Chapter 29: How to Witness the Deep Dark Night

—That night, I went to bed earlier than usual due to a fever, and I had a strange dream.

In the dream, I snuck out of the house alone in the middle of the night and headed outside.

At a glance, it sounds like a pretty ordinary dream. After all, dreams often reflect accumulated experiences, and there was a time when I used to go out late every night.

So then, what made this dream so strange?

It was how I looked as I walked through the night.

—Just barely visible at the top edge of my field of vision was a thread of silver, shimmering brightly in the moonlight even amid the darkness.

The slender arm peeking from under a black cloak was smooth and pale like porcelain. Reflected in a window—now a dark mirror—were a pair of vivid crimson eyes glowing intensely.

I had spent the past two months right beside this person. That’s why, at just one glance, I knew exactly who it was.

That’s right.

‘I’ had become Hikari.

…Though that didn’t mean I had full control of the body.

I didn’t even know why I was outside in the first place.

Even so, my—no, Hikari’s—legs moved soundlessly, gliding down the nighttime streets, heading somewhere with unwavering purpose.

It felt like being forced to watch a first-person cutscene in a game.

That kind of thing is common in horror games, and since I’m not a fan of them, I usually avoid playing unless Hikari forces me to.

…Well, that aside.

The sensation of having a fully conscious mind while someone else controlled my body—there’s no better way to describe it than “unnaturally eerie.”

And precisely because of that, I could clearly recognize I was in a dream, watching everything from the perspective of an observer.

Now then.

While I was thinking all that, it seemed we had arrived at our destination.

We reached a park in the neighboring town, and Hikari’s steps came to a halt. She sat down on the nearest swing.

Given the time, the park was completely deserted. Everything was still and quiet. I still had no idea why we’d come to a place like this.

“Ah, did I keep you waiting~?”

A girl called out from behind.

Her distinctive tone instantly gave away who it was, even without turning around.

“…Maruyama-san. You came.”

“Well of course~ It was Mikoto-chan who called me out, after all. I was surprised it was this late, but it’s just the park nearby and I was already out anyway. Once you say it’s something important, there’s no way I could ignore it~”

Apparently, they had contacted each other beforehand. The girl—Maruyama—ran over energetically and grabbed Hikari’s hand.

Then, without waiting for a reply, she launched into cheerful chatter.

“If you reached out to me, that must mean Nitta-kun woke up, right~? That’s amazing, protecting Mikoto-chan from a wild dog and all~ Everyone in class has been saying how much they respect him now, and I bet Mikoto-chan is feeling pretty proud~”

…Even if this was just my dream, being praised this much made me feel oddly uncomfortable.

Do I really have that much of a need for validation?

It felt like I’d stumbled upon an unpleasant side of myself I didn’t want to see, and it was exhausting. But the real Hikari remained completely silent.

Maybe finding that strange, Maruyama tilted her head and stopped talking.

At that perfect moment, Hikari slowly opened her mouth.

“…Yeah, you’re right. If the person you pushed away suddenly called you out, of course you couldn’t ignore them.”

And then—

“…What are you talking about~? I don’t have a clue.”

For a brief moment, Maruyama’s eyes widened in surprise at Hikari’s words.

But she quickly regained her composure, forced a wry smile, and shook her head as she responded firmly.

“You don’t have to play dumb. I’m saying it because I know it’s true. You got cheated on by your boyfriend, and I was the one you chose to take it out on… isn't that right?”

“…Well, it is true I broke up with my boyfriend recently~. But that doesn’t give you the right to make wild accusations without proof~. Unless someone actually saw it happen, you’ve got nothing to go on~”

…Hikari isn’t the kind of person to throw around baseless accusations.

She does joke around sometimes, but only with people she knows will understand—it’s more like teasing, backed by trust.

That’s why I didn’t doubt her—not for a second. But at the same time, it was also true that, on its own, what she’d just said wasn’t enough to convince anyone.

She told me before—when she was explaining the situation—that she hadn’t seen the culprit.

She also mentioned that she had made her fair share of enemies.

In other words, the only things we had were circumstantial evidence.

And not even strong evidence—barely enough to be brushed off as baseless accusations.

“No, I didn’t see it myself. But… someone else did.”

“…What do you mean?”

Despite the unfavorable position she was in, Hikari replied with surprising calmness, then looked up toward the night sky where the full moon hung high.

That’s when a shrill squeaking sound echoed, and something fluttered down to land on her shoulder.

“Eek, kya…!?”

Maruyama instinctively jumped back, one hand clamped over her mouth.

And it was no wonder—what had landed on Hikari was a sleek, pitch-black bat. It bared its fangs with a hiss and spread its wings threateningly, clearly trying to scare her off.

“At first glance, it’s just a normal bat. But actually, it’s one of my familiars. It’s very clever and had been watching over the apples for me all this time. That’s why it saw you tampering with the apple you’d left chilling in the river. …Though partway through, I had it watch something else instead, so it couldn’t keep an eye on what was behind me.”

Even so, Hikari didn’t seem too bothered by that.

She just gently scratched the bat’s throat with her index finger and murmured, “You can go now.”

The bat soon vanished into the dark, and Maruyama let out a small sigh of relief.

Then, as she spoke again, a mocking smile crept across her face.

“I don’t really get foreign customs, but was that your pet or something, Mikoto-chan? Umm… what did you call it? ‘Familiar-chan’? Either way, claiming that as proof is kind of a stretch, don’t you think~?”

“…Is that so?”

“C’mon, think about it logically. And—well, this is just hypothetical, okay~? But even if I was the one who pushed you… is it really that big of a deal? It’s not like you got hurt or I stole anything~. Your clothes just got a little wet. If anything, accusing me like this might hurt your reputation more, Mikoto-chan. …We were finally getting along so well, too. Kinda disappointing that you turned out to be like this~.”

Her words were coated in concern, but her triumphant expression made it clear she didn’t mean a single word.

“Oh, that’s what this is about? Honestly, I don’t really care about that part. I’m not angry about being pushed, and I don’t intend to tell anyone either.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Well, I’ve been through a lot on the way here. I’m used to being betrayed. That’s why this whole thing—this time too—I can just shrug it off with an, ‘Oh, so that’s how it is.’ It’s not like it really hurt me or anything.”

But Hikari just let out a light laugh at her words.

Faced with such a one-sided conclusion, Maruyama’s expression was quickly overtaken by pure confusion.

“…Then why did you even call me out here? I seriously don’t get it~. Are you trying to mock me or something?”

“Ah, don’t misunderstand me, okay? It’s not that I’ve forgiven you. I’m just angry about something entirely different. …Because of you, Yousuke nearly died. He’s the key to my plan, you know? So the person who pushed him into that situation—well, they need to pay for that. Otherwise, I just can’t let it go.”

—Plan?

That unfamiliar word nearly pulled me off track.

But I wasn’t given time to think about it.

“…Like I said before, Nitta-kun collapsed because he fought off a wild dog, right~? I don’t really see how that has anything to do with what you’re saying—eeek…!”

Because just then, after a string of increasingly tense exchanges, Maruyama—who had been growing more irritated—met Hikari’s eyes once again… and let out a scream as her legs gave out beneath her.

—What she saw reflected in Hikari’s eyes was something different from usual: red, dark, and thick like congealed blood.

And even though I was only seeing that grotesque expression indirectly…

A raw, primal fear surged from the depths of my soul, making my skin crawl. I was overwhelmed by the urge to vomit everything out of my already empty stomach.

I recognized this sensation.

It was the same as when I had first locked eyes with Hikari after she’d taken on her current form—

Maruyama was clearly experiencing that same state now.

“Ah… ah…”

She mumbled incomprehensibly as she desperately tried to crawl backward.

And in response, Hikari slowly licked her lips, almost savoring the moment.

Once she’d closed the distance so escape was no longer possible, her left hand—gleaming with magic power—swung high above her head.

And just as that blood-red glow was about to come crashing down—

“Hi—Hikari, stop…!”

I forgot entirely that I was dreaming and shouted at the top of my lungs.