HanTsuki:Volume 1 Chapter 3

Chapter 3 : The Road to the Fort Mountain

1

The night...

After the lights were turned off, the ward was embraced with pitch-blackness; only a bit of light struggled its way through the windows uncovered by the curtains. Under the white weak light, everything looked cloaked with damp radiance. The patterns resembling ghosts and monsters on the ceiling, the hot kettle and the cup on the table, the oxygen supplier written with the big word OXYGEN, the edge of the bed with its paint falling off—everything felt unreal, as if I had entered a fantasy world.

I couldn’t sleep any bit. This was reasonable, as I had recently become a complete nocturnal creature. Impossible was it for me to sleep at this time. Sitting up, I stared blankly at the mountain of pornographic books, Tada’s inheritance, beside my bed. We have a saying: “A tiger leaves its skin behind when it dies.” What the old pervert left was these, and to me also. I had wondered why it was I, but I couldn’t come to a conclusion because, perhaps, his ward was adjacent to mine, or I was still seventeen-year-old.

I took one and had a look, though what I believed it to have was crap and just some nude girls. When I flipped through the pages, my expectation was right. The whole book was full of nude pictures—from the first page to the last page. Tada should be eighty by now, yet he still collected a lot of this stuff. I let out a laugh of dismay. Tada, you’re such an idiot! I laughed, thinking, he was such a laughable idiot.

It was at this time that an inexplicable power befell me. That power was stimulating some corner in my heart—no, it was stimulating some corner of me as a human, and exciting more power there. It was turbulence, a turbid flow, as well as a torrent. Its strength could flush everything away. First, I was puzzled; then, I understood. It was perhaps the power Tada had sent into my body, or perhaps a power that had long been dormant in some part of my body, which Tada had awakened. I had long been escaping this power and its usage. A more fitting example would be a deliberate aversion of my attention. But since the power had suddenly risen in my body and shouting continuously at me, “Wake up. Wake up now! Man does not know when he will die! If you hesitate, everything might come to naught! Wake up, you idiot. Can you hear me? Till when will you stop escaping?”

I balled my fists on my right hand, yet inexplicably my whole body was pumped with power, without a slight sense of tiredness.

“Good,” I murmured, taking my phone to the balcony.

Although it was prohibited to phone in the hospital, the rules were less strict when I was at the balcony.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※

Rika hadn’t yet fallen asleep.

“What’s the matter...”

She looked at me, completely surprised.

It was embarrassing to sneak into a girl’s ward usually, but now I was forced by some formless power, so I took it easily and calmly. The power descending from above lightly moved my arms and legs exactly like manipulating a doll.

“Let’s sneak out of the hospital!”

“What?”

“Didn’t you say you could prepare yourself mentally if you go to the Fort mountain? If this is the case, then it’s simple! Let’s head to the Fort mountain.”

“Now?”

“We can only sneak out in the night! We have to do it now.”

In the dimness, Rika looked very petite, as if she was about to melt into the dim background behind her. She was about to vanish, yet she was still here where I could touch.

“We have a scooter anyway. You only have to be the passenger.”

“...”

“Let’s go, Rika!”

“...”

“Didn’t your father the one who took you there ten years ago? This time, it’s me.”

Rika stared at me flatly. Belied in those eyes was a strong power. Every time she eyed me like this, I would immediately avert my eyes. But now, I could take on this mysterious power with ease.

“I’ll go,” said Rika, at last.

Embedded in her eyes was some kind of radiance.

“Take me there!”

※ ※ ※ ※ ※

“Who is this person?” asked Rika, vigilantly pointed at Tsukasa in fear.

Tsukasa lowered his head politely, “H-Hello.”

I called Tsukasa here, for I need a helping hand. He was a real friend, as he had run in the middle of night to the hospital without any of my explanation on the situation. On a side note, Tsukasa was wearing a tiger mask widely known in Japanese wrestling. He said his older female cousin worked as a nurse in this hospital, so he wouldn’t want to reveal his identity. Nevertheless, I reckon that even when he could cover his face, he couldn’t cover his extravagant body.

“This guy is my friend—tiger-masked man. He’s a messenger of justice.”

Rika still looked upwards at Tsukasa with suspicion.

“Okay, let’s hurry,” I declared, as there was no point trying to get around with these trivial matters.

With me at the front, Rika following behind me, and Tsukasa at the back, we advanced long the corridor. Although we had intentionally avoided the nurses’ patrols, we still had to be vigilant. The most difficult stage was the appalling ten metres. There were no special night entrances in the east hospital wing, so we could only, as usual, use the entrance in the west hospital wing. We had to pass through the special, long slope made for wheelchairs in order to get anywhere. We were now walking along this difficult, long path. The medical station facing opposite to the slope had its bright lights turned on. Luck was the thing we had to rely on. We had to look out for the nurses in the medical station, as they could be looking at us any moment.

We had the special luck. I told myself as I advanced. After all, Tsukasa had gone through here just then.

“Listen carefully. Keep your body low, and walking on our knees. Don’t turn back,” I said softly.

The tiger-masked man and Rika nodded in unison.

“Okay, let’s go.”

Having seen them nodding, I dashed frontwards in a gulp, but I couldn’t be too quick, as I was bringing Rika along with me. The appalling ten metres felt much longer than usual.

A chill crept over my back. It had to be some premonition.

“What do you think you’re doing!”

When we were halfway there, we heard Akiko’s voice.

“Hey. Stand right there.”

Rats! We’re found!

In a scurry, I shouted, “Run!”

We dispelled our way of walking on our knees and started to run normally. Rika was the only one I had in thought. When I turned my head, I saw her dashing with the greatest speed she could pull off. I didn’t know whether it was fine for her to do that, but Tsukasa, on the other hand, was certainly fine. Behind Tsukasa was Akiko, looking at us in fury, running towards us imposingly. And a cracking sound came from a distance not afar.

“Yuiichi! Stop now!”

I-It was horrifying—too horrifying.

Akiko jumped from a high position on the slope, and at that instant, everything seemed to be played in slow motion. Akiko, descending from above, stopped Tsukasa. Although Akiko tried to evade him, Tsukasa’s large arms extended and ceased Akiko’s pursuit. Flashed in Akiko’s eyes were dangerous rays. Before everyone knew it, a wheezing sound shot through the air, and Akiko had shot a blow on Tsukasa’s thigh with a loud, painful Thai kick.

Cringing, Tsukasa knelt down in pain.

“Ah. Tiger-masked man!” Rika cried.

I pulled Rika’s hands forcibly.

“Rika, let’s go now.”

“But, tiger-masked man, he...!”

“Don’t worry. He’s the messenger of justice!”

“B-But...”

At that moment, Tsukasa, kneeling on one of his knees, showed a sign of cheering for us with his left hand; His right hand forced a big thumb, exactly like an authentic wrestler. Then, with that pose, Tsukasa grinned.

His words had directly been sent into my heart...directly sent into my heart.

They would definitely be sent to Rika’s heart as well.

“Let’s hurry!”

“Y-Yeah!”

We ran for our lives with increasing speed. Crying and moaning sounds were heard from our backs.

“Hey! Stop gripping on my feet!”

“N-No. I don’t...but...I’m sorry!”

“I’m telling you to let go! Let go now!”

The sounds sharpened instantly.

“Didn’t I tell you to let go?”

Bam. Boosh! The sounds of bodies colliding were heard.

Guahh! Tsukasa moaned.

“Woah. Let go already!”

“Sorry. Sorry!”

Kuah. Kuah.

“You’re so persistent! Can’t you hear me? What’s wrong with your hand?”

“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry!”

Splat! Guaghh!

Without turning my head, I didn’t know the details of what happened, but they should be having quite a fight. Every time Rika and I heard depressed sounds and Tsukasa’s moaning sounds, we would grasp one another’s hands tighter. Some kind of power was filling the inside of me. Rika was definitely experiencing the same feeling.

Stood in front of the night entrance was a scooter. On top of it were two safety helmets. As I got onto the scooter, I was impressed by Tsukasa’s meticulous preparation. In fact, the scooter was his brother’s, and he took the risk by bringing it here without his brother’s permission.

Having sat on the front seat, I did my best to squeeze more backseat space. Pointing to my back, I said, “Get on now,” and put on a safety helmet. Then, I started the engine.

“Hold on!”

The engine vibrated and howled, sounding like the thumping of a heart.

“Is this all right?”

Rika’s thin hands embraced my waist. Her fingers were tightly clasped somewhere around my bellybutton. She couldn’t have been applied with perfume yet she smelled wonderful. As my neck felt the Rika’s warm breath, my brain as well as my body was numbed from infatuation. My heart thumped. I couldn’t help swallowing. Deeply I wanted to just turn my head around and embrace Rika and to bury my face in her glamorous hair and her soft neck. Of course, let alone that sort of crazy feat. Even if I could pull it out, Rika would kick the hell out of me if I did that. While I was holding onto the scooter’s handle, I remembered Tada and thought: Real girls are great. Yeah, they really are. The ones in pornographic magazines are nowhere competent.

“Let’s go.”

“Yeah.”

Giving the throttle a push, the scooter vibrantly shook the night air resoundingly. The two small tyres glided along the asphalt road, advancing on their way. As such, we began our journey.

Perhaps, the permanence of our journey was marked with an ending point.