Chapter 3 (1/2)

“It’s getting cold”

“You’re right Maybe it’s already turning to winter outside”

“It’s beco winter?”

“Probably Soon”

“Will Christmas come even here?”

“…Yes”

“I wonder if Santa will coain this year”

“…That ht be a little difficult”

“I want him to come”

“What are you going to ask him for?”

“…A lot of things I hope he grants them all”

For so long now

It had been continuing for so long now To the point that I’d long since lost awareness of it all

It hat you ht call l’har beyond my control which had forcefully entered the equation

The last three weeks had been fairly unrelorious events to rejoice over, nor had there been any laedies to mourn

Mayu, calling o on dates with her under the pretext ofup for lost time

Mayu, asleep, as I attended a until after dark, putting Mayu in a bad mood

My struggles to get Mayu, refusing to get out of bed, to go to school, only to create s when she woke up with only her skirt on, resulting in a chaotic situation that saw neither of usit to school in the end

I hope I haven’t put anyone off by describing mented s It can’t be helped Mines is so of a finicky personality, after all

In addition to what I’ve described already, during these last feeeks, I’d also played with the two siblings; Sugawara and his kendo club had had a stellar perfor the periodic publication dates for distribution of the student council leaflet; and the ninth victim had been found

At the end of these peaceful days, the sound of a phone beckoning me echoed in a room absent its owner; I answered in her stead

“hello? This is Misono”

“Why hello there Frouess that you’re not Misono Mayu-chan ‘Mii-san,’ I presu you”

“…Pardon my manners, but who are you?”

“I’ in the wheel of the police My name is Kamiyashi+ro Natsuki Your beloved Dr Koibi and I are best friends”

So this is the rumored officer of the law… I see

“So, Mii-san, right?” she repeated

“Tawaba![1]”

“Mii-san the liar it is hello I’lad I was finally able to reach you”

“Y’all bein’ silly now Our talkie ain’t been outta range”

“You misunderstand Every call I’ve irl For some days now”

“Ah, yes That would be ht her to promptly reject calls from suspicious individuals”

“‘Please kill yourself’ wouldn’t happen to be her signature phrase, would it?”

“No, it’s ‘you are already please die’[2]”

“Oh my, what a polite wife you have I am simply overcome with ad an affair with me?”

“I’ll pass; I get enough of that already”

“Then you are the enemy of all women I would like to volunteer as your number three then”

“You have attempted to reach an invalid nuain”

“You are quite the unique person I wonder who you take after”

“It’s often said that I bear some resemblance to the child next door”

“A fabulous idea for a dra the father already, I’ll be forced to take you in for lèse majesté”

“I refuse, Kamiyashi+ro-san No matter what the DNA says, his current father will always be the only father for him”

“You’ve finally ry, Mii-san”

“Sure I have That’s why I can hear you giggling”

“I’ll steal your girl”

“Oh, how scary”

“To be specific, I’ll go after her the way a pizza delivery guy would Success rates are as high as with uers, you know?”

“Then I shall instruct my wife to aim for a base on balls”

“Now that’s no fun Very well, Mii-san, I’ll have to go out ofMayu-chan at so two birds with one stone”

“…Fine Out of respect for your enthusiasree to meet you But we’ll have to keep it a secret from my wife”

“All affairs are eventually exposed, you know?”

“By the way Kamiyashi+ro-san, have we met somewhere before?”

“A pickup line dating back to the Stone Age”

“No, no, I definitely recall having heard your beautiful voice in the past”

“What a coincidence – I was just thinking the very sa I’ve liked you since the first time I heard your voice!”

“Falling for someone’s voice, is it? Do beware of telemarketers then”

“So where shall we , or rain?”

“Somewhere dark” [25]

“I see Well then, I bid you adieu”

She hung up

Only to call back two seconds later

“The department store nearest Mayu-chan’s house This weekend at eleven, the cafe on the third floor,” she announced in a rush of words

“…The one in front of the station, right? Then this is goodbye”

I placed the handset down

“Phew”

Though our school trip was but a week away, things had ever been thus Not once had there been a tis had worked out in my favor

After the call ended, I went and opened the fusu of seasons, the room’s temperature had dropped noticeably

“Ah, welcome home”

“…Welcome back”

The sibling pair sat on the floor within the rooazes rising to a I had borrowed fro the fusuma door closed behind a and flipped it open to a randoe in front of an to think

Kamiyashi+ro Natsuki, a police officer Her childhood dream had been to become a detective One andered the boundary between truth and lie A schoolmate of Dr Koibi In other words, thirty-one years old this year That was the su to Dr Koibi, she was ‘a little like me’

Well, when seeing the Moon from the Earth, you can’t really compare the two objectively Similarly, it’s hard to directly reject the notion that we are somehow similar However, from the conversation earlier, I had observed that she was a troublesome person to deal with And as luck would have it, I now had the good fortune of having to rendezvous with this lovely lady That thought couldn’t possibly have made me any unhappier

“Is Onee-san asleep?”

Kouta-kun’s voice wrenched a with one hand as I answered

“No, she’s pleading her case to our homeroom teacher”

The two looked up at me, puzzled These days, even Anzu-chan showed her innocent side

“She’s trying to convince hiether on the school trip I told her it’d be i it, so I came home without her”

She hadn’t even noticed

“Umm… So you left without her?” Kouta-kun asked, a hint of surprise in his voice

“Is that strange?”

“Yes, since you’re always together,” Anzu-chan answered Kouta-kun nodded his agreement

“You’re right,” I acknowledged, “but spoiling her too much would be bad for her”

Mayu was a little too selfish After these three weeks with her, those parts of her personality had grown more noticeable For example, if I failed to listen to her opinions, she would sulk If I spoke to anyone besides her, she would be bitter, choked with rage once I was alone with her For Mayu, the optimal situation would see me tied to her with a submissive attitude

“…I can’t stay at her side forever I’ to be under the care of the police eventually”

I was a criminal, and punishment was inevitable Mayu needed to learn to survive on her own

And what that required was neither skill nor knowledge, but a resolution to enjoy life

“……”

Mayu, I wonder if you have the heart to do that

Kouta-kun showed an apologetic look, his shoulders drooping, as he heard the word “police” Anzu-chan, too, averted her gaze These two kind-hearted children seemed to feel responsible, despite the fact that I was not referring to them

“It’s not soinally it’s… it’s Mayu’s fault, after all,” I said

With that inPondering this question had becoh I had not once remembered to ask the actual kidnapper herself It was low on s to talk about with Mayu, after all

“Rather than that, you guys, uh…” I started, before deciding against finishi+ng my sentence

Three weeks They’d had three weeks to screa the fifteen days that Mayu and I had been at school and out of the house, they could have easily screamed their way out of this prison Fron, I had discovered that the walls were indeed soundproofed However, unlike the bedroole wall separated the japanese-styled room and the room next door They could have escaped their confineer The fetters that had once bound their feet to the roo theht more than fashi+on accessories Nevertheless, the two had clearly chosen to allow the current situation to continue That said, I, too, had ment that they would not attempt to escape and hadn’t bothered to take any measures to prevent such an attempt

This incidence of kidnapping si to understand the in with

“U?” Kouta-kun asked

I wavedAnyway, a crime should always be punished There’s no doubt about that”

Though only if it’s ever discovered

This had to be kept from the world, no matter the cost

Otherwise, there would be consequences

Just as there had been eight years ago

“……”

A rough calculation revealing that it had been , I nonetheless re about that tih it had happened just yesterday

There were likely , there was no doubt in le worst, h

If only I could travel beyond time and space and find myself a trauma removal device[275]

“Hey”

Anzu-chan called tothat it would be simpler still to remove the trauma itself beyond the bounds of time and space, I turned to face her

“Is it really okay to leave that Onee-chan by herself?” she asked, pointing to the partially-healed wound in my palm

“That’s hard to say,” I answered

The possibility that Mayu would grow furious at her request being denied, and that that fury would out itself as a physical assault on Kaminuma-sensei’s person, was undeniable

As I’d cli, I’d mused about how Kaminuma-sensei was a failure of a teacher who employed a policy of i or students’ futures However, if he were ever personally hly doubted that he would hesitate in pressing charges That was the type of person he was In other words, he was the type of exasperating individual that ine that physical violence would be allowed if only against this person

“It should be fine, though To a certain extent, anyway,” I continued

Even if she caused a problem, the fact of her mental illness could be used as a defense If worse came to worst, she would be sent to ato accept As long as others around her were capable of restraining her, it would be fine if she lacked the ability to live on her own

Anzu-chan suddenly raised her index finger

“One more question”

“Oh, you sound like a detective”

Anzu-chan flippedtone, then continued, “Where did you go last night?”

My eyes constricted and, for an instant,

“Kouta said that you were out a couple of nights ago”

Like a rusty surveillance camera, I aardly shook my head from side to side Kouta-kun’s eyebroere knit in an expression of incomprehension

“Oh, well, you knoent to the local convenience store”

Yeah, that’s it The convenience store a half-hour’s walk aith their fans running to repel insects

“I was eating bentos at the convenience store as a rowth spurt, so I have to eat every thirty minutes,” I quickly improvised, in an attempt to stave off further suspicion

“They say that someone who calls someone else an idiot is an idiot themselves But even if that’s correct, it doesn’t mean that the one as called an idiot is not, in fact, an idiot Instead, it creates a senseless situation where the one as first called an idiot calls the other an idiot as a comeback This situation I refer to as the vicious cycle of idiocy,” I choked out, nearly biting ue in the process My abrupt sermon on idiocy netted me dubious looks from the pair I had just made myself seem even more suspicious than before, hadn’t I?

“…Uo pack for the trip”

I quickly stood in an atteed as if ju a hold of my uniform sleeve

“Suspicious,” she rerin, suitable for one her age, reminded me of Mayu

“I’m not suspicious in the least Nor auspicious As a friend of someone who is clubrandson’s class the ”

“…Onii-san You sure are poor at lying,” Kouta-kun commented

Fro, Kouta-kun watched happily as Anzu-chan and his captor joked with one another Had it never occurred to hier to his precious little sister? The putrid virulence that had ed Innocent trust could torment a soul as much as any touch on sunburnt skin would

“Hey, what’s your name?” Anzu-chan’s “Q” was accompanied by a sober expression unrelated to her query

“Uh… You mean me?” I questioned in turn

“Do you see anyone else here?”

“Well, let’s take a look…”

I glanced about ht find someone else Perhaps a parasite withinto introduce itself in a gentle a hand “Allowmyself,” it would say

“I’ with that?” Anzu-chan urged, since the “A” didn’t see If I were to reply, “It’s a secret,” in a sultry tone, she’d probably hit me Left without any other alternative, I decided to be honest for once

“I don’t really like it –called that So I don’t really like to tell people I’m sorry”

I placed my hand atop her head, on her hair which was far less oily due to the now daily washes

“Anzu,” Kouta-kun called

“I know,” she replied sheepishly “It wasn’t like I really wanted to know, anyway,” she added, giving in without a fight

I sighed, leaned back, and looked up at the ceiling

“…I should probably drag out ”

Suddenly the thought struck me… What do I do with the children while we’re on the trip? Should I remove their fetters? If I stock up on food ahead of tiers, they should be fine living however they want… Wait, what? Have I already given up on this situation? Is that really okay?

That would no longer be a kidnapping, and instead, more of a sleepover

“Hmm…”

Everything was beyond my expectations

Although that, too, would be quite a

Roughly half an hour later, the sound of this hohout the ho one another’s cheeks as we engaged in a profound discussion on the philosophies of life

With footsteps so loud that I could feel the floor vibrating underfoot, she appeared behind me

“Weucoe

Turning to face her, I quickly noted the co in disapproval, she instead maintained the statuesque look that typically adorned her face only while she slept Without once gracing those present with that innocent voice of hers, she seizedthe floor Anzu-chan, as still pinchingfor the ride Unable to react to the sudden movement, my head slammed into the floor Anzu-chan fell forwards as well, collapsing atop s

“Oh ized as she reive her a thuer extended instead, however, showing instead that I was anything but Though not h words instead

“Gah, I can walk by o”

My joking plea fell on deaf ears as Mayu continued to tow me across the room At the step down, I hurt my tailbone and my elboas sht Anzu-chan’s Shewith reluctance, butfor such a moment

Once we reached the living roo Mayu sit as I adjusted my collar

“What’re you so angry about?”

Although I was a hundred percent clear on the cause, I feigned ignorance

“I can’t understand why it’s not allowed,” she responded

Angry, she hurled her bag as she spoke It collided with the shelf holding the house phone, causing the glass sphere beside it to leap to its death

“Well, the groups were decided on a o,” I informed the peevish Mayu “Please tell me you didn’t hit the teacher”

“A o… Then Mii-kun, you should’ve conoring my question completely

…I couldn’t

“Sorry” I lowered y Heads weren’t all that useful; all you could do with them was lower them, think with them, headbutt with them, and eat with them You really had to take every opportunity to use them to their fullest That said, there was si to calm doith just that But, too dispirited to continue such a pointless discussion, and despite knowing that this wasn’t the best ti out tomorrow”

“Then I’ with,” was the instantaneous reply

Never bothering to ask the where, when, or why of my excursion, she decided she would follow

Was there any value in such an action?

“This is soo alone I can’t take you, Maa-chan”

A dagger-like gaze pierced throughwas out of the question In order to protect these peaceful days, there was no way I could reveal the details of this outing If I were to reveal that I wasa police officer, she would only worry needlessly, and if she were to discover that I was rendezvousing with an older woman, I’d be dead meat

“I’ back to my uncle’s That was the promise I httih

“Why can’t I go?” Mayu pouted, a sign that her anger had died down a little

“Because that’ll cause a fight Auntie is against h Uncle pretends he understands, he’s actually against it too”

That was actually true I didn’t need ESP to predict the outcome I did not want them to meet in my lifetime

I brought Mayu close and eh her hair as she settled in my arms without resistance I found a strand of brown hair and entwined er in it

“When it coh we can’t stay in the saether”

I don’t even have anyone else to go out with anyway Hahaha

…Haha… I want to cry

“We already live together so can you endure it just this once?” I continued

I rubbed her back much like one would for a baby I breathed deeply of Mayu’s scent, which no longer s of seasons Her aroma reminded me of a stick of incense

“Alright, I’ll try and endure”

As a selfish girl, that was the extent of her ability to coainst my shoulder blades For the next few moments, we simply embraced one another in silence

And so we continued for the next ten minutes

“…Right then Let’s clean up a little”

My identity as a member of the clean-up colass I lowered Mayu to the floor and stood

“I’ll do it,” she volunteered

“No It’s dangerous, so I’ll do it”

“It’s fine! You stay there, Mii-kun!”

Mayu, so much like a princess in the way she liked to be clean and yet despised the act of cleaning, skipped happily toward the kitchen She must’ve fallen, for I heard a dull thud as an elbow possibly collided into a wall, but she soon returned cheerfully In her hands, she held a pair of long baan to pick up the scattered pieces of glass

Given her utter lack of depth perception, she struggled to pick up even larger fragments

“Should I help?”

“Mrrrow!”

My offer was rejected with an inti up the shards with her hands I lay down, s splayed out across the floor

The wooden floor was hard and cold

And strangely comfortable

My eyes locked on the cheap light hanging frohts

I thought of my lies,

envisionedencounter with Kamiyashi+ro Natsuki,

pondered the victims of the murder,

and as if to chase all thoughts from my mind, closed my eyelids

The residual warmth of Mayu’s hands on my back was eventually stolen by the chill of the floor

Sunday

Outside, it was pouring rain

A torrential downpour

The weather report had clai weatherman himself had seemed skeptical of the claim

“Hey, you don’t have to go today, do you?” Mayu, so rarely awake by nine thirty, suggested after a glance outside the

“…Nah, I really ought to go at least once before the trip,” I gently responded before preparing to leave

Mayu stood there with a docile expression

Since the department store in question was a forty minute walk away, I needed to leave the apart umbrella Mayu handed me, I headed toward the door

“Ah, wait a second,” Mayu called out as I put on my dirty shoes

She quickly s

Ignoring e, sucked forcefully on my cheek

It felt as thoughto be pulled off

“Ow, that hurts,” I complained

Mayu pulled her lips fro back to admire her handiwork

“You’re not allowed to wipe it off,” she commanded

“…Not even the saliva?”

“No”

She pinned my arms and raised a hand mirror to my face so that I could see

My cheek was ehtly thicker than her actual lips Thedown my jawline to my chin

“…Alright, I’m off”

“Bye bye”

Forced to leave in this huetup, I left the room

At a quarter to ten, I finally arrived at the department store in front of the station The rain had forh to be le step

Though it ht have been called a departrained with the ss froh it were the victi

Miserable though the departht have been, I was surprised to find all types inhabiting its spaces

Shaking the water off h the autoht, and a cloyingly sweet slitz that drew a stark contrast to the dreary weather outside

At the building entrance, I enclosed [3] andaround, I found the origin of the sweet scent: a store specializing in a product for of flour in water, and later fermented in yeast In short, a bakery The first floor was apparently dedicated to food products

A certain person in the bakery had caught my attention and held it captive

There she stood, devouring every free sample Her unique appearance revealed her as someone who either attracted or repulsed attention

She wore a long-sleeved, black-and-white striped blouse with a ure, and her bra strap was visible on her exposed right shoulder Additionally, her platinum blonde hair was held in place with an ornamental hairpin, in defiance of current fashi+on trends

The woreen spinach bread However, rather than placing it on a tray and purchasing it at the register, she doggedly and shamelessly demolished the bite-sized free saor that it seemed unlikely anyone would et the bread on sale

Despitepleading gazes every which way, looking for help froh to intervene, I chose to turn a blind eye to the situation

Suddenly, the lady turned to face me

Sending the contents of her inflated cheeks on a one-way trip down her throat, she composed herself

She reached for her uht steps, her handbag swaying to and fro Her blue runners looked completely dry, and were noiseless as she walked

“Hi I’entle sht bow of the head It seemed she’d already looked into the appearance of a certain Mii-san That’s to be expected, though, I guess

“Hi I’reeted the police officer dressed like a prisoner as I impudently examined her appearance This new acquaintance of ruously, but also had a rather striking face

No, it wasn’t her s like that

It was that… she looked way too young

No e Either this was agrades, or she was able to control her genes through a special breathing technique[4]

“So with my face?” she asked in provocative tone as she adjusted her hair

“Well, if I had to be honest… It’s lacking in artistic quality I was really hoping for soarde,” I replied

“That’s quite the artistic opinion I would have expected nothing less from someone who can shamelessly walk around with a kiss mark on their cheek”

“Oh, this It’s an occupational hazard”

I lightly touched ertips, alaze Even as one who lacked both a sense of obligation and hu himself to wipe it from my cheek If you were to ask h if I had to put it in words, I’d say it’s because of that eenders attraction; you know – xx×× That’d be a lie, though

“When it co example yourself, Miss Policewoman I am astounded at the audacity required to not only destroy those free samples but to also dine and dash with the bread on the shelves It’s enough to make me question whether you’re confused as to the nature of your authority as a public servant”

Natsuki-san’s sh her sered

“I was rather overwrought this , so rainy for my throat”

“And so you chose bread instead? How logical”

“You flatter me”

Natsuki-san’s chuckle was like that of the housewife fronore the usual routine and si rock-paper-scissors[5]

Ignoring the resentful looks coallery in the bakery, Natsuki-san and I ended our banter and headed for the escalators It was unfortunate, but this being my first time in this department store, I had no choice but to follow Natsuki-san’s confident steps

Without exchanging any words, we arrived on the third floor and entered the cafe that had been designated as our place The shop, its white interior coupled with the view of the sky, presented a world of monochrome

“So there really is a cafe here”

Natsuki-san nonchalantly revealed her lack of planning I was having a difficult ti or just an airhead

After placing her umbrella in the racks, she headed toward the back of the shop I followed her in and took a seat on a dark brown seat

“A weekend like this isn’t bad at all While hty and hot-blooded club leader, is sweating enough tosalt, here I am, on a date with a woman as pretty as you”

I win, Kaneko Oh wait, he and Sugawara had been soliciting freshirls changing rooms Also, it’s hard to identify any positives about this date with this beautiful, yet suspicious lady, so I guess that makes us even

“Ohsuch sords to me”

“I’ll anger the doctor?”

Before Natsuki-san and I had finished our gaht over some wet towels

I was impressed by his professional air as his look of confusion at the lip-shaped lipstick mark on my cheek disappeared after the briefest of instants to be quickly replaced with a business smile

“I’ll have some cocoa and Kamiyashi+ro-san would like…”

“No, no Please feel free to refer to ues”