Surrealism (2)
The handcuffs clank harshly.
“...No!!”
My breath fractures.
In front of the impound vehicle.
The instant I throw myself toward the black container door—
multiple hands seize me from behind all at once.
Shoulders grabbed,
waist twisted,
balance lost.
Bang!!
My body slams straight into the asphalt.
“...Ugh...!”
Pain throbs deep inside my ribs.
But I cannot stop.
Gritting my teeth, I force myself upright again.
I shove my cuffed wrists forward and reach for the container door, nearly hanging from it.
“Just a moment...”
My breath trembles.
“Really, just a moment...
If I could only confirm it...”
“Subdue her!!”
The baton handle drives hard into my stomach.
“...Cough!!”
Air locks in my throat.
My knees buckle once more.
My back is shoved roughly to the ground.
Cold concrete.
The smell of dust.
Yet my eyes stay fixed on the container vehicle until the end.
“...Coste...”
Clank!!
My arms are wrenched violently behind me.
The handcuffs lock tighter.
“Haa... Haa...”
“Is that thing actually insane?”
“Get a grip already!”
Footsteps.
Ogata Kanna walks slowly toward me.
Her face is one of pure exhaustion.
“Yumesakai Rakuka.”
“...Why are you losing it over a single knife?”
I slowly raise my head.
“It is not... merely a knife.”
“That child... is not something like that...”
The words will not come any further.
How strange.
I cannot breathe properly.
My chest feels hollow, as if something essential has been scooped out.
“...I cannot leave that child alone.”
A brief silence.
Kanna says nothing for a long moment.
She simply stares down at me, then gives a short wave of her hand.
“Load her into the vehicle.”
My back is shoved roughly.
Staggering, I am pushed inside the transport van.
Clank.
The door shuts.
The interior is dark.
Faint emergency lights bleed between the iron bars,
and the engine’s vibration thrums against my feet.
I draw a slow breath.
...
The tips of my fingers tremble faintly.
Right beside me, Ogata Kanna sits with her back against the wall.
Her pistol rests across one thigh.
Her eyes look unbearably tired.
“...It must be cold in there.”
“Actually, when I first met that child, it shivered even though it was spring.”
“Be quiet.”
“...Yes.”
I answer obediently.
But a moment later my mouth opens again.
“...Is the evidence storage very dark?”
“...”
“Leaving it alone in a place like that would make it anxious.”
Kanna lets out a short sigh.
“It’s just a knife.”
“...No, it isn’t.”
I shake my head slowly.
“That child... is not an ordinary blade.”
Clink.
I run my fingertips gently along the handcuffs.
“It truly hates... unfamiliar places, you know.”
Kanna presses a hand to her brow and drags it down her face.
“Haa... You really have lost your mind.”
“...As if that were news.”
Kanna stares at me for a while,
then covers her eyes with her hand again.
“To think I’d be stuck babysitting something like this...”
“I’ve seen every kind of lunatic since joining Valkyrie, but you’re the first one who cries over a weapon.”
“...I am not exactly crying.”
I murmur softly.
“I am simply... a little lonely.”
The inside of the vehicle falls quiet once more.
Engine rumble.
Faint radio chatter.
And—
the growing emptiness inside my palm.
...
This will not do.
I apply a little more force.
Clank.
Clank.
Clank.
“...Hey. Ease up—”
In that instant.
Bang!!!!!
The entire vehicle twists violently.
My body slams into the side wall.
Glass explodes into fragments.
“...Ugh!”
Hard brake.
Gunfire erupts outside.
Bang!! Bang bang!!
“...It’s an ambush!!”
The vehicle screams to a halt.
For a moment the air inside freezes solid.
Kanna instantly draws her pistol.
“...Damn it.”
She snatches the radio and turns toward the door.
I watch the shaking interior for a moment.
Gunshots.
Screams.
Radio static.
...
An attack?
In that moment my mind grows strangely, dangerously cold.
My pupils tremble hard.
Perhaps she noticed.
Kanna glances sideways at me.
“...No problem on this end. So don’t get any strange ideas.”
“Hehe...”
I laugh softly.
“Shall I... assist you a little?”
“What?”
“If you would simply remove these handcuffs, I believe I could offer some cooperation.”
Kanna stares at me with open disbelief.
“...Don’t make me laugh.”
“...What a pity.”
Kanna turns away again.
Watching her, I suddenly remember.
The impound vehicle must still be out there.
“This is B-2. Currently under attack—”
Clank.
I twist my wrist.
Crack.
My thumb is forced out of joint.
Pain flares through my entire wrist.
But I do not stop.
I push my hand through.
Clank!!
The handcuffs are pried open by force.
Blood trickles down my wrist.
Yet my body is already moving.
I step quietly up behind Kanna as she grips the radio.
One slow footstep at a time.
“I repeat. Backup requested. Current location is—”
Bang!!
My elbow drops like a hammer.
“...Ugh—”
Kanna’s body crumples without resistance.
Pistol and radio clatter across the floor.
Outside, gunfire still rips through the night.
Bang!! Bang bang!!
I steady my breathing for a moment.
Then I look down at the fallen Kanna.
“...I am sorry.”
“It is truly urgent. Please understand.”
My gaze snaps toward the outside of the vehicle.
I hope... the other vans have stopped here as well.
Clank.
I push the door open.
Cold night air floods my lungs.
The scent of rain.
The scent of blood.
The scent of gunpowder.
Outside is already a slaughterhouse.
Overturned vans.
Shattered streetlights.
Scattered shell casings.
Valkyrie students lie fallen everywhere.
...
It had been noisy only moments ago,
yet at some point the world grew far too quiet.
I slowly scan my surroundings.
And soon my eyes stop.
A black transport van parked a short distance away.
The evidence containment vehicle.
Ah.
Thank goodness.
It is still there.
The instant I unconsciously take a step—
clank.
A small metallic sound comes from behind.
I turn my head slowly.
Black gas masks.
Uniform gear.
Unshakable gun barrels.
Even a rough count shows there are many.
“Target confirmed. Yumesakai Rakuka.”
“Surrender quietly and come with us.”
I regard them for a moment.
Then I smile faintly.
“I am sorry, but I have a very important appointment right now.”
My gaze returns to the black transport van.
A short silence descends.
“...Suppress her.”
“...I am in rather a hurry, you see.”
At those words my body reacts instantly.
One step.
In the space of a breath I slip inside the first student’s guard.
Eyes behind the gas mask widen in shock.
Bang!!
My fist drives up under the jaw.
The body spins violently.
At the same time a gunshot explodes beside my ear.
Bang!!
The smell of powder brushes past.
But I do not stop.
I shove the staggering form forward.
One black gas mask crumples hard against the metal plating.
Yet two more immediately rush me at once.
...They are fast.
An arm snakes around my throat.
“...Ugh.”
Breath cut off.
My body is dragged backward.
The evidence van drifts farther away.
...
No.
I cannot allow this.
If I lose it now,
I may never find it again.
The tips of my fingers begin to shake.
At that moment.
My heart pounds violently.
Thump.
A faint white light spreads along my fingertips.
The color of moonlight.
Though it is only the faintest glow,
it seizes my attention with unnatural clarity.
“...Ah.”
At that bright gleam my breath trembles.
Gunshots.
Screams.
Radio chatter.
Everything recedes.
Even the arm choking my neck
gradually loses all sensation.
My mind empties.
“Wait, there’s some strange light—”
I take a step.
Bang!!!!
The moment my foot lashes out,
one student’s body flies into the air.
The sound of metal crumpling.
A short scream.
...
I slowly look down at my leg.
The muscles inside are trembling strangely.
It feels as if I am forcibly moving a body that is not my own.
“...Huu...”
Pain throbs inside my chest.
It is as though something in my mind is being squeezed by force.
How unpleasant.
Truly.
Yet my feet do not stop.
One step.
Another step.
The remaining two belatedly drop into stances.
“Stop right there!”
Bang!!
A gunshot rings out.
But it no longer matters.
Someone grabs my arm.
Desperately, frantically trying to hold me back.
...How bothersome.
I turn my head very slowly.
I see the wrist that has seized me.
I give it the slightest tug.
Crack.
...The expression is as if their own arm had been torn away.
The other swings a military knife in panic.
I indifferently raise my arm to block.
Crunch.
The knife snaps cleanly in two.
For a moment the eyes behind the gas mask waver.
I ignore it lightly and walk forward.
...
Thump.
The heartbeat grows louder.
The black transport van.
It is inside there.
Only that single fact remains inside my head.
“Haha... I have finally found you. It will be all right now.”
