“Unless it’s top secret, word travels fast around this small school.”
“It isn’t a major mission. A curse user is hiding in some poisonous gas. Toxins can’t affect me, so the fastest way to resolve it is for me to go.”
“Acting on that assumption could put you in danger.”
“Even if the unexpected happens and I take damage—”
“Mechamaru,” Kamo interrupted, “this involves the transportation grid, which is part of the city’s infrastructure, like water and electricity. Many curse users who attack such targets also make a living by taking on assassination jobs. If we take too long to investigate, there could be considerable losses. You should be proud that they chose you for the mission.”
“Why are you so full of praise all of a sudden?”
“I suspect you view Mechamaru as expendable equipment.”
“Well, it’s a fact.”
“Yes. The destruction of that body wouldn’t threaten your own life, so you can charge into situations with the intention of boldly seizing victory. You’re particularly suited to missions like this one. However, if you get too accustomed to fighting with no risk of death, you might let down your guard and eventually do something careless that would cause you to lose everything.”
Kokichi knew that Kamo’s criticism was often spot-on. It was especially applicable now after his fight against Panda at the Goodwill Event. After using Ultimate Cannon, Mechamaru had been so certain of victory that he’d allowed Panda to come too close.
“And then there’s Mai,” Kamo went on.
“What about Mai?”
“Miwa was pretty upset when she saw you get destroyed.”
“Well, she wasn’t born into a sorcerer family. She’ll never be able to handle this job if she gets upset over the destruction of a mere physical form.”
“But Mai and Miwa spend their days with that physical form.”
“What’s your point?”
“I’m asking you to be careful. It wouldn’t take much for that body to be destroyed,” Kamo said. He turned and began heading back the way he had come. “Even that body isn’t alone in the world.”
Kokichi couldn’t see Kamo’s face as he walked away. He felt like calling out to Kamo, but he couldn’t find the right words to express the feelings arising within him. They got all tangled up and then they disappeared.
No longer in the mood to gaze at scenery, Mechamaru walked down the hall toward the dorm. Sometimes, this action struck Kokichi as unusual. When he had first begun using the robot Mechamaru as a body, it had been a thrill—it was like in an anime—but living this way was unnatural. Mechamaru was a body that moved around Jujutsu High, but it wasn’t interchangeable with the sorcerer controlling it. Kokichi hadn’t set one foot outside the room that held his life-support system.
Mechamaru had been assigned a dorm room simply because it was an efficient space for storing a human-sized object. Even though Kokichi understood that intellectually, the act of returning Mechamaru to his dorm room felt more like parking a remote-control car in a garage than a real human action.
Nonetheless, he had paid attention to the interior decoration, so he had a pleasant space where he could enjoy private time and watch television. He supposed it was similar to how a normal human might chill with a screen playing video games. It felt relaxing, so he returned to his room whenever he had free time, much like any other student.
On this day he did not reach his room without incident.
Aoi Todo, a man who seemed peculiar even to Mechamaru, was staring out the hallway window. His large build seemed even larger when he was indoors, and for a moment Mechamaru thought he was encountering a bear.
Todo had his own way of impressing himself on others, and he could be quite intimidating. He would be a fierce and troublesome opponent, and he was a reassuring and troublesome ally. When a pitch struck him during the baseball game at the Goodwill Event, members of both teams had praised the pitcher.
There was a part of Kokichi that recoiled from Todo’s forceful physical presence. The large boy had handled himself well during the recent intrusion by special grade cursed spirits, but Kokichi still felt pity for him—as if Mechamaru was in any position to take pity on others.
Todo’s foul temper today did not seem to stem from baseball.
“What’s wrong? Why do you look so glum?” Mechamaru asked.
“I messed up the recording,” Todo answered.
“What recording?”
“Takada was going to appear on a travel show on the day of the Goodwill Event.”
“Oh, right. You mentioned that.”
Todo had refused Principal Gakuganji’s words and stormed off. It wasn’t particularly unusual, but Kokichi had thought at the time that it was irresponsible.
“Maybe the Blu-Ray recorder at the Tokyo school was a piece of junk or the invasion by the cursed spirits messed it up, but I set the recorder and it didn’t work!”
“Didn’t you record it at the dorm?”
“Do you think I’d mess up recording in my own home? That one turned out all right, of course!”
A vein was already bulging on Todo’s forehead, so Kokichi chose his next words carefully. “Then what’s the problem?”
“You shoot beams from your hands, right? So you must know about the Taka-Tan Beam.”
“I’ve never heard of it.”
“How is that possible? Don’t you take beams seriously?”
If Mechamaru had possessed moveable features, he might have scowled in offense at Todo’s anger. Sometimes he was grateful for his unresponsive face. “I’ll look it up.”
“The Taka-Tan Beam is Takada’s trademark pose. Make sure you do look it up, because she’ll probably display it on the quiz show she’s appearing on the day after tomorrow.”
“Okay. So what does this have to do with anything?”
“At the precise moment that she did the Taka-Tan Beam on a TV show, a message showed up onscreen about a terrorist attack in Kyoto traffic. Considering the timing, it may have been that mysterious curse user …”
Kokichi couldn’t tell if Todo was being facetious or if he was seriously concerned. However, the vein throbbing on his forehead wasn’t normal. He was so angry that to describe his state as agitated would be an understatement.
“The curse user you’re gonna go take out,” Todo clarified.
“It would seem my mission has become common knowledge,” Mechamaru said.
“You gotta waste that curse user’s ass! Their antics are causing damage all over the city, and they ruined Takada’s big moment!”
Kokichi realized that Todo was being serious, but he wasn’t particularly relieved about it. Perhaps that discomfort showed in his posture, because Todo raised his eyebrows.
“Aren’t you serious about this mission?” Todo asked.
“Yes, I’m serious,” Mechamaru answered.
“Then answer me this. What type of girl do you like?”
“What does that have to do with anything?!”
Todo heaved a sigh. “Well, you carry an awfully heavy burden this time …”
Kokichi knew Todo had skills. Compared to Kamo, however, who was a better sorcerer in both skill and demeanor, Todo’s behavior was strange and incomprehensible. Kokichi sometimes said things that irritated him, and it was frustrating to disappoint him without knowing why.
“What do you mean?” Mechamaru asked.
“A person’s sexuality explains everything about them. But you haven’t answered my question. You have an inclination, but you’re hiding it! If you can’t just come out and say it, you’re not a sorcerer!”
“How does that make any sense?!”
“It does! A man who can’t stand proud will never reign triumphant!” With no further explanation, Todo stomped off down the hallway.
Well, if I had a flesh-and-blood body, maybe I wouldn’t be so hesitant, Kokichi thought.
He considered the matter. Even if he had been fully flesh and blood, there was no reason he should have to tell Todo his preferences when it came to women. Todo could be persuasive with his rhetoric, but Kokichi didn’t think his reasoning actually made any sense in this case. Still, Kokichi couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. Todo had touched on something sensitive, and Kokichi suspected that if he had answered, they might have had a meaningful conversation about it.
The day came for Mechamaru’s investigatory mission to Mount Hiei. The skies were gray and drizzling. While he couldn’t sense the atmospheric temperature dropping with the rain, he could feel his metal fingers stiffening. It was inconvenient, but at least it was a new experience.
The mission was set to begin in the afternoon. Mechamaru waited near the vending machines at Jujutsu High for the car that would take him to the mountain. This body couldn’t drink soda or coffee, but he enjoyed seeing students using their break time to have a beverage. He wanted to be like them.
“Oh! Here you are, Mechamaru!” a voice called out.
“Miwa? What do you need?”
Mechamaru lifted his head and saw Mai and Nishimiya as well. They were a tight-knit trio at the Kyoto campus, and he often saw them together, even though they weren’t all in the same grade. But why were they approaching him now?
He recalled how once, Mai and Nishimiya had gotten carried away and convinced Miwa to give him a double A battery for Valentine’s Day. They had told her that he had a taste for EVOLTA brand batteries. This had bothered him, and he had wondered if they had eaten something that made them act that way.
Even aside from such hijinks, these three were like the incarnation of mischief. People from other prefectures said Kyoto women were frightening, and even though Kokichi didn’t know much about the world, he could understand what they meant.
“Mechamaru, hold out your hand,” Nishimiya said.
She was a senior student, so it was difficult to refuse. Mechamaru wasn’t certain which hand to offer, but eventually he held out his right hand. Miwa pulled something from her pocket, thrust it toward his wrist joint where it wouldn’t interfere with his armament, and affixed it there.
“What is this?”
Mechamaru’s face couldn’t change expressions, but in his room, Kokichi’s eyes widened.
It was a cheap scrunchie. That in itself wasn’t surprising, but there was a keychain swinging from it—was it the style of character design called “SD” for “super deformed”? The keychain was a capsule toy of a small character, the type whose head and body are the same size. The soft plastic had been painted to look like metal armor. It looked like a robot.
Mai snickered at the sight of a robot decorating a robot. “The three of us went shopping yesterday,” she said. “We went to the sixth floor of Avanti, where we don’t get to go very often.”
“Avanti? Where is that?” Mechamaru asked, cocking his head. Since he rarely went out, he didn’t know of it.
Nishimiya answered, “It’s on Hachi-jo Street near Kyoto Station. Mai said she wanted to play the pistol-shooting game at an arcade there.”
“I never said that!” Mai insisted.
“It was surprisingly fun. I’ve never seen a place outside of Akihabara with so many capsule toys!” Miwa said.