Where in the world is this place?
A puddle widens.
The puddle widens.
In a world distorted red, invited by the sound of a dripping liquid, a puddle gradually widens.
I feel the sensation of drops on both cheeks, and they mix under my jaw and fall down.
For some reason, I'm crying.
Warping, bending, the world distorts.
Is it distorted because I'm crying?
All of this, this puddle is from my...
Why am I crying so much, I wonder?
The puddle spreads.
But, but... with just tears, how would a puddle spread so wide?
Like a puddle of water, it reflects the moon in the night sky...
A sound heavier than water.
The moon is distorting.
It distorts from the tears disrupting my vision, and...
...from the ceaselessly falling drops.
Not resting once in its perfectly round form, it shifts and shivers and divides, and the imposter moon casts a light without warmth.
I don't understand.
Is the moon floating in the sky, now, truly round?
I try to lift my face.
*pata* A drop strikes my cheek.
*pata* A drop strikes my chin.
This is different. These aren't tears.
It's not even thinkable. Since it's falling down, it has to be rain.
The sound of raindrops strikes my ears.
Now that I think of it, it was raining in the evening, too.
Huh...?
The rain lifts and the moon...
Yeah, yeah... is it really raining?
If the moon's out while it rains, that's pretty strange. If it was the sun, it would be called the "fox bride's wedding," but in the moon's case, what would you call it?
*pata* I'm caught in a spray.
Is it rain?
It probably is.
Come to think of it, it's summer.
Maybe that's why this rain is so warm...
The hot rain goes *pata pata*.
The drop slides down my cheek, over the edges of my lips and seems to ooze gradually into my mouth and spread out.
Just a slight, sour taste.
Just a slight, sweet fragrance enveloped within.
Very slight, but all from one tiny drop.
And I come to understand that it isn't rain or tears, but something more adherent and thick.
*kaa* My body grows feverish, and yet I am chilled to the marrow, as I sway dizzily, choking from the smell...
Warping, bending, the world distorts.
In the midst of this red, distorted world.
This red... these drops of red are...
My hand makes an effort to wipe at my lips...
Those small fingers, unreliably small, the child's hand of mine that I see in my dream is...
In both of my palms, sticking *bettari*...
...Shining wetly, red, red.
Kei: Ah......
Thin, childish, hoarse, afraid, like a stranger's scream.
A scream I couldn't think of as being mine.
Kei: No......
I shut my eyes, trying to negate my hands, stained with blood.
Help me, mom...
The one who always, always protected me... mom.
But, mom isn't here anymore.
Help me...
That person's face... softly floats into my memory.
Hands suddenly grip my shoulders.
Those hands are large, bony. They aren't that person's hands, but they somehow feel reassuring.
As I open my eyes, wondering who it might be, a hole gapes open before me.
The blood flowing from it, making a big puddle of blood on the ground.
The renewed spouting spray of blood *pata* catches me square on the cheek.
Kei: No...... why......
I shake my body, squirming, and loosen the hands from my shoulders.
Limply, the hands that lost their strength fall away.
Limply, the body that lost its life lurches forward.
---: Kei......
At the last moment, he calls my name and collapses.
The blood dripping from my hands... falls into a puddle and makes the sound of falling rain.
My body doesn't hurt.
The reason it doesn't hurt... is because this isn't my blood.
Kei: Iyaaaaaaaaa!!
Opening my mouth with all my being, myself and myself raise our voices in a scream.
With the sound of a bell, the curtain falls.
In the depths of darkness, I try to hide the red scene from before my eyes.
Continue...