Chapter 4: First Floor
1324 Words
"Ughh… My head is so dizzy!" Naoto Kegane opened his eyes while holding his dizzy head.
"Ughh.. Is this a labyrinth that the mascot Cerberus was referring to? what a huge wall!"
"Where is this place?" He saw himself falling on the ground, and saw that walls were flanking him on both sides.
"Naoto, you've finally woken up." Suddenly a female voice sounded in his ear.
"Who is that?" Naoto looked for the direction of the voice he heard
"Even you have forgotten the voices of your group mates? so sad. It's me, Claris Lily."
"Huh? Where are you hiding?"
"I'm near you"
Naoto looked around for Claris, but couldn't find her.
"Didn't that person say we would all be separated? Then why can you be with me?"
Naoto was confused because he couldn't find Claris Lily, and he started asking questions that made him curious.
"Of course it's because of my ability"
Suddenly a female head came out from behind Naoto's back.
"Woah?!" Naoto was immediately shocked when he saw Claris' head and body sticking out of his body.
"Hehehehe, I can finally see your shocked expression again" Claris Lily smiled sweetly at Naoto.
"Y..Y..You, why aren't you wearing your clothes?" Naoto saw Claris Lily's naked body coming out from behind his back.
"Oh? Ah sorry, this is a common occurrence, this is related to my ability to penetrate 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional objects. My body can penetrate any surface, but only my clothes can't keep up." Then Claris Lily entered Naoto's body again.
"Wait a minute!" Naoto stopped Claris Lily before entering her body again.
"What is wrong?"
"You just said seeing my shocked expression again, does that mean we've met before?"
"Of course, do you remember that time? It's because of me that you made a big sin."
"Ah?….. Huh?!?! You were the girl from that time?! It's impossible because I killed him with my own two hands."
"No, you didn't kill me at all but you were the one who wanted to save me"
"But I have seen with my own eyes that the woman was crushed by the rubble"
"Hey, have you forgotten my ability? even though at that time I didn't need your help but I will still be grateful for your help at that time "
"And I also apologize to you personally, it is because of me that you are burdening a very big sin. The cause of the collapse of the main building of the Bamboo nation and so many deaths"
"Forgive me"
Claris Lily got out of Naoto's body then lowered her head and apologized sincerely.
Hearing that, Naoto was slightly speechless.
"Ahhhh..."
Suddenly Naoto shouted while clenching his fists, his bandage-wrapped hands opened and punched Claris Lily.
Bang!!!
Cracks! Cracks! Cracks!
boom!!!
Naoto hit one of the walls between the two of them.
The wall behind Claris Lily cracked and shattered into a big hole.
"Because of you, my mother died because of the rubble"
"But it's also because I'm the one who can't control this ability. At the same time, I hate myself, if only I didn't think I wanted to be like a hero of justice. There's no way my whole life will be ruined like this."
Naoto let out all the emotions he had been holding back all this time.
"But I can't blame you, because one of my mother's words was not to hurt a woman. Because it was my family's past that made me not accept when I saw a woman being hurt."
Naoto said it in a stuttering voice and his eyes turned red.
Claris Lily who couldn't stand seeing such a pitiful Naoto hugged him and stroked Naoto's head.
After that, the two of them didn't say a word.
After a moment of silence, Naoto thanked Claris Lily.
"Thank you Claris"
"It is okay"
Then Naoto raised his head, he saw two mountains in front of him.
"Whoa!" Naoto pushed Claris Lily's body forward due to a startled reflex.
"You… Why are you still not wearing your clothes?" Then her face reddened as she covered her eyes.
"Okay, I'll wear it. Hey Hazama, it's really bad to eavesdrop as that" Claris Lily spoke while putting on her clothes.
"Ah? Have I been found out?" Suddenly a voice of Hazama came out from Naoto's clothes which startled Naoto greatly.
"Geez, you guys are so happy to enter my body as that" Naoto looked towards the source of the voice in his chest.
"Hey, don't misunderstand. I'm still a normal man. I'm not with you guys, but I put a sound transmitter in your shirt pocket." Hazama's voice came out of Naoto's pocket.
"Ah? Since when did you put it in my pocket?"
"It's not that important, but I'll be waiting for you at the labyrinth crossing."
"Okay, wait for us there. Come on Naoto, let's walk past the wall you just destroyed"
"Wait a minute"
Naoto took the bandage he had just removed and tied it back to his hand.
"Without this, my abilities cannot be controlled. Oh yeah, I almost forgot the pendant left by my mother." Naoto checked the locket in his pocket.
"Thank God it's not lost." He held a pendant shaped like silver wings and put the pendant around his neck.
"Is that a locket from your mother?" Claris Lily looked at the exquisite silver pendant that was around Naoto's neck.
"Yes, this is the only one I have"
"....." Claris was a bit speechless after hearing that.
"Let's head to Hazama's place"
The two of them ran towards the intersection of the labyrinth, the place Hazama had been waiting for.
"Hey, why are we walking this way?"
"This is the fastest way to reach the labyrinth intersection"
"Why do you know this place so well? who exactly are you?"
Claris Lily remained silent and continued to run.
At the intersection of the labyrinth, there was a shirtless blonde-haired man with a brown scarf around his neck.
"To think that cowards like that have a past like that" Hazama muttered as he thought about his own past.
"Xeros .." then his right hand clenched while mentioning someone's name.
It only took a few minutes, Claris Lily and Naoto Kegane had arrived at the labyrinth's intersection.
"To think that you guys arrived so quickly without getting lost. Would you like a drink of soda?" Hazama offered the two of them a cold soda.
"Hazama, thank you. If so, where did you get this soda from?" Naoto asked confusedly towards Hazama.
Hazama smiled without answering Naoto's question.
Seeing that Hazama didn't want to say it, Naoto paid it no mind and drank the cold soda.
"Then which side of the road are we going to take? on the left or the right?" Hazama asked Claris Lily.
"We will take the middle ground"
"Alright…. HUH?!?"
"I said we take the middle ground"
"You don't have to do it again, I can hear what you're saying!"
"But why did you respond like that?"
"That's because you said something unreasonable. Right, Naoto?"
"No, I think what Claris said is true."
"Why should so?!"
"Look at this"
Naoto's hand touched a wall in front of him, suddenly his wrist disappeared from his body.
"What the…" Hazama almost let out his legendary line.
Then Naoto pulled his hand back.
"See? it's just a little trick. They put up a transparent screen with a picture of a wall."
"You… Since when did your brains become so incredibly smart?!"
"You are so rude, even though I am a coward but my intelligence is above average"
After hearing Naoto's words, Hazama immediately fell silently unable to refute it at all.
"Don't waste time, let's go in"
"Good"
Then the three of them entered the covered area.
What the three of them didn't realize, there were 3 pairs of eyes watching them enter the middle ground.
- Writer
