Chapter 4-The Longest Minute
Kagami's world had fallen apart. First her anniversary date had been been ruined by waking in a dark silent hell. Her life was threatened obviously because of the appearance of a dead man. Nothing outside this freaky theater seemed to exist at all, and yet Kagami didn't care about any of that. In the moment when Konata's light came on, and she saw this creature covered with jagged teeth open all its various mouths only inches away from her Kona, Kagami knew the most important thing in her life was about to be ripped away from her.
Even if their whole world was gone. Even if her logic had no impact on what occurred in this place. Even if everything she knew no longer existed here. None of that mattered next to Konata. The Tsundere's mind was screaming as she desperately tried to move despite her whole body wanting to lock down at being faced with a creature that shouldn't even exist. Kagami needed more than ever before to move.
Konata's posture slouched, it seemed to happen in slow motion to Kagami, and she realized the Otaku had just given up once she had seen what she was faced with. The loud hiss issuing from each mouth disturbed the air enough to move Kagami's hair like it was blowing in a sudden gust of wind. This sudden feeling of her hair brushing her skin unlocked the clenched muscles, and Kagami shot towards her lover with as much power as her body could manage.
"Konata..."
Kona held Kagami close to her. They were both covered in sweat and weakened from their actions. Kagami lay on top of Konata, and she stared intensely as Konata's arm that wasn't pinned down wrapped around her back.
The beast was creeping forward as the world went into slow motion for Kagami. It had a human shape, and walked on two legs with pitch black skin that seemed to ripple as it moved, almost as if the creature was made of some sort of liquid forced into human shape. Saliva dripped off of each of its mouths in a steady stream.
Konata's mind had left the situation, as she relived her important moments here at the end. A single tear slid down Konata's cheek, as Kagami charged towards her love with everything she had, but the mouths were already closing.
"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry Kona-"
The little Otaku tightens her grip on her Tsundere, and her eyes light up with an anger that makes Kagami flinch away. She's done something to make Konata very upset with her. Kagami knows it.
Konata waits until Kagami meets her eyes, taking in the feel of her lover, and the soft bed they're laying in. The she says forcefully, "Kagami...Don't you EVER-"
Then Kagami crashed into Konata's side, carrying her past the monster as the mouths snapped shut at once. Kagami screamed at the top of her lungs as she felt one of the mouths catch her slightly, but she didn't slow down as she carried Konata to the ground, rolling over her, and pulling her back up. Konata's light was swinging crazily as they rolled and struggled to stand, the little Otaku's paralysis broken from the pain in her side.
The mouths were illuminated as they rolled, and Kagami saw them snap open with another loud hiss as the light flashed over it once more, and she heard the multiple jaws crash together with bone crushing force as they turned and ran. Kagami was leading Konata by her hand, while Kona desperately tried to light their way, praying that there wouldn't be another monster in front of them.
A hospital gurney loomed out of the dark on their left blocking most of the hallway. Konata then pulled Kagami to the right, and they held each other as they squeezed past. Five more steps, and Kagami felt Konata loosened from her grip as the smaller girl vaulted an overturned wheelchair. Konata flashed the light back for an instant to see if the monster was gaining, but she didn't even have time to look back after turning the light to hear another series of hisses, she knew the monster was still there.
Kagami cried out in relief as straight ahead, suddenly illuminated, was a door with an exit sign over it. Sure the exit sign wasn't lit up, but she knew this was the way out they had been looking for. Her blood could be felt pumping through her body and her heart hammering in her ears as she gasped loudly for breath from her sudden exertion. Still Kagami spurred herself faster, and shoulder rammed the door with Konata, only for both of them to be sent sprawling backwards as the door didn't budge an inch.
Kagami heard another loud hiss, causing a pain in her ears, as Konata's light faced back towards the monster which was on the other side of the hospital gurney they had squeezed past. Its' mouths were wide open, and Konata moved her light to look at Kagami as she heard the mouths crush shut again.
Kagami lay there panting, and Konata reached out and gripped her right hand. Pulling her upright as Kona stood with her. Kagami felt a lot of hope drain from her, as she realized this exit door was just like the others. There was no time to ponder though because Konata was pulling her towards a small silver door with an ordinary knob immediately to the right of the exit.
The door was flung open, and Kagami was swung around and pushed into the room as Konata came behind her, closing the door. It was a small room with a vending machine, a microwave, and a long table. Just as dusty as the rest of the place, but at least it wasn't filled with garbage like that awful hallway they had just left.
Konata quickly swept the small room with her light to find it empty. The corners were barely illuminated by the pale light, but nothing stirred in them. Kagami's shoulder was killing her where she had rammed the door, and she knew Konata's was probably feeling about the same. Konata took a chair from under the table in the center of the room, and wedged it against the doorknob before sagging back against some cabinets, and a counter holding the microwave and coffee pot.
Kagami had paced to the other side of the room, but she now turned back to Konata, and nearly shouted, "What the HELL was that!"
Sure the whole place had been creepy and weird, and Kagami had had a feeling of hatred towards this place since she had awoken, but the mouthy creature had nearly broken any semblance of order she had regained since the beginning of this ordeal.
Kagami's rapid train of hatred, and downward spiral of failing to apply logic to what had occurred was interrupted by a sniffling sound from the opposite side of the room from her. She dropped her thought processes for the moment, and went over to Konata, sat down beside her, and held the other girl close. A couple tears leaked from Konata's eyes, but Kagami kissed them away.
The Otaku looked up to Kagami, and said in a cracked voice, "I almost died Kagamin...you saved me..."
"Shhhh...," came the Tsundere's response as she hugged Konata.
Kona whispered, "I'm glad you're here with me Kagamin. I couldn't do it by myself...I wouldn't even be able to move..."
Kagami agreed, although she wished neither of them were here in the first place. She knew she had been frozen too, if it hadn't been for Konata's sake, she wouldn't have been able to take action against the monster either. She knew, neither of them would be able to do anything in this place alone, but since they still had each other, they still had a chance.
"Kagamin..."
Konata's tone indicated a question, so Kagami responded, "What is it baby?"
Konata responded quietly, "Your hair Kagamin...It got some of your hair."
Kagami pulled her twintails over her shoulders to examine them closely, only to see the one on her left side was about three inches shorter than the one on the right. She was irked. Kagami spent a lot of time making sure her hair was perfect for when she saw Konata, but even with her annoyance, couldn't bring herself to fuss too much given the situation.
Instead Kagami noticed how the tips weren't even frayed, it wasn't like her hair had been torn, but rather sheared with a well placed clip of some very sharp scissors. Kagami shuddered to think about what could have happened if Konata's body had been caught in the mouths that had separated her hair so easily.
Kagami remembered the perfect half spheres cut out of the dead body on the floor below, and there wasn't a doubt in her mind that one of those monsters had done it. A couple tears welled up in Kagami's eyes as she thought about it. That man's body had been here for a very long time. She wondered, if they died here, would anyone ever find them? Maybe that man's family was still waiting, and hoping he would come back someday. Kagami didn't want her family to ever be stuck with only false hope of ever seeing her and Konata again.
A wet sensation on the younger girl's neck moved her from her thoughts, and Kagami turned her head to give Konata a better view of the neck she was kissing gently. The older girl squeezed Kagami's hand as she began to suck gently on Kagami's sensitive spot on the side of her neck. Kagami loved it, and let out a little moan.
"Kagamin...I need you," whispered Konata as she moved her lips to her Tsundere's mouth, kissing her deeply.
Kagami began kissing back quickly, she knew this wasn't the time for such a thing, but Kagami couldn't help it. Konata made her feel better, and she knew she made Konata feel happier. They needed each other right then, and Kagami had no intention of stopping her lover, as she was gently lowered to the floor, Konata's tongue never stopped working its way through Kagami's mouth, and the Tsundere gasped for air as their mouths finally separated.
Konata's hand went to the younger girl's chest, and squeezed gently, causing Kagami to emit another little moan. In the dim light Konata's skin looked pale, almost like she was a ghost. Outside this room, only god knew what was waiting for them, but here in this little sanctuary two women who loved each other were becoming lost in their feelings.
Kagami had brief flashes of rational thought where she considered these actions a coping mechanism of some sort, but they were cut off always by Konata kissing her over and over. Konata's hands were under Kagami's shirt, while the younger girl issued a steady stream of moans, when something happened that neither girl had expected.
The door on the far side of the room opened.
Both girls were startled by the click of the latch as the knob twisted. They looked up as a light from a flashlight spilled into the room, and settled on them. Both of their faces were red, and Konata's hands were still squeezing Kagami's breasts under her shirt. Then something even more unexpected happened as the girls stared wide-eyed into the light, unable to make out the form holding the flashlight.
A man's voice said to them, "Oops, sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt."
With that he stepped backwards, and shut the door quickly.
The two girls were silent for a moment just staring at the door that had just been shut by another living breathing human being, and then Konata called out loudly, "Hey, wait!"
Konata separated herself from Kagami, who was still longing for more of her lover's touch, but the younger girl also quickly stood up, and followed as Konata ran over to the door that had just been opened and closed, throwing it open once more, and stepping out into the hallway as if she had forgotten her close encounter in the previous hallway.
There was no sign of the man's light, or of him, no one answered their calls .The gloomy little hallway they had entered had doors on both ends about ten feet away each. There was no way of knowing which way the man had gone, or for that matter why he would have run away. Surely he should have been as happy to find people as they were.
Konata was pacing back and forth trying to figure out which door they should try, while Kagami was dreading trying either one knowing what could be behind them, but the chance at having another person with them was too important for her to allow herself to be frozen again. The dust puffed up through the air disturbed by their passings.
Kagami said quietly, "Two doors, should we split up?"
"NO!" exclaimed Konata with a shocked expression. As if she couldn't believe Kagami could even suggest that idea.
Kagami after thinking for a moment couldn't believe she had suggested that either. She knew this place was getting to her if she was going to be spouting nonsense like leaving Konata. Instead Konata suggested a round of Janken, and without any better ideas, Kagami agreed. If the Tsundere won, they would go to the door on her side, if Konata won they would go her way.
The first two rounds ended in a draw, Kagami won the third round. The younger girl giggled despite the situation as Konata put on an annoyed face at losing. Konata really hated losing any sort of game. Then Kagami felt a vein protruding from her forehead as Konata whined, "No fair, best two out of three!"
The Tsundere retorted in an aggravated manner, "This isn't a contest!"
The little Otaku folded her arms in annoyance, and muttered, "Fine."
They both walked to the right hand side of the hallway from where they had entered from the break room. The doorknob glistened a little in the dim light before it was fully illuminated. The two girls closed in on the door, and Konata reached out her free left hand, and gripped the doorknob, only to be surprised by Kagami putting her own hand over Konata's.
Kagami gripped her girlfriend's hand tightly, and said, "Konata wait...what if there's another monster?"
The younger girl felt her love's hand tremble slightly, but then Konata looked up at Kagami, and said, "Don't worry. If you're here with me...then I... I won't freeze up again. I'm not helpless Kagamin. I can fight, even if its just with my hands."
Kagami questioned the wisdom of her girlfriend trying to punch out a wall of biting mouths, but said, "We'll just take a peek. If we see anything moving in there, we'll shut the door, and just check back the other way."
The blue haired girl nodded her agreement, and then they both turned the knob at the same time. The door didn't so much as creak as it moved inwards. The light spilled out into the tiny room. It was a dead end. There was something weird about this small room though. First off, Kagami slammed the door shut when it happened, but the room suddenly lit up brightly with neither of them doing anything.
The two girls stood with their hands poised on the doorknob once more, but this time with light spilling out from the cracks in the door. They listened intently, but there were no sounds on the other side of the door, so after a few moments, Kagami slowly opened the door again. The bright light cast their shadows back all the way to the door on the other end of the hallway. After having Konata's phone for a light for so long this light which was only of average brightness seemed blinding.
The room seemed blurry while their eyes adjusted, but soon they could see this light was being cast from a vending machine. Why it had started up right when they had entered the room they didn't know. Furthermore, it seemed like the electricity was dead throughout this place, and yet the machine was running.
The Otaku wasn't questioning it though, she was already heading towards the vending machine grumbling about being hungry. Even if they didn't have anything to drink, a snack would be welcome, as well as some time spent in the light. Konata checked her phone again to see the time hadn't changed, but she also noticed the battery on her phone hadn't depleted at all.
After checking her phone Konata reached into her pocket for some spare change to put in the vending machine intending to buy her and Kagami something to eat. Sure it was odd that there was a suddenly working vending machine taking up all this tiny room except for just enough space for the two of them to walk in, but she had been taught to accept the little blessings without question. They finally had some small sort of relief.
Spotting the candy bar she wanted, Kona fed the change into the machine, and pressed the keys associated with her snack. She watched as the metal springs curled and dropped her candy bar into the trough at the bottom. The Otaku eagerly reached inside the flap of the trough to receive her prize, but her hands only found something cold and metal inside.
She pulled it out only to find a small bronze key. The only thing that went through her mind was the unfairness of it all. Kona had been trapped in the weird place, and worse still Kagami had been too. There were monsters running around, and she didn't have any kind of weapons like in all the games. There wasn't any cool hero character knocking the monsters through walls, or better yet turning into a monster to fight them while they cheered him on.
Now though, she couldn't even trust a vending machine to give her food. A couple tears of frustration stung the corners of her eyes, but Kona held them back. Instead of crying she shouted, "Piece of junk!"
Then the Otaku kicked the machine. It made an odd noise as the lights sparked from the kick, and then everything went dark again. Once again the black pressed in on them. Once again their only bit of small comfort was each other. Sure Konata hadn't really been very hungry, but she still had been really looking forward to a snack, something nice to remind them that this wasn't actually hell.
"Sorry Kagamin," said Konata quietly.
Kagami responded, "It's fine. That machine's light was starting to make me feel exposed anyways."
Kona felt her Tsundere's hand tightening around her own once again, and the Otaku decided to turn the flashlight setting on her phone back on. The darkness released them from its choking grip as their small light chased it back.
Kagami asked Konata, "So what was it you pulled out of there?"
Kona pulled the little key out of her pocket, and showed it to Kagami. In the pale light the younger girl could see some faded lettering, and upon closer inspection she saw that the key read, "Maintenance."
Kagami Shuddered a little. The key for the Maintenance room. They had left the Maintenance room behind on the other side of the hallway with the monster in it. There was no way she was going back through that hallway any way other than kicking and screaming.
The younger girl quickly set her sights on the other door they hadn't tried since she wasn't going to risk her life just to test a key they had found in a vending machine. Pocketing the small bronze object, she led Konata over to the other door.
Kagami's hand rested on the knob for only a few moments as she listened closely. Her ear was pressed against the door, but after everything was silent, she opened the door. This time the hallway they saw wasn't a small one. It was as large as the theater aisle down below, and Kagami guessed these were all projector rooms connected to each of the theaters.
There were no illuminated exit signs here. Kagami sighed in exasperation, as Konata said, "With as much tension as there is before we open every door, it'd be great if we had a snake cam or something."
Without exits Kagami saw this as a dead end, she wanted to just turn back, but unfortunately there was nowhere to turn to. At the very least if this was a dead end, they would find the man who had walked in on them earlier. Maybe he had some idea about what was going on, but with his reaction to their prior situation he might just be an idiot stuck in this place along with them.
At least he had a brighter flashlight, that would be nice until the batteries ran out the Tsundere mused. There were monsters behind her, blocked by one door and a flimsy chair since they had left the exit door of the break room wide open.
Konata let out a sigh from beside her lover, and Kagami looked over to the smaller girl just in time to see her say, "Well...I don't like it, but I guess we should start checking out all these doors."
The Tsundere nodded in silence, and Konata began walking again, on the lookout for any kind of motion outside their pool of light. From the door that was open she went left. The first door wouldn't budge...big surprise.
The next door was stuck just like the first, and just like most of the doors leading into the theaters below them. The third door she tried actually opened, which surprised Konata. It was just a dark projection room overlooking a pitch black movie theater. Even so the two girls checked the small room out, the projector didn't turn on, none of the switches in the room actually did anything either.
So there was absolutely nothing to help them in here. Konata said quietly to Kagami, "What I wouldn't give to have a baseball bat or something. I really feel like smashing some stuff just to work off some stress right now."
Kagami responded, "I know what you mean."
Kagami felt a grip on her hand, and turned from inspecting some cabinets in order to look at her girlfriend. Konata whispered into Kagami's chest as they embraced, "We're not going to have to go back through there are we?"
Kagami patted Kona's back, and said, "I don't know. I hope not."
Kagami couldn't help but smile as Konata squeezed her tighter. Kagami loved it when Konata held her close. She broke the embrace though, since standing here in this little room wasn't helping them escape this predicament. They would have time for all the contact they wanted after escaping this place, so the Tsundere decided to focus on escape.
The lavender haired girl grabbed her Otaku's hand, and left the room.
Upon exiting, not even a full foot to her left, a loud hiss erupted, nearly deafening Kagami, and blowing her hair backwards, as she saw mouths snapping open out of the corner of her eye. The beast's jet black rippling skin bubbled slowly as the humanoid thing took a step towards her.
Her stomach turned upside down, and she felt sick looking down those awful throats, and the ridiculously large teeth. Then the Tsundere felt herself pulled to the side by a smaller form. Konata had grabbed her, and thrown her out of the way. Kagami tripped, stumbled, and fell down outside Konata's pool of light.
She looked in on the small lighted area, horrified, and terrified about what could happen to Konata in an instant. Konata was different from before though. She quickly rolled to the side of the monster, looking like she was planning to sweep its legs from the side. The light lolled wildly casting Konata's and the monster's shadows about wildly. Some of the mouths snapped shut with that blinding speed, and an audible clacking noise.
Unfortunately more mouths on the side Konata approached flashed open emitting the loud hissing noise again. The mouths on the side were smaller, but Konata had no doubt they were just as dangerous. Suddenly taken aback on her fighting plan, Konata hopped back from the creature as Kagami regained her feet.
It turned to face her at a very casual pace, snapping its side mouths shut, and opening the front mouths again with another loud hiss. She was preparing to run in and tackle the thing from the side despite the danger in order to help Kanata when she felt something wrap around her stomach, and then something else close over her mouth.
Kagami's eyes widened, and she knew she was most likely about to join the dead man downstairs when she heard a small hiss in her ear. After just a second of panic though, the Tsundere realized it wasn't a hiss like the monster, it was someone in the dark shushing her. Kagami calmed down quickly, if this person wanted to hurt her they probably would have already done it.
A man's whispering in her ear said, "Tell her to turn off the light."
Kagami instantly felt the pressure on her body alleviate after the message was delivered. Kagami didn't know why they should turn out the light, they wouldn't be able to see without it, and then it dawned on her. The chase from the same type of slow clumsy monster in the hallway earlier, the way the mouths on the thing opened and closed, and the fact that she hadn't seen eyes anywhere on the body of the beast. Kagami shouted, "Konata! It's tracking by reflex to the light! Turn it off!"
The Otaku looked into the black where she couldn't see Kagami looking on with scared eyes and worry on her face. It only took a minute, and all the light was gone. The mouths on the monster clamped shut, and weren't followed by a hiss of them opening again. Relief didn't settle in though, how could it? Especially when they knew the creature was still only a few feet away from them.
Kagami said quietly, "Konata, can you find your way over to me?"
In the pitch black the younger girl was just left staring at the place where she had seen Konata vanish into the dark. It was really disorienting to not be relying on her sight. If she thought about it, Kagami wasn't even able to point to the door they had entered from, the only way to find her way back without alerting the monster would be to fell her way back along the wall until she came to the open door they had left.
Kagami's hearing went into overdrive as she strained to hear any sort of noise, and after a few moments she heard soft footsteps coming towards her. Those were Konata's footsteps. She knew them well from the dark nights when Konata woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom or something.
Kagami slowly made her way to them, and took Konata in her arms to hear a gasp come from the smaller girl as she was grabbed. The Tsundere whispered, "Shh. It's okay, it's me Konata, it's me."
Konata relaxed in Kagami's arms, but tensed back up when the younger girl said, "We're not alone Konata. A man was talking to me just a second ago. I know he's around here somewhere, he's got to be the one who walked in on us earlier."
"Where is he Kagamin?" asked Kona.
"Oh, I'm right here," said the man's voice from right beside them, causing them both to jump. Neither had heard him moving in. His voice was casual as well, definitely not suited to their situation.
There was a loud bump from near where the monster was, and the man chuckled, saying, "It's gone back to wandering around. They're really not too dangerous if you know how to handle them. You let your guard down though, or if there's a group of them, they'll tear you apart. I haven't seen anything those teeth can't pierce. I watched one of them cut a hole out of a brick wall."
Kagami couldn't believe it, there was a monster not ten feet away and this man was casually making conversation about it. This guy was obviously insane. Most likely someone they were much better off being away from.
Kagami decided to get away from him as soon as they could, but for the moment, at the very least, he knew more about the monsters than they did. So it could be worth it to listen to him for right then. Kagami felt a rough, and hard hand grip her own with a gentle grip, and she shuddered in revulsion at the thought of some stranger touching her in the dark.
He didn't waste any time asking if they would follow him though. The man just started pulling them in the direction of the monster, they could hear his free hand brushing the wall, so at least it seemed he too needed some reference to find his way in the dark. They passed by the monster quickly and quietly, and Kagami noticed the man's hand didn't even tense a little while passing by it, unlike Konata's and her own.
About twenty feet past the monster on the opposite side of the hallway from where the two women had started checking every door, the man opened a door, and pulled them inside before shutting it. A moment later he turned his flashlight on which was nearly blinding after the darkness, and set it up on a cabinet so that it dimly illuminated the small projector room they were in. The Tsundere was happy to finally be in a room she could see every corner of.
The light really did ease their minds, it was awful knowing terrible things were around you, and not being able to see them closing in on you. The next thing Kagami worried about was the man who had led them into this room. She could finally see his appearance.
He was a big man. Almost six feet tall. That wasn't very surprising to Kagami though, the thing she found odd was that he wasn't Japanese. His language had been fluent when he had spoken, she hadn't been able to tell his voice from a native Japanese man. Distrust welled up in her, Kagami had always felt uneasy, and a little suspicious of foreigners who spoke her language flawlessly, especially since most tourists that came along could barely speak two Japanese words without a dictionary.
The man had short brown hair with no particular style, except parted down the middle. It was a very plain style. His big brown curly beard was something of an oddity as most Japanese men didn't grow beards like that. His gray eyes didn't blink often, and didn't have any wrinkles below them, so he couldn't be too much older than Kagami and Konata. Maybe in his mid twenties.
Next was his muscular frame. He had very very large shoulders, and large arms. His chest wasn't all that big for someone his size, but his shoulders just seemed to dominate his countenance. His legs were also pretty muscular, but he was definitely an upper body strength type of man.
He wore black boots, that Kagami noted were a type she had seen in some store with steel toes.
His blue jeans seemed old and faded as did the black, short sleeve t-shirt he was wearing. The only real oddity about his clothing though was the fact that he was wearing red fingerless leather gloves, but maybe that wasn't really that odd considering the three foot long pipe he carried in a leather case on his back.
After taking all of this, Kagami finally noticed that his skin was pale. Very pale. He hadn't seen sunlight in quite a while, whoever he was. That thought scared Kagami, he sort of reminded her of pictures of prisoners she had seen before. His rough countenance was more than a little intimidating, but what the Tsundere really worried about wasn't whether he was dangerous or not, he had saved their lives most probably, and he didn't look like he had any intention of suddenly becoming violent with them.
Kagami was worried about the paleness of his skin, if he was pale because he had been trapped here for a long time, she wondered how long it would be before they got out of here. For the first time since being here, she thought about the possibility that they might be in this place for a very long time.
A sudden beep from Konata's direction made all three of them start. Konata looked at the display on her phone. Time had just progressed one more minute. The time was now One Fifty-Nine.
Author's Note: Okay, so it's been a while since I made an update, but the story isn't forgotten i just don't have much time. New character introduction, and some monster scenes, as well as a flashback, those were pretty fun to do. I'm liking the way this is flowing so far, I just wish I had more time to work on it. I hope all of you enjoy this, and if you see somewhere I've erred make sure to point it out so I can improve on my mistakes.