January 26th, 20XX.
It was the date Lexa figured out, several hours later after she was hospitalized as the intense pain she experienced was, as she partially expected, due to a collapsed lungโor, to be more medically correct, a primary spontaneous pneumothorax. Part of her left lung ruptured with air leaking into the pleural cavity, thus the balance of pressure was offset. As a result, her lung shriveled, withering like a balloon with a hole in it. By no apparent causes either, although the very same thing happened when she had collapsed in the past so it wasn't ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ troubling.
But it was weird. Everything about this was weird, but the weirdest thingโaside from being in a fictional worldโwas no matter how she checked the date, the year was partially blocked out, only showing that it was the 21st century. Maybe it had something to do with Highschool of the Dead not having a set year? Lexa wasn't sure.
In the end, she couldn't dwell too much on the lack of a set year beyond sometime in 2000. Because just like the date, Lexa figured out something else while hospitalized. While this had been her third collapse ever, she was told it had only been her second collapse. Weirdly enough, if her memory served her rightโand she was certain it didโit was around this particular month she had suffered from the second and last collapse in her old world, only at fourteen instead of the eighteenโand wow, was that weird tooโshe was now.
Her old world. It was a little weird to give it that title, admittedly, but calling it the real world didn't seem any better. Yes, she was in a reality that belonged to a manga series, but aside from a few odd instances, everything felt real. Actually, no. Everything was real. It was far too much for it to not be some level of real, but how she got into the world was anyone's guess.
...She didn't think she'd be able to escape or go back to where she came from though. Not without taking some pretty drastic measures, although as far as her knowledge on the isekai genreโugh, really, why did it have to be that of all thingsโthat was just how it was. Par for the course, typical. No one knew anything as to why they'd been sent or reborn into another world, and usually, they never would because there were usually more pressing matters.
๐๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ.
Anyway. As far as her lung went, this thirdโtechnically second, by this world's standardsโcollapse was a bit more severe than her previous experiences. She did not entirely lose consciousness at the scene, which was pretty much par for the course, but the pain and the shortness of breath that occurred with her deflated lung were anything but minor. Even after she was admitted to the hospital, and as much as she tried to recall the events, her memory was foggy at best. Frustrating as it was, it made sense. At the time, she could hardly breathe, her chest feeling as though there was a large, heavy weight on top of her that refused to get off, no matter how much she writhed in pain.
Lexa believed Saeko stayed as long as she could with her though. Reassuring her, comforting her. It made her wonder if she had any relations with the modern-day samurai as it was odd to believe Saeko would be this caring toward some stranger. Yes, Saeko conducted herself in a manner that was very desirable in traditional Japanese upbringings, but, with the events of the series in mind off the top of Lexa's head, Saeko was the first to realize that she and everyone else didn't have the resources to save everyone they come across when the group stayed atโฆ the house of Marikawa Shizuka's friend.
What exactly was the name again? Something Rika. Rikaโฆ Minami? Eh, sounded about right. Minami Rika. One of the top five snipers in the Japan Self-Defense Force.
Anywho, Saeko had that cruel realization that not everyone could be saved and made it so no one would come to the house looking for help, keeping a low profile. Most would agree it was a smart but callous choice of Saeko's, especially that early on into the world ending. Not to mention what Saeko had done in the past, the dark side she kept buried with her sadism hidden behind the calm, collected exterior of a proper woman.
๐๐ข๐ฆ๐ฌ๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ป๐ถ๐ฌ๐ข ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ. ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ข ๐จ๐ถ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ฐ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐บ๐ข ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ช๐ง๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏโฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐ต ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง-๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฆ. ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ช๐ง ๐'๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ, ๐'๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ถ๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ตโฆ
Her eyebrow twitched. She could already tell this was going to be quite the headache. However, she decided that if she was something to Busujima Saeko, then figuring out exactly what would have to be put on hold for now. Bigger fish to fry, unfortunatelyโฆ because, after all, this world was doomed to end.
'๐๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ค๐ช๐ฆ๐ต๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ง๐ช๐ต ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ช๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐บ๐ฑ๐ด๐ฆ, ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ท๐ช๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ญ๐บ.
It was a bitterness-fueled thought. It was really just her luck to be isekai'd in a world where overpowered, flesh-eating fuckheads would appear in spring. At least that was when Lexa had wagered since the title of the first chapterโand episode if she counted the animeโwas called ๐๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ. That, and the series did show cherry blossoms in bloom several times within the scenery.
๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ก-๐๐ข๐บ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ญ๐บ ๐๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ญ ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต'๐ด ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ญ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฎ. Given that it was nearing the end of January, it left her with not quite two months at the earliest before the world would have to face the threat of . Zombies.
โฆYeah, no. Zombies just sounded bizarre. Probably because Them weren't like most media zombies, Lexa guessed. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ were blind and relied entirely on hunting through sound, which was somewhat commonplace, sure, but most zombie media she saw didn't have the living dead so strong you'd stand no chance of escaping once grabbedโnor did they have the capability of defying the physics of the human body. Well, aside from still moving after death, but the point still stood that Lexa couldn't recall any other living dead opening their mouths so wide that it just flat-out unhinging their jaws ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ or somehow be able to turn their head almost a near 180-degree like an owl while in a headlock, certainly snapping a few bones in their neck.
๐๐ง๐ง-๐ต๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ช๐ค. ๐๐ฐ๐ค๐ถ๐ด.
Right, right. Anyway, Z-Day could occur from late March to early April, though the more Lexa pondered, the more she began to lean towards April. In Japan, the start of the school year was April, and the main male character, Komuro Takashi, was taking Miyamoto Rei dating his best friend rather hard, especially when it seemed as though it was almost directly after she told him she'd be repeating a grade.
โฆ๐๐ฉ. ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐จ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด๐บ, ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐บ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐น ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต.
Shidล Kลichi. He was a major problem for the series, especially when it was shown in the last few chapters that he was at the same exact elementary school the main cast was heading for. ๐๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ seemingly convincing the neighbors of the Miyamoto's to leave the mother of Rei out to die, but Lexa wasn't entirely sure about that. He was also the biggest reason why the main group gave up the mini-bus they used to get out of the school.
One could say that losing the mini-bus didn't matter, with Takashi and Co. going to Rika's house and plundering the illegal firearms she had instead, but the true problem would begin with Shidล showing up to the Takagi Estate. Where, if Lexa remembered correctly, the mini-bus would crash into one of the barricades after Shidล and his followers were forced away, letting in some of Them more quickly. All because of an EMP blast that had been written all kinds of wrong.
๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด, ๐ฃ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด, ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆโฆ ๐ต๐ธ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฉ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ก-๐๐ข๐บ. ๐๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต, ๐ช๐ต'๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด. ๐๐ถ๐ต๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ธ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฑ๐ด๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐น๐ฆ๐ฅ.
"You'll be hospitalized for a week, maybe ten to twelve days."
Oh. Right. Yeah, Lexa had figured out something else.
Lifting her chin slightly to her right and keeping her head on the pillow, her eyes landed on an old woman, who she was very familiar with. Someone she loved dearly even but hadn't seen for far too long. An almost forgotten childhood memory. With long, silver hair pulled back in a bun, not a hair out of place, and warm, dark eyes shining with affection.
"The doctor said there's most likely no need for surgery, surprisingly, but they're going to start a drainage treatment," Hayashi Akari said in a soft voice, so mild-mannered. The woman had arrived as soon as she heard about the collapse, and the sight of her small, hunched frame brought a warm feeling in Lexa despite the pain in her chest and the suffocating feeling that didn't seem like it would ever subside.
"...Alright."
"I feel so terrible for you. You were doing so well only for it to collapse again six months later!"
Yeah. Sounded about right. She was pretty sure that was when her second collapse happened. The second collapse in the old world anyway, but while this initial collapse in this world was more severe than the others she had, Lexa noted she was going through the same scenario. She didn't need surgery before, and she didn't seem like she'd need it now. In fact, after resting for a bit, the suffocating pain in her chest had eased, although it was still pretty bad, and the X-ray of one of her lungsโshriveled and twistedโflashed through her mind.
"Ah. I'm sorry, Grandmaโฆ"
Biologically speaking, she and Akari shared no relation. Not even through marriage. Akari was her next-door neighbor, who offered to take care of her whenever her father was busy, and she was even her legal guardian in these types of situations due to her father's busy schedule. Saying grandma only feltโฆ
Natural. Yeah, that was the word, and it was never a word Lexa used to describe many things. For Akari, that word was special.
"Now," Akari began, wrinkly lips pursed, "there's nothing for you to feel bad about. You can't help being ill, Lexa."
Yet another thing she found. Her name was still the sameโor well, part of it anyway. Lexa, but her surname was apparently ๐๐ฐ๐ช and not ๐๐ช๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฐ. She thought it would have been ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข like it originally was while she lived in Japan, but she guessed not. Another difference.
As Akari finished the sentence, the frown melted away into a smile with the wrinkles around her eyes deepening twice as much. Going by her own age of eighteen, the woman would beโฆ sixty-eight, Lexa was sure, but Akari was still as lively as ever for being a frail-looking woman.
"Still," Lexa said, returning the smile with one of her own, "I am sorry for all of the trouble."
"Nonsense. It's no trouble to me at all, especially since my kids are all grown and my grands rarely visit," Akari told her, voice surprisingly firm. It was a tone Lexa knew she had no room to argue against. "You're like my child, too, you know. Anywho, I brought you some clothes, and if there is anything else you need, you let me know."
"...Thank you, Grandma." Her voice was raspy as Akari set a bag down beside the bed. She swallowed thickly, making sure not to move much as the pain seemed to increase whenever she shifted. "...What about my dad?"
It was not a question Lexa was prepared for, not truly. In her old world, her father had died when she was around 24, and it had been five long years since then. The fact that Akari was here meant that her dad should be around, too, and while it brought some happiness, it also brought...
Dread. Crushing dread. Because if her father was here, it meant that he had to deal with Them, too, eventually. Just like Akari.
"He'll be here tomorrow morning," Akari said. "Work ran late."
A new worry added for the oncoming days. She gave a tentative nod, turning her head back to stare at the ceiling.
"Oh, and your friend wished you a swift recovery."
She looked at Akari from her peripherals. "...Friend?"
Akari gave her a raised eyebrow, a peculiar look. "Busujima-san. Is she not your friend? You're both in the same clubโ" Her eyes widened slightly in what could only be a realization, and she let out a small gasp. "Oh no. You won't be able to do kendo anymore, and just when you were starting back, too."
"Ah..."
Friend. So Akari felt confident enough to feel as though she and Saeko were friends. That, and she was apparently a member of the kendo club. It wasn't too surprising as she'd been a part of the club back in her old world, but she was certain she had quit in middle school, more focused on less than legal activities. Based on Akari's words, that wasn't the case for this world as she had instead continued being part of the club. Tried to, at least.
...Did Saeko have anything to do with that then? Ugh. Another thing to figure out on the ever-growing list of problems. ๐๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ข๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ข ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ.
"The pain has made my head a bit fuzzy"โa lieโ"so that slipped my mind." Undoubtedly a lie. She had a better memory than most, especially if she tried hard to remember. "It's okay about kendo though. It wasn't too fun, really."
The elderly woman released an 'oh-ho,' and Lexa didn't know just how much she missed Akari's tiny laugh whenever she found out something interesting. Her heart fluttered but only for a moment. "Is that so? I would've thought you liked it quite well since you dropped archery for it when you were younger, and you calmed down quite a bit."
Lexa gave a weak laugh, the pain spiking for a second. She didn't calm down in the slightest even when she was doing archery. She just became better at hiding the less than acceptable activities she'd do, but there was no need to let Akari know. No need to disappoint. "Yeah..."
Akari did not stick around for much longer. A nurse came, calling Lexa to a treatment room in the internal medicine department, and Akari promised she'd be back early in the morning.
Lexa hadn't been paying much attention to the nurses and the doctor but she was pretty sure the treatment she'd receive was called pleural drainageโwhere she'd be given a local anesthetic, then they would cut her chest open with a scalpel and insert a thin tube into her pleural cavity. Back in her old world, the treatment happened for a full week until her collapsed lung reinflated to its original shape and the hole sealed up, and then she was released without further incident. She was told that she had experienced a full recovery, but in the same breath, the doctor said there was a chance of recurrence.
Funny how she did get that recurrence. It only took her being transported into another world after sheโ
...๐๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ค๐ข๐ด๐ฆ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ง ๐... ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ?
A dark thought. Very dark, but Lexa didn't have the time to follow that train of thought. The nurses prodded her, preparing her for the treatment, and so her attention was instead focused there. The lead physician wasn't terrible and neither was the pain as the tube was put into her. Just like before, if the air escaped through the tube and her lung reinflated with the hole closing up, she'd be on her way to a releaseโand once again, in the same breath, she was told there was a chance of another relapse even with a full recovery. With how severe this case seemed to be initially, they would most likely have to consider surgery if it happened once more.
Before in her old world when she heard this, it was depressing. Now not so much. Maybe because there were more pressing matters? Lexa wasn't sure. However, in her condition, there was little she could do. While her condition wasn't life-threatening, she was bedridden and weak.
...Weak just like before. With Kai. With Narumi. With everything.
She squeezed her eyes shut, flinching. The respirator beside her bed emitted a soft huffing, the sound of the air it sucked out of her chest being expelled through water inside the machine.
...๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต'๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต? ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐บ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ง๐ช๐จ๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐โฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ? ๐๐ต'๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ข ๐ง๐ถ๐ค๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ฅ๐ช๐ฐ๐ต. ๐๐ฏ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ดโฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ. ๐๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅโฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ด ๐จ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ถ๐ญ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฏ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฅโฆ ๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ณ๐ช ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ. ๐๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐ฆ.
๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ดโฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ ๐ค๐ณ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ญ. ๐'๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ. ๐๐ฉ๐บโฆ?
๐โฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด. ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ด๐ถ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. ๐๐ฉ๐บ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด?
The more Lexa thought about it, the more it seemed all too cruel. Although she died somewhat against her will, Lexa did resign herself to her fate partially because she thought she deserved to die, but another part of her simply wanted an escape. Escape from the terrible ordeal, from Kai, from the crushing guilt of Narumi. Everything.
In a way, Lexa supposed she did escape, but she was simply thrown into another situation that was arguably worse. In her old world, if she hadn'tโฆ diedโฆ she would have a normal life to go back to. Well, as normal as it could get with the abnormal profession she chose that fucked up someone else's life. Sure, she'd be spending the rest of her days repenting to Narumi, for fucking up her life, but this world? Normalcy wouldn't have a place to exist soon for the living dead would make sure of that. Even with the amount of fanservice, the series made a point in showing the characters adapting to the horrific events in a way that couldn't ever be unlearned if the world somehow returned to normal.
...Not to mention that if Akari and her dad were here, surely others from her past were around as well. Including Kai. She wasn't sure why she hadn't thought of him earlier, but it was likely just a trauma response. Out of sight, out of mind or it simply just did not happen if she blocked it out enough. (Like ๐๐ฆ๐ณ.)
Met with the sight of the ceiling as she opened her eyes, Lexa looked out the window of her room.
She was in the inpatient ward, a ten-story building. Her room was on the eighth floor. Hazy points of illumination were below the dark sky, the city lights of Tokonosu City. It wasโฆ
Colorful. It reminded her a lot of the city lights back in Tokyo, actually.
Slowly, she sat up, and the incision below her armpit, where the tube had been inserted, throbbed and mingled with the ever-present chest pain, but it did not matter.
๐๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ช๐ง ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐จ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆโฆ
Following that thought, Lexa did not hesitate to rip the tube out, freeing herself from her link to the machine. The pain barely registered, surprisingly, as blood spurted from the wound she made, warm and sticky, while the suffocating feeling increased tenfold. She ripped out the IV-drip, too, and stood, stumbling to the window.
The latch release was easy enough to find, but sliding the window open took more effort than she liked. A brisk, chilled breeze hit her face as soon as the window was opened, a shudder rolling down her spine. Peeking out, she hummed. Concrete was what she saw, and this height would do her good, but she had to be quick. Surely she'd be found out if she lingered, and she wasn't sure if she even had the strength to fight back against anyone who tried stopping her.
So out the window Lexa went, putting her feet along the ledge. She hadn't noticed before, but the moon was bright and full, looming over her. It feltโฆ menacing in a way, especially with the very few stars she could see. Yet somehow it made the night beautiful, and she took a second to bask in the glow before there was a shout behind her.
It was far too late though. Her mind was made up, and all she needed to do was step off and let gravity take care of the rest. Whoever it was wouldn't have the time to catch her.
And so with a smile, Lexa stepped off the ledge.
The concrete approached fast, and she closed her eyes, preparing herself for when she'd hit the ground, her bones breaking andโ
She did not hit the ground. Suddenly, the gusts of wind were no longer there, the chill of the night air gone. She couldn't seem to open her eyes but she knew there was darkness. Nothing but darkness. She felt weightless, too.
And then. And then, a few seconds passed, and finally, the darkness gave away and the weightless feeling passed with the ability to open her eyes returning. As her eyelids parted, her vision adjusting quickly, Lexa was greeted with the familiar sight of her hospital room's ceiling.
...๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต?
The respirator emitted the same soft huffing as before. She could see the IV drip in her hand, and it did not take her long to see and feel the tube below her armpit. As though she hadn't ever ripped them out.
Yet Lexa was so very certain she had jumped out the window, but here she was, lying in bed instead of being a pile of broken bones and bloody mush. Was it all a dream? A fantasy? No. No way. No fucking way.
She looked out the window. Unlike before, the window was fogged out and it looked as though someone had taken their finger to write out letters on the glass. Angerโ
No. Rage surged through her, scorching as her eyes glared darkly, peering over the words:
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐.