What’s happening, what’s going on here, why on water and not a mirror─I thought as I opened my eyes wide, only to have Tsukihi actually stick her fingernails in them.
No surprise there, but she really knew how to mess up a clutch moment.
“You can’t put it on me, I did warn you. Why can’t you ever do as you’re told, big brother?”
Ditching the final steps of washing my face, Tsukihi scurried away into the bath.
I wished I could be like her. Seriously, I felt jealous.
When I looked back down into the sink, all the soapy water had been sucked down the drain. I felt like I’d lost my chance to seize a hint that had appeared out of the blue, but maybe, against my own will, my face had been beaming thanks to the heavenly experience that was having someone wash it. I shouldn’t feel too dejected…
I wanted to curse Tsukihi for interfering, but I wouldn’t have seen anything at all if she hadn’t had the bright idea to wash my face─so par for the course. After waiting for her, Karen, and Oikura to leave, I brought Ononoki out from my sisters’ room and headed to Kanbaru’s.
We traveled by BMX, not the Unlimited Rulebook, because there were people around during the day to see us─yes, riding two to a bike was against the rules, but strictly speaking, Ononoki is a doll. Legally, if we interpreted it as riding around with a doll on my shoulders, it was just fine.
“I gotta say, it’s still pretty abnormal to be riding around with a doll on your shoulders,” the shikigami took her turn to quip at me─Ogi hadn’t lent me her bike’s foot-rest accessory, so there was nothing I could do. “Monstieur, you give all kinds of characters shoulder rides. Who’s left?”
“You’re making it sound like I’ve given them to a majority of the cast. Going down the list, it’s only about four people long, counting you.”
“Me, Shinobu, the bigger little sister, and who else?”
I exercised my right to silence.
Since Ononoki wore pants in this world, nothing too wonderful happened during the ride. Thanks to her experience supporting Miss Kagenui with one finger (?), she did have an excellent sense of balance, and operating the bicycle wasn’t the slightest bit harder─in fact, I felt like I was the one being steered because she held onto my hair like a pair of handlebars (making me look like I had pigtails).
We’d discussed what we would do at Kanbaru’s the previous night, and I didn’t imagine there’d be any changes to our plan, but I still saw fit to report the little incident.
“Huh, is that so,” Ononoki said. “Well, it’s not your fault that the water went down the drain. It doesn’t seem too relevant, so don’t worry about it─wait a sec,” she pulled off a double-take from her double-decker perch. “Isn’t that really important? Could the gate to the other world be in our bathroom after all, and not in the monkey girl’s home?”
“Our bathroom, my ass.”
“I’ll be sure to tell Big Sis Sodachi the same.”
“No, she’s suffered enough! Anyway, it was only for a moment, and maybe I was just seeing things─I couldn’t make it happen again, either. I’m not even sure what caused it.”
“Right. A mirror the first time, and a reflection in the sink the second time… The location was the same, but the meaning seems different. I guess the constant is that you were washing your face? The necessary condition for reflective surfaces opening to another world: washing your face.”
“What kinda condition is that? If that’s all, I washed my face in the bath too… Either way, my reflection laughing, or not moving the way I do, isn’t that important─if going back home is my goal, I need to see Shinobu, or someone who can contact Shinobu, in the reflection.”
“Hm, true. Which makes today’s mission quite important.”
“Yeah, if possible, I’d like to end this today─I didn’t want this to take more than a day. Like I was saying, Oikura, for example, is starting to feel my negative influence.”
“…”
Huh? Why stay silent there? Ononoki suddenly going quiet worried me─was she angry? I suppose missing my opportunity earlier in the bathroom deserved a scolding.
“Monstieur. Have you noticed there’s a simple solution to this disturbance?”
“A simple solution.”
“Yes. A super-simple super-solution.”
“I’m fine with super-simple, but a super-solution sounds a little scary.” The wording suggested something along the lines of die and you’ll never worry again─but if she was saying a solution existed, I had to hear her out. Coolly, trying to come across as not one bit afraid or anything about this proposal of hers, I prodded, “What is it?”
“It’s a sort of Copenhagen interpretation.”
“Copenhagen interpretation? That’s some complicated stuff… Quantum mechanics, was it?” Since we can’t fully grasp the present, predicting the future with perfect accuracy is impossible─but how did my current situation relate to that line of thinking?
“Aren’t you supposed to be the straight man? I obviously meant Copernican revolution.”
“How should I know?! They’re practically the same thing!”
“Uh, the Copenhagen interpretation and Copernican revolutions aren’t that similar,” Ononoki criticized me for her own misstatement─but that aside, she restated, “It’s a sort of Copernican revolution. Simply give up on returning to your original world and resign yourself to settling down in this one.”
“Oh! I guess I could! You’re a sharp one, Ononoki, now there’s no need to sneak into Kanbaru’s bath. Why don’t we head straight to the Häagen-Dazs shop, I’ll treat you to whatever you─hold on,” I attempted a clumsy double-take, as the other half of the double-decker arrangement.
Ononoki just said, “Häagen-Dazs stores don’t exist in Japan anymore.”
Right. Seriously, though? It wasn’t just this world…but we digress.