"Light!"
A dazzling light descended upon my room, illuminating everything.
"Good... it finally worked."
Hachiman let out a sigh, completely exhausted.
He had pushed his spirituality to its limit to perform that ritual. All for a single purpose: creating a crystal capable of retaining the light of the Sun.
He had tried different prayers over and over again.
"May the radiance of the Sun remain within this crystal."
"May this crystal retain the light of the Sun."
And many other variations.
Most of them had failed.
And with every failure, he had paid the price.
For the first time in his life, he had experienced the pleasure of being burned alive.
Although, technically, it had only happened in his imagination.
His body had not suffered any burns. However, his mind had experienced the sensation so intensely that his body had reacted as if he were actually on fire.
An unbearable heat had coursed through every part of his body.
At times, the sensation had been so real that he could have sworn he was being consumed by flames.
Hachiman looked at the crystal.
This time, the light remained inside it.
It had worked.
He turned his head toward the window.
It was already getting dark.
"That took way too long..."
After all that, the only thing he wanted was to take a shower.
He still felt like he was burning.
"Komachi must have already prepared dinner."
He slowly stood up.
"I'm going downstairs. I'm starving."
He placed a hand over his stomach.
Perhaps his body had decided to burn up even the food he was still digesting.
Because judging by how it felt...
His stomach was completely empty.
....
"Onii-chan, something strange has been happening lately on my way home," my sister commented thoughtfully as we ate.
"What do you mean?"
I frowned. I thought that after performing so many divinations, I was no longer thinking so blindly. There was a reason I kept doing them.
"There are a lot of rumors going around. You know that alley that everyone uses? They say supernatural things have been happening there."
She raised both hands in a gesture of denial.
"Obviously, I don't believe in that kind of thing, but that's what the rumors say."
I frowned even more.
"What kind of things have happened there?"
I didn't like this.
"They say that people who pass through there suddenly become weak. One student from another class even ended up with deep cuts after passing through the area. The police investigated, but they couldn't find anything. Even so, they recommended that people avoid passing through there too often."
She said it casually while continuing to eat.
"I used to go through there to take a shortcut, but I don't think it's safe anymore. Now I take the longer route with my classmates, so don't worry."
"You went through there? Did you feel anything?"
I stopped eating for a moment.
Now I was completely focused on my little sister.
"Yes. I just felt as if I had been running all afternoon and couldn't catch my breath. But the feeling disappeared after I moved away."
"Maybe it's some kind of chemical gas that's difficult to detect."
Komachi nodded to herself, with a slight hint of suspicion.
"Don't go through there again until they find some kind of clue. If it really is some kind of gas, you shouldn't be exposed to it. It could make you sick."
I said it calmly. I didn't want Komachi to start worrying about me.
"Don't worry, Onii-chan. Of course I won't. I told you, I'm taking the longer route now. Besides, several girls have also been recommending that people avoid going through there too often."
"I see."
"You know, I can't stop some of my classmates from going there. They're looking for thrills. Since the rumors keep spreading, several of them have even had to be picked up by their families after being found asleep on the ground."
She shook her head, clearly disapproving of her classmates' actions.
"Yeah, that's probably for the best. Anyway, if anything happens, let me know. I may not be the strongest big brother, but I am the most worried about his cute little sister."
I patted her head a few times.
"Hmm, that's how it should be. You have to look after your little sister, because I'm looking after you too. I don't want you to be alone all the time."
Komachi raised her head and looked directly at me.
I sighed.
"I don't make much of an effort to avoid people, but if they come along, that's fine."
I'm not going to reject anyone, especially if they can help me advance my Sequence. That's what I'm thinking about now.
"Thanks, Onii-chan. I'm going to organize my notebooks."
She stood up and began walking toward the stairs.
"Okay."
I watched her disappear toward her room.
I frowned.
This was suspicious.
I just hoped nothing would happen to Komachi.
I would have to perform a few divinations. If there was something strange about that place, I wanted to know before anything happened.
....
June 8, 2016, 3:20 p.m.
I had returned home early.
After spending most of the morning performing divinations, some had given me clear results, while others had been so ambiguous that they only increased my concerns.
That was why I had asked for permission to close the Service Club for the day.
Hiratsuka-sensei had agreed without much objection. She had even told me to take care of my sister.
As if I needed someone to tell me that.
Komachi had no protection against the supernatural. I didn't even know how to properly prepare a ritual capable of protecting her. I had tried performing small rituals on my own, but the results had been minimal.
I wished I could do something that would actually protect her.
I was sitting in the living room, waiting for her to return, when I finally heard the front door open.
"I'm home. Hi, Onii-chan."
"Welcome home."
Komachi put her things down and approached me with a smile.
I watched her for a few seconds.
"Did something happen on the way home?"
"Huh? No. Everything was normal. I came with some friends."
She smiled as if my question were strange.
"Then why did you come home so early? Didn't you have the club?"
"I always said I'd get home before you. Besides, there were a few things I wanted to get done."
"I see."
Komachi nodded and started going upstairs.
Then, as she passed by me, her arm lightly brushed against my body.
I felt a slight disturbance.
My spirituality activated.
I tapped twice.
The world changed.
Colors began overlapping with reality.
My attention immediately shifted toward Komachi.
At first glance, everything seemed normal.
Her aura wasn't weakened. It hadn't lost any thickness, nor did it show any unusual coloration.
But then I saw it.
Her arm glowed with its normal red color.
And over that red, there was something else.
A kind of black and gray aura was slowly spreading from a small area on her arm.
It was disgusting.
It wasn't simply covering her.
It seemed to be slowly devouring the radiance of her aura.
I frowned.
What the hell was that?
Without thinking too much, I grabbed her hand.
Komachi stopped and tilted her head.
"Onii-chan?"
"What happened to your arm?"
"My arm?"
She moved it slightly.
"Why? Nothing happened."
I looked into her eyes.
Over the past few days, I had discovered that I could distinguish certain changes in people's emotions through Spiritual Vision.
But that was the last thing I cared about right now.
"You're not moving it very much."
"Ah..."
Komachi looked at her arm.
"This?"
She pulled up her sleeve.
There was a small cut.
Nothing unusual.
"I got it when I turned around. I think there was a small piece of metal or something."
I looked at the wound again.
To her, it was just a small cut.
To me, it was the source of that black and gray thing.
"Does it hurt?"
"A little, but not much."
"You could get an infection."
"I was already going to put a bandage on it."
She said it completely casually.
"It's just a little annoying."
I didn't answer immediately.
This wasn't normal.
But I couldn't tell her that I could see something strange around the wound. I didn't even know what I was looking at.
"Go upstairs and change."
"Huh?"
"I'll put the bandage on you afterward. Call me when you're done."
Komachi looked at me for a moment, slightly confused.
"Okay."
She continued upstairs.
I watched until she disappeared from sight.
Then I went to my room.
I needed to prepare a few things.
Because that little wound wasn't the real problem.
And for some reason, I had the feeling that I had just found the answer to something I'd been trying to understand all morning.
....
After a few minutes, I waited, but my sister didn't call me.
How strange.
It worried me, although I tried to convince myself that it didn't matter.
I went to her room.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. She was simply lying on her bed, breathing deeply.
Did she fall asleep?
She was very tired, but I had a faint feeling that something was wrong.
I activated my Spiritual Vision and immediately saw her.
What I saw left me stunned for a moment.
But I immediately moved to her side.
That dark aura was infecting all the colors surrounding my sister.
I was probably pale.
How could I have allowed my sister to end up like this?
I blamed myself over and over again. Because of my negligence, I hadn't been able to do anything. I already knew about the dangers that existed outside, yet I had still left my sister unprotected.
Idiot.
Idiot.
"Ummh... Onii-chan..." she murmured, frowning in annoyance.
I took a deep breath.
I calmed myself and tried to clear my mind as I thought about what I could do.
Taking her to the hospital definitely wouldn't help. The doctors wouldn't be able to do anything about something they couldn't even see.
Or at least, that's what I believed.
It didn't matter anymore.
The pain, the voices... all of it.
I was going to try.
When I performed divinations, I had noticed that sometimes I seemed to float inside some kind of figure made of countless colors mixed together, constantly changing shape.
But I also remembered what happened whenever I entered that state.
The voices attacked me much more fiercely.
My thoughts became insane and incoherent.
I didn't want to experience that again.
But I had a feeling that it might help me learn more about what was happening.
"I pray to my spirituality.
I pray to my identity as the Seer, Hikigaya Hachiman, to enter the world beyond the mysterious."
The next moment, everything fell silent.
I felt as though I were floating without any direction.
I didn't know which way was left or right.
Up or down.
I didn't even know who I was.
Countless voices, praises, and madness filled my thoughts.
The world that appeared before me looked like a badly drawn picture painted with countless colors and impossible shapes.
But I could still think.
Or so I believed.
Little by little, I began to forget who I was.
Onii-chan.
Boom.
That word stopped everything for a few seconds.
I closed my eyes and calmed my mind, emptying my thoughts as I remembered the happy moments I had shared with my little sister.
Little by little, I began to calm down.
The voices grew more distant.
The pain began to fade.
I kept my eyes closed.
My instincts told me that if I continued looking at this world, I would eventually lose myself within it, and perhaps I would never return.
The state I was in felt strange.
Ethereal.
Like a wandering soul.
But none of that mattered to me.
Using all the knowledge I had acquired and allowing myself to be guided by the possibilities this world seemed to offer, I repeated the same question.
Origin of the aura affecting Komachi.
Suddenly, a scene began to form in my mind.
Komachi was walking with her group.
Beside them stood a large, broad shadow.
A figure accompanied by horrifying sounds.
Suddenly, that thing extended its enormous arms and grabbed my sister.
Nothing happened to her at that moment.
However, its grip had left a cut on my sister's arm.
Boom.
I was thrown out of the vision.
My mind was buzzing with unbearable intensity.
I felt like I was losing control.
The voices were already trying to return.
But I still had one more thing to ask.
Once again, I forced myself to perform a divination.
I wanted to know how I could heal my sister.
But no scene appeared.
Nothing.
Only one word.
Purification.
My spirituality was completely out of control.
And the next second, before the voices could reach me again, I heard a word that shook my entire being.
"MYSTERIES...!"
....
"Ahhhhh!"
I woke up terrified.
I looked around.
I was in my sister's room.
What am I doing here?
Damn it.
A terrible headache struck me as the memories slowly returned.
"Purification..."
How do I do it?
How do I obtain it?
I don't know. I don't know anything.
I began to panic.
One word wasn't enough to solve everything.
Think...
Think...
My head filled with countless theories.
But then I realized that perhaps I had been thinking about it the wrong way.
"What is the one element that is universally used in every movie, series, anime, or cartoon?"
My eyes widened in surprise.
The coincidence with what I had done yesterday morning was too great.
"Light!"
I quickly reached into my pocket and pulled out the translucent crystal.
I didn't waste any time.
I held the crystal in front of me and directed my spirituality toward it.
"In the name of the Sun and with my own spirituality as the medium, purify this foul presence."
"Light...!"
A dazzling light illuminated the entire room.
The radiant light concentrated itself around my sister's body.
Because I was serving as the medium, I endured the incessant imaginary heat coursing through my body.
All for my sister.
Little by little, greenish-gray smoke began to emerge from her.
The colors surrounding her slowly returned to normal.
I looked at my hand for a moment.
A burn mark was spreading across my skin, growing centimeter by centimeter.
I endured everything.
The sensation seemed to last an eternity.
But in reality, only a few seconds had passed.
"Ahhhhhhh...!"
When it ended, an extremely loud scream could be heard.
For a moment, I felt as though my eardrums were going to burst.
When everything was over, I collapsed onto the floor, completely exhausted.
The smell of smoked meat came from several parts of my body.
So it wasn't simply imaginary.
Everything had consequences.
Inhale.
Exhale.
I took a deep breath as I tried to regain control.
"Onii-chan?"
I raised my eyes in surprise.
My sister had awakened.
She rubbed her eyes as if she had just woken from a deep sleep.
I didn't say anything.
I simply hugged her, enduring the pain from the burns covering my body.
"I'm glad you're okay..."
She rested her head against my chest while I placed mine gently against hers.
She yawned.
"Onii-chan, what happened? Why are you so pale? Are you sick? And why are you in my room?" she asked worriedly.
Even though she was probably annoyed that I had invaded her room, she was still worried about me.
"Forgive this stupid big brother for not taking care of you."
My sister simply looked at me in confusion.
And decided to remain silent.
This isn't going to end here.
The unbearable pain filled my body, but I redirected all those feelings into the anger, helplessness, and guilt I felt.
Any adult would understand what had happened.
But I couldn't forgive myself for it.
I'm fifteen years old.
I'm her older brother.
And even though I was there, I had allowed something like this to happen to my sister.
I couldn't forgive myself.
I had to eliminate the problem at its root.
Fucking creature.
It was probably the first time in my life I had ever insulted a being that no one else could see.
This wasn't going to end here.
If something like this happened to Komachi again...
I would probably lose myself to madness.
I won't let that happen.
I won't allow anyone to touch her again.
Don't worry, sister.
I'll take care of that thing.
Enjoy your days.
As I calmed the pounding of my heart, I made a promise.
My eyes were deep, resembling an abyss that swallowed everything.
I won't allow anyone to touch you again.
The promise of your foolish big brother.