no intention of killing Keiichi.

I was truly ready to spare at least his life, if he guessed the right answer.

That was the rule I had decided upon.

Okay... I'll admit it. Just like Shion, I had also... fallen in love with Keiichi.

He was incredibly silly and good-natured—unbelievably warm-hearted and gentle... talking to him made me feel contented.

Besides, I even sympathized with him.

Unlike the lot I'd dealt with so far - Keiichi was indeed just a victim - caught up in my selfish revenge drama. Now that my revenge against the Sonozaki family was almost complete, I didn't mind saving him.

...That may sound too convenient, but perhaps the human side of 'me' that was fond of Keiichi wanted to save him - in order to seek his forgiveness for my actions.

But... I've changed my mind.

Having witnessed Keiichi guess the right answer before my very eyes, my heart was suffused with a stinging, gaping, overpowering darkness, as if it were freezing over.

Why.

Why was Shion alone able to meet such a wonderful person?

Satoshi-kun could only make a vague distinction between me and Shion.

Satoshi-kun... abandoned me and ran away.

However, this Keiichi trusts Shion. He is defending Shion whom he values as his best friend, by seeing through my lies.

And as a result... he gave up on me.

Destestable. Maddening. Despicable. Enviable...... So much so that I want to kill them.

That's right. The moment he defended Shion, he became one of them. He's equally guilty. You lowlife scum, I despise you, I despise you, I despise you, I despise you, I despise you, you fucking piece of shit...!!!

"Please stoooooop!!!

Don't kill him!!!

Kei-chan, get out of hereeeeeee!!!"

Munch, crunch, munch, crunch, munch, crunch......!!

...Ah, what a nuisance.

Shion's screams coming from the corner of the chamber were enjoyable before; but now they felt unbearably noisy and pissed me off.

How about I just get rid of Shion first?

I wanted to kill her after she had the most exquisite taste of anguish and terror, but now I could barely suppress the indiscriminate urge to slaughter welling up within me.

Keiichi was relentlessly yelling his protests towards me.

His throat closed up eventually and he gasped for breath, hoarsely continuing to demand Mion's return.

"...Kei-chan.

This may not be... something pleasant to take to the grave with you.

...But you really seem to want to know, so I'll tell you just one thing.

The demon had already been dwelling inside me for a long time.

It had been gnawing at my heart, trying to spur me to violence, but...

I suppressed it with reasoning.

The demon calmed down... and I convinced myself that it had disappeared.

As it turns out, I was wrong.

The demon never left me... it had just been asleep inside me."

Yes.

When I learned about Satoshi-kun's disappearance, my ailing heart had crammed itself with rage to compensate for the despair.

But that was the limit of my insanity. I would never have snapped.

Time had healed me... and my memories of Satoshi-kun were neatly wrapped up and pushed into the back of my mind.

"That demon... had awoken again thanks to a certain, small opportunity.

What do you think... that opportunity was...?"

It really was the smallest of the smallest things.

"........."

"This might be a strange thing to hear from a demon, but...

you're the reason everything got so messed up."

A tear rolled down my cheek.

That's right.

Back then... if you hadn't given that doll to Mion, none of this would have happened...

"...You probably can't understand.

I don't expect you to.

...But, you see, after that, everything began to topple over one by one, like clattering dominoes... and it all got out of hand.

It's normal you didn't realize because it was so small, but as the person to knock over the very first one... you were the cause of this tragedy."

Back then, if Keiichi hadn't shown any affection, Shion wouldn't have been overjoyed.

She wouldn't have been overjoyed, and cheerfully boasted about him to me.

As I was listening to her, I was reminded of Satoshi-kun.

I became jealous of her for having someone she loved so close to her.

It was a very small jealousy.

But it had awoken the demon who was sleeping deep inside of me.

After that, I just let the demon take over.

The demon fed upon the copious amount of sadness I held for Satoshi-kun, and in return it committed heinous acts that Satoshi-kun himself would never be happy with, all in the name of avenging him.

And now, the horrific events that had followed were inviting me to the realm of demons that had no return.

"That... that can't... be, can it...?"

"...I'm not surprised you weren't aware.

Even so you are without doubt the cause of this, Kei-chan."

Back then, if you hadn't chosen to give the doll to Mion... we could've arrived at a different future.

.........No, that wasn't right.

Wouldn't pinpointing Keiichi's small action as the beginning, be the height of transferring blame?

...I was implying such a silly thing had awoken the demon inside me.

Even without Keiichi's act, it would've have awoken anyway.

...At the end of the day, it was all my fault.

I didn't fight the demon. I allowed it to reside in my soul. And I readily offered it my heart.

"......gh...... ugh...!!"

Keiichi didn't hide his tears. They were pouring down his cheeks.

...Maybe he was crying in my place, as I was not free to do so, having chosen to become a tearless demon.

That is why I must go on, as the demon.

There was no room for human emotions or hesitation anymore.

And then......

Munch, crunch, munch, crunch, munch, crunch...... snap......!!

".........n... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.....!!"

"Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha...!!!"

Shion's wails rasping like silk tearing apart, along with my screams of ecstasy.

The last thing I heard... were those everlasting reverberations.