The Northern Aberration (7)

Still, even resisting it, I could feel the chill in the air. It wasn't cold within, but I could still clearly feel the 'false cold' infecting the air around me. 

The papers that the measurements were written on felt slightly more cool to the touch. The ink had a harder time flowing from the pen thanks to the cold that was now invading the apartment, making it almost impossible to write with it anymore.

I entered the room, glancing over at Rin.

She was huddled under the covers, shivering. All of the warm clothes had been picked up off of the ground, now tossed around her body. Paradoxically, even with her shivering, I could see sweat falling down the pale skin of her face.

The sweat was rare evidence of the true 'illusion' behind the Infectious Winter. Perhaps, evidence only visible to me, thanks to my resistance.

There was a droning sound in the room - coming from her own lips. She was muttering something to herself like a mantra.

"It's hot. It's warm. It's not cold..."

Her voice sounded less convinced and more desperate. In the fight against the 'Infectious Winter', she was losing. It might have been more accurate to say that she had already lost, and was just waiting for those losing consequences to catch up to her.

I knew what that state was.

It was the same way the Saintess had looked before she surrendered to the cold. 

The same way Jay had looked, leaning into the Saintess' cold, dead body.

And most likely, the same way I had looked before I died to the cold.

Before, when I entered, Rin would have at least looked up to acknowledge me. These days, she had even started picking out books for me to read alongside her, after she finished them.

Now, she didn't even seem to register my presence until I knelt down next to her.

Her slit eyes slowly turned to face me. I could see a faint trace of recognition in them. 

"M-Manager..."

It sounded like a foreign word, coming from her mouth. It was the first time she had actually used a name when addressing me.

"...are the papers okay?"

Even with the state she was in, even knowing that the cold was inevitably encroaching on this room, that was the question she decided to ask me.

"...yeah, the papers are fine. I doubt they'll freeze over. If anything, the pen's going to crack first."

I responded earnestly to her. The devotion she had wasn't something I wanted to make fun of.

"Good. Good..." She closed her eyes, shuddering, but satisfied. For the first time since I had stayed here, since I had been working with her, she smiled. "I know once Miss Nozomi makes her way here...she'll be satisfied with the work I did."

I was silent. 

"...Rin." I waited for her to look into my eyes, before I began speaking. "Why...did you save me, really? Was it just because you really thought that this 'Nozomi' person wouldn't be happy if you left me to die? You left a lot more people out there to die, didn't you?"

It was blunt. Maybe a little cruel to ask. But in the face of death, there was no time for dancing around subjects, or playing mental games. I wanted, no, needed to know. Needed to understand.

Rin was silent for a while. She closed her eyes again, and for a moment, I thought she was going to drift off...before she spoke.

"I..."

She took a painful, deep gulp.

"I was just...lonely."

Her response was simple. Quiet. More human than anything I was expecting from a girl that never let her emotions show.

Perhaps, maybe as soon as she met Nozomi, she had been sent to the North to oversee this Abnormality. Sitting here, in this apartment building, with nothing to do but read, and measure how close her own death was coming.

She had seen multiple people die, saw the husks that were once people wandering outside, before surrendering to the freezing cold, and knew that such a fate was coming for her, soon.

No matter how deep her loyalty, the person in front of me wasn't a robot. She wasn't truly empty, like the void in Jay's eyes. She was still a person.

Rin. A girl who liked pretending to be a cat. Liked the frilly dress she wore enough to don it with pride, even in front of a stranger like me. She enjoyed reading a lot, and had a quiet liking for the most random junk food.

And here, soon, she would die.

"Please..."

I heard the shaky tone of her voice. The satisfaction she had only moments ago was slipping away. I wondered if, by bringing her human side to the surface, I had stolen that away from her.

I wanted to take her out of here with me. To promise her that there was something we could do to get her out of the 'Infectious Winter'. But this new world was even crueler than the last. 

The only thing that awaited her was survival for another month, until I inevitably failed to stop the Flood Dragon again.

Or, perhaps, we both would die to this Abnormality's malice before even setting foot outside of its' domain.

'Why would Nozomi even send someone - one of her own guild members here to die like this?'

I had no way of knowing what Nozomi's intentions were in sending someone here on what turned out to be a suicidal solo-mission.

To be honest, despite calling her "Nozomi-nee-san" myself, there wasn't much I knew about Nozomi at all. I knew even less about her than I had about the Saintess, a few regressions ago.

She may have plans hidden behind that mysterious smile. Maybe she just wanted to dispose of Rin. Perhaps she had underestimated the severity of this Abnormality.

I didn't know the answer to any of that.

What I did know is...

'I don't want to leave Rin alone to die here.'

"Sure. I'll be right here for you."

I stopped checking the hourly measurements. Instead, I sat next to Rin, calmly reading a book out for her.

At some point, she stopped shuddering, and just laid back against the bed. Her breathing slowed. More and more. I could hear less and less life in each of her small breaths.

...and eventually, I couldn't hear anything anymore.

I gently closed the book on the page I had gotten to. It was nowhere near the end - barely halfway through the beginning portion. I settled it gently on Rin's stomach, and stood up.

I didn't disturb any of her supplies. I didn't disturb her papers as I stepped out, and I made sure to lock the door behind me as I left the apartment, entering into the harsh environment outside.

I headed down the apartment complex's stairs and began walking...ignoring all of the weather around me.

It was time to see just what the cause of this Abnormality really was.