Chapter 78

Seto and I walked back to the hideout. I wondered what was up with everyone. I never told them about any of this before. Maybe they’d hate me afterward. “Oh, they won’t. You’ll be fine.” Seto’s statement made me shiver with fright. “Y-you used your power again…? That’s sure been a while. Kind of embarrassing, getting read like that.” “Huhh?! Didn’t you just say you wanted us to listen to you?” “Dahh! That’s in the past, all right? …Seriously, though, don’t tell everybody else about that, all right?” “Ha-ha-ha! No problem! It’ll be a secret between men!” Seto grinned at me. I kept my head down. This night was proving to be a major embarrassment to me. “Ugh, this is so out of character for me. Agghh…” “Well, what’s the harm with that sometimes?” Seto was acting just as bright and jovial as always. I wasn’t sure he truly understood the weight of the situation. Even if he did, though, he’d probably still act like this. He used to be such a pathetic crybaby. Now he was one of the most relied-upon presences in my life. As we chatted on the way home, I noticed someone standing in front of a set of vending machines. “Oh, great…I really don’t wanna run into her…” The figure, noticing me, began to walk on up. She had on some kind of hospital gown that she probably swiped from somewhere, her long black hair done up in a pair of ponytails. “Hmm? Who’s that?” “…Ene.” My identification broke Seto’s brain for a few moments. Which I could understand. We were talking the difference between two and three dimensions here, after all. Not too many people are going to swallow that on the first try. “Huhhh?! I thought Ene was more…like, smaller than that.” “Who’s smaller, huh? Who?” The sharp-eyed girl approaching us glared at Seto. “Eee?! Uh, no…” His eyes rolled up in terror. I stepped up to take the slack. “Would it be better to call you Takane, then?” Takane looked even less appreciative of that. “I…I don’t care. It’s all a big pain in the ass, anyway.” “Umm…All right. Well, I gotta call you something, so Takane it is, then.” “Whatever…,” she gruffly replied. “But…Wow, you’re looking a lot better, aren’t you? You looked like you were gonna die a little bit ago.” “Yeahhh, well, I’ve had a few ups and downs. Also, if you won’t mind, I’d like you to keep our last little chat secret from the rest of the gang, if you could…” Takane gave me a devilish grin. She always was twisted like that. Just like me. “Oh, come on! You’re that embarrassed about disguising yourself as your sister and going to school for her? Hmm…Innn-teresting.” Great. I knew it was a mistake to talk to her. It was like adding oil to the fire. “Well, I’m impressed you decided to come back, Takane. You looked like you were having a blast as Ene.” The moment I mentioned the name, Takane crouched to the ground, head in her hands. “Ooh, I wanna die, I wanna die, I wanna die, I wanna die…” Guess I had a few weapons of my own. “Oh, maaan, I have no idea what I’m gonna do. He’s gonna, like, totally freak.” I imagine he will, yes. Hanging out around her sworn enemy, calling him “master,” running roughshod over him all the way to today… …I guess I better apologize to Shintaro, too. I know I had been angry, but there was no taking back what I did. It was pretty mean, actually. I doubted he’d forgive me, but I at least wanted to give him the whole story… “What? You worried about him or something?” Takane must have noticed. She looked up, still in her anguished crouch. “Well…yeah. I kind of owe him one, you know?” “Hmm…Well, he’s not stupid. I don’t think he’ll hold it against you that much, once you clue him in a little. There’s a lot of stuff I gotta discuss with him, too, so…How about we all talk together?” “…Yeah. Sounds good.” Takane, I suppose, had a unique insight into what made Shintaro tick. Lord knew they’d spent enough time together. Then she started grabbing her head again. “But oh, man, I don’t know…Just thinking about him makes me wanna barf…” “What? Aw, come on, Takane! Plus, you haven’t eaten for, like, two years! You don’t have anything to barf out!” “I just had some ramen.” “What’d you pay for it with?!” “Geez, lay off me! I was hungry, all right?! Two years, man, two years!! That’d give anyone a hankering for a steaming bowl of pork chashu-men!” “Yeah, and how’d you pay for it…?” Seto, watching silently, raised a hand into the air. I guess we kind of left him by the side of the road in this conversation. “Um, I don’t think I really get what you’re talking about…” His eyes were darting between us in utter confusion. I was happy to explain things, but we were about to hold a crash course for the whole gang back at our hideout. I opted to wait until then. Nice of him not to try reading my mind, at least. That’s Seto for you. “…Well, we’re gonna have to go through a lot of crap pretty soon, so I figure we’ll explain everything to everyone all at once. Save us some time that way. So how ’bout we just head back?” Takane and Seto muttered “yeah” in simultaneous agreement. “So if you’re back,” I asked Takane, “I guess you’re ready to do this, huh?” She snorted back at me. “Of course! I promised that to Ayano, besides. I just have to punch out that bearded freak, right? I’m not gonna call this over until I do, so…” Takane, eyes sparkling, apparently didn’t know what I meant. But, considering the circumstances, I was glad she was rarin’ to go. Seto slapped me on the back. “I’ll try to talk with Marie about this, too. I dunno…This might get kind of hairy on us, but if we all work together, I think we’ll find a way!” “Oww…Yeah. Seems kind of stupid, huh? Trying to carry it all by yourself.” I couldn’t help but laugh at the sound of me saying that. Even when faced with the end of the world, nothing changes between us. I thought everyone except me had changed. I was barking up the wrong tree the whole time. Takane looked at me, bewildered. “Wow. So that’s how you smile, huh?” “Huh?” “It sure is! Kano gets flustered pretty easily, so he almost never smiles!” My face began to redden in front of my companions. Takane immediately flew in for the kill. “Oooo! Trying to hide something again?” “Sh-shut up! C’mon, let’s get back already!” “Sure thing! Man, I’m hungry, though. Better get something to eat back home!” “I, uh, I just had ramen, so…” …Sis. You watching us? Things have gotten a lot more hectic than before, but I guess we haven’t changed much after all. We’re gonna be back playing our little superhero game in a sec, too. Funny, huh? …Hey, Sis? I’m gonna be with him soon. That guy you liked. And I’m gonna tell him everything. He’s kind of a wimp, and honestly I don’t like him too much, but something about him…He’s interesting, you know? Something tells me he’s just the guy to get Dad back, to get the world back, and to get you back, too. Pretty crazy story, I know, but… Oh, right. Don’t worry about losing your number. As far as we’re concerned, No. 0’s been retired from the Mekakushi-dan. So once you’re back, let’s all join in the game together, okay? I hope you don’t mind… …waiting just a bit longer for us, Sis.