"Nijika, you've grown so much."
The woman, with a kind and gentle face, gazed at Nijika and spoke softly.
"...Mom?"
Nijika looked at the person before her in shock, rubbing her eyes in disbelief.
But this was clearly no illusion.
The woman stood there gracefully, looking exactly as she did on the morning of the accident when she passed away—not a single thing was different.
"I'm sorry for leaving you and Seika alone in this world. During the ti I was gone, you two must have suffered a lot, wanting to cry more than once, right? It's all because I was an inadequate mother..."
"I'm the one who should apologize!"
Nijika shook her head vigorously, her voice choking up. "I clearly knew that Sis actually cared about you a lot, but I was so immature and threw tantrums, to the point where we hadn't even made up by the ti you left..."
"It's okay. I know Nijika only clashed with Seika because of ... As long as the two of you are doing well, that's better than anything else..." the gentle woman said softly.
"Mom? Is it really you?"
Nijika was becoming incoherent.
The woman opened her arms and gently pulled her daughter into an embrace. Nijika was montarily at a loss, but after a few seconds, that familiar hug—the kind that felt etched into her very bones—made her unable to stop the tears from falling.
"I had already decided not to cry anymore..." she mumbled, burying her face in the woman's chest.
"I'm sorry, Nijika, I'm sorry..."
The gentle woman softly stroked the girl's hair as she spoke. However, from an angle Nijika couldn't see, a trace of gloom was creeping into Mrs. Ijichi's eyes, causing a fleeting expression of pain and a slight tremor.
"Mom? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, I'm just too happy..."
"Co to think of it, what exactly is going on? Why are you here... weren't you already..."
"Well, though I did indeed pass away, it isn't impossible for the dead to return. After all, didn't you get that?"
"That?" Nijika was stunned.
"The Resurrection Stone..." the woman whispered.
Was that ordinary-looking pebble actually such a powerful thing?
"Mom, I have so many things I want to tell you..."
"Don't worry, we have plenty of ti, so much ti..." Mrs. Ijichi said aningfully.
Nijika looked at her mother's face—familiar yet sohow slightly foreign—and suddenly found herself choked up. Even though her mind was racing and her heart was full of words, for so reason, she couldn't utter a single syllable.
"Co with . Your father... and many people you used to know are waiting behind this mist to et you."
Mrs. Ijichi took the girl's hand, attempting to pull her into the fog. However, Nijika stopped in her tracks and pulled her hand back.
"Even though I want to go to Mom's side... I can't do it yet. At least not until Sis cos back..."
"It's fine to wait for Seika to co back before bringing her over..." Mrs. Ijichi urged. "Don't you want to have a good talk with Mom? Don't you want to see Dad again?"
"I have to wait for Sis to co back. No, I'll go find her and bring her back right now!" Nijika said decisively.
"I see. It seems that for the current Nijika, 'Sister' has beco more important than 'Parents'."
"No, it's not like that!" Nijika shook her head hard. "It's just that now, Sis only has ..."
In the past, she had indeed had many fallouts with her sister. Following their mother's accidental death, she had even stopped going to school, hiding away at ho. In the end, it was Seika who braided her hair and took her to see live shows; even her longing for a band had sprouted in her heart during that ti.
Even if Seika never admitted it, Nijika knew her sister had given up her own band to open a live house just to support Nijika's dream of starting one.
So, even if there were occasional minor conflicts in their daily lives, Nijika always kept her sister in her heart, and she believed her sister felt the sa.
Because of this, she couldn't leave her sister behind and go with her mother—even if it didn't seem like the "Little Match Girl" being taken to heaven by her grandmother, she still wanted to wait for Seika to return.
"I can't... Nijika... quick..." Suddenly, the expression of pain reappeared on Mrs. Ijichi's face.
"Mom?" Nijika leaned in anxiously.
"What a pity." As soon as she leaned in, the pained expression on 'Mrs. Ijichi's' face vanished, replaced by a nearly monstrous look as she gripped Nijika's shoulders. "Co with , Nijika..."
The girl was startled and instinctively tried to struggle, but 'Mrs. Ijichi's' strength was incredibly imnse—so much so that Nijika couldn't even break free from her grasp. Instead, a sharp pain shot through her shoulders; it felt as if her shoulder blades would break if the pressure continued.
"Who are you exactly?!"
"What foolish things are you saying? I'm your mother... stop resisting. From the mont you craved to see , everything was already destined."
The distorted 'Mrs. Ijichi' cackled, dragging the girl toward the mist. "Ah, such fresh flesh, I finally—"
Nijika felt her mother's face beginning to lt away in her eyes. Along with it, the surrounding scenery faded, and it felt as if her consciousness was sinking. The voice in her ears sounded like it held a hypnotic magic, making her feel like a leaking balloon—the strength in her body was being drained away until she couldn't exert even a bit of force.
No, was it really just strength leaking out? Perhaps even her life force was trickling away. She could only wait for death to arrive. She wanted to call for help, but she couldn't make a sound. She wanted to struggle, but she couldn't muster the strength.
Ah, I guess everything really ends here... the girl thought to herself.
Right then, a firm arm wrapped around the girl's slender waist, and another hand gently covered her eyes.
In the next instant, the eerie force that had been pulling at Nijika vanished completely.
"Don't be afraid..." said the youth holding the girl, his voice clear and bright. "It's alright now."
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