● Illusory ●

Chapter 25

"What are you even doing here!? You should be elsewhere! You should be dead!" Seiko continued to yell, sounding frustrated. Though, I ignored this for a moment and paid attention to yellow glint in her eyes. I assumed that Kalle had her under some sort of mind control, perhaps the same kind that stuck with my mother's telepathic abilities. I finally decided to speak up now, despite feeling that my airway was closing.

"Kalle told me the same about you. That you were killed," I croaked, to which Seiko only narrowed her eyes.

"Liar. Kalle would never lie to that degree," she growled, "Besides, why should I even listen to the liar who was just beating him senselessly moments ago!?"

She couldn't have been thinking straight. "I was beating him up because he told me he killed you, Seiko! Not to mention he was being rude, insulting my family, and even throwing the first punches! Did you really expect me to stand back and let him hit me!?" I replied, my voice clearer now, "I thought you were dead! Of course I'm not just going to stand idly by and go 'Oh, that's too bad'!"

Seiko paused again, before quietly hissing "Liar."

Feeling slightly frustrated, I decided to not stick to this cycle of repeating words, and instead continued to speak back. "Seiko, I'm not the one lying to you! Kalle is!" I told her, placing my hands on the hands around my throat, "When have I ever not cared enough to just shrug off your 'death'!? When have I ever not cared about you in general!? Whatever you're hearing and thinking from him isn't real! It's all just his charade!"

"Then you tell me! Tell me what's real and what's fake! Tell me since you seem to be such a supreme figure of knowledge!" Seiko shouted at me then, her hands shaking as she gritted her teeth in frustration. I could tell her last statement was sarcastic, but I found myself surprised by her sudden outburst. I then finally decided to reply.

"That...I can't tell you. Your perception of what's from reality and what's from illusion is all up to you, but I don't mind giving you some insight through what I perceive as real and fake," I told her, before reaching up and brushing the pink stands of her hair out of her face, only to find a bruise hidden behind it. I found myself sighing at it inside my head before gently touching the cheek that beared it. I saw her begin to pull away from my hand before stopping."The love that your family gives you is real, and so is the love from each individual friend you have. The thought that we all deeply care about you is also real, as well as the concern we've had for your safety these past few months. Though, Kalle's love for you is fake, with each bruise here being an example of how illusory his compassion for you is. I wish you could see it, but you can only see it if you choose to see it."

Seiko didn't look quite as angered now, though the yellow glint in her eyes was fading. "But you all didn't come for me," she tried to accuse me, "....a-and these bruises aren't from Kalle! They're from something else!"

"We've been trying to find you this whole time, but you left us without any clue as to where you went," I replied, "And Seiko, if they aren't from Kalle, then what are they from? I know you're not clumsy enough to warrant bruises like these on you from little mistakes."

Seiko was at a loss for words now, her expression torn and confused. "They're....I...." she started to say, before trying to look to Kalle. Though, I stopped her and gently pushed her head back to face me.

"Don't look at him. Look at me. I want to know how you feel, not how he feels," I told her, to which the yellow glint was now nearly nonexistent in her eyes. She struggled to find words once more, stuttering for a moment before the yellow glint returned for a moment.

"Why aren't you f-fighting back against me, you c-coward!? I hurt you, why aren't you doing anything!?" she shouted, her voice shaking as her eyes started to water. I sighed.