I gaze at the sky, watching as it sheds its background color bit by bit, overflowing into a quiet expanse of blue.
I sigh softly, and a pair of wings suddenly grow in the depths of my heart, wanting to fly far away just like that.
In that moment, the shadows of the trees become hazy, and the vegetation becomes almost transparent.
I gently touch the grass beneath my feet; it is as soft as a dream one dares not wake from.
I just suddenly, dearly wish for things to stay this beautiful, to live on in silence.
.
.
.
I don't remember much of what happened afterward.
I only remember someone screaming, someone running downstairs, someone shouting, "Someone jumped!"
I stood at the doorway to the rooftop, watching these people run past me.
Later, people came to ask for my name, asked if I knew her, asked what I saw.
It didn't matter.
Yuki died.
And then, I began to forget.
Her face, her voice, her name.
Bit by bit, they became blurred, distant, blank.
In the end, only one image remained.
On the rooftop where the sunlight was blinding, a person stood there.
That person was me.
The one being bullied was me.
The one with the iron bucket on her head was me.
The one having dirty water splashed on her was me.
The one with the sign hanging around her neck was me.
But there was a boy who looked at me with those dead-fish eyes and pulled me out of the crowd.
He would eat with me, listen to me talk, and let me stay by his side always.
He didn't think I was annoying, didn't think my intentional act of playing dumb was hateful, didn't leave me all alone...
He was always there.
Like Hiro.
Like... Yuki...
I found him.
I found him.
I really found him.
So now—
"Hey! Are you even listening?!"
A hand shoved me hard.
I snapped back to my senses and realized I was already on the rooftop.
Before me were Miura's friends.
Their expressions were full of rage.
"Say something!"
I opened my mouth, not knowing what to say.
"If Miura gets disciplined, will you be happy then?"
"All because of your pathetic drama!"
"Do you know how long we've been waiting? From after school until now—can't you just give us a response?"
Their voices were loud and noisy, but I couldn't quite take them in.
Iron bucket, dirty water, sign.
And that boy.
Those dead-fish eyes.
Where is he?
"Are you listening or not!"
She took a half-step forward, and I instinctively backed away.
My back hit something.
The guardrail.
I glanced back; it was very high.
This scene.
I have been here before.
Ah, so that's how it is...
"Hey!"
A hand waved in front of my face.
The people before me were still looking at me, but their expressions had changed from anger to confusion, with a hint of unease.
"What's wrong with her?"
"I don't know, she's been spacing out for a while..."
"Hey, are you okay?"
Someone asked tentatively.
They just wanted to get the facts straight.
They were just worried about Miura.
I opened my mouth, wanting to say sorry, wanting to say I'm fine, wanting to say I understand and you can go back now.
But then, that voice rang out.
"Ema."
Gentle, soft, carrying a hint of a smile.
It came from somewhere very, very far away, yet it felt as if it were right by my ear.
"Have you remembered?"
I closed my eyes.
They were still saying something, but I could no longer hear them; I only saw their mouths opening and closing.
I only heard that voice.
"You've done so well. I've been waiting for you for a long time."
My tears began to fall.
"Waiting for you to remember that day. Waiting for you to remember... the self that didn't go to save her."
"I... I didn't..."
"You did." The voice was very gentle. "You stood there, watching her fall. You did nothing. You even forgot her name."
"But—"
"But you remembered." The voice laughed. "Even though it's so painful, even though you didn't want to face it so much, you still remembered.
You are a good child, Ema. You always have been. Trying so hard to make friends, being so afraid of being alone, desperately smiling for everyone... I saw it all.
The way you intentionally tripped, the way you pretended not to know how to solve problems, the way you acted clumsy waiting for someone to help you... I saw it all.
I have always been watching you.
So, I want to give you a gift.
In your moment of greatest pain, when you least want to face yourself, when you are pushed into a corner...
You will become a Witch.
Not the scary, ugly kind of Witch. You will be my favorite, the cleanest, the most beautiful Witch named Ema."
The voice paused.
"Then, use this power to kill everyone who hurt you.
Okay?"
I opened my eyes.
Those people were still standing there, but their expressions had shifted from confusion to terror.
"What... what's happening to her?"
"Her eyes!"
I felt something moving behind my back, pulling my body upward until I was floating.
It hurt, yet it didn't seem to hurt much at all.
From the position of my shoulder blades, something was tearing through the skin, extending outward.
They screamed and backed away.
"What... what is that!"
"Behind her back!"
I tilted my head and looked behind me.
"Wings."
A pair of giant wings unfolded behind my back.
Pure white bone, segment by segment, like the wings of an angel.
Just like the voice said.
A clean, beautiful Witch.
The Witch named Ema.
Those people began shouting "Monster" and "Apparition," trying to flee.
Ah, you can't do that. Ema is beautiful, Ema is pure, Ema is a good girl.
Everyone should be friends with Ema.
We should be best friends forever.
"Ema."
The voice called to me softly.
"They're calling you a monster. They don't want to be your friends.
See? They're just like the people from that day, surrounding your friend and hurting her. Now they're surrounding you and hurting you."
"But... I want to be friends with them..."
"They don't want to," the voice said gently. "They only want to hurt you. Only by killing them will they stay."
"Stay?"
"Yes. Kill them, and they won't run away. They won't hurt you anymore. They will stay with you forever, be your friends forever."
I looked down at my hands.
If I kill them, can we be friends?
"Go on. Let them stay with you forever."
The wings moved.
From the gaps in every segment of bone, something was condensing—white, very thin, like needles.
One, two, three.
Their voices stopped.
One after another, they slumped down softly, lying on the ground, motionless.
It became quiet.
I floated in place, looking at them.
They won't call me a monster anymore. They won't run anymore. They won't hurt me anymore.
They will stay with me forever.
Forever.
The wind was strong, and my wings trembled slightly in the breeze.
"You did very well, Ema," the voice said. "Now they are all your friends."
I nodded.
But the tears still flowed.
Why?
The door was slammed open.
"Sakuraba!!!"