Ayumi's mouth twisted, the calm gone, replaced by hurt that seemed to sear into Yui. "How can you be my friend," she said, voice breaking,
"when you're hurting me right now? You… you're making me feel small, like I don't matter at all. You think you're protecting everyone, but… do you even see me?"
Yui felt a wave of panic, confusion spreading through her. "I do see you..I care about you! I—"
Ayumi shook her head, taking a step closer, her form flickering, melting slightly at the
edges.
"No. You don't. You never do. You say the right words, you act like everything's fine, but it's not fine. It's not fine because I see it. I see how you've changed. How you've stopped listening… how you've stopped noticing when I'm hurting!"
Yui's chest tightened, desperation bubbling. "I notice! I always notice!"
"Then why can't you stop hurting me?" Ayumi's voice rose, echoing, repeating. "How can you be my friend when you keep hurting me like this? It hurts! It hurts!"
Yui stumbled backward. "I'm not hurting you! I would never hurt you! Ayumi's form started to warp further, her features melting, her words repeating faster now.
"It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. How can you call me your friend when you're doing this? It hurts. It hurts!"
Yui's vision blurred. She tried to reach out, to grab Ayumi, but her hands passed through her friend like smoke. Panic clawed at her chest. "Stop! Stop it! Ayumi, please!"
But Ayumi's voice kept coming, faster, overlapping, louder, until it became a maddening chorus:
"It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. You're hurting me. You don't see me. You don't care. It hurts!"
The dream twisted completely.
Ayumi's body liquefied, melted, reshaped itself over and over, and Yui could do nothing. Her chest heaved, her hands flailed, and the whispers seeped into her mind like poison.
Then she woke.
Yui gasped and jerked awake, her chest heaving. The world around her was spinning, warped by exhaustion and terror.
She stumbled upright, hands shaking, and finally settled into a sitting position on the cracked floor, knees pulled close but not crossed.
The first thing she noticed was the dark, sticky warmth on her hands. She froze, staring down in horror at the blood on her hands, her fingers trembled as she raised a hand to her face, wiping the streaks from her cheek. More blood smeared across her skin, and then she saw it.
Ayumi's body lay just a few feet away, twisted unnaturally against the floor. Her skin had taken on a bluish tint, her eyes staring blankly at nothing.
Her throat was marked with purpling bruises, the kind that formed when someone is strangled—dark, uneven lines wrapping around it, the faint swelling of the skin around her neck.
The source of the blood was clear. A deep gash on Ayumi's forehead glistened in the dim light, a hard impact having split her skin. Yui's breath caught.
The realization hit her all at once, she had pushed Ayumi, and Ayumi had hit her head, she had killed her, she had to have been the one that strangled her.
"No… no… no…" Yui whispered, voice trembling, barely audible. Her hands clawed at the floor. Panic clawed at her chest, and a gut-wrenching scream tore from her throat.
From somewhere behind her, footsteps echoed.
"Hear that?" Haru whispered, dread in his voice.
Daichi appeared first, eyes widening as he took in the scene. "Yui… what did you—what happened?!" His voice cracked, disbelief and fear lacing every word.
Haru's face went pale. He froze, unable to form words.
His throat worked, but no sound came out. He stepped closer, eyes glued to Ayumi's body, then to Yui's trembling, blood-smeared hands.
Yui shook her head violently, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "I… I didn't mean to… I didn't—"
Her voice broke into sobs. The words fell apart as reality sank in.
Daichi knelt slightly, still frozen, shock making his movements jerky. "Yui… tell me… what did you do?"
Haru's gaze stayed locked on her, horrified, silent, as if speaking might somehow make it worse.
Yui's mind was spinning, trapped between disbelief and horror. Her best friend was gone. Her hands were covered in blood that wasn't hers consciously, yet somehow she knew, somehow she knew it was because of her.
Yui's sobs shook her body, her hands still hovering over Ayumi's still, bloodied form. Daichi's voice trembled as he tried to speak, and Haru's eyes were wide, frozen in horror.
Then something inside Yui shifted.
Her shoulders stiffened. Her chest heaved once… and then a laugh ripped from her throat.
It was sharp. Too high, too cruel, and utterly wrong. Daichi and Haru froze.
"Yui…?" Haru whispered, his voice low and shaky.
Her head turned slowly toward them. Her eyes — Yui's eyes — gleamed unnaturally, a glint that wasn't hers. The pink in them flickered like flame in a storm.
Yui's lips curled into a smile.
The laugh came again, soft this time, teasing, mocking.
"You… you did it," she said, voice still hers but layered, warped with something darker beneath. "You killed her… all by yourself." Daichi stepped back, instinctively reaching for Haru. "What… what's happening to you?"
The smile widened. The laugh bubbled up again, more hysterical now, sharp edges slicing the air.
It's me, the spirit seemed to say through her, I made you do it.
And you didn't even know.
Yui's head tilted, her grin sharp, almost delighted. The way she moved, the way she looked at them, it wasn't Yui — it was the thing inside her, savoring the chaos, savoring the fear.
Haru's fists clenched. "Yui… it's not you…"
She laughed again, loud this time, leaning toward them, the smile wide and cruel.
"Not me? Oh, but it was you, wasn't it?" Her voice mocked them, mimicking Yui's own tone at times. "You did it, Yui. You killed her!"
Daichi shook his head, taking a cautious
step closer. "Yui… please… fight it! It's not really you!"
The thing in her eyes didn't waver. It leaned into their fear, letting the grin stretch unnaturally. "Fight it?" The laugh was sharp and high-pitched.
"Why would I? Look at her!" She gestured at Ayumi's body with one trembling, blood-streaked hand.
"I made you do this. And you… you loved her so much!"
Haru's knees buckled slightly as he tried to process the sight — Yui, familiar yet completely alien, laughing and mocking the death of their friend, possessed entirely by something cunning and cruel.
Yui's smile softened momentarily, still wrong, still under the spirit's control, eyes flickering. "Did you think you could save her?"
The hallway seemed to close in. The whispers returned, faint but sharp, echoing inside their heads, It's all your fault. You can't stop me. You can't stop her death.
Yui's laughter echoed off the warped Limbo walls, sharp and cruel, but Daichi's voice cut through it, calm but firm
"Enough."
The words seemed to resonate, hitting the spirit's control like a jolt. Yui's head shook violently, trying to fight it, and for a brief moment, her eyes slightly went back to brown, the original color. The spirit hissed, twisting inside her.
Yui's body jerked violently, and then with a sound like a tearing wind, the thing surged out of her. Yui collapsed forward, exhausted, shaking, and for a moment the room held its breath.
Haru lunged, catching her in his arms instinctively.
He held her tight, careful, as if she might break apart. His chest pressed against hers, grounding her. Her small frame trembled violently against him, and he whispered, just low enough for her, "I've got you."
Yui's eyes fluttered, tears mixing with streaks of blood on her cheeks. She clung to him like she was afraid to let go, her voice barely audible. "H-Haru…"
Haru's fingers tightened gently, brushing her hair back. "It's okay..it's okay…"
A tense silence filled the air, broken by Daichi stepping forward, his expression grim. "I'll handle it," he said, eyes narrowing toward where the spirit lingered in the liminal space nearby, a shadowed, writhing form, mocking and fluid.
Haru gave him a brief nod, unwilling but trusting. "Be careful."
The spirit turned toward Daichi.
Daichi clenched his fists, stance firm.The spirit twisted, taking form, flickering between shapes — a dark humanoid figure, a shadowed mirror of Daichi's fears. "Do you really think you're strong? All those losses, all those mistakes… I see them. Do you want to feel them again?"
Images flashed around Daichi — fleeting memories, shadows of guilt and regret he had hidden even from the others. A child he couldn't save, a moment he walked away when he should've stayed, whispers of failure swirling in the air around him.
The spirit lunged, moving impossibly fast, claws of shadow stretching toward him. It twisted the floor beneath them, Limbo itself warping violently. Daichi dodged, rolling to the side, feeling the cold sweep of the spirit's presence scrape along his mind.
"You're just like her," the spirit whispered — cruel, insinuating. "Weak. Afraid to do what must be done. You'll fail too."
Daichi gritted his teeth, voice hard."You're weaker."
He charged, throwing a swing of pure willpower, the air shimmering as his intent clashed with the spirit's shape.
Shadow and light collided, Limbo warping with each impact. The spirit shrieked, retaliating with psychic attacks, clawing at his memories, twisting his fears into illusions.
Images of people he had failed, people he'd left behind, flickered around him.
Whispers called out, trying to make him doubt himself. The spirit surged closer, phasing through the ground and walls, striking from impossible angles, trying to overwhelm him. Every strike carried the weight of his guilt, every dodge was a battle against the memories clawing at his mind.
Yet Daichi endured, moving with determination honed from years of training, strategy, and sheer willpower.
He countered, aiming not just to hit but to break the spirit's hold over the Limbo space, using his connection to the others — his friends — as an anchor.
"You feed on fear and guilt," he shouted, dodging another strike. "That's all you are. You have no body. No heart. No real power over anyone.
The spirit hissed in frustration, flickering violently, tendrils lashing out. "I am everywhere! You will fail, just like her!"
"Not today." Daichi's eyes blazed. He summoned every ounce of mental and physical strength, pushing forward into the spirit, striking with clarity and purpose.
The shadow shrieked, twisting back violently, unable to maintain its form. With a final, explosive surge, Daichi forced the spirit back, shattering its hold on Yui completely.
It screamed — a shrill, echoing sound that reverberated through Limbo — before it vanished into the dark void, leaving nothing but silence behind.
Daichi collapsed to one knee, gasping for breath. Limbo was still warped, still dangerous, but the immediate threat was gone. His chest heaved, and he looked toward Yui and Haru.
She was trembling in Haru's arms, still covered in blood and tears, but alive.
Haru tightened his hold, Daichi shook his head, still trying to catch his breath.
"That… that was too close."
Haru glanced at him. "Thanks… for stopping it."
Daichi's gaze drifted to the empty space where the spirit had been. "It's not gone forever… but at least for now… it's done."