After we finished recording, the mastermind behind the wall-slam was all smiles. “What a relief! Thank you so much, Kunieda-kun!”
“Oh, it was no trouble.”
“They were delighted that you knew so much about the source material! Between you and me, the host before you was majorly under-prepared, so I was gonna be pissed if that happened again. Clearly I didn’t need to worry!”
“I’m honored to have been of assistance.”
“And oh my god, that wall-slam! The makeup team was totally squealing… I’m gonna record it when it airs and save it forever!”
“Ha ha…” That shit was mortifying. Never make me do that again.
Either way, starting now, I was free from work for a good, long while. To ensure I wouldn’t get saddled with anything else at the last minute, I slipped out of the building. Then, when I got home, I deep-cleaned my apartment for the first time in ages, washed all my linens, and remade my bed. I hadn’t changed my sheets in ten days, after all, and besides, it was looking like I might spend the next two weeks here. Then I took a long shower—not that I’m hoping for anything, I clarified to the Ushio in my mind—and once night fell, I headed out to see him in person.
Considering how much time had passed, I was relieved to find that my spare key still fit in the lock, even though I should have known Ushio wouldn’t change it. Steeling myself, I opened the door with just enough force—not too fearfully, but not too eagerly.
Inside, the house was dark, and his shoes were gone.
I walked through each room in turn, flipping on the lights as I went. The second floor was just as deserted as the first. The hell?
It felt like all my apprehension was for nothing. Had I just wasted my time? Or was this an ideal situation? This way, when he came home, I’d say, “Welcome home,” and he’d say, “What do you want?” like an ironic callback… No, Ushio would never say that.
Was he out grocery shopping? Or eating dinner at a restaurant? I decided to watch TV upstairs and wait for him. It was 8 p.m.
Then 8 became 9, and 9 became 10, and there was still no sign of him.
What’s taking him so long? I’m starving. Jeez. I checked my phone, but of course he wouldn’t email me; he didn’t know I was waiting here. That being said, I didn’t dare initiate contact myself, lest I somehow make things worse over text. I happened to be watching Jipang TV at the time, so Newsment came on, but my brain was already in vacation mode, and I was too focused on Ushio to care.
Then, at the tail end of the show…
“All right, folks, quick announcement! Seeing as the international soccer match will be broadcasting in this timeslot tomorrow evening, Newsment will be taking the night off. Kizaki-kun, you said you’re going on vacation, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, I’m spending the weekend at a hot spring with the cast of a different show. Everyone else is already there, so I gotta leave right after this.”
“What show?” someone shouted from the audience.
“C’mon, you know I can’t tell you that!”
“Cheating on Jipang?”
“Oh, stop it, you…”
A hot spring, huh? In this heat? Weird, but you do you. A hot spring trip…with the cast of a different show… Nah, it couldn’t be.
I turned off the TV, rose to my feet, and flung open Ushio’s closet. He didn’t own a lot of clothes, so it was basically a storage area. And since he didn’t own many travel bags, I could tell right away that one was missing—the one made of sturdy canvas, perfect for short trips. Next, I checked the fridge. Plenty of bottled stuff, but nothing perishable.
Wait, wait, wait—seriously?
I wandered around both floors of the house, but couldn’t find any more circumstantial evidence, so I decided to investigate a different angle. I pulled up the Persons official Twitter, and using their following list, I soon found a staff member. Their latest tweet, posted seven hours ago, read: Already drunk!!! Attached to it was a photo of a train car window and a hand holding a can of beer. Combing through this account’s followers, I found even more travel tweets. The “different show” Kizaki mentioned was undoubtedly Persons.
As I snooped, I kept hoping Ushio would walk in the front door, but no dice. Well, now what? I couldn’t make a fresh account just to ask if Tsuzuki Ushio was there—it’d be creepy. My cyber-sleuthing had already hit a dead end.
No, wait…I can just ask! I closed my browser window and placed a call.
“Hey, there! Oh, yeah, a staff worker brought a cake into the studio for you, but since you weren’t here, I ate it for you. You don’t mind, right, Kunieda-san?”
I could not give less of a fuck. I nearly said as much out loud, too, but instead I donned my formal persona and asked, “Minagawa-kun, are you in private at the moment?”
“Uhhh… Yeah, I mean, I’m at the station… One sec. I’ll relocate.” Tatsuki’s razor-sharp intuition could be a real hassle at times, but just this once, it was helpful. “Okay, it’s safe. I’m in the tool closet outside Studio D. Nobody’s gonna come here at this time of night. Anyway, what’s up?”
“Good, good… Look, you’re friends with everyone on Earth, right? Know anybody who works on Persons?”
“What, the Touyou TV show? And since when am I friends with everyone on Earth?”
“Just answer the question.”
“I…could probably get in touch with someone,” he replied in a dubious tone.
“A big group of them went on a trip to a hot spring today. I want you to find out if he’s with them.”
“He who? You’re not talking about Kizaki-san, are you? I’m really starting to think you’re obsessed. It’s not healthy, senpai.”
“No, not him! Him!”
“What?”
Damn it, you used to be smarter than this! “There’s only one guy I could be talking about! Figure it out!” I snapped.
“Huh? Wait…could it be Tsuzuki-san?”
“No shit, Sherlock!”
“C’mon, you can at least say his name, can’t you? Are you so tsundere that you can’t address him as anything other than ‘hey, you’?”
“Shut it.”
“While we’re on the subject, what do you call him in private? Ushy?”
“I said shut the fuck up and go to hell.”
“Shouldn’t you just ask Tsuzuki-san directly? Need me to ask him?”
“No! Don’t you dare say a word to him. You owe me since you ate my cake.”
“Okaaaay… Oh, I know! Is this an adultery investigation?”
Endure it, Kei, endure it. Don’t kill him. At least not yet. “You know he wouldn’t cheat on me.” That wasn’t my arrogance talking—it was a testament to Ushio’s morality.
“Yeah, you’re right. Tsuzuki-san would never cheat. Unlike you.”
“You don’t get to say that to me when you’re the reason it nearly happened!”
Why did one single request have to be so goddamn draining? With a course of action in place, all that remained was for me to go to bed and check again in the morning…but in fact, less than an hour later, Tatsuki called me back. For once, he actually proved useful to me. Now if only he’d do something about that obnoxious personality.
“Yep, they confirmed he’s there with them. They’re out in Nagano, apparently, and I found out the name of the inn they’re staying at. Ready?”
As he relayed the information, I quickly wrote it down. Then I ignored his request for souvenirs and promptly hung up. A Google search of the inn’s name brought me to their website—not that I was planning to go there. I only wanted the truth, really. Besides, if I went after him, I’d look like a total stalker. He’d be back on Sunday, anyway. And I hated traveling, and I didn’t have any interest in hot springs.
If anything, having my suspicions confirmed only pissed me off.
Why would you go on a trip now, of all times? And with Kizaki’s circle of friends? Talk about adding insult to injury! Didn’t I tell you to wait for me? Uh…actually, no, I didn’t. Wait, yeah, I did! I told the Ushio in my head! Get out of that sauna and read my mind for once!
I thought knowing the truth would make me feel better, but instead, it only gave me more anxiety. And although I knew I shouldn’t cave…my finger was drifting ever closer to a link labeled Where To Find Us.