Chapter 268: Unstable Mind
While Haruto was lost in his thoughts, Ayaka was busy searching through the treehouse. Her gaze swept across the wooden floor until it suddenly lit up.
She spotted something long and black near the corner. Standing up quickly, she approached it and picked it up, brushing away the dust that coated the cylinder and the glass at its edge.
"Haruto, look," she said brightly. "I found the binoculars we used back then."
Her voice snapped him back to reality. Haruto jolted slightly before letting out a small laugh.
"Ah, yeah. Of course we had those." He rubbed the back of his neck as he took them from her.
The binoculars were old, worn from years of neglect, but still usable. The moment he leaned into the eyecups, Ayaka’s face came into clear view.
"Oh wow," he laughed. "I can even see your pimples."
She immediately hit his chest. "Haruto, you’re driving me crazy. I don’t have pimples." She hid her face for a moment before peeking out again.
"Why don’t you move to the window? We used to spy on the adults at the temple from there."
Haruto’s eyes widened. Without wasting a second, he moved toward the window and adjusted the focus. Sure enough, the temple came into view.
It looked ordinary in the daylight. A simple structure dedicated to the fox god, surrounded by small fox statues. In the center was a natural pool, its surface already frosted over.
"It’s empty during the day," Ayaka said quietly. "Weird, isn’t it? They only pray and do rituals at night."
Haruto lowered the binoculars and looked at her instead.
Ayaka always carried the same composed expression. To people who did not know her, she appeared elegant, almost regal.
But with him, she was softer, innocent, and shy. Yet sometimes, her smile failed to reach her eyes.
She wore that expression now.
"Are you curious about that temple?" she asked.
Haruto nodded. "You pray to the same god too, right? Not just you. Probably everyone in this village—"
She cut him off. "You too, Haruto. You might not remember it, but you were the one who brought me there."
He fell silent. It was another memory he could not recall at all.
What was wrong with his brain? Did Dr. Watanabe tamper with his memories somehow?
Maybe his mother had taken him to a psychiatrist to deal with his violent tendencies. But something must have gone wrong.
Whatever was meant to heal him had instead left gaps he could never fill.
No matter how hard he tried, nothing came back.
"What’s actually inside that place?" Haruto asked carefully. "I heard it’s a cult."
Ayaka did not deny it.
"How many cults do you think exist in Japan?" she replied calmly. "Every day, you’ll see old people, even young ones, knocking on doors, trying to persuade others to join them."
She paused. "Most of them only exist to brainwash people and take their money. At least this one is real."
"What makes it real?" Haruto chuckled lightly. "Do they perform miracles?"
In truth, Haruto did not believe in gods, deities, or religion. Cults were even less appealing to him. If it were not connected to Ayaka, he would not have cared at all.
To his surprise, Ayaka nodded.
"Why do you think we can be together now?"
Haruto froze, then let out an awkward laugh. "You’re saying the reason we’re together is because you’re part of that cult?"
She nodded again.
"Haruto," she said softly, "I might be your little sister. The first time you came to me, it was because you wanted to know whether the rumors were true."
Her brows furrowed. "I still remember the disgust in your eyes."
Her voice trembled, as if she were reliving it.
"But you still wanted to be my friend, my only one," she continued.
"You did terrible things to me. You almost drowned me. You almost killed me." Her hands tightened around his as she leaned closer.
"Even so, it was still better than how anyone else treated me."
For the first time, fear crawled up Haruto’s spine.
Her eyes were wide, yet empty. There was something obsessive in them that made him instinctively lean back.
"One day, you told me about the cult and their so-called miracle," Ayaka went on. "I know you only wanted to test it. But it became real. After that, you were kind to me. Like you turned into a different person."
Her grip tightened as he tried to pull away. "Even then, I could still see the hatred in your eyes."
She stepped closer as he stepped back.
"I know you still hated me," she shouted, "you wouldn’t have persuaded me to be with Ren, would you? I suffered because of you. And now you have to take responsibility and stay with me!"
Haruto felt overwhelmed by the new information he got. None of it made sense.
He had been cruel to her? He was the reason she had stayed with Ren all this time?
’Don’t tell me my memories are gone because of her wish...’
He wanted to believe her. But she was clearly unstable. Her eyes darted around, her breathing uneven, desperation etched into every movement. This was not the Ayaka he knew.
’She acted and talked like her mother in Ren’s memory,’ he thought, the idea chilling him.
Forcing himself to stay calm, Haruto gently pulled his hands free and placed them on her shoulders.
"Ayaka," he said firmly. "Calm down. Now tell me what actually happened in the past."
Her eyes came back to life again as tears spilled down her cheeks. She hugged him tightly, her voice shaking.
"I’m sorry. I must have scared you."
"It’s okay," he said quietly, brushing her hair. "You’ve been through a lot."
He wondered if she was delusional, shaped by years of trauma. Maybe it was a miracle she had turned out this functional at all.
"But I’m not lying about the cult," she said urgently. "It’s real. Everything is real."
Then she began to tell her story, from her own point of view, piece by piece, as the puzzle finally started to take shape.
