Sword Art Online (19)
Sword Art Online (19)
Seojun, realizing something was wrong with Shino, rushed over in a single bound.
But it was already too late.
She had already pumped two bullets into the robber. If things continued like this, she was going to kill the robber.
It wasn't her intention.
Her frail body simply couldn't withstand the recoil, causing the shot to veer wildly from her intended target and hit him in the head instead.
'That won't do.'
The incident that would become the source of her trauma.
Seojun stepped in before she could experience killing someone.
He moved up, lowered the aiming muzzle, and told her to calm down.
Meanwhile, he felt regret inside.
'If only I had come a little faster.'
His ability had a slight time lag.
It didn't inform him instantly; there was travel time for the information to reach him.
Given the distance, that one-minute time lag was the root of the problem.
Still, Seojun decided to wrap this up as cleanly as possible.
'Killing is a no-go.'
Committing murder right in front of her?
Even if he had saved her, it would be an act that would plant other traumas, including negative emotions, in her.
That's why Seojun decided to handle it cleanly.
Swish, he swung the wooden sword he was holding.
After shattering the wrist of the man reaching out, he immediately changed direction and struck the back of his neck.
When attacking the back of the neck, he pulled his strength to ensure he only knocked him out.
"Gurgle."
The man passed out just as he intended.
Having finished, Seojun looked at the panicked Shino.
She was looking in one direction. Following her gaze, there was a woman, presumably Shino's mother, looking at Shino with a face filled with terror.
'Damn it.'
Seojun bit his lip.
It seemed he couldn't avoid that part.
She was a woman who was already suffering from mental illness after her husband died in an accident. Seeing her daughter cause another bloodshed with a gun right in front of her would be a huge blow to her psyche.
Seojun hugged the panicked, crying Shino and patted her back as gently as possible.
"I'm sorry I'm late."
That was the only thing he could say.
He should have planned more thoroughly. No, actually, if he had taken measures from the start to prevent this from happening, things would have been different.
The fact that he could have done that but didn't was entirely due to his own arrogance.
Seojun felt bitter. He had boasted that he would make the heroines happy, but what kind of mess was this?
'...I have no choice but to do as much as I can for her even now.'
With that, Seojun comforted Shino for a while.
How much time had passed?
Paramedics and police arrived after receiving the report. The paramedics took care of the injured people, and the robber who had been shot was among them.
Well, if they left him like that, he'd die from excessive bleeding, so it couldn't be helped.
Many things happened after that, but it was resolved well.
'Except for that side.'
Shino, who couldn't approach her terrified mother, and the mother who avoided her daughter.
For that mother and daughter, it wasn't a happy ending.
Sigh, Seojun let out a deep breath and approached Shino. No matter how capable he was, it was hard to restore someone who was already mentally broken.
'The body is easy, but interfering with someone else's mind is difficult.'
Breaking a mind was something he could do, too.
But restoring a broken mind wasn't an easy task, even for Seojun.
If he made a slight mistake, he could end up turning her into an imbecile.
"......Ah."
Shino stared blankly at Seojun, who had approached her.
Seeing her dead eyes, Seojun felt sorry and said,
"If you ever need help, contact me here."
He handed her a note with his phone number written on it from his pocket.
Shino received it with a dazed face. Seojun turned away from Shino, who was looking at it for a while, and walked away.
Shino kept staring at the number Seojun had given her for a while in that spot.
Shino's memories of the few days immediately following the incident weren't very clear.
When adults in navy uniforms asked her to hand over the gun in tense tones, her fingers had stiffened and wouldn't let go no matter what.
The countless red lamps spinning around, the yellow tape swaying in the wind, and the blinding white light pouring from beyond it.
Only the memory of finally feeling pain in her right shoulder after getting into the patrol car and cautiously complaining about it, and the police officer hurriedly moving her to an ambulance, remained in fragments.
On the hospital bed, two female police officers constantly asked about the full story of the incident. She had said she wanted to see her mom many times, but it was a long time before that wish was granted.
Shino was discharged three days later and returned to the house where her grandparents were waiting, but her mother's hospitalization continued for over a month. The peaceful daily life from before the incident never returned in the same form ever again.
Thanks to the media's self-regulation, the detailed contents of the incident were not reported as they were. However, as it was an incident that occurred in a small provincial city, what happened inside the post office became a rumor with countless speculations added to it, spreading like wildfire.
There were even things that Shino definitely didn't do that spread as if they were her fault.
However, to Shino, the gazes of those around her weren't much of a problem. She had always had very little interest in belonging to a group since long ago.
But the claw marks the incident left in Shino's heart—those didn't heal easily even as time passed, and they tormented her. After that day, just seeing a firearm would bring back vivid memories of the incident, causing her to fall into a state of extreme shock.
The seizures, ranging from hyperventilation to full-body stiffness, loss of orientation, and even vomiting, occurred easily not only when she saw a toy pistol held by a child on the street, but even when watching movies on TV.
So, Shino could barely watch dramas or movies. There were several times she had seizures because of video materials shown during social studies class. Novels were relatively safe.
This was just from having fired a gun.
She was terrified of how much worse it would have been if she had accidentally committed murder.
"......Whew."
Shino steadied her breathing.
Today was the time for training to overcome her trauma again.
Clatter, she opened the desk drawer and took out a box. When she opened the lid, there was something wrapped in a handkerchief inside.
It was a model gun.
Gulp, her Adam's apple moved.
Whenever this time came, she always felt nervous. But she couldn't give up like this. She carefully pulled back the handkerchief.
Then, the pitch-black gun barrel was slowly revealed.
"Ah, ah......!"
Suddenly, her tongue curled into her throat, and she couldn't breathe. At the same time, she felt her stomach contract violently.
Shino gritted her teeth and squeezed out all her mental strength to wrap the model gun back in the handkerchief. Then, she staggered over and turned the doorknob with her right hand, which was soaked in cold sweat.
As soon as she flipped open the toilet lid and knelt over it, hot liquid surged up from the bottom of her stomach. Twisting her body, convulsing, she vomited again and again and again, as if to expel everything inside her body.
"Huff, huff."
When the stomach contractions finally subsided, Shino was completely drained.
She reached out with her left hand and pulled the flush lever. She barely managed to stand up and washed her hands and face again and again with water so cold it felt like it was cutting her skin at the sink.
Finally, she rinsed her mouth, took a clean towel from the cupboard, wiped her face, and left the bathroom. Her ability to think was completely paralyzed.
She returned to her room with numb legs.
And she shoved it into the desk drawer that had been left open. With a clack, she closed the drawer, and Shino, having exhausted all her energy this time, collapsed onto the bed.
Droplets of water falling from her wet bangs ran down her cheeks, mixed with tears, and soaked into the blanket. From some point on, she had been endlessly repeating the same words in a small voice.
"Save me... someone, save me.... Please, someone....".
Words she had repeated countless times until now.
But no one had ever reached out a helping hand to her.
"......Ah."
Then, suddenly, she remembered.
The boy who had comforted her on the day that incident happened.
Only that boy had given her warmth. Shino tried to recall the boy's face. However, because her memory of that time was too vague due to the shock, it didn't come to mind well.
"...Come to think of it."
She sat up.
Then she went to the desk and opened the drawer right below the one containing the model gun.
There was a note there.
"......Number."
The phone number written on the note.
Shino didn't know where this number connected to. But it was given to her by the only boy who had treated her warmly, telling her to contact him if she needed 'help'.
Would it really be okay to call?
"...Let's try it."
The hesitation didn't last long.
She dialed the number on her cell phone.
Ring, ring, the ringing tone sounded.
When it reached the third ring, click, the person on the other side answered the phone.
-Hello?
The voice coming from the other side.
Shino had heard that voice before.
It was the boy's.
Realizing that, she felt nervous for some reason. But she shook off the nervousness and cautiously opened her mouth.
"Hello, I am......."
Asada Shino (15 years old)
Asada Shino (Game)