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V10 Story III – Part 02

The facility was located at the end of a private road, past a controlled-access gate. Surrounded by mountains for miles, the place was so secluded that even radio waves struggled to reach it. It was as isolated as the Reisen Girls’ Academy.

Past the imposing black gate stood a western-style mansion. A weather vane atop the scale-like spire creaked as it rotated. I heard it was bought cheap from the estate of an eccentric person with no heirs. It was hardly maintained, likely because of high upkeep costs.

Patches of grass dotted the open space in front of the mansion. A bunch of boys and girls were playing on swings, their matching white uniforms flapping like butterfly wings. It felt like I’d stepped into some foreign place. This spot was a world of its own.

Locations cut off from the rest of society always have a unique ambiance. It was beautiful, but calling it invigorating was a stretch.

“She spends her days in the greenhouse. This place is, officially, an unlicensed daycare. Most of the kids we take care of are around six years old. The one in the greenhouse had nowhere to go, so we made an exception. As such, she’s the oldest one here.”

The lady pointed to a small building away from the mansion.

The greenhouse stood against the backdrop of the forest trees, reflecting the muted winter light. The sparking glass and the black framework gave it a sinister feel. It looked a bit like a jewelry box.

A greenhouse. The word filled me with indescribable dread.

I remembered the cat incident. Kotori got stuck in there, munching on red flowers. She was afraid of the red flowers that bloomed from the dead. To conquer the unbearable fear, she tried to become one with the flowers by eating them.

Kotori should’ve been free from that deep-rooted delusion, but she was once again in a greenhouse.

What did that mean exactly?

The woman stopped, her finger still raised. Like a painting, she fell silent.

Leaving her behind, Mayuzumi suddenly started walking, twirling her red parasol.

I followed her. The forest rustled, and the greenhouse got closer.

Out of the blue, someone talked to me. “Hey, are you going to the witch’s place?”

I turned around. A girl was looking up at me.

She had reddish, round cheeks. Slanted eyes regarded me under neatly trimmed bangs. She seemed pretty spirited. She wore a big smile.

A bunch of kids had flocked behind her. I glanced at the swings and spotted no one there. She probably brought all the kids with her.

“Are you going to the witch’s place?” she asked in a singsong voice.

Before I could answer, I sensed something off. She was holding someone’s hand, but there was no one next to her.

As I looked down, my eyes shot open. A boy was lying on the grass.

Sensing my gaze, he lifted his head and sniffled. He was on the verge of tears, his face scratched. The girl had brought him here, dragging him like a doll.

“Hey!” The girl sounded irritated.

“Who’s the witch?” Mayuzumi cut in.

The girl looked at Mayuzumi, puzzled. She fell into silent contemplation, then seconds later, gave a cheerful reply.

“It’s Kotori-san! The person in that greenhouse. The black witch!”

She raised her arm high, pulling the boy’s arm as well. It looked painful.

“The words of the witch are absolute!” she declared with enthusiasm.

“Absolute, you say?” Mayuzumi muttered softly.

The girl gave a big nod, but the spark of interest in her eyes quickly faded. She turned to run, but I grabbed her arm first.

“Wait, let go of him,” I said. “You shouldn’t drag your friends like that.”

“…”

Slowly, she turned her head and looked up at me, her face showing irritation. Reluctantly, she released her grip, and the boy hurriedly stood up.

Looking into my eyes, the girl slowly lowered her head. “I’m sorry.”

“Good. But isn’t that something you should say to him, not me?”

I pointed at the boy. The girl glared at me, then quietly bowed her head to the boy.

The boy shook his head. Just as I was about to commend her for apologizing, the girl grumbled, “It’s supposed to be absolute.”

“What?”

Before I could ask her what she meant by that, she dashed away, her white figure disappearing into the distance. The other children followed suit, like a flock of butterflies taking flight, and streamed into the mansion. The doors closed shut.

Mayuzumi shrugged lightly and started walking. With her back turned to me, she said, “Let’s go, Odagiri-kun.”

I couldn’t enter the mansion alone without permission from the staff. Although curious about the girl’s words, I followed Mayuzumi. She pushed open the greenhouse door.

Warm air wrapped around me. The vibrant greenery stung my eyes.

Unlike the artificial plants I had seen before, this scene was teeming with life.

And at its center was the black witch.

Flowers lay scattered on the ground, their decaying remnants discolored brown.

It looked like someone had mercilessly torn apart the greenhouse’s flowers, filling the air with a sickeningly sweet smell of decay. Amidst the devastation, a few flowers—what they were called, I didn’t know—remained, blooming in bright red. Suddenly, someone pinched the petals of one of the flowers.

Crunch.

Tearing off a fresh flower, she brought it to her mouth, consuming the red flower as if eating candy.

In the center of the greenhouse, she sat on a cabriole-legged chair, with a folding desk placed beside it—mismatched furnishings that seemed to have been brought in from the outside. She noticed our presence.

“Oh? Odagiri-san and Mayuzumi-san, was it? What brings you here?”

Kotori tilted her head gently, her bangs still swept up with a hairband. Her wavy brown hair extended to her waist, and her prominent large eyes made her face appear as childlike as before. She was wearing a gray dress, likely a staff uniform.

My breath caught in my throat. She was eating flowers. Then, I noticed something different as well.

A glossy black cape covered Kotori’s small shoulders. Though fitting for a witch, the eccentric costume gave off a different vibe.

Her figure bore an uncanny resemblance to the cat.

“Why are you imitating Jingu Yuri?” I asked in astonishment.

Yuri wore a black cloak and enjoyed acting like a jester.

The incident with the cat had left a significant mark on the girls, but the culprit, Yuri, was dead. Her soul had transformed into a cat and disappeared into the depths of the spirit world. The cat that had toyed with the girls was no longer around. Yet, Kotori was copying its appearance.

She sneered in response, a cat-like smile appearing on her lips.

“Oh, do I look like her?” she said sonorously. “That’s great news, cutie! I’m so glad. There was no need to worry after all.”

An intense chill crawled down my spine. Her tone, too, was unmistakably modeled after the cat.

Propping up one elbow on the table, she looked at me, her mild features twisting into a cat-like grin. The incongruent scene gave me a headache. She crossed her legs, flipping the bottom of her skirt.

“So, I’ll ask again. What are you doing here, cutie? Unfortunately, I can’t help but feel more dislike than admiration for you. But I suppose I can hear you out. Afterwards, you will have to leave immediately. So, what do you want now?”

A gaze pregnant with hostility pierced through me. Contrary to what the client said, she showed no signs of exhaustion. I felt confused. Kotori grimaced, putting no effort in hiding her displeasure, and clicked her tongue.

Even when witnessing this, Mayuzumi remained unnaturally silent. Right as I was about to speak, a sound came from behind, cutting me off.

The door opened with an ominous creak, and a long shadow stretched at my feet.

The woman who had been standing still had followed us. A silhouette with intricately tied hair entered my view. It belonged to the woman in the kimono. The shadow spread out like it was swallowing my feet.

A voice, tinged in crimson, whispered into my ear, accompanied by laughter.

“They came to check on you because they were worried. I asked them, and they will bear witness. But this is taking too long, so let’s speed things up a bit.”

Snap.

Fingers snapped behind me, and the shadow turned scarlet.

Vivid red enveloped my ankles, gradually pulsating. Different shades appeared on what was a uniform color, and intricate patterns emerged, taking on a certain shape as it encased my feet.

Before long, my vision was filled with an abundance of rose petals. Over half of them had turned brown, rapidly decaying. Petals fell into the smooth, white porcelain.

A thick and sweet putrid odor clung to my throat. The petals, changing color, formed complex shapes. Staring at them made me feel like I was going insane. The folds, infinitely overlapping, resembled a collapsing nest of insects.

Or perhaps a woman’s womb. Then, I snapped back to reality.

What in the world was I staring at?

“Snap out of it, Odagiri-kun.”

“Ow… M-Mayu-san?”

A sharp pain struck my head from behind, and I turned around. Mayuzumi was holding a closed parasol. She had hit me with it. The pain cleared the fog in my mind.

Then, I realized where I was. The greenhouse, the flourishing flowers, Kotori—none of them were here.

Before me was an old bathtub.

I was plopped down in the bathroom.