“So from the start, I was ignoring Asukai Jin himself. No matter how much he poked at people’s hearts, it would never amount to anything significant. Even if he had taken your heart from you, you would have recovered. You see, you have something protect-ing you from deep within.”
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“Eh...?”
✦ ✦ ✦
“And because of that, a one-sided power like Asukai Jin’s was unable to affect you.”
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Aya put her hands to her chest.
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She felt like something very warm was resting there. I, When she thought about it, it gave her courage. She knew it was there.
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But......
✦ ✦ ✦
“But aren’t the Towa Organization your enemies?
✦ ✦ ✦
“The Towa Organization itself is not my enemy. Though, I have no idea what their opinion on the matter might be, from my point of view, sometimes their agents simply trigger my sensors.”
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Beneath his cape, he shrugged.
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"............" Aya could think of no other arguments. This was beyond her understanding.
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“If you have nowhere to go, there is a very strange girl called the Fire Witch near you. Talk to her. I’m sure she can help. She’s a lot more sympathetic than I am.”
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Aya looked up. “B-but. . .” There was one more thing she had to ask. One final question. “If you were ignoring him. . .then why did you come here? Why did you save me?”
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“Oh,” the cloaked figure made a strange, asymmetrical expression, kind of like a smile, but more like a sneer. “That is a long story. I’ll say just this-it was not my idea to save you. Someone asked me to.”
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"Wh-who...?"
✦ ✦ ✦
The cloaked figure looked astonished. “Do you really not know?”
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“Eh......?” There was another gust of wind.
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Aya hurriedly grabbed onto the pillar.
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When she looked up again, she was alone on the roof.
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Alone with the wind.
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The ‘real’ one had abandoned me and gone off somewhere. I gritted my teeth in desperation.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Shit. . .shit!”
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My hand slipped, and I slammed my chin into the ground.
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“Oww. . .” Clutching ahold of my retreating consciousness, moved forward again.
✦ ✦ ✦
And discovered a girl in front of me.
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She was on her knees, palms on the ground. But on closer inspection, she was not actually touching anything, but instead floating just off the surface.
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She was very beautiful.
✦ ✦ ✦
"............"
✦ ✦ ✦
I stared at her, dazed.
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She must be a delusion. She was transparent, and I could see right through her.
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For some reason, she was humming. It was a quiet melody, but I got the impression it was a longer, louder piece of music, and only this movement was quiet-like a moment of calm in the center of a storm. It was a very beautiful piece of music.
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“......And that’s it,” she whispered.
✦ ✦ ✦
She sounded almost relieved. Her voice was so peaceful.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Asukai-sensei was too preoccupied with flaws. I knew that. . .but it seems flaws are merely a space for something new to be born, and can never bring about enough power to break though.”
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She spoke in such a small voice, yet I could hear her so clearly, as if she was whispering directly in my ear.
✦ ✦ ✦
She looked at me.
✦ ✦ ✦
“You-are very impressive,” she said, as if she knew me.
✦ ✦ ✦
“............”I didn’t answer.
✦ ✦ ✦
“This is it for me, there is no more. . .but as long as there are people as strong as you, I’m sure someone will ‘break through’
✦ ✦ ✦
one day,” she smiled.
✦ ✦ ✦
It was an unbelievably bright, hopeful smile. The polar opposite of the ‘real’ one’s expression a moment before.
✦ ✦ ✦
And then she crumbled, like she was being crushed by something from above.
✦ ✦ ✦
"......?!" Shocked, I scrambled over to where she had been.
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There was nothing there. . .except a faint white stain on the ground.
✦ ✦ ✦
As if it had snowed in that one spot.
✦ ✦ ✦
“............”I was out of it now.
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All the energy seemed to have been drained completely out of my body.
✦ ✦ ✦
I didn’t know why, but I knew that in that moment, things had been concluded decisively.
✦ ✦ ✦
Everything was finished. The whole thing was over.
✦ ✦ ✦
"............"
✦ ✦ ✦
I heard footsteps behind me.
✦ ✦ ✦
Oh. . .my. . .god......!” I gaped around me. By the time my scooter reached Paisley Park, the situation was beyond words.
✦ ✦ ✦
People were lying on the ground everywhere, all of them in costumes or clown makeup-all unconscious and tied up.
✦ ✦ ✦
I know a lot about weird things, and maybe everyone says to
✦ ✦ ✦
‘talk to Suema Kazuko’ if something queer is going on, but even I had never read about anything as strange as this.
✦ ✦ ✦
What in hell’s name happened here?
✦ ✦ ✦
“Uh...umm...” I said, gingerly picking my way forward, following the path of fallen bodies in the hopes of tracking down the source.
✦ ✦ ✦
“But. . .could this really be. . .?
✦ ✦ ✦
It was quiet all around me.
✦ ✦ ✦
Certainly something strange had happened here. . .but could it already be finished?
✦ ✦ ✦
Again?
✦ ✦ ✦
Yet another mess goes down right next to me, and passes me by?
✦ ✦ ✦
“Why does this always happen to me?” I muttered, really meaning it.
✦ ✦ ✦
I went a little further in, and found someone still awake.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Unh,” he groaned.
✦ ✦ ✦
I ran over to him. He wasn’t tied up.
✦ ✦ ✦
“A-are you okay?”
✦ ✦ ✦
It was a boy. I hesitated for a second, but then helped him sit up.
✦ ✦ ✦
And was surprised again.
✦ ✦ ✦
I knew him.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Y-you’re. . .Taniguchi-kun?!
✦ ✦ ✦
He was the younger brother of this girl I know.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Oh...Suema-san,” he said, eyes not really managing to focus on me.
✦ ✦ ✦
“What’s going on? Taniguchi-kun, what happened here?” I asked. I was getting a little frustrated, so I shook him.
✦ ✦ ✦
“P-please, I need your help. There’s a girl here somewhere...
✦ ✦ ✦
help her...” he said, his words slurring.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Taniguchi-kun?! Hey!!”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Please. . .”
✦ ✦ ✦
His head lolled, and he was asleep. I slapped him and shook him, but he didn’t even bat an eye. He was totally under.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Come on!!!” I shouted.
✦ ✦ ✦
I knew the world wasn’t ever fair. . .but everything around me was pure chaos.
✦ ✦ ✦
Something had happened; that much was certain.
✦ ✦ ✦
Taniguchi-kun had asked me to save a girl.
✦ ✦ ✦
If this were a fairy tale, then he was the prince. It was his job to save the princess and get his kiss.
✦ ✦ ✦
So, why did he have to leave that up to me?
✦ ✦ ✦
Why had he fallen asleep?
✦ ✦ ✦
What was up with all the crazy-looking people in makeup?
✦ ✦ ✦
Would anyone ever explain any of this stuff to me?
✦ ✦ ✦
Just what was my role in all of this?
✦ ✦ ✦
I remembered back to one of Kirima Seiichi’s books......
✦ ✦ ✦
“The problem lies with your own frailty of resolve that forces simple, easy to understand answers and resolutions on others. This is the main reason the Imaginator is overrunning the world. No matter how long you wait, nothing ever begins.”
✦ ✦ ✦
When I read that, I thought I understood, but now that I found myself in this very situation, I desperately wanted a simple, easy to understand explanation and a happy ending. I really......
✦ ✦ ✦
I sighed, took off my coat, and covered Taniguchi-kun with it.
✦ ✦ ✦
I wiped the sweat off his forehead, and checked to see if he had a fever. It looked like it was safe to leave him alone.
✦ ✦ ✦
“But, a girl? Which girl? Who is she, Taniguchi-kun. . .?” I asked myself.
✦ ✦ ✦
Suddenly, a strange voice spoke to me. “That girl is at the top of The Ladder...the tall tower to your left.”
✦ ✦ ✦
I couldn’t tell if the voice belonged to a boy or a girl.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Wh-who’s there?”
✦ ✦ ✦
“You must go to The Ladder, and find the girl, Orihata Aya.
✦ ✦ ✦
Bring her to this boy. The man you are looking for, Asukai Jin, is hanging from the roof.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Wh-what?! ” I looked around, but I couldn’t figure out where the voice was coming from.
✦ ✦ ✦
And Orihata Aya? I was sure I’d heard that name before.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Do you know what happened here?”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Nothing of consequence.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“I’ll make up my own mind!” I roared. “I need to know why something this screwed up can happen! What should I do with all the people lying here?”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Nothing. Soon they will be leading ordinary, tedious lives again. The lives that let the Imaginator hook them...”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Eh?”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Forget about them. When they wake, they will know their only choice is to return to the world they left.”
✦ ✦ ✦
I couldn’t understand this. My head swam. But even so-why?
✦ ✦ ✦
I felt a strange familiarity with this voice. Even though it should have been the first time I’d ever heard it...
✦ ✦ ✦
“Your earnest strength is an admirable thing, but beware of causing worry for those around you.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Wh-who are you?!” I yelled.
✦ ✦ ✦
From the darkness came a strange feeling, part mocking, part feigned innocence. “You already know who I am.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Then the feeling melted away, leaving me alone.
✦ ✦ ✦
VS Imaginator Part II - “PARADE” closed.
✦ ✦ ✦
A girl entered the tower that rose out of the darkness.
✦ ✦ ✦
She pulled up the man suspended over the tower’s edge, swaying dangerously. A few minutes later, a different girl emerged from the tower.
✦ ✦ ✦
She moved along the path at a near run to where a boy lay sleeping.
✦ ✦ ✦
Kneeling down by his side, she stroked his cheek lovingly.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Unh. . .unhhh. . .” the boy moaned.