Headphone Actor (15 page)

“You can’t possibly be that cold that suddenly! Anyway, it’ll be dangerous if you drop that canteen, so give it here.”

With how much Mary was shaking, it wouldn’t be odd if she dropped that canteen at any moment.

The lid was still half-open, so if it fell, all of the contents would probably spill out.

If a drink spilled on the icy ground in this kind of frigid temperature, it’d become a problem for other guests.

“O-okay …. Thank yah-—- …. Ah … Achoo!!”

The moment Mary sneezed a huge sneeze, I had stooped over slightly to take the canteen, with my head bent—which then had tea poured right on top of it.

“—Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

Not expecting this to happen at all, I jumped up and away.

Being drenched in cold tea in this temperature, my surroundings soon changed into a freezing hell.

“Wh-wh-wh-what’re you do— … Ah, ahh, ahhhh! C-c-c-cold ….”

My body temperature suddenly declined, and I began to shiver vigorously.

“E-Eek!! I-I’m sorry I’m sorry!! T-tissue …”

As Mary began pulling out various items one-after-the-other from her pouch, the wet portions of the tea dripped down to my jersey, and quickly began to freeze over.

“U-Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!! My … My jerseeeeeeeeeey!!”

“Eeeeek!! I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sor …..”

           
*

It was a terrible experience. In the end, Mary and I had retired and left the attraction right away, but before I even had time to be angry, Mary had run off somewhere.

“That girl … really isn’t what she seemed like at first …. Somehow, she’s really ….
something 
….”

Right now, Mary was probably already having fun at the next attraction on her list.

I was left alone again, and in order to dry my clothes, I took a walk around the park.

It had been a horrible irregularity earlier, but this time, surely, I would have my precious private time—

“Sh-Shintaro ….. good timing …..! C-Come with me for a minute ….!”

Just when I passed by a crepe stand, my name was called once again. It was a characteristically husky voice, and I was able to grasp who it was without even turning around.

“What do you want, Kido ….. Wait, what!? Where’s Momo? If she’s not with you, then ….”

Kido was standing there, sweating and gasping for breath.

As expected, because of how hot it was, she had taken off her hood, and her long hair flowed freely in the wind.

However, Momo was nowhere to be seen. Even though we both knew that if Kido wasn’t with her, she’d draw more and more peoples’ attention due to her power …..

“That’s right ….. Momo’s in trouble …. So, please! I need your help. Anyway, just come with me …..!!”

Momo was in trouble? No, I could already imagine what kind of trouble she was in, but what was the point of me going?

With all the large crowds in this amusement park, I really didn’t think I’d be any help at all if I went …..

However, Kido’s expression right now really didn’t suit her. It looked so frail, as if pleading me. Like I was really the only one she would count on.

…. Guess I had no choice. I’d just go along with her.

At any rate, I was really weak to the words, “I need your help.”

           
*

—For about three minutes, I followed Kido through the park.

We stopped to stand at the entrance of an attraction called, “Spooky Mansion of Ghost Dolls.”

It was a classic in amusement parks; an eerie, western-styled building, with tombstones and even axes decorating the outside.

From inside the mansion, we occasionally heard the screams of the other guests, presumably, which added to the creepy atmosphere even further.

“…. Uh.”

I said, and then sighed.

“Wh-what is it, Shintaro? I can’t hear you, so speak up!”

We waited in line for ten minutes.

When we became third in line to go in, Kido casually put on her headphones.

And from there, she started muttering things, and occasionally, as if remembering something unpleasant, she flinched and closed her eyes repeatedly.

“….. You’re scared, aren’t you?”

I voiced what I had deducted from my observations in a slightly louder voice so that she would hear me, and Kido’s shoulders shook when she replied.

“I-Idiot! It’s not like I am or anything! The screaming is just noisy, that’s all! I-I wouldn’t be scared of this kind of kiddy stuff ….!”

Kido wouldn’t admit it at all, but her bright red face wasn’t doing anything in backing up her claims.

“Haah … So, basically what happened is, Momo and you went into the haunted mansion together, and due to “certain circumstances,” you came out by yourself, and due to “certain circumstances,” aren’t able to go back in by youself. Without you, Momo’s power will draw too many people’s attention, and that’s why she can’t come out and is still inside. That sound about right?”

“Y-Yeah! You’re pretty fast at figuring things out …. Not that I’d expect any less from you, Shintaro.”

Kido chuckled calmly, but honestly, in this situation, it was useless trying to look cool anymore.

“So, what are these “certain circumstances”? If the circumstances are that you can’t go into a haunted mansion, the only possibility is that you’re sca—“

“That’s not it at all!! It’s not, but …. I don’t know how to explain it to you!”

No matter how many times I tried asking, Kido would frantically deny it in this same manner, and wouldn’t answer at all.

Every time the staff person opened the doors to let in the next guest, her shoulders would shake. With how scared she was right now, the leader was completely useless.

The point was that she was scared to go in by herself, and simply needed someone else to come in with her.

Even if she hid her presence with her power, it would have no meaning inside the haunted mansion.

The most she could do was hide her screams from the other people around her.

However, since she kept insisting she wasn’t scared, I’d feel bad to keep pestering her around it, so I just played along.

“Looks like we’re finally next. Are you ready, Leader?”

I asked Kido, but I could hear that the volume of her music was already turned up so high that she couldn’t hear me at all.

But just by watching the staff person’s movements, she seemed to realize that it was our turn to go in next.

As we continued to approach the entrance, Kido’s breathing gradually grew heavier.

Behind the door that the staff person opened, there were creepy western dolls and gory antiques scattered inside, which truly added onto the scary atmosphere shown on the outside.

The moment I saw all this, my own suppressed feelings of fear began to quickly bubble up.

When I looked beside me, Kido had become teary-eyed, but I wasn’t able to make fun of her.

That was because I, too, had probably also become teary-eyed.

The entrance of the creepy, creaking mansion closed, inviting us into the pitch darkness as we walked in with our fear.

Once the doors closed, all light from the outside was cut off, and the only source of light came from the eerily flickering candles scattered around.

In a way different from the ice maze from before, my body was chilled from the feet upwards.

The two of us were overwhelmed by this strange atmosphere, and soon found ourselves unable to proceed any further.

“H-huh, it’s rather well done …. Isn’t it, Kido ….?”

Although I’d never dealt with a girl being scared before, I turned around, and saw that Kido had closed her eyes from fear, and was immersed in the world of music. I immediately pulled the earphones out and confiscated the music player she had in her pocket.

“Uwaaaah!! What’re you doing, Shintaro!? G-g-give it back!”

“Are you an idiot!? I don’t even know where Momo is, so if you just ignore me, what am I supposed to do!?”

“That’s true …. But ….!”

Without her earphones, Kido had started shaking like a newborn goat.  Because her behavior right now was so far from her usual, dependable and firm attitude, I became even more anxious.

But it would be no use just standing here.

In order to get away from here as soon as possible, there was so choice but to push onward.

I somehow forced my legs to move, and Kido followed a step behind me.

Although slowly, we steadily began to go in deeper, and because of the characteristic musty smell of haunted houses and also the BGM, it was scary just doing so.

Things like the portrait of a headless person in the hallway, and the hanging scythe, made us fear that something would jump out at any moment.

I narrowed my eyes and walked in a bent position so that I wouldn’t have to look at them so much.

Kido also copied my stance. People might wonder what we were doing when we were fully-grown teenagers, but I didn’t give a damn. This was necessary.

“…. Anyway, you’ve been in here once already, haven’t you? So shouldn’t you know what’s going to come out from where?”

I turned to face Kido, but she had her eyes closed and ears covered, as if she didn’t want to listen to me.

“Wh-what’s with you? Don’t ignore ….”

As I was saying this, and was just about to reach my hand out to Kido, the doll that was lying in the path started to talk.

“Gyaaaaaaaaaaaah!! What’s with this thing!?”

“The owner of this mansion was once a doll collector, but one day, he went mad, and become a murderer that turned the guests that he invited to the mansion into dolls, one by one. I wonder if you’ll be able to leave this place alive ….! Hee hee hee …..!!”

The shock I received made my heart seem ready to leap out of my chest, and I jumped back and collapsed right there in the path.

Don’t kid with me; 
what 
murderer!? Before we talk about any murderer, I already felt like I was going to die from the shock of 
your
 
appearance.

Kido stood next to my collapsed figure, took her hands away from her ears with a relieved expression, and looked down at me in apology.

“You …. You knew about this, didn’t you …. That’s why you covered your ears, isn’t it …..!?”

“N-no, sorry about that. I thought about telling you, but because I was covering my ears, I was trying not to …. No …. I thought this was some kind of trial for you.”

Kido started to say something, but hastily changed the topic.

“What trial!? You were scared and covering your ears, weren’t you!?”

“I-I’m not scared!! That’s just sometimes— ….!”

Kido realized what she was saying, and quickly walked off to the back.

Had she suddenly been released from her fear? No, she couldn’t have. I had a feeling that Kido was a genuine coward.

However, that would mean …..

I only got so far in my thoughts when I suddenly had a bad feeling.

I slowly turned around to look back on the path we had been walking on, and saw people that had probably been mercilessly killed by the mansion’s owner, wearing blood-stained western-style clothing, and coming this way.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!! I’m sorry I’m sorry! Please spare me!!”

I knelt down on the ground in apology with overwhelming speed, and then bolted up from the ground and ran in the opposite direction of the zombies. What was up with those guys!? No, they were all extras for the attraction. But because they had acted so realistically, I’d genuinely pleaded for my life.

Although I soon caught up with Kido, who had gone on ahead, Kido, being Kido, had gotten her arm caught by a myriad of hands that had come out of the wall, and looked like she was about to foam at the mouth.

“Uwaaaaaah! L-let go me meee!! Stop itttt!!”

She was so desperate; you’d forget that this was all just part of the attraction.

And then, the extras on the other side of the wall swiftly retracted their hands.

Thanks for all your hard work. Now please don’t come out again.

“Haa …. Haa ….. Sorry about that, Shintaro. You really helped me out there …..”

“Hey, don’t just leave me behind and run off!! I was really scared there!!”

“Eh? A-ahh, I’m sorry, honestly. I just remembered some important business, so ….”

As she said this, Kido looked like she was going to be sick again, and looked away.

—Without a doubt, she really was completely useless.