"Mutsumi, Mutsumi? Are you alright?"
Wakaba Mutsumi's eyelashes fluttered twice. When a gentle call pierced through her misty consciousness, she realized with a start that she was stuck at the stair landing.
Sakiko leaned against the stair railing, taking half a step closer. The overhead light cast a thin glow on her blue hair, and her eyelashes cast tiny shadows beneath her eyes.
'As expected, after witnessing such a terrifying incident, Mutsumi must have a deep shadow in her heart.'
'Mutsumi has always been bad at expressing herself. Although she appears as usual on the surface, she must be holding fear and unease in her heart.'
'Even if the Wakaba Family didn't ask the Togawa Family, I would still protect her well!'
After her mother's death, Sakiko's heart remained immersed in a deep pool of sorrow. She knew she should break free from the pain and move forward, but she could never find the courage to swim alone.
The River of Destiny ultimately swept people forward. The young man her mother adopted before she died became her adopted brother. Although every meeting still stirred her emotions, she should gradually be able to accept his existence. Her best friend Mutsumi's family suddenly faced a change in circumstances, with her parents busy with affairs day and night. At this moment, Mutsumi needed her to offer warm comfort.
'Now, only I can help Mutsumi!'
'I am Togawa Sakiko. If I want to do something, I can definitely do it!'
Thinking of this, Sakiko's eyes filled with determination.
However, Mutsumi, whom she was concerned about, was not truly in a state of unease and fear, but was thinking about other things.
After experiencing that chaotic dream last night, she felt that the girl in her head who was trying to wake up had suddenly quieted down a lot.
This should have made her feel much more relaxed, after all, no one would want a chattering self constantly interfering with their life.
However, with Mortis's disappearance, Mutsumi found that an incomprehensible new change had occurred in her inner space—on the wall of televisions in the center of the Mind Theater, images she had never seen before began to play intermittently.
Even more bizarre was that these images would inevitably play out in reality.
For example, her parents' discussion about whether she could temporarily stay at the Togawa Family, the number of times the driver's tie was blown askew by the wind when picking her up, and Sakiko's concerned embrace when she saw her.
That was supposed to be a haven for sorting out complex memories, but now it had become a preview for the next act of life.
Besides that, the girl witnessed an even stranger scene after entering the Togawa residence.
A 'disc' suddenly popped out from the forehead of the butler who was introducing her to her living quarters. After spinning a few times, it dissipated like mud washed away by flowing water.
And both the butler and Sakiko beside him acted as if nothing had happened, continuing to arrange her upcoming matters as usual.
A disc... why would a disc pop out of his head?
Was the Togawa Family's black-clad butler some kind of cybernetic human?
Mutsumi had also occasionally overheard her parents privately discussing matters of the Togawa Family, but ultimately, the two families had a good relationship. Even when discussing behind closed doors, it only involved very superficial situations. However, she could still discern from the details of the conversation that her other half's situation was not as good as she imagined.
She heard it seemed to be related to the so-called [darkness of the Togawa Family,] but more specific details were unknown.
She wanted to warn Sakiko, to warn her of the situations she might face. But every time she wanted to speak, she would think of her regrettable expressive ability that [would mess things up as soon as she opened her mouth,] so she could only suppress it in her heart without expressing it.
Now that she had gained this 'precognition' ability, perhaps she could do something with this power to help her closest friend who had been by her side since childhood.
'Auntie Mizuho asked me to help Saki.'
Looking at the young girl in front of her, whose tenderness was tinged with strength, Wakaba Mutsumi held her small hand and together they ascended the last flight of stairs.
============
"By the way, my room is quite big, so it shouldn't be a problem for Mutsumi to stay with me, right?"
"And this place is... even if it's been vacant for many years, as a guest room, it's too..."
Looking at the familiar room in front of her, Togawa Sakiko asked with a frown.
This room was originally where her mother collected dolls during her lifetime. Her grandfather had even custom-made a workbench for her mother according to professional workshop standards. However, due to the family's overly busy affairs, her mother rarely had the opportunity to operate it herself.
And with Sakiko's birth, all focus shifted towards the cultivation of this family heir. After a few important dolls were taken away, very few people entered this room.
"Miss, this is the master's arrangement. If you have any instructions, I will relay them."
"Grandfather's arrangement? I can clearly entertain Mutsumi myself..."
A momentary flicker of discouragement clearly crossed Sakiko's face, but she quickly cheered up, pulling Wakaba Mutsumi to push open the door and enter the room for a tour.
The moment the door frame was pushed open, a waterfall of liquid amber light poured in. Diamond-shaped light spots cut by the curved floor-to-ceiling windows fell on the empty glass display cabinets and sprinkled on the dusty surface of the workbench.
The room had actually already been arranged as a living space. Sakiko had once stayed overnight here under her mother's guidance. At that time, the display cabinets were still filled with dolls, and sleeping with their company could be said to be a quite rare experience.
"How nostalgic..." Sakiko looked around the room. In the setting sun, distant memories flashed before her eyes, and she didn't notice that her best friend behind her had suddenly frozen in place.
She walked to the window, her fingertips unconsciously tracing the cool beech wood edge of the workbench, her gaze falling on a device covered with a white cloth.
"Eh, I remember this wasn't here before..."
"No—!"
Just as Sakiko lifted a corner of the white cloth, a short shriek suddenly came from behind her, from Mutsumi.
With a series of rattling chain transmission sounds, the device, stripped of its white covering, revealed its ferocious form—it was an ingeniously designed gear mechanism, originally used to store various parts and tools, but at this moment it was like a rampaging beast wantonly venting.
The rusty gears let out a "clatter" of lament, a large number of doll accessories and tools scattered with the vibrations, and the glass cover on top of the machine, covered with spiderweb cracks, suddenly sprang open like a startled shell. Dust swirled into a golden vortex in the slanting sunlight.
The air behind Sakiko was suddenly cut by the sound of tearing fabric. Her green-haired best friend had already rushed over, tightly grabbing her wrist.
And just as the two stumbled backward, the machine's rampage reached a critical point, and hundreds of fragments, carrying rusted parts, burst forth.
"Danger!"
Mutsumi's pale warning was drowned in the metal storm. She instinctively used her back to block the densest flying debris, and her thin sleeve instantly tore into three cracks.
And in front of Sakiko's scattered hair, a carving knife reflecting the sunset glow was transforming into a silver snake, thrusting forward.
The moment the cold glint reflected in Sakiko's pupils was about to pierce her neck, a black-clad figure suddenly swept past her nose, carrying the scent of coffee.
A thick palm precisely clamped the flying carving knife. The deadly weapon, which should have pierced the girl's throat, gleamed coldly between bronze-colored fingertips.
"Step back!"
As a low roar exploded, the figure, silhouetted against the light, had already spun and soared, his heavy leather boots stomping heavily on the machine's chain casing. The ancient cast-iron shell was actually stomped into spiderweb-like cracks, and the entire device let out a dying wail before crashing sideways.
Clang!
Only when the last gear fragment fell to the ground did Sakiko and Mutsumi clearly see the cold side profile of the newcomer.
"Nii-san...?"
Togawa Fuuki casually shook his bleeding palm, then glared at the dumbfounded butler before bending down to Sakiko, who was slumped on the ground.
The golden eyes of the girl reflected the figure of her adopted brother. Those eyes, which she had always found cold, now contained a calming magic.
"Relax, Sakiko, this was just an accident. There's nothing to be afraid of anymore."
"Are you hurt? Can you still stand up?"
Fuuki's gentle words gradually soothed the girl's trembling heart. After a few breaths, she was helped up along with Mutsumi.
After checking that neither of them had any obvious injuries, Fuuki naturally embraced Sakiko, gently patting her back and whispering softly in her ear.
"Sakiko, I'll leave it to you to take good care of Wakaba-san from now on. This is something only you can do well."
"Take her to your room. I'll handle things here."
The warmth from the young man's chest gradually smoothed out the gasp that had frozen in Sakiko's throat, and with the return of her consciousness, a dormant shyness awakened. Sakiko nervously took half a step back, a blush rising to the tips of her ears.
"Nii... Nii-san, I'll take care of Mutsumi, but your injury..."
"It's nothing." Fuuki tucked his bleeding hand into his pocket, walked past the two girls, and stood before the ashen-faced butler, placing his other hand heavily on the butler's shoulder.
"Take me to see 'that person'."
"I haven't had a proper chat with the old man yet."
============
After leaving the messy room, the two young ladies were quickly surrounded by attendants who had rushed over upon hearing the noise. After understanding what had happened, they all looked as if the sky had fallen.
After confirming that the two were unharmed, they circled around them, escorting them all the way to the bedroom, and immediately called the mansion's doctor to come for a thorough check-up.
Unlike Sakiko, who had recovered under Fuuki's comfort, Wakaba Mutsumi had been silent ever since leaving that room.
This worried Sakiko greatly: she had brought Mutsumi home specifically to take care of her, and then such a terrifying incident happened at home. Moreover, Mutsumi had actively rushed over to protect her, which made the Togawa Family's young lady feel ashamed and rack her brains to find a way to make amends.
But Mutsumi just sat quietly by the bed, her consciousness once again in that Mind Theater, where the same image, a giant question mark, played on the television screens surrounding her.
There were three things that puzzled the girl.
First, why were both Togawa Fuuki and the butler surrounded by some kind of faint purple phantom?
Second, why did her wrist feel distinctly cut, but upon inspection, it was completely unharmed?
And, the third point... 'Foresight' images would always happen exactly as seen, and any attempt to change them was futile. —This was a statement Mortis, who was no longer to be found, had once left her.
But why was Sakiko's 'future' of being pierced through the throat by the carving knife changed?
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