A/N: Apparently, some of the wingdings are deleted by . These text are meant as placeholders and could normally not be understood by you since you're in Hiyori's POV. However, they could still be translated. You have the choice to understand or not so I will leave a pastebin link here:
pastebin: CHWLU8Nv (just replace any paste with these characters)
Flash
Huh? What happened?
As I straightened my back and looked around, the vivid image of the well-lit bookstore was no longer in sight. My memory became a bit blurry, and my entire surroundings changed. Just a second ago, I was with Ayanokouji-kun in Lectio.
Where...am I?
As if everything was flipped to the next page of some picture book, the brand new book-filled shelves surrounding me were no longer there. Instead, they were ragged, old.
I was towered by tall, wooden shelves. Books were all over the place. From what I can see, this library, or whatever it is, hasn't been visited, let alone cleaned, for so long.
"Ah~!"
A sharp, electric-like shock shot through my spines as I heard a faint voice coming from the other side of the shelf in front of me.
"✡︎ ︎⬧︎, ⧫︎ ︎ ︎⧫︎ ︎⬧︎ ︎□︎□︎ ︎!~"
I have no idea what they're saying...but from the tone of her voice. Some unspeakable things are happening right next to me. Only a bookshelf is dividing us apart!
Thud. Thud.
They're hitting against the shelf. This can't be good; some books are starting to fall over. If they continue at this pace, my cover will be blown.
"✋︎ ︎❍︎ ︎●︎□︎⬧︎ ︎."
This time, it was a male voice.
Thud.
Eek! I seriously have no idea what to do.
And just as I was at the peak of my crisis, the rest of the books hiding my appearance got knocked down. They all fell over, a series of thuds masking the sweet voices that were subjecting me to torture.
It was a two-way street, of course. Just as my cover was blown, the appearance of the two people in front of me was shown in full display.
Warmth rushed to the sides of my seeks, for what I've seen was something that could only be imagined by someone like me. Even then, this view wasn't what I imagined from all those suspicious teen novels.
It looked like they were students. Was an old and unused library like this one just the perfect place for people like them to use for stress relief?
They continued for a solid three more seconds before finally noticing my presence. The male student looked at me first. His complete shock and sudden pause caught the girl's attention, who seemed to have been having fun until now.
I was no coward. In these kinds of situations, there needs to be something to say. I said:
"Hello?"
" ︎ ︎ ︎⧫︎?" the guy replied.
After that, reality hit him. In his fastest, he pulled up his pants and fixed his appearance, although with no actual improvement. Immediately afterwards, he left the library. The footsteps he left echoed loudly in the room. As silence took over once again, two girls were left staring at each other.
What is this situation? I asked myself. How did book hunting come to this?
I took this moment to stare at the half-naked lady in front of me. She looked absolutely stunning. I can understand how boys would want to indulge themselves in her, but it also raises the question of why a lady of her league would settle down for lovemaking at some old, ruined library? Smooth. Her skin was silky smooth and white as snow. Slender body. Her posture was enchanting. Even as a fellow girl, I can't help but look at her. Her long legs were visible from this angle. It felt like they had the natural ability to attract the eyes. Covering them were white silk stockings. And skirt on top of the same color to fully emphasize her thighs.
Wait. What am I even thinking?
"Uhh..." she broke the silence.
At the very least, I can understand grunts and simple murmurs. But still, what language do they even use?
My eyes quickly travelled from her hips to her face. Beautiful eyes. Long eyelashes. Chiseled face. Good chin. She had grey-ish blonde hair supported by a black headband.
I looked at her upper clothes. She had fixed them a while ago without me noticing. Clothes? Or should I say uniform? It looked like she was just wearing a plain dress shirt.
I looked around and saw a white blazer lying on the floor. It must be hers.
Having finished examining her entire appearance, my opinion of myself had drastically changed. I might be some sort of degenerate.
Realizing how awkward it is to continue being silent, I opened my mouth even though she most likely won't understand:
"Hey, can i ask what place this is?" I gestured my hands around to somehow lead the context.
" ︎ ︎ ︎⧫︎?" she replied, questioning.
I think she said something along the lines of "What?"
"Is there any way for us to understand each other?"
This time, I gestured around my mouth and pointed to each of us, hoping she'd understand. But, the blank, confused look never left her eyes.
I sighed, realizing how futile it was to try and communicate.
My mind wandered to other things. A sharp and sudden feeling struck my heart. I looked around again in a hurry. But, the only person that could understand me was nowhere to be found.
I turned to the blonde girl again.
"Have you seen a boy about this height? He has brown hair and brown eyes."
This time I used my hand to represent Ayanokouji-kun's height. Then I pointed to my eyes and hair and clasped my hands together. The idea was that she would see that as alike or same. If not, I might've just confused her more.
She changed postures. She wrapped one of her arms around her waist and let her other elbow rest on top. Her appearance gave off something like a thinking pose as she rested her chin on her hand.
Her face lit up.
Does she have an idea? Maybe Ayanokouji-kun was around here before...
" ︎ ︎ ︎⧫︎ ︎ ︎❒︎ ︎," she said, extending her hand and gesturing as if saying "Stop" or "Wait."
She picked up her feet and began heading for the exit door. She left soon after.
Since I'm alone now, I have some time to think.
What is this place? Where is this place?
Should I have gone after the pretty blonde girl?
Considering that the last of my memories were about Ayanokouji-kun and I visiting Lectio, we shouldn't be far off. Wait a minute. How did we even get here in the first place? Were we kidnapped? Kidnapped in a crowded bookstore? Yeah right. Was there like a secret trapdoor in Lectio that kidnappers could use to go in and out without being noticed? Is that how we were abducted?
This is all crazy. Wait, does that mean that the pretty blonde girl was one of the culprits? Now she's bringing Ayanokouji-kun here for the both of us to be held for ransom.
Hmmm...Then why put him in another room anyway? Oh, could it be that he woke up earlier and resisted? They realized that he was too much to handle and locked him up somewhere safer. That sounds plausible.
And they didn't even tie me up. Am I that low of a threat to them?
And I wonder what language they're speaking? I don't recognize it. Maybe they belong somewhere in Europe and just have an unpopular dialect.
A few minutes later, a muffled voice outside the library could be heard.
" ︎ ︎ ︎⧫︎ ︎❒︎ ︎ ⍓︎□︎◆︎ ︎□︎ ︎■︎ ︎?"
It was a male's voice.
It sounded like he was resisting. Like someone is just dragging him down the hallway. The voice got closer and closer until the door to the library opened again.
I saw the same blonde girl, and she was pulling another person by the arm. He wasn't the guy who left earlier.
This person was smaller than the girl. He wore big glasses with round lenses and a terrified face. They got closer to me. When they were near enough, the blonde girl let go of the poor man.
She turned to him and said:
"✋︎ ︎ ︎■︎ ︎⧫︎ ◆︎■︎ ︎ ︎❒︎⬧︎⧫︎ ︎■︎ ︎ ︎ ︎❒︎. 👎︎□︎ ⬧︎□︎❍︎ ︎⧫︎ ︎ ︎■︎ ︎ ︎ ︎□︎◆︎⧫︎ ︎⧫︎."
" ︎◆︎ ︎? ︎ ︎□︎ ︎⬧︎ ⧫︎ ︎ ︎⬧︎ ︎ ︎❒︎●︎, ︎■︎⍓︎⬥︎ ︎⍓︎⬧︎?" he replied and looked at me.
They must be talking about me. Is she scolding him for forgetting to tie me up? Was that his actual job?
" ︎◆︎⬧︎⧫︎ ︎□︎ ︎⧫︎." said the pretty girl.
The guy looked confused. But he was feeling many more emotions. A hint of fear and curiosity could also be seen in his expressions.
I'm not really sure what all of this is about, but it's clear as day that it all connects to me. With the short time I've been here, I'm starting to realize something. I'm suddenly in an entirely different place, meeting completely unknown and different people doing all sorts of things whose language and way of speaking are totally alien.
Thinking logically, I should've been kidnapped and taken to a strange place. But if we were to actually apply logic and common sense, things would've gone an entirely different direction.
I wasn't kidnapped. Not by these people, at least.
" ︎ ︎⍓︎." the guy said.
He took two steps forward and closed the distance between us. He turned his eyes to me and then traveled down to the fallen books on the floor. His lens-amplified-eyes narrowed on one of them. He then extended his arm and bent his body to reach for it. He straightened up again and started directing his attention to the old tattered book he had just picked up.
" ︎ ︎⧫︎ ︎⬧︎ ⬧︎ ︎ ︎..."
He extended his open palm towards me and said:
"👍︎□︎❍︎❍︎◆︎■︎ ︎ ︎ ︎⧫︎ ︎□︎■︎ 💣︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ❄︎ ︎●︎ ︎◻︎ ︎⧫︎ ︎⍓︎."
Immediately afterwards, his fingers—no, his whole arm started to glow. The unknown light crawled the rest of his body, only stopping to spread when it reached his head.
"Can you hear me?" an unknown voice echoed in my head.
"Can you understand me?" the same voice asked again.
What is this? I thought to myself.
"This is telepathy," the unknown voice replied.
My body shook a little. I didn't expect to get a reply. I have no idea what was going on. What is this voice inside my head?
Could this be...magic?
If that's the case, then the voice inside my head...is him.
My eyes narrowed down to the person in front of me.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"Shiina Hiyori."
"Odd name. Which country did you come from?"
"Japan."
"Japan? I've never heard of that place. Are you being serious?"
"Yes. In any case, what is this place? And how are you talking to me like this—no, how are you using telepathy?"
"I'm more curious about why you don't know that. This is magic."
"I figured. But what I actually meant to ask was: How can you use magic?"
After I said—no, more like thought that, he furrowed his eyebrows and narrowed his eyes through those thick glasses of his. Afterwards, he turned to the blonde girl.
" ︎ ︎ ︎⧫︎ ︎⬧︎ ⬧︎ ︎ ︎ ⬧︎ ︎⍓︎ ︎■︎ ︎?" the girl asked.
"✋︎ ︎□︎■︎ ︎⧫︎ ■︎□︎⬥︎. 💧︎ ︎ ︎ ︎⬧︎ ⬧︎ ︎⍓︎ ︎■︎ ︎ ⬥︎ ︎ ︎❒︎ ︎ ⬧︎⧫︎◆︎ ︎ ︎ ●︎ ︎ ︎ ⬧︎ ︎ ︎ ︎□︎ ︎⬧︎■︎ ︎⧫︎ ■︎□︎⬥︎ ︎□︎⬥︎ ⧫︎□︎ ◆︎⬧︎ ︎ ❍︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎■︎ ︎ ⧫︎ ︎ ︎⧫︎ ⬧︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎❍︎ ︎ ︎❒︎□︎❍︎ ︎ ◻︎●︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎●︎●︎ ︎ ︎ Japan."
"Japan? 💧︎ ︎ ︎ ❍︎ ︎ ︎ ︎⧫︎ ︎❖︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎■︎ ❍︎ ︎⬧︎⧫︎ ︎ ︎■︎📬︎ ✋︎ ︎ ⬧︎ ︎ ︎ ︎□︎ ︎⬧︎■︎ ︎⧫︎ ■︎□︎⬥︎ ❍︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎📪︎ ❍︎ ︎⍓︎ ︎ ︎ ⬧︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎❍︎ ︎ ︎❒︎□︎❍︎ 👍︎❒︎⍓︎ ︎ ︎?"
I'm beginning to understand their language. They said Japan!
Ah, wait. Shouldn't I be able to understand the guy in glasses at least? What happened to that magic he was doing? Maybe it doesn't work when he talks?
"Hey, what are you talking about?"
He turned to me.
"You're still suspicious. We can't really trust you since your info is questionable, to say the least. "
"Hey, it's the truth! In any case, since you can read my mind, can't you already see that I'm not hostile?"
His face twitched, and he let out a sigh.
"This is telepathy. We are exchanging information through our minds that we want to give. This isn't the same as mind reading."
"That makes sense. But then how did you reply to me the first time?"
"Because subconsciously, you might've directed that thought onto me. After all, I was the one talking to you."
That still feels a little confusing. I didn't even know it was his voice. So, he's only able to pick up my thoughts when I direct them at him?
I like reading William Irish.
I like reading Dorothy Sayers.
"I like reading Ellery Queen."
"Ellery Queen? What is that? Who is that?"
Oh, he picked that up. So, it's true. He might just be pretending not to hear the others, but that's unlikely. If all of these are foreign to him, he'd ask questions about all.
So, it only takes a slight change in consciousness to switch from thinking to myself and talking to someone else in telepathy...I'll take note of that.
"Ellery Queen is Frederic Dannay, a much famous mystery novelist."
"You're making little sense. Are you perhaps wrong in the head?"
I pouted and directed a gloomy stare at him.
"What?"
I changed the subject, "Is there any way for us to speak without the need of telepathy? I feel like it's better if all three of us were to sit down and have a chat."
"Well, I'm afraid not at this level."
"This level?"
Before I could inquire further, a loud voice from outside disrupted the room, and soon enough, the library door burst open.
"✌︎■︎■︎ ︎ ︎!" a mysterious man said.
He said something that sounded like Annie, but that might be wrong.
The man had black hair, which was styled quite charmingly. Fierce eyes that scanned through the room. He was wearing a white dress shirt. Properly buttoned up except for the collar. He wore a red necktie as well, although a bit loose.
From his appearance and vibe, I'm guessing he's a teacher?
The blonde girl turned to him and said:
" ︎ ︎ ︎⧫︎?"
Maybe her name was Annie after all.
"✋︎ ︎ ︎ ︎❒︎ ︎ ⍓︎□︎◆︎ ︎❒︎ ︎ ◆︎⬧︎ ︎■︎ ︎ ●︎ ︎ ︎❒︎ ︎❒︎⍓︎ ︎□︎❒︎ ⍓︎□︎◆︎❒︎ □︎⬥︎■︎ ◆︎⬧︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎■︎."
He continued, "👎︎□︎ ⍓︎□︎◆︎ ■︎□︎⧫︎ ●︎ ︎ ︎❒︎■︎ ⧫︎ ︎ ︎⧫︎— ︎ ︎ ︎⧫︎📪︎ ⬥︎ ︎□︎ ︎⬧︎ ⬧︎ ︎ ︎?"
He stopped mid-sentence and looked at me, all confused. I'm guessing he also doesn't know who I am. There is no longer any evidence or ideas of me getting kidnapped.
Which means...
"Hey, Glasses-kun, who is that man?"
"Glasses-kun...? Are you talking to me?"
"Yes. You're the only one with glasses here, no?"
"You don't name people after objects. Anyways, that man over there is a teacher at this school."
"I see. I kinda figured."
While we were chatting with our minds, the teacher and, supposedly Annie, talked about me.
Annie replied, "✋︎ ︎□︎■︎ ︎⧫︎ ■︎□︎⬥︎. ✋︎ ︎□︎◆︎■︎ ︎ ︎ ︎❒︎ ︎ ︎❒︎ ︎ ︎ ︎❒︎●︎ ︎ ︎❒︎ ︎◆︎⧫︎ ︎⧫︎ ⬧︎ ︎ ︎ ⬥︎ ︎⬧︎ ⬧︎◻︎ ︎ ︎ ︎■︎ ︎ ⬧︎□︎❍︎ ︎ ◆︎■︎ ■︎□︎⬥︎■︎ ●︎ ︎■︎ ︎◆︎ ︎ ︎ ︎. 💧︎ ︎ ︎ ︎□︎◆︎●︎ ︎■︎ ︎⧫︎ ◆︎■︎ ︎ ︎❒︎⬧︎⧫︎ ︎■︎ ︎ ❍︎ ︎ ︎ ︎⧫︎ ︎ ︎❒︎ ⬧︎□︎ ✋︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ⧫︎□︎ ︎ ︎⧫︎ ✌︎●︎ ︎ ︎ ⧫︎□︎ ⧫︎ ︎●︎ ⧫︎□︎ ︎ ︎❒︎ ⧫︎ ︎❒︎□︎◆︎ ︎ ︎ ⧫︎ ︎●︎ ︎◻︎ ︎⧫︎ ︎⍓︎."
The teacher said, "✋︎ ⬧︎ ︎ ︎. ︎ ︎●︎●︎ ⧫︎ ︎ ︎■︎, ●︎ ︎⧫︎ ︎⬧︎ ︎ ︎❖︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎⧫︎."
He put on a little smirk like he knows something.
He then stretched out his right arm and opened his palm like how Glasses-kun did earlier. He then chanted:
"👍︎□︎❍︎❍︎◆︎■︎ ︎ ︎ ︎⧫︎ ︎□︎■︎ 💣︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ✞︎□︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ Of Heart."
Like a wild breeze, some unknown energy filled the room.
"Can you understand now?"
"!"
I almost gasped in surprise. For a while now, I felt like I was only talking to myself because Glasses-kun's voice only resounded within my own head. But now, I can actually understand someone's voice!
"Yes, I can!" I said as I fixed my posture upright.
"Well, then. Let's have a chat. All of us."
