The White Room Dropout - A CotE Fanfic

Part 42: Black Christmas

"Karuizawa-san..." he began, then corrected himself with a soft smile. "No, Kei. I don't want to push you into anything, but I have to say this. I had an incredible time with you tonight, and I can't help but feel that there's something special between us. I... I love you, Kei. I want you to be my girlfriend."

"Miyazaki-kun, I..." My voice trembled with a mixture of emotions, caught between the confession and the tumultuous feelings surging within me. Just as I was about to give my response, a deafening explosion shattered the tranquility of the moment.

The sound was like a thunderclap, and it felt as if the very ground we stood upon had erupted into chaos. The shockwave hit me like an invisible tidal wave, mercilessly toppling me to the ground. In that dizzying instant, I could feel the air pressure change violently, and the world blurred around me.

My heart pounded in my chest as adrenaline surged through my veins. Smoke and dust billowed into the air, stinging my eyes and choking my breath. The festive glow of the Christmas lights that had bathed us in warmth was abruptly replaced by the harsh, flickering illumination of emergency lights.

The deafening explosion had rocked my senses, sending me tumbling to the ground in disarray. Smoke and dust filled the air, making it difficult to see and breathe. Amidst the chaos, I must have lost consciousness, the world around me plunging into darkness.

When I finally awoke, disoriented and groggy, the ringing in my ears still echoed painfully. Slowly, I opened my eyes, squinting against the persistent grit and haze. What I saw was a nightmarish vision of destruction.

The once vibrant and joyous scene had devolved into a scene of utter pandemonium. The emergency lights flickered erratically, casting eerie, strobing shadows across the wreckage. People stumbled about, their faces etched with shock and fear, their voices a cacophony of distress.

With a shaky breath, I pushed myself to my feet. My heart pounded in my chest, not just from the explosion but from the overwhelming sense of dread that had settled over the room like a suffocating shroud. Something terrible had happened, something that shattered the joyous atmosphere of the evening into a nightmare.

I took a moment to assess my own condition, my body still trembling from the shockwave. I checked for injuries, my hands trembling as they roamed over my limbs. Mercifully, I found only a few painful bruises, evidence of the blast's violent impact.

My trembling hands continued their cautious exploration of my body, seeking any signs of injury. The bruises, though painful, appeared to be the extent of the damage I had sustained. It was a small comfort amidst the chaos that now engulfed us.

With determined but unsteady steps, I began walking in a direction that felt random in this disorienting environment. Panic gnawed at the edges of my mind as I called out for Miyazaki, desperately hoping to hear his reassuring voice. "Miyazaki-kun! Where are you?"

Yet, my pleas were met only with eerie echoes and the distant cries of others trapped in this nightmarish scene.

Minutes that felt like an eternity passed, and the gravity of the situation weighed heavily on me. It was then that I stumbled upon a man, partially buried under the rubble. He gasped for breath, coughing up blood, his eyes wide with fear and pain.

My heart raced as I stumbled upon the man, his eyes filled with desperation. "Please," he rasped, "help me."

In a frantic whirlwind of emotions, I cast my gaze desperately upon the wreckage, every fiber of my being driven by an urgent need to find a way to provide assistance. The scene before me was a nightmarish tableau of chaos, with debris strewn about like malevolent confetti, and the air itself seemed charged with tension and despair.