episode_0005

Someone shakes my body. I furrow my brow and lift my head to see Alice’s face.

“Why.”

She points in the direction of the dining hall. Sometimes, she drags me to the dining hall for a late-night snack.

Technically, I shouldn’t, but I’m still young, so sometimes I get hungry at night.

“Isn’t it reasonable to hold out today? We’ll eat our fill at the birthday party tomorrow.”

Shake shake.

That’s a no. It’s her way of insisting that we go to the dining hall together somehow.

“Come to think of it, tonight’s dinner was baked potatoes.”

The first meal Alice had at this orphanage was baked potatoes. Since then, she ate them best. While she eats other foods calmly, when it comes to potatoes, she hurriedly peels them and devours them.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

Rubbing my sleepy eyes, the two of us headed to the dining hall upstairs. Once inside, we went to the kitchen, lifted the lid of the pot, and took out the potatoes.

Perhaps because it’s a heat-preserving pot, the potatoes were still warm.

We chewed on the potatoes. Unlike the first day, Alice skillfully peeled off the skin and ate well.

“…Alice.”

As I hesitated, she stopped chewing and looked at me.

“Are you, by any chance, going to be adopted?”

I didn’t mean to ask, but perhaps it was the late hour that made me emotional, and I brought up the topic of adoption without realizing it.

Alice paused for a moment, blinked, and then gently lowered her head.

“So, the adoption story came up?”

“……”

Seeing her silence, it seems she received an adoption proposal. And it seems she rejected it.

For some reason, I felt relieved.

‘Why did I have such a trashy thought just now.’

If an orphan is adopted, it should be celebrated. Even if the orphanage takes good care of the children, it’s not the same as receiving abundant love from a complete family.

But knowing that Alice refused adoption, I felt relieved.

“Why didn’t you accept? You’d live in a much better place than here.”

Words contrary to my true feelings blurted out.

As if she didn’t want to talk, Alice focused on the potato again. I also gave up asking more and chewed on the potato.

In my view, a strange scene unfolded. Outside the window, which should have been dark, was eerily bright.

“It’s nighttime now?”

Sensing something amiss, I approached the window. Suddenly, faint screams reached my ears. A raging blaze filled my sight.

“Huh…?”

I hastily opened the window, and the sensation became much clearer.

“When will the police arrive?”

“Are there no fire hydrants nearby!?”

“What kind of building is this that it can’t even detect a fire properly!?”

My head spun. The sudden emergency left me pale. I dropped the potato I was eating and shouted to Alice.

“Alice! It seems like the building is on fire! Let’s get out of here quickly!”

We were on the upper floor in the restaurant, so we didn’t know what was happening downstairs. We needed to check if the other kids and teachers were evacuating.

Perhaps realizing the seriousness of the situation, Alice swiftly got up and followed behind me. As we opened the restaurant door and headed down the stairs, the intense heat hit my face.

“Whoa!?”

I groaned and hastily stepped back. Common smoke was rising from below. I crouched low to the ground.

“It’s difficult to escape immediately because of the heat. To hold out as long as possible… I need to wet a towel in the bathroom and cover our faces.”

“Alice, let’s go to the bathroom and wet the towels.”

Alice quickly understood why I suggested going to the bathroom and took the lead this time, running into the bathroom. Once there, we wet the towels and wrapped them around our faces.

I ran back to the restaurant and opened the window. It was quite a height; jumping would be suicidal.

“There are people here!”

I shouted with all my might, and voices could be heard around me.

“Hey, there’s a kid in the restaurant!”

“Firefighter! When are you going to enter the restaurant floor?”

“There’s an arsonist with a weapon on the lower floor of the restaurant right now! We need the police to enter together!”

The conversation from outside made me feel as pale as I probably looked.

“A weapon? The police haven’t arrived yet?”

There was no wide road leading to the orphanage, and the police were expected to arrive later than anticipated.

“…Alice.”

“…….”

“You probably just came in, but they say it’s hard to go downstairs because of the heat, and there are even bad people. We… might have to endure it here.”

Alice pointed to the bathroom with her hand. I nodded at her words.

“Yeah, there’s a ventilation fan and water too.”

Following Alice’s suggestion, we headed to the bathroom. Just in case, we filled the bathtub and sink with water and crouched down as much as possible.

The chill from the bathroom floor pierced my skin. My body trembled. I couldn’t tell if I was trembling from the cold or because of the arsonist.

At that moment, Alice took off the pajama top she was wearing and wrapped me in it. Her scent was strong. I looked at her with a bewildered expression. Her expression was different from usual. Her eyes were more rigid, but the determined spirit in her blue eyes conveyed to me that she would protect me no matter what. It was the first time I felt a woman’s steadfastness in this gender-reversed world. She went to the front of the bathroom door and waited. As if she would stop anything that came to harm me if the door opened. I just blankly watched her back.

“When are the police coming?”

“They’re about to arrive!”

“This is why you shouldn’t build buildings in places with soaring land prices! You don’t even follow the building regulations properly and make buildings like this!? You don’t even know the fire safety laws!?”

Amidst the chaos between residents and officials, the flames soared higher, and the landscape of the orphanage became desolate. The director rolled her feet while counting the children.

“Oh, two, two are missing. There are still kids inside!”

As she shouted and tried to enter the building, a firefighter pushed her away.

“It’s dangerous!”

“There are kids inside! I’m sure I brought them all out of the bedrooms!”

“Anyway, civilians, do not enter! Firefighters have entered right below where the arsonist is, so if anything happens, they will intervene!”

The siren blared as police cars filled the narrow alley. Frantically exiting their vehicles, the women conversed with nearby firefighters before receiving equipment.

“What took you so long!”

Due to arson, some residents pointed fingers at the officers for the damage to surrounding buildings. The police silently armed themselves and, equipped with firefighting gear, entered the building alongside the firefighters.

The chief clasped her hands together, watching their backs.

“Please… Maru… Alice… What crime have those kids committed…”

*

*

*

How much time had passed? Smoke began seeping through the bathroom ceiling. I clutched the towel tighter, observing it. Alice remained motionless, staring at the bathroom door.

“Alice, you can take clothes now.”

“……”

“The heat’s getting intense with the fire reaching here.”

Despite my words, she didn’t respond, deeply engrossed in chewing her lips and bowing her head.

Thud.

Thud.

Footsteps.

An excessively calm gait echoed.

Ascending the stairs.

In this tense situation, someone walked leisurely.

They didn’t call our names or search for us.

Not a firefighter.

Not a police officer.

“Alice, come back.”

I murmured softly.

“Close the bathroom door and quietly come to me.”

Alice closed the bathroom door and stepped back. She didn’t come to my side. Still, she stood in front of me.

“Alice, just in case, don’t think too harshly.”

“……”

“Don’t act recklessly alone.”

As Alice remained motionless, frustration crept into my mind. But I had to do what needed to be done.

“If a dangerous person comes here…”

After a moment of contemplation, I continued.

“We can’t both fall victim. If one is attacked, the other must somehow get out and seek help.”

Even in a world where gender roles were reversed, the wisdom from my previous life and mature mental age compelled me to enforce self-sacrifice.

“I’ll hold that guy down.”

Firmly.

“I can’t escape anyway. I’m not as athletic as you.”

Dori dori.

“You have to go. There’s no other way.”

Alice just kept shaking her head endlessly.

Without saying a word, she repeated the same action, and suddenly, that sight became comical.

The gradually increasing footsteps stopped right in front of the bathroom door where we were.

It was strange to think of the bathroom. Especially since all the doors were open except for the bathroom door, which was locked.

Clank.

Because we had locked it from the inside, they wouldn’t come in immediately. And shortly after.

Bang!

The handle shook as if it were going to break any moment, as if the door would be forced open.

It’s only a matter of time before we’re found out. I prepared myself to pounce on the unidentified person. Whether it’s a firefighter or an arsonist, it doesn’t hurt to be prepared.

Bang!

The door flew open dramatically, hitting Alice’s forehead and passing by.

Alice collapsed to the ground, holding her forehead, unable to even scream.

Even as I looked at the injured Alice, I noticed a motionless woman in a hooded outfit. The smell of strong oil vibrated through the air, as if she had been wrestling with an oil drum.

With this, the woman was confirmed as our enemy.

Prepared in advance, I lunged toward her abdomen with all my might.

I aimed for a mount position, but my feeble physique was insufficient to topple an adult woman.

The woman momentarily lost her balance, then regained her stance and struck my shoulder with a machete.

Since I was covering my mouth and nose with a towel, no screams were heard, but this level of pain was unprecedented in this life and the last.

“There’s an arsonist here!”

Once again, the machete struck my shoulder.

“Arso…ugh!”

This time, the machete struck my mouth, preventing me from screaming.

Feeling the metallic taste of blood, I fell backward.

Meanwhile, the woman looked at Alice, who was on the other side.

Alice was swinging a tool aimed at the back of the woman, piercing through the toilet.

The end of the tool struck the woman’s eye area.

“Argh! You brat!”

Injured, the woman became agitated, toppling over Alice and climbing on top of her.

Alice wrapped her arms around the woman’s waist with both legs, attempting something, but seemed too weak to do anything but squirm.

The woman gripped Alice’s throat and brandished a knife.

“You [expletive]!”

At that moment, a voice came from downstairs.

“I heard something! It’s the bathroom!”

“The police are entering first!”

Hoping the criminal would be thrown off by the rescue team’s voices and make an escape, but my expectations were off the mark. The woman still aimed the knife at Alice, ready to strike.

At the point where she found us in the burning building instead of fleeing, it was clear she wasn’t in her right mind.

Better late than never. I ended up thrusting myself between Alice and the knife, my lips tingling with heat as warm liquid flowed down my arm. Without focusing on that sensation, I grabbed the handle of the knife on my arm to prevent the woman from pulling it out.

She frantically shook my arm to retrieve the knife, muscles tearing and bones scraping. My consciousness faded, and even the arsonist’s screams became faint. The sight of Alice striking the arsonist’s chest with her fist also blurred.

“…Escape!”

“Now…!”

“…The kids first!”

The voices intermittently faded. My arms were drenched in warm, sticky fluid, truly warm. Before closing my eyes completely, the last thing I saw was Alice’s face. Something warm fell onto my face, a different kind of liquid from what flowed down my arm. If the warmth on my forearm was blood, then what fell on my face was a comforting warmth.

“I… didn’t mean to.”

“…….”

“I’m sorry…!”

Alice clung to my face, tears streaming down, repeatedly apologizing.

“You… speak well….”

Even in this situation, it was absurd that my lips curled into a smile.

‘Her voice is surprisingly nice.’

That thought stopped there.