"Damn it... Why did she do that...?!"

"......That's about what I expected..."

Mion called me in the middle of the night.

The social worker went to Satoko's house tonight after getting a call from the school.

They had a talk with Satoko and her uncle.

He told them that Satoko didn't go to school today because of a cold.

He also claimed he didn't call the school because he didn't have the number.

He explained that he spoke with Chie-sensei politely, and that she just misunderstood his behavior.

Satoko didn't really talk, but she never denied what her uncle was saying.

"So she said there's no abuse, and that she doesn't need any help...?"

"Yes.

Satoko has always thought that her brother disappeared because she kept relying on him...

That's why..."

"She thinks she needs to handle it on her own without seeking anyone's help?

That's ridiculous...!"

"According to the social worker, she didn't have any obvious injuries. So they think this isn't an urgent case.

It seems that she's being fed, and she has a place to sleep too..."

"Shouldn't that be a given?!

Are you saying it's not abuse as long as she has something to eat and somewhere to sleep?"

"That's how they view it, at least...

In some cases, people refuse to even let the social worker come inside the house. Just because they were able to talk with her uncle tonight, they determined that it wasn't urgent..."

"So after all that, they decided to wait and see...

I bet Shion is disappointed."

"......Yeah.

Just like how Satoko refuses to seek anyone's help because of Satoshi, Shion is also trying desperately to save Satoko because of him...

She seems calm now, though...

Even though she's very upset..."

"I know this isn't the time for complaining...

But where the hell did Satoshi go?

His sister is in danger!"

"......I have no idea where he is."

"I know...

I'm sorry...

I was hoping that he would save her if he came back.

But it's a waste of time to think about that.

I can't hope for someone else to save her.

We're the ones who will!"

"That's right...

We have to do what we can..."

"I'm impressed with the power of the Sonozaki family, though.

You have information from the social worker already.

You must have a spy in the center."

"Heh heh heh heh! That's a national secret."

"...So, you know someone who knows a lot about the center?

Did they give you any idea of what we should do next?"

"Well...

I was advised to just stay calm and see what happens."

"What the hell?

Did you talk to them about the situation she's in right now?

Her uncle is locking her up, and he's abusing her! Why should we just kick back and see what happens?"

"Well...

Umm...

.......

Kei-chan, this is not my opinion, okay?

I'm just telling you what I was told by my contact.

See...

it is true that Satoko didn't show up at school today...

but it's just one day.

It's not like she's been absent for weeks or months. We can't really deny the possibility that she has a cold."

"But she's being abused!

You're saying that we should stay calm while she is being physically and emotionally harmed?"

"Wait a minute, Kei-chan... That's the whole point.

We're concerned because we know what happened to her last year...

but she wasn't hurt yesterday or today.

We can't really prove if she's being abused or not."

"She may not have a bruise on her body yet, but it's only a matter of time!

Besides, isn't it abuse to force her to come back and live with him...?"

"Remember what we were talking about at school...

It's normal for a legal guardian to take in the child under their custody.

We can't definitely say that it's abuse yet..."

"But we have to do something before it happens!!

...I'm sorry for yelling at you..."

I knew that wasn't Mion's opinion, but it felt like she was telling me that, and I raised my voice.

...When I sensed her dismay, I quickly apologized.

"I explained to my contact what happened to Satoko last year...

But last year's case was resolved by waiting it out too..."

"Last year's abuse only stopped because of the fourth curse, right?

It's not like the child consultation center resolved it."

"Ahahahahaha...

Still, either way... both last year and now, the child consultation center doesn't think her case warrants that much urgency.

It seems our opponent this time is that difference in urgency between us and them."

"...I see.

We've done what we can.

Now we need to come up with a Plan B.

We should have a meeting tomorrow.

With all the fearless members of our club!

We've gone through worse than this before! We'll save her for sure!!"

"Yes...!"

As we spoke, I felt less angry about the decision that the child consultation center made.

It was something we expected anyway...

I was being emotional for a while, but Mion wasn't taking it personally.

She's usually a tough person, but I know that she feels very weak when something like this happens.

I have to be careful to not get too emotional with her.

Our enemy was Teppei.

I couldn't yell at my friends just because I was frustrated.

I almost forget sometimes, but Mion is a girl.

There's no way yelling at her without cause wouldn't hurt her.

...I think I have a tendency to lash out with my emotions sometimes.

I definitely need to rein in that bad habit, especially during emergencies like this.

All I could do by myself... was probably the same thing Shion was suggesting earlier.

But I knew it wouldn't make Satoko happy.

We club members are fearless.

But the power I possess is the smallest among all of us.

That's why I needed to communicate with them.

If we united, we would be able to come up with a better plan.

I couldn't think of a plan all by myself.

Three heads are better than one.

We would definitely figure something out!

"I'm going to call Rika-chan now.

Will you call Rena?"

"Sure.

...Rena was a good match for Shion today...

She impressed me a lot.

She's tough when push comes to shove."

"Yeah. Rena is always reliable when we're in trouble.

But you impressed me too, Kei-chan.

You were kind of cool today... Heh heh heh!"

"I just kind of feel embarrassed now...

That speech was a little corny, huh?"

"I'm hanging up now.

I'm sure Rena is waiting.

Give her a call, okay?"

"Yup.

Say hi to Rika-chan.

I think she's been hurt the most by all this..."

Rika-chan was looking at the ground with a depressed look on her face all day...

My chest hurt just remembering it...

......It must be even more painful to look at Satoko...

Mion hung up the phone.

I also hung up, then called Rena.

...She picked up the phone after one ring, which surprised me.

"Hello, Rena?!

You were waiting for the call, huh?"

"Yes.

I called you but it was busy, so I didn't know what to do..."

"You called me when I was talking with Mion.

She's calling Rika-chan now.

She told me to call you.

Let me explain to you what happened."

"Ok... Is the case on hold?"

"Yeah...

Unfortunately."

"......I'm really upset, but that's what we expected.

I can guess what they said.

It's only been a day, so there's nothing definite.

She may have missed school because she really had a cold today, plus she doesn't have any obvious injuries.

Is my guess right...?"

"Did you put a bug on my phone...?

Yeah, you got it exactly right. It's total bullshit."

"'It's only been a day' is a such horrible phrase, isn't it?

Especially since it'll be too late after he really hurts her!"

"If he really does, then Satoko's injuries will be plain for everyone to see.

...But if that happens, her uncle will never let any social workers see her.

And then they'll just say they couldn't find any signs of abuse and go back to waiting again."

"It's such a huge contradiction, isn't it..."

Apparently they need court approval to force entry, but applying for that isn't easy.

So while social workers may be supposed to have great legal power, in reality, their hands are tied and they can't act if the family turns them away.

They're not the police.

They're not the ones who storm in even if they have to break windows to do so.

Dammit! Then who does have the right to break those windows?!

If we did, I'd smash them wide open!

"Anyway, they're not serious about this case.

They have no idea what will happen to Satoko if we don't do anything about it."

"......Ahahahaha.

I'm impressed."

"Wait, why?"

"You just moved to the village not too long ago.

You've only known her for just a few months.

...But you're so serious about saving her.

You don't even know what happened to her last year...

but you can imagine how hurt Satoko-chan is right now.

......If you were an ordinary person, I'm sure that you'd tell us.

\n'Just relax. It's only been a day.'"

"......It's not that difficult to imagine how horrible it is for her...

I also heard from you guys how terrible it was last year.

It's no question that this case requires immediate attention."

"Aha ha ha...

That's still impressive.

...You stopped Shii-chan when she tried to leave the classroom.

What you said there was pretty deep."

Do you think Satoko would appreciate it... if you saved her by... committing murder?

"It's not something an average boy would say.

...In fact, ahaha, sorry, but...

I thought you were going to say something like what Shii-chan suggested."

......That's our Rena.

She saw right through me to the core.

To be honest... I was able to keep my calm because Shion caused that commotion.

...I, too, thought our only option was to kill him.

What's there to hesitate about? Everything would be resolved if we went over and killed her uncle right away.

I thought those same things myself.

......And then I thought about how I would actually kill him.

First I'd assault him with a metal bat or something.

But before that I would scope out his house, and dig the hole to bury his body in ahead of time.

When I imagined it, I envisioned myself actually digging the hole with a camping shovel in the woods.

...I repeated, "This is for Satoko. This is for Satoko," in my mind like a mantra, trying to forget the weight of the murder ahead.

I relived that...

exhaustion

and frustration.

...I could very clearly imagine myself standing there, soaking with sweat and covered in mosquito bites.

Then I'm sure I'd call her uncle or something to lure him out of the house... and bludgeon him to death.

Then I repeated my mantra, "This is for Satoko. This is for Satoko," blaming her for that serious crime as I tried to avoid my own guilt over committing murder.

Did Satoko ask me to do that?

Am I going to blame it all on her because I committed murder?

Would she appreciate that?

No, she wouldn't.

.........I wouldn't be able to tell anyone that I had killed someone.

No one would appreciate my deed, and I'd have to carry that burden for the rest of my life.

...That pathetic future is one I couldn't have imagined in the rush I felt before carrying out the murder.

I decided to kill him so I could return us to happier times.

...But the act of murder also meant shattering the thin path that could lead us back there.

"......I was able to imagine it that far ahead.

That's why I didn't say it out loud like Shion did.

...If I hadn't thought that far, I probably would've joined Shion in shouting, 'Kill him! Kill him!'"

"Ahahaha...

It would've been really hopeless if you had done that.

I'm glad you have such a vivid imagination. I'm glad."

Was that really just my imagination, though...?

Did I imagine killing her uncle in my mind...?

......Could imagination alone really be that vivid...?

I could smell the earth, taste the scattered dirt flying into my mouth, see the pebbles scattered as I shoved my shovel down, and hear the roots cracking from its weight.

...The image was so real, it felt more like I had actually done it in the past.

"......That's right.

It's important to imagine the consequences."

"Right.

You don't want to grow up with no imagination.

I think you'll grow up to be a calm, reasonable adult, Keiichi-kun."

"I wonder if...... that was only my imagination.

I feel like...

I've been through a different life before."

"People with good imaginations can take a look at every possibility.

If you really felt like you saw the future,

I think it wasn't just your imagination. You saw a possible future that could've happened."

"In that imaginary world, the child consultation center put her case on hold too...

Satoko came back to the school for a while...

...

...

...

but she...

......broke after only a few days..."