“Sara’s an idol, so I can’t take a selfie of her kissing. I hoped I could take a joke selfie with a kisu since the name sounds similar, but… Now what am I going to do about today’s mission?” For now, the only alternative he could think of was checking other fish markets around town.
Sara-Kazuki broke into a run, ignoring his skirt as it flapped up. Right now, he was only focused on one thing. He had to complete this mission—for Haruka.
Scene 2
ENTA AND HARUKA sat on a bench by a pond, entertaining themselves with a game of Old Maid.
“Um, let’s see…this one!” Haruka plucked one of the two cards Enta held out in his hand.
Left with only the joker, Enta shouted, “Argh, I lost again!”
“Lucky! I win!”
“You really are way too good at this, Haruka. I’m convinced Lady Luck is on your side.”
“Ehehe, maybe that’s thanks to Sara-chan?” His smartphone chimed. “Oh, a message!”
“From Kazuki?” asked Enta.
“It’s a secret!”
There was a message in the chat window from Sara.
Sara: A plateful of apologies! It looks like today’s lucky selfie is going to be a little late, dish!
Harukappa: Don’t worry! Good luck!
The young boy quickly typed out his response before replying to Enta, “Kazu-chan and I don’t message each other.”
“I guess you do live together, so you can talk to each other as much as you want,” Enta mused. Granted, the two were actually messaging each other all the time, albeit with Kazuki disguised as Sara, but Enta wasn’t about to reveal that. But when he looked up, he noticed Haruka’s face clouded over.
“He doesn’t smile for me like he used to anymore,” said the younger boy. “And he loved soccer so much, but he quit playing it. He even threw away his friendship bracelet.”
“Yeah…” Enta, who was well aware of the situation, could say nothing in return. The friendship bracelet he stuffed inside his pocket felt heavier than ever.
“I actually really loved watching him play soccer,” said Haruka.
“Me too. I loved playing with him more than anything.”
“I’d like him to play again, but I’m not sure he’d listen to me. It’s not up to me, anyway.” Young as he was, Haruka really tried to be considerate about his older brother’s feelings.
That just means I have to do what I can to help, Enta thought to himself.
“Don’t worry! I’ll have Kazuki smiling and playing soccer again! Trust me!” He stood and pounded a fist against his puffed-out chest.
“Ehehe! That’s right, you two are the Golden Duo after all!”
“Yeah!”
A houseboat motored by as Otone stood next to the Sumida River, waiting in vain for her date.
She finally sighed and said, “Markiss sure is late. Normally he contacts me when he can’t make it on time.” She whipped out her phone and dialed his number.
Brrrrring…brrrrrrrring…
Back at Markiss’s Riverside Fish Market, a smartphone lying on the floor began to vibrate, its owner nowhere to be seen. The screen read “Jinnai Otone,” with a picture of Markiss hugging the girl in question from behind—until it was suddenly replaced by a bright red symbol of a heart, surrounded by static.
After parting ways with Haruka, Enta sat alone on the west side of the Azuma Bridge.
“So Kazuki doesn’t even smile in front of Haruka anymore…not that it’s any of my business,” he mumbled self-deprecatingly.
Almost immediately, a voice shouted back, “It absolutely is your business!”
“Huh?” Enta glanced back to see Kazuki sprinting across the Azuma Bridge toward him. He was wearing his favorite windbreaker, the one he always wore for soccer. “Kazuki? What are you doing here?”
Kazuki stopped in front of him, an unusually serious expression on his face. “Enta, there’s something I need to tell you.”
“Wha…?” Enta’s heart was about to jump out of his chest, with Kazuki gazing straight into his eyes. His intensity made Enta wonder if this was a love confession.
“I think I’m going to return to soccer.”
“Huh?!”
Kazuki’s proclamation was more astounding than any confession.
“Sorry to make you worry so much, Enta. I know I’ve put you through a lot, but will you join me in reforming our Golden Duo again?”
Enta’s heart flooded with emotion. “Eep!” he squeaked. “You better not take this off again!” He adoringly tied the new friendship bracelet around Kazuki’s ankle.
“I promise. We’ll be the Golden Duo ’til death do us part.”
“Kazukiii!”
For the first time in a very long time, the two of them did their signature pose.
“Dishing it out!” they shouted.
Ah, this is exactly what I’ve been wishing for, and at last it’s become realit—
A voice cut through his reverie, dispelling the daydream. “Oh? You’re going to give me this bracelet?”
“Huh?”
Kazuki had disappeared from his side and been replaced by Otone. She was wearing the bracelet around her ankle instead.
“S-sis?! Why are you here?!”
“I was on my way to go pick up my boyfriend. See ya!” She dashed off, leaving a dazed Enta behind.
“Wait! That’s for Kazuki!” Enta returned to his senses and desperately scrambled after her. But when he made his way across the Azuma Bridge, he was greeted by an entirely different shocking sight.
“What are you guys doing?!” Enta flew down to his and Kazuki’s secret training area.
Students from another school were there, practicing soccer. They turned and looked back when they heard his voice. “Hey, if it isn’t Jinnai from Sara Junior High.”
“Heya! What’s up?” another called over to him.
Enta recognized the two. They were soccer players from a team he’d faced in competition last year. “This is our spot—mine and Kazuki’s! You can’t just use it without asking!”
“What the…? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Kazuki, that’s the other forward, right? I heard he quit soccer.”
“Seriously? Then what’s wrong with us using this spot?”
“Kazuki will be playing again soon!” swore Enta.
“You sure about that? He quit and left you hanging, didn’t he? Kinda pathetic to get your hopes up over someone who ditched you like that.”
“Shut up! I don’t care what you say!” Contrary to what he said, he leaped on one of them and started throwing punches.
“Ouch!”
“Jerk, what are you doing?!” The other grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and shoved him away.
For Enta, who was quick to pick a fight in spite of being weak, the odds of winning a two-versus-one fight were practically zero.
“Graaaaaaah!”
That didn’t stop Enta from charging toward them.
An imposing hush settled over the large conference room at the Asakusa Police Station, where a meeting was presently underway. A sign on the outside of the door read: Asakusa Suspicious Death Investigation HQ.
The chief’s voice echoed inside the dimly lit room. “We identified the body we found early this morning as twenty-seven-year-old Markiss Gimmemore, owner of the kisu specialty store Markiss’s Riverside Fish Market. Six months ago, he entered into a relationship with a woman for the purpose of committing marriage fraud. When she committed suicide, we suspected that he drove her to it. However, we failed to bring charges against him, and he was released. We’ll be investigating his death as a homicide.”
There was an audible ka-chik as the projector flipped through photo after photo of Markiss cozying up to different women. Honestly, what was with all these cutesy romantic pictures anyway? To the gathered officers, Markiss’s life looked more like a movie than reality. What did those girls see in this man? His face? Scam artist or not, being that popular was enough of a crime that he deserved to be behind bars. At least, that seemed to be the prevailing mood in the room.
Among those seated, two abruptly stood—Reo and Mabu.
“We’re the ones who reeled him in!”
“It was yesterday’s kiss!”
Yesterday evening, to be precise. The incident took place at the police box where the two worked.
“We’ve talked enough, haven’t we?” Markiss asked. “I have to get up early tomorrow to go fishing with my honey.”
“For those souls without beginnings or ends, those unable to connect…” Mabu held up a photo of Markiss out partying. A group of girls were hanging on his every word.
“Now, let us open a door…” Reo suddenly aimed the barrel of his gun at the man. “Is it desire?”
“Or love?”
A large taiko drum appeared above Markiss’s head.
“Desire Extraction!”
In the next instant, Markiss was absorbed into the drum and disappeared completely.