Volume 45Chapter 1 Part6 (1/2)
Part 6
”Hoas it, your first fortune-telling experience?”
”How about you?”
”Mostly satisfied That fortune-teller is quite famous around the world It's said that the accuracy is quite high as well” Ibuki told me
”I suppose soit looks like a sily difficult”
”What's that supposed to mean?” Ibuki asks
More than half of it was just based off a tees and words one nor But within that, there is no denying that there were also accurate facts And that is so only the keywords I had provided her with I can no longer si life or having fortune-telling experience
”Fro anymore That's how I feel” I told Ibuki
”Ahh I see”
That was a rather disinterested answer despite her having been the one to ask ether, we arrived at a nearby elevator
”Gehit's crowded again”
If I continue on it's hell and if I turn back it's still hell Students flooded the space in front of the elevator
”Sorry but I'll be taking a detour to head back” I told Ibuki
”Me too” she promptly replies
It seeht as me And as the two of us head towards a distant elevator, the words of the fortune-teller came back into my head
”Speaking of which, earlier”
”The fortune-teller told us, don't take a detour”
For a brief moment, I met eyes with Ibuki Whether it is simply a coincidence or inevitability, ere about to take a detour at this very moment
”I suppose itLet's find out how accurate that prediction is”
If it's not, I would be able to go back without anything happening And I would be able to think it's justin the end
But in the end, without anything happening, we reached the distant elevator And at the time, there was no one around us We were able to call up the elevator at our leisure
”Are you fine with the 1st floor?”
”I' back like that” Ibuki replied
It seems on't have the same path back and so I pressed the button for the 1st floor and closed the elevator doors
The elevator begins toin particular to talk to each other about, we spent the elevator ride in silence But when I said ht lit up, the elevator grinded to a halt with a heavy sound It doesn't seeet into the elevator on the 3rd floor too but the elevator, in its attempt to descend further from the 3rd floor, came to a stop halfway But as I hts went out and it became pitch black
However, at that hts came back on and ere able to avoid a complete blackout situation
”Could it be a blackout?” Ibuki asks
”Most likely”
There are not many people who have personally experienced elevator breakdowns like this If this is the unexpected setback the fortune-teller predicted, in a sense it hit the mark
”For now, shouldn't the eency phone suffice?”
There is no need for panic here The elevator already has been prepared for breakdown situations like this There are also surveillance caency buttons (an intercom which connects the elevator to a disaster prevention center) and such have already been installed And having told her that, with no objections, Ibuki leaned back on the elevator wallI suppose I'll press the button and call for help
I did that, however---
”There's no response”
I don't know if the call is ringing on the other end or not but, I don't feel like I'h to the disaster prevention center
”Isn't it that blackouts also prevent the calls?” Ibuki asked me
”No Elevators usually have a backup battery that can run for several hours As evidence of that, the eht now That means it must be some other internal fault in the elevator” I replied to her
I tried pressing the button for the hearing-impaired to use, but that too did not respond In other words, the operation panel the buttons are installed on itself is broken
Batteries are running and the air conditioning is working as well That alone is a blessing, but what to do now?
”Can you contact the school with your phone? It should be in range” I asked Ibuki
”Sorry But please do it yourself” she replied to me
”I can understand your feeling of not wanting to talk with people, but isn't this much fine?”
”seriously” Ibuki ht out her phone with a displeased expression But when she looked at her screen, her expression changed to a bad one She then turns the screen to show nalled battery shortage, and soon the power ran out in her phone
”Because I don't have any contacts in my phone, I didn't even notice until the battery ran out So, you call instead” Ibuki tells me
”No choice”
Taking out my own phone, I looked once at the screen and immediately froze up
”Call now, quickly” Ibuki rushed me
”It seems the situation is a lot more serious than I expected” I told her
Just like what Ibuki did earlier, this time, I show Ibuki the screen of my phone
The battery percentage showing on the phone was a hthouse that could disappear at any moment from the wind
”You really messed with me” Ibuki told me
”It's a lot like you Since I don't have a lot of people I can talk to, I didn't care whether I had battery left or not” I replied
”No, no We really are in trouble now You're a useless man”
”You're really harsh even though we're both the samethe problem is where to call now, huh?” I asked Ibuki
I could call the police or e about that seerounds, there should be so to see if I could find the contact for the elevator's eency services As I did, near the elevator's operation board, there was a 10-digit number
But---itits were painted over
”This kind of prank is too much”
”Why don't you call one of your friends and ask for help?” Ibuki then asks me
”Friend, huh?”
It seems there's no other choice, but the problem is who to call
”If everything goes well, then it's Horikita” I said
”Rejected” Ibuki immediately replied
”I thought you'd say that”
”If you call her, it would mean she would come and save me Don't joke around” Ibuki told me
I don't think it's ih And it's not like it was Ibuki's fault too, it's just an elevator breakdown so there's no need to worry on that front too
I suppose she si her weakness in front of her rival
”You don't want it to becohtly in response So in other words, so their utmost That means the 3 idiots are out of the question already In an event like this, it wouldn't be surprising if they start tru this around here and there
But even if I rely on so this like Sakura, resolving this situation would be difficult for her It would be inconvenient for her to contact an adult and I would just end up causing her trouble
In that same sense, Kushi+da and Karuizaould also be unsuited to this sort of thing So a fuss And in this case, the one I can rely on is---
”In this case” In ht noill have to be none other than that man
”I'll respect your wishes But you have to leave the rest to me now” I told Ibuki
”As long as it's not Horikita I'm fine with it” Ibuki promptly replies to me
I then began to call a certain , that reserved man quietly answers the call I told hi after I started the conversation, my phone quietly blacked out
”Battery's gone” I told Ibuki
”Did you tell him properly?”
”Maybe”
Now all I can do is sit and wait There is no need to rush Sooner or later, surely someone will realize this situation too Even if we try to escape from the elevator like in the er
But the situation seeht I heard the deep soundinside the elevator, the cooler that was sending a comfortable breeze into the room stopped
”This can't be real”
Ibuki, who had been calm up until now, started to panic We were in a sealed space in the ine that the temperature will start to rise in here
Right now the air inside the elevator had becoiven tiin sweating
”Is there any way to get out ourselves?” Ibuki asked me
”The rescue hatch seems to be there but”
Nowadays this see, but there is an exit built into the elevator's ceiling It's a fah it in reality is---
”How are we supposed to open that?” Ibuki, as looking up, inevitably asked that question Normally, the rescue hatch cannot be opened from the inside It is there so that in the scenario where rescuers are unable to open the sealed elevator, they can use it as a last resort to rescue the people trapped inside
”I think it's better not to do anything and just wait It's a rule to do that in the case of an elevator eency” I told her in response
That is the safest and surest way
”If you can handle this steam bath sure” Ibuki fired back
And while ere trading an unproductive exchange back and forth, the teet out of here, but I'd like to avoidpoor decisions I took off my coat as I sat down on the floor
In situations like this, the thing to do is to not raise your own body temperature
”How about you sit down too? If it's too hot, you can strip too” I told her
”huh? Are you perhaps thinking so lewd in this situation?” Ibuki asks me
It seeuard went up
”I heard you were able to fight equally with Horikita There's no way I could possibly beat someone like you” I told Ibuki
”That's true, but”
”Of course, if you are going to strip, I' to turn my back to you so relax” I continued
”I' to strip”
Having said she would not do it, Ibuki then sat down on the spot
After that, aited for about 30 minutes patiently but there was no contact from the outside
”This is bad” IIbuki's breath turn coarse beside an to perspire on our foreheads And the sweat that came out of our heads, soaked our hair and started to drip