Last night won't leave my head. The cracks running through Reo's arm. The black haze crawling out from inside the wall——Kurokage. That night, Reo had thrown himself in front of Misaki to protect her. And for that, his body had fractured. Misaki hadn't slept. She'd stared at the ceiling from inside her futon, and before she knew it, morning had come. The hallway of Hibarioka High School smelled like morning. Floor wax and the warm scent of bread someone had brought. An ordinary morning, like any other. And yet Misaki's feet had stopped halfway down the corridor. It was in front of the library. Through the glass of the door, she could see greenish-black hair. Sakaki Kenta——a classmate she'd met in the library on his first day of transfer, someone who loved local history. He was calm, knowledgeable, and had said he was skeptical of the supernatural. But he was someone who had listened to Misaki's story seriously, all the way to the end. (Now or never.) Misaki pushed open the door. "[serious]Kenta. Do you have a moment?" Kenta looked up from his book. Clear golden eyes met hers. For just an instant, those eyes took in her face——the dark circles under her eyes, her pale complexion——and his brows furrowed slightly. "[serious]……What's wrong. You look terrible." "[scared]I need to tell you everything." Kenta closed his book. He pulled out the chair across from her. Misaki sat. And she began to speak. About Reo. About the hiragana chart. About the pressed flowers. About the diary. About the leather-bound journal she'd found in the attic——the record Reo had kept for a hundred years, never able to tell anyone. And then——Kurokage last night. The black haze crawling out from the wall, moving toward Reo. The cracks that had appeared in his arm. Her voice trembled partway through. "[crying]His arm……it cracked, and he was still trying to protect me——" The words caught. She couldn't continue. Misaki bit her lip and clenched her fist against her knee. Kenta listened quietly. He didn't interrupt. His brows remained furrowed, but he simply listened. When Misaki finished, there was silence for a while. Outside the library, someone ran past in the hallway. "[serious]Before we talk about whether I believe you or not, can I ask something?" "……Go ahead." "[serious]Do you still have that diary with you?" "[gentle]Yes. It's in my bag." Kenta thought for a moment before speaking. "[serious]I can't see ghosts. Honestly, if you asked me whether I believe everything you just told me, I'd have to say I still don't know. But——you don't look like you're lying." Misaki took those words in slowly. (I didn't expect him to believe all of it. But he didn't deny it either.) "[serious]There might be records about the Harukaze family beyond what's in the newspapers. Let's go to the library after school. The Kasumigawa Municipal Library has a local history archive." "[surprised]You'll come with me?" Kenta's expression didn't change. "[serious]Without evidence, we can't move forward. Gathering evidence is a rational course of action." His tone was matter-of-fact. But Misaki understood. This was Kenta's way of saying "I'll fight alongside you." Something deep in her chest warmed, just a little. The feeling that she wasn't alone——it loosened something that had been pulled tight since last night. --- After school, the two of them took a bus to the Kasumigawa Municipal Library. Through the bus window, the rice paddies of Tsukimori Town flowed past. The stalks bent heavy with grain, colored in autumn tones. As Misaki watched them, she found herself remembering Reo's face from last night. His arm with its cracks. That expression of despair——no, that was still last night's story. When she went back tonight, she'd see him again. The Kasumigawa Municipal Library was a three-story building about a ten-minute walk from the station. Inside, it smelled of cold paper. A few high school students were studying on this weekday afternoon. The local history archive was on the basement level. The librarian, Nakamura Akiko, was a composed woman in her fifties. When she saw Kenta, she said "Oh, Sakaki, it's been a while," and smiled gently at Misaki, saying "Are you the transfer student?" "[serious]We're looking for materials about the Harukaze family. Records of the fire, family trees, my grandfather's name——anything." "[serious]I'll help however I can." Nakamura showed them to the shelves. Misaki and Kenta divided the work and opened the materials. Tsukimori Town History. Water management records of the Kasumigawa River system. They turned pages searching for mentions of the Harukaze family. Kenta used a microfilm reader to check old newspapers one after another. Misaki searched the index of the town history for the Harukaze name. An hour passed. All they found were newspaper articles they already knew. "Harukaze Mansion Fire: Two Children Dead"——Misaki had read this headline many times already. The grandfather's name. The family details. Where the grandparents had gone after the fire. Nothing new appeared. Kenta asked Nakamura. "[serious]What about the old town office records?" "[sad]Ah……well, you see." Nakamura's expression became apologetic. "[serious]Most of the old records from the Tsukimori Town Office were destroyed in a fire in 1947, after the war. What remains are only those that were recreated afterward. I'm afraid the detailed records of the Harukaze family from a hundred years ago……don't exist." Misaki's hands stopped. Kenta fell silent too. "[gentle]As for the microfilm, we only have newspaper archives. The primary records from the town office were never here to begin with. I'm sorry." There had to be something more. Misaki's desperation hardened in her throat. Reo's time was running out. The encroachment was progressing. And yet the evidence wasn't accumulating. She found herself gripping the microfilm reader's handle with increasing force, spinning it uselessly round and round, when Kenta's hand gently covered hers. It stopped. "[serious]Let's call it a day." His voice was quiet. Not blaming. Just stopping her. Misaki looked at his hand. It was large. It felt like that hand was accepting her desperation as it was. (I'm not alone.) The feeling came again. This time it reached a little deeper. --- When they left the library, the sky had already turned to dusk. Orange and pale purple mixed together. The streetlights of Kasumigawa City were beginning to come on one by one. The two of them walked toward the bus stop. Misaki looked down at her feet. (Wait.) There were two shadows. Her own shadow——and another. Just outside the outline of her own shadow, a thin black haze clung like a membrane. She stopped. She confirmed it at her feet. No mistake. The edge of the shadow was doubled. That thing from inside the mansion last night——it had come outside. "[scared]Kenta. Can you see my shadow?" Kenta looked down at her feet. He narrowed his eyes. "[serious]……Where?" "The shadow is doubled. There's something like a haze." Kenta crouched down to examine her feet. "[serious]I can't see it." She'd known that. Kenta couldn't see it. But——it was there. Just sitting there quietly, clinging to Misaki's feet. Not touching her. Just there. That made it all the more unsettling. "[scared]I need to go back to the mansion. Hurry." Kenta stood up. "[serious]Be careful." That was all he said, watching her go. Misaki ran toward the bus. --- When she opened the door to her room at the mansion, Misaki's breath caught. Reo was there. But it was different from before. His body had become even more translucent. The half-transparent form that had been clearly outlined before was now so faint that the wall behind him showed through. His silver hair, his pale blue eyes——everything was hazy. And from around his left chest, a black stain was spreading. Slowly, toward the center of his body. Part of his outline was already beginning to dissolve into haze. Misaki pulled the hiragana chart from her bag. She held it out in front of Reo. Reo's eyes found the chart. He tried to reach out. He couldn't. His fingers moved slowly, then stopped partway. They trembled and stopped. She could see him trying to force them forward again. But——his fingers wouldn't reach the hiragana. After a while, his fingers moved just barely. "I." "Ta." "I." Three characters selected, and then Reo slowly crumpled to the floor. His body folded like a question mark, and he sat down. He placed his hands on his knees and didn't move. Misaki looked into Reo's eyes. It wasn't anger. It wasn't fear. What was there was absolute despair. A quiet darkness that suggested he no longer had the strength to resist. Like the eyes of a boy who had fought for a hundred years and had finally reached his limit. Her throat tightened. She wanted to say something. But nothing came out. She couldn't say "It's okay." She couldn't say "It'll work out." It might not work out. That was clear to Misaki now. Night came. --- CRASH. Suddenly, a sound echoed through the entire house. The kitchen cabinet——it fell to the floor. Shatter, shatter, the sound of breaking dishes continued. At the same time, the walls began to creak. Not just once. Twice, three times, irregularly, as if something inside the walls was pounding from within. Reo trembled. Misaki trembled too. That night was long. --- Breakfast the next morning was heavy. Dad ate only half his toast, then set down his coffee cup. "[serious]Last night was terrible. I've reached my limit." Mom nodded. "[sad]And Misaki's been looking pale lately too. Maybe this environment just isn't working out." "[serious]I'm thinking we should move out of this house." Misaki's hand stopped. The words "Just wait a little longer" rose to her throat. But nothing came after them. She couldn't say there was a ghost. She couldn't say a malevolent spirit was raging. If she said such things, Mom and Dad would take her to a hospital. She knew that, so her mouth wouldn't move. "[serious]I'll look for a new place by next week. We'll talk about school later." And that was the end of it. If they left this house——Reo would be completely consumed by Kurokage. That fact fell through the warmth of breakfast, settling into her chest. --- Back in her room. Door closed. Misaki slid down to sit on the floor in front of her bed. She hugged her knees. She bit her lip to keep from crying out loud. But tears came anyway. She couldn't stop them. She cried silently, her shoulders shaking. Reo sat in the corner of the room, darkening with the encroachment. He didn't move. He didn't even have the strength to lift his head. The certainty that everything was ending——it was crushing Misaki's chest. The investigation had hit a dead end. The evidence couldn't be found. Reo's body was being consumed. The move was decided. Everything was crumbling in places she couldn't reach. As she cried, her hand touched something on the floor. The feel of leather. Reo's diary. She'd drawn it toward her without thinking. She was holding it to her chest. The hard, old cover pressed against her. It smelled of a hundred years ago——dust and old paper, the smell of time. She stayed like that for a while. Then——something glimmered at the edge of a page. Just for an instant. A line of light traced along the edge of the final page. Misaki's eyes opened wide through her tears. She tried to confirm it again, opening the diary. The final page. The page she'd thought was blank. She turned it over and looked at the back. There were words. Faint pencil marks floated up, visible only when tears dampened them. They smudged, but they were clear. ——To Rilia. I will definitely protect you. Misaki's crying stopped. She read it again. To Rilia. I will definitely protect you. She traced the letters with her finger. Every time a tear fell, the words glowed faintly. They glowed and fade