跌墜

That tingling feeling that always rushed up my spine whenever I looked down from a high place, multiplies itself and crawls through the entirety of my body.

Ah...... so I'm falling......

As that understanding boils within, I become conscious of the fact that the path I ran in my escape led straight off the pathless edge of a cliff.

Though it's true that I was being chased, when I think of my inattentiveness giving rise to this predicament, far greater than the welling presence of fear is the presence of shame, churning inside and making me ill.

Chances are, I can't be saved from this.

After Yumei-san went through all that to save my life, there can be no greater treachery, no more futile end than the one I just brought upon myself.

If it was going to wind up like this, I should have just given her all the blood in my body last night.

Not that I know whether it's true or not, but I heard that people who commit suicide by jumping lose their consciousness in mid-fall, and die without feeling pain.

And yet, mine gives not the slightest hint of slipping away. Maybe this is a sort of punishment I've chosen for myself.

Thinking that might be so, I decide to see the scene of my death to the end, at the very least.

But my body's powers of sight can't keep up with my spirit, the world fully buried in the wayward-flowing vertical lines.

All that is is distorted.

No---

Flapping, *hira hira*

Like in that first night's dream, when the moonlight butterfly faintly illuminated me, as I was left alone in the deepest darkness.

In the midst of this distorted world, one thing retains its clean shape, and *hira hira* *hira hira* flits and dances.

It isn't a butterfly, but a flower petal.

One petal, from the fully bloomed flowers of that sacred tree.

The sacred tree should be close by. Depending on the wind, it's not unthinkable for a petal or two to drift out here.

After being paralyzed by the constant wave of force, I am finally able to reach my arm out.

The moment my fingertips touch that petal...

The moment Yumei-san's consciousness flows into me, swarming butterflies and flitting scattered petals of the enju flowers instantly fill my head with pure white.

A sweet fragrance embraces me, bringing a slight sense of weightlessness. The strength flowing through my body grows weak, and fades.

I am still falling. I can feel that with my body, but it's no longer as scary as it was a moment ago.

Maybe because I heard Yumei-san's voice, even if it was an illusion.

Opening the eyes I had unknowingly shut tight, I see---

Is there any way to tell, now, which is the dream and which is reality?

Centered in the shower of afternoon light, my body is enclosed in Yumei-san's arms.

The speed of my descent softens.

Upon Yumei-san's face, there is no hint of composure.

The power she gives off, in the form of pale blue light, trails behind and grows ever fainter, flowing away and melting into the air above.

She pulls me in, ever closer, filling my head with her white scent.