Amamiya Rin took a step back in the hallway, studying Fujino Terumi carefully.
Good!
Fujino Terumi was safe and sound... at least on the surface.
"Come in, quick."
Her voice was pressed very low, and her eyes flicked uneasily toward the stairwell.
Carrying the instrument case, Amamiya Rin entered the apartment, passed through the entryway, and walked into the living room.
Fujino Terumi followed behind, gazing at Amamiya Rin's back. A strange look came over her face, and a sharp fruit knife quietly slid out from her sleeve.
Fujino Terumi gripped the handle of the fruit knife tightly and suddenly lunged forward, the tip of the blade thrusting straight for the center of Amamiya Rin's back.
However, Amamiya Rin's reflexes were faster!
He didn't even turn around — he simply swayed his body to one side, his left hand reaching back as if he had anticipated it all along, precisely seizing the wrist of Fujino Terumi's knife-wielding hand.
A twist, a yank.
"Ah!"
Fujino Terumi cried out in pain, and the fruit knife fell to the floor with a clatter.
Amamiya Rin slid back with the motion, gently and lightly setting the instrument case down on the floor, then with a backhanded move he wrenched Fujino Terumi's arm behind her, pressed his other hand against her shoulder, and pinned her to the ground.
All in one fluid motion!
"What are you doing, Fujino Terumi?"
Amamiya Rin's gaze swept across the living room — neat and orderly, with no trace of any struggle having taken place.
Possession? Or mind control?
Pinned down by Amamiya Rin and unable to move, Fujino Terumi nonetheless gritted her teeth and forced her head around to glare at him, shouting in agitation: "Quit putting on an act! You're not Rin-kun at all!"
"I... am not me?"
Amamiya Rin's gaze turned toward Fujino Terumi.
This manner of hers... didn't seem like feigned madness. She truly believed that he was not Amamiya Rin.
"Stop playing dumb!"
Fujino Terumi panted, furious and regretful all at once.
"A month ago Rin-kun was still a comatose vegetable. He can get out of bed now, but he can't go anywhere without his crutches! Where are your crutches? You're obviously an impostor!"
Fujino Terumi regretted it bitterly. She had never imagined that the monster outside the window could actually disguise itself as Amamiya Rin to trick her into opening the door.
She had stayed on guard for so long, and in the end she had still fallen for the trap.
"..."
Amamiya Rin was momentarily at a loss for words.
In truth, even before the last round of compression, he had already been able to move about normally without crutches — it just cost him a little stamina.
But recovering this quickly was rather conspicuous, liable to invite unnecessary scrutiny.
He had kept leaning on the crutches all along, both as a disguise and as a weapon he could use when necessary.
This time Tomie wasn't there to help carry things; there was too much equipment and it was inconvenient to bring, and Fujino Terumi had claimed that the supernatural phenomenon pestering her could levitate, so he hadn't brought the crutches. Instead, he had brought the instrument case loaded with firearms.
He never expected it would cause a mix-up here.
Amamiya Rin released his grip, stood up, and stepped back.
Fujino Terumi scrambled to her feet, picked up the fruit knife, and faced Amamiya Rin with her whole expression on guard.
"I'm the real one. If I were a fake, you've already opened the door — would I really have let you off?"
Amamiya Rin picked up the instrument case and said calmly.
Fujino Terumi stared at Amamiya Rin, half believing, half doubting, but on closer thought, it did seem to make sense.
"You really... gave me a fright."
Having confirmed Amamiya Rin's identity, Fujino Terumi's tensed shoulders finally slumped.
She walked into the living room, set the fruit knife on the coffee table, and sat down on the sofa herself, going limp into it as though her bones had been pulled out, letting out a long sigh, weariness filling her brows and eyes.
"I thought that thing had disguised itself as you. She's been watching me this whole time — she knows not only what I've done, but also who I've come to know."
Amamiya Rin placed the instrument case on the sofa across from her and sat down as well.
"Tell me, then. What happened?"
Fujino Terumi thought back for a moment before speaking: "It probably started about five days ago..."
Before the Vampire Kawahara Miyuki was imprisoned, Fujino Terumi had always sensed something staring at her from the shadows whenever she walked the night roads.
However, because of Amamiya Rin's psychological suggestion, Fujino Terumi never took back alleys, never walked alone at night, and even when she heard some sound, she would put in earplugs and pretend she hadn't heard it — so up until today, all had been peaceful.
It wasn't until Amamiya Rin told her that she had merely been frightening herself, that the Vampire was already in prison, that Fujino Terumi let down her guard.
Fortunately, her wariness hadn't vanished, or it would have been hard for her to live to see Amamiya Rin.
After recounting her experience, Fujino Terumi took out her phone.
"When the voice outside called out to me, I deliberately recorded it. See if you can find any clues."
As she spoke, Fujino Terumi played back the sound she had recorded.
"Well done."
Amamiya Rin nodded in approval.
It might not necessarily be of use, but Fujino Terumi was reasonably clever, not as brainless as those characters in horror movies — and that was enough.
"...How long do you mean to keep hiding? Don't think you can escape! I will catch you! Sooner or later you'll let your guard down..."
A cry brimming with resentment came out of Fujino Terumi's phone.
After listening to the recording, Amamiya Rin's brows gradually knit together, and a somewhat peculiar expression appeared on his face.
He lifted his eyes to look at Fujino Terumi, about to speak yet hesitating.
Fujino Terumi noticed the change in his expression, and her heart tightened. She hurriedly asked: "What is it? Is there something wrong with this voice?"
Amamiya Rin answered: "The voice in this recording and the voice you speak with are almost exactly the same."
"Huh?"
Fujino Terumi was stunned. She blinked and instinctively retorted.
"That's impossible, isn't it? Don't I know my own voice? I don't sound like that when I talk..."
"Don't be hasty."
Amamiya Rin raised a hand to stop her words and explained.
"The way a person hears their own voice and the way others hear it are inherently different. Do you know about bone conduction?"
Fujino Terumi paused for a moment, then it suddenly dawned on her.
It was just high-school knowledge; of course she knew.
When a person speaks, the sound doesn't only travel through the air into the ears — it also vibrates through solids like the skull and teeth, reaching the auditory nerves directly.
This kind of sound comes across as a bit lower and fuller, whereas what others hear is the sound transmitted through the air, usually higher and brighter.
"No wonder I felt the monster's voice outside was so familiar. So what on earth is that thing? Why would it imitate my voice?"
A chill ran down Fujino Terumi's spine, and she asked, unable to comprehend it.
"Not necessarily."
Amamiya Rin folded his hands together, resting his chin on the backs of them, and fell into careful thought.
"What?"
Fujino Terumi looked at Amamiya Rin blankly.
"It's not necessarily imitation. Didn't you say so yourself? What she disguises herself as is someone you know, not you. In other words, she had no intention of deceiving you by disguising herself with your voice... Simply put, her voice was identical to yours to begin with."
Amamiya Rin mused thoughtfully.
The information Fujino Terumi had revealed, and the various clues it contained, gave him a feeling of vague familiarity.
____
👻🔥Seek: Walnut-chan🔥👻
🔥 New history: A Martial Arts Master Will Never Be Humiliated
Let's hit these goals:
🎯 100 Powerstones = 1 extra chapter for the public!