The chilly rain came and went over the course of the morning, interspersed with brief periods of sunlight. As always, Tobi wolfed down the bulk of his lunch in moments, then left the classroom with Baku, bread roll in hand. He could’ve finished eating in the classroom, given the weather, but leaving was such an ingrained part of his routine it just didn’t feel right to linger. Going outside in the rain wasn’t appealing, either, so he ended up eating his roll by the shoe cubbies instead.
The lunch period came to an end, and Ryuuko and Monika arrived to meet him. It was time for their investigation to begin.
“I’ve identified a fair number of students I’m positive have relapsed, but I think Itoha Hiiragi from Class 2-1 is the right place to start,” Monika explained. Apparently, Hiiragi’s butterfly-like zingai had unusually high odds of being dangerous, making her worth prioritizing. “But Ryuuko’s the only one who can strike up a conversation with her, right?”
“Please leave it to me!” said Ryuuko. “I’ll start by asking her if she’s aware of an app called HEA!”
“Awesome. It’s great to have someone like you on board.”
“It…is? Really?”
“Yeah. Wish you’d sign on as an independent contractor, honestly. You’d make a lot more money with us than you would working some typical high school job.”
“I—I would?!”
“You’d be obligated to keep a bunch of secrets and stuff, but then I wouldn’t have to keep anything from you anymore. It doesn’t bother me much with strangers but having to keep secrets from friends is kind of a pain in the ass.”
“From friends,” Ryuuko repeated, nodding over and over. “That’s very true. I’ll certainly consider it.”
“You too, Tobi,” Monika added, glancing his way.
Tobi didn’t reply. He was thinking about it, but he still had doubts.
Keiki Kudou. The Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office. Zingai. Entities most people couldn’t see, that sometimes caused incidents with devastating consequences. Apparently, there was a whole organization, with ties to the government, dedicated to investigating them.
It all seemed so strange—or rather, so implausible. Kudou had given Tobi a business card in an effort to look respectable, but it hadn’t been enough to dispel his suspicions. That said, Tobi knew well that whenever a zingai hurt or killed someone, most people assumed they’d committed suicide or died under mysterious circumstances. Was that really okay? Maybe it wasn’t, and adults like Kudou were working to stop it. Monika was collaborating with them despite being a middle schooler.
Tobi could help, too. As could Ryuuko. Practically speaking, they already were. If Tobi agreed to sign Kudou’s contract, the arrangement would be formalized, and he’d even be paid for his trouble. Tobi could live at the institute for the time being, but he’d have to leave someday and having money would certainly make life easier. It would help him search for his brother, too.
Maybe accepting Kudou’s offer really was the right choice.
Tobi climbed up the stairs to the second floor. As he walked through the hallway alongside the second-year classrooms, he heard a familiar voice.
“Byyye, I-to-ha! Don’t you worry—li’l ol’ Ruka’ll come back to play again before you know it!”
The door to Class 2-1 opened, and a bespectacled girl stepped out into the hall. It was Rukana Shizukudani. She was waving to someone inside the classroom, and from what she’d said, it seemed safe to assume that was Itoha Hiiragi.
Shizukudani spun in a circle to face Tobi and the others. She wasn’t alone. Her fleshy, four-legged zingai was with her.
“Oooh!” Shizukudani exclaimed with a smile—though really she’d been smiling since before she saw them. She literally skipped toward Tobi, her zingai hopping along behind her. “Shiratama Dango! Tobitobi! And if it isn’t Monimoni, too! Ha-ha-ha!”
“…Sh-Shizukudani,” Ryuuko stared in wonderment at the other girl…or maybe in horror.
Frankly, Tobi was a little scared as well. It was common for students at their school to act up in the hallways, but Shizukudani’s current behavior felt somehow different from that sort of attention seeking.
“Whoo-hoo!” Shizukudani cheered. She held up a hand as she passed, signaling for a high five that Ryuuko provided with an awkward shout of her own. Then she skipped off down the hallway. She hadn’t dropped her pace for even a moment.
“…The hell was that?” Baku asked.
Tell me about it, thought Tobi.
“She hasn’t had a relapse, right?” Monika asked, her expression grim.
Ryuuko cocked her head. “Oh no, Shizukudani has had her zingai since I met her last year.”
“We might wanna keep our eyes on that one. It’s pretty big.”
Pretty big. What was Monika referring to? There were a few possibilities, but Tobi had a feeling he knew the answer: Shizukudani’s zingai. He hadn’t had a chance to properly measure it, of course, but it looked roughly the size of a human torso. Its size had startled Tobi the first time he saw it, too.
“Can someone who can’t see them even have one that big?” asked Tobi.
“They can,” Monika replied instantly as she started walking again. “They come in all shapes and sizes. Same as people.”
“Sounds like a real hassle,” Baku said, as if he wasn’t involved. Did he even know how much hassle it was carrying around a big backpack all day?
Shizukudani’s behavior had startled Tobi, and he was curious about what was going on with her, but Itoha Hiiragi was their priority for the time being. Tobi, Ryuuko, and Monika glanced into the classroom Shizukudani had just left and scanned the students inside. Hiiragi was seated near the front of the room, and two other girls were standing nearby. There were about ten students in total, counting Hiiragi’s group, and the atmosphere seemed rather oppressive. It was the sort of awkward discomfort that followed a public argument, with everyone not involved watching silently from the sidelines, unsure how to act. Was it Shizukudani? Had she done something? Was that why everyone seemed so uncomfortable? Tobi gulped.