“Hmph. …! …!!”

Each time I brought the thing in my hand down.
Each time I touched that squelchy sensation.
Each time that red, filthy stuff splattered onto me.

“Ugh, ugh, ugh… ugh…”

I vomited.
　The heat within my chest. The hatred ignited by that heat.
Had long since vanished.
In a world where my entire field of vision was dyed crimson, I simply continued to destroy ‘it’ like a machine.
Destroy. Destroy. Kill. Destroy.
Like a wind-up toy whose batteries had run out. No more grating sounds came from ‘it’. Seeing its body merely tremble, I struck it mechanically, thinking still, still more. I kept striking.

Squish.

I felt as if something within my heart had vanished.

Squish.

I felt as if a hole had opened in my heart.

Squish. Squish. Squish.

With each swing of my arm, I sensed something vital to my humanity slipping away.
　I had to stop. Otherwise, there’d be no turning back. My hand faltered. Finally, release from this agonising task.
The moment I thought that, madness cloaked in reason whispered in my head.

You know it already, don’t you?

You’ve killed someone.

Stopping now won’t change the outcome.
Congratulations.
Seems you were pondering some scales of justice or something. You didn’t put your own future on that scale, did you? You’re a fool, even by your own standards.

You’re no ordinary schoolgirl from now on.
A murderer. That’s what you’ll be called. That’s what people will think.
You wanted to keep Amamiya Tōru as an ordinary schoolgirl? Too bad. She certainly can’t be one now either.
A pitiful victim whose parent was killed by a psychopathic friend. Poor Cinderella.

Once this incident hits the news, people will inevitably spin their own dramas.
Because of you, Amamiya Tōru will be forced into the lead role of such a drama.
She’ll be placed in a position far removed from that of an ordinary schoolgirl.

Poor thing.

Ah, how pitiful. Amamiya Tōru.

Because of me, you really are pitiful.

“Ughhhhhhhhhhh!”

Vomiting. Even with an empty stomach, the nausea won’t stop.

What should I do?
What should I do, what should I do, what should I do?

The scene before me is crimson red, yet I feel as if I’m standing in pitch-black darkness.

Ahahahahaha!!!!!

……….
…………… , ………?

　Laughter?

Had I finally started hearing auditory hallucinations? Had my mind truly begun to unravel that far?
I doubted my own sanity due to the panic symptoms, but the laughter was still audible.

“Ahahahaha! Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!! Mashiro!!”
“Eh?”
“This person… dead? They’re dead, right!?”

　Amamiya Tōru asked me, her face beaming.
I stared blankly, then regained a sliver of composure as I observed the horrific scene before me once more.

At my feet lay a corpse, its head completely crushed, brain matter oozing out. Not even a twitch. Undoubtedly dead. Well, of course. I’d just utterly destroyed it beyond any hope of survival.

“Ugh… ugh…”

I vomited again.
Only stomach acid trickled down.

“Eh? Are you… alright?! Mashiro?”

Amamiya Tōru’s smile vanished instantly. She approached me, genuinely concerned, and gently rubbed my back.

“Feeling unwell? Mashiro… Sorry, I pushed you too hard. But thank you, Mashiro.”
“Eh?”

She gently stroked my cheek.
Just as I had done to her on the way here.
I looked straight into Amamiya Tōru’s face.
She smiled brightly, a smile that matched the one I had shown her. She smiled back at me.
Me, my face stained with splattered blood, and you, with your beautiful, pristine smile.

“Thank you so much for killing ‘it’. I feel like I’ve finally become free now.”
“……”
“This me now can laugh from the bottom of my heart. I don’t have to hold back. I don’t have to be afraid. Just that alone makes the world look so different, doesn’t it?”
“……”
“So thank you so much, Mashiro.”

Amamiya Tōru’s voice trembled.
　Her eyes glistened.
A tear trickled down her cheek. It was so incredibly beautiful, so exquisite.

It was no longer me who was the light, but Amamiya Tōru.

I felt it deep within my soul.

Someone like me, soiled by this crimson-black bodily fluid of another, wasn’t even worthy of touching her. That’s what I found myself thinking.
Before I knew it, I had unconsciously pulled away from her.

“Don’t run away, Mashiro.”
“………I’m sorry. But I’m already… tainted.”
“Tainted?”

Amemiya Tōru looked me over from head to toe.
Then nodded. “Ah, I see.”

“I’ve paid the water and gas bills, so you can use the bath here.”

……….
The conversation wasn’t connecting.
　I understand what she’s trying to say. I get it. But that’s not what it is.
It’s not soiled in a physical sense—

Once more, the madness masquerading as reason within me sneers.

Ah, Amamiya Tōru, so you’ve gained your freedom, eh?
You said it was thanks to me. Well, that’s good. I’m glad.
　Seems you’re no longer completely transparent, eh?
Her expressions are changing like a chameleon now. You could even say she’s enjoying letting her inner feelings show.

Ah, but what a shame.

This corpse. This incident.
If it were broadcast on the news. If it became known to the world.

She wouldn’t be free anymore, would she?
Lifting her up only to bring her down… you’re a lost cause as a human being, really.

　Oh dear, what to do.

”(……….……………. Must hide it)”

Slowly, I rise to my feet.
To an observer, my gaze would surely appear unfocused, my swaying movements like a walking corpse.
Even in this state, I was now driven by a sense of mission.

“Mashiro? Are you having a bath? Then I might join you! Ah, but before that, we need to sort out ‘this’ first.”

I say to Amamiya Tōru.

“Amamiya-san, please go home first after packing only the absolute essentials into your school bag.”
“Eh? Why?”
“………I can’t exactly go home like this. It’ll take too long and I’ll keep you waiting.”
“I can wait, you know?”
“…Amamiya-san, do you know there’s a rather stylish café near the station?”
“Eh? A café? I don’t know it…”
“I’d like to go there with you, Amamiya-san. What do you say?”
“Eh, ehh, I’d love to!”

Amamiya Tōru answered brightly, her eyes sparkling.
Her expression was incredibly vivid and utterly adorable.

“It seems quite popular, so I’d like you to go ahead and save us a table, Amamiya-san.”
“Ah, that’s what you meant! Yeah! Got it!”

She looked nothing like the girl who had been crying, cowering, and shrinking away just moments before.
That much.
…That much. So, the man I killed was nothing but a “shackle” to her, was it?

I smiled at her.

　………。

Huh, I am smiling, right?
Even though it’s my own expression, I can’t be sure I’m actually smiling properly.
It’s a strange sensation.

For now, I ask her to “please save us a seat” and watch as Amamiya Tōru leaves this filthy apartment.

After that.

I disposed of the body ■■■■ and hid it.