“So I just have to go looking for this Ryoma guy, right?” he said. “I’ll do it. But you need to give me some clues on how to find him. If you don’t, I could just wander around town all day claiming I’m looking for him, right?”
He’d be technically keeping his promise then, and Ende couldn’t go after anyone he knew. An Outer wouldn’t just overlook the potential for that, surely.
“Let me see,” she said. “The last place I saw him was in my library. A hero girl fell from the ceiling, and they beat a hasty retreat together.”
“A hero girl, huh?” Yuichi only knew one person who could fit that description. It sounded like Yurika Maruyama. He couldn’t imagine many other girls who said crazy enough things to qualify.
Yuichi tried remembering everything he knew about Yurika.
She was a first-year student at Seishin High.
She called herself a hero.
She was a Divine Vessel host with the ability was to turn whatever she held into a weapon.
Her ally was a priest who used Bajiquan.
She seemed to know Natsuki Takeuchi.
That was about it.
Today was Sunday. If he went to school tomorrow, he might run into her. But what concerned him was Ende mentioning that she was on the run from something.
She seemed to be earnestly engaging with the Divine Vessels War, so if he got too complacent, he might lose his only lead.
Yuichi pulled out his cell phone and dialed Natsuki’s number.
“This is unusual,” Natsuki said, answering it. “I hardly ever get phone calls from you.”
“How are you holding up? Are you still in the hospital?” he asked.
“I got out today. I’m back at home. Takizawa seems like she’ll be there for a while longer, though. Did you just call to check up on me?”
“No. You know Yurika Maruyama, right?” Yurika had been fervently searching for Natsuki after she went missing, which suggested they knew each other fairly well.
“I do. What about her?”
“I’m searching for a man who’s apparently on the run with her. Do you have any idea where she might be?”
“I don’t understand why you’re asking about this.”
“Um, did you know she’s calling herself a hero?” Yuichi hedged.
“She did mention some nonsense like that, yes.”
“And it seems like she’s a Divine Vessel host.”
“I’m still not following. What do you want me to do?”
“Let’s see... do you know her phone number?” he asked.
Calling her seemed like the fastest way to find her. If she answered, he could at least confirm she was alive, and he might even be able to ask where she was.
“I don’t. She acted like we were friends, but I didn’t care about her.”
What an unhelpful response.
“That sounds like a pretty desolate relationship...” Yuichi muttered.
“Could you wait a minute? Maruyama’s house is next to mine, so I’ll check.” With that, she hung up.
She called him back a few minutes later.
“It seems she hasn’t been back home since yesterday. Though apparently such things happen occasionally, so her mother isn’t terribly worried.”
“I see. Thanks. I’ll get searching on my own, then.”
“Sakaki, where are you now?” Natsuki asked.
“A cafe near the station.”
“I’ll meet up with you there. It would be easier to find her if you’re with someone she knows well, right?”
Since Yuichi barely knew the girl at all, he had to admit that was true. He gave Natsuki more detailed information on his location, then hung up.
“And that’s that. I’m doing everything I can, so don’t do anything crazy, okay?” Yuichi warned Ende.
“Certainly. As long as you’re displaying real enthusiasm, I have no need to get involved... though I think you’re the kind of person trouble inevitably finds anyway.”
Yuichi grimaced.
He’d gotten involved in a lot of strange things in the past, it was true. The reason he’d wanted to get rid of Soul Reader was because he was sick of it all, but that was almost feeling like too much to hope for now.
“So, is this the end of our talk?” he demanded.
“I think so. But someone’s on the way here, if you’ll wait around a little bit. I’d like to introduce you; do you mind?”
“They just happen to be coming here, right? Or did you ask someone to come?” Yuichi felt a little dubious about the latter, as Ende had shown no signs of calling someone here either on their way here or after they arrived.
“I asked them,” Ende said. “See, I can see a little bit of the future. That’s why I told them to come here in advance.”
“Well, I have to meet with Takeuchi here, so that should be fine.” Though it wasn’t like they had anything to talk about in the meantime.
Minutes passed in awkward silence. Yuichi was just starting to think about leaving when Ende spoke up with a triumphant expression.
“I think it’s almost time. Look out the window, would you?”
Wondering if it would be someone he was surprised to see, Yuichi did as he was told. But when he looked outside, he didn’t see anything special. It was just a road with lots of people and a few cars passing by.
“There’s nothing there,” he said.
Just then, someone approached.
A large man walked right up to the window beyond which Yuichi and Ende were sitting and peered inside.
Yuichi recognized him, though they had barely spoken; it was Sakiyama, the stalker who served as Natsuki’s subordinate.
“Is he a friend of yours? Or did Takeuchi send him?” Yuichi asked.
It was just about the time when Natsuki might show up, so maybe Sakiyama had come with her. That was his best guess about what was going on.
Sakiyama’s eyes were vacant as he gazed at Yuichi. He definitely seemed to have some business with him, but he was still acting strangely. Although he was just standing there, there was something twisted about his posture, and his center of gravity was unsteady. His face was ash pale, and there were traces of suturing across his neck.
Huh? There’s something strange about his aura, Yuichi realized. It’s like he’s not actually human...
He looked like a walking corpse.
The moment that thought entered Yuichi’s head, Sakiyama began to move, sluggishly, raising a fist behind him.
“Damn!” Yuichi glared at Ende, wondering if he’d fallen for some sort of trap of hers.
But Ende looked surprised, too. “This wasn’t the person I was expecting. What should I do?”
“I don’t care!”
Yuichi was torn. She was an enemy, and in that respect, he felt no obligation to help her. At the same time, she still looked like an ordinary girl, which made him hesitant to just abandon her.
“Hey, now,” she said. “If you have to think about it, you might as well save me. You can’t just ignore a beautiful girl in distress.”
“I thought Outers couldn’t die!” he snapped.
But Outers weren’t truly invincible. They were, simply put, extremely lucky, which meant that it was possible for them to get hurt under certain circumstances.
Yuichi picked up Ende and began running for it.
A moment later, the window glass broke in with a crash.
“Dammit! What’s going on?” he shouted.
The cafe was in chaos. The customers, seeing the bizarre scene unfold, began to flee, unable to resist the urge to rush like a mob for the building’s one small entrance. Yuichi was starting to think he should probably stop coming to this cafe.
“Hmm, the customer evacuation isn’t going well. Though I doubt you want to fight him here,” Ende said in amusement, clinging to him as he carried her.
“Just to make sure, he’s not after you, is he?” Yuichi demanded.
“No way. You know I exist outside of destiny, right? I’ll never be heroine-pursued-by-evildoers material, sad though it may be.”
“So it’s definitely me... I seem to make trouble for this cafe every time I come... though I’m not sure it’s really my fault...” Still, if Yuichi was the one drawing his enemies here, then he did feel some responsibility.
“That’s Sakiyama, Natsuki’s subordinate,” Ende commented. “But it’s strange... I thought he was dead.”
“Wait a minute! What do you mean, he was dead?”
“Remember how Natsuki was being pursued by Nergal’s underlings recently? Sakiyama was killed by one of them. See his neck? Look at the sloppy way his head has been sewn on.”
“None of this makes any sense,” Yuichi complained. “If he was dead, then why is he alive now? And coming after me?!”
It was possible that Sakiyama held a grudge against him over Natsuki. But if that was the case, it seemed awfully sudden.
“How heartless can a guy get?” Ende asked. “Someone you know has died, and that’s all the feeling you can muster?”
“Look, it’s a little hard to feel sympathy when they’re walking around and attacking you!”
“Fair point. So, what now? Going to try to fight in the cafe?”
“Sakaki!” Natsuki fought her way through the fleeing customers to arrive next to Yuichi. “What’s going on here?”
“I don’t know!” he called back. “Sakiyama just attacked us!”
“Sakiyama... how...”
Sakiyama was in the process of climbing through the window frame to get inside. Seeing a corpse up and walking around was certainly unsettling, but his nature also meant that his movements were sluggish; it would be easy to just run away from him.
“He seems to be dead,” Yuichi said. “Did you know about this?”
As Natsuki noticed Sakiyama, a hint of dismay entered her expression. “Yes. I saw him decapitated.”
“Anyway, we can’t stay here. We should try to get some distance for now.”
“Are you sure about that?” Ende asked. “What if you run, and he starts attacking people indiscriminately? It wouldn’t be very good for your ‘paragon of justice’ image.”
She was right, but they couldn’t just fight in such a populated area. They had to find a way to get somewhere else. The police would probably show up soon, too, which meant they had no time to lose.
“Let’s try to lead him to the back alleys,” Yuichi said. “I’ve heard it’s hard for people to come there.”
He and the others headed for the exit. Sakiyama was still moving sluggishly, and couldn’t keep up with them.
The customers were all gone now, so it would probably be easy enough to leave. But as they were heading for the door, it opened, and someone else entered.
It was a woman dressed in an anachronistic style, with a silk hat and an old-style black riding dress. She was staring straight at Natsuki.
“Natsuki dear, it’s been such a long time. I came to play with your boyfriend, but seeing you here, too, why... as your big sister, I’m so surprised...”
The woman looked overjoyed.