The warmth he felt was real. She was real. This was the first time he’d seen her at age twenty-six, and her body was painfully thin and fragile—it was clear how much of a toll those ten years in the coma had taken. But even that felt insignificant right now.
She was here.
He’d thought he would never see her again, but now he held her in his arms. She was alive and smiling. That was enough for him. He had to resist the urge to break down into tears right then and there.
He pulled back and looked her in the eyes. “Those masked things are after you specifically, Ichigyou-san.”
“They are?”
“Yeah. But don’t worry. I’ll deal with them.” Naomi squeezed her hand, trying to reassure her at least a little.
“Naomi…”
Naomi turned to see Sensei standing there.
He’d pulled himself up to his feet, using the windowsill and a nearby shelf to support his weight. He stared at Naomi in shock, like he’d just witnessed something impossible.
That was fair. It wasn’t like Naomi had any idea how he’d gotten here, either.
Looking down, he spoke the one thing that might have some answers. “Could you come off for a second?” His glove slipped off his hand and transformed into a crow. He didn’t need it for the moment—in fact, he wanted to be bare-handed.
Naomi walked over to Sensei and punched him in the face as hard as he could. With a grunt of pain, the man fell right back down to the floor.
Looking down at him, Naomi flapped his smarting hand in the air. He hadn’t expected that to hurt so much. It had been worth it, though.
It feels a little weird to punch yourself.
Over the course of his journey here, when his memories merged with Sensei’s, he saw everything. He experienced those ten long years like they were his own. He understood.
He understood far too well.
If I’d been in his shoes, I would have done the exact same thing.
It wouldn’t have mattered how difficult or painful that path was, he would have followed it. He would give up his leg. He would give up his whole life for any chance to get her back. There was no doubt in his mind.
That was why he’d punched Sensei. The man would have done the same to him.
The crow returned to Naomi’s hand and transformed back into his glove. With a small motion, Naomi opened a hole in the floor and created a simple escape chute to take them out of the hospital. Their destination went without saying.
He walked over to the bed and carefully took Ruri in his arms. He was a little nervous at first, but he managed to lift her without staggering.
Trying his very best not to let the strain show on his face, he smiled down at her. “Let’s go back to where we belong.”
Naomi carried Ruri to the escape chute, and they slid down together.
As quietly as he could, he asked the glove if it had any way to make the bridal-carry a little easier.
3.
IT WAS SUDDENLY VERY QUIET.
The hospital room that had been so frantic was almost empty. Katagaki Naomi had vanished as quickly as he appeared. Ichigyou Ruri, who’d spent the last ten years here, had gone with him. And the countless fox-masks had all disappeared, too.
There was only one person who still lingered here—a man with a bum leg and a bruise on his face, sitting quietly on the floor.
In the silence, Naomi was asking himself the hard questions.
What just happened?
How did it happen?
Where did I go so wrong?
Eventually, the shrill beeping of his cell phone brought him out of his reverie. The name Senko Tsunehisa appeared on the screen; he answered.
“Naomiiii!” There were shouts and frantic activity in the background of the call. “Where are you right now?!”
“The hospital.”
“Well, take a look out the window!”
Picking up his cane, Naomi rose to his feet. The crystal structure that had covered the window earlier had disappeared when the other Katagaki Naomi left the area.
Opening the fourth-floor window, Naomi leaned out to look down at Kamanza Street. His breath caught in his throat.
There was a river running down the road. But it wasn’t made of water; instead, it was a single enormous mass of humanoid bodies. There were tens of thousands of the fox-masks down there, flooding the streets completely.
It looked like the “river” was flowing south. Naomi looked in the opposite direction and soon found its source—the masked things were streaming out of the Chronicle Kyoto Project building, in other words, the AllTale Center.
“I see them.”
“The AllTale’s quantum-record bits are caught in a loop!” Senko shouted. The language was technical, but Naomi understood. “The amount of data in the system is multiplying rapidly—the logical boundary’s been broken! I don’t know what could have caused this, but it’s not good!”
Naomi knew what had caused it. He was probably the only person with enough information to know. He also knew what had to be done.
“Senko-san.”
“Yeah?”
“Can you suspend the Homeostatic System?”
“What? No!” Senko protested. “I mean, these people with the fox masks are popping out of the room where it’s housed—it won’t respond to external commands at all, so we’d need to get rid of them first. And, I mean…you know it’s not a good idea, Naomi.”
There was a brief pause. When Senko continued, his voice was noticeably quieter.
“The Homeostatic System is AllTale’s equivalent of a control rod. The only reason we can use the damn thing is because it’s there, suppressing the quantum-record output to an absolute minimum. If we shut it down, well…uh…” Senko paused again, like he was thinking it over. “Wait. Seriously?” His voice returned to normal—it sounded like he’d arrived at the same conclusion.
“Its true capacity is infinite, if I recall,” said Naomi.
“Heh heh, so it is! Now isn’t that an idea. Let’s give it a shot!”
“Please do. As for these fox-mask things…I’ll deal with them somehow.” Naomi spoke those words with all the conviction he could muster.
Ending the phone call, he reached out and grabbed hold of his cane.
4.
THE BICYCLE SPED DOWN Karasuma Street. Naomi pedaled in the front seat, with Ruri seated behind him, hanging on to his waist.