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V9 Story III – Part 01

An invisible wall surrounds me, and I’ve known it since I was a child.

I’m like a doll, preserved in a glass box. Inside this box, I can’t go outside. The world feels strangely unreal.

While I’m stuck in this glass box, I keep making dolls. I move my fingers, assemble gears, and give them life, but I understand that my hands possess everything and nothing.

From my fingertips, I craft dolls that look almost alive. Perhaps because of the repetitive work, my emotions naturally faded away. The puppeteer must keep creating dolls inside this glass box.

The days stack up like thin sheets of paper, fleeting and dream-like.

No matter how I try to live mischievously or defiantly, that feeling never vanishes.

I realize the only way I can leave the glass box is when someone pierces my heart.

Looking back, it seems like I’ve lost touch with reality since that child left.

If you want to kill, then kill. If you want to hate, then hate.

Until I meet the fury that child held, I’ll keep on dreaming.

I don’t understand human happiness. I don’t need it.

Someone with a body so greatly inferior to that of a human should never seek it.

I’ve believed in that for a long, long time.

Or so I thought.

I was alone.

Without you around, I was alone.

When I got back to the hospital, the sun had set once more. I parked the car in the lot and looked in the rearview mirror.

Yusuke and Shirayuki sat in the back. Yusuke was hugging his knees, his eyes vacant.

First-aid treatment had been applied on his right hand, and there was a cooling sheet on his forehead.

There were jelly drinks and sports drink bottles at his feet, purchased at a convenience store on the way, but he hadn’t touched them at all.

Yusuke kept muttering deliriously. Something had broken inside him. It was as if he’d been pushed away by someone he had been hanging on to. But he had to overcome that pain alone. Shaking my head, I got out of the car.

Clang.

Cold air enveloped me. Stars twinkled in the clear sky. There were scratches on the car, evidence of the unstable driving, but I was grateful we got back safely. Yusuke was in bad shape and needed medical help immediately.

A meal and a warm bed could make a world of difference. I needed to get him to rest. Just then, my head started spinning.

I hadn’t had a good rest in a long while myself. I shook my head and moved towards the back door.

I called out to Yusuke inside. “Come, Yusuke. You need treatment. Let’s have you checked at the hospital.”

No response. I grabbed his arm, but he didn’t react. He couldn’t even walk. I checked his temperature and then turned to Shirayuki.

“Shirayuki-san, I’ll either get a wheelchair or call for assistance. Please stay with Yusuke.”

“Okay. I will stay with Mr. Yusuke.”

A tiger could carry him, but I didn’t want to send animals inside the hospital multiple times. I left the car behind and walked away. The special ward parking lot was empty. I crossed it and went up a short ramp to the entrance. Then, I stopped abruptly.

An unusual color caught my eye. There was a small amount of blood splattered near the entrance.

The vivid red glistened in the light. Blood spots dotted the brick-designed floor. It wasn’t a lot, but still enough to warrant some concern. Seeing the ominous red pattern, my eyes widened.

I pushed the automatic door open and entered. The hospital was still deserted. I wasn’t sure how many medical staff were tending to Maihime, but there couldn’t be a lot of them in the special ward. Mayuzumi had no guards either. But even considering all that, the hospital felt eerily quiet. A strange, chilling tension hung in the air.

I hurried up the stairs, limping. “Mayu-san, are you there?”

I burst into the private room where I had left Mayuzumi. But the room was empty. Moonlight streamed through the window, creating ripples on the vacant bed.

The sole light source bathed the room in a blue-white light. For a moment, I wondered if Mayuzumi had returned home, bored by the recent events. However, on the chair where she’d been sitting was something that didn’t belong—a vivid red, like hardened lipstick.

It was Mayuzumi’s cell phone. Maihime had taken it from me, but she must have retrieved it. Questions filled my mind. I picked it up. It was silent.

Suppressing my unease, I turned to leave and headed to the intensive care unit on the fourth floor. I figured someone would be with Maihime there. But as I walked down the hall, I abruptly stopped.

Someone was sitting in the chair Kugutsu had used earlier, slightly hunched over.

As I got closer, I recognized him. He sipped from a can of soda, probably something he’d gotten from the break room. After finishing his drink, he turned to me.

“Oh, if it isn’t Odagiri. It’s been a while since I’ve had carbonated beverages, and they still taste awful,” Mayuzumi Asato said with a faint smile.

More than half of his face was covered with bandages, probably due to the injuries I had caused. A black bruise showed under his cool eyes. But I wasn’t concerned about that. I quickened my pace in silence.

Something unusual was happening in the hospital, and the fox was here. In that case, there was only one answer.

I clenched my fist tightly, still holding the cell phone. The fox raised both of his hands.

“For the record, that is a false accusation… or so I’d like to say. But I haven’t directly done anything. If it’s about people disappearing inside the hospital, it’s all due to violent actions.”

“As always, you’re not making any sense.” I stopped in my tracks. “Where are Mayu-san and the others?”

Asato shook his head. He nibbled on the can’s rim, looking bored. He shook the can up and down and then let it go.

“Well, it’s fundamentally my fault, but my actions should prevent any further incidents. I didn’t do anything personally… Oh, I did clean up a bit, but those people have nothing to do with my sister. Check the break room, and you’ll see people out cold.”

Asato pointed his index finger in the direction of the break room. As usual, his wrists were bound by long handcuffs. From experience, talking to him didn’t lead anywhere. As I moved, he offered the can to me.

“…What is it? What are you trying to say?”

“If you’re going to the break room, could you toss this out too? It’s been a while since I bought a drink from a vending machine. It used to be a part of my routine when I was a student. It’s kind of convenient yet inconvenient when you look at it from a distance. After all, you need a place to throw an empty can.”

Asato shrugged lightly. He seemed to be in a good mood. I couldn’t help but worry that I’d beaten him too severely. Without thinking, I took the empty can from him.

“I’m counting on you, Odagiri. You know, I find small, trivial acts like this somewhat enjoyable now. Life is entirely irrelevant. It’s all just ridiculous,” he muttered.

I quickly headed for the break room. As I went back down the hallway, there was a break room about halfway down. In the narrow space, there was a desk with one of its two chairs missing. A vending machine was installed along the wall.”

And, like pieces of a puzzle, men in suits lay across the floor.

Their eyes were open but they appeared unconscious. Their bare eyeballs twitched slightly. White petals were scattered over them. I bent down and picked up one.

It wasn’t a petal but small pieces of paper with tiny characters crawling on the surface.

Vertigo struck, and I dropped the paper. It fluttered to the floor. My fingertips were stained with ink, likely some sort of enchantment. The writing made my vision shake violently. I struggled to remain conscious, waiting for it to settle before scanning my surroundings once more.

A wallet had fallen on top of a man near the vending machine, coins scattered around him. It seemed Asato had taken money for his drink from there.

I checked the pulse of a few people. A bit fast but otherwise steady.

Their lives weren’t in any danger. If they all woke up at once and panicked, it could be dangerous to handle them alone.

It might be better not to wake them. I left the break room and returned to the fox in the hallway.

“Hey, welcome back. This one’s better,” Asato said, sipping canned coffee this time. He’d apparently hidden it under the chair.

He held the can with both hands. The handcuffs prevented him from using only one. I sighed. I thought about what I’d seen in the break room.

The medical staff or Mayuzumi’s driver were not inside. They were all unfamiliar faces.

“What’s happening here? With so many people in the hospital, you should have bumped into someone. Did they come here with you after I left?”

“That’s right. The swelling just wouldn’t go down. I returned to the hospital to get some tests done for suspected facial fractures. After dealing with the guards, I got caught up in Kugutsu’s mess. It’s nice being able to get away from them, but the rest was quite unpleasant.”

With a bitter look, Asato finished the rest of his coffee and put the empty can back on the chair. Next to it was a paper crane with one wing torn off, covered in inscriptions.

“I don’t want to do anything. Unfortunately, it’s pretty noisy around here.”

Those bits of paper were likely from the missing wing. I knocked the crane with my sleeve and then kicked it with my shoe, but Asato didn’t react. I breathed another sigh. I couldn’t grasp his intentions. The fox’s escape was a significant issue for me, but there were more important questions to ask right now.

Asato mentioned Kugutsu’s mess.

“So, Kugutsu came here. What happened?”

“You keep asking so many questions, Odagiri. Just go see the answer for yourself. Observing the changes is the most important thing. No one’s stopping you, so go.”

Asato raised his forefinger again, pointing in the opposite direction from before. I walked down the hallway to the intensive care unit. I crossed the double doors and entered the room designated for disinfection. I stood in front of the automatic doors leading to the intensive care unit and pressed the intercom button, but there was no response.

Without permission from the nurses, I entered.

There were five beds inside. Various medical equipment surrounded them, creating a life-maintenance environment. Curtains separated the beds.

All the beds were empty, and there was no sign of Maihime. The woman who’d had her legs amputated was gone. But peculiar traces remained. The last bed was covered in flowers.

Numerous lilies were in full bloom. I touched the petals, soft and delicate, with a sweet fragrance. These were real flowers, and they were not allowed inside.

It was as if Maihime had transformed into a flower. I inspected the bed, and my breath seized. Something was inside the bed.

A small doll looked up at me, lying on its back with its hands folded over its chest. Its beaded eyes stirred. It stretched briefly, then got up. It hopped from the bed to the floor, crawled briefly, and stood up again. The doll sprinted away, its lush white hair swaying. Clothed in a pure white dress, it bore a striking resemblance to Maihime.

Abundant white hair swayed, and the doll, in its pure white dress, somewhat resembled Maihime.

The doll was headed for the corridor, its little legs moving briskly.

As if drawn by something, I followed it.