"That..."
Childhood Sweethearts
"Wouldn't this kind of design be nice when displaying Ashika?"
Ouryou Rikako looked at Kagami's stunned expression with a faint smile. Her eyes were dull as she slowly looked down at her abdomen. Ouryou Rikako pushed the needleless injector embedded in her abdomen a little farther in. The injector was filled with anesthetic.
Just a little was enough to make someone quickly lose consciousness.
Ouryou Rikako's actions were impossible for Kagami to believe. Even seeing and feeling it firsthand, she could not believe it. Why would she do this? Why?
"Ah...?"
As the anesthetic entered her body, Kagami's consciousness grew increasingly hazy. She no longer even had the ability to keep thinking.
In an instant, she lost consciousness.
Kagami felt as though she had fallen into a vortex, endlessly being drawn deeper into it, as if she had fallen into another world.
She kept wandering without end.
Kagami did not know how long she remained in that muddled state. That chaotic world was like a nightmare. She wanted to think of something, but her brain was beyond her control, and she could think of nothing.
"Mmm... hn...?"
Slowly.
Kagami's consciousness gradually returned.
Everything before her went from blurry to clear. The first thing Kagami realized was that she had been moved somewhere else. This was an unfamiliar place, somewhere she had no memory of at all.
Was this... a basement?
Suddenly!
The figure reflected in Kagami's eyes was Okubo Ashika. She wanted to make a sound, but could not say a single word. As she struggled, she realized she was tied up tightly, her body bound and her mouth unable to speak.
Him?
Was he dead?
Kagami whimpered. She desperately wanted to know whether Okubo Ashika before her was dead or alive. After all, this boy was