CHAPTER 6 A The Guests The next day—Raira Academy “Morning.” “…Good morning.” Himeka’s response to Yahiro was the same as ever. “Yesterday was really something, wasn’t it?” he said. “Yes. I’m still having trouble processing it.” “…” He thought about asking her what she meant with her last words the day before, but he decided that it would probably be more invasive than necessary, so he hesitated. “Do you still think the Headless Rider is a demon?” he asked anyway, despite his misgivings. If he were a more considerate person than he was, Yahiro’s childhood would have gone much better. “…You’re very persistent,” Himeka noted, but she didn’t seem to be that upset, either. Most likely, their interactions over the last few days had taught her a bit about him. “Perhaps this would be easier to understand if the Headless Rider was the culprit, like I had assumed.” “But if the person who did it uses strange shadows like she does, I don’t think we’d ever get back the people who were taken.” “That’s true. You’ve got a point,” Himeka said brusquely. Yahiro wasn’t sure how to respond. “In that case…” “But the thing is, Yahiro, I don’t think that’s exactly it.” “Huh?” She faced forward as she walked, speaking briskly. “If the Headless Rider is this friendly, then wouldn’t it make her that much more approachable to the people who have been studying her?” “Ah…” “They could talk to her in a secluded place or the mountains in the middle of nowhere.” “I guess…that makes sense.” He felt like he understood her argument. At any rate, it was clear she still suspected the rider of something. Yahiro didn’t think her opinion of the rider as a “demon” was something that came from such a simplistic suspicion, though. Hmm… What should I say? I’m so awkward in these situations. I’m sure Kuon would be able to ask the right questions to reach the answer, but that’s just ’cause he’s so sociable. I wish I was as good at talking to people as he is. His characterization of Kuon as “sociable” was an interesting one, given the boy’s use of bold green hair to intimidate people and keep them away. Yahiro and Himeka headed to the classroom without digging any deeper into the topic. Only when homeroom started did they notice what was wrong. That familiar green head was nowhere to be found in the classroom. Huh? Is he staying home today? It was possible that he was simply tardy, but after what happened yesterday, Yahiro couldn’t hide the disquieting feeling in his heart. When first period ended and they went on break, Yahiro tried calling Kuon’s phone. “The number you have dialed is not currently available,” said the electronic woman’s voice on the line, which only made the foreboding worse. Then Yahiro remembered about the call Kuon made to him last night and the things his friend had said. “Yo. That was pretty wild back there. “I gotta say, Himeka is more low-key than I expected. “It’s like…I thought she was gonna jump on the Headless Rider and scream, Give back my sisters! but fortunately she was keeping it together way better. “Anyway, tomorrow I’ll start hitting up people who might have a grudge against the rider. “See ya at school. I’m going out to the convenience store for a sec.” They had talked about some other things, but he remembered that the rest of the conversation wasn’t important. The point was, he said he’d come to school. It was hard to imagine that Kuon was cutting classes. Yahiro felt a shiver run down his spine. One of the rumors surrounding the Headless Rider and the disappearances had popped into his mind. Those who chase after the Headless Rider vanish first. Given what happened with Himeka’s sisters, it was a very believable rumor. But no. Wait. That doesn’t make sense. In that case, Tatsugami and I should have gone missing first. At this point, Yahiro was completely at a loss. As class resumed, his worry remained. During lunch break, he decided to talk to Himeka about it. “What do you think happened to Kuon?” “He’s probably ditching. He doesn’t seem like an honor student to me.” “That’s pretty cold… Anyway, I still can’t reach his phone.” “If he’s not ditching…then maybe the Headless Rider had something to do with it,” Himeka said boldly, her expression darkening a bit. “I don’t want to believe that’s true…but I guess I can send her a text,” Yahiro suggested, starting up the e-mail app he’d learned how to use for contacting his family back home. But before his fingers could start typing, a new voice said, “Hey, Mizuchi and Tatsugami, are you going out?” It was one of the girls in the class, who had noticed that the two were always hanging out. “No. We’re just together a lot,” Himeka said bluntly. Her tone wasn’t disgusted or shy, just bluntly honest about the facts. “Really? Is that true, Yahiro?” “Huh? Why are you asking me?” His own blunt honesty was no less impressive than Himeka’s. “I’d be really happy if I had a girlfriend as pretty as her. But we’re not going out.” “Wow, you practically asked her out just now!” “What? Did I?” “Yes! That’s hilarious!” Yahiro was confused, but the girls decided he had to have been joking and started howling with laughter. “C’mon, Himeka, you could stand to be more bashful about it!” “Isn’t Yahiro really funny?” “Are all people in Akita like you?” “No, definitely not,” he said. He was on solid ground with that question, at least. He was different from the people back home: They were normal, and according to them, he was a monster. Yahiro’s view of this was rather unfair to himself. Meanwhile, the girls asked, “But you’re also always hanging out with that green-haired boy. Kotonami, right?” “What’s up with that? A love triangle?” “Is he your favorite, Tatsugami?” the girls chattered. But Himeka just said, “No. We’re just together a lot, same as with him.” “Oh my God, it’s like you’re bragging or something!” The girls laughed, teasing. Himeka didn’t seem affected by it at all—but the next innocent thing they said elicited a minor reaction from her. It did the same for Yahiro. “But speaking of Kotonami, do you think his story about the Headless Rider is true?” “Huh?” both Yahiro and Himeka said together, turning their heads. “What, you didn’t know? It was all people were talking about between periods,” said the girl, taking out her smartphone to show them. “Here…isn’t that Kotonami there in the news?” On the screen was a picture of the Headless Rider with a young man, a black bar obscuring his eyes. But the bar was rendered completely pointless by the bright green hair visible above it. And that was how, by the middle of the day, Yahiro and Himeka at last understood what was going on. Kuon Kotonami had become the newest gossip. Rooftop—after school “And that’s why you came to me.” Aoba Kuronuma was leaning back against the railing enclosing the rooftop. The pair was opposite the rooftop garden—a little relaxation spot for students at the school. Thanks to the solar panels that powered part of the building, no other students were visible from this location. You would only see the cool and off-kilter types back here. Raira Academy had almost no “proper” delinquents, which is why the students were allowed access to the roof, but here among the solar panels, there was a different kind of tension than elsewhere on campus. “Yes. I thought maybe you would know something about that,” Yahiro said, somewhat intimidated but remaining cool. “He shouldn’t have made up that stuff about the Headless Rider’s favorite treat being castella cake bites. Those are my favorite,” Aoba said cheerily. “Anyway, I wish I knew where he is, too. I called him as soon as I saw that article.” “Did he answer the phone?” “No, it was already off by the time I called. Or he was out of network…” He paused, then grinned menacingly. “Or he was taken out of network…” “!” “What do they say? The people chasing the Headless Rider get abducted by the Headless Rider…?” “You’re saying that Miss Rider abducted him?” Yahiro repeated, feeling nervous. Aoba’s eyes narrowed instantly. “Oh…? ‘Miss Rider,’ is it…?” “Ah…” “So did you meet her with Kuon, then? You met the rider?” “…” Yahiro didn’t say anything. He wasn’t sure what was safe to say. But his reaction might as well have been a confirmation. “You’re a bad liar, aren’t you?” “Am I?” “Aren’t you?” Aoba smirked, seemingly enjoying Yahiro’s confusion. “To be honest, I don’t care if you’ve met her or not. There’s one piece of information I can say to you for certain.” “What’s that?” “The Headless Rider’s not the kind of person who goes around abducting others… I mean, she’s not a person at all…but that’s just making things complicated.” “?” Yahiro was even more confused. It sounded as though Aoba had known her for years. “You like tilting your head when you’re confused, don’t you?” “Oh, sorry. There’s still so much about Tokyo I don’t understand…” “This isn’t a Tokyo thing… Anyway, you don’t need to think of the Headless Rider as the potential culprit. If she were abducting people for some reason, she wouldn’t hurt them, in my opinion,” Aoba said, smiling self-deprecatingly. “It’s simple. The only thing you need to know is…the Headless Rider’s just too nice.” “Nice?” “More than any human being. She might be driving without a license, but if she sees someone in trouble, there’s a much higher chance that she’ll reach out to help than any regular person would, in my opinion.” “Do you know the Headless Rider, then?” Yahiro asked matter-of-factly. “If I do, we’re not close enough friends that I’d tell you,” Aoba said. “Right?” Yahiro thought this over and bowed his head. “I guess you’re right. Thank you.” “Huh. So you do understand,” Aoba remarked, a little surprised. But as the younger student turned away to leave, he called out to hold him back. “Oh, one more thing.” “?” “Do you know where to find Kuon’s house?” Evening—Takadanobaba “So this…is Kuon’s place…” Yahiro looked up at the structure before him. After Aoba told him the location, Yahiro decided to pay a visit to the apartment building with Himeka after school. He was hoping his friend was just sick with a simple cold, but he couldn’t eliminate his concern. The building was quite a long distance from Takadanobaba Station and considerably taller than any other structures nearby. If you stood on the roof, you could see the entire neighborhood around you. It was over thirty years old, and it didn’t have any gate security outside or even a camera at the entrance, by the looks of it. Himeka gave her honest summation. “It’s big but really old.” “It is?” Yahiro replied. He came from a village where there were no apartment buildings, so he had a different baseline for determining whether a building was new or old. He couldn’t see any cracks in the walls, so even in comparison to their school, it didn’t seem all that old to him. “Yes…if a place this big was built recently, you wouldn’t be able to get to the individual doors,” Himeka said, proceeding into the building. There was no security at the front or a desk for holding packages. Deliveries would have to go directly to the apartments themselves. As they rode upward on the elevator, they discussed what to do when they reached Kuon’s door. “What should we tell his family?” “That he didn’t come to school, so we’re here to give back a book. That should work,” said Himeka, pulling one out of her bag. It was just a book she’d been reading in between classes at school. The title was Ikebukuro Strikes Back. “What book is that?” “It’s a guide to Ikebukuro. The author is named Shinichi Tsukumoya, and it even has a section about the Headless Rider.” “Ohhh…” He’d done a bit of research about the rider while he was in Akita but only online. He hadn’t thought to look up actual books. I’ll need to borrow it later or buy a copy for myself, he thought, right as the elevator reached its destination. NOZOMI & KUON KOTONAMI The nameplate next to the apartment door told them who lived there. “Is Nozomi…his mom?” Nozomi was a feminine name, after all. That would suggest that Kuon probably lived with his mother. Yahiro went ahead and rang the bell. They waited for a while, but no one answered. “…Maybe nobody’s home,” Himeka said. “Should we leave?” Yahiro asked and made to turn around—but then he paused, and he stared at the door itself. “What’s wrong?” “Someone’s inside,” he said. “Huh?” Yahiro leaned in so that his face was close to the door and spoke loud enough that it could carry inside. “Excuse me, my name is Mizuchi, and I’m a classmate of Kuon’s,” he said with a light knock on the door. There was no answer. “Are you sure you’re not imagining things?” Himeka asked. “No, I heard footsteps.” Yahiro’s particular blend of cowardice and the unfathomable accumulation of past experiences that gave rise to it granted him senses that were more sensitive and attuned than most. His sensitivity had been dulled due to the crowds and stimulation of Tokyo, but now that he was getting used to life here, his old touch was coming back. He could sense delinquents sneaking up on him, carrying their weapons—or people holding their breath to hide from him. These sensations came from tiny sounds in the environment, which Yahiro honed his senses to catch. The faintest sounds coming from beyond the door told him that someone was still inside. “What should we do…? I know there’s someone in there…but why aren’t they responding?” “What if it’s a burglar?” “…I suppose that could be.” At worst, it could even be an abductor waiting to capture the two of them. Yahiro started to panic, envisioning Kuon collapsed and dying on the floor inside. “Let’s call for the landlord and have them open it.” “…I don’t think they’re going to do anything that drastic just because you heard footsteps inside,” said Himeka, ever the calm and rational one. She examined the area around the doorknob, then exhaled and said to Yahiro, “I think I can handle this type.” “Type of what?” “Keep an eye out.” “Huh?” Keep an eye out for what? But before he could so much as ask, Himeka removed two narrow pieces of metal from her bag, stuck them into the lock, and started swiveling them around. “Wh-what?!” Yahiro’s face went pale as he realized what Himeka was doing. “Um…Tatsugami?!” “It’s open.” “W-wait…what?!” He gaped, feeling an ugly sweat break out on his face. Himeka reached out with a slender hand, no worries whatsoever, and grabbed the knob. “…I’m going to open it.” “…O-okay.” Yahiro decided that he could ask her more about this later. He faced the door with nerves humming. Himeka turned the knob and opened the door. And… …nobody stood in the doorway. “…Huh?” Was he just mistaken? That was Yahiro’s first instinct. But then he caught sight of something wriggling and squirming, squatting in the hallway. “…” Technically, the “squirming” was of a figure trembling behind a decorative plant. “Um, excuse us. We’re Kuon’s friends,” Yahiro said when he realized that the figure was a woman. “Are you his mother?” The shaking figure slowly peered out from behind the plant, thick glasses on her face, and looked up at him. “D-do I look…that old to you?” She had a generally gloomy air. The woman put a hand against the wall to get to her feet and stared at Yahiro and Himeka with undisguised wariness. “The…the l-lock… How did you…?” “I just rattled the doorknob a few times, and it opened for whatever reason. Maybe your lock is broken,” Himeka lied shamelessly. Yahiro stared at Himeka, wide-eyed, but she merely continued, “I’m sorry for startling you like that. Are you Kotonami’s family?” The frightened woman replied, “I’m N-Nozomi Kotonami. “I’m K-Kuon’s…sister.” A few minutes later, Yahiro and Himeka had been shown through to the living room and served some tea. They shot each other occasional glances in search of what to talk about first. But their conversation partner was busy pouring tea from an odd sitting position on the floor, and it was difficult to know when was appropriate to speak and where to start. Without meeting their eyes, Nozomi Kotonami began to speak. “Yahiro Mizuchi and Himeka Tatsugami, correct?” “!” Earlier he had only introduced himself as Mizuchi, so he was startled to realize she knew his full name. Himeka asked flatly, “How do you know our names?” “Of course I know the names of my dear brother’s friends,” Nozomi said. She giggled, but she strictly avoided eye contact. Something about this struck Yahiro as eerie, but he shrugged it off, telling himself that this was probably some Tokyo thing. “Um, the thing is, Kuon wasn’t at school today,” he explained. “Yes, I know.” “Huh? Then there was a reason he didn’t show up.” “Yes. There is a reason,” she said, wearing a dark and dreary smile. With what seemed like a happy tone, she explained, “He seems to have been kidnapped by someone last night, that’s why.” “…?” “He was taken. Abducted. My sweet Kuon.” “Oh no…,” Yahiro muttered. She sounded so casual that he’d assumed she was joking at first, but then he recalled their initial interaction and came to a startling realization. “Th-then is that why you didn’t answer the doorbell earlier? You thought we were the abductors again?” “No? I was just scared. I get really shy. I can’t open the door for anyone but Kuon and delivery people.” “???” Yahiro was completely at a loss. He looked to Himeka, who was still calm and collected. “…It doesn’t seem like you contacted the police,” she observed. “You’re right, I haven’t. It would cause trouble for Kuon, and I don’t want police in our home for any reason.” Nozomi rocked back and forth. She was trembling. “To be honest, this is really hard on me just having you two inside on our first meeting. I hate to insist for my own personal reasons, and after you came all this way, but…” Her eyes wandered in empty space, and she produced a memo pad and pencil out of nowhere, sliding them across the table. “C-can you write your cell number down there? Either one of you.” “?” So she wants our contact information, so we can leave? I guess I can’t blame her, since we essentially invaded her home, Yahiro decided. He sent a look toward Himeka and wrote down his phone number on the pad. “Th-thank you. Drink your tea. I’ve got some snacks in the fridge, too, so eat something, please.” “Um, okay?” said Yahiro, confused that he wasn’t being told to leave. Nozomi practically crawled out of the room, then made her way to her bedroom at the end of the hallway. “What was that about? What are we supposed to do?” “Dunno…” The two stared at each other, and then Yahiro’s phone started ringing. “Huh?” It was from an unfamiliar number, which he viewed with suspicion. Yahiro put the phone to his ear. “Hey! Hi, how are you? Sorry about that! I’m not a very good host!” came the voice of the woman who had just left the living room. “Whew, I can finally talk normally! Listen, I’m, like, incredibly bad at looking other people in the eyes! I get so nervous I can’t have a proper conversation! Sorry about that, okay? It has nothing to do with you two! In fact, I like you! I love you both!” But although her voice was the same, it was so bright and excitable that it sounded like it had to be coming from a different person entirely. “Um…is that you, Nozomi?” “Yeah, why? Oh, do you know how to put it on speaker? That way Himeka can talk, too.” “Sorry, I don’t.” She guided him through the steps over the phone, and Yahiro managed to activate the unfamiliar function. “Hellooo? Can you hear me now, Himeka?” “Yes, I can hear you.” “Okay, great! And I can hear you!” The phone was now outputting like a stereo speaker, making it possible for them to hold a normal three-person conversation. Yahiro was relieved, although he couldn’t necessarily say for sure if this counted as a “normal” conversation—their partner was talking to them from just behind the wall. “Allow me to properly introduce myself this time! I’m Nozomi Kotonami! I know I seem like a shut-in, but I’m not a total loser—I do provide for myself! And I’m the one paying for Kuon’s tuition and living costs.” “Are you a writer or something?” Himeka asked, the first job she could think of that somebody could do without ever leaving home. “Oh no, not at all!” Nozomi insisted. “But I guess, in the sense that I use a pen name and write stuff for money, I’m not that far off?” “Pen name?” “Yeah. You could call it a username, too, but since I’m writing articles, pen name seems like the proper term!” From the other end of the call came the name in question. “Have you ever heard of…Rira Tailtooth Zaiya?” Rira Tailtooth Zaiya. It was an outlandish name; it gave no room for assumption of the writer’s nationality. Nonetheless, Yahiro realized he recognized it. Huh? I feel like I saw that name just today… But before he could pinpoint the exact place in his memory, Himeka said, “You’re the administrator of IkeNew!, aren’t you?” “Ding-ding-ding! Correct!” “Ah!” Yahiro murmured as it came to him. It was the news site that his classmates showed him today, where they had the picture of Kuon with the Headless Rider. The name of that blog was IkeNew!, and the administrator was named Rira Tailtooth Zaiya. “Huh? But then…” “That’s right. Me and my brother cooked up that article! You’ll never find the ‘original blog’ it came from. I made up that article based on a fictional blog that never existed! It’s funny how badly it fooled everyone!” “? ? ?” Question marks appeared and vanished in sequence over Yahiro’s head. Making an article based on a fake journal? What’s the point of that? And why slip in those lies about the Headless Rider? Should a news website really be making things up? Then who abducted Kuon? As the questions rushed through Yahiro’s mind, Himeka leaned over the phone to ask, “Did you write that…so that someone would abduct him?” “…What’s this? How sharp of you.” “…” “So what are you suggesting, Miss Tatsugami? That you have a hunch who did it?” Nozomi’s question was a strange one. Yahiro pushed the doubts out of his mind and said, “That can’t be right.” “Why not?” “Because if you knew who’s responsible, you could just tell the police.” “I didn’t think that I would hear such a straightforward, innocent opinion in this conversation!” The woman on the other end chuckled. Yahiro couldn’t tell what was so funny about that. “Yahiro, you’re funnier than I thought. Just out of curiosity, who do you suppose kidnapped everyone?” Yahiro considered this carefully and offered, “Maybe an organized criminal group…” “Why do you think that?” “I don’t know if it’s proof, but…I was abducted in the second year of middle school.” “…” “…” Himeka and Nozomi said nothing. Both of them understood that Yahiro was not the kind of person who would joke about that sort of thing. But without knowing why he was kidnapped, they couldn’t say anything. Himeka had no idea what he was talking about, and Nozomi, who’d heard the rumors about Yahiro, hadn’t expected such a thing to have happened to him. “My grandma cleared things up with someone important from the gang to set me free, but it was really scary when it happened.” “You’re fascinating, you know that?” Nozomi said, her voice quieter. “Uh-huh. No wonder Kuon likes you.” “Um, so is Kuon all right?” Yahiro asked bluntly. “You don’t seem that panicked about him to me.” The victim’s sister said blithely, “Well, I don’t know if he’s ‘all right,’ but I bet he’s got a plan to win. “Like your princess over there guessed…he got himself abducted on purpose.”
Chapter 26
21 min read