Chapter 14

May 2 (Saturday), 9:14 AM“You sure this is okay? If word gets out that you were in here with Kazuki Hoshino, it could mean big trouble for both of you.” Maria Otonashi leads me into one of the stalls of the girls’ bathroom. “…Heh.” I walk right into the stall without a second thought, and she regards me with a cold smile. What exactly is she plotting here? True, the toilets up on the third floor of the second annex don’t see much use, since there’s nothing on this floor but special-purpose classrooms. I still can’t figure out for the life of me why she would go to the trouble of bringing me all the way here, though. “You’re right. If we get caught, we would both be suspended. Everyone in school would hate us.” “Are you already desperate? Well then, how about we make a little bit of noise, if that’s what you want?” “I’m game if you are.” Her smile has just the slightest hint of derision… She must already know I’m not sincere. The plan is to assume Kazuki Hoshino’s position in life as it stands now. While I have succeeded in doing more damage to it than I thought possible, I don’t want to get him into any real trouble beyond that. “Now then, ‘Yuhei Ishihara,’ let’s see Kazuki’s phone.” “…Well, that was sudden.” “Just open his pictures. Specifically, the third from the top.” I have half a mind to refuse, but I end up playing along since there’s no point in giving her a hard time. I open the picture in question. It appears to be a selfie taken by a cute girl in pajamas. “So, can you tell me who that is?” “…Is there a point to this question?” “I’m afraid I can’t answer that for various reasons.” Hmm, that was more straightforward than I expected. I take another look at the picture. I have no clue who she is, but I’m sure it’s not to my advantage to simply admit as much. I scan the background of the picture. She’s definitely in a hospital. Now that I think about it, I did hear about a big accident that happened nearby about two months ago. Could she be the victim? Unfortunately…I can’t remember the name they mentioned. …Welp, I don’t know what I don’t know, so I simply toss out the first name that comes to mind and hope it’s right. “Kasumi Mogi.” I try the name I heard the other night from the underwear girl, Ruka Hoshino. “Sorry, but that’s incorrect.” Damn. I smile ruefully. “I was just saying whatever since I don’t really know.” “I lied.” “What?” “I lied when I said you got the name wrong. The girl in the picture actually is her, only you don’t know what she looks like,” Maria Otonashi says without even the tiniest shift in her expression. “…That’s a dirty trick.” “What’s dirty about it? It’s your fault for letting yourself think things would work themselves out if you managed to guess the right answer. On to the next question. How are Kazuki Hoshino and Kasumi Mogi connected?” I still don’t understand what she’s getting at with these questions. I’m sure she’s trying to confuse me, though. I search for an acceptable answer. “……They’re friends.” “And?” I knew she wouldn’t let me off the hook that easily. “I don’t even know who Kasumi Mogi is, so how could I possibly know what they are beyond that?” It’s an obvious conclusion. I already said I didn’t know her, so what other answer can I give? Even she should have no problem with that. “You don’t know Kasumi Mogi?” All the same, Mario Otonashi fires back like I’ve committed a fatal error. “…I thought I told you earlier. I’ve never seen the girl in that photo before today.” “That’s true—you haven’t. I hear what you’re saying. But why does never having seen her before mean you don’t know her?” “…C’mon, you’re not making sense. If I’ve never seen her before, how in the hell could I…?” …No, wait. “Interesting. Well, thanks to this, I think I’m that much closer to pinpointing your identity. You can’t be in Class 2-3.” ……So that’s what she was after. It’s safe to assume that Kasumi Mogi hasn’t been coming to school because of her hospitalization. That’s why I’ve never seen her before. But the members of Class 2-3 would at least know her name, even if they’ve never seen her in person. There’s no way they wouldn’t pick up on the name of the one in the empty desk, not to mention any of the other opportunities a classmate would have to hear it. So the purpose of these questions was to narrow down the list of suspects. “Hmph. To be honest, I had considered it highly probable that Ryu Miyazaki was the owner, but if you aren’t in 2-3, that wouldn’t work.” Ryu Miyazaki? Why would she mention his name? Don’t tell me… He went and acted on his own since I couldn’t give him instructions while Maria Otonashi had me trapped earlier. “You, or to be more precise, the owner, is not one of Kazuki’s classmates yet still knows a lot about us. Not many people fulfill those conditions as far as I can tell. It’s probably someone who Kazuki or I could think of if we try, isn’t it?” Of course, there’s no way I’m going to answer that. “I’ve considered one other thing, about Yuhei Ishihara. Ryu Miyazaki said he’s his mother’s common-law husband. But when I think about why he would be willing to share such a thing with us, it’s only natural to reach certain conclusions about his intentions. That’s right…” Maria Otonashi speaks with confidence. “…There is no one by the name of Yuhei Ishihara.” I swallow. “It was just a made-up name from the beginning. I’m sure you or Miyazaki came up with the idea of using it. You wanted to make it seem like Yuhei Ishihara actually exists to throw us off the trail of the real owner, right? Cooking up a messy relationship like a common-law marriage was probably another move to make it harder for us to sniff around for clues.” He doesn’t exist and was merely a diversion, eh? Wow, she really did see through our plans. But she’s also completely wrong. Yuhei Ishihara is indeed the common-law husband of Ryu Miyazaki’s mother. The only thing is that he doesn’t exist anymore. He’s dead, after all. “Are you through? Can I talk about something now?” Maria Otonashi scowls, probably wary thanks to my sudden desire to speak. “……What do you want to talk about?” “I’m sure this will be of interest to you, too. In fact, I imagine you’ve been racking your brains trying to figure this one out.” I smile broadly as I continue. “I’m going to tell you all about how the Week in the Mud works.” May 2 (Saturday), 10:00 AM Little by little, I assemble bits and pieces of information and regain control of Kazuki Hoshino. Sky. Concrete. Ground. Gravel. Maria Otonashi. My hands. Kazuki Hoshino. We’re behind the school, and I’m…me. After so many switches back and forth, I’m finally starting to get used to this, but with familiarity comes certain realizations. This is a pseudodeath. There’s a “me” that’s there when I’m not. During those times, I vanish completely. I don’t even dream. It’s a death visiting me in stages. If I can’t put an end to the Week in the Mud before the end of May 5, I’ll disappear for good, never to return. In other words, I’ll die. “Kazuki?” It’s Otonashi, standing right in front of me. I nod a silent affirmation before realizing that isn’t good enough. “That’s right, Aya.” Otonashi looks at her watch and frowns. I notice the battered electric guitar at her feet. “Oh, this? I took it from the room of the light-music club.” The guitar looks really old, but judging from the fresh set of strings, it must still see regular use. …Also, I bet she didn’t ask permission before borrowing it. “I picked it up as a hobby to relieve the boredom of the Rejecting Classroom.” Otonashi takes the guitar in hand and begins strumming. She’s much better than I am; I only just barely learned to play an F chord. She stops as quickly as she started and holds the guitar out to me. “Huh?” “Play it. I know your sister gave you her guitar.” “Yeah, but…I’m really bad. I can’t play anything.” “That doesn’t matter. I want you to play for the entire time I’m talking. That way we’ll know the instant ‘Yuhei Ishihara’ takes control again, see?” Ah, I get it. That’s why she took the guitar. I’m so bad it’s embarrassing, but I begin playing the song of a famous rock band I saw a while back in a method book. “I’m surprised you knew my sister gave me her guitar.” “There isn’t a single thing about you that I don’t know,” she replies without a trace of shame. “…Aya, have you forgotten anything that happened in the Rejecting Classroom?” My fingers keep fumbling over the strings as this question pops into my head. “Yes, I remember it well. But if I were to be completely honest, I would have to say there are some things I have forgotten because of the sheer length of time I spent in there, especially since it was the same day over and over. For the most part, I remember everything, though.” Otonashi gives me a questioning look. “Is it not the same for you?” “Yeah, I don’t remember much of it at all. I don’t have any emotions to go with the memories of back then, so it’s easy for them to slip away. Kind of like how it’s impossible to remember the faces of each and every person you pass on the street.” Otonashi falls silent for a moment, her eyes wide. “Huh? What’s the matter?” “Oh, it’s nothing…” Her obvious distress ends up confusing me. “So what you’re saying is that you remember hardly any of what we went through together in that Box?” “Y-yeah.” “I…see…” For some reason, Otonashi goes silent once more. When I look over at her, waiting for her to speak up again, she hurriedly averts her gaze. “I suppose it makes sense when you put it that way. There’s no reason to expect you could remember things the way I do. You’re not an owner, either. Ahh, I think I’m finally beginning to understand…” Refusing to meet my gaze, she mumbles, “That’s why you call me Aya, isn’t it…?” “Huh?” “Nothing.” Otonashi’s typical composure returns in a flash, and she fixes me with a stern gaze. “Hey, Kazuki, you’ve stopped playing.” Flustered, I start strumming again. I’ve forgotten where I was in the song, so I go back to the beginning. “Thanks to your nonsense, we still haven’t even gotten to the matter at hand.” “Sorry. So, what is the matter at hand?” “…Right. I’m still deciding whether we can believe anything ‘Yuhei Ishihara’ says, so let’s set that aside for now. I need to tell you about this latest Box while I can be sure that you’re really ‘Kazuki Hoshino.’” I nod as if to say Go ahead. “In actuality, there are different kinds of Boxes. For a simple, albeit potentially misleading, description, there are Boxes that act inwardly and Boxes that apply their effects outwardly. The Rejecting Classroom was more of an internal type, while this recent Week in the Mud is most likely an external type.” “…Um, how are they different?” “The internal type of Boxes are the ones you get when the owner isn’t certain their wish is truly possible in the real world. Kasumi Mogi, the owner of the Rejecting Classroom, wasn’t fully convinced she could redo the past. That’s why the Box created an entire realm where she could believe in her wish coming true instead of applying its effects to our world. Mogi and her classmates were placed inside this Box where she could believe.” I nod as I keep strumming away on the guitar. “External Boxes are what you get when the owner does believe their wish can be implemented even in the real world. It seems the one responsible for the Week in the Mud feels that their wish can come true in the real world as long as they have the power of the Box. Simply seizing control of someone else’s body doesn’t seem too far removed from reality. It’s credible, so there’s no need to go and create a separate dimension. I think that might also be part of the reason why I can’t fully sense this Box.” “…I’m not sure I’ve got all the details, but if the owner doesn’t think the Box’s miracle can happen the real world, it will result in an internal-type Box, and if they do believe, it will result in an external-type Box?” “That’s the gist of it. If we want to make things even easier to understand, we can assign the Boxes a rating on a scale of one to ten. The Rejecting Classroom would be an internal level nine, while the Week in the Mud would be something like an external level four. The higher the external level, the stronger the Box’s influence on reality.” The Rejecting Classroom had almost no influence, as evidenced by how none of the trapped students has any recollection of that time. So I guess she’s saying this new Box, the Week in the Mud, isn’t like that? “Ah…” I suddenly realize the harsh reality of what she’s implying. At present, all my classmates hate my guts. My relationships with Daiya, Kokone, and Haruaki have all been destroyed. “S-so that means my life—” “Will never go back to the way it was before, yes.” I stop playing the guitar. The sound fades. Nothing will go back to how it was? My normal life will never return? I’ll never recover my peaceful, mundane existence from this madness? Then…there’s nothing left. There’s nothing left for me to even try to take back. The moment this realization dawns on me, everything goes black, as if someone tripped the breakers on the world. There’s nothing for me to work toward. There’s no point in destroying the Box. I’ve truly lost everything. Nothing matters anymore. I begin stumbling away. Otonashi says something, and I say something back. I don’t know what she said, or what I replied, but none of that matters, anyway. I want to scream. But even if I did, no one would help me. May 2 (Saturday), 11:00 AMI’m in a convenience store for some reason. I’m holding a weekly manga magazine. I check the time on Kazuki Hoshino’s phone. This is still partway through third period, so…why am I here at the store? I look around me, but I don’t see Maria Otonashi anywhere. What does that mean? Don’t tell me they’ve finally called it quits? Though a fear lingers in my head that this could be a trap, I have to take this chance to speak with Ryu Miyazaki. I dial the number from memory. The phone continues ringing for a time. Ryu Miyazaki is still in class, so he probably can’t answer right away. I hang up, and just as I’m erasing the evidence from the phone’s history, I get a call back straightaway. “Hello? Ryu Miyazaki?” “……Why do you always have to call me by my full name?” he answers irritably. “I’m nobody. I’m sure the one in your memory didn’t call you by your full name, but I felt doing so was the most natural thing for me under the circumstances.” “…I see. So, don’t you have something you need to be doing? What do you want?” “You’re in the middle of class, aren’t you? Are you okay to talk?” “…You take precedence.” “I wonder if it’s okay for a class president to say something like that. But it makes me happy to hear it all the same. Anyway, I wanted to discuss how we’re going to proceed from here…” “It’s probably best not to speak about that while I’m at school. How about coming by my place?” “That’s fine with me…but you see the issue, right? I’m not sure it’ll be my time when noon rolls around.” “That’s why I said my house. We can restrain ‘Kazuki Hoshino’ before then. It’s your turn again at one, isn’t it?” “Ah, I see. Well then, how about I fill you in on a good way to bind someone up? It’s actually the same technique Maria Otonashi used on me…” I explain about the handcuffs and leg restraints. “Cuffs, huh? I suppose that could work. Can you pick some up before we meet?” “No problem.” “You know where my place is, right?” “Yeah. See you later.” I hang up and immediately wipe the call from the phone’s history. Ryu Miyazaki’s house, eh? Now that I think about it, this will be the first time I’ve ever been there. I’ve always held off visiting before. It’s kind of ironic that my first visit will be in this body. May 2 (Saturday), 11:47 AMRyu Miyazaki’s apartment is in a wood-frame building that’s two stories tall and about two less stars than the fancy condo where Maria Otonashi lives. No auto-lock systems here. I walk up to his room on the second floor and ring the bell. Ryu Miyazaki pokes his head out right away. “Got a present for you.” I hand him a brown paper bag. Inside are some handcuffs and leg restraints. Ryu Miyazaki takes the bag with almost no change of expression. I take off my shoes and step into the apartment. The room is maybe a little over one hundred square feet, about six tatami mats in size. It’s small but well organized. As I plop down on the floor, a random thought crosses my mind. Man, that PC covers most of his desk. “Oh yeah, I was going to chew you out. You acted on your own and said something you shouldn’t have to Maria Otonashi, didn’t you?” A smirk appears on Ryu Miyazaki’s face as if to say, You’re one to talk. “She noticed you were trying to throw her off the trail. I think she’s even figured out that we’re in cahoots.” “Yeah, just as I expected.” I frown at his unconcerned response. “…I don’t get it. You revealed that you’re working with me on purpose?” “So it would seem.” No, I don’t think so… That sounds like an excuse to cover up for his mistake after the fact. “Maria Otonashi was suspicious of me from the moment I initiated contact with Kazuki Hoshino. That’s how on point she is. I decided there was no way I could continue deceiving her.” “You still didn’t have to tell her so much, though.” “…Your goal is to break ‘Kazuki Hoshino’ down until he gives in, right?” “Yeah, what of it?” “Well, you’re going to have to go through Otonashi to do that, since you can’t actually do anything to him directly. The only means of attacking him is through her. But I don’t need to tell you how cunning she is. She may be able to mitigate the effectiveness of any attack we attempt through her.” “I see your point, but…” “What I’m saying is that we need to find someone else we can use to get at him directly without involving Otonashi. And of course it goes without saying that I’m the only one who can do that.” “…True.” “The easiest way to set it up was to make it clear that I’m your accomplice. If I made it too obvious, though, it would most likely put them even more on guard. That’s why I did things the way I did,” he explains matter-of-factly. I smile ruefully without realizing it. Wow, he’s really considered every little contingency. I always knew I could count on him, but this is beyond my greatest expectations. “I’ve already got a plan put together.” “What is it?” “I’ll show him the bodies,” Ryu Miyazaki says. “So you can extinguish the last bit of hope in Kazuki Hoshino? I’m sure witnessing a couple of corpses will give him quite a shock…” Ryu Miyazaki’s mouth twitches up in a smile at my question. “How about if I tell him you killed them just a moment before he sees them?” Now, that sounds interesting. I can’t help but smile, too. “I’ll show ‘Kazuki Hoshino’ the true depths of despair. Just you wait,” he spits. Ryu Miyazaki casually picks up the bag and tosses me the restraints from inside. May 2 (Saturday), 12:00 PM Who’s this guy in front of me? His sharp gaze refuses to leave my face, and I realize the owner is Ryu Miyazaki, only without his glasses. Why am I with him? I’m in a small room, with my hands and legs cuffed. It’s apparent something bad is going down here. What was I doing before I lost control? …I can’t remember. Everything went black as soon as I realized I was never going to get my old life back… And now I’m here. “Are you ‘Kazuki Hoshino’ now?” Miyazaki asks, putting his glasses back on. The question must be his way of saying he already knows the whole story and has no intention of hiding it. “This is my house. I’m the one who tied you up.” “…What for?” “What for? I thought ‘Yuhei Ishihara’ already explained all that. So we can make you give up.” Does that mean Miyazaki is acting on behalf of “Yuhei Ishihara” and not himself? “Hoshino. Did Otonashi fill you in on how this Box works?” I shake my head. “So she’s hiding it from you. Well, I suppose that’s an appropriate choice. ‘Yuhei Ishihara’ told me he explained things to Otonashi under the assumption that she would pass it on to you.” I do vaguely remember she was trying to tell me what she learned from “Yuhei Ishihara.” “I’ll explain things to you instead… Ha-ha, this is all so much easier now that I can be your enemy out in the open.” “…My enemy? What did you say?” “Nothing… So, you already heard that the Box will erase you from existence in one week, right?” “Yeah… Before we go any further, can I ask you something?” “What?” “I can’t believe anything you say. I mean, you’re my enemy, right? There’s no way I can accept anything you tell me on faith since you’ve already tried to deceive me.” “That’s true.” Miyazaki accepts that at face value without the slightest hint of disconcertment. “This has got me thinking I might make a pretty good con man, you know. It’s a new discovery. But the things I’m about to tell you are the absolute truth. If you don’t want to listen, go ahead and plug your ears… You might find that a bit difficult with handcuffs on, though,” he informs me emotionlessly. He approaches and hands me a scrap of paper from a notebook. “‘Yuhei Ishihara’ gave me this.” That means “Yuhei Ishihara” probably wrote it himself, too. The handwriting is more rounded and neat than I would have expected. “Today is day four.” The only thing written in the row for day four is 9 AM – 10 AM. The previous three days all have three sets of numbers each, but this day only has one. There’s nothing else written after that. “Hoshino, surely you’ve noticed by now that your time in control of your body is decreasing with each passing day?” “……What?” “Each day, ‘Yuhei Ishihara’ steals a bit more time from ‘Kazuki Hoshino.’ This paper shows the time taken from you. So for example, 12 AM – 1 AM indicates ‘Yuhei Ishihara’ took that hour from ‘Kazuki Hoshino.’” I look at the note again. Today has the numbers 9 AM – 10 AM in its row. That means ‘Yuhei Ishihara’ was using this body from nine to ten this morning. I know for certain I wasn’t conscious then. “But all this shows is that I’m losing three hours per day. It’s not increasing.” “…How about you try using that head of yours a bit more before you open your mouth? I said that those hours were taken from you, right? That doesn’t apply to that day alone. Those blocks of time remain under the control of ‘Yuhei Ishihara.’ For instance, the hour of midnight to one AM that you lost on the first day will never return.” I still can’t quite wrap my head around what he’s saying. “Geez, you still don’t get it, do you? Maybe it’s easier to think of it this way. Let’s divide each day into twenty-four blocks, and each day, three of those are being stolen from you. After the first day, you only have twenty-one blocks left. On day two, you have eighteen, and then on day three, you have fifteen. By the time day seven rolls around, you’ll have only three blocks left. And the instant the clock strikes at the beginning of the eighth day, you won’t have any more. In other words, game over.” I finally understand. I also recognize why he’s explaining all this to me. Telling me about the Week in the Mud puts “Yuhei Ishihara” at a disadvantage. There’s only one reason I can think of that he would fill me in… “Ah, I can see the lights coming on. C’mon, you have to get it by now. I’m not lying to you here. Lies give people hope once they’re exposed for what they are, see. But the more a person truly understands that the unforgiving truth is still the truth, the greater the ensuing despair. All you need to do is reflect on your own situation a bit to know that what I’ve told you is true.” He’s right. I can feel it in my bones. “Shall I do the math for you? Today, ‘Kazuki Hoshino’ has seven blocks left, including this hour. Tomorrow, or the third, you’ll have nine; on the fourth, you’ll have six; and on the fifth, you’ll have three, for a total of twenty-four. Get it? You don’t even have a whole day’s worth of time left.” Miyazaki continues, driving me deeper into a corner. “‘Push Hoshino to the brink by telling him the truth.’ That’s why ‘Yuhei Ishihara’ wanted you to know all of this. That’s why none of what you just heard is a lie.” I had thought I had four days left. Unfortunately, that was a huge miscalculation on my part. The odds for battle are overwhelmingly in favor of “Yuhei Ishihara.” In terms of how much time I have left in my body, I’m the one who’s the anomaly. Not to mention that my opponent has Ryu Miyazaki on his side. Wow. This really is hopeless. “You’re taking this rather well,” he says, and I can feel that it’s true. Despite the undeniably desperate nature of my predicament, I’m relatively relaxed. I guess I can understand why, though. I surrendered all hope well before he laid any of this out for me. “Hey, Miyazaki, can I ask you a question?” “What is it?” “Why exactly are you helping ‘Yuhei Ishihara’?” My query must have caught him off guard, because he falls silent for a moment. “You wouldn’t be on his side in all this if you didn’t have a good reason, right? Plus, him being in my body probably isn’t the easiest thing to believe, even if he claims he is. Am I wrong?” …Yeah. Let’s see if I can goad him into revealing even more. “How does this sound for a reason—what if ‘Yuhei Ishihara’ is actually you?” If my crazy-sounding theory is wrong, he should burst into laughter. However, for some reason, Miyazaki sharply, silently regards me for a moment. “…So I’m ‘Yuhei Ishihara,’ am I? Well…” He flashes a quick smirk before he continues, “You’re correct.” “……Huh?” I never would’ve expected such a response in my wildest dreams, and I’m at a loss for words. “I’ll level with you here—I’m getting tired of this. I didn’t think maintaining my facade would be so taxing. That’s why I want to get a few things off my chest and lighten the load.” Miyazaki sighs wearily. “Hoshino, do you have something you value above all else?” “…I do.” Or to be more precise, I did, but now my normal life is in shambles. “Well then, maybe you’ll be able to understand how I see this. The most precious things aren’t the ones you devote yourself to or the ones you constantly claim to love. No, something truly important to a person forms the very core of their being. Lose it, and you’re an empty husk, a pile of flesh as limp as if your spine’s been ripped out. That’s why, if you really, truly value something with all your heart, then for all intents and purposes, it is you.” “So when you said I was correct just a minute ago, you weren’t saying you’re ‘Yuhei Ishihara,’ were you?” “Of course not. If I were, I would never condone this bullshit.” Yet Miyazaki is helping “Yuhei Ishihara” commit exactly that bullshit because he’s that important to him. “If this is what that fool wants, then I’ll be the shield and do whatever it takes to make those desires a reality. Even if it’s wrong.” His attitude doesn’t show a hint of pride or even resolve. He’s chewing his lip bitterly with a kind of resignation, but his eyes are unhesitating and sure. “…I understand how you feel. But why is ‘Yuhei Ishihara’ so important to you?” Miyazaki mutters “…I guess you would want to know that” before elaborating. “It’s probably… No, there’s no ‘probably’ about it. It’s a fact. Of course I have a reason to care so much. I mean…” He sounds pained as he spits, “…I’m the older brother, after all.” “Older brother? What?” It’s too sudden for me to absorb. “So you’re saying the connection to Yuhei Ishihara you told me about earlier was a lie? …But, uh…” “Yuhei Ishihara is my mother’s common-law husband; that much is true.” “Then Yuhei Ishihara and ‘Yuhei Ishihara’ are two completely different people?” “Yeah. Involving that bastard’s name in this made things even more complicated, but that’s where we are.” “The person inside my body is your younger brother, not Yuhei Ishihara…?” So Miyazaki is saying he values his brother enough to conflate their existences, simply because they’re related by blood? …No, that still doesn’t quite make sense. I have a big sister myself. Of course Roo is dear to me, but I wouldn’t say our relationship is strong enough that I would do anything for her. “I told you how things are in my family, didn’t I?” Instead of answering my question, Miyazaki explains, “Everything I told you is true, even though I withheld the information about my sibling situation. My life as I knew it was dashed to pieces when my parents divorced. Children have no choice but to rely on their parents, but mine said they didn’t want me. They said I was trash, a nuisance, a mistake of the past. It broke everything inside me. Maybe it’s a trite way of putting it, but I fell into the deepest pits of despair. I wouldn’t even have called myself human back then.” A self-deprecating smile spreads across Miyazaki’s face as he continues his tale. “But as luck would have it, I wasn’t the only one failing to be human. The one you know as ‘Yuhei Ishihara,’ who my mother took with her, was the other. Having a fellow reject saved me. I’m sure some would call it codependence, but that relationship filled me with life again. My sibling became my core, a part of me that would be just as hard to remove as my own backbone.” Miyazaki fixes me with a hateful glare. “I never want to lose my humanity again. I will do what I have to do…to protect myself.” I completely get it now—Miyazaki’s younger brother is truly essential to his being. “…I still can’t accept it, though.” Before I continue, Miyazaki silently waits for me to explain. “Becoming Kazuki Hoshino won’t make him happy, not really. And I don’t think you will have protected him, either. I think the best thing for him would be to let him find his own way.” “You’re right.” Miyazaki’s sudden admission catches me off guard. “Then…” “You don’t need to say it. I know. I know it all myself. But it’s simply too late.” “…Huh?” May 2 (Saturday), 2:00 PM I soon learn what Miyazaki meant by “too late.” Although I had no idea what was going on, he suddenly showed me something unexpected that made it clear the situation was past the point of no return. “These are the bodies of Yuhei Ishihara and my mother.” I’m in another unfamiliar house. The living room would be fairly nondescript—if it weren’t for the spread of reddish-black stains. I look at the dead bodies. One belongs to a middle-aged woman. The corpse’s skull is crushed. It’s caved in like a crescent moon amid a splatter of brains. The other belongs to a middle-aged man. This must be the real Yuhei Ishihara. His head is also smashed in, much like the woman’s, but his body has taken far more damage. His limbs are all bent at impossible angles, as if he doesn’t have any joints. The sight is enough to convey the incredible hatred it must have taken to leave the body in such a horrifying state. As if that weren’t enough, the stench is…unbearable. “Ahh…” My mind is reeling after witnessing these corpses amid the putrid air. Why— Why am I seeing this? “This is an attack on you.” A fluorescent lamp bathes the two lifeless forms in white light. “The murders were committed using your body. I trust you know what that means? As long as you’re Kazuki Hoshino, there will never be any escape from this crime for you. If the police catch you, you will bear the punishment.” His voice sounds so distant that it doesn’t quite reach me. Miyazaki lets out a small sigh at my shock. “……Well, actually, we considered spinning the situation that way to bring you to your knees, but we decided against it. As I told you before, despair born of a lie turns to hope once the truth is revealed. These dead bodies are the cause of it all. They’re the reason my sibling wanted to be you.” “The cause of it all…?” So the murder of these two was what led him to try to steal my body? Based on what Miyazaki has told me so far, the owner felt doomed to unhappiness. What would he wish for if he obtained a Box when he committed this act? Most likely, a way to take his life back. Only he wouldn’t want to be himself anymore. Thus, stealing someone else’s identity. “…I understand now why the owner would make this kind of wish. Still…I can’t quite figure out why you would help him in creating the Week in the Mud. Seems like you’d be better off destroying the Box and convincing him to turn himself in…” “I can’t very well stay by someone’s side in prison, now can I?” He has a point. Still, the most important person to Miyazaki’s identity could either get thrown in prison or become someone else entirely. I think the former sounds like the better choice, but… “You look confused… Oh, I see. Haven’t figured it out yet, have you? I’m surprised you didn’t think of it yourself. My sibling is inside Kazuki Hoshino now. If that’s the case, where’s the body?” Now that he mentions it, I haven’t paid much thought to that particular detail at all. I must have assumed in the back of my mind that his presence in my body meant that his own just disappeared. “I’ll give you the answer. Get out your phone.” The pieces fall into place as soon as I hear those words. I pull out my phone, open the data folder, and check my voice memos. There’s one new recording. I hit the play button. “I already killed my old body.” My breath catches in my throat. Does this mean he committed suicide after murdering Yuhei Ishihara and his mother? Why the hell would he do such a thing…?! “I mean, it was just taking up space, after all. I won’t need it anymore, since that’s not who I am anymore.” …Hold on a minute. This means… “See? I told you—it’s too late. It’s no longer possible for me to protect the person I tried so hard to keep safe.” …Yeah, it is too late. Not only for Miyazaki, but for me, too. The person “he” once was is already gone. Which means the owner is dead. Which means there’s no longer any means of destroying the Box. In other words, there is no way to neutralize the Week in the Mud. We’re too late. Horribly, miserably, and hopelessly. “There’s no other path for me now aside from helping the Week in the Mud fulfill its wish,” Miyazaki asserts, but his tone is overly indifferent, like he’s trying to suppress his emotions. That doesn’t stop his point from getting across loud and clear, though. “So you see, Hoshino……I’m going to make you disappear.” He slowly raises his pallid face, and his eyes…are empty. “I will cut away any thought you ever had of resisting.” Miyazaki continues, never once meeting my gaze. “But even that’s not enough for us to rest easy. There’s still Maria Otonashi to deal with. That’s why I came up with a plan. One that will let me break your will and put a stop to her. A way to kill two birds with one stone, if you will.” A small grin appears on Miyazaki’s face. “We’re going to capture Otonashi. And we’re going to make you do it.” “…And that’s going to break my will?” “Yeah. Just think about it. If we kidnap Otonashi and keep her locked up until the sixth, that naturally removes her as an obstacle. If she can’t take action, there’s no way you can ever undo the Week in the Mud.” Betraying Otonashi would be throwing away my only hope of getting out of this mess. That’s why it would leave me truly broken. “Now then, time to put this plan into action… Hoshino, I’m going to keep you locked up in my apartment as bait. You can resist if you want, but I’ll get you there one way or another. I’m not afraid to get violent, either. Well, once you switch out of the driver’s seat, it’s not like you can do anything to stop us, though.” “So…I guess all you need to do is wait for your partner to take control.” “That could allow you to justify your actions by claiming you were being held against your will. All of this is meaningless if you don’t choose to betray Maria Otonashi of your own volition. We are trying to break you, after all.” ……I see. “So what’ll it be? You gonna fight back?” Miyazaki pulls a set of brass knuckles from his pocket and slips them on. The look in his eyes makes it clear he isn’t bluffing. Do I stab her in the back? Do I betray Maria Otonashi— No, Aya Otonashi? Even if I do, it’s not like she trusts me, anyway. Miyazaki doesn’t seem to have noticed yet, but now that I know there is no way of getting my old life back, I don’t feel like struggling anymore. Fight Miyazaki? That’s crazy. Why would I intentionally put myself in harm’s way? “……” And yet I still can’t say it. I can’t give voice to that simple phrase, that I will betray Otonashi. Why? I don’t understand. It’s not like anything will change if I don’t say it. I should just give in; they’ll just kidnap me anyway once the next switch comes around, so the outcome will be the same. Despite knowing all this, whenever I try to affirm my betrayal, a burning pain spreads through my chest. “M-Miyazaki, I…” Bam. “—Guh…” Miyazaki makes good on his violent threats. I crumple to my knees, unable to even cry out fully. He looks down on me with the same vaguely empty expression. I can tell he has no intention of listening to anything I say. He’ll simply go straight for another hit if I show any signs of resisting. I know now. The only thing I can do is make the decision to betray her. What’s the big deal? Aya Otonashi was my enemy anyway. Miyazaki grabs me by the shoulders and pulls me to my feet. As I totter defenselessly, he drives his fist into my stomach again. “C’mon. Say that you’ll do it. Say it.” “Just…” It won’t change anything, so there’s no reason to hesitate. Even so, why…? “Just…lock me up.” Why does that sickening request all but break my heart? May 2 (Saturday), 11:10 PMI’m dreaming. It’s the same dream again.