❝ DO YOU THINK YOUR SIN WILL DISAPPEAR IF YOU BURY IT DEEP ENOUGH? ❞

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"Hm? Well, I've met that Fūjioka...though...Midorikawa, you say?" The man thought about it for a moment purposefully.

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A short-haired girl hummed as she browsed the flower shoppe's seed section, reciting the many names, both common and scientific underneath her breath until she picked up one.

"Platycodon grandiflorus," She smiled in satisfaction as she headed towards the checkout. The cashier looked at her chosen packet with interest as she exchanged the purchase.

"Kikyō flowers, how nice." The cashier commented pleasantly and the two got to talking about the medicinal uses of the plant like complete green nerds and how it was to be a gift for a friend of hers.

The girl waved goodbye and left the shoppe, walking down the street to take the bus back to the AHPC residential grounds. As she walked down the streets, she felt an uncomfortable feeling of someone watching her so she turned down a more populated street.

The feeling of being watched persisted, however, so she made a quick turn into the underground subway entrance, her flat shoes tapping against the stairs as she descended into the tunnel.

Train-goers were also awaiting their ride home as the stood before the white line of the tracks. This made the girl feel slightly more relaxed, being amongst a larger group of people.

However, this calmness was to be short lived as she felt an arm snake around her neck tightly and her own blood run cold.

"Izumi Midorikawa, is it?" Came an alcohol-scented voice in her ear, making her shiver in fear and disgust. "Do you think you could be kind enough to tell me where I could find a Himikō Kikyō?"

This made the short-haired girl startle in surprise. "Senpai...?" She murmured before her eyes started to glow slightly. "Even if I did know where to find her, do you honestly believe I'd tell you?" She scoffed bravely.

"Hm...perhaps not." The man agreed, his arm loosening around her neck. "Though I could make you tell me...I have a troublesome virtue of not using my own ability against other ability-holders."

This made the young girl exhale for a moment before her breath picked up sharply as she felt a pressure against her back and the freefalling sensation, tripping over the white line of the tracks.

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Having walked Himikō back to her apartment, now standing in front of the building complex, Daisuke was about to leave when his phone rang, making him pause to answer it.

Himikō waited for him to finish, though her eyebrows knitted together in confusion as she watched his face turn serious.

"...Daisuke...?" She questioned when he finished his call and he turned back towards her, her own face turning pale as he told her that they had to head to the hospital.

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Tick.

Tick.

Tock.

The low sound of the clock's hands moving broke the unnerving silence of the hospital waiting room. Normally, one would expect some amount of noise, even if it was exactly midnight with that last stroke.

But the room was completely and utterly quiet, though perhaps the soft breathing of another person waiting, asleep with his jacket covering him, made for some sound.

Himikō and Daisuke sat in the waiting room chairs, sitting beside each other with her hand holding onto his sleeve which was resting on the wooden armrest.

Izumi was still unconscious and when they had seen her, her head was wrapped in bandages that were slightly stained red and needed to be changed, which a nurse did while ushering them out momentarily so that they could perform some extra checks.

Out of the corner of his eye, Daisuke noticed Himikō biting her lip sharply enough to draw blood, which made him nudge her slightly and shake his head. "Relax," He whispered, though not entirely sure why.

Perhaps the general silence made one want to keep it quiet without disturbance.

"You should go back. It's getting late." Daisuke kept with his quiet tone, noting Himikō's strange look of anxiety.

"But...I can't just leave you..."

"I'll call you when she wakes up, so just go home, Himikō."

The long-haired girl frowned as she hesitated but nodded in acceptance of his suggestion, feeling admittedly ill.

As Himikō left the waiting room, she saw the nurse come back in and re-allow Daisuke into Izumi's room to wait. Her eyes followed his back before she herself turned and left the hospital.

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The cold night air hit blew through her hair as she stumbled out of the general hospital and practically fell onto a bench, her hands starting to tremble as she leant her head back over the seat.

Something akin to a gag reflex came up as she felt dizzy and sick with the world closing in on her, tightening around herself.

She knew then that things were coming to a close for her. He was going to keep going for the people around her until eventually, Daisuke would come onto his target list. Though she was confident enough in herself to not be found by him...Daisuke...she couldn't let anyone touch the only person who looked at her like the sun.

The only person who loved her...the first person who loved her...

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"Himikō," A voice asked slowly, making the girl, who was not-so-stealthily taking notes off of his own homework look up at him.

"...Are you...happy now?" He asked carefully, face mask off and pencil down as the two sat together in her apartment, finishing their homework.

The girl looked at him in surprise for a moment before a soft smile and dusting of pink overcame her. "I've never really given much thought as to whether I was happy or not." She admitted shyly.

"But," she continued. "I think...I'm happy being with you."

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Long, deep breaths were taken as the girl now tried to calm herself and think about what she needed to do.

There was no point in only thinking about the past and her sudden regret at her not killing the man and only burning him. Though she supposed she did have to admit if she had killed him back then, things wouldn't have gotten so out of hand so quickly.

"I have to finish it." She decided aloud, in a completely calm voice and relaxed eyes. This time she would...she would get rid of him.

And then...

And then...

《 Then what will you do? 》

A single voice in her head seemed to ask her this, interrupting her loss of ideas and sounded eerily like her younger self.

《 Daisuke will learn exactly what kind of monster you are. 》

"Shut up!" Himikō hissed at no one at all but her own thoughts, sitting alone on the hospital outdoor bench and clutching her head.

《 He won't want to be with you anymore. 》

"I said shut up!"

《 You're going to do it for Daisuke? 》

《 Isn't it really for yourself, though? 》

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Tears and racked sobs accompanied her sudden extreme loss of sense and her body shook with tremors. This made the voice of her younger self become silent for a moment before it spoke slowly and clearly.

《 If we kill that man...will we finally be happy? 》