When Origami opened her eyes, she found herself standing on a lonely sunset-lit street.
"This is…"
Origami frowned when she looked around.
Origami knew this street. She just didn't know why she is here.
This is the same street she has to take on her way home from school.
Origami is puzzled by this scene.
This path was reduced to ashes in the great fire of Tengu City five years ago.
Everything burned to cinders, including this street.
There are students returning from school, there are also furry critters running around in what looked like a normal peaceful scene in a slightly bustling city.
Origami stood in the middle of the street. However, the pedestrians and animals all ignored her like she was invisible to them. No, she is invisible, one pedestrian just walked straight through her.
Origami knew what happened.
"A dream… huh…"
A familiar figure entered her sight.
She saw a cute kid around the age of 11 with white hair and blue eyes.
She stood out from other people around her. It wasn't hard to imagine the beauty this girl would grow up into judging by her current appearance.
Origami's gaze stayed fixed on this girl.
This cute girl is her, five years ago.
"My… younger self…"
Origami looked at her past self.
When I was small…
The street I used back then…
The scene from back then…
"Wait…"
Origami came to a hypothesis.
Origami's face turned pale in an instant.
"What are you doing?!"
Origami yelled at her younger self.
"Get going! If you don't…"
In an instant, the peaceful scene turned into a fiery hell.
"Ah…"
The sudden red searing light caused her to close her eyes. She was not surprised by this scene, she knew it would come. Her face took on a deathly pale shade. She opened her eyes despite the searing heat and light.
The street is there, the pedestrians are also there, her younger self is also still here.
However, the peaceful scene was gone.
This street looked like a path to infernal hell.
Soon, the pedestrians all ran away, leaving only Origami to face the flames by herself.
Origami looked around only to see herself alone in the middle of the burning street.
She stared in stunned silence as the other pedestrians ran away. She didn't go to the nearest shelter. She charged into the sea of flames like a brave heroine. She threw all her belongings to the ground.
Origami can hear her younger self calling out loud.
"Mother! Father!"
That is right.
Her parents are still home.
Her parents are still in the flames.
She is a kid and she probably can't do much even if she gets home. that is not going to stop her, even the possibility that her parents are already at the shelter didn't stop her from going into the fire to find her parents.
Origami looked on with a pale face as her younger self charged into the fire.
When the young Origami arrived home, she encountered a scene she will never forget. It is a scene of nightmarish proportion, enough to induce despair in any kids her age.
Her house is on fire just like the other houses around her.
She ran to her house.
Her dad is hugging her mum's shoulder protectively while they are stuck in the sea of flames.
Then, from beyond the horizon, a pillar of flames struck the spot her parents were stuck in.
"NOOO!!!"
Origami shrieked in horror. She ran to the pillar of flames to no avail.
The distance between her parents and the younger Origami never shortened.
And then the flaming pillar scourged the place.
Boom
The younger Origami's petite frame couldn't withstand the blast from the impact, she got thrown back toward a cement wall as she groaned in anguish.
Despite the pain, Origami braced herself against the winds to see where her parents once were.
She couldn't see them.
A giant crater appeared where her house once stood. The crater had plumes of smoke coming out of it.
In the crater were the remains of her parents.
"Ah…. AHHHH!!!"
Origami cried as it felt like someone tore her soul out. She looked up at the source of the attack.
She saw it.
Wrapped in slight flames, the figure looked like a humanoid adult. The flames licked the individual but the individual was immune as the individual gazed upon the burning city.
Origami's body shivered, and her vision went dark. She clenched her fists so hard she bled from her palms. She cursed and declared vengeance against the entity in the air.
"I will kill you!!!"
Origami picked herself up as she ran to the figure.
"Ah!!!"
Origami sat up screaming.
Huff huff huff
Her bosom heaved, she was drenched in her own sweat. Her eyes were shivering with fear, she looked like she had a bloodless face.
She exhaled slowly, she calmed herself down. She took inventory of her status and found herself sitting on her own bed in her own room.
She grabbed her temple while biting her lips.
What a terrible, hateful dream…"
Origami didn't hide from her nightmare.
Origami confirmed one thing from her nightmare.
The person who killed her parents wasn't Kotori.
In the nightmare, the killer was a grown adult.
Kotori was younger than her during that time.
Origami got one sliver of the truth from her nightmare.
Vrr vrr
Origami's phone vibrated, she frowned while picking up the phone.
"Hey, Origami…"
Ryouko called her.
"Come here!"
Origami flinched, this order came out of nowhere.
