Chapter 25 Toue again
I scream and take a step back.
This is...
I don't know where this is.
...No, it's different.
This is where the black van and car were parked.
Then, Mizuki is...
"...!" At that moment, I felt like I was sinking into the ground. No way, this again...!?
Rhyme is field is in check...
"...I knew it. This is Rhyme." I said recognizing the feel.
"Yeah. And we've been pulled in by force again." Ren said appearing in his avatar form.
"Another Drive-By...! But my opponent isn't Noiz again, right? Who in the world...Huh? Hey, is that...!? Isn't that Toue?" I say in shock recognizing the person standing in front of us.
"...I've found you."
"!? Ren, defense!" I quickly say. "Ren!" I quickly ran over to him as he fell down from blocking the attack.
"Heh..."
"Shit...! How are her attacks so brutal!? ...They're..." Ren went for another attack but the Durability hardly took any damage. "We aren't even making a scratch! Besides, why is Toue...!?"
"..." He's Allmate made another attack.
"Whoaaa!"
"No matter what you do, it still won't be enough." Toue said.
"Guh..."
"Right now, you can't even attempt to stop me. It's impossible."
"..."
"If you want to stop me... Be my guest and destroy yourself. By your own actions."
"Huh?"
"I eagerly anticipate the outcome. Heh."
"...Toue!"
.
.
"You're finally awake."
"Eh?"
Huh? That voice...
"...Granny!?" Why is Granny here...!? When I try to get up, I realize I was resting on Granny's lap. "Granny, why, how-Huh?"
"It's been chaos ever since you got here."
"Ah..."
...That's right. I think of how I stopped Mizuki's people from loading Granny into their car. After that, I was pulled into Rhyme again...Why did Toue come out? It made no sense. We couldn't even lay a hand on them.
But still, why was Toue...? And he even spoke as if he knew something about me...
Feeling incredibly uneasy, I look at Mizuki who had fallen face down to the ground.
"Mizuki...!"
Koujaku, Noiz, Mink and Clear are all there too.
"Are you okay, Aoba?" Koujaku asked.
"Master!"
"..." Seeing everyone's face gives me peace of mind, and I find my body suddenly feeling heavy. "Granny..."
"What?" She asked.
"My head hurts..."
"Take some medicine later. We're going home."
"Okay..."
...We're going home. Of course she'd say that, but just hearing those words makes me very happy. We're going home. To our house.
I'm so glad...
...The power in my body gradually ran out, and at some point or another I lost consciousness.
.
.
...?
...What?
What is this...?
My body won't move...
I can't move my neck, fingers, or feet even a single inch. It was like...my eyes were completely covered in mud.
...!
My voice won't come out even when I try to shout. I open my mouth but no sound comes out, only air. It' completely pitch black and there isn't even an ounce of light. But...I feel like I can't be here.
I feel a horrible premonition.
BA-DUMP
BA-DUMP
This is bad. I need to escape.
Quickly, right now...
I try to squirm as much as I can, but continue sinking into the mud. But I still have to try.
Hurry up, hurry up.
...?
What...?
Suddenly, I feel someone pulling my right arm. Inside the darkness, my right arm floats to the white top. Before my elbow is...nothing. It's all gone, as if it was eaten off. While restlessly squirming in the darkness, I feel something licking what's left of my lost arm.
Like it was saying that it wanted more.
An intense fear overtakes me...and I scream. Even though nothing sounded, I scream. And scream.
Ah!
Ahhh!
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
...The next time I open my eyes, all I see is the ceiling.
"..."
This is...my room.
I blink a few times, and slowly my sense of reality comes back to me.
Ouch...
The inside of my head keeps pounding. I need some medicine...I sluggishly get up and I see Ren coiled up under the futon. Just like how he always would...on a normal day. Looking at him, I feel like I've come back to my senses.
We finally came back home.
I reach out my hand to Ren and start to lightly pet him. He starts up.
"Aoba."
"Good morning, Ren." I greeted with a sheepish smile.
"Good morning. How's your health?" Ren greeted back.
"I have a headache." I told him.
"I see. You haven't taken any medicine yet?" He asked.
"Nope. Let's head downstairs." I get up from my bed to leave, and hold Ren in my arms with me.
Ouch...
It feels like an awful, violent vibration keeps moving through my body. But I smell the scent of a lot of food coming from the hallway, and forget the pain for a little while. Granny must've made something.
...Granny. I'm so glad she's safe.
Since happiness can't exactly fill my stomach, I go downstairs. When I enter the living room, Koujaku, Noiz and Clear are all sitting at the dinner table. Mink is sitting on the coach in the other room by himself. On the table is food that Granny has lined up, and my stomach starts to rumble.
"Finally up, Aoba?" Koujaku said.
"Master!"
"Yo, Ren. I came to visit." Beni greeted.
"Hey."
"How are you doing?" Koujaku asked.
"Okay. I'm not feeling too great." I responded.
"Of course you wouldn't." Koujaku looks down and lets out a small sigh. The atmosphere around everyone here gives me the feeling that they're all tired.
Well of course they'd be...
Something unbelievable happened back there.
"How's Mizuki?" I asked worriedly.
"Mizuki and the rest of the Dry Juice members are all in the hospital. Seems like none of them have woken up yet." Koujaku told me.
"I see." I mutter looking down.
Back then...
I confronted Mizuki as he was about to load Granny into that car. I don't know if what happened was a dream or reality, but I realized now that both Mizuki and I fell down.
Did something happen to us?
There's only one thing that I clearly remember. And that...is my past. I had forgotten all about it until now, but I suddenly came back to me. The fact that I had been participating in Rhyme a long time ago. That's why I somehow knew how to fight Noiz in that Drive-By.
But...why did I forget that?
Not that I vaguely knew how to fight back then, but the fact that I was participating in Rhyme? Was there a point in time when I just forgot about I all?
"So you're awake."
"Granny." When I look to Granny, she softly grunts and places a plate on the table. "I'll help."
"I'm almost done. You hurry up and sit down too." She says.
"Okay, I got it." I obediently take an empty seat. "Granny, are you sure you're okay now?"
"Worry about yourself first. You're the one who fell flat on your face."
"..." I listen and don't say another thing. I saved Granny, but in the end I just made her even more worried. Feeling awkward, I take my plate. At first I just poked it with my chopsticks, feeling depressed, but once I took a bit that all flew away.
It's delicious.
Suddenly my appetite grows larger. Everyone else couldn't stop eating once they tasted her food either, and in a flash all their plates were in the air, ready for more. Clear once again must've eaten at the speed of sound, and Mink didn't come to the table until the last minute.
The medicine I take calms me down, and I open my mouth to ask Granny something. "...Granny, can I ask something?"
"What?" She asked.
"Was Mizuki...really the person that took you?"
Her gaze falls to the teacup in her hands. "Yes."
"..."
"He called me from the back. He said that he wanted something with you and that he wanted to come too." Granny began to tell her story "I thought it was odd at first, but then he suddenly gagged me and dragged me into the car."
"So it was him... But why you?" I asked.
"..." Granny stay silent with a troubled look on her face but slowly opens her mouth to say something. "Aoba. And the rest of you too. First, I haven't given my thanks yet. Because of you all, I'm safe now. Thank you."
"Granny..."
"I'm going to tell you something very serious right now. The truth is that I should've said this earlier...but all I can do is say it now. It's a better idea to just tell you now than never. So make sure you listen up."
Everyone looks at Granny, completely silent.
"Now, Mizuki was the one who kidnapped me...but he was being manipulated."
"By Morphine, right?" I said.
"Yes." Granny nodded her head "But Morphine is a little different from what you think it is. This is just my guess, but they were probably under the influence of Toue Inc."
"Toue...?" Koujaku asked.
"The old farts that bought this island and made Platinum Jail, huh." Noiz said.
"But what does Morphine have to do with Toue?" I asked.
Granny watched us talk and once again lowered her eyes to her teacup. "...I used to be one of Toue's researchers at his lab once. It was twenty years ago."