-19- Fushimi Hiiragi
The girl was born on this world as the only maiden of a shrine.
Her parents weren’t blessed with children for a long time and were so pleased with the pregnancy when they already gave up having a child. The father was approaching middle age within several years and the mother was over 58 years old when she gave birth.
On the day when the piercing cold winter snow fell and piled up, there was a baby’s first cry.
If it was the old times, the difference in age of the parents and child is so much that she can be called a grandchild rather than a child. Both parents put in devotion in their only beloved daughter and raised her, the child grew adorably as a result.
She was a smart child. The parents never mentioned it even once, but she sensed that they were wishing deep in their hearts for her to succeed the shrine. Therefore, she accepted it as her own destiny with a gentle heart. Yes, the girls loved her parents and held attachment and pride in the ancestral shrine that has been around since a long time ago.
A male priest will be taken into the family as a son-in-law in the future and succeed the house. That was decided for her.
When did she become clearly aware that her own appearance is superior to most people? It started when a boy sat in the sit next to her back in elementary school.
That boy was tongue-tied and doesn’t reply. Despite that, he faced the girl to compete with everything. For example, studying, exercising, borrowing books, speed of eating school lunch, and so on.
She thought that she was hated by him. He was always glaring at her. She feels completely frustrated and depressed when she loses. There was never a proper conversation.
The girl, who hated to lose, worked hard in order not to be defeated by him. The school year advances and she was able to have a best friend. However, even if she became taller, her relationship with the boy didn’t change.
There was never a time when they insulted each other. Something like let’s have a match was never said even once. But since he selfishly compared himself, he was the only one feeling happy or sad. Because the girl noticed that, she competed in order not to be defeated by him.
One day, she heard her best friend muttering to herself. She said the boy likes the girl. The girl thought the head of her best friend, who is just a bit eccentric, was strange as expected.
While thinking that it is just her best friend’s misunderstanding, she started to observe the boy properly.
The face that immediately turns red is not angry but shy. He was tongue-tied because of nervousness and couldn’t make his mouth move well. He was always looking not because he is glaring, but because he is interested. She learned about the boy’s feelings for the first time. But she was not very sure why he competes to challenge her.
Being aware of the affection towards her, the girl’s vision spreads out. Although not as much as him, she noticed that there were boys who look towards her in the same way. When she told that to her best friend, she was made fun of that she was too slow.
She entered middle school and reached p.u.b.erty.
The girl was tormented by menstrual pains and was worried whether or not her hair below not growing is some kind of illness. When she consulted her mother, she was told that it was hereditary since her father was like that too.
She was confessed to by her cla.s.smates and uppercla.s.smen several times but she never accepted them. Although interested in love, she absolutely doesn’t have the intention to go out with someone because it was arranged that she would marry in order to succeed the house.
She felt that the boy who had always liked her for a long time is nice, but she had no intentions to go out with him.
Although she expected that he will also confess to her someday, junior high school ended without that happening.
The girl didn’t care much about entering high school. She intended to earn the qualifications to be a priest in order to succeed the house and considered high school as the final moratorium.
The girl seriously thought day and night about what she should do in order to spend the most fulfilling high school life. So she decided to enter the school where her best friend would attend. Since that decision, in comparison to her own scholastic ability, doesn’t fit her very much, she would talk to her school teachers and parents many times. But she didn’t have any regrets.
The boy was also in the same cla.s.s for nine years so she couldn’t help but feel the loneliness in their separation. However, he entered the same high school as her.
His scholastic ability rivals hers. It was even obvious that he can go to a better school. There is a closer school from his house. In spite of that, he chose the same school.
She thought about the reason but only one thing comes to her mind. If she isn’t self-conceited, it appears as if he was chasing after her.
She thought it was stupid. It was at this moment that a small seed was planted at the bottom of her heart.
It’s an important choice in life. She expected only a little from that person who chose that among many other options. The girl who personally chose to accept her fate thought about it. If it’s him, he might choose the course of her future for her.
Since for her, rather than accepting a stranger as a husband, she wanted to marry the person she likes. But there were no men who met her expectations. With just the surface alone, there is no seriousness. She doesn’t have plans as far as abandoning her own dreams and hopes and live together with someone. Therefore, she didn’t go out with anyone.
She valued the inside more than the outward appearance. Based on that aspect, she greatly appreciated his efforts. She did not hate his earnest affection. That’s why the seed that dwelled in her heart grew and something that can be called love started to sprout.
But the year she entered high school marks the tenth year since they have met. Despite that, the boy didn’t show any signs that he would confess to her at all.
The girl still waited. Having no choice but to be confessed to, she believed that proposing a relationship should be done by the man.
And then, it had been half a year since she entered high school. She was confessed to by a lot of people of the opposite s.e.x. Despite that, the boy didn’t move at all. She also has a limit to her patience and an unreasonable anger for that boy surged deep inside her.
Before it is revealed by accident, yesterday happened.
Then the ordinary days came to an end.
The girl being afraid leaned on her best friend’s chest and cried. She remembered the face of the dead people and sheds tears. Even if she asked for an explanation regarding the current situation, it couldn’t be answered properly.
Still, she should keep moving forward since she is still alive. She got courage from the figure of her best friend and the boy who were somehow still the same even with the terrible situation.
In the dungeon where she was thrown into by the demon, Streiya.
She wielded a weapon and fought. The naginata, which she had a hobby for, was unexpectedly useful and she advanced deeper and deeper.
If an ordinary person without any technique challenged it alone, it is unlikely that he will be unhurt and complete it. Her fresh wounds were increasing. Even so, she didn’t give up no matter how painful it is. Because she hates to lose.
The girl pa.s.sed the second door.
The one waiting for the girl was her best friend. She was delighted. After walking alone in the dark path, she met her closest friend. Relieved, she forgot the pain of the wounds and approached quickly while raising a smile.
It was simply luck that she was able to dodge the knife swung down. For that reason, she looked at her best friend with eyes that saw something unbelievable.
She calls out by repeatedly shouting to her best friend who was attacking her. But it was never answered. The body that was tired from walking for a long time is weak and unable to avoid the increasing cuts.
She is killed by her best friend.
Her arms were cut up and the bone could be seen beneath the red flesh. Her legs were sliced off and she wasn’t able to stand or dodge either. Her abdomen was stabbed and she screamed in pain.
The trickling body fluids were hot and her clothes were covered in blood.
Air leaks out from the holes in her lungs and sound escapes from her cut opened throat. Entrails spilled out from her abdomen and gave off a stench. Both her ears and nose were cut off, and her eyes were crushed.
She falls face down and unable to move on the warm ground that was dyed red. Still, she wasn’t able to die. And then she was kept on being stabbed over and over again.
She wouldn’t actually die in the tutorial filled with evil intentions. So she wasn’t able to die easily. The pain is real. The burning pain, the body that is becoming cold with the loss of blood, and also the heart that is about to stop. Everything is vivid, clear, and detailed, the nightmare continued for a long long time.
Before she noticed it, the girl returned to the original white square room.
The best friend who noticed her reached out her hand to greet her. But she immediately warded off that hand. The best friend had a carefree smile that remained the same as usual and left to ask another person about the explanation for the situation.
She received an explanation from a cla.s.smate. She understands in her head that the best friend who was behind the second door was not the person herself. But she wasn’t able to accept it in her heart anymore.
She can’t place her trust. The heart that started to doubt once doubted everything. It suspected all.
Streiya announced the end. Everyone spent the night not being able to sleep. Snapping out of their nightmare, they woke up with someone’s scream. They were not able to remove their fatigue at all.
A conference was held with dark circles under their eyes. The boy didn’t show up in the place where the discussion was carried out together with those who overcame the malice.
Her cla.s.smates head toward the labyrinth. The girl was also invited by a friend but declined. Her best friend being in the same group is one of the reasons. Aside from that, there was another one.
She wasn’t able to trust people anymore. The shock of being killed by her best friend broke her mental foundation.
The girl approaches the boy.
Using his affection, she decided to survive. Everything was done out of selfishness. The love that began to sprout was trampled by malice.
The door was opened after calling out many times. With a hazy consciousness, his steps are unstable and his head is swaying. He was about to fall asleep like that at any moment.
Sure enough, his body goes down. Concerned that he would hit his head on the hard floor, she supported him right away. But there is a difference in their physique and she was pushed down. Moreover, she was embraced tightly and wasn’t even able to move.
Seeing that he is not getting up no matter how much she called, she gave up waking him.
The boy seemed to be happily sleeping. The girl falls asleep while feeling his warmth. She never saw a nightmare again.
When the girl woke up, the boy’s face was in front of her eyes. She was in the middle of confusion trying to recall before and after she slept.
Her chin was lifted and the face that drew near blocked her mouth. The tongue that penetrated inside her mouth put her into a daze. She bit by reflex.
The first kiss was suddenly taken out of the blue.
The girl was supposed to approach the boy to use him and yet her plans were thrown out of order.
Watching him frantically apologize repeatedly in a humble manner, she let him off to move forward with the discussion.
He said that he would do anything.
So she jokingly ordered him to die in order to test him.
The boy wasn’t even angry with the sudden request for him to die and started to seriously worry. Those eyes told it clearly.
For that reason, the love deep inside her that should have withered sprouted once more. It’s inevitable for a person’s heart. It’s something foolish, irrational, and unreasonable.
She might have also expected it.
Fushimi Hiiragi acknowledged that she liked Mukou Hibari.