Chapter 05
ON THE MORNING of the bombing sixteen years ago, Watase Sanetoshi was dressed in a long white jacket reminiscent of a cape. The heels of his white boots clacked on the floor as he walked, heralding the beginning of the end of everything. Then he boarded a commuter train packed full of employees and students.
The organization had a car parked at every station. Carrying the black teddy bears they’d assembled in advance, each associate slipped into the crowd.
At one point, Sanetoshi concluded that he hated society with every fiber of his being. “Society” was made up of a handful of different boxes, and people bent themselves out of shape in a desperate attempt to fit within those constraints. They lived their lives never knowing their true form. Eventually they forgot everything and everyone they ever loved, and then they died.
This subway system was a mere microcosm of those boxes, designed to transport these human cattle. The world didn’t need it and neither did he. He was chosen to live outside the box. Thus, his next move was to destroy it, and today was only the beginning. He smiled faintly as his white-gloved hands toyed with the black teddy bear he was carrying.
Then a small girl stepped inside from the neighboring train car, wearing a red randsell backpack on her shoulders. She slipped through the sea of legs and walked right up to him. And when he sensed her aura, all the hair on his body stood on end. As he looked down at her, she stared unflinchingly back at him with her large, round eyes. Her name was Momoka.
“I’m going to eject you from this world.”
Strangely enough, he felt that this little child had the power to understand his outlook on society. How absurd, he thought. Even if he was right about her, she couldn’t possibly hold her own against him.
“Stunning. And how will you achieve that?” he scoffed with a smirk. As if in response, she blinked several times, her long lashes fluttering. Then the train car and passengers all melted into the background until it was just the two of them.
Sanetoshi turned back to face her. This was a sight only afforded to them—a world only they could share, reminiscent of space, but with far fewer stars. He let go of the black teddy bear, and it floated in place, its sharp eyes glaring at Momoka. She lowered her heavy backpack and pulled out a notebook.
“This diary contains an incantation that can transfer fates. I will now recite it.”
“I’m afraid you’re too late. If only we had met a little sooner,” he snickered. His hair grew like vines, painting the dark void of space with light and color. But Momoka didn’t bat an eye.
“I’m going to send you flying through the darkness for all eternity,” she declared. Her words turned everything to pale pink petals, spinning and scattering in all directions. The smile vanished from Sanetoshi’s face, and in a blink, his flowers wilted.
“In that case, allow me to lock you inside my curse.”
It all happened near-simultaneously: Momoka started reciting the spell, while Sanetoshi pressed his lips to his fingers, then pasted that “symbol” onto her forehead. She wasn’t able to finish the incantation, and so she failed to save everything. The bears’ eyes started flashing, and then the bombing occurred. But neither was the world destroyed.
The two gazed firmly into each other’s eyes, each of them watching their inflicted curse take hold. Momoka’s tiny body was split in two, and her soul was transformed into two penguin-shaped hats. Likewise, Sanetoshi was split in two, transforming into two sleek black rabbits with scarlet eyes. But he wasn’t bothered by it. After all, he was one of the chosen few. Thus, he decided he would get his chance to annihilate the world sooner or later…and in the meantime, he vowed never to forget the little girl who risked her life to reject his ambition.
For a long, long time, he recalled the memories again and again. Slowly but surely, his anger at the girl who opposed him became indistinguishable from deep affection. Caught in the vortex of his curse, Momoka continued to keep watch over him as much as possible. And as he traveled down his cursed path toward the future, he waited for the day his postponed plans could finally be enacted.
Sixteen years later, the curse was no longer enough to hold Watase Sanetoshi.
It was late in the evening when I got the call informing me that Himari was taken to the hospital. I thanked the nurse, then hung up, pulled on my coat, and dashed out of the house. Arriving at the emergency room, I filled out the paperwork, then proceeded to the room where she lay asleep. Inside, Dr. Washizuka took one look at my ashen complexion and frowned.
Himari was hooked up to an EKG and wearing an oxygen mask. Worse still, she was assigned a private room located right near the nurses’ station. This didn’t help my anxiety, since patients who weren’t in critical condition were placed in shared rooms much further away. Himari was hospitalized many times in the past, but this was the first time they’d ever put her here.
“When they brought her in, she was delirious, calling for you over and over. Did something happen between the two of you?” Dr. Washizuka asked me as I sat on the stool beside her bed, staring at my lap. There on my knees, Penguin No. 2 leaned as far as it could, peering at Himari’s ghostly pale face.
I tried to think of an answer to his question, but couldn’t. I hadn’t been considerate of Himari’s feelings. Fortunately my number was listed on her insurance card under “emergency contact info,” but even if she could have contacted me on her own without the help of the hospital, I wasn’t sure she actually would have. Also included in her tote bag were her wallet, handkerchief, adhesive bandages, cough drops, chapstick, and the key to the Takakura house. Oh, and the penguin hat.