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V6 Story I – Part 03

Crimson leaves fell before my eyes, piling up on the garden that lay beyond the porch. My younger sister lifted her face slightly, broom in hand. I didn’t speak a word to her.

Her cheeks, once as lovely as apples, had become gaunt and pale.

Her eyes, gazing up at the sky, were filled with an inexplicable weariness and deep sorrow.

She must have sensed my gaze, for she turned to face me. I quickly looked away, afraid of meeting her eyes. There was something dark within them. I imagined tears brimming in her eyes, tears that refused to spill over. Seeing it drove me to the brink of madness.

“Are you angry, Brother?” she asked timidly. There was sadness in her eyes, I was sure, and it plagued me relentlessly.

“There’s nothing to be angry about,” I replied, though my words fell flat.

Her eyes were devoid of any light they once held. Never again would she smile. I was painfully aware that I had stolen that light from her, but there was nothing I could do to bring it back.

I wanted to beg her to smile. I wanted to embrace her, tell her to be happy, to have fun.

But doing so would only burden her further. I knew that much.

“Brother…” she said, but the words got caught in her throat. Letting out a small sigh, she began to put the broom away, her thin back moving away from me.

Watching her occasionally press her chest, I reflected upon my mistakes.

I took away your smile. I made you sad and miserable.

I was fully aware of it. Her smile was once so beautiful. The difference between her then and now tormented me, but there was nothing I could do to change it. I touched my wounded wrist, a reminder of the time when I had tried to end it all. But my sister’s sadness only intensified, and now she regarded me with fearful eyes.

If I couldn’t even die, what could I do now?

Your eyes terrify me. They fill me with dread.

Even if I voiced my thoughts, my sister would not understand. Her eyes betrayed sorrow and disappointment, shedding tears endlessly.

Each time I saw the emotions in my sister’s eyes, I felt sick. My sweet sister didn’t know that her eyes hounded me, stirred my emotions.

Lately I’d been thinking, day by day.

If only you didn’t look at me. If only you didn’t turn your eyes to me.

If only those eyes were gone.

I…

---

I opened my eyes.

A dingy ceiling greeted my sight. A wave of melancholy washed over me, deep and profound. Unbeknownst to me, tears had spilled down my cheeks. I wiped them roughly before lifting my body up.

I was in a dark and empty room, tinged with the faint scent of decay. Meat seemed to be rotting somewhere. I was disgusted at myself for being accustomed to the stench.

Propping my hands on the shaggy carpet, I tried to rise, but every bone in my body screamed out, and the pain and nausea forced me to sit back down.

Massive bookshelves and cabinets loomed forbiddingly in the small room. I felt as though I had been buried alive. The remaining tears trickled down my face, falling on the back of my hand. I groped around in the darkness, my fingers tracing the outline of a shelf. Why was I here? As soon as I tried to recall, my memories blurred.

My sister. Her mournful gaze. I’m scared of your eyes. If only they weren’t there.

My eyes were moist, but inside me a violent emotion surged, a thirst for blood. Drenched in a cold sweat, I tried to steady my breath.

“Calm down,” I told myself. “It’s okay. These are not mine. Calm down.”

Yet the words offered no solace. A sharp pang shot through my abdomen. The pain of flesh tearing subsided into a dull ache, and I focused on that, using it to regain myself.

I rubbed my stomach, calming the child down. I remembered Mayuzumi standing silently in the parking lot.

“Mayu-san… Mayu-san!”

What happened to her? The foul stench of decay led my imagination to the worst possible scenario. What dreadful thing could be rotting here?

The image of Mayuzumi’s empty eye sockets flashed in my mind. But even if she was already dead, it was too soon for her body to decompose. I didn’t know how long I had been unconscious, but it couldn’t have been long enough for putrefaction to begin.

What am I thinking?

My own rational thoughts chilled me to the bone. I slapped my forehead. A sharp pain lanced through my head, and I cried out in agony, remembering the blow that had split it open. But I didn’t actually feel the wound. Fearfully, I touched it, perplexed.

A bandage had been wrapped tightly around the wound, with gauze layered inside. The bandage was damp, but it managed to stop the bleeding, albeit barely. Who did this? The question flitted through my mind, but I pushed it away.

I could think about that later. Finding Mayuzumi was of far greater importance.

I stood up and began walking. My hand touched the door and turned the frigid knob with caution. The hallway was just as dim.

The putrid stench grew stronger. The floorboards felt as cold as gravestones. I proceeded cautiously. My whole body ached with each step, and my eyes stung.

Occasionally, it felt as if someone was jabbing needles into my eyeballs.

Dimness suddenly turned to blackness. I quickly stopped. My eyes saw nothing. After blinking repeatedly, my sight returned to normal.

Several steps later, and my vision darkened once more. Hot, sticky tears streamed down my face.

Something was wrong with my eyes.

Getting hit by the man’s umbrella did something to me. The moment I came into contact with the blood on it, I relived the pain of a victim whose eyes had been gouged out. The shock was causing my vision to go dark from time to time. Another question popped in my mind.

The memory I saw… Was that from someone else’s blood?

Fumbling for the wall, I continued onward. My vision was a constant battle between light and darkness. I would lose my sight one second, regain it, then lose it again after a few steps.

I stretched my hand out in the darkness, and my fingers brushed against a doorknob.

I didn’t know what was behind the door. The man could be inside. But I turned the knob before I could stop myself.

Before I had time to regret it, the door creaked open.

And I heard a familiar sound.

Something was shaking in the room.

An animal-like silhouette appeared in my dark vision, a large shadow swaying in a steady rhythm.

My vision returned, and my eyes gradually perceived the odd sight.

A rocking chair sat in the center of the room, arranged oddly, ignoring the other furniture. Figures, large and small, stood silently around it.

Someone was sitting in the rocking chair, holding a bright red umbrella.

Color returned to my vision, yet the person in the chair remained black-and-white.

She twisted her red lips and looked up at me.

“Hello there, Odagiri-kun.”

For a moment, I struggled to comprehend the situation. Mayuzumi rocked elegantly in the chair, at ease as if it were her own room. My mouth flapped open and shut.

“Mayu-san, what are you doing?” I managed to formulate a vague question.

Mayuzumi flashed a mocking smile. “What am I doing? Nothing. As you can see, I have nothing to do. Tedium seems to not want to leave me.”

Wrapped in a vintage dress, she seemed like an abandoned porcelain doll.

Keeping her unpleasant smile, she reached for her pouch and pulled out a tube containing chocolates. The candies were shaped like eyeballs, arranged vertically like specimens.

“By the way, where have you been all this time?” Mayuzumi asked.

I heaved a deep sigh, realizing I was worried for nothing. She seemed to know more about the current situation than I did.

“I’m glad you’re safe,” I said. “I was unconscious in a different room until a little while ago. Where are we? And what about the man?”

My vision turned black again, and Mayuzumi’s figure vanished into the darkness for a brief moment.

The only sound was the creaking of the rocking chair nearby.