The voice cut off abruptly.
Amamiya Rin's expression changed. Without hesitation, he crossed the room in a few quick strides and rounded the massive concrete pillar.
The corner was empty.
Only a thick layer of dust had settled on the floor — no footprints, no trace of Hayashi Naoko.
Amamiya Rin raised his head and swept his gaze across the surroundings. It was the same everywhere.
No sign of Hayashi Naoko anywhere — not even a footprint. Only his own and Kawahara Miyuki's marks remained in the dust.
"A ghost... a ghost?!"
The realization hit Amamiya Rin all at once.
Hayashi Naoko had almost certainly been one of the serial killer's victims. And the legend of spirits appearing to the living to voice their grievances — that was a story as old as time.
"A ghost... you're saying it was Hayashi Naoko's ghost that brought you here. That she... she never found peace, and she's been watching over me all this time?"
Kawahara Miyuki stared blankly up at the grey, dust-filmed ceiling, murmuring to herself, her voice trembling with unmistakable, genuine grief.
"Most likely. She's been watching over you all this time — but now, at last, she can find peace."
Amamiya Rin pressed his palms together and bowed in the direction of the Iron Maiden.
Barring some unforeseen twist, Hayashi Naoko had also been sealed inside the Iron Maiden by Kawahara Miyuki — tortured to death.
What a tragedy. And they had been such close friends.
The words struck Kawahara Miyuki like a blow. Her body gave a violent shudder, as though those final walls around her heart had crumbled all at once.
"Naoko... Naoko..."
She repeated her friend's name over and over, unconsciously, her whole body wracked with trembling. She curled in on herself and broke down completely, sobbing in heaving, uncontrollable wails.
"Naoko... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry — AAAAHHH!"
Kawahara Miyuki's cries echoed through the vast, empty floor, saturated with despair and remorse.
Amamiya Rin watched her in silence and said nothing to comfort her. Some sins cannot be washed away by tears.
He let out a quiet sigh, shook his head, and picked up the portrait of Elizabeth and the old tome. Then, with some effort, he hoisted the unconscious girl under his arm.
His gaze drifted to the cluster of Tomie tumors that had not yet grown themselves bodies.
Carrying all of this downstairs wasn't exactly realistic...
Amamiya Rin thought for a moment. Then he walked over to the tumors and, using the tip of his foot, flicked them up one by one and punted them toward the window — like kicking footballs.
His aim turned out to be surprisingly decent. The Tomies traced elegant arcs through the air and sailed cleanly through the window, dropping out of sight.
(Baka!)
(Amamiya Rin, you bastard!)
(I will never forgive you!)
(I'll kill you — I absolutely will!)
...
The tumors vanished from view, but inside Amamiya Rin's head an explosion went off — the newborn Tomies bombarding him with a torrent of curses.
(You can't die from that anyway. What are you making such a fuss about?)
Amamiya Rin shrugged and paid them no mind.
He tucked the portrait and the book under one arm, half-carried and half-dragged the unconscious girl with the other, and headed for the stairwell. The girl's head lolled limply with each step he took going down.
From upstairs, the sound of Kawahara Miyuki's sobbing drifted faintly after him, echoing through the hollow stairwell in long, mournful reverberations.
Whether it was the crying or the jolting of the descent, the girl stirred. A soft, barely audible moan escaped her lips. Her eyelids fluttered and slowly opened — her gaze at first carrying the haze of someone just waking, drifting unfocused to what was nearest: the rough, unfinished edge of a concrete step.
She blinked. Awareness crept back in by degrees. She turned her neck — and froze.
A face filled her vision. Snow-white skin. A few strands of ink-black hair had slipped loose and curled against one cheek. Features too exquisite to belong to any real person.
And yet — the brows and eyes carried something the rest of the face did not: a sharp, clean boldness, entirely at odds with that delicate exterior. Those beautiful eyes held a clarity and a quiet resolve that could only come from having weathered a great deal.
Two utterly contradictory qualities, fused together on one face — forming an attraction that was deeply strange and utterly impossible to look away from. She found herself staring, slightly dazed.
Amamiya Rin sensed the movement in the crook of his arm. He tilted his head down slightly and met her gaze — hazy, and a little transfixed.
"Awake?"
He spoke. The voice passed through Tomie's throat — sweet and alluring, with a thread of natural crispness beneath, and a calm, measured tone that carried an understated note of concern.
"Am I dreaming?"
The girl murmured.
It felt like she had been having a strange dream. First, a bat-faced woman had knocked her out of nowhere. Then she'd woken up to a scene of grotesque, nightmarish horror and been so terrified she'd blacked out again. And now, coming to a second time, she found herself looking up at a face of beauty that seemed to transcend gender entirely.
"A dream? Definitely not. You were attacked. I happened to be passing by and found you by chance — I followed the trail and pulled you out. Can you stand?"
Amamiya Rin stopped walking and addressed the girl in his arms.
She came back to herself then. Her cheeks flushed warm. She hurriedly stepped back, steadying herself with Amamiya Rin's support as she found her footing.
She pressed her fingers against her temple — still slightly dizzy — and her muddled thoughts gradually began to clear.
"If this isn't a dream, then the attack... right, there was someone strange..."
The terrifying images from moments ago flickered through her mind. The crying drifting in from upstairs made her scalp prickle.
The bat-like woman. The flesh tumors shaped like human heads. Had all of that actually been real?
The girl couldn't suppress a shudder.
"She was a person with a very unusual appearance. She was almost certainly the perpetrator behind the serial killings of these past few months — but it's over now. I've subdued her and contacted the police. In a few days, you'll probably see the news of the killer's arrest on television."
Amamiya Rin had no intention of telling the girl the truth. In this world, the more you knew, the more danger you were in.
"Serial killings?"
The girl asked, bewildered.
"You haven't heard? There have been a string of murders over the past several months. Many young women have fallen victim."
Amamiya Rin turned to look at her, mildly puzzled.
Even he — someone who spent most of his time in a hospital — knew about this case. But this girl, who looked barely old enough to be in high school, had no idea? Wasn't anyone at school talking about it?
"I only arrived in Tokyo today. My father's job was transferred here, so I haven't had a chance to learn much about what's been happening in the city."
The girl hurried to explain.
"I see."
Amamiya Rin nodded.
"Right — th-thank you so very much for saving me! My name is Ameno Maria. I'm about to start attending Tensei Academy in Setagaya Ward."
As she said it, she snapped to attention and bowed deeply toward Amamiya Rin, her long hair spilling forward with the motion.
Amamiya Rin watched her — flustered yet doing her best to stay polite — and gave a casual wave of his hand.
"No need for all that formality. My name is—"
He instinctively moved to give a name, but the words caught in his throat.
Neither his own name nor Kawakami Tomie's were exactly safe to hand out freely.
But then again... if this girl only moved around within Tokyo, it should be fine. Any Tomies not belonging to the [Tomie Network] had already fled outside the Tokyo area.
"My name is Kawakami Tomie. I have a few sisters with rather poor temperaments who look exactly like me. If you ever run into them and find yourself in danger, you can turn to them for help — but don't count on them having any particular goodwill toward you."
After a moment's thought, Amamiya Rin settled on a name after all.
____
👻🔥Seek: Walnut-chan🔥👻
🔥 New history: Oshi No Ko: Co-starring with Kana Arima
Let's hit these goals:
🎯 100 Powerstones = 1 extra chapter for the public!