Though abandoned, most of the old Sanami Amusement Park’s structures were still intact: Roller coasters, merry-go-rounds, Ferris wheels, teacups... nearly all of it was where it had always been. Everything was dirty with rust and limescale, and creaked unsettlingly every time the wind blew past; weeds grew wild and high through cracks in the pavement. Nearby, several of the cars of the Ferris wheel had lost their linchpins from aging and seemed like they might crash to the ground any second. It looked like Handa-san was right, in that young locals slipped in every now and then; most of the buildings were tagged with graffiti, and there wasn’t an unbroken window in sight. AmaBri had been in bad shape when Seiya first visited it last March, but it was nothing compared to this.
“It’s 330,000 square meters... that’s about two-thirds of AmaBri’s current area,” Isuzu said, while reading through the documents Handa-san had given her. The two of them were standing in the park’s entry plaza, wearing their borrowed yellow safety helmets. Handa-san had said she’d be waiting near the entrance; she didn’t know enough about the property to give them an in-depth tour. “Not very big...” Sento muttered.
“We’re too big at the moment,” Seiya told her. “And it’s about right for a place in the mountains.”
“It’s hilly as well,” Isuzu argued back. “It might be hard for children and the elderly to get around.”
“Well... we can compensate with elevators and escalators. Universal design is important anyway, nowadays.”
“The demolition will be costly. I would estimate one billion yen to remove the existing structures.”
“It would be, normally,” Seiya agreed. “But having the Mogute Clan on our side will give us more breathing room.”
“And then there’s the poor access... construction will be challenging,” Isuzu put in, “given the narrowness of the road leading here. Bringing in the heavy machinery we need, alone, will be a significant feat.”
“What’s with you? Don’t you have anything positive to say?” Seiya said in annoyance.
Isuzu furrowed her brow slightly. “I’m merely giving you the facts. That is my job.”
“Hmph.”
“Even so...” Isuzu looked out over the ruins. “It’s a depressing sight, isn’t it? I feel like I’m seeing one possible future for AmaBri...”
“Of course you do,” Seiya grumbled. “This is completely how it would have ended up if I hadn’t arrived. You could show a little gratitude...”
“I’m always stunned by the confidence it must take for you to say such things...” she mused.
“Come on, let’s look around.” Seiya ignored Isuzu’s barbs and began to walk towards the hall of mirrors just ahead, while adjusting the safety helmet he’d borrowed from Handa-san. Of course, the mirrors out front were all broken, and the structure was so covered in ivy and graffiti that it was hard to tell where the original entrance even was.
“It looks dangerous,” Isuzu cautioned him. “Like the whole building might come down at any minute.”
“Wait outside if you like, then,” Seiya retorted.
“I think that I will. You’ll need someone to inform the others when you’re mortally injured.”
“......” He had no reply to that one. Couldn’t she show concern like a normal person? That said, they were only here to examine the grounds; he didn’t actually have to paw through the ruins themselves. Still, Seiya wanted to get a feel for how badly off the buildings were, and to estimate how much the removal might cost.
He was approaching the hall of mirrors, peering in, when he caught sight of a feral cat inside. “There’s a cat in there,” he remarked.
“A cat?” Isuzu questioned.
“Well, it looked like a cat, anyway...” He’d only seen it for a second; some kind of small, black-and-white animal that had slipped through the corridor just ahead of him. It was so sudden that he couldn’t be sure, but it had looked like a cat to Seiya, at least.
“A feral cat colony might prove troublesome,” she observed.
“Why?”
“We’d have to drive them out before we could demolish the buildings, wouldn’t we?”
“It’s not that big a deal. We can just lure them out with cat food or something.”
“Seiya-kun,” Isuzu protested again, “this isn’t safe.”
“Actually, it’s surprisingly intact...” he told her. Despite its outer appearance, conditions inside the hall of mirrors weren’t that bad. There were a few broken mirrors, and Seiya saw a lot of graffiti, but that was the worst of it. He proceeded down a path and turned a corner, where he spotted the cat in a T-intersection ahead. It was too dark for him to see it clearly.
Is that... really a cat? he wondered. Maybe not. It was too round to be a cat, and its legs and tail were too stubby. What was it, then? A puppy? A piglet? The animal disappeared around the corner. “Piglet” seemed like the best guess, but it was hard to imagine wild hogs in a place like this...
“Seiya-kun?” Isuzu called after him.
“I’m just going to have a look,” he called back. Seiya followed the small animal, taking several more turns. He was surrounded by mirrors, by countless Seiyas in safety helmets. He couldn’t tell where the openings were; there were no lights, thanks to the building’s abandoned state.
All right, maybe this was a little dangerous... he thought uneasily. Hands outstretched to keep from banging into any mirrors, he fumbled his way forward and proceeded carefully.
“Seiya-kun? Where are you?” Isuzu asked from afar.
“Just shut up and wait outside!” he yelled.
“Seiya-ku—” Her voice seemed to get further away. It was probably because of the winding pathways. He didn’t think Isuzu would get hurt, but he was still a little worried.
Seiya came out into a faintly lit passageway. The exit was probably close. After a little more uncertain walking, he found the little creature again. It wasn’t a piglet; it was a tapir.
Black and white fur; short and stout body; long, dangling snout—a tapir.
“A tapir? What’s... a tapir doing here?” he asked. Had the old Sanami Amusement Park been home to some kind of miniature zoo? He’d seen no suggestion of that on the guide sign at the entrance...
“Oink,” the tapir said.
Seiya wasn’t aware that tapirs made noises like pigs, but the oink seemed to carry a sense of “follow me.” He wasn’t exactly happy being at the beck-and-call of a tapir, but his curiosity won out. Keeping his guard high, Seiya followed after it.
He came out of the hall of mirrors, on what seemed to be the other side of the building. Ahead of him, a narrow path traced a leisurely curve.
“Oink.” The tapir took off running. Seiya hesitated, then looked back. He was worried about Sento.