The world reset again, pulling me back into the classroom. My hands trembled on the desk, feeling the lingering touch of blood that no longer existed, memories of guilt that shouldn't even be mine—and yet, were.
Around me, laughter and chatter filled the air, all meaningless sounds that felt more distant with each second. I could hardly process any of it, my mind collapsing under the weight of the truth: I had killed Reika. It hadn't been Piku, and it hadn't been anyone else. I was her killer, driven by jealousy and anger, and I had somehow forgotten it all.
"Why did I forget?" I muttered under my breath, my voice barely a whisper. Was it the trauma? Or had my mind locked away the truth to shield itself? But as the fog of confusion started to lift, a darker suspicion began to settle.
I waited until the end of the school day, hoping for some guidance, some revelation to fill the empty spaces in my memories. After the final bell rang, I walked toward Yamada-sensei's office, driven by a feeling I couldn't ignore. Something was hiding there, a layer I hadn't uncovered.
I knocked and waited. Yamada-sensei looked up from his desk as I entered, his face expressionless. But as I watched him, I noticed the faintest flicker of discomfort in his eyes, a brief falter that he quickly masked.
"Takeru?" he said, feigning his usual calm tone. "Is something wrong?"
"Sensei…" I forced the words out. "Did you know?"
A glimmer of panic sparked in his gaze, only for a second. Then he looked away, adjusting his glasses, a thin sheen of sweat forming on his forehead. "What… what are you talking about?"
"About Reika. About her… death," I said, feeling my anger rise. "You knew something, didn't you?"
Yamada-sensei looked down, silence stretching between us until, finally, he took a deep breath. "I… I don't know what you're talking about, Takeru."
I took a step closer, feeling my control slip. "Stop lying! You've always known. Why are you covering this up?"
He winced at my intensity, but then his eyes narrowed, and he whispered, "This isn't something for you to ask about, Takeru. Some things are… best left forgotten."
"Forgotten?" My voice wavered with anger. "You mean erased, right? Hidden away because my parents—"
At the mention of them, Yamada-sensei's gaze flickered, and I realized, in that instant, the truth.
"They paid you, didn't they?" I whispered, my heart plummeting. "They bought you off to keep you silent."
He stiffened, looking everywhere but at me. "Takeru, you don't understand. Your parents only wanted to protect you. They wanted to give you a chance to… move on."
"Move on?" I nearly laughed, the sound bitter. "They didn't want me to move on—they wanted to erase it! To pretend it never happened!"
When he didn't answer, my hands clenched into fists. "They hired someone, didn't they? Someone to make me forget."
Yamada-sensei shifted uncomfortably, confirming my suspicion. My stomach churned at the thought. My own parents had brought in some professional hypnotist to bury the truth, to cleanse me of my guilt. All to protect their image, to protect their only son from the reality of his actions.
I stumbled backward, feeling as though the ground had opened up beneath me. The memories felt so close now, but also like distant echoes, as if I could almost hear Reika's final scream. The look of horror on her face when she realized what I was capable of, what I would become.
I stumbled out of Yamada-sensei's office, not waiting for any more excuses or half-truths. My whole life had been a lie, constructed by the people who were supposed to love me the most.
Reika was dead because of me, and instead of facing the consequences, I had let them bury the truth. Maybe I'd wanted it, at some dark, broken part of myself, the part that had pushed me to this point. And now, all I could feel was disgust and guilt, a festering shadow inside that wouldn't let me breathe.
I wandered the halls aimlessly, my feet eventually leading me, once again, to the rooftop. I looked at the sky, feeling the weight of my crime pressing down on me with a suffocating force. I had taken her life—she hadn't deserved that. All the lives I'd hurt, the endless cycles, the pain; it all led back to my hands, stained in ways I could never wash away.
Maybe, after everything, I didn't deserve to be here anymore.
"Thinking about giving up, Takeru?" Her voice echoed behind me, cold and mocking.
I turned slowly, finding Reika's spectral figure hovering in the dim light. Her eyes were narrowed, watching me with a mixture of contempt and amusement.
"What do you want from me?" My voice was hollow, stripped of anything but remorse. "I've already destroyed everything. I've taken your life, I've—"
"Oh, you've finally realized the weight of your actions?" she interrupted, her tone dripping with scorn. "After all this time, you finally understand what you've done?"
My gaze fell, unable to meet her eyes. "I can't live with it. I don't… I don't want to keep doing this."
"Then why don't you do something about it?" she taunted, her voice softening, almost coaxing. She stepped closer, and her presence seemed to seep into me, her words twisting into a dark, seductive whisper.
"There's a way to make things right," she murmured. "If you truly want to redeem yourself… then give me what I deserve."
I looked up at her, my chest heavy, confusion clouding my mind. "What… what do you mean?"
She smiled, her eyes gleaming with a terrible light. "You want forgiveness, Takeru? You want to redeem yourself?" She leaned closer, her presence chilling, intoxicating. "Then give me your body."
I staggered back, her words settling into me with a weight I could barely comprehend. She took another step forward, her gaze unyielding, penetrating straight to my core.
"I don't want forgiveness from you," she said, her voice venomous. "You took everything from me. My life, my future, every dream I had. And now you think you can just… atone?"
She laughed bitterly, the sound slicing through me. "No, Takeru. If you truly want to make things right, then let me take back what you stole. Let me live again. Let me have your body, and I'll take care of the rest."
The wind howled around us as her words echoed in my mind. Her offer was monstrous, horrific—and yet, it made a cruel, twisted sense. What right did I have to continue living? To go on, carrying this burden, while she remained trapped in the endless cycle I had created?
I looked down at my hands, trembling. Would it be redemption? Or just the final, darkest act in the tragedy I had created?
"Make your choice, Takeru." Her voice was no longer mocking, but low, urging. "Let me take back what you stole. Or keep running. Keep hiding in the lies your parents gave you, and live with the guilt you can never erase."
I closed my eyes, the words seeping into me like poison, drawing me toward a decision I could barely comprehend.