After the Empty Box: Echoes of Maria and the Whereabouts of the Everyday - The Bonds Connected by Hands of Silence

The cold of the floor clung to his cheek. Kazuki realized he was lying on the classroom floor. His vision blurred, the fluorescent lights bleeding into smears. His whole body felt heavy as lead—he couldn't move a single finger. His throat burned with thirst, and every breath made his chest creak. (What... was I doing?) His memories churned like a sandstorm. He'd reached for something in front of the wall clock. Been rejected. Had his memories shaved away. And Kokone's name had nearly vanished. "Kazuki." A quiet voice descended from above. It was Otonashi Saya. She was kneeling there, still gripping Kazuki's left hand. Her long silver hair spread across the floor. Her ice-pale blue eyes, though steeped in exhaustion, looked down at him without wavering. From her palm, a cold, clear power kept flowing into him—the power of the Hand of Silence, wrapping around his memories from within. "If you disappear, who's going to bring Kokone back?" Saya's voice was far too quiet to be called a scolding. But those words drove straight into the depths of Kazuki's chest. (Right. I can't afford to give up.) Kazuki poured strength into his trembling arms. He pushed against the floor and raised himself up. His elbows creaked, his shoulders screamed. Even so, he stood. "It's not over yet." His hoarse voice echoed through the silent classroom. The wall clock still pointed at 3:42 AM, throbbing—thump, thump. The scrap of paper wedged behind its face gave off a pale blue-white glow, swaying as if mocking him. "That's the remnant of the Box." Saya stood beside him. Her hand still hadn't let go of his left. "The outline of your memories has thinned again. Don't push yourself." "If I don't push myself, then what?" Kazuki glared at the clock. "I'm getting Kokone back." That was when it happened. The classroom door burst open. "Kazuki!" It was Usui Haruaki, who came crashing in out of breath. His brown curly hair was a mess, and the triple piercings in his right ear swayed with his ragged breathing. His mischievous dark eyes had lost their usual lightness, now holding a desperate, cornered gleam. "Haruaki... why are you here?" Kazuki's eyes widened in surprise. Haruaki stood before him and bowed deeply. "I'm sorry." His voice was shaking. "I was the one who first spread the rumor about the clock stopping." Kazuki caught his breath. "You...?" "Yeah." Haruaki lifted his head. His face was a painful sight—guilt and a determination not to run from it, both laid bare. "If that rumor hadn't spread, maybe Kokone wouldn't have disappeared. When I think about that, I get so scared I can't stand it." Haruaki's fingers cracked unconsciously. A dry snap broke the silence. "But when I found out you were fighting alone, I knew I couldn't run anymore. So I came." Haruaki looked Kazuki straight in the eye. "I'm on your side, no matter what. So don't carry this all by yourself." Something hot welled up in Kazuki's chest. (Haruaki...) He too had been afraid of this phenomenon. He'd regretted spreading the rumor, suffered alone. And despite all that, he'd chosen to stand beside Kazuki. "...Thanks, Haruaki." Kazuki's voice trembled. Haruaki rubbed his nose, embarrassed. "Forget the thanks. More importantly, you're gonna do something about that clock, right? I'll help." "Yeah." The instant Kazuki nodded— "You're late, Hoshino." A cold voice rang out from the hallway. It was Oomine Daiya. His black hair was neatly parted in a precise three-to-seven ratio, and his cold gray-blue eyes glinted in the darkness. The old ring on his left middle finger caught the moonlight, glinting dully. He stepped into the classroom, one step, then another. There was not a trace of hesitation in his stride. "Daiya..." Haruaki muttered low. "So you're the one who spread the rumor, Usui. What a foolish thing to do." Daiya glanced at Haruaki. "But that foolishness is what put you on this stage. Results sometimes betray the process." Daiya turned back to Kazuki. "I still haven't abandoned my philosophy of selection. Humans divide into those who should be chosen and those who shouldn't. I still believe that's the only way to build a better world." Kazuki met Daiya's gray-blue eyes head-on. "I know." "But if we leave this phenomenon alone, the world will warp. If the disappearance of existence continues, eventually selection itself becomes meaningless. Because the humans who should be chosen will be wiped out at the root." Daiya's lips curved into a thin smile. "So I'll cooperate, temporarily. This is to protect your everyday life." Kazuki felt confused by Daiya's contradictory words. Upholding selection, yet cooperating to protect the everyday. What lay behind that cold smile, Kazuki couldn't tell. "...Yeah. I'm counting on you." But for now, he had no choice but to accept that cooperation. "The core of the clock's remnant is the paper scrap. Destroy it, and the phenomenon stops. But if you touch it with your bare hands, your memories will be blown away." Daiya pointed at the wall clock. "To destroy it, use your Silver Screen. Crush the remnant of the Box with the power of the Box. That's the surest way." "Use the Silver Screen on that thing..." Kazuki stared at his own palm. The "Wish-Crushing Silver Screen"—Kazuki's Box, which screens the life of its target and crushes their wish. If he used it, he might be able to shatter the wish of the clock's remnant. "I'll do it." Kazuki nodded firmly. "Wait." Saya gripped his hand tightly. "I'll use my Hand of Silence to connect your memories. I'll protect all of your existences." With that, Saya, still holding Kazuki's left hand, took Haruaki's hand. "Uh, what, what's this?" Haruaki's eyes went round. "Be quiet." Daiya hesitated for a moment, then offered his right hand to Saya. Saya's hand grasped Daiya's. In that instant, a cold, clear power surged through Kazuki's body. Haruaki's memories, Daiya's memories, and Saya's memories all connected to Kazuki's. It was an indescribable, strange sensation—as if the four of them had been bound together by a single chain. "This will protect your memories from the remnant's erosion." Saya's voice resonated directly inside Kazuki's head. "Let's go, Hoshino." Daiya's voice, the same way. "Kazuki, go get 'em!" Haruaki's voice too. Kazuki drew a deep breath. (Kokone. I'm coming now.) Kazuki raised his right hand toward the clock's remnant. "Wish-Crushing Silver Screen." Silver light poured from his palm. The light enveloped the entire classroom, and then transformed into a giant screen. Images appeared on the Silver Screen. They were memories of Kokone. Bright chestnut semi-long hair. Large amber eyes. A charity bracelet swaying on her left wrist. 'Hey hey, Kazuki! I've decided I'm gonna support your romance with Maria!' In the classroom, Kokone pressed her hands together in front of her chest, laughing innocently. 'I'm totally right about this! I'll be your go-between!' At lunch break, spreading out her bento, Kokone rattled on at top speed. 'Kazuki, get closer to Maria!' In the hallway, Kokone pushed him from behind. That smile had always been part of Kazuki's everyday. Nothing special—an ordinary sight. But now it was more precious than anything. (Kokone...) Kazuki shouted at the Silver Screen. "Your wish ends here!" "Give me back my everyday!" Kazuki's voice rang through the classroom. At that moment, the clock's remnant began to creak violently. Giiiiii... An ear-splitting sound of metal grinding against metal. Countless cracks raced across the glass of the clock face. "W-what the hell!?" Haruaki shouted. Black mist erupted from the clock's remnant. Thump, thump, thump. The pulse quickened. The black mist began to erode Kazuki's Silver Screen. Kokone's smile was swallowed by the mist, disappearing. "Damn it...!" Kazuki gritted his teeth. The black mist coiled around his body. A cold, heavy mist that dissolved memories. (My memories...) Inside Kazuki's head, Kokone's face began to blur again. "Kazuki!" Haruaki shouted. "Give Kokone back! Give her back, you bastard!!" Haruaki's voice rang out as if slicing through the mist. "Destroy the remnant's core! With your Silver Screen!" Daiya's instructions echoed in his head. "Kazuki, I'm connecting you. You do what you need to do." The power of Saya's hand grew stronger. The Hand of Silence firmly supported Kazuki's memories from within. (Don't lose. Don't lose, me.) Kazuki thrust his trembling right hand toward the Silver Screen. "One more time!" A new image appeared on the Silver Screen. It was his last memory with Kokone. 'Feels like it's been forever, somehow.' By the classroom window, Kokone was smiling. 'Talking with you like this, Kazuki. I wonder why—it feels so nostalgic.' Saying that, Kokone smiled just a little sadly. (Kokone...!) Kazuki's chest felt like it would burst. "This is my everyday!" "I won't hand it over to a wish like yours!!" Kazuki's scream, through the Silver Screen, slammed into the clock's remnant. Crack! Something shattered. The clock's remnant split clean in two from the center of its face. The black mist let out a scream-like sound and vanished in an instant. Silence returned to the classroom. "...Did we, do it?" Haruaki muttered, dazed. The wall clock lay shattered to pieces on the floor. That scrap of paper was nowhere to be found. "It's over." Kazuki felt the strength drain from his entire body. That was when it happened. He felt something slip quietly away from his mind. (Huh...?) Kokone's name was fading. No—not just her name. Her face, her voice, her memories—everything was rapidly thinning. "Kokone... Kokone!" Kazuki shouted. But the sound of that name lost its meaning the moment it left his lips. "Ko, kone..." Again. Again, her name was about to vanish. (No. No. I don't want to forget!) Kazuki desperately tried to grasp the memories. But they flowed out like sand spilling between his fingers. "Kazuki!" "Hoshino!" Haruaki's and Daiya's voices came from far away. "Kazuki, stay with me!" Saya gripped his hand hard. But even the power of the Hand of Silence was at its limit. (No good...) Kazuki's vision blurred white. That was when it happened. Rattle. The classroom door opened quietly. Kazuki looked toward it. Otonashi Maria was standing there. Silver hair reaching her waist. Ice-pale blue eyes. A small silver earring on her left ear. She gazed at Kazuki in silence. No emotion could be read from her expression. Only that gaze, straight and unwavering, poured into Kazuki's eyes. (Maria...) Deep in Kazuki's chest, something pulsed strongly. It wasn't the power of the Hand of Silence, nor the power of the Silver Screen. It was something more primal, more powerful. Maria's gaze anchored Kazuki's memories from within. The nearly vanished name of Kokone regained its outline. "Kokone." Kazuki called that name in a steady voice. "Kirino Kokone." It no longer blurred. Kazuki looked at Maria. Without a word, she quietly left the classroom. "...Maria." Kazuki's voice didn't reach her back. With the clock's remnant destroyed, the air in the classroom began to change. That heavy, oppressive pressure was gone. "Will the disappeared existences come back...?" Haruaki muttered. "There are signs. But whether they'll fully return, I don't know yet." Daiya spoke in his cold tone. "Either way, my role is done. Hoshino, we'll meet again." With that, Daiya left the classroom. "I'm heading out too. ...Kazuki, you really are something else." Haruaki gave Kazuki's shoulder a light pat, then left. The only ones left in the classroom were Kazuki and Saya. Saya gripped Kazuki's hand once, firmly. "You were never alone." With that, Saya too quietly left the classroom. Kazuki remained alone. The shattered remnant of the clock. The silent classroom

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Episode 6

Name: After the Empty Box: Echoes of Maria and the Whereabouts of the Everyday
Author: Novelia

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