The Empty Box and Zeroth Maria
Book 2: Chapter 3

May 1 (Friday), 11:00 AMNow then, let’s see how things are turning out.

May 1 (Friday), 12:00 PM

The first thing I hear is a girl crying.

Daiya’s face is right in front of mine. We’re almost touching. I have no idea what’s going on.

What is this?

The emotion in Daiya’s eyes is pure and hostile. But against who? The answer is obvious. It has to be me, since we’re so close that I can see my own reflection in his corneas. It’s me. I’m the object of his hatred.

Pain suddenly washes over my body as if I’ve suddenly remembered I have a sense of touch. My cheek and mouth hurt. Same with my wrists.

Daiya is sitting on top of me with a tight hold on my arms.

I’m finally beginning to grasp the situation.

We’re in the music room. I should be in the classroom for third-period classic literature, but for some reason, I’m here, where we normally have fourth period. There’s blood on my uniform. Whose is it? …Probably mine, if that metallic taste is any indication. My mouth is all cut up. Most likely because Daiya hit me.

What happened…? What the hell is going on?!

“Daiya… Wha—?”

“Keep your mouth shut, Kazu. If you say anything else, I’ll shut it for you.”

The anger in Daiya’s eyes is genuine. I know he meant every word he said. If I make even the slightest peep, he’ll make good on that promise to lay into me.

This has to be some sort of bad dream.

But if this were only a nightmare, the pain wouldn’t be so sharp and raw. This is reality, no two ways about it.

That girl is still crying… Who is it?

I turn my head to look and find Kokone Kirino sobbing.

The first feeling I embrace is acceptance. Oh. That’s why she didn’t stop Daiya, even after the situation escalated this far. The next feeling to enter my mind is puzzlement. Why is Kokone crying? Last is trepidation.

…It can’t be.

I assess the situation as it stands now. Kokone is in tears, and Daiya is livid. Who made her cry? Who made him angry? I’m in the music room, so it’s probably fourth period. I remember nothing between third period and now, but I’m here all the same. I’m in a different place from where I last remember. In other words…

…I’m doing things unconsciously?

Like sending an e-mail to Otonashi without knowing it and confessing my love to her.

Or maybe like unwittingly telling Kokone I had feelings for her and trying to destroy my friendship with her.

Or like hurting Kokone without any awareness of it and sending Daiya into a rage?

“I think he’s had enough, Daiyan.”

Haruaki puts his hand on the other boy’s shoulder as he speaks.

He’s had enough?

Does that mean Daiya hit me once or twice while he was on top of me?

Daiya slams my arms into the floor and lets go, then stands up slowly without taking his baleful glare away from me for a second. Then, as if to hammer the point home—

“Ungh!”

—he stomps down on my stomach as hard as he can before turning away.

My body curls into a ball of pain. I can see the expressions of everyone around me. My classmates, the music teacher, even Haruaki—all of them are staring at me as if they don’t know who I am. Kokone is sobbing even louder with her head against Daiya’s chest.

I try to stand up, but the pain is too much, and I can’t make it to my feet. No one steps in to lend a hand.

A thought enters my head as I lie there hunched over like I’m kowtowing in apology.

Why does it have to be me? What did I do to deserve this? I don’t have any idea what happened, but I do know what caused it.

…The Box.

That’s right—this is the Box’s fault, not mine. I didn’t do anything!

Why does this have to happen to me?!

I get to my feet on my own.

Everyone is standing around watching, but not a single person steps forward to help.

It makes sense. There’s no reason to expect any of them to deduce that a Box caused this whole mess. That’s why no one wants to touch me. Or approach me. Or speak to me. No one. Not Daiya, not Kokone, and not even Haruaki. No one. No one. No one no one no one…

“Are you all right, Kazuki?”

Except for her.

I smile. Everyone freezes at her sudden appearance, perhaps because we’re still in the middle of class. I don’t find it strange at all, though.

“…Maria,” I call almost reflexively.

As Otonashi stands in front of the music room door, her eyes go wide at hearing her name. However, her composure quickly returns, and she rushes over.

Otonashi doesn’t care that no one else wanted to help. She comes up so close that I can see the shadows of her eyelashes as she reaches out to gently touch my swollen check.

“We need to get these wounds cleaned up. Let’s go to the nurse’s office.”

“…Okay.”

She walks off, and I follow silently.

Not a soul says a word to me as I leave.

As I turn my back on the classroom, Kokone’s crying gets louder. Or at least that’s how it feels.

May 1 (Friday), 12:17 PM

There’s no one in the nurse’s office, not even the nurse.

Once she’s sure of that, Otonashi examines my injuries with light touches here and there. Opening up the cabinet and grabbing the first aid kit, she begins treating them with an apparently practiced hand.

“I came to talk to you because I had an idea about the Box, but I never expected to find you in such a miserable state… What exactly happened?” Otonashi asks as she disinfects my scrapes and cuts.

“I wish I knew myself.”

“You’re saying you don’t remember?”

I nod. Otonashi lets out a sigh of exasperation.

“You know, that’s all that’s come out of you ever since the Rejecting Classroom. Even I’m starting to get sick of it.”

“…It’s not like I can help it.”

“I was joking.”

Otonashi reaches out and puts a bandage on my face as she says this.

“All I saw was Oomine stomping on you. You have no recollection of what happened before that?”

“…Daiya was already on top of me when I came to.”

“And you haven’t the faintest clue as to why he hit you?”

“Yeah. I don’t know anything.”

Otonashi folds her arms in thought at my reply. “Do you have your phone on you, Kazuki?”

“My phone? It should be in my pocket…”

“It could have some record of what happened. See if you can find anything at all.”

I quickly press the button.

Incoming and outgoing calls, e-mail in-box and out-box—there’s no change from before, as far I can tell. I open up my data folder.

“Voice memos.”

Was that always there? I open this folder, too.

Inside is one file, named with a twelve-digit number. It must be the time and date the file was made. Unless the file name was altered, it appears this was recorded around two AM on May 1—in other words, in the middle of last night.

I open the file and put the phone to my ear.

The recording plays.

“Good morning, Kazuki Hoshino. No, good afternoon, or maybe it’s good evening?”

What the hell is this?

I pause the playback for a moment. Why is there a voice memo from some rando on my phone? Why is he talking to me?

“What’s wrong, Kazuki? Did you find something?”

I ignore Otonashi’s query and press play again with a trembling finger.

“Ah well, it doesn’t matter. I’m sure you don’t care, either. No, what’s foremost on your mind right now is the question of who I am, correct? Oh yeah, you know about Boxes, don’t you? At least that’s what O told me. I can skip explaining all the details there, right?”

He knows about Boxes and O. Does that mean he’s an owner?

“I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that your life is collapsing around your ears. Yeah, it’s wonderful. I’m doing it on purpose, after all. Why, you ask? So I can destroy you.”

The disparity between the voice’s cheerful, pleasant tone and what it’s saying makes my heart race.

“I’m going to leave you in ruins. I’m going to violate everything you hold dear. Now that I have a Box, all that you once had will be stripped away from you. After all, I…”

The recording cuts off. Wait, no. I just dropped my phone.

“Kazuki…! Are you okay? What were you listening to?”

“Ah…”

The malice in that recording is as clear as the light of day. There’s no denying it now. Someone with a Box, that most powerful and terrible of weapons, has it in for me and is trying to ruin my life.

Otonashi picks up my phone and opens the recording.

“This is…!”

A scowl appears on her face as she listens. After a moment, she closes the phone and wordlessly returns it to me before crossing her arms in contemplation.

“Kazuki.” She breaks her silence after a moment and says my name in a distressingly stark tone. “I’ve been deliberating about what happened this morning, and I came up with a rough plan for how we should proceed. I wasn’t able to reach any concrete conclusions, unfortunately. Upon hearing this, I am now certain of one thing, though.”

Otonashi gives me a sharp look as she delivers her verdict.

“I don’t trust anything you say or do.”

“…Huh?”

I fail to grasp her meaning, and my mouth hangs open foolishly.

“Even you must understand by now. The power of this new Box is affecting you directly. It’s quite likely that you’ve already fallen into the owner’s clutches. There’s no way I can trust you while you’re under their influence.”

I mull over her words.

She can’t trust me…?

“Wh-why? It’s not like I’ve done anything to betray you!”

“That’s true, as long as you’re actually Kazuki Hoshino.”

“What?”

“Are you really Kazuki Hoshino, or are you the owner?”

“Wh-what the hell are you talking about, Otonashi? The owner is the one who made that recording!”

“…Didn’t you listen to the entire thing? Even if you didn’t, surely you recognize the voice…”

“Otonashi, do you know who recorded that message? Did you already figure out who the owner is? Is it someone you know?”

“…I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised it’s taking him a while to understand. It’s possible he’s never heard that voice in the flesh, not to mention that the tone is considerably different than usual.”

Otonashi isn’t answering my question, just speaking quietly to herself. She turns away to leave the nurse’s office.

“W-wait! At least tell me whose voice it is!”

She stops but doesn’t turn around.

“Kazuki, pull yourself together and try listening to that recording again.”

And with that, she walks off.

I have nothing to say in the face of such a blatant dismissal.

I open the voice memo again, and understanding suddenly dawns on me as I recognize the voice that is always in my ears, yet I have never actually “heard” before.

“Ha-ha-ha…”

All I can do is laugh. What else? I wouldn’t trust me, either, after I heard this.

“…Dammit.”

Well, what the hell am I supposed to do now…?

“It’s the easiest thing in the world. After all—”

I finally heard the rest of the recording that I missed when I dropped my phone.

“—I share the same body with you, Kazuki Hoshino.”

The voice in the recording is mine.

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