“Hello,” I began awkwardly. “Hi, err— greetings! I’m Denkiya Hitomi. I look forward to working together, too. What, uh...what kind of gathering is this, everyone?” Although, it seems that this is just a gathering of people who wandered into this place accidentally— in other words, a gathering of people who could actually hold a conversation. I was sure this was my dream, so I’m a bit bewildered at having that assumption destroyed like this.
Of course, there is the possibility that Utena and the others are just a figment of my imagination— actors in my dream. But if they aren’t, what the heck is going on? Did everyone just get thrown into a different space, or rather, a different dimension? I’ve read novels like that, before. Those novels always had somebody who knew the situation well enough to explain everything, though. And, at the moment, everybody here has exhausted all avenues of information.
No one will explain anything. Slightly troubled, I kept silent.
“What kind of gathering? You know what kind,” Utena replied. “It’s the kind where everyone cooperates, so that we can all get out of this crazy place even one second faster. At least, I want to go back home. Are you ok with that, Hitomi-senpai?”
It was a completely understandable wish, I thought. Even I would go back home, if I could. The problem is: how we would do that...? I mean, we don’t even know what this place that we’ve wandered into is, although it seems like an amusement park.
“For now, we should go around the place and investigate,” said Kurashima. He looked a bit uncomfortable, probably because he was surrounded by girls. But still, he shared his good idea with a slightly troubled smile.
“What the deal with this place is, or why we’ve wandered in here: we need to find these things out,” he continued, “and they’ll probably help us figure out how to leave. For now, I think we should act with this as our goal.”
“Utena agrees with Yuudai-kun!” Utena exclaimed, and then wheedled: “Torii agrees too, doesn’t she?”
“I—” Nodding, Torii agreed after a small pause. “I’ll do as Utena-chan tells me to.”
“How many times have I told you not to use -chan with me?” Utena asked her with a sigh. “Acting like you’re older than me... Is Hitomi-senpai also ok with it, If I refer to you without honorifics? They’re kind of annoying.”
I nodded, thinking Do as you please. I can’t oppose the princess. To us, who live in such a small town, that was an ironclad law, almost as inviolable as the laws of physics.
Satisfied with my response, Utena nodded, and looked over at Kurashima in anticipation. “I’m counting on you, Yuudai-kun. I mean, you took no time at all in finding Hitomi. Although Hitomi seems like she doesn’t know anything, either.” She smiled at him. “I’m praising you, aren’t you happy?”
“I’m happy, thanks.” Kurashima smiled tactfully, and turned to face me. “Yeah... Just like this, I’ve been using this building as a base and searching for answers, here and there. That’s how I found you, Hitomi-chan.”
“Utena was tired, so she left it all to Yuudai-kun,” Utena interrupted. “But Utena is fine now, so let’s go investigate together, okay?” Standing up cheerfully, Utena latched on to Yuudai as if it was her natural position.
Wow, how bold, I thought. Walking over to Torii, I asked: “Umm... Is Kagamimori-san acquaintances with Kurashima-san, or something?”
Torii shrank back a bit, as if to say Why are you asking me? Then, she replied bashfully: “It seems that Utena-chan likes him. She falls easily; always has.”
Hrm. So the reason Utena has been so restless when dealing with Kurashima was because she’s been trying to woo him? Or, at least, get closer to him. Well, he is beautiful, after all... While I was thinking that, Torii was moving slowly, so I took her hand and stood her up. I might also be acting over-familiar.
Torii really was quite tall once she stood up. I found myself looking up at her. After lightly tapping her arched back like an old person, she said with a sigh: “Really, what on earth is happening... I can’t make heads or tails of this situation.”
“Yeah, same,” I responded. “Well, I guess sitting around blankly isn’t going to help either, so we’d better get moving.” I wonder if I should be speaking more formally? Torii is older than me, after all. While I was musing, Utena, who was basically dangling off of Kurashima, turned towards me vigorously.
“What are you guys talking about in secret over there?” she demanded. “Are you bad-mouthing Utena?” It seemed she was offended, as her mood worsened accordingly.
What a troublesome princess. I took great care to hide my thoughts as I denied her accusation. “No way!” I protested, waving my hands about in an exaggerated manner.
Utena must have believed me, as after several seconds of silence, she shook her head. “Ok, fine. But if you ever have anything to say, don’t leave Utena out of it. Tell Utena first, because Torii doesn’t understand anything at all.”
“That aside, Utena-chan, do you know where Kousuke-kun is?” Kurashima threw out another new name.
Which reminds me, he did say “Two other girls and one other guy.” There should be another guy around.
Going by the current trend, I could kind of predict this, but it really does seem that the last one is also someone I know. Mishiro Kousuke is my childhood friend, although, our current relationship is really just that of people whose houses are close to each other.
His parents both work at a company in town— which, in our town, means that they work under the umbrella of the Kagamimori group. The Kagamimori group has our town’s economy under its thumb.
Under that relationship, my childhood friend— who I used to go running around the hills with while wielding sticks— had no choice but to become the Kagamimori group’s princess’ obedient slave. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be able to live in our town.
Kousuke’s parents also had an especially deep sense of self-interest, even for big shots in a company under the Kagamimori group. He was Utena’s flunky even in school, so I haven’t heard from him in a long time now. That’s fine though. Boys and girls usually just end up cutting those kinds of ties, after all.
“I also ordered— no, asked— Kousuke to search for clues around the park,” Utena said, pausing to correct herself. “So he went off somewhere and hasn’t returned since. He really is slow, isn’t he? He’s more useful than Torii, though. He’s also really defiant, and doesn’t really listen to anything I say.”
“Then it’s probably better not to move from here for now,” Kurashima replied. “It’ll probably be trouble if Kousuke-kun returns and we’re not here, so let’s wait a little longer.”
“Whaaaat...even though I’m finally in a ‘Let’s go investigate!’ mood we have to stop and wait for Kousuke? That guy really can’t read the atmosphere!” Utena pursed her lips in frustration and patted down her body, here and there. Her movements made it seem like a bug had gotten into her clothes. “Wait,” she asked, “where did my smartphone go? Right when I was gonna call him... Torii, you don’t have a smartphone, do you? What with you being poor and all. What about you, Hitomi?”
“Sorry,” I replied, “I don’t have my smartphone on me, either.” Just like any old-fashioned town, smartphones have yet to spread amongst us. It’s a small town, so rather than calling it’s actually faster to meet someone in person if you need them for something, whether by bike or something else.
Smartphones are a pretty high-class item, after all; even our store rarely stocks them. Although, I at least have one my parents gave me. Whenever I’m minding the store I always leave it in my room, though. Other than the stuff I was wearing, like my apron and uniform, I had none of my usual personal effects on me.
“What an inconvenient lot,” Utena complained, looking somewhat lonely as she ran her fingers through her hair like a comb. “Well, it’s not like Kousuke has a phone, either. If we really can’t reach him, then I guess there’s nothing else to do but wait here. Yuudai-kun, if you have a smartphone, give me your number.”
“I don’t mind giving you my number, but I also don’t have my smartphone on me,” Kurashima told her. Then he perked up and said: “Wait a second, does anyone hear a sound?”
At those words, we all shut up and listened. Having been told about it, I noticed it now; something was emitting some heavy bass sounds, like construction work. What could that be?
“I’ll go outside for a bit and check it out,” Kurashima said reliably. “Everyone, wait here.” Smiling at us, he ran out of the front door.
Having essentially been thrown away, Utena staggered around a bit before giving me a face as if to say, “What?”
No, I don’t mean anything by it, I thought, hoping that would reach her.
While we stood around blankly, without even exchanging any girl talk...the heavy sound, which felt like being punched in the gut, grew stronger.
Torii nonchalantly drew close to Utena, who seemed scared.