Blank Dream

Realm of Spirits

I unlocked the door with the silver key.

Realm of Spirits, On The wind sounds tragedy's end and beginning.

The door lead the a room filled with shelves. Shoes racks... But not a single shoe. A hallway branched off of it so I went that way.

There was a sign on the wall it said...

'One: The moving statue.  Plenty have seen the statue itself, but nobody's ever seen it moving.
Two: The portrait in the reception room will attack students who sneak in to cause trouble.
Three: If there's sheet music on the piano, it'll start playing by itself.
Four: Machiko of the toilet. In the girls bathroom, if you knock three times on the far-left door, and say "Machiko, Machiko" She'll come out.
Five: There's a single cursed shoe rack in the entryway.
Six: Forgotten classroom. There's a room with an entrance that can't be seen near the bathrooms
Seven: One who personally witnesses mysteries one to six will be led to the locked-away mirror.'

At one end of the hallway were bathrooms. At the other, doors leading places. It sort of reminded me of a school...

I noticed a bronze statue of an old man. That must be the first mystery. But how to get it to move...? I walked up to it and hit it with my hammer. Frightened, the statue ran off. I experienced the first mystery.

I entered the girls bathroom. The sink was stained with red liquid. I really didn't want to touch it. I walked to the far left bathroom stall and knocked three times. It echoed loudly. "Machiko, Machiko," I called. The stall opened slowly, but no one was inside. I turned to walk back but a white silhouette stood in front of me. She laughed and ran into the first stall. I experienced the fourth mystery.

As I walked from the bathroom, I ran my hand along the wall. Suddenly, I fell into another room! The walls were black and so was the floor. Weeds and braches grew from the floorboards. It seemed abandoned. I experienced the sixth mystery. I saw a scattered stack of papers with music notes on them. I picked them up, sorted them by page, and put them in my pocket.

I went back to the entryway. Cursed shoe rack... huh? I walked around the room and inspected everything. I noticed something and looked closer. I was immediately surrounded by a circle of blood. I experienced the fifth mystery.

I walked into another room The empty shelves look like they've never been used. The
brand-new-looking surface is covered with dust. There's was some kind of certificate on display. There was also a painting on the wall. I turned to leave and it hit the ground a few feet away from its original position. Almost as if it was thrown. I experienced the second mystery.

I entered a room with a piano. In contrast to the dusty room, there's not a stain on it. I put the sheet music that I had picked up earlier onto the stand. The piano began to play by itself. The music echoed through the empty room. It was a beautiful song.  I experienced the third mystery.

I had experienced all six... that ment a mirror, right? I went back to the hallway and a shadow figure stood in front of a door that had not been there before.

"Are these illusions or embodiments of attachment?" He asked before disappearing.

I shook my head and entered the room. I saw the mirror.

I locked eyes with my reflection.

---------

SIX YEARS AGO

AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

"Usui, aren't you coming too? We're gonna explore the ghost lake!" My classmate cheered.

"You're such a fad-follower, Kacchan," Another student pointed out, "It's just a rumor, okay? Same as the schools seven mysteries."

"That's not true!" Kacchan cried, "They found a body there last year, remember? And last week, they found another... Which means the demon of the ghost lake is making people throw themselves in!"

"That's just coincidence." Tomori sighed. "Its a pretty deep lake so everybody just picks it to off themselves."

"Nooo, that's not it! They say the body they found last week died exactly one year after the one from last year! Which means one year later, at the same time, the same place, somebody's gonna die again! Aaaaand! Both victims were students from the same middle school!"

"For real..?"

"It was on the news! You call that a coincidence?"

"Yeah... It is a little strange that someone from the same school would die exactly a year later..."

"The ghost lake wants sacrifices! There's gotta be an evil ghost using black magic! We should exterminate it!"

"Alright, I guess it's worth checking out. Feels more like a plot than a ghost, but I'll go."

"Alright, Tomori! Then let's get going! Usui, cone to the station later! You seem like you'd like this stuff!"

As they left a voice rang in my ears. "Off yourself in the mirrors"

It started to make me sick. I don't think I can do this anymore... killing myself over and over again... I hate it.

I noticed the window was open. I could jump...

If i jump out, it'll mean seconds of terror followed by an instantaneous pain. I took a deep breath and threw myself out of the school's third story window.

-----------

I came to, again standing before the mirror. Though I still felt a strong pain and my vision blurring, there wasn't even a bruise on me.

"...Yes. There were rumors about the ghost lake back then. That was probably where the Mirror Lake rumor started. But ultimately, after the second death, there were no more incidents involving Mirror Lake. Elementary school... I seem to recall that was a pretty fun time."

Just as I regained a piece of my memory, I felt as if I'd lost something important.

At my feet was a gold key. I picked it up and found myself back with Yuzu and Ryotaro.