Tsukumodo:Volume 2 Silence

If you had to decide between a silent place and a lively place, which would you choose?

A silent place when you want to read a book or study?

A lively place when you want to hang out with friends or eat something?

Depending on your purpose, your preference may change.

But even if it suits your purpose, a place too silent will disquiet you and a place too lively will bother you.

Be it silence or liveliness, it's all a matter of degree.

That said, of the two, I happen to prefer silence a tad more.

The reason for that is most likely because I am used to quiet places.

The point I am trying to make is:

The Tsukumodo Antique Shop is as dead silent as ever.

◆

It was comparable to a soft slumber inside a womb.

While I was giving myself to a silence that encompassed me along with a cozy warmth, a bubble slowly rose beside me.

I touched it.

It burst as a "Re".

Another bubble came hovering upward.

I touched it.

It burst as a "Fa" this time.

One after another, they rose around me.

One, two, three—no, more. A hundred, two hundreds, three hundreds, more. More, more.

At last, the sounds started to burst and play without the need to touch them. The bubbles burst and created sounds. And these countless sounds eventually composed a melody.

This was the womb of a mother of sound.

And I was one of the few who were permitted to step into this realm.

My duty was to gather these sounds as they are born and take them outside with me.

In this place, there was nothing but me and these sounds.

There was no other man, nor was there noise.

It was only me and the newborn sounds.

"———"

There was an intrusion from outside.

It felt like being in a water balloon being popped by a needle.

The consequence was destruction; it all dispersed.

The slumber I had indulged in and the silence—everything—was crumbled away.

The newborn sounds, too, streamed away somewhere. They seeped away through my fingers.

I was forcefully brought round to consciousness.

I was in the same room as always.

The sheets of music on the table before me were filled with notes.

When I was in the world of sounds, my hand would automatically write down the notes of the sounds I gathered.

That was how I composed. A method only I could employ that didn't require any instruments.

But the sheet music stopped halfway. The notes were distorted and broken—because of the noise that had broken in. Because of it, the sounds I had gathered had died off.

This room was soundproofed from the ceiling to the floor. Not, however, to keep the sound from leaking outside. I lived in a deserted ghost town, so there weren't any inhabited houses near mine.

The purpose of my sound insulation was to keep any sound from getting in.

It was all for the sake of composing without interruption.

However, sound insulation could only deaden sound but not erase it completely.

Like now, outside noise could break in this room—the womb of sounds—and cause pollution.

As soon as that pollution scattered my image, it was over. The sounds around me would fly away and leave my piece dead.

(I was so close...)

Seized by anger, I threw open the door and headed upstairs to the living room on the ground floor

Upon my arrival, I found my helper, Mei, asleep with her upper body on the table. On the floor was a tea cup. I didn't know whether the sound I had heard just now was her banging the head against the table or her pushing the tea cup to the floor, but I couldn't stand the thought that such a little thing had just killed my sounds.

Normally, such low noises couldn't be heard in that soundproof room, but my ears are so sensitive as to even pick up these tiny sounds. And that's why I would always tell her to take heed not to make any noise.

"Hey!" I roared.

Mei flicked her eyes open.

Upon recognizing me with her dozy eyes, she quickly sat up straight and asked,

"Have you already completed your work?"

"You ruined it."

Mei noticed the tea cup she had accidentally dropped on the floor along with its contents and paled.

Probably realizing what she had done, she hung her head in shame.

"I'm in a bad mood. I'm going out for a while."

Leaving her to her own devices, I left the house.

My name is Eiji Kadokura. 32 years old. My profession is music composer. I have composed a considerable number of pieces so far and pride myself in being fairly popular and well-known.

In terms of genres, I accepted assignments for soothing music for an example. My most famous composition is most likely a piece I had written for a certain renowned violinist, which had been classical, but became a million-seller thanks to the recent classical music boom.

Today, I had been working on a music piece for an assignment that was due in a week as well, until I was disturbed by my helper.

Once a piece of music has been dispersed, it is forever lost.

While it partly remains in my head, it feels like a cheap copy if I finish the song with its remnants.

It resembles the feel when the bricks you piled up in play start to shake, and even though you manage to regain balance, your tower eventually falls apart a few bricks after.

Or perhaps it's also similar to sewing a garment: your thread runs out and you have to substitute it with a new one—a knot will remain and make the garment look shabby.

Either way, a ruined piece of music cannot be mended.

I couldn't stand a patched-together song.

I had to start all over again.

Even though there was not much time left until the deadline.

I entered my car and drove to a café I frequented.

Located in a calm basement, it was a much-appreciated haven of tranquility for me. But on that day of all days, the café proved unable to soothe me.

A group of over ten tourists or something had gathered down there. But they weren't just there—they seemed to confuse the venue with a bar and made hellish noise.

Upon noticing me, the keeper of the cafe lowered his head apologetically.

I took it as an apology and an invitation to leave for today.

Suppressing the urge to give those rude customers a good dressing-down, I nodded to the keeper and left.

Because I had become all the more irritated, even the street noise I would usually bear with annoyed me horribly.

Be it the engine noise of the cars and their piercing horns; the loud voices of strolling students and their vulgar laughs; the yells of salesmen who unsuccessfully tried to attract customers and cheap music.

They all annoyed me.

Why was the world so full with noise and racket?

I wasn't at work, so I wasn't asking for perfect silence, but living amidst so much noise and racket was unendurable for me. I couldn't understand why the others didn't mind.

While struggling against the urge to roar at them to shut up, I backed off into a narrow side street.

After opening some distance from the main street, the noise became somewhat more bearable. While it hadn't faded out entirely, I could endure it from afar. I decided on walking along these back streets for the time being.

"Now if there only was a café somewhere, I'd be satisfied for the moment..."

The very moment I thought so, I spotted an old small shop before my eyes.

It was hard to tell from its exterior what kind of shop it was. Willing to stay a while if it turned out to be a café, I pushed open the door.

A bell announced the arrival of a customer.

Its ring was pleasant to the ear. Passed. Much to my regret, however, it was not a café. Various things were lined up on the shelves in a disorderly fashion. There were jars and plates and other ceramic ware, and dolls of Japanese and Western origin as well as a tinplate robot. There was even a camera. I assumed it was some kind of antique or second-hand shop.

Out of curiosity, I took a look around.

"Welcome," someone said to me.

Behind the counter sat a charming woman clad in black. She looked a little younger than me, but the languorous feel she gave off made her impression rather mature and mysterious.

"Are you looking for something specific?"

I was looking for someplace silent. The shop fit the bill perfectly, but saying that would be like telling her that I didn't intend to buy anything from the start.

"I was just wondering if I might find something curious."

I made up an answer and looked at the shelves as though I was very interested.

"But there is something you seek, is there not?" she said as though she had read my heart. "Tell me. Perhaps, you might obtain what you have longed for?"

"As I said, something curious..."

"You don't want 'something'. You want 'a thing'."

"Huh?"

"If you want 'something', you won't obtain anything in the end. It has to be a specific thing you want."

Perhaps she was teasing me with some word play, or perhaps she had seen through my intention of not buying anything and wanted to chase me out. Apparently I had become irritable: this was enough to annoy me.

"If you really have what I want, I'd be more than willing to buy it."

"Yes, what is it?"

"Complete silence."

The woman gave me a slightly troubled glance. I was ashamed of acting so childish. I should have named some article she was likely to have or just leave.

"I am sorry. I'm afraid that's not here."

"Certainly. I'm sorry, t..."

"It is in our 'sister shop'!"

I doubted my ears—but got angry an instant after.

She was playing with me. "Not here"? Don't make me laugh.

"It can be mine if I go to that sister shop? Then please, by all means, tell me where it is. If I can really find complete silence there, that is."

"A Relic that can create a room of complete silence by warding off all sound—that is, the Mirror of Serenity."

"Relic? The Mirror of Serenity?"

"Mind you, by 'Relic' I don't mean antiques or objects of art. 'Relic' is what we call tools with special capabilities created by mighty ancients or magicians, and objects that have absorbed their owner's grudge or natural spiritual powers.

Things like a stone that brings ill luck, a cursed voodoo doll or a triple mirror that shows how you are going to die. I believe you've heard of many of them, and the Mirror of Serenity belongs to them. But it's not here at the moment!"

I had no idea what she was talking about. While I had indeed heard of a superstition according to which objects may gain a soul over a long time, hearing about it just then rubbed me the wrong way.

"Don't make a fool of me. Yes, I did not enter this shop because I wanted to buy something. But you have no right to mock at me because of that. 'Relic', you say? 'Mirror of Serenity'? Stop ridiculing me by making up such mysterious names!"

"Oh, you don't believe me?"

"Of course I don't. Complete silence does not exist. I have perfect soundproofing in my house, but I can still hear sounds from the outside."

"Because it's soundproofing. The Mirror of Serenity works differently. It wards off sound."

"Don't get so carried away..."

"This place is similar!"

It was then that I finally noticed.

There was not a sound in this shop.

Indeed, a conversation was taking place between me and that woman. So there was sound. However, there was no noise from the outside. I could not even slightly hear the distant noise that had tormented me until I'd entered the shop.

I perked up my ears and focused them outside.

However, I did not hear anything.

No matter what kind of soundproofing this shop had, there was no way it could block out every sound from my ears.

As long as we didn't speak, there was the complete silence I had been longing for.

"...What's the meaning of this?"

"It means that this place is special as well. But it doesn't create complete silence—the outside noise merely doesn't reach this place as a side effect. However, the Mirror of Serenity will create complete silence for you."

"You said it's in your sister shop, right?"

My heart was beating rapidly. Perhaps, the loudest noise in this world right now was my own heart beat.

"Will I get my hands on the Mirror or Serenity if I go there?"

"I cannot say for certain. Ask the owner of the shop. But I'm sure you will be able to obtain it if you wish. Relics naturally find their way to an appropriate owner."

After receiving a memo of the address and opening times of that sister shop, I left.

"———"

In that moment, noise returned.

All the sounds that had vanished so far returned the instant I left the shop.

It was as if I had been dreaming.

Suddenly, my cell phone rang. It was from Mei, my helper. She informed me that a client that requested a composition had visited.

There had been a meeting scheduled for today. It had completely slipped my mind.

I replied that I'd be back within an hour and headed to the parking lot.

Before hanging up, she said something that disconcerted me.

She told me to keep my cell phone turned on.

Apparently, she had tried several times to reach me without success. However, I had at no point turned off my phone. That shop hadn't been underground, either, so I should have been within communication range.

A cold shiver ran down my spine and I thought about looking back at the shop, but my body wouldn't let me, so I quickly left this place.

When I arrived at home, she asked me where I had been.

I found myself unable to answer her. I did remember the shop, but for some reason I couldn't remember where it was and what kind of person the shop assistant had been.

Only the memo in my hands assured me that it had not been a dream.

◆

Drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

"Shut up already!!"

A roar from the owner of this shop, Towako Setsutsu, resounded through the building, but was drowned out by an even mightier noise from the outside, losing most of its impact.

Usually, clear-cut eyebrows and self-confident eyes as well as lustrous black hair hanging straight down to her waist were the characteristics of her appearance. However, with regard to today, her brows were wrinkled and her eyes narrowed in a displeased fashion. Her hair had become a mess because she had been mussing them up all the time.

"Yelling at them won't get you anywhere!" I—Tokiya Kurusu—replied while resting on the counter.

Towako-san made a theatrical gesture of putting her hand behind her ear and asked, "What did you say?"

I brought my face close to her ears and shouted, "Yelling at them won't bring you anywhere!"

"Sweet Jesus! Don't shout like that!"

"You can't hear me otherwise, can you!?"

"Be quiet the both of you. I can't concentrate on my book," complained Saki Maino, my co-worker, while sounding indifferent.

While she had pale hair that reached about to the middle of her back and shone silver in the light, as well as clear white skin, she was all clad in black, wearing a black shirt with frills, a long black skirt and black boots.

She was about a head smaller than the average height of a male student, which applied to me, and so slender that an embrace seemed like it could break her. She was sixteen and thus one year younger than I. She did look her age, but because of her demeanor, she seemed a little more mature. A brilliant smile like a blooming flower, as the meaning of her name would suggest, positively failed to adorn her face, instead, she was perfectly expressionless as if to deny the saying "nomen est omen".

Even she was showing some irritation on her face today.

(But Saki, don't take it out on us!)

The noise from a construction site nearby was to blame for her irritation, having plagued our ears for some time.

We had been informed beforehand that a building would be under repair for a week starting today, but we hadn't expected the repairs to turn out so deafening.

That was quite the opposite of the silence that had been present up until yesterday, when all we heard were gusts of wind and tumbleweeds.

This shop, the Tsukumodo Antique Shop (FAKE), handled, as the name suggests, fake Relics.

Not antiques or objects of art, but tools with special abilities created by mighty ancients or magicians, or objects that have absorbed their owner's grudge or natural spiritual powers.

In tales and legends, there are often tools that contain power.

For instance, a stone that brings good luck, a doll whose hair grows night after night, a mirror that shows your future appearance, a sword that brings ruin to anyone who draws it.

Everybody has most likely heard of their existence.

However, people consider them mere fantasies because they have not seen them, they do not notice them even if they are right before their eyes, and they believe in some sort of coincidence if something mysterious occurs.

Some feel unconcerned, while others are certain such things do not exist.

However, Relics are closer to us than we may think.

I myself had recently gotten in contact with a few—namely a pendulum that called forth coincidences, a statue that stimulated one's life force, a notebook that made one remember everything written in it, and a wallet that made me lose all my earnings unless I spent them on the same day.

However, Relics like these were not for sale in the shop. As was mentioned above, we only dealt with fakes. The articles in the shelves were fakes the owner of this shop had purchased, believing they were real.

Of course, the customers that pay us a visit have no idea what Relics are, and thus only sense a waste of time when facing the uncommon pendants, the uncanny dolls, the unmoving clocks and the unspecial stones we offer, and then leave while regretting the mistake of dropping by in the first place.

Well, in comparison it was still something if they entered. It wasn't uncommon not to see a customer during an entire day.

"Wouldn't we rather close the shop for a week?" I suggested.

"But that would put a stop to our sales."

"We wouldn't get any customers anyway."

"What?"

"We wouldn't get any customers anyway!"

"Yeah, no one would care anyway!"

"You don't deny it!?"

"Now won't you keep quiet already? I can't concentrate on my book."

(Now won't you get that it's not our fault? And didn't we go through this already?)

Apparently, even Saki was annoyed about the noise, although hardly showing it on her face.

"Man, now my head's starting to hurt. Hell, can't we do something about it for crying out loud? Towako-san, is there no Relic that can switch off that noise?"

"Come on, don't ask for the... possible?"

"It's possible?"

With a reflective face, Towako-san walked out of the room, whereas Saki put aside her book and came to me.

"That's it!"

With these words, Towako-san returned from the storeroom with a mirror in hands. The looking glass was covered with a purple cloth. The wooden frame surrounding it was as shiny as lacquer and had a stand.

"That's a Relic that wipes out noise?"

"Well, take a look."

She pulled away the cloth.

Suddenly, the noise vanished.

The heavy noise from the building site vanished.

It hadn't become unhearable. More like, it had vanished. And not only the noise. All sounds—like the people outside, the traffic, the television in the living room, and so on—had vanished.

"What's going on?"

What's going on? I tried to ask. But my voice remained inaudible.

I tried once again to give voice to my puzzlement, but failed again. Not only Towako-san could not hear me—even I couldn't hear myself. No, that's not exactly it. Saying that there was no voice in the first place gets more to the heart of it.

She realized it as well and yelled something at me, which—of course—I couldn't understand.

In a new attempt, I tried to express myself with my mouth movements.

By provocatively putting her hand behind the ear, Towako-san indicated to me that she couldn't hear anything.

This time I tried to tell her to cover the mirror again, but because of the change of my mouth movements, she got caught up in confusion and wrinkled her brow.

I pointed repeatedly at the mirror and formed with my lips the words, "Cover it!"

With a—possibly—loud angry voice, she put the cloth on the mirror.

Instantly, the lost sounds returned.

The noise from the building suite, the traffic noise from afar, the approaching steps of Towako-san, and...

"For the love of God, why don't you get it? I can't hear you!"

...the sound of a fist.

In truth, I wanted to defend myself by telling her that I couldn't hear her either, but the pain that was whirling around my head kept me from saying anything for a few moments.

"...that thing really shuts out any sound, huh?"

"That's what I've been telling you. Any sound vanishes from the region it reflects. The sounds from outside are completely deflected, and no sound can be produced within the reflected area. In short, it creates a complete silence."

"But in such an environment, you can't do anything!"

I didn't think that it would be so hard to make oneself understood without a voice.

"Just do the communication via pen and paper."

"Hah... But somehow it was so silent that it bothered me more than when it was noisy."

The noise of the building site had settled down to a level it became possible to talk normally, which made the silence a few moments ago seem much worse.

"Besides, we can't attend to our customers like that!"

"We wouldn't get any customers anyway, right?"

"You two..."

"Are you still holding that against me?"

"Why, no? I'm used to it."

"You two..."

"Well, but I do think that there won't be any."

"Can't you show at least some consideration?"

"You two..."

"Didn't you admit it yourself?"

"But you mustn't. No matter if I do admit myself."

Suddenly, our heads were grabbed from behind and forcefully turned toward the entrance.

"We have customers."

In the direction of her words stood a man and a woman.

"It's still no."

"Can't we come to an arrangement?"

"No."

"You can have as much as you want."

"I refuse no matter how much you offer."

The man and Towako-san had been repeating a conversation like that for some time. The approximately thirty-year-old customer, who was wearing an expensive suit and had possibly witnessed what had just happened, seemed to have a very vivid interest in the mirror. At first he had stood stone-still at the entry, but the moment he had gotten a grip on himself, he started pressing Towako-san to sell the mirror to him.

Towako-san in turn had kept refusing. Her will seemed to be firm, as she had just told him she wouldn't agree no matter how much money she might get.

As a matter of fact, to date, Towako-san had never sold a Relic to anyone. We only handled fakes and not Relics themselves. It was not her wish that people got ahold of Relics.

"Why does he want that so badly, anyway?"

It was a remarkable sum he had offered. He was obviously wealthy.

"That man..." Saki muttered as she went to the living room.

She returned with the book she had been reading in hands.

"As I thought."

There was a photograph of the negotiating man in the book. The accompanying profile said that his name was Eiji Kadokura and that his occupation was music composer.

(I see. It makes sense that he'd want a silent environment if he's a composer.)

"But why do you have such a book anyway?"

"I think attending to customers (sekkyaku) and writing music (sakkyoku) have a lot in common." I think 'commerce' is probably close enough given the weakness of the JP pun -ss -->

"Indeed, they sound similar."

"I'm being serious!"

"You meant something else?"

"Providing the music someone desires and providing the goods someone desires is very similar, isn't it?"

Indeed, Saki isn't one to tell jokes. Moreover, Saki is always earnest about her work and spares neither trouble nor expense to learn how to improve her customer service.

Of course, it was a taboo to disagree with her view and tell her that "Composing made easy!" had nothing to do with customer service, as always. And of course, I didn't agree with her, either.

"Anyway, I'm not selling it to you. And I have no business with you," Towako-san said point-blank and took the mirror with her to the living area.

"Please wait!"

"I am afraid I must ask you not to proceed as the shop stops here."

The shop was at the same time also Towako-san and her freeloading housemate, Saki's residence. Because he was about to even intrude their private space, I had no choice but to block his way.

"There's nothing to discuss with a part-timer."

I couldn't help slightly taking offense at his attitude.

"There's nothing to discuss with you, either! Please leave if you don't intend to buy anything."

"That's what I'm here for."

"Please leave if you don't intend to buy an article. Just because this is a shop, we aren't obliged to sell things that aren't for sale to you."

Kadokura-san opened his mouth to voice some more complaints when suddenly the ringing of his cell phone resounded through the shop. He grudgingly took his phone out and flicked his tongue after reading the display.

"...relating to business. Looks like I have no choice."

"We don't hope you will visit our store again!"

"I will!"

"Please don't."

The bothersome customer squared his shoulders and left the store.

"He's gone for now!" I shouted toward the living room where Towako-san was hiding.

Still with a displeased mien, she muttered, "Okay."

"Why didn't you just sell it to him? For such a pretty penny..." I asked and was glared at.

At the risk of repeating myself: Towako-san was against giving away Relics. Partly because of her collecting passion, but mostly because she knew many who had ruined themselves with Relics.

Should I be proud of the fact that I seem to have her trust, having received a Relic from her?

"Excuse me..." a woman said as Saki led her to us.

It was Kadokura-san's companion.

"Let me apologize for Kadokura's rudeness."

I wondered if she was his manager or something. Age-wise, she didn't look that different from me, but her air was that of a genuine business woman.

"Please call this number should you change your mind."

She held out a business card with the name "Eiji Kadokura" and his contact information.

Towako-san, however, showed no signs of taking the card. Losing to her helpless gaze, I accepted the card instead. And was glared at even harder.

Apparently, Towako-san was dissatisfied with me. She should have told me so before I accepted.

"It's been a pleasure," she said with a bow and left the shop.

"Now throw that card away."

"But that would be kinda..." I muttered as I prepared to turn around and cast a glance in the direction she had left.

It was then that a painful noise ran through my head——

It was a place I had never seen before.

In a room.

In my field of vision I could see a wall—and a shut door.

Scuffed with countless longish lines, the door made a bizarre impression.

My vision moved downward, bringing the lower part into focus.

A woman had collapsed on the floor.

Wearing a dress with frills and curling herself up, she didn't move a muscle . It was—

"What's wrong?"

Towako-san's voice brought me back. She looked at me, wondering.

"Did you have a vision?" Saki judged from my state, hit the nail on the head.

The scene I had witnessed after that painful noise was an image of the future, shown to me by my Relic.

My right eye is artificial. It has been replaced by a Relic named "Vision" I received from Towako-san.

"Vision" sometimes shows me the immediate future.

When it happens, a pain runs through my head, much like static TV noise, followed by a cut-in of the future.

However, it won't show me all of the future: I can't foresee the winning number of a lottery, or the winner of a sports match. Not even the weather. Nor can I see any future event at will.

But there was one type of future it shows me without fail.

That is, the moment of death of someone related to me or myself.

What I had seen just now was the impending death of a certain person.

"That woman...is going to die."

◆

"Shit!"

I crumpled up a blank sheet of music and threw it at the wall, just to lean back powerlessly right after. Unable to hold my weight, the chair fell over and showed me the ceiling.

It wasn't one of her mistakes that had brought me back today. I simply had trouble concentrating.

This morning had still been better in this respect. It was a shame that my concentration had broken off then. Because of... No, that doesn't matter. When I'm in good form, I don't lose concentration because of something of that degree.

I had a slump. Despite the imminent deadline, I didn't even have an image. When was the last time I had such a slump?

(...Right, the time when I just left home.)

Back then I had lived in a tumbledown apartment that was dozens of years old. Because I wanted to avoid noise whatever it took, I had chose a remote place far away from the city. I hadn't been as nervous back then, but under the stress that had come from the anxiousness of being on my own and the change of environment, I had found myself completely unable of writing a single piece of music.

(How did I manage to overcome the slump back then...?)

I didn't remember. The slump had been over before I had known it. Well, most likely, I hadn't even considered it a slump at the time.

(But that's right. This isn't a slump, either.

I merely have some trouble concentrating.

If I manage to concentrate, I'll be able to write again.)

I calmed myself down by closing my eyes and taking deep breaths.

(Picture it. Picture to yourself the world of sound...)

—Clank—

Upstairs I heard a very subtle sound of something falling to the ground.

My image vanished and my concentration disintegrated into thin air.

(Again...? Yet again...?)

"SHIT!"

(Why do I have to hear it? Why can't I just ignore that sound...)

A few moments later, a knocking at the door invaded the room with its sound and vibration. I didn't give a heed, but the knocking didn't stop. Hadn't I told her not to knock more than five times...?

"Silence!"

I thrust open the door. With a short shriek, Mei fell on her bottom. However, I didn't feel bad.

"What is it?"

"Ah, yes. I have a work related call on the line for you."

"Tell them I'll call back later."

"But...it seems to be rather urgent..."

"I said later!"

I deliberately slammed the door shut. Even the sound of that resounded in my ears.

I was craving for complete silence.

I was sure I could write music with it.

The "Mirror of Serenity" crossed my mind.

◆

"Welcome!"

While absorbed in admiring the almost palatial residence before our eyes, we were greeted by the woman who had been with the composer Eiji Kadokura.

Her name was Mei Oohashi and she took care of him. As a proof—or perhaps not—she was dressed as a maid. In contrast to the business womanish feel she had had in the shop, she was standing out a little now.

Under her guidance, Saki, I and Towako-san went to the residence and working place of Eiji Kadokura.

His house was located in a suburb far away from the center of the city. It was a district that had become a ghost town because its development had miscarried. Even though there were lots of apartment buildings, there were no shops and people at the station. As is residence was a fair way off that station, we arrived there by fetching one of the sparse taxis. It turned out to be a weary journey. In all honesty, it wasn't a place I would have expected a famous music composer to live at.

I suspect he had deliberately chosen this place because he wanted to get away from the urban noise.

"This way please."

Guided by Mei, we walked through a garden of a dimension that was unthinkable in the city, passed through a pointlessly big entrance and finally arrived at a living room, but not without going down a meters long corridor. She told us to make ourselves comfortable on the sofas and disappeared into the kitchen to prepare some tea.

The moment she was gone, however, Kadokura-san appeared.

"Hello and welcome. I've been waiting for you!"

He welcomed us with open arms. That said, it wasn't us he had been eagerly waiting for.

"Have you brought it with you?"

With a scowl on her face, Towako-san showed him the cloth-wrapped mirror in her bag.

A content smile appeared on his face.

The reason we had come here was not to leave the Mirror of Serenity to him.

It was to prevent the future "Vision" had shown me—in other words, Mei-san's death.

Saki had stopped me from going to her and telling her straight-out to watch out because she was going to die. It was a bad idea indeed to let her know thoughtlessly when we had no idea under what circumstances she died. Therefore, we judged it the best measure we could take to approach and watch over her.

So in order to get closer to her, we submitted a certain proposal to Kadokura-san.

While we could not sell the mirror, we were willing to lend it to him for a few days. However, only in the presence of us.

Kadokura-san had agreed to these conditions. In all probability, he had taken that we were out for staying at a famous composer's residence in return for lending it to him.

However, we had not at all time for that. We had to find and eliminate the origin for Mei-san's death during the lending period.

In truth, Towako-san was against this operation—because our actions might become the origin for Mei-san's death. It was, however, just as possible for her end to arrive without us doing anything. In that case, we couldn't just sit back and watch.

Fortunately, I had a holiday on Friday because it happened to be my school's anniversary, giving us three days time. "Vision" can't see far into the future. I was positive to find one or another hint.

"Thank you for waiting," Mei-san said as she returned with a tray of tea. The rich aroma of black tea permeated the room.

Instead of widening her eyes or raising her voice, Saki's eyebrows merely moved a wee bit and her gaze became fixed on the tea set when this smell tickled her nose. She was lacking expression as ever, but in reality she was extremely surprised. Was it such an expensive type of tea?

Without noticing Saki's astonishment, Mei-san placed a teapot on the table and then continued by putting a tea cup in front of each of us. They were by a top-class brand even I knew.

The moment I thought that breaking one would cost a fortune, Mei-san dropped a cup on the table.

With a clank, the handle of the cup broke off.

There was an awkward silence.

"Oh my!" she burst out, "E-Excuse me! Excuse me! I'll bring a new teacup right away!"

She picked up the teacup and its handle and smacked Kadokura's head—no, accidentally hit him—with the tray while turning around.

"Ughn..."

"Gyaa! Excuse me, excuse me!"

"J-Just go and bring a new one already," ordered Kadokura-san calmly without at all getting worked up about her panicking. He has obviously become accustomed to this. "Let me apologize for her, she's a little... clumsy..."

"Gyaa!"

Mei-san's scream came from the kitchen, followed by the sound of something falling on the floor. Well... at least, the rumbling didn't last.

"I'm sorry about the fuss."

...It might be that one of the reasons why he was after the silence-making Mirror of Serenity was Mei-san.

"S-Sorry for the wait!"

She returned with a new teacup.

The very moment I had a presentiment, she ended up banging her knee against the table because of too much momentum when she wanted to place the teacup down. The jolt caused the teapot to tilt, but just when I was sure it would fall over, Saki took hold of it. I had never seen her that quick. Perhaps, Saki's quickness increases relatively to the price of the black tea at stake.

"E-Excuse me, excuse me."

Mei-san kept bowing her head and gratefully grabbed the hand Saki was holding the teapot in.

"Stop that and get us a wash cloth."

Upon receiving the order to get a wash cloth for the little tea that had been spilled, she hurried back to the kitchen.

Completely irrespective of her outfit, her "pro business woman" feel had gone up in smoke for good.

"Again, let me apologize for her, she just can't sit still." Kadokura-san lowered his head in her place and looked with a wry smile at Saki. "I wish she was as composed as you."

I glanced at Saki who sat next to me.

"Have you burned yourself?"

"It's no big deal," she said dismissively, but she was rubbing her hands hidden under the table.

As there was still some time left until dinner, I decided to take a walk through the Kadokura residence by myself. Not for simply looking around, of course, but for investigating.

The door I had seen in my vision of her death was very peculiar with that strange lines pattern.

I thought that by locating that door, I could make sure she wouldn't get anywhere near it or remove all dangerous objects nearby, and thus save her.

The ground floor of the Kadokura residence held a large living room, a kitchen and so on, whereas the bedrooms for Kadokura-san and Mei-san, and for guests were upstairs.

Furthermore, there was also an underground room in this house, which was fully equipped with soundproofing and served as Kadokura-san's studio. According to him, he would always compose in that underground room.

In fact, I was on the way to that very room.

I was already done with ransacking the first and second floor, but there was no trace of the door "Vision" had shown me. Only the basement was left.

The stairway there was longer than expected and had a lot of turns, indicating how deep underground the room was. Most likely, he wanted to get as far away from the sounds outside as possible. Actually, I couldn't hear my own footsteps because he had even carpeted the stairway.

The door to his workroom appeared before me.

However—

"...off the mark, huh."

At first glance, it had looked like the door in my vision. The shape did look like it. However, there were no lines. It was not the door "Vision" had shown me. This was the only door underground.

"Perhaps it's not even in this house?"

In that case, we were forced to keep an eye on Mei-san herself. At the moment, Saki was with her and helping with the chores.

I decided to watch over her, too, and turned around to the stairway.

"Whoa!"

"Kyaa!"

Mei-san was suddenly standing there. Out of surprise, I raised a scream, and out of surprise at my scream, Mei-san lost balance and fell down the stairs.

I reflexively supported her, but because I hadn't been prepared, I was dragged along.

"A-Are you all right? Excuse me excuse me!"

"N-No, it's me who surprised you..."

While on top of me, Mei-san had apologized once again. I wondered how many times had I already seen her like this.

"What are you doing in the dark?"

From above, Saki looked down at me with a cold expression—well, the same expression as always.

"N-Nothing! You've been watching, so you know that, right?"

"That's not what I mean. I meant to ask what you've been doing down here alone, but seeing that you make excuses, I suppose you did that intentionally?"

""E-Excuse me, Maino-san. I didn't mean to cling to your boyfriend! It was by accident, so please don't get angry with him!"

After falling silent for a long while, "No, he's not," she denied it without changing her expression.

Mei-san turned around to me.

"Eh? He's not? I was sure he was because you became angry."

"Nope. Neither are we in a relationship, nor is she angry. She's always like that."

"Really?"

Unconvinced, Mei-san stared at Saki's face. It was no wonder she couldn't see through her inexpressiveness.

"Yes, as Tokiya said: I'm expressionless, emotionless and blunt. So please don't mind it," she said bluntly.

But... is it just me or did she somehow seem a little angry? I had thought I'd become able to read the feelings behind her poker-face, but apparently, that wasn't the case.

"Anyways, we should better carry it in."

"What's with that?"

"Ah, this is the sparkling water Eiji-sama likes to drink while working. We were going to carry in supplies," Mei-san explained while pointing at the small cardboard boxes she and Saki were holding.

However, that was not what I was asking.

"Your outfit."

"...Mei-san made me wear this."

As was rare for Saki, who loved black clothes more than anything, she wore a pure-white apron like a maid. Most likely, she had been talked into wearing this when she offered her help to Mei-san. The fact that she was still wearing her black dress underneath was probably the line of compromise for her.

"You look adorable in it, Saki-san! Now, this way," urged Mei-san as opened the door and beckoned Saki over.

Saki climbed down the stairs, and when walking past me, trod on my feet.

"Ouch!"

"Oh? I'm sorry," she said indifferently and entered the room.

She was angry after all! Mei-san was right. Although I had no idea what had made her upset.

For Mei-san's surveillance, I followed her.

The room measured several square meters. While there were no instruments, lots of sheets of music were scattered about on the table and the floor. In that respect, it really felt like the workroom of someone in the music business. There was also a laptop, so maybe he was using that for composing instead of real instruments.

"Saki-san, please put it in there," ordered Mei-san while pointing at a small fridge in a corner.

She picked up the scattered sheets and put them in order, after which she started to collect the half-drunk bottles and empty the trash. The incident with the tea had given me pause, but she was working rather efficiently this time.

Leaving them with their respective work of tidying up and replenishing the stock of sparkling water, I closed the door. The room literally felt as though it had become isolated from the outside world.

While I could hear the two work, the sounds from outside were shut out. Well, not only was there nobody there, but we were also underground, so there was no noise anyway, but that was the impression I got. Probably because of the sound-proofing.

I doubted that he would need the Mirror of Serenity if he had a room like that.

"Are you done with tidying up?"

The door was opened again and Kadokura-san came in.

In his hands, the Mirror of Serenity. As it looked, he had borrowed it from Towako-san now and wanted to try it out as fast as possible.

"Almost."

"It doesn't have to be perfect," he said absent-mindedly, and looked around in the room. Apparently, he was pondering where to put the mirror.

"I'm fascinated! Isn't the soundproofing of this room perfect?" I asked.

He answered with a wry smile, "Indeed, I have spent a lot of money for this equipment. But it's not perfect. I can hear noise even when I close the door."

"Really?"

I had no idea how well soundproofing worked, but I figured it must be hell of a noise to reach the room down here.

"Yeah. For example when Mei breaks a teacup upstairs," he said, which discouraged Mei-san and made her apologize yet again.

"You can hear something like that? Isn't there a leak?"

"That's what I told the manufacturers at first, too. But it seems like normal people don't hear it even though I do. And I'm not just hearing things!"

"As a matter of fact, once when Eiji-sama was in this room with the manufacturers, he told them that he had heard me break a teacup. Apparently, no one else had heard anything, but when they went to the living room to confirm..."

"Mei had knocked a teacup off the table, as I had said. The manufacturers were at their wit's end."

(So he has special ears?)

"It's not that I hear everything, but for some reason I don't miss any of her slip-ups."

"Nasty ears."

"Did you say something, Mei?"

"No, never mind."

To be honest, I was more concerned with their relationship than with the story I had just heard.

At first, I had thought they were only in a business relationship of employer and helper, but for that they interacted too casually. Moreover, neither did he fire her in spite of the many mistakes she made, nor did he really get angry about her clumsiness.

"Well then, we won't disturb you any longer. Good luck with work. Let's go, Kurusu-san, Maino-san."

Upon bowing to Kadokura-san, she left the room with a garbage bag in hands. We followed after her, and Kadokura-san started composing.

The heavy door closed with a whomp and separated him from us.

On the way to the ground floor, Saki posed a question to Mei-san.

"How did you get to know Kadokura-san?"

"Eh?"

"Because somehow you don't seem like employer and helper."

Apparently, Saki had felt the same way as I.

"I used to be an employee at the Kadokura's."

"Employee?"

"Eiji-sama's family is a line of doctors and owns a hospital. I happened to get employed at their mansion. That's where I met Eiji-sama."

"Quite surprising that he followed the path as a music composer under these conditions."

"Yes, it's as you say. His father strictly disapproved of it, which was only natural as Eiji-sama had already enrolled at a medical university when he made that decision. In the end, he moved out with a firm and unbent will, and followed the path as a composer."

"Does that mean that you followed him?"

"Yes. As you see, I am clumsy and only make mistakes. I don't know how many times I was about to get dismissed, but every time, Eiji-sama came to my rescue. I couldn't think of working at the mansion without him."

I was a bit surprised. No, I was very surprised. Because of his forceful attempts to get his hands on the Mirror of Serenity, my impression of Kadokura-san wasn't exactly good. I rated him as conceited like most successful people, but apparently I was wrong.

"He tends to be misunderstood because of his stubborn nature, but he's actually a very kind person!" she added, perhaps because she had guessed my thoughts. "Lately, he has been in a slump and having trouble composing, but I'm sure he only needs a push to get over it, since he did just fine without any soundproofing in the past. I'm positive that the mirror will become that push. Thank you so much for lending it to him."

Mei-san stopped and bowed down deeply.

"I will prepare dinner now. Please make yourself comfortable in the living room."

While gazing after Mei-san, I said to Saki,

"I really want to save her."

"That's what we're here for, right?" she replied and slapped me on the back.

◆

I was floating in an encompassing, cozy silence.

Even though it was the same thing, it was clearly different.

This time, I had slid into the world of sound within the complete silence of the Mirror of Serenity.

That was all that had changed, yet everything looked completely different to me.

As though a slightly unbalanced sphere had become perfectly round.

As though a slightly rough surface had gotten polished and smooth.

As though a cup of slightly polluted water had become clean and pure.

In other words, it had become perfect.

It was the perfection I had been longing for.

(What kind of sounds will be born here?

I shall try out immediately. I need a pen and a sheet...)

"Uwa!!"

When I opened my eyes, someone crossed the corner of my vision and caused me to fall from the chair out of surprise.

It was Setsutsu-san. I had not at all noticed her coming in.

She approached the mirror and quietly turned it over.

At once, the world around me underwent a sudden change. All sound suddenly returned as if a switch had been flipped,

"Am I interrupting?"

"No, I haven't started composing yet."

"Quite the enthusiast, aren't you? You even forgot to lock the door."

As it seemed, I had been so impatient that I had forgotten to lock the door. But I had not noticed her intruding; I was amazed at the discovery that it was so hard to notice someone without sound, and felt high respect for the mirror and its power.

So far, no soundproofing had succeeded in completely shutting out any sound.

Of course I had always heard it when Mei knocked, and I had even heard what she was doing upstairs. The manufacturers were left in disbelief, but as a matter of fact, my ears could hear these sounds.

My ears are superior to others', and no matter who I would ask, no one was able to provide me with an establishment that would give my ears complete silence.

I had almost given up. Had I not learned about that mirror by chance, I would have. I could only think of this as a gift from above.

"What's your first impression of the mirror," she asked while tracing the border of the face-down mirror with her finger and without looking at me.

"It is fantastic! I can't believe it's possible to shut out useless noise to that extent. If I have this, I can smoothly delve into my world of sound."

"You didn't notice that I entered the room, right?"

"Yes, I heard not a..."

"You didn't even sense my presence, right?"

"Uh? Yes, indeed."

"Don't you think it's unnatural not to notice when someone enters the room?"

"That just proves how well I could concentrate on my work."

"You're in the wrong: it's all because of the Mirror of Serenity. It doesn't only shut out the sound from outside, you know? It shuts out the entire outside world, so to speak."

"?"

"Not only does it disrupt sound, but also all similar things like the presence of others or electric waves. That's why you don't notice even when someone's right by your side. Not only do you overhear any ever-so loud voice, but you also don't receive any calls on your cell. Having said that, it's not like it splits off room itself, so it's still possible to enter from outside."

"I see. In other words, if I had locked the door and you hadn't been able to enter, I may have pulled an all-nighter without even noticing?"

Setsutsu-san smirked at my joke, but it wasn't at all a favorable smile.

"I do hope it wouldn't get graver than that."

"Eh?"

"Do yourself a favor and refrain from using it too often. I am loaning it to you of necessity, but that's all. This item is beyond your ability."

With these words, she left the room.

◆

The next morning.

In the end, we had come away empty-handed on the first day and badly needed to find a clue today.

When I left the room I had borrowed, I was awaited by hell of a noise.

The sound had come from the kitchen, where, for some reason, Mei-san was lying prone on the floor. Not that the reason was actually hard to figure out.

Neither Kadokura-san nor Saki seemed to really mind her, and either kept sitting in the living room or, in Saki's case, picked up the spoons and forks Mei-san had dropped. After a few winks, Mei-san suddenly stood up and apologized repeatedly with a pale face.

"Good morning."

"Ah, morning," said Kadokura-san as he raised his face from the newspaper he was reading. He had bloodshot eyes.

"Did you not sleep well?"

"I was absorbed in work, you know. Before I knew it, it was morning. I haven't been that concentrated in ages! It's all thanks to that mirror. I couldn't even hear any of Mei's slips."

I couldn't deny myself a wry smile at the fact that the possibility that Mei-san had not made any mistakes was out of question for him.

"Not to sound rude, but why did you employ her?" I asked in a volume Mei-san could not hear. "Kadokura-san, are you actually quite caring? At least from what I heard, you have always been so."

"Always? Did Mei tell you anything?"

"Mm, yes. A few things."

"Now that's her being a blabbermouth again. But well, it's not like I am specially caring or anything. Do you already know that my family is a line of doctors and she was employed at the family mansion?"

"Yes."

"She was my very first fan." He put down the newspaper and gazed into the distance. "My father, you see, frowned on me even when I was just composing music as a pastime—saying that I should use that time for studying. Therefore, the people at the mansion observed me and reported to him when they found me composing. Mei, however, was the only one who didn't. Yes, she even liked my music and asked me to play for her! She would even stand up for me when I had an argument with my father, and when I made the decision to move out, she insisted on following me because she feared that I couldn't do the housework. I wouldn't be here now if it wasn't for her," he said and added jokingly, "Although I never told her that."

"By the way, where's Setsutsu-san?" he asked to change the subject.

"Still asleep, I guess? She's not a morning person."

"I'm awake!"

Speaking of the devil. Towako-san responded while walking down the stairs.

"Did you sleep well?"

"The bed was wonderfully soft. Quite different from how I sleep usually."

"I'm pleased to hear that."

"Yeah, but now my back's aching. I'm missing my own bed! So are you making progress? Seems like you've been up until late at night from the looks of it," she pointed out when she noticed his red eyes. All in all, including the implication that she wanted to go home, her attitude wasn't very favorable.

"I'm afraid this is not something you can get done by simply spending time in it. It's still going to take a while."

"I see. Tell me once you're done. We can't stay too long."

"Do you really have to hurry up so much?"

"Sorry, but my shop's closed right now. I can't leave it like that forever, now can I?"

"If that's your concern, why don't you just leave the mirror here? Rest assured that I will return it when..."

Towako-san's eyes glinted angrily.

"I-I'm joking! Of course I'll give it back to you when you leave!"

"Of course you do. Once again, I have no intention whatsoever to let go of that mirror. But I do intend to go home tomorrow. Get done with your piece until then."

"I understand. I'm downstairs for another round!"

After telling Mei-san to bring his breakfast to his working room, he went downstairs.

"What?" asked Towako-san with sleepy eyes upon noticing my gaze.

"Just thought you're pretty grouchy today."

"Of course I am. I'm not here voluntarily, nor do I want him to use a Relic, but let's not go into that. Anyways, did you make any progress?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Then move your ass. As I said before, I don't plan on staying here much longer."

◆

I closed the door to the basement behind me and made sure I was alone.

"Fuck! That stupid cow!" I blurted out, unable to suppress my honest feelings.

The sheet music on my desk caught my eye. The leaves were covered with various music notes.

In reality, I was already done.

Never before had I ever completed a piece so quickly.

That slump had been blown away. I had not thought that concentration could speed up the making of a piece so heavily. Of course, the final outcome also proved satisfying quality-wise.

I gazed at the toppled Mirror of Serenity.

Out of question. This was all thanks to that mirror.

However, Setsutsu-san planned on retrieving the mirror once I was done.

I knew only too well that it wasn't mine. I had merely borrowed it from them.

Nevertheless, I couldn't imagine of letting go of that mirror anymore.

It was their fault for lending it to me.

It was their fault for rubbing my nose in how splendid that mirror was.

There was no way I could let go of it so easily, now that I knew of its splendid nature.

They weren't able to take full advantage of it anyway, and used it for nothing more than erasing noise as they had a few days ago.

It was downright outrageous. The mirror wasn't meant to be used like that.

It was meant to be used by someone more appropriate.

Someone like me.

In my hands, it would enable me to craft more and better pieces of music for everyone.

Wasn't that also for the benefit of the mirror itself? Of course it was. Such a magnificent mirror wouldn't want to gather dust in some storeroom just to be abused to erase noise once in a while.

(But what should I do?)

How could I become the rightful owner of that mirror?

How could I open her eyes?

Just... how?

◆

The second day at Kadokura's was already half over.

Towako-san planned on going home the following day. Not necessarily because of the shop, but mostly because she couldn't stand lending a Relic. That aside, I had to go to school, so I couldn't stay forever, either.

However, a human life was at stake. It was out of question to return without finding a clue.

"Kurusu-kun, can you spare me a moment?" Kadokura-san stopped me when he found me strolling around in the building. "I'd like to ask you a favor."

"Yes?"

"I'd like you to deliver this," he said and handed me a bag in which I found three CDs. "One disk contains my new composition and the other two are reference material I used. I'd like you to deliver them to my client."

"You're done?"

"Mostly. But I want to get some feedback today since I have to return the Mirror of Serenity tomorrow. Should the client dislike the piece, I have to revise it."

I supposed it was bothersome for him if he had to revise his composition without the mirror.

"There's already another job I have to deal with. I'm really sorry for bothering you, but can I ask you? Of course you won't be doing it for free!"

Honestly speaking, the payment was very attractive, but there was no time for something like that. On the other hand, as the one who imposed that time limit, it was hard to turn him down.

"How long does it take to go there and back?"

"I guess about two hours in total."

(Two hours... that's not so long. I guess I can have Saki keep an eye on Mei-san in the meantime.)

"Okay. I'll deliver it for you."

"Thank you. Let me arrange a car for you that brings you to the station. Mei! Mei, are you here?"

"Um... is Mei-san driving me by any chance?"

"Yeah, but don't worry. Believe it or not, but she's got a license!"

Of course she had. I didn't expect him to order someone without a driver's license to give me a lift. The reason why I had asked was because I was frightened anyway. I had thought he'd call a taxi as he had when we arrived.

I could already see Mei-san apologizing for accidentally getting into an accident in my mind's eye.

The one saving grace was that it was at least no "Vision".

The moment she gripped the handle, Mei-san became a different person—I had hoped, but she stayed unchanged.

This was just too frightening. If she had become over-cautious like a different person, that would still have been better than this!

"I'm really sorry for making you help us out all of a sudden," she apologized to me on the passenger seat.

Originally, this would have been her work, but Kadokura-san had apparently judged it was not all right to leave his guests unattended.

"Well, I don't really mind..."

The woman besides me on the driver's seat showed no sign of being tense. Despite being the passenger, I was way more tense than her.

"Is something wrong?"

"Uh? Ah, um, you changed your clothes, didn't you?" I made up a lie on the fly because I couldn't confess that I was scared shitless of the ride. Not that it was a lie that she had changed her clothes. She had changed from her maid uniform into casual wear that consisted of a yellow dress with a cardigan put on.

"Yes, that outfit isn't exactly suitable for going outside."

Come to think of it, she had been wearing usual clothes as well when we first met in the shop.

At this point, I recalled the scene again "Vision" had shown to me.

My attention had been inclined toward the remarkable place she had collapsed at, but in fact, there was another remarkable thing. Her clothes. The frilly clothes she had worn was a maid uniform.

"Um, do you always change your clothes when you leave the house?"

"Of course! I put that uniform on just at home."

(Just at home? Meaning that she's going to die at home, too?)

"But I can't walk around like that in our city residence, either."

"Eh? What do you mean by that?"

"The residence here is just for work, but he also has a apartment in the city. However, the noise from the other apartments bothers him so much that he'll only work here or at the studio."

"What does that apartment look like?"

"Eh?"

"Um, you see, I was wondering what the living space of a music composer looked like. Maybe like a room in one of those designer's mansions? With eccentric paintings in the room or the doors."

"I wouldn't say it's really special, though... Ah, perhaps did you read that interview that was recently published?" Mei-san nodded in convincedly. "He only did that once long ago!"

"What?"

"Huh? Didn't you refer to the incident when he came up with a good piece, but couldn't find any paper to write on? The story where he ended up drawing lines on the walls and writing the notes on those."

"Ah, y-yes! Exactly! That's what I meant."

(I see. Those lines might have been drawn by Kadokura-san as substitute for sheets of music.)

"It was terrible to get them off, believe me!" she smiled wryly and suddenly stopped the car. The car came to a halt with a jerk.

"Mh? What's wrong?" I asked.

Looking at me with a troubled face, she answered, "...Excuse me. It looks like the wheels got caught in a ditch."

It was horrible.

Because the wheels got caught up in a ditch, I had no other choice but to push the car from behind, while Mei-san stayed inside and stepped on the gas. Actually, it wasn't that hard to get the wheels out of there, but in return I got a full-fledged mud-shower. My mouth literally felt gritty with sand.

It took us longer than expected to make it to the station, but I could still made it in time for the appointment as my train was just arriving.

For these two hours of work I was going to receive 10,000 yen, which was quite a good deal. All that remained was handing over the CDs and return to the mansion. Mei-san was going to fetch me at the train station on my way back.

After I had arrived at the client's company and explained my business to the front desk girl, I was led to some kind of meeting room. After a while, someone knocked on the door and entered the room. It was a suited man about thirty years of age. The fact that he was here despite it being Sunday kinda aroused pity in me.

"Sorry for making you wait. Kadokura-san has informed me about the matter at hand."

"Ah, yes. This is what I'm supposed to deliver."

I opened the bag to take out the CDs. However...

"Huh?"

There were only two of them. I placed them on the table and further scrutinized the bag. However, that was all there was.

"Kadokura-san has received these two CDs from us. There was no real need to return them, but I take it he forgot to give you the one that matters? Now if that isn't clumsy of him. Or did that girl that's helping him out make a slip? Oh well, there's still time until the deadline, so just come again another time. I'll get in touch with Kadokura-san and tell him. Now if you'll excuse me, I've still got some work to do." He clapped me on the shoulder and left the room.

(This can't be. I made sure of its content when I got the bag. The CD was there. What's going on...?)

"Ah!" I burst out.

There was a hole.

It was night by the time I came back.

(I didn't notice that hole. Did I drop the CD somewhere? But I didn't hear anything. Because I simply didn't notice?)

The disk wasn't at the lost-property office at the station. I searched the route from the station to the client's company several times, but didn't find anything. I also searched the way from the station to the mansion, but no luck there either. Figures. I had been on a car after all. But I didn't recall that until I was in the mansion again—same goes for the fact that Mei-san had come to fetch me.

Kadokura-san already awaited me and took me to his basement when I entered through the door.

"The client gave me a call and brought me up-to-date. Care to explain?" he muttered quietly, but his anger was conveyed to me.

"You see, there was a hole in the bag..."

"You dropped it."

"...Apparently."

I wanted to deny it, but there was nothing that would have backed me up. It wasn't my fault that there was a hole in the bag. However, having accepted that delivery task, I had been supposed to check.

"How are you going to make up for this?!"

"I'm sorry. I'll deliver the CD again tomorrow. I'll ask Towako-san to lend the mirror one more day to you."

"You're missing the point!" He shook his head fiercely. "That was the only sample. There's no copy!"

"What...?"

"Who can blame me? There was no time. It was you who hurried me on. You told me I had time until tomorrow, so I fell into line. Who could have expected that you'd lose it?"

"Can't you reproduce it one more time?"

That question rubbed him the wrong way.

"You're quite the genius, aren't you? Make the same thing one more time you say? You may think that's possible since I created it once, but it's not that simple. A composition is defined the moment it is created. It is impossible to perfectly reproduce the same piece of music!"

"...I'm sorry."

"Do you think you can make up for it by saying sorry? Besides, what if someone picks up that CD and sells it as his own creation? I may be called an imitator if I made the same thing one more time. Do you realize the meaning of this? It means that composition counts for nothing!" With his enraged face he edged up to me. "How will you compensate for this?"

"...What do you want?"

"Would a student like you be able to pay up this sum if I claimed damages?"

The number he said was not something someone like me could even dream to pay.

(But if that's the only way...)

"However, we can make a trade if you will."

"Eh?"

"A trade. I'm afraid I'm not short of money, so this wouldn't even solve this matter for me."

"And what would be the object of trade?"

At the time I was so jumbled that I didn't even get so much.

"The mirror!" His anger subsided abruptly. "Give me the 'Mirror of Serenity'. In that case, I'll turn a blind eye to this incident."

"......!"

He tricked me, it happened to me.

The delivery he had asked me for. The hole in the bag. The CD without any copies.

Everything had been arranged by him. Everything was going according to his plan. Everything was going the way for him to obtain the "Mirror of Serenity".

"How does that sound? You have no use for that mirror anyway, right? Isn't that a great deal?"

"...I'll find it."

"What did you say?"

"I'll go and find that CD."

"Boy..."

"As we've told you repeatedly, we don't intend to give it to you. Towako-san said so, and I follow suit."

"Oh my, you're a really bad loser. I don't mind if you go and search for it, but you better find it before the deadline. If you don't..."

"If I don't find it, I'll pay any claims and whatnot! Even if it takes a lifetime!"

"Well said, Tokiya."

We turned around to the voice that came from the door. It was Towako-san, followed by Saki and Mei-san, who was trying to stop them.

"Setsutsu-san, listen, he lost..."

"Stop right there. I'm not here to listen to your cheap cock-and-bull stories." She walked to my side and poked me on the head. "Jeez, don't be such a sap."

"I'm sorry. Trust me, I'll definitely find..."

"It's no use. You're not going to find it. If it's all a trick to obtain the mirror, it's not going to be lying around somewhere."

"Aren't you a bit too overbearing?" he said as he glared at her.

"Now that's what I call a shameless thief. But very well."

Towako-san approached the "Mirror of Serenity" and tossed it carelessly to him. Busy not to let it fall, Kadokura-san hurriedly caught and hugged it to himself.

"Go ahead and treat it like your child."

"Eh?"

"It's yours." She lifted a corner of her mouth sardonically and fixed her gaze on him. "As you said, we can't make good use of this mirror. There is only one reason why I didn't give it to you despite that: because this mirror is going to do harm to the both of you."

"Do harm? To me?"

"'To me'? Is that what I said? But suit yourself. I'm not going repeat myself. If you really overheard it, you shall live to regret. I'm no fortune-teller, really, but this development was so predictable."

Towako-san turned around and left the room. Saki followed after her, while I was unsure whether I should go, too.

The objective that we were here for had not been fulfilled yet.

I looked at Mei-san. Our eyes met and she quickly averted her gaze.

Meaning that she had nothing to talk with us who had insulted Kadokura-san, not knowing the circumstances?

I also followed Towako-san out of the room. But there was one thing I could not bite back.

"Please don't go anywhere near doors with lines on them. Otherwise something bad will happen."

I couldn't see what her expression was while hearing these words.

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