Chapter Forty-Five: Reappearance

Just as Mio Ito “saw” that colossal divine tree, towering between heaven and earth and seemingly without end, the conversation in the abandoned factory continued elsewhere.

“That girl with the birthmark—she’s as if she has no sense of pain. She’s never once shown any discomfort from physical suffering.

“At first, I thought it was just an act. But later I realized she truly doesn’t feel it.

“All this time, I’ve been searching for a way to truly break her. But whether by beating or stabbing her with weapons, nothing ever caused her spirit the slightest distress. She’s like a sponge with infinite resilience, effortlessly absorbing every blow I deliver. In the end, it’s me who suffers—day after day, as I torment her, it’s my own heart that’s tormented…

“Despite the vast gulf between us… Despite the fact that I should be able to stand above her, looking down leisurely… Why is it that only I feel pain?

“From childhood till now, I’ve grown up beneath the shadow cast by the schemes of that girl… Am I truly powerless to defeat her, no matter what I do?

“How could it be like this?!”

Miya Mineyama’s furious roar echoed through the vast emptiness of the abandoned factory.

Meanwhile, after facing the harsh glare for so long, Manae Mizuhara’s eyes had at last begun to adjust. Now, she could just make out the look on Miya Mineyama’s face: her eyes swollen and red, her cheeks flushed, and her expression agitated.

“Miya Mineyama…”

For some reason, Manae Mizuhara felt a flicker of pity for her. If everything Miya Mineyama said was true—in fact, it very likely was—then her whole life so far had unfolded under the shadow of Senior Mio.

Though she was the perpetrator, she had never once managed to gain the psychological upper hand over her victim. Instead, she had been drawn step by step into a cycle of “violence—failure—escalation—further failure—further escalation…”

Yet, even so.

“…It’s still wrong.”

Manae Mizuhara whispered the words, perhaps encouraged by the warmth pressing against her chest. Even in this cold, empty space, she clung to her conviction.

“…Oh?”

Miya Mineyama’s tirade was cut short. She shot Manae a cold, searching look.

“…Even if Senior Mio really did those things… even so, your actions are still wrong, Miya.”

Manae drew a deep breath, staring unflinching into the blinding light behind Miya Mineyama, and spoke with unwavering resolve.

“Heh… Even now, you’re trying to comfort me with some tired old platitude like ‘an eye for an eye makes the world blind?’”

Half of Miya Mineyama’s face was frosty, while the other half twisted into a mocking, bitter smile.

“No… The things you went through were real; the pain Mio suffered is real, too. But aren’t you just torturing yourself now?”

Summoning her courage, Manae Mizuhara cried out to Miya Mineyama.

Miya’s expression froze.

“…Torturing myself?”

“That’s right. I think, deep down, you know it, too. When you hurt Senior Mio, isn’t there a part of you that wants to stop? But the urge for revenge, the need to surpass her, to erase the shadows of your childhood—it all burns so fiercely inside you that, even though you get not a moment’s joy from any of this, you can’t help but sink deeper and deeper, step by step… It’s like that so-called ‘endless hell’—

“…Please, stop, Miya. Don’t keep torturing yourself. And… you brought me here, forced me to listen to all this—you wanted me to talk you out of it, didn’t you? Deep down, you’ve grown sick of this cycle of violence!”

Manae Mizuhara shouted, as if tearing her heart out for Miya Mineyama to see.

The latter stood there, as if her very soul had frozen, staring blankly back at her.

A long silence.

Then, like snow melting upon a mountain, a faint, calm smile appeared on Miya’s face.

“…Such a naive child… You almost made me waver—maybe what you said is exactly what I’ve been hiding inside.”

That fleeting smile made Manae’s heart clench tight, as if the shadows in her chest had been swept away.

But in the next instant, with Miya’s words, Manae felt her whole body plunge back into an icy abyss.

“…But there’s no going back for me now. The reason I brought you here is because you’re the one who’s been closest to Mio Ito these past few years… So you might just be the tool that can finally break her.”

As she spoke, Miya Mineyama walked closer.

She drew steadily nearer to Manae.

A light smile played on her lips as she pulled out her phone, pressed it to her ear, and said cheerfully,

“Hello… Oh, you’re almost here? All right, all right… Don’t worry, there won’t be any problems…”

For some reason, Manae Mizuhara suddenly felt as if she was suffocating.

“…Miya… you…”

“Did you think I was just telling you a story? I was only killing time before the new owners arrive… I wonder, once I take photos of you as their guest at your new address and show them to Mio Ito, will I finally see her waver?”

She put down her phone, her tone light, but her hand reached to her waist and drew out a baton-shaped object that crackled with electricity—a stun gun.

Manae’s eyes went wide. Every muscle in her body tensed.

“Please—don’t make another mistake…”

“How can you know it’s a mistake, if you haven’t seen the result yet?”

Miya was still smiling, but her eyes were crazed and eerily calm.

She raised the stun gun, electricity arcing at the tip, and brought it close to Manae’s neck. Manae struggled wildly, eyes wide in terror. That tiny spark of electricity seemed the very herald of her nightmare, her heart pounding to its limit—

“Don’t!”

A sigh, soft and sudden, sounded from nearby.

Miya’s body froze, the stun gun halting just centimeters from Manae’s throat.

She spun around in a flash, stun gun raised, and along with the still-terrified Manae, stared at the figure emerging slowly from the darkness. As the silhouette grew clearer, Miya’s expression shifted from suspicion to elation.

“You… Mio Ito—you actually dared to come back?!

“Wait—”

Her joy turned instantly to shock, as if struck by lightning.

“Your… Your birthmark—why is it gone?!”