Chapter 134: B - On the edge of the abyss

The dull sound of Miori’s heels echoes softly along the dirt path winding uphill through the wooded hills behind Zenkō-ji Temple in central Nagano.

Even though it’s only about a twenty-minute walk from the busy avenue where the American fast-food restaurant and Cordesol Meat are located, the place feels completely cut off from the rest of the world.

Quiet. Atmospheric. Lit only by the small shrines scattered along the trail.

"In the end, that Wagyu Tataki Fusion wasn’t anything special. What a disappointment..." Miori remarks aloud, as if trying to drown out her own thoughts.

She glances briefly over her shoulder, her sapphire-blue eyes drifting toward downtown Nagano, still glowing with lights and bustling with nightlife.

A long sigh escapes her lips.

Then she turns forward again, toward the steep slope where the path comes to an end.

She takes a few more steps before stopping once again.

Her gaze wanders across her surroundings, searching for anything capable of capturing her attention.

Any excuse to buy herself a few more precious seconds.

"Yeah, those were without a doubt the worst yen I’ve ever spent. I probably would’ve eaten better meat at that fast-food place across the street..."

Only one final bend separates her from the end of the trail.

"I’m... I’m sure the world would’ve been a better place if I’d never been born. I’ve already ruined too many lives... too many. But I’m still in time to stop anyone else from suffering because of me. R-Renji... Aoshi... pff... and even that poor puppy in Chikuma’s industrial district... please forgive me..." Miori sobs.

Her voice is now little more than a faint whisper swallowed by the cool evening breeze that gently sways her ponytail.

"You didn’t deserve to be treated so cruelly. None of you deserved to suffer the way I made you suffer. I took advantage of your weaknesses just to vent my anger... just to make myself feel less powerless. And that’s shameful. It’s unforgivable. The only reason I took everything out on you was because I never had the courage to stand up to the people who actually deserved it..."

After rounding the final bend, the trail comes to an abrupt end.

Ahead of Miori stretches a steep cliff nearly forty meters high.

Below lies nothing but bare rock, half-concealed beneath a thin sea of mist.

"S-Sakura..." Miori growls through clenched teeth.

She grits them so hard they grind against each other, while tears burst from eyes narrowed by rage.

"T-This... this is all your fault... IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT!" she screams at the top of her lungs.

The echo of her voice rebounds from the abyss less than a meter beyond the tips of her high-heeled boots.

"I-I didn’t choose to come into this world like this! I-If only... if you had accepted me for who I really am and loved me the way a mother is supposed to love her daughter... if you hadn’t pretended my condition didn’t exist, convincing yourself it was just a phase that would eventually go away on its own... the only thing I ever wanted was for you, Dad, Jiro, and me to be a family. A real family. A family that, despite the burden life had placed on your shoulders by making me different from other children, would have stayed by my side. A family that would have helped me live with this disorder... But instead, all you’ve ever done is label me as violent... the family’s lunatic. I-It’s not fair..."

Heavy tears fall from Miori’s eyes, striking the tips of her black high-heeled boots like raindrops.

With every passing moment, she stands closer and closer to the edge of the cliff.

"...But that’s enough. I’m done taking my anger and hatred out on people who have nothing to do with any of this..."

Another tiny step carries her even nearer to the precipice.

Now the tips of her boots no longer touch solid ground at all.

Only the heels, still planted in the earth, keep her balanced in a precarious stance.

Miori lowers her gaze slightly, then abruptly lifts it back toward the night sky.

A sudden wave of dizziness washes over her, making her stagger for an instant before she quickly regains her balance.

The ground beneath her feet gives a faint crack.

The edge crumbles slightly as small fragments of dirt and rock break away and disappear into the abyss below.

"Mother, if the honor of the Yukinaga name matters more to you than your own children, then I suppose I’ll take away the thing you treasure most in this world.

Believe me, Sakura—the humiliation and shame you felt when I slept with your friends’ sons, when people called me the Whore of Kyoto... it’s nothing compared to the disgrace you’ll drown in tomorrow morning."

A mad, cruel smile spreads across Miori’s face.

Her lips tremble beneath the tears streaking down her flushed cheeks before her mouth suddenly falls open, releasing the most chilling, hysterical laughter imaginable.

The sound is so shrill that her vocal cords feel as though they’re being scorched from within.

Her spirit has shattered. Her sanity has shattered. Not even the smallest fragment of reason remains.

She screams. She curses. She hurls obscenities into the sea of mist and darkness stretching before her, only to collapse into another fit of delirious laughter.

Anyone who had ever known her would be horrified by what the university’s most admired idol has become.

The girl every boy dreamed of having. The girl every girl dreamed of being. Now she is nothing more than a pale, empty shell that has lost all touch with reality.

"Yes... I’m sure it’ll be absolutely hilarious, Sakura. My only regret is that I won’t be there to see the exact moment you find out. But I can already picture it. I see you sitting on the couch, trembling fingers turning the pages of the Shinano Mainichi Shimbun, drowning in shame while your phone rings without end, flooded with calls from your friends. Yes... That will be quite a sight."

Miori spreads her arms wide and leans forward once more, allowing the wind to make her sway ever more dangerously.

"See you in hell, bitch!"