The next day, Hinako attended her very first day of Lifeguard Club.
“First, you want to get someone else’s attention. Have them call 119 and bring you an AED.”
They were on the beach right off campus, practicing CPR drills.
“From there, your first step is to check for signs of consciousness by talking to the victim. Can you hear me, sir?”
As a certified lifeguard, the club captain served as the instructor for this training. He patted the shoulder of the CPR dummy lying on its back on the sand and called out to it several more times.
“No response. Next, you want to check for breathing. And if they’re not breathing, it’s time for chest compressions.”
He placed both of his hands on the dummy’s chest and pressed down firmly in small thrusts.
“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten… You want to put both your hands on top of each other and lean your full weight into it when you press down. For an adult, you want to go about two inches deep and wait until the chest rises back up before pressing down again… Twenty-nine, thirty.”
The other club members were taking notes or recording the lecture on their smartphones, but for Hinako, it was enough of a struggle just watching him do it.
“Then you tilt the head up, pinch the nose, and check for airway obstruction.”
The captain blew into the dummy’s mouth.
“Blow for one second, like this. Then again. While you do this, be sure to watch for the chest to rise. After that, it’s time to go back to chest compressions. Five, six, seven… You want to do this for a total of thirty times.”
Apparently the formal term was “near-drowning victim.” Minato had received this exact same CPR twice in his life. The first time it had been successful, but the second time…
“Now then, let’s have everyone give it a try…starting with Mukaimizu-san.”
Out of nowhere, Hinako was summoned by name. Truth be told, she didn’t want to have to do it if she could get away with it. But if she couldn’t even take this first step, then she’d never be a lifeguard.
Focusing her eyes only on the dummy’s torso, she placed her hands on top of each other and pressed down hard.
“One, two, three, four, five, six…”
“Uhh, looks like you’re pressing a little too hard there—”
“Seven, eight—”
“THE VICTIM’S RIBS HAVE FRACTURED,” the dummy’s mechanical voice announced.
“You want to make sure you’re only pressing down two inches and no further. Next, let’s try mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.”
“What?!” Hinako gasped.
But it was too late to back down. Willing herself not to avert her eyes, she slowly leaned in close to the dummy, who was wearing a face shield.
The next thing she knew, its face had transformed into Minato’s.
Shrieking, she jerked back and leapt to her feet. She had never directly observed Minato’s corpse, and yet the image of him cold and lifeless was vivid in her mind.
“Mukaimizu-san?”
I can’t do this… I can’t do this!
“Mukaimizu-san!”
Hinako ran from the beach as fast as her legs could carry her.
Hinako ran all the way to the campus pond. Gasping for breath, she peered down at the water. Her reflection was grim.
Minato… I miss Minato… Minato, help me…
She hadn’t summoned him even once since the car crash…but she really wanted to see him…
“I see you—ugh!”
Clutching her hair with both hands, Hinako shook her head furiously. In a moment of weakness, she had nearly started to sing.
“STOP!” she screamed at herself.
The next thing she knew, she was on her way to Siren. She desperately wanted to see Youko. Surely Youko could stop her from being such a weak, wimpy coward, right? Maybe a little tetrodotoxin would make her stronger.
“Hi there!”
As she walked in, she found the blue-ringed octopus—er, Youko—bent down with her head in the dumbwaiter.
“Youko-chan?”
“Shhhh!”
Was she…eavesdropping on the customers seated on the second floor…?
Just then, a crowd of about ten young adults filed noisily down the stairs.
“And that’s where we’ll shoot ’em out.”
“Oh gosh, that sounds fun! I’ve never done this before!”
“It’s gonna be hella loud, so don’t freak. Seriously, you’ll go deaf.”
“Eeee, I can’t wait!”
Hinako didn’t want to be judgmental, but the group looked like a bunch of stereotypical club-hoppers, from the guy with shaggy hair and a goatee, to the gyaru girls wearing yukatas and thick makeup, to the guys with full sleeves of tattoos. They left the café, taking their ceaseless chatter with them.
“Hey, boss! I’m leaving early today!” Youko called, pulling her apron off and setting it on the counter with her empty tray. Then she took off.
“Youko-chan?!” Confused, Hinako ran after her.
“Remember the fire that broke out at that one construction site?” Youko asked as she used her phone’s front-facing camera to discreetly look behind her. She and Hinako were sitting at the front of the bus while the club-hoppers were seated at the back.
“Yeah, of course. I was living right there at the apartment complex next door.”
“What? You were?” Youko looked at her in surprise. Then her eyes narrowed. “Well, apparently these people were behind it.”
“What?!”
“And now they’re talking about doing it again. At the abandoned OST building.”
“The place with the world’s biggest Christmas tree?”
The Ocean Shopping Town, or OST for short, was a twenty-story convention center that had closed down many years ago. Youko explained what she’d overheard through the dumbwaiter: In light of their failure last time around, this time the kids had brought a licensed pyrotechnician to help them shoot fireworks from the top of the building, like a Yanshuei festival. During their previous attempt, their ringleader had been arrested, but the goatee guy had gotten away.
“It’s all thanks to my brilliant escape that we get to try again this year,” he boasted to his buddies, “so I’d appreciate a little recognition. Bow to me, losers!”
“It’s no use… Wasabi’s not picking up,” Youko sighed, staring up at the roof of the bus as she lowered her phone to her lap. “They’re literally planning a crime. They’re going to trespass again!”