“In this world, it’s only the bad people who survive. Gullible people like you should be more careful,” Chikai advised.
“You think you’re one to be giving me advice?!”
“Well, since you did survive, figured I might as well. Now, hurry up and make up with those friends of yours.”
“What? It’s not like I’m really…”
Chikai cut him off. “If you don’t, you’ll end up like me, you know?”
“Q-quit messing around,” Enta huffed, dropping all polite pretense.
Brrrrring, came the sound of an unfamiliar ringtone.
“Oh, looks like I better go. Here, eat these with your friends.” Chikai dug through his shirt pocket and chucked something at Enta.
“Huh?” Something slapped against the top of Enta’s hat and fell into his open hands. He looked down to see two lollipops, one strawberry flavored and the other apple.
“Yeah, Masa? I’m going to get on a boat and head there now.” After a short pause, “Yeah, of course Toi’s coming along too.” Chikai was already walking off.
Enta watched him leave, and then turned his gaze to the candy in his hands.
There’s not enough here for the three of us… Though it’s a little late to worry about that now, he scolded himself.
Suddenly his phone rang. A quick glance at the screen revealed that the caller was the very person he’d just been thinking of. He immediately accepted the call, only for a voice from the other end to come blasting through. “Jinnai? About things with Yasaka…”
“Why didn’t you say anything to me?!” Enta had things he wanted to ask Toi, too.
“Huh?”
“You’re the one who gave Kazuki that friendship bracelet!”
The moment he said that, there was a gulping sound on the other end. “He remembered?!”
“What? No, I don’t think he’s realized,” said Enta.
“Oh… I figured as much.”
“Why haven’t you told Kazuki? If you’re walking on eggshells because of me, knock it off.” In fact, if that was the reason, Enta would have to sock him in the face.
“He doesn’t remember anyway, and telling him after all this time just seems pointless. You two can go on without me and focus on being the Golden Duo.” Toi’s voice sounded just like it had before. Like he had given up on everything.
“Are you really okay with that?” Not so long ago, Toi had been the one to ask Enta that same question.
“I’m going to live for my brother. Anyway, later.” Toi abruptly ended the call.
Enta’s fingers squeezed around the two suckers in his hands. “He absolutely sucks at lying.”
“Not here either…” Kazuki mumbled as he peered under a vehicle. He had been wandering aimlessly this entire time, trying to search for Enta and the Wishing Plates. Finding either seemed like a hopeless endeavor.
As usual, the high-rise parking lot was devoid of people. Kazuki stood up and peered at the Lexus beside him. “Oh, this is where we first met, isn’t it…?”
Kazuki was dressed in his Azuma Sara outfit, prowling about in search of the lucky selfie item, when he happened across Toi trying to break into a car. This was also where he started chasing after Nyantaro, and where they had met to hatch their plan to kidnap Azuma Sara.
While he was lost in a reverie, his phone began to vibrate. An unregistered number popped up on the display.
“Hello?” On the other end, he could hear what sounded like a river. “Toi?”
The person on the other end sucked in a breath. “I don’t need those plates anymore. I’m leaving the city.”
“What are you talking about? Are you mad because of our conversation earlier?” Maybe he had gone a little overboard then. Was that why Toi was saying he was going to leave now? “What’s wrong? Say something!”
In the distance, he could hear the shrill sound of a boat whistle.
“Just wait! I’ll work something out! You don’t have to just leave, Toi!”
After a pause, Toi responded, “No one realizes the bonds they have until they’re gone.”
Kazuki was confused. “Huh? What? What are you talking about?”
“I have to protect the only family I have left now.”
“Toi? Tooooi!”
There was an empty, robotic beeping on the other end, signifying that the call ended.
Kazuki had a distinct feeling that there was something he’d forgotten, though he had no idea what it could be.
“Toi…”
Toi boarded the red and blue water bus. He found his brother at the edge of the second deck and took a seat next to him. When he dumped his backpack onto the seat beside him, his body suddenly felt lighter. The less baggage, the better.
“Have I forced you to abandon something important again?” Chikai’s palm reached for Toi’s head.
Would it be all right to accept his brother’s show of affection, just this once, Toi wondered?
“…Nah. They weren’t that important to me.”
Soon enough, the water bus took off, and they passed under the familiar red bridge.
Scene 5
“THERE YOU ARE! Kazuki!”
The Kappa Plaza was bathed in evening light as a breathless Enta came dashing into it. He carried a box in his arms with the label Kapazon on its side.
“If we don’t hurry up, he’s going to leave! You know, he actually—” Wants to stay with us. At least, that was what he tried to say, until the taste of blood washed over his tongue. “Guh!” His yellow hat tumbled to the ground. Silver Wishing Plates spilled out from the fallen box.
It took Enta some time to process the fact that Kazuki had punched him. Enta stared up at him from where he’d fallen, a hand pressed against his numb cheek.
“This is your fault, Enta!” Kazuki was crying. For Toi. “It’s your fault that Toi left! If we had those plates, he could have stayed! I feel sorry for Toi!”
The punch was probably to blame for why his thoughts were so chaotic. Still, Enta was angry enough for the both of them—for himself and for the boy that wasn’t here. “What… Toi this, Toi that, that’s all you talk about, but you’re the one who forgot
something important. You’re the one who’s cruel! Get your head out of the clouds and think for once!” Enta leaped to his feet and grabbed Kazuki by the shirt. This was probably the first time he ever touched Kazuki in anger.
“Why would I listen to what you have to say?” Kazuki scoffed. “You’re the one who betrayed us.”
Ah… You reap what you sow. To think that the seeds he’d sown would so quickly blossom into a poisonous flower…
“Enta, you and I…we’re through.”
It was like a bullet through the heart.
No, surely this pain was worse than any bullet.
“Y-you know, I… I…!” Kazuki clenched his hand into a fist, but it had nowhere to go. He shook Enta off as he crumpled to the ground. Then he started toward the box with the plates.
Suddenly, two shadows appeared in front of them.
“We foooound you!”
Kazuki lifted his head to see two police officers—one with blond hair and dark skin, another with black hair and glasses. “Officers…?”
Enta whipped his head back and stiffened. The nightmare from that afternoon replayed in his head.
“That’s them…the Wishing Plates!” Reo only had eyes for the dishes spilling out of the cardboard box.
“Huh, why do…” Kazuki started to ask. He was the only one who didn’t understand the situation they were in.
“Why do we know about the plates? You don’t need to know. Now, let us open a door…” Reo pointed the barrel of his gun at Kazuki. The sign on it read Attack. “Is it desire, or love?”
“Kazuki!”
BANG!
The impact sent them both hurtling to the ground. By the time Kazuki opened his eyes, there was something warm pressed over him. He shifted his gaze to Enta’s face. The other boy was out cold. There was something warm and moist on his palm.
“Enta…?”
He jumped in front of Kazuki, and now his right side was soaked with blood. Kazuki cradled Enta in his arms. The red in front of him was the same shade that painted the evening sky. It was just like that memory he couldn’t forget, one that now came rushing back to him.
“You want to save your partner’s life?” Reo had a vicious look on his face as he peered down at the two, the four plates now safely in his hands. “Well, too bad! The plates that might have granted your wish belong to us now.”
“Enough of this. Let’s go,” said Mabu.
“Tch. This is the best part, why do you have to ruin it?” Reo bitterly stepped back, though he seemed to have a lot more he wanted to say.
“Call for help. Maybe he can still be saved.” Mabu left with those words, and soon the two officers disappeared.
“Ah… Ka…zuki…” Enta drifted back into consciousness.
“Enta, are you okay?! Why…why did you…”
We were fighting barely a second ago, Kazuki thought. I just told him that we were through.
Nestled in Kazuki’s arms, Enta just gave a weak, troubled laugh. “Heh heh…it’s hopeless. I couldn’t even…say I hate you…as a joke…”
Enta was glad he hadn’t said it. Because if this really is our last conversation, I’d hate myself for saying it…
The top deck of the water bus was accessible to passengers. This was where Toi found himself, gazing at Skytree as it jutted up through the night’s sky, gradually growing smaller and smaller in the distance. This was the first time he’d ever seen Asakusa like this—and it was because he was leaving.
As Toi learned and experienced new things, he knew that the sharpness of his memories of Asakusa would fade. Like that red bridge, that soccer ball, and even how it felt when he and his friends turned into kappa and held hands. Eventually, he would forget the flavor of Sobakyuu’s soba, too. Those memories would be replaced by new ones.
And through it all, he would have his brother. They didn’t have to be apart anymore.
His phone, now on silent, vibrated inside his pocket. Dim light illuminated Toi’s face amidst the darkness. The display on his phone read Kazuki. He was glad he didn’t say the boy’s name. The moment he did, it would become a weight—baggage—that he couldn’t simply throw away.