Chapter 55

As I was forced to expose my skin by having my jacket pulled back, I began to feel the despair that lay ahead more acutely. At that moment, the door to the room opened with a dull creak.

There stood Azami.

"Damn!"

The man, upon seeing this, immediately changed his stance, moving behind me and pressing a knife to my throat while wrapping his arm around my neck to pull me up.

"Don't move, and don't make a sound. Damn it, damn it."

Unlike before, the blade was now pressing into me, and I was terrified that it might pierce my skin at any moment.

"Go inside and close the door, quietly."

The man whispered these words.

Azami silently complied, taking a step into the room and closing the door as instructed.

"The lock is broken, damn it..."

Azami stood in front of the door, while the man and I retreated to the wall.

"Don't make a sound, you hear?"

His hand, which was on my disheveled clothes, whispered this in my ear. The knife pressed against me was so frightening that I couldn't even make a sound, and I nodded slightly to show my response.

With tears blurring my vision, I looked at Azami, who, upon seeing my state, furrowed her brow and bit her lip hard.

"Damn it, damn it..."

The man repeated this over and over in my ear. In this situation, there was no escape for him, but at the same time, I felt that my life was in even greater danger.

When I was unable to move, Azami suddenly looked at me and spoke softly.

"Close your eyes."

"Don't talk! I'll really kill you!"

The man also whispered this, pressing the knife even harder against me. A sharp pain ran through my throat.

I had failed to follow Azami's warning, and now I was in this situation. I had promised to do as I was told, but I couldn't even kill the infected at the hardware store, and I couldn't even follow the simple instruction to be on guard.

I didn't understand Azami's purpose in telling me to close my eyes, but this time, I decided to listen to her.

I tightly closed my eyes, and more tears overflowed, streaming down my cheeks.

At that moment, an unbearable sense of dread welled up from deep within my chest.

I didn't know if it was because the knife had slightly cut my skin, or if it was the fear of not being able to see anything with my eyes closed, but the terror was overwhelming, causing my entire body to tremble.

I felt the man's arm, which was restraining me, suddenly start to shake. The shaking caused the tip of the knife to tickle my throat, amplifying my fear.

Almost simultaneously, a strong wind blew.

"What...?"

The man's voice was followed by the sudden release of the hand that had been restraining me around my stomach, and the sound of something falling.

"...Kaede, you can open your eyes now."

I realized that the pressure I had been feeling was gone, and I slowly opened my eyes, trembling. What I saw was the knife on the floor and Azami, who had the man pinned to the ground with his hands behind his back.

"You, you just... disappeared..."

"Shut up."

"Ah..."

As Azami quietly said this, covering the man's words, I felt the same tingling sensation all over my body as before.

"Now it's my turn to give orders. I'm going to ask you some questions, and you will answer honestly in a low voice if you don't want to die."

"O-Okay, okay..."

As Azami continued, a deep sense of fear welled up from within me, growing larger and more uncontrollable. It was a fear that far surpassed anything I had ever felt, even when facing the infected. In fact, it was even stronger than the fear of being violated and possibly killed by the man.

My body was shaking uncontrollably, and I felt nauseous.

"Watching... right? ...Yours... right?"

My ears were ringing, and tears streamed down my face.

"Others... partners... where... hideout?"

I collapsed to the ground, unable to stand, and most of what Azami and the man were saying was incomprehensible.

This was fear of Azami. Azami was terrifying.

I couldn't look at Azami's face, who was still pressing the man strongly to the ground and whispering in his ear. To think of the usually kind Azami in this way...

But I was very, very afraid.

"...Kaede, are you okay?"

At the sound of her voice, the pressure that had been binding me suddenly disappeared.

Looking in the direction of the voice, I saw Azami with her usual kind face.

The sensation that had made my entire body tremble was gone, but the fear of being attacked and nearly killed, and especially the deep fear of Azami, was still deeply etched in my heart.