𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥-𝗖𝗥𝗢𝗦𝗦𝗘𝗗.

34 ᯾ Severance

"In the end, nothing has changed."

"Huh?"

"Hm?"

"Woah."

Y/n felt Hanako's arms wrapped around her protectively. The H/c-haired girl looked at Nene, who was now beside her with confusion written all over her face.

"What just happened?" Y/n stood up, looking at the oddly familiar place. A moment later, she realized where she had seen it. "Wait, this is the place from yesterday, isn't it?"

"I'm sorry for startling you." The trio turned around to see the blue-haired girl looking at them with a smile on her face. "Don't worry. This world was only rewound back to the beginning, you see."

Nene's eyes widened. "Sumire-chan!"

"What are you planning?" Hanako gave the girl a glare as he took out his knife. "Catching me off-guard and making Y/n-chan as your substitute."

Hanako raised his knife and pointed it towards Sumire. "What kind of orders did you receive from number six?"

Sumire gave him a blank stare. She then closed her eyes. "This is a prison of time prepared for my sake. Everytime I die, the world's time is turned back. Ever since I awakened as a yorishiro, I have been here, reliving the same day and death."

Sumire smiled. "Please don't ask me about that person's motives or anything like that. Ever since the day I lost my life a long ago, I haven't been able to meet that person, not even once."

Y/n blinked in confusion. From what she saw, number six did look quite interested with the girl.

"I thought that he'd definitely come to meet me someday." Sumire sat down on one of the stones. "I thought, perhaps that obstinate blockhead might have actually loved me, and that, just maybe, in that moment, he was regretting my death."

"After all," her blue eyes lit up in hope, making both Y/n and Hanako raise a brow. "The thing you're most emotionally attached to is chosen as your yorishiro, right?"

Nene looked at the girl in worry as she covered her mouth. "Sumire-chan..."

"She's got a point though," Y/n quickly whispered to the apparition beside her, who nodded in agreement.

"But... It seems that I was mistaken."

Sumire stood up from her seat as Hanako pulled his knife out. "No matter how many times I repeat my death, that person won't come. I thought that if the kannagi were switched out, perhaps he would notice then, but nothing changed in the end." She sighed. "As you might expect, I'm tired of it by now."

She then slid off a small portion of her kimono, revealing the black seal which used to be hidden away.

"You want to return from the world you came from, don't you? If you take off this seal, you should be able to leave this place."

Y/n felt Hanako's small flinch upon seeing the seal. "A yorishiro seal?!"

Hanako then turned to the H/c-haired girl beside him, who looked away from guilt. Then looked over at the ombré-haired assistant he had.

"Both of you kne—"

Nene quickly covered the boy's mouth and looked at Sumire. "Sumire-chan, can I ask you just one question?"

Sumire blinked. "Sure."

"Isn't number six literally the worse?" Nene deadpanned. Y/n held back a chuckle as she watched Sumire blinking out of confusion. "What's even good about him?"