Chapter 46
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: 5.8 Resurrection 1
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I, Tsukimiya Akane, was drifting through space.
Nothing visible. Nothing audible. Nothing at all.
And a void where I couldn't even sense my own existence.
How long would this loneliness last?
Mom. Dad. Aoi.
I recalled the faces of my family, whom I would never see again.
And.
Kurosaki Yuuki.
I pictured the face of the friend I'd cherished more than family.
But.
I barely remembered what Yuuki looked like as a boy.
All that came to mind was Yuu after becoming a girl.
Yuu blushing shyly, Yuu frowning in anger, Yuu silently enduring the bullying, Yuu casting her eyes down in sadness...
Every Yuuki I remembered had a girl's face.
Yuuki's male face wouldn't surface at all, making me wonder if she'd always been a girl from the start.
Yuu...
I miss you...
The girl's image was fading bit by bit.
Soon, it felt like I'd forget her completely.
Someday, even the memories would vanish, and that grief weighed on me.
If I lost even Yuuki's memories, I'd be trapped in this world without a single recollection.
No.
I don't want that.
No matter how much I whined, there was no one to hear.
Only hollow thoughts echoed in my heart.
I pictured Yuu's smiling face.
Yuu's face beaming brightly...
...But.
For some reason, it wouldn't come clearly.
I dredged the depths of my consciousness and barely managed to recall Yuu's smile.
But.
That faint smile wasn't directed at me.
It was aimed at Naibusu Winzer.
Yuu, as a girl, had never once smiled at me.
No.
Not even before becoming a girl, back when Yuu was still a boy.
I couldn't recall Yuu ever smiling at me.
Yuuki's smile had never been for me.
Maybe.
Yuuki had disliked me from the beginning?
No.
I denied it.
But I couldn't be sure if that was true or if I just refused to face reality.
No...
I decided to stop thinking.
Recalling Yuu only brought sadness.
Digging up memories only caused pain.
Better to think of something else.
Instead of loved ones, recall those I hated.
Naibusu Winzer.
The enemy who ruined my plans, my life, and ended my existence.
Naibusu Winzer.
Resentment toward Naibusu blazed like wildfire.
But.
The fuel burned out quickly, and the flames died down.
Hating Naibusu felt empty too.
No matter how much I despised or cursed him, a dead girl like me had no way to take revenge.
I gave up on resentment as well.
By now, Naibusu was probably with Yuu...
...
So sad.
What went wrong, and where?
Why did this have to happen to me?
Had I committed such a grave sin?
Yuuki.
I'm sorry. Forgive me.
I'm sorry, Yuuki, forgive me, I'm sorry, Yuuki, forgive me, I'm sorry, Yuuki, forgive me.
But.
No matter how many apologies I repeated, this nightmare wouldn't end.
Yuuki... I'm sorry...
Tsukimiya Akane's nightmare wouldn't end.
There was light.
It was like gazing up at sunlight filtering through the ocean's depths.
A dim, hazy light in the darkness.
But.
No matter how faint, light was light.
Change had come to this endless nightmare.
That alone made my long-stilled heart feel like it was beating again—an illusion, but one nonetheless.
I swam toward the light.
And it drew closer to me.
Swimming, swimming more.
I approached the light steadily.
Finally, I could make out its true form.
It resembled a warped screen on an old TV.
Beyond that light, I saw familiar faces.
Mom, Dad...!
If I had eyes, tears would have flowed.
If I had a mouth, I would have cried out.
But all I had was consciousness.
Even whether this sadness and regret were real was unclear.
All I could do was peer through this window of awareness.
"Akane dead...?!"
My parents, steeped in gloom.
Dad in a black suit, Mom in a black kimono.
Mourning their foolish daughter's death, perhaps.
Dad, Mom...
Only upon seeing them in mourning clothes did the reality of my death sink in.
Sorrow for my fate deepened with thoughts of my parents grieving their child's loss.
But.
The voices from beyond the window differed from what I'd imagined.
"Planning group rape with bullying? Akane? Is this confirmed?"
"...Yes. Text messages, videos, voice recordings—all of it... Even in Akane's diary."
"What the hell... But did that warrant killing her?"
"She resisted arrest and started using her rune powers, so they had no choice, they say."
"How could she... Such foolishness...!"
Dad covered his face in disbelief.
"How exactly have you been raising our daughter──"
...No!
That's not it! It's not...
No matter how I screamed inside, it didn't reach beyond the window.
No hands to pound on it.
All I could do was watch.
And it wasn't entirely wrong.
It was exactly as they said.
Bullying ringleader, plotting rape, resisting arrest.
All things I'd done.
All of it... was my doing.
"What face do I make announcing this to relatives?!"
"A funeral like this!"
"My reputation──"
"Useless thing. Embarrassing us right up to death."
"No insurance payout either?"
"All the money spent raising her──"
"Akane is no daughter of the Tsukimiya family."
Dad, who always valued face over family.
To think he wouldn't change even before his daughter's death.
...Why must I witness this even in death?
Better not to have known.
I'd longed for family, but not to see this.
Who, how, why show me this spectacle?
God? Or is this hell?
Because I sinned in life, they show me this to make me reflect?
...Okay. I'm sorry.
If it's a nightmare, let me wake.
Send me back to that empty darkness instead.
...Yes.
I remembered.
Why I'd been obsessed with Yuu.
Because Kurosaki Yuuki had the light that Tsukimiya Akane lacked.
A pure mind, steadfast convictions, a harmonious family.
Things I didn't have.
Things I wanted.
Yuu possessed them all.
So I wanted them.
I wanted Kurosaki Yuuki herself.
Possessing Yuuki would make everything she had mine.
But I couldn't have her.
Naibusu Winzer stood in my way.
Yes.
That too was something I couldn't have.
A friend.
...Haha.
Yuu really has everything.
While I have nothing.
...
I was simply sad.
Even my parents wouldn't mourn me.
The thought that no one would grieve my death left me in utter sorrow.
I let go of regrets, sadness, resentment—all of it.
Even my consciousness fading away would be fine.
So I thought.
But.
The nightmare hadn't ended yet.
The scene shifted.
A funeral hall empty save for family.
Suspicious people arrived.
They said strange things to Dad.
"You want to buy Akane's corpse?"
"Hmph. Cheap. Bring ten times that, and it's yours."
"What? Oh, well, if that's it."
"We'll sell. But the records... Ah, of course."
"She's not my daughter anymore, do as you please."
...Dad?
What... are you saying?
Sell my corpse?
"Hmph. At least we recouped the investment."
"Useless in life, but helpful in death."
To whom? Where? Why?
What will they do with my body?
Must my consciousness linger like this? Forever in this void? Not cremated and sent to the afterlife? Not reincarnated?
...Can't I rest even in death?
What more do you want from me...?
...The scene changed again.
A dark room.
Like a laboratory.
Two people in white coats, like doctors.
"Finally here, Doctor. A fresh corpse."
"Tie it properly."
"Sent in a coffin, no less."
"Handle with care. It's a valuable sample."
"Of course. Now... Oh? What a cute girl!"
"Hm... Cause of death: heart pierced. Ribs cleanly severed. How'd they do that?"
"Impressive. Worth the money, Doctor. Such a pristine corpse."
"More important it revives properly than its condition."
"We've done enough tests. It'll revive, right?"
"Data's too scarce. Don't even know the principle."
"Same as always—some mysterious magical force? Hahaha!"
As expected.
That was my coffin, my body.
I'd been sold to this shady lab.
My family—the people I'd believed were family—sold me to them.
Unbelievable. I don't want to believe it.
What happens to me now?
Dismembered?
Or ravaged by this pervert in some necrophilic way?
...Whatever. Doesn't matter.
I'm already dead.
Can't feel pain.
Just a corpse anyway.
Defiling a dead body means nothing.
No matter what they do to it.
I won't care...
...Lies.
No.
No.
No. I hate that. Hate it.
Help me. Yuuki.
Yuu. Help me. I'm sorry. Help me.
Help me... Yuu...
The woman called Doctor picked up a red gem.
A blood-red stone the size of a thumbnail.
She shoved it carelessly into the hole in my corpse's heart.
...Ah.
"...Ah."
The faint window vanished, blocked off.
And in its place.
A strange ceiling came into view.