Amamiya Rin stared at The Hanging Balloons, sinking into thought.
The situation was bad. Beyond mere sight, it also possessed a special sensing ability.
Still, it wasn't entirely unexpected. Without this kind of special sensing ability, the world was so vast that The Hanging Balloons would have no way to pinpoint its target's exact location.
After pondering for a moment, Amamiya Rin asked a crucial question.
"If you can't kill Terumi, will you die... I mean, would you choose to perish together with Terumi?"
"I would! The very meaning of my existence is to kill her!"
The Hanging Balloons answered without the slightest hesitation, its voice flat and resolute.
Amamiya Rin's heart sank.
This was even worse!
Although it had displayed a fear of being attacked, its underlying logic clearly held a higher priority—high enough to override everything else.
Off to the side, Fujino Terumi's face went pale in an instant.
"What on earth did I ever do?"
Her voice trembled as she demanded an answer from The Hanging Balloons, her emotions running high.
"To make you so set on killing me that you'd rather perish alongside me? Am I some unforgivable sinner? As far as I know, I've never done anything heinous in my life!"
"I want to kill you—what does that have to do with you?"
The Hanging Balloons turned toward her, its tone indifferent, as though stating something as natural as the weather.
No reason, no room for question—just pure, one-sided killing intent.
That bone-chilling malice felt almost tangible, pressing down on Fujino Terumi until she grew dizzy and even breathing became difficult.
"Go and rest for now."
Amamiya Rin suddenly cut in, breaking the suffocating atmosphere.
"And while you're at it, pour me a glass of water. I haven't had a drink in over an hour or so."
His voice was calm and composed, rousing Fujino Terumi from her near-rigid state.
Fujino Terumi clutched her chest, drew a deep breath, cast a complicated glance at that ghastly pale face outside the window, then turned and walked toward the kitchen.
"Let's continue."
Amamiya Rin lightly tapped the metal railing with his fingernail, producing a crisp "tap-tap" sound, drawing back The Hanging Balloons' attention from where it had been fixed on Fujino Terumi.
"Even if it means suicide, you'll still kill her—but that should be your last resort, correct? Before that point, you would not only avoid suicide, you'd also do everything you can to dodge attacks."
Amamiya Rin analyzed carefully, then suddenly asked a peculiar question.
"Also... you wouldn't happen to leak air, would you?"
"Of course not."
The Hanging Balloons' gaze moved back to Amamiya Rin's face, its tone matter-of-fact.
"I only look like a balloon. Don't tell me... you actually took me for an ordinary balloon?"
"At the very least, you look like a balloon, your texture feels like a balloon, and your internal structure is probably like a balloon too."
Amamiya Rin said calmly.
If something looks like a balloon and feels like a balloon, then it is a balloon!
"All right, all right—do you have anything else to ask? If not, then give me your answer. How long can you protect Fujino Terumi?"
The Hanging Balloons seemed to bob about somewhat impatiently. Unwilling to respond to Amamiya Rin's claim, it decisively changed the subject and pressed him in return.
"You may be a good man, but I don't think you're the sort who would pour your own time and energy into Fujino Terumi over the long haul. When all's said and done, the two of you merely crossed paths by chance—you can't even be called friends. You simply helped her one-sidedly, and now you've come to help her again. Even if you gave up helping her, no one could blame you. Fujino Terumi herself wouldn't either—otherwise she wouldn't be worth your help."
Just then, Fujino Terumi came out of the kitchen carrying a cup of barley tea. She had evidently heard The Hanging Balloons' last words; her body shuddered almost imperceptibly, and her face turned even paler.
She bit her lower lip, her complicated gaze falling on Amamiya Rin's straight back, her whole being giving off an air of fragility.
Just as The Hanging Balloons had said, Amamiya Rin had already done more than enough for her. Even if he were to withdraw and leave at this very moment, she would have no right to harbor any resentment. Even if she died because of it, she would still have to feel gratitude toward Amamiya Rin.
Fujino Terumi drew a deep breath, struggling to calm the raging storm surging deep within her, and, holding the warm teacup, slowly walked toward the balcony.
"Rin-kun, I've brought the tea over."
She stopped just inside the balcony door, keeping her voice as steady as she could, as if those cutting, heart-piercing words had never wormed their way into her ears.
Hearing this, Amamiya Rin picked up the electromagnetic rifle leaning against the wall, lifted the black instrument case holding the heavy battery, and cautiously retreated a few steps backward.
Fujino Terumi tacitly stepped aside to make way.
Amamiya Rin withdrew into the relatively safe living room, gently set the rifle and the case down on the floor, and only then took the cup of barley tea from Fujino Terumi's hands.
Amamiya Rin tilted his head back and took a large gulp; the lukewarm, slightly astringent tea flowed across his dry mouth and throat, bringing a measure of relief.
He handed the cup, still half full of tea, back to Fujino Terumi.
Fujino Terumi silently took it, cupping it in both hands as she stepped back.
"Didn't you hear me? Rin-kun, you have no obligation to pour all your time and energy into someone you met only by chance."
Seeing that Amamiya Rin still hadn't answered, and that he even had the leisure to slowly savor his tea, The Hanging Balloons grew somewhat agitated as well.
Everything that had happened today was outside its expectations—whether it was Fujino Terumi's wariness, or Amamiya Rin's marksmanship, or for that matter Amamiya Rin's attitude—all of it left its mood unable to settle.
"My answer is: I'll do my utmost and leave no regrets, unless you truly make me see no hope at all."
A lie.
The seemingly composed Amamiya Rin spoke seemingly carefree words.
But they were a deception—he was deceiving The Hanging Balloons.
After all, the Hanging Balloons before him marked the beginning of the world's destruction. Once The Hanging Balloons appeared on a massive scale, he too would be unable to escape its effects.
Flee to a parallel world? That seemed like a way out.
But who could say that, at the far end of that parallel world, what awaited him would not be an even deeper despair?
What if, after crossing over through Oshikiri's villa, he ran headlong into the gaping maw of Hellstar Remina?
In this despair-laden worldview where Japanese horror intermingled, world-ending crises emerged one after another. Fleeing was never a once-and-for-all solution.
By comparison, The Hanging Balloons could even be counted among the ordinary sort—its killing mechanism was direct rather than unfathomably bizarre, its destructive power targeted only its mark and was easy to evade, and the final triggering of its mechanism was relatively slow as well.
If he had to flee at the mere sight of an existence like The Hanging Balloons, then the rest of his life would likely be spent forever on the run, racing down an endless road of flight, never to know a day of peace.
What's more, The Hanging Balloons... was not entirely without a solution either.
If The Hanging Balloons' various mechanisms and abilities were not all that deep, but merely lingered superficially on the surface, then perhaps he had a way to free a victim from The Hanging Balloons permanently.
To that end, he still had several questions he absolutely had to confirm with The Hanging Balloons.
____
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