I put on my shoes, tapped my toes against the floor a few times, then left—and Mion timidly came over.
...Why is she turning all red at a time like this...?
"Can I... hold your arm?"
............It was such a modest request.
"...I don't mind."
...With my permission, her face lit up with glee, like a child being given a toy, and took my arm.
"...Do you get kind of nervous... with your arm through mine?
You're not thinking for example... that I'd suddenly put you in a world-class joint lock, or anything...?"
"...You two say the same things.
I don't think that.
At all."
Back when... nothing had gone wrong yet.
...During those nostalgic days of the bustling commotion at Angel Mort.
...I counted back, and was amazed.
It had only been one week ago.
I had been arm in arm with Shion then, too.
Linking arms with Mion like this...... really reminded me that they were twins.
...How much strength they put into it, the sensation of their arms... their warmth, and the blood flowing... I could feel that their living sensations were all exactly the same.
"............I think Shion liked you, Kei-chan."
"......I see."
If this were a regular conversation... I might have jumped back, red in the face.
Right now, though... no matter what I heard, my mind remained at peace.
"...Mion and Shion... you got along well, didn't you...?"
"Well......... I wonder.
...Kei-chan, do you think your right hand and left hand get along?"
"Huh?
My right hand and left hand?
...I don't think you could describe them as getting along or not..."
"That's how our relationship is.
You can't measure it by the scale of how well we get along."
...That didn't sound like it meant they got along really well.
"For example, one of your hands is dominant, so there will always be a better hand.
...If you only had one oven mitt, you would put it on your dominant hand without thinking, right?
I think maybe it was like that for us."
"............"
"That doesn't mean, though, that anyone would be okay with losing their left hand.
...It's that kind of unexplainable relationship."
"......I think that maybe... you lived too close together, and just stopped being able to see it, but...
I think that means you get along really well.
...I'm an only child, so... the day before the festival...
I was really jealous of when you and Shion were messing around with each other."
"......I think you're jealous of something that doesn't exist.
Yes, we twins used to have a lot of fun playing tricks on people...
But now that we have such distinctly different personalities, it just gets in the way."
Were they cursed, or were they self-conscious?
...Their relationship was hard to understand for an outsider.
Maybe that wasn't an issue someone like me should intrude on.
...Just staying silent and nodding gently was the best way to advance the conversation.
Mion passed through the wide yard... and invited me into the big, desolate forest we'd seen on the way in.
...Such a big forest was part of their property... so I couldn't help but feel small.
"............It's huge.
You must have had a great time playing in it as kids, huh?"
"............"
Mion seemed to be silently reminiscing.
......I couldn't look into her mind... but she was probably thinking back to those fun days, when they played as sisters without any antagonism.
Every time the wind blew, it caressed the treetops and the leaves, making a swishing, murmuring sound.
...Mion remained silent for a long time.
Thinking back... on her younger sister...... whom she had gotten rid of with her own hands.
There was no need for me to get a word in.
...Just walking like this...
arm in arm...
was enough.
...Mion suddenly stopped and turned.
"............Shion is...
still alive."
"...Really?"
Mion took a hard look into my eyes, then nodded quietly.
"............Yeah.
...I'd been thinking to give her the most horrible death of all, so I had her locked up.
......I never did think of a good way to do it, though."
...Mion sounded as though she hated Shion... but also... deep down... she didn't completely detest her.
...So I took my other hand and rustled Mion's hair with it.
Mion didn't only save me.
She saved Shion, too.
...Mion may have become a demon and led many people to their deaths.
......But she fought against it... and was able to save... two people.
As I petted Mion... she narrowed her eyes in an entranced smile...
and untangled her arm from mine.
Then... Mion quietly said,
".........Come with me.
...I want you to see all of my sins.
...Although, Kei-chan... it might be the worst thing you've ever seen."
"............"
I could sense it.
...There I would probably find... all the sacrifices up until now.
...Looking at them... would mean accepting Rika-chan and Satoko's deaths.
As well as... accepting that... my best friend had done it.
"............It's already happened, and it's in the past.
......You can choose not to look, Kei-chan.
If you don't want to, then wait here.
...I will personally end everything."
I was taken aback by how ominous that sounded.
......I remembered what Rena had told me.
Mion might not surrender herself to justice... but choose to put an end to things herself.
...I couldn't leave her on her own.
...Besides, I agreed to her last request, didn't I?
...Even if it was hard for me to accept... I'll still do it.
...Even if I avoided looking...
it was...
something...
that had already happened.
"............It doesn't matter what I see."
"Yes?"
"............Mion Sonozaki... is the best friend I could ever have.
That won't change.
It never will."
The treetops softly swayed in the wind...
"............You and Rena both.
......Why do you only get really cool at times like this?"
Normally I'd say something rude right back at her, evading the question... but today I didn't.
...I just answered with a smile.
At last, Mion started walking.
...Into the thick forest... into the deepest part.
After following a thin path that looked like an animal trail for a while... we finally came across a steep incline with a tunnel that reminded me of a coal mine or bomb shelter.
We were surrounded by shallow hills—it had been created in a spot not visible from the outside.
...There were many silhouettes of crows in the trees here and there.
...The abnormal odor I'd been smelling for a while... was doubtlessly escaping from inside this place.
"............If you want to turn back, now's your chance.
I don't know what kind of person Mion Sonozaki is to you...
but if you go inside... that Mion will probably...
............"
"She won't change.
I'll say it as many times as I need to.
...Mion Sonozaki is the best friend I could ever have."
I clench my fists.
...Inside there... was probably a sight beyond anything I could imagine.
If... I let my guard down... I might end up vomiting.
Even so... I'll endure it.
...I'll overcome this pain and this suffering.
...It will never change... that Mion is my greatest friend.
"............I am nothing more than a demon...
so I don't understand human feelings anymore.
...I have a feeling, though...
that I know why Mion fell in love with you."
"...Don't say that like it's not related to you.
You're Mion.
You're not a demon.
...You're a human, with human blood, and you're my friend."
...Mion made a gesture like she was wiping tears from her eyes, then placed a hand on the big door of the tunnel entrance.
The lock on it was dauntingly strong-looking.
...It seemed to demand the appropriate resolution from whoever would enter, just like the ritual storehouse.
When the double doors opened... a stifling, rotten air and a bunch of winged insects came rushing out.
I remembered accidentally killing a hermit crab a long time ago by leaving its tank out on the porch... and how intense the odor it left was.
...If that was the smell of a corpse... then that's certainly what this smelled like.
Inside, it was pitch black, but Mion flicked a switch that turned on a light bulb, illuminating the interior.
The path turned into a series of intricate wooden tunnels.
We passed spaces that looked like they were for storage.
We passed places that looked like someone had lived there.
...All this indicated that it had been used as a bomb shelter and stockpile during the war.
...It didn't give an impression of a dug-out bomb shelter that had just been left there, though—there was a sense of dignity, as though this were a second Sonozaki house constructed underground.
Despite being in pitch darkness below the ground, the voices of the cicadas were entering through an air hole somewhere, giving it a very mysterious feel.
"...You saw what was in the ritual storehouse, right?
The piles of torture instruments.
...All of them were created to uphold the strict religious laws of Onigafuchi Village.
They were tools used to kill those who broke the laws in terrible ways as a warning to others."
"............That was a long time ago."
"...Watanagashi, originally a ritual meant as a deterrent, was once overseen by the Three Families...
but thanks to the Kimiyoshi and Furude families going into decline and the way the times changed, actually carrying it out became difficult."
"...I can imagine why.
...You'd never think people could be okay with drowning people in a swamp and killing them in modern Japan."
"That's why... the Sonozaki family built this.
...A secret place... so that we could continue to conduct the rite of Watanagashi, even in modern times."
Mion opened a large, strikingly different door...
......and inside...
......was none other than...
a modern storehouse for ritual implements......
"...There's... quite a few, isn't there?
Some of them were actually brought here from the original storehouse."
............All of the things there had been rusty and covered in dust, so they didn't seem that real...
but the things in here were different.
Every one of them had been well maintained... and kept in a state that they could be used right away.
Blades gleamed and spikes were sharpened.
Also, perhaps as a precaution for the splatter of blood...
the walls and ceiling were covered in the kind of tiling you would see in bathrooms... and there was even a drain set amidst a slight slope in the floor.
There was also a coiled rubber hose along the wall attached to a faucet, perhaps for cleaning up the splattered blood.
"...According to something a leader from a long time ago wrote...
Blood splatter has impact, despite the fact that it doesn't tax the sacrifice.
...Watanagashi was meant as a deterrent, after all.
My ancestors thought up all different kinds of things to show off."
As she said that, Mion pointed deeper into the torture room, to a spot veiled in darkness.
There... was surprisingly a room floored with tatami mats... and in the corner was a pile of cushions.
"...They're seats for the audience.
Watanagashi was meant as a deterrent, after all.
It wouldn't make sense if there were no guests."
"............"
I couldn't speak... and I couldn't think of anything to say anyway.
...Except that if Mion revealing all this to me made her heart feel any lighter, then I was prepared to listen for as long as I needed to.
"Right here...
............is where I killed everyone.
...There were no spectators to watch me... but I did the Watanagashi very well.
...Well, perhaps there was one spectator."
"...Huh?
A spectator...?"
"...Me.
I, the demon, was watching the entire time Mion held the Watanagashi ceremony."
Mion cackled in self-deprecation.
...It wasn't a nice-sounding laugh.
"Back there is the prison."
"...Is Shion there...?"
She nodded slightly.
......Mion's Watanagashi... had ended today.
...I needed to tell Shion that I was safe without a moment's delay.
...After all, she was probably trembling in fear at this very moment, worrying about when she would be killed.
The ostentatious door on the other side opened, revealing what must have been an incredibly expansive space based on the echo it made.
Mion groped around in the darkness, and a handful of naked light bulbs came on here and there.
...As my eyes adjusted, more and more of the great cave showed itself in the faint light...
The walls were bare rock surface, and it felt so savage that 'bomb shelter' was the most apt term for it...
There were small, barred rooms built here and there, like holes made by insects biting their way through a giant piece of fruit.
...It was immediately clear that each one of them was a prison.
".........Where is... everyone? Rika-chan, and Satoko...?"
"...Their corpses?"
...I grimaced at her having said it so outright.
"......Yeah.
...That's right.
...The poor things, being left here in the dark like this."
"............I didn't want them to get infested with bugs, so I threw them down the well.
.........I'm sorry."
"............"
So I can't even see their faces in death...
...Once again... my feelings of regret at having confessed everything to Rika-chan came surging forth.
If Mion hadn't attached the word 'sorry' to the end of what she said, I might have punched her.
...Calm down, Keiichi Maebara...
...You said it yourself—no matter what, Mion Sonozaki is your greatest friend!
"......Yeah... My greatest friend..."
I needed to hear myself say it out loud.
Then came the clattering of bars in one of the cells deeper in.
When I noticed it, I looked up as well.
"............Shion?!
............Is that Shion?!?!"
"Ke... Kei-chan?!
Is that you, Kei-chan?!"
I ran over to the cell.
...White hands were peeking out through the gaps in the bars.
...It really was her.
"Are you all right, Shion?!
Are you hurt...?!"
"...N...... no...... no.........
nooooooooooooooooo!!!!"
Shion's face twisted out of shape as she screamed.
...It was because Mion had appeared right behind me.
...Of course.
...Shion didn't know that everything was over yet.
"Calm down, Shion.
...Everything is already over.
...Everything."
I spoke in as calm a voice as I could manage to try and soothe the agitated Shion.
...However, it didn't seem like it was getting through her screams...
"Shion.
...How have you been...?"
"No more... please...!
No more!!
I don't want to see anyone else die!!!
If you hate me... then just kill me already!!!
I'm the one you hate, right?!
Kill me, kill me right now!!
Siiiiiiiiiiiiis!!!!"
"C... Calm down, Shion!
It's all over now.
...It's going to be alright.
So calm down..."
Shion, who was screaming and rattling the iron bars back and forth... was truly in a frantic state.
......I gave a slight shrug of resignation, giving way to Mion.
...I had realized that if Mion was the one who locked her in here... and if Mion was the one who had scared Shion this much... then Mion was also the only one who could put an end to this...
Mion spoke from over my shoulder.
Quietly.
"Relax.
I won't kill you.
...No, I won't kill you just yet.
......Ku-ku-ku-ku-ku-ku-ku-ku-ku-ku-ku-ku...!!"
She burst out into a bizarre laugh... as if trying to make Shion's madness even worse.
Shion broke out into a fierce shiver... brought on by that laugh... and rattled the iron bars as she wailed...
"Please stoooooop!!!
Don't kill Kei-chaaaaan!!
Kei-chan has nothing to do with this, does he?!
If you're going to kill someone... then kill me right now!!!
I don't want anyone else... to dieeeeeeeee!!!!"
"Ah-hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah!!!
If you want to die that badly, then after I've killed this man, I'll take my time making mincemeat out of you.
...In accordance with the ancient rites, I'll do it slowly, starting with your extremities.
I'll shave you down and mince you.
I had that mincing machine set up specifically for you, after all.
...Or would it be funnier if I were to mince up Kei-chan in front of you?"
"...H-Hey, quit it already!
What do you have to gain by scaring her at this point...?!"
"Nooooo!
Kei-chan, run awaaaaayyyyyy!!!"
I tried to rebuke Mion for flinging terrible words at her this late in the game, but...
when I turned around...
Mion's mouth, so much so that it was hard to believe... had twisted into a shape even thinner than a crescent moon... it was a smile.
...I could sense it like a jolt of electricity.
......The person here... wasn't my best friend Mion.
It wasn't the Mion Sonozaki who had been tossed about by her heavy duty of succeeding the Sonozaki family, either.
...Then...
who... was she...?
Ba-baamm!!!!
I saw sparks flying before my eyes, like what happens when you get hit in the back of the head.
...The strength in my body drained instantly, and my head suddenly became heavy.
...My knees buckled under the temptation and hit the floor.
...Then, my whole body abruptly collapsed.
My face should have hit the floor, but it was comfortable, as if I had fallen onto a down-filled futon...
......My consciousness reeled, then receded.
It was the kind of sensation... like if you took a nap in the car... but you were still half-awake, and could listen to your parents talking as if they were far away.
No, you wouldn't be listening, you would only be hearing it.
...It was happening so far away, and the conversation was completely unrelated to you, so you would have no interest in it...
...So whether Shion was yelling in my ears or Mion was in vulgar hysterics, I didn't think it annoying, nor did it interest me.
"Now then... I wonder how I should go about preparing you!
Oh, yes. What do you think of a bed of nails?
I tested it on those two little brats, but their hands were too small for the restraining table!!
Let's do that, let's do that! Ah-hahahahahahahahaha!!"
Mion held me up from behind and dragged me across the floor.
...The soles of my feet scraped on it, and one of my shoes fell off.
"Noooooooooo!!!
Please, stop, siiiiiiiiiiiiis...!!
...Please......
stop......
.........uahhh... aah... ah..."
Shion's emotions exploded outward... and she burst into bitter weeping.
...As if her crying had whetted Mion's interest, she held flung me down and returned to the prison cell again.
"...My, you sure can cry with a cute voice, can't you?
Your unnatural bravado was making my skin crawl, but this definitely suits you the best.
Ku-ku-ku-ku!"
".........Mion, my big sister.
I beg you.
...I don't care how you choose to kill me, but...
please, at least let Kei-chan go.
...I'm begging you............"
...Shion had always acted as though she were a cut above her older sister.
...That Shion... in such a miserable voice that I couldn't have imagined it during those peaceful times...
...prostrated herself before the older sister she used to scoff at and pleaded forgiveness.
Mion looked down with an expression of cool indifference... one that was plainly smiling with joy.
"...You know, I wasn't planning on listening to your petty wishes.
The way you're crying, though, is just too funny...
I think maybe I'll change my mind and listen to you.
...Since come to think of it, I never did anything big-sister-like for you."
"...Yes.
...Yes.
...Thank you, thank you so much..."
"All right then.
Let's hear you apologize for everything.
Then maybe I'll let it all be water under the bridge...
...and maybe, just maybe, I'll let Kei-chan go."
...Mion said she might let me go... but she never said anything about letting Shion go.
Before long... Shion got on her hands and knees behind the bars... and began to speak weak words of apology.
...They were too faint for me to hear... but their intention got across.
Despite having watched her with a magnificently jubilant expression, Mion kicked the bars and declared she was unsatisfied.
"...You think you can make up for years of grudges and hard feelings like that?
That just will not do.
...I guess I'll make mincemeat out of you both!!!!"
"Nooooooooooooooo!!!
Wait, sis!!!!
One more chance!!
Just one more chance...!!"
...Mion stopped and waved her hand again in resignation.
...Not because she had grown impatient... but only because she was taking delight in abusing Shion.
"...You can't apologize to my satisfaction anyway.
...I'll teach you how to make an apology that will get through to your older sister.
...I'm only going to tell you once, and if you get even a letter wrong, you're out.
...Got it?"
"...Yes.
...Yes...
...Thaaank yoou, sis...
Ooh..."
Shion's miserable voice... cried out... having become utterly hoarse.
...The sensation tearing through my chest... returned a little at a time.
...I realized...
it was feelings of anger bubbling up.
I was slowly... regaining control of my body...!
However, I was only able to feel my skin and my blood flowing at the moment.
...I still couldn't... voluntarily move my fingers......!
"...Did you memorize it?
Then let's hear you say it.
Sincerely and faithfully, from beginning to end, with all your heart.
............If you can do it properly, then I'll only kill you."
"...Yes...
Thank you... Thank you so much...!"
......Something was strange...
Something had become strange at some point...
...Until just a few moments ago... I was sure this had been Mion, but...
...At some point, at some point... she had become someone else...!!
The Mion I knew well... would never do something so nasty like enjoy trampling all over someone's dignity like this...!!!
"Now.
Let's hear it.
Your big sister is listening closely."
"............Shi...
Shion Sonozaki is..."
When I ran over to Shion's cell earlier, had the real thing been swapped out with a fake right behind me...?!
Anyway... this couldn't...
possibly be Mion!!
"...Shion Sonozaki...... is a lowly, worthless sow not fit to even lick her big sister Mion's feet...
...and when I think of... th-the countless times I've been rude... to my big sister... w-without knowing my place...
uhk......"
"Yes, yes, that's the spirit.
...I'll permit you to say a little more now, okay~?"
...Blood circulated through my whole body...
My numbed senses were returning...
Just... a little more...!!
...While Shion is still holding Mion's... no, that thing pretending to be Mion's attention...... Hurry up...!!
"...I reflect on... how impertinent I've been...
and swear loyalty to my big sister Mion...
for the rest of my life...
...So... uuh......"
"Ah-hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha......!!"
Mion's burst of laughter echoed throughout the big cave, growing to a terrifying level.
...That was not the laugh of someone who was alive in this world.
...It was none other...
than the laugh of a demon... from the bowels of the earth.
She laughed from her stomach until she grew tired of it, and stopped smiling suddenly as if snipping a wire.
"All right already.
...That was funny enough for me.
I didn't think you'd throw away that much of your pride.
Mm-hmm.
That was plenty enjoyable."
Mion... began to drag me again, after I finally got the feeling in my body back... and pulled me towards the torture chamber.
"S... Sis...!!
...Only... k-kill me...
Please... forgive him......"
"Don't worry, all right?
I'll be sure to kill you real good.
...After letting you get an earful of Kei-chan's screams, that is...!"
"............N... Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!"
After dragging me to the torture chamber, she skillfully strapped me into the restraining table.
Before I knew it, I was sprawled out and bound...
She forced open my hands, with which I couldn't even make a satisfying fist, and tightly restrained each one of my fingers...
...She fastened only my hands, and my fingers at that, tightly with hinges and locked them in place.
"...Siiiiiiiiiiiis...
Don't kill hiimmmm...
Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis...!!"
The door to the big cave with the jails had been left open, so I could hear Shion's cries of mortification the entire time.
"Can you hear it, Shion!?
I'm going to get started now!!
Please, enjoy Kei-chan's young screams!!"
"............Give it a fucking rest..."
The feeling in my body returned, and the first action I took was to tell off that thing that looked like Mion.
"Awake at last, are we?
I lied 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."
Mion brought over something like a toolbox.
...From inside it, she removed a large, metal hammer, and next to that, she began to line up what looked like long, strangely-shaped nails whose ends had been turned into hooks like the kind you'd see on a harpoon.
"I'll let her hear the screams of all those people that died because of her, and after they've soaked in to her very soul, then I'll kill her.
......I've got pretty good taste, huh?
Ku-ku-ku-ku!!"
"............Who......
are you?"
"Hah?
I'm Mion.
Mion Sonozaki.
...Has the fear driven you crazy? Ku-ku-ku!"
"............No, you're not.
...There's... no way you can be Mion Sonozaki...!"
Mion snorted... and continued her preparations for the horrifying torture...
"...I see.
Then if I'm not Mion, who am I?"
"............A demon."
"Huh?"
"............You're not Mion.
...Mion was just here. Give her back."
"...Kei-chan, is your brain really doing okay?
You're not going crazy with fear?"
"Don't touch me!!!
...You damn demon...!!!
Give her back!!
Give Mion back!!!
My best friend... give Mion baaaaaaack!!!"
...Mion stood there for a few moments with her jaw hanging open, not having expected me to say that.
I myself knew... that I was about to go insane.
...I knew it was nonsense... to demand Mion's return when she was right in front of me.
But... but...!
This person in front of me... couldn't possibly have been Mion!!!
There was no way... I could accept that...!!
So... this is what I thought.
Mion really had... been possessed by a demon... and was controlling Mion as if it were a separate personality...!!!
Mion was just a victim being manipulated by it... The evil one was really... this thing!
It all had to be the doing of this demon possessing her...!!!
"Ahhh-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!! Ahhh-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!"
When Mion heard that... she started to guffaw, laughing so hysterically that she started to cough and almost choked.
"............You really are... a piece of work, you know that?
In this very moment, Mion Sonozaki is trying to kill you, and you're trying to reject me?
...I never knew there was such a funny person in all the world."
"............If you want to laugh, do it all you want.
...No matter what you say, though, I won't accept that you're Mion.
...Give her back.
Away with you, demon!!!!"
"Wahhh-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!
...Kei-chan... Are you trying to kill me by drowning me in my own tears...?
Wahhh-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!"
No matter what... I wouldn't lose to that laughter of hers.
I shouted loudly.
...I shouted from the bottom of my heart... so that the real Mion, trapped inside the Mion I saw in front of me... would be able to hear......
"You can do it, Mion...!
Don't... lose to this piece of shit demon...!!!
You're strong... Show me how strong you aaaareee!!!"
"Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Wahhh-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!"
The tears welled up and flooded down her face...
Her hands were busy with the restraints, so she couldn't even wipe them—she just let them flow.
"Please... Mion...!!!
Mion!!
Where... did you lose to a demon like this?!
You're not that weak, are you?!
Don't lose...
Fight...
Fight!!!"
Mion, desperately enduring her laughter, pressed one of the long nails to the tip of my left pinky.
...In her left hand was the hammer.
...At her side were dozens more nails.
...I could tell what she was about to do... though I wish I couldn't.
...Even so... I couldn't afford to be scared.
...That was why I shouted!!
"Wahh-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha......
Haah...... My sides hurt like they're about to split.
......Is that all?
I'm going to get started now.
Be sure to give her some good screams.
Not only am I torturing you, Kei-chan, but I'm torturing Shion as well."
"............Why...
...............why...
...would you...
...............Mion...!!!"
Then... I wept.
...Only sobs came out.
...They weren't in acceptance of the torture about to be performed, however.
......They were tears of regret... that Mion had lost to the demon.
...Yet, a small change did occur in the Mion in front of me.
...Her heightened excitement... was draining, little by little.
...By the time I'd realized it...
the one in front of me... had returned to being Mion.
"............Kei-chan.
...This may not be... something pleasant to take to the grave with you.
.........You really seem to want to know, though, so I'll tell you just one thing."
.........I didn't know... if this was Mion...
or just a display of momentary humanity the demon had recovered.
"......A long time before the demon came to live inside me.
...It was gnawing at my heart, trying to spur me to violence, but...
I suppressed it with my reason.
...That settled the demon down... and I got to thinking it had gone away somewhere.
...As it turned out, I was wrong.
.........It hadn't left me... it had just gone to sleep."
.........I noticed that there were... tears forming in her eyes.
"...The demon... woke up again due to a certain, small opportunity.
......What do you think... that opportunity was...?"
............There was a sad, and yet reproachful light in Mion's eyes.
"......Do you understand?"
............I don't...
I don't know... what gave the demon the chance to beat Mion.
"............
This might be strange for me, a demon, to say, but...
...You're the reason that everything got so messed up.
...The tears welling up... in her eyes... spilled downward all of a sudden.
"............At the time...
if you had given me that doll you got without hesitating.........
maybe everything wouldn't have gotten so twisted."
The doll I got...
...That.. doll that I got... when we had our club meeting at the toy store that Sunday...
"...You probably can't understand.
I wouldn't expect you to.
......But, you see, all sorts of things started falling over like dominoes after that... and soon it was too much for me to control.
...It only makes sense that you wouldn't be aware of knocking over the first one, since it was so small...... but you're the one who set it up."
"............That can't...... Me..........?"
".......If you hadn't made 'Mion' cry... then I wouldn't have had to wake up.
............Is that enough?
For you to die in peace...?"
.......A mistake......
that I'd made on that day...........
was what messed everything up......?
"...That... that can't... be, can it...?"
"............It only makes sense that you wouldn't be aware of it.
Even so, Kei-chan, you are without a doubt the cause.
.........If you had nonchalantly given me the doll that day...... then I don't think this would have happened."
......I wanted to say 'ah,' like I'd just... remembered something... as I recalled that day...
...Rena had told me about that... and I thought I had apologized.
...I didn't apologize to Mion, though.
It had been... Shion.
...In other words... Oh, god...
...I hadn't... said a single word of apology... to Mion...
Today, I came to this house, saying I had something to apologize for... but I never said a word of apology about this.
...Come to think of it... when I apologized for going into the ritual storehouse... Mion looked a little bit lonely, like she was disappointed.
...Why didn't I... realize that until just now...?!
Rena told me at the time... and now she, herself... no... the demon was telling me...
...Is the only way for a dense idiot like me... to be cured... to die altogether...?!?!
"...........Ugh....... ooh...!!"
I could no longer... hold back the hot tears from pouring out of me.
I simply... just cried and cried...... and reflected indifferently... on the taste of my tears... on the taste of regret...
"...Can I start now, then?
This method of torture is very simple.
I'll nail one of these into the joint on the end of your left pinky finger.
Then, I'll nail each one in order until I get to your thumb, and then I'll go back to your pinky and nail one into the joint in the middle.
...So on and so on, until I hammer fifteen nails into your left hand.
When that's over with, I'll do your right hand next.
...After that......... if you're still conscious, I'll tell you.
There are a lot of nerves bundled in your fingertips, so it hurts far more than you could imagine.
...Some people apparently pass out before you finish hammering thirty nails into their hands, so..."
Mion pressed the tip of a nail to my left pinky finger.
......My wrists, my arms, and all the joints on my fingers were strapped in so tightly it hurt... and I couldn't even twitch.
"............I didn't hesitate at all when I was torturing the others.
...Why do I hesitate now?"
"............If this will satisfy your demon, Mion..."
If it will sate the demon, then do to me what you will...
"...........Are...
you serious...?"
"...Compared to how much I hurt Mion... this is nothing, right?"
"............"
"...Do as much as you want.
...In exchange... promise me two things."
Mion was silent.
...She did, however... wait for me to speak.
"..........After you're satisfied with causing me pain... forgive Shion.
...She's been punished enough to make up for her crime of sneaking into the storehouse, hasn't she?"
"You......
After all this... you can still worry about Shion more than yourself...?"
"...The other thing...
is that when you've had your fill... you disappear.
......Give that body...
back to Mion.
............That's all."
"............
............You know, you're... Are you not even considering possibly begging for your life or anything?"
".........Can I ask you to promise three things instead of two?
...The third is to leave me alive."
"...Ahahahahaha.
You said two in the beginning, didn't you?
...So you can't have any more."
"............That's a shame..."
In... such an abnormal situation... Mion and I laughed quietly together... as if sharing in a stupid joke...
"...I probably won't keep these promises, understand?
I'm a demon, after all."
"I guess there's nothing I can do, then..."
......I recalled tightening my hands into fists when enduring the pain at the dentist's office.
...Right now, though, they were opened all the way to my fingertips, so I couldn't even grip them.
...So instead, I tightened my toes.
...Okay... do it.
I've prepared myself already.
So do it.
...You waiting like this to hammer the nails in is scarier.
...It's going to diminish my readiness, after all...
Mion put down the hammer... and gently stroked my cheek.
"...Kei-chan.
I'll... agree to just the third thing, okay?"
"............Huh?"
My third wish.
...To save me.
........She'll agree to it...?
"Your first wish.
To save Shion.
...That's long done for.
...The demon will kill her.
...It's already been decided, so I can't stop it.
So give up on that."
Her delicate fingers... slid from my cheek... to my chin.
"As for your second wish.
To give this body back to Mion.
...That won't happen either.
...After today, Mion will never come back.
......From today on, even if my body is here, it will be just a body...
...because the oni has taken it over."
".........That isn't true.
...Mion is... Mion...!
Don't say such sad things... like that she won't ever come back...!"
"............
Can you hear it?
That sound."
Mion gently closed her eyes and listened...
...I definitely heard it as well.
...Slaa...am...
............slaaaam...
It was a dull noise that repeated at fixed intervals.
...A low noise accompanied by vibrations.
A lot of people were ramming the iron doors to this underground ritual storehouse...
"You're late, so Rena probably called Ooishi.
......That spaced-out girl being so quick-thinking was the one thing I didn't anticipate."
"............I'll agree with you there."
Mion grinned like she'd been outwitted, then took something that looked like an electric razor out of her pocket.
...When she pressed the switch, pale blue sparks flew out with a snapping noise.
"......You've probably never seen one before, right?
It's a real stun gun.
...It's illegal, and its output has been increased quite a bit."
"...Was that what you hit me with before?
......That's not a toy children should be playing with, you know."
"Ku-ku-ku.
...You're right."
She seemed to want to use the stun gun on me.
...Unable to move, I felt her press the cool lump of metal to my neck.
Slaaa...aaam!
I heard a roar, as though they'd broken down the first, large door.
The halls were a bit complex... but aside from the door to this very torture chamber, there was nothing in their way.
"...I won't kill you, but I will have you go to sleep for a bit, Kei-chan.
Ooishi will be here soon.
This will only hurt a bit."
...Feeling the same shock as before...
Gritting my teeth wasn't going to help much... but I clenched them tightly anyway.
However, just as she did when she was about to hammer the nails in, she hesitated a little.
...I cracked open my tightly closed eyelids...
"............I'm sorry...
for disgracing Mion."
"......I made a promise before coming in here.
Whatever happens, the Mion inside my heart won't change."
"............Look, forget about that.
If you ever see me after today...
don't come near me.
...By then, it will be the demon... that inherited my corpse."
What are you talking about?
...Just as I tried to say that... a much stronger light than before shined... and like a television being switched off... my consciousness went black...