Baka-Tsuki - User contributions [en]

Talk:Mimizuku to Yoru no Ou

2012-05-10T05:58:52Z

Pmt7ar:

Mimizuku! I started reading this a couple days after you started translating it, and I have to admit I was hooked. It seems ridiculous now, but I ended up checking every day for this story first (Well, I mean, I HAVE read most of the others already, but still), even though apparently it isn't even that famous comparatively! But it ended so quickly, probably because I read through it so quickly and avidly myself. I don't know who you are that you would decide to translate this work in only a month, but you have my thanks. It was a wonderful read. I ended up saying "What, it's over? But I wanted more! Where was all the detail that was left off?!" And almost raged at this book, but after reading the Author's notes and commentary, I have to agree that this book did just what they said it did--hooked me so well I was trapped in the world until I had finished.

Thank you so much for translating this novel,
~Blaster

a very beautiful story with loveable characters... thank you for translating it. definitely worth all the time! ;__;

I just finished reading 毒吐姫と星の石. I was enchanted by the story of Mimizuku, and wasn't quite sure of what to expect of this one, but it really shares a lot of feelings. It was quite enjoyable and catching. Mimizuku... was just marvelous, very touching and somehow sad. Dokuhakihime... has a better "happy end" and a more realistic message. I personally liked Elza over Mimizuku as character, but I still like the magic of Mimizuku...' story. Dokuhakihime... presents a strong character and a more tangible plot (war and political meddling), and Dia, Andy and Orietta have a major role than the first novel. Mimizuku appears, she even has a chapter named after her, but very briefly, "randomly", and you can see the contrast between her and Elza in just a scene.
I hope someone translates the second novel so others can enjoy it too. [[User:Pmt7ar|Zell]] 00:58, 10 May 2012 (CDT)

Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 2 Chapter 1

2012-01-06T21:57:07Z

Pmt7ar: I think the jacket' summary and the characters intro should be outside main text. Chapter 1 starts just after the quote each volume.

One day in the spring holidays, a client suddenly appeared at the NEET Detective Agency, an odd Thai girl who was always unusually excited.

In the bag that her father left behind after disappearing, it was filled with a hefty sum of money— two hundred million yen.

The girl’s request was— “Please save my dad.”

The young NEET detective, Alice, who wore pajamas and wouldn’t take a step out of her room and me as her assistant, borrowed the power of Tetsu-senpai, Major and Hiro of the NEET Detective Squad to start our investigation. Even the leader of the juvenile delinquents, Yondaime was dragged into it, the matter developed into an unexpected direction—

This is the second episode youthful NEET- Teen Story that was somewhat unbearable, somewhat funny but also with a hint of courage.

''Narumi Fujishima''

Until last year, I was still an ordinary high school student.

Due to the incidents that occurred during last winter, my whole third semester was ruined.

Even so, I still managed to advance to second year, just like a miracle, but I still couldn’t follow what the teachers taught, and failed in almost all of my exams. When I finally came to my senses, my tragic life was already at the edge of a cliff.

I knew that I couldn’t just become a useless bum, so I put in more effort and accepted two part time jobs.

One of them is a worker at a ramen shop, while the other is…… a detective’s assistant.

……. It seems like I might have chosen the wrong place to have a part time job, and one of my employers is a NEET too.

Furthermore, NEETs walk all around at the place where I work, everyone trying to bully me into being a NEET.

As for who they are—

''Alice''

This girl is a NEET detective, and is one of my employers.

She’s a hikikomori that almost never went out, so her way of ordering people around is quite impolite.

She thinks that a detective’s assistant (me) is just a useful vacuum machine that could talk.

Being physically weak, can’t live by herself but is good at arguing, whenever I complain even a bit, she would immediately give me a five thousand times scolding.

Really, why must I do things for this fellow?

Actually, I’m not really sure myself, but if I’m not at her side, she probably won’t even eat her meals properly……

''NEET Detective Squad''

Surrounding Alice’s side, the group of people at the boundary of society who would not lose to Alice.

No matter what difficulties they encounter, they still wouldn’t give up, wouldn’t turn back and wouldn’t work, those are their principles. Sigh~ I really can’t stand this.

''Tetsu-senpai''

He studied at my school a few years ago and dropped out, and is now an unbeatable pachinko master.

He learned boxing before, has acute vision like a superman, but it was only used used to bet on slot machines.

Although he’s quite reliable sometimes, his view of money is absolutely terrible.

''Major''

Although he looked like that, he is definitely a university student, and an unbelievable military otaku.

Having programming skills that even university professors admire, but it was only used on wire tapping and taking photos secretly.

''Hiro''

Though he is often mistaken as a model, he’s actually just a gigolo who stays at women’s houses.

Having an appearance that made people want to look twice at him and speaking skills that are like mellow wine, but they were only used to hit on girls.

He made many women cry for him before, and really might be stabbed somewhere some day.

''Min-san''

The boss that opened a ramen shop below the detective agency, my second employer.

She’s one of the rare normal people around me. She kept taking care of me, so I really couldn’t raise my head in front of her.

Her temper is quite terrible, so I’m somewhat afraid of her, and that’s why I can’t say that her ramen is actually not really good.

''Yondaime''

The leader of juvenile delinquents in the town, and has a deep connection with the people in the detective squad.

He’s very foul-mouthed and impatient, but I’ve heard that he’s very good at taking care of people, even better than the guys in the detective squad.

His hobby is sewing, and he has a professional-level skill. I might be killed by him if I accidentally said that out, so I dare not mention it to anyone.

''Meo''

On the first day that I started to work at the ramen shop, I was ordered around by Alice as usual, and was having doubts about my life. On that boring Saturday afternoon, she appeared before me.

She’s a girl who gets excited abnormally easily, and had lived in Thailand. Also, she even asked the detective agency for help.

Although I’m a detective’s assistant, I was still taken aback…… I really didn’t think that someone would actually have a request for us.

I originally thought that it wouldn’t be anything big since she looked for the NEET detective.

In the end—

She brought a Boston bag that was stuffed full of reality—

Two hundred million yen.

That amount of money could just mess up anyone’s life.

Meo said: “Please save my dad.”

And so— the matter started to develop.

Developing towards an unexpected, heartbreaking darkness.

Miracles can happen once to anyone, but when it happens, they never notice.
*from "My Name Is Shingo" by Kazuo Umezo.

==Chapter 1==

A small portion of people misunderstood that the twenty third district of Tokyo is just a city full of buildings from north to south, and I was one of them before I moved here. In reality, the only place where there are skyscrapers piercing the skies is only the area near to the station, while flat, short houses surround the place. The asphalt road that was uneven because of the subsidence of the land, the smelly rivers that were emitting a pungent, sour odor, and the cultivated fields that I’m not sure if anyone is tending to it and the high school that I’m going to, all of these are in a two kilometers radius of that area; but it was just separated by a street, the radiance of the neon lights couldn’t be seen anymore.

Though Hanamaru Ramen Shop is also at a place five minutes from the station, it is also surrounded by broken down buildings, one of the shops that are shrouded in darkness. It is just a small shop that had only five tables in it, aside from the occasional drunken people going inside the shop at night, I almost never saw anyone going into the shop in the daytime.

So my employment test was held on the thirty first of March in the spring holidays, on about one thirty in the afternoon when there’s nobody in the shop.

“Listen, if even a little thing spills out, don’t you even think that I’ll pass you.”

Min-san said while piling trays onto my hands; and bowls that were still puffing out white smoke were placed on the tray. She’s the young owner of the Hanamaru Ramen Shop, with her long hair tied into a ponytail, wearing a T-back vest and showing her fit shoulders. White sarashi is used to bind her breasts. It really isn’t hard to see that she went for body building classes, and is really not a person that a physically weak high school person can go against. But I still couldn’t help but retort:

“Erm…… Why am I doing a thing like this for my employment test?”

“Don’t you know how many bowls you’ve broken before!? You’re just not concentrating enough! So if you can get all of these to Alice safely, I’ll hire you.”

I once helped the shop to do things like washing the dishes and serving them, I caused great losses at the same time. Actually, I should really thank kind Min-san for giving me a chance by testing me.

“Ready, start. The time limit is five minutes.”

“There’s even a time limit!?”

Being glared at by Min-san, I could only carefully walk out from the kitchen backdoor.

Alice lives in the eighth room on the third floor of the same building in Hanamaru Ramen Shop. You could reach it after walking up the stairs and then going about five meters in the direction of the corridor, using not even one minute when going there from the shop on the first floor.

But at this moment, I used two seconds just to walk up a step, so my back was soaking wet when I reached the signboard with ‘NEET Detective Agency’ on it.

As both of my hands were holding trays, I could only press the doorbell with my elbow. Nobody answered, but only a blue light flashed.

“Alice, please, open the door for me.” I begged.

‘…… Just enter yourself. The door isn’t locked.’

The impatient voice of a young girl came from the other side of the interphone.

“I can’t use my hands, I’m holding two trays.”

‘You could just place them on the floor!’

“No, it would definitely fall down.”

‘What are you talking about? It’s just placing the tray on the floor, don’t you even know how to do such a simple thing?’

“There’s a tray on my head too!”

Hearing my tragic shout, the door finally opened. A young girl stuck her head out of the door. She had long, black hair that flowed to the ground, large eyes that could sparkle, wore pajamas with cute pictures of bears on it that showed her pale, sickly skin.

“…… Are you performing an acrobatic stunt?”

My hands were holding a tray each, and there’s another on top of my head. Cooly looking at the trays that I was holding while trembling, Alice said in an annoyed voice:

“This scene is actually quite interesting. I feel like taking a commemorative photo of this and showing it to Tetsu, Major and the others. They would be delighted. I’ll get my digital camera, and you just maintain your current posture.”

“No, that’s not important!” I frantically called Alice who was about to walk into the room: “Anyways…… Erm…… Can you please help me to take it?”

I used my gaze to point at the shaky tray on top of my head, but Alice shrugged.

“Please think of the difference in height between you and I, and of my arms. Isn’t that just impossible? Just walk into the room and find somewhere to place it! Remember to take off your shoes first. If you dare to spill anything, I’ll have you in charge of cleaning the place until you wax the floor.”

As usual, Alice is still being merciless.

I could only maintain the posture of my upper body, lightly took off my shoes, walked to the table in the small kitchen, placed the trays on my hands on it and then lightly took down the tray on my head. I heaved a huge sigh that my soul almost came out, and felt like curling up on the chilly floor in this air-conditioned room.

“…… Ah, Master? Mnn, Narumi just came.” The sounds of Alice and Min-san talking on the phone came from the room: “…… No, I don’t think he spilled anything. You’re so kind, Master. If it were me, I would just tell him to take buckets and not bowls.”

This girl really does like to joke around. While complaining in my heart, I placed the three bowls on the same tray and served it to the bedroom.

Three walls in the room are covered with racks that are as tall as the ceiling, and some odd machines are placed on it, while countless wires tangled together around them. A large bed is placed in the middle of the room, while teddy bears of various sizes and types are littered on the carpet; Alice sat in the middle of it, like she was surrounded by a sea of bears.

“You’re not asking me to eat all three, are you?”

Alice glared at the bowls that I served her. Not only is this pajamas-clad girl picky and had a tiny appetite, every time I have to put in a lot of effort so that she would finish all the food. A small amount of different-flavored ramen were placed in the three bowls.

“Perhaps Min-san thought that I would spill one or two.”

“Why didn’t you spill them? You’re even so slow that you wouldn’t notice when a praying mantis stops on your nose too!”

Why am I scolded even for this…..?

I pulled out the moveable table that was like the ones in a hospital ward, placed the tray onto it and pushed it in front of Alice:

“Just choose a bowl that you like, I’ll eat the other two.”

The pajamas-clad girl looked so closely at the bowls that her face almost fell into in, observing each bowl in detail.

“I would like the ramen to be lighter.”

She looked at me with a pleading expression.

“I heard that all of them are new creations, so I don’t know how’s the taste.”

“Ngh—”

After wavering for a long time, she finally chose the bowl with a clearer soup. But after she took a sip, she couldn’t say anything.

“What is it?”

“…… so sour.”

Sour? The ramen is sour?

Ah! When I think about it, Min-san is indeed making odd ramen these days.

“Uuu…… I’ve been tricked by the color of the soup. I’m too careless, there’s actually such a trap in it.”

Alice’s eyes were full of tears, but she still placed a noodle after another into her mouth.

“These two seems to be more normal, do you want to change?”

I held my portion of the ramen while sitting in front of the bed. But Alice glared fiercely at me with her tearful eyes:

“How could I trust a person who can eat the bowl of noodles as if nothing had happened!? I chose this bowl myself, so if I listened to your advice and changed it, but still don’t like it, wouldn’t I be in a bigger predicament? How would you compensate for my reservations then?”

I originally wanted to rebuke her: It’s just a bowl of ramen, nothing special, but after seeing Alice sucking in the noodles while going ‘Uuu— Uuu—‘, I really felt that she’s quite pitiful, so I shut my mouth. I speedily finished the two bowls of ramen and walked to the small kitchen.

Opening the door of the fridge, I saw that the fridge was full of 350ml red cans of Dr. Pepper. I took out one of them and handed it to Alice. Recently, I’ve learnt the subtleties of opening the can first before handing it to her. Alice snatched the can from me with trembling hands and drank it to the finish.

“Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.”

Alice breathed out deeply, becoming relieved as if her brain had melted. She continued: “Narumi, get me another two cans .” and swung her empty can around. The eating habits of this pajamas clad girl is terrible, and almost lived on Dr. Pepper. Being said that my sense of taste shouldn’t be tasted by a person who drank unhealthy drinks while eating ramen really is unpleasant.

“Humans can only live while supporting each other, I’ve strongly feel agree with this statement at this moment. Good thing you’re at my side.”

Alice said after finishing her ramen and her third can of Dr. Pepper, crawling into the mat while smiling to me. For such a sudden movement to happen, I was shocked and almost spilled the bowl with my elbow. Calm down. This fellow would always say these meaningful things once in a while, and besides I haven’t even been supported by Alice before. No…… Well, I can’t really say that, but how should I say it?

“That’s right, you said that you want to work at Hanamaru, so what brought you here today?”

Alice said, with her head sticking out of the mat.

“I can assure you that you’re a person that lacks any wish to work from the day you were born, so you don’t need to trouble Master just to prove this.”

“I don’t need these assurances.” It’s more like you’re deciding on my life randomly. “I really think that Min-san has too much work, and it’s more convenient for me to work here.”

“Convenient?”

“Then I could come here almost every day.”

Because of the case that Alice solved this winter, I’m now Alice’s assistant. Although Alice is a detective, she’s still a hikikomori who doesn’t go out or meet society, and I’ve never seen other clients having any request for her. So the job of an assistant is usually to help to carry food and Dr. Pepper, and also be bullied by Alice. Compared with this, it might be better if I find some other place to work at, and wouldn’t waste time so much.

“Hmph! I didn’t even know that you were that passionate about your work as an assistant.”

You’re the one who told me to come everyday!

“Anyhow, not many people are willing to work at the ramen shop with such meager wages at this time, so it’s a help to Master, at least. But as soon as Ayaka’s out of the hospital, you’ll get fired at once.”

My hands that were collecting the bowls stopped.

As I was unable to immediately respond to the name that Alice mentioned suddenly, I gazed at the soup in the bowl and turned my head away to look at the bed.

“What’s wrong? Aren’t you just planning to work there until Ayaka returns?”

“No…… Mnn, erm…… I’ve never thought about that before. Because……”

Ayaka.

She jumped down from the top of the school building on the start of this year, and is still lying on a bed in the hospital, in a coma. She’s my classmate, and also my only friend. It’s just that she wouldn’t talk right now, and couldn’t walk around.

Ayaka who’s like that…… would she still come back?

“The doctors said too that there’s still a chance, didn’t they? And weren’t you the first person to hear that?”

“It’s not wrong, but……”

I did some research myself too. If Ayaka’s current condition continued for three months and above, it would be called a continuous block of consciousness— people in a vegetative state. If the doctors deemed that there’s no chance of recovery, most hospitals would force their family to handle the necessary procedures for exiting the hospital. Although there were cases of recovery, most of them just recovered to the extent that they could use their facial expressions to convey their emotions, or use their mouth to eat food, that’s it.

If she could return to her normal life, THAT would be a miracle.

“You don’t believe that miracles can happen?”

“Alice, so you believe in them?”

“Of course. Miracles can happen once to anyone, it’s just that most people don’t notice it when it happens.”

I’m not sure who said that, but it’s a really stupid way of thinking. Telling me that miracles would never happen might make me feel better. If things go that way, doesn’t it mean that the miracle of Ayaka and I has already been used up during the time that we spent on the rooftop, and things couldn’t be turned back anymore?

“It doesn’t matter. Since it happened the first time, it would happen a second time. Believe it!” A woolen mat was on Alice’s shoulders, and she smiled while hugging her knees. “ Rainfall in the Sahara Desert, the Golden Gate in the United States and the Taj Mahal in India, test tube babies that are given birth after their parents pass away, Jimmy Hendrix and the Tower of Babel, all of them are miracles, miracles and miracles! So there would be one day when all of mankind would become friends with each other.”

I still can’t understand what’s with Alice’s habit of using allusions, but I still forced out a smile to answer her.

“Our meeting is one, the fact that you are willing to come here is another, and even the fact that you didn’t spill any of the bowls and safely brought the bowls up here is one— all of them are miracles.”

“…… Well, wasn’t that smooth.”

I stood up. That’s right, since I’ve passed the employment test, I should hurry up and get to where Min-san is! I can start work from today.

As I was about to walk out of the room with the three bowls and trays, Alice halted me:

“Master said in the phone just now……”

“What did she say?”

“She said, you must put the bowls on your head when you’re going back too.”

“I’ve never heard about that!”

<center>*</center>

Even so, saying that encountering other people is a miracle is quite a nice way of putting it. Especially to Alice, a hikikomori, while I’m about the same, as we would feel uncomfortable after speaking to a stranger for over twenty seconds.

The people who I met in the past had some influence on me, more or less, and it’s because of this that I’ve not fallen to even lower depths right now. Though I didn’t become a decent person because of this, and I just lived groggily until my sixteenth year. In the wilderness that is filled with limitless possibilities, if I really lived up till now because of meeting other people, then these flags in my life are really precious— although I don’t really think that those are anything to be thankful for.

So the girl that I met right on the day when I started working after passing Hanamaru’s employment test, would probably be a miracle too?

The girl appeared at about three in the afternoon, when I was melting pieces of chocolates using the double boiling method in the kitchen. Min-san stood further inside, and was using an electric blender to blend egg white and make meringue. The true selling point of Hanamaru is actually the ice cream that is even tastier than the one made by professional dessert chef. The sweet smell that fills the whole shop caused the whole shop to become unlike a ramen shop, and there were nobody on the seats anyway.

And it might be because of this reason, the girl that kicked open the door while saying “Sorry for bothering you!” stared for awhile after seeing the scene in the shop. She seriously stared at the steel pan in my pan that was filled with chocolate for two seconds, and then took two steps back to reconfirm the portiere in front of the shop.

She was a striking girl who had coffee-colored skin. She looked about one or two years younger than me, and her hair that reached her chest were casually tied into two braids. White words were printed on the blue shirt that she wore, it seemed like words used by a minority race; while a very, very short Denim pant was on the lower part of her body. The girl’s legs were long and slim, if she said that she just swam past the Pacific Ocean to the Tokyo Bay, I might have really believed her. A coffee colored Boston bag was slung on her shoulder, and it felt somewhat uncoordinated on her.

[[Image:Kamisama no memochou vol02 025.png|thumb|''When our gazes met, the girl clapped her hands together , said ‘Sawasdee’ and nodded her head slightly.'']]
When our gazes met, the girl clapped her hands together , said ‘Sawasdee’ and nodded her head slightly. I subconsciously answered her with the same sentence. Eh…… Where is she from?

The girl reconfirmed the words on the portiere hanging on the door and asked:

“Erm, are these words supposed to be read as ‘Hanamaru’?”

Her pronunciation of Japanese was quite accurate. But the question suddenly made me feel somewhat guilty, and could only hide the steel pan filled with chocolate beside the sink and answered:

“Well…… Probably?”

“Probably!?” the Boston bag on her shoulder almost fell down. "Sorry, I’m not really good at reading kanji.”

Huh? Is there even a kanji on there?”

“Oh? Then how should you read this?”

The girl pointed at a corner of the portiere and asked.

“…… That’s a drawing of Naruto.”

“So you read this as ‘Naruto’ huh? Japanese is really deep……”

“Not really……”

“That’s odd, or did I just mistaken the place? I’ve heard that it’s a shop owned by an understanding, beautiful big sister.” The expression on the girl’s face seemed troubled, and she looked around repeatedly.

“Mnn, then it’s probably not this shop. Min-san is not understanding at a— OUCH! That hurts!”

Min-san who walked out of the kitchen vigorously knocked on the back of my head.

“What are you doing, why did you lie to her?”

Min-san pushed me, who was hugging the bump on my head, away and put on her apron:

“Welcome. It’s still business time right now, so please have a seat!”

“Ah, sorry, I’m not here for ramen.”

And then the unbelievable words came out from her mouth.

“I’ve heard that there’s a detective agency above the ramen shop.”

Min-san and I looked at each other.

That was the first client of the NEET Detective Agency that I came into contact with.

<center>*</center>

“It’s rare that we have a visitor. Narumi, give her a can of Dr. Pepper too.”

Although she never did offer me cans of Dr. Peppers (I don’t really want them, either) , Alice told me to give the girl a can. She kneeled on the mat, probably because she thought that it was courtesy when dealing with visitors?

As she was about to step into the air conditioned office, the girl hesitated in front of the door because of the coldness of the room; while after she walked into the room and saw Alice’s appearance, she was so surprised that her jaw fell open, the Boston bag on her shoulder dropping onto the floor. What an easily read girl.

“…… You’re the detective?”

“I’m a NEET detective. I’m Alice, and my assistant standing there is Naru…… Uwaaa!”

The girl supported both of her hands on the bedside and stuck her face close to Alice. She observed Alice in detail in an extremely short distance, and seemed like she was sniffing the smell of Alice’s pajamas.

“Wh- What are you doing?”

“Can I hug you?”

“What nonsense are you talking about!?” Alice pushed the girl away with her whole face red and stepped back a few steps.

“Sorry, because I’ve never seen a detective like this, so……”

“So what? A client should behave like a client!”

“Can’t I? What about just a hug?”

“I’m not a doll!” Alice used the dolls nearby to build a wall and went back further to the direction of the bed.

“Really, Ayaka and Master are also like that, why do girls like to hug me so much? It’s so incomprehensible.”

No, I can understand why it’s like that. But I didn’t want to change the topic, so I didn’t speak.

“Hurry up and reveal your identity and the contents of your request. You aren’t here to play, are you?”

Alice said at the other side of the dolls while pouting.

“Ah, that’s right!” the girl shifted her elbows away from the side of the bed and said: “I’m Meo.”

When she was pronouncing her name, the tone of ‘Me’ was prolonged, while the end of the ‘o’ was closer to the tone of ‘u’, a pronunciation that isn’t present in Japanese. Next, she placed her hands on the two sides of her head and waved, just like the ears of an animal.

“Meo? Is that your name?” I couldn’t help but chip in.

“Yes, it means cat.”

“You’re from Thailand, right?” After Alice finished saying that, Meo’s eyes immediately widened:

“You know it? As expected from a detective.”

“It’s just Thai. What does that have to do with being a detective?”

“The way that Thai people gave names is so strange.”

Her name meant ‘cat’, is this a common thing in Thailand?

“Narumi, it’s called cheuulehn in Thai, and it means nickname. Most people in Thailand call people by their nicknames, because the names of some people are too long. Their culture doesn’t really care about names, and it’s said that hiding one’s true name could protect them from danger. As they didn’t want to be caught by the devil, they would intentionally give names of animals or arrange meaningless tones for a name.”

“So it can protect us from danger?” Meo said in surprise: “I didn’t even know that.”

…… Are you really a Thai?

“I came to Japan when I was about five, so I’m not too clear of things in Thailand.”

“Ah, so that’s why your Japanese is that good.”

“I learnt Japanese from my dad, and the big brothers who live in the same block as us. There are many ladies from Philippine and China there, but the big brothers there are mostly Japanese.”

“Mnn? You aren’t staying at the ‘Hello Palace’, are you?”

“Whoaaa, Miss Detective knows everything!”

Meo supported herself on the bedstead, her legs fidgeting non-stop.

“No, Hiro told me once before, he said that there’s a unique worker’s hostel there. What a small world this is.”

“Ah, I’ve heard of this detective agency from Hiro-san.”

Hearing Meo’s words, Alice and I looked at each other. So that’s how it is. Now we have some idea of what’s happening.

“A big sister from China live next to me, and Hiro lived there for a month or so too. It’s probably some time last summer? He taught me a lot of Japanese, and said that his job was difficult, and is called being a gigolo.”

“A gigolo is not an occupation!”

I unintentionally shouted out loud. Hiro is one of the NEETs who always hang out behind Hanamaru Ramen Shop, and is also a gigolo who always stays at women’s houses. What strange Japanese did he teach Meo?

“After that, Hiro was found by the security and was chased out. He told me when he left: If I have any problems, I could just ask for help at Hanamaru Ramen Shop.”

“So that’s how it is.” Alice sighed and shook her head: “Well, just ask Hiro to come over later, I have something to ask him. Anyhow, tell me about your problem first! That’s your reason for looking for me, right?”

After Alice finished speaking, Meo’s cheery expression suddenly clouded over.

“About noon, I received a phone call from dad.”

Meo sat in front of the bed and started to explain:

“He suddenly told me ‘Get the bag in the safe and look for a safe place to hide.’ I was really confused about the situation, but dad’s voice sounded really fierce, so I could only obediently listen to him……”

“This is the bag in the safe.” Meo pointed at the Boston bag at my foot and said.

“Mnn, it’s so heavy that it made me exhausted.”

“Did you try to contact your father?”

Meo’s expression clouded up even more:

“He told me not to contact his company, don’t go home temporarily, and then I couldn’t reach his phone anymore. Although he told me to hide, I didn’t really have any place to go to, so I remembered the detective agency that Hiro-san told me to go to.”

“What is your father’s name? What is his job?”

“His name is Kusakabe Masaya, he’s working at a company called Hello Corporation.”

Alice knotted her brows.

“I think Hiro mentioned this name before. He said that a yakuza man and his daughter lived next to him, probably those are you guys.”

“He’s not a yakuza anymore.”

…… not one anymore?

“I think he entered the gang when we were at Osaka, but he said that he got out of the gang already.”

A yakuza delinquent who exited his gang suddenly called his phone to hide, and to bring a big bag of luggage. This situation is unusual.

I looked at the Boston bag again— there wouldn’t be a bomb inside, would there?

“Have you seen what is inside?”

“No.”

“Then……” Alice lowered her voice, and shifted her foot from her bed to the floor. “If you don’t mind showing me, then please open the bag. But I need to tell you two, opening the bag is like pressing a switch, and you can’t turn back anymore.”

Meo and I looked at Alice at the same time. She still likes to suddenly say incomprehensible things that people don’t understand.

“…… A bomb wouldn’t be inside, would it?”

Meo and I asked at the same time. Alice’s lips curled upwards and shook her head:

“What do you think the thing that made the most people die in the world? It’s not a bomb or a poison, but information— the people who know must die. Even so, I still need to know what happened to your father before I could help you. If you are firm about this, then open it.”

It was as though I could hear the sound of Meo swallowing her saliva. The room was filled with an smell that was hard to describe— I really can’t differentiate the smell at that moment, was that the smell of danger? The smell of desire? Or is it what they call—

“Uu…….”

“Uwaa…….”

Meo and I made a shocked noise at the same time. There were countless Yukichi Fukuzawas staring at us from inside of the dark bag , and the bag was stuffed messily full of wads of cash. Although I knew that the atmosphere of money that was spread in the air was just an illusion, it was still the first time that I saw that much— probably about a hundred million in cash, so I couldn’t help but feel slightly drunk.

Meo’s mutterings broke the silence.

“…… Why is there so much money……”

“Is your family so wealthy that you have so much savings?”

“Our family is not rich!”

“Has this bag always been kept in the safe?”

After interrupting, I immediately realized that it was a stupid question. If the bag was always in the safe, how would Meo know about it? Meo closed her eyes, used her index finger to massage her temple, giving out a ‘Mnn—‘ sound and said after that:

“Sometimes, I would see dad bring the bag from his company….. Ah, I think it’s on each payday. I just felt: Wow, dad has so much wages! That’s so awesome.”

Who would have that much pay anyways!

“Alice, would this be the company’s money……”

“There is a possibility.”

A father who suddenly vanished told his daughter to hide with a hefty sum of cash, he’s probably hiding somewhere himself…… And this guy was once a yakuza too.

“That’s bad, should we call the police?”

I said lightly beside Alice’s year. Meo seemed to have heard my words, and walked slowly towards me while holding onto the bedstead.

“What do you mean? How’s my dad?”

“Nothing……” I couldn’t answer her for a moment, and stared at Alice.

“Your father might be involved in a crime.”

Hearing Alice’s words that were said in my stead, Meo’s expression suddenly froze.

“I think it’s better if we just tell the truth— your father might have cheated the company’s money, and ran away because his plan failed.”

“My dad would never do that!”

Meo forcefully pushed the dolls away and leapt onto the bed, grabbing Alice’s shoulders and shouting loudly.

“Please calm down, I’m just saying that there’s this possibility. Since your father told you not to get near your house or the company, that means that he doesn’t want anyone to know where you are, and there’s no news about him either—“

Meo seemed to ignore Alice’s words. She jumped down from the bed, grabbed the Boston bag and rushed to the entrance.

“Narumi!”

Not waiting for Alice’s words, I rushed over and caught hold of Meo’s shoulders. I, who was usually somewhat slow, could actually take action reflexively, I, myself was somewhat surprised too.

“Let go of me! Freak! Pervert! Old lecythus man! Machikane Fukukitaru! Nagoya chicken meat!”

Where on Earth did you learn these odd vocabularies? And you even pretended to be bad at Japanese ! Is it Hiro? Hiro must have taught them to her! And the ones she mentioned last aren’t even used to scold people! Ouch! Blast, don’t scratch me! Calm down! Stop fidgeting!

Although I was worried that the walls wouldn’t filter noise perfectly due to them being too thin, but I still caught hold of Meo and shouted in her ears:

“CALM DOWN! You don’t even know where your father is, so what can you do if you go out?”

“I’m going to look for him! My dad is not a thief!”

“What could you do even if—“

“Let go of me—“

Her shouts then (probably) changed to Thai, so I really couldn’t understand what she said. In addition, she was struggling frantically, and really stretched me to my limits as I wasn’t too strong.

“Meo, have you forgotten about what your father told you?”

Alice’s loud voice came from behind us. Hearing her words, Meo froze instantly.

“Didn’t he tell you to hide? I am sure that he’s in some sort of trouble right now, and might even put your life into danger. If you just rushed out, wouldn’t that be a waste of your father’s effort?”

“…… But!”

Meo twisted her body and escaped from my hand. I could tell that she was crying.

“It’s best if you just called the police, better than you rushing around like a deer in headlights.”

“…… Call the police?”

Meo’s face clouded over.

“Don’t call the police, dad told me not to call the police too. Those people always do mean things just because of the difference in skin color. The people in our building have permits too…..”

Meo’s tone suddenly became solemn, like she turned into another person.

“……. What happened?”

I tried to observe Meo’s expression, but she only shook her head violently:

“Because dad was once a yakuza, so that’s why he’s being suspected, that must be why.”

Suddenly hearing the cruel fact, I could only stay silent.

To people from south-east Asia, Japan is indeed not a country that they could live in comfortably. Take myself as an example, for instance, I’ve just heard that Meo’s father was once a yakuza, and I immediately thought that he would steal his company’s money. It’s somewhat ill-conceived, but—

Don’t call the police? Even telling her something like that, is there really something that couldn’t be spoken of?

“That’s why I have to look myself.”

“You don’t even know where he is—“

“Turn around and look over here. Shall I remind you who’s the person in front of you right now?”

Alice suddenly said.

Looking back, Alice had got off her bed and was standing at the entrance of her bedroom, with her back to the light that was emitted by the countless monitors behind her.

Being interrupted while speaking, I heaved a small sigh, then left Meo leaning beside the table of the small kitchen. I couldn’t say anything to Alice who had gotten off her bed.

“Miss Detective……”

“I’m not just an ordinary detective, but a NEET detective. Even if I stay huddled up in my bed, I can search through the whole world and find out about the real truth.”

Meo kneeled on the floor, tearfully staring at Alice for awhile. Nobody spoke. Although I wanted to say something, I couldn’t think of anything to say. Between a client an a detective, there’s no room for a mere assistant to interfere— Alice was not looking at me, but her expression said just that.

“Can you find my dad?”

Meo’s voice sounded like she was choking.

“Is that your request?”

Alice’s tone of speaking was still as cool as a cucumber.

“If a NEET detectives accepts a case, he would search for the truth after going through three thousand worlds to look for an answer. If there’s no request, I’m only one of the countless windows that couldn’t speak.”

Meo wiped away the tears in the corner of her eyes with the back of her hand.

“I’m giving you a request—“ She said clearly: “Please save my father.”

A relieved expression was shown on Alice’s face, and I think I know why she felt like that. The hikikomori detective could only come in contact with the outside world through cases. If there’s no official request, she could only save the information alone on her bed. Alice’s loneliness, and her fear of being unable to help out with anything although the world continues to change, I have heard of all of these during the incident last winter.

But—

I really couldn’t stand aside without saying a thing.

“Are you really planning to solve this on your own without telling the police?”

Meo and Alice looked at me at the same time, but the first to answer was Alice:

“A detective must act according to his client’s wishes.”

While Meo just shook her head vigorously . I sighed again and scratche my head.

“So what if there’s really a crime…….”

“Dad is not a bad person.”

Stop that, I get it already! But he could be involved in a crime even if he’s not a bad guy! I just hope that Alice would not face something dangerous.

But Alice said coolly:

“I’ve already decided to accept the case, so there’s no room for you to interfere.”

A dizzy spell came upon me. This guy is serious, and doesn’t even care that other people are worried about her.

“Think properly, why are you actually staying here?”

“……. Isn’t it to serve food and Dr. Pepper for you?”

“If you really think that way, then you should hurry up and leave in my disdain.”

That’s what you said before! I wanted to say that but restrained myself. I sank into a temporary contemplation: No matter what, a detective’s assistant exists just to aid a detective, and not to worry about the detective. Even so……

That made me think about the incident that occurred last winter. At that time, I was to absorbed in my own thoughts and didn’t notice, actually Alice and the others aren’t just relying on the power of the police and were still doing dangerous jobs. Probably Alice, Tetsu-senpai and the others are already used to these dangerous things?

Ah— so that’s why.

I’m not really worried of Alice. I’m just worried that I can’t follow their footsteps. To be exact— I couldn’t follow them at all. It’s because I don’t have knowledge, contacts or even talents.

Actually all of this doesn’t mean anything, it’s just that I’m cowardly.

“…… Sorry.”

Meo looked upwards beside me with an uneasy expression while Alice looked coldly at me while sitting on the bed. Paranoia started to form in my heart, and it felt like they were trying to tell me, a pawn, to shut up. I could only hide behind the fridge, showing only half of my body.

“The- then…….” I felt that aggrieved when I started to say: “If we’re accepting the request, I have a condition.”

“Why are you giving a condition?”

“No, it’s because……” Alice’s gaze was like the freezing wind on February, tearing people to shreds. “Since Meo’s father wanted her to hide, what should she do after this?”

Meo shook her head non-shop: “I never thought about it.” You should think about it first!

“It’ll be troublesome if she rushed out like just now, so if we can’t ensure Meo’s safety, we can’t accept the request.”

Meo looked at me doubtfully, her eyes fluttering. Searching for an ex-yakuza would probably be hard, but if it’s just looking for a safe place for a girl, I should be able to help with that. I looked guiltily at Alice’s expression.

“Are you imagining despicably that you could just use Meo’s safety as a shield on times of need, and then we can just give up on searching for Kusakabe Masaya?”

“Of course not!”

Well, maybe a bit…… Why is this fellow always so sharp?

“Forget about it, you’re not wrong. Meo, so it’s settled.”

“…… How is it settled?”

“You just say that you wish to be protected, or I’ll hand you to the police.”

“Wh- Why does this feel like a threat?”

“I’m not threatening you, this is a necessary precaution to look for your father. So now you have three choices. First, you can just go back. Second, call the police. Third, hand it to us.”

Meo stayed silent while hugging her Boston bag for a moment, then kneeled down and said:

“Please take care of useless ol’ me in the future!”

…… Where did she learn THAT? Really, who taught her these things? Was it Hiro? It’s Hiro, isn’t it?

“So— Narumi, you’ve started this, so hurry up and complete your mission?”

“Huh?”

“Didn’t you say that we should hide Meo? There should be some empty rooms at Master’s place, so you go ask her!”

“Ask Min-san?”

Min-san lives at the ground floor of an apartment just behind her ramen shop. Since her father disappeared, she had some rooms empty. If we want to hide Meo, it would be suitable there. But…… Must I be the one to ask her?

<center>*</center>

“Why didn’t you just call the police?”

Min-san didn’t even look at me when she answered, but just continued to cut the celery in her hands. I didn’t know what to answer her all of a sudden, and Meo stuck her head from the kitchen back door, an uneasy expression on her face. I turned around and looked at her, then stared at Min-san again.

“Well…… There are a lot of reasons.”

“What reasons?”

“Ngh……”

I told Min-san about the disappearance of Min-san’s father and him telling Meo to run away, but how could I tell her about the next part?

“You’re expecting me to give her shelter without giving me a reason?”

When I think about it, it does seem like I’m asking for a mile when I just took an inch.

“Forget it, my dad’s room is still collecting dust anyways, just sleep there for now.”

…… Huh? She agreed just like that?

“Erm…… I might give you some trouble.”

Meo’s voice that was full of uneasiness came from my back. Min-san turned her head over only when she heard Meo’s voice, and she said:

“Don’t you mind, if there’s any problem I’ll beat up Narumi first. The room’s a bit dirty, but you can use it as you like, as it’s empty from the start anyways.”

“She said that……” I turned my head over to look at Meo. Her face that had the color of coffee ole was immediately lit up with a smile.

“Thank you, Min-san.”

“But you’ll only get ramen for your meals. Narumi, get a blanket for her from the storeroom in my room.”

“Ah, alright.”

Thus, I brought Meo from the back of the kitchen to Min-san’s house. Min-san ordered me quite naturally, and I didn’t think much about it— but is it really okay for me to go in and out of a girl’s room like this?

Min-san’s father abandoned his daughter and the ramen shop and went missing until now, so his room is now being used as a storeroom, and it was stuffed full of bookracks and cardboard boxes that were once used to fill foodstuff. I randomly stacked together the cardboard boxes that were used to fill dried fish for soup, and finally managed to clear up some space so place the mattress. Meo stood in front of the door with her Boston bag slung on her back, curiously looking around the room and said:

“Is it really okay? It seems like someone is using the room.”

“But you have nowhere else to go, right? And you can’t go home too……”

Meo’s expression turned gloomy, and I hurriedly continued:

“I’ll go check out your home later. And Alice knows a lot of busybody oddballs, so don’t worry!”

As I was about to leave Meo there and walk out of the room, She grabbed the sleeve of my shirt.

“…… Hmm? What is it?”

“Everyone is so kind, Min-san, Miss Detective and also Mr. Assistant……”

Kind? Me?

“I’m really sorry for just now, making trouble all of a sudden. So you were just worried of me…… Thank you.”

I couldn’t say a word for a moment. Actually I wasn’t worried about Meo, so her direct gratitude made me feel somewhat flustered, not knowing what to say.

“I’m just feeling somewhat jealous. Hiro-san kept showing off to me, saying that he’s a homeless gigolo, but he has Hanamaru. Because there’s a beautiful and gentle Mother here, although she only knows how to cook ramen for him.”

I really don’t want a scary mother like Min-san…… the thought suddenly surfaced in my mind.

“Then what is your mother doing right now, Meo?”

Though it seems to be too late for this question, nobody asked this before anyways. Meo’s expression suddenly froze. She lowered her head while sitting on the Boston bag on the floor, then raised her head to look at me.

“…… Mother…… she died due to an illness not long after she came to Japan.”

I gasped. The strange thing is, the girl beside my foot smiled. Her smile was like fog on a summer morning, hiding a faint sorrow.

“It doesn’t matter, I’m still living with the big sisters in the same building.”

People look lonelier when they smile, that was what I learnt from the winter this year.

Though we might be able to find Kusakabe Masaya after calling the police, Meo might have to be all alone after this— I’ve only understood the fact at this moment.

But then, what should we do? I have no idea. If we really could locate Kusakabe Masaya, if he really did take part in a crime, what should Alice do?

As for me— what should I do?

“What’s wrong, Mr. Assistant?” Meo looked up from below at me, who had shut my mouth and was not speaking. As I couldn’t meet Meo’s eyes, I turned my head to the other side and said:

“Nothing. Sorry for asking these strange questions.”

<center>*</center>

Not long after that, Hiro appeared at the ramen shop on about five in the evening.

“I’ve heard that Me-chan is here?”

The person who ran into the shop was a tall, nineteen year old man, and he wore a beige denim jacket and a pair of white silk khaki pants. I’ve never seen anyone more suited for wearing white clothes, including male artists. His appearance was like a model or a hustler, but he’s actually just a NEET, and also a gigolo.

“Ah, Hiro-san!”

Meo, who was eating ice cream in the kitchen, poked her head out.

“So you’ve finished work?”

“Being a gigolo is a job that requires creativity, so our working time is more flexible.”

“Hiro, get over here. I want to make you unable to embarrass the Japanese anymore!”

Min-san glared at Hiro while holding a kitchen knife, scaring him so much that he rushed out of the shop and hid in the alley behind the ramen shop. The back door of the Hanamaru Ramen Shop kitchen was located between two buildings. There, it was stacked full of worn out tires, large flipped over steel buckets, plastic buckets and wooden stands that were used as tables. It’s the best place for the NEETs to gather.

Although it’s the time when I should prepare for opening time of the shop, since there’s nothing much to do, I walked out of the kitchen backdoor to look for Hiro; Meo followed me outside too , for some reason.

“Alice told me about the situation on the phone……” Hiro said while sitting on the plastic bucket. “But I’m still not sure about some parts of it.”

I nodded.

“How much money is in the bag?”

Hiro looked at Meo who sat beside him.

“Hmm, I don’t know. I didn’t count……”

“Seeing as there’s so much, I’d wager that there would be about a few hundred million yen.” I answered for Meo.

“Is Me-chan that rich?”

Meo shook her head frantically.

“That’s true! The company isnt’ big, and you even live in the same area as the people who left home to look for a living.”

“I think it’s the money of their company?”

“Money of their company? Then how could he get out so much? And it’s cash, to boot!”

“This…… that is…… that……” I really don’t know how to answer. “Alice seemed to have found out something just now, that Meo’s father is one of the Directors of the company. If that’s true, then isn’t there a possibility?”

“…… Even if we say that he pocketed the company’s money, does the company even earn that much anyways? I remember that the financial status of the company isn’t really that good.”

“What does ‘pocketed’ mean?”

Meo’s expression was truly innocent, and caused Hiro and I to be unable to answer her for a moment. I could only choose a more suitable way of answering:

“Erm…… That means using his position to take away the company’s money.”

“You’re saying that again, Mr. Assistant! My dad would never do that!”

Meo kept hitting my arm with her face red. Hiro tried to be the peacemaker at this moment, and forcefully caught hold of Meo’s shoulders.

“Are you really sure that he wouldn’t do that?” he asked in a solemn tone.

“Absolutely.”

“Do you trust him that much?”

Medo nodded so vigorously that her neck almost snapped into half.

“Mnn, I get it.” Hiro’s voice regained its gentleness. “Trusting people is Me-chan’s job, doubting people would be our job. There are many things that we can’t be sure of if we don’t doubt it, so just let us handle this nasty job!”

Hiro met Meo’s gaze for awhile, and then showed her a gentle smile.

Meo hesitated for awhile, then nodded.

This guy is really good— I suddenly felt that. To be frank, I wasn’t too sure about Hiro’s statement at that moment, but he always had a way to make people calm down. He probably always uses this talent on indecent things, right? He’s a public enemy for women.

“No matter what, we must still check out the condition of the company and Meo’s family.”

“Hiro probably knows the location of the building, right? And know the people there.”

“Ah— me? The security there already remembered my face, and I’ve already deleted the phone number of my ex-girlfriend.”

When I think about it, he had been chased out by the security. Then what should we do now?

Hiro stared at me silently.

Meo stared at me without saying a word too.

This is……

“Should…… I go?”

“There’s no choice, there’s nobody else.”

“I don’t mind going, but I’m currently at work.”

“What? At work?”

Hiro’s reaction was really too exaggerated, and really hurts my fragile heart. I tapped the words ‘Hanamaru’ printed on the black apron.

“Mnn, Narumi, you’re working here? Really? Why? Becoming a NEET isn’t an illness, so don’t mind it, you don’t need to force yourself to get therapy.”

I’m telling you I’m not a NEET!

“And you don’t even look like you’re working right now.”

Being said that, it made me speechless, because the truth is as Hiro have said.

“So what are Tetsu-senpai and Major doing right now?” I frantically changed the topic.

“I’ve just called Tetsu, he’s at the Tokyo Racetrack.”

Ah, to today is racing day. Since it’s the spring holidays right now, I even forgot what day it is today.

“He said that he lost the money used for taking the train on his last match, so he’s walking back. Really, he could just go bet at WINS, why does he need to specially run to that place that haven’t even started racing?”

The hopeless gambler…… Wouldn’t it take at least four hours for him to walk from there to here?

“I couldn’t find Major too, perhaps he’s playing a survival game?”

“Can’t I go after I finished work?”

“She works at night, so she’ll be out if you don’t go now.” Hiro said. I sighed. It’s like there’s a pair of invisible hands controlling me, not letting me work. I know, I know! I’ll go right now.

I walked back into the kitchen and asked lightly to Min-san who was concentrating on scooping out the dregs in the steaming pot.

“Erm……”

“You’re skipping work the first day at work? You really have some guts!”

Min-san said without even looking at me. Probably she heard our conversation just now.

“So- sorry, just pretend I didn—“

“There’s no difference, since we’re so free right now. But you’re fired if you’re not back by seven!”

Hiro borrowed me a jacket and a pair of cool glasses before I set off. Perhaps those have been given to him by his ex-girlfriend at that building?

As I was about to bring my bike from the alley to the main road, I faintly heard the conversation between Min-san and Meo from the shop”

“Meo, would you like to work in my shop?”

“Eh, that won’t do, I’m working at a Thai restaurant right now…… Ah, but I’m on leave these days, so I might be fired…….”

“Just tell me if you change your mind, I’ll fire Narumi instantly.”

That’s just too much…… She’s so cruel. While suppressing my sorrowful feeling, I pedaled towards the road that was dyed red by the setting sun.

<center>*</center>

Pedaling from the southern exit of the station towards the slope, I turned right after passing through the post office. I got lost between a middle school and an embassy, and went back and forth on the same road for quite a few times, then I realized that the four storey building that was about as big as the school building further to my left was a collection of residential rooms, which is also my destination – Hello Palace. I stopped at the roadside, staring blankly on my bike with my jaw open. I’ve heard that the people who live here are mostly women foreigners from south-east Asia, and thought that it’s just a broken down apartment with seven or eight people squeezed in a six tatami room. I actually had that kind of prejudice, how impolite of me.

So that I wouldn’t be noticed, I parked my bike at a corner of a building that couldn’t be seen from the guardroom.

When I stopped my bike, the large amount of cash that Meo brought suddenly surfaced in my mind. It’s too unusual, what if it really involved a crime? The police haven’t came to Meo’s house yet, have they? If so, I’ll just act dumb.

I took out the pair of glasses that was used for ornamental purposes and put it on.

The guards’ restroom was beside the entrance of the building, and there was nobody in there. But for some reason I naturally started to walk on tiptoe, so what’s the difference between me and a person who sneaks into other people’s houses? I could only console myself that I’m not doing anything, and walked to the forth room of the third floor. The words ‘Kusakabe’ were written on the signboard. Not even a person could be seen there, and that made me a bit more relieved. I pressed the doorbell, waited for about three minutes but there wasn’t any answer; so I turned the handle and found that the door was locked.

Actually, Meo handed me the keys to her house, but I really don’t feel like going in. If I was spotted, I really couldn’t explain why I have the key.

It couldn’t be helped, I could only press the doorbell of the room next to it, the house of the person that Hiro once lived in. After about twenty seconds, the door opened a crack, and a young woman was standing behind it.

“Hi……”

She sounded rather sleepy. The lady wore a baggy T-shirt printed full of simplified characters and a pair of shorts, her long hair tied up messily with a rubber band. Although she didn’t have any make up on, I could see that she was a Chinese beauty with a great figure.

“……. Who are you?”

“Ah, so- sorry!” Was she sleeping just now? “Do you know Kuwabara Hiroaki-san?

When I mentioned Hiro’s name, the woman’s eyes finally focused.

“Hiro? Eh? …… Ah, that jacket……”

“Erm…… Meo is at my place.”

The woman’s brows suddenly twitched, then speedily shut the door before I even finished speaking. After that, the sound of her removing the chains on the door came, and then this time, the door was opened wide.

“Ah— Mnn— I’ve heard about it, wait for awhile, I’ll get it here.”

Eh? Wa- Wait a sec, what’s with this situation?

When I was supporting the door, the woman walked into the room and took out a coffee colored paper bag.

“You can it this directly, but it’s even better after you heat it.”

With my brain in a muddle, the paper bag was stuffed roughly into my hands.

“Eh, ah, erm……”

I’m still not sure what was happening, but the girl hugged me all of a sudden. I immediately felt that she wasn’t wearing lingerie, causing me to freeze. At this moment, she said quietly in my ears:

“I can’t talk to you here, so just pretend you’re just here to get the bag, go home for now!”

I immediately came to my senses. The girl then let go of me, and said to me with a tone like a salesman: “Say hi to everyone for me!” then pushed me out and closed the door.

I was left alone in the corridor with the weight of the paper bag in my hands.

Can’t talk to me here?

Does that lady know of Meo’s current situation? But what did she mean by can’t talk to me here? Did she mean that there’s someone in her room, and it’s bad for our conversation to be overheard?

I couldn’t make head or tails of the matter from the start, but I still followed what she said, took the bag and left ‘Hello Palace’ obediently.

After walking out of the entrance, I immediately tore open the bag. There was a small bun in the bag, while a business card was placed on it— ‘Exotic Pub, Shanghai Love’. The logo on the card was a shining pink, while the name on it was a name written in romaji: Rin. There was also a sentence written below the name in an untidy scrawl—

Wait for me behind the shop at 4.00 am.

It was written on the card that the pub’s business time was until three thirty at night, so does that mean she’s asking me to wait until she finished work? But why did she use so much effort to act out that play just now?

I placed the business card into my pocket, walked to my bike parked at the side of the road and suddenly felt a chill on my back.

I really shouldn’t stop, and I should just ride my bike and leave ASAP; but I stopped walking because of that feeling. I saw two silhouettes from the corner of my eyes, and they were walking towards me from the direction of Hello Palace.

One of the men was wearing a grubby leather jacket, while the other wore a purple flowery shirt that had zero fashion sense, with curly hair on top of his head. I pretended not to notice and sped up. When I reached the shadow of the building, I felt the chill on my back again.

“Oi, you over there!”

One of the men shouted. Just like that, my intuition told me that these two are definitely not people to mess with. This is bad, I should really escape double quick. Just as I was about to ride away on my bike, the footsteps behind me quickened. I raised my head, only to see that the two men were horribly close to me.

“Kid, don’t move!”

Almost reflexively, I raised my hands and threw the bag that I was holding to them, then hurriedly pushed my bike down the slope and jumped onto my bike. I don’t know what happened with the bag, but I could hear the furious roars of the men coming from behind. I was afraid that they would quickly chase me down and grab my collar, so I accelerated the rate of my pedaling, rushing down the slope without even pedaling and sharply turned right as soon as I reached the road. A car flew by my side, leaving behind only the loud sound of the horn.

I steered clear of the main road and circled around the alleys that I didn’t really know that well, and I only stopped and looked around after I reached the four line lane(?) .Of course, the two people are already gone. I gasped for breath, trying to slow down my breathing and my heartbeat, and I felt bouts of pain coming from my lungs.

Who are those two anyways?

The reason that I wanted to run away was not only because the men’s actions gave me a bad premonition, the attitude of the Chinese onee-san caused me to be suspicious as well.

I took out my phone.

“…… ah, it’s me.”

‘How was it? Did you see Yi Ling?’ Hiro asked.

“Erm….. Ah, yes, I did see her.”

So that’s why— her name is Yi Ling, that’s why her nickname is Rin. While thinking of these meaningless things, I adjusted my breathing rate and answered:

“Meo’s house is under surveillance.”

Hiro, who was at the other side of the phone stayed silent.

“They might be yakuza. Hiro, you should really tell Meo not to go out.”

‘Got it. Things are really not that simple, we might need to ask for Yondaime’s help……’

I told Hiro that I’m going back right now, and hung up.

We might need to ask for Yondaime’s help. Although there’s this possibility, I really don’t wish for things to turn out like that. When the shonen yakuza leader of the juvenile delinquents start to take action, it would be hard to prevent bloodshed from occurring.

But my premonitions are the most accurate in these bad situations, and of course it’s the same this time, too.

<center>*</center>

The Hotel Street at four in the morning felt like an insomniac patient who couldn’t sleep, its eyes swollen and bloodshot. Walking along the curved road on the slope, pillars of streetlights were towering over two sides of the road, illuminating the signboards with fee and service content written on it; the side view of a hotel that looked rather blurred due to the blue and pink rays of light shining on it was visible further up the slope.

Walking alone in this place at night, it felt like I would get crushed by the psychological pressure soon, so I forced myself to focus on the fees written on each hotel. I’m not sure if it’s because of the strong competition, there’s a lot of mystifying side services. It looks like not only each hotel provided a microwave, Dreamcast was written on some of the signboards! What type of couples are they trying to attract, anyways?

I came here once before during that incident, but I don’t really have much of an impression of it anymore. There really aren’t much people at these places at this time, so it was extremely quiet.

Climbing onto the slope after walking out of the Hotel Street, I walked to an inconspicuous pub on the road. This place is away from the dazzling grandeur preferred by the young people, a street that exists for the sake of ojisans (probably).

According to Hiro, due to the special revision of the industrial law, the pubs on the streets have decreased, and have now almost disappeared or have changed to providing various services for the hostels nearby..

The pub that’s like an endangered species, ‘Exotic Pub, Shanghai Love’, was just at the corner of the street. Having electric lights that are modeled on oil lamps and an arc-shaped door, it feels just like a pub that any grown man could go. The pink neon lights weren’t too flashy , and it didn’t feel like it’s a suspicious shop. Is this really an indecent place? But the signboard says that it’s a pub.

I looked at the time on my phone, the date had advanced a day, becoming the first of April. It’s now three forty five in the morning, that’s early.

A middle-aged man passed by my side, accompanied by a woman wearing a low-cut shirt, and it looks like she’s occupational. Seeing the two walk to Hotel Street at the same time, I squeezed into the cramped alley beside the shop and hid.

Just at that moment, I remembered the scene when I returned to Hanamaru in the evening. I showed the card given to me by the Chinese onee-san— Yi Ling san, to Hiro and told him about what occurred. Hiro showed me an awkward expression and said: “I think it’s better if I go. You probably won’t be able to go out that late, right?” Maybe his experience of breaking up with Yi Ling-san wasn’t too good?

Although I was worried that they would feel awkward if they met, but the main reason that I went was that I wanted to go. If I need to trouble Hiro for such a simple matter, then I’m truly useless.

To be honest, sitting on the separator of the charged parking lot, I was somewhat regretting my decision to accept this request. What if I were caught by the police and to accept counseling? They’d probably inform the school, right? And I ran out without even telling my sister, what am I doing……

“Waited for a long time?”

Suddenly hearing the voice of a woman, it startled me so much that I nearly fell down. I raised my head to have a look, and I saw Yi Ling-san wearing an extremely short mini skirt that would be almost invisible in the morning streets and a light beige jacket. She bent down slightly and looked at my face:

“Sorry, are you okay? It’s so late right now. I originally thought that Hiro would come.”

“Hiro’s because…… erm……”

“I know, he didn’t want to come, right? Can you help me beat him up for me next time?”

Yi Ling-san said while smiling.

“It’s not that convenient talking out here, I think it’s better if we go to a restaurant.”

She dragged my hand and started to go forward. All of her actions were overly natural. Though I still felt uneasy, I could only follow her obediently.

Then I slowly realized something— the way that Yi Ling-san was walking was somewhat unnatural. You won’t notice if you don’t look closely, but her back was a bit bent when she walked, and the steps that she took didn’t match.

“Erm…… Are you sick? Or do you have a stomachache?”

“Eh? You can see that?” a wry smile was shown on her face. “Well, since I’m still the bread and butter of the shop, only my face wasn’t beaten up.”

“Huh……?”

“I’ve heard that you ran away, didn’t you? That wasn’t good— I even pretended that I knew you very well too, in the end I had to put in a lot of effort to explain, but they didn’t even believe me.”

“Er…… Were they the ones with the leather coat and the curly hair?”

“Correct. Those two are the racketeers of our shop, and they’re monitoring the building to see if Meo comes back.”

Racketeers?

“They’re yakuzas who collect protection rackets. I really don’t know what they would do, so remember to tell Meo, don’t come back here for the moment.”

They’re indeed yakuza. But why are yakuzas looking for Meo? When I wanted to continue asking, a voice suddenly came from my back:

“Sorry for the wait.”

“Who is this child?”

When I turned my head around, I saw two women who were dressed similarly to Yi Ling-san going past the buildings, and were walking to us.

In the restaurant during late night, at a the innermost table of the smoking area that didn’t have any other customers there, I was surrounded by three onee-sans who work at a pub, and I sat among them with my body curled up. Yi Ling-san asked while eating a large bowl of tekkadon: “So who are you, actually?”

There were also a hamburger set meal, clam spaghetti, tomato soup, French fries and a whole lot more food on the table, causing me to be rather shocked because of their astoundingly big appetite. The three of them were rather slim, how could they eat that much food?

“What’s your relationship with Meo? Are you Hiro’s friend?”

Hua-san, who seems to have came from Taiwan, asked in a rapid fire tone.

“Middle schooler? High school?” the onee-san who seems to have came from Philippine interrupted, asking more questions.

“Ah, I’m a high schooler.” Do I even look like a middle schooler? Though I HAD been misunderstood sometimes. “Erm…… It’s hard to say…… Have you heard of the detective agency in the same building as the ramen shop?”

“Oh—“ Yi Ling-san nodded and said: “I’ve heard of it, I think the detective’s a girl, right? What’s she like?”

“What’s she like, huh……”

Actually I don’t really know Alice that well, and I don’t even know what age is she.

“She’s a small, delicate girl who’s about twelve or thirteen, wears pajamas and is cooped up in her room every day. Though she’s quite malicious, her skill of using the computer should be quite good.”

“Really, she’s that young!? How does she count as a detective then, it’s so mystifying.”

With an annoyed expression on her face, Yi Ling-san stayed silent for quite some time. Then, she relit her cigarette, breathed in deeply and then puffed out a large amount of smoke.

“She’s really that young? Isn’t she a detective?”

“Mnn, being a detective should be a self-proclaimed.”

It should be normal when people have this reaction when they learn about Alice, right? The thought suddenly flashed through my mind. But aren’t they being a bit too surprised?

“So that’s how it is, I actually lost to that…… Uwaa, so Hiro is a lolicon! That’s so hurtful……”

She muttered while looking at the ceiling, while the contents of her mutterings really couldn’t be ignored. What does she mean? Does Hiro…… No, how is that possible?

“Yi Ling, you should just forget about that gigolo.”

Hua-san patted Yi Ling-san’s head, meant as a consolation but was pushed away by Yi Ling-san, and then she continued to ask:

“So Hiro is still helping that detective. Does that mean that Meo is there as well?”

“Ah….. yes.”

This afternoon— no, it’s on yesterday— I explained shortly how Meo went to the NEET Detective Agency, and while thinking about it, I really feel that it was really a long day.

“Is the place where Meo is staying at safe?” Jennifer said.

“Mnn— It’s probably quite safe.” If Min-san agrees to help , she is quite reliable.

“Meo is just like our daughter……” Jennifer continued: “I originally hoped to marry someone like Kusakabe-san, and then give birth to a child like Meo.”

“Didn’t your husband get addicted to drugs? He’s quite a match for you!” Hua-san said sarcastically at a side.

“I’ve told him to stop, and Kusakabe-san helped me to beat him up already.”

“But he haven’t found a job, have he?” Yi Ling-san frowned.

“Just tell him to get lost after getting the permanent resident visa!”

The conversation started to stray towards a direction that I couldn’t comprehend, and was mixed with bits of English, Chinese and Filipino. While feeling pressured, I drank my iced coffee with a straw.

“Meo doesn’t know what happened to Kusakabe-san, too?” Yi Ling-san steered the topic back to the main point.

“Nope.” I shook my head, and explained about the phone call from Meo’s father.

“I wonder what Kusakabe-san did……”

“Maybe he got into trouble with Tabara-gumi? But didn’t he leave the gang from Osaka already?”

“Those guys came to the shop just now. Our shopkeeper is an old friend of Kusakabe-san’s from Kansai, so he kept being badgered, and was asked if he’s keeping something for Kusakabe-san. Of course, he didn’t say anything. Hmph!”

The money is indeed the company’s— no, perhaps it belongs to yakuza?

I decided not to tell them about the bomb-like amount of money in Meo’s hands. People who know must die— I thought about what Alice said while interrupting them:

“Erm……”

I felt that my palm was sweating, but I must get this thing clear.

“Is the Hello Corporation…… How should I say this, a criminal company? Or yakuza?”

“Impossible!” The three instantly denied it.

“Then who in the world is looking for Meo?”

“I said that it’s the racketeers from Tabara-gumi. It’ll be troublesome if people make trouble in our business, so we hire yakuza racketeers. But those people are too avaricious, recently quite a lot of shops stopped working with them, but our shop…… It can’t be helped, there’s too many foreigners.”

This made me even more muddled up about Hello Corporation. They have connections with yakuza, opened a pub, and even rented some nice accommodations for their female foreign workers.

“Although I’m not that clear about it……” Yi Ling-san continued: “But those who are in our profession, more or less would have some connections with that side of the people. Hello Corporation. Hello Corporation provides labor services, and they even provide Japanese classes for us.”

“The pay is quite good too.”

“But we owe people quite a lot of money at first. Even if we send the money home, half of it would probably be taken away.”

“This is just an act of extorting money out of us.”

“There’s no choice, because it’s because of the help given by the guild that we can stay in Japan.”

“Guild?” I asked. Topics that I don’t understand crop up one after another, and I almost couldn’t follow it anymore.

“Hello Corporation is a cooperative guild that is formed from teams of women who work here, Kusakabe-san is the guild master, so he lives with us. Besides making it easier for us to get visas, the guild would also introduce marriage partners and so on.”

I noticed something odd from Yi Ling-san’s explanation…… Wait a sec!

“Isn’t this what they call a fake marriage……?”

Jeniffer and Hua-san laughed out loud at the same time and said:

“Well, we live together as well. If we don’t live in harmony, we can’t pass the visa check.”

“But how would this work out in the future? If Kusakabe-san is caught……”

“If a delinquent replaces him, I might not continue to work anymore. If it weren’t for Kusakabe-san, I really couldn’t deal with all this a long time ago……”

“Yi Ling, you’re still single anyways, so it doesn’t matter……”

The three ignored my presence and started to talk about solemn matters. I listened to their conversation from far away, and started to stir the ice cubes in my glass while relaxing somewhat. Not only was I unable to find out anything about Meo’s father, the outrageous topics that followed made me even more muddled up.

The incident that happened last winter was even simpler than this. Strictly speaking, it’s just that some people reaped the evil fruit that they sowed. But it’s different this time.

Can Alice handle this?

The horizon of the night sky was somewhat blue when we walked out of the restaurant. It was already near dawn. There weren’t anyone besides us on the sidewalk, but even at this time, the cars and truck were still busy on the road.

“That’s right, I forgot to ask what’s your name.” Yi Ling-san said.

“Ah, I’m Fujishima. Fujishima Narumi.”

“How do you write that?”

Yi Ling-san took out her phone, so I typed out my name on it.

“Oh— so it’s Ming Hai.”

Hearing someone reading out my name in Chinese— I feel that I’ve read something like that in a manga somewhere.

And so, Yi Ling-san and the others exchanged phone numbers with me while standing in the streets.

“Ming Hai, so you’re helping by the detective’s side too?”

“It seems that I’m her assistant.”

I, myself, feel embarrassed when I say that.

“Really? Then if you find Kusakabe-san, please save him. He should know yakuzas better than us, so it’s improbable for him to make trouble himself. He probably did what he did because of some pressing matters.”

Is that really so? If he knows of a way to stealthily take the company’s money but would not get noticed, the people who can do that would probably still do that— I thought while nodding.

“Really, why didn’t Kusakabe-san escape back to Thailand with Meo.”

Jeniffer muttered to herself.

“Yeah, although we’ll be troubled if he isn’t here, but looking at the situation right now, we can’t bail at all……”

“Narumi, tell Kusakabe-san if you see him……”

Hua-san held my hand and said:

“He’s working too hard at Hello Corporation, tell him to escape to somewhere else!”

“Really….. huh?”

“It’s best if he takes the ashes of his wife back to Thailand too……”

It was like cold water was splashed all over me. I looked at Yi Ling-san’s face.

Meo’s mother died in a foreign country.

“I’ll leave Meo to you.”

The three said so, gave me a hug each and then left.

After Yi Ling-san and the others left, I sat on the fence alone and stared blankly at the morning sky. I just felt that the sleepiness locked in my chest couldn’t be released, and couldn’t creep into my brain. Looking downwards, I could only see the slope that descended in a straight line from the southern exit of the station, and the city lights that were threatening the night sky along the slope.

The matter is utterly out of my comprehension, and it gave me a bad premonition. What should we do? Never would I have thought that both our client and the person that we’re searching for would be wanted by the yakuza. What could I do to help in this matter? Thinking back on the scene when the yakuza were chasing me— ahh, it’s impossible. If I meet them next time, I’d probably run away too.

Why did Alice hire me as her assistant? She was just following the flow at first, I understand that. But what about after the Angel Fix incident ended? I, myself, told Alice that I wanted to continue to be her assistant, and she accepted too. So what expectations do she have for me? I don’t know.

The noisy cries of a flock of crows surrounded me and bugged me. It wouldn’t be any help if I continue to ponder about this.

Anyways, this is my first official job since I became Alice’s assistant.

Could I still stay by Alice’s side— that would depend on this time.

During the incident that happened during the winter, I actually didn’t help out with much. Even so, Alice still said that I’m her assistant; no matter how much she abused me, she didn’t really abandon me. So I could only cling onto the small, hopeless possibility.

It’s the same even now.

I can only do what I can do.

Jumping down from the fence, I patted away the sand on me and took my first step on the sidewalk.

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| Back to [[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 2 Illustrations|Volume 2 Illustrations]]
| Return to [[Kamisama no Memochou|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 2 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 1 Chapter 1

2012-01-03T00:51:08Z

Pmt7ar:

"It's a primitive response to gratitude. To give pleasure. You see, our normal hosts are quite mindless; they can be thanked only by physical sensation"

"Thank you for accepting transporting me. Thank you very much."

*from "The Only Neat Thing to Do" by James Tiptree, Jr.

==Chapter 1==
On the winter when I was sixteen, I actually met many different types of people – there was a boxer, a soldier, a gigolo, a detective and a yakuza member. They were all NEETs – just of different varieties. The term ‘NEET’ occasionally surfaces on the news or in the newspapers, and I thought it merely referred to unmotivated and unemployed youths, but in reality there are actually many different sides to them. There is no all-encompassing reason as to why they remain jobless or do not go to school.

“The term ‘NEET’ refers to neither ‘useless people’ nor ‘lazy people’.” That is what the detective said to me. “The only difference lies in the rules. While everybody else uses the board to play checkers, we use chess pieces instead.”

“I don’t really get it. Does that mean you’re just getting in the way?” I naively questioned. The detective thought for a moment, pursing her cherry-like lips which eventually gave way to a silent smile.

“I suppose it would indeed seem that way to those who merely want to rush ahead. I understand that society wishes to group us all up and label us thus, and fling us out into the rubbish dump; I also understand that they wish to point at us and laugh mockingly. Let them laugh all they want. No matter how you may want to argue it, that we are a negative influence to the society at large is an undeniable truth.

The detective gazed at her opened hands, eventually raising her head again. This time, her smile wasn’t one of sarcasm and bitterness – but one that was comparable to the sun’s rays on a freezing winter’s day. “We will never laugh at ourselves. Just as the earthworms do not fear darkness, a penguin will not be ashamed of its inability to fly. That is the meaning of what it is to live, is it not?”

I couldn’t give her any answer, because I had never thought so deeply about such matters. Regardless, no matter how many metaphors you use, isn’t the fact that you are all useless people the main gist of it?

However, it was also that very same winter when I first saw a dead corpse, and when I first assaulted another person. It was the first time in my life that I personally contemplated about what it means to actually be alive. I suppose anybody who has witnessed another person giving up on his life or giving up and seek death will feel the same way as I have.

Yet, that is a story for much later. For now, I would like to talk about the winter when I first met all these people, and the story of a non-NEET, normal girl.

<center>*</center>

Near the end of November, I met Ayaka for the first time.

After school ended on Tuesday, I sat on the water tower on the roof of the southern campus, staring into empty space facing the tall buildings far away. Normally once school ends, I would go report in at the computer room and focus on club activities that only involves one person. But on afternoons with computer lessons, even after school there will still be a lot of students remaining to play with the computers that they usually don't come in contact with. I am unable to bring myself to walk in just like that, so every Tuesday and Thursday I always come up to the roof to waste time. Staring at the computer room on the second story of the northern campus, giving off a huge amount of "Get Lost Already!" waves, and sighing as I look down onto the streets.

The streets of the city I currently live in can be separated into two colors, the long thin river that flows like the artery of a patient is the divider of the colors. The side closer to me has rusted roofs of factories, cheap housing lying back to back to each other, then high school. I am not sure why, but there are a lot of shrines and graves in this area; My house is also on this side. On the other side is a tall flyover bridge with a highway to the capital, a gigantic train station with countless railways, tall buildings packed along complicated slopes, shopping malls and television stations. On sunny days, you can even see the shadow of the government building far away. Tokyo is an amazing place to let boring housings that can be found anywhere in Japan and tall modern buildings to co-exist peacefully here.

Looking down from the roof, the train station is like a scene in an advertisement on TV, without realism. Probably because I don't want to get close to that area? As we can wear our school uniform and just go out and play immediately after school, I heard that our school is rather popular in Tokyo; If the sailor costume has bright colors, it might even increases its attractiveness by around 40%.

That day is a cloudy day, just nice enough that you can examine closely the glass panels of the tall buildings that are normally not visible due to their bright reflections. But talking about it, it is just a bunch of glass windows that are cut by similar methods. I always fill those glass squares with colors in my mind, sketching pixel art.

I've gotten used to killing time like that. I think it's because I'm always transferring schools because of my dad's work. At the beginning of October, when I transferred into my current high school, I joined the PC club just because there was no one else active there, and went about my school life without being noticed by anyone. I've often thought that there's no point in me going to high school. I don't go to classes either.

As I was gazing at the building, I suddenly heard a clattering sound below me, causing me to raise my feet. The water supply tower was set on top of the stair room jutting out from the roof. It was the sound of someone who had climbed up the stairs opening the door.

"Is someone there?"

I heard a girl's voice. When I carefully leaned forward and and peered directly below, she turned around, meeting my gaze.

She had short hair, and strong-spirited eyebrows, contrasting her eyes, which gave off a cute, friendly impression. I felt like I'd seen her before. As I moved to get up, she made a surprised face, letting out a "Wah!" I tumbled down from the water supply tower.

It was lucky that I fell from my feet, but because the backs of my hands scraped roughly against the concrete wall, the first thing she did when we met was wash my wounds with water from the watering can she had.

"Why would you climb up a place like that, it's dangerous!"

She said while applying plasters on my wound. Being asked such a question, I couldn’t answer her.

“……idiots and something likes high places, after all.”

“You have to play down the ‘idiots’ part when you say that!”(Note: Japanese idiom, idiots and smoke like high places.)

She calmly replied. Although I wanted to escape, I couldn’t do so as my hand was held tightly.
“There, I’m done. Remember not to climb to high places again.” She lightly tapped my right hand, which was full of plasters, just like a caretaker scolding small children. Then, she said while smiling, “Even though I said all that, actually I climbed it before myself. Seeing the ladder over there really gives you an urge to climb it, don’t you?”

Anyways, who on earth is this fellow? As I can’t recall the faces and names of anyone in school, I cannot think of any girl who would talk to me with such a friendly tone.

Suddenly, I saw the yellow badge on her left arm. Although it was quite old and have already become somewhat faded, the words ‘Gardening Committee’ can still be seen on it. At that moment, I finally noticed the large number of flower pots arranged beside the railings. Does our school even have a gardening committee?

“Ah, so you have to climb that high to see the computer lab! Are you that type of person, Fujishima-kun? Those who can’t concentrate when someone else is in the room? Those artistic types?

The girl held on to the railings, saying all that while looking at the school building opposite of us. I was shocked.

“——How did you know about that?”

I let out a shout that startled even myself. She turned around to look at me with a look of shock on her face.

“Well, our class is on this side of the third floor, and we can see the computer lab from here. Besides, Fujishima-kun always sits beside the windows.”

I was found out. Colour drained out of my face. How much does this girl know? She doesn’t know that I was drawing naughty pictures on the computer, does she? Wait, that’s not the main point…

“Why do you know my name?”

She raised her arms like a baseball pitcher who was readying to pitch the ball. It seemed my question surprised her..

“Don’t you remember me? We’re even in the same class too!”

“Huh?”

I started to become anxious. From when I transferred to this school, I practically avoided all contact with other people, which is why I can’t remember the names of my classmates.

“ It was I who told you where the Welfare Society is and collected information of World History for you. Even when you were changing clothes during P.E class, I have helped you out!”

“Wa- Wait a minute!”

“That last comment was just a joke~”

This girl…

“Although that I thought that you might have forgotten about me, but I didn’t really believe that it really was true…..”

Seeing the girl with tears glistening in her eyes, I can’t help but feel somewhat guilty.

“My name is Ayaka Shinozaki, and I sit just beside you in class. How can you even forget about me like this?”

“I’m sorry…”

“Fujishima-kun, you don’t think that you are a part of our class, do you? You even skipped school during the school festival.

But the school festival was held just a week after I transferred, which was why I decided not to go.

“And you aren’t even wearing the class ID. High schools that have class IDs are really rare, it’s a pity if you don’t wear it!”

I don’t really think it’s a pity, so I lied to her: “ I lost it.”

“Then I’ll borrow you mine then, I have some to spare at home.” Said Ayaka while taking off her class badge from her sailor uniform.

“Huh? No, there’s really no need to.”

“Really, don’t move.”

She caught me from the back when I was trying to escape. I couldn’t help but to freeze and pause my breathing. She moved her hands to the front of my blazer and wore the class badge on the collar of my blazer. From another perspective, wouldn’t it seem like she was hugging me from my back? No, wait, I have to calm down.

After what seemed like a very long time, the warmth of her body finally faded from my back.

“Hmm, that’s better.”

She turned me around and nodded with a satisfied look on her face. I lowered my gaze with complicated feelings, and gazed at the blue and green badge. It was as if an alien thing appeared on my neck. Why did she help me until this extent? I saw many other people who take very good care of transfer students, but it was the first time I saw someone who was that helpful.

“The school rules say that students must wear it, so don’t you take it off.”

“Why do the schools in Tokyo have so many odd rules…..”

Actually, isn’t it my fault for feeling that Tokyo is a very free place? One of the many annoying rules is that students must take part in at least one club. It was all because of these rules that I would get into these kinds of troubles.

“If it weren’t for the school rules, you probably would have been in the Going-Home-Club, wouldn't you?”

So? Can’t I?

“But isn’t the Computer Club going to be closed next year?”

“……Huh?”

“You see, the Third Years are going to graduate soon. I’ve heard when they were deciding the budget for clubs in April that clubs with less than two members have to be closed down.”

It was the first time that I’ve heard of such an important matter. I recalled the pale, tomato-shaped face of the consultant of the Computer Club. That guy wanted to let the Computer Club close down without saying a thing huh? No wonder my club activities are so relaxing.

“As I was saying…”

Ayaka suddenly raised her voice, startling me into stepping back half a step.
“I have something to discuss with you. If you would accept my conditions…..” Her expression showed that she had a strong resolution. “I would agree to join the Computer Club!”

“……Conditions?”

“Actually, I’m the only person in the Gardening Club.”

Ayaka, who had a triumphant look on her face for some reason, placed the badge on her left arm on my palm. Gardening Club? Isn’t it the Gardening Committee?

“The committee was closed down ages ago. I found this lying around in a cupboard. Isn’t it cool?”

“I don’t think so at all.”

“Why do you always say things like that!”

Her whole face flushed red. I don’t understand why you are so agitated.

“Small clubs have to help each other out, isn’t that right?”

<center>*</center>

Finally, I had to give in to Ayaka’s threats and accept her conditions. We went to the Teacher’s Office to hand in our application form, and things were supposed to end just like that. Understanding that I cannot stay at the rooftop alone anymore, I could only find another place to spend my time after school. As I was returning home, I thought to myself: Is the library okay or would the teachers’ exclusive washroom be better?

Even so, Ayaka walked to my tableside right after school.

“I’m going to borrow the keys to the rooftop, so you can get the gardening tools first! You know where they are , right? You can look for the cupboard with “Gardening Committee” on it.”

My classmates’ gazes fluttered between Ayaka and me, who was busy putting away my books.

“Aren’t I just a ghost member?” I started to say.

“…..A ghost member?” Ayaka turned away, her face started to pale. “Th- That’s right, I’m so sorry. I- I was just too excited, and that confused me.”

It looked like tears could pour out of her eyes at any moment. My classmates’ gazes pierced through me, as if it was I who made Ayaka cry…… No, it WAS me who made her cry. Anyhow, this situation is just terrible.
“Erm, uh, wait a sec!”

“Fujishima-kun, you’re busy with your activities at the Computer Club, right? I’m really sorry for bothering you.”

“O- Of course not——”

“Aren’t you going to complete your drawing of the girl on the computer soon? You just haven’t added the dress yet, right?”

“UWAAAAAAHHHHH!”

I hastily covered up Ayaka’s mouth.

“Alright, alright! I got it. I’ll help you then.”

“…… Really?” The tears vanished from her face all of a sudden. “Thank you so much!”

She stuck out her tongue, as if it was a prank just now. Arrggh, this girl…

“Aya-chan, is there a new member in your club?”

A female classmate asked while giving me a suspicious look.

“Oh, yes. That’s why we have more horsepower now. You can ask him anything about plants!”

My classmates looked at each other.

“Oh, yeah!” a male classmate raised his hand. “There’s a lot of mould on the washroom sink, please think of something to help.”

“Mould isn’t even a plant!” exclaimed Ayaka.

“No, it should count as a plant, shouldn’t it?” “Differentiating organisms by animals or plants is already outdated!” “Aren’t the ones in the washroom moss?” “Lichen are definitely not plants!” “The ones in the Biology Club, shut up.” “But its growing really quickly.” “It looks like someone’s face.” “Really?”

The guys started to discuss this topic with vigor. What’s with this class? After about twenty minutes of discussion, Ayaka ended up getting a mould spray to clear it away. I hastily stopped Ayaka from going into the men’s washroom.

“……Allow me!”
My classmates probably feel sorry for me for having to clear away the mould that have spread to the whole wall. A few of them came in to help me. The washroom soon stank of the pungent odor of chlorine.

“Fujishima, it was hard for you……”

They started to pity me.

“Of course, Shinozaki is not bad too.” “Not a bad person.” “Yeah.”

I nodded tiredly while scrubbing the wall vigorously with a sponge.

It was at that moment that I suddenly realized, it was the first time my classmates called my name. Even so, I can’t even answer them properly.

<center>*</center>

“Let’s have a welcome party! My treat!”

She said that evening as we were carrying the orchid plants indoors.

“I work part time at a ramen store, I can give you a discount.”

I thought to myself: Its rare for girls in high school to work part time.

“Its because I often go there, I became a part time worker. There’s many interesting customers too. Do you want to go with me?”

“Why——”

Thinking of Ayaka’s tearful face if I refused her, I reluctantly nodded. After placing the tools back to the cupboard and returned the keys to the staff’s office, I walked out of the school entrance with her.

After learning that I haven’t even gone across the Shuto Expressway, she was astonished.

“But don’t you live just nearby?”

“Well, I’ve just moved here recently, and there’s a lot of people at the station, so I didn’t really feel like going. Besides, I don’t even have a reason to go.”

“You don’t usually go to bookshops or record stores?”

I nodded. I usually just buy the books or records that I want online, since I might not find the things that I want even though the actual shops are big.

“Is that so. But the shop that I’ve just mentioned is very far from the station. The ramen isn’t really that good, but the ice-cream that they sell is extremely delicious, so it’s still very famous.”

“Then just start an ice-cream shop instead…”

“Remember not to say that to Min-san, or you’ll get ramen served with ice cream.”

Min-san is probably the owner of the ramen shop. Is he Chinese?

Ayaka walked a bit faster than me. Seeing her happily prancing around, I was extremely mystified. Where did it went wrong, why did it turn out like this? Why is she so nice to me?

When we were crossing the bridge, a large delivery truck passed by, spraying dust on us. Walking into the streets, we passed under the Shuto Expressway viaduct and walked towards the station. After that, we walked along with the crowd and entered the south side and exited the underpass through the east side.

We walked back to the surface and walked in the direction of the railways. After we passed by a tramp’s tent in a park, we found the ramen shop in a dark alley that the streetlights can’t reach. On the building that was both an apartment and a shop, only the signboard that says ‘Hanamaru Ramen Shop’ has any light on it. Seeing the customers gathered around the shop, they looked like bugs attracted to a bug zapper.

The inside of the ramen shop was very cramped, most of the space in the shop was taken up by the kitchen. There were only five tables, and the other customers could only eat outside on the steel chair. There were even some customers who were sitting on cardboard boxes, eating their ramen while holding the bowl.

“You can just sit wherever you like.”

After saying that, she entered the shop. Although she told me to sit wherever I like, the problem is the chairs and cardboard boxes are already full.

Between the buildings that she was squeezing in, I saw an emergency ladder beside the door to the kitchen. There was a man sitting there eating ramen. Beneath the ladder, there were stacks of worn tires, small gas tanks and some cardboard boxes that were full of stains.

When he raised his head, I couldn’t help but to take a step back. The man was about twenty and had darkish skin. It was already November, but he was just wearing a T-shirt, completely showing off his bulging biceps. At the moment that he stared at me, I even thought that I would get killed.

“You are a student of M High School?”

“Nonono, I’m still in middle school. Do I look that much like a high schooler?” I lied for no reason at all. He put down his bowl and said:

“Really? The teacher teaching Maths, Fukumoto-sensei. Does he still have any hair left?”

“No, a lot of his hair has already dropped o……AH!”

He approached me and flicked my forehead. The pain made me feel as if it bore a hole on my forehead.

“…… Uuuuuu…… That’s too despicable of you. Since you’ve graduated from our school, why don’t you say so in the first place!” I, myself, don’t understand why I feel that he is despicable (It was obvious from my school uniform that I’m from M High School, its my problem for lying), I held my aching head and crouched down while moaning. This moment, a voice sounded behind me:

“He didn’t graduate. This guy was kicked out of school : a drop out. Here, eat this.”

When I turned my head, I saw a young lady wearing a gray, sleeveless vest standing behind me. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail, and you could see a white sarashi around her chest. She looked just like a labourer. It was only because of the black apron with ‘Hanamaru’ printed on it in white that I found out that she was from the shop. Does that mean that she is Min-san? So she’s a woman!

The thing that Min-san just stuffed into my hands was ice cream filled in a paper cup.

“Boss, I’ve told you many times already, I’m not kicked out. I dropped out myself.”

“Say that after you’ve cleared your debt with me, you bum.”

“Babies are jobless when they were born too! It’s after that, that they are dyed by the cruel reality in this world.”

That is colourless, not jobless. (T.N: In Japanese, jobless and colourless have the same pronunciation (Mushoku) ) But Min-san doesn’t seem to want to reply him, but instead turned around and went back into the kitchen full of white smoke. I held the paper cup with the ice cream and just stood there in a daze for some time.

“Hey, you there!” the person who was kicked out of school called me. As soon as I turned around, I hastily covered my forehead.
“What are you so nervous about! So you’re in first year now, huh?” He said while looking at my class badge. “How many fails did you get in your test?”

“Huh?”

Why on earth are you asking me something like this?

“Fujishima-kun, don’t talk to Tetsu-senpai for so long, you’ll get the NEET virus!”

Ayaka, who wore the black apron outside her school uniform, said while carrying out a tray full of bowls, and walked out of the kitchen. The dark skinned guy —— Tetsu-senpai gnashed his teeth, but only pretended to flick Ayaka’s forehead. This is just preferential treatment! Ayaka stuck out her tongue, and served the customers outside the shop.

“Oh, just answer me already! Your face tells me that you got a lot of fails in your exams since first year.”

Although I thought that he was a busybody, what he said was still the truth. I could only answer in a small voice: “ I need to retake my English and Japanese History.” Tetsu-senpai caught hold of my arms while beaming, forcefully dragged me to the gas tank and made me sit down.

“Actually, the seats here are specially for NEETs. You have the potential to be a NEET, if you’ve dropped out, you can come here ! We will always welcome you then.”

“No, please don’t expect that of me.” We? Are there anyone else who’s with him?

“Why? I can start from teaching you how to select pachinko machines! Also, I know some of the employees quite well, they can tell you which machine is the easiest to score!”

When I had a closer look, I saw some magazines about pachinko gambling stashed in Tetsu-senpai’s hind pocket. Whoa, so this guy is a professional pachinko player, a truly useless person. I averted my gaze from Tetsu-senpai, and started to eat the ice-cream using a wooden spoon. Basking in the evening sun of this late autumn, savouring the delightful aroma of the ramen soup while eating ice cream, it is extremely delicious.

The second person of the ‘we’ that Tetsu-senpai spoke of appeared when I was eating roast pork noodles. He suddenly pressed a hard object at the back of my head and said: “Don’t move. Throw away your weapon, raise your hands, declare your name and unit.” I almost spitted the roast pork out of my mouth.

“Erm…… Err…… But……” If I raised my hands, the roast pork would fall out!

“Major, you are so slow. Stop doing idiotic stuff and sit down.”

Tetsu-senpai said while stirring his vanilla flavoured ice cream and caramel sauce.

“But he’s sitting on my place! Who is this fellow?”

“Narumi, he’s in the same club as Ayaka.”

“Hiro said that he’s coming later too, there won’t be enough seats.”

“Hiro can just sit on Narumi’s thigh.”

“Oh, I see.”

What do you mean you see?

The guy called Major then walked to my field of vision. He wore a dark green and coffee-coloured camouflaging sports attire, a helmet that looks quite sturdy, and a pair of sunglasses shaped like goggles. He was somewhat thin and his skin was a beautiful shade of pink like primary school students. He actually looks about my age. While putting away the model gun (Well, I think it might be a model gun, but what if it’s a real gun?” into his khaki backpack, he looked at me and said:

“But isn’t this guy a high schooler? He doesn’t fit the description of a NEET.”

“Don’t worry, he’s my kouhai. He’ll become a great NEET after a year or two.”

“I definitely won’t become a NEET!” I protested hastily. Through his goggles, Major glared at me and sat on the cardboard box.

“In this era when there are about a billion NEETs in our country, NEET replicas like you are necessary, aren’t you? The future of our country sure is dark.”

“……replica?”

In bewilderment, I asked him what did he mean by pseudo. Major pointed at me and started to chatter enthusiastically:

“Speaking of which, do you know the definition of a NEET? The word ‘NEET’ was originally used on people who are in between the ages of 16 and 18, are not in education or employment. When the word came to Japan from England, its meaning changed to include people from 15 to 34. As a lot of types appeared, they were even classified into the active type and the passive type, the sudden type, challenged type, caveman type and hesitating type. Besides that, there were some attempts to classify them using three-dimensional coordination to classify them into eight quadrants, but they are meaningless classifications to me.”

“Mukai-san, sorry for the wait.”

Ayaka served Major his salt-flavoured ramen. It looks like Mukai is Major’s real name.

“I’m so sorry, Fujishima-kun, there would be less customers after a while.”

I tried to give Ayaka a ‘justfindanexcuseformetoleavethisseat’ signal, but she didn’t get it. Major sipped some soup and continued:

“NEETs are originally just a cultural illness of reliance, and will only appear in a prosperous country like ours. We should be more proud of NEETs! Love the country that strives to produce NEETs, for world peace, we must stand up! We must find more non-replica NEET elites, learn from each other , form a new Japanese Party, and bravely challenge the evil! Grow, NEETs! Grow like burning fire! NEETs!”

“It’s so noisy! Just shut up and eat your noodles!”

Min-san’s furious outburst echoed from the kitchen, and was followed by a small frying pan, which landed on Major’s head.

“Huh? What’s with that guy?”

A male voice rang in the alley, and a tall silhouette appeared at the end of the alley.

A young man daringly wearing a brightly colored coat with khaki jeans was standing at the end of the alley. His occupation was a mystery, but he radiated the aura of a professional person. His aura was different from what Tetsu-senpai had, but they have the same imposing manner. That man came near me, and I almost fell off the gas tank.

“He’s Ayaka’s friend. See, he’s from M High School.” Said Tetsu-senpai. “Oh? Oh——”That man patted my shoulders and said:

“There was a time when Tetsu was wearing this uniform too!”

He shot a look at the narrow kitchen back door and sat down beside Tetsu-senpai. I started to get confused, aren’t the seats here just for NEETs?

“Hi, it’s the first time meeting you. Here’s my card.” He took a piece of card out of his pockets and handed it to me. He IS a working person! While thinking so, I took the card, on the card it was printed:

‘NEET
Hiroaki Kuwabara’

…… Huh? I nearly fainted at that moment.

To make sure of the world that I live in, I breathed in deeply and looked at my surroundings. Tetsu-senpai was eating ice cream, Major was eating salt-flavored ramen. Ayaka was busy washing bowls in the smoky kitchen, Min-san was having a battle royale in the flames. Looking at the night skies in this autumn, the only person who finds that something was wrong was me.

“Is…… Is your job a NEET?”

I asked cautiously. Hiro showed me a smile worthy of a toothpaste advertisement while saying:

“What are you talking about? Being a NEET isn’t a job!”

Well, that’s true. As I was about to nod, Hiro’s next comment completely devastated me.

“Being a NEET is a lifestyle.”

He actually said that it was a lifestyle? I could almost cry. Hiro, with his eyes narrowed while pushing back his hair, was meaninglessly handsome. What on earth is with these people?

“Did you make these cards before, Hiro?”

“Well, its quite convenient while flirting. When people just see it they’ll be laughing.”

“Didn’t I tell you that you’ll make your girlfriend angry like this, and don’t flirt with other people so much?”

“Ah, I broke up with her already. I’m now living at the house of a lady working at a night club, saying that I’m jobless from the start makes my life much easier!”

So Hiro is a gigolo! Well, he did say that it was a lifestyle.

I listened to their conversation at the side while drinking the ramen soup, but I didn’t really notice the taste. From their conversation, I gathered that they were about 18 to 19, supposed to be teenagers who have bright futures.

I vaguely thought to myself: would Tetsu-senpai’s words come true, I’ll turn out like them soon? I just hope that this won’t be true.

After we finished eating the ramen, and were tasting the ice creams (Tetsu-senpai was eating his second one), an extremely noisy rock music suddenly blared in this narrow space, it was ‘Colorado Bulldog (Note: Song by the band Mr. Big)’. The three immediately sprang up, took out their handphones, the three handphones almost simultaneously playing the same ringtone.

Tetsu-senpai picked up the call first, then Major and Hiro’s phone immediately stopped ringing, they showed an expression that seemed very much like regret.

“Min-san, Alice has an order for you! Onion ramen, without ramen, roast pork and egg.”

Doesn’t that mean there’s only onions left? I thought to myself. After three minutes, the bowl that Min-san took out does look like there’s only onions and soup.

“Tell this clearly to her, we sell ramen.” Min-san said with a sour expression on her face.

The onions floating in the soup seemed like islands on the sea of soup. Tetsu-senpai, Major and Hiro looked at each other.

“The problem is, who’s gonna take it to her?” said Tetsu-senpai.

“Does Alice seem like she’s in a bad mood?” asked Hiro.

“Definitely.”

“Do you take it to her?” me asking this question was a sign of doom. Tetsu-senpai nodded, and then slapped his kneecap.

“Since there’s four people here, lets decide by a Yamanote Line game（Note: Originally, it’s a game where the each player tells the name of a station that the Yamanote Line can reach. Here, they will say things that are related to the topic given）, the one who loses sends it.”

Four people?

“So what’s the topic?”

“Lets use “Brochures commonly found at employment agencies” then.”

“Okay, but there’s only one chance when you can’t answer.”

“Wa- Wait a minute, did you count me in?”

“Okay, lets start from me. ‘ Guide to a Laborer’s Insurance’.”

“ ‘Searching for your Dreams from Thirty-two’.”
“ ‘Discover your Talents in Two Minutes’.”

“Ah, uh, erm……”

“Narumi, that’s your first loss. ‘How to Resign Favorably’.”

“ ‘Creating Your Business From A Computer’!”

“ ‘Guide for Blending in your New Workplace’.”

“…… How on earth would I know any of those!”

“Ah, getting angry are you? Narumi, as long as you’re a NEET, you’ll know about these! Going to an employment agency but coming back without doing anything, this is a route that we must take.”

No, the problem is I’m not a NEET.

“If you lose you’ll have to admit it.”

“Don’t mind it, Narumi, it isn’t embarrassing that you don’t know about these.”

“Well, of course! Don’t console me!”

“But you still have to send over the ramen!”

Unable to retort, that was how I fell into their trap.

The place that I was supposed to send the ramen was in the same building as the ramen shop, but in the third floor, room 308. As they said: “You’ll know when you go.” There was a large signboard on the door.

‘NEET Detective Agency’

The words were written with a somewhat cute handwriting, and there were a row of mystifying English words.

It’s the only NEET thing to do

My mind have already gone numb after the events that I’ve gone through today, so I won’t be surprised if I see a NEET being a detective. I used the corner of the tray that was holding the ramen to press the electric bell, and the electric bell that was modified with a side camera flashed a blue light. According to Tetsu-senpai, that was the sign for ‘Come in’.

After opening the door, I saw that it was a long single room. As the air-conditioner was going strong, it was even colder that outside. Walking past the fridge, kitchen and washing machine in the corridor, a narrow room could be seen. As there were not any partitions in the room, a computer rack could be seen even from the entrance, and countless monitors filled the walls of the room.

“Your ramen is here……”

“Please enter.”

The voice of a young girl sounded from inside of the room.

While holding the tray,I walked into the room. This room is really quite something. Three sides of the walls were covered with unknown machines, liquid plasma monitors and electric cables, the small space left —— the floor in the middle of the room, was also filled with a mattress. As if buried in dolls, the silhouette wearing pajamas turned over her head.

[[Image:Kamisama no memocho vol01 037.jpg|thumb|''She looked just like a doll.'']]
She looked just like a doll. She had a small face, a pair of large eyes that were in contrast with here face, unbelievably white skin, thin limbs, sleek hair flowing on the sheets, and was wearing pale blue pajamas with pictures of cartoon bears on it. I held the tray and stared at the girl.

The girl shifted aside the table with the keyboard on, and pulled out another long table to her bed, just like those small tables that were used with the mattresses in the hospital.

“What are you standing there for? I ordered onion ramen. I don’t remember ordering a high school student-shaped decoration.”

“Ah, um…… Where should I put the ramen?”

“Standing so far away, do you think that my hands seem like they’re long enough that I can take the bowls from your hands?”

I was scolded by her. But I do not even feel angry or surprised anymore. I placed the tray on the table in front of the girl. She took the disposable chopsticks, looked at it for awhile and breathed in deeply. Her small face was full of vigor, the hands holding the tip of the chopsticks was applying force on it. But when the chopsticks were dragged into a ‘人’ shape, it just shook but did not separate. How little strength does this girl have?

“…… Would you like me to give you a hand?”

The cute girl wearing the pajamas was obviously glaring at me.

“It seems that you’re the type that sees a frail bird that couldn’t fly, tosses them upwards and sink in your own satisfaction, aren’t you? This type of people is the most useless of them all. When you walk away triumphantly, the bird would fall back down on the asphalt road and die, but you won’t even know that. Being dumb really should have its own limits.”

It’s just a pair of disposable chopsticks, why am I scolded like this? But I did not retort her. Again, she breathed in deeply and applied force to separate the chopsticks.

Thwack. (sound effect)

The chopstick on the right has split into two, this is the most common result. She emotionlessly stared for awhile at the chopsticks with unequal length, and then started to cry. Hey, don’t cry!

She used the back of her hand to rub her wet eye, and started to eat the (there’s really only onions there) onion ramen. As I was thinking of this, she again started to glare at me and said: “Your interests are really out of my comprehension, does silently watching people eat make you happy?”

“Ah, so- sorry.”

When I wanted to walk out of the room, this time she said: “Where are you going? If you have gone, who’ll dispose of the bowls? You should really think about this.” I scratched my head, having no other choice, I squatted down at the entrance with my back to the mattress.

While listening to the girl wearing pajamas eating the onions, I thought of what had happened today. I was just here because I couldn’t refuse Ayaka’s request…… Then, I encountered a lot of stuff. I was very tired. As I was about to drift into sleep, the girl’s voice rang out yet again.

“Narumi, I’m done. Get some beverages for me from the fridge.”

Startled, I turned back to face the girl.

“Eh, huh?”

“I said, get me something to drink from the fridge. Falling asleep even in someone else’s house, you are so shameless.”

Who are you to say that about me? But still, I followed her instructions as I did not have the energy to resist. Opening the fridge, it was stuffed full of 350ml red cans, and nothing else. I thought that all of them were Coke, but they were actually all [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr_Pepper Dr. Pepper], I don’t even have the energy to say anything. The girl drank all of the Dr. Pepper that I brought her in one breath, and happiness welled out from her face. Seeing that expression, I felt that I could forgive everything.

“When God was creating the world, it was because He drank Dr. Pepper that He took a rest on the seventh day. If Dr. Pepper does not exist, there would be twelve days in a week instead of seven.”

“Is that so?”

“Narumi, you should drink it too! I can’t give you the ones in my fridge, but I can tell you where you can get them.”

Aren’t you giving me a drink?

“…… Wait!” That was when I realized: “Why do you know my name?”

Was it when she was talking to Tetsu-senpai on the phone? No, at that moment Alice was just ordering her onion ramen, and she hung up after she ordered. There wasn’t any time for them to say my name.

“Fujishima Narumi, sixteen, male, 164cm tall, weighs 51kg, in class 1-4 of M high school……” She fluently said all of my basic information —— address, phone number, educational background, and family background. I was speechless.

“Ayaka said that there was a new club member, so I just investigated a bit. There is so much information in your school, but there are so little protective measures, it’s better if you be more careful.”

At a loss of words, I looked at the wall formed by computers.

“…… Are you a hacker?”

“I’m not a hacker.”

The girl smiled while shaking her head.

“I’m a NEET detective.”

The detective said, Alice was partly her real name, and partly an alias.

“Yuuko can also be read as Alice (Note: 有子is read as yuuko, but 有can be read as ari, 子 can be read as su). The name Alice was taken from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Tiptree,_Jr. James Tiptree's] real name.”

“Who is she?”

Alice sat on the mattress while hugging her knees, looking at me as if looking at an idiot.

“She’s a novelist! Didn’t you see the signboard at the door? Although I changed a letter, it was quite a famous quote! Haven’t you read of it before?”

I cocked my head, thinking of the English words on the signboard.

“Detectives that you speak of…… Don’t they just accept other people’s requests and investigate various cases?”

“I am not an ordinary detective, but a NEET detective. They are as different as Chofu and Den Enchofu, mind you. An ordinary detective asks around for information, monitors other people, all in all going here and there to search for information and find their target. NEET detectives, however……”

Alice puffed up her chest, turned around to the wall covered with machines and waved her hands.

“Do not need to leave their rooms even a step, but can search the whole world to find out the truth. You probably just think that I’m just a hikkikomori who’s overly reliant on the Internet, huh? You don’t need to lie.”

“Erm….. Yeah.”

“Hmph, that’s because the common man cannot understand the work of a detective. A detective is the representative of the deceased, looking for words lost from their graves, hurting the living for the sake of protecting the honour of the deceased, and condemning the dead for the sake of consoling the living. That is why this is an unpopular and misunderstood occupation……
Are you showing an expression that says why am I, as a hikkikomori, saying all these?”

“No, my expression shouldn’t be that obvious.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“But you look like you have something to say. Don’t worry, just ask! Because of my occupation, I am already used to unending questions. And I will let you fall into despair very quickly.”

…… Despair?

I don’t really have anything much to ask, just that I’m a bit shocked by the endless chatter of this strange girl, Alice. But in this situation, it seems that I need to ask a question. Looking around this room that looks like a control room, I asked the question that was the most confusing to me.

“You…… What do you usually eat? Do you always eat those stuff?”

Alice’s round eyes became even rounder.

“This small matter is the first thing that you thought of?’’

“…… I think that what we eat is very important.”

“Yes, you are correct. You are also an oddball, different from what Ayaka has said.”

Alice narrowed her eyes while looking at me, as if she was smiling.

“To obtain the nutrients essential for my body, drinking Dr. Pepper would be enough. But Min-san is very persistent, so sometimes I eat some vegetables as well.”

“So that’s why you don’t grow……”

“Where did your biased opinion that only tall people are good come from? I can list out fifty advantages for being a shorty and disadvantages of being tall, if you are willing to have a debate, I am always ready to accept the challenge.”

“No, sorry.”

I was just thinking about her height, which resulted in me mumbling to myself and getting heard.

“So do you depend on Min-san for your daily life?”

Alice raised her eyebrows.

“You’re really impolite, you know. I’ve already said that I’m a NEET detective, a NEET detective is an occupational detective! I have an actual income, and pay her for everything.”

“Eh, eh, but aren’t you a NEET?” aren’t all NEETs jobless?

“You misunderstood NEETs from a fundamental level. The second E in NEET is Employment, being employed by someone. My occupation is a personal enterprise, so I’m not employed. How other people view that would depend on themselves.”

How other people would view.

“…… Lifestyle huh?”

“In Hiro’s life, that is so. Turgenev might say call it the ending of an illusion, Dostoyevsky might call it hell, William Somerset Maugham might call it might call it reality, while Haruki Murakami might call it self. I use another name for it, but anyhow it’s unrelated to the matter of income.”

I have absolutely no idea what she is talking about, but the fact that the pajamas-clad girl earned money by being a detective is somewhat unbelievable. Which reminds me, she seems to be familiar with the usage of computers and the Internet.

“Your expression tells me that you don’t believe me. No matter, another man would come here in a moment for a request for my investigation, you’ll probably believe it after you’ve heard it.”

“…… Huh?”

At that moment, the doorbell rang as she had predicted. I turned my head around and looked at the door.

“Open the door.”

“Me?”

“It would be nice if the agency adds some other way to welcome guests besides the blue lights.”

As I walked to the entrance to open the door, I froze as there were three men outside the door. The young man in the middle was wearing a leather coat, looked slightly older than me, but his expression was wild like a wolf. The other two were flanking his sides, one was a man having muscles like a rocky mountain, the other was tall like an electric pole: the two were wearing the same gray hoodie.

“Who is this guy? Where’s Alice?”

The wolf said. It was as if I was pierced by his sharp gaze, my lips were trembling and unable to speak. At this moment, Alice’s voice came from inside the room:

“Oh, Yondaime, please come in.”

The two people behind the man who was called Yondaime said: “We’ll wait here.” And then I was dragged into the room. After the door was closed, the two men disappeared from my field of vision. At the moment when I was closing the door, I felt as if I was glared at, my hands holding the door handle was trembling.

“Narumi, get another can of Dr. Pepper.”

Alice’s voice finally peeled my hands off the door handle.

“Hey, who is that guy? Aren’t we going to talk about work later?”

When I handed the Dr. Pepper to Alice, Yondaime who was sitting beside the matress used his chin to point at me, and then turned around and said to me: “You get out for a moment.”

“Eh?”

Telling me to go outside the room to become best friends with the two bear-like bodyguards, and wait for you to finish discussing? What are you talking about!

“Yondaime, just think that there’s a high school student-shaped decoration here, relax and start the discussion.”

“Hey, Alice, are you joking? You should know that this isn’t something that you can let outsiders know!”

“It doesn’t matter, Narumi is only my assistant for today, I can guarantee that he would not speak of this to other people.”

I don’t even know when I’ve become an assistant.

“It’s not that.”

“If you’re so insistent, why don’t you talk so that outsiders wouldn’t understand? Your job has a lot of jargons anyway. If you would not want then, you can just request some other people.”

An awkward expression appeared on Yondaime’s face and he used his foot to kick the bedstead. Finally, he sighed and started to talk.

Indeed, I could not understand a thing, it was all a bunch of unknown nouns and verbs that you couldn’t understand. The ones that I could barely understand “deal with him when we catch him”, are the ones that I really don’t want to understand.

“Hmm.”

Alice finished listening to Yondaime’s explanation and finished drinking her second can of Dr. Pepper.

“I understand. Narumi, do you understand what he just said?”

I hastily shook my head.

“Is that so? Basically, someone is doing unknown drug dealing behind Yondaime’s back, so he requested me to help find out about the ways that they deal drugs.”

“What is the use of me talking like that when you explain it to him!” Yondaime flew into a rage, that was quite understandable. I felt somewhat happy and thought: Great, finally someone would teach her a lesson…… “What is with that happy look on your face!” Yondaime’s changed his target of anger to me. I could only retreat to the corridor and hid behind the fridge.
“Well, as I had a big headache this morning, I wanted to enrage the first person who came in to vent my annoyace, whoever it was. Although Narumi was the first person to come in, but for some reason he is quite tolerant of it, and didn’t get angry at all.”

So she did all that in purpose!

“Coincidentally, the next person was you, so I vented my annoyance on you, so don’t mind it. If I did anything wrong, you’ll always get angry, and that’s why I like you the most.”

Alice stretched her legs out of the blanket and smiled sweetly. At this moment, I was totally defeated (Yondaime probably was, too). Yondaime hammered the blanket for some time, tried to say something but then stopped, and then he stood up.

“So are you willing to accept the request?”

“I accept it, just leave it all to me!”

“I will mail the details to you, goodbye.”

Yondaime walked to the corridor and dragged me out from the fridge. He caught hold of my left shoulder and applied force on it until his thumb almost sinked into my body.

“Ah, ouch…….”
“I’ve remembered your face, and will find out about your address immediately. Listen closely, you didn’t hear anything just now. Is that clear?”

The wolfish eyes came close to my eyes, I could only nod while trembling.

“Answer me!”

“I…… I didn’t hear anything.”

Yondaime tossed me to the ground and walked out of the room.

“Are you alright?”

As I was huddled up on the floor out of exhaustion, Alice came over and asked me. So she can walk? I’ve thought that she had an illness that causes her to die if she leaves her bed.

“I just feel very tired.”

The words popped out of my mouth. This is my feelings about what had occurred the whole day.

“If I didn’t do so, I’m afraid you’ll still think that I’m a hikkikomori who’s over-reliant on the Internet. Don’t mind it!”

“No, I already understand clearly.”

Because of Ayaka, I stepped into an unbelievable world. Drug dealing, detectives and hackers, I had always hoped that these only exist in worlds that I don’t know.

“You just wanted me to understand your work, so you said nonsensically that I’m your assistant and that I’m tight-lipped……”

“That is not nonsense. You are indeed tight-lipped, I am sure of it.”

I raised my head and looked at Alice, she was smiling. This was the first time that we’ve met, why does she dare to say so?

“Hey, Narumi. The people who met me, each and very one of them would ask: ‘Are you really a NEET? Why would you become a NEET?’ and you are the first one who didn’t ask me this question.”

Adjusting to the height of my eyes, Alice squatted down.

“Although it might be because you’re thoughtless or uncaring, but I --- we NEETs would be extremely happy. Instead of pitying us, ignoring us would be better. Why would we become NEETs, this question shouldn’t even been asked. Because there is only one reason – it is written on our page of God’s Memo Pad: ‘We lose when we work.’ There is no other reason.”

“…… God’s Memo Pad?”

“Isn’t this statement so irresponsible that it’s great?”

Placing her hands and chin on her knees, Alice said while smiling:

“What the word NEET really means, is actually not ‘Someone who doesn’t know how to do anything’, and not ‘Someone who doesn’t want to do anything’.”

<center>*</center>
Holding the empty bowl on the plate while walking out of the NEET Detective Agency, I saw that it was completely dark outside already. The starlight was hidden by the piercing lights on the earth, and could not be seen. The ramen shop below had become extremely crowded, you could hear laughter and angry shouts coming from there.

After I went down the ladder, I found Yondaime sitting on the seat that was specially reserved for NEETs that I was sitting on just now. Tetsu-senpai, Major, Hiro and Yondaime surrounded the wooden table, and looked like they were doing something together. You could hear the clear tinkle of a bell-like sound from far away.

“Sou-san! Didn’t you say that you’d just play for five minutes!”

The bodyguard, Rocky, who was standing behind Yondaime was shouting angrily by Yondaime’s ears.

“Shut up, how I go back when I’m in a losing streak! Tetsu, hurry up and throw already!”

“Okay, four five and six.”

“Impossible!”

A large bundle of money was on the bowl, so they’re playing a game of dices. Do these four know each other?

“Fujishima-kun, Min-san made a new ice cream, do you want to try some?”

Ayaka ran out holding an ice cream cone. While licking the ice cream which was giving out a fragrant aroma, I listened to the dice tinkling along in the bowl. Yondaime was shouting with his whole face red, throwing his cash on the bowl like a ninja throwing knives. Looking at this situation, I couldn’t help but feel – somewhat happy.

<center>*</center>
On the way home, the streetlights on the street was very dim. Ayaka, who was walking in front of me, turned her head over and said:

“I’m so sorry, I said that I wanted to have a welcome party for you, but coincidentally the shop was busy……”

Which reminds me, I don’t think I’ve talked much with Ayaka today at the shop. There were so many customers that even I helped to deliver.

“Oh yeah, did you see Alice?”

“Yeah…… She’s an oddball.” I couldn’t say anything else about her.

“But today was really unbelievable. There are indeed a lot of interesting people behind the ramen shop, but its rare that all of them are present like today! You’re so lucky, Fujishima-kun.”

“Does that count as lucky?”

Indeed, the people who I’ve met today and the faces that I’ve seen has far exceeded my brain capacity, but I still remembered all of them. Tetsu-senpai, Min-san, Major, Hiro, Alice and Yondaime.

“It would be even better if brother could come.”

Brother?

“After my brother left school, he became a NEET. He usually went to the ramen shop to hang out with Tetsu-senpai and the others. But recently he doesn’t even go home, or go to the shop. I couldn’t even reach his phone.”

“You can’t really say that all of those who hang out there don’t have a job……?”

A horrible illusion came upon me. When I leave school someday, would I be like them?

Ayaka turned over her head and said: “Did you ever think of leaving school?”

“Everyday.”

Under the streetlight, an unidentifiable expression appeared on Ayaka’s face.

“…… Even now?”

I was momentarily speechless. Being unable to immediately answer this question is indeed strange.

Ayaka gazed sincerely at me.

I averted her gaze and lied: “Now…… I don’t want to……. Probably!”

“Is that so.” A gentle smile appeared on Ayaka’s face.

“But I think you don’t need to lie right now.”

I stopped walking, speechless, and Ayaka stopped too. We were standing coincidentally in the middle of two streetlights, our shadows interlaced together on the asphalt road.

“…… Why?”

I could only say this one word. Why? How did she know that I was lying?

“Because…… It was originally my place.” Ayaka said. “It was because there were no other members that I entered the gardening club. So in this case, I’m your senior for about half a year!”

I pondered the reason why Ayaka can smile while saying such a thing. Because she is different from me, and can chat with the other students in our class as if nothing had happened, it seemed as natural as breathing.

Hearing me speak of my true thoughts, she showed me an even more transparent smile which was like glass.

“It’s really simple, you could do it too. Shout when you’re angry like the others, and laugh when you’re happy like the others, speak your mind when you want something.”

I lowered my head, and thought repeatedly about what Ayaka meant by her words. I still don’t get it. I just felt that her words was like a busybody, although its contents completely suits my current situation.

After we crossed the bridge, Ayaka and I said goodbye to each other.

Looking at the silhouette of Ayaka running towards the station, I thought of a scene when she was shouting or laughing like the others. Isn’t that just pushing herself? Doe she mean that I should do that to? Forcing myself to talk to the other students, forcing myself to smile

I wish that she would not care about me anymore. I just couldn’t do what she said.

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| Return to [[Kamisama no Memochou|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
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Kamisama no Memochou

2012-01-02T15:49:49Z

Pmt7ar: /* The God's Notebook series by Hikaru Sugii */

[[Image:GN_Vol_01_cover.jpg|thumb|Volume 1 Cover]]
Kami-sama no memochou (神様のメモ帳, literally God's Notebook), also known as Heaven's Memo Pad, is a light novel series written by Hikaru Sugii and illustrated by Mel Kishida. The series has currently 8 volumes and is adapted into other medias.

==Story Synopsis==

==Awards==
'''Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! (このライトノベルがすごい!) 2011'''
*10th place in Best Novel Series, Sugii Hikaru
*2nd place in Best Female Character, Alice

'''Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! (このライトノベルがすごい!) 2012'''
*14th place in Best Novel Series, Sugii Hikaru
*5th place in Best Female Character, Alice
== Translation ==

===[[Kamisama no Memocho:Registration Page|Registration]]===


Translators are asked to [[Kamisama no Memocho:Registration Page|register]] which chapters they're working on.

===Format Standards===
'''Every Chapter (after editing) must conform to the general format guidelines.'''
*[[Format_guideline|General Format/Style Guideline]]

=== Feedback ===
'''If you enjoyed the series, why don't you tell us in the [http://www.baka-tsuki.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=4224 Feedback thread]'''

== Updates ==
*March 1, 2011 - Teaser page created
*December 14, 2011 - Volume 1 Chapter 1 complete.
*December 15, 2011 - Volume 1 Chapter 2 complete.
*December 18, 2011 - Upgraded to full project.
*December 19, 2011 - Volume 1 Chapter 3 complete.
*December 20, 2011 - Volume 1 Chapter 4 complete.
*December 22, 2011 - Volume 1 Chapter 5 complete.
*December 23, 2011 - Volume 1 Chapter 6 complete.
*December 24, 2011 - Volume 1 complete.
*December 25, 2011 - Volume 2 Chapter 1 complete.
*December 28, 2011 - Volume 2 Chapter 2 complete.
*January 2, 2012 - Volume 2 Chapter 3,4 complete.

==The ''God's Notebook'' series by Hikaru Sugii==

===Volume 1 ([[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 1|Full Text]])===
[[Image:GN_Vol_01_cover.jpg|125px|thumb|Volume 1 Cover]]
*[[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 1 Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
*[[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 1 Chapter 1|Chapter 1]] ([[GN~spanish~:Volume_1_Chapter 1|spanish]] ~5%)
*[[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
*[[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 1 Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
*[[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 1 Chapter 4|Chapter 4]]
*[[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 1 Chapter 5|Chapter 5]]
*[[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 1 Chapter 6|Chapter 6]]
*[[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 1 Chapter 7|Chapter 7]]
*[[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 1 Afterword|Afterword]]

===Volume 2===
[[Image:Kamimemo cover 2.jpg|125px|thumb|Volume 2 Cover]]
*[[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 2 Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
*[[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 2 Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
*[[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 2 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
*[[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 2 Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
*[[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 2 Chapter 4|Chapter 4]]
*Chapter 5
*Chapter 6
*Chapter 7
*Afterword

===Volume 3===
[[Image:Kamimemo cover 3.jpg|125px|thumb|Volume 3 Cover]]
*[[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 3 Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
*Chapter 1
*Chapter 2
*Chapter 3
*Chapter 4
*Chapter 5
*Chapter 6
*Chapter 7
*Afterword

===Volume 4===
[[Image:Kamimemo cover 4.jpg|125px|thumb|Volume 4 Cover]]
*[[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 4 Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
*Chapter 1
*Chapter 2
*Chapter 3
*Chapter 4
*Chapter 5
*Chapter 6
*Chapter 7
*Afterword

===Volume 5===
[[Image:Kamimemo cover 5.jpg|125px|thumb|Volume 5 Cover]]
*[[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 5 Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
*Prologue
*The Origin of the Soup at Hanamaru Ramen Shop
*The Detective's Beloved Professor
*Here Comes the Idiots of Justice
*The Twenty One Balls on that Summer
*Afterword

===Volume 6===
[[Image:Kamimemo cover 6.jpg|125px|thumb|Volume 6 Cover]]
*[[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 6 Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
*Chapter 1
*Chapter 2
*Chapter 3
*Chapter 4
*Chapter 5
*Afterword

===Volume 7===
[[Image:Kamimemo07 000a.jpg|125px|thumb|Volume 7 Cover]]
*[[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 7 Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
*Chapter 1
*Chapter 2
*Chapter 3
*Chapter 4
*Chapter 5
*Chapter 6
*Afterword

===Volume 8===
[[Image:Kamimemo08_cover.jpg|125px|thumb|Volume 8 Cover]]
*[[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 8 Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
*Chapter 1
*Chapter 2
*Chapter 3
*Chapter 4
*Chapter 5
*Afterword

==Project Staff==

*Project Administrator:
*Project Supervisor: :*[[User:Teh Ping|Teh Ping]]

===Translators===
'''ACTIVE'''
:*[[User:Zephyrus|Zephyrus]](Translating once every few days)

===Editors===
'''ACTIVE'''
:*[[User:J112|J112]]
:*[[User:Ff7_freak|ff7_freak]]

All editors that speak English proficiently are welcomed.

==Series Overview==
*神様のメモ帳 (January 25, 2007) ISBN 978-4840236911
*神様のメモ帳2 (June 25, 2007) ISBN 978-4840238885
*神様のメモ帳3 (June 10, 2008) ISBN 978-4048670975
*神様のメモ帳4 (July 10, 2009) ISBN 978-4048679107
*神様のメモ帳5 (May 10, 2010) ISBN 978-4048685436
*神様のメモ帳6 (February 10, 2011) ISBN 978-4048702720
*神様のメモ帳7 (July 10, 2011) ISBN 978-4048706919
*神様のメモ帳8 (September 10, 2011) ISBN 978-4048708104

[[Category:Dengeki Bunko]]

Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 8 Illustrations

2012-01-02T15:48:48Z

Pmt7ar: Created page with "These are novel illustrations that were included in volume 8 <gallery> Image:Kamimemo08_cover.jpg|'''Front cover''' Image:Kamimemo08_000a.jpg Image:Kamimemo08_000b.jpg Image:Kam..."

These are novel illustrations that were included in volume 8

<gallery>
Image:Kamimemo08_cover.jpg|'''Front cover'''
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Image:Kamimemo08_047.jpg|'''Page 047'''
Image:Kamimemo08_121.jpg|'''Page 121'''
Image:Kamimemo08_153.jpg|'''Page 153'''
Image:Kamimemo08_219.jpg|'''Page 219'''
Image:Kamimemo08_291.jpg|'''Page 291'''
Image:Kamimemo08_327.jpg|'''Page 327'''
</gallery>

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| Forward to [[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 8 Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
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Pmt7ar:

Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 2 Chapter 2

2011-12-28T18:35:30Z

Pmt7ar: Kishiwada-kai -> Tabara-gumi (田原（たばら）組)

==Chapter 2==

Knowing that I wouldn’t get a wink of sleep even if I went home anyways, I directly went to Hanamaru to check out the situation. The steel door of the ramen shop was unexpectedly half open even though it’s so early, and trapezium-shaped light shone on the gray asphalt road. Squatting down to look at the interior of the shop, I could see a silhouette with small braids walking in and out of the counter. It was Meo. What in the world is she doing at this time?

I really don’t know how to mention her father’s problem to me, and since I haven’t sorted out my own feelings yet, I really don’t feel like meeting her. However, Meo noticed me as I was about to leave, and she opened the door for me. By now, I couldn’t escape anymore.

“You’re up early, Mr. Assistant.”

“No, I just haven’t slept yet.”

In contrast with my mind, my body was already extremely tired, so I just sat down on the seat in the middle of the counter.

“Min-san is probably still sleeping, right?”

“No no, Min-san said that she always jogs at this time.”

Oh? She’s quite the athlete.

“In the end, I woke up too. I’m making breakfast right now. Do you want to eat, Mr. Assistant?”

I didn’t really notice until she mentioned it. A fragrant smell was indeed floating out from the kitchen, and made me feel somewhat hungry. I was taken aback by the huge appetite of Yi Ling-san and the others, so I only ordered coffee, but I’m feeling rather hungry right now.

“You cooked for me too?”

“Yeah, it’s going to be done soon.”

The bowl that she brought out was filled with clear soup, porridge, clams and prawns. It was also topped with sesame and leaves of spices. Although she didn’t use any special ingredients (I should mention that most of them were from Hanamaru), the fragrance of foreign cooking filled the shop. She called it Khao Tom, which probably means Thai porridge.

The next dish was a colorful veggie salad, emitting a sweet sour smell, and also had the fragrance of peppermint. This meal is actually quite rich for a breakfast.

“Your cooking is not bad.”

“That’s because I’m learning to be a good wife.”

While washing the pot, Meo answered while smiling. Is she serious or joking?

“How old are you, Meo?”

“Fourteen.”

She’s two years younger than me, but she seems to be more energetic than me.

“As long as your parents agree, you can marry after two years. But you don’t have any people you like, do you?”

“I do. My dad.”

The green pepper in the salad jammed into my windpipe at that instant, causing myself to hack violently. Meo immediately handed me a glass full of water. She’s so considerate. She’ll probably be a great wife in the future…… Ah, that’s not the point!

“…… Is it okay for you to still dream of being your father’s bride even though you’re already fourteen?”

“Why? We’re not related by blood, so we can marry!”

Eh, is that so?

“My real father died before I was given birth. My current dad met mom at Thailand, and they brought me to Japan after marrying there.”

Aside from the skin colour ,Meo’s features are actually quite similar to a Japanese person, I even thought that she came from mixed races. So since he’s a stepfather, then they can probably marry…… Wait, is that really the problem?

…… Maybe it’s this problem?

Though I wanted to comment that it wasn’t that right, I really don’ know how to say that.

“Hiro taught me too: ‘You can just become my adopted daughter, then you can marry your father.’ Then I’ll be both his daughter and his wife! He was very excited when he said that.”

What is that sex offender thinking of……

“But I don’t understand, why is Mr. Assistant so agitated too?”

Now that she mentioned it, I don’t really know myself. Well…… It’s just that…… Is that really okay!?

I swallowed my inexpressible feelings with the porridge, and calmed down after some time. Actually I don’t really have to be agitated, as it’s not my life anyways.

“I just don’t know if dad is willing to marry me.”

“You can say that again……” I would say that it’s almost impossible. “How old is your father?”

“Mnn…… About thirty eight? But the big sisters who live in the same building said that they cannot see that dad is already at that age. Let me tell you, dad’s face is as good looking as a mountain cat when he’s sleepy. I love dad’s sleepy face.”

What does that mean! What kind of sleepy face is that? No, I should say that it’s the first time I heard someone praising a man’s sleepy face. No matter what, this way of saying it is really rare.

“I was not that good at cooking before, but dad would still eat up all my cooking, which is why I decided to work at a restaurant to improve my cooking. Oh yeah, is it good?”

“Mnn, it’s great.”

Meo’s smiling face is just like a fresh tart, and made me rather envious of Kusakabe Masaya for a moment. He actually let such a girl bring along such a dangerous amount of money, where is he right now? What’s he up to?

I thought of ways to explain this dangerous situation. Things have changed so much that even yakuza are involved in it, and I felt moody just thinking about it. I really think it’s better if we could convince her to call the police.

“Actually I want to learn more dishes from mom…… Dad probably likes mom’s cooking best.”

It was as if Meo’s eyes was looking at the skies of Thailand far away. Her mother…… Didn’t she pass away already?

I suddenly remembered the guild that Yi Ling-san and Jennifer spoke of. They introduce Japanese men to the foreign women working in the country, did Kusakabe Masaya do that too?

“I saw it on a photo, the fact that I look exactly like my mother. So dad….. would probably like me…… right?”

Meo’s voice quavered, as if she didn’t have much confidence. Is that so?

“Did you tell your father about your thoughts?”

“No.”

“Maybe you should ask him after he comes back.” Perhaps she would get a scolding at that time?

“You say that like it’s really simple. If you can say these things so easily, there wouldn’t be so many troubled people in this world.”

Mnn, that might be so. I, myself, experienced that first hand in the incident that happened last winter, and I forgot all about it in the end because it didn’t affect me much. While I think about it, why am I chatting with a girl about these meaningless topics in the morning?

“I wonder where dad is right now……”

Meo sat down on the chair in the kitchen with her chin on the table.

“Do you know where he might be?”

Meo shook her head.

“I tried to call him from yesterday, but he didn’t answer.”

“That’s right, tell me your dad’s phone number. If his phone is on him, Alice might be able to find out his location.”

Meo widened her eyes. That’s quite an understandable reaction. But I’ve heard that after three years, people would be able to confirm the location of each phone by using the internet…… I just have this feeling that society would become even more perplexing that time.

“Oh, I see. I didn’t know that because I don’t have a phone.”

It’s rare for people not to have a phone these days.

“Dad says that children don’t need phones. After I grow up, he’ll give me back the phone that my mother used. But it’s no trouble even if I don’t have one, because the only person who I call is dad.”

Meo fluently read out her father’s phone number.

“…… Mnn?”

No phone?

I was lost in thought. Because I thought that having a phone was natural, I overlooked something｡ｪ Kusakabe Masaya couldn’t contact Meo even if he wants to, while Meo can’t reach him as well.

It’s almost like……

“Mr. Assistant, what’s wrong?”

“…… Eh? Ah! No, it’s nothing. Sorry, please repeat the number again.”

It’s almost like Kusakabe Mayasa doesn’t want Meo to know where he is, but I can’t tell Meo about that.

I entered the phone number that Meo said into the phone. The numbers of three foreign women who works in a special profession and an ex-yakuza…… In just one night, my phone memory went through groundbreaking confusion.

“I just met Yi Ling-san and the others.”

“Were they worried of me?”

“Like a mother worried of her daughter.”

Meo showed me a smile, but her expression immediately clouded over again.

“ …… I want to go home.”

I hesitated for awhile, but decided to tell her the conversation with the others in the end:

“Jennifer said…… If we find your father, then go back to Thailand. Since something like this happened, you can’t go back to the company or your apartment anymore.”

Not only the company, they may even have trouble living in the Japanese society. After hearing my words, Meo just stared at the table without saying anything.

“It’ll be okay……”

She muttered while staring at the table:

“It’ll definitely be okay, he’ll definitely be back. The big sisters would be lonely without dad too.”

No, you don’t even understand what I’m saying.

“There’s no chance of recovery if the relationship is damaged even once.”

“There’s no such thing.”

Being rebuked at once made an indescribable depression surface in my heart. I think I’ve heard similar words somewhere recently.

That’s right, it was Alice. When we mentioned Ayaka, she said: “Don’t you believe in miracles?”

It isn’t really the problem of believing or not believing.

At that moment, my phone suddenly started to vibrate, and the noisy guitar music of ‘Colorado Bulldog’ started to blare from my phone, startling me so much that I almost dropped my phone.

“Hello......”

‘Why are you still dawdling down there? You should just come report at the office since you’re already here. Didn’t you just meet Meo’s neighbor?’

Really, so that girl is already awake. Or did she even sleep? I really don’t know what time she goes to bed.

“Alright, alright. I’m coming.”

I sighed and hung up.

“Miss Detective knows that Mr. Assistant is nearby? Does she have psychic powers?” How is that a psychic power?

“Although you wouldn’t notice from its appearance, actually there are surveillance cameras all around the building. If anyone comes, Alice would be able to see him from the screen in her room.”

“Oh, I see.”

Meo looked around, but actually there aren’t any surveillance cameras in the shop.

“Is Miss Detective timid?”

“Perhaps.”

What is Alice actually scared of? The whole world? Is that why she doesn’t go out?

Never mind, it doesn’t matter. It’s because of the fact that she doesn’t go out that I could help, albeit a bit.
<center>*</center>

“The circles under your eyes are really dark.”

Alice glanced at me from her bed, and immediately commented. Because I kept going here and there late night, my body has already frozen, and I almost couldn’t cope with the cold air-conditioner in the office.

“Is it really that bad?”

“It reminds me of the time you took the drug.”

Alice said that, and made me recall the red markings caused by the Angel Fix. Will I have bruises on my face if I don’t have enough sleep now? Please stop joking.

“If you still feel sleepy, then close your eyes and thank God for giving you a chance to sleep.”

She said somewhat unhappily, and turned around to face the keyboard again. The sound of the air conditioner interlaced with the light rhythm of Alice typing on the keyboard. I could still feel a hint of sleepiness, but it drifted about fifty centimeters above me, and doesn’t have any sign of descending on me.

“Alice, what time do you usually go to sleep?”

I suddenly thought of the question. As she’s a hikikomori, maybe she’s nocturnal?

“The moment when I sleep is when everyone in the world sleeps. If only there’s anyone who may threaten me awake, I will not hand myself to Hypnos.”

“Er｡ｭ..”

I still don’t understand what she’s trying to say.

“That means that I almost never sleep. The longest time that I slept is probably about an hour. Some doctors said that it’s an illness, while some doctors said that it’s a physical condition, then expressed their strong desire of wanting to do research on me. That was one of the reasons that I ran away from home.”

“Uh......” Is that problem really okay?

“Strictly speaking, it seems that my brain would go into a half-sleeping mode from time after time. Hmph, it’s the zenith of annoyance. That’s why my life is confined to this small area on my bed. The only time when I can get some rest is when I lie down while tightly holding Mocha Bear. Even then, the fluttering wings of a tiny bug could bring me out of my temporary respite.”

I looked at mocha bears that are much larger than Alice around her. I’ve remembered that Hiro once mentioned, if she didn’t have those bears, Alice wouldn’t be able to sleep. So this statement isn’t completely wrong.

Even if she is cooped up in her room, surrounded by a wall of bears of various sizes, she is still unable to fall asleep.

How would you explain that? It’s definitely an illness!

“To me, the people who would uncaringly hand one third of their time to the darkness are the ones who’s mystifying. Wouldn’t you feel uneasy? The god of slumber and the god of death are brothers in Greek mythology.”

“Do you feel uneasy? Are you that afraid of the things around you?”

“Yes.”

Alice finally stopped typing on her keyboard and looked at me.

“I am afraid of all the things in this world that I am unable to comprehend, preparing to make trouble at a place that I cannot see, expanding and engulfing me.”

“Oh......”

I subconsciously turned my head away.

I could feel it, she wasn’t joking.

“So｡ｪ you, who do not feel fear, just bluntly, lazily sleep without caring about your image.”

“I’m telling you that I can’t sleep!”

I kneeled in front of the bed and said:

“And I’m here to report to you.”

“Mnn, it seems so.”

“The people monitoring Meo’s house are indeed yakuza, and I’ve heard that they’re from Tabara-gumi.”

I repeated what Yi Ling-san, Hua-san and Jennifer told me.

“...... Hello Corporation is a puzzling company.”

“I still don’t know what the company does.”

“It’s a company that provides laborers on the surface, but actually most of the workers are women from south-east Asia and China, and they’re working in a ‘special’ trade. The reason for starting employment courses and so on, is probably for tax avoidance. If yakuza are involved too, it would be better to ask Yondaime.”

“But do we need to investigate the information about the company in such detail?”

Don’t we need to find Meo’s father first?

“The bag that Meo brought had two hundred million yen in it. How do you think that happened?”

“...... Didn’t he take the company’s money?”

“I don’t mean that, I’m asking why is it filled with cash worth two hundred million yen?”

I shook my head. I really don’t know what Alice is trying to say.

“Are you saying that there aren’t that much money in the company? Or are you saying that it’s strange for the company to have that much cash?”

“Those are my questions too, but not only that...... Forget it for now. The information that we have is too little. No matter what, the request that I accepted is to protect Meo and to save Kusakabe Masaya. We can’t just stop after we locate him, so we must first investigate what is happening with Hello Corporation.”

“...... Okay.”

It seems that I can’t help with this matter too. Even if I could, probably it’s just telling Meo the bad news? For example, when her father is proven to be a criminal.

Can I still be the assistant of the detective even then?

“Anyways, we have too little information. Indeed, we started the investigation later than Tabara-gumi, which is why they have more information than us. Thus, we can’t avoid them just because they’re yakuza. If we just investigate the company or the actions of the gang, we might be able to get some threads of information from them.”

“Ah, that’s right. She told me the phone number of her father just now.”

“I’ve already found out his number, and I’m investigating his phone log. Doing this needs a lot of time, if the phone has GPS function, it would be better to locate him.”

After hearing that, I lowered my head weakly. It it’s Alice, it’s not strange even if she checked the phone log from the start. But aside from the phone log...... Have we forgotten about something? What is it? While hugging my knees, I thought about the doubt in my heart, but I just couldn’t figure it out. A person like me, would I be in the heart of things, but still stare blankly with my mouth open like an idiot, looking at things until they turn into regret?

“What are you being autistic for?”

“I’m not being autistic.” I lied: “I’m just thinking, there’s really nothing that I can help with, even though I’m so free during the spring holidays and only work on Fridays and Saturdays......”

“Maybe I don’t sound convincing when saying this, but......”

Alice shrugged and said:

“Please don’t mind your position as a detective’s assistant too much. No matter you’re on tiptoes or is standing upside down, you’re still a high school student. But you’re just going to be a NEET after you graduate anyways, so I advise you to treasure your ordinary life right now.”

“Wow......”

I covered my face with my hand and said:

“Having my employer say that to me really makes myself, who’s in an abject situation although I’m still in the grace period of my ordinary life, lose hope for my future.”

“You can still visit Ayaka.”

My shoulders twitched for a moment. Alice stared at me with cold eyes and said:

“Why are you always so guarded each time you hear Ayaka’s name? Do you really hate visiting friends that much?”

“No, it’s not that I hate it...... It’s just that......”

From that day, I didn’t take even half a step into the hospital that Ayaka is staying at. I just couldn’t bear to see Ayaka slumbering with her eyes open, and I’m afraid that the miracle that made Ayaka open her eyes that day, is actually just a meaningless coincidence, so......

The black hair on the bed swayed slightly.

When I raised my head to take a look, I saw Alice laughing soundlessly.

“...... What are you laughing at?”

“Nothing. I just feel that you and I are very alike.”

I shook my head.

“Sorry, I’m just mocking myself, so you don’t need to think much about it. You don’t know if miracles could happen but you are afraid of losing it, while I know that the world don’t bear any hostility towards me but I am still afraid. But since you did not make fun of me, I will not make fun of you either.”

Alice’s words swirled in my mind, and I suddenly showed a relaxed expression and nodded to her.

Then, Alice turned her back against me, but the sound of her typing on the keyboard felt pleasing to my ears.

‘You say that like it’s really simple. If you can say these things so easily, there wouldn’t be so many troubled people in this world.’

I recalled Meo’s words. It is truly so.

Suddenly assaulted by a hint of sleepiness, I lied down on the bedside, drifting into dreamland.

<center>*</center>

I dreamt that I was chased by a large group of pink and purple bears.

“— Uwaaa!”

And I was woken up by my own shouts.

As I was about to raise my head, I felt something on the back of my head and my shoulders fall down. Eyes made of small black buttons were near my own eyes, shocking me into taking a step back subconsciously. It was after quite some time that I realized that it’s only a teddy bear.

The mat slid down from my back, and I sneezed because of the sudden chill. I fell asleep while lying on the bed, but was covered in bears of various sizes for some reason.

“So you’re finally awake.”

Raising my head, I saw Tetsu-senpai sitting at the edge of the bed, beside me.

Even in the cold air conditioned room, he was still wearing only a T-shirt. His strong chest and muscular arms made me think of the crowd of bears in my dream.

“Erm......”

“Saying that you can’t sleep but falling asleep right after that, you really are astounding. I applaud you.”

Alice said somewhat grumpily.

Ahh, so I fell asleep. As I was about to stand up, the wall of dolls surrounding me collapsed.

“...... What’s with all the dolls?”

“You were sleeping while mumbling something like patrasche and what what not, so I covered you with the mat, but you were STILL shivering. The problem is, there’s nothing else in my room that can be used to keep out the cold, and I couldn’t turn off my air conditioner, and it’ll be troublesome if you just freeze to death here, so that’s how it came to be.”

“Erm, Alice—”

“Since Narumi’s awake now, isn’t it better if we tell him to go to the gang’s place?”

Tetsu-senpai cruelly interrupted my words.

“Mnn, that’s true, it is better this way.”

A gang? They aren’t talking about Tabara-gumi, are they?

“I’m thinking of asking Hirasaka-gumi for help, but their inbox can’t be opened. It seems that the machine broke down. You’re probably more suitable than Tetsu for this job, so inform them about this while checking out what’s wrong with their computer.”

Oh...... So they’re referring to Hirasaka-gumi. Now I have to go to the gang’s office again.

But it can’t be help, I’m indeed the most suitable candidate. As I suddenly had a new job, sleepiness gradually left me.

“I’ll check out the police station, and maybe ask the delinquents over there if they know anything.”

Apparently, Tetsu-senpai knows the police quite well.

“But this matter isn’t really a case, so if the police got to know what is happening at Hello Corporation, it would go against our client’s wishes. But of course, getting new information is nice. So what do you plan to do?”

“I’ll think of something. Narumi, let’s go!”

Still somewhat sleepy, I was dragged out of the office by Tetsu-senpai.

As soon as I walked out of the room, rays of sunlight pierced my eyes. It’s about noon right now, isn’t it? Is this what they mean by a scorcher? I should really avoid burning the midnight oil......

Tetsu-senpai grabbed my collar while walking down the stairs. Eh, what is is? Is he angry? Did I do anything wrong?

“Senpai......”

“You slept in Alice’s room two times, didn’t you......?”

Senpai said in a low voice. When I think about it, it seems that way. Though I didn’t really fall asleep that time, but was unconscious due to the drug, but what about it?

“Why is that so, perhaps you have something special to you?”

Tetsu-senpai didn’t even glance at me, but continued to mutter to himself. I still don’t understand what’s going on.

“Never mind.”

When we reached the end of the staircase, senpai finally looked at me.

“Oh yeah, Narumi, borrow me some money!”

Is it me, or is the change of topic too sudden?

“Refused.”

“Please, I’m really confident with the Sakura Gallery. I’ll give you back double the money.”

“The problem is I don’t have any money, why don’t you borrow from Alice? She’s quite rich, actually.”

“How can I do something that embarrassing?”

And borrowing from me isn’t!?

“Really, I wonder how much money we can get from this case......”

“Tetsu-senpai, have you heard about the case this time?”

“I’ve heard all about it when you were sleeping. Meo’s problem, the matter about the Boston bag...... Ah!”

Tetsu-senpai suddenly widened his eyes. At that instant, I immediately knew what he was thinking of.

I ran past the kitchen backdoor and entered the house behind the ramen shop before Tetsu-senpai could have the chance. “Narumi, what are you doing, it’s so noisy!” even though Min-san’s scoldings could be heard, I ignored it. Meo was sitting in the house while holding a steel pan with her legs crossed, using an electronic mixer to blend fresh butter.

“Meo, hurry up and hide the bag!”

“What?”

Suddenly hearing my shouts, a surprised expression appeared on Meo’s face. Then, Tetsu-senpai pushed me away from the back and stepped into the corridor.

“Meo, can you borrow me some money?”

“No, dad said to me not to have any money transactions with other people.”

“Then it’s okay even if you don’t borrow me, you can just pretend that it’s an investment, I guarantee you that the money would increase twentyfold after the Sakura Gallery next week.”

“Wait...... Tetsu-senpai, what are you saying!?”

“Sakura Gallery—?”

“That’s right. It’s like this. Eighteen horses run around a large field for one and a half minute, then the money will increase.”

Isn’t that a bit too brief!

“Oh, so it’s horse racing, dad told me about that many times. He said that many people who need money would always borrow money from him on each Friday during the days when he was still a yakuza, and later he could even tell this type of people from their eyes.”

Meo used her large, innocent eyes to look at Tetsu-senpai, and made him feel flustered, while I couldn’t even get a word in.

The tense atmosphere disappeared with the severe pain that assaulted the back of my head, and I could see stars dancing around my head.

“What in the word are you guys up to? Narumi, don’t you need to work today? Stop being an eyesore here and get out!”

Min-san grabbed my collar with the hand she used to hit Tetsu-senpai and I and threw me out of the house. Why did I get beaten up too! It’s a pity that I don’t even have a chance to protest.

<center>*</center>

Hirasaka-gumi is a self-proclaimed chivalrous organization, and speaking of what they do, they just (try to) deal with the street fights in a mild manner, taking care of the whole city like this. To be exact, they’re just NEET delinquents.

Many shops around this area has the Hirasaka-gumi emblem on it, for instance clubs, stores for sports goods, boutiques and so on. If you look closely at the corner of their signboards, you would probably see sticker with a swallowtail butterfly, the emblem of the Taira clan, on it.

It is said that these shops had connections to Hirasaka-gumi from the time the shops opened, but I, as a high school student, only heard rumors about this. In reality, the only person who’s doing everything is Yondaime, the leader of the gang. The other members always look very free, cooped up in their office all they.

Because of Alice’s request, I had to go use the creaking elevator to get to the third floor of the broken down building, nervously open the iron door that the signboard of Hirasaka-gumi is hanging on, and then I saw the office stuffed full of members wearing black T-shirts.

“Err, Alice told me to come…..”

As soon as they saw me, almost all of them sprang up from the sofa. About eight people or so.

“A- Aniki, thanks for your hard work!” “Thanks for your hard work!”

These people should be older than me, and yet because of various incidents that happened in the last case, I am now worshipped by these people as their aniki. Most of the members in Hirasaka-gumi are very strong, so when they bowed at the same time, I just couldn’t help but take a few steps back.

However, I couldn’t see the two who are particularly muscular among them, Rocky and Pole, meaning that Yondaime is probably not here right now. Those two are bodyguards, so they usually tag along his side.

“We’re waiting for you, let’s start.”

“Eh? Wh- What?”

“It’s too dangerous.”

“Good thing aniki is here, now we can take it easy.”

I didn’t even know what was happening, but I was dragged to the dark study of the office. There were a wardrobes, bookshelves and a small bed used for resting, and there was a small table with an old computer on it further inside.

“I don’t know how to explain, but it just refuses to move.” One of them said to me.

“No matter how hard we hammered it, flipped it over, pulled the plug out and in again, it’s useless, so we could only ask for ane-san or aniki for help.”

What kind of idiot would think of hammering it? What if it breaks down!

Windows of Internet Explorer kept opening in the screen, filled the taskbar with numerous windows. This is a computer virus that’s lurking in the dark recently, and is a notorious, aggressive and indelible virus. But if they didn’t open any strange files, the computer probably wouldn’t get the virus that easily.

“Which website were you on when the comp got infected?”

“Eh? About that….. No clue.”

They seemed to be smiling shyly like they were hiding something.

“This virus isn’t really special technically, so there’s little chance of being infected. What did you do online?”

“Oh, nothing really. Nono, we didn’t do anything.”

“Of course we didn’t search for a pornographic website.”

“And didn’t click on a hyperlink that said ‘180 minutes of uncensored blonde babe’.”

I sighed. I really should’ve installed an internet child safety firewall before this.

“We can only reset the computer. The data inside would all disappear, is that alright?”

“What? We put in so much effort to search for an uncensored website too!”

“Idiot, don’t speak of that!”

“No- no problem. Please take care of it before Sou-san comes back.”

Oh, I see. They’ll probably get scolded if Yondaime saw that. No wonder they’re so agitated. I heaved a long sigh again and sat in front of the computer.

When Yondaime returned, I was just reinstalling the programs in the operating system. The lackeys cheered beside me “As expected of aniki!” “The speed of aniki using the mouse is so quick that I can’t even see it clearly!” Can’t you guys pipe down? It’s distracting.

“Sou-san! Th- th- thanks for your hard work!” “Thanks for your hard work!”

As soon as they heard the sound from the door, the lackeys who were around me rushed to greet Yondaime.

“Gardening Club kid, what are you doing here?”

While walking into the study, Yondaime glared at me, as if his ferocious gaze was telling me that he’ll cut off my finger if I move. He wore a crimson Chinese-styled coat with a picture embroidered on it. If other young people wore it, they would probably be said as showing off, but on this person, it feels rather scary. (I recently heard that the picture embroidered on the coat was sewed by Yondaime himself, so the fact that his sewing skills are at professional level is true.) Rocky and Pole stood behind him, the broadest and tallest men in the gang respectively.

“Well— it seems like the computer has gone haywire.”

The lackeys standing behind Yondaime were pleading with their palms closed, so I didn’t speak the truth.

Yondaime showed an uncaring expression and sat behind the short bookshelf behind me.

He unwillingly thanked me.

“Erm, I’m thinking of limiting the usage of the computer so that people wouldn’t just use the computer as they like. Yondaime, so that you’ll be the only one to use the computer, can you please decide on a password?”

“Didn’t I tell you not to call me that?” He glared at me. Then how should I call you? You’re not telling me to call you Hina, are you? I’ll probably get beaten to death.

“I’m not really good at these things, so just do as you like!”

“Even so, there should still be someone who knows how to operate all the functions!”

“Isn’t it okay if aniki could use it?” Pole said.

“I’m not even one of your members……”

And if it’ll be hectic if I keep getting called here when the computer has a problem.

“Sou-san, what do you think? Why don’t you just use this chance to undergo the sake ceremony with aniki?” Rocky said. I nearly fainted. What is this guy saying!? Yondaime glared at Rocky while frowning, but the other lackeys completely ignored our reactions, and started to get excited.

“Aniki is good at computers, and he’s got brains too.”

“And he’s manly!” “I’ll follow aniki forever.”

Wait a sec, what’s with this situation!? Gimme a break!

“Shut up!”

Yondaime’s roar made the excited lackeys shut their mouths immediately.

“What are you guys thinking of? And this guy is still a high schooler too!”

You can’t enter the gang if you’re not a NEET, it is said that it’s the principle of their leader, Yondaime; And I don’t want to enter anyways. But Rocky said at this moment:

“Really? But I heard Major and Tetsu-san(?) saying that his attendance is lacking and fails almost all of his tests, and is almost confirmed to be kicked out of school……”

Don’t listen to those idiots!

“If aniki joins us, it’ll be an instant boost of our strength.”

“So noisy. Oi, Gardening Club kid! Hurry up and get into the main topic if you’re finished with that.”

“…… Ah, yes, okay.”

I handed the copy of information I got from Alice to Yondaime, a photo of what looks like a clever man was printed on it. That person is Meo’s father— Kusakabe Masaya’s photo that Yi Ling-san saved in her phone, I told her to send it to me. You really can’t tell that he’s almost forty.

Just like last time, I edited the photo to emphasize his face, and his face is really the cat-type.

Yondaime glanced at the photo for a moment and immediately passed it to the others.

“Make five hundred copies of this!”

“Understood! I shall go hone my manly aura right away!”

After some detailed instructions, the lackeys left the room. It’s hard to imagine how quick the bunch of idiots from just now could finish their work that quickly. As long as their leader is present, all of them would become uptight.

When only two of us were left, Yondaime turned around and said while looking at me:

“I’ll distribute the photos to the people around this neighborhood, and tell them to keep an eye open, but we can’t continue the investigation if there’s no more evidence. I’ll take a look at manga stores or hostels and so on, Alice should know that, right?”

“She said that would be enough.”

Actually, it seems that Alice wants to know about the condition of Hello Corporation more. To the NEET detective who doesn’t go out, collecting information from yakuza on the internet is much easier than doing a thorough search on the streets.

“Hello Corporation borrowed money from financial companies when it first opened, so I advise you to hand the money and the cash to the police if you don’t want to get hurt.”

“Financial companies?”

“They’re the companies who target people who can’t borrow money from the bank, underground companies who sometimes charge tenfold for their interest. Those people are important sources of money, and they even have close connections with Tabara-gumi, so it’s best if you don’t get involved.”

So it’s really not a normal company. I recalled the two men chasing me at Hello Company and suddenly felt a chill on my back. If I was caught by them at that time, I wonder what would happen to me now? I might not get off the hook with just injuries. But—

“But Alice said that this is a request.”

“You’ll save anyone just because you accepted the request? They’re not even related to you.”

“Does that mean that you don’t save people unrelated to you?”

“The only people that I will help unconditionally are limited to my people and the friends of my people. We should have a suitable borderline, or it’ll be never ending. How many people on this street do you think have been forced to a corner?”

There are about six billion people in this world. Saving all of them, not even God can do that, but……

“Alice…… She really plans to save all of humanity.”

“I know, she’s an idiot.”

I recalled what Alice had said.

‘…… escaping my own helplessness, escaping the world that continues to be lost because of my uselessness…… But even so, I still cannot find the answer.’

It’s not because of pity or her sense of justice, the detective only tries to solve the mystery entangling her clients to deny her own helplessness.

“Tetsu and Hiro help just because they like it, too. What a bunch of idiots.”

Yondaime breathed in deeply, then stood up and said:

“What about you?”

His words pierced deeply into my heart. Why am I taking action? Yondaime is asking me that. But the most regretful thing is, I could not find a suitable answer.

“Because…… I’m Alice’s assistant.”

The reason that I said after some thought was that. That’s not an answer at all.

Yondaime could probably sense that it’s a meaningless excuse as well.

“Being a layman, you shouldn’t push yourself so much. If a fight really happens, it’ll be troublesome to us as well. So you should tell us the moment you feel something’s wrong.”

“Ah…… Alright.”

Yondaime was about to walk out of the study, but I suddenly halted him. He glared at me as he turned around, making me regret calling him.

“What?”

“…… Yondaime, why are you helping us?”

You’re not even related to us.

“I’m not helping you. I’m helping Alice.”

That’s true.

“Also…… I owe you a favor.”

I suddenly felt confused, and blankly stared at Yondaime’s mouth.

“…… Ah, no, isn’t that matter already……”

“I mean what I said, it isn’t something you decide on.”

Why am I being threatened? While thinking about that, I curled up in fright.

“Just scram if there’s nothing else!”

As I was about to walk out of the study with Yondaime, the blaring ringtone of ‘Colorado Bulldog’ started to ring.

‘Bad news. I asked Hiro to check out a few of Hello Corporation’s shops, and their people are everywhere. They are truly looking for Kusakabe Masaya because they think that he ran off with the money. A lady working at a pub even heard the yakuza discussing ‘a bag that can fill two hundred million yen’, so these people are probably looking for Meo too.’

Alice said coolly, as if she knew that it would turn out like this from the start.

“…… Then what should we do?”

‘What do you mean what should we do? I just want to complete my mission. After we locate Kusakabe Masaya, we hand him to Meo, and the rest is up to Meo, as a person harboring a criminal can’t really be blamed if he’s related to the person.’

“Mnn……”

I hung up with a heavy heart. The person who would be in charge of telling Meo would probably be me, huh?

Yondaime forcefully pushed me out of the steel door and walked out, locked it and said:

“You’re not suited for these things. You should just stop.” He said in a low voice.

“…… Why do you say that?”

“The most important thing when you encounter these annoying problems, is that you must be determined to finish it from the start. A person who doesn’t have a strong resolve would just cause problems.”

While waiting for the elevator, I repeatedly pondered Yondaime’s words. Yondaime’s borderline is very clear. He would help his people and the friends of his people no matter what, and ignore the rest. What about me? For instance, if Meo asked me to help her to hide her father or help her criminal father escape, what would I do?

I really don’t know. I would probably just let Alice handle it, while I’d probably just stay out of it? Because I’m just an assistant— this sentence is so convenient that it’s shameful.

“That’s why I’m saying that you can’t do it.”

As soon as the elevator door opened, Yondaime kicked me inside.

“You….. seem rather friendly today……” I said while rubbing my bottom.

“Huh?”

I curled up my whole body after being glared at by the sharp, wolf-like gaze. A cheeky person who doesn’t have strong resolve, would indeed only drag them down. The strong sense of disgust directed at myself rose up from my body, and felt like it’s forcibly stuffed down my lungs with the help of the accelerating elevator.

I parted with Yondaime after walking out of the building and walked down the slope alone. Walking to the sidewalk beside the road that was in a traffic jam, I supported myself on the railings and sighed, as I finally solved a troublesome matter. But at least I could still do these things, which made me feel that I’m not really that useless.

<center>*</center>

“Ming Hai! Over here!”

Separated by a sidewalk that was crowded with a lot of people, Yi Ling-san noticed me and waved at me while holding her phone. The person who asked me out to the crowded bus stop at the west exit of the station on this Sunday afternoon was Yi Ling-san. She wore a yellow shirt that showed her shoulders with a pair of jeans. Her casual appearance was very different from what she wore at night.

“I wasn’t being followed, so it should be okay.”

Yi Ling-san came closer to my side and grabbed my hand after saying that. Not expecting her action, I nearly fell down.

“It looks like those people are looking desperately for Meo, so we must be more careful.”

“Eh? Ah, that’s right.”

“You probably haven’t had lunch yet, right? I’ll treat you.”

Though I wasn’t too hungry, we decided to go to Rodran Coffee Shop. As it’s still noon, there were a lot of people in the shop. I ordered only coffee ole and sandwiches, found a table by the windows, then Yi Ling-san walked over while holding a platter full of food, as usual.

“These are Meo’s clothes, the ones that you asked me to get.”

“Sorry for the trouble.”

Yi Ling-san and I sat opposite to each other, and she handed me a large paper bag. As I wasn’t able to sneak into Meo’s house yesterday, I handed the keys to Yi Ling-san and asked her to get Meo a change of clothes.

“I was just about to go out, and the yakuza came over again. I just live next to them coincidentally! They’re really troublesome, so I told them that I was in a hurry and ran out.”

“What did they ask you?”

“They asked me, what did you say yesterday? Are you keeping something for someone? Do you know where he’s hiding, and so on. They also asked about Meo, because they know that our relationship is quite good. Shouldn’t we tell Meo to call the police? But she’ll get into trouble too…… But not doing that might be even more troublesome…… Hmm……”

“Meo detests the police.”

“I dislike the police as well.”

Yi Ling-san covered her face and shook her head violently.

To them, the Japanese police aren’t people who just protect them, but……

I hesitated for awhile, then told her about the Boston bag. Yi Ling-san pressed her forehead with her hand and sighed.

“So he really did pocket the company’s money?”

Taking the company’s money and hiding it at home, but failed, so he told his daughter to take away the money. This is actually quite a simple story, but if this became reality, Meo would become an accomplice (even if it wasn’t deliberate). When I started to ponder about the question, Yi Ling-san suddenly asked:

“Would that be our wages this month?”

“…… What?”

“Kusakabe-san gives us our wages himself each month, so it wouldn’t be strange even if there’s some cash at home. And you’re talking about a Boston bag, right? I saw that before this.”

“Eh? Really?”

“Yeah, Kusakabe-san brought the Boston bag to the company sometimes. Because we learned Japanese using post, Kusakabe-san compiled our syllabus each month. I originally thought that he used the Boston bag to bring those to the company.”

Which means, he brought back the wages in the bag after leaving the company?

“But…… it’s about two hundred million yen in total…..”

“Almost all of the people living in that building are employees, so it’s about right……”

Yi Ling-san stared at the sky while counting on her fingers, then heaved a sigh.

“Two hundred million yen is still too much.”

And they even let people see the bag that holds the money? What a strange company.

“Don’t you all have bank accounts?”

“Don’t you look down on us!” Yi Ling-san laughed while flicking on my forehead: “We keep the money in the bank after getting them. After deducting some automated charges, we have to send some money home; so probably there’s not even half left. What a meaningless procedure.”

“Then why are they giving you cash?”

“I don’t know either.”

“Would that be……” because it’s easier to pocket the money this way?

For example, even if it’s their wages, he used his daughter to get the money from his house and run away, so there’s probably still some hanky panky going on.

“You look like you’re being suspicious of everything.”

Well…..

“It’s because I’m a detective……’s assistant.”

Yi Ling-san laughed heartily, but her laughter soon stopped.

“I really don’t understand. Why did that guy tell her daughter to do such a dangerous thing? He’s wanted by the yakuza too.”

“…… Why is the yakuza looking for Meo too?”

“You’re asking me?”

“If it really is the company’s money, then how does it concern the yakuza?”

“Perhaps the company hired yakuza to help?”

“Then why didn’t they just call the police?”

“Hmm…… Yeah— you have a point.”

Yi Ling-san spaced out while biting her straw.

“Is it because they don’t want the public to know? Or that might not be our company’s money at all, but the yakuza’s money? But Kusakabe-san shouldn’t be able to use the gang’s money…… I really don’t understand.”

I suddenly thought about Meo who was happily mixing the butter behind the kitchen of Hanamura Ramen Shop and felt a chill on my back. A young girl who doesn’t know anything that has a bomb-like amount of money on her hands, is now in our hands.

“Please protect Meo.”

Yi Ling-san pleaded in a low voice. I lightly nodded, but I didn’t really feel confident about that.

<center>*</center>

It was about two when I finally reached Hanamaru Ramen Shop. I feel like I’m practically living here right now. While I think about it, I didn’t go home for two days straight, my sis would probably give me a huge scolding soon.

Although lunch time was about to end, there’s unexpectedly still three customers sitting on the tables. Min-san looked quite busy cooking.

Walking into Min-san’s living room and storeroom from the kitchen back door, I couldn’t see Meo anywhere.

“Min-san, do you know where Meo is right now?”

With her back against me, Min-san answered with her eyes glued to the fire:

“Ah, Meo is at Alice’s place.”

“What?”

I pressed the doorbell of room 308, but there wasn’t an answer. Usually, a blue light would light up, but at this moment only the sound of flowing water came from the room.

Flowing water?

Then, there came a voice saying “Coming, coming— please wait for a moment”. I was startled, and took a step back. It was Meo’s voice.

Meo opened the door and poked her face out of the door. Her hair was wet, the slight steam her body was giving off smelled of soap, while a large towel was wrapped around her body. My hand held the handle, while my body froze.

“Meo, don’t open the door when you don’t even know who’s there, you’re too careless! And my hair isn’t clean yet, hurry up and help me. Uwaa! Shampoo trickled into my eyes, MEO!”

Alice’s hysterical voice came from the room, asking for help.

“Okay, okay. Ah! Would that be my clothes, by any chance?”

She pointed at the paper bag on my hands.

“This…… Er, ah , yes…… That’s right.”

“Thank you. Miss Detective is angry right now, so I’ll have to close the door. Mr. Assistant, you can come in and wait for awhile.”

I was about to say that it’s better if I wait outside, but I was forcefully dragged into the room with the paper bag. Light could be seen from the bathroom close to the entrance (first time seeing that). I accidentally saw long, black hair full of bubbles, so I hastily turned around and stuck my face to the wall.

“Sorry, I’ll wash your hair now!” Meo went back to the washroom, and I heard the sound of the misty glass door closing.

“Miss Assistant, don’t move around so much!”

“Uuuu— my eyes hurt!”

An incomprehensible conversation came from the other side of the fog.

` In my sixteen years of living, I have never felt as uncomfortable as I am right now. The six minutes filled with the sounds of splashing water were probably the longest six minutes in my whole life.

“Since you’ve waited until we finished bathing, you should probably have something to report, right? Hurry up, then.”

Sitting on Meo’s thighs, Alice’s tone was extremely annoyed. Of course, both of them are now fully clothed. Meo used a large towel to wrap Alice’s head and rubbed repeatedly.

“Miss Detective’s hair is very long, so it’s hard to take care of it.”

“It’ll dry naturally if you just leave it alone.”

“You’ll get sick like that.”

…… I feel like I saw this scene somewhere before. Does everyone feel like playing with Alice as soon as they see her?

“Narumi, stop thinking about Ayaka and start reporting!”

Her pointed remark made me curl up my body. Why is this girl’s sixth sense so accurate when it comes to meaningless things, really…...

“Ayaka?” Meo cocked her head.

“She’s just like you, a girl who likes to wash and comb my hair.”

Eh? So she once bathed with Ayaka?

“I heard that Miss Detective doesn’t know how to take baths.” Meo explained: “Usually Min-san would bathe with her every two days, and help her to wash her hair. But Min-san seemed to be rather busy today, so I volunteered to come.”

“That’s enough. If Master is busy, she should directly forget about my hair.”

I was completely ignorant towards how busy Min-san was. And really, this girl’s capability to survive is almost zero……

“Narumi, what are you here for! Are you here to see my wet look so that you can make fun of me?”

“Ah, no, sorry.” I waved my hands in denial. As they didn’t look nervous at at, it almost made me forget the reason that I was here.

“I heard something from Yi Ling-san about the company, and I was thinking of telling you about that.”

I reported the information about Kusakabe Masaya handing the people in Hello Palace their wages personally, thinking that it probably isn’t related to the case. However, Alice’s gaze immediately sharpened after hearing that.

“She told you that Kusakabe Masaya gave out the wages personally? Are you sure?”

“…… Yeah.”

“So that’s how it is. Which means— UWAA!”

“Dad wouldn’t pocket the employee’s wages, definitely not!”

Meo said while tightly hugging Alice.

“Le- Let go of me, it hurts! I didn’t even say anything like him pocketing the employee’s wages!”

Because of Alice’s frantic struggles, the large towel fell down from her head.

“Even so, no matter how we think…… I think the results would be as we expected.”

“Narumi, don’t jump to conclusions so quickly……” Unexpectedly, Alice was standing at Meo’s side. “There are a few problems regarding the theory that Kusakabe Masaya pocketed the money. Firstly, the structure of the company isn’t so big that someone could just pocket two hundred million yen. Apart from that, the money is in cash. Besides that, the yakuza are looking for two hundred million yen, which matches the sum of money in the bag. But how did they know how much money was in it? Even if the pocketed money was confirmed by the company to be two hundred million yen, why is the money still here?”

“Ah……”

She was right. It’s indeed strange.

“Of course, there is a possibility that Kusakabe Masaya’s hobby is saving money, or he likes to smell the money……” “My dad isn’t that kind of crazy person!” “Saving the money because of certain reasons, but couldn’t use it because the amount of money is too large…… These reasons are plausible too, but there’s now a fact that overturns these assumptions— the fact that only the yakuza are looking for Meo and Kusakabe Masaya.”

“Then……” I don’t really want to think about this possibility: “Maybe he kept money for Tabara-gumi, then he ran away with it……”

I felt Meo staring daggers at me.

“There’s that possibility too. If so, the question why he’s keeping money for yakuza would arise once more. Anyhow, the information that we have is insufficient. Thinking about this is my job, so you can stop making unnecessary assumptions, and do your own job.”

She actually said that I’m doing unnecessary assumptions. Alright, alright. I’m an idiot anyways.

“…… Then my job is?”

“Call the lady, Yi Ling. Ask her who’s she paying the automated charges each month. Or how she sends her money back to China. If there’s a chance, then ask her about the other people living in Hello Palace.”

“…… What?”

Alice told me the things that I should ask in a rapid fire tone, but I don’t get it at all. The public facilities maintenance fees, administrative fees, rental fees and even how much money Yi Ling-san and the others send home, are those even remotely connected to the case?

“It’s because we don’t know if they’re related that we should investigate it. Just hurry up and call her.”

When Major arrived at the NEET Detective Agency, I was just using the fax machine in the room to receive the copy of Yi Ling-san’s savings in the bank that she just faxed over.

“Why is there a faint smell of soap in the air? Vice Admiral Fujishima, please explain yourself!”

He immediately pressed a model gun onto the back of my head as soon as he came in. Ahhhh, another noisy fellow came in.

“You didn’t answer your phone at all yesterday, where did you go?”

“I was in a late night skirmish at Takadanobaba, but then the police came; I was just about to explain the dangers of having a gunfight in the streets, then I was brought to the police station with five of my mates. Hmph, the police are indeed useless.”

You’ll definitely get arrested that way. Are you an idiot? When I turned my head around, I saw a young man clad in military clothing, while his figure looked like that of a primary school student. It’s really surprising that someone like this is actually a college student. Major pushed his goggles onto his helmet, then looked into the bedroom.

Meo was hugging Alice tightly, as though she wanted to protected from an assault, and stared at Major guardedly.

“Meo, don’t just keep hugging my neck all of a sudden, are you trying to throttle me?”

“Because there’s a suspicious person here.”

“It’s okay, his attire can’t be compared with the weirdness in his heart, so just relax.”

Was…… Was she even trying to defend him?

“So you’re the client this time? I’m Major. Vice Admiral Fujishima’s superior.”

“I felt something strange from before, but isn’t a Vice Admiral superior to a Major?”

“That’s why they say rookies don’t know anything.”

Major showed us a casual expression while shaking his head, then placed his gun into his backpack.

“Actually, a Major has the most authority in the army, it’s common knowledge. For instance, the Major in ‘The Last Army’ unhesitatingly killed his superiors.”

“Isn’t that a manga?”

“In the later stages of war in A Baoa Qu, didn’t the Major kill the Major General? But he wasn’t even interrogated.”

“That’s an anime!” And also it’s because he lost the war.

“Oh yeah, did you guys find out where the office of Tabara-gumi is?”

Completely ignoring my objections, Major changed the topic.

“Investigation must start from spying. Look at the pin-shaped spying device, compared to the ones last year, it’s ability to receive sound and lasting power has already tripled.”

Major took out some suspicious devices from his backpack and arranged them on the ground.

“So Miss Detective is friends with a lot of bad people……” Meo said in a low voice.

“This job can’t be done by the kind common people. Major, you should know the address of the company, right? Then set it up there first. Though we only found out one of the locations of Tabara-gumi.” Major recorded the address that Alice said in his phone. “It’s about the size of five small companies, and if it’s connected to larger companies, the time required for the investigation would increase drastically.”

“There’s no problem even if we need to set up one or two hundred spying devices, but we need someone to listen to and reorganize the information, and I can’t help out with that. So we can only set it up at two places, at most. That’s my job anyways.”

“We would know the identity of the people related to this if only we know the source of the money. They probably know more about Kusakabe Masaya, too. Compared with chasing a hidden rabbit, it would be easier to follow the hunting hounds…… Mnn.”

Tearing down the paper from the fax machine, Alice looked through the contents for a few seconds, crumpled it up and threw it to her pillow, saying:

“Kusakabe Masaya did not take anyone’s money.”

“Really?”

Meo and I said at the same time.

“Don’t get so happy so soon.”

Alice pressed her head on Meo’s chest as she started hugging Alice tightly again.

“If my assumption is correct, pocketing the company’s money wouldn’t be so troublesome. What a pity.”

“What…… does that mean?”

The problem is, Alice would just say the lines that detectives from anywhere, anytime to answer my questions (as usual)—

“I can’t disclose that information as of now.”

I sighed impatiently. Alice continued:

“I’ve mentioned this before, the truths that I got to know is only a portion of what is in God’s notebook, and is completely meaningless to the common man. To make it into valuable facts, we need to give more effort.”

“…… Mr. Assistant, can you translate for me? My dad didn’t do anything wrong, right?”

Meo said on top of Alice’s head.

“That means that we don’t have enough evidence, so we aren’t sure yet.”

After hearing my statement, Major nodded and stood up.

“Then I shall go forward and put in my best efforts. I’ve been late because there weren’t any incidents lately, but I feel excited when I think that I can try out my new works! I guarantee you that I would even clearly record how many times the yakuza hiccupped for you to listen to.”

After randomly saying some dangerous actions, the silhouette clad in military clothing disappeared out of the room. Alice said:

“Narumi, please remember that we do not need facts in the case this time.”

“…… What?”

“The case this time is different from what happened in Angel Fix. Our job is to protect Meo and to locate Kusakabe Masaya, isn’t that right?”

Alice raised her head to look at me, while Meo nodded in my stead.

“So we don’t need to worry about digging out the truth from the grave. If the case requires it, you must be prepared mentally for the truth and facts to get twisted.”

“Do you mean making decisions without evidence?”

“You really are a person who only knows literary works.”

About these matters, I already decided to do so even though I have not resolved to do it. I am different from Alice, I don’t have a need to know every single thing, it’s just that I don’t know what I should do. And only at these moments, I would admire Alice for her resolve.

“If so, then take Meo back to Master’s room.”

“That won’t do, I haven’t dried your hair yet.”

“You hear that? She actually said something like that. I explained quite a few times that having hot wind blown on one’s face is very painful, but she just wouldn’t listen. Really……”

But I didn’t listen to Alice’s instructions this time. Isn’t it better for Meo to finish taking care of her hair before leaving?

“Oi, let go of me, Meo! Narumi, don’t move, why aren’t you listening to me!?”

Ignoring the noisy Alice in Meo’s hands, I walked out of the office.

<center>*</center>

What should we do next? While walking down the stairs, I thought of what we could do, but it really seems that there’s nothing else to do anymore. The small, dark space behind the kitchen backdoor was deserted, and that made me somewhat depressed. So I’m a person who doesn’t know what to do if other people don’t order me around.

Although I don’t have to work today (As I’m still on probation, I only need to work on Fridays and Saturdays), but since I was free anyways, I’d just go help out Min-san. As I was about to open the backdoor, my phone started to ring.

‘Narumi, please help me.’

Tetsu-senpai’s agitated voice came from the phone all of a sudden.

“Wha- What’s wrong?”

It was the first time I heard Tetsu-senpai so agitated.

‘Where are you right now? At Hanamaru?’ “Eh? Yeah……” ‘I’ll tell you my location, just come here quickly!’ “Ah, wa- wait a sec……”

Tetsu-senpai started to tell me the address. I could hear the voice of another man near him, and there are also the sounds of things colliding. What’s wrong? Where in the world is he?

‘Don’t mention this to anyone, or I’ll get killed. Thanks for the help.’

He said something scary, then hung up. Though my question and queasiness swirled in my mind, I immediately started to pedal my bike.

The building that senpai mentioned was a journey of about five minutes from Hanamaru Ramen Shop on my bike. As there weren’t any notable shops or anything nearby, I only managed to find it after some effort. I rushed to the top of the seven storey building and pressed the doorbell of room 701.

A pale man of about forty could be seen from the gap that opened. His lower eyelid sagged, and there was a deep scar beside his mouth and nose. I was so taken aback that I took quite a few steps back until my back bumped into the wall.

“Tetsu, he’s a kid?”

The man looked back into the room and said.

“He’s the guy I mentioned, let him in.”

Tetsu-senpai’s voice came from the room, causing me to almost fall down onto the floor with relief after I heard it. That’s a relief, he’s still alive.

The man pulled down the door chain and opened the door wide, poking his head out to observe the corridors, then glared at me while raising his chin, telling me to go in.

“Come in!”

“Eh? Ah, erm……”

“Hurry up!”

I stepped into the room with my whole body rigid. The scarred man closed the door, locked it then double locked it with the door chain. Eh? Wait, is there a need to be so cautious?

Being brought into the innermost room of the room that had two rooms and a kitchen, I was dumbfounded by the hellish scene that I saw.

There were three other men in the room surrounding a square table. They were Tetsu-senpai, an afro guy wearing a flowery shirt, and a muscular octopus-like person who had his brows and hair shaved off. And then they’re—

“Pong!”

“Too weak! Tetsu, don’t you cry after this.”

On the table that had a layer of some sort of wooly paper on it, a whole lot of mahjong tiles were placed on it.

“Narumi, you’re just in time. Borrow me two thousand.”

Tetsu-senpai, who originally had his back to me, suddenly turned his head over, and stretched out his hand with an agitated expression on his face.

“Eh? Ah, okay……” Because of his agitation, I subconsciously took out my wallet.

“Didn’t I tell you that you could just borrow from me?” Octy said.

“Nemo-san, if I borrowed it from you, you might just demand for ten percent interest after ten minutes.”

“Even so, you don’t need to borrow from some kid, do you?”

“I’ve already reached this state, there’s no reason for me not to show my cards!” Tetsu-senpai snatched the two thousand yen, threw it down on the table and pushed down the rest of his tiles.

“You actually collected that much pins.”

“Which tile were you waiting for?”

“Though I’m not too sure, but shouldn’t I be able to call mahjong if I have a lot of pins?” Tetsu-senpai said.

“The 2,5,8 pins and 3,6,9 pins are six…… Wait!” I unintentionally interrupted, then roared at senpai: “What on Earth are you doing!?”

“Can’t you see? We’re playing mahjong!”

I flew over here just because I was worried about you, you idiotic gambler!

“It can’t be helped, as I don’t even have the money to call yaku. Whoa, tsumo! Dealer wins, three straight wins with three north winds (Z: Mahjong terms are making me dizzy)......”

What do you mean by it can’t be helped? Tetsu-senpai had a huge comeback after receiving my two thousand yen, and ignored me, who was still furious. The gambling that took place on the table was different from my understanding of mahjong. Not only that there’s only three players (The guy who brought me into the room only helps to pour the coffee and change the ten thousand yen, and is not taking part), directly using cash to replace tokens is also something to be in awe of. If anyone wins, cash flew all over the table. The method of calculating the points seemed to be different as well……

The two thousand yen that I provided increased drastically and halved again, making me tremble in fear.

“Tetsu, do you want to have lunch together? What about you, Gu-san?”

After about an hour, Octy stood up. The afro guy called Gu-san shook his head.

“I have to look at some pawned items.”

“That’s too bad.”

Listening to the conversation of the yakuza (probably) from afar, I felt somewhat dizzy because of the tiredness that suddenly welled up in me. Fortunately, senpai won some money. Thank God…… I was just thinking that when— “Nemo-san, here’s the two hundred thousand I owe you.” “Okay!” He immediately handed the stack of cash that he won to Nemo-san.

“That’s all of it.” Senpai’s expression was like he got rid of a huge burden.

` “My two thousand yen……”

“Oh yeah, just let me owe you that for the moment. If possible, just forget about it!”

“How can I forget about it!? Two thousand yen is a lot!”

After walking out of the building, Octy brought Tetsu-senpai and I to a sushi shop for some reason. According to him, it seemed like it was because they needed a player to join their game, so he borrowed Tetsu-senpai two hundred thousand without interest, even promising him not to collect an entry fee and to treat senpai to lunch, so that he would join their game. That would mean senpai already lost two hundred thousand before I even reached there. It’s too scary. Being squeezed in the middle of senpai and Octy in the sushi shop, my hand holding the cup trembled. And also, why are we sitting like this? Why am I in a pincer attack!?

“Oh, I see. So this is the guy who dealt with the kids who sold the drug. I’ve heard of it before. I really can’t tell that you’re that audacious. I’ll treat, so eat up.”

It seems that the yakuza heard about the incident before this. Octy seemed abnormally friendly. Really, don’t treat me like this. I could only timidly order kappa maki rolls and tamago sushis to eat. Then Octy asked me: “Well? Why don’t you just quit school and join our gang?” He actually asked me a thing like that. Senpai, help!

“Nemo-san, Narumi is a talented person who is shouldering the future of the NEETs, so please don’t ask him to join your gang.” And don’t just tell me to shoulder such a thing!

“So you two are old friends…… right?”

I frantically changed the topic like a coward.

“No, it’s our first time meeting. You could say that we’re friends of a friend. We just had our first conversation through the phone just now, and he said that they’re lacking a player.”

I nearly spitted out the kappa maki roll in my mouth. The first time!?

“I was surprised too.” He doesn’t seem to be surprised to me. “He’s quite famous, so I heard about him. I heard that he’s a crazy idiot. I was just joking, but I didn’t really think that he would actually come, but that isn’t really related to someone’s bravery or anything. What a pity, I wanted to let him owe us some money so that he would join our gang.”

I stared blankly at senpai’s face. Doesn’t he want to live anymore?

“Our gang would grow, it’s a share with potential. And you don’t even have a job, right?”

Ahhhh, that’s bad, he came back to the same topic again.

“I’m really good at palmistry. How about it? Would you like me to read yours?”

Octy forcibly grabbed my right hand and touched the lines on my palm with his fingers.

“See? Your heart line is longer than your head line, this type of palm is extremely suited to become yakuza.” Are there even anyone whose head line is longer than their heart line!? Is this guy an idiot!? But I dare not rebuke him, for fear of being killed.

“I’m good at astrology too. When is your birthday?”

“…… October thirty first.”

“Then you’re a scorphio. Scorpios are really suited! The people born between first of March and February twenty eighth are suited to being yakuza.”

Just say that everyone are suited!

“Nemo-san, what’s your horoscope?”

“I’m a yakuza.” (Z: Horoscopes in Japanese have a ‘za’ behind them. Here, Nemo-san is trying to make a pun)

“I know that!”

Ahhh, I’m finished…… My tongue slipped, so I’ll get killed. Octy laughed heartily while hitting my back, causing the counter of the sushi shop to sway.

“You really have potential Why don’t you just join our gang with Tetsu?”

“I’m not joining such a troublesome job.” Senpai answered. He’s so calm that it’s annoying.

I ordered only kappa maki rolls. I frantically stuffed them into my mouth, focusing on the taste of the cucumbers.

And so the two chatted beside me, and the conversation was steered to the direction of the case.

“Nemo-san, you know Kusakabe Masaya, right? He once worked in Osaka.”

“…… Are you involved in it?”

Octy lowered his voice. I was surprised, and drank a mouthful of tea to dilute the taste of the sushi.

Oh, I see. So Tetsu-senpai wasn’t just playing mahjong for fun, but collecting information.

“Did you play mahjong with me just because of this? Idiot…… It’d be better if you don’t meddle in this. Though only Tabara is involved for now, other gangs might be involved after this. This isn’t a matter that you can get off the hook so easily.”

“You should’ve told me such constructive advice much earlier.”

Octy punched Tetsu-senpai from above my head. A ‘thud’ sound came from above. His punch was blocked by senpai’s palm.

“Hmph!” Octy sat down again, and the chef looked at this side with a scared expression on his face from the other side of the counter.

“What is your relationship with Kusakabe?”

“I can’t say that. Nemo-san, please tell us everything you know about him.”

“Well aren’t you greedy. I’ve already told you all that I know.”

I observed Octy’s actions in fear. His shadow caused by his sunken eyes looked even more frightening from the side. As I was about to catch hold of Tetsu-senpai’s hands and escape, Octy started to say:

“For what reason do I have to tell you that?”

“Didn’t you undergo the sake ceremony with Kusakabe? Though you can’t help in this matter because of your opposing stands, you can just tell me anything you know, you might be able to help him.”

Octy squinted his eyes.

“Where did you learn about this?”

“That’s confidential.”

Tetsu-senpai lightly brushed off the topic, tossing his sushi into his mouth. Then, he suddenly pushed me away and pleaded to Octy with his head lowered:

“Please.”

At that moment, all was silent in the shop, even the chef was waiting with bated breath while holding his knife. As for me, I was so scared that I couldn’t even look at Octy’s face.

Finally, Octy spoke:

“Do you have any proof you aren’t Kusakabe’s enemy?”

“Only my life.”

I felt a chill on my back— both Tetsu-senpai, who said those words, and Octy, who laughed after he heard that, made me feel ghastly.

“We talked on the phone. Though I wasn’t the one who picked up the phone.”

I nearly asked: “When was that?” but forced myself to stay silent.

As Octy looked at me with an expression that I wasn’t sure if it was in anger or in laughter, making me feel extremely intimidated.

“He called yesterday, so he’s probably still in this area.”

“By phone? Why?” Tetsu-senpai asked.

“He asked me to help smuggle him out of the country, but I couldn’t comply with his request as it was too sudden.”

Smuggle him out of the country?

“Is he thinking of hiding in another country?”

“It seems like he didn’t just ask us, but other units as well. He’s asking about Korea, Hong Kong or Singapore, so he’s probably trying to run away.”

Hiding in another country— then what about Meo? I gulped down the bad thoughts and the taste of the kappa maki rolls with a mouthful of tea.

“With Kusakabe’s contacts, it shouldn’t be a problem for him to hide somewhere in Kansai. I really don’t know what he’s thinking, asking about this and that even though he’s on the run. He’ll die if a brainless guy tells Tabara-gumi about this.”

“It’s indeed strange. He could actually run far, far away by now.”

“As for you, you probably know where the girl and the two hundred million is, right?”

Tetsu-senpai’s eyebrows didn’t even twitch because of this question. But when he saw my face, Octy suddenly laughed.

“Tetsu, you really have some guts, but this guy has the answer all over his face.”

I was so abashed that I wanted to run away immediately from the scene, and I sneaked a peek at Tetsu-senpai’s expression. Is this guy really okay? He wouldn’t just sell us out, right? Octy smacked my back and suddenly recovered his solemn expression.

“It’s not the company’s money, obviously.”

“Then what is the relationship between the company and Tabara-gumi?” Tetsu-senpai asked.

“You’re meddling in this even though you don’t know?” Octy wiped his bald forehead with a tissue. “The current head of the company is Mikawa, and he borrowed money from Tabara when he first started the company with Kusakabe. Of course, the debts haven’t been cleared yet, so they couldn’t refuse any request from Tabara. Kusakabe was in the yakuza, so he knew from the start that it would turn out like that, which is why he dislikes that. But no money means no work done.”

“Which means, Kusakabe could only give in.”

“Probably.”

“Then where did the money come from?”

“How would I know about that? I can only tell you about this.”

After walking out of the sushi shop, Octy immediately lowered his voice and said:

“You should get this clear, you should first join them if you want to get information from a gang. Probably many people mentioned this to you before, right? You really should consider it.”

“I’ll be a NEET forever!”

Octy roared in laughter, his voice so loud that it almost broke my back. He then pushed Tetsu-senpai in the chest and left after saying ‘I’ll leave Kusakabe to you’.

Seeing his silhouette disappear from the streets, I used all my energy to heave a sigh. Tetsu-senpai laughed while stroking my back.

“Narumi, you don’t need to be that nervous.”

“…… Why did you let me sit in the middle?”

“Well, I heard that he’s a gay. So that’s just a precaution……”

Oh please, how is that a precaution!?

“Never mind, never mind. They have absolutely no connections with Tabara. Having connections with yakuza can be helpful sometimes.”

Oh, I see. So Tetsu-senpai’s network of contacts is formed like this. I felt extremely weak, and sat on the separator between the sushi shop and the parking lot. I’d probably be unable to move for awhile.

“We had quite the haul today. Narumi, thanks. I was worried of what would happen if I didn’t get a tsumo. I really don’t want to owe them money the first time I meet them.”

“You actually found out that he’s Kusakabe’s friend, how did you do that……”

“Mnn? Oh, it wasn’t that hard.” Senpai answered casually: “I called all the Kansai yakuza that I know, and most of them went ‘What? What nonsense are you speaking?’ , until I hit the jackpot with Nemo-san. I gave a lot of calls, it’s so tiring.”

Is he kidding? This guy really don’t want to live anymore.

“Not giving up is the key to being a good detective.”

I never would have thought that a NEET would tell me to not give up, but I can’t deny that he’s right this time.

“At least we know that Kusakabe is still in the area. It’s lucky that Nemo-san is a person that you can talk with, really.”

“Yeah…… He seemed that he was quite decent.”

He’s unlike the yakuza who I had in mind, the ones who speak rudely and ask unreasonable demands, it’s just that he looks somewhat scary. But senpai’s expression suddenly became solemn.

“Narumi, listen, you have to remember this.”

He caught hold of my hand and pulled me up.

“There is no good yakuza on this world, a good yakuza is a dead yakuza.”

Is that so…….

“…… Yondaime too?” I suddenly thought of him, and asked randomly.

“I killed that guy about fifty times already, so he should be a pretty decent yakuza.”

Tetsu-senpai answered while smiling. Wasn’t he killed for about fifty times as well?

“We could only wait for news from Yondaime now. If he’s still in the city, then Hirasaka-gumi can find him.”
<center>*</center>

I was already deprived of sleep that day, and was also dead tired due to running around, so I fell asleep as soon as I got home.

When I was woken up by a blaring noise, it was already pitch dark. Not knowing that I fell asleep while lying on my stomach, I struggled quite some time even to stand up.

I even forgot that I should just turn on the lights, but kept searching in the dark for the source of the loud noise. It was the music of ‘Colorado Bulldog’, which meant that Alice was calling.

After locating my phone after some time, I saw that it was five minutes after midnight. Why is she calling me at this time?

‘Someone reported that they saw Kusakabe Masaya. The photos Yondaime distributed finally worked, so we’re starting to spy on him. Come here immediately.’

“…… Now……? I’m really tired.”

My mind was still foggy, unsure of the situation. Someone saw Kusakabe Masaya? Didn’t we just send the photos half a day before? Aren’t they quick.

‘I’m telling you to come here immediately. Do you mean to say that sleeping for another hour means immediately in your dictionary?’

“No, alright, I’m coming. But can’t you just wait for another hour?”

‘It can’t be helped if you’re late. But I would confirm that you got lost on the way here, then distribute the photo of you sleeping happily in my dolls with your mouth wide open to, for people to search for you.’

“When did you take that photo!” Any hint of sleepiness immediately disappeared, then I jumped down from the bed.

‘You know that I get nervous easily, so I will only wait thirty minutes because I’m too worried of your safety.’

Then, she hung up. I threw my phone onto my bed, then put on a jacket.

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| Back to [[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 2 Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
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| Forward to [[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 2 Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
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</noinclude>

Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 2 Chapter 1

2011-12-28T18:20:48Z

Pmt7ar: Kishiwada-kai -> Tabara-gumi (田原（たばら）組)

One day in the spring holidays, a client suddenly appeared at the NEET Detective Agency, an odd Thai girl who was always unusually excited.

In the bag that her father left behind after disappearing, it was filled with a hefty sum of money— two hundred million yen.

The girl’s request was— “Please save my dad.”

The young NEET detective, Alice, who wore pajamas and wouldn’t take a step out of her room and me as her assistant, borrowed the power of Tetsu-senpai, Major and Hiro of the NEET Detective Squad to start our investigation. Even the leader of the juvenile delinquents, Yondaime was dragged into it, the matter developed into an unexpected direction—

This is the second episode youthful NEET- Teen Story that was somewhat unbearable, somewhat funny but also with a hint of courage.

''Narumi Fujishima''

Until last year, I was still an ordinary high school student.

Due to the incidents that occurred during last winter, my whole third semester was ruined.

Even so, I still managed to advance to second year, just like a miracle, but I still couldn’t follow what the teachers taught, and failed in almost all of my exams. When I finally came to my senses, my tragic life was already at the edge of a cliff.

I knew that I couldn’t just become a useless bum, so I put in more effort and accepted two part time jobs.

One of them is a worker at a ramen shop, while the other is…… a detective’s assistant.

……. It seems like I might have chosen the wrong place to have a part time job, and one of my employers is a NEET too.

Furthermore, NEETs walk all around at the place where I work, everyone trying to bully me into being a NEET.

As for who they are—

''Alice''

This girl is a NEET detective, and is one of my employers.

She’s a hikikomori that almost never went out, so her way of ordering people around is quite impolite.

She thinks that a detective’s assistant (me) is just a useful vacuum machine that could talk.

Being physically weak, can’t live by herself but is good at arguing, whenever I complain even a bit, she would immediately give me a five thousand times scolding.

Really, why must I do things for this fellow?

Actually, I’m not really sure myself, but if I’m not at her side, she probably won’t even eat her meals properly……

''NEET Detective Squad''

Surrounding Alice’s side, the group of people at the boundary of society who would not lose to Alice.

No matter what difficulties they encounter, they still wouldn’t give up, wouldn’t turn back and wouldn’t work, those are their principles. Sigh~ I really can’t stand this.

''Tetsu-senpai''

He studied at my school a few years ago and dropped out, and is now an unbeatable pachinko master.

He learned boxing before, has acute vision like a superman, but it was only used used to bet on slot machines.

Although he’s quite reliable sometimes, his view of money is absolutely terrible.

''Major''

Although he looked like that, he is definitely a university student, and an unbelievable military otaku.

Having programming skills that even university professors admire, but it was only used on wire tapping and taking photos secretly.

''Hiro''

Though he is often mistaken as a model, he’s actually just a gigolo who stays at women’s houses.

Having an appearance that made people want to look twice at him and speaking skills that are like mellow wine, but they were only used to hit on girls.

He made many women cry for him before, and really might be stabbed somewhere some day.

''Min-san''

The boss that opened a ramen shop below the detective agency, my second employer.

She’s one of the rare normal people around me. She kept taking care of me, so I really couldn’t raise my head in front of her.

Her temper is quite terrible, so I’m somewhat afraid of her, and that’s why I can’t say that her ramen is actually not really good.

''Yondaime''

The leader of juvenile delinquents in the town, and has a deep connection with the people in the detective squad.

He’s very foul-mouthed and impatient, but I’ve heard that he’s very good at taking care of people, even better than the guys in the detective squad.

His hobby is sewing, and he has a professional-level skill. I might be killed by him if I accidentally said that out, so I dare not mention it to anyone.

''Meo''

On the first day that I started to work at the ramen shop, I was ordered around by Alice as usual, and was having doubts about my life. On that boring Saturday afternoon, she appeared before me.

She’s a girl who gets excited abnormally easily, and had lived in Thailand. Also, she even asked the detective agency for help.

Although I’m a detective’s assistant, I was still taken aback…… I really didn’t think that someone would actually have a request for us.

I originally thought that it wouldn’t be anything big since she looked for the NEET detective.

In the end—

She brought a Boston bag that was stuffed full of reality—

Two hundred million yen.

That amount of money could just mess up anyone’s life.

Meo said: “Please save my dad.”

And so— the matter started to develop.

Developing towards an unexpected, heartbreaking darkness.

Miracles can happen once to anyone, but when it happens, they never notice.

<My Name Is Shingo> Kazuo Umezo.

<center>*</center>

A small portion of people misunderstood that the twenty third district of Tokyo is just a city full of buildings from north to south, and I was one of them before I moved here. In reality, the only place where there are skyscrapers piercing the skies is only the area near to the station, while flat, short houses surround the place. The asphalt road that was uneven because of the subsidence of the land, the smelly rivers that were emitting a pungent, sour odor, and the cultivated fields that I’m not sure if anyone is tending to it and the high school that I’m going to, all of these are in a two kilometers radius of that area; but it was just separated by a street, the radiance of the neon lights couldn’t be seen anymore.

Though Hanamaru Ramen Shop is also at a place five minutes from the station, it is also surrounded by broken down buildings, one of the shops that are shrouded in darkness. It is just a small shop that had only five tables in it, aside from the occasional drunken people going inside the shop at night, I almost never saw anyone going into the shop in the daytime.

So my employment test was held on the thirty first of March in the spring holidays, on about one thirty in the afternoon when there’s nobody in the shop.

“Listen, if even a little thing spills out, don’t you even think that I’ll pass you.”

Min-san said while piling trays onto my hands; and bowls that were still puffing out white smoke were placed on the tray. She’s the young owner of the Hanamaru Ramen Shop, with her long hair tied into a ponytail, wearing a T-back vest and showing her fit shoulders. White sarashi is used to bind her breasts. It really isn’t hard to see that she went for body building classes, and is really not a person that a physically weak high school person can go against. But I still couldn’t help but retort:

“Erm…… Why am I doing a thing like this for my employment test?”

“Don’t you know how many bowls you’ve broken before!? You’re just not concentrating enough! So if you can get all of these to Alice safely, I’ll hire you.”

I once helped the shop to do things like washing the dishes and serving them, I caused great losses at the same time. Actually, I should really thank kind Min-san for giving me a chance by testing me.

“Ready, start. The time limit is five minutes.”

“There’s even a time limit!?”

Being glared at by Min-san, I could only carefully walk out from the kitchen backdoor.

Alice lives in the eighth room on the third floor of the same building in Hanamaru Ramen Shop. You could reach it after walking up the stairs and then going about five meters in the direction of the corridor, using not even one minute when going there from the shop on the first floor.

But at this moment, I used two seconds just to walk up a step, so my back was soaking wet when I reached the signboard with ‘NEET Detective Agency’ on it.

As both of my hands were holding trays, I could only press the doorbell with my elbow. Nobody answered, but only a blue light flashed.

“Alice, please, open the door for me.” I begged.

‘…… Just enter yourself. The door isn’t locked.’

The impatient voice of a young girl came from the other side of the interphone.

“I can’t use my hands, I’m holding two trays.”

‘You could just place them on the floor!’

“No, it would definitely fall down.”

‘What are you talking about? It’s just placing the tray on the floor, don’t you even know how to do such a simple thing?’

“There’s a tray on my head too!”

Hearing my tragic shout, the door finally opened. A young girl stuck her head out of the door. She had long, black hair that flowed to the ground, large eyes that could sparkle, wore pajamas with cute pictures of bears on it that showed her pale, sickly skin.

“…… Are you performing an acrobatic stunt?”

My hands were holding a tray each, and there’s another on top of my head. Cooly looking at the trays that I was holding while trembling, Alice said in an annoyed voice:

“This scene is actually quite interesting. I feel like taking a commemorative photo of this and showing it to Tetsu, Major and the others. They would be delighted. I’ll get my digital camera, and you just maintain your current posture.”

“No, that’s not important!” I frantically called Alice who was about to walk into the room: “Anyways…… Erm…… Can you please help me to take it?”

I used my gaze to point at the shaky tray on top of my head, but Alice shrugged.

“Please think of the difference in height between you and I, and of my arms. Isn’t that just impossible? Just walk into the room and find somewhere to place it! Remember to take off your shoes first. If you dare to spill anything, I’ll have you in charge of cleaning the place until you wax the floor.”

As usual, Alice is still being merciless.

I could only maintain the posture of my upper body, lightly took off my shoes, walked to the table in the small kitchen, placed the trays on my hands on it and then lightly took down the tray on my head. I heaved a huge sigh that my soul almost came out, and felt like curling up on the chilly floor in this air-conditioned room.

“…… Ah, Master? Mnn, Narumi just came.” The sounds of Alice and Min-san talking on the phone came from the room: “…… No, I don’t think he spilled anything. You’re so kind, Master. If it were me, I would just tell him to take buckets and not bowls.”

This girl really does like to joke around. While complaining in my heart, I placed the three bowls on the same tray and served it to the bedroom.

Three walls in the room are covered with racks that are as tall as the ceiling, and some odd machines are placed on it, while countless wires tangled together around them. A large bed is placed in the middle of the room, while teddy bears of various sizes and types are littered on the carpet; Alice sat in the middle of it, like she was surrounded by a sea of bears.

“You’re not asking me to eat all three, are you?”

Alice glared at the bowls that I served her. Not only is this pajamas-clad girl picky and had a tiny appetite, every time I have to put in a lot of effort so that she would finish all the food. A small amount of different-flavored ramen were placed in the three bowls.

“Perhaps Min-san thought that I would spill one or two.”

“Why didn’t you spill them? You’re even so slow that you wouldn’t notice when a praying mantis stops on your nose too!”

Why am I scolded even for this…..?

I pulled out the moveable table that was like the ones in a hospital ward, placed the tray onto it and pushed it in front of Alice:

“Just choose a bowl that you like, I’ll eat the other two.”

The pajamas-clad girl looked so closely at the bowls that her face almost fell into in, observing each bowl in detail.

“I would like the ramen to be lighter.”

She looked at me with a pleading expression.

“I heard that all of them are new creations, so I don’t know how’s the taste.”

“Ngh—”

After wavering for a long time, she finally chose the bowl with a clearer soup. But after she took a sip, she couldn’t say anything.

“What is it?”

“…… so sour.”

Sour? The ramen is sour?

Ah! When I think about it, Min-san is indeed making odd ramen these days.

“Uuu…… I’ve been tricked by the color of the soup. I’m too careless, there’s actually such a trap in it.”

Alice’s eyes were full of tears, but she still placed a noodle after another into her mouth.

“These two seems to be more normal, do you want to change?”

I held my portion of the ramen while sitting in front of the bed. But Alice glared fiercely at me with her tearful eyes:

“How could I trust a person who can eat the bowl of noodles as if nothing had happened!? I chose this bowl myself, so if I listened to your advice and changed it, but still don’t like it, wouldn’t I be in a bigger predicament? How would you compensate for my reservations then?”

I originally wanted to rebuke her: It’s just a bowl of ramen, nothing special, but after seeing Alice sucking in the noodles while going ‘Uuu— Uuu—‘, I really felt that she’s quite pitiful, so I shut my mouth. I speedily finished the two bowls of ramen and walked to the small kitchen.

Opening the door of the fridge, I saw that the fridge was full of 350ml red cans of Dr. Pepper. I took out one of them and handed it to Alice. Recently, I’ve learnt the subtleties of opening the can first before handing it to her. Alice snatched the can from me with trembling hands and drank it to the finish.

“Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.”

Alice breathed out deeply, becoming relieved as if her brain had melted. She continued: “Narumi, get me another two cans .” and swung her empty can around. The eating habits of this pajamas clad girl is terrible, and almost lived on Dr. Pepper. Being said that my sense of taste shouldn’t be tasted by a person who drank unhealthy drinks while eating ramen really is unpleasant.

“Humans can only live while supporting each other, I’ve strongly feel agree with this statement at this moment. Good thing you’re at my side.”

Alice said after finishing her ramen and her third can of Dr. Pepper, crawling into the mat while smiling to me. For such a sudden movement to happen, I was shocked and almost spilled the bowl with my elbow. Calm down. This fellow would always say these meaningful things once in a while, and besides I haven’t even been supported by Alice before. No…… Well, I can’t really say that, but how should I say it?

“That’s right, you said that you want to work at Hanamaru, so what brought you here today?”

Alice said, with her head sticking out of the mat.

“I can assure you that you’re a person that lacks any wish to work from the day you were born, so you don’t need to trouble Master just to prove this.”

“I don’t need these assurances.” It’s more like you’re deciding on my life randomly. “I really think that Min-san has too much work, and it’s more convenient for me to work here.”

“Convenient?”

“Then I could come here almost every day.”

Because of the case that Alice solved this winter, I’m now Alice’s assistant. Although Alice is a detective, she’s still a hikikomori who doesn’t go out or meet society, and I’ve never seen other clients having any request for her. So the job of an assistant is usually to help to carry food and Dr. Pepper, and also be bullied by Alice. Compared with this, it might be better if I find some other place to work at, and wouldn’t waste time so much.

“Hmph! I didn’t even know that you were that passionate about your work as an assistant.”

You’re the one who told me to come everyday!

“Anyhow, not many people are willing to work at the ramen shop with such meager wages at this time, so it’s a help to Master, at least. But as soon as Ayaka’s out of the hospital, you’ll get fired at once.”

My hands that were collecting the bowls stopped.

As I was unable to immediately respond to the name that Alice mentioned suddenly, I gazed at the soup in the bowl and turned my head away to look at the bed.

“What’s wrong? Aren’t you just planning to work there until Ayaka returns?”

“No…… Mnn, erm…… I’ve never thought about that before. Because……”

Ayaka.

She jumped down from the top of the school building on the start of this year, and is still lying on a bed in the hospital, in a coma. She’s my classmate, and also my only friend. It’s just that she wouldn’t talk right now, and couldn’t walk around.

Ayaka who’s like that…… would she still come back?

“The doctors said too that there’s still a chance, didn’t they? And weren’t you the first person to hear that?”

“It’s not wrong, but……”

I did some research myself too. If Ayaka’s current condition continued for three months and above, it would be called a continuous block of consciousness— people in a vegetative state. If the doctors deemed that there’s no chance of recovery, most hospitals would force their family to handle the necessary procedures for exiting the hospital. Although there were cases of recovery, most of them just recovered to the extent that they could use their facial expressions to convey their emotions, or use their mouth to eat food, that’s it.

If she could return to her normal life, THAT would be a miracle.

“You don’t believe that miracles can happen?”

“Alice, so you believe in them?”

“Of course. Miracles can happen once to anyone, it’s just that most people don’t notice it when it happens.”

I’m not sure who said that, but it’s a really stupid way of thinking. Telling me that miracles would never happen might make me feel better. If things go that way, doesn’t it mean that the miracle of Ayaka and I has already been used up during the time that we spent on the rooftop, and things couldn’t be turned back anymore?

“It doesn’t matter. Since it happened the first time, it would happen a second time. Believe it!” A woolen mat was on Alice’s shoulders, and she smiled while hugging her knees. “ Rainfall in the Sahara Desert, the Golden Gate in the United States and the Taj Mahal in India, test tube babies that are given birth after their parents pass away, Jimmy Hendrix and the Tower of Babel, all of them are miracles, miracles and miracles! So there would be one day when all of mankind would become friends with each other.”

I still can’t understand what’s with Alice’s habit of using allusions, but I still forced out a smile to answer her.

“Our meeting is one, the fact that you are willing to come here is another, and even the fact that you didn’t spill any of the bowls and safely brought the bowls up here is one— all of them are miracles.”

“…… Well, wasn’t that smooth.”

I stood up. That’s right, since I’ve passed the employment test, I should hurry up and get to where Min-san is! I can start work from today.

As I was about to walk out of the room with the three bowls and trays, Alice halted me:

“Master said in the phone just now……”

“What did she say?”

“She said, you must put the bowls on your head when you’re going back too.”

“I’ve never heard about that!”

<center>*</center>

Even so, saying that encountering other people is a miracle is quite a nice way of putting it. Especially to Alice, a hikikomori, while I’m about the same, as we would feel uncomfortable after speaking to a stranger for over twenty seconds.

The people who I met in the past had some influence on me, more or less, and it’s because of this that I’ve not fallen to even lower depths right now. Though I didn’t become a decent person because of this, and I just lived groggily until my sixteenth year. In the wilderness that is filled with limitless possibilities, if I really lived up till now because of meeting other people, then these flags in my life are really precious— although I don’t really think that those are anything to be thankful for.

So the girl that I met right on the day when I started working after passing Hanamaru’s employment test, would probably be a miracle too?

The girl appeared at about three in the afternoon, when I was melting pieces of chocolates using the double boiling method in the kitchen. Min-san stood further inside, and was using an electric blender to blend egg white and make meringue. The true selling point of Hanamaru is actually the ice cream that is even tastier than the one made by professional dessert chef. The sweet smell that fills the whole shop caused the whole shop to become unlike a ramen shop, and there were nobody on the seats anyway.

And it might be because of this reason, the girl that kicked open the door while saying “Sorry for bothering you!” stared for awhile after seeing the scene in the shop. She seriously stared at the steel pan in my pan that was filled with chocolate for two seconds, and then took two steps back to reconfirm the portiere in front of the shop.

She was a striking girl who had coffee-colored skin. She looked about one or two years younger than me, and her hair that reached her chest were casually tied into two braids. White words were printed on the blue shirt that she wore, it seemed like words used by a minority race; while a very, very short Denim pant was on the lower part of her body. The girl’s legs were long and slim, if she said that she just swam past the Pacific Ocean to the Tokyo Bay, I might have really believed her. A coffee colored Boston bag was slung on her shoulder, and it felt somewhat uncoordinated on her.

When our gazes met, the girl clapped her hands together , said ‘Sawasdee’ and lightly nodded her head lightly. I subconsciously answered her with the same sentence. Eh…… Where is she from?

The girl reconfirmed the words on the portiere hanging on the door and asked:

“Erm, are these words supposed to be read as ‘Hanamaru’?”

Her pronunciation of Japanese was quite accurate. But the question suddenly made me feel somewhat guilty, and could only hide the steel pan filled with chocolate beside the sink and answered:

“Well…… Probably?”

“Probably!?” the Boston bag on her shoulder almost fell down. "Sorry, I’m not really good at reading kanji.”

Huh? Is there even a kanji on there?”

“Oh? Then how should you read this?”

The girl pointed at a corner of the portiere and asked.

“…… That’s a drawing of Naruto.”

“So you read this as ‘Naruto’ huh? Japanese is really deep……”

“Not really……”

“That’s odd, or did I just mistaken the place? I’ve heard that it’s a shop owned by an understanding, beautiful big sister.” The expression on the girl’s face seemed troubled, and she looked around repeatedly.

“Mnn, then it’s probably not this shop. Min-san is not understanding at a— OUCH! That hurts!”

Min-san who walked out of the kitchen vigorously knocked on the back of my head.

“What are you doing, why did you lie to her?”

Min-san pushed me, who was hugging the bump on my head, away and put on her apron:

“Welcome. It’s still business time right now, so please have a seat!”

“Ah, sorry, I’m not here for ramen.”

And then the unbelievable words came out from her mouth.

“I’ve heard that there’s a detective agency above the ramen shop.”

Min-san and I looked at each other.

That was the first client of the NEET Detective Agency that I came into contact with.

<center>*</center>

“It’s rare that we have a visitor. Narumi, give her a can of Dr. Pepper too.”

Although she never did offer me cans of Dr. Peppers (I don’t really want them, either) , Alice told me to give the girl a can. She kneeled on the mat, probably because she thought that it was courtesy when dealing with visitors?

As she was about to step into the air conditioned office, the girl hesitated in front of the door because of the coldness of the room; while after she walked into the room and saw Alice’s appearance, she was so surprised that her jaw fell open, the Boston bag on her shoulder dropping onto the floor. What an easily read girl.

“…… You’re the detective?”

“I’m a NEET detective. I’m Alice, and my assistant standing there is Naru…… Uwaaa!”

The girl supported both of her hands on the bedside and stuck her face close to Alice. She observed Alice in detail in an extremely short distance, and seemed like she was sniffing the smell of Alice’s pajamas.

“Wh- What are you doing?”

“Can I hug you?”

“What nonsense are you talking about!?” Alice pushed the girl away with her whole face red and stepped back a few steps.

“Sorry, because I’ve never seen a detective like this, so……”

“So what? A client should behave like a client!”

“Can’t I? What about just a hug?”

“I’m not a doll!” Alice used the dolls nearby to build a wall and went back further to the direction of the bed.

“Really, Ayaka and Master are also like that, why do girls like to hug me so much? It’s so incomprehensible.”

No, I can understand why it’s like that. But I didn’t want to change the topic, so I didn’t speak.

“Hurry up and reveal your identity and the contents of your request. You aren’t here to play, are you?”

Alice said at the other side of the dolls while pouting.

“Ah, that’s right!” the girl shifted her elbows away from the side of the bed and said: “I’m Meo.”

When she was pronouncing her name, the tone of ‘Me’ was prolonged, while the end of the ‘o’ was closer to the tone of ‘u’, a pronunciation that isn’t present in Japanese. Next, she placed her hands on the two sides of her head and waved, just like the ears of an animal.

“Meo? Is that your name?” I couldn’t help but chip in.

“Yes, it means cat.”

“You’re from Thailand, right?” After Alice finished saying that, Meo’s eyes immediately widened:

“You know it? As expected from a detective.”

“It’s just Thai. What does that have to do with being a detective?”

“The way that Thai people gave names is so strange.”

Her name meant ‘cat’, is this a common thing in Thailand?

“Narumi, it’s called cheuulehn in Thai, and it means nickname. Most people in Thailand call people by their nicknames, because the names of some people are too long. Their culture doesn’t really care about names, and it’s said that hiding one’s true name could protect them from danger. As they didn’t want to be caught by the devil, they would intentionally give names of animals or arrange meaningless tones for a name.”

“So it can protect us from danger?” Meo said in surprise: “I didn’t even know that.”

…… Are you really a Thai?

“I came to Japan when I was about five, so I’m not too clear of things in Thailand.”

“Ah, so that’s why your Japanese is that good.”

“I learnt Japanese from my dad, and the big brothers who live in the same block as us. There are many ladies from Philippine and China there, but the big brothers there are mostly Japanese.”

“Mnn? You aren’t staying at the ‘Hello Palace’, are you?”

“Whoaaa, Miss Detective knows everything!”

Meo supported herself on the bedstead, her legs fidgeting non-stop.

“No, Hiro told me once before, he said that there’s a unique worker’s hostel there. What a small world this is.”

“Ah, I’ve heard of this detective agency from Hiro-san.”

Hearing Meo’s words, Alice and I looked at each other. So that’s how it is. Now we have some idea of what’s happening.

“A big sister from China live next to me, and Hiro lived there for a month or so too. It’s probably some time last summer? He taught me a lot of Japanese, and said that his job was difficult, and is called being a gigolo.”

“A gigolo is not an occupation!”

I unintentionally shouted out loud. Hiro is one of the NEETs who always hang out behind Hanamaru Ramen Shop, and is also a gigolo who always stays at women’s houses. What strange Japanese did he teach Meo?

“After that, Hiro was found by the security and was chased out. He told me when he left: If I have any problems, I could just ask for help at Hanamaru Ramen Shop.”

“So that’s how it is.” Alice sighed and shook her head: “Well, just ask Hiro to come over later, I have something to ask him. Anyhow, tell me about your problem first! That’s your reason for looking for me, right?”

After Alice finished speaking, Meo’s cheery expression suddenly clouded over.

“About noon, I received a phone call from dad.”

Meo sat in front of the bed and started to explain:

“He suddenly told me ‘Get the bag in the safe and look for a safe place to hide.’ I was really confused about the situation, but dad’s voice sounded really fierce, so I could only obediently listen to him……”

“This is the bag in the safe.” Meo pointed at the Boston bag at my foot and said.

“Mnn, it’s so heavy that it made me exhausted.”

“Did you try to contact your father?”

Meo’s expression clouded up even more:

“He told me not to contact his company, don’t go home temporarily, and then I couldn’t reach his phone anymore. Although he told me to hide, I didn’t really have any place to go to, so I remembered the detective agency that Hiro-san told me to go to.”

“What is your father’s name? What is his job?”

“His name is Kusakabe Masaya, he’s working at a company called Hello Corporation.”

Alice knotted her brows.

“I think Hiro mentioned this name before. He said that a yakuza man and his daughter lived next to him, probably those are you guys.”

“He’s not a yakuza anymore.”

…… not one anymore?

“I think he entered the gang when we were at Osaka, but he said that he got out of the gang already.”

A yakuza delinquent who exited his gang suddenly called his phone to hide, and to bring a big bag of luggage. This situation is unusual.

I looked at the Boston bag again— there wouldn’t be a bomb inside, would there?

“Have you seen what is inside?”

“No.”

“Then……” Alice lowered her voice, and shifted her foot from her bed to the floor. “If you don’t mind showing me, then please open the bag. But I need to tell you two, opening the bag is like pressing a switch, and you can’t turn back anymore.”

Meo and I looked at Alice at the same time. She still likes to suddenly say incomprehensible things that people don’t understand.

“…… A bomb wouldn’t be inside, would it?”

Meo and I asked at the same time. Alice’s lips curled upwards and shook her head:

“What do you think the thing that made the most people die in the world? It’s not a bomb or a poison, but information— the people who know must die. Even so, I still need to know what happened to your father before I could help you. If you are firm about this, then open it.”

It was as though I could hear the sound of Meo swallowing her saliva. The room was filled with an smell that was hard to describe— I really can’t differentiate the smell at that moment, was that the smell of danger? The smell of desire? Or is it what they call—

“Uu…….”

“Uwaa…….”

Meo and I made a shocked noise at the same time. There were countless Yukichi Fukuzawas staring at us from inside of the dark bag , and the bag was stuffed messily full of wads of cash. Although I knew that the atmosphere of money that was spread in the air was just an illusion, it was still the first time that I saw that much— probably about a hundred million in cash, so I couldn’t help but feel slightly drunk.

Meo’s mutterings broke the silence.

“…… Why is there so much money……”

“Is your family so wealthy that you have so much savings?”

“Our family is not rich!”

“Has this bag always been kept in the safe?”

After interrupting, I immediately realized that it was a stupid question. If the bag was always in the safe, how would Meo know about it? Meo closed her eyes, used her index finger to massage her temple, giving out a ‘Mnn—‘ sound and said after that:

“Sometimes, I would see dad bring the bag from his company….. Ah, I think it’s on each payday. I just felt: Wow, dad has so much wages! That’s so awesome.”

Who would have that much pay anyways!

“Alice, would this be the company’s money……”

“There is a possibility.”

A father who suddenly vanished told his daughter to hide with a hefty sum of cash, he’s probably hiding somewhere himself…… And this guy was once a yakuza too.

“That’s bad, should we call the police?”

I said lightly beside Alice’s year. Meo seemed to have heard my words, and walked slowly towards me while holding onto the bedstead.

“What do you mean? How’s my dad?”

“Nothing……” I couldn’t answer her for a moment, and stared at Alice.

“Your father might be involved in a crime.”

Hearing Alice’s words that were said in my stead, Meo’s expression suddenly froze.

“I think it’s better if we just tell the truth— your father might have cheated the company’s money, and ran away because his plan failed.”

“My dad would never do that!”

Meo forcefully pushed the dolls away and leapt onto the bed, grabbing Alice’s shoulders and shouting loudly.

“Please calm down, I’m just saying that there’s this possibility. Since your father told you not to get near your house or the company, that means that he doesn’t want anyone to know where you are, and there’s no news about him either—“

Meo seemed to ignore Alice’s words. She jumped down from the bed, grabbed the Boston bag and rushed to the entrance.

“Narumi!”

Not waiting for Narumi’s words, I rushed over and caught hold of Meo’s shoulders. I, who was usually somewhat slow, could actually take action reflexively, I, myself was somewhat surprised too.

“Let go of me! Freak! Pervert! Old lecythus man! Machikane Fukukitaru! Nagoya chicken meat!”

Where on Earth did you learn these odd vocabularies? And you even pretended to be bad at Japanese ! Is it Hiro? Hiro must have taught them to her! And the ones she mentioned last aren’t even used to scold people! Ouch! Blast, don’t scratch me! Calm down! Stop fidgeting!

Although I was worried that the walls wouldn’t filter noise perfectly due to them being too thin, but I still caught hold of Meo and shouted in her ears:

“CALM DOWN! You don’t even know where your father is, so what can you do if you go out?”

“I’m going to look for him! My dad is not a thief!”

“What could you do even if—“

“Let go of me—“

Her shouts then (probably) changed to Thai, so I really couldn’t understand what she said. In addition, she was struggling frantically, and really stretched me to my limits as I wasn’t too strong.

“Meo, have you forgotten about what your father told you?”

Alice’s loud voice came from behind us. Hearing her words, Meo froze instantly.

“Didn’t he tell you to hide? I am sure that he’s in some sort of trouble right now, and might even put your life into danger. If you just rushed out, wouldn’t that be a waste of your father’s effort?”

“…… But!”

Meo twisted her body and escaped from my hand. I could tell that she was crying.

“It’s best if you just called the police, better than you rushing around like a deer in headlights.”

“…… Call the police?”

Meo’s face clouded over.

“Don’t call the police, dad told me not to call the police too. Those people always do mean things just because of the difference in skin color. The people in our building have permits too…..”

Meo’s tone suddenly became solemn, like she turned into another person.

“……. What happened?”

I tried to observe Meo’s expression, but she only shook her head violently:

“Because dad was once a yakuza, so that’s why he’s being suspected, that must be why.”

Suddenly hearing the cruel fact, I could only stay silent.

To people from south-east Asia, Japan is indeed not a country that they could live in comfortably. Take myself as an example, for instance, I’ve just heard that Meo’s father was once a yakuza, and I immediately thought that he would steal his company’s money. It’s somewhat ill-conceived, but—

Don’t call the police? Even telling her something like that, is there really something that couldn’t be spoken of?

“That’s why I have to look myself.”

“You don’t even know where he is—“

“Turn around and look over here. Shall I remind you who’s the person in front of you right now?”

Alice suddenly said.

Looking back, Alice had got off her bed and was standing at the entrance of her bedroom, with her back to the light that was emitted by the countless monitors behind her.

Being interrupted while speaking, I heaved a small sigh, then left Meo leaning beside the table of the small kitchen. I couldn’t say anything to Alice who had gotten off her bed.

“Miss Detective……”

“I’m not just an ordinary detective, but a NEET detective. Even if I stay huddled up in my bed, I can search through the whole world and find out about the real truth.”

Meo kneeled on the floor, tearfully staring at Alice for awhile. Nobody spoke. Although I wanted to say something, I couldn’t think of anything to say. Between a client an a detective, there’s no room for a mere assistant to interfere— Alice was not looking at me, but her expression said just that.

“Can you find my dad?”

Meo’s voice sounded like she was choking.

“Is that your request?”

Alice’s tone of speaking was still as cool as a cucumber.

“If a NEET detectives accepts a case, he would search for the truth after going through three thousand worlds to look for an answer. If there’s no request, I’m only one of the countless windows that couldn’t speak.”

Meo wiped away the tears in the corner of her eyes with the back of her hand.

“I’m giving you a request—“ She said clearly: “Please save my father.”

A relieved expression was shown on Alice’s face, and I think I know why she felt like that. The hikikomori detective could only come in contact with the outside world through cases. If there’s no official request, she could only save the information alone on her bed. Alice’s loneliness, and her fear of being unable to help out with anything although the world continues to change, I have heard of all of these during the incident last winter.

But—

I really couldn’t stand aside without saying a thing.

“Are you really planning to solve this on your own without telling the police?”

Meo and Alice looked at me at the same time, but the first to answer was Alice:

“A detective must act according to his client’s wishes.”

While Meo just shook her head vigorously . I sighed again and scratche my head.

“So what if there’s really a crime…….”

“Dad is not a bad person.”

Stop that, I get it already! But he could be involved in a crime even if he’s not a bad guy! I just hope that Alice would not face something dangerous.

But Alice said coolly:

“I’ve already decided to accept the case, so there’s no room for you to interfere.”

A dizzy spell came upon me. This guy is serious, and doesn’t even care that other people are worried about her.

“Think properly, why are you actually staying here?”

“……. Isn’t it to serve food and Dr. Pepper for you?”

“If you really think that way, then you should hurry up and leave in my disdain.”

That’s what you said before! I wanted to say that but restrained myself. I sank into a temporary contemplation: No matter what, a detective’s assistant exists just to aid a detective, and not to worry about the detective. Even so……

That made me think about the incident that occurred last winter. At that time, I was to absorbed in my own thoughts and didn’t notice, actually Alice and the others aren’t just relying on the power of the police and were still doing dangerous jobs. Probably Alice, Tetsu-senpai and the others are already used to these dangerous things?

Ah— so that’s why.

I’m not really worried of Alice. I’m just worried that I can’t follow their footsteps. To be exact— I couldn’t follow them at all. It’s because I don’t have knowledge, contacts or even talents.

Actually all of this doesn’t mean anything, it’s just that I’m cowardly.

“…… Sorry.”

Meo looked upwards beside me with an uneasy expression while Alice looked coldly at me while sitting on the bed. Paranoia started to form in my heart, and it felt like they were trying to tell me, a pawn, to shut up. I could only hide behind the fridge, showing only half of my body.

“The- then…….” I felt that aggrieved when I started to say: “If we’re accepting the request, I have a condition.”

“Why are you giving a condition?”

“No, it’s because……” Alice’s gaze was like the freezing wind on February, tearing people to shreds. “Since Meo’s father wanted her to hide, what should she do after this?”

Meo shook her head non-shop: “I never thought about it.” You should think about it first!

“It’ll be troublesome if she rushed out like just now, so if we can’t ensure Meo’s safety, we can’t accept the request.”

Meo looked at me doubtfully, her eyes fluttering. Searching for an ex-yakuza would probably be hard, but if it’s just looking for a safe place for a girl, I should be able to help with that. I looked guiltily at Alice’s expression.

“Are you imagining despicably that you could just use Meo’s safety as a shield on times of need, and then we can just give up on searching for Kusakabe Masaya?”

“Of course not!”

Well, maybe a bit…… Why is this fellow always so sharp?

“Forget about it, you’re not wrong. Meo, so it’s settled.”

“…… How is it settled?”

“You just say that you wish to be protected, or I’ll hand you to the police.”

“Wh- Why does this feel like a threat?”

“I’m not threatening you, this is a necessary precaution to look for your father. So now you have three choices. First, you can just go back. Second, call the police. Third, hand it to us.”

Meo stayed silent while hugging her Boston bag for a moment, then kneeled down and said:

“Please take care of useless ol’ me in the future!”

…… Where did she learn THAT? Really, who taught her these things? Was it Hiro? It’s Hiro, isn’t it?

“So— Narumi, you’ve started this, so hurry up and complete your mission?”

“Huh?”

“Didn’t you say that we should hide Meo? There should be some empty rooms at Master’s place, so you go ask her!”

“Ask Min-san?”

Min-san lives at the ground floor of an apartment just behind her ramen shop. Since her father disappeared, she had some rooms empty. If we want to hide Meo, it would be suitable there. But…… Must I be the one to ask her?

<center>*</center>

“Why didn’t you just call the police?”

Min-san didn’t even look at me when she answered, but just continued to cut the celery in her hands. I didn’t know what to answer her all of a sudden, and Meo stuck her head from the kitchen back door, an uneasy expression on her face. I turned around and looked at her, then stared at Min-san again.

“Well…… There are a lot of reasons.”

“What reasons?”

“Ngh……”

I told Min-san about the disappearance of Min-san’s father and him telling Meo to run away, but how could I tell her about the next part?

“You’re expecting me to give her shelter without giving me a reason?”

When I think about it, it does seem like I’m asking for a mile when I just took an inch.

“Forget it, my dad’s room is still collecting dust anyways, just sleep there for now.”

…… Huh? She agreed just like that?

“Erm…… I might give you some trouble.”

Meo’s voice that was full of uneasiness came from my back. Min-san turned her head over only when she heard Meo’s voice, and she said:

“Don’t you mind, if there’s any problem I’ll beat up Narumi first. The room’s a bit dirty, but you can use it as you like, as it’s empty from the start anyways.”

“She said that……” I turned my head over to look at Meo. Her face that had the color of coffee ole was immediately lit up with a smile.

“Thank you, Min-san.”

“But you’ll only get ramen for your meals. Narumi, get a blanket for her from the storeroom in my room.”

“Ah, alright.”

Thus, I brought Meo from the back of the kitchen to Min-san’s house. Min-san ordered me quite naturally, and I didn’t think much about it— but is it really okay for me to go in and out of a girl’s room like this?

Min-san’s father abandoned his daughter and the ramen shop and went missing until now, so his room is now being used as a storeroom, and it was stuffed full of bookracks and cardboard boxes that were once used to fill foodstuff. I randomly stacked together the cardboard boxes that were used to fill dried fish for soup, and finally managed to clear up some space so place the mattress. Meo stood in front of the door with her Boston bag slung on her back, curiously looking around the room and said:

“Is it really okay? It seems like someone is using the room.”

“But you have nowhere else to go, right? And you can’t go home too……”

Meo’s expression turned gloomy, and I hurriedly continued:

“I’ll go check out your home later. And Alice knows a lot of busybody oddballs, so don’t worry!”

As I was about to leave Meo there and walk out of the room, She grabbed the sleeve of my shirt.

“…… Hmm? What is it?”

“Everyone is so kind, Min-san, Miss Detective and also Mr. Assistant……”

Kind? Me?

“I’m really sorry for just now, making trouble all of a sudden. So you were just worried of me…… Thank you.”

I couldn’t say a word for a moment. Actually I wasn’t worried about Meo, so her direct gratitude made me feel somewhat flustered, not knowing what to say.

“I’m just feeling somewhat jealous. Hiro-san kept showing off to me, saying that he’s a homeless gigolo, but he has Hanamaru. Because there’s a beautiful and gentle Mother here, although she only knows how to cook ramen for him.”

I really don’t want a scary mother like Min-san…… the thought suddenly surfaced in my mind.

“Then what is your mother doing right now, Meo?”

Though it seems to be too late for this question, nobody asked this before anyways. Meo’s expression suddenly froze. She lowered her head while sitting on the Boston bag on the floor, then raised her head to look at me.

“…… Mother…… she died due to an illness not long after she came to Japan.”

I gasped. The strange thing is, the girl beside my foot smiled. Her smile was like fog on a summer morning, hiding a faint sorrow.

“It doesn’t matter, I’m still living with the big sisters in the same building.”

People look lonelier when they smile, that was what I learnt from the winter this year.

Though we might be able to find Kusakabe Masaya after calling the police, Meo might have to be all alone after this— I’ve only understood the fact at this moment.

But then, what should we do? I have no idea. If we really could locate Kusakabe Masaya, if he really did take part in a crime, what should Alice do?

As for me— what should I do?

“What’s wrong, Mr. Assistant?” Meo looked up from below at me, who had shut my mouth and was not speaking. As I couldn’t meet Meo’s eyes, I turned my head to the other side and said:

“Nothing. Sorry for asking these strange questions.”

<center>*</center>

Not long after that, Hiro appeared at the ramen shop on about five in the evening.

“I’ve heard that Me-chan is here?”

The person who ran into the shop was a tall, nineteen year old man, and he wore a beige denim jacket and a pair of white silk khaki pants. I’ve never seen anyone more suited for wearing white clothes, including male artists. His appearance was like a model or a hustler, but he’s actually just a NEET, and also a gigolo.

“Ah, Hiro-san!”

Meo, who was eating ice cream in the kitchen, poked her head out.

“So you’ve finished work?”

“Being a gigolo is a job that requires creativity, so our working time is more flexible.”

“Hiro, get over here. I want to make you unable to embarrass the Japanese anymore!”

Min-san glared at Hiro while holding a kitchen knife, scaring him so much that he rushed out of the shop and hid in the alley behind the ramen shop. The back door of the Hanamaru Ramen Shop kitchen was located between two buildings. There, it was stacked full of worn out tires, large flipped over steel buckets, plastic buckets and wooden stands that were used as tables. It’s the best place for the NEETs to gather.

Although it’s the time when I should prepare for opening time of the shop, since there’s nothing much to do, I walked out of the kitchen backdoor to look for Hiro; Meo followed me outside too , for some reason.

“Alice told me about the situation on the phone……” Hiro said while sitting on the plastic bucket. “But I’m still not sure about some parts of it.”

I nodded.

“How much money is in the bag?”

Hiro looked at Meo who sat beside him.

“Hmm, I don’t know. I didn’t count……”

“Seeing as there’s so much, I’d wager that there would be about a few hundred million yen.” I answered for Meo.

“Is Me-chan that rich?”

Meo shook her head frantically.

“That’s true! The company isnt’ big, and you even live in the same area as the people who left home to look for a living.”

“I think it’s the money of their company?”

“Money of their company? Then how could he get out so much? And it’s cash, to boot!”

“This…… that is…… that……” I really don’t know how to answer. “Alice seemed to have found out something just now, that Meo’s father is one of the Directors of the company. If that’s true, then isn’t there a possibility?”

“…… Even if we say that he pocketed the company’s money, does the company even earn that much anyways? I remember that the financial status of the company isn’t really that good.”

“What does ‘pocketed’ mean?”

Meo’s expression was truly innocent, and caused Hiro and I to be unable to answer her for a moment. I could only choose a more suitable way of answering:

“Erm…… That means using his position to take away the company’s money.”

“You’re saying that again, Mr. Assistant! My dad would never do that!”

Meo kept hitting my arm with her face red. Hiro tried to be the peacemaker at this moment, and forcefully caught hold of Meo’s shoulders.

“Are you really sure that he wouldn’t do that?” he asked in a solemn tone.

“Absolutely.”

“Do you trust him that much?”

Medo nodded so vigorously that her neck almost snapped into half.

“Mnn, I get it.” Hiro’s voice regained its gentleness. “Trusting people is Me-chan’s job, doubting people would be our job. There are many things that we can’t be sure of if we don’t doubt it, so just let us handle this nasty job!”

Hiro met Meo’s gaze for awhile, and then showed her a gentle smile.

Meo hesitated for awhile, then nodded.

This guy is really good— I suddenly felt that. To be frank, I wasn’t too sure about Hiro’s statement at that moment, but he always had a way to make people calm down. He probably always uses this talent on indecent things, right? He’s a public enemy for women.

“No matter what, we must still check out the condition of the company and Meo’s family.”

“Hiro probably knows the location of the building, right? And know the people there.”

“Ah— me? The security there already remembered my face, and I’ve already deleted the phone number of my ex-girlfriend.”

When I think about it, he had been chased out by the security. Then what should we do now?

Hiro stared at me silently.

Meo stared at me without saying a word too.

This is……

“Should…… I go?”

“There’s no choice, there’s nobody else.”

“I don’t mind going, but I’m currently at work.”

“What? At work?”

Hiro’s reaction was really too exaggerated, and really hurts my fragile heart. I tapped the words ‘Hanamaru’ printed on the black apron.

“Mnn, Narumi, you’re working here? Really? Why? Becoming a NEET isn’t an illness, so don’t mind it, you don’t need to force yourself to get therapy.”

I’m telling you I’m not a NEET!

“And you don’t even look like you’re working right now.”

Being said that, it made me speechless, because the truth is as Hiro have said.

“So what are Tetsu-senpai and Major doing right now?” I frantically changed the topic.

“I’ve just called Tetsu, he’s at the Tokyo Racetrack.”

Ah, to today is racing day. Since it’s the spring holidays right now, I even forgot what day it is today.

“He said that he lost the money used for taking the train on his last match, so he’s walking back. Really, he could just go bet at WINS, why does he need to specially run to that place that haven’t even started racing?”

The hopeless gambler…… Wouldn’t it take at least four hours for him to walk from there to here?

“I couldn’t find Major too, perhaps he’s playing a survival game?”

“Can’t I go after I finished work?”

“She works at night, so she’ll be out if you don’t go now.” Hiro said. I sighed. It’s like there’s a pair of invisible hands controlling me, not letting me work. I know, I know! I’ll go right now.

I walked back into the kitchen and asked lightly to Min-san who was concentrating on scooping out the dregs in the steaming pot.

“Erm……”

“You’re skipping work the first day at work? You really have some guts!”

Min-san said without even looking at me. Probably she heard our conversation just now.

“So- sorry, just pretend I didn—“

“There’s no difference, since we’re so free right now. But you’re fired if you’re not back by seven!”

Hiro borrowed me a jacket and a pair of cool glasses before I set off. Perhaps those have been given to him by his ex-girlfriend at that building?

As I was about to bring my bike from the alley to the main road, I faintly heard the conversation between Min-san and Meo from the shop”

“Meo, would you like to work in my shop?”

“Eh, that won’t do, I’m working at a Thai restaurant right now…… Ah, but I’m on leave these days, so I might be fired…….”

“Just tell me if you change your mind, I’ll fire Narumi instantly.”

That’s just too much…… She’s so cruel. While suppressing my sorrowful feeling, I pedaled towards the road that was dyed red by the setting sun.

<center>*</center>

Pedaling from the southern exit of the station towards the slope, I turned right after passing through the post office. I got lost between a middle school and an embassy, and went back and forth on the same road for quite a few times, then I realized that the four storey building that was about as big as the school building further to my left was a collection of residential rooms, which is also my destination – Hello Palace. I stopped at the roadside, staring blankly on my bike with my jaw open. I’ve heard that the people who live here are mostly women foreigners from south-east Asia, and thought that it’s just a broken down apartment with seven or eight people squeezed in a six tatami room. I actually had that kind of prejudice, how impolite of me.

So that I wouldn’t be noticed, I parked my bike at a corner of a building that couldn’t be seen from the guardroom.

When I stopped my bike, the large amount of cash that Meo brought suddenly surfaced in my mind. It’s too unusual, what if it really involved a crime? The police haven’t came to Meo’s house yet, have they? If so, I’ll just act dumb.

I took out the pair of glasses that was used for ornamental purposes and put it on.

The guards’ restroom was beside the entrance of the building, and there was nobody in there. But for some reason I naturally started to walk on tiptoe, so what’s the difference between me and a person who sneaks into other people’s houses? I could only console myself that I’m not doing anything, and walked to the forth room of the third floor. The words ‘Kusakabe’ were written on the signboard. Not even a person could be seen there, and that made me a bit more relieved. I pressed the doorbell, waited for about three minutes but there wasn’t any answer; so I turned the handle and found that the door was locked.

Actually, Meo handed me the keys to her house, but I really don’t feel like going in. If I was spotted, I really couldn’t explain why I have the key.

It couldn’t be helped, I could only press the doorbell of the room next to it, the house of the person that Hiro once lived in. After about twenty seconds, the door opened a crack, and a young woman was standing behind it.

“Hi……”

She sounded rather sleepy. The lady wore a baggy T-shirt printed full of simplified characters and a pair of shorts, her long hair tied up messily with a rubber band. Although she didn’t have any make up on, I could see that she was a Chinese beauty with a great figure.

“……. Who are you?”

“Ah, so- sorry!” Was she sleeping just now? “Do you know Kuwabara Hiroaki-san?

When I mentioned Hiro’s name, the woman’s eyes finally focused.

“Hiro? Eh? …… Ah, that jacket……”

“Erm…… Meo is at my place.”

The woman’s brows suddenly twitched, then speedily shut the door before I even finished speaking. After that, the sound of her removing the chains on the door came, and then this time, the door was opened wide.

“Ah— Mnn— I’ve heard about it, wait for awhile, I’ll get it here.”

Eh? Wa- Wait a sec, what’s with this situation?

When I was supporting the door, the woman walked into the room and took out a coffee colored paper bag.

“You can it this directly, but it’s even better after you heat it.”

With my brain in a muddle, the paper bag was stuffed roughly into my hands.

“Eh, ah, erm……”

I’m still not sure what was happening, but the girl hugged me all of a sudden. I immediately felt that she wasn’t wearing lingerie, causing me to freeze. At this moment, she said quietly in my ears:

“I can’t talk to you here, so just pretend you’re just here to get the bag, go home for now!”

I immediately came to my senses. The girl then let go of me, and said to me with a tone like a salesman: “Say hi to everyone for me!” then pushed me out and closed the door.

I was left alone in the corridor with the weight of the paper bag in my hands.

Can’t talk to me here?

Does that lady know of Meo’s current situation? But what did she mean by can’t talk to me here? Did she mean that there’s someone in her room, and it’s bad for our conversation to be overheard?

I couldn’t make head or tails of the matter from the start, but I still followed what she said, took the bag and left ‘Hello Palace’ obediently.

After walking out of the entrance, I immediately tore open the bag. There was a small bun in the bag, while a business card was placed on it— ‘Exotic Pub, Shanghai Love’. The logo on the card was a shining pink, while the name on it was a name written in romaji: Rin. There was also a sentence written below the name in an untidy scrawl—

Wait for me behind the shop at 4.00 am.

It was written on the card that the pub’s business time was until three thirty at night, so does that mean she’s asking me to wait until she finished work? But why did she use so much effort to act out that play just now?

I placed the business card into my pocket, walked to my bike parked at the side of the road and suddenly felt a chill on my back.

I really shouldn’t stop, and I should just ride my bike and leave ASAP; but I stopped walking because of that feeling. I saw two silhouettes from the corner of my eyes, and they were walking towards me from the direction of Hello Palace.

One of the men was wearing a grubby leather jacket, while the other wore a purple flowery shirt that had zero fashion sense, with curly hair on top of his head. I pretended not to notice and sped up. When I reached the shadow of the building, I felt the chill on my back again.

“Oi, you over there!”

One of the men shouted. Just like that, my intuition told me that these two are definitely not people to mess with. This is bad, I should really escape double quick. Just as I was about to ride away on my bike, the footsteps behind me quickened. I raised my head, only to see that the two men were horribly close to me.

“Kid, don’t move!”

Almost reflexively, I raised my hands and threw the bag that I was holding to them, then hurriedly pushed my bike down the slope and jumped onto my bike. I don’t know what happened with the bag, but I could hear the furious roars of the men coming from behind. I was afraid that they would quickly chase me down and grab my collar, so I accelerated the rate of my pedaling, rushing down the slope without even pedaling and sharply turned right as soon as I reached the road. A car flew by my side, leaving behind only the loud sound of the horn.

I steered clear of the main road and circled around the alleys that I didn’t really know that well, and I only stopped and looked around after I reached the four line lane(?) .Of course, the two people are already gone. I gasped for breath, trying to slow down my breathing and my heartbeat, and I felt bouts of pain coming from my lungs.

Who are those two anyways?

The reason that I wanted to run away was not only because the men’s actions gave me a bad premonition, the attitude of the Chinese onee-san caused me to be suspicious as well.

I took out my phone.

“…… ah, it’s me.”

‘How was it? Did you see Yi Ling?’ Hiro asked.

“Erm….. Ah, yes, I did see her.”

So that’s why— her name is Yi Ling, that’s why her nickname is Rin. While thinking of these meaningless things, I adjusted my breathing rate and answered:

“Meo’s house is under surveillance.”

Hiro, who was at the other side of the phone stayed silent.

“They might be yakuza. Hiro, you should really tell Meo not to go out.”

‘Got it. Things are really not that simple, we might need to ask for Yondaime’s help……’

I told Hiro that I’m going back right now, and hung up.

We might need to ask for Yondaime’s help. Although there’s this possibility, I really don’t wish for things to turn out like that. When the shonen yakuza leader of the juvenile delinquents start to take action, it would be hard to prevent bloodshed from occurring.

But my premonitions are the most accurate in these bad situations, and of course it’s the same this time, too.

<center>*</center>

The Hotel Street at four in the morning felt like an insomniac patient who couldn’t sleep, its eyes swollen and bloodshot. Walking along the curved road on the slope, pillars of streetlights were towering over two sides of the road, illuminating the signboards with fee and service content written on it; the side view of a hotel that looked rather blurred due to the blue and pink rays of light shining on it was visible further up the slope.

Walking alone in this place at night, it felt like I would get crushed by the psychological pressure soon, so I forced myself to focus on the fees written on each hotel. I’m not sure if it’s because of the strong competition, there’s a lot of mystifying side services. It looks like not only each hotel provided a microwave, Dreamcast was written on some of the signboards! What type of couples are they trying to attract, anyways?

I came here once before during that incident, but I don’t really have much of an impression of it anymore. There really aren’t much people at these places at this time, so it was extremely quiet.

Climbing onto the slope after walking out of the Hotel Street, I walked to an inconspicuous pub on the road. This place is away from the dazzling grandeur preferred by the young people, a street that exists for the sake of ojisans (probably).

According to Hiro, due to the special revision of the industrial law, the pubs on the streets have decreased, and have now almost disappeared or have changed to providing various services for the hostels nearby..

The pub that’s like an endangered species, ‘Exotic Pub, Shanghai Love’, was just at the corner of the street. Having electric lights that are modeled on oil lamps and an arc-shaped door, it feels just like a pub that any grown man could go. The pink neon lights weren’t too flashy , and it didn’t feel like it’s a suspicious shop. Is this really an indecent place? But the signboard says that it’s a pub.

I looked at the time on my phone, the date had advanced a day, becoming the first of April. It’s now three forty five in the morning, that’s early.

A middle-aged man passed by my side, accompanied by a woman wearing a low-cut shirt, and it looks like she’s occupational. Seeing the two walk to Hotel Street at the same time, I squeezed into the cramped alley beside the shop and hid.

Just at that moment, I remembered the scene when I returned to Hanamaru in the evening. I showed the card given to me by the Chinese onee-san— Yi Ling san, to Hiro and told him about what occurred. Hiro showed me an awkward expression and said: “I think it’s better if I go. You probably won’t be able to go out that late, right?” Maybe his experience of breaking up with Yi Ling-san wasn’t too good?

Although I was worried that they would feel awkward if they met, but the main reason that I went was that I wanted to go. If I need to trouble Hiro for such a simple matter, then I’m truly useless.

To be honest, sitting on the separator of the charged parking lot, I was somewhat regretting my decision to accept this request. What if I were caught by the police and to accept counseling? They’d probably inform the school, right? And I ran out without even telling my sister, what am I doing……

“Waited for a long time?”

Suddenly hearing the voice of a woman, it startled me so much that I nearly fell down. I raised my head to have a look, and I saw Yi Ling-san wearing an extremely short mini skirt that would be almost invisible in the morning streets and a light beige jacket. She bent down slightly and looked at my face:

“Sorry, are you okay? It’s so late right now. I originally thought that Hiro would come.”

“Hiro’s because…… erm……”

“I know, he didn’t want to come, right? Can you help me beat him up for me next time?”

Yi Ling-san said while smiling.

“It’s not that convenient talking out here, I think it’s better if we go to a restaurant.”

She dragged my hand and started to go forward. All of her actions were overly natural. Though I still felt uneasy, I could only follow her obediently.

Then I slowly realized something— the way that Yi Ling-san was walking was somewhat unnatural. You won’t notice if you don’t look closely, but her back was a bit bent when she walked, and the steps that she took didn’t match.

“Erm…… Are you sick? Or do you have a stomachache?”

“Eh? You can see that?” a wry smile was shown on her face. “Well, since I’m still the bread and butter of the shop, only my face wasn’t beaten up.”

“Huh……?”

“I’ve heard that you ran away, didn’t you? That wasn’t good— I even pretended that I knew you very well too, in the end I had to put in a lot of effort to explain, but they didn’t even believe me.”

“Er…… Were they the ones with the leather coat and the curly hair?”

“Correct. Those two are the racketeers of our shop, and they’re monitoring the building to see if Meo comes back.”

Racketeers?

“They’re yakuzas who collect protection rackets. I really don’t know what they would do, so remember to tell Meo, don’t come back here for the moment.”

They’re indeed yakuza. But why are yakuzas looking for Meo? When I wanted to continue asking, a voice suddenly came from my back:

“Sorry for the wait.”

“Who is this child?”

When I turned my head around, I saw two women who were dressed similarly to Yi Ling-san going past the buildings, and were walking to us.

In the restaurant during late night, at a the innermost table of the smoking area that didn’t have any other customers there, I was surrounded by three onee-sans who work at a pub, and I sat among them with my body curled up. Yi Ling-san asked while eating a large bowl of tekkadon: “So who are you, actually?”

There were also a hamburger set meal, clam spaghetti, tomato soup, French fries and a whole lot more food on the table, causing me to be rather shocked because of their astoundingly big appetite. The three of them were rather slim, how could they eat that much food?

“What’s your relationship with Meo? Are you Hiro’s friend?”

Hua-san, who seems to have came from Taiwan, asked in a rapid fire tone.

“Middle schooler? High school?” the onee-san who seems to have came from Philippine interrupted, asking more questions.

“Ah, I’m a high schooler.” Do I even look like a middle schooler? Though I HAD been misunderstood sometimes. “Erm…… It’s hard to say…… Have you heard of the detective agency in the same building as the ramen shop?”

“Oh—“ Yi Ling-san nodded and said: “I’ve heard of it, I think the detective’s a girl, right? What’s she like?”

“What’s she like, huh……”

Actually I don’t really know Alice that well, and I don’t even know what age is she.

“She’s a small, delicate girl who’s about twelve or thirteen, wears pajamas and is cooped up in her room every day. Though she’s quite malicious, her skill of using the computer should be quite good.”

“Really, she’s that young!? How does she count as a detective then, it’s so mystifying.”

With an annoyed expression on her face, Yi Ling-san stayed silent for quite some time. Then, she relit her cigarette, breathed in deeply and then puffed out a large amount of smoke.

“She’s really that young? Isn’t she a detective?”

“Mnn, being a detective should be a self-proclaimed.”

It should be normal when people have this reaction when they learn about Alice, right? The thought suddenly flashed through my mind. But aren’t they being a bit too surprised?

“So that’s how it is, I actually lost to that…… Uwaa, so Hiro is a lolita! That’s so hurtful……”

She muttered while looking at the ceiling, while the contents of her mutterings really couldn’t be ignored. What does she mean? Does Hiro…… No, how is that possible?

“Yi Ling, you should just forget about that gigolo.”

Hua-san patted Yi Ling-san’s head, meant as a consolation but was pushed away by Yi Ling-san, and then she continued to ask:

“So Hiro is still helping that detective. Does that mean that Meo is there as well?”

“Ah….. yes.”

This afternoon— no, it’s on yesterday— I explained shortly how Meo went to the NEET Detective Agency, and while thinking about it, I really feel that it was really a long day.

“Is the place where Meo is staying at safe?” Jennifer said.

“Mnn— It’s probably quite safe.” If Min-san agrees to help , she is quite reliable.

“Meo is just like our daughter……” Jennifer continued: “I originally hoped to marry someone like Kusakabe-san, and then give birth to a child like Meo.”

“Didn’t your husband get addicted to drugs? He’s quite a match for you!” Hua-san said sarcastically at a side.

“I’ve told him to stop, and Kusakabe-san helped me to beat him up already.”

“But he haven’t found a job, have he?” Yi Ling-san frowned.

“Just tell him to get lost after getting the permanent resident visa!”

The conversation started to stray towards a direction that I couldn’t comprehend, and was mixed with bits of English, Chinese and Filipino. While feeling pressured, I drank my iced coffee with a straw.

“Meo doesn’t know what happened to Kusakabe-san, too?” Yi Ling-san steered the topic back to the main point.

“Nope.” I shook my head, and explained about the phone call from Meo’s father.

“I wonder what Kusakabe-san did……”

“Maybe he got into trouble with Tabara-gumi? But didn’t he leave the gang from Osaka already?”

“Those guys came to the shop just now. Our shopkeeper is an old friend of Kusakabe-san’s from Kansai, so he kept being badgered, and was asked if he’s keeping something for Kusakabe-san. Of course, he didn’t say anything. Hmph!”

The money is indeed the company’s— no, perhaps it belongs to yakuza?

I decided not to tell them about the bomb-like amount of money in Meo’s hands. People who know must die— I thought about what Alice said while interrupting them:

“Erm……”

I felt that my palm was sweating, but I must get this thing clear.

“Is the Hello Corporation…… How should I say this, a criminal company? Or yakuza?”

“Impossible!” The three instantly denied it.

“Then who in the world is looking for Meo?”

“I said that it’s the racketeers from Tabara-gumi. It’ll be troublesome if people make trouble in our business, so we hire yakuza racketeers. But those people are too avaricious, recently quite a lot of shops stopped working with them, but our shop…… It can’t be helped, there’s too many foreigners.”

This made me even more muddled up about Hello Corporation. They have connections with yakuza, opened a pub, and even rented some nice accommodations for their female foreign workers.

“Although I’m not that clear about it……” Yi Ling-san continued: “But those who are in our profession, more or less would have some connections with that side of the people. Hello Corporation. Hello Corporation provides labor services, and they even provide Japanese classes for us.”

“The pay is quite good too.”

“But we owe people quite a lot of money at first. Even if we send the money home, half of it would probably be taken away.”

“This is just an act of extorting money out of us.”

“There’s no choice, because it’s because of the help given by the guild that we can stay in Japan.”

“Guild?” I asked. Topics that I don’t understand crop up one after another, and I almost couldn’t follow it anymore.

“Hello Corporation is a cooperative guild that is formed from teams of women who work here, Kusakabe-san is the guild master, so he lives with us. Besides making it easier for us to get visas, the guild would also introduce marriage partners and so on.”

I noticed something odd from Yi Ling-san’s explanation…… Wait a sec!

“Isn’t this what they call a fake marriage……?”

Jeniffer and Hua-san laughed out loud at the same time and said:

“Well, we live together as well. If we don’t live in harmony, we can’t pass the visa check.”

“But how would this work out in the future? If Kusakabe-san is caught……”

“If a delinquent replaces him, I might not continue to work anymore. If it weren’t for Kusakabe-san, I really couldn’t deal with all this a long time ago……”

“Yi Ling, you’re still single anyways, so it doesn’t matter……”

The three ignored my presence and started to talk about solemn matters. I listened to their conversation from far away, and started to stir the ice cubes in my glass while relaxing somewhat. Not only was I unable to find out anything about Meo’s father, the outrageous topics that followed made me even more muddled up.

The incident that happened last winter was even simpler than this. Strictly speaking, it’s just that some people reaped the evil fruit that they sowed. But it’s different this time.

Can Alice handle this?

The horizon of the night sky was somewhat blue when we walked out of the restaurant. It was already near dawn. There weren’t anyone besides us on the sidewalk, but even at this time, the cars and truck were still busy on the road.

“That’s right, I forgot to ask what’s your name.” Yi Ling-san said.

“Ah, I’m Fujishima. Fujishima Narumi.”

“How do you write that?”

Yi Ling-san took out her phone, so I typed out my name on it.

“Oh— so it’s Ming Hai.”

Hearing someone reading out my name in Chinese— I feel that I’ve read something like that in a manga somewhere.

And so, Yi Ling-san and the others exchanged phone numbers with me while standing in the streets.

“Ming Hai, so you’re helping by the detective’s side too?”

“It seems that I’m her assistant.”

I, myself, feel embarrassed when I say that.

“Really? Then if you find Kusakabe-san, please save him. He should know yakuzas better than us, so it’s improbable for him to make trouble himself. He probably did what he did because of some pressing matters.”

Is that really so? If he knows of a way to stealthily take the company’s money but would not get noticed, the people who can do that would probably still do that— I thought while nodding.

“Really, why didn’t Kusakabe-san escape back to Thailand with Meo.”

Jeniffer muttered to herself.

“Yeah, although we’ll be troubled if he isn’t here, but looking at the situation right now, we can’t bail at all……”

“Narumi, tell Kusakabe-san if you see him……”

Hua-san held my hand and said:

“He’s working too hard at Hello Corporation, tell him to escape to somewhere else!”

“Really….. huh?”

“It’s best if he takes the ashes of his wife back to Thailand too……”

It was like cold water was splashed all over me. I looked at Yi Ling-san’s face.

Meo’s mother died in a foreign country.

“I’ll leave Meo to you.”

The three said so, gave me a hug each and then left.

After Yi Ling-san and the others left, I sat on the fence alone and stared blankly at the morning sky. I just felt that the sleepiness locked in my chest couldn’t be released, and couldn’t creep into my brain. Looking downwards, I could only see the slope that descended in a straight line from the southern exit of the station, and the city lights that were threatening the night sky along the slope.

The matter is utterly out of my comprehension, and it gave me a bad premonition. What should we do? Never would I have thought that both our client and the person that we’re searching for would be wanted by the yakuza. What could I do to help in this matter? Thinking back on the scene when the yakuza were chasing me— ahh, it’s impossible. If I meet them next time, I’d probably run away too.

Why did Alice hire me as her assistant? She was just following the flow at first, I understand that. But what about after the Angel Fix incident ended? I, myself, told Alice that I wanted to continue to be her assistant, and she accepted too. So what expectations do she have for me? I don’t know.

The noisy cries of a flock of crows surrounded me and bugged me. It wouldn’t be any help if I continue to ponder about this.

Anyways, this is my first official job since I became Alice’s assistant.

Could I still stay by Alice’s side— that would depend on this time.

During the incident that happened during the winter, I actually didn’t help out with much. Even so, Alice still said that I’m her assistant; no matter how much she abused me, she didn’t really abandon me. So I could only cling onto the small, hopeless possibility.

It’s the same even now.

I can only do what I can do.

Jumping down from the fence, I patted away the sand on me and took my first step on the sidewalk.

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| Back to [[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 2 Illustrations|Volume 2 Illustrations]]
| Return to [[Kamisama no Memochou|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 2 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Kamisama no Memochou

2011-12-23T19:40:24Z

Pmt7ar:

[[Image:GN_Vol_01_cover.jpg|thumb|Volume 1 Cover]]
Kami-sama no memochou (神様のメモ帳, literally God's Notebook), also known as Heaven's Memo Pad, is a light novel series written by Hikaru Sugii and illustrated by Mel Kishida. The series has currently 8 volumes and is adapted into other medias.

==Story Synopsis==

==Awards==
'''Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! (このライトノベルがすごい!) 2011'''
*10th place in Best Novel Series, Sugii Hikaru
*2nd place in Best Female Character, Alice

'''Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! (このライトノベルがすごい!) 2012'''
*14th place in Best Novel Series, Sugii Hikaru
*5th place in Best Female Character, Alice
== Translation ==

===[[Kamisama no Memocho:Registration Page|Registration]]===


Translators are asked to [[Kamisama no Memocho:Registration Page|register]] which chapters they're working on.

===Format Standards===
'''Every Chapter (after editing) must conform to the general format guidelines.'''
*[[Format_guideline|General Format/Style Guideline]]

=== Feedback ===
'''If you enjoyed the series, why don't you tell us in the [http://www.baka-tsuki.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=4224 Feedback thread]'''

== Updates ==
*March 1, 2011 - Teaser page created
*December 14, 2011 - Volume 1 Chapter 1 complete.
*December 15, 2011 - Volume 1 Chapter 2 complete.
*December 18, 2011 - Upgraded to full project.
*December 19, 2011 - Volume 1 Chapter 3 complete.
*December 20, 2011 - Volume 1 Chapter 4 complete.
*December 22, 2011 - Volume 1 Chapter 5 complete.
*December 23, 2011 - Volume 1 Chapter 6 complete.

==The ''God's Notebook'' series by Hikaru Sugii==

===Volume 1===
[[Image:GN_Vol_01_cover.jpg|125px|thumb|Volume 1 Cover]]
*[[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 1 Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
*[[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 1 Chapter 1|Chapter 1]] ([[GN~spanish~:Volume_1_Chapter 1|spanish]] ~5%)
*[[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
*[[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 1 Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
*[[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 1 Chapter 4|Chapter 4]]
*[[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 1 Chapter 5|Chapter 5]]
*[[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 1 Chapter 6|Chapter 6]]
*[[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 1 Chapter 7|Chapter 7]] (50% complete)
*Afterword

===Volume 2===
[[Image:Kamimemo cover 2.jpg|125px|thumb|Volume 2 Cover]]
*[[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 2 Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
*Chapter 1
*Chapter 2
*Chapter 3
*Chapter 4
*Chapter 5
*Chapter 6
*Chapter 7
*Afterword

===Volume 3===
[[Image:Kamimemo cover 3.jpg|125px|thumb|Volume 3 Cover]]
*[[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 3 Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
*Chapter 1
*Chapter 2
*Chapter 3
*Chapter 4
*Chapter 5
*Chapter 6
*Chapter 7
*Afterword

===Volume 4===
[[Image:Kamimemo cover 4.jpg|125px|thumb|Volume 4 Cover]]
*[[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 4 Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
*Chapter 1
*Chapter 2
*Chapter 3
*Chapter 4
*Chapter 5
*Chapter 6
*Chapter 7
*Afterword

===Volume 5===
[[Image:Kamimemo cover 5.jpg|125px|thumb|Volume 5 Cover]]
*[[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 5 Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
*Prologue
*The Origin of the Soup at Hanamaru Ramen Shop
*The Detective's Beloved Professor
*Here Comes the Idiots of Justice
*The Twenty One Balls on that Summer
*Afterword

===Volume 6===
*[[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 6 Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
*Chapter 1
*Chapter 2
*Chapter 3
*Chapter 4
*Chapter 5
*Afterword

===Volume 7===
[[Image:Kamimemo07 000a.jpg|125px|thumb|Volume 7 Cover]]
*[[Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 7 Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
*Chapter 1
*Chapter 2
*Chapter 3
*Chapter 4
*Chapter 5
*Chapter 6
*Afterword

==Project Staff==

*Project Administrator:
*Project Supervisor:

===Translators===
'''ACTIVE'''
:*[[User:Zephyrus|Zephyrus]](Translating once every few days)

===Editors===
'''ACTIVE'''
:*[[User:J112|J112]]
:*[[User:Ff7_freak|ff7_freak]]

All editors that speak English proficiently are welcomed.

==Series Overview==
*神様のメモ帳 (January 25, 2007) ISBN 978-4840236911
*神様のメモ帳2 (June 25, 2007) ISBN 978-4840238885
*神様のメモ帳3 (June 10, 2008) ISBN 978-4048670975
*神様のメモ帳4 (July 10, 2009) ISBN 978-4048679107
*神様のメモ帳5 (May 10, 2010) ISBN 978-4048685436
*神様のメモ帳6 (February 10, 2011) ISBN 978-4048702720
*神様のメモ帳7 (July 10, 2011) ISBN 978-4048706919
*神様のメモ帳8 (September 10, 2011) ISBN 978-4048708104

[[Category:Dengeki Bunko]]

Talk:Mimizuku to Yoru no Ou: Chapter 5

2011-05-03T16:56:20Z

Pmt7ar: Created page with "I'm not english native, so I don't know if its right on english, but I'm not sure about the chapter title. "Lapse" has something to do with memory? It sounds to me only as a laps..."

I'm not english native, so I don't know if its right on english, but I'm not sure about the chapter title. "Lapse" has something to do with memory? It sounds to me only as a lapse of time. The original title was 「やさしい忘却」. [[User:Pmt7ar|Zell]] 16:56, 3 May 2011 (UCT)

Mimizuku to Yoru no Ou: Chapter 5

2011-05-03T16:53:02Z

Pmt7ar:

Chapter 5 - Gentle Lapse

The sound of cheers traveled loudly through the room.

All the cabinet ministers and soldiers bent over for a toast.

Overseeing the room on his throne was the gray-haired king.

People congratulated the Magician Brigade on their success, and the Holy Knight for his gallantry. Quick-spirited troubadours began to sing odes in the corners of the hall.

Ann Duke leaned his back against a corner of the hall and looked at the scene from afar.

"Lord Holy Knight! They're having a drinking contest over there! I'm sure you'd drink them all under the table!" a friendly soldier said, coming over to Ann Duke.

"Nah, if I drink too much again, my wife'll get mad," Ann Duke answered with a pitiable smile.

"Can you say hello to her for me?"

"Yeah, sure. There are plenty of people from the temple here today after all. She didn't want to come because she was nervous and said she hated these kinds of things."

"Haha! That's too bad!" the soldier said, disappearing back into the crowd.

They succeeded in the subjugation of the demon king, and the captured girl was saved.

The news traveled through the peasantry in an instant. Even at this very moment, citizens were raising a glass to the success of their kingdom.

Ann Duke didn't shy away from a drink either.

However, the subjugation of the king was yesterday. He wanted to go back to his mansion and rest. His wife was surely waiting for him to return, and she didn't like to come to celebrations like these where everyone was passing around greetings here and there.

He had thought of being absent under the pretense of rest, however from the standpoint of the kingdom, he was the face of their honor, and there was something he was interested in anyway. He was waiting after the toast for that report.

Eventually, a servant ran up to Ann Duke. He whispered something into his ear. Hearing that, Ann Duke nodded and gave his thanks to the servant.

He then quietly left the hall behind.

If the king knew why he was leaving, there was no way he would have stopped him anyway.

Ann Duke had been waiting for the report that the girl captured by the demon king had regained consciousness.

Passing through a long hallway, knocking on a door with a golden handle, he slowly entered into the room.

There was a single bed underneath a bright chandelier. There, a small girl was laying down on her side.

Ann Duke walked up to the girl. In the bed stuffed with waterfowl feathers, the girl slept as if sinking into it. Her cheeks were miserably thin, and Ann Duke remembered how surprised he had been at her lightness when he had picked her up. The magic flames had been made so that they didn't burn the girl, but she was still a sooty mess.

He ran his fingers through her thin hair, which gave the impression of straw. He pushed her bangs aside and her forehead was revealed. There was a strange pattern on it, and none of the magicians had any idea of what it represented. However, it was definitely the work of demon king, and there seemed to be no doubt that she was affected by some kind of spell.

"Are you alright? How are you feeling?"

"..."

She then peered through her slightly open eyes, staring fixedly at Ann Duke.

"Ah... a...." she groaned incomprehensibly.

"Yes? What is it?" Ann Duke asked gently.

However, the girl couldn't muster any more words, and she tried to somehow raise her body out of the bed. Struggling from her lack of strength, she took Ann Duke's hand.

"Are you alright? Are you hurting anywhere?"

"N-... no."

The girl's voice was slight, like the flapping of insect wings. The wrists that Ann Duke was holding had changed to brown. They had been able to melt the chains off with magic, but they couldn't remove the marks, as she had apparently been wearing them for a very long time. It pained his heart to see that. However, Ann Duke was thankful that she was in good health.

"Alright, good."

He heaved a sigh of relief.

The girl hadn't used her brain much, and all she could manage was,

"Where... am I?"

"This is Red Ark Castle. You don't need to worry anymore. There's nothing to be afraid of."

"Nothing... to be... afraid of," she repeated like a parrot.

"Yeah, that's right. I'm Ann Duke. Ann Duke MacValen. What's your name?"

"My... name?"

The girl gently closed her eyes.

Her eyelashes shook as if she were shivering.

She then opened her eyes.

"I forgot my name," she whispered.

To these words, Ann Duke gazed in wonderment. The girl looked at Ann Duke's face with pure, innocent eyes.

Ann Duke nipped at his lip, cast his eyes downward, and shook his head several times.

He then embraced gently the girl's head.

"You poor thing..." he said quietly, in a deep voice.

The girl seemed to tilt her head slightly as she was engulfed in Ann Duke's chest.

She couldn't understand why any of this was being said to her.

The rumors that the King of Night had been suppressed and that the captured girl had been rescued traveled through the region in the blink of an eye.

The people talked of praises for the Magician Brigade and the Holy Knight, and they expressed their sympathy and pity for the girl.

The poets sang their praises along with a note from their harps. They sang of the girl with the strange pattern on her forehead, of her misfortune, and of her cruel destiny. They sang out in a beautiful, melancholy rhythm. They also sang great praises of the heroic deeds of the Holy Knight.

However, there was one thing they never sang of.

They never spoke of the demonic King of Night, and no one knew of his whereabouts.

"Your name is Mimizuku."

One day, a beautiful woman with black hair entered her room of the castle and said this to her in a kind voice. Her hair had been woven into two or three braids, and her eyes, which were the same color as her hair, gave off a brilliant, gentle light.

"Your name is Mimizuku. I heard it from the hunter who had been saved by you earlier when he got lost in the forest."

"Mimizu... ku?"

Mimizuku, sitting on her large bed in a carefree manner, repeated the name. She was wearing a light, thin dress, and a bit of color had returned to her gaunt cheeks.

"Yes. Do you remember?"

"I... I don't understand. But, when you say it... I feel like you might be right. Yeah, my name is Mimizuku," Mimizuku said in a low voice, lowering her eyelids. As if sealing away something important into her heart, she held her hands against her chest.

"I am Orietta. Orietta MacValen. I'm the wife of that lazy Holy Knight. You know of Ann Duke, yes?"

"Yeah, I know Andy."

Ever since Mimizuku had woken up several days earlier, Ann Duke came to visit her every day. Mimizuku slept often, and he would talk with the attendants overseeing Mimizuku's affairs as he stroked her head.

"Yes, I'm the wife of that housekeeping knight. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Mimizuku."

Mimizuku shook her outstretched hand. She smiled. Her hand was like a vibrant whitefish as opposed to Mimizuku's, which was like a withered leaf.

Orietta frowned a little after shaking her hand.

"It's nice to meet you, uh..."

"Orietta."

"Yeah, it's nice to meet you, Orietta, Andy's... wife?"

"Yes, unfortunately, that's me."

Unlike her words, Orietta's face was joyful.

"Mimizuku... is it okay if I call you Mimizuku?"

"Uh-huh!"

Mimizuku's eyes sparkled at Orietta's question. Even though they said it was her own name, she felt it to be incredibly precious to be called by it.

"Mimizuku, how do you like living here?"

Being asked "how," Mimizuku tilted her neck. However, she just said what she thought.

"Well, um... There's lots of delicious food. I get lots of pretty things to wear, and everyone's really nice!"

"Is there anything missing?"

"Andy would always ask that! No, there's nothing missing."

Mimizuku shook her head in response. Truly, her lifestyle was more than enough. She would always wonder why they did so much for her.

Probably because they were able to do so much for her, they did just that.

Orietta was smiling at her.

"Have you remembered anything?" she asked in a small voice.

She meant of the days that she had spent before she woke up, in the forest.

Mimizuku didn't have an answer. She shook her head again, but slowly, and with very a different feeling.

Orietta kneeled down on the carpet next to the bed and met eyes with Mimizuku.

"You know, Mimizuku. Up until now, you were in the forest. You were imprisoned by monsters, and your eyes were fearful... That must be why you lost your memory... to protect yourself. Don't push yourself to try to remember. Mimizuku, it might be best to forget. From here on, you have a new life ahead of you!"

The Forest of Night.

Monsters.

Fearful eyes.

The words spun around in the back of Mimizuku's head.

''Really?''

It might be best to forget.

''Re-really?''

"I have... a new life ahead of me?"

"That's right," came the affirmation.

''That's right, it's just like that.''

''Really?''

Why?

Deep in her heart, someone was asking.

She heard a jangling noise somewhere far off.

Along an aged stone path, the smell of mold hung in the air. The ceiling was high, but with no window. With the power of magic, it burned brightly, changing from red to blue. The king moved forward, his footsteps echoing through the room. The magicians flanking him didn't say a single word. The only things that could be heard were shoes hitting the ground and something that sounded like a deep groan.

At the farthest end of the hall, a black shadow was crucified on the wall. When the king stopped, his last step was the most conspicuous of all.

"King of monsters."

The hoarse, but dignified voice arose from the king.

Held in place by a transparent thread, Fukurou was crucified to the wall with his body suspended. His eyes were closed shut, and his wings didn't make the slightest movement.

"Is he conscious?" a magician at the king's side asked.

"Let's see if he can hear us," Riveil answered from underneath his gloomy robe.

"Demon king."

The king spoke strongly. Responding to his voice, or perhaps for another reason, Fukurou lifted open his heavy eyelids.

Silver, faint light flowed from them. They were dimmed due to the influence of the magic power, but the strength of the light made it clear that he was the ruler of the monsters.

The king took a deep breath, and turned to meet him, unflinching.

"Demon king. How do you feel about being captured by humans?"

He spoke with provocation. However, the demon king ignored his question.

"... The king of humans...?"

His voice was deep enough to be felt in the ground.

"Indeed. I am the king of this country, Red Ark."

For a moment, a flicker of emotion seemed to appear in Fukurou's eyes. It was something close to disdain or disgust.

The king thought that he seemed quite humanlike.

He didn't think that something belligerent, with purely evil intent, could feel things such as scorn or hatred.

"... Do you hate humans? You look like a human, king of monsters. It seems like you enslaved a human girl, is that right? Without killing or using your abilities... were you planning revenge?"

Fukurou responded to the question with a silent rejection, not making the slightest twitch. The king bit down on his molars. Even if he was captured, he didn't think he could keep his dignity as long as Fukurou did.

It couldn't be helped. His enemy was a monster, after all.

"... Whatever. The girl is receiving diligent care in the castle. That girl lost her memories, but that's convenient for her, considering that her lifestyle will be fortunate and renewed from now on. Demon king. Your expectations were completely off the mark."

Fukurou didn't answer. He simply closed his eyes again, as if he had lost interest. The king exchanged glances with the magicians, and the reverentially held out a large crystal orb.

The crystal was bright with magic power, and a red flame swayed inside of it. With its beautiful handiwork and the magic power, those who looked at it were taken in by its mystique.

"This flame is represents your magic power. When the flame changes from red to blue, your magic power will be depleted, your body will dry up, and you will become a mummy representing the power of this country's magic."

The king explained all of this casually, and even though he was giving Fukurou a death sentence, Fukurou did not make a response and remained silent.

Running out of things to say, the king turned on his heel, and went back the way he came. To the sound of his footsteps disappearing in the distance, a voice suddenly arose.

"Human king."

The king stopped. Retaining his majesty as best he could, he slowly turned around. He met with Fukurou's silver eyes once again.

"Human king. Which do you value more: you, or your country?"

It was the first question asked by the king of monsters to the king of humans. The king of humans scowled and gave a response with no hesitation.

"That question is meaningless, demon king. Those two things are incomparable. I will, at any time, choose my country. So long as I am myself, I will choose my country."

So long as he had the will, he wouldn't even put them in the same league.

Fukurou closed his eyes to the king's response, and became silent, as if sleeping.

The blue sky, marked with only a few thin clouds, wrapped over the bustling castle town market.

"W-wah...!"

Standing at the entrance to the market, Mimizuku's sanpaku eyes were wide open.

"There are so many people!"

"It's the first time you've seen just this many people in one place?" Ann Duke asked, smiling. He was standing beside her.

"It's definitely the first time!" Mimizuku answered.

"Well then, grab onto my hand so that you won't get lost, okay?" Orietta said. She was standing opposite to Ann Duke. She took Mimizuku's small hand. Mimizuku blinked several times, but then smiled joyfully.

Today was the first time that Mimizuku had left the castle.

She wore clothes that were not flashy, but decidedly well made, along with a hat to match. Ann Duke and Orietta escorted her.

"Hey, Orietta! Everyone's carrying lots of stuff!"

"Yes, this is a shopping area after all," Orietta said, wondering if Mimizuku understood.

Mimizuku, finding it difficult to comprehend, tilted her neck.

"You buy things you want in exchange for money. Here, Mimizuku, open up your hand."

Orietta placed three coins in Mimizuku's empty hand.

They had engravings of pigeons on them, and they seemed to Mimizuku like treasures.

"Use these."

"Pay? With money? For something I want?"

"That's right, something that you want."

"Something I want..."

Mimizuku thought for a bit.

Ann Duke laughed.

"Go look around, first!" he said, pushing Mimizuku's back. In the market stalls were fresh fruits and vegetables, beautiful fabrics, and fine objects that Mimizuku had never seen before.

Mimizuku looked around; most of what she saw was completely new to her.

"Oh my, hello, Lady Orietta!"

Suddenly, a voice arose from a stall to the side. A woman who had come to sell wheat flour appeared before Orietta.

"You're with Lord Holy Knight as well? I'm so jealous of how well you two get along..."

Saying this, the lady gave a hearty laugh.

"Whether or not we get along, he's coming with me today. Whatever I buy, I don't have to worry about bringing them back home, so long as he's here!" Orietta said, putting forth her best smile.

"Ahaha, no mistaking that! Say, Orietta, who's this child?"

The woman looked down to Mimizuku. Mimizuku looked up at Orietta, wondering what she should do.

"Lady Orietta, you've already had a child this big?"

"Isn't she cute?" Orietta answered with a smile, ignoring the woman's second comment.

Before she knew it, Orietta had let go of her hand, and was lightly touching her back. Mimizuku felt as though she meant that she should go, so with her heart beating loudly, she mixed into the crowd between the street stalls. Greeting people here and there, Ann Duke watched her small figure to make sure that he wouldn't lose sight of her.

After bumping into several people, Mimizuku found herself standing in front of a single stall. She stopped for a rest, and found herself smelling the sweet scents emanating from the stall.

"Hey, little miss! Want something to eat?" the proprietor said to Mimizuku courteously. Mimizuku panicked a little.

"Will it taste good?"

"Have a bit and see! Here, eat."

Wrapped in dark colored paper was a cooked fruit dipped in sugar. When she took a bite, warm sweetness and fruit juice mixed in her mouth.

Mimizuku's eyes sparkled.

"Delicious!!"

"Is that so, is that so!"

To Mimizuku's response, the man grew even more spirited.

Without taking a breath, Mimizuku bit into the fruit. After wildly proclaiming its deliciousness, a crowd of adults had soon gathered around her.

"It's even better than the food in the castle!" Mimizuku said truthfully. The crowd was suddenly thrown into a state of excitement.

"That kind of praise is beyond anything I could ask for!"

"Little girl, aren't you going a bit far in your laudation?"

"But it's true! It's amazingly delicious!"

Mimizuku responded honestly even though she didn't know the person who had talked to her.

"Man, now I have to try too!"

Mimizuku's brazenness brought in plenty of customers. When Mimizuku saw their fingers handing over the coins, she suddenly panicked.

"Oh, that's right! Don't I have to give you money?"

The stall owner's hands were already full, and he gave a laugh.

"I don't need any, miss! I'm fine with just you saying that my food is delicious!"

The crowd extolled his generosity, and they showed it through their willingness to purchase more.

"No, that's no good. Orietta said I have to exchange money...!"

The crowd was shocked by Mimizuku's utterance of the name.

"What? Are you an acquaintance of Lady Orietta? The candidate for Maiden of the Temple, is it...?"

An old woman then walked up to Mimizuku.

"Look, your mouth is a mess. Hold on a moment, I'll wipe it off for you."

Extending her gentle, wrinkly hand, she wiped the area around Mimizuku's mouth. She had eaten so quickly that bits of food were all over her face. Everyone gave her kind smiles.

"There, now you're all clean. Oh my, what's this? On your forehead..."

The old woman moved Mimizuku's bangs to the side. What appeared was the strange pattern.

"You... it can't be..."

The old lady swallowed her breath, and the crowd turned silent for a moment. Mimizuku stood there, looking at all of them with a puzzled face.

"Young lady... are you a princess...?" the old lady asked, her finger trembling.

"Hm? I do live in the castle, but I'm not a princess."

The crowd stirred.

"No, that's not what I meant. You, who was saved in the demon king's subjugation, are the princess of the Forest of Night...?"

"Huh? Um, maybe? I..."

To those words, the crowd murmured excessively.

Even though she didn't really understand, and even though she wasn't a princess, she had a feeling as though it was just as she was told. Mimizuku remembered what Orietta had explained to her before.

"Aah...!"

The old woman suddenly yelled, and then embraced Mimizuku tightly.

"W-wh...!"

"You've come back alive. I was so afraid, this is wonderful...!"

"Uh, um...!"

Hugging Mimizuku, tears began to fall from the old woman's eyes. Mimizuku felt confused as the drops began to fall onto her shoulders.

"It's the princess! The princess saved from the Forest of Night is here...!"

Joyous voices could be heard. Mimizuku was jostled about, being touched and hugged by various people. In a nervous flutter, she shook hands with several people.

''What's going on?''

Mimizuku's heart began to beat louder and faster.

It was warm.

What was going on here?

After a while, Ann Duke emerged from the crowd and took Mimizuku with him.

The hands she felt were warm.

"Hey, Ann Duke."

"Hm? What is it?"

"That old woman was all worried. Because of me."

"Yeah, she was crying."

"Crying..."

"Her tears were flowing for your sake," Ann Duke said with a kind smile.

What were tears?

But they were warm. They were affectionate. When she thought of this, her sinuses cleared and her nose felt fresh.

Generally, Mimizuku was obedient as someone who was living in the castle for nothing in return. She never had more free time or boredom than she knew what to do with. She liked to sleep in her bed, and she enjoyed looking at the scenery from her window, and she loved talking to the attendants who occasionally stopped by. Everyone was kind to her, and Ann Duke and Orietta were like family.

There was even one time where she had talked to the king.

"It is the first time that we meet like this, Mimizuku."

The gray-haired king arrived in Mimizuku's room with several attendants. Ann Duke was beside her, and he whispered to her that he was "the highest man in the country."

"Ah, uh, nice to meet you!"

"Hmph... I see you've become quite energetic."

"I, uh, you've done so much to help me!"

"I don't really care about that. I will give you all the care that you need."

Their exchange ended there, and finishing up with her, the king took on a severe expression. Mimizuku asked Ann Duke if the king was angry, and Ann Duke laughed.

"With that face, he's just troubled by something is all."

"Yeah, it looks like that kind of face," Mimizuku agreed.

And then, several days later, a single servant visited Mimizuku.

"Lady Mimizuku, I have brought you this."

The servant held out a collection of keys.

"What's this?"

"... They are the keys to the tower in the west."

"Hm? The tower in the west?"

"The person living in that tower would like to meet Lady Mimizuku, I am to report."

"Me? Why?"

The old servant simply smiled.

"Please, take this and go."

He handed her a ring of keys that shone dully. Mimizuku took them without much feeling.

"Understood! I'll go!" she responded, grinning widely.

She listened as the servant told her the road to take. He then disappeared back into the hallway. As she watched his back grow farther and farther away, Mimizuku sighed.

The entrance to the west tower required several keys. Testing out the keys on the different locks one after the other, she eventually opened the door. There was a soldier standing right next to her when she entered, but with a single glance and Mimizuku's keys, he simply greeted her with no other comment and without turning to look at her, allowing her to go further in on her own.

When she opened the door, there was a long, winding staircase.

Mimizuku ran up the staircase without any hesitation. She remembered to roll up the hem of her plain dress as she went up the steps.

As she caught her breath at the top of the stairs, she came to a well-crafted oak door.

''Well...''

Mimizuku knocked on the door three times, copying what the castle dwellers did whenever they entered her own room.

"Who is it?"

She was startled by the voice she heard from inside.

"I'm Mimizuku."

There was no other way of saying it.

"... Come in."

Receiving permission, Mimizuku entered inside. When she opened the door, a wide room spread out before her. It was easily twice the size of Mimizuku's room.

There was a latticed window, a bookshelf, a large bed, and plush toys and figures of soldiers.

In the center of the room, sitting in a strangely shaped chair, was a shadow.

"What's wrong? Why won't you enter?"

She heard a voice from the chair. It was high, like a girl's voice. Sitting in the chair with a large wheel attached to it was a small shadow.

It had thin, discolored arms and legs.

It had light hair and eyes, and a small body. His hair color seemed to remind Mimizuku of someone.

"I'm glad to meet you, Mimizuku."

Sitting with his back straight in the chair was a boy who seemed to be more or less ten years old. He was faintly smiling.

"I am Claudius. Claudius Vain Yordelta Red Ark."

Mimizuku blinked.

"I am... the prince of this country."

With his light hair gleaming from the elegant chandelier, Mimizuku thought he looked quite similar to the king.

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|-
| Return to [[Mimizuku to Yoru no Ou|Main Page]]
| Back to [[Mimizuku to Yoru no Ou: Chapter 4|Chapter 4]]
| Forward to [[Mimizuku to Yoru no Ou: Chapter 6|Chapter 6]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Mimizuku to Yoru no Ou: Chapter 4

2011-05-03T16:43:23Z

Pmt7ar: some changes

Chapter 4 - Deliverance

''I'll gather beautiful things,'' Mimizuku thought.

Beautiful flowers, leaves, and smooth, glassy stones. Elegantly twisting branches and balls of sap like precious stones.

While it was bright out, Mimizuku went into the forest to gather those kinds of things, and when the sun lowered, she returned to Fukurou's mansion.

She slowly opened the door of the mansion. The second time she had opened the door, she was holding a beautiful yellow flower in her hand. Fukurou made no effort to drive Mimizuku out, so as a sort of toll for entry, Mimizuku always brought something beautiful for Fukurou.

The forest was overflowing with beautiful things.

Light soaked out from behind the door to Fukurou's room. When Mimizuku opened it, she was met by Fukurou's back. She walked so as not to make too much noise, but her shackles still clanged loudly. She sat down next to Fukurou.

Holding a small, purple flower in her hand, Mimizuku gazed up at Fukurou.

Fukurou stood before a massive canvas. He painted with blues, greens, and the deep red of the Renka. Fukurou ladled out colors onto the canvas with his shining claws. It seemed as though he was layering on light membranes of color onto the canvas, but they eventually converged into a picture.

Mimizuku sighed at the fantastical scene.

She then suddenly realized that she did not fit in this place.

''Fukurou is beautiful. His drawing is beautiful. The room is beautiful.''

The room was decorated with the beautiful things that Mimizuku had gathered, and they had a certain liberated feeling to them, as they seemed to dance around the room.

''But...''

''Why am I here?'' Mimizuku lowered her head.

"Why won't you eat me?"

The words came out with no disconnect from her thoughts. Fukurou didn't look at her, however after a long silence, when Mimizuku had already forgotten what she said, he suddenly opened his mouth.

"Girl who names beasts."

"Yeah?" Mimizuku replied meekly.

Fukurou looked up, but not at Mimizuku.

He simply asked, "Why do you want to be eaten by me? Why do you wish to be eaten by a monster?"

Mimizuku blinked, puzzled.

She hadn't thought of the exact reason why. However, Mimizuku was able to answer. She had always known the answer deep within her subconscious.

"Because I don't want to die."

Fukurou didn't say anything. It was as if a hole had been stabbed into him. Since Fukurou wouldn't talk, Mimizuku, risking her life, began to connect her words together.

"You know. I hate using knives..."

"... Speak in a way that I can understand," Fukurou grumbled sullenly.

Mimizuku smiled.

"Ok, so I'll tell you why. I used to do lots of different kinds of work, but the worst, dirtiest, most painful job, oh even now I don't like to think of it, what I hated most was judging people."

"Judging?"

"Yeah." Mimizuku gave a curt laugh and nodded. Fukurou's beautiful eyes were turned in her direction, so it was natural that she smiled. She continued to laugh.

"The dead people, even though they were killed by the villagers, I had to cut up their stomach little by little, then put my hand in all their squishy insides and pull out their hearts. They said they sold for high prices. That was a job that only I did. I was told I'd be good for it by a woman in the "village," but I didn't think so at all. Still, I'd get hit if I said anything. When I hold a knife, I remember that work, so that's why I don't hold knives. Even if you wash them in a river, the smell of the blood and insides doesn't ever go away. The worst part was showing it to a live person, 'cause they knew they were gonna get stabbed. I'd always imagine how they felt. I'd remember whenever I got hit. I didn't want to die. I had to bury the dead people too, but since digging holes took a long time, the body would rot and get covered with bugs, and it made a horrible smell. I got used to that, though, but I never wanted to become like those people. If you get eaten, you'll always be beautiful, right?

"And then," Mimizuku continued, but Fukurou suddenly covered her mouth.

"Fgyah..." She made a strange yelp of surprise.

Fukurou violently held Mimizuku's mouth shut, and his face had an indescribable expression close to disgusted hatred.

"That's enough. Don't speak."

Mimizuku laughed.

She laughed spasmodically, and then eventually fell into a fit of laughter. Fukurou let go of her, and turned back toward his canvas.

A long silence followed.

"Why?" Fukurou's question was sudden.

Mimizuku tilted her neck and looked at Fukurou from below.

Fukurou's eyes stared straight at Mimizuku.

"Why? Why didn't you run away from such treatment?"

Mimizuku blinked several times. Her eyelashes quivered dryly.

"Um..."

She opened her mouth to speak, but she remained still as if she had forgotten what she was supposed to say. What should she say? That she was hit, and smacked, and oppressed. Those were the reasons she could never leave the "village."

"I don't know. I don't know why. I hated all of it, and it was painful and difficult. Someone people offered to help me get out, even. Even so, I don't know."

If she thought about it, it was a truly strange thing. She tilted her neck.

"Why? There wasn't one time when I tried to escape..."

It was because that was life. That kind of everyday life was normal to her. If that was what was normal, she felt that there was no other way out of it.

Even though she accepted that kind of treatment, she never truly believed that those days would end.

"Then why are you here now?" Fukurou asked. He had already returned his attention to his painting, and was running his claw across it.

"Um, well, I guess..."

Mimizuku knew she could answer this one. She knew the reason why she had left the "village" behind.

"I figured I'd had enough," Mimizuku said, grinning widely.

She plopped down onto the cold floor, and lowered her eyelids as if to sleep, however, she began to speak as if singing.

"Mimizuku slept in the horse's stable. She was tucked away in the hay. And Mr. Horse was always busy, always making loud noises, because the people made him upset. All those people completely changed, I heard!"

The petty fights among the thieves were always territorial disputes.

The ditches grew deeper and deeper, until they were comparable to seas, and eventually the thieves assailed their own village.

Mimizuku didn't understand what had happened.

Screams and shouts stabbed at her ears, and the sound of flames crackling here and there could be heard.

And then came the deep scent of blood.

Before long, katana-wielding men barged into the stable. With a large hand, one of the men dragged Mimizuku, who had been curled up in the hay and covering her ears, outside.

"I got Mimizu. 'Ey you, with the red hair, there're no wounds on 'er cheek, take 'er."

For some reason, those were the only words she could remember.

In that moment, her thoughts had stopped, and she didn't feel any pain or distress.

The scenery seemed far off, as if it had been burned away.

"'Slave girl,' eh? That's what he said."

Then, the man smiled. His body hairs stood on end.

He displayed a kind of disgusted revulsion.

"'Interesting,' he said. I don't get what he means by that, but that's what he means by that, so whatever, he said it."

Mimizuku's head swayed downward.

"'Interesting.'"

The red-haired man smiled, and took Mimizuku with him.

Mimizuku's mind was perfectly still. It had really stopped, she hadn't thought of anything at all.

However, Mimizuku had brought a knife with her from the haystack.

It was the knife she always used to cut up the corpses.

She felt like she had screamed, like something had shaken in her throat. However, she couldn't remember anything. She couldn't remember her voice, or even if the things she yelled were actual words.

"I stabbed him. Yeah."

Just as she did with the corpses, she dug into the man's abdomen with all her might. Using the center as leverage, she cut across the entire body. A scream like cloth being ripped arose. It was the man's voice. The blood from his body was much more alive and fresh than the blood from the moldy old corpses. It splattered across her face, and entered her eyes.

Her vision became blurred.

"It was the first time I stabbed a living person. The man fell down after that. He definitely died, yep."

Mimizuku snickered.

"He definitely died, Mimizuku killed him."

As she recounted the story, sweat began to drip down her forehead. It wasn't warm, but strange instead. She felt cold all over, and her fingers began to shiver.

She had always been ordered to do a similar thing. She had cut up corpses several times.

However, what she had done then was fundamentally different, and Mimizuku couldn't comprehend the meaning of her own actions.

"So that's when I thought, 'I've had enough.'" I had really had enough, I was really tired..." she recalled casually. She was tired. She had never been tired before that.

She gave up on everything.

And then, she remembered a story she heard long ago. Far in the east, there was a place called the Forest of Night, where lots of monsters lived.

It was said that not a trace was left of anyone eaten by the monsters.

"So I walked all the way here."

She felt as though she had received a shock to the head. She began to get dizzy.

Mimizuku slowly stood up, and moved closer to Fukurou, looking at his face.

When she looked at his moon eyes, she felt rested.

Fukurou didn't push her away, but simply scowled at her unpleasantly. He then opened his mouth slightly.

"Do you still want to be eaten by me? Girl who names beasts."

Mimizuku wondered why he was asking her something so obvious. She had said it several times, that she wanted to be eaten by Fukurou, and disappear without a trace. That's what she had always wished for.

''Of course I do!''

She opened her mouth to say it.

She didn't hesitate, and the words were ready to come out.

However, her thin, dry lips couldn't muster any more speech.

She flapped her mouth open and closed like one of the fish in the lake. Mimizuku didn't understand why she couldn't say it.

"Uh, uh."

Mimizuku ran her finger across her lips in a strange way. She wanted to say, "Eat me." It seemed like Fukurou really would eat her right now if she asked.

If she truly wished for it, now was her opportunity.

''My wish?''

Her wish. Her hope. That is to say, what she wanted.

"I, uh, Fukurou..."

She became lost in thought. If she couldn't say what she wanted to say, then it couldn't be helped.

Mimizuku continued to speak.

"Hey... is it alright for me to sleep here today?"

In this beautiful room. Surrounded by Fukurou's painting, Mimizuku thought that it would be wonderful if she could sleep there.

Fukurou seemed not to pay any attention to her request, and he simply turned back to his painting.

However, he didn't refuse, and Mimizuku became incredibly happy. It was as if he had told her to do as she liked.

Mimizuku curled up at Fukurou's feet, and she quietly fell asleep.

Fukurou glanced down at her for an infinitesimal moment, and then returned to running his claws along his canvas, painting.

The door to the king's office burst open, and a human shape walked in and sank into the sofa. The king looked up from his documents and raised an eyebrow.

"Where did the chivalry of the old knights go?"

"To the other side of that star, maybe," Ann Duke said indifferently, as if calling out from inside of the sofa.

"My goodness. That's a makeshift way of doing things."

"What do you mean?"

Not stirred in the slightest by the king's question, Ann Duke sprang up from the sofa and turned to face the king.

"So, are the preparations for the subjugation of the demon king going smoothly?"

"..."

The king responded with silence. Ann Duke began to speak with a fully serious expression.

"The populace is inclined towards annihilating the demon king. He hasn't done any real harm until now, and he's just used to scare misbehaving children. They're just sympathizing with that girl that he's locked up. And now they're saying that the kingdom's Magician Brigade has already set up its preparations as well?"

The Holy Knight hadn't known about any of it. He was in the Knight troupe, but he wasn't at the top of the group. He had no political authority, and his abilities were used only for the purpose of fighting. He was the one who had chosen this lifestyle, working slow to start and staying at home.

"That's right. You, the Holy Knight, are in charge of breaking through the advance guard," the king said to Ann Duke in a relaxed tone.

The king then raised his face.

"What will you do?"

Looking at his eyes straight on, Ann Duke remained silent for a period of time.

"... To the public, it seems as though we're going in to save the girl, but what's the real reason we're subjugating the demon king?" Ann Duke asked in a low voice.

"For the sake of the people of this country," the king answered, his gaze shifting slightly to the side.

Ann Duke knew what he really meant. The current king was an excellent king. His country had been invaded many times, and he had rebuilt it in one generation. Using the region's strong magical traditions, he formed the Magician Brigade, and they became his military. He made farming and trade prosperous, and gave the country power.

After a hundred years, the legendary Holy Sword passed down from long ago chose a master, and this "Holy Knight" became a symbol of the Red Ark Kingdom's independence.

However there was something missing. By making the demon king surrender, they gained several things.

Ann Duke had understood the king's prediction. It had been ten years since he was chosen to be Holy Knight. To Ann Duke, who had lost his father at an early age, the kingdom was like a father, a partner, and a friend to him. He had never drawn his sword for his own sake. Whether his enemies were humans or not, Ann Duke did not like unnecessary killing. He did not treat his sword as a decoration, as he understood that when he brought it out, a life would disappear.

"So it's come to this... I'll go."

Despite all of that, he lightly shrugged his shoulders and, with a troubled look on his face, gave a smile.

"My wife's not gonna be happy. She'll say something like, 'If you can't save one little girl, then shouldn't you quit being a Holy Knight?'"

He had understood that this was also a victory for the king, in a way. Even the domestic protector Holy Knight couldn't raise a finger against his wife. The king knew that very well.

"Perhaps Orietta should join the ranks as well."

The king's face shined at his idea.

"The Maiden of the Holy Sword would raise the morale of the Magician Brigade more than anything! With the magic reared in the temple..."

"Hey, Your Majesty." Ann Duke interrupted the king, smiling.

"I'm going to tell you something beforehand," he said as if it were no big deal.

Though he spoke as if it were no big deal, his voice was lower than usual.

The king took a deep breath for no reason in particular.

"However you use the Holy Knight is up to you. You can show me off like some charm, or you can send me to the battlefield, so long as the fighting is for a good reason."

From there, the smile in Ann Duke's blue eyes disappeared.

"However, if you do anything like sending Orietta onto a battlefield, I'll throw away the Holy Sword, take her with me, and leave this country."

He spoke clearly and had a grim look on his face.

The king was not unprepared to slash through obstacles to his country. He was able to keep a cool appearance, however he could not take rebellion from Ann Duke. He was a "symbol" of the country, after all.

"Are you threatening your king?"

To those words, Ann Duke smiled brightly.

"I'm just being honest."

Mimizuku awoke at dawn to the sound of small birds flapping their wings. Light entered through the giant window. The strength of the light forecasted sunny skies. Mimizuku gently closed her eyes again, and went back to sleep. The cold floor was comfortable, and she already seemed to be drifting back to sleep.

"Mimizuku."

Hearing her name called, Mimizuku jolted awake.

As she raised her upper body, she looked around to see that the master of the room was missing, but then saw Kuro stopped on the lattice of the window.

"Kuro!"

Mimizuku's eyes sparkled upon seeing Kuro. Kuro entered the room quietly.

''The morning sunlight sure is pretty,'' Mimizuku thought.

"What a condition. Mimizuku, there are woodgrains from the floor stuck in your cheek."

Kuro's words felt kind, so Mimizuku laughed as she scraped her hand across her cheek.

"How are you, Kuro? Isn't it rare for you to come to the mansion?"

"Indeed." Kuro gave a small nod.

"Mimizuku. I have come to tell you something."

"To tell me something? What is it?"

Mimizuku dragged herself to the windowsill. When she looked up, Kuro was looking right back at her, and after a short moment of hesitation, Kuro spoke.

"For several days, perhaps as long as a month, I will be absent from the forest."

"Absent?"

Mimizuku tilted her head. Kuro nodded.

"By the orders of the King of Night, I am to leave the forest for a while, and take care of a few duties in the human world. For that time, even if you call my name, it will not reach my ears. That is why you must take care of yourself. Can you do that?"

"Yes sir!"

Mimizuku raised her hand high and gave an energetic reply. However she immediately looked downward.

"What do you mean 'orders of the King of Night?'"

"That is..." Kuro began to speak, but then closed his mouth. "I cannot say."

"Alright then." Mimizuku smiled. She wasn't unhappy about it. In fact, she was happy that Kuro had come to tell her that he was leaving the forest.

Kuro watched Mimizuku laugh, and eventually opened his mouth to speak.

"At times, Mimizuku. Before I go from the forest, I will tell you one legend."

"Legend?"

"That is correct. A story from long, long ago."

Mimizuku couldn't understand the intention of Kuro's sudden words, but she didn't have any reason not to listen to him.

"Alright then..."

Sitting back down on the wood grains, Mimizuku waited for Kuro to speak.

After a bit of hesitation, Kuro made a motion like scratching his cheek, and then began to speak.

"This is a story which has long since occurred. It is a story which lies quite a ways away from the heartlessness of the flow of time."

He spoke loudly and with haste in his broken voice. He could be likened to a troubadour recounting the epic of a hero.

"This is the story of a prince who lived in a kingdom that was destroyed ages ago."

Mimizuku tilted her head. It was like a story from another world.

Kuro did not halt his speech.

"It was far, very far away. If you crossed several mountains and went so far north that human skin would change color, you would find this tiny kingdom. They did not write, and they could not hunt. However, this country was never poor, because in a certain mountain in that country laid a dazzling mineral. The people mined that mineral, manufactured with it, and sold it, gaining much wealth in the process. The lifestyle of the king was as well marked by abundance. He was able to hire mercenaries, and thus increased his military power. Though the land was covered in deep snow during the winter, this only made the fleeting spring more beautiful."

"Snow..."

Mimizuku couldn't imagine such a thing. She searched her thoughts and memories, and she thought of a pretty white powder.

"The people were wealthy. The royal family was wealthy. The foolish people mined every last bit of the mineral in the mountain..."

At that point, the tone of Kuro's voice fell.

"All things with shape at one point disappear. That is one of the logical truths of the world. However, with time, people forget this. The mineral ran out. The people began to fight amongst themselves, trying to amass as much of what little of the mineral was left. When the king thought of what he should do, he decided that the remaining amount of the mineral would be confiscated by force. With their industry potential dispersed, the king could do nothing to help the people overcome their reliance on the mineral."

The story was hard for Mimizuku to understand, and Mimizuku troubled herself thinking about it. However, she decided to go along with it anyway, and, remaining silent, she listened to Kuro's story.

"Now, the royal family had one prince. He was born when the last of the mineral was starting to disappear. Thus, he was swarmed by cold stares from the people. Though the disappearance of the mineral was natural, however, as is natural to human nature, they needed to blame someone else for their hardship. The prince was born with the hardship of persecution. He was treated as a prince. He was given things to wear and food to eat. However, the king and queen he was born to did not love him."

Mimizuku thought quietly.

''What does it mean, to be loved?''

"The birthright of the prince was solitude. However, he never thought to end his life. No one was kind to him, but he thought that the scenery of his country was too beautiful for words. He thought to give form to that beautiful scenery reflected in his eyes. In order to do that, the prince took a brush, and--he began to paint a picture."

"Ah..."

Here, Mimizuku realized what, or rather who, Kuro's story was about.

Kuro didn't respond to her, and continued to recount the tale.

"Before long, a revolution occurred in the country. People at their limit from starvation due to the misgovernment of the king set the castle alight. The prince, who lived in a separate building, was also pulled out before the public. As an incarnation of their pastime, they set the painting that the prince had made on fire in the town square. It was crushing to the prince, who had nothing but painting left in his life."

Mimizuku looked at Kuro in blank amazement, as if she had seen the whole scene play out before her.

"The prince was sealed away in a tall tower until the day of his execution. In the room, with nothing but a window blocked by iron bars, the prince, bound in chains, little by little, continued to paint even until the day he was to be beheaded."

"What did he use to paint with?" she asked, thinking the situation strange.

"He used nothing. He had no brush. The prince bit his own finger and drew upon the wall with his own blood, as if possessed. He might have already gone insane before, that prince who only saw the ugly side of people."

Mimizuku gasped, as if out of breath or taken in by admiration for the prince. It was a sort of deep understanding.

"The painting was the reddest of red. Its beauty was sublime. The picture was made by shaving off his existence."

Before, Kuro had said, "Paintings which use red are the most beautiful." Mimizuku could see no inconsistency in his words. She had come to understand everything that had led up to this point.

"That picture could even summon monsters. I have visited it myself. And I have also seen the battered, injured prince. He was a human, yet that spirit, that magic power. I asked him if he still wanted to live. I asked him if he would not dislike stopping being a human. He answered righteously."

''Is that right,'' Mimizuku thought. That was how it went.

"That is right when he came to this forest and took the position of King of Night. He is still alive today. When he disappears, all of his magic power will return to the earth, and create a new king. However, there is another way to replace him. If the current king chooses a successor, then through this way, anyone could become the king. They would receive the moon eyes. I am the one who told the prince to go to the forest. He went and met the king. He was not a human, but a king, and in this way, king met king, it is said. And thus it came to pass that the king was chosen."

After that, Kuro spoke once more.

"The king was chosen by the world."

Kuro often referred to the world. The selection of the king, allowances. Those were all choices of the world. This was how the world of the monsters revolved.

"My tale ends here."

Kuro brought the story gently to a close. ''Why?'' Mimizuku thought. ''Why would Kuro tell me a story like this...?''

"Well, it is now time for me to leave the forest behind."

Kuro abruptly flew up.

"I hope we may meet again. Mimizuku."

"If fate allows it?" Mimizuku asked.

"Gyagyagyagya!" Kuro laughed. "Yes, if fate allows it. Let us meet again. Mimizuku!"

Kuro then disappeared like a puff of smoke. Mimizuku stood up and leaned out of the window. She followed Kuro with just her mind's eye.

Then suddenly, Mimizuku realized that her cheeks were wet.

"... Huh?"

As Mimizuku blinked, she saw transparent droplets of water fall.

"What's this? Does this mean I'm sick?"

Panicking, Mimizuku wiped the droplets away. It wasn't the first time it had happened, but she had no memory of any other times. Mimizuku thought that the droplets were a bit like sweat. Then, wiping the falling droplets from her eyes, she turned toward the forest over which the sun was rising and rushed out of the mansion to find more beautiful things so she could see Fukurou again.

The lamp made with magical power gave off an unnaturally red glow, like a ripe bitter orange. The magicians, suppressing the sound of their breath, were gathering at the entrance to the Forest of Night. They each wore a hood over their eyes and held an old oak cane.

"There's no moon out tonight," said Ann Duke as if the words leaked out of his lips. He was encased in armor. "That's a shame. It's said that the moon that rises over the Forest of Night is incredibly beautiful."

A voice sprang up from directly behind him.

"It cannot be helped, Sir Holy Knight."

The voice's owner had a hood on like the rest of the magicians, and also held an oak cane in his wrinkly hand. There were several rings on his fingers to aid with sorcery.

"We waited for the new moon. The King of Night's magical power drops quite a bit during the night of the new moon. If we intend to make him surrender, we cannot let him escape."

"Will you fasten together the joint effort of our country's pride, the Magician Brigade? Can you do it, Sir Riveil?" Ann Duke asked, smiling casually as usual.

"Most likely."

There was a pause between Ann Duke's question and Riveil's answer, but it wasn't because he was troubled by it. What got in the way of his words was his petty pride and conceit.

"Most likely. So long as you, Sir Holy Knight, hold the Holy Sword, we cannot be matched, I think."

Ann Duke groaned emotionlessly at Riveil's words. He looked around at the Forest of Night that perpetrated an eerie calm. After a heavy silence, Riveil spoke up as if he were an unskilled backup soldier.

"However, if the Magician Brigade is here when the King of Night regains his power at dawn, then we will be.--"

"I don't want to hear it," Ann Duke said, cutting him off in his soft voice. "If you've got to boil him up and eat him, I don't care. I'm just here to save the little girl who he's captured. You're here to capture the demon king, right? Let's simply leave it at that for now."

He never spoke in a harsh tone. However, Riveil kept his complaints to himself and stopped talking.

"... The barrier preparations seem to be complete," Riveil reported in a stately tone.

"I see." Ann Duke nodded slightly. He closed his eyelids as if to doze off.

"Sir Holy Knight...!"

It happened as the darkness began to grow deeper.

A giant shadow appeared from within the darkness, and the magicians yelped, getting into a fighting stance with their canes. However, Ann Duke drew his sword faster and struck down the assailing monster in a single blow.

The large creature let out an otherworldly scream, and collapsed.

The magicians were breathless. From the always-kind Ann Duke, they couldn't have imagined such sharp, merciless swordsmanship.

In the darkness, a faint light emanated from the Holy Sword.

"How many of you can invoke magic?" the Holy Knight said, still facing back to the magicians. His low voice took form in the darkness and shook the air.

"Me... me and these two young men, sir..."

Just three magicians were able to directly invoke magic in capturing the King of Night. The rest were there to amplify and assist this magic power.

It felt to Ann Duke like the hilt of his sword was stuck to his palm. If he closed his eyes, he thought he could hear voices. They called out to the dormant sword, like they had done when he was a young boy.

The moment he pulled the sword from its scabbard, it sharpened his senses, and the world changed to a cold color. Somewhere in his heart, he felt happy that he was annihilating the demon king.

If only he could use this sword that had known nothing but taking lives to save someone. Ann Duke had thoughts like these, but only for a moment.

"I'll cut down all beasts who block our way. Don't step in the range of the sword. I don't need to say you'll get hurt."

He looked back for a split second. Even in the darkness, his eyes sparkled in a deep, brilliant blue.

"Because I won't guarantee your survival."

Riveil was the only one who could manage a nod.

The beginning of the fight had been declared. The Holy Knight drew his sword.

There was no going back now.

Mimizuku, sleeping at the roots of a giant tree, felt as though she could hear someone screaming desperately, and woke up in a panic.

"Huh? What's going on?"

Something was strange. Despite not knowing what was going on, she looked around restlessly.

The darkness cried out. The trees and the leaves all seemed to be screaming as if they had been shredded.

"What? What is it?"

She looked up at the sky. She couldn't see the moon anywhere. A cold shiver ran down her back.

''I have to go!''

Mimizuku kicked at the ground, jangling her shackles.

She ran to Fukurou's mansion. He had to be there. Mimizuku didn't have anything beautiful for him today, but even if she was turned away, she just knew that she had to go.

"W-What?"

As Mimizuku drew closer to the mansion, she became cognizant of something horrifying.

"Ah... Aaaaaaaaah!!"

She shrieked inhumanly.

The mansion was on fire. The blazing red flames seemed to engulf the mansion as if crowding around it.

''Why?'' Mimizuku thought. ''Why?!''

Running closer, she forced open the half-open door and rushed inside. The flames drew closer to the center of the mansion little by little. Mimizuku climbed the staircase, feeling as though she were being burned by hellfire.

She ran to Fukurou's room.

The King of Night stood there, in the center of the room.

"Fukurou... Fukurou! Fukurou!!" Mimizuku yelled. Fukurou slowly turned around. His eyes were an icy gold, and they seemed to quiver as they reflected the redness of the flames.

They betrayed no emotion.

"Fukurou! It's no use! Stop it!!" Mimizuku exclaimed. She slammed her fist against the wall several times, which was peeling because of the fire. Mimizuku forgot the fact that she could get burned.

"Stop it! Stop it!! It's gonna burn up! Your painting's gonna burn up!!"

Smoke entered her lungs and she began to cough violently. Even so, Mimizuku tried to peel the painting off the wall to protect it.

The painting of the red sunset, which would have been finished soon, dispersed into the flames.

"Nooooooooo!!"

Mimizuku howled like an animal. She moved to cast herself into the flames, but Fukurou grabbed her.

"Enough."

Fukurou's cold voice reaching her ears, Mimizuku turned around.

"It's no good! I can't save it!" Mimizuku shouted.

Even though it was so beautiful.

''Even though it was a painting you made!''

Her scream disappeared into an ominous noise coming from the mansion. It was a low sound like and explosion.

The floor crumbled beneath their feet.

"Gyaah!"

The entire upper half of the mansion fell. The roof had been blown away, so Mimizuku and Fukurou weren't crushed to death. Mimizuku was confused, not knowing who or what caused the explosion.

"Ah... a..."

Her shackles burned red hot.

She felt as thought the entire world was crumbling.

But in the middle of all of this, she thought she could hear something.

Somewhere, someone was saying something.

She heard a voice.

"Over here!"

In her vision of the world burning down, the voice was powerful.

"Over here! Give me your hand!"

On the other side of the mansion's wreckage, someone was standing. It was a man with blond hair and blue eyes, and he was holding his hand out to Mimizuku. He had a sword in one hand, with the other extended out to Mimizuku.

"Huuh!?"

Mimizuku made a strange sound.

"Me!?"

It didn't fit the tenuous scene; it was a wild voice.

"Yes, you! I came to help you!!"

The voice that responded was limitlessly strong.

"Help?"

No one had ever held out their hand to Mimizuku like this before.

''"Came to help...?"''

She felt as though she had wished it before, long, long ago, when she was small.

She wished someone would take her away. Take her away to happiness.

''To... happiness...?''

"I... I..."

Her words shivered. To the destiny suddenly held out to her, Mimizuku's body cowered in fear.

"Take my hand! Don't be afraid!"

"But..."

"It's alright!"

Something like this. Strong. Even if it was a lie, for someone to tell her "It's alright!"...

No one had ever said anything like that to her before.

As if being drawn in, Mimizuku took several small steps toward the voice. But she turned around. She looked at Fukurou. It seemed like Fukurou's body was being pulled away by a thin, invisible string.

Fukurou stared sharply at Mimizuku with his eyes like moons. He spoke.

"Go. Girl who names beasts. There is no reason for you to be here anymore."

And then, Fukurou moved unnaturally, and seemingly involuntarily extending his arm, he traced his long finger across Mimizuku's forehead.

After a moment, Mimizuku's body began to move on its own. Alone, but without hesitation, Mimizuku willfully took the hand.

Not the king of monsters', but the Holy Knight's.

The hand that had reached out for her. Warm human skin. It engulfed her. She was lifted up.

She had been saved, as if she were loved.

Even so, for some reason, Mimizuku wanted to cry.

Somehow, and so much, she wanted to cry.

She had an intense headache. Her forehead felt hot. She wanted to scream.

Despite having never known of tears before, she wanted to cry.

''... Just like that. I wish I could have been eaten by you, just like that.''

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Mimizuku to Yoru no Ou: Chapter 4

2011-05-03T16:27:22Z

Pmt7ar: Some fixes in meaning. The word [人を]やめる used here is 已/辞, not 止

Chapter 4 - Deliverance

''I'll gather beautiful things,'' Mimizuku thought.

Beautiful flowers, leaves, and smooth, glassy stones. Elegantly twisting branches and balls of sap like precious stones.

While it was bright out, Mimizuku went into the forest to gather those kinds of things, and when the sun lowered, she returned to Fukurou's mansion.

She slowly opened the door of the mansion. The second time she had opened the door, she was holding a beautiful yellow flower in her hand. Fukurou made no effort to drive Mimizuku out, so as a sort of toll for entry, Mimizuku always brought something beautiful for Fukurou.

The forest was overflowing with beautiful things.

Light soaked out from behind the door to Fukurou's room. When Mimizuku opened it, she was met by Fukurou's back. She walked so as not to make too much noise, but her shackles still clanged loudly. She sat down next to Fukurou.

Holding a small, purple flower in her hand, Mimizuku gazed up at Fukurou.

Fukurou stood before a massive canvas. He painted with blues, greens, and the deep red of the Renka. Fukurou ladled out colors onto the canvas with his shining claws. It seemed as though he was layering on light membranes of color onto the canvas, but they eventually converged into a picture.

Mimizuku sighed at the fantastical scene.

She then suddenly realized that she did not fit in this place.

''Fukurou is beautiful. His drawing is beautiful. The room is beautiful.''

The room was decorated with the beautiful things that Mimizuku had gathered, and they had a certain liberated feeling to them, as they seemed to dance around the room.

''But...''

''Why am I here?'' Mimizuku lowered her head.

"Why won't you eat me?"

The words came out with no disconnect from her thoughts. Fukurou didn't look at her, however after a long silence, when Mimizuku had already forgotten what she said, he suddenly opened his mouth.

"Girl who names beasts."

"Yeah?" Mimizuku replied meekly.

Fukurou looked up, but not at Mimizuku.

He simply asked, "Why do you want to be eaten by me? Why do you wish to be eaten by a monster?"

Mimizuku blinked, puzzled.

She hadn't thought of the exact reason why. However, Mimizuku was able to answer. She had always known the answer deep within her subconscious.

"Because I don't want to die."

Fukurou didn't say anything. It was as if a hole had been stabbed into him. Since Fukurou wouldn't talk, Mimizuku, risking her life, began to connect her words together.

"You know. I hate using knives..."

"... Speak in a way that I can understand," Fukurou grumbled sullenly.

Mimizuku smiled.

"Ok, so I'll tell you why. I used to do lots of different kinds of work, but the worst, dirtiest, most painful job, oh even now I don't like to think of it, what I hated most was judging people."

"Judging?"

"Yeah." Mimizuku gave a curt laugh and nodded. Fukurou's beautiful eyes were turned in her direction, so it was natural that she smiled. She continued to laugh.

"The dead people, even though they were killed by the villagers, I had to cut up their stomach little by little, then put my hand in all their squishy insides and pull out their hearts. They said they sold for high prices. That was a job that only I did. I was told I'd be good for it by a woman in the "village," but I didn't think so at all. Still, I'd get hit if I said anything. When I hold a knife, I remember that work, so that's why I don't hold knives. Even if you wash them in a river, the smell of the blood and insides doesn't ever go away. The worst part was showing it to a live person, 'cause they knew they were gonna get stabbed. I'd always imagine how they felt. I'd remember whenever I got hit. I didn't want to die. I had to bury the dead people too, but since digging holes took a long time, the body would rot and get covered with bugs, and it made a horrible smell. I got used to that, though, but I never wanted to become like those people. If you get eaten, you'll always be beautiful, right?

"And then," Mimizuku continued, but Fukurou suddenly covered her mouth.

"Fgyah..." She made a strange yelp of surprise.

Fukurou violently held Mimizuku's mouth shut, and his face had an indescribable expression close to disgusted hatred.

"That's enough. Don't speak."

Mimizuku laughed.

She laughed spasmodically, and then eventually fell into a fit of laughter. Fukurou let go of her, and turned back toward his canvas.

A long silence followed.

"Why?" Fukurou's question was sudden.

Mimizuku tilted her neck and looked at Fukurou from below.

Fukurou's eyes stared straight at Mimizuku.

"Why? Why didn't you run away from such treatment?"

Mimizuku blinked several times. Her eyelashes quivered dryly.

"Um..."

She opened her mouth to speak, but she remained still as if she had forgotten what she was supposed to say. What should she say? That she was hit, and smacked, and oppressed. Those were the reasons she could never leave the "village."

"I don't know. I don't know why. I hated all of it, and it was painful and difficult. Someone people offered to help me get out, even. Even so, I don't know."

If she thought about it, it was a truly strange thing. She tilted her neck.

"Why? There wasn't one time when I tried to escape..."

It was because that was life. That kind of everyday life was normal to her. If that was what was normal, she felt that there was no other way out of it.

Even though she accepted that kind of treatment, she never truly believed that those days would end.

"Then why are you here now?" Fukurou asked. He had already returned his attention to his painting, and was running his claw across it.

"Um, well, I guess..."

Mimizuku knew she could answer this one. She knew the reason why she had left the "village" behind.

"I figured I'd had enough," Mimizuku said, grinning widely.

She plopped down onto the cold floor, and lowered her eyelids as if to sleep, however, she began to speak as if singing.

"Mimizuku slept in the horse's stable. She was tucked away in the hay. And Mr. Horse was always busy, always making loud noises, because the people made him upset. All those people completely changed, I heard!"

The petty fights among the thieves were always territorial disputes.

The ditches grew deeper and deeper, until they were comparable to seas, and eventually the thieves assailed their own village.

Mimizuku didn't understand what had happened.

Screams and shouts stabbed at her ears, and the sound of flames crackling here and there could be heard.

And then came the deep scent of blood.

Before long, katana-wielding men barged into the stable. With a large hand, one of the men dragged Mimizuku, who had been curled up in the hay and covering her ears, outside.

"I got Mimizu. 'Ey you, with the red hair, there're no wounds on 'er cheek, take 'er."

For some reason, those were the only words she could remember.

In that moment, her thoughts had stopped, and she didn't feel any pain or distress.

The scenery seemed far off, as if it had been burned away.

"'Slave girl,' eh? That's what he said."

Then, the man smiled. His body hairs stood on end.

He displayed a kind of disgusted revulsion.

"'Interesting,' he said. I don't get what he means by that, but that's what he means by that, so whatever, he said it."

Mimizuku's head swayed downward.

"'Interesting.'"

The red-haired man smiled, and took Mimizuku with him.

Mimizuku's mind was perfectly still. It had really stopped, she hadn't thought of anything at all.

However, Mimizuku had brought a knife with her from the haystack.

It was the knife she always used to cut up the corpses.

She felt like she had screamed, like something had shaken in her throat. However, she couldn't remember anything. She couldn't remember her voice, or even if the things she yelled were actual words.

"I stabbed him. Yeah."

Just as she did with the corpses, she dug into the man's abdomen with all her might. Using the center as leverage, she cut across the entire body. A scream like cloth being ripped arose. It was the man's voice. The blood from his body was much more alive and fresh than the blood from the moldy old corpses. It splattered across her face, and entered her eyes.

Her vision became blurred.

"It was the first time I stabbed a living person. The man fell down after that. He definitely died, yep."

Mimizuku snickered.

"He definitely died, Mimizuku killed him."

As she recounted the story, sweat began to drip down her forehead. It wasn't warm, but strange instead. She felt cold all over, and her fingers began to shiver.

She had always been ordered to do a similar thing. She had cut up corpses several times.

However, what she had done then was fundamentally different, and Mimizuku couldn't comprehend the meaning of her own actions.

"So that's when I thought, 'I've had enough.'" I had really had enough, I was really tired..." she recalled casually. She was tired. She had never been tired before that.

She gave up on everything.

And then, she remembered a story she heard long ago. Far in the east, there was a place called the Forest of Night, where lots of monsters lived.

It was said that not a trace was left of anyone eaten by the monsters.

"So I walked all the way here."

She felt as though she had received a shock to the head. She began to get dizzy.

Mimizuku slowly stood up, and moved closer to Fukurou, looking at his face.

When she looked at his moon eyes, she felt rested.

Fukurou didn't push her away, but simply scowled at her unpleasantly. He then opened his mouth slightly.

"Do you still want to be eaten by me? Girl who names beasts."

Mimizuku wondered why he was asking her something so obvious. She had said it several times, that she wanted to be eaten by Fukurou, and disappear without a trace. That's what she had always wished for.

''Of course I do!''

She opened her mouth to say it.

She didn't hesitate, and the words were ready to come out.

However, her thin, dry lips couldn't muster any more speech.

She flapped her mouth open and closed like one of the fish in the lake. Mimizuku didn't understand why she couldn't say it.

"Uh, uh."

Mimizuku ran her finger across her lips in a strange way. She wanted to say, "Eat me." It seemed like Fukurou really would eat her right now if she asked.

If she truly wished for it, now was her opportunity.

''My wish?''

Her wish. Her hope. That is to say, what she wanted.

"I, uh, Fukurou..."

She became lost in thought. If she couldn't say what she wanted to say, then it couldn't be helped.

Mimizuku continued to speak.

"Hey... is it alright for me to sleep here today?"

In this beautiful room. Surrounded by Fukurou's painting, Mimizuku thought that it would be wonderful if she could sleep there.

Fukurou seemed not to pay any attention to her request, and he simply turned back to his painting.

However, he didn't refuse, and Mimizuku became incredibly happy. It was as if he had told her to do as she liked.

Mimizuku curled up at Fukurou's feet, and she quietly fell asleep.

Fukurou glanced down at her for an infinitesimal moment, and then returned to running his claws along his canvas, painting.

The door to the king's office burst open, and a human shape walked in and sank into the sofa. The king looked up from his documents and raised an eyebrow.

"Where did the chivalry of the old knights go?"

"To the other side of that star, maybe," Ann Duke said indifferently, as if calling out from inside of the sofa.

"My goodness. That's a makeshift way of doing things."

"What do you mean?"

Not stirred in the slightest by the king's question, Ann Duke sprang up from the sofa and turned to face the king.

"So, are the preparations for the subjugation of the demon king going smoothly?"

"..."

The king responded with silence. Ann Duke began to speak with a fully serious expression.

"The populace is inclined towards annihilating the demon king. He hasn't done any real harm until now, and he's just used to scare misbehaving children. They're just sympathizing with that girl that he's locked up. And now they're saying that the kingdom's Magician Brigade has already set up its preparations as well?"

The Holy Knight hadn't known about any of it. He was in the Knight troupe, but he wasn't at the top of the group. He had no political authority, and his abilities were used only for the purpose of fighting. He was the one who had chosen this lifestyle, working slow to start and staying at home.

"That's right. You, the Holy Knight, are in charge of breaking through the advance guard," the king said to Ann Duke in a relaxed tone.

The king then raised his face.

"What will you do?"

Looking at his eyes straight on, Ann Duke remained silent for a period of time.

"... To the public, it seems as though we're going in to save the girl, but what's the real reason we're subjugating the demon king?" Ann Duke asked in a low voice.

"For the sake of the people of this country," the king answered, his gaze shifting slightly to the side.

Ann Duke knew what he really meant. The current king was an excellent king. His country had been invaded many times, and he had rebuilt it in one generation. Using the region's strong magical traditions, he formed the Magician Brigade, and they became his military. He made farming and trade prosperous, and gave the country power.

After a hundred years, the legendary Holy Sword passed down from long ago chose a master, and this "Holy Knight" became a symbol of the Red Ark Kingdom's independence.

However there was something missing. By making the demon king surrender, they gained several things.

Ann Duke had understood the king's prediction. It had been ten years since he was chosen to be Holy Knight. To Ann Duke, who had lost his father at an early age, the kingdom was like a father, a partner, and a friend to him. He had never drawn his sword for his own sake. Whether his enemies were humans or not, Ann Duke did not like unnecessary killing. He did not treat his sword as a decoration, as he understood that when he brought it out, a life would disappear.

"So it's come to this... I'll go."

Despite all of that, he lightly shrugged his shoulders and, with a troubled look on his face, gave a smile.

"My wife's not gonna be happy. She'll say something like, 'If you can't save one little girl, then shouldn't you quit being a Holy Knight?'"

He had understood that this was also a victory for the king, in a way. Even the domestic protector Holy Knight couldn't raise a finger against his wife. The king knew that very well.

"Perhaps Orietta should join the ranks as well."

The king's face shined at his idea.

"The Maiden of the Holy Sword would raise the morale of the Magician Brigade more than anything! With the magic reared in the temple..."

"Hey, Your Majesty." Ann Duke interrupted the king, smiling.

"I'm going to tell you something beforehand," he said as if it were no big deal.

Though he spoke as if it were no big deal, his voice was lower than usual.

The king took a deep breath for no reason in particular.

"However you use the Holy Knight is up to you. You can show me off like some charm, or you can send me to the battlefield, so long as the fighting is for a good reason."

From there, the smile in Ann Duke's blue eyes disappeared.

"However, if you do anything like sending Orietta onto a battlefield, I'll throw away the Holy Sword, take her with me, and leave this country."

He spoke clearly and had a grim look on his face.

The king was not unprepared to slash through obstacles to his country. He was able to keep a cool appearance, however he could not take rebellion from Ann Duke. He was a "symbol" of the country, after all.

"Are you threatening your king?"

To those words, Ann Duke smiled brightly.

"I'm just being honest."

Mimizuku awoke at dawn to the sound of small birds flapping their wings. Light entered through the giant window. The strength of the light forecasted sunny skies. Mimizuku gently closed her eyes again, and went back to sleep. The cold floor was comfortable, and she already seemed to be drifting back to sleep.

"Mimizuku."

Hearing her name called, Mimizuku jolted awake.

As she raised her upper body, she looked around to see that the master of the room was missing, but then saw Kuro stopped on the lattice of the window.

"Kuro!"

Mimizuku's eyes sparkled upon seeing Kuro. Kuro entered the room quietly.

''The morning sunlight sure is pretty,'' Mimizuku thought.

"What a condition. Mimizuku, there are woodgrains from the floor stuck in your cheek."

Kuro's words felt kind, so Mimizuku laughed as she scraped her hand across her cheek.

"How are you, Kuro? Isn't it rare for you to come to the mansion?"

"Indeed." Kuro gave a small nod.

"Mimizuku. I have come to tell you something."

"To tell me something? What is it?"

Mimizuku dragged herself to the windowsill. When she looked up, Kuro was looking right back at her, and after a short moment of hesitation, Kuro spoke.

"For several days, perhaps as long as a month, I will be absent from the forest."

"Absent?"

Mimizuku tilted her head. Kuro nodded.

"By the orders of the King of Night, I am to leave the forest for a while, and take care of a few duties in the human world. For that time, even if you call my name, it will not reach my ears. That is why you must take care of yourself. Can you do that?"

"Yes sir!"

Mimizuku raised her hand high and gave an energetic reply. However she immediately looked downward.

"What do you mean 'orders of the King of Night?'"

"That is..." Kuro began to speak, but then closed his mouth. "I cannot say."

"Alright then." Mimizuku smiled. She wasn't unhappy about it. In fact, she was happy that Kuro had come to tell her that he was leaving the forest.

Kuro watched Mimizuku laugh, and eventually opened his mouth to speak.

"At times, Mimizuku. Before I go from the forest, I will tell you one legend."

"Legend?"

"That is correct. A story from long, long ago."

Mimizuku couldn't understand the intention of Kuro's sudden words, but she didn't have any reason not to listen to him.

"Alright then..."

Sitting back down on the wood grains, Mimizuku waited for Kuro to speak.

After a bit of hesitation, Kuro made a motion like scratching his cheek, and then began to speak.

"This is a story which has long since occurred. It is a story which lies quite a ways away from the heartlessness of the flow of time."

He spoke loudly and with haste in his broken voice. He could be likened to a troubadour recounting the epic of a hero.

"This is the story of a prince who lived in a kingdom that was destroyed ages ago."

Mimizuku tilted her head. It was like a story from another world.

Kuro did not halt his speech.

"It was far, very far away. If you crossed several mountains and went so far north that human skin would change color, you would find this tiny kingdom. They did not write, and they could not hunt. However, this country was never poor, because in a certain mountain in that country laid a dazzling mineral. The people mined that mineral, manufactured with it, and sold it, gaining much wealth in the process. The lifestyle of the king was as well marked by abundance. He was able to hire mercenaries, and thus increased his military power. Though the land was covered in deep snow during the winter, this only made the fleeting spring more beautiful."

"Snow..."

Mimizuku couldn't imagine such a thing. She searched her thoughts and memories, and she thought of a pretty white powder.

"The people were wealthy. The royal family was wealthy. The foolish people mined every last bit of the mineral in the mountain..."

At that point, the tone of Kuro's voice fell.

"All things with shape at one point disappear. That is one of the logical truths of the world. However, with time, people forget this. The mineral ran out. The people began to fight amongst themselves, trying to amass as much of what little of the mineral was left. When the king thought of what he should do, he decided that the remaining amount of the mineral would be confiscated by force. With their industry potential dispersed, the king could do nothing to help the people overcome their reliance on the mineral."

The story was hard for Mimizuku to understand, and Mimizuku troubled herself thinking about it. However, she decided to go along with it anyway, and, remaining silent, she listened to Kuro's story.

"Now, the royal family had one prince. He was born when the last of the mineral was starting to disappear. Thus, he was swarmed by cold stares from the people. Though the disappearance of the mineral was natural, however, as is natural to human nature, they needed to blame someone else for their hardship. The prince was born with the hardship of persecution. He was treated as a prince. He was given things to wear and food to eat. However, the king and queen he was born to did not love him."

Mimizuku thought quietly.

''What does it mean, to be loved?''

"The birthright of the prince was solitude. However, he never thought to end his life. No one was kind to him, but he thought that the scenery of his country was too beautiful for words. He thought to give form to that beautiful scenery reflected in his eyes. In order to do that, the prince took a brush, and--he began to paint a picture."

"Ah..."

Here, Mimizuku realized what, or rather who, Kuro's story was about.

Kuro didn't respond to her, and continued to recount the tale.

"Before long, a revolution occurred in the country. People at their limit from starvation due to the misgovernment of the king set the castle alight. The prince, who lived in a separate building, was also pulled out before the public. As an incarnation of their pastime, they set the painting that the prince had made on fire in the town square. It was crushing to the prince, who had nothing but painting left in his life."

Mimizuku looked at Kuro in blank amazement, as if she had seen the whole scene play out before her.

"The prince was sealed away in a tall tower until the day of his execution. In the room, with nothing but a window blocked by iron bars, the prince, bound in chains, little by little, continued to paint even until the day he was to be beheaded."

"What did he use to paint with?" she asked, thinking the situation strange.

"He used nothing. He had no brush. The prince bit his own finger and drew upon the wall with his own blood, as if possessed. He might have already gone insane before, that prince who only saw the ugly side of people."

Mimizuku gasped, as if out of breath or taken in by admiration for the prince. It was a sort of deep understanding.

"The painting was the reddest of red. Its beauty was sublime. The picture was made by shaving off his existence."

Before, Kuro had said, "Paintings which use red are the most beautiful." Mimizuku could see no inconsistency in his words. She had come to understand everything that had led up to this point.

"That picture could even summon monsters. I have visited it myself. And I have also seen the battered, injured prince. He was a human, yet that spirit, that magic power. I asked him if he still wanted to live. I asked him if he would not dislike stopping being a human. He answered righteously."

''Is that right,'' Mimizuku thought. That was how it went.

"That is right when he came to this forest and took the position of King of Night. He is still alive today. When he disappears, all of his magic power will return to the earth, and create a new king. However, there is another way to replace him. If the current king chooses a successor, then through this way, anyone could become the king. They would receive the moon eyes. I am the one who told the prince to go to the forest. He went and met the king. He was not a human, but a king, and in this way, king met king, it is said. And thus it came to pass that the king was chosen."

After that, Kuro spoke once more.

"The king was chosen by the world."

Kuro often referred to the world. The selection of the king, allowances. Those were all choices of the world. This was how the world of the monsters revolved.

"My tale ends here."

Kuro brought the story gently to a close. ''Why?'' Mimizuku thought. ''Why would Kuro tell me a story like this...?''

"Well, it is now time for me to leave the forest behind."

Kuro abruptly flew up.

"I hope we may meet again. Mimizuku."

"If fate allows it?" Mimizuku asked.

"Gyagyagyagya!" Kuro laughed. "Yes, if fate allows it. Let us meet again. Mimizuku!"

Kuro then disappeared like a puff of smoke. Mimizuku stood up and leaned out of the window. She followed Kuro with just her mind's eye.

Then suddenly, Mimizuku realized that her cheeks were wet.

"... Huh?"

As Mimizuku blinked, she saw transparent droplets of water fall.

"What's this? Does this mean I'm sick?"

Panicking, Mimizuku wiped the droplets away. It wasn't the first time it had happened, but she had no memory of any other times. Mimizuku thought that the droplets were a bit like sweat. Then, wiping the falling droplets from her eyes, she turned toward the forest over which the sun was rising and rushed out of the mansion to find more beautiful things so she could see Fukurou again.

The lamp made with magical power gave off an unnaturally red glow, like a ripe bitter orange. The magicians, suppressing the sound of their breath, were gathering at the entrance to the Forest of Night. They each wore a hood over their eyes and held an old oak cane.

"There's no moon out tonight," said Ann Duke as if the words leaked out of his lips. He was encased in armor. "That's a shame. It's said that the moon that rises over the Forest of Night is incredibly beautiful."

A voice sprang up from directly behind him.

"It cannot be helped, Sir Holy Knight."

The voice's owner had a hood on like the rest of the magicians, and also held an oak cane in his wrinkly hand. There were several rings on his fingers to aid with sorcery.

"We waited for the new moon. The King of Night's magical power drops quite a bit during the night of the new moon. If we intend to make him surrender, we cannot let him escape."

"Will you fasten together the joint effort of our country's pride, the Magician Brigade? Can you do it, Sir Riveil?" Ann Duke asked, smiling casually as usual.

"Most likely."

There was a pause between Ann Duke's question and Riveil's answer, but it wasn't because he was troubled by it. What got in the way of his words was his petty pride and conceit.

"Most likely. So long as you, Sir Holy Knight, hold the Holy Sword, we cannot be matched, I think."

Ann Duke groaned emotionlessly at Riveil's words. He looked around at the Forest of Night that perpetrated an eerie calm. After a heavy silence, Riveil spoke up as if he were an unskilled backup soldier.

"However, if the Magician Brigade is here when the King of Night regains his power at dawn, then we will be.--"

"I don't want to hear it," Ann Duke said, cutting him off in his soft voice. "If you've got to boil him up and eat him, I don't care. I'm just here to save the little girl who he's captured. You're here to capture the demon king, right? Let's simply leave it at that for now."

He never spoke in a harsh tone. However, Riveil kept his complaints to himself and stopped talking.

"... The barrier preparations seem to be complete," Riveil reported in a stately tone.

"I see." Ann Duke nodded slightly. He closed his eyelids as if to doze off.

"Sir Holy Knight...!"

It happened as the darkness began to grow deeper.

A giant shadow appeared from within the darkness, and the magicians yelped, getting into a fighting stance with their canes. However, Ann Duke drew his sword faster and struck down the assailing monster in a single blow.

The large creature let out an otherworldly scream, and collapsed.

The magicians were breathless. From the always-kind Ann Duke, they couldn't have imagined such sharp, merciless swordsmanship.

In the darkness, a faint light emanated from the Holy Sword.

"Who's the one who used magic?" the Holy Knight said, facing the magicians. His low voice took form in the darkness and shook the air.

"It... it was me and two others, sir..."

There were three of them who were assigned to directly invoke magic in capturing the King of Night. The rest were there to amplify and assist this magic power.

It felt to Ann Duke like the hilt of his sword was stuck to his palm. If he closed his eyes, he thought he could hear voices. They called out to the dormant sword, like they had done when he was a young boy.

The moment he pulled the sword from its scabbard, it sharpened his senses, and the world changed to a cold color. Somewhere in his heart, he felt happy that he was annihilating the demon king.

If only he could use this sword that had known nothing but taking lives to save someone. Ann Duke had thoughts like these, but only for a moment.

"I'll cut down all beasts who block our way. They won't take one step closer. Don't try to hurt them..."

He looked back for a split second. Even in the darkness, his eyes sparkled in a deep, brilliant blue.

"Because I won't guarantee your survival."

Riveil was the only one who could manage a nod.

The beginning of the fight had been declared. The Holy Knight drew his sword.

There was no going back now.

Mimizuku, sleeping at the roots of a giant tree, felt as though she could hear someone screaming desperately, and woke up in a panic.

"Huh? What's going on?"

Something was strange. Despite not knowing what was going on, she looked around restlessly.

The darkness cried out. The trees and the leaves all seemed to be screaming as if they had been shredded.

"What? What is it?"

She looked up at the sky. She couldn't see the moon anywhere. A cold shiver ran down her back.

''I have to go!''

Mimizuku kicked at the ground, jangling her shackles.

She ran to Fukurou's mansion. He had to be there. Mimizuku didn't have anything beautiful for him today, but even if she was turned away, she just knew that she had to go.

"W-What?"

As Mimizuku drew closer to the mansion, she became cognizant of something horrifying.

"Ah... Aaaaaaaaah!!"

She shrieked inhumanly.

The mansion was on fire. The blazing red flames seemed to engulf the mansion as if crowding around it.

''Why?'' Mimizuku thought. ''Why?!''

Running closer, she forced open the half-open door and rushed inside. The flames drew closer to the center of the mansion little by little. Mimizuku climbed the staircase, feeling as though she were being burned by hellfire.

She ran to Fukurou's room.

The King of Night stood there, in the center of the room.

"Fukurou... Fukurou! Fukurou!!" Mimizuku yelled. Fukurou slowly turned around. His eyes were an icy gold, and they seemed to quiver as they reflected the redness of the flames.

They betrayed no emotion.

"Fukurou! It's no use! Stop it!!" Mimizuku exclaimed. She slammed her fist against the wall several times, which was peeling because of the fire. Mimizuku forgot the fact that she could get burned.

"Stop it! Stop it!! It's gonna burn up! Your painting's gonna burn up!!"

Smoke entered her lungs and she began to cough violently. Even so, Mimizuku tried to peel the painting off the wall to protect it.

The painting of the red sunset, which would have been finished soon, dispersed into the flames.

"Nooooooooo!!"

Mimizuku howled like an animal. She moved to cast herself into the flames, but Fukurou grabbed her.

"Enough."

Fukurou's cold voice reaching her ears, Mimizuku turned around.

"It's no good! I can't save it!" Mimizuku shouted.

Even though it was so beautiful.

''Even though it was a painting you made!''

Her scream disappeared into an ominous noise coming from the mansion. It was a low sound like and explosion.

The floor crumbled beneath their feet.

"Gyaah!"

The entire upper half of the mansion fell. The roof had been blown away, so Mimizuku and Fukurou weren't crushed to death. Mimizuku was confused, not knowing who or what caused the explosion.

"Ah... a..."

Her shackles burned red hot.

She felt as thought the entire world was crumbling.

But in the middle of all of this, she thought she could hear something.

Somewhere, someone was saying something.

She heard a voice.

"Over here!"

In her vision of the world burning down, the voice was powerful.

"Over here! Give me your hand!"

On the other side of the mansion's wreckage, someone was standing. It was a man with blond hair and blue eyes, and he was holding his hand out to Mimizuku. He had a sword in one hand, with the other extended out to Mimizuku.

"Huuh!?"

Mimizuku made a strange sound.

"Me!?"

It didn't fit the tenuous scene; it was a wild voice.

"Yes, you! I came to help you!!"

The voice that responded was limitlessly strong.

"Help?"

No one had ever held out their hand to Mimizuku like this before.

''"Came to help...?"''

She felt as though she had wished it before, long, long ago, when she was small.

She wished someone would take her away. Take her away to happiness.

''To... happiness...?''

"I... I..."

Her words shivered. To the destiny suddenly held out to her, Mimizuku's body cowered in fear.

"Take my hand! Don't be afraid!"

"But..."

"It's alright!"

Something like this. Strong. Even if it was a lie, for someone to tell her "It's alright!"...

No one had ever said anything like that to her before.

As if being drawn in, Mimizuku took several small steps toward the voice. But she turned around. She looked at Fukurou. It seemed like Fukurou's body was being pulled away by a thin, invisible string.

Fukurou stared sharply at Mimizuku with his eyes like moons. He spoke.

"Go. Girl who names beasts. There is no reason for you to be here anymore."

And then, Fukurou moved unnaturally, and seemingly involuntarily extending his arm, he traced his long finger across Mimizuku's forehead.

After a moment, Mimizuku's body began to move on its own. Alone, but without hesitation, Mimizuku willfully took the hand.

Not the king of monsters', but the Holy Knight's.

The hand that had reached out for her. Warm human skin. It engulfed her. She was lifted up.

She had been saved, as if she were loved.

Even so, for some reason, Mimizuku wanted to cry.

Somehow, and so much, she wanted to cry.

She had an intense headache. Her forehead felt hot. She wanted to scream.

Despite having never known of tears before, she wanted to cry.

''... Just like that. I wish I could have been eaten by you, just like that.''

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Return to [[Mimizuku to Yoru no Ou|Main Page]]
| Back to [[Mimizuku to Yoru no Ou: Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
| Forward to [[Mimizuku to Yoru no Ou: Chapter 5|Chapter 5]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Mimizuku to Yoru no Ou: Chapter 2

2011-05-01T19:19:21Z

Pmt7ar:

Chapter 2 - The Threshold of Blessings

An old man extended both of his arms out as far as he could, neither one reaching the end of a large window. As he opened it, beams of sunlight rushed into the room and struck the red carpet.

In a wide, open room decorated with luxurious paintings, two men sat facing each other.

"Check."

With a light thud, the younger man moved the white bishop with his long finger across the board.

The light from the sun and the reflections from the massive chandelier above made his hair shine a brilliant gold. His body gave an impression of fearlessness, but his eyes were gentle and blue, not changed since his boyhood.

He was seated in a well-fashioned chair facing a gray haired man who was just entering his old age.

The man moved his eyes, whose colors were somewhat faded, across the top of the board. He moved the shaved marble black rook across the board, taking the bishop without so much as a shiver.

"On that subject, tell me, does the rumor that Zai Gearn's principality and Sechiria have formed an alliance hold any ground?" the young man asked, moving his pawn out of range.

"From whom did you hear that?" the older man asked, not lifting his gaze from the chessboard.

"From a traveler from Sechiria I spoke with at the bar the other day. It seems like Gardalsia has opened its ports. They're prospering quite well over there," the young man said with a whistle. The old man heaved a sigh upon hearing his words. He moved his rough, wizened finger toward his knight, advancing it forward.

"That's a check."

The young man skillfully utilized his queen to avoid defeat.

"Sechiria is well sustained, eh?"

"It's because of their army... they're not very numerous, but they're the best of the best. Surrender for them was a difficult thing," the old man said solemnly. The wrinkles at the roots of his eyebrows gave the impression of old age.

"Another one falls to Zai Gearn," the young man said to himself. He lifted his face and smiled. As he did, he gave a youthful impression.

"So, I hear that Lord Zeliade's son was born yesterday. They were making a fuss over whether or not we would be holding a celebration."

"So the Lady Zeliade is safe as well?"

"Yes. Mother and son are both in good health."

"That is what's most important, is it not?" the old man said. The space between his eyebrows was carved with wrinkles.

''I wish he would look a little more cheerful sometimes,'' the young man thought, giving an uncomfortable smile.

The old man placed his fingertip on his king and moved it, but he shivered with hesitation.

"How is Claudius?"

The young man raised his head suddenly at this question, coughing slightly in order to not appear rude.

"Why are you asking me? I'm not his father, you know."

"If I go myself, he'll act like there's nothing wrong." As he spoke, the old man's tone of voice seemed to deteriorate.

"Yeah, alright," the young man said, deciding to put up with it. He let out a laugh. "He's fine. So long as I saw him, at least." He then moved his knight, slightly pivoting it as he slid it across the board. "That's checkmate."

In his moment of downfall, the old man stared wide-eyed at his king.

He scanned the board over and over to find where he could have slipped up, but no matter how he looked at it, it seemed to be a perfect loss. He heaved a sigh and stood up, placing his hand against the back of his chair for support.

"Ann Duke... don't think you're getting away with winning against the king of your own country."

The young man called Ann Duke put the pieces away and stood up. And then, he laughed.

"Your majesty, surely you must allow your country's poster knight at least a bit of credit?" Ann Duke said jokingly.

The king's eyes became serious.

"If I may bring it to your attention, poster knight of Red Ark, have you thought about the plan for the subjugation of the demon king?"

The young man's response was quick.

"Of course not! Something like that would be such a pain."

Ann Duke waved his hand flutteringly and said, "Well then, you should get back to your kingdom's affairs, Your Majesty. If we mess around anymore, you'll get stuck having to listen to the cabinet minister's preaching." He laughed and opened the large, oak door to leave.

The man left in the room heaved a deep breath.

"It was startling to hear that from the Holy Knight. Damn him, that municipal housekeeper."

He gave one, great, spiteful sigh.

This was the district of Red Ark. It was a small land near the Forest of Night ruled by the king. This was the scene that the king saw from his private room in his castle.

When nightfall came, Mimizuku awoke at the foot of a large tree.

After slumbering for a while, she crawled sluggishly to the nearby river and washed her face. The sunset had dyed the whole forest red. The sun had already disappeared, and the bitter oranges in the vicinity shone like embers.

Mimizuku saw her face reflected in the river.

Thanks to the influence of the light, her face looked a bit like it was covered in blood. She was, as usual, horribly emaciated, but her cheekbones didn't seem to stick out much.

About once every two days, Kuro would bring Mimizuku food. He told her to call him anytime she needed help, but the need had never arisen. Looking around, the forest was overflowing with things to eat, and the things that Kuro would bring her were more than enough anyway. In fact, she would often vomit from overeating.

Energetic, she splashed the river's water into her face, washing her mouth while she was at it.

Her bangs became soaked in the process, and they began to drip. On her forehead reflected in the water, she saw the numbers there, just as they had always been.

The drops of water dripping from her bangs made the numbers shimmer.

Seeming to remember something, Mimizuku closed her eyes. She had already slept for a long time though, so she wasn't able to fall back asleep.

Finally, she lifted her head, and, shackles ringing, she stood up and walked forward.

Mimizuku didn't have anything to do in this forest. Before she came to the forest, she would work from morning to night, sometimes even straight through the night, so it was normal for her. Not doing anything was a strange feeling to her.

''I'll go find him.''

She had slept enough, and she wasn't hungry, so she wandered off the find the King of Night.

Since the forest was so huge, it was possible that she would find him, but it was also possible that she would never find him. She didn't have any kind of aim to go on from the beginning, so she searched as she would any other day, and hopefully she would find out something new.

''A quiet place.''

A place where it would seem like you're the only one alive in the world. A place where you couldn't hear anything but your own breath.

Above the trees.

Somewhere with water.

''And therefore, a beautiful place.''

So long as the King of Night was inside the forest, he would surely be in a place like that.

She didn't think to enter the mansion, as Kuro had told her not to. "''The King of Night will become upset if you do so, so do not enter the mansion''," he had said. So Mimizuku didn't enter. However, Kuro did not tell Mimizuku not to look for the King of Night.

Why wasn't she allowed to enter the mansion? Mimizuku couldn't imagine any reason why.

Mimizuku continued to walk, her shackles jangling all the while. Finally, the surroundings grew dark, and the light of the moon gently, quietly shone across the forest.

''Oh...''

Mimizuku stopped. In the middle of the forest, there was a small, open area.

The area was horribly quiet. Nothing but the breathing of monsters lurking in the darkness could be heard. Mimizuku surveyed her surroundings.

"Oh!"

She yelped. It was a yelp of delight, however. On the thick, withered branch of a beech tree, there was the King of Night. Even though he heard Mimizuku's voice, he did not turn to look at her. From beneath, Mimizuku looked at his moon eyes, which had changed to a golden color.

''They're pretty today as well.''

She felt incredibly happy.

"Um... uh... Your Majesty..."

Just like before, she hesitated when she spoke. It was only the smallest faltering. However, she didn't know any other way.

"Your Majesty..."

Calling out to him, Mimizuku came up to the roots of the withered tree and plopped down. Since the King of Night was not on a very tall tree this time, she could see him very well. It made her happy.

"Um, er... Uh..."

Mimizuku took a deep breath, and tried to come up with something to talk about. Because interfering with the King of Night was the only way.

First, she talked of work.

"I'll draw water."

It was work she was always made to do in the "village," however it was the first time she heard the words come from herself.

"Start a fire? Draw water? Bury trash? Hey. I'll do whatever you need."

Whatever. She could do whatever. It was all right. Since she would be dead any other way, she could do anything he wanted.

But the King of Night's response was simple.

"You're an eyesore."

With his low voice, his moon eyes. He treated Mimizuku like a pebble at the side of the road.

''It's okay, I'm used to it.''

She had always been treated that way. It was all right. However, there was something strange. Even though it was the same treatment, the King of Night was different from the people of the "village."

What was different?

"Hey, my name's Mimizuku. I came up with it myself," Mimizuku started to say for some reason. Even though she had been told she was an eyesore, she didn't feel as though she wanted to disappear. Unlike those times so long ago, the times in the "village," she didn't feel like fading away.

She felt like her words would mean something if she said them. The words from her mouth would reach someone's ears. She had a good feeling that the King of Night was this kind of someone. That was all there was to it.

"I wasn't always Mimizuku, you know... In the village, I did slave stuff, and before that, I don't remember anything. My name then was Mimizu<ref>mimizu (蚯蚓): earthworm</ref>. I also got called stuff like 'demon' and 'crap.' With a name like 'Mimizu', they said to me 'do you know earthworms do you? they eat mud, so eat it too' and got mud flung at me and stuff. Of course, I couldn't eat any of it..."

Mimizuku cackled shrilly.

And she continued to laugh.

"That's why I put the 'ku' on the end of Mimizu, and I called myself 'Mimizuku.' But that doesn't means I eat earthworms either... <ref>she didn't eat mud being Mimizu (an earthworm), so she says she doesn't eat earthworms now being Mimizuku (an owl)</ref>"

Realizing how strange her words sounded, Mimizuku laughed. She laughed to the point that her cheek muscles cramped.

"... Foolish."

A voice suddenly arose. It made Mimizuku's shoulders jolt up, and she raised her head.

The light of the moon was behind the King of Night, so Mimizuku couldn't see his facial expression. However, she was aware that those golden eyes were looking in her direction.

She felt her spine tingle.

It was pleasurable to the point of paralysis.

The King of Night then continued to speak.

"You only added the 'ku' of your suffering<ref>ku (苦): pain, suffering</ref>. You were most likely better off wherever you were."

Mimizuku blinked several times. She didn't know what to do. So she simply smiled powerlessly.

"Hm?"

She relaxed her facial muscles and became a little more at ease. She waved her head left and right.

"Do you mean troubles like suffering? Who cares? If it's pretty, I'm happy. Even if you're suffering, isn't it better to be happy?" Mimizuku said without thinking much.

She stood up, making her shackles jingle, despite knowing that even if she reached out, she could never reach him.

"Hey, Your Majestyyyy--"

"Girl who names beasts," the King of Night said, feeling strangely drawn in by Mimizuku. "You are not a monster. I, am not your king." His voice shook the very air around them.

Mimizuku, again failing to understand him, was simply confused. That was how it was, true. The King of Night had said something completely logical.

Mimizuku didn't think that she was a human. However, she also didn't think that she was a monster. She had been called a demon before, but that was a different case. Rather, Mimizuku wanted to become a monster. She felt that if she could become a monster, and always be at the king's side, it would be better than being a human. But she knew that this was something she could not do. There were many things she couldn't do, but she wasn't completely aware of what she could do.

"Um..."

That wasn't enough; she had to think some more. That is to say, she couldn't call the king "Your Majesty." After all, she wasn't a monster.

''"Call me what you like."''

Kuro's words surfaced into Mimizuku's head. She smiled to herself, and then spoke.

"Alright then, Fukurou!" she said, holding out her index finger. "Fukurou! I'll call you Fukurou!"

Mimizuku and Fukurou. They were their own set <ref>Mimizuku means 'horned owl", and Fukurou (梟) means "owl"</ref>. Whether or not the King of Night rejected or accepted this, Mimizuku didn't really care.

She became aware that Fukurou was looking up. What did he see? What was he thinking? Whatever it was, she was probably thinking too much about it. After all, when Mimizuku lived in the "village," she would always stare up at the sky for no reason.

When she stopped thinking, time would stop.

It would be as if she had died.

She vacantly recalled the days of the past. Mimizuku's recollections of the "village" seemed to have fallen apart, and her memories were dim, as if her spirit from that time had drifted far, far away.

"Hey. Hey, Fukurou," Mimizuku said in a whisper-like tone.

"Why... why won't you eat me?"

That's what she had come all this way for. Even though she hadn't wanted to take a single step anywhere, she came to the forest anyway in the hope that she would be eaten.

"Eat me... please..."

The branches above shifted about. Mimizuku raised her head. Pitch-black wings moved as if flapping several times.

''Did he go?''

That beautiful, beautiful King of Night.

"Don't go... Don't go..."

All of a sudden, two moons appeared before Mimizuku. Two moons. She felt as if her heart was going to stop. At the tip of her nose was Fukurou's elegant face.

His thin lips began to move.

"If I eat a human, I will surely throw them back up."

He then loudly flapped his wings.

Mimizuku blinked once, and in the next instant, the King of Night had disappeared into the darkness.

A single black feather fell to the ground.

Mimizuku, out of strength, sat down on the ground. She picked up the feather and held it with both of her hands, touching it to her lips.

"Something's not right..."

For some reason she couldn't understand, her chest felt tight.

"I'm not a human..."

The forest was quiet to the point that her ears began to hurt. Sitting in the darkness, she cast her eyes downward.

There was nothing she could do about the feeling in her chest. She wished she couldn't feel pain.

Rays of sunlight shone through the forest.

"Hey, Kuro. What should I do to get eaten by Fukurou?" Mimizuku asked while Kuro ate one of the pomegranates he had brought.

Kuro rustled his feathers a bit. His stature small as usual, he was sitting down facing Mimizuku.

"Fukurou?" Kuro responded, confused.

"Oh yeah, it's the King of Night's name. Since I'm not a monster, I can't call him as if he were my king... That's why I thought of something to call him and came up with Fukurou."

"And you called the King of Night as such to his face?"

"Yep. That's what I called him."

"... I see."

Kuro crossed his upper and lower arms diagonally, and seemed to think for a moment.

"An owl king. Certainly, certainly. That may well do," he said as if groaning, lifting his face. "Mimizuku."

"Yeah?"

She then realized that no one had called her Mimizuku before. Kuro wasn't a human; he was in fact something more wonderful.

Kuro slowly continued to speak.

"It seems you are not quite aware yet. That is, to the fact that you have been made several allowances."

"Allowances?"

Mimizuku tilted her neck to the side.

"Aye." Kuro nodded.

"In that case, I recommend that you go to the mansion."

"Mansion? You mean Fukurou's? Is it really okay?"

"Normally it would not be allowed. However, you seem to be a preferred guest of his."

Kuro then flew straight up, reaching eye level with Mimizuku.

"However, if I am wrong, you may be killed. If these are truly allowances, however, then your case will change. Mimizuku. If you truly do not fear death as you said, then what have you to fear now?"

Kuro's words were difficult to understand, but Mimizuku got the gist of it.

That's right, from the very beginning, Mimizuku's goal was to be killed. It was her wish, more than anything, to be eaten. If that was the case, then she had no reason to hesitate at this point.

"... Alright, I'll go."

Carefree, she began to walk toward Fukurou's mansion, dropping her half-eaten pomegranate.

Mimizuku began to walk ahead, leaving Kuro behind, but she suddenly turned around.

"But Kuro, why're you telling me all this? Isn't Fukurou your king?"

Mimizuku figured that it would make Fukurou angry to have his monsters dislike him.

"Indeed. Indeed, you are right, Mimizuku," Kuro said, flapping his wings.

"I wish only good fortune upon the King of Night. However, who really knows?"

They were dramatic words, but Mimizuku couldn't understand what he meant.

"Who really knows? Where is this gentleman's blessing?"

''If only happiness were that simple'', Mimizuku thought.

<references/>

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Return to [[Mimizuku to Yoru no Ou|Main Page]]
| Back to [[Mimizuku to Yoru no Ou: Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
| Forward to [[Mimizuku to Yoru no Ou: Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Mimizuku to Yoru no Ou: Chapter 2

2011-05-01T19:12:23Z

Pmt7ar: add references to names

Chapter 2 - The Threshold of Blessings

An old man extended both of his arms out as far as he could, neither one reaching the end of a large window. As he opened it, beams of sunlight rushed into the room and struck the red carpet.

In a wide, open room decorated with luxurious paintings, two men sat facing each other.

"Check."

With a light thud, the younger man moved the white bishop with his long finger across the board.

The light from the sun and the reflections from the massive chandelier above made his hair shine a brilliant gold. His body gave an impression of fearlessness, but his eyes were gentle and blue, not changed since his boyhood.

He was seated in a well-fashioned chair facing a gray haired man who was just entering his old age.

The man moved his eyes, whose colors were somewhat faded, across the top of the board. He moved the shaved marble black rook across the board, taking the bishop without so much as a shiver.

"On that subject, tell me, does the rumor that Zai Gearn's principality and Sechiria have formed an alliance hold any ground?" the young man asked, moving his pawn out of range.

"From whom did you hear that?" the older man asked, not lifting his gaze from the chessboard.

"From a traveler from Sechiria I spoke with at the bar the other day. It seems like Gardalsia has opened its ports. They're prospering quite well over there," the young man said with a whistle. The old man heaved a sigh upon hearing his words. He moved his rough, wizened finger toward his knight, advancing it forward.

"That's a check."

The young man skillfully utilized his queen to avoid defeat.

"Sechiria is well sustained, eh?"

"It's because of their army... they're not very numerous, but they're the best of the best. Surrender for them was a difficult thing," the old man said solemnly. The wrinkles at the roots of his eyebrows gave the impression of old age.

"Another one falls to Zai Gearn," the young man said to himself. He lifted his face and smiled. As he did, he gave a youthful impression.

"So, I hear that Lord Zeliade's son was born yesterday. They were making a fuss over whether or not we would be holding a celebration."

"So the Lady Zeliade is safe as well?"

"Yes. Mother and son are both in good health."

"That is what's most important, is it not?" the old man said. The space between his eyebrows was carved with wrinkles.

''I wish he would look a little more cheerful sometimes,'' the young man thought, giving an uncomfortable smile.

The old man placed his fingertip on his king and moved it, but he shivered with hesitation.

"How is Claudius?"

The young man raised his head suddenly at this question, coughing slightly in order to not appear rude.

"Why are you asking me? I'm not his father, you know."

"If I go myself, he'll act like there's nothing wrong." As he spoke, the old man's tone of voice seemed to deteriorate.

"Yeah, alright," the young man said, deciding to put up with it. He let out a laugh. "He's fine. So long as I saw him, at least." He then moved his knight, slightly pivoting it as he slid it across the board. "That's checkmate."

In his moment of downfall, the old man stared wide-eyed at his king.

He scanned the board over and over to find where he could have slipped up, but no matter how he looked at it, it seemed to be a perfect loss. He heaved a sigh and stood up, placing his hand against the back of his chair for support.

"Ann Duke... don't think you're getting away with winning against the king of your own country."

The young man called Ann Duke put the pieces away and stood up. And then, he laughed.

"Your majesty, surely you must allow your country's poster knight at least a bit of credit?" Ann Duke said jokingly.

The king's eyes became serious.

"If I may bring it to your attention, poster knight of Red Ark, have you thought about the plan for the subjugation of the demon king?"

The young man's response was quick.

"Of course not! Something like that would be such a pain."

Ann Duke waved his hand flutteringly and said, "Well then, you should get back to your kingdom's affairs, Your Majesty. If we mess around anymore, you'll get stuck having to listen to the cabinet minister's preaching." He laughed and opened the large, oak door to leave.

The man left in the room heaved a deep breath.

"It was startling to hear that from the Holy Knight. Damn him, that municipal housekeeper."

He gave one, great, spiteful sigh.

This was the district of Red Ark. It was a small land near the Forest of Night ruled by the king. This was the scene that the king saw from his private room in his castle.

When nightfall came, Mimizuku awoke at the foot of a large tree.

After slumbering for a while, she crawled sluggishly to the nearby river and washed her face. The sunset had dyed the whole forest red. The sun had already disappeared, and the bitter oranges in the vicinity shone like embers.

Mimizuku saw her face reflected in the river.

Thanks to the influence of the light, her face looked a bit like it was covered in blood. She was, as usual, horribly emaciated, but her cheekbones didn't seem to stick out much.

About once every two days, Kuro would bring Mimizuku food. He told her to call him anytime she needed help, but the need had never arisen. Looking around, the forest was overflowing with things to eat, and the things that Kuro would bring her were more than enough anyway. In fact, she would often vomit from overeating.

Energetic, she splashed the river's water into her face, washing her mouth while she was at it.

Her bangs became soaked in the process, and they began to drip. On her forehead reflected in the water, she saw the numbers there, just as they had always been.

The drops of water dripping from her bangs made the numbers shimmer.

Seeming to remember something, Mimizuku closed her eyes. She had already slept for a long time though, so she wasn't able to fall back asleep.

Finally, she lifted her head, and, shackles ringing, she stood up and walked forward.

Mimizuku didn't have anything to do in this forest. Before she came to the forest, she would work from morning to night, sometimes even straight through the night, so it was normal for her. Not doing anything was a strange feeling to her.

''I'll go find him.''

She had slept enough, and she wasn't hungry, so she wandered off the find the King of Night.

Since the forest was so huge, it was possible that she would find him, but it was also possible that she would never find him. She didn't have any kind of aim to go on from the beginning, so she searched as she would any other day, and hopefully she would find out something new.

''A quiet place.''

A place where it would seem like you're the only one alive in the world. A place where you couldn't hear anything but your own breath.

Above the trees.

Somewhere with water.

''And therefore, a beautiful place.''

So long as the King of Night was inside the forest, he would surely be in a place like that.

She didn't think to enter the mansion, as Kuro had told her not to. "''The King of Night will become upset if you do so, so do not enter the mansion''," he had said. So Mimizuku didn't enter. However, Kuro did not tell Mimizuku not to look for the King of Night.

Why wasn't she allowed to enter the mansion? Mimizuku couldn't imagine any reason why.

Mimizuku continued to walk, her shackles jangling all the while. Finally, the surroundings grew dark, and the light of the moon gently, quietly shone across the forest.

''Oh...''

Mimizuku stopped. In the middle of the forest, there was a small, open area.

The area was horribly quiet. Nothing but the breathing of monsters lurking in the darkness could be heard. Mimizuku surveyed her surroundings.

"Oh!"

She yelped. It was a yelp of delight, however. On the thick, withered branch of a beech tree, there was the King of Night. Even though he heard Mimizuku's voice, he did not turn to look at her. From beneath, Mimizuku looked at his moon eyes, which had changed to a golden color.

''They're pretty today as well.''

She felt incredibly happy.

"Um... uh... Your Majesty..."

Just like before, she hesitated when she spoke. It was only the smallest faltering. However, she didn't know any other way.

"Your Majesty..."

Calling out to him, Mimizuku came up to the roots of the withered tree and plopped down. Since the King of Night was not on a very tall tree this time, she could see him very well. It made her happy.

"Um, er... Uh..."

Mimizuku took a deep breath, and tried to come up with something to talk about. Because interfering with the King of Night was the only way.

First, she talked of work.

"I'll draw water."

It was work she was always made to do in the "village," however it was the first time she heard the words come from herself.

"Start a fire? Draw water? Bury trash? Hey. I'll do whatever you need."

Whatever. She could do whatever. It was all right. Since she would be dead any other way, she could do anything he wanted.

But the King of Night's response was simple.

"You're an eyesore."

With his low voice, his moon eyes. He treated Mimizuku like a pebble at the side of the road.

''It's okay, I'm used to it.''

She had always been treated that way. It was all right. However, there was something strange. Even though it was the same treatment, the King of Night was different from the people of the "village."

What was different?

"Hey, my name's Mimizuku. I came up with it myself," Mimizuku started to say for some reason. Even though she had been told she was an eyesore, she didn't feel as though she wanted to disappear. Unlike those times so long ago, the times in the "village," she didn't feel like fading away.

She felt like her words would mean something if she said them. The words from her mouth would reach someone's ears. She had a good feeling that the King of Night was this kind of someone. That was all there was to it.

"I wasn't always Mimizuku, you know... In the village, I did slave stuff, and before that, I don't remember anything. My name then was Mimizu<ref>mimizu (蚯蚓): earthworm</ref>. I also got called stuff like 'demon' and 'crap.' With a name like 'Mimizu,' do you know Mimizu? I ate mud, I got mud flung at me and they would say 'You eat too!' and stuff. Of course, I couldn't eat any of it..."

Mimizuku cackled shrilly.

And she continued to laugh.

"That's why I put the 'ku' on the end of Mimizu, and I called myself 'Mimizuku.' So is there some reason you won't eat something called a 'Mimizuku?'"

Realizing how strange her words sounded, Mimizuku laughed. She laughed to the point that her cheek muscles cramped.

"... Foolish."

A voice suddenly arose. It made Mimizuku's shoulders jolt up, and she raised her head.

The light of the moon was behind the King of Night, so Mimizuku couldn't see his facial expression. However, she was aware that those golden eyes were looking in her direction.

She felt her spine tingle.

It was pleasurable to the point of paralysis.

The King of Night then continued to speak.

"You only added the 'ku' of your suffering<ref>ku (苦): pain, suffering</ref>. You were most likely better off wherever you were."

Mimizuku blinked several times. She didn't know what to do. So she simply smiled powerlessly.

"Hm?"

She relaxed her facial muscles and became a little more at ease. She waved her head left and right.

"Do you mean troubles like suffering? Who cares? If it's pretty, I'm happy. Even if you're suffering, isn't it better to be happy?" Mimizuku said without thinking much.

She stood up, making her shackles jingle, despite knowing that even if she reached out, she could never reach him.

"Hey, Your Majestyyyy--"

"Girl who names beasts," the King of Night said, feeling strangely drawn in by Mimizuku. "You are not a monster. I, am not your king." His voice shook the very air around them.

Mimizuku, again failing to understand him, was simply confused. That was how it was, true. The King of Night had said something completely logical.

Mimizuku didn't think that she was a human. However, she also didn't think that she was a monster. She had been called a demon before, but that was a different case. Rather, Mimizuku wanted to become a monster. She felt that if she could become a monster, and always be at the king's side, it would be better than being a human. But she knew that this was something she could not do. There were many things she couldn't do, but she wasn't completely aware of what she could do.

"Um..."

That wasn't enough; she had to think some more. That is to say, she couldn't call the king "Your Majesty." After all, she wasn't a monster.

''"Call me what you like."''

Kuro's words surfaced into Mimizuku's head. She smiled to herself, and then spoke.

"Alright then, Fukurou!" she said, holding out her index finger. "Fukurou! I'll call you Fukurou!"

Mimizuku and Fukurou. They were their own set <ref>Mimizuku means 'horned owl", and Fukurou (梟) means "owl"</ref>. Whether or not the King of Night rejected or accepted this, Mimizuku didn't really care.

She became aware that Fukurou was looking up. What did he see? What was he thinking? Whatever it was, she was probably thinking too much about it. After all, when Mimizuku lived in the "village," she would always stare up at the sky for no reason.

When she stopped thinking, time would stop.

It would be as if she had died.

She vacantly recalled the days of the past. Mimizuku's recollections of the "village" seemed to have fallen apart, and her memories were dim, as if her spirit from that time had drifted far, far away.

"Hey. Hey, Fukurou," Mimizuku said in a whisper-like tone.

"Why... why won't you eat me?"

That's what she had come all this way for. Even though she hadn't wanted to take a single step anywhere, she came to the forest anyway in the hope that she would be eaten.

"Eat me... please..."

The branches above shifted about. Mimizuku raised her head. Pitch-black wings moved as if flapping several times.

''Did he go?''

That beautiful, beautiful King of Night.

"Don't go... Don't go..."

All of a sudden, two moons appeared before Mimizuku. Two moons. She felt as if her heart was going to stop. At the tip of her nose was Fukurou's elegant face.

His thin lips began to move.

"If I eat a human, I will surely throw them back up."

He then loudly flapped his wings.

Mimizuku blinked once, and in the next instant, the King of Night had disappeared into the darkness.

A single black feather fell to the ground.

Mimizuku, out of strength, sat down on the ground. She picked up the feather and held it with both of her hands, touching it to her lips.

"Something's not right..."

For some reason she couldn't understand, her chest felt tight.

"I'm not a human..."

The forest was quiet to the point that her ears began to hurt. Sitting in the darkness, she cast her eyes downward.

There was nothing she could do about the feeling in her chest. She wished she couldn't feel pain.

Rays of sunlight shone through the forest.

"Hey, Kuro. What should I do to get eaten by Fukurou?" Mimizuku asked while Kuro ate one of the pomegranates he had brought.

Kuro rustled his feathers a bit. His stature small as usual, he was sitting down facing Mimizuku.

"Fukurou?" Kuro responded, confused.

"Oh yeah, it's the King of Night's name. Since I'm not a monster, I can't call him as if he were my king... That's why I thought of something to call him and came up with Fukurou."

"And you called the King of Night as such to his face?"

"Yep. That's what I called him."

"... I see."

Kuro crossed his upper and lower arms diagonally, and seemed to think for a moment.

"An owl king. Certainly, certainly. That may well do," he said as if groaning, lifting his face. "Mimizuku."

"Yeah?"

She then realized that no one had called her Mimizuku before. Kuro wasn't a human; he was in fact something more wonderful.

Kuro slowly continued to speak.

"It seems you are not quite aware yet. That is, to the fact that you have been made several allowances."

"Allowances?"

Mimizuku tilted her neck to the side.

"Aye." Kuro nodded.

"In that case, I recommend that you go to the mansion."

"Mansion? You mean Fukurou's? Is it really okay?"

"Normally it would not be allowed. However, you seem to be a preferred guest of his."

Kuro then flew straight up, reaching eye level with Mimizuku.

"However, if I am wrong, you may be killed. If these are truly allowances, however, then your case will change. Mimizuku. If you truly do not fear death as you said, then what have you to fear now?"

Kuro's words were difficult to understand, but Mimizuku got the gist of it.

That's right, from the very beginning, Mimizuku's goal was to be killed. It was her wish, more than anything, to be eaten. If that was the case, then she had no reason to hesitate at this point.

"... Alright, I'll go."

Carefree, she began to walk toward Fukurou's mansion, dropping her half-eaten pomegranate.

Mimizuku began to walk ahead, leaving Kuro behind, but she suddenly turned around.

"But Kuro, why're you telling me all this? Isn't Fukurou your king?"

Mimizuku figured that it would make Fukurou angry to have his monsters dislike him.

"Indeed. Indeed, you are right, Mimizuku," Kuro said, flapping his wings.

"I wish only good fortune upon the King of Night. However, who really knows?"

They were dramatic words, but Mimizuku couldn't understand what he meant.

"Who really knows? Where is this gentleman's blessing?"

''If only happiness were that simple'', Mimizuku thought.

<references/>

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Return to [[Mimizuku to Yoru no Ou|Main Page]]
| Back to [[Mimizuku to Yoru no Ou: Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
| Forward to [[Mimizuku to Yoru no Ou: Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 1 Chapter 1

2011-03-03T21:23:22Z

Pmt7ar: /* Chapter 1 */

Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 1 Chapter 1

2011-03-03T13:30:08Z

Pmt7ar: /* Chapter 1 */

==Chapter 1==
On my sixteen winter, actually I met all kinds of people, including a boxer, a military guy, a gigolo, a detective and yakuza. They are all NEET just that they are different types. The term NEET occasionally comes up on the news or newspapers, I thought it meant unemployed youths that lack motivation. But even as NEET, there can be different sides to them; Not everyone do not go to work or school for the same reason.

"The term NEETs, does not mean "People who can't do anything", nor "People who doesn't want to do anything"." That is what the detective told me. "What is different is the rules. Just as some people's life is like a promotion plan, its just that ours are pieces in chess."

"I don't really get it, does it mean you guys get in the way?" I asked naively then. The detective bloats her cherry-like lips and thinks for a moment, then smiles silently.

"To people who is rushing to move forward, perhaps so? I know they want to pack all the NEETs together, place a tag, and then drag them/us to the disposal area and throw them away; I can also understand that they want to point at NEETs and mock them/us. Laugh if you want to, but no matter how we try to argue and hide it, so far, we only bring negative influence to the economy of society, that is the unshakable truth."

The detective looks at her opened hands, then raise her head. This time, it is no longer a bitter smile of mockery, but a warm smile like the bright sun in a winter day.

"We will not mock at ourselves. Just as an earthworm does not fear darkness, a penguin will not feel ashamed to not be able to fly. This is the meaning of life, isn't it?"

I am at a loss of words, because I have never thought so deeply about this. Even if you use a bunch of seemingly difficult words, it all goes back to the same meaning------ You're just useless people!

But that winter is the first time I have seen a dead person, the first time I punched someone, and gradually began to use my brain to consider about survival. To bear witness to someone who gave up on life or to give up seeking death, I guess anyone would be just like me!

But that is something very much later. Firstly, let me tell you the story of the only non-NEET out of all the people I have met this winter, the story of a normal girl.

<center>*</center>

Near the end of November, I met Ayaka for the first time.

After school ended on tuesday, I sat on the water tower on the roof of the southern campus, staring into empty space facing the tall buildings far away. Normally once school ends, i would go report in at the computer room, and focus on club activities that only consist of one person. But on afternoons with computer lessons, even after school there will still be a lot of students staying back to play with the computers that they usually don't come in contact with. I am unable to bring myself to walk in just like that, so every tuesday and thursday I always come up to the roof to waste time. Staring at the computer room on the second storey of the northern campus, giving off a huge amount of "Get Lost Already!" waves, and sighing as I look down onto the streets.

The streets I currently live in can be separated into two colors, the long thin river that flows like the artery of a patient is the divider of the colors. The side closer to me has rusted roofs of factories, cheap housing lying back to back to each other, then high school. I am not sure why, but there is a lot of shrines and graves in this area; My house is also on this side. On the other side is a tall flyover bridge for a highway to the capital, a gigantic train station with countless railways, tall buildings packed along complicated slopes, shopping malls and television stations. On sunny days, you can even see the shadow of the government building far away. Tokyo is such an amazing place, to let boring housings that can be found anywhere in Japan and tall modern buildings to co-exist peacefully here.

Looking down from the roof, the train station is like a scene in an advertisement on TV, without realism. Probably because I don't want to get close to that area? As we can wear our school uniform and just go out and play immediately after school, I heard that our school is rather popular in Tokyo; If the sailor costume has bright colors, it might even increases its attractiveness by around 40%.

It is a cloudy day that day, just nice that you can examine closely the glass panels of the tall buildings that is normally not possible due to its bright reflections. But talking about it, it is just a bunch of glass windows that are cut by similar methods. I always fill those glass squares with colors in my mind, sketching pixel art.

<~~5% Completed~~>

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[GN:Volume 1 Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
| Return to [[Kamisama no memocho|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[GN:Volume 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Kamisama no Memochou

2011-03-03T13:28:19Z

Pmt7ar: /* Volume 1 */

[[Image:GN_Vol_01_cover.jpg|thumb|Volume 1 Cover]]
Kamisama no memocho (神様のメモ帳) also known as God's Notebook is a light novel series written by Hikaru Sugii and illustrated by Mel Kishida. The series has currently 6 volumes and is adapted into different other medias.

==Story Synopsis==

== Translation ==

===Format Standards===
'''Every Chapter (after editing) must conform to the general format guidelines.'''
*[[Format_guideline|General Format/Style Guideline]]

=== Feedback ===
'''If you enjoyed the teasers, why don't you tell us in the [http://www.baka-tsuki.org/forums/viewforum.php?f=23 Feedback thread]'''

== Updates ==
*March 1, 2011 - Teaser page created

==The ''God's Notebook'' series by Hikaru Sugii==

===Volume 1===
*[[GN:Volume_1_Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
*[[GN:Volume_1_Chapter 1|Chapter 1]] (~5%) ([[GN~spanish~:Volume_1_Chapter 1|spanish]])
*Chapter 2
*Chapter 3
*Chapter 4
*Chapter 5
*Chapter 6
*Chapter 7

[[Category:Teasers]]

Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 1 Illustrations

2011-03-03T13:25:18Z

Pmt7ar:

These are novel illustrations that were included in volume 1

<gallery>
Image:Kamisama no memocho vol01 000a.jpg|'''Front cover & insert'''
Image:Kamisama no memocho vol01 000b.jpg|'''Back cover & insert'''
Image:Kamisama no memocho vol01 001.jpg
Image:Kamisama no memocho vol01 002.jpg
Image:Kamisama no memocho vol01 003-005.jpg|'''Fold up 1'''
Image:Kamisama no memocho vol01 006-007.jpg|'''Fold up 2'''
Image:Kamisama no memocho vol01 037.jpg|'''Page 037'''
Image:Kamisama no memocho vol01 096.jpg|'''Page 096'''
Image:Kamisama no memocho vol01 104.jpg|'''Page 104'''
Image:Kamisama no memocho vol01 141.jpg|'''Page 141'''
Image:Kamisama no memocho vol01 153.jpg|'''Page 153'''
Image:Kamisama no memocho vol01 207.jpg|'''Page 207'''
Image:Kamisama no memocho vol01 271.jpg|'''Page 271'''
</gallery>

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Return to [[Kamisama no memocho|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[GN:Volume 1 Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 1 Chapter 1

2011-03-03T13:24:22Z

Pmt7ar: /* Chapter 1 */

==Chapter 1==
On my sixteen winter, actually I met all kinds of people, including a boxer, a military guy, a gigolo, a detective and yakuza. They are all NEET just that they are different types. The term NEET occasionally comes up on the news or newspapers, I thought it meant unemployed youths that lack motivation. But even as NEET, there can be different sides to them; Not everyone do not go to work or school for the same reason.

"The term NEETs, does not mean "People who can't do anything", nor "People who doesn't want to do anything"." That is what the detective told me. "What is different is the rules. Just as some people's life is like a promotion plan, its just that ours are pieces in chess."

"I don't really get it, does it mean you guys get in the way?" I asked naively then. The detective bloats her cherry-like lips and thinks for a moment, then smiles silently.

"To people who is rushing to move forward, perhaps so? I know they want to pack all the NEETs together, place a tag, and then drag them/us to the disposal area and throw them away; I can also understand that they want to point at NEETs and mock them/us. Laugh if you want to, but no matter how we try to argue and hide it, so far, we only bring negative influence to the economy of society, that is the unshakable truth."

The detective looks at her opened hands, then raise her head. This time, it is no longer a bitter smile of mockery, but a warm smile like the bright sun in a winter day.

"We will not mock at ourselves. Just as an earthworm does not fear darkness, a penguin will not feel ashamed to not be able to fly. This is the meaning of life, isn't it?"

I am at a loss of words, because I have never thought so deeply about this. Even if you use a bunch of seemingly difficult words, it all goes back to the same meaning------ You're just useless people!

But that winter is the first time I have seen a dead person, the first time I punched someone, and gradually began to use my brain to consider about survival. To bear witness to someone who gave up on life or to give up seeking death, I guess anyone would be just like me!

But that is something very much later. Firstly, let me tell you the story of the only non-NEET out of all the people I have met this winter, the story of a normal girl.

<center>*</center>

Near the end of November, I met Ayaka for the first time.

After school ended on tuesday, I sat on the water tower on the roof of the southern campus, staring into empty space facing the tall buildings far away. Normally once school ends, i would go report in at the computer room, and focus on club activities that only consist of one person. But on afternoons with computer lessons, even after school there will still be a lot of students staying back to play with the computers that they usually don't come in contact with. I am unable to bring myself to walk in just like that, so every tuesday and thursday I always come up to the roof to waste time. Staring at the computer room on the second storey of the northern campus, giving off a huge amount of "Get Lost Already!" waves, and sighing as I look down onto the streets.

The streets I currently live in can be separated into two colors, the long thin river that flows like the artery of a patient is the divider of the colors. The side closer to me has rusted roofs of factories, cheap housing lying back to back to each other, then high school. I am not sure why, but there is a lot of shrines and graves in this area; My house is also on this side. On the other side is a tall flyover bridge for a highway to the capital, a gigantic train station with countless railways, tall buildings packed along complicated slopes, shopping malls and television stations. On sunny days, you can even see the shadow of the government building far away. Tokyo is such an amazing place, to let boring housings that can be found anywhere in Japan and tall modern buildings to co-exist peacefully here.

Looking down from the roof, the train station is like a scene in an advertisement on TV, without realism. Probably because I don't want to get close to that area? As we can wear our school uniform and just go out and play immediately after school, I heard that our school is rather popular in Tokyo; If the sailor costume has bright colors, it might even increases its attractiveness by around 40%.

It is a cloudy day that day, just nice that you can examine closely the glass panels of the tall buildings that is normally not possible due to its bright reflections. But talking about it, it is just a bunch of glass windows that are cut by similar methods. I always fill those glass squares with colors in my mind, sketching pixel art.



<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[GN:Volume 1 Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
| Return to [[Kamisama no memocho|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[GN:Volume 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 1 Chapter 1

2011-03-03T13:18:59Z

Pmt7ar: create from ShadowZeroHeart' translation at forum from chinese version.

==Chapter 1==
On my sixteen winter, actually I met all kinds of people, including a boxer, a military guy, a gigolo, a detective and yakuza. They are all NEET just that they are different types. The term NEET occasionally comes up on the news or newspapers, I thought it meant unemployed youths that lack motivation. But even as NEET, there can be different sides to them; Not everyone do not go to work or school for the same reason.

"The term NEETs, does not mean "People who can't do anything", nor "People who doesn't want to do anything"." That is what the detective told me. "What is different is the rules. Just as some people's life is like a promotion plan, its just that ours are pieces in chess."

"I don't really get it, does it mean you guys get in the way?" I asked naively then. The detective bloats her cherry-like lips and thinks for a moment, then smiles silently.

"To people who is rushing to move forward, perhaps so? I know they want to pack all the NEETs together, place a tag, and then drag them/us to the disposal area and throw them away; I can also understand that they want to point at NEETs and mock them/us. Laugh if you want to, but no matter how we try to argue and hide it, so far, we only bring negative influence to the economy of society, that is the unshakable truth."

The detective looks at her opened hands, then raise her head. This time, it is no longer a bitter smile of mockery, but a warm smile like the bright sun in a winter day.

"We will not mock at ourselves. Just as an earthworm does not fear darkness, a penguin will not feel ashamed to not be able to fly. This is the meaning of life, isn't it?"

I am at a loss of words, because I have never thought so deeply about this. Even if you use a bunch of seemingly difficult words, it all goes back to the same meaning------ You're just useless people!

But that winter is the first time I have seen a dead person, the first time I punched someone, and gradually began to use my brain to consider about survival. To bear witness to someone who gave up on life or to give up seeking death, I guess anyone would be just like me!

But that is something very much later. Firstly, let me tell you the story of the only non-NEET out of all the people I have met this winter, the story of a normal girl.

*

Near the end of November, I met Ayaka for the first time.

After school ended on tuesday, I sat on the water tower on the roof of the southern campus, staring into empty space facing the tall buildings far away. Normally once school ends, i would go report in at the computer room, and focus on club activities that only consist of one person. But on afternoons with computer lessons, even after school there will still be a lot of students staying back to play with the computers that they usually don't come in contact with. I am unable to bring myself to walk in just like that, so every tuesday and thursday I always come up to the roof to waste time. Staring at the computer room on the second storey of the northern campus, giving off a huge amount of "Get Lost Already!" waves, and sighing as I look down onto the streets.

The streets I currently live in can be separated into two colors, the long thin river that flows like the artery of a patient is the divider of the colors. The side closer to me has rusted roofs of factories, cheap housing lying back to back to each other, then high school. I am not sure why, but there is a lot of shrines and graves in this area; My house is also on this side. On the other side is a tall flyover bridge for a highway to the capital, a gigantic train station with countless railways, tall buildings packed along complicated slopes, shopping malls and television stations. On sunny days, you can even see the shadow of the government building far away. Tokyo is such an amazing place, to let boring housings that can be found anywhere in Japan and tall modern buildings to co-exist peacefully here.

Looking down from the roof, the train station is like a scene in an advertisement on TV, without realism. Probably because I don't want to get close to that area? As we can wear our school uniform and just go out and play immediately after school, I heard that our school is rather popular in Tokyo; If the sailor costume has bright colors, it might even increases its attractiveness by around 40%.

It is a cloudy day that day, just nice that you can examine closely the glass panels of the tall buildings that is normally not possible due to its bright reflections. But talking about it, it is just a bunch of glass windows that are cut by similar methods. I always fill those glass squares with colors in my mind, sketching pixel art.

File:Kamisama no memocho vol01 006-007.jpg

2011-03-01T17:38:17Z

Pmt7ar:

File:Kamisama no memocho vol01 153.jpg

2011-03-01T17:37:32Z

Pmt7ar:

File:Kamisama no memocho vol01 271.jpg

2011-03-01T17:37:08Z

Pmt7ar:

File:Kamisama no memocho vol01 207.jpg

2011-03-01T17:36:50Z

Pmt7ar:

File:Kamisama no memocho vol01 141.jpg

2011-03-01T17:36:29Z

Pmt7ar:

File:Kamisama no memocho vol01 096.jpg

2011-03-01T17:36:04Z

Pmt7ar:

Kamisama no Memochou

2011-03-01T17:35:24Z

Pmt7ar: /* Volume 1 */

[[Image:GN_Vol_01_cover.jpg|thumb|Volume 1 Cover]]
Kamisama no memocho (神様のメモ帳) also known as God's Notebook is a light novel series written by Hikaru Sugii and illustrated by Mel Kishida. The series has currently 6 volumes and is adapted into different other medias.

==Story Synopsis==

== Translation ==

===Format Standards===
'''Every Chapter (after editing) must conform to the general format guidelines.'''
*[[Format_guideline|General Format/Style Guideline]]

=== Feedback ===
'''If you enjoyed the teasers, why don't you tell us in the [http://www.baka-tsuki.org/forums/viewforum.php?f=23 Feedback thread]'''

== Updates ==
*March 1, 2011 - Teaser page created

==The ''God's Notebook'' series by Hikaru Sugii==

===Volume 1===
*[[GN:Volume_1_Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
*[[GN~spanish~:Volume_1_Chapter 1|Chapter 1]] (Spanish teaser - forum translation done by Zell_ff8)

[[Category:Teasers]]

File:Kamisama no memocho vol01 104.jpg

2011-03-01T17:35:02Z

Pmt7ar:

File:Kamisama no memocho vol01 037.jpg

2011-03-01T17:34:51Z

Pmt7ar:

File:Kamisama no memocho vol01 003-005.jpg

2011-03-01T17:34:45Z

Pmt7ar:

Kamisama no Memochou:Volume 1 Illustrations

2011-03-01T17:34:28Z

Pmt7ar: New page: These are novel illustrations that were included in volume 1 <gallery> Image:Kamisama no memocho vol01 000a.jpg|'''Front cover & insert''' Image:Kamisama no memocho vol01 000b.jpg|'''Back...

File:Kamisama no memocho vol01 002.jpg

2011-03-01T17:34:22Z

Pmt7ar:

File:Kamisama no memocho vol01 001.jpg

2011-03-01T17:34:17Z

Pmt7ar:

File:Kamisama no memocho vol01 000a.jpg

2011-03-01T17:34:04Z

Pmt7ar:

File:Kamisama no memocho vol01 000b.jpg

2011-03-01T17:28:07Z

Pmt7ar:

Golden Time:Volume1 Chapter2

2011-02-28T20:05:15Z

Pmt7ar: the meaning on that quote is different. changed it (but chk grammar~)

<noinclude>==Golden Time 1: Chapter 2==</noinclude>
===Chapter 2===

[[Image:Golden Time vol01 057.jpg|thumb]]

Tada Banri was eating a boiled egg.

Thursday, first period. To some extent, if he attended, he could easily get more popular in sports science. The lecture started five minutes ago.

Rather than miss breakfast because he slept in late, he had brought along two eggs he’d boiled last night in a plastic bag, and in the fifth seat back he was quietly munching on them.

Sitting with his seat tilted back, there was no way he’d be seen, so it was really no big deal. By his right hand was a blue-capped bottle of Ajishio. In his left hand, an egg. Writing with his right hand, he ate with his left. Write. Chomp. Write. Chomp. ...Really, truly, it was no big deal. Speaking of highlights, he’d hurt himself last night while cracking the eggs with a framed picture, something he didn’t like to remember. Distracted by the memory, he ran into the corner of a desk and flew into the last empty seat, startling the guy next to him.

Did he bring the boiled eggs? Yep. Did he bring salt too? Yep. And so on. A conversation nearly blossomed, but shortly the guy’s buddy showed up, so Banri turned back quietly to his boiled eggs.

The girls right behind Banri, so he couldn’t hear them, were typing notes to each other on their cellphone displays. That guy in front of us petrified his eggs, didn’t he? They’re overcooked. The yolks have turned black. He’s drinking too much oolong tea. You can see his lips wrinkling. It looks like he brought salt in that bottle. Smile. Do it.

Banri didn’t notice he was being talked about.

Bodyless though I am, I’m always watching things.

In the week and some days that had passed since the entrance ceremony, it had been registration time, and the campus overflowed with students. From the freshmen like Banri, to the seniors in their suits, going every which way to lectures, with huge schedules about the size of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatami tatami mats], on the verge of tearing where they’ve been folded from opening and closing them while visiting in the corridors, going to and from classrooms, occupying benches, sending messages by cellphone.

But that’s the way students come to college, at least in the spring, I think. Once the long summer vacation starts, half the campus population magically disappears. One or two people, perhaps a few more earlier, might even have lost their bodies like me. Having died, I mean. I’m not waiting for it eagerly though, really, but that kind of thing can’t be avoided.

Banri had better pay attention too. Unaccustomed to drinking, unaccustomed to staying out late at night, living alone out from under his parents eyes, newly licensed, new friends, with an excess of energy, lots of free time to waste --- young men in all the world are always in plenty of danger.

Sports Science was the most popular easy-credit course, and all the students were filing into the classroom. Even the seats towards the back were filling quickly. In any case nobody can see me, and since I can say with reasonable certainty that I cannot affect anybody’s future, it really had nothing to do with me, but for some reason, he got the feeling he should give up his seat. The clicking of highheels rang out, and from down the aisle a girl came and sat in that very seat.

Banri’s mouth still bulging full of boiled egg, he turned at the presence of the girl.

The lecture about to start, again alone, she came running into the classroom. Her Nikes made hardly a sound. It was Linda.

Linda noticed that Banri, still standing in the aisle, unseated, looked at her sidelong. Banri didn’t notice that she’d noticed him. She didn’t notice my existence, of course.

<center>* * *</center>

"Today, Kaga-san talked to me."

"Really? What about?"

"About 'Takata-kun'."

He laughed uproariously while he slid a cutter along the cover of a cardboard box. Pretending not to see Banri’s T-shirt still, he sat as if over a old japanese style toilet, in an orderly fashion cutting the packing tape from all four sides of the box.

This place is Banri’s castle. It’s name is Neo-Phoenix. This apartment had been resurrected many times from the flames... it felt like. Perhaps, two hundred and four.

A small twenty square meter [http://www.jafnet.co.jp/manual/e_chintai/migigawa/eapart.htm 1K], but with a wooden floor. Not new construction, but relatively new. Without a bus transfer to the college, but Japanese style, with bright southern exposure, but built twenty-four years ago. The big closet seemed convenient, it wasn’t all that run down, he’d been a little nervous that the room was older than he was of course, but he’d decided on this room. As yet there wasn’t much furniture, but for the moment it was comfortable.

Yanagisawa unconsciously searched the top of his head for a bald spot while he was in Banri’s combined kitchen and entryhall, seated on a tall stool, his feet swinging idly. In spite of it being from a second hand shop, and costing only four hundred yen, it was stable and easy to sit on. There were some strange stains scattered about on the top, they bothered him, but he didn’t care.

Yanagisawa grabbed the cutter again from where he had set it on the floor, cutting clean through the rest of the packing tape. Banri’s mother, worried about her helpless son, had sent him a care package from Shizuoka, almost at once.

"So, though I wasn’t Takata, I said 'Oh, pardon me, ta, Tanaka-kun'."

"The 'ta' simply fits. You see, that’s the kind of person Kouko is. She doesn’t pay much attention to others, and doesn’t remember their names. She’s always full of things related to me. Go ahead, open it up. Just what kind of treasure has your mother sent?"

"Since I wasn’t Tanaka, I hinted two-letters, saying 'Two letters...? Kaga-kun...?', that’s your last name, right?"

"She must have had to think about that. ...Oh! Look, Banri!"

Looking over with a delighted expression, Yanagisawa waited as the box was opened slowly and leaned over Banri to look inside.

"Incredible, Tada Mieko-chan, you really know how to choose! Wonderful choice!"

"What was that about? I mean, what do mean by calling me [[Golden Time:Volume1_Translator%27s_Notes#Mieko-chan|Mieko]]?"

"Because I looked at the return address, of course! I love Mieko! Look at these ramen! Yakisoba cups! It’s enough to make a guy cry... ah! Pasta! There’s pasta sauce too! [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CalorieMate Calorie Mate] pastries, canned tuna, canned mackerel, sweets, and then, after that… what’s this? A film case? But there’s three more."

Getting up from the stool, Yanagisawa looked into his bag.

"Ah, here we go. I’d put some tea powder in there. It’s from my house grinder, though whether the container was appropriate, who knows? You put about a half teaspoon into the cup with hot water and drink it as is, you don’t need a teapot nor a strainer, they say. You want some? It’s super easy, and drinking whole tea leaves seems to be good for your body."

"Gimme gimme gimme! I’d love to do my body some good! Oh, there’s a letter stuck in here."

The white envelope surrendered to him, Banri sat down again on the stool. On the paper, "From Mother" was written. Letters like rain-wetted willow leaves could be seen.

Homework long done, it was nine in the evening.

Yanagisawa’s condo was about three train stations away from here, and when he heard that a care package from home had arrived for Banri, the guy said "see you in five minutes", and flew over, at night, by bicycle. That he really showed up in five minutes was scary... though you could certainly call it funny.

Yanagisawa seemed to have been raised in affluent surroundings; he certainly lived with a certain refinement, Banri reflected. But according to him, it seemed things had gone somewhat sour in his parent’s house after he faced them down over taking the outside examinations. In any case with no hope of getting a school expense allowance, despite a long time interviewing like crazy for part time jobs, looking for a job anywhere, he still hadn’t gotten one (he himself thought it was 'My parents or Kouko’s fault!', but the real reason wasn’t known). For a little while, in a temporary job that didn’t last long, it seems he got a painful lesson about his future.

"What’s the letter about? Are they writing about how many friends you’ve been making?"

The letter mentioned no such thing, though Banri of course intended to make many friends.

"Take care of yourself. Don’t skip classes. Don’t spend too much time on the internet. Get enough exercise. Keep in mind that there are responsibilities that go with being an adult. ...Like that."

He even showed Yanagisawa the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Xing Five Movements] written on the paper, put the paper back in the envelope and stuck it in a kitchen drawer. While he wasn’t looking, Yanagisawa grabbed a few cans out of the box and threw them in the microwave.

"Ah! Just a second ''Yana''-ssan, aren’t you going to do something about her?"

Of all things, he wanted most particularly to talk about that.

"As far as I’m concerned, Satou-san is something special. I couldn’t share her even with ''Yana''-ssan."

Yanagisawa frankly said "Is that so...", and nodded, quietly returning the zapped food back to the box.

"Well then, what about ramen? Could I have some ramen? How many would be OK? Four five-packs will fit. A total of twenty."

Up to five, he thought.

"You can have half of what I’ve got..."

Out of kindness. At a glance, he could see three or four mosquito bites where his arms extended out from his T-shirt.

"I mean, if ''Yana''-ssan likes them so much, he can have all of the cookies too..."

"Are you kidding? You’re giving them to me! Why!?"

"Because you looked so pitiful, putting up with the mosquitos because you were so desperate... Wow! It’s still only April..."

"Yeah, mosquitos can be really blood-thirsty."

"Besides, back when we moved in it was really crowded. In my neighborhood there’s a workshop where a relative of mind works, making so-called second class goods. I get a ton of stuff from them. So at my parent’s house we always have all we can eat. I don’t think we’ve had to buy stuff at list price in all my life."

"Really!? That ‘second-class stuff’ is just as good as the real thing! It’s been that way since you were a kid? If I were little, I’d be dancing around for this stuff!"

"Childhood, ...well... what was that like?"

"Come on now, you had your own."

"So I did, but... So I did, but yeah, I guess I did."

Yanagisawa’s laughter faded at Banri’s response, which he hardly understood. Like an old man, he’d brought some yellow plastic bags from [http://www.japan-hopper.com/2009/05/21_142676.php Matsukiyo], five of them tied into a ring. He opened one, and immediately, chuckling to himself, started stuffing cookies into it.

While Banri was watching sidelong, his jaw dropped a bit. He took a breath, like a child watching a jump rope, trying to figure out when to jump into it, his head bobbing slightly. Well, go for it. Ugh. Hesitating just a little, becoming strangely reticent, Banri’s gaze darkened. ---Impossible. Stop. As expected, he’d stopped. He was going to have to work a little more on his timing.

His chest filled with air, he had to let it out little by little so it wouldn’t be noticed. He couldn’t say it today either, but that was OK. Next time, next time.

In a high pitched voice, he called "''Yana''-ssan, let’s go play!" Imitating him, his new friend looked back over his shoulder and answered "Let’s" in the same falsetto.

"I mean, is it OK if we keep talking? What I said about Kaga-san. I’d rather like to date her, though today was just one meeting."

"Well, what of sports studies? I was lost though of course I’ve never been good at it."

"Kaga-san is always asking me to tell her your schedule."

Yanagisawa had been grabbing various flavors of ramen noodles, one by one, openly licking his lips, giving them a quality inspection as he decided which he would take back with him, when he suddenly stopped moving. Soon, still crouched down, he turned slowly to look up at Banri, seated on the stool swinging his feet. His face became serious. He braced himself: Mitsuo’s sudden lack of expression was rather scary.

"...Perhaps, you..."

"No no no! I didn’t tell her, I know you’ve been trying to avoid her."

Saying something like "Great", Yanagisawa could be seen nodding his still-serious face. Because of how he was sitting, one knee stuck out, he wound up looking like a dog in training.

And then, as if Banri were some sort of target, he turned and pointed his finger at him and gave a sign as if to say, "That’s good, just keep talking like that."

"...But, even Kaga-san herself, it seems to me that she could be avoiding ''Yana''-ssan. She was sighing, 'If I see his face running away, I would never be able to bear even a lecture. As it is, that I came to college especially to be together with Mitsuo means nothing...'"

"Stop it, cause it’s not the same. But it really is that way. Even she understands, sort of."

"So, since she’s making no progress, could you please give me your information, then? Until you do, I can’t set my own schedule, as I was planning to try and match yours."

Yanagisawa gave quite a frown.

"Which I refused to do, from the start. And then I heard things like 'Tada doesn’t tell me'."

"...She’s that kind of girl, so she..."

With a small tsk sound, his mouth twisted with a fed-up look, Yanagisawa shook his head back and forth. There was a loud crackling sound, echoing as if from the deeps of the underworld. Might that be a threat? But to whom?

"I heard it too, of course, but I just put on a face like 'How am I supposed to know?' Then even Kaga-san seemed to understand, and stopped nagging me. Though I was seated behind her and to the side, I felt a little uncomfortable, so I simply moved myself up to the first row of seats. With nobody else in the front row it was lonely, seated there, aside from the fact that nobody dared to try and talk with me..."

Well, since there wasn’t anybody else to talk with, and ''Yana''-ssan wasn’t coming, so while it lasted, Banri had been thinking about that morning’s scene.

Amongst the other students, dressed in their faded jeans and hoodies, wearing what must have been brand-name, an order or two of magnitude more expensive, a bright pink, one-piece silk dress, Kouko really stood out from the crowd.

Dark brown hair spilling over her shoulders, in her ears were diamonds set in flower-shaped pierced earrings. Her arms so white, her wrists so delicate, her neck so smooth it was scary, she could hardly be more different from the rest of the class.

Besides, seen from the side, she appeared to be bored, listening to the lecture. What could you do about it? She was pretty. Even Banri as a guy understood why she was spending her time carefully doing her makeup. Watching her in profile carefully for an hour and a half wasn’t something Banri should have been doing. But everybody in the classroom --- to some extent both boys and girls, even the professor, was looking at the rose-scented Kouko, he thought.

The guys called after her, Banri included, but in the end there wasn’t anybody there.

"Did you see Kaga-san? She’s really something..."

When the lecture ended, Kouko, in order to shake free from the many eyes that had glued themselves to her, quickly went to leave the classroom. Nearly colliding with some other students at the door, she halted, and like a princess flashing her perfect smile, said "Pardon me" and signed with her hand. The girls near Banri saw that. "That was on purpose." "She’s always wearing nothing but brand-name stuff." "’Cause her parents’ve got money, of course!" "[[Golden Time:Volume1_Translator%27s_Notes#Do you have to water it?|Do you have to water it?]]" "Some guy bought it for her, for sure." And so on, he heard them tossing biting words back and forth.

Society is always harsh towards things that are different.

"After all, poor thing, she seemed to me."

At Banri’s words, Yanagisawa’s eyes opened wide and his face twisted. "Huh?", he said in an exaggerated way, something like a faint smile visible as his expression asked for Banri to repeat himself.

"What? Do you perhaps sympathize with Kouko?"

"A little, yes. Really, just a little. You would’ve too, a bit, if you’d seen it."

"No I wouldn’t."

The words were returned in an instant, and, well, like backtalk.

"But reaaalllyyy! Life should be easy for beautiful girls!"

Overcome by the sudden force of what came out of his mouth, even Banri fell silent.

"Do you think she can do whatever she wants, and fix it by making such a face that you think ‘poor thing’, ‘poor thing’!? You were there with me, when she attacked us with roses, but because she was pretty you didn’t get angry, right? Instead you had said ‘poor thing’ or something like that? She didn’t injure me, though it did hurt, but most of all she embarrassed me! What would it be like if an ugly girl did the same thing? What if a really ugly one blasted you with a bunch of roses? You would have been like ‘scram, get out of here’, am I right? If some diarrhea faced girl were to turn and chase after you too, would you say the same thing? Would you speak of how pitiful and lonely she is? Would you say it? Anyhow."

He declared, pointing at Banri’s nose with his finger, but Yanagisawa still found it impossible to vent his frustrations. Wrinkles gathered about his nose as he repeatedly tried to move his bangs away from his face.

"...Whomever, whatever, after all it’s somebody else’s problem. But it’s still the same. ‘It’s ok, she's beautiful’, ‘I envy her’, ‘I want to be in her place’, ‘What is the problem?’ ‘Don't be selfish’... If you’re beautiful, are you automatically loved? No way. Seriously, put yourself in my shoes. Everybody’s been too easily fooled."

He roughly opened the Matsukiyo bag on his back once more, but Banri had something else to say.

"What’s with you? I was talking about something else entirely! We were talking about your refusal to tell me your schedule."

He didn’t deserve to get a sermon. For that matter, nobody, not him nor anybody else, nor even somebody unseen attached to him deserved it.

"It may be true that I sympathize with her because she’s beautiful, but that’s within my rights. But I don’t go thinking about chatting with Kaga-san about you. If you want to ignore somebody, that’s your right. But you don’t have the right to make somebody else do so. As for myself, I will show her sympathy. Because of that, I’m thinking that the next time I see her I will call out to her."

"...Is that true?"

He was serious. He bowed his head.

In today’s encounter with Kouko, she had interrupted him with a sharp look. Cut off by that subtle signal, he was left with a bad feeling. It left a bad aftertaste.

Though Kouko had been hoping he would give her Yanagisawa’s course information, he wanted to give some priority to ''Yana''-ssan’s wishes. On the other hand, Banri himself wasn’t holding anything against Kouko, and he wanted to make sure she knew all of this somehow. Even with finding himself involved in the conflict, where a friend disliked a girl, where his name was forgotten, when from the start he wasn’t even noticed, Banri didn’t dislike them. He could not refuse them.

Like Yanagisawa said, it may be simply because Kouko is beautiful. The appearance of being lonely rouses sympathy, perhaps because she’s beautiful. But, supposing this--- Kouko’s appearance, to the extent that it wasn’t pretty, if you were so inclined to be the rascal instead, even if that person did the same thing, Banri didn’t think he could come to hate that person. Or you might say, he didn’t want to be like that.

Yanagisawa stopped talking back. He was sullenly silent, frowning, looking down at the bag stuffed with candy and ramen. I don’t need the things that were said! But as it was ''Yana''-ssan was leaving. Was the friendship they had only just built ending already? If that’s happening, what should he do? Should he apologize? But what about? Banri awkwardly saw himself on tiptoes. Really, he had no idea what he should do. He didn’t have the experience for this situation. However,

"Well, ...that’s the way it is. Just because I was avoiding Kouko, that didn’t mean I had the right to make you do so too."

His irritation and hunger were pulling him in different directions, but it appeared that hunger was getting the upper hand.

Or that perhaps he really wanted to keep his friendship with Banri.

Yanagisawa shrugged his shoulders and said, “Let’s stop this. Kouko’s problems aren’t something we should argue about.” Whatever Yanagisawa really felt about matter, it appeared he was going to let it rest. Banri said, “So be it”, and got down from his stool too.

"This is what being friends is about."

He put the microwaved food into a vinyl bag. That made two of them.

<center>* * *</center>

<nowiki><~~45% Completed~~></nowiki> 

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Golden Time:Volume1 Chapter1|Chapter 1]]
| Return to [[Golden Time|Main Page]]
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Talk:Golden Time

2011-02-19T00:46:00Z

Pmt7ar: /* Narrative Perspective */

== Things to do: ==

Retranslate summary: All I could figure out from it was that this was a romantic comedy.

Translate first chapter.

([[User:Saganatsu|Saganatsu]])

At the moment is it just created as a teaser project - continuation is unknown... --[[User:Darklor|Darklor]] 01:40, 3 October 2010 (UTC)

I hope someone picks it up. it's always good to have a variety of stories. --[[User:Saganatsu|Saganatsu]] 05:54, 3 October 2010 (UTC)

The problem is simple: I've still got over two hundred pages of Spinoff 2 to do. --[[User:Rpapo|Rpapo]] 10:00, 3 October 2010 (UTC)

I've slightly redone the synopsis. It would be possible to simply post the translated contents of the Japanese Wiki page, which gives a more detailed plot synopsis and a cast of characters. The only problem with that is that there is a very important spoiler there. Not having read the whole story, I cannot say whether that spoiler is critical, but I can certain say it is important! --[[User:Rpapo|Rpapo]] 10:08, 3 October 2010 (UTC)

My apologies if I was insulting or presumptuous in the least, I was thinking along the lines: "this is what needs to be done to qualify as a full project", not "you: go and do these things". --[[User:Saganatsu|Saganatsu]] 17:42, 3 October 2010 (UTC)

Don't worry about it. I was surprised when I saw that one of my earliest attempts at translating the publisher's promotional statement was posted as the story synopsis (I didn't create the web page). I corrected it, but it really needs something a little longer and more detailed. The Japanese Wiki page contains the following:

:College is the stage upon which the protagonist, private university freshman Tada Banri, and a cast of supporting characters are interwoven to form a romantic comedy. Banri, due to the after-effects of an accidental fall from a bridge shortly after high school graduation, has lost all his memories from before then. On top of that, at the time of the accident, Banri's soul had escaped from his body, and the “Spirit of Tada Banri” came into being, carrying his memories from before graduation, though you could say those were written from a male perspective.

And this:

:Tada Banri, a newly admitted student at a private law school in Tokyo, found himself completely lost after the opening ceremony, trying to find his way to the freshman orientation. At that moment, he ran into another lost freshman from the same school, Yanagisawa Mitsuo, and they hit it off at once. Somehow arriving at their intended goal just on time, there appeared in front of the two a beautiful girl holding a bouquet of roses. The girl then whacked Mitsuo across the face with the bouquet and handed the flowers over to him. “Freshman, congratulations”, was all she said, and then she left. The stylish, well dressed, perfect woman that had swung at Mitsuo was her childhood friend, Kaga Kouko. As children they had promised to marry each other one day, fulfilling their dreams. In order to escape from her, Mitsuo had gone out secretly and taken the examination for this well known private college, but now she showed up in the freshman orientation hall. She too had taken the law school entrance examination, catching up with him there.

It is the whole thing about "Banri's Spirit" that gives the story its special twist... or should. I have not read the five chapters between the prologue and the epilogue, just the beginning and the end.

The end of the story goes like this:

:My name is Tada Banri.

:I’ve died, an eighteen year old boy.

:Unnoticed by anyone, without anybody knowing, I’ve always watched after Tada Banri’s affairs. I see everybody’s affairs.

:I’m sitting in the first seat behind, taking it easy, legs stretched out. Today the sunlight is really strong, and the classroom is warm, making everybody sleepy. Staring at the boring back of Banri’s head, I find my eyes are closing by themselves. I’m getting awfully sleepy.

Banri's spirit speaks of being Banri, yet speaks of the physical Banri as being a separate person. I can only imagine what this must do the story dialog as it progresses, especially because at the beginning the reader has no idea what is going on.

--[[User:Rpapo|Rpapo]] 18:41, 3 October 2010 (UTC)

== Narrative Perspective ==

The novel is completely narrated from a third person perspective. It has to do with the story, Banri had an accident where he loses all his memory. Then the character split in two. The original Banri who "died" at 18 with that accident, and the one who lived and spent 1 year in rehab (thus being a rounin for 1 year). The best way to take it is like the story is completely written by a ghost who "says what the living Banri does" or "may be thinking", li. The japanese grammar make it confusing to know who is the agent of the action so its confusing until you take it as a third person narrative AT ALL TIMES.
-Zell [[Special:Contributions/186.56.179.92|186.56.179.92]] 02:09, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

:Thank you for the comment. I had been wondering about that for quite some time, but it had not become completely obvious that I should be doing that. I guess I will have to spend some time going through the translation and adjusting it where necessary. If you've been reading the various forum posts, you will see we've been talking a bit recently about the nature of narrative and how it should be translated. --[[User:Rpapo|Rpapo]] 11:06, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

:Actually, it appears at times though the ghost appears to be the narrator, he's not a truly intrusive narrator. That is, it isn't always obvious. Most of the time he's a quiet narrator who doesn't insert his opinions into the story, and simply tells us what is going on. When he starts speaking in the first person, it's pretty obvious. Not from the grammar so much as from the things he says. So far, he's started each chapter, and I know from having skipped ahead that he speaks up in the epilogue. --[[User:Rpapo|Rpapo]] 00:05, 19 February 2011 (UTC)

::For the grammar I meant that in japanese agents are omitted, 「○○と思っていた」 has no information of the person or agent who does it. For example p47. "「…ていうか…」　そして気がつけば、結局、また一人だ。". That could fit both Banri first-person or the ghost' narrative. But as the flow of the context, is the ghost all the time. I don't remember a single sentence where an action on the story is using a verbal phrase in first person as Banri. It's no different from the common narrative where the protagonist relates other actions, but in this novel Banri actions are related on the same way (e.g. p16. この声が万里に届くなら). The most clear example is on the very Banri' quotes, when the ghost narrates Banri' state. Ah, you remembered me the epilogue. I got confused with the story there, specially with the drunk man on the bridge with the れ sign. Later Kôko and Banri go to a club and get stamped that sign and Banri recalls it. I got lost at that point. Was the epilogue a dream, a time paradox idk.[[User:Pmt7ar|Zell]] 00:43, 19 February 2011 (UTC)

== ありがとうございます！ ==

Thank you, anonymous user at 65.94.206.69! At least now I know ''somebody'' is taking the time and effort to validate at least a little bit of my translation work. Why don't you create yourself an account here on B-T so the rest of us can communicate with you now and then? --[[User:Rpapo|Rpapo]] 12:32, 30 December 2010 (UTC)

== Who's the illustrator? ==

Is the character designer's name really Komato Eiji, or Komatsu Eiji? the way the hair was drawn is Komatsu's style...

:Shame on Darklor for spelling it wrong on the initial version of the page, shame on me for not catching his mistake then. In either case I got it right on the public wiki page. --[[User:Rpapo|Rpapo]] 11:34, 8 January 2011 (UTC)