With all of my fingers besides the left thumb placed in braces, the doctor told me they’d take about two weeks to heal to the point of not interfering with my daily life as long as I went easy on them.
The following day, I headed for Kunagisa’s condominium in Shirosaki, the top residential area in Kyoto. I thought it would be nice if I showed up looking cool on the Vespa I had inherited from Mikoko, but the finger braces wouldn’t allow it, so I gave up. It seemed I would have to wait a bit longer before I could enjoy that sweet feeling of going for a spin.
The braces proved to be more of an inconvenience than I had initially expected. I figured, “Oh, so my fingers won’t be able to bend as much for a while, big deal,” but during the first evening alone, I realized that it was going to place a considerable strain on my daily life. Even getting dressed was a big chore. I realized that I was going to become even more of a burden to Miiko next door and entered a moderately pessimistic phase.
And so it was that my mode of transportation this day was my own two feet. Three hours was a bit intense for someone suffering from injuries, and I could’ve just as easily taken a bus or taxi, but considering the high cost of the medical bills for my fingers, I had decided to save my money instead.
“But I’ll bet she’s gonna be there…”
Muttering such things to myself, I eventually arrived in Shirosaki and in front of Kunagisa’s condo. It was a posh, brick building that looked more like a fortress. The thirty-first and thirty-second floors both belonged to Kunagisa.
I passed through the gazes of a number of stony security guards sitting firm as rocks in the entrance area (they knew my face by now) and headed for the elevator lobby. An elevator was already on the first floor before I even called it. I pushed the button, opened the door, and went in. I used a key to unlock the button case, exposing the buttons for floors thirty-one and thirty-two, and pressed the one for thirty-two.
The sensation of gravity gone awry continued for a whole minute.
I exited the elevator once it stopped and approached the steel door straight ahead of me. As vastly superior as this place was to my own, it still lacked an intercom. Kunagisa almost never received any visitors, so there was no need.
I opened the lock with a key and fingerprint scan and entered.
“Tomo-o-o, it’s meee. I’m i-i-in,” I called out as I walked down the hallway (although “hallway” doesn’t sound right; the staircase alone was bigger than my room). On the thirty-first floor below, most of the walls had been knocked down to make space for a ridiculously enormous computer, whereas the thirty-second floor was more like a maze, making it easy for me with my poor memory to get mixed up. Now where was that girl?
I realized I should have called her ahead of time, but my fingers were in no condition to be operating a phone. My left thumb was still functioning normally, of course, so I could have done it with enough effort, but I was in no mood to exert that effort.
“Tomo, where are you?” I called out again as I continued walking down the hall. I began to see bizarre cords and cables of unknown varieties tangled along the floor. Of course, I had set foot in this place any number of times by now, but for a guy like me who didn’t know the first thing about mechanical or electronic engineering, it was still like a magic kingdom. If I wasn’t careful, I could easily trip on something and fall, so I made sure to take caution.
“Tomo, it’s me. You’re somewhere in here, right?”
“Yo, I’m over here, thisaway, thisaway.”
The responding voice didn’t belong to Kunagisa.
As expected, it was red.
“…”
Not that voices have colors.
“Actually, I was hoping you wouldn’t be here…”
Is life ever that easy?
I walked in the direction of the voice until I arrived at last in an empty room about ten mats in size. In this disgustingly big mansion of a condo, there were spaces even Tomo Kunagisa couldn’t find a use for. I supposed it was also just a matter of time.
Then again, she needed a room like this if she was going to have guests.
“Yo. Long time no see.”
Inside, Aikawa and…
“Wawawawa, it’s Iichan!”
Tomo Kunagisa were sitting across from each other, drinking cola out of cans.
Hawaiian-blue hair, the petite frame of a child, and a hundred-percent undiluted smile. It was the first time I’d seen Tomo Kunagisa in a while. Since Golden Week, in fact, so almost a whole month. But it felt like it had been ages.
It was as if I’d returned to where I belonged.
Perhaps this was what they called nostalgia.
“Wawawa. Iichan, what happened to your hands? Is it just me, or did they get a lot fatter?”
“The skin’s hardening. It’s Flictonic Cliple Weber Syndrome.”
“Ooh, I see.”
“No you don’t. Actually, there was a string of incidents. Including my face injuries, it’ll be about two weeks until I’m fully recovered.”
“Hawawaa. Wowee, Iichan, cooool. You’re dyn-o-mite, Iichan, yayyy. Were you hanging out with some ascetic?”
“No. Not that again.” I sat down to join them, effectively forming an isosceles triangle with myself at the peak. My eyes shifted towards the source of my fears.
“Hello, Jun.”
“What’s up, Protagnoist?” She grinned, cola in hand. As usual, she looked like she was up to no good. On the other hand, she seemed to be in surprisingly high spirits. But Aikawa’s mood changed like mountain weather so it was hard to really judge.
“What are you doing in Kunagisa’s top-secret headquarters? Come to find out more about the prowler?”
“No, no, nothing like that. The prowler thing’s been settled for the time being.”
“Really?”
“Yup,” she nodded.
“We were just talking about that now, Iichan. You wanna participate? Three heads are better than two.”
“Nah, not interested.”
I was lying.
Still, hadn’t Zerozaki gone to America? Maybe Aikawa caught up with him at the airport and put an end to things once and for all. If so, he had my condolences. That was too sad an epilogue after his gallant departure. How shameful, Hitoshiki Zerozaki.
“Hey, Kunagisa,” Aikawa said. “Sorry to do this in your own house, but would you mind leaving us alone for a moment? I need to talk to Iichan.”
“Hmm?” Kunagisa tilted her head. “Is it a secret something?”
“Yeah.”
“Hmm. Okay.”
She stood up and tip-tapped out of the room. Most likely she would head off to some computer in another room and start working away. Unlike me, whose only way of passing time was Eight Queens, Kunagisa had a near limitless supply of methods.
Left alone with Aikawa, I was first to speak. “You know, I can’t help but notice you just kicked Kunagisa out.”
“I did. You wouldn’t want her to be present when we’re having a serious talk, would you?” Aikawa said unapologetically. “You ought to be grateful to me. Don’t get so angry. Geez, I sideline Tomo for two seconds and you lose your cool.”
“Why not talk somewhere else some other day?”
“No can do. I’m a busy woman. Tomorrow I’m needed in Hokkaido. I’ll be heading there as soon as I leave this place. To be honest, I wasn’t sure I’d get to see you.”
Just unlucky, I guess. “So…” Realizing that there was no way to talk my way out of anything with this woman, I gave up and encouraged her to begin. “What are we talking about this time?”
“First, an update on the Zerozaki case. I’m sure you’re interested to know. I won’t let you say you’re not.”
“Well, as much as the next guy. But what did you mean, it’s been ‘settled’?”
“Last night, I finally found that little snot. We had a little round two.”
“And?”
“We came to a friendly agreement,” Aikawa said. “He’ll stop killing people, and in return, I’ll leave him alone. It’s a deal.”
“…You’re good with that?”
“Sure. My job was only to stop the Kyoto prowler. Nobody ever said to catch him. To be honest, I’d rather avoid getting into a killfest with the Zerozaki Clan, so this is good enough for now. For now.”