A gloomy atmosphere filled the carriage. The people sitting inside all exchanged glances, but then averted their gazes. They all wanted someone to do something about the problem at hand, but no one wanted to be the one to volunteer. “Haaah...” “......” A sigh heavier than a neutron star escaped Kouki’s lips. The other inhabitants of the carriage, Ryutarou, Shizuku, Eri, and Suzu, all twitched. Ryutarou shot an unexpectedly timid gaze at his best friend, who was the cause of the gloomy atmosphere. He’s totally dead… He’s not dead! Though he might as well be, with how he looks. Suzu somehow read Ryutarou’s thoughts, and retorted with a telepathic message of her own. Indeed, Kouki was still alive, though he resembled a corpse at the moment. His head drooped on the windowsill. Though he was looking out at the vibrant countryside, his eyes took in none of the scenery. There was none of his usual vitality in his dead expression. He might as well have been a zombie. There were a multitude of reasons for his languid demeanor, but the primary one was discovering that Kaori was in love, and had left his party to travel with her crush. Kouki wasn’t sure if he loved Kaori or not. However, he had expected that she would be by his side forever, no matter what happened. That was why Kaori’s confession and subsequent elopement had shocked him so. Worse, he’d let his emotions get the better of him and challenged Hajime to a duel. Not only had Hajime not bothered to even humor him, Kouki had ended up falling into a pitfall without even so much as scratching his opponent. “I just want to crawl into a hole and die…” “You already did the crawling into a hole part. Do you have any idea how hard it was to dig you out?” What Ryutarou had meant as a lighthearted joke was the final blow that crushed Kouki’s soul. “Waaaaaah, Ryutarou-kun, you moron! Kouki-kun! Are you alright! Pull it together! Everything’ll be okay! Right, Eririn!?” “Wait, you’re asking me!? U-Umm, yes, of course, everything will be just fine, Kouki-kun!” Their attempts at reassuring Kouki only made things worse How is anything going to be okay!? Kouki thought painfully to himself. He didn’t register Suzu smacking Ryutarou over the head, or Eri trying her best to comfort him, or Shizuku looking tiredly up at the ceiling. That was how bad his depression was. Suddenly, with the determination of someone resolved to go to battle and never come back, Suzu stood up. “I-I’ll give him a one-liner that’ll definitely make him laugh!” The others looked over at Suzu in awe. What a hero! Suzu shrugged off their stares, and resolved to prove that she could cheer people up even in this gloomy atmosphere. “Hmm, where did they go? I can’t find them! I could have sworn I took them with me on this trip, but they’re not here!” Suzu started patting her clothes and looking around the carriage. As always, Kouki was unable to ignore someone in need. He looked over at Suzu, momentarily returning to the real world. “Suzu, what did you—“ “I just can’t seem to find my boobs!” Suzu said in an exaggerated manner, patting her own sadly flat chest. For a one-shot gag, it was pretty painful. Silence filled the carriage. Time itself stopped. The only thing anyone could hear was the soft clopping of the horse’s hooves. “I’m sorry for being born.” Suzu slumped back into her seat. She leaned her head back against the carriage wall and stared at the ceiling with dead eyes. She’d completely self-destructed. “H-Hey Suzu, are you alright?”
“Next up, please enjoy Ryutarou-kun’s attempt to do impersonations.” “What!?” Ryutarou’s reward for his concern was being volunteered to be next up on the chopping block. If Suzu was going to die, she’d make sure to take everyone down with her. Eri backed away from her friend in horror. Ryutarou sat in his seat, cold sweat pouring down his back. But when Kouki once again looked out the window with dead eyes, he made up his mind and stood up. “O-Okay, fine, I’ll do my best impression of Colonel William Stuart!” Ryutarou sucked in a deep breath and flexed, showing off the full glory of his considerable muscles. For those who didn’t know, Stuart was from a certain film known as Die Hard. Ryutarou got even more into his act and flexed even harder. However, it was not as well received as he would have liked. “This is too macho for me.” “S-Sorry, I can’t bear to look.” “It hurts to breathe.” Suzu, Eri, and Shizuku all glared at Ryutarou. It appeared his impersonation had brought the girls nothing but pain. “I’m sorry for being born.” Ryutarou collapsed into his seat. He looked out the window with the same dead eyes as Kouki. “Eririn... You’ll have to carry on our will.” “Suzu!? I thought we were friends!” Eri shot Suzu, who was still gazing blankly at the ceiling, a murderous glare. She was asking for the impossible! However, it appeared Suzu and Ryutarou’s sacrifices hadn’t been in vain. Kouki finally turned around and focused on Eri. It seemed with one more push, they might really be able to bring the hero back to normal. “Very well... I shall sing!” Eri raised her hands to her mouth, as if she were holding an imaginary mike, and began singing in a beautiful voice. Her pitch was perfect, and she had a great sense of rhythm. It was the kind of voice that enthralled people. Or it would have been, had she not picked one of the most depressing love songs known to man. “Th-Thank you for being such a silent and attentive audience.” They’d been silent alright. In fact, they were deathly pale. Despair, loneliness, and other negative emotions had sapped their mental fortitude. Kouki looked as if he’d aged ten years. Eri’s proud smile faded as she saw the effect her singing had wrought on her audience. She quietly plopped back into her seat and hid her expression behind her glasses. Things weren’t looking good. “Shizushizu, you’re the only one left now,” Suzu mumbled in despair. Shizuku, who’d been desperately trying to hide her presence, jumped. Timidly, she raised her head to see everyone but Kouki staring at her. “You don’t think really you’re the only one who gets to get out of this, do you?” their gazes seemed to say. Tears pooling in her eyes, Shizuku got to her feet. She covered both of her eyes with her ponytail, and said in a high falsetto, “Eh, Nagumo-kun did? I don’t believe it! He always seemed like a quiet, low profile kind of guy.” “......” It appeared Shizuku was acting out a fake interview with the other students. “Nagumooo...” Kouki groaned. He had wanted to forget all about Hajime, but now he couldn’t. Why the hell did you have to bring HIM up!? Suzu and the others glared at Shizuku. Trembling, Shizuku slumped to her knees and wrapped her arms around herself. Her ponytail was still covering her eyes. Now she was the one who wished she could crawl into a hole and die. In the end, nothing but corpses remained inside the carriage. The only thing that could be heard was the steady clopping of the horse. A few hours later, the group stopped for a rest. Nagayama and the others got out of their respective carriages to stretch their limbs a little. When they noticed no one was coming out of Kouki’s carriage they grew curious. “What happened to them?” Meld wondered aloud, and approached their carriage. Though he knocked on the door and called everyone’s names, no one came out. A little worried, Meld pulled open the door and peeked inside. “Wh-What happened to you guys!? Why do you all look so dead!? Guards, guards! Kouki and the others need medical attention! Who’s the best healer here!?” Meld panicked and ran to find a healer.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login