The wind swept over the rooftop as I faced her, the specter of Reika, the girl I had wronged, the girl I had killed. The weight of my guilt was too heavy to bear, pressing down until I could hardly breathe. Her cold eyes met mine, unyielding, demanding the answer that would seal my fate.
"If this is what you want…" My voice was hollow, the words almost catching in my throat as I forced them out. "Then take it. Take my body, Reika. I don't deserve it anymore."
She smiled—a dark, triumphant smile that sent a shiver down my spine.
"Oh, Takeru," she murmured, stepping closer until her ghostly form melded with mine. Her voice was soft, a poisonous whisper in my ear. "You're finally giving me what you took. I'll make good use of it."
I felt a sudden pull, a wrenching sensation as if my very soul were being dragged out of my body. The rooftop blurred, the edges of reality slipping away, leaving me in a strange, weightless void. My hands—no longer mine—moved at her will, her power filling every fiber of my being, drowning out whatever was left of me.
And then I saw him—Piku, standing at the entrance to the rooftop, his face open, unguarded, as he took in the sight of me. Relief flickered in his eyes.
"Takeru?" he asked, his voice hesitant. "Are you… okay?"
But it wasn't me he was speaking to. It was her.
Reika tilted my head, smiling at him with a strange, unsettling calm. I was trapped now, my consciousness sinking further into darkness, my movements no longer my own. Yet I was forced to watch, to feel every motion as she raised my hand, pulling out the very knife I'd used to end her life.
My voice—her voice—cut through the silence. "Piku," she whispered, almost lovingly.
He frowned, sensing something was wrong. "Takeru… what's going on?"
Reika, with a twisted delight, took a step toward him. "Did you think you were safe? That you'd walk away unscathed while I stayed trapped in this nightmare?"
He stepped back, his eyes widening in fear, but it was too late. She lunged, my body moving with unnatural speed, and I was forced to witness the blade sink into him, once, twice, three times—each thrust filled with the wrath of a soul denied peace.
Piku's face contorted in pain, disbelief flashing in his eyes as he stared at me, betrayal etched in his features. I wanted to scream, to beg her to stop, but I was powerless, trapped inside my own mind as Reika forced my hands to twist the blade deeper.
"Why…" he gasped, his voice breaking, "why, Takeru…?"
And in that moment, I saw myself reflected in his eyes—the monster I had become, the puppet to Reika's vengeance. This was the horror I had unleashed.
Piku's body collapsed, lifeless, his blood pooling around him. I was left to stare, my own hands red with the stain of betrayal. I wanted to look away, to break free from this nightmare, but Reika's grip on me tightened, binding me to this horrific scene.
I thought it was over. But then, as the world twisted again, time looped back, and I found myself standing on the rooftop once more. Piku stepped forward, alive and unsuspecting, his face filled with the same innocence as before.
"Takeru?" he called out, confused. "Are you okay?"
I screamed, but no sound left my lips. I was invisible, trapped in the prison of my own guilt, forced to witness the nightmare repeat.
Reika's voice echoed in my mind, cold and merciless. "This is your punishment, Takeru. You will watch, over and over, as I take from you what you cherished most. Your friend. Your life. Everything you loved."
The knife glinted in my hand, and as she moved to strike again, I realized that there would be no end, no escape from this endless cycle of torment. I was condemned to witness Piku's death for eternity, to watch the life drain from his eyes, reliving the horror of my own actions forever.
I was a ghost in my own body, a prisoner to her wrath. And in that endless, twisted purgatory, I finally understood what true damnation was.
The rooftop, bathed in blood and shadow, became my eternal punishment—a place where everything came undone, again and again.
And as I watched Reika raise the knife, her laughter ringing in my mind, I knew I was bound to this endless, brutal cycle.
Novel Title: I Can't Stop Killing My Best Friend Piku
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