NOVEL NEXT chapter 94
94
50, The End of Emi Sasaki B
“Ha ha ha… Yes… I killed… I’m sorry, despite our best efforts… But, why is there a knife in the envelope…? If it weren’t for that…”
“It’s to make sure your father is killed forever.”
“Eh…?”
“If you want to break the cage, you can’t rely on others! You have to do it with your own hands! But you did it, you’re amazing, Eternity.”
You’re amazing…
I’m envious…
Don’t just break your own cage and run away…
Please, break my cage too…
And the cage right behind me while you’re at it…
We’re friends, right?
You worked so hard just to break your cage?
While classmates were playing or studying, I was forced to spend every night grasping the time your father would come home, such a nonsensical task?
In the pouring rain, without an umbrella, I waited forever for your father to come home?
With makeup ruined, a face I couldn’t show anyone, soaked to the bone, I waited…
I’m still not feeling well, you know?
“Don’t touch me!?”
“Ah…”
A small voice leaked out.
I was rejected.
After devoting so much to Eternity, Eternity won’t do anything for me…
“It’s strange!? This is wrong!? Did you set this up…? Hey, why!? Weren’t we friends!?”
“We are friends. That’s why I helped you break the cage. Now we can play every day, Eternity.”
We’re friends, right?
Please, somehow break my cage!
Help me!
Help me!
You have a choice.
A choice that no one can interfere with.
There are arms that can resist.
There are feet that can face forward.
I don’t have the freedom I want.
“No way, I’m going to get arrested… It’s not a game…”
“Then what about this? My mother killed my father. After killing him, she committed suicide. I’ll believe it for the rest of my life. I witnessed the scene where my mother killed my father. I was also nearly attacked by my mother, but she looked at me and hanged herself. The only survivor at the scene was Miyamura Eternity. Akemi and Sasaki were not present at the scene.”
Eh? Why would you do something like that…?
Stop it, Akemi-kun?
She’s the one who broke the birdcage she wanted to break!
You’re passing on a happy memory to your mother, like you’re shifting the blame!
That’s unfair…!
Why do you have to make me suffer so much, and give Eternity such a false and cruel memory…?
Why do you have to give Eternity such a rescue…?
I have no role to play…?
“Destroy all the evidence, erase all the memories of the students involved from middle school to today, and make everyone forget…}”
Even the memory of me and Eternity being friends will be taken away…?
All the memories of my involvement with Akemi will be erased…?
That’s unfair, that’s…?
Don’t run away…!
Don’t leave me behind…!
Just leave the fact that the birdcage was broken…?
That’s cruel, that’s… too much…!
Breaking the birdcage was out of my control.
There is no fact that I was involved with the devil Akemi.
Why do you have to make her happy…?
“Goodbye, birdcage girl. This time, it was quite an entertaining soap opera, wasn’t it?”
“No, no, no, no, no, no…!”
“It’s okay, I’ll make you forget all the unpleasant things. [■■]”
“aaah…”
Really unfair…。
I’ve been forced to touch my chest many times…。
But why is eternity only once…?
But why erase the memories…?
I’m left with only the painful memories.
Eternity, where only the painful memories are erased.
This is unfair…
One birdcage was destroyed.
And the bird itself had its feathers plucked and died just like that.
“It was fun this time, wasn’t it, Emi?”
“Yes…”
“What’s wrong? You look displeased. Are you upset I didn’t include you?”
“No…”
“Don’t be jealous, shall we do it when we get back?”
“…………”
The other birdcage is still intact.
Again, today the master plays with the bird as a toy.
——
“Hey, you’re Sasaki Emi, right?”
Years later, I am restrained by my classmate, Yoru Hiru.
“Ugh… let go, let go!!”
“Alright, alright, calm down. Maybe it’s time for a little nap.”
“What!?”
An injection is administered at my neck.
Why has it come to this…?
I don’t understand…
“Oops, gotta be careful not to touch with bare hands, the ‘Anti-Gift’ might activate… I need to be cautious…”
As my consciousness fades, the word “gift” reaches my ears…
I’ve had enough of gifts…
“Come on, spit it out, spit it out, spit it out.”
“Agggghhh!”
“What gift did you set up for Miyamura Eien? What’s the true identity of Akechi Hidetoyo’s man?”
“I…can’t…”
You can’t say that.
If I betrayed that man, I’ll be killed…
He hates betrayal very much.
I can’t, I can’t say it.
“What? So? Then I’ll rip off another claw?”
“Owwww! That hurts…? Ahhh!?”
“Hehe! How is it? That’s what you usually do, isn’t it? We’re listening to the true nature of you and Takeru from ‘Takel’!”
Takeru-san, what about you?
It’s impossible, that person is a foolish and obtuse man with a head full of flowers.
He’s still calling you a childhood friend, a useless person.
That person can’t be so perceptive.
“You’ve done whatever it takes to satisfy your own pleasure, including hurting or killing people, haven’t you? That’s karma! You were controlled by a gift, and it’s unrelated to the victim. Look, it’s time to atone for your sins! Sasaki Emi!”
“I don’t know…I don’t know that…”
“What’s the gift you set up for Miyamura Eternity? What happened on that day? Hurry up! I’m waiting for Takeru!”
“I don’t know! I don’t know anything!”
“You see…you’re really going to die? I know you’re scared of Takeru, but if you give any more ridiculous answers, I’ll kill you.”
She pulls my long hair and holds the combat knife to my throat.
Her eyes were serious.
She was looking at me with the same eyes as when Takeru kills someone.
“Can’t you kill me? Can’t you kill me…?”
“It’s up to you. I’m on a tight schedule too! Hurry up, in five seconds!”
“Takeru-san…Eternity…used the gift…to kill my father…”
I’m only afraid of dying.
I won’t complain no matter what happens to my body.
I’ll endure no matter how much my body is broken or soiled.
I’ll endure no matter how much I’m consoled or sympathized with.
…But I really don’t want to die.
Even if my will is gone, the fear of death will not disappear until the end of life.”
“……”
I was broken, my nails were torn off, I was beaten numerous times, and my body was covered in blood.
Just like the time when a girl named Sayaka Tanigawa was dragged away, now it’s me being dragged.
“To break the chain of sorrow… the sorrow brought by the Gift… Takeru no longer…”
Yoru mutters to himself halfway through.
It doesn’t matter anymore.
Anything is fine.
The place I was dragged to was the ruins of a secret base belonging to Hideyori-kun and Jumonji-kun.
I guessed that both of them were probably in this ruin.
“Takeru!!”
As Yoru calls out, the two were in the midst of a fight…
With my fading memory, I vaguely catch sight of it.
“Hey? Did you kill Emi?”
“Don’t worry, Emi is still alive. She was just subjected to a little torture.”
“Torture…”
“Don’t mind it, I’m just used to this kind of rough treatment due to my unusual upbringing.”
My best friend from that day, Eien, peers into my face.
She looks remarkably healthy.
Ah, she’s been completely saved by Jumonji-kun…
I’m truly envious…
Trapped in the same cage, yet she could choose a happy ending.
While I, on the other hand, am beaten to a pulp by an incomprehensible girl, suffering so much I feel close to death…
Ah, it’s really infuriating…
After all, Eien is the tragic heroine…
And I’m just the villain…
“Emi… you useless thing… [Cough up blood and die]”
Ah, it’s all over…
The moment I betrayed Hideyori-kun, I was destined to die…
If I don’t talk about Eien, I’ll die from the torture by Yoru.
If I do talk about Eien, I’ll die from the Gift by Hideyori-kun.
Ah, my life had been checkmated long ago…
My death is merely postponed by about ten minutes…
“Geha…!?”
A tremendous amount of blood is coughed up.
My vision fades to white.
What was my life all about…?
Not even Eternity, who was supposed to be my friend, is here to see me off.
Dying alone in such a desolate ruin…
……….
Unable to resist any longer, I completely let go of consciousness.
I will not forgive…!!
I feel nothing but disgust for the name Akechi Hidetoyo.
I won’t forgive, won’t forgive, won’t forgive!!
If we ever meet again…
I want to kill him.
The birdcage remains, but the bird has been discarded like trash…
―――――
“Emi?”
“Ah, what’s up, Hidetoyo-kun?”
I was dozing off on the train when Hidetoyo-kun’s face suddenly appeared close by, startling me.
I wish he’d stop; it makes me expect a kiss from the person I like.
“You really look unwell. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine! It’s just lack of sleep, so please don’t worry.”
No, the dream I had last night was truly terrifying.
I can’t quite remember the details, but… it was the dream of a girl who lived a pitiful life.
A dream of regret.
“Here, take my coffee.”
“Sakiya…?”
“Get some caffeine in you and wake up.”
“……, yeah! Thank you! I’ll enjoy it!”
Coffee isn’t my strong suit, but I can’t help but be enthusiastic about it, can I?
I take a sip of coffee into my mouth.
“Ugh!”
“Just tell me it’s bitter!”
……If I were asked to summarize my dream from last night.
It was just like coffee.
Bitter and bitter, a dream that was……。