The Empty Box and Zeroth Maria
Book 3: Chapter 20

Day 7 <C> Private Meeting with Yuri Yanagi – Yuri Yanagi’s Room

The Yuri I once knew is already gone. Her lovable expression has vanished from her pallid face, and now she just looks exhausted to the core.

And her eyes have gone empty once again.

They’re the same eyes I saw yesterday before she embraced me. At the time, I thought it was because she was hurt.

But I was wrong.

They were vacant because she was suppressing her emotions to continue the act.

Now—I can’t possibly associate this girl with Nana Yanagi.

…No, I probably will never be able to combine them into one, no matter what face she wears.

I already knew from the time I kissed her on the cheek.

When I realized her tears didn’t taste like Nana Yanagi’s, when my thirst wasn’t quenched, I knew.

I simply stare at the girl in front of me.

I watch her intently, as if to say I’ll never take my eyes off her, yet without any sort of emotion.

This pale girl clutches her chest. Her breathing is ragged and strained.

She has interpreted my unreadable gaze the way she wants to. That’s when I sense it.

She’s aware of her sins.

Seemingly dizzy, she wavers, staggers, then presses her hands to her mouth. The effort is in vain, though, as vomit spews from between the gaps in her hands.

“Ungh, gurgh…”

All I do is stand and watch her puke, not even trying to help.

I want to hate her.

I want to hate her.

I want to hate her, the one who deceived me for so long and drove me to desperation. That would be the easiest way. Another way would be to recognize her as an enemy. I need to hate her.

Despite this, by vomiting in utter disgrace, she pleads with me.

“It hurts.”

She pleads.

“It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts hurts hurts hurts hurts hurts hurts hurts hurts hurts.”

“……”

So what? Yuri’s the one who drove others to suffer. It serves her right if she’s in pain because of her actions. Maybe this show of misery here is just another part of her plan. Only an idiot would feel misguided sympathy for her here.

Even so—

“…Are you alright?”

—I find myself addressing her gently and rubbing her on the back.

“…I’m sorry.”

Now that I think about it, she’s always apologizing.

“I’m sorry.”

After she offers the apology I’m so used to, she continues, “I’m still going to kill you, though.”

I know that.

I know she won’t give up her life so easily after she’s hurt herself so much to keep it.

“…Yuri, maybe you should lie down?”

I offer because she seems so miserable, and she complies meekly and goes to lie on the bed. But she still won’t let me see her face.

Then she asks me a question.

“…You aren’t going to fight back?”

“No.”

I’m surprised at how clearly I say it. I reply immediately, even though I hadn’t decided whether I would let her go until we met.

But I’m fine with that. I’m positive the word that left my mouth so quickly is my answer.

“…Then why did you decide to have a Private Meeting with me?”

“Because there’s one thing I need to ask.”

I tell her why I chose to meet with her and not Maria.

“Please don’t kill Maria.”

I can hear Yuri’s breath catch in her throat.

“…Why do you think I would kill Otonashi? I’m the King, and she’s the Double. She’s a Class I don’t need to kill to survive the game.”

“You tried to get Koudai Kamiuchi to kill me, right?”

“……Yes.”

“If I killed him then, the game still wouldn’t have ended. In fact, you wouldn’t have been able to ask him to get rid of me. Whichever of us was killed, in the end, you would’ve had to act directly. In that case, why would you go to the trouble of trying to convince me to kill him?”

I hurl the accusation at Yuri as she lies there, quiet and motionless.

“It’s because you think it’d be easy to kill someone like me, right?”

Her head jerks a bit.

“If you’re going to kill one of us with a knife, then it’s too great a risk to leave him alive. There’s pretty much no danger with me. That’s why you wanted me to live. Am I wrong?”

Yuri remains silent for a time, she but responds in the end.

“……You’re not wrong.”

I’m actually a bit shocked that she admits it so readily. But I keep that feeling hidden.

“Now, though, you’re stuck. You have no choice but to try to kill someone you don’t stand a chance against in a direct confrontation on your own, and with a knife, no less. What’re you going to do? How are you planning to increase your probability of survival?”

“……”

“…I already know what you’re going to say. To better your chances—you’re going to use Maria Otonashi.”

Yuri curls herself into a ball on the bed.

“I don’t know exactly how. As much as you’ve done, though, there’s no reason to expect you’ll go easy on her at this point. At the very worst, I’m sure you’ll even murder her if that’s what it takes to survive.”

I bring my face close to hers and look her in the eyes.

“That’s why I’m begging you.”

For the second time, I make my request.

“Don’t kill Maria.”

I won’t let her look away. I must get her to promise me this, at least.

Her eyes empty, she answers in a slightly tremulous tone.

“…Promises are easy to make. I can just lie or something, so all I have to do is promise.”

“……Huh?”

“You’ll already be dead by the time I start planning how to use Otonashi, so you won’t be able to tell if I’m keeping my promise. So there’s no point saying that to me now, is there? Surely you already know by now that I lie when I have to.”

She could’ve just made the promise and let things end here, but for some reason, she’s going out of her way to warn me.

“…You’re not like Koudai Kamiuchi.”

“Huh?”

“You actually have some concept of guilt. That’s why I know you’ll cave under the threat I’m about to make.”

Threat. Her eyes go wide at hearing that violent word from my lips.

“If you kill Maria—I will destroy your life.”

It’s true I won’t be there when Yuri breaks her promise. But that doesn’t mean I won’t be able to threaten her.

All I need to do is set a trap that will spring if she fails to keep her word.

“If you kill Maria, I’ll curse you and see to it that you continue to suffer. I’ll become a ghost haunting you, showering you with curses twenty-four hours a day, never allowing you to forget for even a moment that you are a murderer. I’ll make your life worthless and obliterate you completely.”

At the force in my voice, Yuri’s face crumples into an expression somewhere between laughing and crying.

“She’s important to you,” she whispers. “She’s that important to you.”

Yes, this was good. She understood the purpose of what I was doing.

“Yeah… That’s why I’ll never let you live it down if you kill her.”

It’s a threat that works precisely because Yuri has a sense of wrongdoing.

She knows that the instant she murders Maria, she herself will die of guilt.

Yuri won’t kill Maria now.

I step away from the bed and sit on the table. “…So why’d you decide to have a Private Meeting with me?”

“……”

“You chose me for a Private Meeting, too, didn’t you?”

Yuri looks at me where I sit.

“Yes… I did.” Her gaze moves to the ceiling. “There’s one last thing I want to speak with you about. I’m sure this might be difficult, but will you listen to all the horrible things I’ve done? …Well, but you’ve found out about most of it on your own.”

“…Are you trying to repent?”

“No. I would be much more comfortable keeping all of this hidden.”

“Then why do this?”

“Because it’ll help you.”

I frown. “It’ll help me? What will?”

“Learning how I created this situation, the details—it’ll help.”

I don’t see the point. I’m gonna die soon, after all. It doesn’t matter whether anything helps me or not.

Regardless, Yuri begins to speak, not answering my last question.

“I was thinking of what I can do to survive from the moment I arrived in Kingdom Royale.”

Her voice is shaking. Guess she was telling the truth when she said she’d rather not get into this.

“I came up with ways to increase my chances, fearing for my life the whole time. Essentially, at that point I was thinking of how to win the killing game. The conclusion I reached was that I needed to make allies among the people here.

“In particular, I wanted to get the Revolutionary and the Sorcerer on my side. I wanted to find out who had those two Classes. That’s why I planned to suggest we all reveal our Class. But unexpectedly, Oomine came along and proposed the idea for me.”

“And you wanted to make allies of the Revolutionary and the Sorcerer to…”

“To kill the others.”

She says it flat out… I get the feeling she’s almost boasting of her own faults.

“But the Sorcerer turned out to be Oomine, and he wouldn’t work with me. I’m sure he probably saw through my performance, saying I could turn my tears on and off like a faucet. And then you were the Revolutionary. You aren’t the type of person who could easily kill someone even if I asked.”

“So that’s why you allied with Kamiuchi, the Knight…? You really decided on him quickly, though. He said you were telling him what to do from pretty much the first day.”

“I could tell right away that he, um…wanted me. I’m…very alert to that kind of thing. So I got him on my side and then had him do what he did to make the situation feel more dangerous.”

“Why did you need to do that?”

“To make everyone feel like something needed to be done quickly. When people think they’re in crisis, they start wanting to make plans. I built a foundation for everyone to want to reveal their Class.”

I see it now… If everyone felt like the game of murder could never take place, there would be no need for any further actions.

“I surmised that what Otonashi told us about Boxes was true. That’s why I had to kill Oomine.”

“And so you had Koudai Kamiuchi do it, even though it took an extra bit of effort.”

“Yes. However, Kingdom Royale didn’t end even after Oomine died. For that reason, I shifted my goals from killing the owner to winning the game. You know pretty much all the rest, right?”

I nod. I’m almost certain I do… But I still have one question.

“What about Iroha…? Was her death a dying message?”

I can see that Yuri’s face is openly tense.

Her look tells me Iroha’s death had some special meaning to Yuri. Though she spoke so smoothly of her own deeds, it seems this topic is difficult for her to discuss.

Yuri bites her lip once, but she eventually speaks.

“…I think it probably went as you imagine. We had targeted Iroha for Murder. When she learned this, she let herself die that way so that you and Otonashi would know about my scheming.”

Her voice is faint—evidence of a conscious effort to fight down her emotions.

I’m suddenly aware of something. The watch on her right wrist. Her original watch was beige. But—the one she has on now is orange.

“Even in a game like this…I can’t beat…Iroha…”

Silence overtakes her.

I get the feeling Yuri won’t answer any other questions I may ask about Iroha. That’s why I decide to stop pursuing that topic.

“I get how you manipulated behind the scenes… But I still don’t understand. How is what you told me just now supposed to help me?”

The question prompts Yuri to get up from the bed and regard me with those empty eyes.

“…Why do you think I believed in Boxes?”

“Huh?”

“Can I ask you to trust me about what I’m going to say next? …No, I’m sorry. It’s wrong of me to ask that of you after how much I’ve betrayed you.” She continues hesitantly, “But you asked, so I’m going to tell you. I have memories of what happened right before I came to this place, which none of the rest of you have.”

“—!!”

My eyes go wide at this unexpected revelation.

“I received an explanation from the owner telling me we would be playing a game of murder called Kingdom Royale.”

The owner…? Is she saying she knew the identity of the mastermind who made us play this Kingdom Royale all along?

“…And this owner is…?”

She tells me.

“Oomine.”

Daiya is the owner…?

I swallow… No, this isn’t far from what I imagined. Rather, with a little thought, it makes sense. The reason she believed Maria’s explanation was that she knew Daiya was the owner. But—

“But—the Box hasn’t been destroyed, even though Daiya is dead.”

That’s right. If Daiya is the owner, then the Game of Indolence should be finished.

“I thought it would end there, too. I think that’s how it was explained to me. However, as you know, it didn’t. That allowed me to figure out the answer right away.”

She explains.

“The Oomine who was here is not—‘Daiya Oomine.’”

“…What’re you saying? Who is that Daiya, then?”

“That’s…”

Suddenly, she stops short.

“…I’m sorry. I’m not going to say. If I do now, I’m afraid you won’t believe me. Just think about it. I won’t call it proof, but the Oomine here didn’t seem to be aware he was the owner of this Box, right?”

“That’s probably…”

If Daiya did know, he’d never let himself be killed in such a pitiful manner.

However, undeniable as that fact, it still doesn’t make everything Yuri has been telling me the truth. I can’t determine how much of what she is saying is fact.

“Yuri, I’m gonna die soon, aren’t I?”

“Yes.”

“Then when will I be able to believe the parts of your story that I can’t believe now?”

It’s an unanswerable question, so maybe it’s a little mean.

But she replies straightaway.

“When your turn comes.”

“My turn…? What do you mean ‘my turn’…?”

She doesn’t respond. I’m sure that this, too, falls under her category of things I “can’t believe.”

Could it be—that even if I die, even if Yuri wins, Kingdom Royale doesn’t end? Does it reset and start again? Just how long will it continue?

Don’t tell me it’s…until the owner is satisfied…?

“Are we gonna end up fighting each other again like this…?”

Yuri averts her eyes after I say this.

In place of an answer, she says, “…Kazuki, I have a single favor to ask of you, okay?”

She looks as if she could break down into tears any moment.

“Okay, I’ll listen.”

“Thank you. Then make me a promise. Whether it’s the next time, the time after that, or even the final time, your turn will come without fail. When it does, I’m sure you and I will face each other again. And when we do—”

She stands up. Swaying and tottering, she walks up to where I’m sitting on the table.

“When— When we do—”

Tears stream from her eyes.

“—please kill me.”

She clings to me. It isn’t so much a hug as it is just throwing herself limply over me.

“You must, must kill me. If you don’t, I’ll never be able to forgive myself. No… I’m probably past that point already, but I’ll hate myself even more. So you have to kill me. To let me meet you again. Please. Please, please, please—”

“—don’t betray me.”

That’s when it dawns on me.

Just maybe, I might be able to redo this all over again. Maybe there is a chance for me to survive.

But despite that—I can’t save Yanagi.

Watching her as she cries, I recall Nana Yanagi again. I had seen her and Yuri Yanagi as one and the same. If I fell in love with Yuri and saved her, then I might be able to change those events of the past. That’s what I had believed.

That was never possible, though.

They’re two completely different people, and even if I saved one, it wouldn’t mean I saved the other. The only reason I failed to notice this obvious fact, one that anyone could have figured out immediately, is that I didn’t want to.

I wanted to be saved myself.

But I understand: This Box was born to stave off someone’s boredom, and there’s nothing here that will save me.

“Sorry, but I will betray you.”

I say it plain and clear.

After all, I’m sure—I will forget Yanagi once again.

“Even when my turn arrives, I won’t kill you.”

Yuri’s suffering may continue even after Kingdom Royale ends.

But I’ve made my decision. I’m going to protect what matters, and this Box won’t beat me. Neither will my past with Nana Yanagi.

Me as I am now…

…Maria…

…and my normal life—I will protect them all.

…Huh, seems like things always work out that way for me.

“I see…,” she whispers with her face still downcast, and she returns to the bed. She then turns her back to me, hiding her face from view.

I address my question to her back. “…Can I ask you one thing, too?”

“What is it?”

“Are you confident you can beat Koudai Kamiuchi?”

After this, she’ll have to face her final opponent, Koudai Kamiuchi. She has to kill him, and she should have no chance of winning against him in a fair knife fight.

“……Of course I am,” she says, turning around.

“……Oh.”

I’m shocked.

Her eyes aren’t empty anymore. The charming smile has returned to her face.

Naturally, this is not an authentic expression. That’s why I’m so stunned.

I mean, she can hide all that suffering so cleverly, completely fooling us all.

“It might be different if it were Iroha or Otonashi, but you don’t seriously expect me to lose to a half-wit like him, do you?”

Unlike Nana Yanagi, this girl used me without growing dependent on me, and she’s grinning as she gives me her caustic answer.

“I will fool him, and then I will kill him.”

“…I see.”

I can’t help but smile, even though she had made a fool of me so many times. And then I remember:

“I’m scared… So scared.”

“No matter what, I didn’t want to die. That’s why, so I…”

“Help me.”

She certainly deceived me. However, she had lied to me as much as you might expect. Her fear, suffering, and desire to be saved were all genuine.

And—

“Kazuki.”

—Yuri Yanagi is smiling as much as she did when I kissed her on the cheek.

“I…loved you, Kazuki.”