Earodorīmusu

Chapter VIII

...

Shit. I can't be comfortable about this, it'll undeniably be a horrendous nightmare.

I have to resist.

The surroundings still haven't lit up,  I knelt down on the floor, and used both of my hands to cover my eyes. Thereupon, I felt soft hands over mine. The sense of apprehension dissipated. I intuited his presence, it's Ryuji.

It has been sometime since I've seen you, actually in front of me, with me.

He hugged me, I hugged him back.

...

I was completely tranquil about the situation, and forgot the probability of being tormented again.

As I was hugging him, the endless floor moistened, like a mixture of quicksand and black oil. Ryuji became faceless.

...

This isn't you, I can't be fooled. I tried to let go of his body, but.

!?

I saw him holding a dagger, at his back.

I started to run, as far as I could go. I never felt strenuous in a dream before. Feels like I'm being chased while i'm drowning in an ocean of regrets.

"˙ǝuop ǝʌɐɥ noʎ ʇɐɥʍ ǝʇıdsǝp ʎoɾ lǝǝɟ noʎ plnoɔ ʍoɥ ɐʞıɯn⋊ ʇlnɐɟ ɹnoʎ llɐ s'ʇI"
"˙ɓuıuunɹ puɐ ɓuıuunɹ puɐ ɓuıuunɹ puɐ ɓuıuunɹ dǝǝʞ no⅄"

My mind thought running in an endless black void won't come to an end.
I thought running would be an endless loop,
where the finish line, is also the starting line.
Who would've thought I'd come across, a luminous light.

Who would've thought I'd come across Kotayashi.

I saw him using a treadmill, it was a mystifying scenario.

"Hey!" He called me. I didn't look up because I was crying out of fear. "Do you have any idea how this thing 'makes' you be productive? Like, this is the most boring shit ever!"

...?

I went closer to him. "Look, I've been running on this thing for hours now, I haven't even reached a single kilometre yet, useless." He complained. What is this... is this suppose to characterize something? someone?. My tears went dry so I tried to fix his issue.

"Ugh. You're aware that the speed on this thing is at it's lowest, aren't you?" I noticed that he was also just walking. "Well, yeah, I can't go over that range." He said. "Why not." I asked,

"I just can't."

"You see, an objective won't be it, if you don't intent to work for it, there won't be a desired outcome if you see everything lamented." A statement I didn't intend to articulate.