Corpse March

Chapter 35 Utopia

The interior of the jail cell is damp. Kikimi doesn’t even know why, it simply is. Even the bed is ever so slightly wet. No matter how much she tosses and turns, the bed remains just as uninviting as before, maybe even worse because of her sweat. 

Eventually, she gives up and just decides to lie on the floor. The discomfort of the cold, hard, surface keeps her from slipping into sleep. Good. She can’t let herself sleep. Because when she sleeps, the nightmares come. 

Images of blood being spilled, echoes of screams silenced, and the names of  soldiers reduced to etchings on gravestones, they all drag themselves out from her subconscious and torment her whenever she falls asleep. She doesn’t need a mirror to know that her eyebags have grown deep. 

A door, a bed, a locked door, and a toilet, these are her only friends here. There’s also a window but she doesn’t consider it a friend. All it gives her is a trickle of light. Just enough to remind her of the outside world that’s just out of her reach. They don’t make for great company, but they’re better than nothing. 

It’s fine. This is all fine. The nightmares are fine. The meager bread and water she forces down her throat are fine. Even being trapped in this awful place is fine. She just needs to hold out for Lady Tsumugi to get her out of this place.

She signed up for this. Get on the decoy train, hold off the Deathless for as long as possible, get arrested, and then Tsumugi lobbies for their freedom, that was the plan. It made sense at the time, they just couldn’t anticipate the massacre that happened on the decoy train. Kikimi resists the urge to scream out just remembering it. It’s a little something like plunging her fingers into a still open wound. 

The girl in the black suit, the anomaly their calculations failed to account for. Someone so willing and so capable of killing that it came to her more naturally than breathing. Kikimi clenches her fist. So this is the cruelty of the outside world. And that was just a single person too…

The unfortunate truth is that in spite of their best efforts, the Neo Magical Academy doesn't stand a chance in a head-to-head battle against the outside world. She punches the wall in frustration. A resounding thud echoes through the room.

“Um, excuse me, are you alright?”

A man’s voice. Kikimi thinks she’s hallucinating for a second but the voice continues speaking. 

“I heard a thud. Did you perhaps hit your head on something?”

“Huh? No, no, I’m fine.”

Kikimi crawls over next to the door to better hear the voice.

“Who are you?”

“I’m your imaginary friend.” There’s a little chuckle from the other side of the door. It’s so lighthearted that Kikimi almost joins in. 

“I didn’t know the disciplinary committee employed imaginary friends”

“Well, they do. So, how are we feeling today, Miss Kikimi?”

“I’m alright. I’m alright.” She says it twice, drilling it into herself that she’s fine. “Having nightmares.”

“I see. What kind of nightmares?”

She shakes her head like the other side can see her. “It’s a long story.”

“We have time.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course. I’m your imaginary friend, it’s my job and my pleasure to listen to these things.”

“Right, right…”Kikimi wipes down her face with her hands. “I dream of bodies.”

“Men’s or women’s?”

“No, not like bodies bodies. Like corpses and red stuff… Blood, I mean. I don’t know why but I keep seeing one face in particular. I watched her get shot but like, it’s not as though I didn’t watch everyone else die as well. I don’t know why she keeps showing up.”

“I see. Please continue.”

“And she’s there. Standing above the pile of corpses. The girl in the black suit. I can’t help but look at her. And when she looks at me…” Kikimi trails off. 

“Are you alright? You don’t have to continue if you don’t want to.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“No, I meant like, I’m sorry you have to see this part of me. I’m a soldier, these things shouldn’t even faze me.”

“No, no, it’s quite alright. You’re still human at the end of the day.

“Even then…”

“Just take it one step at a time, Kikimi.”

“I suppose you’re right…”

She takes a deep breath. 

“How are you?”

“Who, me?” the imaginary friend’s voice goes a little high from the surprise. 

“Yeah, I mean, you asked me how I’m doing. It’s only natural that I return the question.”

“Hmmm… I suppose I’m alright. Just a little worried.”

“Worried?”

“Yeah… worried.”

“...”

“...”

A moment of silence as they both retreat into their own minds.

“Would you like to play a game?”

“Sure. Something to do would be nice.”

“I’m going to show you a series of ink blots, and I want you to tell me what you see.”

“Alright.”

“Remember, there are no wrong answers.” The first piece of paper slides under the door. It is made of lumps of black arranged in vague shapes, like storm clouds or butterflies playing tennis. 

“A pair of angels ringing a bell.”

“Hm…”

The second piece of paper.

“Two bears dancing.”

“Interesting choice.”

The third paper. 

“Two people.”

“Fascinating.”

“Am I doing well?”

“You are doing just fine.”

“Before we continue, would you mind if I asked you a question?”

“Of course.”

“You aren’t really an imaginary friend are you?”

“Nope.”

“Huh. You’re just going to admit it?”

“Of course I am.”

“Who are you, exactly?”

“Well, would you believe me if I told you?”

“I’ll believe anything at this point.”

“I’m Lady Kentomi’s killer.”

“...what?”

“I stole the .50 caliber rifle under the noses of you elites, and I shot Lady Kentomi.”

“You…”

She opens her mouth to try to say something else but nothing comes out.

“You did what…?”

“I’ll say it again. I killed Lady Kentomi.”

“Why… why are you telling me this?!”

Anger swells up inside of her, threatening to devour her whole. 

“You need to understand, Kikimi. Takakumo is diseased. The very system built up by Lady Tsubame will cause downfall. Lady Kentomi sought to destroy that system and all who stand for it. Including and starting with the student council.”

“Lady Kentomi sought… to what? Hold on hold on–”

“She told me that if I ever saw her stray from the path to saving Takakumo, I was to execute her. So I did.”

“She told you to?”

“It was her dream to be a true hero, to save Takakumo. And she will, as a martyr. I will fulfill her lifelong wish in her stead but I can’t do it alone. If Lady Kentomi is to become a legend, I need you, Kikimi. You’re the person she trusted the most.”

“I’m… special?”

“Yes, in essence, you’re special.”

Kikimi stares at her hand. Lady Kentomi died… for her dream? There was such a thing that she didn’t know about? Just how deep does this rabbit hole go? 

“What am I supposed to do?”

“Well, you have two options. Number 1. You turn me in to the Disciplinary Committee, they arrest me, and I face execution by firing squad. Number 2. You take my advice, I pull some strings to get you out of this prison, and we can start making Takakumo into a better place in the name of the late Kagami Kentomi.”

“I see… I don’t really have much of a choice, do I?”

“Still, the choice is yours.”

“Before that. I want to ask. Was it really necessary for her to die?”

“The plan was always for her to die. With her out of the picture, the stakes have never been higher for both Gleam and Lady Kuroihoshi. With our estimates, they should be tearing each others’ throats out at any moment. Then, with their backs turned to us, we strike.”

“But was it necessary?”

“...in truth, there was no reason why she had to die the way she did. I just made a judgment call. I feared that Lady Kentomi was growing too attached to living. Her risking her life to rescue the Elite that was captured was proof that my fears were realized.”

“So, a judgment call. That’s it? That’s why my wife is dead?”

“I just didn’t want Lady Kentomi to regret dying. So I killed her before she could.”

“That’s a twisted way of caring.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

“...Fine. You have my word that I’m going to help. All that stuff you said about Takakumo being diseased and whatever, I couldn’t care less about. I’m doing this solely to fulfill Kagami’s dream.”

“That’s fine.”

“Oh and one last thing.”

“Yeah?”

“It’s about time you told me.”

“Hm?”

“Who are you? I mean, really.”

“I’m the head of the Disciplinary Committee. You can call me Florence.”