Volume 5 - CH 47

Miyamura Towa (Happy End)

That man! ………the thought that I was ever interested in him made me want to die.

It was all, because of my stupidity…….

Just because he was the first person who spoke to me, to worry about how I moved here alone, I thought that he was my destined person……

I lowered my guard.

I got my hopes up and tried talking to him.

I told him all about my worries.

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The one who first accepted me was not Takeru-san, it was that piece of garbage who was my first love……

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When that man rewrote my memory with his Gift…….

[[Farewell, BirdCage Girl. The farce was fun while it lasted.]]

[[NOOO, STOP! PLEASE STOPPP!!!!]]

[[It’s okay, you get to forget all the bad things after all. [■■] ]]

[[AHHHHHHHHHH]]

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That animal in human skin touched my chest……

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“Ughhh……!?”

That man……he touched me…….

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“Towa……, Oi! Towa!”

“Takeru-san, I……, I………”

Everything I did with you was only a repeat of what I did with him…….

I didn’t want to know that what I’m feeling toward you right now was not my first……

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“I, don’t want to live anymore…….”

“Towa……..”

“Kill me…….please KILL MEEE.”

“No….. don’t die! I will accept it all! So please, live Towa!!”

“Takeru-san……..”

“Tell me what happened, I beg you……tell me in your own words, Towa.”

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Takeru-san is facing me with tears in his eyes.

Even though I’m already tainted, Takeru-san is facing me straightforwardly.

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“I, I remembered……..Akechi-san……he distorted my memory……”

“Ha?”

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I told him about the truth about my parents’ murder.

That my memory was tampered by his Gift.

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“I see, that’s why you didn’t remember me even though we used to chat in middle school!”

But…….

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“Ha? What?”

Takeru-san called Akechi-san out to their secret hangout.

Perhaps because of the abruptness, Akechi-san didn’t bother to hide his sour mood.

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“I had to leave a girl on the bed alone to come here alright. Just tell me what you want!”

“I know you and Sasaki were involved with Towa’s family murder.”

“Ha? How did you……”

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Akechi-san looks at Takeru-san and me with a surprised expression.

It seems he doesn’t understand how this is happening.

However, he soon let out a small sigh and calmed down.

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“So……., it’s Takeru’s Gift at work huh.”

“Gift? You know what my Gift is!?”

“Tsk…….That clueless part of you is so damn irritating you know! The fact that you kept running around with that irritating ability without even knowing anything really made me want to kill you.”

“Hideyori, if you are going to say that much then let’s continue the talk with our fists.”

“Woah, you sure talk big for a weakling, Takeru.”

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Akechi-san stands up and wrapped his hands into fists.

It was when Takeru-san was about to do the same.

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“TAKERU!!”

A voice interrupted them and everyone turned to look.

“Yor-chan!”

“Yo, thanks for waiting for me! Takeru, Towa! Well, it seems that garbage over there didn’t though.”

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Yor-chan deliberately taunted Akechi-san.

Seeing her Akechi-san clicked his tongue.

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“It’s all her fault I’m late you see.”

“Sasaki!?”

“!?”

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Akechi-san’s accomplice, Sasaki Emi was being dragged behind Yor-chan. She was drenched in blood.

Now I remembered how much trust I placed in her.

But with all that she did, seeing her like this didn’t make me feel sorry for her at all.

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“Hey, did you kill Emi?”

“Don’t worry, Emi is still alive. I just tortured her a little before I came here.”

“Torture…….”

“Don’t think too much about it. The environment I grew up in is kinda special so I’m used to this kind of rough stuff.”

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I felt relieved seeing Yor-chan say that while making a peace sign.

Your-chan is a very mysterious person so it’s scary not knowing what she will do next.

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“Then I’ll keep Akechi from running away okay, Takeru.”

“Yeah!”

Hey, I’m his girlfriend……., was what I wanted to say but since it seems that Takeru-san treats Yor-chan as strictly a friend, I think that it’s okay.

Besides, beating up that piece of garbage over there is more important right now.

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Now Akechi-san is locked into a 3v1 situation.

With this, we should be able to take him down.

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“Emi……, you useless idiot…… [Just bleed out and die].”

“Cough…..!?”

“Ha?”

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It was sudden.

Emi just coughs up blood from her mouth.

What is this……?

Akechi-san’s Gift wasn’t just memory manipulation…….?

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“Hideyori……, you bastard…….”

“It’s my ability you see. Next, Yor Hill, [Stop your heart and die].”

“Guh……”

“Yor-chan!?”

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With an unknown Gift attack, Yor-chan knelt on the ground.

Convinced of his victory, Akechi-san glances at me next.

Ahh……, I’m going to be killed……..

Only death comes to my mind……

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But it’s okay……

I couldn’t bring myself to tell Takeru-san about how this scumbag touched me.

Let’s just die.

The fact that Takeru-san accepted me is already enough after all……..

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“Fooled ya.”

“Ugh……., you b*tch.”

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Yor-chan suddenly launched herself forward and kicked Akechi-san’s head.

The surprise attack dealt a major blow to him.

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“Yor!?”

“Hehe, unfortunately, this piece of crap’s Gift doesn’t work on me.”

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Just like that, Yor-chan proceeds to hold down Akechi-san.

The way she moved suggested that she’s accustomed to fighting.

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“How!? Don’t tell me?”

“[Anti-Gift], right?”

“……..wait!? How did you know that name…….?”

“Hahaha. [Anti-Gift], that’s the name you gave to Takeru’s Gift right? But I’m not going to bother myself telling you how I know! ————-Die! You piece of trash! Atone for your sins with your life!! It’s time to break the chain of sadness your Gift created!”

Out of nowhere, she took out a combat knife and slit Akechi-san’s throat.

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“Gah…..!?”

His mouth foamed and his body started to convulse.

He tried to stand up but his strength failed him and he just passed away.

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“Hideyori!……….Hideyori!?”

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Takeru-san cried while approaching his lifeless body.

Seeing that Akechi-san’s body won’t move anymore, Takeru-san glares at Yor-chan.

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“Did you………, DID YOU HAVE TO KILL HIM………! YOR!?”

“Of course, I have to. Was there any worth leaving this piece of garbage alive? Between me and Akechi, which one of us you want dead huh?”

“If that were my only choices then it would be you, Yor………”

“…….Right. You were that kind of guy after all……….”

With a sad look on her face, Yor approaches Takeru-san.

He was caressing the body of his best friend.

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“What he did was evil. He was a criminal. He was an irredeemable piece of trash who killed Sasaki right in front of my eyes!……..but he was still my best friend…….we should have been able to understand each other…….why, why has no one ever noticed Hideyori’s pain…….”

“Sorry….., Takeru……”

“He should atone for his sins with his life, right……, you know, I called him out here because I wanted him to surrender himself………”

Akechi-san that Takeru-san saw.

Akechi-san that I saw.

We looked at the same person so we should have had the same impression of him.

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But it was clear that there was an overwhelmingly big difference in our perspectives.

To Takeru-san, he was his childhood friend who had been with him since he was little.

To me, he was someone who talked to me in middle school and perpetrated my parents’ murder.

The impressions we had of him were completely different.

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“Takeru-san……..”

“Towa……, let’s go…….I don’t want to stay here with Yor anymore.”

“Takeru…….! I –………!”

“Goodbye.”

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It was a clear rejection.

Despite how friendly they were with each other before, Takeru-san never talked to Yor-chan again after that.

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That day, Takeru-san lost both Akechi-san and Yor-chan, two of his special friends.

Even so, Takeru-san still showers me with love.

And I love him back in kind.

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But our relationship was one where we were licking each other’s wounds.

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I don’t know how many times I thought about ending this empty love.

But mysteriously, we never broke up. It was as though there was a mysterious power pulling us to each other.

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We have a son together.

Takeru-san named him [Hideyoru].

He did not say it himself but I can see that he combined those two’s names together.

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Although we managed to form a happy family, it was still a distorted one. An extension of our wounds-licking relationship.

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I didn’t know what we lacked.

We have a family, we have love, and all kinds of feelings for each other.

We have sympathy, kindness, and happiness.

We have so many things that make us a happy family.

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But it was clear that we lacked one thing.

No matter how many years have passed, I didn’t know what it was.

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But an answer came to me one day.

It was Akechi-san’s death anniversary.

Takeru always visits Akechi-san’s grave even if he has to use paid leave.

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He never complained about how no one ever visited it or how it looked worse every year.

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He simply smiles and sprinkles some coffee on the grave saying ‘It’s his favorite’.

I couldn’t tell if he was serious when he wondered out loud if he should add some mushrooms which were Akechi-san’s favorite food to his ritual as well.

When Hideyoru turned 7, he asked Takeru-san a question.

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“Dad, whose grave is this?”

“It belongs to my best friend. He was an idiot and always got into stupid fights but despite his trashiness, he was a fun guy.”

“I see! You looked like you’re having fun when you talked about him too.”

“Yeah, it was fun.”

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Takeru-san shyly let out a lonely smile.

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Ahh, that’s it…..

What was missing was Takeru-san’s smile……

His smile is being monopolized by Akechi-san…….

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Then……..

There’s nothing I can do right.

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I gaze at the smoke from the incense Takeru-san lit until it reaches the sky……..

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I had a strange dream again today.

A very happy dream.

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About a fleeting and bitter love.

An abnormal love that no one longs for.

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Even so, it was filled with happiness.

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However, it came at a high price.

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It’s like the feelings I have right now were flipped upside down, a cloudy glass-like love story where white can be black.

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I will never forgive that man but…….

You were the one who connected me to him, the thing that prevented us from breaking up right………….Garbage-san.

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It was Her(My) story in a different world.

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I do think that you were happy.

Even though it was a second time, I was certain that you were indeed happy.

I am not going to deny Towa(You) that.

But although I know that you were happy, please allow me to say one thing.

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“The current me is happier than you.”

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I don’t have a happy family.

I still do not have a deep bond with my beloved person.

What I have is a childish love, the kind that elementary schoolers have.

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But I’m sure that I have what I have always wanted, friends.

I can no longer say that I’m living in a birdcage.

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That birdcage was already broken.

And finally, the bird inside was allowed to fly free in the sky.

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————-, Forever.

Author Note: It was not revealed in the game to what extent Hideyori had tainted Towa.

[[Breaking the Chain of Sadness]] was rated CERO-D(17+) after all.

TLN: Not sure if I can finish the whole vol this week anymore, each chapter is rather long this time you see. Anyway, next up: Emi’s miserable end(Another one).