Chapter 3: A comedy show that forces happiness when one really wants to cry

■CHANNEL21■

Kousuke looked like he would fall into the blacked out monitor, he was hitting it so hard. Scared, I called out to him.

“Kousuke,” I gently came up behind Kousuke, who was tilting his head, looking troubled. “What happened?” I asked. “Did that monitor break? Actually, maybe the power is out— it seems like the park is nearing closing time. Maybe they just cut off the power, so the monitors turned off?” Mixing in a little self-deprecation, I continued to speak. “You’re new at this, aren’t you? Move aside. I run an electronics store, and I’ve watched dad repair lots of TVs. I’m more familiar with electronics than you, too. I might be able to fix it, maybe?”

“You’re no expert,” he retorted, “all you do is work the counter.” Kousuke continued to mess around with the cable connecting his smartbug to the monitor, his embarrassment obvious, while refusing to turn around. He didn’t like that I had tried to act important.

There was no particular change with the smartbug, and it kept emitting a faint glow. I don’t really understand what’s with this smartbug; is it a living thing, or a machine? Because the answer to that isn’t clear, it’s probably better to not assume that common sense applies to it. The lights in this control room still work, I realized. That means that it isn’t a problem with the electricity.

Although, whether or not this dimension would have a proper electrical system, one that actually made sense, is unclear. On the other hand, if this park didn’t run on electricity, I wouldn’t even be able to imagine what it does run on.

Wait, the lights have also started flickering on and off. Looking up at the ceiling, there were several naked light bulbs lined up, and they were turning on and off at even intervals. It didn’t seem like they were reaching the end of their lifespan and going out; this was more proof that there was a problem with the electrical supply.

“That’s weird... Actually, what the hell was that video, anyway? That was Kagamimori, wasn’t it? Why did she seem so much like an idol...?” It seemed like Kousuke is trying to change the subject.

He’s flustered because of some unexpected technical difficulties, even though he was full of confidence when he showed off this control room, and bragged about his smartbug. It’s not like this would be the thing to make me disappointed in him, after all this time... I already knew that my childhood friend was a klutz and a bit of an idiot, after all.

He was cute being all flustered, so I couldn’t help but put on a wide smirk. Kousuke, who saw my smile, looked unhappy as he started fidgeting hard with his legs while he was sitting on the floor.

“No matter how unfazed Kagamimori could be, there’s no way she would start a karaoke session in this situation...” he commented. “But we only happened to see the video feed just now, so it’s not like someone could’ve staged it. I guess that girl does have a side of her that just can’t read the room, in a sense.”

“I don’t think there’s any need for her to read a room, she’s a princess,” I retorted. “Come on, Kousuke, get out of the way. I’ll fix it. ’Hello, nice to meet you, I’m from Denkiya,’ remember?”

“I don’t remember asking for repairs or even calling you over,” he said stiffly. I calmed down after seeing Kousuke get a little offended. Kousuke hasn’t asked for my help, as an employee of an electronics store, in all the time I’ve known him. But really, even though I’ve managed to learn by watching my parents, I’m still just the daughter in a family that runs an electronics store. I’d be in trouble if he actually asked me to help.

At school, I was often asked things like, “X thing is acting funny, can you take a look?” or, “Can you get me some batteries or light bulbs?” It was like a greeting. Getting asked these things was natural.

At school, I was just the daughter of a family that owned an electronics store. I’m also partially at fault because I would play along, thinking it easier for people to remember if I introduced myself this way. There weren’t many people who would call me ‘Hitomi,’ as if we were close, although that was because I had spent my days letting life pass me by without getting too involved with anyone.

But Kousuke probably has no business with ‘Denkiya.’ He would always be the one to drag me out into the outside world, which was filled with light in comparison to my dark store, where it seemed like time had stopped sometime during the Showa era. That was in the past, but I can’t break myself from the habit even now. Some of it still remains in me, and that made me happy.

Even now, Kousuke still seemed like he’d smell of that field in which we used to run around as children... I bring my face closer. There was nothing but the choking greasy smell of tobacco; it was a little disappointing. Wait, I realized, I don’t only smell tobacco.

“Hey Kousuke,” I asked him, “don’t you smell something weird?”

“Hm? really? Isn’t it just tobacco— wait...it’s you, isn’t it?” he accused. “You stink.”

“I don’t stink,” I objected. “I just took a shower... This might be bad.”

I felt a familiar bad premonition, so I went over to the rusted ladder on the side of the wall and placed my hand on it. There was a set of double doors at the top of this ladder which led to the surface, and the outside. I thought I could smell something unpleasant leaking through the gap in those doors. It was a smell I was already used to, that I just now got a whiff of again: the smell of something burning. Fearfully, I started to climb the ladder.

Noticing my actions, Kousuke looked suspiciously at me. “Oi, what happened?”

“Don’t look this way, idiot,” I shot back at him. “I’m wearing a skirt, and I don’t want you staring at my panties.”

“You didn’t need to call me an idiot,” he grumbled. “Why are girls so annoying?”

“Guys are the ones who should care more. ...Woah, this is bad! There really is a fire up here!” Opening the double doors at the top and peeking outside a little, I panicked. I’m just exhausted. Rather than feeling scared or surprised, I’ve built up so much stress and frustration that I can’t take it any more.

The surface was a sea of fire. There was smoke everywhere, obscuring my vision. The merry-go-round, located on top of the control room, was on fire. Under all that paint, the headless horses were apparently all made out of wood, and all of them had become large balls of fire. There was something floating in the air that was burnt to a crisp, and decorations that had melted from the heat were falling down.

At some point without me noticing, the area above the control room— where I was rekindling an old friendship with my childhood friend in peace, separated by only a thin layer— had become a burning hell. This was no time to be spacing out, thinking things like, ‘What’s going on?’ Sparks danced, and the fire was spreading towards me, along with a blast of burning wind.

“Hya?!” I squawked in surprise. The oxygen enclosed in the control room, which was almost completely airtight, was now released out into the blaze that was happening outside— and the fire leapt in. A violent fire swirled in the underground room, and I was lucky just to have not been instantly burnt black.

I was simply blown back off the ladder by the burning wind and fell down, managing to get away with my skin being only slightly roasted. “Wh-whoah,” I stuttered, having been immensely startled.

It’s hot and it hurt, and I wanted to cry. Like a baby who’s been slapped on the cheek, I had no idea what was going on, simply writhing around on the ground in pain. You could also say that I was in so much pain from taking the force of the fall over my entire body, that all I could do was roll around. Luckily, the fall didn’t cause any sprains or break any bones. I just lost all my reason and ability to think as a human.

■CHANNEL22■

Startled, Kousuke ran over to me with rather amazing speed. “You okay, Hitomi?!”

There’s no way I’m alright you idiot! It hurts it’s hot I think I’m gonna die— before I had time to yell those things at him, Kousuke embraced me and lifted me up. He put me under his arm lightly, like a piece of baggage, before scowling up at the surface.

Fire intermittently leapt through the door, like a serpent’s tongue. So as not to get cooked, Kousuke held on to me and took a step back.

“W-what the hell is going on...” he wondered. “A fire? Oh yeah, you were covered in soot, and there was a building on fire. Did it spread?”

“Dunno,” I answered. “This place is a little far from where the fire was... so I don’t think so. K-Kousuke? Can you let me down for a bit?” I asked nicely, and got him to put me down. My skin and my back, which hit the floor when I fell, were throbbing in pain. I thought I would die, but the actual wounds were surprisingly light.

However, this pain was a fairly fresh feeling for someone who spent their days in safety, and it somehow gave me some peace of mind. My senses were gradually being numbed— my thoughts, too. Inside my head, thoughts of ‘I hate this’ were swirling round and round. Why is all this happening? I wondered. Even though I had just been tending to the storefront, bored, like always. Even though I had school tomorrow, even though mom and dad were playing in the city without a care in the world. Tears started coming out, large in both size and number, but they quickly evaporated in the hot wind.

My face isn’t burned, is it? What should I do, if my face is all messed up... I don’t want Kousuke to see me like that. But I don’t have a mirror, and I have no idea what kind of face I’m making right now.

I touch my face over and over again, meaninglessly.

Actually, I might be panicking quite hard, though up until now I’ve been able to accept everything rather calmly, even in this dimension. I was able to avoid taking any damage because it felt like this was all somebody else’s problem. Like it was happening on TV, I felt that I was watching something from far away. Like that, I was suddenly hit with very real pain all over my body.

“Y-you alright, Hitomi?” Repeating his question, Kousuke scrunched up his brow. “This is bad. What the hell is going on? Stuff is falling down all over the place up there, we’ll be buried alive. We need to escape quickly. Can you move, Hitomi? If you can’t, I’ll carry you out.”

“S-sorry,” I apologized weakly. “I don’t think I can. I’m counting on you, Kousuke. I think my hips have given out from the shock.” It’s almost funny how little I can move, like I no longer have any nerves reaching down to my feet. Are people— am I— something that becomes like this when driven into a corner? I felt a little admiration, like it was happening to someone else. I grasped onto Kousuke’s trousers like a lost child. And then I noticed something strange, although it was a little late for that. “Huh? Why are you wearing your school uniform?”

We shouldn’t have had school today. No matter how little interest he has in fashion, no one would put on such a stuffy uniform if they didn’t have to. Kousuke should have been going out shopping with Utena, too.

Now that I think about it, both Utena and Torii were in uniform, too. I feel a little guilty thinking this, but Torii also seems to be like Kousuke as people who don’t really care what they’re wearing... It’s not too farfetched for either of them to be wearing their uniform when it’s not a school day. But if Utena was going out shopping, it seems like she’d dress up.

By the way, when I’m minding the store I usually put on my uniform. Internally, I treat my uniform like work clothes that I don’t mind getting dirty. I was thinking about trivial stuff like that. The order of my thoughts is messed up. In reality, this is no time to be worrying about how people dress. Kousuke probably thinks the same, because a look of wonderment only crossed his face for a moment before he switched gears to find a way to overcome this sudden calamity.

Desperately looking around like a small, cowardly bird, he said: “Oi, Hitomi, we’re gonna douse ourselves in water. Soak a towel and put it over your head, too. After that, we’re gonna run full tilt through the flames. That’s our plan, got it?”

“What? No way,” I objected. “Won’t the flames go out if we wait?”

“I don’t think there’s a fire station here in this dimension, probably,” he guessed. “The fire will probably die out once there’s nothing left to burn, but before that happens we’ll either suffocate or burn to death.”

Smoke sinks because it’s heavier than air. Enough noxious gas has been coming in to make the cigarettes Kousuke smoked earlier seem like nothing. Certainly, if we stayed here all that would be waiting for us is death. I felt miserable for trying to pass things off as someone else’s problem, even in this situation.

I bit my lower lip. I don’t think I’ll be able to wait for someone to do this for me. Not in this awful alternate dimension where crazy things and abnormal situations keep happening, one after the other.

Kousuke’s panicking, too, judging from how he picked me up rather forcefully. He’s strong; I can tell from his arms that he really has become a man. He’s able to completely engulf the powerless me, like I’m a baby bird. I cling to him. The fear is getting to me now, and I’ve started to tremble like a leaf in the wind.

Right in front of me is the end, death. Staring straight at it, I was scared to the bottom of my heart.

“There’s still water, right? I’m counting on you...” Stepping into the small shower, Kousuke turned the tap while praying. Instantly, a fierce torrent of warm water poured down over us. It soaked our entire bodies.

It looks like the monitors turning off and the lights flickering were all caused by the electrical lines— or whatever they use to carry electricity— burning away and becoming useless. But apparently, the pipes are still okay. This was very lucky for us, and the hot water poured out without stopping. We soaked ourselves in it. And, just like Kousuke said earlier, we gathered as many towels as we could and soaked those, too. In the midst of all that lukewarm water, I stared at the towels in a daze. “Kousuke. T-thanks.”

“Why are you thanking me? We haven’t even started getting out of this predicament yet,” Kousuke spat out, annoyed. He started to put on the wet towels, starting from his head. I did the same, carefully, like it was a treasure. My apron was heavy with the water it absorbed. It was a bit embarrassing because my uniform became a bit see-through.

“Aww damn... This smartbug won’t break in the water, will it? It’s living, so rather than breaking maybe I should say dying? I went through so much trouble to pick it up, too.” Kousuke was also worrying about relatively trivial things. Who cares about the life or death of a bug right now? We’re on the brink ourselves.

“Nngguu—” Swallowing my saliva, I shut my eyes tight. Not because I was scared, but because some of the water from the shower fell into my eye. I closed my eyes reflexively, and it seemed like I’d inadvertently pass out right there.

I was mysteriously calm. Kousuke was shouldering my share of fear, too. I was like a baby. Holding onto my useless self, Kousuke jumped out of the shower with all his might. From here on out, it was a match against time. Either we break through the fire before the water dries out, or we burn to death. But, for some reason, Kousuke stopped as soon as he put his hand on the ladder. He was dumbfounded.

■CHANNEL23■

“Wha—?!” Hearing Kousuke as he let out a weird sound, I wondered what was going on and opened my eyes.

The double doors that led to the surface, in which a fire was wildly raging: looking up at them, it looked like a panel cut out of some manga.

Finally, the lightbulbs lost their energy, and the control room became dim. Only the fire raging outside seemed awfully bright.

The mostly beautiful scene of fire was suddenly obstructed, and our surroundings were enclosed in darkness. It was dark enough that I couldn’t see at all.

Something was looking in at us: at Kousuke and I, who were fighting desperately to stay alive.

Past the square-cut door, someone was lying down on the surface, and looking down on us, resting her chin in her palm.

“TV girl.” Quietly, her name spilled out of my mouth.

Right over there was that incomprehensible existence that I’d met right after arriving in this place, in the same merry-go-round that was above us. It seemed like a little girl, but her head was a TV; she had way too many arms, and, somehow, she wore the same high school uniform that we did.

Currently, she’s looking down at us like she’s seen something rare and curious. There’s a huge fire raging about all around her, but she doesn’t seem to care at all.

The TV girl’s black screen displayed that same strange sideways emoji. It was laughing, even in this situation.

“W-what is that thing...? You called her... ‘TV girl?’” Kousuke was understandably daunted, but I didn’t have the answer to his question. ‘A strange lifeform that I saw earlier’ doesn’t mean anything, after all.

“No, I’m just calling her that. It looks like she isn’t human... B-but why is she here?”

“Hmm, so she’s kind of like the smartbug? They show up occasionally, monsters like this— ones that aren’t like normal animals. This is the first one I’ve seen in the shape of a human, though.” Kousuke muttered something under his breath before remembering the situation we were in and climbing the ladder once more.

Right now, we need to put making it out of here alive before anything else, but the TV girl is camped out on the only exit out of this control room. I don’t think she’ll attack us— she doesn’t seem to have that much interest in us— but she is physically in the way. While she’s still there, we can’t get out.

At the very least, I tried calling out to her. “Excuse me! Can you please move?!”

“Does that thing understand words?” Kousuke asked something very appropriate. The TV girl is still unresponsive— words probably don’t work on her— but there’s nothing else I can do.

It probably wasn’t the TV girl following my words, but... As if she simply didn’t like that we were getting closer to her, she moved back slightly as we approached. Taking advantage of that small gap, Kousuke started climbing the ladder with me still under his arm.

He’s pretty dextrous, because I’m just dead weight here. But I can’t say, “Don’t treat me like a child. I’ll climb the ladder myself,” after I let myself be carried all this time. Plus, even if I did so I’d only get in Kousuke’s way, too. It’s pretty pleasant being carried, I thought, and we leapt onto the surface in the blink of an eye.

Our surroundings were awash with fire. The headless horses were almost completely burnt up, looking like pitch-black monsters that had donned a cloak of flame. The surrounding fires made it so hot that the water in my eyes evaporated in a moment, making it hard to see. I coughed, and gasped for air.

“Umm—” For a moment, it seemed as if Kousuke didn’t know which way to run. The hot, burning wind mercilessly evaporated the water which soaked our clothes and the towels on our heads, taking away our lifelines, and every second, death came closer.

If we just hurry up and break out of the fire wherever, though, everything should be fine, but the situation just isn’t that simple. We can’t see the ground too well... If we were to trip on something, there’s no way we would be able to recover. There’s no choice but to carefully pick out the route with the highest chance of success.

“Oh...?” With a surprised look, Kousuke looked off in a direction. I followed his gaze.

At the end of it, the TV girl was leisurely walking around. Even though she, herself, was a very mysterious being, her actions were ones that I was very used to seeing— those of a normal girl.

Girls of my age, when we group up, tend to party and get noisy like we’re setting off fireworks. But when we’re alone, we tend to walk briskly without a word, like we’ve got too much time on our hands. We would always be quickly moving— from a dark and quiet, or boring, place, to places which were always lively.

“Oh, it’s her. Hey~! Where are you going?!” Kousuke called out to her, but the TV girl ignored him and kept walking with haste, without even looking back. It’s not like she was trying to lead us somewhere... It might just be a coincidence, but the fire seemed to be afraid of the TV girl, as it seemed to be trying to keep its distance, but only around her.

So, our safest route was wherever she was walking. Kousuke must have reached the same conclusion, because he haughtily said, “It’ll be bad if you breathe in too much smoke, so keep your mouth shut.” Right after, he dashed over in her direction. His strides were very long, and he quickly overtook the TV girl.

The girl herself didn’t mind us, and kept walking at her own pace. She was about my height, so compared to the fairly tall Kousuke, she seemed quite weak. She was a small girl. From Kousuke’s point of view, I probably seem this small, too.

Her screen was no longer displaying that sideways emoji. Instead, on the TV girl’s black screen, my own face was reflected like a mirror. Surprised, I opened my eyes wide enough to be circles. I felt an unusual sense of discomfort, like I was staring down my doppelganger, but that was only for an instant.

Kousuke made a beeline out of the fire without caring about the TV girl, just as she didn’t seem to care about us. He probably plans to keep running at this speed until we’ve reached somewhere safe, I thought. Carrying me like precious cargo, he looked just a little bit like the heroes he so admired as we escaped from that catastrophe.

Meanwhile, I had my eyes glued to the TV girl. She caressed her own face— or screen, which had turned black, with her fingertips. Static ran across the screen, and it put on a wide, open pair of eyes that looked very much like a living being’s.

Our eyes met. No, I thought, maybe those are only my eyes reflected on her screen?

Quickly, there was a lot of distance put between us, and I lost sight of her among the smoke and flames.

■CHANNEL24■

Apparently, this small building that we were in was a gift shop.

I hadn’t known that there was such a normal thing for an amusement park to have here, in this strange dimension, until I had heard so from Kousuke. That being said, there was nothing here that stimulated my greed, and nothing that I would actually give money to own.

The store stocked weirdly shaped sticks; old clothes; cans and bottles of stuff whose seals may or may not have been broken (the labels were so messed up I couldn’t even tell if they were in a foreign language or not); rocks of all sizes; some ceramics that resembled the empty husk of a bug or something, and wrinkled books that must have been hit by rainwater, all crammed tightly within the store.

It was more like a garbage dump, rather than a gift shop. It reminds me of the secret base I made with Kousuke, a long time ago. What we thought of as treasures back then— stuff like sparkling bottle fragments and smooth round stones— no longer held any interest to us today. The junk in this place seemed weirdly organized, for some reason.

There’s nothing approaching a store clerk in this place, and we were something like intruders that had broke in after hours, so it wasn’t very comfortable here. But I couldn’t complain, I couldn’t be selfish. No one would protect me, not in this place. I’m just thankful that I could sit and rest safely.

After the mystery fire at the merry-go-round, I was carried by Kousuke for a while before starting to feel a little embarrassed, so I had him put me down and ran the rest of the way. I ran all the way here, lost in my survival instincts, so I didn’t know where in the amusement park this was.

We ran for our lives, but for all our efforts, we were still close enough to see the merry-go-round burning in the distance. Did the TV girl manage to get away safely? I wondered. For some reason, I was a little worried. I empathized with her, even though I knew she wasn’t me, and that it was just my face reflected on her screen.

“Hah, Haaaahhhh...” Breathing heavily, I dropped onto the floor with my legs splayed out, not caring about any potential embarrassment or the hits to my reputation I might be taking. I was still feeling the aftermath of the fire, and running away was good exercise, too, so I was running very hot at the moment. Both my hair and my uniform were once again covered in soot; my whole body was just a mess, and my shower had totally gone to waste.

I ran like I was really gonna die. Kousuke was probably even more tired than I was— he did carry me halfway here. He moved a bunch of souvenirs that were taking up most of the window to stare outside, being cautious, and not allowing any gaps to show.

Well, if there were to be another fire, that would be awful. Things that happen twice happen thrice, and I’ve already been in two fires since I’ve come to this alternate dimension. There’s probably going to be another.

“Kousuke,” I said. He’s clearly in better shape than I am. Kousuke already had his regular breathing back when I called out to him, but he still didn’t move a muscle in response. Like a wild animal, he wouldn’t waste even a single drop of energy, in order to live.

I had thought I was one of those animals too, though. I had been letting the days pass by aimlessly, but I wasn’t really living. I just wasn’t dead, much like an appliance that only worked when you plugged it in. That’s why I didn’t really want to die.

“Hey, Kousuke,” I said again. He didn’t reply or even respond to me, as if he had become one of the souvenirs lining the walls... Scared, I repeated myself.

“Oh good, you’re alive,” said Kousuke. I thought he was worried about me, and that made me happy. But when I saw that he was playing with the smartbug in his hands, I instantly flipped over to disappointed. “I got you wet,” he said to the bug in his hands, “so for a moment there I thought you were gone.”

Worry about me more than your stupid bug, I wanted to say, but even I thought that sounded spoiled. After all, if Kousuke hadn’t been around, I wouldn’t have been able to get out of the fire, and would have burned to death. Well, if he hadn’t been there I wouldn’t have been invited into the control room in the first place— and I feel like I would have avoided ever being in that terrible situation. Well, whatever I say, it was a problem for later.

I got up, and looked around at the souvenirs in the shop: a broken alarm clock, a bird’s corpse that looked like a dove, and ugly stuffed toys.

“What, do you want something?” he asked. I pouted a bit at that, because it sounded like he was implying the words, ‘Girls sure do love to shop.’

I’m not Utena, I thought, and I’d like it if you considered me to be my own person.

Those were the weird sorts of thoughts that ran through my head. I still haven’t got my calm back, although I’m only just riding on the echoes of my earlier panic.

“Well, my clothes are ruined so I was hoping I could find something to change into,” I answered him. I’m not sure if it’s good luck or bad, but my apron survived with only a slight singeing. Probably because when I was being carried by Kousuke, my entire front, including my apron, was pressed into him. In return, though, my back was probably something awful to look at, and my uniform is in a tragic state. I’ve come out ahead just by being alive, though.

Taking off my bandana, I noted that it wasn’t that dirty; in that case, my hair was probably fine, too. I was just a bit proud of my glossy black hair.

“You’re also incredibly dirty right now,” I pointed out, “so if you find something to change into, you probably should.”

“Sure,” he said. “That’s why we came to this gift shop in the first place. Make sure you pick up anything we might need, although there’s not a lot of hope for that in here.” Kousuke was sitting on the floor again, messing around with the smartbug.

“If we walk a little more, there’s other places similar to the control room from before,” he continued. “We can take another shower there, though I don’t really want to be underground for a while now.”

“Agreed,” I told him. “What the hell was that anyway— that fire?” To think I’d keep getting put into fires, one after the other, when a normal person would probably never even see one. Am I just destined to have anywhere I’m staying at spontaneously light up if I hang around for too long? I started to think that there were such game-like rules in place here.

Thinking meaningless thoughts, I continued to rummage around in the store’s stock. I found what looked like old clothes, so I picked them up. I’d be happy if they were cute ones, I thought. The colorful kind.

■CHANNEL25■

I was startled. “This— hey, Kousuke?”

“Those are uniforms, aren’t they?” Kousuke asked in a deadpan voice, and it was just as he pointed out. The clothes that I randomly picked up were uniforms from my school. All of them are the same— all the clothes, neatly folded up here were uniforms, for both men and women. They even had shoes and the associated bags.

And all of them were old and worn. Although it was still better than the set I was wearing now, which was full of soot... It felt like I was about to wear someone’s hand-me-downs, and that made me hesitate to put my arm through the sleeve.

“For some reason, all the clothes here are uniforms.” Kousuke said. “I’ve also changed several times. Aren’t Kagamimori and Torii-san the same? You didn’t know, did you?”

Even if you talk about it like it’s common sense, there’s no way I would’ve known, I thought pointedly. But, well, I had finally received an answer for one of the questions I had earlier; this was the reason why those two were wearing uniforms, without it even being a school day.

The clothes in this amusement park were all school uniforms. Utena must have had similar circumstances as well, dirtying her clothes and complaining about it before actually finding a gift shop and changing into a uniform.

I have no way to confirm this, and it’s relatively trivial information. Why my school’s uniform is stocked in this amusement park’s gift shop is a mystery; that place is neither famous nor popular. I’m starting to not even question why these things happen.

My senses are being dulled. I have a feeling that there’s some important implication folded into this, though. “Kousuke, go change,” I told him. “I’ll do the same— Oh, this one seems good.” Picking up a random uniform, I check its size: as if I had it custom ordered, it fits me perfectly. Well, it’s not like uniforms have that many size differences in the first place.

On a whim, I picked up a pair of men’s uniform trousers and compared it to my own waist. Wow, men’s uniforms are really big! But I’m not really into crossdressing, and it’s so baggy on me that I wouldn’t be able to move well, anyway.

“I’m gonna change, so don’t look this way,” I ordered. “I’ll throw you a change of clothes, too— here.” I picked out a set of clothes that would fit Kousuke, and threw it to him.

Kousuke was focused on his smartbug and paying attention to what was going on outside, so basically, he didn’t react at all. He just wordlessly picked up the clothes I threw at him and started changing, right then and there. Hastily, I averted my eyes and started changing, myself.

“H-hey. Let’s go back to where Utena-san is, at least for now,” I suggested. “Actually, let’s just go link back up with them.” The rustling of our clothes would just sound unbearably loud if we stayed silent, so I tried holding a conversation. “Originally, I meant to just come with you for a bit and then go back... But there was so much to do, and it became late,” I admitted. “There was a fire where we were, so they might be worried.” I had my back turned to Kousuke so I wouldn’t look at him while we were changing, and I ended up kind of talking awkwardly to a wall. There was no reply, so after a while I got anxious, and turned around nervously.

Kousuke had already finished changing, and was back to staring outside; I thought he might have been looking at my reflection in the display window, but Kousuke was clearly looking towards the entrance we’d left open. The fact that he had no interest in me at all was vexing, in and of itself.

Well, fine, there seems to be something strange going on with him, anyway. Back then, I didn’t care about such things— we even got in the bath together. Then I became a woman, and Kousuke has become a man. We have more to keep private, and thus have grown apart.

“Sure, go do that,” he agreed. “Actually, hurry up and get out of this amusement park— this alternate dimension. I’ll still stay behind and look around a bit, though. On the way there, take Kagamimori and the others with you.”

“Just come with us, Kousuke,” I told him. “Well, we still have no idea if going out of one of these exits will even get us back out— or even if it’s possible to escape this dimension at all.”

“That’s true,” he agreed. “We still haven’t made sure of that. I haven’t tried anything, either. Because if it is true and we end up outside, I might not be able to get back in to keep exploring.”

“Well I want to hurry up and go back home...” I disagreed. “You’re real weird, you know that, Kousuke?” Or maybe, he has a reason he doesn’t want to go back? I guess that he just finds it more fun to investigate this amusement park of mysteries more than to return to reality, where he’s worked to the bone as Utena’s servant. I get that feeling; he liked to play adventures when we were young, too.

But I want to hurry up and go home, although I don’t really have a pressing reason why I want to go back to the days spent just being bored while watching the store, and going to school. At the very least, it was safe. I won’t be constantly put in situations where my life is on the line— just that fact alone made daily life feel like heaven. There isn’t anything really stimulating or fun about it, though...I just want to return to ordinary living, where I can go my entire life and not be involved in a single fire. I’m already really sick of it.

I finished changing. My old uniform took up too much space, so I threw it behind the register. Out of habit, though, I still had my apron on, and my bandana, too. Like this, the usual Denkiya Hitomi is complete. No matter how much my surroundings change, I’m still me.

Feeling somewhat relieved, I walked up to Kousuke. “Alright, I’m done. Um, so... Let’s go back to where Utena-san is, yeah?” I suggested.

“Go straight, and then left after you go around the coffee cups,” he instructed.

“You sound like a car GPS,” I told him. “Uhh, coffee cups...oh, you mean the name of the ride. Left there, right? Got it. Okay, let’s go, Kousuke.”

“I told you I’m not going,” he disagreed. “After that fire burns itself out I’m gonna go inspect it. At the very least, I want to find out why there was a fire in the first place. I’d like to avoid getting covered in soot from now on.” It was like Kousuke put down roots while he was sitting. Thinking he was hurt somewhere, I became worried. Or rather, I was a little lonely.

Utena and Torii were wearing the same uniform, but now that I think about it, they were basically complete strangers that I hadn’t had any contact with, up until now. Kousuke and I might have been estranged, but he was still my childhood friend, and I knew what he was like. I felt like there wasn’t much reason to part from Kousuke and go back to Utena and the others.

“What are you doing, Snail?” he asked. “If you’re going, then hurry up and go. Although we should have a way to contact each other, just in case— there’s no telling what might happen, after all. I’ll want to be able to respond if you ever get into a pinch.”

“Wouldn’t it be fine if you just stayed together with us...? If you want to...explore? We can just do it together,” I suggested. “And just send Utena-san and the others back first.” I said it rather unenthusiastically, but inside I was just a little excited. That being said, I wasn’t really that serious about it— Kousuke just made a curious face at me.

“For now, just take this smartbug with you,” he told me. “This thing’s learned my smell or something, so even if it goes somewhere far away it’ll still come back.” Saying that, Kousuke casually forced the creepy thing onto me. I’d rather not touch it, if possible.

“If something happens before you’re able to escape, just let this thing fly,” Kousuke told me one-sidedly. He picked up a nearby notebook, which had a full art cover from an anime nobody knew, along with an overly decorated pen, and handed them to me.

“It’ll be like a carrier pigeon, although it’s a bug,” he admitted. “But with this, we can communicate. If you need me for something, just write it down and tie it to the smartbug. There’ll be a bit of a time lag compared to just using actual smartphones, but it’s better than walking around trying to find you every time. Here, put it in your pocket or something.” He forced the smartbug and the other stuff down my pockets. While letting him do what he wanted, I meaninglessly patted his head a bit hard, like I was grinding it down.

“What the heck are you doing?” he demanded. “It’s annoying, stop touching me so much.”

“...nothing,” I said innocently. “But isn’t this smartbug, or whatever it is, important to you? You said it’s got a lot of functions— is it really okay to be giving it to me?”

“It’s not fine,” he sighed, “but there’s no other way around it, so just take it and go. Kagamimori doesn’t know the meaning of patience, so they might have moved already. Meet up with them properly and go back home.”

“Kousuke, you’ll come back too, won’t you?” I asked, and after enjoying the feel of his hair for a while, I let go of his head. We’re not children anymore, so let’s respect his will, I decided. If he wants to stay behind, let him, as long as he’ll actually come back. Kousuke’s ‘place to return to’ doesn’t even have to be me.

■CHANNEL26■

I left Kousuke at the gift shop, and trudged along by myself.

The amusement park has shut everything off by now. Earlier, the place was lit up bright enough to be somewhat blinding, but now the park has sunk into almost total darkness.

Looking back towards the merry-go-round, the fire seems to have already gone out, so even the brightness of that fire was gone. The place was so quiet I could hear the ringing in my ears, and there was nothing moving, either. There were no park staff, and of course, no customers around. It was like the end of the world, and people had gone extinct. I looked up at the sky and couldn’t see any stars, either. Rather than saying it was a cloudy night, it was more like the stars just didn’t exist.

It was dark, so all the buildings around me looked like ghosts and monsters: there was a roller coaster track that looked like a giant spine, or even a giant centipede. The Ferris wheel looked like a giant eyeball. The castle in the center of the amusement park, which used to be such an obvious presence, was now so wrapped in darkness that I couldn’t see it.

Once again, I was reminded that I was in a very strange space, and wanting to hurry up and leave, I lengthened my stride a little.

I twisted my path around the kind-of-creepy coffee cups, which had lots of rainwater or something built up in them, as I walked. Just as Kousuke had said, from here I was in somewhat more familiar territory: there were the remains of the parliament building that had burnt down. The bench that Utena fell asleep on should be a little bit away from here. Torii should be there, too.

I feel like I’ve been away for a long time, but in reality it should have been only about an hour. Although that, too, was a fairly long time. Whether or not they were worried about me, they would also probably be suspicious of where I had been, and I started thinking up excuses for why I had taken so long.

I had been entrusted with the locations of the exits along with a message, telling us to go home, from Kousuke. I should tell them that, lightly apologize for disappearing for so long, and take everyone in a group towards an exit. And then, this situation that’s been nothing but a bad dream should end. I have no choice but to hope for that outcome.

Now that I think of it, I haven’t seen Kurashima in a very long time— I’m actually worried. I hope he’s alright, although he’s just a stranger I met today. I’ve been visited by several fires; maybe he’s encountered some terrible disasters, too.

Utena seemed to be devoted to Kurashima. It’ll be trouble if she says something like, ‘I won’t leave unless it’s with Yuudai-kun, let’s go look for him.’

“Hm...?” I was late in realizing because I was thinking of nonsense as I walked, and also because it was hard to see in the dark. Although it wasn’t like we had designated the spot as our meeting place, if they hadn’t moved, Utena and Torii should have been on that bench. Near it, there was something large, which smelled raw.

Shivering, I was unable to move: there was a huge living thing, right next to the bench where Utena had fallen asleep. It was probably twice my height, and vertically very long and thin. Its surface had a bright, slimy sheen. A reptile, no, a fish— or no, it’s probably an even lower life form.

It looked like a giant slug. No, it’s more like a sea slug— I had a feeling that there was something just like this living in the ocean. It was clearly different from a land creature; it had a soft sort of fleshiness to it that seemed like it would be weak to force. It really is dark so that I can’t quite tell, but it’s strange how brightly colored the thing is. It would stand out quite a bit in the daytime.

There were little spots on its surface, and they would sometimes open and close. They were like the eyes of a lamprey— but behind such eerie things weren’t eyes, but some sort of screen. Is it similar to the smartbug, or that TV girl?

A mysterious, living thing fused with a screen. An unidentified monster.

It was crawling slowly and slimily over the ground. The trail it left behind consisted of some sort of strange mucus. It didn’t make any cries or noises like an animal, so I was slow to notice. It was, apparently, heading for the bench.

Straining my eyes to look, I saw Utena and Torii still there; it looked like they were both asleep, without a care in the world. Utena was already asleep when I left, but Torii was asleep right next to her, too. She was hugging Utena close, as if to engulf the girl with her large body. Maybe she got sleepy and dozed off while she was waiting for me to return, because I was so late.

The merry-go-round that had been the scene of the fire was pretty close, and it should have made a large amount of noise— I guess they just didn’t notice. They probably fell into a deep sleep because they were so tired from dealing with the consecutively strange situations we were being put in.

The two were cuddled together like parent and child, or at least like sisters. It was a heartwarming sight in one sense, but now was not the time to go soft like that.

“W-what should I do?” Caught up in the moment, I couldn’t move. My first instinct was to dash over to the gift shop again and call Kousuke over, but the distance between us was fairly long. In the meantime, that slimy thing would probably have to time to get over to Utena and Torii. I’ll just have to do something about it myself.

It was already right in front of me, although it was hard to tell which way was the front for that thing.

Just from sight, that thing was repulsive. It made me wonder if it was going to eat Utena and Torii. If that was the case, I had no time to leisurely call for help.

I considered raising my voice to wake them up, but what if the thing reacts badly to loud noises and goes berserk? I don’t want to provoke it anymore than necessary.

Luckily, that weird thing moved slowly. I ran, trying to make as little noise as possible. I’ll get there before it does, and slap them awake. Then I’ll take their hands and run. That’s what I decided to do. If I was to prioritize my own safety, I should run away right now, but I couldn’t just leave them. They were the same age as me, and we went to the same school.

I was neither good nor bad at athletics, but I ran. Luckily, I got to Utena and Torii before the thing displayed any reaction. I was a little out of breath, but I desperately shook them awake.

“Mmm, nn—” Utena woke up first. She spaced out, blinking several times. She got up, but she was still half asleep. Her long, dull brown hair stuck to her cheek. “What...Utena was having a good dream, too.” Rubbing her eyes like an infant, she looked at me dubiously. She can’t remember the situation she’s in, apparently. She moved as if she was clearly bewildered and uneasy. “H-huh? This place— you, uhh, Hitomi? What’s going— Hmm?”

“D-don’t speak too loudly,” I cautioned her. “We need to get away from here, slowly. I’ll explain later. Torii-san, you wake up too.” Whispering to them, I took the still sleeping Torii by the shoulder and shook her. It was going great up until this point, but right afterwards, my entire plan fell apart.

“Kyah—AAAAAAAAAAHHH?!” Utena noticed the slimy thing that was coming right for us, and screamed.

■CHANNEL27■

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.

■CHANNEL28■

“Eh—” On the opposite side of Torii, whose large back had obscured my vision, Utena rounded her eyes in surprise as well.

“Uhmm, what just happened? Where did Torii-san...go...?” I had nothing but questions, but I couldn’t stop so suddenly, and I followed my momentum to reach Utena. Reflexively I picked her up in my arms, and then I looked back.

“Hitomi! Hitomi, right? I can call you that? It’s scary, I’m scared! Save Utena!!” She must have felt willing to cling onto straw at this point, because Utena latched onto me, too. She was just a small girl, younger than me, with a burningly high body temperature. Her face was pitifully stained and messy with tears.

“Hitomi, that! Look, what the heck is that?!” From inside my arms, Utena squeezed out another shout. I fearfully followed her gaze. What’s going on now, on top of everything else? Can’t the world give me a break?

Turning back, the strange creatures had multiplied. This one looked like a giant monkey. It’s still too dark, so I can’t say for sure, but it looked like its entire body was covered in lead-colored fur. It almost looked like an extremely muscular human; a man. But there’s no person this unnaturally large, it’s not a primitive human, either— nobody would have fur, especially not this thick.

The fur looked like it was undulating, and somehow even seemed noble, like a large dog of high pedigree.

Reaching from its chest to its head, there was a long, vertical screen implanted in it. Because of that inexplicable accessory, this monkey-like creature’s silhouette had been warped, as if its upper half had been forcibly caved in by a TV. But it was moving and lively, in a bizarre sort of way. It looked like it was CG, made for a foreign film with a big budget.

Apparently this thing, which had just suddenly appeared, punched Torii aside on the way in, or something similar. Using the momentum from its outstretched fist, it spun around several times. The wind pressure it gave off fluttered my hair.

“Torii-san—” I looked around in the darkness, and found Torii. Just as I thought, she had been punched by the new creature, and she slid and rolled on the ground quite a ways away. Crashing into several lined up mercury lamps, she finally stopped, and didn’t move.

She had collapsed face up. There was so much blood coming out of her face that it made me shiver. Her right arm, which is what the giant monkey’s fist must have impacted, was broken. The bone must have snapped in two— taking such large damage all at once, she must have fainted. No, she might also be dead. I shivered as that thought ran through my head.

Do people die this quickly? No, she’s not dead for sure yet... Scolding my trembling feet, I tried to go over to Torii, but there was something that moved before me.

It was that monkey-creature, which went towards the collapsed Torii without mercy. Compared to the giant slug, its movements were alarmingly agile. It reached Torii before I could blink, and grabbed her in its hand. It raised her high like a spoil of war.

The monkey let out a roar, or a victory cry, that hurt my ears. Was that how a giant monkey sounded? This thing didn’t have anything approaching a mouth. Instead, it had an angry emoji on its screen as it blasted sound like it had speakers.

It was too much for me. I could only stand, confused and staring, unable to comprehend the scene laid out in front of me.

This is bad. I have to move. Torii’s in danger, she’ll be killed— I can only see her being eaten. But I couldn’t move— I was scared and unwilling, and I could only shake in confusion.

Kousuke. The name of my childhood friend passed through my mind, but I couldn’t even call for help.

Right in front of my eyes, I could feel the monkey-thing putting power into its grip. I didn’t want to hear the sound of bones breaking. While bleeding, Torii convulsed unnaturally, before quickly becoming still.

“Stop!” Utena yelled, while scratching at her own cheeks. “Please stop—” It probably wasn’t reacting to Utena’s words, but the monkey creature unceremoniously threw Torii away. Every time she bounced on the ground, fresh blood sprayed.

I think I might just ball up, close my eyes and plug my ears. I could not imagine there was a chance that she’d lived through that. Torii looked like she’d been run over by a car— I couldn’t even confirm her death.

Shadows fell upon our surroundings. Looking up, I saw that the giant slug, which had been closing in on us slowly the entire time, was right behind us. Dripping its disgusting mucus, it wet our skin.

I wasn’t even allowed to be dumbfounded; Utena had already lost her senses crying. So biting my tongue, I grabbed on to her hand and pulled her along. I have no idea how I’m moving, myself— I ran like a broken puppet. I got away from the slug. If we don’t move, we’ll end up like Torii... That fear alone moved my body without speaking, just breathing in and out. Moving my hands and feet, I just ran until, feeling resistance, I pitched forward.

“Torii! Is she dead? No, no more! Why?! What the hell is happening?!” Screaming, Utena tried to head over to Torii. I could just let her go and run away myself, I really did think about doing that, but...I was gripping too hard. Our hands were entwined like glue, and wouldn’t let go.

With no other choice, I ran with her, straight forward, towards Torii.

The giant monkey passed right beside us. For a moment, I felt like I was dead, but it looked like the monkey had set its sights on the giant slug, and it leapt that way instead. In opposition to the roar made by the raging monkey, the slug raised a ghastly cry, like cloth tearing. Too afraid, I couldn’t even bring myself to look that way. I have no idea what’s what— both Utena and I reached Torii’s side together.

Crouching down, I looked at Torii. From up close, she really was in an awful state. She was covered in blood— and that blood completely absorbed the darkness, making her look ominously black. Her broken bones poked through her skin, exposed to the outside. I felt a pulse when I touched her, but I could not imagine she was going to stay that way very long. She didn’t move a muscle.

I got the shivers. Even in this dimension, we’ll probably die if we’re killed.

“Hitomi, please,” Utena begged. “Help me, let’s carry Torii to a doctor— oh, there isn’t one, is there... But we have to get her out of here. At least to somewhere safe, yeah, Hitomi?” Urged on by Utena as she pulled on my clothes, we somehow managed to pick Torii up. I held on to her legs, and Utena had her by the armpits. She was heavier than I thought— but I want to get out of here as soon as possible. I didn’t even have any time to wonder why this happened.

“Let’s go, let’s go! Hurry, to anywhere! I hate it here, Utena hates it here— hey, Hitomi? Are you listening? Put more power into it, please! She’s too heavy for Utena to carry alooone!” Utena’s voice sounded like a broken gramophone. Fixing my grip on her legs, we kept running with our burden. You’re profoundly heavy, Torii, I thought. I want to throw it all away, this ambiguous situation—

The giant monsters are probably still fighting behind us, ignoring whatever we’re doing. I can still hear the unbearable noises they’re making. What the hell is going on? I really don’t understand.

I felt a gaze on me, and looked around. Is someone watching me? I wondered. I’m not sure—

Hey, please, don’t just watch; help me out, here.

■ECHO7■

Sayuri was dreaming a dream of the distant past. This was an unusual thing. Living in the mountains was fairly harsh: working yourself to exhaustion before going home to fall asleep so deeply you didn’t have any dreams was a daily occurrence. Not to mention, Sayuri didn’t even want to remember her past.

It might be because these days she’s been worried about something. Disturbed, she’s running from reality into dreams, even though there’s nowhere to run, both in her dreams and in reality.

“～......♪” It was a memory from a long time ago; more than ten years in the past. That’s why the details were vague and blurry, and it was mixed in with some other memories— it was a very unclear dream.

Sayuri, still in her teens, was in an amusement park. It was the first time in her life she’d been to a place like this, so Sayuri was excited. It was fun and rare and she couldn’t wait, she expressed her high spirits.

She was a girl. That being said, Sayuri was not one to naturally be charming. Unless someone was already quite close to her, they wouldn’t know that she was so giddy. She looked standoffish, with pouting lips, as she sat and fidgeted on one of the many benches placed around the park. Her attitude would usually make one think that she was angry.

“.........♪” She wore baggy clothes that hid the lines of her body, as well as uncute gloves and boots that eschewed all form in favor of function. She also had on a pair of tinted glasses that didn’t suit her, and a knit cap that completely covered her black hair, which was a source of pride for her. As a sign of the season, she had a mask on to defend against the cold weather; it wouldn’t be good if she hurt her throat.

She was clearly trying to disguise herself, but she looked more like a believer in some shady foreign religion. She had little interest in fashion, and thus was similarly indifferent to her own outward appearance.

Sayuri was a heavy smoker in those days, but she was also trying to quit at that moment so she was chewing on some sweet gum to deceive her lonely mouth. She would put in more gum as soon as it lost its flavor, so the ball in her mouth had grown to a fairly considerable size. She was past the point of not being able to speak, and it was getting hard to breathe.

“.........♪” Chewing the gum for a long time had left her jaw tired, so now she was just rolling the gum ball around in her mouth like a piece of hard candy. The flavor ran out, so she reached into her pocket to try and fish out another piece of gum. Her search was not proving to be fruitful. Because of the gloves, she couldn’t feel around accurately for the gum with her fingers. Growing more and more annoyed, her already naturally sharp eyes started to look even more dangerous.

“I’m gonna burn my house down into an ugly black—” A singing voice came into her head unexpectedly, and gave Sayuri a start. Ceasing the search for her gum, Sayuri rubbed at her ear. The English was too hard for Sayuri, who was uneducated in that respect, so she didn’t know what was being said, but she did feel the eeriness. It resembled a scream.

For a while now, Sayuri had been listening to music from a portable CD player in the chest pocket of her overcoat (there was nothing small and fashionable like iPods or smartphones at the time) connected to a pair of earphones in her ears. That was also part of Sayuri’s job.

She didn’t particularly like music or songs, but wearing earphones and making it look like she was socially isolated prevented people from coming up and talking to her. It was a pretty convenient tool for Sayuri, who viewed communication as an annoyance. She was getting paid for this, too— listening to songs from various artists, and giving her impressions. Although the most she ever said was stuff like, “It was good,” or, “I hated it,” or at the very least, “I listened to it,” just those few words from Sayuri would set quite a few things in motion.

She could bend others’ jobs, lives, and futures for her own benefit. That would be somewhat scary, but it wasn’t at a level she would feel directly, so she was just a girl who knew nothing. Even now, she was doing nothing but listening to countless CDs with songs by artists unknown to her burned into them, clearing her workload in order from top to bottom.

This CD is a bust, thought Sayuri. There were too many ballads with calm melodies, and she didn’t really like those. “I like you.” “I love you.” “Love is wonderful.” The artist just repeated those lyrics. It was so repetitive that it started turning into some animal’s cry for her, before finally ending up as just some meaningless beeping sound in her ear.

It’s not like she had no interest in love, but in the end this was just someone else’s feelings of love, and Sayuri couldn’t empathize. To Sayuri, love was a more animalistic thing, like an instinct. If love gets too dramatically embellished, it actually starts to smell like lies— that’s why she was getting pretty tired of it— when, suddenly, that discomforting song started playing.

Did the person in charge of burning this CD put it in by accident, Sayuri wondered, and forget to fix his mistake? It started playing in a pretty half-assed spot, mixed in like white noise. The feel of this song was clearly different from the rest. That’s why she was surprised.

For a while there were no voices, just a melancholy melody, so she had completely thought it was just that kind of a song. Or, possibly, it was an instrumental version of another song. But apparently, it was just a long interlude. “I’m gonna run away now and never look back” The high pitched voice, which seemed to belong to a charming girl, shook Sayuri’s eardrums with English, from which she was unable to derive any meaning. So instead, she just strained her ears and listened.

Her heart beat fast, although she’d felt nothing at the several saccharine love-themed songs that came before. She wasn’t exactly all aflutter. If Sayuri was pressed to put a name to the feelings that welled up in her chest, it would be fear.

It felt like a nail had been put in her core, or as if it had been stabbed by a blade, which was then twisted around. Her surroundings suddenly went distant. Unable to stand her unease, Sayuri looked around. She saw an extravagant amusement park, one of the most prominent in Japan. She saw an unbelievably large crowd for a weekday. And in the middle of that crowd, on an unpopular bench was Sayuri, sitting like she was separated from the world, and trembling.

What the hell is this? she wondered, This tune, this song? It was doubtful that this was sung by a real human.

“AND NEVER LOOK BACK—” The lyrics were emphasized clearly, the volume rose, and Sayuri felt like a blow had been dealt to her body. She desperately tried to translate the lyrics and gain some peace of mind. The unknown is a scary thing— but Sayuri was abysmal at studying, and the English just sounded like nonsense to her.

BACK? Bakk— a bag? ‘Behind?’ I know ‘Look,’ it’s the name of a brand of chocolate— no wait, was it ‘to look?’ Look behind you? She turned around. A man stood there.

■ECHO8■

“Fwah—” That was the timing for a monster to appear in horror films, so Sayuri almost let out a scream, but it was someone familiar to her, so she actually felt relief. Fixing her posture, Sayuri took out her earphones. The music, and the fear, went distant.

“N, mmgh” Startled, her voice didn’t come out properly. Her mouth was also full of gum.

Unable to contain her curiosity, Sayuri wanted to take a look at the playlist of the CD she was just listening to, so she tried to find the terminal attached to her portable CD player (it was just a small accessory that listed all the song names). But, of course, the gloves were in her way, and she couldn’t find it.

Seeing Sayuri move around meaninglessly, the man tilted his head in confusion. “What are you doing, Sayuri?”

Being asked that, Sayuri lowered the mask and spat out the giant wad of gum. Balling it up, she threw it into a nearby silver trash can. She looked up at the fairly tall man from her position, cross-legged on the bench. “I was listening to music,” she explained.

“I can see that,” he answered. “Would you like to go ride something?”

“Do you have one you wanna ride?” she asked.

“No,” he said. “Personally I want to go home already. Diving into the midst of this huge crowd of people, you don’t understand your own position. I’m glad that we’ve gotten to meet again after so long, though.”

“Sorry for calling you, even though it’s so far away.” Filling in the conversation where appropriate, Sayuri grew a bit lonesome.

He felt distant. Even though she’d known him since they were children, running around on grass fields, and waving sticks around. But both of them had put on years, and built up social fetters called positions— they were no longer able to meet as they pleased.

Adulthood isn’t something people should aspire to. Well, Sayuri was still at an age where society could argue that she was still a child. But she had a job, and was a functioning member of society, and was at an age where she would be disgruntled at being treated like a child.

Her childhood friend, who used to be just a snot-nosed kid, was wearing a suit even in the middle of an amusement park, and trying to look serious. Solemn and expressionless, he was looking down at her, sitting on the bench.

Was this how he normally looked? She was staring at him. The man was squirming and grumbling like he hated it.

“I’ll be in trouble if you keep calling me out so lightheartedly, though,” he said.

“Was I being a bother?” she wanted to know.

“No, the situation over there is looking to be more annoying...” he explained. “Why an amusement park? Why couldn’t we just talk over the phone like normal people, is this really something you have to say in person?”

“They built a new amusement park in this neighborhood. It’s pretty much the same as this one. The place was called Shi-something, that’s why I thought this place would be more free,” Sayuri explained. “That didn’t turn out to be true, but I’ve still never been to an amusement park. Are you not having fun?”

“As always,” he commented, “you’re terrible at talking, Sayuri. I have no idea what you’re trying to say.”

“Um, you see...” She was aware of how bad she was at talking. Reflecting on that, Sayuri listed all the main points of what she wanted to say in her head. It somehow felt like she was being lectured, so she found it hard to speak.

There’s something that she had to tell him. “Um, I’m sorry, but... It looks like I’m pregnant, with your child.” Caressing her belly, Sayuri said that blankly. “Want to get married?”

As soon as she asked that, she got strangled. Sayuri was bewildered; she hadn’t expected that to happen at all. It was painful. It hurt, and she could hear the bones in her neck creak. She wondered why? She had thought he would be at least a little happy.

Sayuri put up too little resistance, and the man started feeling a little ashamed. The power in his hands weakened. And then, abruptly, he backed away from her, as if he had become scared. His fingertips went away.

Coughing, Sayuri finally understood. As she thought, this wasn’t love. That’s why she could never empathize with all the love songs she’d had to listen to.

She was born in a boring town. It was a remote, rural town where everything felt like it was just rotting away slowly. Sayuri was convinced she would walk through life without any major ups and downs. Without anything of particular interest happening, like her mother and father, and their mothers and fathers before them.

Sayuri expected to live like the many people around her that lived in the same town. Forever settled into their remote countryside, and letting the days pass by with indifference until they were old and dried up, and eventually dying. And then her bones would be buried in town, and she would be forgotten forever.

She didn’t really have a problem with that, because this wasn’t a fairy tale; she’d never wanted a life that was stormy and full of drama. Sayuri had never hoped for this, but one day her life had suddenly changed.

Someone, from a TV station in some city, came to visit the town Sayuri lived in. Whether it was for a travel show or a movie, she wasn’t sure. Her classmates were all excited over the unusual and unexpectedly abnormal situation.

Sayuri, herself, didn’t particularly care, because in the end, nothing would change. There’s no way everything would suddenly change over this, as if one were switching channels on a TV. Getting excited and making a fuss will only lead to being tired.

But if one doesn’t socialize at least a reasonable amount, they wouldn’t be able to live in the sticks, so going along with everyone else, she headed for the rubberneckers. They had all come to stare at these rare people, who were from the outside, for fun.

And then, Sayuri got scouted. The camera had just coincidentally caught a glimpse of her, and it was pure luck that the man from the station had brought that back... As to what had happened, she wasn’t sure of the exact details, but some bigwig from the station had set his eyes on Sayuri.

“You’re a treasure,” he’d said. “You shouldn’t be allowed to sputter out in this backwater. Won’t you please come to the city? Let me be your agent.” With words like these, Sayuri was taken to the city.

Sayuri was simply obeying the flow. Both her parents cheered her on, and it had seemed as though the entire town had gathered together to give her a push forward. They hoped for her to be a force for change, a bridge between the city and their rural town, which was gradually getting even more rustic.

She caught the eyes of one person, and was saved from a boring life in the country. Sayuri knew what her classmates thought of that: jealousy, envy, and other muddy emotions were all pointed at her... Sayuri’s choices had all been taken from her, and in reality, it was a huge annoyance.

Sayuri had lived an indifferent, ordinary, daily life: Helping around the house, working at a store, stocking shelves, and taking calls... Having trifling conversations with the occasional window shopper. Those days crumbled in the blink of an eye.

Under the all-out production efforts of the TV station, Sayuri became an idol. Her style of living, her entire life, changed all at once, and she could no longer go back.

She had no idea what was what, but no one would give her, Sayuri, the answers or the peace of mind she wanted.

■ECHO9■

In the past, there was an Idol whose stage name did not sound like a real person’s: Hanemori Joururi. She was a legendary idol, who dominated a generation. When she sang, she could fill the Budoukan or sweep the Oricon charts. She was the subject of everyone’s gossip.

People all over Japan saw Hanemori Joururi: they talked about her, gave her attention, and loved her. She was a social phenomenon. That might be why she was the last idol to shake the world by herself.

The turnover of generations accelerated, and idols were mass produced without end. In this generation, where so many idols debut and then disappear that it would be impossible to remember all their names, no idol would be able to stand out on her own. On top of it sounding bad to call them inferior copies, it would not be completely correct. And so, Hanemori Joururi was the last Super Idol, which was an idol of an older sort, close to being a historical figure.

There was no longer any space in show business for such an antiquated existence. For show business, rather than holding up a single generation’s super idol, there was more profit in systematizing idols, constantly spawning top idols to pull along a generation. That way would be able to reap profits at any time, in any era.

The method of manually building up an idol, bit by bit, was already a thing of the past. Certainly, doing such manual labor could miraculously turn out a masterpiece that would be left in history. Just like, for example, Hanemori Joururi. But management couldn’t rely on such miracles or coincidence. It was better to mass produce goods that were cheaper, and could reliably bring in reasonable amounts of income. That was the modern standard. Rather than a work of art molded carefully by a potter pouring out his soul, factory-made mass produced products, which could be found in a convenience store or a hundred yen shop, were more sought after.

Undergoing industrialization and mechanization, the world of show business became a systematic business. Current idols were born in a factory. Inheriting that system, enhancing and improving upon it, there would be no possibility of a special work of art, a Super Idol, being born that way. No one was looking for one either; not a misshapen life form like that— an untameable monster.

As an inevitability of capitalism, as a request, such a generation took shape. One could even say it was dangerous to rely on a work of art, or a lone genius, because if she breaks, everything fails. In reality, Hanemori Joururi fell from grace due to an insignificant scandal, and the world of show business went through hell trying to fill that hole.

The modern day had probably been shaped by echoes of that past. Without relying on a single person, with everyone supporting and building up one another, walking along a sound and gentle, evenly paved road. That was probably the correct decision. The current world of show business— the idol industry— had developed and was many times, tens of times larger in scope than when Hanemori Joururi had been active.

The sun that was Super Idols had set, and everyone forgot about Hanemori Joururi. Times change, and remnants of the past get buried in the earth where no one would be able to look back at them. Sayuri, too, had almost completely forgotten the name Hanemori Joururi. Like thinking, Ohhh, that person did exist, didn’t they? It was someone else’s affair. Most young kids these days probably don’t know the name of Hanemori Joururi; she was a person of the past, a character in a story that had ended long ago.

And yet, why was that name echoing now, of all times? Hanemori Joururi died.

“Mmnnn—” Sayuri gently opened her eyes. Apparently, she had nodded off, and had an unpleasant dream of the past— a man, whom she had sort of loved, strangled her when she told him she was pregnant with his child. Rejected, she was dejected. It could be said that she was lucky that the dream ended there, as the continuation was a string of incidents that would make her pretty depressed.

Sayuri had fallen asleep on a coffee table she kept to use when writing; it was placed along a wall in her small mountain cabin. She was in the middle of writing her usual report on the results of her fixed-point observations.

She’d always been bad at using her head, and after thinking hard about various things while writing the document, her tired brain must have let go of its consciousness. She had taken a nap, and she wasn’t even an infant or an old woman. Yawning, Sayuri stretched like a cat. Her back was stiff, maybe because she fell asleep sitting. Rubbing her eyes, she heard something fall with a thump.

Startled, she looked over at the source of the noise and found a blanket. Apparently, in order to prevent Sayuri from getting too cold, it seemed that her daughter had put a blanket on her. She surprised herself a little with how happy she was at this gesture.

Sayuri grinned. Although it’s a bit late, recently, her daughter had been incredibly cute.

Well, it would have been better if she had woken Sayuri up instead of putting a blanket on her— she was in the middle of work, after all. Looking at the clock, Sayuri saw that she’d been sleeping a long time. She’d missed the timing to make dinner.

Sayuri wondered if her daughter was hungry. Thinking that, she looked around the room, but there was no sign of her daughter. It was a fairly confined cabin; if she wasn’t anywhere in sight, her daughter was probably outside.

Maybe she was out in the field again, watching that strange TV. That thing that resembled a pagan altar was creepy enough that Sayuri wanted it removed, though. Her daughter would probably hate that. It was apparent that she had really come to like the thing.

“Hyah!?” In the quiet cabin, a huge, piercing sound was suddenly heard, taking Sayuri aback. Nervously looking for the origin of the sound, Sayuri found it was the landline placed near the window. Tentatively, this cabin had a telephone line running to it, and Sayuri used it to take care of her business whenever she found it too annoying to go all the way to town. Sayuri didn’t have many acquaintances, so the phone very rarely rang.

What is it? Sayuri wondered. With her heart beating rapidly, Sayuri crawled to the phone, because she thought standing would be too troublesome. The remains of her daughter’s kindness— the blanket— had tangled around her legs and made it extremely hard to move.

She picked up the phone without checking the caller’s number. “Hello,” she asked, “who is it?”

It appeared that her daughter was dead, or so Sayuri was told over the phone.