105 – Nightmare
“Oh no…”
“………”
Breaking news from the TV set in the hospital room. The news of the downfall of Dominating Hands and the death of Kang Ha-neul.
“Nooooo!!!”
The first thing that reached Himari’s ears when she heard the news at the worst possible moment was the screams of the Great Order, who had come looking for her, saying that she had something to say.
“Ha, the sky…!”
Himari’s heart sank as she quietly turned her attention to where her screams were coming from the TV.
“This is not this…”
Even Himari saw the face of the Great Order, who seemed half-dead due to the overlapping of her skin and bones.
“Why, why… Why…”
She is so devastated and dizzy that she can’t continue her words and only gives out a cracking voice.
“Oh.”
Her face was so full of despair and awe that it made her look away just by looking at it.
“…It was because of me.”
And the moment those emotions turned into self-loathing along with a laugh.
“Ha ha ha ha… A ha ha…”
She began to smile as she spat out a mix of laughter and tears from her mouth.
“…I killed it, what are you saying. I.”
Despite her congenital decline in empathy for her emotions, Himari, who could no longer watch her, lowered her gaze without realizing it.
“…….”
Then, a memo from the Great Order caught her gaze.
The records of her desperately researching the whereabouts and whereabouts of Kang Ha-neul and the Dominating Hands over the past few days are conveyed intact in her head.
[Things to do when we meet again]
– Telling the truth properly
– Just a hug.
– To say sorry without shame.
– Accept even if you are not forgiven.
– Even if everything fails, make sure to cook delicious rice. (Important)
The records marked with an asterisk at the bottom, as well as the cooking recipes, which must have been studied diligently over several days.
“There…”
After looking down at it for a long time, Himari Minamoto opened her mouth with a trembling voice.
“How did all this happen?”
Actually, I already understood the general flow of the situation because of the records I was looking at just now and the incident that happened a few days ago.
It’s just that her brain instinctively refuses to sort it out.
Thanks to that, Himari’s head was complicated with unprocessed fragmented information, but he was able to avoid the worst situation.
“…We’ve been misunderstanding all this time.”
However, the moment she hears her words coming from the mouth of her great order, even her expression disappears, her last line of defense begins to collapse miserably.
“It wasn’t Kang Ha-neul who killed Justia.”
“………”
“It wasn’t Kang Ha-neul who killed my parents.”
It was because the organized information from a person who had already passed that stage started to resonate in the room.
“…Kang Ha-neul didn’t interfere with your parents’ accident.”
In an instant, the thought that he shouldn’t listen to it came to Himari’s head, but it was already too late.
“Behind all of that, Rumia and we were there.”
“…….”
“Kang Ha-neul was framed instead of us…”
Actually, it might be too late already.
“Well then…”
“…And Kang Ha-neul didn’t steal your feelings.”
From the moment they fell for Rumia’s whisper.
“Rather, he was giving you his feelings. Himari…”
“…But, but!”
However, denying that she has reached the point of no return, Himari spurns her seat and stands up, raising her voice.
“Didn’t you say that? Kang Ha-neul was a monster with no emotions from the beginning…”
“………”
“It’s only natural that such a psychopath would try to steal my emotions!!! You said it with your mouth, not anyone!?”
After hearing that, the Great Order closed her eyes with a stunned expression.
“…Yeah, did I?”
In that state for a while, her eyelids trembled, and from her mouth, a hollow voice flowed out.
“I told you so about my brother…”
“…….”
“…On that subject, I was going to meet again and do something.”
Himari’s hands began to tremble as he confirmed the tone of his voice and the despair in his eyes.
“Then… This feeling I’m feeling right now… Kang Ha-neul gave it to me?”
“………”
“Kang Sky lost her feelings because of her self?”
After a while, her voice gradually got smaller.
“Did I kick Kang Ha-neul in that state… Because of a misunderstanding?”
“………”
“Ha, but. If that’s true, why didn’t Kang Ha-neul reveal the truth to me…?”
A question arises from her expression.
“Geez, if I’d told the truth… I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have left him like that…? But why…”
“…Since the transfer of emotions was made by the chairman’s ‘contract’. I couldn’t have divulged it.”
“But…”
“And even if I could, I wouldn’t have told you.”
The moment I heard those words, memories of the past suddenly came to my mind.
“Because Kang Ha-neul really liked you…”
“Oh.”
“Like I did for the end of the day…”
The day she smiled for the first time in her life and confessed her love to Kang Ha-neul.
The very day I said I would never betray you and be with you forever, no matter what, if you accept my confession.
It was exactly one day before the date Kang Ha-neul signed a contract with the chairman, which was listed in the USB records.
“…You trusted me.”
Only then, Himari’s head began to slowly organize the scattered information.
“I made that contract because I trusted my words that I wanted to be with you for the rest of my life.”
“…….”
“That was it…”
At the same time, her expression darkened.
“…I need to meet Kang Ha-neul.”
Himari, who had been sitting in that state for a long time, stumbled and got up from her seat.
“I’m going to have a conversation. There’s still a chance to clear up the misunderstanding…”
However, the breaking news that was still echoing in the room caught her eye.
[The response of the majority of citizens is positive. In particular, the news of Kang Ha-neul’s death gave off an atmosphere that the resentment of Justia was finally resolved…]
“…….Ah.”
The bag in Himari’s hand, who was frantically packing her things, was helplessly out of her grasp and fell to the floor.
“…That’s right.”
However, she did not even think to pick up the bag that she cherished so much, and a creeping voice came out of her mouth with a dazed expression.
“He said he died, Kang Ha-neul…”
Himari’s voice started to tremble along with her body.
“Oh.”
“…….”
“I can’t do that…?”
She only received “Positive” Emotions from Kang Ha-neul, so Himari was still clumsy at expressing “Negative” Emotions.
“If that’s the case, my… What am I going to be…”
But right now, her trembling expression and eyes showed the emotions she was so clumsy with.
“This is really… Garbage… I…”
Fear. Fear. Restlessness. Nervousness. Guilty.
Self-loathing. Zinc discoloration. Guilt. Sense of debt. Dizzy.
Himari, perfectly understanding all of her emotions for the first time in her life, murmurs while looking at the picture of the river and sky floating on her TV screen.
“Isn’t he dead?”
[There are currently many opinions on the disposal of the corpse, but the public opinion of the citizens is overwhelmingly to go through the incineration procedure without a special funeral…]
“…Is he still alive somewhere?”
The moment the trembling of her body gradually subsided, and the smile that she struggled to create appeared on her lips.
“No, maybe it’s just a bad nightmare.”
“…Himari.”
“Yes, this is just a nightmare…”
The hand of the Great Order placed on her head.
“…….?”
“Don’t be too heartbroken.”
The Great Order, who had been quietly stroking her hair, started talking while muttering in a soft voice.
“I can fix it.”
“What…?”
“Since the situation has reached this point, there is no need to hesitate.”
The expression of the Great Order who said that seemed somewhat relaxed, but Himari, who was facing her right in front of her, could feel her unknown creepiness.
“There…”
“Wait a minute.”
But before Himari could say anything, the Great Order rose from her seat.
“…I’ll try again from the beginning.”
“Yes?”
As she said that and left the hospital room, Himari stared at the back of the Great Order with her uneasy eyes at her incomprehensible murmur.
“I came back once, there’s no way I can’t come back the second time, right?”
But she muttered that with a somewhat ominous smile on her face, and then she left the hospital room and busily headed somewhere.
.
.
.
.
.
How much time has passed since then?
“…….?”
As the outside suddenly becomes noisy, Himari, who had been sitting on the bed in a daze for a long time, quietly tilts her head and sticks her head out to the window.
“Ah…”
And in the next moment, seeing the scene unfolding in front of her eyes, her eyes became devastated and lost for words.
“Move to the operating room quickly!!”
“Chu, too much bleeding!”
“Are you a mentally ill patient? How the hell does that department manage patients…!!!”
The Great Otter, who had torn her own throat three times with her surgical knife, was being carried away to her operating room, bleeding profusely.
“……As expected, it’s a nightmare. This.”
It was several more hours later that Minamoto Himari realized that this situation was not a nightmare but a reality.