Flames had spread across the hallway just outside the break room, claiming ground that had been clear only moments before. Orange light flickered, stretching from floor to ceiling as it swallowed a dark heap of what looked like fallen store fixtures, eerily illuminating the thick smoke from within.
With every surge of the fire, a wave of blistering heat rolled through the open doorway.
It wasn't a gentle wash of warmth. It felt as though an invisible wall was being pressed against my face, bringing a sharp, prickling pain like fine needles digging into my skin.
"...Can't we... go back?"
Mikage's voice trembled from my back.
Her arms remained wrapped around my neck, her fingers clutching tightly at my shirt. Because I had both hands hooked under her knees to keep the weight off her swollen right ankle, I couldn't see her face.
Even so, the rigid tension in her body conveyed her terror all too clearly.
"We'll find another way."
"Is there one...?"
"There is. Don't worry."
I answered without missing a beat, though I had no certainty whatsoever.
If I didn't say there was a way, she would lose the last thing keeping her together. I spoke those words purely for that reason.
I tore my eyes away from the fire and looked toward the far side of the break room.
Flames had already crept inside here as well. Fire licked the wall near the doorway, and the rising heat drove black smoke against the ceiling. We couldn't stay here much longer, either.
A staff directory map was posted on the wall. Obscured by smoke, some of the text was illegible, but I could at least tell that an employee passageway continued past this point.
We would be heading in the opposite direction from the way I had come.
There was no guarantee of safety ahead, and we might well run into a dead end. Still, rather than waiting in front of the advancing fire, moving toward even the slimmest hope was our only option.
"It might get a little hot, but we'll be okay. Don't let go."
"...Okay."
Readjusting my hold on Mikage's legs, I hopped over the patches of fire licking at the floor, heading for the employee corridor.
Carrying another person on your back was far more grueling than I had imagined.
Mikage was slender, but that didn't make her weightless. The strain on my arms grew heavier with every step, and the muscles in my lower back and thighs had begun screaming early on.
Inhaling the smoke made my breathing shallow, leaving a dull ache deep in my head.
I wasn't in any sports clubs. While I stood a little over a hundred and eighty centimeters, my build and stamina were strictly average for a high school boy.
I had never received any training that would prepare me to carry someone out of a burning building.
Even so, letting go of the weight on my back never crossed my mind.
"...I'm heavy... aren't I?"
Mikage murmured softly by my ear.
"Not really."
"Liar... You've been gasping for breath... this whole time..."
"It's just the smoke."
"Before you picked me up... you weren't stumbling like this..."
As I tried to argue back, a cough tore through my throat.
I tried to suppress it so I wouldn't jostle her too much, but there was no hiding it from Mikage on my back.
"...Put me down."
"No way."
"But... maybe I can walk... just a little..."
"You couldn't even stand earlier."
"If I lean on the wall—"
"If you fall now, you won't be able to move at all next time."
When I cut her off with a firm tone, Mikage fell silent.
I wasn't trying to scold her.
I just didn't know if I had enough strength left to set her down and hoist her onto my back again. I felt that if my knees buckled even once, I wouldn't be able to get back up.
"Just stay like that until I tell you to get down."
"...All right."
With that faint reply, the tension in the arms around my neck eased slightly.
Mikage probably wasn't used to entrusting her weight to me yet. Even though we were only touching through our school uniforms, her body would stiffen periodically as if she were suddenly remembering the situation.
Yet she made no move to let go.
She had wrapped her arms around my shoulders of her own accord, and she was still clinging to me with everything she had.
I threw my right shoulder against the door beside the break room.
At first it wouldn't budge, but when I leaned in harder, it gave way with a dull screech of metal, opening a narrow gap. The air flowing in from the other side carried the same sharp stench of burning.
It wasn't safe.
Even so, the heat was far less intense than the blaze closing in behind us.
Keeping Mikage on my back, I turned sideways and slipped through the gap.
Beyond the door lay a narrow service corridor running along the back of the shops. Although the emergency lights were on, most of the overhead lighting had failed, casting the paperwork and equipment strewn across the floor in a distorted red glow.
A sign on the wall indicated the central stockroom to the right and the north employee stairwell to the left.
The north side.
That was the direction the firefighters outside had mentioned as the search team's entry route.
If we headed that way, there was a real chance we would run into them.
A small knot of tension unwound in my chest at finally finding a ray of hope.
"We're going to make it."
"Re...ally...?"
"Yeah. The firefighters said they were entering from the north side. If we go this way, we'll run into them."
I said it with as much conviction as I could muster.
Strength returned to Mikage's arms.
"The fire department... is here...?"
"Multiple trucks. Your friends are waiting outside too, so don't worry."
This time, my words had real backing behind them.
I didn't know if I could get her out all on my own. But I wasn't the only one trying to save her.
If nothing else, I wanted Mikage to know that.
Following the arrow pointing north, I started down the corridor.
The fire door behind us swung shut, cutting off the orange glare of the flames. Though it wasn't pitch-black, the hallway, lit only by emergency lights, was unnervingly quiet.
The roaring fire that had been pressing against my eardrums faded slightly, muffled by the heavy door.
In its place, my own ragged breathing and heavy footsteps sounded deafening.
My sole hit the floor.
I shifted my weight forward.
I readjusted my grip under Mikage's knees and took the next step.
Every single motion I would normally make without thinking was eating away at what little stamina I had left.
Without Mikage's arms around my neck, she would have slid right off my back. Sensing that, she tightened her grip on my shirt every time she felt her strength slipping.
"Hey..."
"What is it?"
"Why... did you come back...?"
It was a hard question to answer.
"You're not... a firefighter... right?"
"You can tell just by looking at me."
"Then why...?"
Even though you made it out.
She didn't finish the thought, but her meaning came through loud and clear.
I wasn't sure I could give her a neat explanation myself.
It wasn't like I had held any special feelings for Mikage before this. I wasn't her friend, and we had no connection outside of going to the same high school.
If I hadn't spotted her friends outside today, I wouldn't have even noticed she was missing from the crowd.
"I saw your friends outside," I answered between ragged breaths. "There were only three of them. You were the only one missing, and they were looking everywhere for you."
"Just for that... you came back...?"
"I wouldn't say 'just for that'... I just noticed, that's all."
"Still, normally... people wouldn't... come back."
"Yeah. The firefighters tried to stop me, too."
"Then why...?"
Her repeating the question carried more bewilderment than accusation.
I thought for a moment and gave the only honest answer I had.
"I thought if I knew you were trapped in here and did nothing, I'd regret it for the rest of my life."
"You'd just... regret it, though..."
"Yeah. Just regret it."
"You could have... died, you know...?"
"That's still on the table right now."
"Don't say... things like that..."
Her forehead pressed a little harder against my shoulder.
Her words trailed off, replaced by the faint sound of a sniffle by my ear.
"Sorry."
"If you're going to apologize... don't say it in the first place..."
"Got it."
"That sounded flippant..."
"Then I'll apologize a bit more seriously."
"That's not... what I meant."
Though weak, a slightly pouty edge had returned to her voice.
When I first found her, she hadn't been in any condition to hold a conversation beyond asking if her friends were safe. The fact that she was talking back to me meant she was getting some of her senses back.
Just as I felt a wave of relief, Mikage murmured, "It feels... weird..."
"What does?"
"I really... can't stand... guys touching me."
"So I hear."
"You... knew?"
"...You said it yourself earlier. 'Don't touch me.'"
For a second, I worried I had let something slip, but Mikage didn't seem to question it.
"Not that... It's kind of... famous at school."
I kept quiet.
Carelessly agreeing might give away that we went to the same school. It wasn't that I was trying to keep my identity a secret, but I didn't want to confuse her with extra explanations right now.
Without waiting for a response, Mikage went on in halting fragments.
"Just having them... near me... creeps me out... and if someone grabs me... my body reacts... before I can even think..."
The arms around my neck loosened slightly, almost apologetically.
"And yet... right now, I'm clinging... to a guy I don't even know... on my own."
A self-deprecating laugh trembled near my ear.
"It's weird... isn't it?"
"Nothing weird about it."
"It is weird..."
"If you hate it, you can let go."
"...I don't want to."
Her answer came faster than I expected.
"I don't... want to let go."
Her fingers tightened on my shirt again.
"Touching you... doesn't creep me out. Being left alone... is way scarier."
Hearing that sent a jolt straight through my chest.
It might have just been an attachment born of sheer panic. Rather than trusting me as a person, she was probably just trying to escape the terror of being abandoned.
Even so, right now, Mikage was choosing to hold on of her own free will.
I didn't want to treat that choice lightly.
"Then you don't have to let go."
"...Okay."
"I won't let go, either."
To match my words, I tightened my grip under her knees.
Right then, a heavy thud rumbled from deep within the hallway.
The floor shook violently beneath our feet, and a sign mounted on the wall tore free, crashing to the floor.
Thrown off balance by the sudden tremor, I slammed my right shoulder against the wall to catch myself.
"Ngh...!"
"Are... you okay?"
"I'm fine. Didn't drop you, did I?"
"Not me... I mean you."
"Totally fine."
I forced out as cheerful a chuckle as I could manage.
"...Liar."
Mikage's voice held a faint prickle of frustration.
Still, feeling her weight on my back helped me regain some composure.
Further down the hall, plaster dust rained steadily from above. One of the light fixtures had broken loose from the shock, dangling by its wires and flickering erratically.
This area wasn't safe, either.
We couldn't afford to stop; we had to reach the north side.
I took another step, but the strength had drained from my thighs. Even though my own feet were moving forward, everything below my knees felt disconnected, like they belonged to someone else.
My arms were numb, and the sensation was fading from my fingertips.
At this rate, I was going to drop her.
The thought sent a cold sweat running down my spine.
I braced my right shoulder against the wall and stopped for just a few seconds.
"You really should... put me... down."
"No."
"But—"
"If I put you down now... I might not be able to stand back up."
When I told her the truth, Mikage went quiet.
Only our ragged breaths echoed in the narrow corridor.
"I'm sorry..."
"Don't apologize."
"But... it's because... of me."
"—No, it isn't."
That, I could deny without a second thought.
"I came back on my own. You didn't ask me to."
"That just makes it... worse..."
"Besides, I didn't come here to get an apology."
"Then... why?"
"To get you back to your friends."
Mikage said nothing.
A warm drop fell against the crook of my neck.
It wasn't sweat.
I realized she was silently crying.
"Don't worry."
Swallowing the raw pain in my throat, I kept my voice as gentle as possible.
"...How many times... are you going to say that?"
"Until you stop worrying."
"That's... not fair."
"What is?"
"When you say it... in that voice... it really feels like... everything's going to be okay."
This time, I couldn't answer.
I was the one who knew best that things were far from okay.
My breathing was shallow, and both my legs and arms were pushed past their limits. I couldn't even be certain if this hall really led to where the firefighters were.
Still, if my voice was the pillar keeping her from falling apart, I would say it as many times as it took.
Ahead, a fire door loomed through the haze of smoke.
The sign mounted above it pointed to the north employee stairwell.
"Once we reach that door, there's a staircase."
"Will the firefighters... be there...?"
"They definitely will."
I had no proof.
Even so, I said it with more force than before. If I lost hope, Mikage would break, too.
Just a few more steps to the door.
That was when it happened.
Screeech—
An agonizing wail of tearing metal shrieked overhead.
I looked up on reflex to see a section of the ceiling sagging, sparks cascading through the gaps between buckling panels.
—Shit.
Before the thought could even finish forming, the ceiling gave way.