I felt my brain momentarily freeze at the suggestion to stay overnight.
Me? Sleep here?
Honestly, it wasn't impossible, but it was too sudden, and I didn't have any spare clothes with me, which made it awkward.
The distance from Yoon Ha-min's house to mine wasn't terribly far, but it wasn't exactly close either. I wondered if my legs could even make the journey back.
It was one awkward situation after another.
In times like these, maybe making a quick exit was the best option.
"No, it's fine. I'd just be a burden if I stayed... Ugh!"
The moment I tried to stand up, pain shot through my thigh and nearly made me collapse.
Thud! I hit the table in front of the sofa with my knee, and it hurt enough to bring tears to my eyes.
But at least I didn't completely throw myself onto the table.
"...Ah."
I let out a small sigh.
Yoon Ha-min had jumped up and caught me, preventing me from falling.
Sweating profusely, I glanced at the table I had nearly crashed into, then turned to look at Yoon Ha-min, who was awkwardly standing there with his hand on my waist.
Having barely regained my balance, I groaned and slumped back onto the sofa.
After a small moan, I looked up at Yoon Ha-min who had just set me down.
Seeing my condition, he quietly said:
"See? How do you expect to go anywhere like this? There might be lingering aftereffects, so rest a bit before leaving."
"...But I don't have any clothes to change into?"
"I, I can lend you something simple."
Yoon Ha-min said this and then cleared his throat with a "Ahem."
"..."
My uniform was already somewhat dirty from lying on the ground earlier.
It seemed I'd have to take it to the dry cleaner's again.
There was too much to worry about, too many things to consider.
Yoon Ha-min watched me silently for a moment before going into his room.
He came back out with a t-shirt and shorts, which he held out to me.
Taking them, I looked at the clothes for a moment before letting out a small groan.
As he said, I didn't have the strength to go home, so I reluctantly accepted the clothes, gripping them tightly.
"The bathroom is over there."
"Ah, okay."
I nodded.
Having accepted his kindness, I noted the bathroom he pointed to.
First, I needed to clean my dirty body.
After that, I'd get organized, and by bedtime, it would probably be around 3 AM.
I could feel my body growing tired.
Entering the bathroom, I undressed and glanced at myself in the mirror before wetting my body with warm water.
The shower hanging on the rack poured down like rain, tapping against my shoulders.
So I'm staying here to rest. As this thought vaguely crossed my mind, it was as if all the tension suddenly left my body, and my strength completely drained away.
I thought I could at least stand even if walking around was difficult, but once the muscle tension released, it felt like the floor was pulling me down regardless.
Ah.
I just wanted to close my eyes.
All I could do was contemplate what options I had left.
Even if I could see the future with my ability, since it wasn't a real ability, I couldn't predict the future as it changed in real time.
So there were limitations to what I called my "ability."
There wasn't much useful information about events I could use in this already significantly altered timeline, so it was probably time to move on.
"...Ugh."
My vision was blurry.
The fact that a Strange One was watching me felt terrifying.
The thought of being pecked by the beak of a monster with limbs shaped like birds, or having my jaw partially dislocated by a Strange One's fingers, made me shudder.
Now all I knew was information about the Strange One and that they could find me.
Since I couldn't know where they were or what they were doing, I couldn't talk about things like when the Wall would break anymore.
That might make me even more suspicious, but impossible was impossible.
My vision grew increasingly blurry.
As the tension drained away, so did my strength to endure.
My lowering field of vision eventually collapsed to the floor.
With a clatter, my body took the impact, but I couldn't really feel it clearly, so I just closed my eyes.
It felt strangely like I had collapsed on the ground on a rainy day.
*
Kanna Aurora was struggling with all her might.
Whether she saw something only she could see or felt something only she could feel, watching her run around so earnestly with that knowledge was truly impressive.
No one believed her words, which seemed too far-fetched, but that didn't discourage her.
Could she see the future? But it didn't seem like she could see the future.
Sure, she had predicted one event, but she couldn't predict what happened next.
She said the Wall would collapse, and it did, though at a different time than she had mentioned.
Monsters invaded, and because there wasn't a proper response in place, quite a few people in the vicinity died.
At the same time, a monster that had never been seen before somehow made its way to the Academy.
There, a monster appeared that didn't resemble any animal form I'd ever seen.
But even then, we were able to find a way out thanks to Kanna's words.
I didn't know what Kanna was seeing.
Even if I asked, I doubted she would give me a proper answer.
So all I could do was believe in her.
If we had listened to her words, we could have responded better.
I recalled the things we were able to respond to because we did listen to her.
Kanna's voice begging to be killed still echoed in my ears.
"..."
The vehicle fleeing to the Ramiris family's bunker was caught by a monster, and as a result, Kanna couldn't even stand up for hours, lying face down on the ground.
I couldn't know what complex thoughts had gone through her mind during that time.
Her cries that a Strange One would come for her, that she didn't want to be taken away and suffer again, pierced my heart.
Her limbs were severed and then regenerated.
The Strange One gave her something, but because of that, they could now find her.
As I listed these facts, I groaned.
But before my thoughts could deepen, I heard a clattering sound of someone falling in the bathroom.
My shoulders tensed with a start, bringing me back to reality.
I raised my head and rushed to the bathroom, knocking on the door.
"Kanna? Kanna!"
I pounded on the door.
"Kanna, are you okay? Are you showering?"
I put my ear to the door, trying to hear something.
But there was no voice, only the sound of water pouring.
I knocked on the door once more, but there was no answer.
"Kanna! I'm coming in...?!"
Honestly, I knew it was wrong to enter while she was showering.
But I couldn't leave her collapsed under the running water, so I tried to rationalize it to myself.
This wasn't about having strange thoughts; it was about saving Kanna.
I grabbed the locked doorknob and gave it a tug. It seemed I couldn't open it with just a light force, so I took a deep breath.
I placed my thumb on the keyhole part of the doorknob.
I imagined a dot and then a star exploding.
With a ping! sound, as if something had sprung loose, the doorknob shook.
The broken doorknob lost its strength and opened the door.
Passing through the changing area, I opened the door to find Kanna who seemed to have collapsed while showering.
Seeing Kanna without any clothes on, I hesitated for a moment, then frowned and approached her immediately.
I turned off the water and tapped her cheeks.
"Kanna, wake up!"
Despite this, her closed eyelids showed no sign of opening.
With a sigh, I looked at her for a moment and then pulled down the corners of my mouth.
"...Kanna."
I called her name with a slightly trembling voice.
I gently wiped the slightly dirty parts of her face with my wet hand.
Then I carried her out.
*
Someone laughed. Someone laughed.
With each tooth pulled out, someone laughed.
It felt like they were mocking me, saying it was futile to run away, that I was in the palm of their hand.
It seemed like they were telling me that no matter how much I struggled, I couldn't escape this fate.
If there was a predetermined fate like in novels, and if it applied to me too, I wondered if there was really any point in living.
The future I knew now held no value, so it was impossible to claim I knew the future.
The knowledge I had was about Strange Ones and monsters that hadn't even appeared yet, and I was afraid of being suspected if I spoke about it.
So my struggles had no meaning and only scraped the ground.
I hate this. I want to live.
I don't want to be in pain.
I want to change this desperate situation.
Both the future I have to face and the future Yoon Ha-min has to face.
If it's not impossible, I don't want to run away.
"Ah, ahhh...!"
Hating the nightmare that kept trying to drag me into the swamp, I screamed and raised my body.
As I propped myself up with my arms, I recognized the scenery as something I had seen before.
My heart pounded heavily.
And in my dazed mind, I kept asking myself:
Is there really nothing I can do?
With my knowledge, even if I couldn't know the future exactly, couldn't I at least make educated guesses?
So...
"You're awake?"
There was definitely something I was thinking about, but that voice erased it all.
Turning my head sharply toward the voice, I could see Yoon Ha-min, who had just gotten up after apparently sleeping crouched next to me.
"...Huh?"
Was he sleeping next to me?