When Angel opened their eyes and scanned the room, he saw a girl with black hair and brown eyes sitting across from them suddenly. Her eyes were bloodshot, as if she was afraid, no... Her eyes were stuck bloodshot. Angel squinted at the girl concerned, they could see the bruises on her neck, they looked like that of hands. She looked like she had been strangled, the girl scooted back slightly when she noticed Angel staring at the hand marks on her neck.
Angel coughed lightly to clear their throat, asking "What is your name" The girl tried to speak, she did try! However, all that came out was a hoarse and strained voice. It wasn't even audible for Angel and yet, Angel could hear what the girl said. Almost like knowing another language, "Inoue Mirai." Angel nodded and said "W-Well, Inoue-san..." Mirai cut Angel off with a coarse moan. "Call me Mirai." Angel stated "Okay, Mirai... How are you... Adjusting to Milgram?" Mirai held her throat in pain, despite not feeling anything and answered "Fine. I don't like to talk, sorry." Angel shook their head, understanding, they stated "It's okay, I figured that having being strangled made it hard to talk. Take your time when answering questions." Mirai shook their head replying through grunts and groans "It doesn't hurt. I just dislike that I sound like this now." "Oh." Said Angel, they saw Mirai's sad bloodshot eyes lower as she attempted to look down.
Changing the topic, Angel asked "How are the other souls? Are you... Enjoying your time with them? I guess? I don't think 'enjoy' is the right word but..." Mirai shook her head, groaning "It's alright. I understand." Mirai paused and grasped their strangled neck, saying "The other souls are alright, some of them look worst than I do... Especially Akehoshi-san...." Angel asked "Who's Akehoshi?" Mirai moaned "I think number 9?" Angel repeated "Number 9..." Mirai admitted "They're all really scary... Though, I'm not one to talk considering my eyes are stuck like this." Mirai finally looked up at Angel, and her dead bloodshot eyes stared at them. Her eyes unnerved Angel honestly, they couldn't blame her though.
Mirai and Angel chatted a bit about the other souls. Mirai could only groan and yet Angel followed along perfectly, Mirai felt.... happy, that she didn't scare anyone off from her voice and widened eyes. Finally, Angel said "Mirai-san, can you tell me a bit of how you died?" The questioned alarmed Mirai, she stopped smiling and talking. There was a long silence covering the room in tension, the tension of the truth, the tension of fear, the tension of watching herself be strangled. Mirai took a deep breath of whatever air the remaining piece of her neck could muster. Mirai answered "Uhm, I was strangled...?" Mirai began, Angel nodded and rephrased their question, "Uhm, well do you know who killed you?" Mirai nodded, slowly. She groaned "He was a childhood friend of mine, I think his mom wanted a girl with the name he has now." "And what is his name" Mirai responded "Haruka." Angel chuckled to themself and rephrased "I meant, their full name." Mirai 'oh'd' and said "Sakurai Haruka." Sakurai Haruka seemed familiar to Angel, he swore he heard the name before... Angel questioned "Well, what was Sakurai-san like before he killed you?" Mirai winced and admitted "To be honest... I'm not sure myself..." Angel kept note of this. While they were speaking to Mirai and hearing her opinion, the fairytales will tell the hard truth. Mirai commented "He was... Strange? I liked him, but it seemed like he really liked his mom more. I can't say the same for her."
Angel was interested, they leaned forward, gesturing for Mirai to continue. "Well, his mom really liked me more than her own son, it was awkward considering we were childhood friends..." Angel asked "What do you mean 'she liked me more than her own son' Mirai-san?" Mirai answered through groans "Well, she'd often have me over Haruka-kun's house. Give me special gifts for achievements and complimented me often, to me I never noticed it but everyone around me commented how obvious it was...?" Angel leaned back, stating "I see... Anything else to comment about his mom?" Mirai admitted "She was overwhelming... Since I visited often, I would catch her yelling at Haruka about how, uh... 'Stupid' he is. Even though I wasn't being yelled at, her words felt like a black hole... Like it'd suck my stomach up from saying anything." Angel nodded, listening to her words. From Mirai alone, Angel had a good idea on what Haruka was dealing with, though... They could tell to a theory of why Haruka maybe killed Mirai.
Angel then asked "Did you have any other friends?" Mirai nodded but asked "Why?" Angel replied "I was curious, considering you were childhood friends with Haruka I thought maybe one of your friends were aware of his situation." Mirai shook her head and stated "Of course they knew, but we didn't have the guts to say anything.... Though they weren't exactly friends they knew of him." Angel paused, making Mirai blink and stare at Angel curiously. Angel perked up and questioned "Do you have any idea why his mom favored you?" Mirai shyly chuckled and stated "It... Might've been because Haruka has a learning disability." "A learning disability?" Mirai nodded. "I don't know the details but... Because of his learning disability his mom disliked him." Angel commented out loud on accident "Ah, how unfortunate." Mirai nodded, she admitted "I was exceptional at academics, and... She was proud of the fact he was friends with me." Angel asked "Well, how do you know?" Mirai said "She told him that."
The room was quiet, nobody said a thing. Angel sighed and nodded, agreeing with Mirai. They asked Mirai "Do you remember what Haruka was like the last few days before he killed you?" Mirai answered "He was, uhm... Unwell to say the least. I could see the bags under his eyes." Mirai winced at the memory... Though, Mirai added "That reminds me actually. There was someone here who... Reminded me of Haruka, she seemed tired and sad...." Angel questioned "You're worried about another soul here?" Mirai exclaimed "Can you blame me!? They all look horrifying, but that's because we all died horrifying deaths..." Mirai clasped her throat which was squeezed beyond belief. "I mean, look at me... My neck is swollen and bruised, and above all every word that comes from my mouth is groans and scary moaning sounds...!" Angel said "And my condolences go to you and the life you lost." "Thank you." Mirai said.
All of a sudden, the two saw a picture book fly into the arms of Angel. The book was decorated with pretty stickers and childish scribbles. Angel blinked for a moment and Mirai was gone, they were alone with a book sitting in their lap. Angel looked around until the book opened, as it did Angel felt themself become wobbly as they dropped the book and fell on the table in front of them. Their limbs felt numb and Angel could slightly move their head, when Angel faced the other side, they could see something similar to a field of flowers rush over their vision before a heavy crash of blood hit Angel unconscious.
