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June 1983

Tatarigoroshi world

9:00 pm

After Keiichi's failed attempt to rescue Satoko.

Illusions


A tear frozen by the coldly maintained asylum ran down his face.

'Keiichi-kun? You there. You there. Hm?' Someone giggled. It sounded like she's playing a game with him. The asylum was flooded with white lights as usual.

The boy didn't want any more haunting dreams and simply tried to sleep with what little safety the rain drops can provide. He hated the footsteps and they are closer now.

'Found you Keiichi-kun. Fooooouuund you. Good evening, evening.'

SOMETHING.

A hand.

If Keiichi wasn't strapped, he would jump and wave around like King Kong, smashing whatever's haunting him to oblivion, it's about time the cowardly Oyashiro Sama fights like a man.

No. Like….Rena.

Keiichi remembered the lesson of a scary story he heard from his mother, 'never talk to spirits and demons, as soon as you talk to them, your downfall has already set.'

The urge to confront his enemy however, killed this suggestion.

'Look. I figured out by now that you don't have a physical effect on reality. You can't change my life. So rest in peace. Find more friends better than me in your little paradise.' Keiichi spat out his polite words.

'You're so mean Keiichi-kun! I always responded to you! Besides did any of your 'ghost' Rena touch you?' The girl with her bright hair danced like a cat around him. Keiichi was glad his subconscious did not give him the jump scare of Rena having slit-eyes and crocodilian teeth yet. So many of his nightmares had it.

'Yes. Many times. You're insignificant as any other demons that haunted me. I cursed you to die and you did. I cursed everyone in Hinamizawa.' Keiichi proudly yawned.

Something was stuck into his mouth forcefully.

He felt it was sharp but upon chewing sensed it was a harmless nut. He haven't had enough solid food lately.

His growling stomach implore Keiichi to chew further.

It was so sweet. Better and far more delicious than any of the food he had as a lunatic.

'Is it good Keiichi-kun? Rena figured out that you might be hungry here, so I made plenty of ohagi. They're not needles see?' The orange head said an 'Arrgh' before biting a huge chunk of the brown sphere. Keiichi checked the bulge going down her throat.

'Stupid Rena. What makes you think they're needles? But to be honest, they're too hard and I hate nuts. This may be the first time I ate food made by a ghost!' Keiichi teased half-heartedly.

'No. They're not! Keiichi-kun must still have healthy nuts and his antioxidants!' Rena jumped like an annoyed little sister.

'Am I no good? Is Keiichi-kun angry with Rena?' Rena leaned closer to Keiichi's bed. The veil of shadow was lifted and to Keiichi's amazement, she had the same ocean blue eyes Keiichi saw before the day he fell from the bridge. There were round and not containing slits like a monster. It was her.

But to Rena's dismay, Keiichi's stare was full of madness.

'No. Rena. I'm not mad at you. I just swear that even if Oyashiro sama kills me, you would die first. To be frank, you're not just 'no good,' you're more atrocious than the worst of evil. What did you do Rena?

'What did any of you cockroaches do when Satoko is whipped, abused, harassed by that personification of garbage called Teppei?'

Rena thought silently with a porcelain face. 'We. Did. The. Right. Thing.'

'Very right it is for hypocrites like you. Did you think talking could physically make that Teppei man gone?! And just look at me, in reward for saving a villager, I'm cursed! I'm cursed because I wanted to change destiny right while you are fine and dandy by being an unsympathetic mannequin who messed everything up!'

Rena tried to drop her face down but saliva spat onto her face before she could.

'Don't play innocent! Sonozaki Mion, Sonozaki Shion, Ryugu Rena, Furude Rika, Chie Sensei, my careless parents and even Satoko. You all are idiots!'

The 2 stayed still.

'Keiichi. Tell me, why do you bleed tears if you feel you did the right thing? Why didn't you wait? We could have contacted the child's service and the police. If we really need to even Mion's family can help.' Rena folded her arms.

Keiichi wanted to touch his face but Rena instead carefully wiped her hand over his cheeks and allowed him to feel the lubricated movement.

'I don't cry because I did something wrong, it's because other people wrongly convicted me.' Keiichi gasped.

'Or is it because you feel at the bottom of your soul that you didn't trust me and you are making up a lie of you as the protagonist just to feel better as the self-righteous murderer?' Rena spoke with a stern expression as she cried.

Sniffs came. Keiichi listened and realized the footsteps haunting him was himself all along.

'No. Please don't say this. I may have killed him.' Keiichi sniffed again. 'But I am not a mu—'

Rena hugged him and for the first time in days, Keiichi felt the warmth of a living body. He felt her heart beat steadily.

He can taste her mouth and forgiveness. They kissed.

'You're not that Keiichi-kun. You're just misguided. We're all are.' Rena broke off then half giggled and half cried.

Keiichi firmly smashed his eyelids like he had been stung by a hundred jellyfish.

'I'm sorry.'

'Oh—oops. Too long and I didn't even get you out yet.' Rena suddenly realized.

'No. I-.' Keiichi laughed. 'I messed up on life. I thought that by accepting you guys'help, I can move on from the crimes I have done with a pathetic soft gun. I messed up on the second chance too. Leave me here.' He sincerely requested. 'I'll only screw up the third chance to let you down.'

The girl quickly grasped Keiichi's hand. Keiichi couldn't help but feel Rena was somehow….older…more mature.

'Did you say that you wouldn't leave me behind if I'm late for school Keiichi-kun? Then I'm not leaving you because you're late on our road to a great future.'

The boy sadly looked to Rena whose heart ached as if she just saw all the sorrow and mourning in the world altogether.

Rena suddenly ducked before a metal stick hit the plate sized window of the door.

'Keep it quiet!' The impatient asylum guard demanded and walked away unaware of the events.

Blackness flooded the room. The lights are off because the patients are now sleeping.

'Stupid me.' Rena murmured before quickly gesturing towards someone beyond Keiichi's bed.

'Mion?' Keiichi coughed in surprise. Rena captured his attention so much that he forgot to check the other side of his bed.

'I heard it all.' Mion said crying. 'Ke-c-chan. Am I really that much of an idiot to you. Do you really like this Rena?'

Maebara noticed something was off. Why 'this' Rena…

'Keiichi-kun. Mion-san and I have a plan to get you out of here. Mion quick.' Rena whispered.

More and more things didn't make sense. The Rena Keiichi knows never called Mion with a 'san' honorific.

'Wait! Hold a minute guys. How did you survive?'

To his horror, Rena seemed to wait for Mion with an expression as if they're acting a script and Mion forgot her acting.

Mion didn't say anything. This wasn't even Mion, it had the face of a girl who had just seen a werewolf bit someone's head off. This 'Mion' thing is trauma itself. The silvery moonlight revealed tiny details, so tiny Keiichi can't be sure.

'How did you guys survive?'

'Ah. Well, thank Mion for that.' Rena wiped a nervous bead of sweat off her forehead. 'You see, Mion was lazy and wanted to skip school, so I led her, Rika and Shion to the junkyard for treasure hunting. Suddenly this mist arrived. Uh…..we got into that caravan.' Rena stopped frequently like narrating a story.

'What do you want with me?'

Rena got really exciting as if this was her goal of the reunion. 'Mion is gonna inject you with this drug, we're pretending to be volunteer nurses who are going to declare your fake death and get you to the morgue, well not really, to somewhere of course.'

Keiichi caught something in the glint of light. Was this Rena older and more mature in his mind, or is she actually a bit too old for a 15 year old girl. He estimated this mysterious female to be at least 18. He felt angry that he didn't really take the details while it was bright some time ago.

'Rena. You know such fake death drug don't exists. Plus I can always play dead for you.' Keiichi moaned to keep up his engaged demeanour. His true face was one shrouded in fear now, thanking the concealment provided by the dark but doubted whether it was enough.

'Oh. Um. Unfortunately the staff will check you with such a dubious statement from us. Sorry, when I said 'fake death' I mean-' Rena suddenly made some sort of slap motion to Mion as she was interrupted.

'Drug-induced coma.' Mion said.

'No. It's not. It's just sleeping drugs.' Rena's voice had this minor quaver.

Quickly 2 hands with enough force to be claws of a bigfoot clamped his mouth. A cold tinge penetrated Keiichi's neck.

'Please. Leave me here.' The screams were never heard.

All that happened as the staff crashed in was that Maebara Keiichi, age 15 lived his final day. His body is to be taken to Okinomiya mortuary to be examined. The examiner is named something 'Takano.'