He had a scary face, but he was incredibly kind and smiled at everything I did. My chest still feels warm every time I think of him.
“That doesn’t make any sense, right? I must feel this way because… because I’m not a real person…”
My already depressed heart sinks to an even darker place.
Now that I think about it, I’ve always been told that I’m unusually bold and that my personality doesn’t match my appearance. I bet that’s also because I’m not human.
I’ve been telling myself that I don’t want to think about all this right now, that I don’t want to deal with these feelings, but I can’t stop my mind from going there.
“Curious. I think that makes you sound more human.”
“Huh?”
“Everyone has feelings they can’t discard, even when they know them to be illogical. Is that not how people are?” Archive asks, her fingers twisting the string into another shape. “You simply look like a trendy, outgoing girl.”
“R-really? …I guess people do tell me I have a bright personality and seem like the type to go out clubbing…”
I only want to look cute, though…
“Yet, in contrast to your appearance, your gestures and speech are elegant and polite.”
“O-oh… Thank you.”
That’s nothing new, either. People have told me countless times that I both do and don’t seem like a party girl. Whatever that’s supposed to mean.
“That leads me to the assumption that you had a good upbringing,” Archive continues. “Your father’s status as the president of a company made it easy to guess that you were affluent, but I also get the sense that your parents loved you and provided for you well. Is that right?”
“Y-yes, I think so.”
Mom and Dad were kind but strict. They always scolded me for things like bad language, sitting with my legs apart, and laughing with my mouth open.
“It is perfectly normal for a person who was raised so lovingly to have trouble hating their father. And what’s more…” Archive peers into my eyes. “You don’t need to worry about whether you feel the same as other people. Even flesh-and-blood humans have no way of knowing if they share the same feelings as others.”
Archive returns her full focus to her string. I don’t totally understand everything she said…but that was probably her way of trying to lift my spirits. Funnily enough, I realize now that the discomfort I’d been feeling around her has totally disappeared.
As Archive said, there’s no point worrying about that right now. I should just put it out of my mind.
I know now: Archive might be difficult to understand, but she’s not scary.
I can do this! I’m Hitsugi Fujinaka! I don’t have a shy bone in my body!
“Hey, Archive! Can I please touch your hair?!”
My sudden question causes the usually blank-faced Archive to raise her eyebrows.
“Why would you want to do that?” she asks.
“Because your hair is so beautiful!”
“Well, I guess I don’t mind.”
“Really?! Thank you so much!”
I get up, go around behind the couch, and scoop Archive’s hair between my fingers.
“Wow, it’s just as soft as it looks! Oh, you have split ends.”
Archive continues playing with her string, showing no sign of discomfort. Her hair is silky smooth and super pretty, but it quickly becomes obvious…
“I knew it. You don’t take care of your hair at all. It’s dry all over. You don’t even comb it, do you?”
“No. I have no interest in such things.”
“That’s such a waste!”
How can someone so beautiful be so indifferent about her hair?! Just putting a little bit of effort into it would make her 10 percent cuter!
I feel my passion for fashion flaring up inside me.
“Can I style your hair, Archive?”
“Go ahead.”
“Yay! Okay, I can’t fix your damaged hair right now, so I’ll tie it up. That alone will make a big difference!”
I take a hairbrush and a hair band out of the drawer of a shelf in the corner of the room, then get to work fixing her hair. It only reaches her shoulders, but it’s not so short that it can’t be tied up.
Should I play it safe and go with a ponytail? No, I kinda want to try something more fun. A side ponytail would look so cute.
A commercial plays on the TV.
“Noary—we make your life easy.”
It was the sign-off of a Noary commercial advertising their latest electrical appliance. Their logo—which has the N styled like a lightning bolt—is everywhere. I’m sure most people see it multiple times a day. Even my mobile device that disappeared was made by Noary.
“Hey, Archive. Is that the same Noary you work for?”
“Indeed.”
“Huh. It is…?”
I find that a little hard to believe. I mean, Noary is a superfamous group that does all sorts of things from selling electrical appliances to carrying out energy-related projects I don’t understand. How can a giant company even I’ve heard of be hiding a secret organization like this? …Actually, maybe it’s because of its size that this is possible.
Thinking about it, they couldn’t prevent an incident like this from reaching the news or evacuate such a large area unless they spent a huge amount of money and convinced a lot of people to keep quiet, right?
“Do you work for a secret division of the company, like you see in TV dramas? Are you on the side of justice?”
“That is not too far off, I suppose… But we are not allies of justice.”
“Oh. You’re not?”
My hands pause as I brush her hair. The way that Archive and her coworkers protected me gave the impression that they’re some kind of heroes, but I don’t actually know what their motives are.
Perhaps it’s because she’s picked up on my apprehension, but Archive leans her face slightly back toward mine.
“No organization would go do this without having something to gain. At least, not normally… And Noary is no different. That said, Noary’s goal is to maintain the balance of the world, so it is close to volunteer work…”
“…?”
“I suppose you can think of us as enemies of evil.”
“Enemies of evil”? How is that different from “allies of justice”?
As we chat, I gather Archive’s hair on the top of the right side of her head and fix it in place with a hair band.
“All done!”
I come around the sofa to look at Archive from the front and admire her adorable side ponytail.
“You look so cute!”
“The right side of my head is heavy.”
She tilts her head to the side slightly as if it feels a bit weird. Even that little gesture is super cute.
“Can I take a picture?” I ask.
“I do not mind,” replies Archive.
I lift the mobile device they gave me to take a picture, but Archive is sitting up ramrod straight and not smiling at all. I hardly feel like I can ask her to say cheese and make a peace sign…
Oh, I know!
I grab a large doll from the corner of the room and give it to her.
“This is…”
It’s Sir Penny, a round penguin dressed like a knight. He’s the main character of a TV show I love called Prudence, Sir Penny!
“Do you know him?! It’s Sir Penny!”
“…Yes. I am familiar.”
Is it just me, or does she look kind of annoyed? Is everything okay? …Well, whatever!
“I love him so much! The series has been going viral every week whenever a new episode comes out! I got obsessed with it just before it got popular.”
Archive holds Sir Penny up to eye level and stares at it.
“I want you to squeeze it tight for me. Like this!” I say, hugging my chest.
Even if she doesn’t smile, the contrast of Archive’s blank expression with the cuteness of her hairstyle and Sir Penny will make for an adorable picture. I hold up the mobile device to take the photo, but for some reason, Archive doesn’t move. She just stares at Sir Penny in front of her face.
“Ms. Archive?”
“Hey, I’m back.”
That was Karamori’s voice from the front door. He’s back from his shopping trip.
He opens the living room door and comes in, laden down with plastic bags from a convenience store in both hands. He looks at us and gasps.
“…!”