AT the same time Yura confronted the reality of her strange new world…
A commotion had broken out in a quiet residential district. Red lights were flashing against the buildings’ outer walls.
The month and day were unknown. It was like hell, particularly for those involved. The red lights spun, illuminating the area. Illuminating Tomoko’s house and the faces of her neighbors peeking out from behind their curtains.
Crying voices could be heard. They were adults’ voices. Mixed in with them were shouting voices. Someone was shouting at the top of their lungs at someone else. A group of trembling girls were talking to the police.
“It’s your fault!” cried the voice. “This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t pulled something like that!”
Someone admonished the speaker and held them back. Their hands were bound behind their back.
Inside, a man in a suit was touching his forehead and getting details from an officer. He was vigorously dabbing the sweat on his brow with a handkerchief and his face was pale.
The shouting girl clenched her hands into fists. She gripped a small recorder. Someone had picked up a dropped bike and people were entering and exiting the shop rapidly.
Suddenly, someone’s foot stepped on something. It was a thin wallet. A man who looked like a detective bent down and picked it up to look it over.
It was made of synthetic leather and peeling at the corners, with a design that looked like a girl would carry it. Opening the slender blue case, he saw a student identification card. It had a picture of a girl in a school uniform on it.
The name on it read Yura Sugano.
The owner of the voice recognized it. They stared at it, speechless. At the officer. Then at the wallet in his hands. Both of their faces reflected the same thought at the same time.
The sound of a radio broke through and the officer responded and walked away.
Tomoko looked around the empty shop. Nothing had changed. But no one noticed the mirror that’d been left in the corner.
The interminable night showed no signs of ending.
✦ ✦ ✦
YURA slipped into her bed with no desire to move.
The dim light cast large shadows across the room.
The image of her in hysterics as soon as she’d returned to her room swam to her mind’s eye. It’d taken three people to get her back into the room, her mind anxious over whether or not she would ever make it home. She couldn’t fight her curiosity and so had peeked at herself in a mirror, only to thrust it away and burst into tears.
Leila had thrown an arm out and shielded Yura from the shattering mirror. Left to her own devices, Yura sobbed. She then dove into her bed.
Once the footsteps grew further away, Yura poked her head out from under her covers and finally let out the breath she’d been holding.
It was most likely Leila. Probably checking on her. She lingered in front of the room for a time before giving up and leaving.
After that, two people had visited Yura’s room. The first was Ashes and the second was Leila.
He’d come after hearing about the commotion. But seeing Yura all huddled up, he silently closed the door.
“What happened?”
She heard his voice from out front. It was like he was interrogating someone.
“I-I’m afraid I do not know…”
Yura heaved a sigh of relief. Even though this wasn’t a bad place, she still found it hard to breathe. She felt as if her lungs were hurting. Like her bad feelings had knotted up inside her chest.
When she cried, her emotions were so…all-consuming, they threatened to swallow her up.
Those emotions flowed out with her tears.
Yura felt like she was completely empty inside. All that remained was exhaustion and a strange sense of unreality.
She stared into the darkness, out of energy, unable to do anything but blink.
The words she’d been unable to voice before finally fell from her lips.
“Can I even make it home?”
It was like the pain finally registering in the brain after getting a deep cut. It took a while after she said it for those words to truly sink in.
All the shock she’d absorbed was only now hitting her.
What do I do? Is it even possible to go home?
No matter how it tried to hold me down, to choke the life from me, no matter how confining…that world is still where I belong.
Yura finally understood.
I came here without even realizing how important my home was.
She’d been fixated on the beauty, the novelty, and the feeling of freedom.
Maybe this was a punishment?
Maybe this was my punishment for hiding behind my own cowardice.
Because I was always running away from the here-and-now? So, in the end, I was kicked out of my own reality.
From where I belonged.
From the precious people I should have apologized to. I’m such a fool. Such a coward! So blockheaded. So stupid! Always causing everyone trouble. Just foolishly acting like nothing mattered…
She found herself wondering what Tomoko was doing.
She must be worried sick about me. After all that happened between us, I just went missing…
My mom’s probably looking for me too.
What if Tomoko is blaming herself…
I’m such a fool.
Yura drew in a breath.
I’m so selfish! So wretched!
Covering her eyes, she kept crying.
Was Leila still out in the hall?
She had no clock, so she’d no idea what time it was. She wondered if anyone could hear her from the hallway.
Taking a breath, she held back her tears.
No, I don’t want to stay here any longer. I want to go home before I get forced into a marriage to someone I don’t even know, looking even more like a stranger to myself!
Yura sat up. She got out of bed and stood by the window. She pushed open both shutters and gazed out at the predawn scenery before her.
Stars dotted the sky as it began to lighten. She saw a massive moon, almost twice the size of the one back home, hovering in the sky. Darkness still lingered at the edges of the sky. The forest she had seen and the wasteland from the other day were still shrouded in a dark haze.
She could see herself in the window glass, just as beautiful as when she’d first seen herself the day before. Then gently looking away, she thought, Before I lose myself, I have to find a way home. I feel like, at this rate, I really will lose myself. I really won’t be myself anymore!
It felt like the unfamiliar sight in the mirror was awaiting its chance to be her.
No one here knows the real me.
They think this distorted version of me is the real me.
She closed the window and asked herself one more question.
But who in this world would get to know the real me?
Who could I tell everything about myself to?
Who exactly?
Before the thought had even finished forming in her head, Yura spun around and took off.