Miko subtly tilted her head, catching a glimpse of movement in the window's reflection before deliberately looking away.
From this angle, she could just make out shadowy figures flickering in the glass panes.
She couldn't be certain what those reflections represented, but there was a strong possibility they were still under observation. That meant she couldn't share her discoveries with Takakai here.
But where could she safely reveal what she'd seen?
As the girl pondered this, she discreetly observed her companions.
Takakai sat with eyes closed, still resting.
Kumami was reviewing the booklet Miko had retrieved earlier - a record of patient files and orderly protocols. Though they'd already scanned its contents upon securing this room, Kumami's caution drove her to study it again while maintaining her Blessing's activation, ready to reset her personality at the first sign of mental contamination.
[Hospital Personnel Records]
[Male Ward Patient Log]
[Patient 301]
[Days Admitted: 17]
[Treatment Progress: Preliminary cognitive therapy completed. Deep perception therapy underway.]
[Patient 302]
[Days Admitted: 48]
[Treatment Progress: Both preliminary cognitive and deep perception therapies successfully completed. Idol worship established.]
[Patient 304]
[Days Admitted: 0]
[Treatment Progress: Scheduled for preliminary cognitive therapy. Exhibits treatment avoidance tendencies. Confined to ward with enhanced monitoring.]
[Patient 305]
[Days Admitted: 14]
[Treatment Progress: Preliminary cognitive therapy failed. Excessive independent cognition detected. Approved for comprehensive perception therapy.]
[Patient 306]
[Days Admitted: 135]
[Treatment Progress: Idol worship successfully established. Detected echoes of faith. Nearing full recovery. Will participate in tomorrow's idol welcoming ceremony.]
The records were disturbingly detailed.
Though cloaked in professional jargon, Kumami wasn't fooled by such amateurish obfuscation. She recognized this "Hirohoto Mental Hospital" was employing Yoruyama Mountain High's "urban legend" methodology - using rumor propagation to reinforce belief in nonexistent entities, then directing that collective consciousness toward specially prepared victims to manifest supernatural beings with predetermined traits.
Like Yoruyama's infamous [Kuchisake Onna] haunting the sports field - originally just an innocent student murdered and mutilated by the school, then transformed into that entity through carefully cultivated student rumors and additional sacrificial killings to cement the legend.
And that was merely Yoruyama's early experimental result. By the end, Kumami knew they'd succeeded in creating the so-called "perfect supernatural entity" - one with no physical origin whatsoever, born purely from directed cognition and ritualized violence.
If intelligence held true, this very entity had slaughtered Yoruyama's research team. Of the school's three core Obsessions, only this one remained unconquered - theoretically unconquerable, being an Obsessionless aberration that had never truly existed to begin with.
Was this hospital attempting to replicate Yoruyama's final achievement? To manifest Alice from nothingness?
The possibility made Kumami frown.
Impossible.
Yoruyama had operated into the postwar period, outlasting its two sister schools by maintaining surface-level normality. Students believed they attended a regular school while researchers continued their work undetected... until everything collapsed years later, vanishing the entire campus into the supernatural realm.
Even with those resources and expertise, the process took years and ultimately failed. This hospital's capabilities paled in comparison to the military-backed schools. Cross-referencing Takakai's intel, Kumami pieced together a likely scenario:
The physical [Alice] idol project and this hospital shared the same architect - someone who'd inherited Fujika Academy's legacy.
The unrecorded seventh principal, perhaps?
Records suggested Fujika was already destroyed during the sixth principal Fujii Goro's tenure, yet official documents listed him serving into the 1960s. Had a non-corporeal Alice maintained the school's facade after slaughtering everyone? Under what circumstances would a seventh principal then take over?
Speculation could spiral endlessly. Kumami reined in her thoughts before they grew too unwieldy.
Then she noticed Takakai's subtle glance.
Following his cue, she casually looked toward Miko.
The girl wore an expression screaming "I have something to say but can't."
While Miko's acting was decent, both veterans' sharp senses had picked up on her concealed tension. She wasn't the type to withhold information without reason - meaning something prevented her from speaking openly. Perhaps an entity present but imperceptible to them unless Miko acknowledged it?
Takakai's relaxed posture masked extreme vigilance. Kumami similarly prepared for fight-or-flight scenarios upon recognizing Miko's distress.
What could it be?
Hospital complications? But the uniform-swapped orderlies had all been captured as patient substitutes.
Or was this room unsafe after all? Housing some undetectable horror?
They monitored Miko's microexpressions while running through possibilities.
Meanwhile, Miko wrestled with her own dilemma.
Those things in the reflections claiming to reside in [Takamagahara] - they seemed limited to observation through reflective surfaces for now.
But was that truly the extent of their capabilities?
They'd mentioned a failed intervention at Yoruyama, proving they could affect the physical world. If her communication attempts were too obvious, might they detect and retaliate even without mirrors present?
Miko wasn't a strategist. An ordinary girl suddenly thrust into this nightmare, her greatest assets beyond supernatural perception were her acting skills.
Well, "acting" might be generous - she only played one role: "person who sees nothing unusual." In acting terms, she'd be typecast as a one-note performer. Not that such concerns mattered now.
Self-awareness was crucial.
Miko knew her limitations. Testing the entities' observational limits to find safe communication windows exceeded her capabilities.
That left subtle hints as her only option. Would Takakai and Kumami understand?
Unaware of her companions' intense scrutiny, the girl sighed softly - prompting the veterans to imagine increasingly dire scenarios:
Possession?
Are we sitting amidst invisible entities?
Does she see our corpses instead of us?
What's with this kid?
Takakai finally decided to ask directly—
—when an unexpected development interrupted.
Thud— Thud—
Heavy, deliberate footsteps approached rapidly.
Takakai stiffened.
A previously locked Blessing had suddenly activated - Andres' Blessing allowing teleportation between loved ones (useless for singles like Andres).
Why now? Unless...
Knock knock knock—
The door swung open before anyone could respond.
Pink hair entered his vision.
For a split second, Takakai thought it was Fujiwara Chika—
—until he saw Hitori Gotou's slightly chubby cheeks.
Bocchi-chan?
Andres' Blessing clearly marked her presence.
Stranger still, it registered two signals from her alone, as if Maki and Chika had merged with Hitori, creating an overlapping marker on his mental team display.
What was happening?
And... was this really Bocchi?
The girl's unnervingly confident grin looked utterly alien on her normally anxious face.
"Hitori?"
Kumami voiced the recognition first.
Then the trio watched as this clearly-not-herself Bocchi produced a garishly decorated pair of sunglasses, struck a pose with one hand on her hip and the other curled into a fake microphone, and began gyrating into the room with samba-like steps while rapping:
"Yo, yo, yo, Mr. Takakai~"
"And Miss Kumami~"
"Plus one more, lookin' real fine~"
"Listen up now, don't you fear~"
"Backup is here~"
"It's Hitori One, check check now~"
Takakai: ???
Kumami: ???
Yotsuya Miko: ???