Epi.2-1: The Call of the Departed

That day, the abandoned house was quiet.

Sayuri and Shinobu walked side by side along the second-floor hallway.
Exchanging idle words, with no particular goal in mind, they let the time drift by in a relaxed haze.

Suddenly, Shinobu stopped in her tracks.
“...It seems someone’s here.”

“Yeah.”

The two quietly stepped toward the edge of the atrium and leaned over the railing to peer below.

Just then, the entrance door gave a creak and was slowly closing.
There stood a lone woman.

She held a small bag tightly against her chest, eyes lowered, perfectly still.
As the door shut, the air sank into an even deeper chill.

For a while, she simply stood there, motionless.
Then she lifted her face slightly and looked around.
The upper space stretching above her, the walls to either side—none of it was clearly visible.
Yet the feel of the air told her that she was standing at the bottom of a tall, open hall reaching all the way to the ceiling.

Her eyes flicked briefly toward the staircase that ran along the left-hand wall.
That single glance was enough.
She lowered her gaze again and quietly turned her steps that way.

“…It’s a woman,” Shinobu murmured.

“She doesn’t look like she’s here for a test of courage at all.”

She wasn’t taking pictures, nor did she seem frightened.
Clutching the strap of her bag tightly in both hands, she kept her eyes fixed on her feet and slowly began to climb the stairs.

“She’s coming…”

Sayuri murmured softly.

The two of them stepped back from the edge of the atrium, moved past the top of the staircase where the woman would appear, and pressed themselves into the shadow of the hallway.
Sayuri, keeping close to the wall, peeked secretly toward the stairs.

“Sayuri-chan, she’s gonna see you…!”

Shinobu tugged at her sleeve, but Sayuri didn’t seem to care.

“It’s fine—she’s not even looking up~”

Just as Sayuri had said, the woman climbed the stairs without ever looking up, her eyes fixed only on her feet.
She walked with her shoulders drawn in, her movements careful and quiet, as if she were holding something fragile inside herself.

At last, she reached the second floor and turned to the right.
She stopped directly in front of the railing overlooking the atrium—and did not move again.

She was only a few meters away from the two of them.
Her hands moved slowly as she searched inside her bag.

And what she took out was—a rope.

“…A rope…?”

Shinobu drew in a small, sharp breath.
Sayuri narrowed her eyes, struck silent.

Her hands showed no hesitation as she tied the knot.
She fastened the rope to the railing, shaped a neat loop—and slipped it around her neck without a pause.

Her foot rose onto the railing.
And at that moment—

“No—don’t!!”

With a shout, a young girl suddenly appeared right before her.
Her arms and legs spread wide, she floated in midair, blocking the woman’s path with her whole body.

“—!”

Startled beyond belief, the woman lost her balance and fell onto the floor.
As she put her hands down to steady herself, Shinobu was already kneeling beside her.
Her eyes glistened with tears as she spoke desperately.

“…You mustn’t die…!”

“Wh–what…? All of a sudden… where did you come from…? And why are you floating…?”

What appeared before her was a girl floating in midair.
No footsteps, no sound—just there.
Beside her stood another unfamiliar girl. A moment ago, she had been about to slip the rope around her own neck, and yet now she found herself sitting safely on the floor—

An impossibly unnatural scene, beyond any logic.

Her vision swayed; her shoulders rose and fell with uneven breaths as she muttered under her breath,

“…Huh? What…? Am I… already dead…?”

At that question, Sayuri’s expression softened just a little, and she answered gently.

“No… you’re not dead. You’re still alive.”

At those words, something she had been holding back broke inside her.

Tears began to spill one after another from her eyes.

“…I’ve… been trying so hard on my own… My parents are gone, and at work I get scolded every single day…”

Her words caught in her throat, and she covered her face with both hands, crying without end.
Beside her, Shinobu wiped at her eyes.

“…It must have been truly hard for you.”

The words were quiet, small—yet they reached her straight and clear.

Sayuri, still floating gently in the air, stayed close, watching over her in silence.