Owari no Chronicle:DC Interlude
Status: Incomplete
35% completed (estimated)
Interlude: The Usual
I am always
Always
Wishing for this
The pale blue expanse of the sky contained clouds that looked drawn on with a brush.
It was the winter sky and the sun shined down from its late morning height.
A train to Tokyo traveled down the Chuo Line.
It left the station building that contained a banner for a 2005 Christmas sale and it continued east.
The train picked up speed as it cut through the city that was enjoying its year-end festival.
It was midday on Christmas.
“Christmas, huh?”
A voice spoke in the Tokyo-bound train.
It came from the center of the long seat halfway down the nearly empty front car.
“Look, Shinjou-kun. An IAI food cart bus is having a Christmas sale in front of Kunitachi Station.”
“Eh? Where, where, Sayama-kun?”
“There.”
Sayama in his suit pointed out the window and Shinjou in her orange jacket tried to peer out.
“Oh, you’re right! They’re doing something suspiciously lively!”
“Yes, they are. Look over there. There is even a life-size Santa doll.”
“Oh, yeah. The Santa doll is naked and hanging upside down with a sign saying, ‘My Peter-class hard luck will protect you from Satan!’ …That can’t be right!!”
“Ha ha ha. It is within the margin of error, so there is nothing to worry about.”
“Really?” said Shinjou while Sayama laughed and looked to the station as it grew more distant.
They were moving east. As the midday sun shined on the Chuo Line to Tokyo, their train was as empty as one would expect of a rapid-service train.
They had an important “job” that night.
Every UCAT would be working together and they had the central role, so they had to gather at Mitaka where a base had already been set up.
They were scheduled to meet at three in the afternoon and Shinjou checked the current time on her watch.
“One o’clock. Even with just rapid-service, we’ll still arrive in Mitaka a little early, Sayama-kun. But Ooshiro-san said to take things easy before this big job.”
“There is something we could do, Shinjou-kun.”
Shinjou nodded, thought for a moment, and spoke up with some regret in her voice.
“Yes. If possible, I would have wanted to relax together some more.”
“Yes,” replied Sayama as he lightly crossed his arms. “I understand just how you feel. So in the short time until Mitaka…we can flirt together.”
“…I had a feeling you would say that.”
Hearing that, Sayama turned around.
Shinjou had her hair tied back behind her head and she wore a winter jacket over a white dress.
She was also glaring at him.
“Um? You do know that the world is in real danger right now, don’t you?”
“Yes, I am well aware. But…is there a law saying we are not allowed to flirt when the world is in danger?”
Shinjou groaned but finally raised a finger.
“Um,” she began. “There isn’t a law saying we have to flirt either.”
“Yes, but…we are allowed freedom of expression.”
“Kh,” she groaned again.
But then she muttered “I won’t let him win this” under her breath.
“Wh-what exactly were you planning for this flirting?”
Sayama thought on that question. What exactly was this “flirting” he was thinking of? With Baku mimicking him from his head, Sayama held his hands in empty air like a conductor and made an additional pose as he answered.
“Flirt! Ing!!”
“Wh-what was that weird shout and transformation pose for!?”
“Oh? That was not enough to understand, Shinjou-kun!?”
Sayama continued his explanation while obviously surprised that his pose had not gotten through to her.
“In other words, Sayama Mikoto can use his words alone to flirt with you in only 0.00002 seconds!”
“Oh? Then if I close off your windpipe so you can’t speak, you can’t get weird?”
“Ha ha ha. Getting violent again, I see. But that too is lovely… Flirt! Ing!”
She strangled him.
After ten seconds, he went limp and she let go.
“Honestly.”
She sat back down next to him and rested her head in her hand. She was still glancing over at him.
“This really has been an awful day from the beginning.”
“Hm? From the beginning?”
“Yes, the awfulness began in the morning.”
When she glared at him, he and Baku both tilted their heads.
“This morning? But you seemed quite happy when the sun came up.”
“Waaaah!! By morning I meant when we woke up!!”
She strangled him again and shook him.
…Oh, no. This is going to leave a mark on my neck. And if this continues much longer and I die here, Shinjou-kun would become a criminal.
Killing Sayama Mikoto is a greater crime than destroying the entire universe.
If she did that, she would be imprisoned until the end of the world, but if I am going to be killed by anyone, it should be Shinjou-kun. Still, I never like to waste a good opportunity, so maybe I could frame the old man or Izumo to get them executed. But then if neither of them was caught, Shinjou-kun would gain a criminal record.
And if that happened, she would have to have her fingers examined to take her fingerprints.
…I cannot let someone other than me do that to her!
Therefore…
“Sh-Shinjou-kun, calm down! No matter the reason, I cannot allow someone other than me to examine your ___!”
“…Have you gone insane?”
“Ha ha ha. What are you talking about?”
Sayama laughed off Shinjou’s needless worries.
“Yes, feel free to put whatever body part you want in that ‘___’. And something adventurous would be nice, Shinjou-kun!”
Shinjou smiled a little.
…Good. She seems to understand now.
Then she nodded a few times and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“How about you die?”
“No, Shinjou-kun, let us set aside such trivial matters and prepare the ink and inkstone.”
“What are you trying to do!?”
Shinjou panicked, stood from her seat to escape, and held her skirt down.
“B-besides, right now…I’m a boy!”
That line received a certain reaction.
There were very few people on the train already, but it grew completely silent now.
“…Ah.”
Shinjou seemed to have realized what her statement plus her current location meant. She looked down at her skirt, looked around, and blushed.
“U-um…well, uh…”
Shinjou was at a loss for words, so Sayama decided he needed to say something to help her out.
“Shinjou-kun!” He stood up. “I do not mind in the slightest that you are a boy, Shinjou-kun!!”
“Nwaah! You idiot!!”
“There is no need to be shy! Now, leap into my chest as the boy you are, Shinjou-kun!”
She leaped into his chest knee-first.
She heard his ribs creaking, but he seemed satisfied that she had complied.
“Gwoh! Sh-Shinjou-kun! How passionate! How manly!!”
“Sh-shut up. Why do you feel the need to destroy my position in society!?”
“A butt god has no need for a position in lowly human society, Shinjou-kun. The only place you need is in the absolute physical laws of the Sayama Universe.”
He placed an arm around her shoulders from the side and she glared back at him.
She tilted her head with a look of pure displeasure.
“I guess I’ll ask… How do things work in the Sayama Universe?”
He immediately answered.
“It has recently been introduced to the wonders of the video camera. And a digital one at that.”
“What kind of universe is that!? And don’t make it sound like you aren’t involved!”
She suddenly stopped speaking there.
He could see her tilting her head and frowning.
“What is it?”
“Well… You mentioning the video camera reminded me of something,” she said. “Um, I’ve never actually seen you swap out the tape.”
“What are you talking about? It is all being backed up multiple times to an online distributed file storage system using the computer hidden in the ceiling. Each individual piece is useless, but my own personal software and password can transform them into a video. …Yes, computers around the world are overflowing with you right now, Shinjou-kun.”
He had assumed she would have some kind of reaction, but when he looked to her face in front of his chest…
“?”
She simply tilted her head as if she did not understand what he had said.
He tilted his head in the same way.
“Do you have some kind of question about the grand Shinjou-kun World Domination Project I just described?”
“Well…” She frowned. “You can record video on computers?”
“—————”
He fell silent, so she tilted her head further.
“Aren’t videos recorded on tapes? I know a little bit about this, you know. They say Beta is the best so it’ll definitely survive. Isn’t that right?”
“It would seem I need to explain to you how Kashima-kun’s videos work. Not to mention what VHS is.”
“Eh? Doesn’t Kashima-san’s camera have a tape recorder built inside it? I thought it was amazing that it didn’t make a bunch of noise. And what’s VHS? Some kind of vaccine?”
Sayama decided in his heart that, when they got back home, he would explain this all to her while recording her.
If she does not know what VHS is, I will have to have S with her V in a very H way. In fact, the cabinet meeting in my head is about to vote on the matter. No objections! Thank you. Thank you, VHS.
…You are a treasure of Japan!
“Sayama-kun? Sayama-kun? What are you muttering about and what are you looking at? How about you die?”
“Oh, sorry, Shinjou-kun. I am fine. Just fine.”
“Really?”
“Yes,” said Sayama while watching the midday city scenery as the train ran along an elevated track.
With his arm around Shinjou from the side, he watched the city and sighed.
“The thing is…”
“Yes?”
“I was realizing that I want to ensure future generation know about someone as VHS as you.”
“…Calm down.”
“Heh heh. I cannot wait, Shinjou-kun!”
“Wait, um, uh, Sayama-kun? Are you even listening to me?”
“Yes, I am. When we get back, I will film you, play it back on a triple monitor setup, and enjoy comparing it to the real one! Yes, I will have two high-resolution Shinjou-kuns! We must return alive today, Shinjou-kun! …Anyway, what have you been trying to say?”
Since he had his arm around her, she was able to immediately tighten his necktie.
While she strangled and shook him, he thought to himself.
…Heh heh. She is so cute when she is embarrassed. Now, this is what I call flirting.
It is truly wonderful how she sounds so serious when saying “die” or “perish” to hide her embarrassment.
Recently, she has not been releasing me even when I tap out, but that is just how she shows that she does not want to let me go. And I seem to have a way of always giving her what she wants.
…She is feeling lonely, so she can strangle me as much as she wants!
Regardless, he started tapping out before long.
He was released, he caught his breath, and he realized she was looking up at him.
He wiped the sweat from his brow after that light exercise and spoke.
“What is it, Shinjou-kun?”
“Well…I was just thinking that this is how things usually go for us.”
“Kazami and Izumo seemed a little different from normal.”
Shinjou looked up to the ceiling and thought a bit, but she finally smiled.
“I’m sure they’ll be back to normal when they get to Mitaka.”
“Will they?”
“Yeah.” She nodded. “Even though it’s Christmas. …Look.”
The train started to slow. Shinjou glanced around, but Sayama kept his arm around her and refused to let go.
She did not resist and simply looked out the window.
“The station area is all decorated. There’s even a Christmas tree. But…” She smiled bitterly. “Why are we the same as always in the middle of this big festival?”
“That is simple, Shinjou-kun. We are always having a festival.”
“…‘We’?”
He nodded and her expression vanished.
She hung her head and he held her even tighter.
“What put you in a bad mood so quickly?”
“Well…I was just thinking that this is how things usually go for us.”
“Of course it is,” he said. “We are those who enjoy festivals. If enjoying something is better than suffering through it – and you do not wish to be a masochist – then it is best to think of everything as a festival.”
Sayama looked to the decorations outside the station they were stopped at.
“Look.” He shook Shinjou’s shoulder to get her to look too. “The Christmas tree is so pretty, Shinjou-kun. We should have gotten one for ourselves.”
“Wouldn’t our room feel pretty cramped?”
“But it would feel even more fun. Have you ever-…?”
She shook her head before he could finish his question.
“I don’t think I’ve ever decorated a tree. Although maybe I just don’t remember it.”
“Then how about doing it with me?”
She gave him a troubled smile, but…
“Sayama-kun, you’ll be with me for all my firsts, won’t you?”
As if in response to that thought, she relaxed her shoulders and nodded.
“That’s right, Sayama-kun. …A Christmas tree would be nice. I hope we can get a really big one. And…”
“And?”
“Well.” Her expression softened. “I hope everyone, even my mom and the others, can see that tree. …I kind of feel like they’ll be able to.”
“A Christmas tree? What’s that? You want to go see it?”
A surprised voice came from the floor.
That was where a black cat sat on the wooden floor of a large, dimly-lit space.
Several rectangular sun-marks covered the stepped floor the cat sat on, but those were the marks left when bookcases were moved.
This had originally been a library, but all of the bookcases had been moved to the hallway, leaving a few desks and…
“Then quit clinging to the counter and get going, Brunhild. I want to see that Christmas tree, too.”
The small figure at the counter looked back toward the cat.
The person reading a book and sipping at a paper cup of coffee was Brunhild.
The cat then heard what she said while wearing her black clothing and hat.
“You know?” she began. “Only children get excited about a Christmas tree. It’s not worth going somewhere crowded for.”
“Hm. So you don’t have any friends to go with you?”
Brunhild crushed the paper cup in her hand.
She glared at him, so he took a step back.
“Did I…say something wrong?”
“…No, not really.”
“A-are you sure?”
The cat forced himself to start whistling.
During the intermittent whistling, Brunhild’s gaze slowly returned to the book.
After a while, the cat stopped whistling and seemed unable to stand the subsequent silence.
“Where’s Siegfried?”
“He apparently went to Okutama. He said it was to see if Hiba’s grandfather had kicked the bucket yet.”
“Hm. Everyone’s ignoring you, aren’t they?”
Brunhild suddenly pulled a coffee grinder from below the counter.
The old, hand-cranked device was heavy enough to make the entire counter shake.
“U-um…”
The coffee grinder blocked the cat’s view of Brunhild’s face.
She placed beans inside, grabbed the handle in her fists, and started cranking away.
Sounds of scraping and crunching filled the library as Brunhild seemed to enter a trancelike state.
“Heh heh heh heh heh. Destruction is simply wonderful!!”
“C-calm down. Let’s calm down, Brunhild! Something unpleasant might have happened, but calm down!”
“Then,” she said while coming to a stop.
After a short pause, she continued speaking while holding the handle like she was praying.
“Why didn’t Siegfried give me a Christmas present?”
“Well…”
She immediately interrupted.
“Wrong! You have one more chance!”
“I-I hadn’t even said anything yet!!”
“What? You sure are slow.”
“Y-you’re a tyrant! An absolute tyrant!”
She expressionlessly told him to “just get on with it” and sweat began pouring down his face.
He desperately thought for about five seconds.
“Oh! I know!”
“…Yes?”
He responded to her quiet question by stretching out his body and puffing out his chest.
“Just think about it! People only give presents to children and given your actual age- Wait! I was wrong! Forget I said anything! Please!”
“…You’ve gotten clever in the worst possible way lately.”
“By the way.” The cat prepared his hind legs to make a quick escape as he asked. “Why do you want a present in the first place?”
“Because…I feel like he would have given Gutrune one.”
“Hm? So you want him to treat you like a child?”
One second after asking, he ducked down and covered his head, but Brunhild did not send an attack his way.
“…?”
Confused, he looked up and found her with her chin resting on the coffee grinder.
Her partially-opened eyes were looking right at him.
“Maybe I do.”
“…Do what?”
“The thing is,” she began. “I lost my parents when I was a kid and didn’t have an enjoyable childhood. My time with the princess and the others was fine, but ever since losing 1st-Gear, there hasn’t been any love around me.”
“Ha ha ha. You’re placing responsibility for your own personality on others, aren’t you?”
“Heh heh heh. You’re placing your own life in someone else’s hands, aren’t you!?”
The cat quickly retreated, but Brunhild only snorted.
The cat saw her lean back in her chair, cross her arms behind her head, and sigh toward the ceiling.
“This really is boring…”
“Th-then, Brunhild.”
The cat made a suggestion.
“How about I give you a present?”
“…Such as?”
There was a tone of interest in her question, so the cat started thinking.
“Um…”
This has to be something really good, so…
“How about the corpses of a dozen cicadas I caught during the summer? You can use them in a ritual, can’t you?”
“Do you think I’m a witch or something?”
“Y-you clearly are!!”
Hearing that, she looked at the hat on her head.
“Maybe so,” she said as she lifted it up and let a small bird poke its head out.
She straightened up and rested her chin on the coffee grinder again.
“Well, something would be better than nothing. Okay, if you’re going to get me something…”
A smile appeared on her face as she looked down at him.
“Listen. There’s something I want.”
“Eh? Wh-what? What is it!? A victim!? Or a sacrifice!? If you get one of those, I can avoid getting tied up, can’t I!? …So which is it!?”
“Are you picking a fight with me!? …Listen.”
She pointed at him and jabbed her finger forward with each word.
“I. Want. Your. Remorse.”
“…My remorse?”
The cat tilted his head.
After tilting it for five seconds, twenty seconds, and then a full minute, he slowly lowered his hips.
“What exactly…do you mean?”
“…Oh? You show it all the time. After I scold you.”
“So my remorse…is collapsing limply to the floor?”
“If that’s what your remorse is, then yes! Now, give me your remorse for my present!”
She stood up and approached, so the cat made a run for it.
“A present, hm?”
A male voice could be heard on a sunny street corner.
A man in a somewhat worn-out lab coat stood in front of a house on a narrow road. The house’s nameplate said “Kashima”, the man had a leather bag in his right hand, and he adjusted his glasses and collar with his left hand.
“Now, then.”
He calmed his breathing and started to open the door.
That was when the wooden door suddenly opened from inside.
Sandal-wearing footsteps and a woman’s voice reached him from the rectangle of darkness.
“Welcome home, Akio-san.”
A woman with short black hair stepped out with her eyes bent and narrowed.
“It’s good to be back, Natsu-san. I-…”
He trailed off because Natsu was holding a baby to her chest when she stepped out.
The baby was wrapped in a white cloth while she looked to her mother and father and spoke to both of them.
The quiet “ah” caused Kashima to narrow his own eyes.
“Daddy’s home, Harumi.”
He breathed a small sigh of relief.
Natsu must have seen the tension leave his shoulders because she nodded.
“I’m glad you’re all right.”
A note of relief filled her voice.
During the early morning two days before, his workplace had been destroyed in an “earthquake” and everyone inside – him included – had evacuated thanks to the early warning they had received.
However, relatives like Natsu had only been informed the following day and the evacuated people had been missing at that point.
She had apparently been incredibly worried until he had contacted her at about ten. When he had called then, she had apparently been about to visit his parents and she had burst into tears as soon as she heard his voice.
Then a horribly unreasonable hour of scolding and kindness had followed.
However, he had needed to take care of some things afterwards, so he had not come home until now.
It had been a while, but he was returning home just like always.
It looked like Natsu had calmed down by now, but she was still relieved to actually see him with her own eyes. That may have been why her left hand was tugging on his lab coat.
“Please call me sooner next time. …I don’t want to hear whether you’re okay or not from someone else.”
Who’s supposed to contact her if I died? he wondered, but he decided it would be best not to say that given the circumstances. So…
“I’ll always return home as long as you’re protecting our home …Isn’t that right, Harumi?”
He tried to touch his daughter, but Natsu turned around to move Harumi away from him.
A quiet “ah” escaped him and she looked over her shoulder at him and laughed quietly from her throat.
“The naughty Santa who waited until Christmas morning to come home doesn’t get to touch Haru-chan.”
Now that’s a harsh punishment, he thought in silent shock, but he did not apologize. After all, his late return had been due to work he needed to do last night and the two of them had decided he would not apologize for any work that protected his family.
So instead, he spoke in an intentionally playful voice.
“To show my remorse, I changed from red to white clothes.”
He shrugged and Natsu tilted her head while still smiling.
“What is it?” he asked when faced with her confusion.
“Did putting on white clothes also white-out your memories of the present you mentioned on the phone?”
His body temperature dropped by three degrees.
He had indeed mentioned a present he had bought when speaking with her before the “earthquake”. It had been an IAI Christmas Mystery Bag. Specifically the “Pine” one that cost thirty thousand yen. He had used an X-ray device and an MRI to check the contents, then used a conceptual scan, and finally gotten the bomb squad to open it. After tossing all the dangerous items in Atsuta’s locker, he had repackaged it with what he had bought himself to create what he called the True Mystery Bag.
“It’s not that I forgot. It was lost in the earthquake.”
“Haru-chan? Our Santa didn’t forget our present. He lost it. And in an earthquake no less. Sounds like a magician from an RPG, doesn’t it? …He destroys, but he can’t create.”
Kashima’s body temperature dropped even further as Natsu rubbed her cheek against Harumi and laughed again.
“Sorry, Akio-san. Since you were safe, I decided to get back at you for all the worrying you put me through.”
When she put it that way, he could only accept it. It did not seem fair, but he decided she was making sure he did not need to apologize for making her worry.
However, there was some darkness remaining on her face. He knew why and, even though he did not say anything, she put it to words without hiding anything.
“Akio-san, you have work tonight too, don’t you?”
“I’ll be back,” he replied.
He had already told her over the phone that he needed to prepare for work at the Kanda branch next year since the main building had been destroyed.
That was a lie.
He had “work” in the city tonight. And this work required him to become a soldier even though he had an important office position. It was possible he could lose his life and it was even possible the world could be destroyed.
…But…
“I’ll definitely be back.”
He said the same words he had once said in his heart.
Natsu turned back around to face him. There was no smile in her eyes, her mouth opened, and she trembled a little, but…
“Okay.”
She forced a smile and nodded. That motion caused something to spill from the corners of her eyes.
She must have noticed the tremor in her eyes because she wiped at the top of her cheeks with her fingers and turned her back. She quickly moved inside the house and put on a cheerful voice.
“A-Akio-san…will you be leaving right away?”
“I think I can wait until this evening. I’m sure Atsuta at least will be late.”
“In that case…”
Some of the strength truly had returned to her voice now and she asked a question while removing her sandals in front of him.
“It may be midday, but how about we have a party here while thanking Atsuta-san for always being late?”
“A party?”
“Yes.” She turned around and showed him a real smile. “This will be Haru-chan’s first Christmas after all. So can’t we?”
By the time she asked that, a trouble look had reached her face. Her cheeks were flushed, but that was probably from embarrassment. When he thought about it, they had always celebrated Christmas by eating out before Harumi had been born and her family had no real Christmas traditions since her parents had followed strict Japanese customs.
A party a child would enjoy must be an adventure for her, he realized. So…
“Good idea.”
The expression on her face when she heard that made it hard to tell whether she or Harumi was the child.
He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and stepped inside. I’m home, he said in his heart.
“Well, I’ll bring you a present tomorrow. Santa hit someone with his sleigh today, so he’ll be a little late. But…Natsu-san, you already have the party ready to go, don’t you? The food’s all cooked, isn’t it?”
“Eh? W-well… How did you know?”
She sounded troubled and he squeezed her shoulder in lieu of an answer.
He brought his cheek in close.
“Ah,” she said while shrinking back and looking him in the eye, so he looked right back.
Her eyes were a little damp from crying a bit earlier.
Those black eyes closed and her chin turned upwards.
He nodded as she gave a small demanding wave of her head.
“You asked how I knew you had the food for the party cooked.”
“?”
“That’s because I could smell vanilla essence on you.”
She blushed. Harumi also moved at her chest, so she might have been worried about how she smelled too.
But Natsu closed her eyes and spoke in a somewhat displeased voice.
“Th-that is, um…my smell.”
“Is it? You smell this sweet?”
“Yes.” She waved her head again with her eyes still closed. “It has a flavor too, but it’s bitter, not sweet. I learned that today.”
She laughed from her throat and Kashima brought that laugh into his mouth. With that, he began their party for this holy day.
