Vol 1 Chapter 4 (2/2)
””
”And, her corporate sponsors increased again Right now, they number twenty”
”Ohh That's a”
On saying that, Kiri backs off a little and narrows her eyes
”Yeah That's a but is that true?”
””
”From what I saw of Gunjou-san's ability, she shouldn't be able to do anything in that kind of situation What if, the truth is that your positions were reversed and that you were the one who saved her and got seriously injured because of that, then”
Cutting her off, I say
”Then, what'll you do?”
” then, I won't forgive her”
”Huuh? What's with that? We aren't in that kind of relationshi+p right?”
But, Kiri's face contorts slightly in sadness, pouts her lips, and puts her hands to her chest
” e-ermm”
”Ah?”
” the truth is, I'ood at this, so it's kind of difficult for me to say this but”
Her face beco her lip, she says hesitantly
”I, I, erm”
” what is it?”
”I, am, erm i-in l-love with you I think”
She says to me
I stare at that red-faced Kiri with half-opened eyes and say
” huuh? What kind of trap is this?”
”It's not a trap!”
”I'm not interested”
”Hey, I, really plucked out e to confess to you, and to hear that kind of reply ---”
”It won't work You ht have won over your classmates with that but --- the outcoht? Every one of them abandoned you and escaped, didn't they?”
I smirk
On hearing that, Kiri's face becoe of tears
” erm even I won't use such an unscrupulous method and I never felt the need to anyway”
”So?”
” aah, but the tiuess Sorry I take that back”
”Haven't you always be doing that?”
”Ah-haha right You're right I's are”
”Shut up Even if they were real, I can't accept theless stuff like love and romance Neither do I have the time for it”
For an instant, Kiri's face contorted into one that was on the verge of tears But it disappeared i That is probably why she is no good in expressing herself She has probably received sos Which organization is she really from?
Kiri grins and says
”I was kidding ~ Were you surprised?”
”Not really”
”Everything was a joke ~”
”Hmmmh”
”Though the truth is, it's not a joke”
”Whatever”
”Yeah You're right Sorry Well then ~, see you tomorrow”
”Don't co”
”Ah-haha then, see you”
She stands up
And leaves the ward
I stared after her absentmindedly for a while,
” ha romance, love, friendshi+p, youth, and stuff like these this place is just full of idle people”
I smile
In the first place, I have no right to have all those things And they are also worthless to me And I have not even saved irls What would such a person like s like love, romance, and friendshi+p?
Besides
””
I pull over my comforter Turn over the stomach area of my patient shi+rt A cicatrix-like line where the wound was sewed up on my stomach can be seen But that wound is not the probleans were successfully fixed up The problem lies in the fact that, as a result of the injury, soer ht foot
” hn”
I sit up and start co to outside of the bed But the leg did not respond It was as if it belonged to someone else It is like a heavy, iron luround in an unsightly way Hitting my head
””
This is the price of hypocrisy The price of acting righteously, futilely I knew it, one who risks one's life to save the life of another, is just a piece trash who fails to think ahead
” ha, haha”
I laugh foolishly
”Hahahahaha”
I laugh sly with half-opened eyes
I sit h to myself, absentmindedly
Then, at that ain, outside the door Seems like someone has come
”Ha, how popular can I be?”
I mutter in exasperation The door should open soon I do not have any tiet back to the bed At any rate, this ward should be rejecting visitors by right, and I have not yet recovered froilely
Despite all that, the door that has a 'No Visitors' sign slowly opens
A short, fair-skinned, blond-haired girl is standing there
It is Mizuiro Gunjou
She is just standing there
””
Casting her eyes doards, with a pained and anguished face, she looks aton the floor
” shi+-shi+nnosuke”
”Voirl huh What did you come here for?”
I called her vory Shevoice,
” I, I”
She says
”What?”
” I I've come to see you”
”Ah, okay Thanks But I don't need that, so can you go back?”
On hearing that, with a slightly fearful face, she says
” e-erm if you wish for that, then I'll do just that, but”
”Then please go See you Farewell and bye-bye”
I wave my hand
””
But, she did notrooted to the spot
”What the hell? You aren't done yet?”
”Erm”
”Hurry up with it”
”I did as you told and took credit in the exterirl in my report”
”I see”
”I also got the largest share of the reward”
”That's great isn't it? Did your Dad and Mom praise you as well?”
I ask s And proceeds to bombard me with her doubt
” but, why did you do that? Under those circumstances under those terrible circumstances, you didn't need to save”
”Before that, answer my question first”
But, ignoring me, she continues
”And also, I don't get the reason behind letting me take the credit”
”I don't want to talk In the first place, I'ated to answer you”
”B-But”
As Gunjou enters the ward, I say to her
”Hey, don't just enter on your own You will make the ward stink with your puke”
””
Gunjou's face becomes teary But it probably was not due to all the excreta talk I labeled on her She is looking at
My i
See
In a quavering voice, she says
” I heard about you leaving school”
”Ohhhh”
” just now, I heard froain That's why, that's why you have to drop out of school”
”Hmmmh So?”
At that e of tears Tears start piling up in her strong-willed, almond-shaped eyes The tears flow out readily Seeirl is really a crybaby
With tears flowing, she looks at me intently, then says
”I-It's because of me, that you”
But, interrupting her, I say
”Don't be over-conceited about yourself I made that decision with my own free will It isn't your fault”
”But”
”Besides, when you enroll into that school, you too signed an oath of self-responsibility right? One's injury in the labyrinth is one's responsibility It's one's own responsibility even if one dies So why're you are crying so htly”
”But!”
She starts to approach me
”Don't come!”
I holler
Gunjou's small body trembles with a start She stops With fearful eyes like those of a cat, she looks at me
I receive her gaze with half-opened, s eyes
”I don't have any business with you So don't come any closer”
””
Crying, Gunjou looks at me with a face that says she does not knohat she should do
Strong-willed eyes
Weak-willed eyes
Lovely but yet depressing, pitying eyes
”Can you leave?”
” shi+-shi+nnosuke”
”Hurry up”
” I-I'll be back again tomorrow”
”No More like, I'll be discharged by then”
”Eh t-that can't be possible It's not possible in your current wounded state, hat the doctor”
But, cutting her off, I say
”There are tooto another hospital”
” ah”
”Yeah, but that too isn't your fault It's all because of ood personality that I have many friends, you see ~”
Gunjou is not s
I am unconcerned
I reach out for the bed, and propdid not move
Gunjou's expression contorts again
”I, I can understand that you don't want to see my face but”
”I don't have thatto see your face”
”B-But, erm you were the one who saved me”
”Yeah ~, that's right Then, pay h And you can forget all that hypocritical guilt”
” I, I”
”Then, I'll send you ht?”
”shi+nnosuke”
”See you, bye bye”
”shi+nnosuke!”
Gunjou shouts angrily
I look at her intently with half-opened eyes
” what?”
” don't, transfer to another hospital I I won't coain”
””
”I'llhere as well, so don't transfer to another hospital”
””
”And also”
”There's still more?”
With a i, pained look on her face, Gunjou says
” you should blame me more If you continue to act kindly towards me after all that, I'll I'll”
I laugh at that
”Ha, haha, what the hell If I don't blauilt?”
”T-That's not”
”All right It's your fault So pay me Then we'll call it”
”That's not it! It's not about that if you keep treating me like this then, I'll”
However, ignoring her, I press the button to call for a nurse This ward is a private ward ht away
”Erm”
The nurse is poking her face into the roo a little disconcerted
”How can I help you?”
Gunjou frantically wipes her tears off with her hand And -willed face In front of others, she is desperate not to let her weakness show and puts up a bluff However, unlike Kiri, she cannot erase her eht away She cannot control her emotions Her lovely face is filled with alashes are wet
” i-it's nothing! I accidentally pressed the button We are busy right now, so you can leave”
”No need to leave I was the one who called I'll be discharging froements”
Gunjou looks at me
”W-Wait We aren't done”
”We're done Frankly, it's vexing to have a stalker like you following me around”
”Can I ask for a crutch?”
” at any rate, we have to get the permission of the doctor first”
”Aah, then, I'll just bear with this hospital for now, so just get me a crutch”
The nurse nods and leaves
Gunjou then says with a tinge of happiness
”You're not leaving?”
”No, I a permission”
”Ah”
”More like, you should be going home too Don't tell me you want to stay by side and provide for me for the rest of my life?”
I sazes at me and says
” if that's what you wish for”
She is serious That is how hung-up she is on what happened in the labyrinth the other day
”You are getting too worked-up, duuummyy”
””
”Besides, you'll get over it after a while”
””
”Or, is it because that youmany of your coet an injury that can't be healed and you want to at least do one good thing to compensate for all that?”
””
Gunjou's face contorts again into one that is on the verge of tears Bull's eye She is the strong-willed, arrogant type who feels a strong sense of responsibility; a foolishly kind girl
But,
”That kind of thinking of yours is a needless favor Your classmates died because they eak My injury was a consequence of htest responsibility in it”
”B-But”
Tears fill her eyes again
Vexed, I touch her white cheek that seeh to see the blood vessels beneath it, and say
”Don'tface, Mizuiro Gunjou Aren't you the superstar who has twenty corporate sponsors? You should smile, and take in with self-assurance all the money, fame, and power Don't look back Once you look back in that school, you'll die, you know?”
” shi+-shi+nnosuke”
” hey, ah ~, what the hell ao back, jeez”
Gunjou looks up at htly red She see her cheek
”Ah ouch!? Wh-What are you”
” I'htoo many visitors today Can I sleep?”
”Ah, ah”
”And also, even if you go back, I'll still be in hospital tomorrow”
Instantly, her eyes widen
”R-Really!?”
”Yeah So go back Quickly go”
”Eh, ah, erain tomorrow so”
I sit on the bed It is true that I anal Gunjou to leave
”Quickly go”
She leaves the ward,
”I'll come back tomorrow!”
After saying that, she closes the door
She said the sa as shi+ro, Himi and Kiri
Jeez, I don't get it I don't get their purpose behind saying that
What the hell's wrong with them?
Who the hell are they?
”How free can those people be”
Once again, I sigh out tiredly
The ward has returned to silence
The machinery sound of the air-conditioner The soft sound ofThat's all I can hear
And the faint smell of hope remains in the room
Is it the scent of Gunjou? Or the scent of Kiri, or shi+ro, or Himi?
Love, romance, friendshi+p, lover, friend, youth, peace, justice, drearance
A halting, seductive fragrance that sees of the weak, seventeen year-old me
Telling me that there's no need to work so hard
That I can live more freely
Excuses, reasons not to do, reasons not to go on, appear in my weak heart
” ha, hahaha”
My legs had always been ensnared
My chest had always felt like it was going to get crushed
Whenever I see the young st themselves, a worthless temptation will be born from the depths ofto it
””
No, surely, without a doubt, all of those who have dived into labyrinths probably have had their legs ensnared before
shi+ro is definitely carrying some kind of darkness
Kiri too, for sure, has so secret
That goes for the saotten that strong
But yet, they all talk about pointless friendshi+p About love, about ro a less detour to come talk to me
But, what's all that for?
What are they thinking of?
” even though reality the world, is such a terrible place”
Or don't tell th that should exist only in fairy-tales?
” there seems to be no end to their company”
I sain
With half-opened eyes, se of sadness
♦
Once I got my crutch, I immediately went outside the hospital
Evening
The sun is already rather loith its rays slanting
The sky is red like blood
The carpark is huge and seems like it can accoht What I can hear is the faint sound of the engine of an approaching motorbike
I have heard that engine sound before Its speed slows, followed by the sound of changing gears Aon it appears at the entrance of the carpark
It is a strange-looking girl, who is wearing a white coat over her school uniform
Sanae Yayoi
Fifteen years old
My cousin who is in charge of a research lab of Taikou Pharmaceuticals Yayoi stops her bike before , black hair falls out
Yayoi smiles, and says
” Onii-sa is injured, it seems”
”Ha, you've come to make fun of your cousin's injury? You really have a horrible personality”
” I'ht that you can finally rely on me with this, Onii-sama”
”I won't”
”But, that leg of yours, if it's Taikou Pharht away”
””
”Since our corporation has lots of unpublicised y that are exclusive to us”
””
”Now, let's go Please hop on I've already prepared your room in the research lab, Onii-sama”
I cut her off and say
”Hey Yayoi Can I ask you so?”
”What is it?”
”You know”
”Yes”
” about the incident this time, how much do you know about it?”
After saying that, I glare at her
But Yayoi's expression reed
I continue
” the one who investigated the labyrinth was you guys, Taikou Phar corpsthat it was a rank 04 labyrinth was a ht?”
”I'ards to the labyrinth raid this time, I'm not too sure of the details why don't you follow me back to the corporation to ask them about it?”
However, ignoring her, I continue
”But can a rank 20 diseased girl deceive Taikou Pharuys already knehat kind of labyrinth that was right?”
”Erm, Onii-sama”
”You knew that but yet made us raid it But, what kind of experi there?”
”Onii-sama!”
”I' brother”
But, unconcerned with my remark,
”Onii-sama, please hear me out It was a necessary experiment”
Yayoi readily admitted to it
I am reminded of the dead bodies of several classmates for an instant I am reminded of the dead Asahi Momoka, who thanked me
And all that was for a necessary experiment, she said
I narrow my eyes, and smile
” you guys killed that many people just because of an experiment?”
”It couldn't be helped”
”Haha”
”It's also a necessary experi your little sister Saki, Onii-sama”
””
I stare at Yayoi
Flashi+ng me a smile, Yayoi says
”But, I'll tell you about everything when you co with me”
She extends a hand towards me
I look at that hand
” if I say no?”
Yayoi answers
”You don't need to be so wary Onii-sama, you are an ih opinion of you now”
””
”As the labyrinth this time was a man-made one --- ere the ones who forced the disease onset in Asahi Mo that happened inside”
”Whatt!?”
Man-made labyrinth?
Force the disease onset?
What the hell is this girl talking about?
”Thus, after knowing how excellent you are, how you ed to deal with a rank 20 labyrinth and came out of it alive”
If all that has been seen by the trash, then, letting Gunjou take all the credit becaless
Yayoi continues happily
”The corporation definitely wants you, Onii-saician or researcher Of course, I already knew so like this would happen --- after all, I already kne ao!”
I look at her face
Her face that is beaanization she belongs to
Her face that is helplessly jubilant froed to survive and killed the diseased girl, Asahi Momoka
It's a 'natural' face Such things are probably natural to the world she has been brought up in, Taikou Pharmaceuticals
No, it is the same everywhere It is the same for any country, any co anyone out of the way, for the sake of personal gains, is a natural thing
Love, roless
” haah”
I sigh out in exasperation Following that,
”But, what if, I still tell you that I can't go with you?”
On hearing that, Yayoi ansith a smile
”That's not possible You can no longer escape from us I was the one who fiddled around and blocked the nerves of your leg”
” aah, so this is your doing too huh”
”Besides, you don't have your 《Headphone Fuzz》 right? When you heeled into the hospital, I secretly took it from you”
Yayoi slowly takes out my 《Headphone Fuzz》 from the pocket of her white coat, and smiles
”It'd surely be dangerous to fight a first rate ician who could clear a rank 20 labyrinth but --- even if it's you, Onii-sama, you're just an ordinary person without your 《Headphone Fuzz》”
””
”But, even so, just in case, I've brought along the special forces icians from the corporation”
Suddenly, at that s Seeic had been eht men, clad in military unifor a 《Taikou Pharmaceuticals' Specialized Type 2》 《Headphone Fuzz》
They are not any extraordinary icians If only I have my 《Headphone Fuzz》, then no matter how many they have, I could take them on
But right now, I ale 《Headphone Fuzz》 to use against my well-prepared opponents
”damn”
I take a large step forith rab the 《Headphone Fuzz》 in Yayoi's left hand
However, with a delighted s face,
”In an instant, in a flash, in the time of a flash ♪ --- Acceleration switch”
Yayoi ic that's sily faster than the hu away froh I'ainst me
I can no longer hope to win against her
With round Unable to do anything
Vexed, I look up at the sky with half-opened eyes
The sky that enters my vision is red
With the sun rays slanted, red like blood
I knew it, a worthless thing like hope doesn't exist Things like love, roent illusions don't exist in this world
” ha, haha, hahahaha”
I should have known It's all over the instant I let uard down
The only one who's trying to save ant hypocrites who have no interest in others
I have no co ht on, I definitely won't be able to save my little sister --- I should already have known that, but yet, I ended up erring easily inmy choice
Saving Gunjou
Saving the world
And consequently, I can't save what's important to me
” jeez, what the hell have I been doing?”
I say in a tired voice I thrust my hand up towards the sky The hand that couldn't catch hold of anything
Upon doing that, so chains wrap around it
”Restrain him!”
The special forces icians of Taikou Pharmaceuticals say One after another, chains that have been born fros, and neck
Yayoi says
”Don't be rough He's my cousin”
Shut up, I wanted to say but could no longer talk
It's over
With that, it's over ---
That's right, I thought
However, a strange voice rings out
” Penitence Severance switch”
The low voice of a man
And suddenly, right before e knife appears It easily cuts apartchains
”W-What happened!?”
Before the shouting ray hair and red eyes appears
It's shi+ro
”What the fk are you guys doing huh?”
Yayoi looks at shi+ro and scowls She orders her subordinates
”Hey, What're y'all doing!? Hurry up and restrainbrother!”
The icians activate their 《Headphone Fuzz》 They seeic
However, before thosethe uniforh》 appear
Kiryuu Kiri
Yuuyami Himi
Endou Yousuke
Mizuiro Gunjou
All of theicians are unable to use Even if the opponents have thirty special forces icians of Taikou Pharmaceuticals with the to shi+ro and the rest Since the people on my side are all made up of extraordinary idiots who have actually risked their lives to raid the labyrinths filled with all sorts of hellish and monstrous menaces
But, I have no clue why they are here I have no idea why these idiots would take the trouble to come save me
Even though they are strangers
Even though they are all strangers
” what in the world what in the world is up with you guys?”
I ask
I really don't get it
The actions of these fellows are too much of a contrast to the dark, cold world that I knew and lived in
But yet, with faces asking, why are you asking that?, Kiri, Himi, Yousuke, and Gunjou turn around towards me
And lastly, wth a face saying, that's a given,
”Ah? Why, you asked obviously it's because we're your comrades”
shi+ro said some stupid stuff to me
””
Comrades
Comrades
Comrades
For an instant, I', incomprehensible, childish, silly words,
” don't, screith oosebumps”
My voice quivered
All of theht da me off
Maybe it's because she has realized that her situation has become unfavorable, Yayoi starts backward
Kiri asks
” hey, shi+nnosuke-kun Do we need to go after her?”
She is already wielding her ically conjured japanese sword It's a purple sword, different foric Fro that she can catch her opponent even if she takes her ti chase
I say With a slightly raised voice
”Yayoi Put down o af