Part 3: Prologue - Part 3

Track—Klamauk






"Huh?"

The employee gave him a surprised look.


"I got sucker punched by that tanuki!"

He pointed at the big tanuki.


"........."

The tanuki's expression didn't change.








"........."


"........."


"Uh, that is, um, a..."

The staffer looked after the tanuki as she spoke.


"That's not a tanuki, that's a lemur."


"Le...lemu...what?"

He rubbed his still-aching stomach as he spoke.


"Yes. A lemur. You know, a fox-like monkey. Its name is Myumyun."








"But what happened? Are you ill? Or..."


"No. I'm fine now. Don't worry about me... It's over anyway."


"Oh, I see...?"

[Music—End]

The staffer disappeared.

(I see...That wasn't a tanuki, that was 'Myumyun.')

Track—Zweitestock

He wasn't sure why Myumyun had hauled off and punched him. But he knew that wondering about it wouldn't help. So he decided to forget about it. He needed to be getting somewhere.


"I'll look around on my own a little more..."

He muttered this as he composed himself. He knew there should be several attractions at the other end of this corridor. His friends might have been looking for him as they waited in line.


"So which way should I go?"

His legs were so tired that he could barely move.

(This is... The world's worst theme park...)

And that was exactly how he felt.


Back to the Kid again.



Hit by a slight dizzy spell, he leaned against the wall.


"What in the world...?"

He sighed. He was fully and utterly beat. The staffer that had just been talking to him had vanished somewhere. You wasn't around either. He had lost sight of the other girl as well. He was alone again.


"What did I come here for? I..."

He thought that maybe he should have waited where he was before, after all. Having lost his destination, he rode the elevator from the aquarium and returned to basement floor two.



(The second floor...? I screwed up... The rest area is down one more level.)

He felt like he had come a long way from the elevator room. He didn't know which path he should take to go down. Which way...

[Music—Stop]

[??]: "Could you come here for a moment?"

A voice called to him from somewhere.

From somewhere...


"!?"

From the shadows of the path, the owner of the voice was beckoning to him. But the hand did not belong to a human.

Track—Klamauk

[??]: "Look, hurry up will you?"

It was the whispering voice of a young woman. Her bulky, black arm was swaying rhythmically. Disturbed by the difference between the voice and its owner's appearance, he moved hypnotized in its direction. The hand and arm clearly belonged to a tanuki. It was a big tanuki.
No wonder Takeshi got slugged. Lesson to be learned: Don’t call women in mascot suits “fat”. Jeeze.




He was led by the tanuki into a room at the end of the walkway. Or rather...packed into it.


"This is..."

(Is this the girl's changing room...?)

He saw a uniform, like the one You had been wearing, packed away inside an open locker.

(Hey...I can even see some women's underwear...)
Way to have your priorities straight, Kid. You’ve essentially been kidnapped and you’re thinking about women’s underwear.

The room smelled like perfume. The air was saturated with a scent so strong it almost made him choke. The smell was about to overwhelm him. He struggled to get his mind under control and maintain his focus.


Oh god

The tanuki asked the same question again. Come to think of it...why was she a tanuki anyway? He had no clue.


"This..."


"...is the changing room."

She said this before he could answer.


"Changing rooms are...A place to keep secrets away from prying eyes..."

She said this quietly.


"Secrets?"


This lovely image flashes across the screen for a split second before


you get knocked silly by a punch-happy woman in a lemur suit.

Suddenly his vision faded. Everything went completely dark.


"Huh?"


"Will you look after this for me?"


"Huh? What? What?"

Look after? He didn't understand.


"Here, I'll help you put it on right."


"Uh, um..."

Wear it? He had no idea what she was talking about.


"Uh, wuh, whoa..."

He didn't understand why, but he couldn't move. He was powerless to resist her and let her do what she wanted. In a moment, something completely covered his body.


"........."


"Hee, hee. This should do it... Alright then. I'll leave the rest to you."
She sounds so happy.

And the light sound of her footsteps faded into the distance. The last thing he heard was the click of a door shutting… He heard the sound. But he did not see her leave.


".........?"

(What did she do to me?)

His face felt heavy...
His body felt heavy...
He had tunnel vision...

And for some reason, his body was bristling with hair...

(Could it be...That this is...the mascot outfit...)

When he shook his head, it made a sound like bristles brushing something.

And there was a smell.


There was some other scent from inside the costume. A sweet smell that made him dizzy. It pierced deep into his brain... Before he knew what was going on, he had opened the door and was shuffling out into the pathway.
…Oh.





Without thinking, he let out a cry. He had found it.

(It's that tanuki...)

He had just heard that it was not a tanuki, but Myumyun the fox-monkey, but that information had already disappeared from his mind.
Teaching him new information is useless. Completely useless.

(I forgot its name-- It doesn't matter though, he's the one that hit me and ran away.)

He didn't want revenge... But he did want to ask it why it had done what it did. Without making a sound, he slowly approached the tanuki mascot Myumyun. And as soon as he got behind it, he quickly grabbed the costume by the head.


I-…if I don’t look, it won’t look back, right?


"Who...who're you?"


"I should be asking you that! Why would you do something like that!?"


"Huh? What'd I do?"


"Don't play dumb with me."


"I have no idea what you are talking about..."


"You punched me!"


"No I didn't. I have no idea what you mean..."


"Liar! What? Did you forget?"


"I'm not lying. This girl...Gave me this outfit out of nowhere and..."


"What? You just met her? When did you change?"


"I just put it on. I..."


"Just put it on? What are you talking about?"


"But why do this...This..."



He collapsed in full Myumyun regalia.

Track—Drittestock


"Wh...what? Hey!"

Takeshi shook his shoulders, but there was no response.


"Somebody come quick! Something's not right here."

He yelled. Visitors watched from a distance.


"What's the matter?"

A female employee had heard the fuss and came running.


"Huh? You're that girl from before... this guy just collapsed all of the sudden."


"Let me see!"

The employee took the pulse of the fallen youth. Takeshi wondered if she had any medical knowledge.


"He's alright...but we can't leave him here like this."


"I'll help."


"Great, thanks."





He had no idea. No idea... Where he was. Where had he gone.

Shaking. Shaken. Feeling ill. He could feel hair from the costume rubbing along both of his sides as two people carried him.

Rubbing...

He wished they'd get the mascot suit off him quickly. The fur felt nasty.

It was hot.

So hot. So hot he couldn't stand it. The heat made him feel faint. His consciousness felt like it would drift away. Why had this happened?

It was strange. So strange... It wasn't him or her. He heard a different voice from somewhere...






"I wonder what it could be? Is he anemic?"


"Maybe it was the mascot suit? Maybe he couldn't get used to wearing it."


"It's possible. It could be heat exhaustion..."


"Does...it looks like he'll be okay?"


"It doesn't appear to be anything serious. A little rest and he should be fine."


"I see."


"Thanks for your help. I'll take it from here."


"Oh, alright then."

He opened the sliding door and left the room.




"What was it I came here to do?"
Find your friends and get gut-punched by a woman in a lemur suit. Not necessarily in that order.

A cool breeze was blowing along the walkway.





But where was it coming from? He... He wondered where he had come from.



A ceiling.

Sheets.

A bed...

He had been put to sleep on a bed. On a bed in the infirmary...

He saw something again.

Below the sick room...bed...



(Who is this? This... This isn't me... Of course not...)





The third floor underground, they had called it.

Dritte stock...

(The guys...they've gotta be lined up waiting for a crowded ride somewhere.)



He dashed into the elevator. The doors reopened silently and closed again.



One other person had gotten on. A girl.

A girl...

(More like a young woman I guess.)

One girl had gotten on. She was about high school age. The elevator floated upward an instant before descending. There was the faint sound of movement and vibration.



He wondered why...The girl stared at him suspiciously.


"...What? Just who are you...? Why are you here? Why are you following me...?"
”And why does your hand seem permanently attached to the back of your head?”