The off-time maid beckoned us to move towards the back alley she had appeared from. Nobody really complained. Her cheerful attitude was contagious enough to force us to act. We hadn't even noticed that the overhang stopped as we entered the alley.
When we had stepped in, she handed over her umbrella to Sasaki, turned to Yusue and apologised. I wasn't quick enough to see how it happened, but the audible thump and his gasp was enough to let me understand. Tsuruya had punched him in the gut.
"Tsuruya?!" Kanekawa hastily prevented the crumbling Yusue from falling over, catching him as he fell on his knees.
"Tsuruya, what the hell?! You said you knew a solution!" I instinctively pushed her away, getting in her way.
"What? I believe you! If we're lucky he's going to puke. If not, we get him to the hospital with an excuse. It's a good solution!"
I opened my mouth only to close it again. Sasaki's calm voice motioned me back to find an unforeseen scenario. Yusue was bizarrely clutching his throat, gagging inexplicably. The outlandish and unexpected reaction left most of us astounded and unable to act. He was supposed to puke, not choke. Did Tsuruya hit him too hard? Too near his lungs?
None of us were prepared for the amalgamating black tentacles that sprouted out of his mouth, like an anemone trying to find microbes in the sea. This further aggravated Yusue's precarious situation, whose failed attempts to scream out in terror managed to spark a reaction in us.
Sasaki was the first to act. She was the only person of the group who managed to keep her wits in the middle of this madness. Holding the umbrella with her underarm, she immediately grabbed the ten or so murky appendages that tried to retreat back and pulled outwards. Or at least, attempted to do so. The being was firmly attached to his throat or stomach.
As Kanekawa struggled to hold Yusue still, I grabbed Sasaki's hand and pulled with all my might. The creature started to emit a low feral growl, though muffled by the rain around us. It tried and tried to wrap the slimy tentacles around Sasaki's hand, but I managed to pry them away without too much difficulty. Without any indication, the jelly-like creature stopped its resistance. Both Sasaki and I fell backwards as the mass leapt over us with unbeknownst agility, only to be kicked by Tsuruya against the wall. The impact liquified the being instantly.
The absurd scenario was over in a few seconds, but the shock wasn't. Sasaki got up from the ground, still holding the abomination's slowly liquifying tentacles in hand.
"I gather none of us really expected that to happen." Her attempt to joke was quickly replaced by concern over Yusue, gradually managing to catch a breath.
"What the hell was that?" Yusue managed to muse before throwing up whatever was left in his stomach.
"Let's… let's take you to the doctor." Kanekawa verbalised what everyone was thinking. "Can you stand on your own?"
While both students helped him up, I turned around towards an oddly serene Tsuruya. Glancing over to the mess on the wall, her body barely moving as her head inspected the remains of the creature.
"Are we really just gonna ignore what happened? I puked a freaking octopus monster! What the hell, man! What the actual hell!" Yusue managed to stand on his own two feet, still clearly shaken by the experience.
"I don't think anyone is going to believe us unless we force somebody to drink and throw up that… thing." Kanekawa's withdrawn voice was barely audible, struggling to get his words out.
"Whoever is in charge in the cafe wouldn't let it happen. We can tell the police, but I doubt they'll act upon the silly story of two teenagers. And like Yusue said before, nobody else has experienced this." Sasaki's cold logic didn't help to clear my thoughts.
"So what's your explanation for that?" I asked while Sasaki tried to cleanse her hands of the dark ooze.
"Are you asking me? I have no clue." Sasaki answered unperturbed. "We'll think about it when we get Yusue some help."
"Oh, no, no, no! Somebody tell me what the hell was that! I don't care if nobody believes me, that shit was inside me! It was choking me to death! What if there's more of that gunk inside me, huh?!" Yusue's unrest only grew worse and worse as time went by.
I asked Tsuruya if she knew anything more while Kanekawa calmed him down.
"I don't really know much more, but…" She sluggishly turned around, placing herself beside Sasaki and the umbrella she was holding. "The only reason I started working here is because Kimidori asked me."
"Who? You said it like we should know her." Kanekawa inquired, trying to shield himself from the rain.
"She's from 3-A… or 3-D? You must have seen her in the student council, right?" Tsuruya's explanation didn't seem to clarify any of our doubts. "Well, whatever! That's not important. The thing is that she asked me to fill in her role since she was feeling quite under the weather. She had been working here for quite a while, even before this place rebranded itself. If anyone knows what's the deal inside there, it's her."
"Wait, Emiri Kimidori, right? I've heard about her. We've even chatted a few times too but nothing more than pleasantries, sadly." Kanekawa spoke up with a thoughtful frown. "She's pretty smart though! One of the best math students in the whole highschool. Although, to be fair, the last few times I saw her she was quite obsessed in the astronomy wing of the library. Why, I even saw her borrow a school telescope. A new hobby, maybe."
"Yeah, that's her!" The off-time maid quickly agreed.
"And don't tell me, she's no longer in the student council?" The hunch I felt in the pit of my stomach had to be true.
"Oh, that's true! How did you know, Kyon?"
While I had no idea who this Kimidori was, I couldn't help but be reminded of Tachibana. An upstanding student who had a sudden change in her way of being, breaking away from any and all previous connections. And like Tachibana, I was sure she would also be creepier than the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone at night.
"So come on, let's go get'er. It's gonna get dark otherwise." Yusue pushed his luck, but nobody else was willing to follow him.
"You have to rest, Yusue. You're not thinking straight, where do you exactly want to go? We don't know where she lives. We can't go in blindly. Let's simply wait until Monday and talk to her then." Sasaki was surprisingly mute during this whole conversation, but in truth, she was the only one keeping a steady mindset. "I have one question, if I may ask."
"For me? Sure, what's the matter Sasan?" Tsuruya was taken aback by the disconcerting tone of Sasaki.
"If you barely know her, why did you accept and become her replacement?"
Tsuruya merrily laughed at the question. "Why, because it sounded fun! It gets boring in the afternoons and besides, it was a fun experience when I did it in the school festival!"
That answer begets another question. Why would Kimidori ask her specifically to do it? Did she go around asking everyone? Or did she have a specific motive for choosing Tsuruya?
Sasaki shrugged and shook her head like she had heard my own thoughts but didn't ask any more questions. She just stood in place as Tsuruya started to rejoice about the delights of bartending.
"I can take Yusue to a clinic." Tsuruya mentioned as we walked away from the alley. "I can drop the rest of you off wherever you want to as well. Take it as compensation of… whatever that was!"
I knew Tsuruya was rich. But not 'having a personal driver' kind of rich.
We gladly took up her offer. While Yusue looked physically fine, he still acted horrified over the fact. Time seemed to speed up as the rain stopped and our completely wet clothes started to dry up. Not too long after that, Tsuruya's car showed up.
As the car left Kanekawa and Yusue near a clinic, I pulled out the weird orange ribbon out of my pocket, an effusive feeling of nostalgia washing over me. Whatever this was, it was a clue. Of what? I didn't know yet. The only solid proof I had was Emiri Kimidori and whatever reason she wanted Tsuruya in that cafe.
"Kyon. There's something that's been bothering me." Sasaki closed the gap between us, showing the first signs of fatigue even if her façade kept her with poise.
I leaned against the car window, rubbing my temple.
"If you let me say it, you've been acting differently these past few days. Four days ago you started to act a bit out of place. Very paranoid. Getting spooked at a cat stalking you is quirky. Smudges in photos are peculiar. Tachibana talking to you is meddlesome. But this? You were actually right this time, you have shown us that this is uncanny. Perhaps you weren't just paranoid. Though that leads to an endless loop of: why?"
Sasaki waited for an answer that I didn't have the strength to relay. My mind was in a chaotic state, and the exhaustion that had gotten hold of me was even worse.
"You know, that sounds like things are getting worse for you each day, Kyon! Maybe you're cursed!" Sasaki briefly looked towards the passenger seat, where Tsuruya had loudly gotten into the conversation. "How about we team up? You attract the spooky ghosts, Sasan makes the thinking for us and I beat them up!"
"I believe you're putting too much merit into my knowledge, Tsuruya. I'm fairly below average in this topic. Besides, Kyon looks pretty distraught over this whole deal." Sasaki had moved closer to me, as much as the seatbelt let her. Her rigid attitude didn't look out of place in the context of the situation, but as a close friend, I knew better.
"Wha~? It'll be fun, come on! You saw how I kicked that thing before! I can deal with them like a bat out of hell!" The maid insisted, not giving up on this topic.
"That's assuming more trouble will spring up. But really, we're not some sort of supernatural team. We don't need any help."
Tsuruya's playful attitude was slowly replaced by an out of place, lowering frown, while Sasaki maintained her usual cool.
"You guys want to talk with Kimidori, right? She's gone a bit off the wire, who knows what she'll do when we ask about the cafe? It's better to be ready than regret it, isn't that right Kyon?" Her high-pitched voice did very well to hide the repressing motives behind her words.
The intrusion of this artificial drama didn't sit well with me, especially since I was being used as some sort of bargain chip. I had no interest at the moment of Tsuruya's insistence and Sasaki's rejection. Besides, I had enough in my head to figure out what was going on.
"This isn't the time to be discussing all this." Both girls suddenly realised my presence as I talked. "I haven't even fully processed what happened back there. Let's just talk about it some other time, got it?"
"Yeah, sure! I mean, it was pretty crazy!" With a burned-out chuckle, Tsuruya turned around and stared out of the one-way window glass of the car.
Sasaki pushed herself out of my side and back into her proper seat, pulling out her phone and typing something. I didn't let it bother me.
The amount of extravagant and out of place events happening to me settled what I had been fearing. Something weird was happening in this city. This world, even. These past few days I felt alone like I was missing friends that supported me and vice versa. I didn't know if I wanted somebody to travel back in time and guide me, somebody with superpowers to support me or just an alien appearing out of nowhere to explain what was going on. Hell, I would even take God coming down and telling me that it was all a prank! I was no longer a bystander trying to continue with their life. Nobody in their right mind would see this and simply turn their back. Yet, how could I even begin to comprehend all of this? My grades were below average, and I wasn't the type to come up with ideas either. If anything, it had to be Sasaki who...
It had become a kind of tick inside me to always rely on and try to think like Sasaki, spending so much time with her had affected me. Sasaki was Sasaki, after all. She always avoided the spotlight. But when things came to a clutch, she always made the right call. Constantly in control, even when faced with the unknown. Always getting the needle in the haystack by calm and pure handling of the situation. Perhaps I idealised her too much.
I inevitably looked at her. Perhaps expecting my gaze, our eyes met with an unremembered warmth that momentarily made me forget everything around me. Her eyes, so humane and vulnerable, dispelled the despair and fear that deeply encroached in my head and simply vanished. Even if she was atypical, she was human in the end. She was as confused as me. I couldn't just rely on her to get an answer out of this.
My phone buzzed at that exact moment, breaking the spell that had enthralled me. A single text from Sasaki. There was only a line of text. Enough to make me visibly freeze up for the second time that day.
"Do not trust Tsuruya."