Vol 1 Chapter 2 (1/2)

Chapter 2: Alarm Bells

A ed doctor came out of the hospital roo, thanks to the ave her But you” The doctor asked frankly, with a dubious expression on his face, “You said that she was enveloped in flames, but I see no traces at all of burns either on her body or on her clothes Perhaps youelse?”

Perhaps you mistook it?

The doctor’s words from yesterday echoed in his ears

Takaya pondered, uely at the lines of mathematical formulas lined up on the blackboard

Eventually the girl had fainted, and an aone ho at all

He had not come to school today either When he’d called Yuzuru’s house, he’d been told that Yuzuru had been feeling unwell since last night and was probably sleeping

That firehadn’t it been the fire that Yuzuru had told him about?

“Perhaps you mistook it?”

No, he hadn’t He’d seen it with his own eyes—the purple blaze that had engulfed the girl

(Nothing burned in the flames It didn’t leave any traces It wasn’t hot)

Then why had so like that happened so suddenly?

There was one thing more that worried him: Yuzuru’s reaction Yuzuru appeared to have also seen the flairl Even if that wasn’t the case, so inexplicable had happened to his body

Yuzuru’s dream

Purple flairl

(Was there so?)

The bells rang for the end of Fourth Period

“Hey, wait! I said wait, Ougi-kun!”

He turned at the school entrance to the sound of so down the corridor after hiuessed, belonged to a classmate, Morino Saori

“I heard you earlier What do you want?”

“Why didn’t you stop if you heard me, you lunkhead!” 1

“I’ duty today”

“No!” Her glossy bobbed hair swinging, the shorter Saori looked up at Takaya ”No, that’s not itstop that, you!

“What?” Takaya narrowed an eye “What did I do?”

“In class you keep glaring at the blackboard—you’re scaring Yoshi+kawa-sensei half to death! Are you looking for a fight or so?”

“the hell?”

He’d been thrown together with this girl with her childish-see moon face at last year’s committee for the athletic festival, and ever since then she’d beco hiuments with hih that it didn’t takeat—in other words, Takaya was a et closer to Yuzuru

“Are you going to Narita-kun’s house now?”

A strange power lay confined in her when it caood friend Her

“Nope”

“So what’s wrong with Narita-kun? Is he really skipping school?”

“Look”

Saori crossed both ararded Takaya

“I know all about it You skipped class yesterday to go looking for him, didn’t you?”

“Oh? How did you know?”

“Because my mo with Narita-kun”

“ How does your mom knoe look like, anyway?”

“Shethe athletic festival, reyou once is enough to leave an iet”

“Who’re you calling a savage?”

“Anyway, is there anything the matter with Narita-kun? He’s not sick, is he? Is there so him? Or”

“”

He looked at Saori for a little while without replying She deliberatelyno choice, Takaya replied, “He’s home sick today”

“Ho like that?”

“ I dunno, but he’s at ho”

“Really? Then he’ll be okay to proper notes for him?”

“You know—” Takaya scowled moodily “Sorry, but I’o visit him yourself?”

“No—no way! I can’t do that! But it would make me really happy”

“Ahright”

“What ‘ah, right!’ Then where are you going, Ougi-kun?”

“Hospital”

“you’re not co, are you?”

“Where’d you get that idea? I’h I have no idea who she is”

“What do you mean?”

“None of your business See ya”

“Oh, wait!”

She threw her arms around his arm He turned, startled

“What now? Look—”

“I’ with you to the hospital, so” Saori so visit Narita-kun afterwards, okay?”

The door opened quietly with a dull, heavy sound

The girl was sitting up in her bed

“”

Seeing her, Saori made a small sound behind Takaya

“Ahno way You’re joking Is she your girlfriend?”

“I told you it’s someone I don’t know, didn’t I?”

“What’s with that? Then who is she?”

“You’re so noisy Shut up for a bit”

“It would see”

At the words of the doctor nearby, Takaya’s eyes—no, Saori’s, too—widened

“Huh?”

The girl on the bed, wearing so like a water-hued robe, sat with a blank expression on her face

“What do you mean?”

“That she recalls nothing Not even her name or where she came from”

“Then, um, she has amnesia?”

“I suppose you could call it that We’ve tried talking to her, but she’s been in that nearly comatose state She’ll be back to normal in a little while”

“Then—”

“We can’t say anything iven her a more detailed examination But I think, since we don’t know her identity at this point”

The doctor picked up a light pink handkerchief which had been lying on the nightstand and showed it to them “Yuiko” had been embroidered on one corner in white thread

“‘Yuiko’?”

“I don’t know if it’s her na at all to do with her, but it’s the only thing we’ve been able to find She wasn’t carrying a wallet or anything else And she’s wearing a uniforhborhood, so—”

He crossed his arazed at the words on the handkerchief the doctor had handed him Then he said tentatively, “Yuikosan?”

Then—

The girl who until then had been sitting there so blankly widened her eyes a little as if in response to his voice “Ah,” everyone thought, as the girl looked up at them quietly

“”

When she caught sight of Takaya, a gentle animation revived in her expression

“You are the one from yesterday”

It was the first time she had spoken It seemed that she had coirl’s face

“Do you remember no do you feel?”

“Yes Yes, I’m fine I feel fine physically, but”

Her expression as she responded was perfectly natural, and her appearance was that of an ordinary young wo his voice calm with an effort, Takaya spoke

“You don’tre?”

“I’m sorry But I heard that you saved me yesterday I must have—”

“You were engulfed in fire”

The girl startled badly, her face stiffening

“You’re still going on about!”

“My friend and I both saw it You suddenly burst into flames—you were entirely enveloped by the fire Who are you? What the hell was that purple-colored fire!”

The girl clutched at her head with both hands

“Stop it Don’t say it I’m scared II’m afraid of that!”

“‘That’—what is it?! Are you talking about the fire? Or!”

“It’s not me! It’s not! It’s not!”

“What are you talking about! Explain it to me!”

“You!” The doctor held hirip The girl cowered on the bed

“What the hell, o of me!”

“Please don’t agitate the patient You’re only disturbing her Beyond this is—”

“She knows so! I have to ask her! No matter what!”

“Ougi-kun!”

Saori grabbed the tail of his blazer and looked up at him

“I don’t know h for today I feel sorry for her!”

“You feel sorry for her!”

The hly intimidated, hunched her thin, tense shoulders

“Ougi-kun”

Takaya barely ed to control himself

“Doctor”

“?”

“I’ll leave her to youplease take care of her”

“Ah? Ah, yes”

“Wait up, Ougi-kun”

Lowering his head in apology, Takaya quickly stepped out of the room

BAM!

He suddenly, violently struck the corridor ith his fist Takaya glared at the wall as if it were so

“What are you so irritated about?”

“ I’m not irritated”

“You are What’s wrong? You’re being strange, Ougi-kun Why are you so mad about?”

“”

“What happened? Who is that person? What kind of a person is she?”

“I don’t knoanted her to tell me”

A sound of pain escaped hiether

(It’s happening again What in the world is she?)

Soe inside his body

A jarring sense of slowly-approaching disaster like the sound of alarm bells He had felt it ever since he’d met Yuiko

A burning in his chest!

“damn her! What is this!”

“Wait, Ougi-kun!”

“What! What do you want to say!”

Though she was completely confused by Takaya’s fury, Saori put her life on the line to pacify him

“Cali-kun! Explain it to me Calm down and explain it to me, okay?”

“Morino”

“You need to be level-headed about this; otherwise you’re going to ht? So—”

Takaya stared at Saori for a moment, but finally closed his eyes and exhaled slowly

“all right”

“Please take care of the house,” his oing to the theater with sohborhood

Yuzuru was sitting in bed in a sweatshi+rt with his feet sticking straight out He put down the h and stared at the fractured light coh the half-open blinds

Fro into teeth Yuzuru’s father had opened a dental office, and as the only child he was of course expected to inherit the practice But after four days of absence fro the successor to the Narita Dental Office at all

(What on earth could it be?)

He hadn’t slept since yesterday

He was afraid of falling asleep He’d probably end up with that drea to bed altogether

And—that girl—

Yuzuru cowered on the bed with his arms wrapped around his knees

(I don’t understand anything)

What was happening? Around hi revolving around him—that was all he knew

That battleground scene in his dreairl from yesterday

(Whowas that?)

A girl he didn’t know But when he thought back, a curious e painfully in his chest Almost as if she reminded him of someone he had parted from in the distant past That was it

(As if I’ve missed her dearly—)

This feeling Why did he feel like that?

(I want to see her again), he thought

If he did, he could probably ascertain that feeling But at the same time

He should absolutely not ht as well

(Soe It doesn’t seem like it’s me)

Corpses stretched out on the reddish-purple ground holding out one clinging hand after another