Chapter 15: Illusion 1

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Translator: Soafp

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June 8th. Saturday. 4:57 PM. I'm sixteen. Today is Kai-chan's death anniversary.

After passing through the one-way automatic door of the entrance, I stepped into a meticulously maintained courtyard, surrounded by tall fences.

The stone path, polished to a mirror-like shine, split off towards three apartment buildings. My home was in Building Three, the one on the left. I walked through the automatic door of Building Three, greeted by a pair of spiky-leafed houseplants whose name I didn't know.

I checked the mailbox: 503. …It was empty. I got into the spotless silver elevator and pressed the button for the fifth floor. The doors closed almost immediately, as the elevator had been waiting on the ground floor.

I pressed the number five and closed my eyes, replaying the events of the day in my mind. …Oh. That's right. He said he liked me. He really said it.

Somehow, hearing that made me so much happier than when he asked me out. Back then, I was more shocked than anything. …Oh, Rik-kun, I like you… I really like you. I'm happy. So happy. Right now, I'm so…

“Fifth floor.”

Huh. …What did it say?

…Just now, I felt like I was about to remember something important… What was it? Why?

“Fifth floor.”

The elevator doors slid open motionless.

…

I arrived at apartment 503. The nameplate read “Arahama Toshihiko, Miyuki, Nagisa.” The three of us, playing pretend at being a family. My dad replaced it right after he remarried. I hated it. I hated how quickly he moved on to someone new, that new person, this whole house without Kai-chan in it.

I turned the doorknob. The door was locked; they weren't home yet. I reached into the pocket of my uniform skirt with my left hand. Keys, keys… the Sanrio keychain… Huh? That's strange. I'm sure I put them in here this morning. Where…?

“Here you go.”

I felt something cold touch my right hand, which wasn't in my pocket. Jingle. …Thank you. Without even thinking, I took the keys without turning around.

“You're always so forgetful, Onee-chan.”

Eh?

I turned around. …No one was there. But in my right hand, there were the house keys that hadn't been there before. The Sanrio keychain was dangling from them. Come to think of it, Kai-chan was the one who picked out this keychain.

“…Kai-chan…?”

Kai-chan, did you help your sister?

Kai-chan, do you still care about your sister?

Kai-chan, are you not mad at your sister anymore?

Hey, Kai-chan…

“Fifth floor.”

The elevator doors slid open motionless.