Chapter 2 (2/2)
Give her a book? No, that’s just the daily routine.
There is nothing new within this library. And over these three months, the girl has come to know its entire interior.
“In that case,” she thought, “I should just show her something that she hasn’t seen before.”
For example,
the world.
Holding her hand, the girl went outside the library.
The girl opened her eyes wide and took a deep breath.
The world was pure white.
Some white, fluffy-looking substance danced through the air as it fell towards the ground.
“It’s a snowscape,” she said.
“It’s beautiful,” the girl replied.
The girl knew what snow was, but this was the first time that she had ever actually seen it.
While continuing to hold her hand, the girl walked into the snow.
“It’s all crunchy.”
The sensation of the snow was enjoyable. Even through these snow boots, its softness was conveyed.
Turning around, the girl saw that their footprints were left behind.
“Even in a world like this, will our footprints remain?” the girl thought to herself.
She let go of the girl’s hand and marched forward on her own.
“Don’t leave meee~”
When the girl said that, she spun back around. And then crouched down while grinning.
“Is something the matter?” the girl wondered.
She collected snow in her hands and threw the rounded agglomeration at the girl.
The s...o...b..ll struck the girl’s face and shattered. Its fragments dancing through the air as they fell was a beautiful sight.
But more importantly…
“Why did you attack me?”
She showed no sign of violent intent.
And though she wasn’t hurt, the girl was still uneasy. She wondered if she had a short-circuit or something.
“This is a game called a ‘s...o...b..ll fight.'”
“A game?”
“Yes. You pack snow together and then throw it. It didn’t actually hurt, did it?”
“No.”
“It’s a safe game.”
While saying that, she made a second ball.
“Am I allowed to dodge that?”
“Yes, you are.”
She casually released the second shot.
It flew through the air in a slow arc. Predicting where it would land, the girl changed positions.
But although she was able to dodge the s...o...b..ll, her feet caught in the snow and she fell over.
Since it didn’t actually hurt, she continued lying there on the snow’s surface.
“Are you okay?”
She spoke in a louder voice than usual.
“I’m fine,” the girl laughed. “This is fun.”
She hopped back up and begun making a s...o...b..ll of her own.
“Here I go…”
Gathering her strength, she threw it at her.
“She should be able to easily dodge this,” the girl thought to herself.
But she took no evasive measures.
The s...o...b..ll that the girl threw hit her square in the face before breaking into pieces.
“You have some nice control there.”
Clenching her right hand, she held up her index finger.
“I thought you’d dodge it.”
“I thought that I’d like to experience being hit by one.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“So what do you think?”
“It’s fun.”
For some time afterwards, the two had fun throwing snow at one another.
And once the girl became tired, the s...o...b..ll fight came to a close.
The girl laid atop the snow’s surface, and she laid next to her.
“Snow sure is great.”
“I think so as well.”
“Thanks.”
“For what?”
“For showing me this snowscape and teaching me about s...o...b..ll fights.”
“It’s fine. This is also a form of education.”
“Really?”
“Well… that’s not the only reason. I also wanted to play with you.”
The girl was very happy to hear those words.
And for a while, the two watched the sky.
The air was cool, yet clear. Cold, yet pleasant. Like this, they calmly pa.s.sed the time.
But then,
“Why’d it go away?”
The girl suddenly spoke.
“Why did what go away?”
She sat up and turned her gaze towards the girl.
“The world.”
Pure white, it was a beautiful world of endless nothing.
“I wonder. As no evidence remains, I have no way to verify.”
“There’s nothing around here that can actually harm me, and this isn’t a nuclear winter. There doesn’t seem to be any ma.s.sive change in the Earth’s crust either.”
The girl already possessed a great deal of knowledge. However, she was still unable to understand what had happened to the world.
“Perhaps it was a satellite weapon which attacked molecular structures?”
From many possibilities, she chose one at random.
“But that wouldn’t destroy just the surface, would it?”
“What if it was only set to destroy its molecular structure?”
“What, like pattern matching?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm. Then leaving that as a possibility, who erased the world and for what reason?”
“Unknown. Also, there is no proof that it was destroyed at the behest of any one individual.”
“Then what reason would someone have to destroy it? If a satellite weapon was actually used, I mean.”
“I wonder. Perhaps it was a malfunction, or possibly used by mistake.”
“Hmm…”
Though she was deep in thought, the girl was unable to find an answer that she could accept.
Instead, she said the only thing that came to mind.
“I want some hot soup.”
A change of topic that was so sudden, it actually stunned her for two seconds. But then she smiled right away.
“Very well, then let’s go with the type that includes corn.”
Saying this, she stood up and reached out to the girl.
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