Early May.
A month had already passed since Trinity General School accepted its new students. While not completely devoid of incidents, it was a peaceful period overall: students' grades were sorted through tests, club memberships based on aptitude or interests were processed, and so on.
Moreover, this year's freshmen included many outstanding talents that caught the attention of various factions within Trinity.
First, Utazumi Sakurako. She was a devout nun and fervent believer with a high reputation. It couldn't be otherwise. Since middle school, she had perfect scores in chapel classes and participated in all faith-related activities, so it would be stranger if she weren't renowned.
Thanks to that brilliant record, she received an invitation to join the Sisterhood right after enrollment. As it was an offer she had no reason to refuse, Sakurako joined the Sisterhood without a moment's hesitation.
Being able to praise God in the place closest to Him was one reason for joining, but the Sisterhood's principle of political neutrality and non-interference also significantly influenced her decision. If the Sisterhood had actively intervened in politics as a principle, Sakurako would never have decided to join. She did not want her faith entangled with politics.
Similarly, the 'Relief Knight Club,' one of Trinity General School's important factions, accepted a student named Aomori Mine. Perhaps because she had been an observer since middle school, her joining occurred almost simultaneously with her enrollment.
Mine's treatment methods and relief philosophy were quite a headache for the Relief Knight Club, but Mine's character itself was upright and good. And the benefits gained from having her outweighed the trouble of keeping her.
The biggest of those benefits was combat power. It was an unnecessary quality for a medical professional, but not for the Relief Knight Club. The word 'Knight' wasn't in their name for nothing. Surprisingly, combat frequently occurred during medical or relief activities. Contacting other combat groups each time was troublesome and took too long.
Thus, the Relief Knight Club came to possess its own private military force. It wasn't overwhelmingly powerful, but not so weak as to be useless. If Mine joined, that force would become even stronger.
However, Mine's expression hadn't been good lately. She often spaced out during relief activities, and the frequency of minor mistakes had increased compared to her inexperienced middle school days. The reason was obvious. Surely, it was because the patient she was responsible for in middle school had gone missing.
First lover. First experience. First love. Whatever it is, 'firsts' hold great significance. For Mine, her first assigned patient was no different.
Her first friend was the same.
Tsurugi, who joined the 'Justice Task Force'—the student council Tea Party's direct agency and armed unit—had scoured Trinity relentlessly since the day Kenji's disappearance became known. But she gained nothing. If Hasumi hadn't been by her side, she might have already gone mad. To that extent, her first friend's disappearance negatively affected her.
"...Kenji."
She often made a sad face while looking at a photo saved on her smartphone. This photo taken with Kenji on graduation day was an irreplaceable treasure to her and became the last trace Kenji left before disappearing. If she lost even this... Tsurugi didn't even want to imagine it.
"I miss you..."
A teardrop formed at the corner of Tsurugi's eye. She gasped for breath once and brought the smartphone in her hand to her chest. Hasumi, who happened to see this, wore a gloomy expression. Recalling Kenji's photo that spread with the news of his disappearance, she wished for him to be found as soon as possible.
It was a meaningless wish.
*
Do you know how many muscles are needed to move a person's facial expressions? A whopping 80-some. Using those 80-some facial muscles, a person can create about seven to eight thousand expressions. Then, over the span of a month, how many of those thousands of expressions can a person make?
It's unknown. Because no one has counted. However, it is known that showing only one expression for a whole month is abnormal.
Kirifuji Nagisa. A beautiful girl with ash-gray hair and eyes. Selected as a Tea Party officer upon enrollment, her name was already being floated as a candidate for student council president. Like a noble lily in full bloom, she had become a student admired by all in just a month.
However, her former roommate Chiyo couldn't simply congratulate her.
A month. For a full month, Nagisa showed no change in expression. When she went on stage representing the freshmen, during presentations in class, when conversing with someone. Even when she fell during P.E. and her face hit the ground. She was always expressionless. Her eyes were dead, and her pink lips were more often closed than open.
Because of this, many admired her while simultaneously fearing her. But Nagisa didn't seem to care either way. Even if she accidentally overheard someone badmouthing her, she showed no particular interest. Students who had known her since middle school couldn't help but worry about her.
Yet, even when asked if she was okay, the answer was always the same.
"Don't worry about it."
Even that voice was as emotionless as her expression. At that point, most students who had a friendly relationship with her gave up on her.
Chiyo was not one of them. As always, today she deliberately met Nagisa to talk. It was a one-sided conversation, but Chiyo paid no mind and kept giggling.
"No, I mean! She told me, 'You stupid bitch. I told you to stop going to the black market.' Can you believe it? Ha, I was so dumbfounded! It was just a week ago that she and I went together!"
"..."
"...Hey, Nagisa? Are you listening?"
"Yes."
Nagisa answered shortly while organizing the notebook she had spread out. It was still an inorganic voice. A flat voice devoid of any emotion. Chiyo forcibly swallowed a rising sigh and twisted the corner of her mouth upward.
"By the way, how have you been lately? Busy with Tea Party work?"
"Yes."
Again, a short answer came back. Before Chiyo could say more, Nagisa pushed her chair back and stood up. At that gesture, Chiyo panicked and shot up from her seat. She needed something, some topic to continue the conversation. A topic Nagisa would be interested in and talk about!
At that moment, the headband with two blooming lilies on Nagisa's head caught Chiyo's eye. Come to think of it, she didn't wear it in middle school, but since entering high school, she had never been seen without that headband. It must mean she really likes it. And of course, it feels good when someone else appreciates something you like.
Chiyo hehe-ed and pointed at Nagisa's headband with her finger.
"Th-that's pretty! Where did you get it?"
At Chiyo's words, Nagisa's movement stopped abruptly. It was the first dramatic change she showed. The tone of Chiyo's voice rose slightly.
"Let me touch it just once!"
Chiyo reached her hand toward Nagisa's headband. But Nagisa's movement was faster. She grabbed Chiyo's approaching wrist and stopped it in mid-air.
*Squeeze.* More strength was added to Nagisa's grip. Chiyo frowned at the pain rising from her wrist and stared at Nagisa. But she couldn't tell Nagisa to let go. Because Nagisa's appearance was so pitiful.
Anxiety, fear, terror, anger. Those emotions mixed together in her trembling eyes, enough to make the viewer feel pity.
The mask of a forced smile on Chiyo's face shattered. She looked down at Nagisa with eyes that saw a broken person.
"N-no."
The voice that Nagisa spat out was extremely unstable. She clenched her empty fist tightly and glared at Chiyo.
"It's, it's the last thing left. If I lose this too, if even this disappears! I, I... I won't be able to live. So don't take it. Don't touch it. Don't taint the last trace of that person, of Kenji..."
A teardrop formed at the corner of Nagisa's eye. Her gaze was sharp, and blood flowed from her bitten lip. A thin stream of blood seeped from her tightly clenched fist. She had used too much force, her nails digging into her skin.
It was a miserable sight.
The broken girl's wound, forcibly concealed, was still festering. Unless cut out entirely, unless she hanged herself, it was a wound that would fester and rot forever.
But Nagisa left that wound alone. She felt that without this pain, she would forget even that Kenji had been by her side, that she would forget his voice, face, gaze, smile. She couldn't erase even a terrible wound that gnawed at her life.
"Huek... don't... Please come back... give him back to me..."
A mutter, unclear to whom it was directed, scattered into the air. Chiyo could say nothing at the sight of her close friend's broken state.
Nagisa.
Was still in hell.
*
The time needed for a ruptured eardrum to heal was at most a month.
By the time he was getting used to the ringing in his ears, his hearing was completely restored. Of course, if he were to suddenly blast his eardrum with a loud noise, it would hurt as if his head were splitting, but unless done intentionally, the pain was no longer felt.
"..."
Kenji stood on the rooftop of the abandoned building where the lab was located, blankly looking down at the desert. The sound of the blowing wind lingered in his ears. The sensation of sand grains flying with the wind *tap-tapping* on his cheeks wasn't great, but the early summer desert scenery was somewhat worth seeing. If only it weren't so hot.
"...Hoo."
After watching the desert for a while longer, Kenji let out a short sigh and straightened up.
His creaking body had now fully recovered. It meant he was ready to resume the experiments.
The first experiment ended in a miserable failure, just as Maestro had said.
The fear coiled around Kenji's heart could no longer be explained by the concept of mimesis. Because even if it started as merely a replicated fear, it had now become a part of Kenji.
Forcibly extracting it was indeed impossible. To put it bluntly, it was like an experiment to forcibly mix oil and water, separate the two liquids, and extract only one. Maestro's experiment was impossible from the very act of mixing because Kenji's fear rebelled against his and rampaged on its own.
In the process, Maestro lost his left hand, and Kenji nearly lost his life. If the experiment hadn't been stopped, he might have really died.
'Will implantation be any different?'
Hardly. Didn't they already explain? He might die during the implantation process. It was an explanation he didn't want to believe, but having experienced it once, he couldn't ignore it. He almost died in the extraction process, which didn't even involve the word 'death.' Implantation would be worse, not better.
But what could he do? Whether he undergoes the experiment or is left alone. He'll die either way. Kenji let out a deep sigh and went down to the lab.
"You've come."
The dark-skinned man had temporarily stepped away, saying he had business at Abydos Academy. Thanks to that, only Maestro was in the lab. It didn't matter. Honestly, the man's role in the experiment was minimal. Having only Maestro was no problem for conducting the experiment.
"Are you ready?"
Maestro asked. Kenji stared at his wooden puppet head, then twisted the corner of his mouth and answered.
"Let's begin."