“Shut up! This is all your fault, Kouzuki!” Minatsu yelled at me.
“What, you want to blame this all on me? You’re so selfish! How was I supposed to know this would happen?! And don’t forget that it was your brilliant idea to have us take that dumb shortcut!” I yelled back at her, matching her energy.
“And? They were your friends! If you hadn’t tried to approach them, we wouldn’t be in this mess! You’re so annoying! You’re like a walking jinx!”
“How can you even say that? You saw what was going on! How could you not care? You don’t care about anyone else around you!”
“Hey! Would you two shut up in there?”
The man outside the door yelled at us again, but we ignored him!
Minatsu and I stared each other down, both red in the face.
“You don’t think I care about other people?!” she shouted. “What makes you say that?!”
“You might be the best actor out of all of us! But that doesn’t mean it’s okay to keep to yourself and ignore us!”
“What does that have to do with you?!”
“It has everything to do with me! You’re part of a club! No matter how good at acting you are, you can’t spend all your time offstage acting like a big jerk to everyone! Or is it fun for you to always be alone?!”
“Y-you’re the last person I want to hear that from!” Tears welled up in Minatsu’s eyes. “You have everything already, and that’s why you don’t need to care! You’re always the special one!”
“Special?! Me?! That’s all in your head, Minatsu! I’m normal…”
“Normal people aren’t friends with people like Hanasato and the Middle School Detective! And President Shiori! And Captain Yukimura!! They always treat you extra special!”
“Th-that’s not true…”
“It is true! Why are you the only one Captain Yukimura has any hopes for?! I know way more about acting than you, and I’m a way better actress! So why?!”
The door swung open. “Listen here, you little brats! If you can’t shut up, I’ll make you shut up with some duct tape— Wait, what the—?!”
The man who came storming into the room stopped and stared wide-eyed at me and my plank of wood waiting for him by the door.
“Take this!” I smacked him in the back of the head with a two-by-four.
Thud!
The man passed out limply onto the floor.
“Did it work…?” Minatsu was cautiously peeking at the unconscious man from afar, but I walked right up to him.
Looks like it did. He’s out cold. Even if he is a bad guy, I tried not to hit him too hard, so he’ll probably wake up soon.
“Let’s tie him up before he comes to.”
We took the ropes the kidnappers used on us to tie the man up.
That oughta do it!
“It worked…” Minatsu let out a sigh of relief and wiped the tears away from her eyes.
“Wow, your acting really is something! I can’t believe you actually got so angry you cried.”
“Y-yeah… That’s easy stuff…” Minatsu looked away.
Hm? I was trying to compliment you…
“But forget about that! We need to get out of here before someone else comes.”
I looked at Minatsu, and she kept her face turned away from me as we headed toward the exit.
She’s right; we definitely can’t afford to be waiting around here.
I poked my head out of the door to get a look at the hallway, which extended out to our right and left. There was a bit of a curve toward the end, which made it impossible to see the far edge on both sides, but there was no one else on watch outside the door.
“Whew… The coast is clear,” I said, and Minatsu let out a sigh of relief.
“Let’s go.”
Minatsu and I left the room, and I held out my hand for Minatsu to hold onto. She flinched away at first, but then she took it and squeezed. I could feel her palms sweating.
“Let’s try this way first.” I pointed to the left. My guess was purely instinct, but that was all I had to go on.
Minatsu nodded nervously.
The two of us moved slowly down the hall, careful not to make too much noise with our footsteps. It was almost scary how quiet the hallway was.
The state of the floor and walls made me think the building was fairly old, but it wasn’t dirty, which meant it was well maintained…
I wonder where on earth this is. There are more doors, too; I wonder if they lead into rooms similar to the last one?
“Hey, Minatsu, where do you think—? Is something the matter?”
I glanced over at Minatsu, who seemed completely lost in thought. “Kouzuki… I think I’ve been here before…”
“Wait! Seriously?! Then maybe you’ll be able to figure out where the exit is.”
“That’s why I’m so confused. I can’t seem to recall—”
“Shh!” I interrupted Minatsu, putting my finger over my lips. It didn’t take long for Minatsu to figure out what I meant, and she immediately stopped speaking.
We both listened closely.
Clack, clack, clack—more footsteps.
Someone’s coming?! This is bad! We’re in a hallway with nowhere to hide! They’re gonna see us!
I was about to panic when I felt a tug on my arm.
What was that?!
I turned to see Minatsu pointing at a tool locker down the hall.
We might be able to hide in that!
Minatsu and I scurried over to the locker and opened it, careful not to make any noise. It was empty.
What luck! There’s nothing in the locker.
The two of us wasted no time getting into the locker. It was a tall, thin locker, so we had to hug each other tight to fit.
Minatsu’s exhausted breath brushed up against my face. I could almost hear her heartbeat.
Clack, clack, clack, clack.
The sound of the footsteps was getting louder. Both Minatsu and I were barely breathing.
“Why’s do I gotta sit there and watch some twerpy kids? What a load of bull…”
The footsteps stopped right in front of the locker. We could hear the man speaking to himself and held our breath. I could just make out the man’s work uniform through the air vent in the locker door.
But not for long; he must have squatted down.