に付き添い病院へと運ばれた。桔音は救急車での応急処置を施されている間にも死にそうな状態で、治療を行っている救急隊員の表情も芳しくなかった。どう見ても、致命的な状態であることは明らかだった。
それでもしおりは桔音の手を両手で握り締め、必死に桔音の命が助かることを祈らずにはいられなかった。
数分後、一つの病院へ到着した。だが、その病院は桔音という患者を引き受けなかった。『運悪く』重傷患者が多く、手術の出来る医者が不足していたからだ。故に、桔音は別の病院へと運ばれる事になった。
しおりは焦る。このままでは桔音が死んでしまうと。だが、桔音の『不運』は続いた。次の病院も、その次の病院も、桔音を受け付けず、桔音は瀕死の状態のままたらい回しにされたのだ。
そして、四つ目の病院でようやく桔音は引き取られた。即刻手術室へと送られ、手術へと移行した――――ところで、急に停電が起こった。病院の電気機器がダウンし、照明や機材が使えなくなる。即座に予備電源に切り替わり、機材の方は使えるようになったが、照明は付かない。暗い手術室での執刀、成功確率は0に等しい。
そしてその手術は途中で桔音の心臓が停止し、死が確認されたことで中断。手術室から動かなくなった桔音がしおりの前に現れることとなってしまったのだった。
きつねさんが手術室から出て来た。青白い顔、ピクリとも動かない身体、触れてみれば恐ろしくなるほど―――冷たかった。搬送中にどんどん失われていた、けど微かに残っていた体温が全く感じられない。
―――死んじゃった
その事実を受け入れるだけの余裕が無かった、というよりも呆気ない感じだった。胸にぽっかり穴が空いちゃったような感覚、呆然として何も言えない。自分の身体が自分のものじゃないような感覚に陥った。
「......すいません、私共の力では......彼を、救えませんでした」
お医者さんの言葉も耳に入って来ない。私はただただぼーっと、冷たくなったきつねさんの安らかな死に顔を見つめていた。
走馬灯、というわけじゃないけれど、きつねさんと過ごした短い三ヵ月間の思い出が脳裏を過ぎる。本当に短い間の、本当に短い付き合いだったけど、その一つ一つが私の中で輝いていた。色褪せない、凄く大切な思い出......きつねさんとの、思い出。
「あの......どうぞ」
「!」
目の前にハンカチが差し出された。視線を向けると気の毒そうな表情で私を見るお医者さんがいて、そしてその瞳に私が映っていた。涙を流している、私が。
「......あれ?」
顔に手を添えると、どんどん溢れる涙が私の手を濡らした。気が付かない内に泣いていたみたい。お医者さんのハンカチを受け取って、涙を拭く。でも、全然止まってくれない。
「あ、あれ? あはっ......すいません......ひぐっ......なんで......ぐしゅ......っ...!」
自分の身体が自分のものじゃないみたいな感覚に陥ってたからかな、涙を意識したらゆっくりと身体がいつもの感覚に戻っていく。さっきまでは無かった嗚咽が出た。
「しおり!」
「しおりちゃん!」
そこへ、後ろから走ってくる足音と私を呼ぶ声が聞こえた。ゆっくりと振り返ると、そこには私のお父さんとお母さんがいた。緊迫した表情で、私の目の前まで駆けよってくる。
「はぁ......はぁ......しおり、大丈夫か? 学校から連絡が来て、心配したんだぞ......!」
お父さんとお母さんは私の心配をしてくれる。凄く嬉しい、でも......心配をかけまいと声を掛けることすら、私には出来なかった。でも代わりにお母さんに抱きしめられたことで、一気に私の中にあった何かが決壊した。
胸の中でじわじわと渦巻いていたどす黒い感情が、一気に溢れ出た。私の、泣き声と一緒に―――
「うぁっ......おかぁ......さ......うわああああああああああああああああ!!!」
表情がぐしゃぐしゃになった。涙が溢れて止まらない。きっと情けない泣き声を響かせてる。でも、そうせずには居られなかった。だって、きつねさんが―――死んじゃったんだから。死んじゃった、つまりもう二度と会えない。
朝の挨拶も、
お昼ご飯を一緒に食べることも、
授業中こっそり会話する事も、
放課後遊びに行く事も、
もう――――出来ない。
たった三ヵ月。いままで出会った友達に比べれば、一番短い付き合いだった。でも、きっと私の中では一番......大切な人だった。だからこんなにも悲しいんだ。だからこうして大泣きしちゃっているんだ。
「うぁ...あ......! きつねさん! 死なないでよっ......!! どうして......どうして貴方が死ななきゃいけないのっ......! 約束はどうするの......!? うああああっ!」
お母さんの胸の中で、ぐちゃぐちゃになった感情を吐き出す。文脈も、前後の繋がりも何も無い。ただ思ったことはそのまま吐きだした。情緒不安定なまま、止まらない涙を止めることなく、流し続けた。
「しおり......」
お母さんが、私の身体を強く抱きしめた。顔は見えないけど、お母さんの身体も震えていた。お母さんも、泣いていた。
「きつねさんが......私を救ってくれた......! 命を賭けて、私の為に戦ってくれた......! でもっ! 私っ......きつねさんが死んじゃうなら助けてなんて欲しくなかった!!」
「しおり!!」
お母さんの腕の中から、力強い腕が私を引っ張り寄せた。急なことに、驚きながら前を向いた。そこにはいつも優しい顔でいるお父さんが、真剣な表情で私を見ていた。
「しおり......それだけは言っちゃいけない! 彼は、お前の為に戦った......! そしてその戦いで彼はお前を救った! その彼の想いを、勇気を、救われたお前が否定するんじゃない!!」
「っ!!」
「お前は、彼の分まで生きて! 幸せになれ! それがお前の為に戦った......彼の最後の願いだ」
お父さんの言葉が、私に殴られたような衝撃を与えた。涙を流しながら、もう動かないきつねさんを見る。ゆっくりと歩み寄って、冷たい手を......握った。
「きつねさん.........きつねさん......! 私は、大丈夫だよ......きつねさんのおかげで、助かったよ......! ありがとう......ありがとうっ......!」
言葉を紡ぎながら、私は胸の中に空いた穴が少しだけ埋まった気がした。
だから、これが私の第一歩
「......! ......これ」
あ、そっか―――
「馬鹿だなぁ私......失くしてから気付くなんて......」
近くに居過ぎたのかな。きつねさんと過ごしている内に、きっときつねさんの隣が居心地良くなって、ずっと一緒にいたから気が付かなかった。
「さよならきつねさん―――大好きだったよ......!」
―――好きになっていたんだ。
◇
しばらくそうしていて、きつねさんは霊安室に運ばれて行った。遺族との連絡や、後々の様々な手続きの為に私達篠崎家の家族は病院に残った。お父さんとお母さんは、私のことを心配していたけど......大丈夫、いつまでも泣いていたらきつねさんに笑われちゃうもん。
お父さんとお母さんがお医者さんと話している間、私は待合室のソファに身を任せていた。外はもう暗い、あれからもうかなり時間が経っていたみたい。
「.........」
一人、天井を眺めながら息を吐く。大泣きしたら、結構すっきりしたみたい。まだきつねさんの死を全部受け入れきれたわけじゃないけど、日常生活を送れるくらいには余裕を取り戻せたと思う。
「......明日からどうしよう」
良く考えれば、一緒に登下校する人やお昼ご飯を一緒に食べる人や一緒に遊ぶ人は、皆きつねさんで、他の皆とは結構疎遠になっていたから......気まずいなぁ。
「えへへ......でも、きつねさんならきっとこう言うんだよね......」
―――話し掛けづらいなら、話し掛けて貰えば良い。ほら、僕なんか毎日のように話しかけられるぜ?
結局話しかけられているというよりは悪口を言われていただけだったけど、ものは考えようだよね。明日、学校に行ったら誰かに話し掛けてみよう。男の子は......ちょっと止めておこうかな。あんなことがあった後だし。
「ふふふ、きつねさんは凄いなぁ......」
死んじゃっても、私の中のきつねさんが私を励ましてくれる。本当に、私はきつねさんにべったりだったんだなぁ。なんだかちょっと可笑しいや。
そうしてしばらく待っていると、ばたばたと慌てた様子でナースのお姉さんがお医者さんに向かって駆けて来た。どうしたんだろう?
「せ、先生! 薙刀桔音君が!」
「はぁ......はぁ......薙刀桔音君の遺体が―――消えました!」
え?
「何!? どういうことだ......!?」
「分かりません......少し目を離した内に、遺体が消えたんです!」
きつねさんが、消えた?
「っ......探せ、遺体が勝手に動き出す筈が無い......何処かにある筈だ、探せ!」
「は、はい!」
ナースのお姉さんとお医者さんが険しい表情で駆けていく。私はそれを呆然と見送った。
この時私の心の中で、何か奇妙な予感が生まれていた。何か、私達の理解の範疇を超えた何かが起こっている、と。きつねさんが消えた、これはきっと何かの始まりなのだと。
「きつねさん......何処へ行っちゃったの......?」
私は誰にも聞こえない様な音量で、小さく呟いた。
これが、桔音がこの世界から姿を消した瞬間。そして、彼が異世界へと渡り、第二の人生を始めることになる始まりの瞬間だった。
「ッハハハ! いいねぇ、良い感じに純粋な愛の形だよ! これだから人間は面白い!」
真っ白い壁、床、天井、窓も何も無いただ真っ白い部屋の中で、とある存在が楽しげに笑っていた。
人間、ではない。人間の形をとってはいるが、間違いなく人間では無い常識外の存在。
そんな存在が、白い部屋の中で一人爆笑している。
「うんうん、でもまぁこれだけ面白い感じに生きてきた彼を簡単に死なすのは勿体ないね。それに、今の私はハッピーエンドが好きなんだ。まぁ3秒後位にはバッドエンドが好きになってるかもしれないけど―――なわけで、もう少し頑張ってね......きつねちゃん?」
見た目は女。癖のある青黒い黒髪を肩甲骨のあたりまで伸ばし、悪戯好きな印象を与える蒼い瞳は何処か遠くの何かを見据えていた。
白く細い女性らしい指がふいっと空を横切る。すると、その指の先で何かが変わった。否、何かでは無い―――桔音の運命が変わった。
死は生へと反転し
「さぁ、君はその世界で何をどうするのかな?」
彼女、と言っていいのか分からないが.........その存在はゆらゆらと身体を揺らしながら、楽しそうに口端を吊り上げる。
そこへ、その存在以外の存在が姿を現した。現れたのは、一人の少女だった。キリッとした雰囲気を纏った、14歳程の少女。膝裏まで伸びた艶のある黒髪は、サラサラと揺れている。
「おーおー......えーと道子ちゃん、久しぶりだねぇ」
「そんな名前じゃねーです」
「だって咲子ちゃんが教えてくれないからじゃん」
「咲子じゃねーです。というか子を付ければ良いってもんじゃねーです」
「もしかしてカタカナだったりする?」
やってきた少女もまた、元々いた彼女と同じく人では無い。というより、元々いた彼女の様な存在の使い、というか部下の様な存在である。何か責任を取らねばならない事態になった時、『秘書がやったことです』と言われて責任転嫁される立ち位置の存在だ。
勝手なことをしたですね?」
「ああ、人間一人生き返らせて別世界に送ったよ」
「そんなこと許されると思ってるですか? 以前も人一人の人生を弄ったじゃないですか」
「誰が許さないんだよ、私一番強いし偉いんだぜ?」
女性が舌舐めずりして立ち上がる。少女はなにやら嫌な予感を感じて一歩、後ずさった。
だが、その後ずさった先に女性はいつのまにか立っていた。少女の小さな両肩をガシッと掴まれる。女性の瞳には爛々と怪しい光が宿っていた。その瞳は、まるで獲物を見つけた獣の眼。
「いやいや、幸子ちゃんに許しを頂こうと思って」
「幸子じゃねーです.........だからなにを......ひゃっ!?」
女性は、少女の耳をペロっと舐めた。少女はその耳に這いずる舌の感覚にビクッと身体を跳ねた。頬を紅潮させ、耳を抑えながら女性を見る。
「その身体に、せめてもの御奉仕をもって許しを乞おうじゃないか」
女性はそう言って少女に襲い掛かった。それからしばらく、真っ白い空間の中に少女の嬌声が響き続けた。
(さてさて......桔音ちゃん、私がここまでやるんだから―――楽しませてくれよ?)
女性は楽しそうな笑みを浮かべながら、そう考えていた。
Shinozaki Shiori accompanied Kitsune all the way to the hospital. Despite the emergency measures enacted on him in the ambulance, he was still in a state where he could die at any moment, so the expressions of those performing the measures were grim throughout the voyage. No matter how they looked at it, he had suffered fatal injuries.
Even so, Shiori continued to grip the boy's hand with both of hers, as she desperately prayed for his life to be saved.
A few minutes later, they arrived at a single hospital. But that hospital never took on the patient known as Naginata Kitsune. Due to bad luck, the hospital had many patients in serious condition, and there was a deficiency in the doctors available to perform a surgery. And so, it turned out that Kitsune was to be carried off to another hospital.
Shiori was impatient. At this rate, he was going to die. But Kitsune's unlucky streak merely continued. The next one, and the next one found themselves unable to accept him, and the boy continued to be passed from one place to another in his near-death state.
And finally, the forth hospital accepted him. He was immediately rushed to the emergency room, and they were prepared to perform it... but what came on was a sudden power outage. The hospital's electronic tools ceased their functionality. While they quickly switched to their own back-up power to keep the machines running, the lights remained off. The surgery was conducted with minimal light, and the chances of it succeeding were close to 0.
In the middle of it, Kitsune's heart stopped, and it ended once they confirmed there was no way to bring him back. Unable to move from the operating room, Kitsune never appeared before Shiori again.
Kitsune-san left the emergency room. His face was pale, and he wasn't moving at all. When I touched him, he was dreadfully... cold. As he was transported around, he kept on losing more and more of himself, but I can't even feel the faint heat he emitted at the very end.
... He's dead.
He didn't have enough time to undertake the surgery, so it's more like it all ended too quickly. It feels like a hole's been opened in my chest, and my mouth won't move as I want it. It's like my own body no longer belongs to me anymore.
"... I'm sorry, with our power... we were unable to save him."
The doctor's words aren't entering my ears. I just blankly stared at the cold Kitsune-san's peaceful expression.
It's not like my life is flashing before my eyes, but the memories of the brief three months I spent with Kitsune-san pass through my head. It really was a short time. It really was too short a time, but each and every one of those memories shine within me. They begin to lose their color, my precious memories... my memories with Kitsune-san.
"Um... please take this."
"!"
A handkerchief was handed to me. When I shifted my gaze, I was the doctor looking at me with an expression full of pity, and my own eyes reflected in his. It looks like I'm... crying.
"... What?"
As I try rubbing my hands across my face, I find them soaked in my overflowing tears. It seems I had started crying without even noticing it. I take the doctor's handkerchief, and wipe my eyes. But it isn't stopping at all.
"W-what? Ah... sorry... hic... why......!"
Perhaps because it's like my own body isn't my own, when I begin to concentrate on my own tears, my body's senses slowly begin to return to normal. A sob that wasn't there before escaped my lips.
"Shiori!"
"Shiori-chan!"
I heard running footsteps approaching me from behind, and voices calling my name. As I slowly turned around, I found my father and mother. With strained expressions, they ran all the way up to me.
"Hah... hah... Shiori, are you alright? A call came from the school, and we were worried...!"
Father and mother are worried about me. I'm happy about that, but... even raising a voice to calm their worries was... impossible for me. Instead, by embracing my mother, something inside of me finally snapped.
The black and swirling dark emotions within my chest began flowing out all at once. Along with my crying voice...
"UWAAA.... Mo...m... UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"
My expression is a mess. I can't stop my tears from flowing. I'm definitely letting out a deplorable scream. But I couldn't live without doing it. I mean, Kitsune-san has... died. He's dead, meaning we'll never meet again.
Our morning greeting,
eating lunch together,
secretly talking to each other in class,
playing together after school,
it's all... over.
Just three months. If you compare it to the friends I've had until now, it's my shortest relation. But within me, it's probably... the most important one. That must be why I'm so sad. That must be why I'm spilling out these tears.
"Uwa...aa...! Kitsune-san! Don't die...!! Why... why do you have to die...! What about our promise...!? Uwaaaaah!"
In my mother's chest, I let out my mixed up emotions. There was no order or start or end. I just spit out whatever was on my mind. With those unstable emotions, my unstopping tears just continued to flow out.
"Shiori..."
Mother strongly held my body close. I can't see her face, but her body is shaking. She's also crying.
"Kitsune-san... he saved me...! He risked his life, and he fought for my sake...! But! I... if he was going to die, then I didn't want his help at all!!"
"Shiori!!"
From my mother's arms, another pair of strong hands pulled me out. It was quite sudden, so I frantically turned around. There, my father, who always made a kind face, stared at me with a serious expression.
"Shiori... that's the only thing you shouldn't say! He fought for your sake...! And in that battle, he ended up saving you! His feelings, his bravery, they're not something that the one who he saved should be denying!!"
"!!"
"You have to live his share as well! You have to live happily! For the one who fought for you... that's his last wish."
Father's words made me feel as if I had been smacked physically. With tears still streaming down my face, I looked at the unmoving Kitsune-san again. I slowly step towards him, and... clenched his cold hand.
"Kitsune-san... Kitsune-san...I'm fine, you see... because of you, I was saved...! Thank you... thank you...!"
I put together words, as I felt the hole in my chest get filled in ever-so-slightly.
And so, this is my first step.
"...! ... This is..."
Ah, I see...
"I sure am an idiot... to notice it only after he's gone..."
Perhaps it was because he was so close. The time I spent with Kitsune-san, the time that I spent next to him was so comfortable. I was always by his side, so I never noticed it.
"Goodbye Kitsune-san... I loved you...!"
... Had fallen in love with you.
*
After some time passed, Kitsune-san was taken to the morgue. For various things like calling his family, and various paperwork, the Shinozaki family stayed in the hospital. Father and mother still seem to be worried about me, but... It's fine. If I keep crying forever, Kitsune-san will laugh at me.
While father and mother were talking to the doctor, I leaned back in the waiting room sofa. It's already dark outside, and it looks like quite a bit of time has passed since that happened.
"..."
Alone, I gazed at the ceiling as I took a deep breath. After crying for a bit, I feel quite relieved. It's not like I've completely accepted the fact of Kitsune-san's death, but I think I've recovered enough of myself to carry out my daily life.
"... What should I do from tomorrow?"
Now that I think about it, the people I went to school with, ate lunch with, and played with were all Kitsune-san, and I've been quite distanced from the others... this is awkward.
"Ehehe... but Kitsune-san would definitely say something like..."
.... If talking to them is hard, just have them talk to you. See, they talk to me every day, right?
In the end, rather than talk, it was more like they were badmouthing you, dude, but I guess it all depends on how you look at it. Tomorrow, if I go to school, I'll try calling out to someone. Boys... yeah, I'll refrain from talking to boys for a while. I mean, something like that did happen...
"Fufufu, Kitsune-san sure is amazing..."
Even after he died, the Kitsune-san inside of me continues to cheer me up. I really was stuck to him. Thinking back, it's a bit funny.
After a while of waiting, a flustered young nurse started running towards the doctor. I wonder what it is.
"D-doctor! It's about Naginata Kitsune-kun!"
"Hah... hah... Naginata Kitsune-kun's body... it vanished!"
Eh?
"What!? What is this about...!?"
"I do not know... When I took my eyes off him for a second, his body disappeared without a trace!"
Kitsune-san disappeared?
"... Search for it. There's no way a corpse can move around on its own... it must be somewhere! Search!"
"Y-yes!"
The nurse and the doctor run off with grim expressions. I looked over them in a daze.
At that time, within my heart, a strange premonition was born. Something beyond our comprehension is happening. Kitsune-san vanished, and this is definitely the start of something.
"Kitsune-san... where did you run off to...?"
At a volume low enough that no one could hear me, I whispered.
That was the instant that Kitsune disappeared from the world. And it was the instant where he crossed over to another, and started his second life.
"Hahaha! This is nice. It leaves a nice feeling of pure love! This is why you humans are so interesting!"
White walls, floor and ceiling. No windows, or any furnishing. In a simple white room, a certain entity was happily smiling.
It was likely not human. It was in a humanistic form, but it was definitely something else, something out of the realm of common sense. Perhaps a concept, perhaps a law. Perhaps a lifeform, perhaps a spontaneity. Perhaps a world, perhaps a god. A large unknown, certain omnipotent something.
An existence like that was roaring with laughter in an empty white room.
"Yeah, yeah, but I guess it's a pity to have such an interesting human die off so easily. And right now, I'm a bit into happy endings. But perhaps in the next three minutes, I'll develop a taste for bad endings too... and so, why don't you give it another go... Kitsune-san?"
Her appearance was that of a woman. Her characteristic dark hair was tinted with a bit of blue, and it grew about to the end of her shoulder blades. Her blue eyes gave off a mischievous impression, as they seemed to stare off at a distant something.
Her white and slender, feminine fingers suddenly pointed in front of her. And at the end of her finger, something changed. No, it wasn't a something... Kitsune's fate changed.
Death flipped itself into life.
"Now, in that world, what will you end up doing?"
It's uncertain whether it was alright to call her a woman, but that woman... that entity happily swayed its body from side to side as it raised the edges of its mouth.
And there, another existence was revealed. What appeared was a single girl. She carried a tidy atmosphere around herself, and her appearance seemed to be around 14. Her straight silky black hair extended to the back of her knees.
"Oh my... um, Michiko-chan, it's been a while."
"That isn't my name."
"But Sakiko-chan, you never tell me what it is."
"It ain't Sakiko either. And wait, you can just stick -ko onto anything and think it'll work."
"Oh, could it be that your name is foreign?"
The girl that appeared was, like the one who had been there from the start, no human. She was the messenger, or perhaps the underling of an existence like hers. If something ever went majorly wrong, she was the existence that the other one could place the blame on, saying, 'The secretary did it all.' That sort of position.
"More importantly, you arbitrarily went and did something again, didn't you?"
"Yeah, I revived a single human, and sent him to another world."
"Do you think something like that would be permitted?"
"Who's going to stop it? I'm the strongest, and I'm quite important, you know."
The female licked her lips as she stood up. The girl sensed something bad, and retreated a step backwards.
But for some reason, the female was already standing behind her. She grabbed the girl's slender shoulders strongly. The female's eyes let off a suspicious and dangerous light, as if she were a beast who had found its prey.
"Nonono, I thought it was best if I applied for Sachiko-chan's permission."
"I ain't Sachi-ko. ... and again, what are... hya!?"
The female licked the girl's ear. The sensation caused her to leap forward with all her might. Her face was flushed, and she grasped her ear as she stared at the woman.
"Now how about I ask your body directly for some permission?"
The female said that as she rushed at the girl. And for a little while after that, the girl's screams echoed through the white space.
(Now then... Kitsune-kun, I've done this much for you, so... won't you entertain me?)
The female had an amused smile on her face as she thought to herself.
I Kinda Came to Another World, but Where’s the Way Home?
【書籍化】異世界来ちゃったけど帰り道何処？
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/i-kinda-came-to-another-world-but-wheres-the-way-home/
Action Adventure Comedy Drama Fantasy Harem Shounen Slice of Life
Apathetic Protagonist Bullying Calm Protagonist Demi-Humans Demon Lord Demons Dense Protagonist Fairies Game Elements Ghosts Heterochromia Knights Level System Male Protagonist Murders Naive Protagonist R-15 Royalty R*pe S*aves Sword And Magic Transported to Another World Weak Protagonist Yandere
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n2650bx/
こいし