“Saying this feels like I’m trying to evade responsibility, and I don’t like it, but...” Runa continued in a hesitant tone. “I may really not remember. It feels like this place, this building, they’d been prepared for me by the time I realized it... That can’t be right, though, can it? I think what probably happened was that, because my head was so full of Satsuki-sama, one of my fans got everything ready on their own initiative.”
The people brainwashed by Runa’s Voice had acted even without her commands, trying to anticipate her desires. Looking at it that way, what she was saying certainly seemed plausible. But even with that said, some lingering feeling that something was off remained. Could they really operate in such an organized fashion? It seemed easier to consider the existence of another mastermind.
“I’m asking just to be safe...and it seems a little late to bring it up, but there wasn’t anyone higher up than you? That wasn’t a thing, right?” I asked.
“If you’re asking if someone was giving me orders, then no. Obviously, Satsuki-sama is an exception to that, though. But it wasn’t like Satsuki-sama was giving me commands for every little thing I did. She was my personal god.”
“Could there have been someone among your brainwashed followers with that kind of sway?”
“Nah, there were people I could trust to handle things, but I don’t think there was anybody who thought about things that deeply.”
Runa had been younger than any of her followers, and she said that like it was nothing.
You’re the one who made them unable to think deeply, aren’t you?
“I didn’t like squabbling inside my fan club, so I made sure to tell them. Get along, okay? I don’t want anyone treating anyone else like they’re more or less of a fan, and don’t just go doing things on your own.”
“Feels like they could interpret that any way they liked.”
“But everyone did what I told them to. Actually, they were all only interested in me, so it felt like they had no interest in anyone else.”
Could it really have gone so well? That one male follower who’d tried to shoot me to death had been showing powerful jealousy and a calculating nature. Maybe they acted good in front of Runa, but who can say how they really were...
“Did I ever tell you how I formed my fan club?”
“I don’t think so,” I replied.
“It was with ghost stories.”
“Hm?”
“Those people were originally the viewers of my livestreams. I did make others into my fans, like bureaucrats, and people who could get their hands on firearms, when it was necessary. But pretty much all of the membership was made up of my viewers.”
“They happened to show up for a livestream and got brainwashed? I feel so bad for them,” Toriko let out her all too natural feelings on the matter.
“Well, sorry, but it doesn’t matter that they just happened to be there. I just happened to end up with this life I’m living. My parents just happened to be religious, I just happened to encounter Satsuki-sama’s voice, and just happened to get caught by DS Research. Isn’t it that way for everyone?”
Her tone could be read either as argumentative or resigned. With a meaningful look in my direction, Runa continued.
“Kamikoshi-san, you like ghost stories too, right?”
“Why do you bring that up?”
“If our fates had been just a little different, you could have been listening to my stream. Hearing my Voice.”
“...”
“And if you had, you’d have become my fan—doesn’t it just give you the strangest feeling thinking about that?”
“Which outcome was better?”
“Huh?”
“Do you wish I’d been your fan? Or are you happier it turned out this way?”
“...”
Runa wasn’t answering, so I continued.
“You said it when you kidnapped me, didn’t you? That you wanted to be friends.”
“I did say that... So you remembered, did you?”
“I was always reading ghost stories, so I’m not up on what ghost story streams are like, but if I had delved into it, maybe I would have found your streams. And you’d have gotten me in an instant, I’m sure. I’d have gathered at the Farm, worshipping Luna-sama. If that had happened, I’d never have been abducted, and Toriko wouldn’t have come to save me. What about you, Runa? You’d have abducted Kozakura, learned about the existence of the notes, raided DS Research, and maybe even made it to your Blue World. No clue what’d have happened to you after that, though.”
It would have offended my conscience to bring the scars on her face or her mother’s death into the conversation, so I was deliberately unclear on those points.
“However it played out, the me that’s here now, who you said you wanted to be friends with, wouldn’t have existed. Maybe you’d have had a puppet me who said yes to everything you said, sure—but would you have preferred that?”
Runa just stared in shock for a while, then drew her lips taut, and glared at me. “You’re so mean, Kamikoshi-san!”
With those parting words, she stormed out of the room.
What’s she getting so mad for when she’s the one who provoked me? I was thinking when Toriko elbowed me.
Seeing the reproachful look she was giving me, I defended myself. “It’s not my fault. She’s the one who picked a fight with me.”
“This isn’t about a fight...”
“Hm?”
While Toriko frowned, an amused Tsuji said, “I thought you were trying to put the moves on that girl.”
“Huh...?”
“Nishina-kun, this kid, she’s a natural seducer, isn’t she?”
“She so is...!” Toriko’s response was brief but packed with deep conviction.
“You’ve sure got it rough. How about the two of us talk sometime? About all sorts of things...”
“Yeah... I’ll think about it.”
Seeing the usually shy Toriko give a not entirely uninterested response, I felt lost. While I was confused, Tsuji followed Runa out of the room.
“Toriko, when did you and Tsuji-san become such good friends?”
“We haven’t really. I’ve just been talking to her at the meeting with you.”
“But, I mean, you two seemed to understand each other so well just now.”
“Oh...” Toriko looked down at me with an inscrutable look on her face. “I may have an easier time getting along with people who are around you.”
“Wh-Why is that?”
“There’s a sense of community. Like, we can grumble together...”
“Could you not get excited about bad-mouthing me?!”
“We’re not bad-mouthing you. Just grumbling.”
“You’re not making any sense!”
While I was still highly offended, Toriko sandwiched my face with her hands, and started pinching my cheeks.
“Whoa! Stop...”
“You see why I’d want to grumble, right? If you start seducing another woman in front of me.”
“I don’t know how I was seducing her! Were you listening to what I said?!”
“Okay, I’ll explain.”
“Y-Yeah?”
Toriko continued without smiling. “Runa provoked you, saying, ‘If you had watched my streams, you’d have never been anything more than another one of my fans,’ right?”
“That was a provocation, yeah. I got that.”
“In response, you pushed back, asking, ‘Would that obedient me have been enough for you? Isn’t what you really want the me that never bends to your will?’ If you say that to her with a straight face, she’s already lost. Of course she’d have no choice but to run away like that.”
“You really think I can pull off that kind of high-level communication?”
“The problem is you don’t even know you’re doing it.”
As Toriko released my cheeks and lowered her hands, I quietly said, “Listen, I think there’s something wrong with you.”
“No, that’s not—”
“Toriko, she’s in high school, you realize that, right?”
“That’s...true.”
Toriko reluctantly accepted it. She let out a long sigh. “The problem is that you’re so cool when you act like that, Sorawo...”
Should I be grateful for the compliment? I didn’t even know anymore. “I think I may genuinely hate human communication,” I groaned.
At that point, Tsuji’s voice came from outside the room. “Kamikoshi-kun! It looks like they’re done setting up camp. They’re calling for you.”
“Oh, coming!”
As I turned to say, “Let’s go,” Toriko hugged me, and before I could ask her what was up she kissed me too. Releasing me seconds later, Toriko shot me a look that said, “I’ll let you off with that,” and then gallantly left the room.
I wiped my lips and sighed.
The moment I leave an opening, it’s just smooch, smooch, smooch. I mean, seriously, what is with her?