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-SUMINO TAKUMI-
[Day 004]
“...Where am I?”
I woke up from a fit of sweat. My head still feels groggy from my sudden wake, and my eyes feel puffy from a lack of quality sleep. I tried to look around to confirm my surroundings, but all I see is not my comfy bedroom, but rather a desolate alleyway, some trash still littered around the corners.
I tried his best to recall what exactly happened to result in me sleeping outside of the confines of Last Defense Academy, especially being completely vulnerable to any of the invader attacks.
“...Right! Shizuhara!”
I was trying to chase down a suspicious Shizuhara Hiruko who, up until now, was operating entirely on her own, an operation that he has no inkling on what it may be, other than it might be related to something that she has been hiding for me. She still needed to answer me; why does she know about time travel? Why did she warn that leaving Eito alive was the correct choice?
Unfortunately, I turned the wrong way and lost sight of Shizuhara, and from there, my memory became a blur. All I can still remember is the dull ache on top of my head.
“Seriously? Did someone hit me in the head again?”
I wondered if anyone is trying to stop me from finding Shizuhara, but I don’t have a clue on who can be responsible for such an act, and supposedly, the person that did bash me in the head from the previous timeline should be jailed up, and can’t move freely…
Seeing as how I essentially failed to track down Shizuhara, I picked up my dejected feet, and started walking again, looking around to find familiar buildings that would lead him back to Last Defense Academy.
While wafting through the streets back to his base, my mind wandered back to the final few days of the previous 100 days again; there’s a lot of chaos and twists I would have never expected; needing to stab myself to manifest my Hemoanima weapon, my first battle on the field, and the uncertain feelings that still haunt me from time to time.
But whenever I did feel lost like a puppy, there was always someone that pulled me out of my funk, a once friendly guiding hand, and a cheery disposition…
But he willingly decided to crumble his facade anyways, so why am I still thinking about the past?
Aotsuki Eito, a guy that I once thought of as a close companion, showed his true colors on the fateful 95th Day from the last 100 days that I went through. Before then, he showed nothing but faithful support, saying lines that come straight from a shounen manga which, although cringe by nature, was still somewhat endearing.
Even so, if he’s that well read, how come he has such terrible motivation line choices? Did he plan to become a young adult novelist at some point in the future?
Maybe I might be a little harsh on the critique of Eito’s line choices, but I don’t feel like showing mercy to someone that blatantly quashed my trust just to further his dangerous goals of wiping humanity out. Even if it’s just the petty remark in my head.
After what felt like forever, I finally found his way back to familiar land and a familiar academy, and I was about to leave out a sigh of relief, when I suddenly heard a scream approaching my direction.
“SUMINO! YOU’RE FINALLY FUCKING BACK!”
Yakushiji Takemaru is shouting his lungs out for a boisterous welcome, if it weren’t for also his panicked temperament sending a nervous pit into my stomach as well.
“Yakushiji? What happened while I was gone?”
“Man, I don’t know how to fucking explain anything of this, just come in and see for yourself!”
Yakushiji then blasted a hole open from the Wall of Undying Flames using the Fire Extinguisher on his hand.
Wait, if he has the Fire Extinguisher, then does that mean Shizuhara is back-
I couldn’t finish my train of thought before Yakushiji dragged me over to somewhere that needed my urgent attention.
—
There was nothing that could have prepared me for what I was witnessing right in front of me.
Ran and ran as I did, as I heard the other panicked squeals from my comrades while making their way into the inner rooms of Last Defense Academy. My mind was racing on whatever prospects that could have happened. There’s not a lot of incidents that can shake up the whole squad like this, so what is it this time?
Or maybe this nervous feeling is from the fact that this event never happened from my original timeline at all, which further complicates the butterflies fluttering around my stomach.
Was my effort to preserve the timeline futile after all?
My despair was only further heightened when I finally laid eyes inside the Courtyard.
Among the serene flora that swayed along the gentle wind, they ignored the elephant in the room that is a collapsed Aotsuki, who is slumped beside the cage’s edges.
“AOTSUKI!!”
Whatever bad blood I had felt all vanished in an instant, and before long, his legs carried him over to where Aotsuki was.
I was so laser focused on checking on Aotsuki that I didn’t realise that Shizuhara was already staring at Aotsuki’s cage beside him, murmuring something beneath her breath again.
“What is happening…?”
There was no time to ponder more on Shizuhara's words as I frantically tries to drag Aotsuki's body down through the cage bars so that he can lay on the floor.
If you're not paying attention to the shallow breathing that Aotsuki still has, then he can almost be mistaken as a dead man.
Upon further inspection, Aotsuki's face is both deathly pale, but reaching to touch his cheeks results in a burning hot sensation, like a pan on a heated stove. His eyes are shut, but he is still emitting grunting sounds from his lips, and his hands are gripping tightly around his chest area.
I was pretty sure he had seen something very similar to this before, but it couldn’t be what I think it is...
Because these look like rejection symptoms, the ones Nozomi once had in the past, but she assured me that it’s a constitution that’s unique to her due to her weak adaptation to cryptoglobin…
Suddenly, a voice cuts through my thoughts and doesn’t do a good job on calming down the chaos either.
“Takumi-kun, what is the meaning of this?!”
Sirei has popped out to inspect the commotion as well, and is now pointing his stubby fingers towards Aotsuki with a half ghost appearance.
“I’m just as confused as you are, Sirei!” I exclaimed.
Sirei also gives a cursory glance around Aotsuki’s body, then looks at me and gives a commanding look.
“Well then, Team Leader, this is a sudden predicament, but I assume you might have an idea on how to proceed with this, no?”
It seems like Sirei is waiting for me to say something to quell the anxious crowd.
I could only bite his lip out of frustration, and then yelled out whatever that was on my mind.
“Everyone! Aotsuki might have contracted an unknown disease, so, except for me and Shizuhara, everyone else has to fall back!”
In truth, there's no telling what Aotsuki’s condition actually is, but the people who might have an inkling on how to help are all the way over at 2nd to Last Defense Academy, and I still can't risk letting the others know that I have that foreknowledge. Except for the person that I was trying to track down from the beginning, who he's been dying to get answers from.
“Oi, Sumino, if you tell us to fall back, then what are the two of you gonna do?”
Maruko Gaku shouted out his question just as he stopped at the entrance of the Courtyard.
I bit my lip again, this time enough to draw some blood out.
“...Someone still needs to investigate and take care of Aotsuki. Since I was the one who imprisoned him, I shall do it.”
Gaku still looked a little puzzled, but he held his breath and decided to let me do whatever I wanted. If he wanted to do the extra work on giving care to a sick person, who is he to interfere?
“Well you better not be playing hero with us! You still gotta explain to us why you disappeared so suddenly!”
And with that, Gaku scurried out of the scene along with the others.
Having everyone be out of sight and out of mind, I can finally let out a sigh of relief as I am able to think more without risking spilling my time travel to unwanted ears.
Shizuhara still looks visibly shaken as she stared at Aotsuki when I shook her shoulders, causing her to snap out of her doomed haze.
“Shizuhara! Can you please rally the others to call over Second to Last Defense Academy?”
“...Are you sure about this? You know that our forces are incredibly small right now to be mobilizing a recon team, right?!”
“Even so, Sirei over here isn’t going to help with Aotsuki. Just look at him!”
Glancing over to Sirei’s knowing glare tells me enough. Sirei isn't going to budge on assisting any further with Aotsuki, as if to tell me that, whatever happens to him, It’s down to only me to decide on what I should do.
“Goddamnit… I used all of this effort to spare him, he can't die now of all times!”
“If you want to cure him by other means, be my guest,” Sirei said, “but I will not grant you any help from my end. The deal is to keep Eito-kun prisoner, not to keep him alive should anything else happen to him.”
I am almost at a boiling point, and yet, I know that I can't defy Sirei, lest I risk spending more time arguing than to monitor Aotsuki, and so, I took a deep breath in, and exhaled after a few seconds.
“Fine, then you don't mind if I call over Second to Last Defense Academy right now, right?”
“And what is your reason?” Sirei touted.
“There's someone in that squad that can probably create a potent medicine to cure Aotsuki. If we let him examine Aotsuki, then we would be quicker at finding an answer to Aotsuki’s condition as well.”
Sirei once again gave me a look, and eventually, he resigned himself.
“Alright, then since you told Hiruko-chan to stay back, I assume you want her assistance, yes?”
It was only then did Shizuhara seemingly snap back to reality again, away from all the muttering under her breath.
“...Fine, Aotsuki's condition is dire, so I'll help out just this once.”
“Thanks, Shizuhara. I'm not going to ask more about whatever you're hiding for now, just, please, lend me your assistance!”
I just hope that my earnest plea finally got through Shizuhara, and no more of that dancing around that she kept pulling out of my sleeve.
She still looks like she has something to say, but holds back her tongue to focus on more important matters.
“Whatever you say, Team Leader.”
Shizuhara then turns her back towards me.
“Then, I'll be off.”
And with a brisk pace, Shizuhara walks out of the Courtyard.
“I suppose I will not stay for any longer either,” Sirei proclaims. “Seeing as how you changed our plans, I will have to go make some calls to smoothen the arrival of our new comrades. Oh, and take this Key as well. You’re gonna need it when you play nurse.”
Sirei wormed his way into some corner of the Courtyard then disappeared from sight after he tossed me the Key.
How did he do that?
A few seconds go by, and I finally realise that I am all alone with an unconscious Aotsuki.
It’s still a little nerve wracking to handle a sick person all by myself, but when I boldly acclaimed that I shall be the one responsible for him, I can’t exactly back out of my words now, can’t I…
Is it too late to be voicing my regrets?
“Ugh…”
“Aah, Aotsuki!”
I quickly ran over to him, who managed to sit up sluggishly just beside the bed, his body still on the floor, and his face had not returned any color. If anything, his eye sockets look even more sunken in, and his eyeballs are even bloodshot.
I desperately tried to unlock his cage to help lift Aotsuki up from the ground, but he shocked me with an unbridled scream.
“DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH ME!!!”
I almost lost my grip on the key I was holding, and I left my jaw agape with how disoriented I was from Aotsuki’s scream.
“You… filthy being… I can’t STAND you…!”
His visceral venom spews out of his mouth while his hands are clutching onto his chest; his jacket completely wrinkled from his maddening grip.
And yet, his eyes full of disgust and hate are unfocused, his pupils dart around the place, seemingly trying to track down a fast target.
But there is only me that is in front of him. So what is he looking at?
I take a deep breath once again and try to talk to him.
“Aotsuki, hear me out-”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! COULD YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH ALREADY?!”
There’s now spit escaping Aotsuki’s mouth, like his body forgot to swallow. His hands are now clasping his ears, his head lowered, and his breathing getting quicker and quicker.
I couldn’t keep up with the chaos that I am seeing in front of me. Aotsuki looks to be acting in a manic episode, he’s acting as if there’s way more danger and putrid senses around, but most importantly…
He has not recognized who I am.
Not a single time has he tried to call out to my name, even though he never had a problem identifying any one of us from the previous timeline, and even as he mocks me when he was moments before at Death’s door before I decided to spare on Day 2…
Once a pointed mark of how much of a fool I was in the past, Aotsuki is now a broken man waving his sharp tongue to an audience of no one in particular. His breathing is only getting more and more erratic.
This is bad. He reacts strongly when I try to approach him, but he clearly can't be left alone with his current condition, what should I do-
“You…”
Aotsuki started to move with his weighted feet. His knees are slightly buckling with each step he takes. His pace is slow but his feet are determined to inch closer and closer to me within the confines of his cage.
I am utterly taken aback and I can feel a bind tying me up with his menacing movements. I have the key to keep him locked inside the cage, but it was me that’s locked in place from fear.
“Aotsuki! It’s me, Sumino Takumi!”
My pleas still landed on deaf ears as Aotsuki wordlessly inch closer. Even so, I still have to try to get him to come back to his senses.
“Do you still remember where you are? And also when you tried to kill Sirei in the gym on Day 2? Do you still remember the fight that we had because you tried to do that? Do you still remember me and my blade?!”
I can feel my throat slowly drying out from my shouting.
But Aotsuki only continued to inch closer, until he finally reached the edge of his cage, where he now stands closer to me than ever, with the only thing barring him from towering over me is his still hunched back posture, and the metal bars that are being heavily clutched by hands as support for him to stand.
I don’t know how long I had held my breath before Aotsuki let out a voice akin to a low growl.
“Just… get away from me… You… a-abhorrent- COUGH, COUGH”
The sounds of his coughing rang through the whole courtyard, and I could feel it hit my eardrums as his face got closer.
“What are you doing-”
I got cut off before I heard Aotsuki gurgling something. Wait, this isn’t right, it’s more akin to him hurling-
“AAHH!!”
Before I knew it, the violent coughing soon turned into a slew of vomit that spewed out of his mouth. The pungent smell of puke got onto my clothes that I involuntarily let out a scream in reflux. At the same time, Aotsuki’s knees finally gave out and he slumped back down to the ground, which made him sit on his own pile of a mess, and yet he no longer shows any signs of movement.
“Sumino-kun, what’s wrong?!”
Kawana Tsubasa’s voice called out to me.
“Ah, Kawana-san! I’m sorry if I scared you just now, but-”
“Woah, it smells here!”
Tsubasa immediately covered her nose when she tried to enter the courtyard. At first she scans around the scene to assess the situation, but soon also bolted out of the room as she yells:
“Wait there Sumino-kun! I’ll help you get cleaning supplies!”
Seems like Tsubasa was way too familiar with what she saw that she instinctively knew what she had to do. This is bad, I wasn’t expecting to get any help since I declared that Aotsuki is my responsibility, but I still can’t exactly leave him alone right now either.
But since Aotsuki fell unconscious again, I can finally try to get into his cage and help him out.
“I’m sorry Aotsuki, but I need to enter to assist you.”
And so, I finally fiddled out the key in my hand again to unlock Aotsuki’s cage.
-AOTSUKI EITO-
Red. Everything is only red.
The trees are of a touch of blood, the grass are littered with carcasses of the dead, and the cage is growing with meat-like vines.
My skin still crawls with the uncomfortable feelings of worms invading my pores, and my hands are clammed up with all the sweat from my body.
I don’t know where I am, but if I must use a word, then I must be in Hell.
A Hell made out of the disgusting atrocities of humanity.
Humans still encroach me everywhere that I see. There’s a human crawling around the metal bars. Their tendrils stick out like a sore thumb, as if the grotesque pooling of pus isn't enough to be of note.
What sucks more is that I seemingly cannot move at all. Does this Hell not even grant me the chance to run away from the assault of my senses? I suppose it’s typical, given all the humans that are with me right now.
A swarm of humans even when I am seemingly alone. Are these really all humans? I still remember from the books that humans at least still have a set size, but I am seeing gigantic and tiny humans from all around me, like a beast roaming around its hunting ground and ants scavenging for scraps of rotten flesh.
Confound it all. My head hurts from even trying to comprehend my situation right now. I just want to run away or even grab my weapon to slash off all the vile and nasty senses around me.
Even so, something tells me that there are things that I am missing. For what could be the case? Are there no humans available to lecture me on how much of a face that I am making when it’s their odor that is the cause of my scowl all the time?
Wait, that is indeed the case. I have not heard any voices despite all the humans surrounding me. The grating sensation that would pierce through my ears is not present amidst the putrid smell or garbage and composite waste.
So then, am I not seeing a swarm of humans after all? But their flesh still bound me in immobility. Or perhaps…
These walls of flesh are not actually humans?
…Curses! The likes of humankind dare to taint the nature of Mother Earth further with their flawed existence? The only respite I still had was when the visuals of flowers greet me with their colorful existence, or when a nice dog wanted to lick my hand to greet me, but I can’t even have that anymore?!
These nasty, bile-stained, revolting, rotted, gutted, horrible, disgusting, revolting, stomach-churning, nauseating, and vile humans! I cannot even get rid of them, which pisses me off even more!
I want to shout at the top of my lungs with how much I loathe and want these awful images gone, but I cannot open my mouth, no matter how much I try.
I can even feel tears starting to well up from where I think my eyes would be from all the frustration, but I still cannot move.
Goddamnit… goddamnit goddamnit goddamnit goddamnit goddamnit goddamnit goddamnit goddamnit goddamnit goddamnit! GOD DAMN IT ALL!!
EVERYTHING SHOULD JUST FUCKING DIE!
…
……
…But still, no ray of light came.
…Am I doomed to just suffer and die a painful death here…?
Maybe… if I still can’t get out… it’s not so bad to finally stop seeing humans again…
I loathe… despise.. hated, everything about a human.
Was there ever a human that even piqued my interest? What a laughable thought. Of course not. I never wanted to touch one with even a ten foot pole.
…But still, having no one to see this miserable place that I am in, with only me as the sole witness, it stings me with the feeling of unfairness.
Where else can I find someone to join me in this hell? At least when I’m gone, they… can be the next to… carry out my wishes…
Ah… I can finally move my eyes again… and I no longer have any strength…
…….
-SUMINO TAKUMI-
[Day 6]
“Ah, Aotsuki’s breathing is normal again.”
I was sitting by Aotsuki’s bedside with a stool that I brought into his cage when the wheezing from him came to a halt.
Ever since Aotsuki mysteriously fell ill on Day 4, I have been trying my best to take care of him since the puking incident.
The only time I leave his side is when I need to go to the cafeteria to eat, or to my room to shower, but otherwise, I have been keeping him in close monitoring.
Everyone else in the SDU has discussed with me on what else to do with Aotsuki aside from getting the Second-to-Last Academy members, in which Shizuhara has already set up a small recon team to go and set off a few hours after Aotsuki’s collapse.
Since no one has the slightest clue on what kind of disease he might have contracted, the best decision we came up with is to make sure he survives by routinely taking care of and monitoring his current condition.
Even so, I still insisted that I be the primary caretaker for Aotsuki. Whether it’s just the guilt in my heart for having him near the brink of death or something else, I cannot say.
Some of the other members expressed concern over my health for having taken up so much time in the day to care for him, but I know that it would be best if only one member is on sick duty for Aotsuki, as our numbers with Shizuhara’s squad out for now has significantly dwindled.
Still, her squad should be back any time soon, so it’s just a matter of waiting.
“Ngh…”
“Ah, Aotsuki, wait for me for a while.”
I’m not sure how many times I have done this, but it was enough for me to instinctively grab the bucket at the end of Aotsuki’s bed, and also a towel to dunk it into the water inside the bucket. I wringed the towel after having soaked it in cold water, and then folded it into a neat rectangle, then started wiping down Aotsuki’s face.
His complexion after more than one day has improved slightly, having some color return back to his cheeks, but the sudden outbursts and episodic heavy breathing would still happen every few hours or so, and when that happens, I have to temporarily exit the cage and step away to watch from a distance.
From what I can gather with all the mumbling that I heard from Aotsuki, he still cannot tell what is what, and he is stuck within a subconscious that only he probably knows what is going on. Whatever that I do to him, be it carrying him or wiping his body, he remains completely unaware of what is happening in front of him. Despite also having his eyes opened several times and staring into my face, he still has yet to call out my name. But my presence still aggravates his disorder whenever he has these episodes, so I leave to nit make him suffer more.
Still, I cannot leave him with a body full of sweat and gum from the dead skin that he sheds, so I routinely wipe him down and also try to also wipe him with some soap at hand.
Well, having said that, It was tough to be wiping down Aotsuki so frequently. I’m still fine if it’s just his face, but during the first time I had to wipe down his body after the puking incident, I had to remove all of Aotsuki’s clothes and handed them over to a flustered Kawana, who helped me to wash out his clothes. But during that time, all that’s in front of me, is a nearly naked Aotsuki with just his boxers on.
“Uh…”
Suddenly, my face was also flushed with heat.
Don’t think of anything, don’t think of anything, just wipe him down…
I probably tried to recite whatever mathematical formula that I can still recall in my head as I took my towel and started cleaning Aotsuki's body.
“The Archimedes’ principle… buoyancy…”
I don’t know why I was still so flustered over the simple notion of cleaning someone. Is it because he’s unconscious? Or is it because this is the first naked body that I’ve seen other than myself in the mirror?
I couldn’t take how distracted I was, so I brought both of my hands and slapped my face as hard as I could.
Hopefully the red and painful marks on my cheeks can hide my blush and also help me to focus on my task better…
I got the reminder on how much I appreciated the work of nurses helping with patients as I gradually wiped Aotsuki’s body down.
And after that, everything is kind of a blur. Maybe it’s for the best. I don’t want to think more about the incident again unless I want more indecent thoughts to come out.
“Hmm…”
It seems like Aotsuki is looking a lot more comfortable now that I wiped his face. His face isn’t scrunched up and is way more relaxed than before.
“That’s nice.”
I looked at him again after I was done wiping. His eyelashes curl up rather dainty now that his glasses are set aside to his bedside, and his lips are looking more red. His eyebrows aren’t as furrowed, and I think he’s letting out a quiet snore as if he is sleeping soundly.
I guess that’s kinda cute-
“Hmm? Is this where the fabled Sleeping Beauty is?”
I can recognize that somewhat sultry but also sleazy voice, and I never turned my head around so fast.
“Ah!” Shizuhara’s squad must be back already!
Omokage Yugamu strolled up in front of the cage and quietly observed the scene for a while.
“My my, when Hiruko-chan told me that you’re out here caring for this Aotsuki-kun all by yourself, I would assume you would look more haggard, but you look to be a lot more energetic than I imagined.”
“I-it’s not what you think it is!” I reflexively retorted.
“Is that so? I suppose seeing you ogle the poor boy was my mistake then.” Omokage lets out a sly grin.
“Whatever! You’re here to see Aotsuki’s condition right? Just help yourself in!”
I stood up fast from my seat and let Omokage enter and sit by Aotsuki’s bedside to start his examination. He starts to poke a few spots of Aotsuki’s body and also readied his equipment at hand, gloves on and then readying his needle.
“I’ll need a sample of his blood to test out later.”
And with that, Omokage swiftly found a vein on Aotsuki’s arm, disinfected the area with some cotton swab, and with a precise notion, inserted the needle and started to slowly draw blood into the syringe.
I’m rather amazed by his quick work with the extraction process. If I was as medically knowledgeable as him, could I have taken care of Aotsuki more efficiently, and found a cure for him to end his suffering sooner?
“Done.”
Just as quickly as he was before, Omokage took out a tube and placed the syringe inside.
“Well, I’ll be off to get this examined and hopefully find a way to wake up the Sleeping Beauty.”
Before he left, he leaned in front of me and gave me an amusing glare.
“Frankly, I have a lot of questions for you, Team Leader, but I suppose I will have to save the tortu- questioning for later. I promised Hiruko-chan to research this as soon as possible, after all.”
I can understand why. I don’t know what Shizuhara might have told the Second-to-Last Defense Academy squad, especially Omokage on agreeing to help out, but she must have had her ways, and yet all the hastiness of their arrival might have aroused some suspicion regardless.
“Sure. I’ll tell you whatever I can after Aotsuki wakes up.”
“Ehehe, I’ll be sure to take you up on that offer.”
Omokage exited the cage, while lightly swirled the tube vial with Aotsuki’s blood in his hand.
I let out a sigh of relief when I was alone again.
“I’m so glad they arrived here with no problem…”
I looked over at Aotsuki again. I didn’t like that he had to suffer like this, but somehow, his illness got the others from the other academy to safely arrive here.
I felt a guilty pang of conscience when I thought of that, but I shook my head and focused on the guy in front of me again.
“Please wake up soon. Aotsuki.”
-AOTSUKI EITO-
How long has it been within this hellscape?
I had no capacity to keep count of the time, when the air is still filled with mucous and unknown secretions.
I was able to walk a little in this field of suffering from god knows when. At least my walking can provide some distraction as I navigate a way out of this fleshy empty space.
Bits of my memory have been returning to me ever so slightly. I remember that I was suddenly transported to Last Defense Academy as soon as I was done slaying all of those weirdly shaped monsters back in the Tokyo Residential Complex, and I was close to destroying the head commander, Sirei, when an annoying nuisance stopped my grand plan.
That disgusting blob of flesh was someone I did not consider to be anything but a threat, seeing his nonchalant nature, but pining me down from my facade was quite the feat that I would never imagine anyone else is able to pull off. In that sense, it was quite commendable of this horrid existence to stop me on my tracks.
But then I no longer recall anything else after getting sent into that cage. Perhaps that is when I entered this Hell.
The endless walking is making me feel tired, but the sharp variety of pungent smells was able to keep me awake, for better or for worse.
What is the meaning of this? What have I done to deserve this? Why am I still here, just to suffer with the miserable species that is humans?
All of these questions went unanswered in my head. For as much as I can think, the more I am becoming more acute to the assault of sensations once again.
It got so ridiculous that I even started counting sheep in my head when I realized that those white blobs do not offend me as much in my head.
One sheep walks, two sheep run, three sheep gallop, four sheep gone. Five sheep arrive, six sheep stay, seven sheep disperse, eight sheep…
…Huh?
I looked in front of me again and couldn’t believe my eyes. What I see is not a wall of oozing hazards, but a faint ray of light.
Hah, is this hell granting me false hope?
But my feet instinctively ran towards that light. I didn’t care if it was a trap, I needed anything else than to be in his pool of carcasses again.
I ran, I ran, and I ran, the light shining brighter and brighter, until-
“...tsuki, Aotsuki!”
“Ta…kumi-kun…?”
I blinked, and blinked again. I’m still seeing a messy blob of flesh inside my confines, but the world is no longer red and filled with humans again.
“Am I.. out?”
“Thank goodness you woke up!”
The human in front of me is showing his immense joy and relief through a familiar grating sound in my ear. But I know who this voice belongs to now.
“Takumi-kun, why are you here…?”
I lazily rubbed my eyes to wade off more of the drowsiness within me. Shouldn't I be the only one in this cage that is more like an animal pen?
“What are you doing here…?”
My voice sounds rather hoarse and really dry. I suppose I must have been in some form of a coma, seeing as I cannot remember anything, and suddenly, Takumi-kun comes into my cage and looks like he is delighted by my existence again. Tch, I don’t like this one bit.
“Why are you looking like an excited puppy first thing in the morning?”
“Wha- don’t distract me, Aotsuki! Do you remember anything that happened in the past few days?”
“Not that I am aware of. I must be out like a light.”
“You sure did! You suddenly fell ill and no one knew what to do!”
“Hah, I fell ill? Ill enough to be in a coma?”
“You wouldn’t believe what actually happened, but before that.”
Takumi-kun left his chair and knelt beside me.
“Now what warranted you to approach me this closely when I can still smell your stinky breath?” I mocked him.
“Whatever. You deserve to know what happened when you were out. I can’t exactly keep you in the dark like this.”
As he spoke, I looked around my cage and saw various things on the ground; a bucket of water and a towel, another pair of my own clothes folded into a stack, a glass of water, some toothpaste and toothbrush, and some liquid soap.
“Pray tell, Takumi-kun, what exactly did you do with all these items in front of me?”
I could sense that the blob of flesh is looking a little flustered, seeing as how his movements suddenly got more jittery and bouncy.
“Well, could you promise to hear me out until the end? No interruptions, please.”
Takumi-kun now sounds a lot more serious with his tone. I may have a faint idea on what he might have done, and I can feel worms on my skin once again.
“Fine, I owe you at least this much to hear your explanation. So, what happened?”
Takumi-kun looked a little relieved, and I couldn’t help but to mock his attitude. So happy to be heard, isn’t he?
At least I will hear one heck of a story once he’s done talking.