~Day 14 - The Box to Which Eyes Were Opened~
Candles video - Night to Day
Takuto's bedroom - day
Takuto's lying in bed, still wearing his clothes from last night, covered in sweat and come. But he still doesn't want to get out of bed. He refuses to accept what happened last night as reality.
Ryouta's voice: "Uah!! Takuto...Takuto, Takuto, Takuto!!"
Ryouta's voice: "Hnng...nnn, Takuto."
Kou's voice: "Did you recall it? ...That night...that person was killed by your hands."
'A blood-stained knife. An unmoving body. '
Takuto denies to himself that he killed his father-in-law and begins to cry. He doesn't have the energy to run away or to wipe his tears. He closes his eyes.
Candles video - Day to Night
*sheets rustling sfx*
Takuto's room - dark
'At night, I finally slipped out from bed. The room at night without lights is filled with heavy darkness.'
However, Takuto can see clearly in the dark, even with just a sliver of moonlight shining in through the curtain.
Takuto: (...I really...)
'Unconsciously, a tremble ran through my whole body. I was not able to move for a while, thinking about what I was witnessing was the process to becoming the same thing as Haishima.'
Takuto: (Haishima-san...)
(black screen)
I did not want to meet with him. However, it was necessary to meet by all means. I walked to the bathroom, my legs still limp.
Takuto's room - night
'I, who had finished my shower, passed my arm through a sleeve of a clean shirt. '
*bell sfx*
'And the bell that hadn't been rung for a long time up to now was shaken. The clear sound extended all over the rooms greater than I imagined. No, it was further, and deeper than the rooms. The air in the pavilion was shaken, it echoed over and over again.'
*knocking sfx*
Veronica: "Takuto-sama, it's Veronica."
'The door opens quietly when I call her.'
Veronica: "Did you call?"
Takuto: "Hn."
'Veronica stands in front of me with her usual expressionless face.'
Takuto: "I want to meet Haishima...By all means. I can't meet with Haishima by myself, can I?"
Veronica: "Indeed."
Takuto: "May I hear the reason?"
Veronica: "I am sorry. The details are not for me to say."
Takuto: "After all, it's impossible."
Veronica: "It is. Then, I'll ask the master. Please wait here. "
Veronica leaves bowing. When she's gone, Takuto pulls the gun out.
The gun that can kill Kou
Takuto: "..."
'The gun that remained hidden for a long time after that elderly person gave it to me. Even if I don't intend to kill, showing this gun should be enough to threaten. I quietly inserted the cold barrel into the waist of my trousers. '
The garden path at night
'The smell of the night is stronger, as well as the roses in the garden. The reason for the roses being in full-bloom during midwinter is understood now. Everything is a "non-reality" in this pavilion.'
Kou in the summer house
'Haishima was waiting in the summer house like the first night of our reunion. A cold smile. There was no glimpse of the gentle smile that I had trusted anywhere. Veronica's footsteps disappear. I remained standing at the entrance of the summer house.'
Kou: "I'm glad you called, Takuto. Because those kind of things were done, I surely thought that'd you shut yourself up in your room."
'I hesitated momentarily. It was necessary in the end to confirm it. For Ryouta.'
Takuto: "There are a lot of things that I want to hear."
Kou: "If it's possible to answer, I will."
Takuto: "Is that true?"
Kou: "However, I will ask one first. I don't want you to have a grudge against me even if the answer is not what you'd hoped for."
Takuto: "Understood."
'I climbed the stone steps of the summer house, and stood in front of Haishima.'
Takuto: "First of all, things from the past. Was it you that taught me the names of the roses when I was small?"
Kou: "Yes."
Takuto: "Why, why did you...?"
Kou: "[As for that, before you thought about it]"
Takuto: "Was it really you who made the wound on my back?"
Kou: "Yes."
'Why--The word began to form in my throat. However, I swallowed it. It was absolutely useless now. I quietly patted that gun hidden in my shirt to settle the nature even a little.'
Takuto: "If that's true, then did you deliberately come to Ayako's shop?"
Kou: "Yes."
Takuto: "Is it true that you liked white roses?"
Kou: "Yes."
Takuto: "Did you lie to me on that day about being sick to deceive me?"
Kou: "No. It was true that my condition was bad. I didn't have enough fresh blood."
Takuto: "Eh?"
'Haishima traces his mouth laughing. I recalled the feelings of fangs piercing my throat.'
Kou: "You still doubt it? The bite mark on your throat and the hatred towards sunlight is a most decisive evidence."
'Even in his words there seemed to be power. Haishima's love voice is heard and the wound on my back began to grow warm. The bite mark on my throat hurts and my whole body becomes hot.'
Takuto: "Ryouta?"
Kou: "What about him?"
Takuto: "Though Ryouta thinks that the timing was bad, did you know about Ryouta from the beginning?"
Kou: "Yes."
Takuto (angry): "!"
Kou: "However, even I cannot move the will of a man who's far away. As for his coming here, that was his own doing."
Takuto: "...I see..."
Kou: "I wanted to help you, Takuto."
'Haishima stood up at the end of his sentence.'
Takuto: "Help? Please do not joke."
Kou: "Is that so? Did you not want to run away from that reality?"
Takuto: "!?"
Kou: "I remember clearly. You suddenly seemed to cry in the snow that rained hard on the last night of that December "
Takuto: "Un..."
'Haishima's hand rests on my shoulder. My face had given everything away that night.'
Kou: "You had become frighteningly lonely."
Takuto: "Enough!!"
'I'm scared by Haishima's words but the fingers in my shoulder holds tighter and I was permitted to run away.'
Kou: "Does a satisfied man have such a face? You wanted to run away from that reality...did you not?"
Takuto: "Ah...!" (sudden realization)
Kou: "That friend might have also noticed. In reality, you should have noticed the desire in the bottom of your friend's mind. However, you kept averting your eyes away from his real intention, not wanting your friendship to be defiled, for too long."
Takuto (near tears): "That's enough, please!!"
'Tears overflowed while I shouted.'
Takuto: "What...do you intend to do...If you say there is a purpose...why is Ryouta involved?"
Kou: "Now? I have no idea."
'Haishima's hand parts. I staggered when the powerful hand was removed.'
Takuto: "May I ask one last thing?"
Kou: "What?"
Takuto: "My father-in-law died...that night on Christmas. Did you and I meet?"
Kou: "...yes."
Takuto: *sad gasp*
(black screen)
'The blood-stained knife. That person who did not move. For a long time I believed it was a heart attack...though I thought differently in the bottom of my heart. I turned my face away from Haishima and began to run from the summer house.'
Takuto's room - dark
'I ran to my room and fell on the bed. I wanted to run away from it all. I was thinking it was possible to live in the dream. I gripped the crystal bottle on the bedside table. The sake from Alice still remained on the inside. When I drank it, I shut my eyes.'
*white dream tunnel*
A dream about the New Year's shrine
Takuto: "New Year's visit to the shrine."
'The past is clearly reproduced like seeing a movie. Of course, I couldn't talk to Ryouta.'
Ryouta: "Senpai. The votive picture is there. Let's go"
'This was my first experience visiting a shrine.'
Ryouta: "Eh? You have nothing to wish for?"
Takuto: "Unn...nothing specifically."
'I did not have much devotion in me during those days.'
Takuto asks if it's okay to wish for someone else, instead of himself. Ryouta guesses that's okay. He wishes for Ryouta to pass the exams. Ryouta's ecstatic