3:34 P.M.

3:34 P.M.

 

The announcement made it clear the Moon Temple shutdown was a premeditated crime in progress.

“Is Teratsuki Kyoichiro really dead?”

The police were getting serious now, and flooding former MCE staff with questions.

“W-we had a funeral for him!”

“And I’m asking for the truth! Did you verify the body was his?”

“W-we cremated it! But…there’s a death certificate from the hospital somewhere, I’m sure.”

“Where, exactly?”

“Er, um… who was in charge of that, again?”

The staff weren’t able to provide anything definitive.

The riot police were here, trying to force their way into the Moon Temple, but as the announcement had warned with such confidence, they had not been able to open the doors. Normally, they’d just smash in a window, but this building didn’t have any.

“Can we take a helicopter and get in through the roof?”

“Not with this wind and rain. And there’s no heliport.”

“Shit, what else is there?”

What was Teratsuki Kyoichiro trying to accomplish by locking everyone in? Typical reasons like ransom or the release of political prisoners weren’t exactly his MO, and he’d said nothing about either. With his goal unclear, the police couldn’t approach the problem by working the motive.

And the press was catching wind of this, and flooding to the scene.

“What’s going on? Are the hostages safe?”

“How are the police classifying this incident?”

“MCE workers, over here! Talk to us!”

“Who’s responsible, here?”

“Were adequate safety checks done beforehand?”

“People are saying you were slow to respond!”

“Say something!”

Shut up, already!

“What are they doing?” I muttered. I couldn’t see any of this getting us anywhere.

The riot police had the building cordoned off, so I couldn’t get that close to the Moon Temple anymore, but I hadn’t given up yet. Touka was in there, and I had to get her out somehow.

Maybe she didn’t need my help, but I wasn’t gonna let that stop me.

“Damn it, Touka!”

“You called?” a voice said, behind me.

Surprised, I turned around…and Touka was standing there.

“Hunh…?” I gaped at her. “M-Miyashita…why are you here?”

My head was spinning. For Christ’s sake. Had I convinced myself she was in there, when she never was?

But… but was that true?

“I could ask you the same thing, Senpai,” she said, grinning.

“W-well, I…”

“Enough standing around. I say we go inside! To the Moon Temple!”

“Hunh…?”

She smiled at me, and realization dawned.

Touka wasn’t holding an umbrella. Despite the rain. But she wasn’t the least bit wet.

Looking closer, there was a strange lack of light in her eyes.

“Wh-who are you?!”

“You want in so bad, I know just how to get you there, Senpai,” said the thing with Touka’s face.

“Wh-what?”

“Come with me.”

It started walking. I hastily followed.

We went right towards the riot police.

“Um…” I said, certain they’d grab us. But it took my hand and pulled me along.

I’d held Touka’s hand before, any number of times, but for some reason this flustered me.

We went right through the crowd of cops—all of them on high alert, yet not one of them saw us moving past them.

“Wh-what’s going on…?
“Their reality and ours are slightly out of sync,” it said.

I had no idea what that meant.

We reached the wall of the Moon Temple.

But there was nothing there.

“…? Um, what now?” I said, looking around.

It reached out and touched the wall. And the wall opened up.

“Wh-what the…?”

Magic? I thought, but it explained itself calmly.

“Nothing special. Just an emergency exit. Designed to blend in perfectly with the exterior, the seams hidden in the pattern on the walls.”

“………” I stared in shock. “It…it wasn’t locked?”

When this whole thing started, all the shutters had slammed down.

“He broke the lock before this started. So this door has been wide open the whole time. But because of the sync issues, nobody noticed.”

“………”

While I was still processing this, it stepped inside.

I was about to follow when Touka’s head popped back out the door.

“Hey, Senpai.”

“Wh-what?”

“Please…catch me!”

She gave a mischievous wink, and ducked back in.

“W-wait…!”

I stepped in after it, but it was already gone.

I swallowed, and stared into the dimly lit corridors.

It was slanted upwards, like a staircase.

Guess I’m going up.

I made up my mind, and moved into the Moon Temple.