The Empty Box and Zeroth Maria
Book 3: Chapter 21

Day 7 <C> Private Meeting with Maria Otonashi – Kazuki Hoshino’s Room

I tell Maria everything I know.

No matter how hard this outcome may be for her to accept, she can’t do anything about it.

Yuri has already chosen me as the target for Murder. Maria knows this can’t be changed.

For that reason, we simply sit on my bed, our hands clasped together. As if trying to remember the shape of each other’s hands, we squeeze them over and over, intertwine our fingers, and just savor the sensation.

For the last time, we feel each other’s touch.

“Kazuki.”

Maria says my name.

“The truth is, I’ve been keeping something from you.”

“I don’t have the Misbegotten Happiness now.”

Not sure why that’s significant, I simply look at her.

“I can’t be certain, but I feel it may have simply lost its power temporarily. I’ve encountered something like this before; however, it’s possible this could be a characteristic of the Game of Indolence.”

…Wouldn’t that be considered, y’know, pretty huge?

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Maria looks down for a moment, then explains with our fingers interlinked.

“I am a Box, not a human. I’ve explained to you often that I exist for others. Maria Otonashi… No, Aya Otonashi must exist this way. What supports me in this is the Misbegotten Happiness. Despite this, I can’t call upon it here. So what am I?”

“You’re…Maria.”

“…So this is how it is now?” Maria squeezes my hand so hard it hurts. “I can’t even protect you anymore?”

“…Maria.”

“Hmph, some Double I am. If only I could die in your place.”

Maria’s bad habit is rearing its ugly head again.

It’s that horrible tendency to put herself down so quickly.

“…Stop. I would never want that.”

“I know! I know that desire is purely my own selfishness!” she shouts.

My eyes go wide at how blunt she is about it.

“…What?”

So she’s aware of it herself? Didn’t she honestly believe that all she did was to the benefit of others?

“You let me know that several times during that week not so long ago. This is simply my own pride at work…”

With that said, Maria fixes me with a stern gaze.

“But still! I’m still a Box!”

I can’t help but fall silent in the face of her intensity.

She knows, but she still can’t change herself. The reason is the firm resolve within her. If that were to change, then I have no doubt she would no longer be able to remain who she is.

“……Sorry for yelling.” Maria looks away awkwardly. “It’s just that it frustrates me. I can’t accept this outcome.”

“…It’s okay, Maria. If what Yuri says is true, we will meet again.”

“I don’t care. That doesn’t do anything to change the fact that the Kazuki here in front of me will be gone. Right now, I’ll lose you, and that’s certain.”

“……Maria.”

I find the idea of coming back to life hard to believe, too.

“…Kazuki, as I just told you, I can’t say that I’m a Box as I am now. Which is why I can’t protect anyone. It’s possible all I’ll be able to do from here on out is watch Yanagi suffer. Within Kingdom Royale, I’m just a powerless girl,” Maria says. She reaches up and cradles my head against her chest. “That’s why, even if it’s just a little, I think it’s okay for me to express Maria Otonashi’s true feelings.”

She whispers to me.

“I’m sad.”

Her lips brush against my ear.

“I can’t stand the thought of you dying. It pains me. I hate it. It hurts. I want to be with you.”

I suddenly remember when I knelt and extended my hand to her within that classroom of endless repetitions.

“I may be powerless. I may be nothing more than an ordinary Maria Otonashi now. But—”

Back then, though only for the briefest moment, she had been a mere powerless girl.

And now, within the Game of Indolence, she is helpless again.

“—But I still want to protect you, even if it means throwing away my life.”

I can’t see the expression on her face as she says this.

But I do know the answer I need to give.

“I’m sorry.”

I made this decision when I chose Maria instead of Yanagi, after all.

“No matter how much it hurts, it’s not your job to protect me here.”

I decided when I chose her, the one who made me who I am now.

“When you don’t have your box, it’s my job to protect you.”

I will defend Maria.

And I will defend my normal life.

I will defend the normal life that Maria doesn’t want.

Day 7 <C> Kazuki Hoshino’s Room

And then, I am run through by an invisible sword.

•Kazuki Hoshino, dead via Death by Sword

GAME OVER

• Winners

Yuri Yanagi (Player)

The King; killed Kazuki Hoshino on the seventh day by choosing him for Murder, killed Koudai Kamiuchi directly on the same day. Survived.

*Victory conditions were fulfilled by the deaths of Iroha Shindo, Kazuki Hoshino, and Koudai Kamiuchi.

Maria Otonashi

The Double; survived.

*Victory conditions were fulfilled by the death of Kazuki Hoshino.

• Losers

Iroha Shindo

The Prince; executed for failure to follow the schedule.

Daiya Oomine

The Sorcerer; died due to hemorrhagic shock after his carotid artery was slit with a knife by Koudai Kamiuchi.

Kazuki Hoshino

The Revolutionary; died via Yuri Yanagi and Koudai Kamiuchi’s Death by Sword on the seventh day.

Koudai Kamiuchi

The Knight; killed Daiya Oomine directly on the sixth day. Killed Kazuki Hoshino with Death by Sword on the seventh day. Died due to hemorrhagic shock after being stabbed in the abdomen with a knife by Yuri Yanagi on the same day.

Day 1 <B> The Common Area

I heard this was a game of kill or be killed.

I thought I was appropriately attuned to the danger.

But there’s no way I can deal with this. No one could imagine this sudden game over.

The knife pressed against my throat digs in. I’m on the floor, and I can feel blood flowing down the back of my neck.

“I got distracted.”

A girl with nice features is speaking in front of me.

“I got distracted when I saw it was you, Kazuki. I suppose it’s because some part of me wanted to help you. Maybe that means I’m still immature.”

This girl is simply blinking like some sort of machine without the slightest change in expression, and what she’s saying means absolutely nothing to me.

She loosens the grip on her knife a bit, then continues:

“Anyway, I’m gonna tell you about myself for future reference. Only until that bastard Kamiuchi arrives, though, so it won’t be much. Damn, guess that means he’s alive, huh? He’s the one I really wanna kill.”

What is she talking about…? Who is Kamiuchi? Hell, who is she? Why does she know my name?

“I don’t have any amazing physical abilities, and my IQ isn’t off the charts. My memory isn’t photographic, and I don’t experience synesthesia. I don’t have a single one of those easy-to-understand special abilities. So why am I the way I am?”

The blood-drenched girl tells me with no emotion on her face.

“Because I have focus.”

She carries on matter-of-factly.

“Take the sprint, for instance. The first thing I do before I run is clear my mind of distractions. I block out everything, like thinking I can beat so-and-so, or that I’m at a disadvantage, or that winning here could take me into the national tournament or whatever. I simply analyze what an ideal run for the day will look like by examining things like the condition of the track and the state of my white muscles, along with the rest of my body, and then I run a mental simulation. Once I’m crouched in the starting position, I focus exclusively on sound. I ignore all extraneous noises, and I concentrate solely on the crack of the pistol. Sound travels around 1,125 feet per second, though, which is slow. I actually start as soon as I hear the very beginning of the shot, but I can’t do that in my head. So I base my start on the feeling of overtaking the sound itself. I run according to the simulation I put together beforehand. No excess thought is needed. That’s why, after I run in a tournament, I have no memories of the sprint itself.”

Having said all that, she turns her emotionless eyes toward me.

“Oh, sorry. I guess I got a bit long-winded. The main point is that by channeling all my energy in a single direction, I can summon abilities that people might call exceptional. I’m good at that, end of story, so I’m not a superhuman. Yeah, I suppose that information will prove helpful to you.”

I can’t make any sense of it. She must have lost her mind.

I realize the back of my head is wet. I can deduce what type of liquid it is, but I can’t check to be certain… And I don’t want to.

Something else catches my attention.

“Uh, ah—!”

Maria’s body is lying on the ground.

And she’s not the only one. I see other prone, motionless forms, too.

“I might be angry, just a little. Koudai Kamiuchi’s atrocities are one thing, but then there’s that stupid bitch, too. She tricked me without a care in the world, not just in this game, but in regular life, too.”

I’m not sensing any anger or other emotions from her expression, though.

“That bitch Yuri said she hung around with me because she knew I liked her. And she didn’t even like me. She just wanted to make me suffer. She’s horrible. When she told me about it, I couldn’t come up with any plan besides a dying message even though I knew they were gonna kill me.”

I’m through trying to make sense of what she’s talking about.

“Still, I don’t think those emotions had any influence over what I did here. You don’t need emotions to win this. I was already prepared by the time they finished explaining Kingdom Royale.”

“……Prepared?”

“Yeah—prepared to maintain the focus needed to keep killing until victory is certain.”

Then, without the slightest change in expression…

…she kills me.

I begin to lose consciousness soon after she slits my carotid artery.

As I slip away, maybe it’s just my mind playing tricks on me, but I think I hear a wailing scream. As the voice enters my ears, I finally remember.

Right, she’s the student council president.

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