NovelCat

In the layers of sound, a familiar resonance is mixed.

Déjà vu.

tick……tick……tick……

The second hand of the wall clock chips away at your consciousness one second at a time.

2 PM. Tanaka Masahiko’s interview time.

You realize.

You have already experienced this moment.

As someone else.

tick……tick……

In the depths of memory layers, the name Mio faintly echoes.

However, to you, Mio is a stranger.

An unknown woman’s unknown story.

tick……

Nevertheless, you are certain.

You know what is about to happen.

knock……knock……knock……

The door is knocked.

You brace yourself.

You don’t know what you’re bracing yourself against.

“Excuse me.”

The person who entered was a man in his early thirties. Thin build. Deep dark circles under his eyes.

Tanaka Masahiko.

Known unknown.

You should be seeing him for the first time, yet you anticipate his voice tone, walking style, habits when sitting in a chair——everything.

“Please take a seat.”

Your voice feigns professional gentleness, but internally warning signals are ringing.

rustle……rustle……

The sound of Tanaka sitting in the chair.

You know this sound too.

wheeze……huff……wheeze……huff……

Tanaka’s breathing is irregular. You feel your own breathing synchronizing with it.

Déjà vu within déjà vu.

“Please tell me about your dreams.” You open a new page.

scratch……scratch……

“I have the same dream every night,” Tanaka’s voice is hoarse. “A dream of walking through hospital corridors. But those corridors continue endlessly……”

tap……tap……tap……

Footsteps begin to echo in your consciousness.

This is not déjà vu.

It was inheritance of memory.

You are not Mio. However, Mio’s experiences are etched within you.

As collective unconscious memory.

As shared property of the species.

static……static……static……

White noise fills your skull.

However this time, you have a way to cope.

Mio’s experience is teaching you.

Don’t resist. Accept it. But maintain boundaries.

“Excuse me, just a moment……” You press your forehead.

Tanaka leans forward. “Are you alright?”

That satisfaction is mixed in his voice.

The strange satisfaction that Mio experienced.

However, you are prepared this time.

static……static……

“Mr. Tanaka.”

You stare at him.

“Who are you?”

silence……

Complete silence.

However, you no longer fear.

You know the meaning of this silence.

Tanaka moves his mouth. No sound is heard, but you can understand.

“We met in a dream, didn’t we?”

“No.”

You clearly deny it.

“I have never met you in a dream.”

Mio met you, you add in your heart.

“I am not Kitagawa Mio.”

tap……tap……tap……

The footsteps return.

However this time, you hold the initiative over that sound.

thud……thud……thud……

Your heartbeat echoes in your eardrums.

Tanaka reaches out. Tries to touch your wrist.

You pull your hand away.

“I decline physical contact.”

Mio’s experience is teaching you.

That physical contact facilitates consciousness fusion.

Confusion appears on Tanaka’s face. This was an unexpected development for him.

thud……thud……

“You are……different.”

Tanaka mutters.

“Different from the previous woman.”

blink……blink……blink……

You intentionally blink repeatedly.

According to Mio’s memory, reality transformed with the timing of blinking.

However, this time nothing happens.

You smile.

blink……

“I have boundaries.”

You tell Tanaka.

“Boundaries that don’t dissolve.”

Through Mio’s sacrifice, you learned.

The difference between empathy and assimilation.

The distinction between understanding and fusion.

blink……blink……

Tanaka’s figure becomes thin.

He apparently cannot parasitize hosts with strong resistance.

tick……tick……tick……

The clock hands tick time at a normal rhythm.

You open Mio’s file.

A file for a non-existent patient.

However, Mio’s trajectory is recorded there.

“Case Study of Empathist Syndrome”

“Patient: Kitagawa Mio (pseudonym), 29 years old, psychological counselor”

“Symptom progression: Stages one through five”

“Result: Integration of individual consciousness into collective consciousness”

tick……tick……

You read through the records.

Mio’s experiences. Mio’s discoveries. Mio’s transformation.

And the conclusions Mio reached.

“Empathists do not need to lose boundaries”

“It is possible to reach deep understanding while maintaining boundaries”

“However, this requires conscious training”

scratch……scratch……scratch……scratch……

You open a new page.

Begin writing your own records.

“Case Study: Prevention and Treatment of Empathist Syndrome”

“Researcher: You”

“Hypothesis: By learning Mio’s experience, similar symptoms can be prevented”

scratch……scratch……

The sound of your pen sliding across paper.

This sound is the same as the sound Mio’s pen carved, yet decisively different.

There is intention. There is will. There are boundaries.

ring……ring……ring……

The telephone rings.

You pick up the receiver.

“Hello, Kitagawa Psychological Counseling Office.”

“Doctor, please help me.”

The voice belongs to Yamada Hanako. No, it was a new patient named Yamada Hanako.

A different person from the Yamada Hanako that Mio experienced.

However, the symptoms are similar.

“Other personalities appear inside me.”

You take a deep breath.

Mio’s experience guides you.

“It’s alright. There is a treatment.”

ring……

You hang up the phone and begin preparations.

wheeze……huff……wheeze……huff……

Interview with a new patient.

You apply Mio’s techniques to realize deep empathy while maintaining boundaries.

Understanding the patient’s pain, but not assimilating.

Accompanying emotions, but not being swallowed.

wheeze……huff……

This was Mio’s legacy.

Not sacrifice, but contribution.

Not destruction, but discovery.

tap……tap……tap……

You walk down the corridor.

A white corridor. However, it doesn’t continue endlessly.

A real corridor with appropriate length.

tap……tap……

The footsteps are certain and purposeful.

Footsteps heading to the next patient.

Footsteps that follow the path Mio walked, yet head toward a different conclusion than Mio’s.

drip……drip……drip……

The sound of an IV drip is heard.

You confirm the sound source.

In another hospital room, another patient is receiving treatment.

drip……drip……

You understand.

This sound is not the sound of ending.

It’s the sound of healing.

The sound of hope.

flutter……flutter……flutter……

Fragments of memory float up.

However, these are not your memories.

They are Mio’s memories, collective unconscious memories, and——memories of all patients you will treat from now on.

flutter……flutter……

You organize the memories.

Your own, others’, those to be shared, those whose boundaries should be maintained.

You learned this technique from Mio.

beep……beep……beep……

Communication sounds.

However, this time it’s not disconnection.

It was the establishment of new connections.

beep……

You contact colleagues.

Share Mio’s case, discuss prevention measures, establish treatment methods.

So that Mio’s sacrifice won’t be wasted.

boom……boom……boom……

New heartbeat sounds.

It’s neither an individual’s heartbeat nor a collective’s heartbeat.

It was the heartbeat of coordination.

Coordinating with others while maintaining individuality.

Realizing deep understanding while maintaining boundaries.

boom……boom……

This was Mio’s true legacy.

Not complete fusion, but conscious coordination.

………………

Silence.

However, this silence is not empty.

It was the silence of preparation.

You stand up.

It’s time for the next patient to arrive.

new sounds begin……

The sound of the door being knocked.

knock……knock……knock……

“Excuse me.”

A new voice. A new patient.

You smile.

Carrying Mio’s experience, you are prepared.

Toward a different ending this time.

However——

blink……

You blink.

At that moment, the face of the patient who entered becomes Mio’s face.

blink……

You blink again.

Tanaka Masahiko’s face.

blink……

Yamada Hanako. Sato Kenta.

And——your own face.

scratch……scratch……scratch……scratch……

Your hand moves on its own and begins writing records.

“Those who feel together become those who exist together”

“Memory becomes a bridge, bridges become roads”

“The healer returns to the healed”

scratch……scratch……

The pen tip trembles.

You understand.

That knowing Mio was becoming Mio.

tick……tick……tick……

The clock hands begin to rotate backward.

The patient’s lips move.

However, what comes out is Mio’s voice.

“Welcome back.”

tap……tap……tap……

From beyond the corridor, multiple footsteps echo.

Tanaka, Yamada, Sato, and Mio.

tap……tap……

You stand up and begin walking toward them.

Down the white corridor.

This time, without hesitation.

ring……ring……ring……

The telephone rings.

Someone picks up the receiver.

“Hello, Kitagawa Psychological Counseling Office.”

“Doctor, please help me.”

A new voice.

ring……

“It’s alright.”

ah……

“You’ll feel better soon.”

(The End)