Chapter 13

Special Short Story by nigozyu The Detective’s Assistant Wants More Friends I’d come to a café with Natsunagi in the early afternoon, lured by their limited seasonal sweets. “Ooh, that looks yummy!” Natsunagi held up her phone in front of the cake we’d been brought. “Haruru and Fuyuko need to see this, too.” I recalled those were the names of her high school friends, since I’d heard them mentioned a few times. “I’m jealous, Natsunagi. That looks fun.” “Haha, why don’t you show Yui, then?” “I hadn’t thought of that!” I quickly took a picture of the cake and texted it to Saikawa. “So that’s the smile of a guy who’s found an excuse to contact the girl he likes.” Natsunagi’s smile seemed a bit wry, but I decided not to worry about it for the moment. “Don’t tell me we’re the only friends you have, Kimizuka?” “…Actually, I’m surprised to know that you have another community.” It was completely normal, but it felt surprising because I hadn’t considered it before. In school, you form multiple relationships with your classmates and club members, and after school, you get to know people through part-time jobs or cram school. Nowadays, you might form connections through social media, too. Belonging to multiple communities was nothing special. “You two are all I have right now,” I said. Natsunagi tilted her head, looking puzzled. “So please pay more attention to me.” “That’s hilarious.” Natsunagi chuckled softly and took a bite of her cake. “But it’s only thanks to Siesta that I made friends at school.” Siesta’s mission had once been to send Natsunagi to school and let her live a normal life. And now, seeing Natsunagi’s smile, I had no doubt that Siesta had fulfilled that mission. “I guess it’s the same for me.” I suddenly recalled a conversation I’d had with Siesta a few years ago. While we were traveling the world together, Siesta had broached the topic. “Come to think of it, I’ve never seen you get along with anyone besides me.” “If you hadn’t dragged me on this weird journey, I’d be living my high school dreams right now.” “Really? You didn’t seem to have any close friends in middle school, either.” Siesta had seen right through me. “And you have friends yourself?” “I have plenty of acquaintances you haven’t met—like oracles, assassins, vampires, and the like.” “That’s a really suspicious lineup.” “Oh, wait. That was important foreshadowing, but I blurted it out without thinking. Forget it all.” “You were joking, right? You don’t actually know anyone like that, right?” Siesta laughed. “I don’t,” she said before hitting me with a question that was as sad as it was straightforward. “Why don’t you make any friends?” “No one comes near me because I attract trouble. Well, I’ve gotten used to it.” Siesta asked, “Isn’t that boring?” I replied, “This how my youth goes.” “A solitary youth?” “Not quite.” Her blue eyes widened slightly. “I’m enough for you.” “For now.” There was a comfortable silence for a while, and Siesta spoke again. “You’ll make friends eventually. Maybe not a hundred, but one day you’ll definitely have friends who are important to you.” “Don’t tell me you’re going to help me with that?” “If you like. I’m an ace detective.” Siesta laughed. And now—Nagisa Natsunagi was sitting in front of me. And I had Saikawa and Charlotte, friends I’d never imagined back then. I couldn’t help but wonder how much of the future Siesta had envisioned back then. “Kimizuka?” Natsunagi asked, worried because I’d been silent for a while. “No, it’s nothing. Let me meet those friends of yours someday.” Like Siesta had said, it might not be a hundred, but maybe expanding my circle of acquaintances wouldn’t hurt. “Huh, that’s a bit much.” But Natsunagi’s response was surprisingly hesitant. “I really can’t. They’re both so cute.” “Why is that a problem?” Oh, so that’s how it is. “If I fell for one of them, you’d get jealous, right? Like I was being taken away.” She was being awfully honest today. But it was true that romance among a friend group could cause trouble. As I nodded in agreement, Natsunagi looked at me like she was looking at trash. “Wrong. I just don’t want you to take Fuyuko or Haruru away from me.” “…Is that so?” The coffee I’d ordered with the cake tasted awfully bitter. Just as I was sullenly pouting over that, Natsunagi laughed. “Well, I’ll let you meet them one of these days.” Was that okay? She’d just been worried about me taking her friends away from her, so why the change of heart? She seemed like she was trying to laugh as she said, “Think about it, though. There’s no way Haruru and Fuyuko would fall for someone like you, right?” “That’s not fair!”