Vol 4 Chapter 5 (1/2)

Finale: Unable to Save Based on Love Alone

An uncoertips after he killed Long-Armed Demon

No matter how many times he wiped away the blood, no matter how he altered the for would not disappear It was a sticky, unpleasant sensation Of course, it was not the first tiuilt towards such acts

””

Zekiguchi Nashi+nori narrowed his eyes and walked forward as he gauged the darkness before him He carried Breaksun, who had fainted, on his broad shoulders, together with the girl he had obtained from the apartment complex

”--”

The girl was silent She simply fainted and was still alive She suddenly lost her consciousness when they left that apartment complex, as if she was an electronic toy who suddenly had her battery removed She completely lost her consciousness all of a sudden, and her face was devoid of all expression

Her naawa Rinne

A girl with pale pink hair, whose face still retained a hint of childish innocence

She was dressed in plain household clothes, and there was nothing particularly unique about her She had fainted unconscious and was carried on Zekiguchi Nashi+nori's shoulder He attacked the apart-Ar Rinne She was sooal

A blond human with fast reflexes tried to stop hiuchi Nashi+nori at the end

Zekiguchi was the strongest fighter in terments due to his power to alter his flesh This was also so he was very proud of It was a piece of cake to dispatch of a human

But that expression the human showed at the end -

- Even Zekiguchi was not prepared for that expression full of despair and anguish

He would see that expression whenever he tried to recall the event, if only a little bit He inning of all things, when he decided to act in order to attain that goal, which he was ready to give up his humanity for

It was an expression full of hatred for the world, full of vengeance for God, and full of curses towards himself It was an expression full of tears

” Don't cry”

Rinne, whom he carried on his shoulder, suddenly said in a low voice She was probably saying it to the uchi had left in the apartment

Suddenly, Rinne looked at Zekiguchi and said: ”You aren't crying”

Zekiguchi's head suddenly twitched His intestines began to pulse, and his chest felt tight His breathing was so so anxious all of a sudden?

This feeling - thisto surface

This was an anxiety Zekiguchi used to have when he was still a hu he had when he pondered about death, about the future, and about the world after this life This was exactly like it

”Ahahaha, haha, hahaha”

Rinne suddenly laughed out loud

Her laugh was a sharp, piercing, almost metallic noise It made him instinctively feel cold He felt an indescribable fear when he saw her expression

Zekiguchi sioal He awa Rinne But would he be able to control her?

Zekiguchi suddenly felt unsure and uneasy

A startlingly pure beauty sparkled in her eyes

Her eyes were as clear as if they wereface, crying because of his cowardice born out of fear

”Crying Living Everyone You Me”

Ahahahahaha Rinne continued to laugh

Old memories started to surface in his mind

Those were the words Tatsue tearfully said to him when they met in the mansion owned by Sakaki Guryū's parents She was his adopted sister with no blood relations to him

- I' brother

- I really want big brother's talents

- I want to keep living with an inner strength like big brother's

”Hahaha Tatsue If you're really jealous of me, then find a way to replace me”

He was in a dark roo It was a rooawa Rinne's na in there Athat of an art piece, was now lying on the ground covered in blood and feeling weak all over

The lights were not on

The roo appeared fuzzy

There were two sets of blankets in the rooawa Rinne was resting on the pillow Sakaki's face was full of confusion and slowly reached his hand towards the phone That was so they used to pour out their innocent love to each otheras there was still power in the battery, all the information stored in the memory card could be read

Froawa Rinne

To ★ Sakaki Guryū-sama

Subject ★ Pleasure to meet you

Body ★ Goodme with a phone, but I don't really kno to use it I'm very slohen it comes to

electronics I' tocheated Ah, no, I'ize It's

e I'm sorry

As Sakaki paid for Rinne's phone bills, the two of thees to each other without hindrance This was the firstof everything

Beep beep The light of the phone monitor shone on his face Sakaki Guryū expressionlessly pressed the buttons on the phone

When they firstout this kind of an iood at conversing As she was discarded by her loomy and unhappy No matter how one looked at it, she was a very norirl

From ★ Rinne

To ★ Sakaki Guryū-sama

Subject ★ Please do not call me Milady Usarin

Body ★ Goodme 'Milady' out in the public

It's very e Um, why are you so Ah, no, um, I'll be very happy if you can just addressas

a teacher at the high school I a to attend?? Um - Um - Why did it turn out like this?

She was really cold erinned bitterly when he saw Rinne's otistical and couldn't tell as going on around him? He worked so hard in vain, and yet Rinne felt troubled because of their relationshi+p What did Rinne regard him as? Perhaps it would be happier for Rinne if she had died in the sea? No one could protect her She was always getting hurt Wasn't it enough for her to suffer through such less pain?

She was in soto kill herself in the sea She was then killed by Guriko Then Mushi+ tried to strangle her and hang her She was then turned into a Meat Doll by Sterilization Disinfection And now Usagawa Rinne was taken away by a e eyes

Why h such cruelty?

Why can't he even bring happiness to a girl?

From ★ Rinne

To ★ Sakaki-san

Subject ★ Edict

Body ★ I give up I finally got it It doesn't matter what I say to you You can call me Milady if you want to You can even call me Queen if you

want to Ah, no, sorry, I' a bit full ofme every day No, um, I don't feel

troubled, but I'm a little worried Why are you so No - I'e

There was this half-written es originally going to be sent to Sakaki's phone? Why did she stop writing them? Sakaki discovered that there were es in Rinne's phone than those she ed to send

Rinne always see back then Was she always considering what she would say to hied to talk about hts?

Did he really ever see the true Rinne? Did he ever really understood her?

He just wanted someone to rely on him He wanted to o and satisfaction? Those unsent ets probably contained her true, happy heart

Froawa Rinne

To ★ Sakaki Guryū-sama

Subject ★ Want to die

Body ★ I don't understand I don't understand I don't understand anything I don't understand what you're thinking Why do you exist? Why are you

interfering with my life? I don't understand I really want to die lately I want to escape somewhere I want to die

He kept pressing on the phone's keyboard There were many words that he didn't understand after the phrase 'want to die' If Rinne was an ordinary person, then she must have had tiently hug Rinne, as no longer here, and at least coht' But she was not here

Why couldn't he stay beside Rinne?

He sunk into deep thought as he manipulated Rinne's phone out of boredoed and had more content in them

From ★ Usarin

To ★ Sakaki-san

Subject ★ Edict

Body ★ I never used to believe that just chatting with soh, either Now I feel as if I was a

coirl after all, so I' The information I attached is

concerning that dish Thanks to Sensei, I keep buying food to eat, and noeight is starting to get out of control I should probably pay

attention to what I eat By the way, I still don't know the naether and sprinkled with salt

What about this

Rinne would start to cook dishes that both tasted good and looked healthy ever since then She createddishes If Sakaki found the flavor to be passable, then she would be very satisfied and conclude that it was a masterpiece

Sakaki se

When Sakaki met Rinne for the first ti with so? Sakaki wasn't sure They were already like friends with similarities to each other That was how Sakaki and Rinne were like They ether She was a woman that he was fated to love

Rinne

Why - ere they now separated by monsters they didn't even know, and had to exist apart from each other?

They were so far away from each other That hat Sakaki felt They were in such harht now they existed in worlds inco?

Guriko's face suddenly surfaced in his mind

” Urk” Was that when the oddities started to happen? Did Sakaki and Rinne's ordinary life start to get affected after Guriko's appearance?

Why? He couldn't help but start to shi+ver

From ★ Rinne

To ★ Sakaki-san

Subject ★ RE: Confir

Body ★ Sakaki-san is so shrewd You saved , and allowed me to slowly recover I can't dislike you anymore Um,

please give me a minute I'll call you after five minutes Let me calm down a bit

Rinne's stubborn and closed heart gradually started to open up Her stiff expression started to gradually becoht up the question of getting married, Rinne replied affirmatively with a serious expression contrary to before

Yes, after he received this short ht to Rinne's apart with her They affirmed their intentions with one other Sakaki was deeply in love with Rinne, and Rinne was also responding to his love

From that time onwards, the two of thee or anything else, and became lovers who understood each other

Rinne had so her and playing with her However, after they got to know each other more and made promises to each other, they already established a form of trust and constraint Rinne trusted in Sakaki, and Sakaki also genuinely loved her Their trust and prohtly in happiness

Sakaki despised having his life and future planned by others, and to waste his talent on such plans

This was the first hope he found for hih his wealth Others would probably think him as a fool if they knew about it He just wanted to stay next to Rinne He just wanted to listen to her voice and look at her smiles

That was all Sakaki hoped for, and Rinne agreed to be with him

But - he failed her promise and her trust

He failed to protect Rinne

He could not even fight back against that man

Sakaki sank into despair and was surrounded by a feeling of powerlessness That's enough, Sakaki thought I'm tired Let me rest a bit

Sakaki frequently blamed himself because of his small mistakes when he took care of Rinne, who lost her personality and became a Meat Doll It was a hellish time Would such a life momentarily pause after Rinne was taken away froh his mind and just for a split second, he felt happy about it

He didn't want to keep feeling this pain He didn't want to keep getting hurt That hat Sakaki thought

”Sorry” Soh the open door after Rinne was taken by the man dressed in black

”Sorry Sorry”

It was the sound of a young girl It was the voice of Ueki Kurukiyo

Her voice sounded weak, as if it was a e about to disappear

Sakaki could not see anything when he turned his eyes towards the direction of the voice The man dressed in black knocked hiainst the wall It felt like all the bones in his entire body were broken

The best he could do was to ers and use Rinne's phone Sakaki also had an Apple within him He should be able to recover soon - but even so, he did not feel any strength co back

Sorry

That voice had the sa because of her weakness She was apologizing because she couldn't protect what she wanted to protect

He wanted to apologize to Rinne

Tears were flowing down his cheeks for no reason

U finally stopped A silence more unbearable than the pain started to spread out

From ★ Usarin

To ★ Sensei

Subject ★ Edict

Body ★ Hi It's me, Usarin Sensei is probably still very busy after school, but you did say I can send you a e whenever I want, so I sent

this without tooyou at a bad tiht now Is Sensei still at school? It's

fine if you ignorewell Please reply if you have time I will be very happy to receive your reply

These good old times That was a ti about their destiny Those h this, someone suddenly appeared at the door

The e covered his face He was the landlord of this building, a detective in the hoeki Kurukiyo

”Ume-chan died”

” I see”

Sakaki could only give such a reply at this moment

He rarely talked with that girl, but he did feel sad for her passing She was so young She still had so many opportunities for happiness, and yet she already died It was really sad

”Rinne was - taken away”

His own voice sounded like it came from somewhere far away It was spiritless, as if it came from the bottoloo

Nagike's lips shook, and answered in a low, ironic voice: ” We're so powerless”

””

”But Usagawa Rinne ?”

The melancholic detective lowered his head and said this in a low voice as he sloalked away

Sakaki was not particularly interested in where he was going - maybe he went to seek out Ume's killer

Even if he revenged her, his personal world would not change, and his heart would not be saved Even so, he will still complete this task

Even though he was powerless and has no ability to change the world, he will still regret it if he did nothing

He had stretched out his hand before now in order to save the person most important to him

Although he probably didn't have that kind of a power, he will at least – achieve so before he dies

It was such a miracle to be born in this world How can he possibly die in despair like this without fighting back and refusing to be God's toy?

He felt his wounds ith cos

“Rinne…”

He reached out his hand lessly It was pitch black before him Even so, Sakaki Guryū had no other choice

Ring ring

“…?”

The phone in his hand suddenly started to ring Sakaki was startled, and he stared at the screen

An impossible name appeared there

Froawa Rinne

To ★ Everyone in the world

Subject ★ Mirror mirror, Mr Mirror

Body ★ Who is, the most beautiful, of all?

“What is this?”

This less e?

As Sakaki thought this,exactly the sa in

Mirror mirror, Mr Mirror Who is, the most beautiful, of all?

The phone kept receiving this e capacity of the phone was flooded full

At the end, with a final ring, a particularly shrill sound rang out, indicating it had received another e

This was the final one

Froawa Rinne

To ★ Everyone in the world

Subject ★ Finally, the end is almost here

Body ★ This is the story about the most beautiful Snow White in the world There was no need to search for the mirror of truth The jealous queen –

the witch - knows this Ordinary people such as the hunter cannot reach her The poisoned apple cannot kill her This is the true identity of the Snow

White who merely waited for her prince to arrive God is the one who decides who is the ht?

Why wouldn’t his body stop shaking?

Sakaki held onto the phone in his hand, and kept looking at those o displayed

He suddenly noticed that soh the open door

So at the door

Was it Nageki Kurukiyo again? Sakaki thought this, but he instantly crossed out that idea

Ring-ring There was the crispy sound of bells

“… Co to yourself pointlessly, it’s better to work on a little game that requires a bit of brain power”

This person did not e comments

“Huht, hearing, smell, taste, and touch – they use these five senses and the associated sensory organs to feel and to understand this so-called world But what if all your five senses were e, not even having a concept of darkness that we can i utter emptiness The world would not exist for someone like that”

It was the sound of a woman He felt that he had heard her voice somewhere before

It was a voice that felt nostalgic for him, but Sakaki didn’t understand what she meant at all He seemed to understand what she said – and yet he didn’t really understand It wasn’t as if he couldn’t understand anything, but he didn’t understand what shethese words

It was a foreign wo blonde hair

She wore a tight black suit set She looked graceful, and had a pair of sunglasses over her eyes and had gloves on, veritably as if she was a member of the mafia that just walked out of a movie

The wo distracted by her own appearance, and kept saying more alien words with a serious tone:

“Then, if there were soans of the entire human race…”

It was a detached, cold, and yet slightly sad tone

“That person would probably be the existence that encompassed the existence of every hu really exist? Your sight ht be fake, tastes ht be fake We paid attention to all this Yet could it be that, the conception that someone was there was only an illusion?”

She stretched out her armatic words

“No one doubted that Everyone believed firmly that some form of existence is definitely out there Then does an existence like that really exist right there, right now? Does It exist or not? Does It really exist, or was it only a product of our iination?”

“…”

Sakaki couldn’t understand what she was trying to say, but he was getting a little scared

“Did you ever ponder about such things?” The wo about that incredulous concept with a low voice

“Everyone was living under an illusion The you over there is not the true you Your entire existence is the iination of some other person Some other person’s five senses were stiination of you You only exist because he or she iined that you are here”

What – did that mean?

She was saying that I, Sakaki Guryū, is only an illusion? That my true self does not exist, but I am only an illusion created by someone else? No one knew about this, so everyone shared this hallucination, that of my existence?

Just thinking about this made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up

I – do not exist here? The person here was only a person froination?

Hehehe, the woh She also showed a very lonely expression

”Rest assured You do exist right here You are not a figination But do not coerly, Sakaki Guryū Indeed, no one can completely eliminate their suspicions about whether we truly exist, whether our ordinary daily lives are only a dream or an illusion of someone else's, No one can completely discard such doubts I, too, am scared of this possibility”

”I”

Sakaki looked at this woman with uneasiness It was as if he had once seen her from far away

She was a woe the world, who couldn't protect the things and people she loved She could not affect the world in any way - and therefore she could not confidently conclude that her existence was not an illusion

”If God really exists, then even He would keep having that kind of fear If one is incapable of letting others hear him, or if one cannot see, then the perceived reality of existing in this world would completely crumble”

The wo

”Everyone ends about God One may be nonchalant about it, or may instinctively find it to be faination Hey, Guryū, maybe God really doesn't exist”

Everyone had, at least for a split second in their lives, had this doubt

This woman, who had always firmly believed in God, was very much in doubt of His existence at this instant She walked up to Sakaki, as collapsed to the ground, held him up, and caressed his hair

”Even if God does not exist in this world, your own existence is a reality and not an illusion Even if you only have a very briefof opportunity, your existence at this place and at this tiive up Hurry up and start to act, Guryū”

She then turned and prepared to leave, but - as she?”

”Ah”

Sakaki opened his mouth Many questions surfaced in his mind, but he could not clearly articulate them all

The woman turned her head and smiled at him: ”My name is Sakaki Joker”

Yes Sakaki recalled her now Little wonder he felt that he had met her before

”I was born in Aht me here - I wanted to meet you a few tied to show myself now”

Her face was lasses He had heard of her existence froo, and he had seen the few pictures of her accessible to him – this woman had the countenance of Sakaki's mother

”Guryū, I had just guaranteed your actual existence Without such a warrant, even I can degrade into a ht now Therefore, even if you only have a very short ae the world Don't forget that Don't give up Hurry up and start”

The woman then turned back and walked away

Sakaki looked at her Her figure sees, whether benevolent or malevolent However, just for a brief entleness

”I did not fulfil the duties of a mother at all, and I did not fulfil the role of a wife towards Ganhō”

Those words were es of remorse

”If only we did not lust after eternity If only we did not seek Heaven and God Ganhō sank into ed me doith it You, me, Ganhō, and Tatsue - we discarded our happiness, and did not ether as a family”