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AKARI was not without doubts, however.
There had to be some reason Munakata had brought this job to her, a layperson, when one would assume it usually required a Narrator.
When she arrived at the Narrators’ Association office as instructed and took a look at the building in the daylight, she could see that with its white walls and columns, it looked rather like a Western place of worship.
Akari was greeted by Munakata’s Kotogami, Kuroe. Immediately, Kuroe shoved a haori coat into her arms. It was clearly a uniform of sorts, meant to identify the Narrators’ Association members.
The coat was a deep red-brown color, and on the back she noticed the emblem of the association, dyed in white, and on it what looked like a koto bridge and a flower vine in light indigo. Clearly, these elements symbolized the Narrator profession.
Akari wasn’t sure what to do with her hair and eventually opted to pull the top half up into a bun and let the rest of it fall down her back, out of the way of her face.
“That suits you very well, Mistress Akari.”
“Yeah, it’s not bad. Where’s my support Narrator? Are they running late?”
Tomohito blushed as Akari shrugged off his compliment, seating herself on a bench outside the Association building and sighing. It was already half an hour since the appointed meeting time had come and gone.
She watched as a string of people, both male and female, came and went from the building, all wearing either the same kind of haori coat as hers or the military-style uniform that Munakata wore. They also carried either a book bag or briefcase with them.
And of course, Akari had her own book bag with her.
Since they were outsiders, Kuroe was there to wait with them. But she barely moved a muscle and only stared at the gates. She was emitting that strange aura of hers again, and Akari was starting to feel nervous.
“Did I do something to upset her?”
“I think she’s nervous about being away from her Kotogatari. I can’t speak for every Kotogami, but it’s always nerve-racking to be apart from our books for too long, whether following orders or not.”
Akari nodded. That made sense. Still, she decided against saying anything to Kuroe just now. Better to leave her alone.
But then Kuroe’s chin jerked with recognition. A familiar shabby military vehicle was just coming through the gate.
It stopped with a screech of brakes, and a man dressed in a Narrator’s uniform opened the rear window and stuck his head out to stare at her.
“So you’re my support today? Just great. Get in.”
He looked a little older than Akari. Frowning at her, he rolled up the car’s window in an agitated manner. He seemed very high-strung.
Akari held out her arm as Tomohito made to enter the car. She had a feeling getting into a verbal battle right now would only make things harder.
“Tomohito, go into your book until we reach our destination.”
“…Yes, Mistress.”
Tomohito responded grudgingly before disappearing. Akari sighed and then realized Kuroe was leaving.
“Kuroe, can you give a message to Mr. Munakata for me?”
“What?”
“Tell him I’m adding an additional surcharge once this job is done.”
Kuroe blinked as Akari shouldered her book bag and opened the front passenger-side door.
She knew this was hardly the most appropriate place to sit when riding as an automobile passenger, but she’d rather eat sand than sit next to that surly young man in the back seat.
The driver seemed like a young military officer, perhaps a rank below that of a Narrator. He looked over at her, and she thought she saw a hint of sympathy in his eyes. But he said nothing.
As Akari settled back into her seat, she heard the Narrator growling in a grumpy voice behind her.
“Hmph. Just try not to get in my way, got it?”
Now Akari knew why Munakata had tried so hard to convince her to take this job: because nobody else would.