災伴 (Saiban)

Chapter Ten (Klein Yohei)

I burst out of the room I had been sleeping in to find the state of things — including the giant spider. My hand goes to the nearby cans of spray paint and lighters when I hear Orou's voice:

"Haru-kun?"

I freeze and look at him. "What are you—"

"Orou-kun, look out!" Hana jumps up from her spot and shoves Orou out of the way of a spider leg, just barely ducking it herself.

"Get behind me!" I order, shaking the can of spray paint. They scuttle out of the way as I remove the cap. I spray it in the direction of the Saiban's eyes, causing it to recoil from the violet mist. I fumble with the lighter as the monster is disoriented. When a flame sparks, I put it under the propelling paint, causing it to set on fire as it's sprayed out.

"HARU-KUN, NO!" Orou screams, his agony raw and unfiltered in the two words.

Tameko grabs him, preventing him from rushing forward into the flames. "Yoshida-kun, that isn't him! You need to get a g—"

"It is!" he insists, shoving Tameko away. "It's him! I-I know it is, I know him well enough to know him when I s—"

"...shit..." I mutter as the spray paint can runs out of paint. "I need another can, Tanaka-san!"

"No, stop hurting him!" Orou screams, tears beginning to streak down his face as he's barely restrained by Tameko. I can hear his throat becoming raw. "Stop it!"

Hana tosses two cans of magenta spray paint to me, offering me a smile through her tears. "You better light it up, Yo-chan." There's only one way to kill a Saiban that we've found — to puncture each of its eyes, no matter how many that may be — but regardless of if burning it kills it, the pain will help drive it away.

As I begin shaking the can to use it, Hana surges forward with a butcher knife and leaps. She lands on Saiban's face, the knife point-down into one of the eyes. The spider begins to squirm, flailing two of its legs around in an attempt to get Hana off. She hangs on, narrowly missing getting thrown out the window. I grimace, hesitating the spray paint can. I can't exactly aim with the thing — if I start burning the Saiban, she'll get caught in the flames, too. I know if she lets go now, she risks falling out the window. We're five stories up. That'll kill her for sure.

Orou breaks free from Tameko's grasp and grabs his bow. He waits a moment before shooting one of the legs flailing. The arrow secures the limb to the wall, allowing Hana to get down. He runs forward and throws her to the side before putting out his arms wide.

"Haru-kun, please, just calm down and listen! It's me, Orou!" he says, his pupils dilated and his hands shaking. The tears are still falling. "We can make it through this, y-you just have to calm down! We can fix your wounds, we can fix this, just let me h—"

By the time I reach my hand forward, it's too late. The Saiban manages to get its head forward and, in one fell swoop, bites down. As Orou falls, there's nothing above the shoulders besides the fountain of blood beginning to surface.