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V10 Story III – Part 03

I looked around in amazement, taking in the bleak space before me.

The interior, adorned with rose-colored tiles, was awfully tasteless. The yellowed curtains were closed, folded at the end of the curtain rail. An old porcelain bathtub sat in front of me.

Once again, I peered inside. The bathtub was filled with decaying roses. Staring at the soft petals, I blinked repeatedly. Where could this be? It was all so sudden.

“Mayu-san, where are we? What are we doing here?”

“We’re in a bathroom,” Mayuzumi replied matter-of-factly. “This is where the child that Kotori-kun was reading to had the accident. The client wanted us to check out the child’s room, where the incident occurred.”

From what I saw earlier, there was no child by Kotori’s side. Just as I was about to ask about it, I swallowed back the question. Was that really the case? My memory was hazy.

A dull headache pulsed through my temples. I couldn’t trust my own memories. I had no recollection of how I ended up in the bathroom.

“And then we found this.”

Thud!

Mayuzumi jabbed her parasol into the middle of the hardened flowers. There was a squelch, like a person being stabbed.

She pulled the parasol out, and decaying liquid shimmered. Looking at the stained tip, Mayuzumi gave a faint smile.

“These are roses the kids offered. The child who died in the accident had gone to bed early the night before, not feeling well. The next morning, the teacher saw them still asleep in bed. However, during breakfast, the child never showed up. When the teacher went to check his room, they found the child had drowned in the bathtub.”

Fwoop!

Mayuzumi unfurled the parasol, but even as she twirled it, nothing happened. There were no lingering memories of the tragedy in the bathroom. Sighing, she closed the parasol, turned on her heel, and left the bathroom.

I quickly followed her. Opening the bathroom door, I stepped into the child’s room. Similar to the fifth floor of Reisen Girls’ Academy, each person seemed to have their own room. The unoccupied room was now covered in dust. Mayuzumi didn’t pause. She traversed the room and stepped outside.

Passing through the door, a wide corridor stretched on both sides. The facilities were luxurious, but signs of aging were evident. The frayed carpet was fixed to the floor to prevent it from peeling off. Numerous scratches marred the plaster decorations on the walls. Grape patterns, shaved by the children perhaps, were missing in some places.

Countless dust particles danced in the air, glittering golden. The dirty window glass cast murky light onto the floor. Everything seemed faint and blurry.

The scene in front of me lacked a sense of reality. An odd feeling settled in.

The pale-colored surroundings resembled footage from a recorded film. I felt as if I were witnessing a moment in the past.

Mayuzumi walked slowly, but abruptly stopped. Children were squatting in the middle of the corridor, arranging origami pieces on thick cardboards. The assertive girl we had met earlier held a dice in her hand.

Casually, she dropped the dice into her sleeve. She then took another dice from between her fingers and rolled it. A dog-shaped piece moved three spaces, landing on the crown drawn on the board.

“As the witch wills!” she declared triumphantly.

The other girl lowered her head slightly in defeat.

The victorious girl crossed her arms. “With this, you’re now my familiar. Now fly, fly!” she said, concealing the dice.

The losing girl stood up, spread her arms wide, and started running. The victorious girl grinned broadly.

“What does ‘as the witch wills’ mean?” Mayuzumi asked.

“You have to follow what the witch says!” the girl answered spiritedly. The dice was no longer in her hand. Smiling, she continued, “You can ask the witch to tell you your fortune. And once you get the result, you have to spend the whole day following it. The Witch’s Game follows the same rules. The loser has to obey the winner!”

The girl proudly puffed out her chest. Her words stirred an indescribable unease in me.

Mayuzumi nodded slightly. “I see. I recommend playing games in moderation,” she said indifferently.

She started walking, and I followed suit. As we strolled down the corridor, we passed by the losing girl. She had been running around the mansion, flapping her arms, and now she returned to the winner.

Mayuzumi and I continued walking. The thick glass shielded us from the outside chill.

The warm sunlight made it feel like spring. Captivated by the light, I gazed outside the window.

Abruptly, I stopped. I thought I saw something cross my field of vision. A giant shadow, illuminated by gentle light, burned into my retina.

It resembled a fat walrus. I took a few seconds to process the image I saw. Something brown fell from the sky. My eyes shot wide. I swiftly jumped at the window and pushed open the heavy glass. The winter wind rushed in.

In an instant, my body chilled. I leaned out of the window.

Far below, something resembling a caterpillar wriggled. Red began to seep into its skin, gradually spreading. With each movement of the caterpillar, bloodstains expanded on the flagstones.

I could see sneakers peeking out of the tip. My jaw dropped. The caterpillar was a human. A person stuffed inside a bag.

More blood pooled. The crimson liquid flowed in a complex pattern, forming a puddle resembling rose petals on the flagstones in front of the mansion. She pinched the edges.

Snap!

“…Huh?”

I stood frozen. Kotori was eating red flowers before me. Sitting on a cabriole-legged chair, she elegantly crossed her legs. A serene expression graced her profile.

I looked around. The vibrant green stung my eyes, making me intensely dizzy.

“Where am I?” I muttered, but there was no answer.

The next thing I knew, I was standing inside the greenhouse.

Blinding white light seared my eyes. Kotori was casually flipping through the pages of a book. She playfully tore up red flowers and brought them to her mouth.

Snap. Squelch, squelch.

Petals mashed between her teeth. She reached for the flowers again. I followed her movement with my gaze, then froze. Someone was standing in the thicket of flowers, the foliage piercing through their body.

The translucent child wavered. Their figure was pale and faint as a shadow.

The child opened their mouth, and crystal-clear water surged from the dark depths of their throat. Frothing water spilled onto the floor, vanishing without soaking anything at all.

Hearing the unpleasant sound, Kotori looked up and directed her gaze into the thicket. Upon seeing the child, she offered a fond smile.

“Okay. What story do you want today?”

Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle, gurgle, gurgle, gurgle, gurgle.

It sounded like gargling; the current language of the child, apparently. Bubbles formed and popped, and all the while Kotori patiently listened. Then, she gave a small nod.

“I’ve understood your wish, my dear. Let us continue with Peter Pan.”

She picked up a book from the table and read. Her face was very gentle.

Then I shan’t be exactly a human?

No.

Nor exactly a bird?

No.

What shall I be?

You will be a betwixt-and-between.

Unconsciously, I took a step forward. The child turned around. Holes of black and white stared at me. There seemed to be scratches on their face. I could see a bit of color.

The child’s face seemed familiar. I stared at it, trying to place where I had seen it before. However, the child trembled, hiding their face as if frightened by something. In an instant, their form crumbled, and the faint shadow moved, dripping with water.

For the first time, Kotori looked at me. She raised an eyebrow.

“Could you stop, cutie? It might be cruel to expect tact from men, but that child is scared. I would appreciate it if you stopped bothering them.”

Her sharp gaze bore through me. It seemed that when hatred seeped into her words, she reverted to her original tone. Kotori ran her fingers through her hair. Soft, brown strands danced in the air, falling onto her cape.

Quizzically I observed her hair, glistening like gold threads under the light.

I was in the greenhouse. It was currently nighttime. Kotori was in front of me.

I don’t remember moving, but somehow I ended up here.

Also… what was that I saw earlier?

“Outside the window,” I muttered.

“What about outside the window? Please don’t disturb the quiet with trivial things.”

“Someone fell outside the window.”

It could’ve been a dream.