Chapter 9:
Marii’s Vision
“UM, PREZ, my friend has a track meet tomorrow. Is the weather going to be okay?”
“Oho! How well you know the value of friendship, Marii-chan! Yes. Heaven truly smiles down upon you. The way I see it, the weather will be fine and clear from tomorrow morning on.”
“Really? That’s great! But why are you talking like that…?”
“Why you’re asking that so seriously is what I’d like to know.”
Our class president’s weather predictions almost never fail, and that’s why everyone in our class turns to her for that knowledge. Even if the meteorologist on TV says it’ll be fair, if she says it’ll rain, we all bring umbrellas. And the class president generally gives us a good reason to believe her; there’s no mistaking her talent for reading the weather. We tell her she should be an angler, using her weather-reading skills to help her reel in lots of fish, but she ignores our advice and insists she’s going to be a weather forecaster.
I wonder if she’s ever noticed that the one who discovered her talent is Marii Yukari.
Yukari was the first of us who asked her about the weather: naturally, even back then, the class president’s prediction was right. After this was repeated many times, other people started to put their trust in her forecasts, and she gradually became famous. In other words, it was Yukari who spotted her meteorological talent.
When I asked Yukari why she asked her about the weather, she smiled and said, “Well, you see, in my eyes, Prez has the most amazing sensors! I figured it should be easy for her to predict the weather.”
It should go without saying, but I didn’t see any sensors.
✦ ✦ ✦
The next day, just as the class president had divined, morning ushered in a clear, blue autumn sky. Yukari gleefully went to cheer for her friend from elementary school who did track, and I went with her. Yukari’s friend was so fast that even someone who barely ever ran could tell she was in a whole ’nother league. The enthusiastic roars from the crowd made me imagine her at nationals—not that she needed our cheers to spur her on. I told Yukari it was pretty amazing she had such an amazing friend.
Yukari proudly puffed out her chest. “You know, I’m the one who told Shou-chan she should do track.” (Oh, yeah, “Shou-chan” is the girl’s nickname.) “She couldn’t decide what club to join, and I told her she would be great at track.”
“Was that…you know…? What you saw…?”
Yukari nodded and drew close to my ear. “Between you and me, Shou-chan’s legs have the most amazing rollers and Vernier thrusters on them.”
“Rollers” I could understand. “Vernier thrusters” was something I’d never heard of, but I assumed they were useful for running.
As if to prove Yukari right, Shou-chan launched herself into the wind, immediately rocketing ahead of everyone else. Of course, just like how Yukari talked about the class president having sensors, it wasn’t as if this girl literally had rollers or Vernier thrusters. She had normal human legs. Then again, watching her zoom ahead, it wouldn’t be hard to believe someone insisting the girl literally possessed something like those parts Yukari mentioned.
I was thinking of saying that out loud when Yukari sighed and muttered, “Shou-chan, you could be so much faster if you just used your rollers and Vernier thrusters…”
For some reason, those words sent a chill down my spine.
✦ ✦ ✦
We were at school, joking around after eating lunch, when I asked Yukari what type of guy she liked. Her cheeks flushed red, and she stared down at the desk. Realizing how warm her face had become, she fanned her hands over her cheeks. She repeated, “Ahhh! Ahhh! Ahhh!” and finally she gave up and admitted it: “…Kasoku-kun.”
I was nearly floored.
Behind me, there was a huge noise. I saw Tenjou was on the floor, holding a desk.
Tenjou noticed we were looking at her and wondering what she was doing in our classroom. She leaped up, set the desk right, dusted off her uniform, shook her head with a “Hmph!” and proceeded out.
Anyway.
Kasoku—full name, Kasoku Tomonori—was an actual guy in our class. As in, he actually existed and was not far away from us.
To be honest, this was unexpected.
Given that humans look like robots to her, I’d figured she’d pull some cool robot frame out of an anime, like the way girls talk about celebrities. But Kasoku-kun? That plodding guy with no presence at all? Yukari liked someone with the personality of—well, I didn’t know, really, but the only impression he made was of having really narrow eyes! That was the most remarkable thing about him: he really had zero distinguishing characteristics. But Yukari liked him? That freaking Kasoku! What kind of trick did he pull to seduce my innocent-as-a-kid Yukari? Or does he look cool in her purple eyes?
Humans sure do lose control of their bodies when faced with an utterly incomprehensible situation. I slumped deep into my chair and sprawled over my desk. “K-Kasoku? That Kasoku? The utterly bland guy? Why?!”
Yukari struggled for words for a bit. “Um, you know how they say drills are the stuff of men’s dreams? Well, it’s not just men who like drills. I think they’re pretty dreamy too.”
“Uh, what?”
“Kasoku-kun basically has a realistic robotic design, but he’s got these amazing drills. They’re so big and shiny. I get the shivers just looking at them. Like, right now, they’re stopped, but when they start spinning, you’d better watch out…!”
Kasoku was eating with his back to us. I stared at him closely but of course, did not see any drills.
“I don’t really get it…but wouldn’t that make him dangerous? Drills are weapons, right?” I asked.
“Oh! You have it all wrong! Drills are tools. And, I mean…they’re really dreamy.”
What did she mean by dreamy…?
Still faintly blushing, Yukari went on. “I mean, Kasoku-kun isn’t the only one with drills, but his are the best. Then again, I guess the class president comes close…”
“The class president? She has them too? She’s a girl, you know. Didn’t you say they’re the stuff of men’s dreams?”
“Yeah. Unlike Kasoku-kun’s, hers are always spinning. But they go so fast! It’s like they’re not even moving. They’re so smooth, like a blade of ice. They make me nervous whenever I’m in front of her.”
“Uh…what about me? Do I have anything like that?”
Yukari had forbidden me from asking about myself, but I’d forgotten until after I’d already opened my big mouth.
Yukari, swept up in the conversation, answered without hesitation. “You don’t have any drills, but you can’t be beat for your multipurpose capabilities.”
“M-multipurpose capabilities?!”
“Yeah. You have this amazing switch system that would allow you to operate on land, sea, and air, or even in a vacuum or in lava, just by switching out your equipment. You could serve well at any range. This is something you should be proud of! That kind of adaptability is… Oh! Hey! You can’t ask that, Gaku-chan!”
“Oops, sorry.”
Switch system, multipurpose capabilities—what she said was full of unusual terms, yet it strangely rang true. Bypassing logic, I was able to accept that, yeah, I might be like that as a robot. I felt as if she’d hit the nail on the head about a version of me I didn’t know.
This was how she perceived the world, huh?
“Well, if I’ve got this switch system, can I switch in a drill?” I asked.
“Oh! Gaku-chan, do you think they’re dreamy too?”
“Uh, no, I was just curious…”
Incidentally, after this day, Tenjou started including not just Yukari and me but even Kasoku in her attacks. I can’t say it’s fair…but hey, with those mighty drills of his, Kasoku ought to be able to pierce right through without our help.