Arriving at the hotel.
Inside the bathroom, Fujino Asagami looked at the character "Haruka" on her hip, watching the hot water wash the cream away into the drain. Her state of mind had undergone a massive shift.
At that moment, Haruka Kasugano stepped into the shower, embracing her from behind. He smiled, "I'm quite dirty too. Let's wash together."
Fujino did not resist. Instead, she leaned into his embrace, taking his hand with her slender fingers. She tilted her head back, resting herself entirely against him.
"Let me help you wash up..." Haruka Kasugano laughed.
"Mmh..." Fujino nodded slightly.
The silence spoke louder than words.
[Ding! Fujino Asagami really enjoys the Host's 'bullying.' Infidelity Progress +10%!]
[Rewards are being saved for the Host!]
--------------
Middle of the Night.
In the hospital bed where Shiki Ryougi lay dormant.
Void Shiki sat straight up. She looked out the window, watching the curtains flutter in the night breeze.
—He didn't come today...
Every week before this, he would come. Even though he always carried the scent of other girls, he had always arrived on time to caress her.
And yet. He didn't show up today.
Void Shiki felt a pang of disappointment in her heart. Over the past two years, being caressed once a week had become a habit she was long accustomed to. She had even found it annoying at times. And yet... missing just one visit, she actually felt reluctant to let go.
Void Shiki couldn't understand it. She didn't know why she felt this way. Regardless, she felt restless...
Suddenly, she sensed something.
Ah, Shiki is about to wake up.
With that, she lay back down and returned to her deep slumber.
------------
Beep... beep... beep...
According to Shiki's electrocardiogram, she was about to wake up. As the daughter of a prominent Yakuza family and a wealthy heiress, the hospital staff immediately burst into a frenzy of activity, preparing for her revival.
Souren Araya watched the situation closely. "She's waking up," he said to Haruka Kasugano.
"And then?" Haruka Kasugano asked.
"I plan to resign from this hospital. I only worked here to ensure her safety. Now that she's waking, it's time for me to leave," Araya said. "The Ogawa Apartments are nearing completion, I need to focus my eyes there. Three errors have occurred, I cannot afford a fourth. If there is a fourth, my experiment is a failure."
Haruka Kasugano thought for a moment. "So when do you plan to use Shiki to reach the Root?"
"After the Ogawa Apartments and the other two experiments have run their course," Araya replied. "Arrange things for Kirie Fujou. She can begin her killings."
"Understood," Haruka Kasugano nodded.
"And Fujino Asagami? Has she begun to break yet?" Araya continued.
"Soon. I've tortured her enough, she'll snap and start killing sooner or later," Haruka Kasugano bluffed.
"Good. Handle the arrangements then." Araya sighed and departed.
Haruka Kasugano looked at Shiki, his mind calculating his conquest plan. It was difficult, but not impossible. According to his [Mathematical Thinking], the success rate was there. Now, he just had to wait for her to open her eyes.
---------------
A few days later.
Shiki Ryougi slowly opened her eyes. Doctors and nurses were already waiting.
"She really woke up!"
"Incredible, it's a miracle!"
"Miss, do you feel any discomfort in your body right now?"
The medical staff chattered away, but Shiki didn't hear a word of it. Because right now, her eyes were filled with nothing but horrific imagery. She saw everyone divided into segments, everyone looked already dead.
She looked blankly at a rose nearby. Seeing the "lines" on the flower that looked like they were about to snap, she couldn't help but reach out and touch it.
Snap—
The moment her finger brushed it, the rose died.
"AAAHHHH!!!" Shiki screamed in terror.
The nurses rushed to comfort her. "What's wrong? Are you in pain?"
But Shiki ignored them. All she saw were dead people and those terrifying lines.
Gouge—
In her panic, Shiki violently poked at her own eyes with her hands.
"Doctor! Get in here!"
"The patient is self-harming!"
"Restrain her!"
Like Shiki Tohno, someone who has experienced death can awaken the "Mystic Eyes of Death Perception." Because Shiki's consciousness couldn't view the outside world during her coma and instead stared into the internal "Void," she was in constant contact with the concept of death, resulting in these eyes upon awakening.
---------------
The next day.
Haruka Kasugano carried a folder and strolled leisurely into the hospital, eventually making his way into Shiki's ward.
"Who let you in? Didn't I say I won't see anyone?" Shiki barked at the sound of the door opening. Due to the self-harm incident, her eyes were bandaged, and her hands were encased in plastic bags to prevent further injury.
"Hehe," Haruka Kasugano walked up to her and laughed. "I am a teacher, after all. It's perfectly normal for me to moonlight as a psychological counselor. I told the hospital you needed counseling, so here I am."
"Liar!" Shiki snapped. She turned to press the call button on her bed to summon a nurse.
"If you don't want to know what's going on with your eyes, then go ahead and press it," Haruka Kasugano said in a provocative tone.
As expected, Shiki stopped her hand. She slowly sat back. "You know about my eyes?"
"I don't just know about them, I know how to use them. If you're interested... you know the deal," Haruka Kasugano smiled.
"..." Shiki hesitated for a moment before speaking. "Fine... I'll allow you to be my counselor."
"Thank you for your business!" Haruka Kasugano laughed.
"What's your name?" Shiki asked.
"Me? I'm Haruka Kasugano. You can call me Mr. Haruka!" He sat in the chair beside the bed.
"Haruka Kasugano..." Shiki murmured to herself.
She felt the name was strangely familiar, as if she had heard it somewhere... no, it felt as if it was a name she had been repeating in her heart throughout these long two years. Familiar... but she couldn't quite place it.
The current her was not the old her. This persona was neither the original Shiki nor the masculine SHIKI. It was a persona reconstructed after experiencing death.
While the "female" Shiki and "male" SHIKI were two personalities, they weren't like standard Dissociative Identity Disorder. Their memories and tastes were consistent, they only differed in how they chose to act. It was more like two different emotional expressions. However, having lost one side, this was now a "whole" persona. While she inherited the memories, her essence felt different.
The biggest difference was that looking at her memories from two years ago felt like watching a movie. She knew they were hers, but she felt no emotional connection to them. For example, her parents: she knew who they were, but they felt like familiar strangers. Classmates and friends meant nothing.
Furthermore, the memory of how she got into the car accident was gone. She couldn't remember the details at all. And the boy in her memories who used to eat lunch with her—Mikiya Kokutou—she couldn't remember why she even ate with him. Were we close?
"You're saying you feel nothing for your past memories?" Haruka Kasugano asked after listening to her description.