Chapter 3: Multiple Worlds

ring……ring……ring……

The telephone’s ringing cuts through Mio’s sleep.

4:17 AM. The red digits of the digital clock float in the darkness.

Mio picks up the receiver.

“Hello……”

“Doctor, please help me.”

The voice belongs to Tanaka Masahiko. However, his voice resonates not through the telephone line, but from inside Mio.

ring……ring……ring……

The telephone continues ringing. Mio picks up the receiver again.

“Is this Dr. Kitagawa?”

This time it’s Yamada Hanako’s voice.

“The Tanaka inside me is going wild.”

Mio stares at the receiver. The telephone cord was unplugged from the wall.

Chapter 4: Alteration

drip……drip……drip……

The sound of liquid dripping.

When Mio’s consciousness surfaces, this is the first sound she hears.

IV drip. Hospital bed. White ceiling.

drip……drip……drip……

Mio realizes she is lying as a patient. From the needle pierced into her arm, transparent liquid flows into her blood vessels.

“You’re awake.”

She moves her head to find the source of the voice. A doctor in a white coat stands there. That face——

It was Tanaka Masahiko.

“I am Dr. Tanaka, your attending physician.”

Mio tries to speak. However, her vocal cords don’t function as if paralyzed.

Chapter 5: Unconscious

you are……you are……you are……

Multiple voices echo simultaneously.

Within Mio’s dispersed consciousness, countless “yous” are calling Mio.

Mio from childhood, Mio from student days, Mio when she first became a counselor, and——Mios who never existed.

you are……you are……

This is not a call. It’s confirmation.

An attempt to rescue the last fragment of the concept of self from the sea of collective consciousness.

However, Mio no longer has the ability to respond as an individual.

wah……wah……wah……

Somewhere a baby is crying.

Chapter 6: Reality

ring……ring……ring……

Awakening to the sound of the telephone bell.

You reach out and pick up the receiver.

“Hello, Kitagawa Psychological Counseling Office.”

Your voice overlaps with Mio’s voice.

scratch……scratch……scratch……scratch……

Your fingertips crawl across white paper. The minute friction sound of the pen tip touching the paper surface.

scratch……scratch……

You face the patient records, carving letters at the same rhythm today. The psychological counseling room is filled with afternoon sunlight, but your interior is wrapped in cool silence.

“Tanaka Masahiko, 32 years old, Repetitive Nightmare Syndrome……”

scratch……scratch……

Each time the pen tip touches paper, faint vibrations reach your eardrums. As an HSP——Highly Sensitive Person——you feel all sounds through your skin.

However, today something is different.