Sho’s brain took a long pause to analyze what Suzume just said. She drew the pencil-girl? But that wasn’t possible was it? Drawings didn’t just hop off the page and start walking around. It just couldn’t happen… could it? He opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by a harsh humming sound. The pencil-girl’s face contorted into a look of horror.

“What the–” Sho stammered as the girl snatched at the collar of his shirt and unceremoniously dragged him and Suzume into a flowerbed. By this point, the noise had steadily morphed into a piercing white noise. Sho winced and covered his ears, but the gesture was pointless as the sound still reached him just as clearly. Crouching next to Suzume, he put his hand on top of hers and gave it a squeeze. He tried to see past the graphite flowers, but their height obstructed his vision.

“Wait a moment,” Sho said, putting his head next to Suzume’s so he could be heard over the monotone sound. He gave her a quick peck on the cheek and shifted closer to the wall of flowers so he could see between the stalks and find out where the noise was coming from. He kept low to the ground to stay invisible, limbs tense in case he had to make any sudden moves.