HEADPHONE ACTOR II

I didn’t think I’d seen the landscape before me transform so wildly as this ever before in my life.
    With every step I took, another stoplight was sent flying, another building swayed wildly over its foundation.
    The air shifted and swirled before me, and my body propelled itself forward through the wind with every breath I took.

    The intersection was packed with people.
    The signals and signs had already lost all meaning to them, and the lawless roads were now host to a gaggle of colorful cars, abandoned in assorted unlikely locations and angles.

    Some people were screaming something or other.
    Some were punching and flailing at their fellow man.

    All of them looked petrified, wailing pitifully at the end of the world.
    The screaming infant I heard for just a moment almost made me stop running.

    “Keep going. This area’s going to be all over within twelve minutes, so don’t let yourself look back at them…Make a left at the next light.”
    The voice from my headphones, unlike the mad scene before my eyes, was calm and composed as it matter-of-factly provided navigation.
    So I kept going, following its directions as I thrust myself forward through the waves of people.

    I began to wonder how many times in my life I had truly ran with all my strength up to now.
    I led a sheltered childhood from early on, enough so that I was never given a chance to roam free outside.
    That was because I had an illness. One where I lose consciousness in a completely unpredictable manner. No reason, no warning.

    This wasn’t an illness that flared up all that often.
    But the problem was, I could never recall the exact moment when I fell to the ground.
    My memory clocked back into action from the point after I opened my eyes.
    My recollection from before I blacked out would always be hazy and undefined, as if I was having a long, extended dream.

    Cutting through the crowds, running through narrow alleys, I was ejected into a large, wide avenue.
    “Turn right here! There’s only one minute left…”
    The voice inside my headphones had gradually taken on a sense of urgency.
    Paying no attention to my aching legs, I immediately pivoted myself to the right, only to hear a sound like crumpling metal behind me.
    I became unable to resist the urge to turn around as I heard the screams follow in succession.
    “…Hurry! You have someone you need to see, right?! Please…”

    My consciousness began to grow hazy as my breathing accelerated. I felt my lungs begin to burn.
    I wonder if I’m going to black out again.
    Come to think of it, when was the last time I lost consciousness?

    …I grew unable to recall anything at all.

    How did all of this even happen?
    Who was I even trying to reach…?

    And yet, I still felt like there was something extremely important waiting for me at the end.
    That feeling was the only thing that pushed my legs forward.
    —Turning forward, I saw the hill I had been running toward right in front of me.

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• Title: Kagerou Daze, Vol2_ Headphone Actor
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