Kagerou Daze VII -from the darkness-

Kagerou Daze VII -from the darkness- (カゲロウデイズ VII -from the darkness-) is the seventh light novel volume.

Children Record side -No. 1- (1) (チルドレンレコード side-No.1-(1） Chirudoren Rekōdo side-No.1-(1))
Kido lays on the floor, bleeding out from a gun wound. She worries about Shintaro dying from an unspecified injury, then states that it's probably the end for herself. She dimly makes out people shouting Marry's name and hopes that the rest of "these guys" (later shown to be half of the gang) make it out safe from "that monster." As she slips into unconsciousness, she remembers that she needs to fulfill a promise, and pushes herself to recall the first thing she had concealed.

Blankmind Words 1 (Shissou Word 1) (失想ワアド1 Shissō Wādo 1)
Kido's biological mother is eagerly speaking to her about music, seemingly excited that she and her daughter share a common interest. She shares that she used to perform on stage, asks her if she would like to become a singer, and if she would like to come with her mother to see live music one day. Kido says no to both questions, and thinks to herself that she's disappointed her mother since she's unable to be the daughter she wanted. She states that music is more a form of escapism for her than anything else. Kido then wakes up from her dream of this past memory.

Blankmind Words 2 (Shissou Word 2) (失想ワアド2 Shissō Wādo 2)
Kido, as a child, wakes up from the dream of the previous chapter. As she takes in her bedroom and the dogwood tree outside her window, she mulls over how she was perfectly unfit for the delicate nature of her name (Tsubomi, meaning a bud not yet in bloom), and instead comparing herself to a weed.

As she gets out of bed, her older sister, Rin, who Kido is very intimidated by, knocks and opens the door to her room. She stumbles over a greeting, and her sister chastises her for her meek words. Kido reveals that she has difficulty talking with others, often completely unable to speak, because of an incident where a boy at her daycare made fun of her speech. The adults had paid it little mind, but as Kido never considered her voice or words before, this deeply affected her, since it meant there was something deeply wrong with her. Since then, she had avoided conversations, and now was completely inept at holding one.

While he spirals into self-loathing, her sister pats her head and asks her what she wants for breakfast. Kido takes the breakfast options to be euphemisms for different methods of torture, punishment for her inability to speak properly. In a panic, she anwers that she would like rice. When Rin leaves, Kido expresses admiration for her.

They proceed to have a very normal breakfast, For the rest of the day, Kido is high-strung over her rice-related punishment, and it is only when she goes to sleep when she recalls that the rice with breakfast had been more delicious than usual.

Blankmind Words 3 (Shissou Word 3) (失想ワアド3 Shissō Wādo 3)
Young Kido thinks of how her mother was the type of friendly, lively, hardworking person that drew other people to her, and was very loved. Because of this, everyone at her mother's funeral was crying, except for one man: her father, who she had never met until this day. She notes how strange it was, then reveals that her father had had a family before meeting her mother, and hadn't even known of her existence. However, he was a wealthy man, and thus took her in.

Life at her new house was very stressful—the people there were cold to her, and she hadn't met her stepmother since her health ha declined (which the servants had blamed on her). Half a year had passed since she first came, and her life since then had been very idle, spending most of her time inside reading. She wasn't allowed outside to play soccer, so she thinks of going to the manor courtyard instead. As Kido runs for the courtyard, she is stopped by the sounds of a violin. Enchanted by the music, she sits down by a wall and eventually dozes off.

She wakes up to her sister looking at her, judging her for her poor manners. Kido shares that her difficulty speaking had improved over the past few months due to her sister's conversations with her. Kido tries to explain that she had fallen asleep listening to a violin, but Rin says there are no violinists in the house.

Rin then tells her a ghost story of how the mansion came to be, in an effort to scare Kido and "explain" the violin. She says their grandfather had a problem with burglars due to the fanciful nature of the mansion, and thus he built a dungeon basement to trap and lock them up forever. Kido realizes that it was a scary story, and stops her from continuing, feeling betrayed that her sister would delight in her suffering. Despite this, she continues to think about it until dinnertime.

At dinner, Rin brings up the mystery violinist to their father, who asks Kido if she listens to music, then compares her to her mother. Rin drops her knife, which Kido interprets to be a sign that Rin was still in shock over Kido and her mother, and therefore didn't actually like her. Overwhelmed, she rushes out of the house, seemingly intent on running away. She falls to the ground outside, and thinks to herself that it would be better if she simply disappeared, so as to not be a burden on anybody.

Her sister comes after her and tries to coax her back. Kido asks why she won't just leave her alone, as her presence is evidence of painful memories, since she is an illegitimate child, then starts crying over her betrayal of her sister's kindness. Rin insists that she is her one and only sister, and that it didn't matter who her mother was, and hugs her. Comforted, she marvels at "how beautiful, how strong, and how gentle" her sister is, and wonders if she will ever be like her.

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