Vol. 5 Ch. 2 Ep. 18: On a Different Page

Ughhh... Nnngh...

Just a little more... Just a little more and...

Don't just stand there and watch, Kikyou! Come help me pull these bars apart!

I'm almost there! Just a little bit more, and the gap will be big enough to squeeze through!

Or perhaps we should save what little strength we have for what awaits us, rather than squandering it on fruitless endeavors.

Look around. Not a single guard is posted outside our cell. They're confident that escape is an impossibility, let alone...ripping apart iron bars.

So what?! You want me to just sit here and do nothing?

I. Am. Thinking. Try to consider that brute force and sheer will power is not always the solution.

If you had simply trusted my doubts about President Ayame, we wouldn't be in this situation to begin with.

I guess I've got no leg to stand on there...

Well, fine! Then what's the clever way out of here your clever brain's thought of, huh?! C'mon!

This "clever" brain of mine would find it much easier to think without your incessant yapping!

What did you just say?!

K-Kikyou, Renge! Please calm down!

This is no time for us to be arguing...

"What's all the commotion...?"

"...How long was I asleep for?"

Sensei!

...Mentor!

How are you, Sensei? Are you injured anywhere?

A few scrapes, but nothing of concern.

Being a member of the Hyakkaryouran means being sturdy in both body and mind! This is par for the course!

"That's good...but where are we?"

This is the underground jail in the Mansion of the Beyond.

It would appear Nature's Beauty imprisoned us here after defeating us.

The Kadenokouji family has a similar underground warehouse...but I never even thought it could be used as a jail...

Damn it. If only our bullets worked on those guys...!

To put it simply...

Our entire experience in the northern district was illusion upon illusion.

"...I can't believe Azami was a member of Nature's Beauty."

Truly! I am still reeling in shock! How could such a kind president have actually been a member of Nature's Beauty, plotting against us?

From the very beginning, we played into their scheme. The trickery simmering behind her false smile... Tsk. I'm nauseated at the mere thought of it.

Wait. Does that mean the district around the Ebisu branch and all the residents we met were fakes too? That gives me the creeps...

No. They had nothing to do with the Hundred Ghost Stories. They were real.

The Hundred Ghost Stories are not powerful enough to conjure fake crops for the festival.

And if you recall, even some of the residents were unfamiliar with Azami.

About that...

We arrived at the same conclusion as you, and Nagusa was the last one to see President Ayame before our capture.

But she's been...a bit quiet since we awoke.

"...Are you all right, Nagusa?"

"Are you hurt anywhere?"

...I'm fine.

I just... My inadequacy has endangered everyone...again. There's no apology that could absolve me.

None of this was your fault! Those Nature's Beauty freaks are the ones who did this!

She is correct, Nagusa! You did your utmost to protect us all!

Nagusa. You are upset, but the blame does not lie with yourself.

There is only one person to whom we can point fingers. President Ayame must right her wrongs.

...No. It's not. Ayame did nothing wrong.

...Nagusa!

If I had only taken the time to understand her properly... Ayame...

That's right. It's your fault for clinging to a convenient dream and believing what you wanted to believe. Isn't it, Nagusa?

Yabuki Shuro...!

Ahaha, AHAHAHA!

That pathetic expression suits you nicely.

What happened to all your bravado and resolve? I guess, in the end, you'll always just be sniveling, groveling Nagusa.

You reeeally want us to believe that you didn't realize that Ayame was a fake? That you couldn't recognize the friend that haunts all your dreams?

...Lies.

You shunned an inconvenient reality in favor of your pathetic desires.

Then we were correct? That President Ayame was a fake?

Of course it was.

A friend who swoops in just as you're in danger, saves your life, and says exactly what you want to hear? That kind of stuff only happens in children's books!

That Ayame...or rather, that thing that looked like her was actually Nagusa's fear, born from the magic of the cursed tome, Toutei's Phantom Illustrations!

Nagusa's...fear? But she wasn't frightening at all...

As clueless as ever, aren't you, Kadenokouji?

Sure, fear can be some nightmarish ghoul, but some people... Some people are scared of happiness.

An unrealistic fantasy! A happiness you long for, but deep, deep down you know is impossible to reach for ingrates like you! Isn't it terrifying when something you think you don't deserve pops up into arm's reach?

The more you indulge that fantastical happiness, the more the harshness of reality gets you.

Ugh...

And that's why Goryou Nagusa will never measure up to Nanakado Ayame.

You don't know anything about Nagusa!

Ahahaha! Deny, deny, deny. Try all you want.

You can try, but no matter how much you wail and scream and cry, reality will still be waiting to welcome you.

No matter what you do, you'll never be able to hold a candle to Ayame.

Disposable. That's what you are. Trash, waiting to be thrown away once you lose your usefulness.

What is it, Schale's Sensei?

If you're trying to get under my skin with your pedantic nonsense, save your breath.

You've been captured! You're the loser! I won't be fazed by a LOSER!

...Huh?

That's seriously your question?

Duhhh. Every single scene was perfectly staged and choreographed to lead us to the big finale: capturing you and the Hyakkaryouran.

Getting caught by that fake Ayame, luring you to the Mansion of the Beyond...

...Huh?

...Schale's Sensei?

Even at the end, when I used you as a shield...

...all of it was an act to grant Kokuriko's wishes!

"You may not want to hear this from a prisoner."

"And maybe you're sick of me telling you this again and again..."

"...but it's okay to pretend to be something you're not."

"After all, everyone does it, in one way or another."

"But in return...you should never turn a blind eye to your actions."

"You did what you thought you needed to, Shuro."

Hah! Hahaha! Here I thought you were going to actually say something interesting for once.

Did you think you could enchant me with your pretty words?

Is that why you saved me back then? To try to convince me to betray Kokuriko and help YOU?

Seriously. You and your ridiculous fantasies.

You're like a little kid playing pretend.

Just like that Kuzunoha you all believe in. You live in your delusions.

...Kuzunoha.

If only...Kuzunoha had abandoned me to perish in the Great Snowfield.

Why did she save me...and not Ayame? The world would have been better for it if she had.

What nonsense are you spouting now, Nagusa?

Are you trying to pretend like you actually met Kuzunoha now?

You're seriously saying that...Kuzunoha is real?

The Great Prophet Kuzunoha, origin of all the cursed tomes and the first president of the Hyakkaryouran...?

If you're still trying to mess with me...

If I think about it, there are things that don't add up.

Kokuriko told me that she left Nagusa stranded in the middle of the Great Snowfield, with no civilization in sight. So how's she alive?

Not even animals are willing to go to that area. No one could've just happened upon her.

Besides, that Schale's Sensei...as much as they bend things, they've never lied...

If the Great Prophet Kuzunoha really does exist, hidden away in the Twilight Temple, somewhere out in the Great Snowfield...

...We could forge a new tome to replace the lost Inou's Phantom Records!

How absolutely pitiful you are, Nagusa. Abandoned by your friend, wracked with guilt and self-loathing...

In fact I pity you so much...

...that maybe I should give you one last chance, Nagusa.

...A chance?

Exactly. After all, even though you've ruined everything, you're still holding on to that little glimmer of hope that you can save your friend, aren't you?

...Then find me, Kuzunoha.