Part 96: The world is reborn

"...Mayuri?"



Mayuri won't answer.



Mayuri stands still in front of a grave, gazing at the sky. Buried in that grave is Mayuri's grandmother.

Mayuri was Granny's little girl since long ago. She was always with her Granny since her parents were always busy with work.



I visited them often when I was little, so that death was very sad.

At the wake. I had thought she'd be crying, but Mayuri cried not a single tear. She was vacantly gazing at her Granny's memorial portrait.

More than half a year later... I had already advanced to middle school, so Mayuri and I no longer commuted together.



Mayuri would come to that grave every day, rain or shine. Then, she'd stand still, wordlessly gazing at the sky, as if she could see her Granny in heaven.

In her hands, an old pocket watch. A retro item unbefitting for Mayuri, who looked younger than her peers. That was her Granny's memento. Mayuri would always hold it when coming to this grave.

"Mayuri?"

No matter how much I call out her name, Mayuri won't answer.



She didn't talk to me. She didn't talk to her parents, either. She kept moping. I would always walk out to that grave and feel something like urgency. In the center of the lifeless cemetery, Mayuri would keep endlessly gazing at the sky.



Mayuri was so bravely and so earnestly looking up at the sky that I seriously thought that. And so that her Granny wouldn't take Mayuri away with her, I too would come to the cemetery. I'd stand next to the skygazing Mayuri, calling her name.

"Mayuri...?"

But, no matter how many times I'd call her, Mayuri wouldn't answer at all. She wouldn't stop looking at the sky. The only sounds resounding in the lonely cemetery were my cries of "Mayuri".

It was raining that day, too. Mayuri had a light blue umbrella.



And after waiting a while, the rain stopped. Rays of light poured through the gaps in the rain clouds. Rembrandt lighting. Alternatively, the phenomenon known as the Angel Ladder. Solemn rays of wondrous light that would make anyone feel the presence of God, regardless of belief.

A strong wind blew. Mayuri's light blue umbrella fanned out, fluttered, and spun upwards. Mayuri, who had made no motion until then, solely looking up at the sky, without looking at the umbrella, turned to the light falling from the sky.

And slowly, very slowly, reached out her hand, as if to grab onto the invisible ladder. As if to be pulled up by her Granny. Finally, she tiptoed. Looking from the side, I...



That's how I felt. Impulsively, I grabbed Mayuri's outstretched hand, and embraced her. In retrospect, those were pitiful pretentious hipster bullshit thoughts, but at that time, I felt like Mayuri was really going to vanish.



"I won't let you be taken away..."

I realized how embarrassing the words running out of my own mouth were.

"M-Mayuri is my hostage. My sacrificial live test subject!"

So to hide my embarrassment, I kept continuing the script.

Right before her Granny died, Mayuri and I were obsessed with a tokusatsu show on TV. I was proud of how well I impersonated the lilnes of that show's enemy boss, a mad scientist. Once I started saying them, I couldn't stop. All I could do to hide the embarrassment was to cover it up with even more embarrassing words.

"I-I wont let you run anywhere, okay? Hahah, fuhahaha!"

And when I did,



"I see... sniff..."

She whispered. For the first time in half a year, I heard Mayuri's voice. That voice was wet with tears.



"Then it can't be helped, huh. Ehehe..."

She smiled happily while dripping tears. Mayuri buried her face in my chest...









































Who am I?

Memory.
Consciousness.
Vision.
All cloudy.
Torrents of sound like ultrasonic waves roar from a speaker in the center of my brain.



My head hurts. Or should I say... behind my eyes?
As if hundreds of long needles keep stabbing through my brain.
Wait, can brains even feel pain?



"Aagh, waahhh!!"

It's not just pain.
Pain, shivering, itchiness.
Like my whole body is on fire.



I want to take off my skull and tear out my brain.
I want to scrape out my soft brains with my fingers and suck on the goop.



My head's going crazy, driven by various impulses...
Who am I?



"--?!"

The blown off, gushy world

was instantly reborn.



I come back to my senses. I'm in the lab development room. I'm standing in front of the Microwave Ophone (Temp) with my phone to my ear.

No, it's not the Microwave Ophone (Temp). Since headgear is attached to it, it's the Time Leap Machine.

It's hard to breathe. I'm almost suffocating. Give me oxygen.



"Ahhh..."

I stop my voice and start breathing in deeply.

"...ckhaah, haahh, haahh, hah..."

The insides of my throat feel like they're burning. Almost going into a coughing fit, I desperately bringing air into my lungs.





The drops hanging off my forehead are annoying. I want to wipe it away. I try wiping it with the back of my right hand. My right hand moves and wipes the sweat off my forehead.

My body's senses are strange. Right now, my body feels one beat off from my will. As if it's not my own body. As if my nerves aren't communicating properly with my extremities.

I try blinking slowly. It might just be my imagination. Am I just tired? I've been working long nights. I timidly try to move my hand again. It doesn't feel out of place this time. This is my body.



A familiar voice. I slowly turn around.



She gives me a perplexed look.

"What happened? You suddenly yelled."

What's she talking about?

"You feeling bad?"

I try answering, but my voice doesn't work too well. Even more bewildered, I clear my throat several times.



"I see. Then go out and prepare already. You're going shopping, aren't you?"

"...shopping?"

Shopping? For what?

I try groping around my memories...

Like a chain reaction, several scenes, several words, several smells... flash back into my mind.











"Ah, ah..."

I remember...