Fragment 16. Meet the (1st) Sister (Part 3)

After I finally calmed down, I blew my nose into a tissue Chinatsu had prepared for me.

“Thank you,” I said, my voice still nasal.

“No problem,” she replied shortly.

Chinatsu kept smiling at me the whole time—like an older sister watching over her younger sibling, or maybe even like a mother toward her child(?) Whatever it is, she looked genuinely happy.

“Um… Main Personality, may I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

“Is it possible for us to reconcile and go back to how things used to be?”

Chinatsu asked timidly.

If I paid closer attention, Chinatsu was always lowering her head in front of me. She constantly placed herself beneath me, as if my position was above hers. She looked like a servant afraid of angering her master.

Meanwhile, I had been acting selfishly. I insulted her, yelled at her, and hated her one-sidedly. Thinking about it now, it wasn’t fair at all.

Sure, she was residing inside my body. But… was this really my body? What if I was the one who had selfishly occupied this body and driven out its original owner?

If Chinatsu’s story was true, then the incidents in the past were not entirely the fault of the souls inhabiting this body. If I’m being honest, I still harbored a bit of resentment in my heart. But at the same time, I was also responsible—as a fellow soul living in this body.

So I decided to forgive them. No, more than that, I was the one who should be apologizing to all my sisters.

“To tell you the truth, the real reason I came here was so I could control my power—in other words, control you all. But after learning that you’re no different from me, I changed my mind. You’re just souls trapped in this place, unable to leave. I should’ve realized that and helped you with everything I had. Instead, I locked you even deeper inside my subconscious. For that… I’m sorry.”

Chinatsu immediately panicked when I suddenly bowed deeply into a dogeza right in front of her.

“P-Please raise your head!”

Even so, I didn’t move. I had realized my mistake, and apologizing was something I needed to do.

Ever since Hakusha told me the story about the Miko, I’d been going through an identity crisis. I started doubting myself. Was this me really me? Or was I someone else?

Hakusha said that the Miko reincarnated again and again through the ages. But what if she didn’t actually reincarnate? What if her soul simply left her host body once it reached its limit and went off to find a new vessel? If that were the case… what happened to the original owner of that body?

If I had always believed that my other personalities had ruined my life, then what if I had actually ruined—or even stolen—the life of “Haruno”?

Ugh… thinking about all of this made my head ache.

“You said the same thing back then too.”

Chinatsu’s sudden words made me lift my head.

“Back then, you said you wanted to take us out to see the world. But we always failed to control our powers and ended up disappointing you.”

“Chinatsu…”

“Back then, you were such a cheerful person. No matter how many times we messed things up, you always said it was okay and encouraged us to keep trying. But everything changed after Grandpa got hurt. You kept crying in the corner of the room where he was being treated. You became emotional and short-tempered. And that was all because of us. So, on behalf of all my sisters, I sincerely apologize to you.”

This time, it was Chinatsu who performed a dogeza. It was the first time someone had ever bowed down to apologize to me like that, and honestly, it felt uncomfortable. Maybe this was how Chinatsu had felt earlier.

“So… shall we make up?”

The moment she heard my words, Chinatsu lifted her head energetically. She couldn’t contain her happiness and began to cry. We embraced each other like sisters who had been separated for a long time.

After that, we talked casually.

“Hey, Chinatsu. Do you know about the Miko?”

“The one who can control spirits?”

“Yeah, yeah. That one.”

“I only know what you told us back then—that the Miko is an important person tasked with protecting the world from evil spirits. And that she reincarnates every time she dies.”

“That's what I knew too. Then what about you all?”

“You mean about us being souls possessing this body?”

I nodded, a bit hesitant.

“You asked that question before too. And the answer is the same—we don’t remember anything about our previous lives. Our memories of who we were, what we did, or why we entered this body were severed the moment we came inside. All we know is that we woke up here as a part of you.”

Leaning back, I stared up at the ceiling, my hands supporting my body behind me.

It was pointless. That was the same thing I already knew.

As if she could read my thoughts, Chinatsu apologized.

“Sorry, Main Personality. I couldn’t be much help.”

Seeing Chinatsu hung her head, I hurriedly cleared up the misunderstanding.

“No, no. That’s not your fault. You’ve always been here, so it’s natural you wouldn’t know. If anything, I should be the one apologizing for trapping you all for so long.”

Chinatsu glanced at me from beneath her bangs, trying to figure out whether I truly meant what I said. I raised my eyebrows slightly, silently asking her to trust me. In the end, she decided to believe me and let the issue go.

“So, what are you planning to do next?”

“I’m planning to visit our other sisters. Any advice on how to deal with them?”

“Hm… I think you should go see Fuyuki. She was the one most hurt by our separation back then.”

“Fuyuki…”

“The one who can control ice.”

“Oh, right. Her.”

I’d already had a hunch when I heard her name, but I hadn’t expected it to match her power so perfectly. Hm? Wait a minute.

“By the way, our other sister’s name…”

“Akira. She’s the one who reacts when you come into contact with electronic devices.”

Just as I thought!

Haruno, Chinatsu, Akira, Fuyuki. Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. All of us were named after the four seasons. I didn’t know whether it was a coincidence or not, but it made it much easier to remember each personality and their powers.

“But you need to be careful. Fuyuki is very sensitive. She was the first to shut herself away and never come out of her room.”

Chinatsu’s warning made me curious about Fuyuki.

“Is she that dangerous?”

“I wouldn’t say dangerous. In fact, we’re all dangerous. It’s just that she’s like an emotionally unstable little sister. If you hit a nerve, she won’t hesitate to attack you.”

I swallowed hard after hearing how “dangerous” Fuyuki could be. If she really was like an emotionally volatile child, then there was no telling when she might use her powers against me.

But then, I realized something about Chinatsu’s words—we’re all dangerous. Indirectly, that meant two things. First, they were aware that they possessed powers capable of harming others. Second, Chinatsu was aware that she could hurt me, yet chose not to.

That realization sent a chill down my spine. Hakusha had warned me to be careful when facing my other personalities, but he never mentioned what kind of danger they posed. I still didn’t even know whether I could be injured—or killed—in this realm.

All I could do was be grateful that Chinatsu was the first personality I met.

“I understand. Thank you for everything.”

“Mm! Be careful on your way.”

Just as I stood up to leave, my steps halted. I suddenly realized something I had overlooked.

“How do I get out of here?”

Silence fell between us. Chinatsu’s gaze went blank for a moment, then changed as if she had just remembered something.

“Oh, right. You forgot.”

Chinatsu stood up and gestured for me to follow her.

“Let me show you the way.”

She led me to what she called the “exit” of the realm. But when we arrived, my first reaction was to doubt her.

“Are you sure this is the exit?”

“Of course. I always use this when I leave.”

Even though Chinatsu said it confidently, I was still skeptical. We were standing in front of an old well. It looked ancient, moss covering almost all of its stones, while the wooden support above it had rotted away with age.

I peeked inside and couldn’t see the bottom. I was certain that anyone who fell into it wouldn’t come out alive.

I began to suspect that Chinatsu still held some resentment toward me—that she had only been pretending, and this was her real plan to kill me.

I really wanted to doubt her. But when I saw her tilting her head with that innocent, confused expression, I couldn’t. She was too pure to suspect. Even the thought of doubting her made me feel guilty.

“Just in case, what happens if I die in this realm?”

Chinatsu’s confused face shifted from “Hm?” to “Huh?”

“I don’t know why you’re suddenly asking that, but you should be fine… probably.”

“Probably? You don’t actually know, do you?”

“Well, none of us have truly died, so I can’t say for sure. But like I said, no matter how many times I tried, I couldn’t take my own life. That’s why I think you should be fine.”

Her reasoning was acceptable. Still, I couldn’t fully accept the idea of jumping into a well.

But since there didn’t seem to be any other way, I gathered my courage.

I climbed up the one-meter-high well. Aside from the fear, I honestly felt a bit disgusted by the sensation of moss touching my skin. Still, I endured the discomfort welling up inside me.

After climbing up, I sat on the edge of the well, my legs dangling into the gaping darkness below. I couldn’t shake the ominous feeling. Even so, fear was something to be overcome.

So I took a deep breath and held it—like someone about to dive into water—and then jumped down into the well.