THREE weeks had passed since the tumultuous abduction incident, and Mia’s summer break was nearing its end. She had battled with the monstrous amounts of homework she had been given, had patrolled the town as the Supreme Ruler of Evil, and now, she was hugging a watermelon to her chest with a sullen face.
Why is this happening to me? Inside the moving car, Mia let a small sigh escape her.
The car was a spacious minivan with seating for eight people, divided into three rows of seats. At the wheel sat Misaki with Subaru right next to him in the front passenger seat. Then in the second row were Shou and Aya, with Ren and Mia behind them in the third row.
But seriously, why is this happening to me? Mia knit her brows helplessly.
Yes, Mia had been kidnapped by the Crow Rangers. It had been just another day of her summer break, when she’d put on her cape, the wand already in her hand, and had stormed out of her apartment ready to seize the day.
However, it had been exactly at that moment that her neighbor Mrs. Ozawa had chosen to make her appearance, and Mia ended up receiving a watermelon from her. She had decided she’d better go make her rounds after putting the watermelon in the fridge, and when she had been just about to return to her apartment, a black minivan had abruptly stopped, brakes screeching.
Mia had paid it no mind, making to go up the stairs, but then the van’s door opened with a bang, and she felt a sharp tug backwards. Frozen in shock, she had been quickly stuffed into the van. The one who had pulled her in by the arm turned out to be Ren.
Mia had been protectively clutching the watermelon as she was dragged inside, and it was not seconds later that the van had taken off. The car, Mia had discovered to her abject horror, contained the full lineup of Crow Rangers.
“Well, now that everyone’s on board, let’s hit it!” Aya had enthused.
What is going on? I don’t understand a thing. And just like that, Mia had been taken captive by the Crow Rangers.
“Um, I would really appreciate it if someone gave me an explanation about what is going on right now.”
“Hm? Well, I’ll give you a hint!”
“A hint?!” Mia echoed incredulously, earning herself a grin from Ren, who had been smoking out of the open window, but turned to look at her after her outburst.
He patted the air in a placating manner toward Mia. She just continued fuming about annoying Rangers kidnapping other people and then daring to talk about “hints”. Ren jerked his chin to point at the trunk of the car.
“Your hint is the stuff lying in the trunk.”
“The ‘stuff’?!”
With a grand total of three seat rows, there wasn’t much in the way of storage. When she peeked into the cramped space, Mia discovered a cooler with a bunch of paper bags crammed on top of it. Lying haphazardly next to it were three fully loaded supermarket plastic bags. Her inspection thus finished, Mia readjusted her seating position and tilted her head to the side in confusion.
“You don’t get it?”
“No. Are you all going somewhere together?”
“Bingo!” Shou responded gleefully from the second row. “Coordinating our days off was so hard! See how Subaru’s conked out in the front? He just got off duty.”
Indeed, Subaru was sound asleep in the front seat, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes shut tight. Mia remembered that during yesterday’s dinner it had been just her and Ren too.
“Misaki and I are off duty, and only Ren and Aya could take the day off. You see, ideally we wanted to go to the seaside, but we gotta go somewhere we can return from quickly in case the station calls us in. Sorry, but we’ll have to stay close to town!”
“I don’t really mind tha—Wait! Why are you taking me with you? I was about to do my rounds!” Mia fumed, hugging the watermelon.
Aya turned around, holding a Pocky box in her hand, and drawled exasperatedly, “What are you talking about, girl? You can take a break during Obon, at the very least! You should be honoring the spirits of your ancestors during this time, not running around plotting world domination. Have you even visited your family grave yet? Want a Pocky?”
“Oh! I will h-have one. Ugh, what am I saying…?” Mia vehemently shook her head, but still snatched two chocolate-covered sticks and proceeded to chew on them huffily. “I paid respects at m-my family grave yesterday. That was supposed to be the end of my summer vacation. …Why is this happening?”
“Want a Toppo, Mia?”
“Yes, thank you. Where are you planning to go anyway? You said ‘close to town’, but…”
As Mia was munching eagerly on the hollowed breadstick filled with chocolate paste, Misaki answered in an apathetic voice all the way from the driver’s seat, “We’re going to Okutama. …Ugh, I’m with Mia on this one. Why is this happening?” he complained, shoulders sagging, his hands on the wheel.
“Yeah, but what can you do?” Ren said without a trace of remorse in his voice, grinding his cigarette into his pocket ashtray. “You’re the only one with a minivan. You don’t even have a family, but you own a minivan. …I don’t even have to ask if you’ve done it in this car—it’s obvious that’s why you own one. I just hope you cleaned it afterwards?”
“Oooh, it’s for going for looong rides with your girlfriend, the one you have a long-distance relationship with… I see. If you fold down the second and third row seats, you can make them flat. Ooh! Kinky!”
“Argh! Quit talking about this kinda stuff in the presence of a minor! Also, stop saying such vulgar things!” Misaki squawked at Ren and Aya who were milking it for all it was worth.
Mia was listening to the conversation unfold with a blank look on her face, not really following what they were talking about.
“Heh? For all you say about us being ‘vulgar’, you did take the time to tint your windows.”
“It’s only because I hate it when the sun shines right in my face!” Retorted Misaki, shaking his head in annoyance at his friends’ antics.
“Come on, you must’ve done it here at least once!” Shou prodded with a cheeky grin.
“NOT! EVEN! ONCE! I only bought a minivan ‘cause I like big cars, okay?”
Shou made a face as if to say “how boring” and started fishing around in a box of snacks, when Mia, cocking her head to the side curiously, asked him, “Hey, what were you talking about? Misaki is ‘kinky’?”
“Don’t call me that!”
“Well, there are a lot of guys who are kinky, in general, but it seems like this one isn’t. Don’t worry, you’ll find out what that was all about soon enough. Ren’s gonna explain it all to you, nice and slow, trust me. His car’s small, but it’s still a station wagon, after all.”
“Huh?! What’s fun about doing it in a cramped car? Besides, unlike Misaki, I’m not an exhibitionist.”
“Well, I ain’t one either!” Misaki shouted, but his voice got drowned out by everyone’s cackles.
“It’s not funny!” The poor man whined pitifully.
Mia, who utterly failed to comprehend what was going on, sulkily stared down at the watermelon she relegated to her lap. All of a sudden, she felt someone tap her on the head. Raising her head, she realized it was Ren, who sent a smile her way, “Don’t let this bother you,” he said.