The Genius Above Elites

Vol 4 Chapter 5.4

The dreaming realist

Episode 1;Kurenai Rayla

I'm blasted through a large door with Ray-chan in my arms, she's holding onto me tightly with tears in her eyes.

I experienced something that was rushed, I didn't have enough time to grow close to this girl known as Naitou Yayoi thus I couldn't cry at the sight of her body. The moment Ray-chan's body appeared something felt off even though I cried for her, everything happened too quickly which led me to believe Ray-chan was definitely still alive.

If only my memories were installed sooner, I would have been convinced the moment Ria touched my shoulder. At this point it's easy to know what's a trick and what isn't after the amount of times I've been in that white room.

"Shhh..... it's alright. Nothing happened, I'm right here to protect you..."

"Ufufufu~ You might not have the ability to sense the branches but your smarts is more than enough, as expected of my dearest brother~"

"Tch, that was really fucking messed up you little kid."

I slowly stand up and place Ray-chan back into her seat and stand near her so she would be more comfortable. Despite the situation that happened Ayanokouji is the only one of doesn't seem to have shown a reaction on his face, even Ghost looks a little pissed from seeing that dream or whatever it was.

"How did you figure out everything was fake?"

"The moment Ria spoke into my ear, installing my memories mean I remember everything including the shit that happened in here. Of course I had a little trouble remembering but another factor was Ray-chan's corpse just didn't seem real to me, it still felt like the pale blonde hair girl before it morphed."

I sensed it the moment I touched the fake Ray-chan, but I was so distracted in the moment I had forgotten that. Seeing someone you care about die in front of you.... it's a really messed up scene no one should experience. Is this what hell is like?

Ray-chan doesn't seem to be crying from my dream but instead her own, I couldn't find her anywhere after realizing everything was just some illusion. She must have been sent to another place separate from mine.

Whatever she experienced in her own realm definitely wasn't pleasant if she of all people cried. Death is something that this girl seems to be using against me, using the death of others as a plaything to lure out some sort of feeling. It's painful, but an excellent strategy to get what she wants. Unfortunately I've been afraid of death for as long as I can remember so this only affects me slightly.

"So, what else do you need huh? Gonna kill off these two in front of me?"

"Ufufufu~ No no, killing them is worthless anyway when they don't really mean too much to you. I just wanted to run a little experiment, thanks to you I now know how to get under your skin Nii-san~"

Ria imitates Soranyan's voice almost perfectly, it makes me clench my fist as I grit my teeth at the smirking loli. I need to constantly remind myself everything here is something I may not remember once I exit this room, I need to find some way to record what happens here but as long as Ria has her eyes on me I can't pull anything sneaky.

This is utterly frustrating, I'm backed up into a corner just from something that shouldn't be in this world. Everything I think of has a flaw, each flaw is worse than the last, no matter what I do I can't secure a victory....my only option is to rely on Ghost to remember everything that's said here.

How can I rely on her to tell me everything later when I won't remember any of this myself? It's possible Ayanokouji could remember but how? This is messed up, everything that's going on here is controlled based off her imagination, she could kill all of us here just by thinking of it.

I'm coming to grips with these events being at the same time reality but also a figment of imagination, not mine but Ghost, Kujou and Ria's. I apperantly don't have the powers to remember these 'branches', thus I must take things into my own hands from now on.

"Daichin...." Ray-chan doesn't seem to be letting go any time soon, whatever she experienced was really messed up if this is the case.

"Everything's alright, no need to be sad. It would really help if you try to describe what you witnessed to me."

It's likely Ghost and Ayanokouji already saw what happened but I was in a whole 'nother realm of my own so there was no way I could tell what on earth Ray-chan saw to make me tremble and cry like this. The moment I was blasted through the door I could have stood up, the problem was Ray-chan fell into my arms which was unusual to me.

"Y-you were walking in a forest while holding hands with someone...I couldn't see who it was but I'm pretty sure it was Ria-chan! The story she described earlier, I saw the entire thing happen in front of me!"

"....Huh?"

That cannot be right, it can't be the truth. It must have been an illusion like mine, is she trying to convince Ray-chan and make her assume that story was real? I'm beginning to lose my marbles already, there's a certain sweet smell coming back to the room.

Upon looking around Abit, I can see that the roses have bloomed once more and are emmiting this horrendously sweet scent. For some reason this one feels a little different, I'm getting...aroused from it. There's also flashes of memories I cannot recall, fragments of memories showing me making love to Ria....

"What the hell are you doing now?"

"Ufufufu~ It's amusing to play with someone when they can't resist the urge don't you agree~? Ayanokouji, although having the same power as Ghost is also reacting, I suppose to smell of sweet roses is too much for men to handle."

True enough this scent is strangely arousing, also she's mocking me by saying that since Ayanokouji isn't even affected both in mind and body!

"So this was what you wanted right? Well I'll be heading back no- huh?"

Although I try to leave through the door with Ray-chan clinging onto me, sudden I couldn't feel my legs- no I can't move my legs whatsoever. A vine that came out from the ground is holding onto me and not letting me go, at that moment Ria giggles at my struggle.

"You may leave however are you sure you want to leave me Daisuke? It will be quite awhile before you see me again, though I suppose I can mess up the world around you so you'll know when I'm around you~"

"What do you intend to do with us Ria? It's clear you don't want to kill any of us but you're tormenting us."

"You're quite the curious boy now aren't you Ayanokouji~ Well true, I don't want to kill you nor am I even tormenting you. Think of it like this, this is my playground and I'm just having fun!"

Ria giggles again at the end of her sentence as the door opens and her vine lets me go.

The two others get up from their seats and approach the door with me and Ray-chan, her grip on me tightens as my glare gross more fierce. Ghost doesn't seem to be enjoying any of this either, she's still casually smoking on her cigarette thanks to Kane's habit.

Everything's basically dissipated now, the smell of this scent is all gone while the roses have gone back to normal. The only thing to note that hasn't left yet is this pink haze that's slightly covering my sight, I can still see but it's really bothering, must have been the effect from those roses still lingering in my body.

"Daichin...? Are you...going to go?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah." I was spacing out for awhile and seems like Ayanokouji and Ghost have already left.

I brace myself, hold onto Ray-chan's hand tightly before leading her through the door to head back towards our original world...