“Watch.” Sanetoshi held up his hand, and a portion of the invisible floor rose up like the lid of a box. Kanba peered down inside to find Masako’s bedroom at the Natsume estate—a bird’s-eye view of her bed.
“Masako…no…”
At the time Kanba awoke, he found that his injuries were already treated. The members of KIGA were there with him, but Masako was not.
Here she lay unconscious in bed, her ample curls fanned out over the bedsheets, surrounded by the Natsume family’s private duty medical team, plus her butler Renjaku. Every visible inch of her was covered in bandages, and she looked to be in pain.
Kanba hated all the equipment and the tubes, but what he really hated was the sound of the EKG. Once it went flat, its obnoxious drone signaled a person’s death.
“Now then, let us behold the miracle that will occur.” Smirking, Sanetoshi bowed.
“My lady?! My lady!” Renjaku shrieked, drowning out the sound of the monitor. “My lady!” As the blood drained from her face, she clung to Masako’s unconscious body. “MY LADY!”
It was the first time Kanba had ever seen Renjaku lose all control of her emotions. Meanwhile, Sanetoshi watched with a leisurely smile as the doctor reached over and checked Masako’s pulse.
“She’s gone.”
“No… My lady!” Renjaku collapsed to the floor beside the bed and began to sob.
“Poor thing. It appears your twin sister has died,” Sanetoshi remarked casually.
He took Kanba by the hand, and the two of them descended gently into Masako’s bedroom. Kanba stood there dumbfounded as Sanetoshi walked over to Masako and peered intently at her face. She wasn’t breathing.
“She’s very pretty. Looking at her up close, I can tell the two of you are related.” His fingers toyed with her glossy hair.
Neither Renjaku nor the medical team seemed to notice their presence. Timidly, Kanba approached the bed; Sanetoshi glanced over his shoulder and grinned as he gently stroked Masako’s cheek with his palm. Then he pointed at the EKG monitor, and suddenly, the flatline pulsed to life. Startled, the doctor peered at Masako’s face.
“Nngh…” Groaning, Masako lifted her heavy eyelids by a fraction.
“My lady?! Doctor, she’s awake!” Renjaku scrambled back to her bedside. “My lady! My lady!” she whimpered in a watery voice.
“You there!” The doctor pointed at the one of the nurses and began to give hasty instructions.
“Where’s…Mario-san…?” Masako asked, glancing in Renjaku’s direction.
“You needn’t worry, my lady. Mario-sama is resting in the room next door,” she answered firmly. Then she pulled out a white handkerchief with her initials embroidered into it and wiped her tears.
“So he’s alive?”
“Yes, of course, my lady!”
“Good… I’m glad…” Masako let out a shaky breath and closed her eyes once more, falling unconscious in her relief. Color returned to her lips and cheeks, and her body steadily regained its warmth.
“Masako…” Privately, Kanba heaved his own sigh of relief. This reminded him of the time Sanetoshi first saved Himari’s life. Did he use this power to do it?
“Now do you see? I have the power to save Himari-chan,” Sanetoshi boasted.
“Yeah…” Kanba nodded quietly. Unlike him, Sanetoshi could actually save her… The gunshot wounds on his back twinged slightly.
“Don’t!” Masako suddenly shouted, reaching out with one hand. Her eyes were still closed, like she was dreaming. “Don’t go, Kanba! Don’t go with him!”
“Stop that, my lady. You have to rest!”
Following Sanetoshi’s lead, Kanba turned to leave the room.
“You’ll die!”
Kanba frowned a tiny fraction. Sanetoshi would destroy the world…but he would save Himari. Honestly, if it would save her life, what did it matter if he died in the process?
“You’re wasting your time. You’ll never reach him.” Sanetoshi waved a dismissive hand in her direction. “Humans are programmed to ignore dissenting voices and seek an echo chamber. As such, the only voice he can hear now is mine.”
Sanetoshi stooped down slightly, bringing himself down to Kanba’s eye level.
“You haven’t done anything wrong. You’re making the right choice,” he whispered in a sensual voice.
And the more Masako writhed, the more delighted he became.
“See? The more you oppose his actions, the farther he’ll push you away, until eventually you can’t reach him at all. You know that, right? More than anything else, humans want to be needed. They spend their lives yearning for it.”
Then, while she was watching, he turned back to Kanba.
“Now go and wreak havoc to your heart’s content. Let’s conduct an experiment and find out how destructive the power of your love can be.”
Sanetoshi gave Kanba a little push. The pain in his back faded, and his cold sweat dried. He walked to the shelf beside the bed, picked up half of Momoka’s diary, and flipped past the grimy cover to examine its contents. As she grimaced at him, he afforded her a passing glance, then went back to Sanetoshi, who put an arm around his shoulders.
“Now then, let us be off.” And with that, they slowly floated upward, back toward the void Sanetoshi created.
“Don’t do it, Kanba! Don’t get on that train! Don’t go that way! Don’t go!”
“Perhaps she’s dreaming about taking the subway,” Sanetoshi chuckled. “As of this moment, you’re my new best friend.”
But not even that managed to get a reaction out of Kanba. Once they returned to the void of space, Sanetoshi lifted up the lid to Masako’s bedroom and dropped it back into place with a firm CLACK.
For Ringo, it was deeply strange to set foot in the Takakura house by herself. As she entered, she called out “Sorry for the intrusion,” even though she knew no one was there. Then she went and packed her gym bag with a few days’ worth of clean clothes for both Himari and Shoma.
If she used the spell she inherited from Momoka, she could transfer Himari’s fate and save her life…but she still only had half of the diary. That said, even if Yuri was right and the other half was currently in the possession of a teenage girl named Natsume Masako, it didn’t explain why this other girl was after the diary. And even if Ringo went and begged her, it wasn’t likely she would agree to forfeit her half.