Part 35: Escape

Part 35 - Escape

OST: Gradually panic







"I like you."
"I love you."
"Know this."
"I adore you."
"Understand me."
"Become mine."
"Please."

I had thought a confession of love would be-- More romantic, more heartrending, more joyful.

But this was different. Terrifying. My back went cold.

Though she should have been confessing her love to me, it felt as if I were receiving a death sentence.

I had no choice but to turn her down here and now! She's merely a stalker! At this rate, things really will go past the point of no return!



"I, I refuse! I'll s, se, send you to the police....!"

OST End




She hung her head, growing more timid with every passing moment.

"To think you hated me that much...."
"I'm sorry, I won't hang around you any longer...."
"Farewell.... Nishijou-kun...."



She left the room with faltering footsteps.

I, I'd said it.... Hahaha, I'd said it....

Seeing Yua cry was, on the contrary, rather refreshing.





As before, Yua was in front of me, covering my mouth.

"--deceived you...."

She was murmuring something in a low voice.

I couldn't hear a thing of what she was saying.

I'd fled from reality. How wonderful it would be if the delusion I'd just had were real.

There was no chance of my wish coming to fruition, and Yua still went on speaking.

"But, I'm begging you...."
"Le, let me say just one thing."



What was she saying?

She spoke as if she knew everything there was to know about me.

Though all the time I had spend with her wouldn't even fill 24 hours.

What about me did she claim to understand?

More of those ridiculous delusions she had such a talent for?

In my horror, I thrashed out with my arms and legs. Even then, Yua wouldn't let go of me.

At this rate, I wouldn't be able to stop her from killing me.

Had "Shogun" given up on tricking me and sent Yua over to assassinate me?

I don't want to die....
I don't want to die!
I don't wanna die!

SFX: Takumi struggles against Yua's grip.



"I'll be done ta, talking soon, so...."



I couldn't believe how much power these thin hands were capable of doing.

"Nishijou-kun...."



"Stop...."

Suddenly, I noticed. Yua's hands were trembling.

No, either that, or had my own trembling simply passed into her hands?

As I puzzled over this, outrageous words fell from Yua's lips--



Ha....?

"You don't have any awareness of it, do you....?"
"But I understand that as well...."
"Because there's no way for you to be aware of it...."

Of what....




Though she had stared without movement at me up until then, she abruptly lowered her gaze.



I have--

Multiple personalities, you say....?

"At first I planned to turn you over to the police."

Indifferent to my bafflement, Yua continued speaking.



"But as I investigated you...."
"I came to understand that you, too, are suffering...."

In the depths of her glasses, Yua's eyes once again settled on me. They made it look as if she were appealing to me.

That attitude of hers, which appeared to be one of concern for me, no matter how I looked at it--

Made my bones freeze.



Her delusions were going out of control....! The things she was saying totally contradicted each other....!

...............Really?

Was it really self-contradictory....?



I didn't understand myself very well.

I'd posted in chats under the handle of "Shogun" without knowing it.

Though I had no recollection of it, at some point I'd become friends with a girl named Rimi.

I wasn't a somnambulist-- There was no higher-order existence manipulating me--

Maybe "the person behind me"-- Had literally been inside my heart--



My head ached. A piercing pain, as if someone were stabbing my temples.

It couldn't be....! That scenario was pure nonsense....!

Who would believe such a thing....! This, too, was Yua's fantasy!

She was my enemy.

She got in my way. She tried to fool me. She tried to break my heart.

And "Shogun" had influence over the hospital.

Dr. Takashi, the one person I could rely on, had gone away all too suddenly and unnaturally.



I won't believe her!





Slamming into the wooden dividing door close behind her, Yua slid to the floor, face twisting.

"Haa haa haa haa--"

Having finally freed myself from Yua's hands, I grabbed my bag, stepped over her, and went out into the corridor.



Crouching, Yua seized my ankle.

Her hair was disheveled, and she'd made no effort to adjust her sliding-down glasses, and as she clung desperately to me, that form of hers invoked nothing but fear in me. A pathetic shriek leaked from my mouth.

"Hiii!"

She was my enemy! She worked under "Shogun"!

I won't let you fool me! I'll never let you fool me again!

"Do, don't touch me!"

When I yelled, Yua immediately let go of me.

I took advantage of that gap to dash out of the store.



I got in the elevator leading outside without waiting to take my change.



The sun was already setting. I looked around. There were a lot of people.

Run away... For the time being, run away somewhere.

It was dangerous to go back to my base. She'd chase after me.

I went on running, without any idea of where to head.

When I thought that even now, Yua might descend from a different elevator and come to threaten me with that cold voice of hers, I became unable to stay there for so much as a second.



Anyway, looking over my shoulder countless times, I ran.

The pedestrians were in my way.

I bumped into salarymen and high school girls with a delinquent air about them. They bitched at me every time.

Even so, I went on running, unable to stop.



I could hardly breathe. I'd picked random roads as I escaped, and I didn't have a very good idea of where I was running to.

I paused to collect my breath. I checked the view from the place where I was standing.



I'd take a brief break there, then flee even further away.

If I made it to Yoyogi Park, there'd be any number of places to hide, so I could potentially spend the night there.

I couldn't help worrying about what was behind me. I couldn't spot Yua anywhere.

But it wouldn't be strange if she appeared before me at this very moment, wearing an expression akin to that of a Noh mask.

My instincts urged me onward.




My throat was dry from too much running. I wanted to drink icy-cold Coke.

But I didn't catch sight of any vending machines in the area.

Would I be okay, having come this far....

No, don't get caught off-guard. I still didn't neglect being wary of my surroundings.

There'd be few people in Miyashita Park at night.... was what I'd thought, but surprisingly, it seemed that such was not the case.




The police....

My breath caught.

Come to think of it, I'd been questioned by a pair of detectives before.

I hadn't heard from them since then.

Though they'd said they would guard the vicinity around my base, I hadn't picked up on anything of the sort.

According to Misumi-kun, they'd also come to investigate at school.

Those two detectives.... what had they been called? I couldn't remember their names.







Positive, Negative or Neutral?