Escape from this weird alternate reality (or alternate dimension) in the form of an amusement park; if I think about it, that should have been the first goal to pop into my head. But because I had been thinking that this was all a dream... I had been taking the optimistic view that if I just did nothing and waited, I’d wake up eventually.
I feel like I’m rather good at accepting the reality of a situation and moving on with it. Born into a boring town, I became a high schooler without any fulfilled dreams or dramatic developments. The story of my life had basically no arcs; one could even say it was flat, but I was satisfied with that.
I expect nothing. Nothing interesting or dramatic will happen. This isn’t a TV show.
But if we were to be thrown into another world, through the use of some sort of magic out of a novel or manga... Or if, like in a horror movie, our bodies were to be teleported into a different dimension... No, if this is reality, spacing out won’t solve anything.
Take action, investigate, and find the key to the exi— the way out.
But, in reality, what can I even do? I, who am just a high school girl who helps out with her family’s electronics store in the sticks, and has only average athletic ability. It seems that the other people in this group don’t have psychic powers, or a convenient item, or anything else of the like, either.
“Ahhh~...” Because Kurashima left to go see what was happening outside, Utena’s attitude was getting worse by the minute. Once again returning to a cleared space among the piles of snacks, Utena sprawled herself out in the middle of some fluffy cotton candy and started playing with her hair sullenly. She should have been raised eating only the best, but for some reason her hair isn’t that glossy or beautiful. Utena plays with it by alternating between pinching her hair between her fingers, twirling it around a bit, and putting it in her mouth.
“Umm...” For now I try talking to Utena, who was stretched out elegantly like a Heian noble.
With three people here, this silence feels so painful that I want to run away. It would have been fine if I was alone, though. I’m not the type to particularly long for company.
“So, how and why did you guys wander into this alternate dimension?” I asked, sitting down on an appropriately sized snack, and timidly sipping on some juice. There was a cookie shaped like a teacup, and right next to it was a pond of the stuff. If we stay here too long, I can see us all getting cavities.
“Alternate dimension? Ooh, you mean here? This place that seems like an amusement park...if that’s what you meant, then just say it, stop being hard to understand. You’re not a very good speaker, Hitomi,” Utena replied harshly, as if she was taking out her frustration on me. She’s probably lonely because Kurashima left her alone.
While faltering a little, I still try to remain friendly. “As for me, I was minding the hous—store. I think I must have dozed off or something, because by the time I realized it I was here. What about you two?”
“That’s right, Denkiya! You’re Denkiya-san of the electronics store! Hahahaha.” After laughing too hard at that dumb joke I’ve heard a million times, Utena turned away with a complicated face. “Does Utena...have to say this now?” she asked.
“If possible,” I answered her. “For now, we should really get a good grasp on the current situation, and to do that everyone should pool their information... In my opinion, it’s not too late to take action after that. Even though I go to the same school, I don’t really know you two. So I’d really like to cooperate and get out of this dimension...”
“Why ‘you two?’ You should just talk to Utena. That one’s an idiot, after all. It’s fine to just treat Torii as if she’s air, you know?” Utena seemed to have latched onto something completely unimportant, and she scowled. She looked sideways at Torii, who was seated right next to her but had yet to join in on the conversation.
She was looking off somewhere, stroking a piece of candy shaped like some fruit with her long, slender fingers. Torii looked this way for a moment when her name came up, but as soon as our eyes met, she hastily looked away. She’s putting up a ‘Don’t talk to me’ aura with every inch of her body.
✦ ✦ ✦
Giving Torii a scornful look, Utena tore her gaze away and faced me once again. “That kind of thing won’t be of any use, anyway,” she opined. “Well, it should all turn out fine if we leave it all to Yuudai-kun, though. He seems really reliable, after all. Like a protagonist from some story.” Utena talked feverishly about Kurashima, who’d left and had yet to come back.
According to her, apparently both Utena and Torii had wandered into this dimension together (although the details of that were left vague), and were saved by Kurashima just when they had fallen into a panic. And by ‘saved,’ all that really happened was that after a meeting that felt like fate (according to Utena), he’d just guided them to this place that was filled with snacks, though.
After hearing that story and properly digesting it, I folded my arms. Utena’s way of talking was all over the place, so it was hard to understand, but there wasn’t any really useful information in it, either.
“Hrmm... In my opinion though, that Kurashima guy is—” I was going to say ‘really suspicious’ but thought better of it. It would only serve to ruin Utena’s mood if it appears like I’m bad-mouthing Kurashima, whom she’d probably fallen for.
Untouched gods don’t give curses. Talking behind someone’s back is...well, it’s a pretty common thing in high schools. There’s usually not any real ill will, it’s just a way to communicate.
At any rate Kurashima is...odd. A traveler from the outside. A unique existence, mixed into our otherwise boring but stable town. I can’t help but be a little wary.
Am I that kind of person that’s found only in isolated towns, that terrible kind of person that hates outsiders for no reason? In Utena’s case, Kurashima is probably the opposite, a special someone who will break her out of her monotonous daily life. It seems that she sees him as heroic and only likes him because of that, though.
This amusement park is cryptic enough, but thinking about Kurashima, too, is screwing my head up even worse. Slowly, I sip the juice and take in the sugar, bit by bit.
Sweet things are best for thinking.