Uh-oh… We stared down at the three stones for a while. Haruto snickered. “A complete tie, huh?” “Should we redo it?” I asked. “Nah, we’ll all be president. Doesn’t that sound nice?” “That sounds good, too.” Fifteen was delighted to hear this. “Does that mean I’m president, too? Hooray!” And that’s how our first day drew to a close. On days two and three, we continued living as castaways. We hunted for food and explored the island, made rafts and floated around on the water, dived into the ocean and felt deeply moved by the blue of the sky when we looked up at it from the sea, and played Tarzan by swinging between trees on vines. Being an indoor type, I had already had enough adventures to last me a whole year—I was completely and utterly exhausted. But washing my face in the river water first thing in the morning did feel nice, and I got pretty used to taking the guts out of fish. The smoked meat, shellfish soups, and herb-roasted fish that Wakasako made for us were all scrumptious. Then, on the fourth day—I awoke when it was still dark out and found Haruto missing. Putting on my glasses as I left the tent, I saw him down at the beach, sitting with his arms around his knees and looking out at the ocean. A handsome guy staring out into the ocean… If a girl walked by, she’d take one look and fall in love. But somehow the mood seems somber… “What’re you doing?” Haruto turned and smiled. “I wanted to see the morning sun rise over the horizon.” “I see.” “Stay and watch it with me since you’re up, Musubu.” “Well, all right.” I sat down next to him. If you’d told me a year ago that I’d end up sitting beside the Campus Prince on a deserted island while watching the sunrise…I’d never have believed you… Though books may have brought us together, there were still times when my discussions with Haruto didn’t feel quite real. I often wondered how I was able to converse so freely with him. From beside me, Haruto mumbled, “…There was a time when I didn’t talk to anyone, you know.” When I turned to look at him, I saw that a dark shadow had fallen over his graceful features. I was shocked. What happened? Why the sudden change? “Musubu…what I did…you’d probably forgive me for it, but…I don’t know about everyone else…” What on earth could he have done to be murmuring so timidly and burying his face in his knees?! Don’t tell me he shot someone with that rifle of his? Or is it some far more unspeakable crime that an ordinary person like me couldn’t even begin to fathom…? “Haruto, no matter what’s weighing on you, talk to me. Please. I’ll help you the best I can.” “…I was the one who untied the ropes on the boat.” “Huh?” The ropes on the boat? “Of course you’re the one who untied them. I was right there. You said, ‘All right, we’re taking this boat the rest of the way!’ so— Wait, are you doing an impression of Jack?!” I recalled a scene in the book where Briant’s little brother, Jack, confesses to a crime he had buried in his heart. “Oh, you figured it out?” “I did! Though you had me going for a second. I was worried, like a dummy.” “Sorry, sorry. I just couldn’t resist.” He lifted his face from his knees and laughed. “Haruto, you’ve really been having a good time since we came here, haven’t you? You know, I always thought of you as very grown-up, but now I think I see you in a different light.” “Ha-ha…I’m just having fun,” Haruto said. But then his voice took on a twinge of loneliness. “It’s because when you see me at school, I have to act like a Himekura and live up to my family name. Imagine the commotion if I ran around barefoot, frolicking and shouting about a big catch of fish, right?” Well, yeah, it would be a surprise to see you catching fish at school or hear the slapping of your bare feet as you walked down the corridors, but… That was a rather silly example, but still… I’d always figured Haruto could do whatever he wanted at school, but now his tone and expression both told me that wasn’t exactly the case. His name was well-known around campus, and all eyes were on him no matter where he went or what he did. He carried the weight of everyone’s expectations. I’m sure it was far beyond what a four-eyed nobody like me could understand. “That’s why it’s so fun for me to spend time here with you guys like this.” Haruto was enthusiastic about the trip right from the start. He must be under a lot of stress. I bet he’ll dodge the question if I ask him about it, though. I’m just glad he’s able let off some steam. “I’m also having more fun than I thought,” I admitted. Haruto’s lips curled into a smile. “Mm, knew you would.” “By the way, you voted for me in the presidential election, didn’t you, Haruto?” I asked. “Why did you do that?” “You caught me, huh?” “Well, there’s no way Wakasako was going to vote for anyone other than you.” “Which means you voted for Wakasako, right, Musubu? You thought he’d be a more fitting leader than me?” “You’re practically already a leader, so it would have been boring. And you voted for me because you thought it would spice things up somehow, was that it?” “Yeah, I guess it was.” I knew it. “But I know I can rely on you when it counts,” he continued. “You saved my life, after all.” I felt a profound weight in my heart upon hearing those words. My expression turned solemn. Indeed, Haruto and I had become acquainted through a terrifying and tragic incident. I wonder where she is now. The girl who committed so many terrible crimes while under that book’s spell. What could she be thinking at this very moment…? I want to see…Princess Yonaga. I recalled the slim book with the indigo cover that I had left back home—and I longed to see my coldly cute girlfriend. She said not one word in parting after I told her I couldn’t bring her along because life on a deserted island wouldn’t suit a princess like her. Whenever I so much as looked at another book, she would spew hatred and swear up and down that she would never pardon me for the act. She harbored a bottomless jealousy of other books, so the fact that I was taking a trip with one likely filled her heart with indignation. “Absolutely unacceptable… I’ll dance on your grave… I curse you. I’ll chant my curses until the day you have eyes for no book but me.” As I imagined her sitting quietly and properly atop the lace handkerchief I had spread on my bed and muttering her curses, a jolt shot down my spine. Ah, I’ve got to win back her favor somehow. Still, I’d prefer her to be angry instead of being sad that she’s away from me… “Musubu…I’m lonely. I want to see you…” I pictured her shedding quiet tears from her innocent eyes and felt my chest tighten. I want to see you, too. I want to turn your pages… With slight melancholy, I watched as the sun’s rays unfolded like a fan from the horizon, and the world brightened before my eyes. The incident happened on this day, the fourth day. Around twilight, as I was returning from foraging for edible mushrooms and berries, the voice of a woman calling for help reached my ears. “No, stop! Someone help!” Approaching the source of the voice, I saw a man in a Hawaiian shirt and sunglasses digging a hole with a big shovel. I ducked into a nearby thicket to spy on him. I thought we were supposed to be the only ones on this island! “Come on, remember how you kept talking about how cute I am? Please think this through—I’m begging you!” Beside the hole was a huge suitcase with wheels on it, from which a voice emanated. Don’t tell me there’s a woman in there?! The man, potbellied and about in his fifties, must have been tired from the work. He let out an enormous sigh. “Whew, time for a break.” Pulling the trunk along with him, he came to a boat beached on the sand and hauled the trunk on board. Fifteen shouted from my pocket, “Musubu, he’s a bad guy—he’s going to kill that lady! We have to help her!” Equally anxious to help, I rushed back to Haruto and Wakasako and reported what I had seen. “There’s a woman locked up in a trunk, and I think she’s going to be buried alive!” Wakasako stared at me, dumbstruck. Haruto frowned and confirmed what I had told him. “You say the person digging the hole was a fifty-something man in a Hawaiian shirt and sunglasses, with a potbelly? Was there anyone else around?” I shook my head. “Uh-uh, there was no one on the beach. But there might be others on the yacht.” “What should we do, Haruto?” asked Wakasako. After thinking for a few moments, Haruto grew serious. “Let’s fly a kite.” “Huh?” There is a scene in The Story of Fifteen Boys where the boys fly a huge kite in order to identify the whereabouts of some villains who had docked on the island. Briant soars through the air, riding in a fishing basket attached to the kite, and spies down on the surface from above with his telescope. The kite is named Giant of the Skies. “I thought something like this might happen if we were doing The Story of Fifteen Boys,” Haruto said, “so I brought this with us. I’m glad it’ll come in handy.” A very large piece of luggage that had been stacked up in the boat turned out to be a collapsible kite. It was big enough that a person could fasten it to their back and fly, and it had a long rope attached. “This isn’t good at all,” I said. “Do we really need to fly a kite since we already know the location of the aloha man? Shouldn’t we call the police like normal people or sneak over there and watch what he does or something?” Haruto quickly rejected my insistence to take more appropriate measures. “If we wait for the police, the woman might die. Plus, there’s nowhere to hide on the sand, so waltzing over there would be risky. It’ll be night soon, so if we’re in the air, he shouldn’t notice us.” “No, he’ll absolutely notice! This plan’s got so many holes in it!” I refused to back down, but Wakasako merely shrugged. “If that’s what Haruto wants to do.” Fifteen immediately volunteered. “I’ll ride in the basket!” “Majority rules, two to one,” Haruto nodded. “We’re doing it. We’ll be counting on you, Musubu.” “Wait, you want me to go up?” “You’re the lightest one among us, right?” “That’s right.” “Don’t you agree with him, too, Wakasako!” “Let’s go! Musubu! I’ll go with you!” You be quiet! “This is a job for the main character, Briant, right?! At best, I’m Briant’s little brother, Jack, so it can’t be me!” I insisted. In the book, Jack insists on riding the kite himself to atone for his earlier crime, but Briant steps in. “No, Jack, I’m the one who’ll ride on it. “As your older brother, I can atone for your crimes. Ever since I came up with this plan, I intended to be the one who goes up.” It’s a breathtaking scene, befitting a main character. “Listen, even Briant says he’ll go up in the kite, since he’s the one who thought up the plan! If you want to do this no matter what, you go right ahead, Haruto. It was your idea!” He plunked his hands down on both my shoulders and addressed me with utmost confidence: “I think you’re the only Briant here, Musubu. Now, let’s hurry up and get everything ready.” I whined and wheedled, but neither of them listened. The two of them lashed the kite to my back, and when it caught a breeze, it lifted my short, slight body off the ground and into the night sky. “Go, go! Giant of the Skies!” Fifteen shouted with great excitement from my pocket. “Aaaaghhh!! It’s high! So high!” Haruto’s voice came through the speaker of the smartphone I had in my other pocket. “Musubu, how is it? See anything?” “I can’t foooocus!” In the book, the basket wobbles a lot at first, but after that, Briant feels no sense of danger. Conversely, because the kite was attached directly to my back, the wind tossed me about and sent the kite careening left and right, totally unstable. I was in no mood to pretend I was in some fairy-tale land riding the back of a mysterious bird. My heart felt as if it were about to leap out of my mouth as I pondered when I would go crashing down. Hoping to return to solid ground as quickly as possible, I peered desperately through the telescope I had taken up with me. The yacht I had seen earlier that evening was anchored on the exact opposite shore from where we had set up our tents. The man in the Hawaiian shirt emerged from the boat, schlepping the wheeled suitcase. Since night had fallen, he no longer wore sunglasses. His eyes were sharp, and his whole appearance was intimidating. From this height, I couldn’t hear anything below, but I wondered if the woman in the suitcase was all right. The man went as far as the hole he had dug, then picked up the shovel and resumed his work. I shouted at the smartphone, “The man came out just now and started digging the hole again!” “Great, okay. Wakasako and I are headed that way. Musubu, you keep monitoring the situation.” “Huh? Waaaaaait, let me down already!” But if the two of you head toward the man, won’t that mean there will be nobody handling the rope keeping the kite in place? How am I supposed to get down?! “Musubu, let’s go over there, too, and catch the bad guy!” Fifteen made this courageous suggestion. “We can’t—we’re stuck up here.” Just as I answered, a strong gust of wind buffeted the kite, and I pitched sideways. “Ah! Augh! Wait!” I tried to right myself, but struggling must have been the wrong thing to do, because I ended up tilted at even more of an angle. The kite began to spin. “Aaaaahhhhh! S-stop this thiiiiiing!” “Musubu, what happened?” Haruto asked. “I’m falliiiiiing!” It was too late. I had already begun my descent. Fifteen shouted boldly, “We’re coming for you, bad guy!” My own screams drowned him out as I crash-landed, kite and all, onto the beach. Sand obscured my glasses and covered my face, but perhaps because the kite had absorbed the impact of the fall, I seemed uninjured at the moment. I breathed a sigh of relief—then from nearby, I heard a rugged voice. “Wh-who are you?!” Through my sandy glasses, I could barely make out a fierce-looking man in a Hawaiian shirt who was holding a shovel in one hand and glaring at me. “It’s the bad guy!” Fifteen yelped. Of all things, to crash right in front of him. I must have the worst luck in the world. “Um, I’m, well, I was camping on the island, and…” “Camping? This place is private property!” Just then, I heard the voice from the suitcase again. “Help me! I’ll be buried alive!” It’s the woman’s voice I heard earlier this evening! “What do you have inside that suitcase?” “What did you say?” The man’s expression transformed before my eyes. After the initial alarm, he averted his gaze, as if hiding something shady. “Why would you ask that?” “Because there’s a woman’s voice coming from it. She’s begging for help.” “A…voice?” The man’s gaze returned to me. He stared menacingly. This was a real pinch. “Musubu, go for it! Punch him!” Fifteen was egging me on, but there was no way I was going to do that. But, well— “Please show me what’s in the suitcase.” Musubu, you idiot! What’d you ask that for?! “I can’t do that.” The man drew closer. Aaaahhhh! “Mr. Kusakabe.” I heard Haruto’s voice. The man turned quickly in surprise. Haruto and Wakasako strode into view. They came! But something is off here. “Ha-Ha-Haruto, my boy! Why are you here?” the man asked, flustered. Huh? Is he an acquaintance of Haruto’s? “I was doing some camping on the other side of the island with my friends. You didn’t hear about it from your wife?” “Uh, no, I… My wife doesn’t really tell me these things, so…” “Sorry for startling you,” Haruto said. “Musubu, Wakasako, this is the island’s owner, Mr. Kusakabe.” What the heck?! So the aloha man was the island’s owner! “By the way, Mr. Kusakabe, what are you doing here?” Haruto asked. “Th-th-th-th-that’s, well—” “It looks like you’ve dug a hole, but what for?” “The thing is, well, that’s—” “Do you think I could get you to open up that suitcase for me? Depending on what’s in there, I might have to call the police, you see.” The agitated man’s face immediately twisted in shock. “No, you can’t! You can’t! You can’t! There’s no way I can show you what’s in here!” “Help me!” The voice again! Now it’s certain! I rushed over to the suitcase and undid the clasp. It wasn’t locked, so the case immediately popped open. Inside, it was crammed full of girls in swimsuits, dozens and dozens of them— …Wait, what? “Help me! I don’t want to be buried alive!” “Come on, remember how you kept saying how cute I am?” “You’re going to throw us away? You’re done with us? How cruel!” The suitcase was full of photobooks depicting a popular young idol, including dozens of copies of one particular collection. An idol with a pure and innocent image adorned the cover—even I had heard about her. Right before the start of summer break, she had announced she was pregnant and engaged to be married. It had been in the news every day since. A number of boys in my class were even fans, and they had reacted to the news with lamentation, weeping sorrowfully over her photo collections. “Dammit! Her fiancé is the president of an IT company! And she hid the fact that she was pregnant and stuff.” “I bet he had to buy a ton of CDs to win the chance to meet her.” The owner of the island, Mr. Kusakabe, shouted incoherently and tried to close the suitcase. But the lid refused to shut, and the photobooks kept spilling out. With the man too flustered to get the suitcase under control, things got increasingly out of hand. “Th-th-th-th-this is…for work—” “So you were a fan of Kokona Shimizu, Mr. Kusakabe?” At Haruto’s words, Mr. Kusakabe’s face stiffened, and he turned toward us. “I couldn’t stand to put my carefully collected photobooks out for collection on garbage day, and I couldn’t sell them off at the thrift shop, either. I thought coming all the way out here to a deserted island far from my house and burying them would be kind of romantic.” It seemed this Mr. Kusakabe had also been a fan of the popular idol. He had probably purchased multiple copies of CDs and photobooks in hopes of winning a chance to meet her. When her marriage was announced, he had apparently taken it just as hard as the boys in my class. So he decided to stop being her fan and dispose of her photobooks. But it would have been awfully embarrassing if anybody had caught him in the act, so he must have decided to sneak out to this deserted island that he happened to own, dig a deep hole, and bury them. Despite his precautions, some high school boys and the firstborn son of a distinguished family had appeared out of nowhere on the ostensibly deserted island and discovered his embarrassing secret. I was the one who had opened the suitcase, but now…I felt sort of sorry about it. “H-H-H-H-Haruto, my boy! Please don’t mention this to anyone—” “My lips are sealed. I won’t say a single word, not to your wife or your daughter, so please relax.” Haruto had deliberately invoked the man’s wife and daughter. He had a mean streak. Wakasako was silent, but one look at his face could tell you he was holding back some choice commentary. “I’m c-counting on you, Haruto!” As Mr. Kusakabe bowed repeatedly to a bunch of high schoolers, the photobooks in the suitcase stood up for him. “Poor thing!” “Sweet Kyosuke isn’t a bad guy!” “That’s right—he let us live in a beautiful room and took good care of us!” “Don’t you bully our Kyosuke!” They seemed to have forgotten they were about to be buried alive. From inside my pocket, Fifteen burst with innocent excitement. “We got the bad guy! That was fun, Musubu!” And so, our five days living on a deserted island came to an end—not exactly Two Years’ Vacation, but an adventure nonetheless. Now I was back to fully enjoying my peaceful summer break. As expected, Princess Yonaga was incensed. She had hardly been speaking to me at all, aside from grumbling a few things here and there like “Hmph!” and “Just die” and “I hate you.” I smiled through it all, wondering how I ended up with a girl so cute. According to Haruto, Mr. Kusakabe hadn’t disposed of his photobooks after all. He took them back home with him, to the room in his condo that he’d set aside for just that purpose. Placed carefully back on their bookshelves, the books waited to comfort Mr. Kusakabe during the occasional visit. That day on the island, when Haruto had caught Mr. Kusakabe red-handed, I told the dejected older man something in secret. “Even if human idols stab you in the back, books will never betray you. Even now, your books love you, and they’re worried about you.” If that was enough to change Mr. Kusakabe’s feelings toward his photobooks, I was glad to hear it. Fifteen went back to the town library. I was passing close by one day, so I popped in, and I heard him from the recommended reading section. “Earlier, an elementary school boy read me. He stared down at me with big eyes, and when I saw them go wide or shine brightly or tear up or fill with excitement, my heart started pumping, too. It felt like I was going on an adventure! Ah, I wonder what kind of kid will read me next? I hope they all enjoy me lots!” I stood there with affection in my heart, as if I were Fifteen’s older brother. Yes, yes, you’ve grown, too, haven’t you? It felt as if I had awakened to the joy that books feel. “But I still need to have an adventure outside sometimes! Let’s go ride a kite together again or get shipwrecked in a stormy sea, Musubu!” Forgetting that people could see me, I groaned. “But I’m an indoor person, geez!”
Chapter 8
20 min read