Using up all the air in her lungs, Utena raised a surprisingly loud scream. Even after she ran out of breath, she didn’t stop making sounds. I felt her shrill, piercing voice up close and couldn’t help but flinch, but at least even Torii couldn’t stay asleep next to noise that was worse than an alarm clock’s. She didn’t seem to understand what was going on, either; she kept moving her eyes around in confusion. Torii was still hugging Utena, who was stretched out and stiff like she’d been convulsing, and batting her eyelashes in concern.
“U-Utena-chan?” she said. “What’s wr— eh, huh?”
“Torii-san,” I said hastily. “For now, let’s just run.” I couldn’t wait for them to catch up to the situation, so I urged them to run. Taking their hands, I tried to get them to stand up rather forcefully. But Utena looked to have half fainted— she didn’t try to move on her own.
Well, anyone would go into shock if they woke up to a giant, grotesque slug right in front of them. It’s not something proper ladies like Utena are used to seeing, either.
She seemed to have finally run out of oxygen, and started taking in deep breaths while still in a trance. And then, once again, she raised a scream that hurt my ears: “AAAAAAAHHH! HYAAHHHHHH?!”
Torii, who was absolutely calm compared to Utena, shook the girl who was still in her arms. Using a voice that was pretty loud for her, Torii tried to calm Utena down. “Utena-chan, calm down! Um, let’s run away?”
“R-run, run you s— wait, Torii?! Why? Get away from me! Don’t touch Utena, someone like you! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!” Wriggling, Utena used her small hands to push Torii away. She refused Torii with all her might, mustering up an unbelievable amount of power.
Torii stumbled backwards lightly, and fell off the bench. It happened before I could react, and I didn’t move until I heard a large thump noise that sounded like it hurt.
“A-are you okay?” Supporting Torii by the shoulder, I helped her off the ground she’d fallen on.
Utena alternated between glaring at us, and then the giant slug. And then, crying enough to make me think it was fake, like a small animal, she ran off just like that. “Lies! I hate this!” she shrieked. “This dream! Why, why does Utena have to suffer through this?! AAAAHHH!?” Crawling on the ground, even going so far as to scrape her knees on the ground hard enough to draw blood— Utena put distance between her and both us and the strange thing, screaming all the while. “Hiii! EEEE! AAAAAAHHHH!?”
What should I do? I thought once again. Utena’s clearly confused. This reaction was natural, but it would be hard to calm her down and get her to run away with us in this condition.
At this rate, it would have been easier to let her keep sleeping and just carry her away. There’s no time for regrets, though, because that strange thing is still unflappably coming closer.
We have to run.
“L-let’s run away for now,” I suggested, “Quickly!” I know that my teeth are chattering and I’m shaking in my boots. I’m scared, too; unlike Kousuke, I don’t want to be a hero. There’s no way I could fight a monster, and I would never want to, anyway. We have to run. I shake Torii, who was unmoving, as though she was stricken with grief.
“Stand up! Run! Hurry up, Torii-san!” I screamed at her like a child throwing a fit for a toy. Torii came to with a gasp, and nodded. I helped her up.
“Umm... That, Denkiya...san. Where did you go?” she asked. “Was I asleep?” Torii was tall enough that, when she stood, I had to look up at her. Whether it was because she still felt like she was seeing a dream, or that emotions just don’t show on her face, she didn’t seem too disturbed by this situation. She was spacing out, before finally noticing the slug thing that was this close to us and she looked up. “W-what, is that?” she groaned in a quiet voice. I guess she wasn’t completely calm; she was probably just in a daze because she couldn’t understand the situation.
Forcefully, I took her by the hand and dragged her in the opposite direction of the slug. “It’s fine,” I told her. “Let’s get out of here, together!”
“Y-yeah,” she agreed. “Utena-chan— We need to get Utena-chan, too.” Torii motioned to Utena to come over, but the girl had completely fallen into a panic. She just kept shaking her head, turning her back on us like she was rejecting the entire world. Somehow standing up, she tried to go off somewhere, but quickly tripped on her own legs. She was like a small animal that had its nest invaded, or a bird acting out in its cage.
The giant slug, reacting to her large and violent movements, headed towards her. Slowly but steadily, it crawled closer. That’s bad; it looks like it’s completely locked on to Utena.
“S-stay away! No! Am I going to get eaten? I’m scared! Papa! Help me! NOOOOO!?” Utena started to sob, as if she’d regressed to infancy. She curled up on the floor, with her head in her hands, of all things. Does she think if she stays curled up like that the danger will just pass on it’s own, or maybe that someone will just pluck her out of it? Her hips might have just given out, too.
Seeing that, Torii shook off my hand... And with a strong gait that was just a little unexpected, she ran towards Utena.
“T-Torii-san?” I called out to her, but there was no response. She just went to Utena, entranced. Why? I wondered. I thought Utena was bullying her? It’s like she’s trying to save Utena. This is an emergency. Maybe she just couldn’t leave her to get attacked by that thing?
Ashamed that I couldn’t move like Torii did, I chased after her. Every once in a while, screens buried all over the surface of the slug peeked out, and I got a feeling they were looking at me. It was creepy and scary, and it made it hard to breathe.
I couldn’t think, either— yet even so, the situation changed drastically right after. Torii, who was running right in front of me, was blown sideways; for an instant, I thought that she’d disappeared. It was basically like teleportation, and it was so sudden that I couldn’t even be surprised.