Chapter 18

  The Souls of Triplets Last a Hundred Years

  Yesterday, at the hospital, Ichika issued a strict order.

  A complete no-contact directive.

  Nia’s soul was placed under Saeki’s supervision.

  Nia’s body—now occupied by another soul—was placed under the watch of both Takachika and Ichika.

  They were separated.

  Monitored.

  Contained.

  Ichika left immediately after delivering the order, taking the spellcasters with him.

  As if this situation was nothing more than another item on his endless list of problems.

  The Mountain — Nia’s Soul

  Nia was taken into the mountains.

  Still sealed inside a small glass bottle, he was carried by Saeki to a remote shrine hidden deep in the forest. There, beside the old torii gate, Saeki carefully drew a large magic circle into the earth and placed the bottle at its center.

  The air was cold.

  The forest was silent.

  Saeki began chanting.

  Then—

  “You may come out now.”

  The seal on the bottle loosened.

  Nia hesitated.

  Slowly, cautiously, he peeked out.

  He didn’t fade.

  He stepped out completely—and immediately spun around in place.

  “I’m not disappearing! I’m not disappearing!”

  Saeki grabbed him by the collar.

  “Please refrain from excessive human behavior. If you forget that you are a soul, you may not be able to return.”

  Nia froze.

  “…You can touch me?”

  “I trained in Shugendō. Physical contact is possible under certain conditions.”

  Saeki’s voice turned stern.

  “Now begin.”

  The training was brutal.

  Fire rituals.

  Meditation.

  Chanting sutras.

  Sacred dances.

  And, for some reason, sword dancing.

  All of it performed within the magic circle.

  Strangely enough, the dances felt natural to Nia.

  His soul remembered them.

  The only thing keeping him sane was Saeki’s cooking afterward.

  That food alone made the suffering worth it.

  Five days passed.

  On the sixth day, Nia snapped.

  When Saeki turned his back, Nia ran.

  He crossed the boundary of the magic circle.

  He didn’t disappear.

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  So he kept running.

  Down the mountain.

  Through the forest.

  Ignoring branches and thorns.

  And at a four-way intersection at the foot of the mountain—

  He ran straight into himself.

  The House — Nia’s Body

  Nia had been trapped inside his own body.

  No school.

  No soccer.

  No freedom.

  Then came the training.

  “The souls of triplets last a hundred years,” his mother said calmly.

  “Your body remembers everything you are.”

  Before he could protest, he was dressed in a kimono and dragged through a hidden corridor of the estate—across a tatami bridge, past a garden and koi pond, into a traditional training hall.

  Tea ceremony.

  Posture.

  Movement.

  Music.

  Dance.

  Shamisen.

  Koto.

  Fan techniques.

  He had no idea how to do any of it.

  Yet they taught him as if he should already know.

  “You used to be better at this,” his mother said.

  That was when Nia broke.

  “I’m not the real Nia,” he said.

  “I’m borrowing this body.”

  His parents didn’t look surprised.

  “We know,” his mother replied gently.

  “We’ve known from the beginning.”

  His father nodded.

  “Have you made your decision?”

  Nia stood.

  “I have.”

  He left the house in his kimono and tabi socks and ran.

  The Four-Way Crossing

  Japan had been too kind.

  Too gentle.

  Too forgiving.

  Nia had let himself be carried by its quiet kindness.

  By his parents.

  By his friends.

  By Takachika.

  He had forgotten himself.

  He was Nia Sunway.

  A former professional footballer.

  And he had almost let a child live his life for him.

  He turned a corner.

  Someone was running beside him.

  “You’re me, aren’t you!?” Nia shouted.

  “Yeah! And you ruined my life!”

  “You stole my body!”

  “You stole mine first!”

  They ran together.

  Without knowing why.

  Without knowing where.

  Before they realized it, they were standing in front of the hospital.

  Inside the sealed room, Nia’s original body lay surrounded by glowing spell circles.

  “Give it back,” Nia said.

  “I don’t know how.”

  Nia grabbed himself by the collar.

  “Then figure it out!”

  And with a ridiculous shout—

  “HEEEEEEYAAAAAA!”

  He threw himself forward.

  The magic circle exploded with light.

  The world shattered.

  “NIA!!”

  A girl’s voice cried out.

  Nia thought he recognized it.

  And then—

  Darkness.