CH 300

Gradually, the memories trickled in. Mayuzumi recalled a multitude of broken, chaotic scenes. Endless darkness, a blood-red moon, a broken-down house, figures of maniacal shadows…

She stayed alone in that nightmare, overcome by bone-piercing terror.

It was bereft of everything but despair. Her overwhelming sense of fear made her hesitate, but as long as she could see that person and feel that he was by her side, he would give her the courage to recall those memories.

And so, she tried her best to clearly remember those things. One day, when Reo was at school, she remembered them in their entirety.

“Ten years ago,” Mayuzumi said abruptly, “I also met with something similar to this.”

“Hmm?”

“After the literature club president Hinako Haza blew out the last candle and something scary appeared… my… my consciousness was also trapped in a world. I think it was my own soul realm.”

“That place was far scarier than this one, and I was also the only one there, so I was terrified…”

“I stayed there for a very, very long time. I felt like I was going insane… perhaps I really did go insane.” Mayuzumi lowered her head slightly.

“That must be the time when you fainted for a day,” Seiji said gently after a moment’s thought. “Actually, you were unconscious for more than a day before you woke up. If we go by the time ratio in Reo’s soul realm, then… you must have stayed there for at least ten years.”

Ten years. In a terrifying world. By herself.

Just thinking about it was scary… no, the word “scary” was insufficient to describe such an experience.

Anyone would go insane.

It was highly possible… perhaps even definite…

“You don’t need to think too deeply about this,” Seiji told her decisively. “You just need to remember that you previously had such an experience—that’s enough!”

Mayuzumi nodded. “Yeah…”

“By the way, why did you remember? Is it because we’re in a similar environment now?”

“I don’t know… maybe so.” Mayuzumi lifted her head. “Now that I’ve recalled it, I finally understand that all my nightmares were actually my memories of being trapped in my own soul realm. After I woke up at that time, I forgot those memories, but they still remained… deep within my unconscious mind.”

“My androphobia is actually because of this as well. While I was in college, I met with various bothersome things and didn’t want to take a step outside my house… because many things would unconsciously awaken some of my memories and overlap those terrifying memories with reality. This caused my phobia.”

“I’m not truly afraid of the men in real life. I’m afraid of those… maniacal, terrifying puppets in that frightening soul realm.”

“I… I think that I was killed by those frightening puppets… many… many times.”

“Stop thinking about it!” Seiji berated in a loud voice. “You only need to remember the basics.”

Mayuzumi stopped describing it to him.

A moment of silence fell between them.

“It’s good that we now know the source of your nightmares and phobia,” Seiji said after some consideration. “Although they stem from this mysterious power, the direct source of your pain isn’t the mysterious power, but rather your own memories.”

“We don’t know how to dispel this mysterious power within you quite yet, but memories can be sealed with certain spells! After we wake up, I’ll ask the president to cast a memory-sealing spell on you. It will completely wipe your terrifying memories, which might be able to cure your nightmares and phobia!” Seiji smiled reassuringly at her. “Being stuck in here hasn’t been without its benefits, Sensei.”

“Yeah…” Mayuzumi smiled back at him.

Then, Seiji’s expression froze over as he thought of something.

“Sensei, about those memories… are you able to stop yourself from thinking about them any more deeply?”

Mayuzumi’s expression also froze over. She knew what Seiji meant with this question.

“I… don’t know.”

Mayuzumi had suddenly recalled those memories on her own. She was uncertain if she could use her own willpower to stop those memories from coming back.

She could only try.

The situation took a turn for the worse.

Peach-sensei was unable to stop her own memories from returning!

Ever since that discussion she had with Seiji, she stopped intentionally thinking of those things, but those scenes and those sensations… would still keep reappearing at an increasingly frequent pace.

Seiji noticed that Mayuzumi’s mental condition was deteriorating.

He tried using his own ability of imagination in the soul realm to cast a memory-sealing spell upon her, but failed.

The situation kept worsening even further.

Finally, Mayuzumi began having nightmares again.

These nightmares were far worse than the ones she had in the real world. She felt as if she returned to that terrifying place in her dreams and was experiencing everything there all over again!

‘I have to take action now,’ Seiji thought as he looked at Mayuzumi’s pale face.

If things continued like this, she would be forced to bear an increasingly heavy burden, which would only send the situation into a downward spiral.

There was only one thing he could do.

Although the preparations weren’t entirely complete, they had to…

“Sensei, let’s proceed with the final step of our plan.”

Reo’s “mother” had fallen ill.

She was extremely worried when she saw that her mother’s complexion worsened every day. She prayed for her mother to get better, but it didn’t help.

Then, her mother had to stay in the hospital.

Reo went to visit her mother every day.

However, her mother’s illness still didn’t improve. Instead, her mother showed signs of weakening every day.

Reo began to fold paper origami cranes. Brother Harano accompanied her in folding them.

She folded cranes and prayed every day. She folded a countless number of paper cranes.

But…

“Why isn’t mother’s illness getting any better!?”

After one visit, Reo threw a temper tantrum.

She tore up an unfinished paper crane to pieces and randomly threw some already finished paper cranes as tears welled up in her eyes.

“Because it’s a very serious illness,” a calm voice told her.

It came from Brother Harano. He picked up the paper cranes she threw on the ground and put them back on the table.

“Once someone gets a serious illness, it’s quite difficult to cure.”

“Why did mom get such a serious illness!?” Reo asked sharply.

Brother Harano looked in her direction.

The look in his eyes… Reo felt that it was rather strange.

“It has to do with you, Reo-chan,” he told her in a serious tone.

“W-what?” Reo was confused by this.

“The fact that she has a serious illness actually has to do with you. You did something rather bad to her, which is one of the reasons why she fell ill.”

“I… to mom…” Reo was even more confused.

She didn’t understand what Brother Harano was saying at all.

“I… didn’t…”

“No, you did. It’s just that you forgot, or… you’re intentionally trying to forget.” Seiji looked into the little girl’s eyes.

“I’m not!” Reo shouted angrily. “Brother Harano, you’re lying!!”

Her eyes turned blood red.

The room instantly darkened, and gray-black shadowy figures appeared. Large mouths with sharp teeth suddenly opened up on the walls, and numerous eyeballs appeared on the ceiling. Cold black mist rose up from the floorboard.

Seiji imagined a barrier which blocked the black mist that was attempting to curl itself around him and continued to look calmly at Reo.

“I’m on your side, Reo-chan,” he told her gently. “I don’t want to lie to you, and I also want her to get better. I would like for you to get better as well. Throwing a temper tantrum won’t accomplish anything. Let’s calm down and talk properly. I’ll listen to anything you have to say, and do what I can do for you, because… I’m your friend.”