Chapter 36: Chapter 3.5
For sure, from now on, forever
"About earlier."
We were on our way back home. After a long period of silence, Siesta spoke with some effort.
"Why did you stop me?"
She was probably asking why I'd interrupted her question. I was supposed to be her assistant, so why had I gotten in the way of her work?
"For starters, these incidents are supposedly the work of a random attacker. Meaning it's pointless to ask whether the victim did anything different beforehand."
"We only know that was true of the first four incidents. There's no guarantee that the fifth was the same. I had to ask that question to rule out the possibility that it was an exception."
"Then why ask about the corpse? Asking if she'd noticed anything when she saw the body—that wasn't..."
"It's the same thing. There might have been something besides the removal of the heart, something noteworthy that only family would notice. You blew our chance to verify that." The frustration in Siesta's eyes was like a knife.
What she was saying was logical, objective, and correct. However, "correct" was all it was. Sometimes just being right wasn't enough to save someone.
...I mean, I wasn't exactly thinking that in so many words. As a matter of fact, Siesta's justice had saved me many times.
However, I'd learned there was someone who thought that wasn't everything. Someone who believed that being correct wasn't always top priority.
That had to be why I'd hesitated. Even if maybe I shouldn't have.
"I'll do whatever it takes to defeat Hel. No matter what I have to do, I'll bring her down. That's what I think. But..." Suddenly, a hint of loneliness entered her voice. "I see you're not the same."
"Siesta, I'm..."
"You were the one thing I believed in, you know." Her long lashes were lowered, but I could see the uncertainty in her blue eyes beneath them.
Her expression looked sad, and vaguely resigned.
I wanted to tell her No, that's not what I meant... But I couldn't get the words out.
"I'm going home for today." With that, Siesta trudged on ahead. "Siesta..."
"I'll see you later."
My hand reached out after her, but touched nothing but empty air. Siesta returned to the apartment by herself.
"......But we're going back to the same place." I sighed, alone in the sunset. Tonight was shaping up to be pretty uncomfortable. "Also, quit hiding and come out, Alicia."
I called to the ace detective who was peeking out from the gap between two buildings. She was still very, very bad at tailing people.
"Agh, you figured it out? Weird..." Alicia was seriously puzzled about it as we walked along, side by side.
"Well, you know. That sort of thing happens a lot." Alicia had probably seen Siesta and me arguing, so I told her not to worry about it. "I mean, when you travel together for three years, it's only natural to wind up fighting once or twice. Actually, it would be weirder not to. You know she and I have completely different personalities and lifestyles. In fact, it's pretty impressive that we've lasted three whole years. She's constantly napping, and then she scolds me for waking up cranky. We fight like this basically every day, and... Well, okay, this might actually be the first time it's been this serious, but, um...oh, what's the saying? 'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.' Maybe we can take this opportunity to deepen our understanding of each other in multiple ways. Uh, I mean, not that I want to improve our mutual understanding, really, it's just, like..."
"Wow, you're seriously worried about this." Alicia was staring at me like I'd grown another head. "You've got anxiety written all over your face. And if you were trying to hide your thoughts, it really didn't work."
"...Let's not talk about this anymore, all right?"
If I had Alicia looking at me like that, it was completely hopeless. I'd wipe the last couple of minutes from my memory.
"Oh, come to think of it..." Instead, I remembered something else and started rummaging in the pocket of my pants.
"Yaugh."
"Geez, it's nothing weird. Here." I handed the object I'd taken out to Alicia.
"Huh? Is this— It's the one from back then...?" Alicia carefully examined the ring in the palm of her hand.
It was the ring with the blue stone that she'd found at that roadside stall that one time, while we were looking for the sapphire eye.
"Well, you know. It's not exactly a thank-you present for this, but anyway." I pointed at the patch over my left eye.
The gift was basically just a toy, so I wasn't expecting much of a reaction, but...
"—I'm happy." Alicia closed her eyes, squeezing the ring tightly in front of her chest.
"...Alicia?"
Her small body seemed to be trembling slightly. "It's the first present anyone's ever given me."
"Alicia, don't tell me— Did your memory...?"
But Alicia shook her head. "I get that feeling, though. I think...before I lost my memory, I must have been a bad kid." Alicia smiled thinly.
She was blaming herself, not her environment; she had looked inside herself for the reason she'd never been given a present.
When I heard that self-deprecating comment, I almost reached a hand out toward her head...but at the last minute, I thought better of it.
I wasn't qualified to do that. So I bantered the way I always did, to camouflage it. "You make it sound like you aren't a bad kid now."
"—Huh?! I'm an incredibly good kid! I'm chipper and cute and honest and everybody loves me!"
"You crack me up."
"Well, don't!" Alicia pummeled me with both hands, and I let them hit my chest, not even bothering to block them.
She said she was seventeen. She looked thirteen. Emotionally, she was seven.
I gazed at that odd ace detective with a certain thought in mind. "...Hey."
Abruptly, the zero-damage attack stopped, and then a small, thin voice came from the vicinity of my chest.
"Put the ring on," she coaxed, looking up at me.
"Me?"
"Yes, you."
"On you?"
"Yes, on me."
...I hadn't foreseen that possibility. As I was scratching my head, trying to figure out what I should do, Alicia set the ring in my free hand, then stood in front of me and held out her hand, with its back facing me.
"Why your left hand?"
"If you put it on the wrong finger, I'll get mad."
You've got to be kidding me. Why is this vaguely like a proposal?
"...This is just pretend, all right? Pretend."
But I didn't have a choice. I knelt, taking Alicia's slim left hand. "Speak your vows."
"Why are you being the pastor, too?" "Heh-heh!"
Don't give me that cute laugh like this is normal. Geez.
I cleared my throat a couple of times, then said the vows, or whatever. "Well, uh, so, from here on out, or forever, or something... Looking
forward to working with you, et cetera."
What the hell was she making me do? This was like one of those games where if you think about it, you lose.
"That was pretty sloppy." "Shut up. Don't get greedy."
I slipped the ring onto Alicia's ring finger, and just then— "I said too much back there."
I heard a very, very familiar voice. When I turned to look, I saw the very familiar girl I'd expected—and she started speaking rapidly, her eyes on the ground.
"Well, of course I still don't think my idea was wrong, and I also don't think it's okay to deviate from it that easily. But it's only natural for you to have your own opinions about justice, same as me...and since we are working together as partners, um, sometimes it's necessary for us to compare and adjust our principles... Long story short, what I mean is that it wasn't
good for me to try to force you to conform to my own ideas. It was, um, improper, I think, to act like I was disappointed. That said, there really are some things you should reconsider... Um, I'm not trying to rehash the conversation, it's just..."
The girl, who was continuing to make a sorry display of herself in a way that was reminiscent of someone else I knew, finally looked straight ahead, as if she'd made up her mind. I'm sure I don't have to tell you what she saw.
At last, overcoming a silence that had seemed likely to go on forever, she grinned and spoke.
"I hope you'll be very happy together."
Ah, so looks can kill, I thought.
"Kimizuka, thanks for everything you've done for me." "Agh, yeah, I'm gonna die, aren't I?"
I don't understand you
"Hey, Siesta. Can you hear me?" "......"
The time was near midnight, and the room was dark.
Siesta was in bed, and I was lying on the sofa. I knew she wasn't asleep; the sheets kept rustling.
"Can't you hear me?" I said. "What, did I die and just not notice? Is that what this is?"
"......"
...And so on and so forth.
It had been three days since that clash, but Siesta's mood still hadn't improved. For those three days, we'd acted completely independently, and we hadn't talked at all. We'd pursued Hel, aka Jack the Devil—Siesta by herself, and me with Alicia. Apparently she didn't like the fact that I was still being Alicia's assistant, either.
"Are you a kid?" I grumbled, finally starting to get upset.
"It's hardly fair of you to insult me like that when you're in love with a little kid, Kimi."
...Geez, finally. Apparently, I wasn't a ghost after all.
"I think an assistant who's been unjustly ignored for three days deserves a little more pity, though."
"No, I didn't realize you were there. I just assumed you'd moved to a country that would let you marry thirteen-year-old girls."
"Don't give me the silent treatment for three whole days for the sake of a single joke. I thought you'd snapped for real."
"Well, I did snap for real, though."
Well, don't. And don't just break character out of nowhere, either.
"Heh-heh. Now that I think back over it, it's all starting to seem rather funny. Why were you proposing by the side of the road?"
"It's rude to laugh at a proposal. Not that that's what it was." I'd told her and told her it was just a game.
Once again, I explained the conversation I'd had with Alicia, and the circumstances.
"No one had ever given her a present before."
Alicia had been almost giddy to receive it. And so it had only been a game, and...actually, I wonder what she'd thought it was. For the past three days, the sight of Alicia's smile as she held her left hand up at every opportunity had kept surfacing in my mind, then vanishing again.
"Hey, Siesta. You still don't know anything about Alicia, right?"
True, we had our hands full with Hel right now, but maybe Siesta had found something.
"Mm, I haven't got a clue."
For the ace detective, that was unusual. Maybe it was because she hadn't fully thrown herself into the investigation yet.
"But..." I could hear Siesta sitting up. "You know, Kimi, so that's fine, isn't it?"
"What are you talking about?" I asked from the sofa.
I closed my eyes, lest we somehow make eye contact even in the darkness. "Mm, I haven't got a clue." Siesta repeated the exact same line she'd said
earlier.
Just then, my phone vibrated. I'd left it on the table, and I sprang up to check the screen.
"Sorry, Siesta. I'm headed out for a bit." "It's late. Where are you going?"
I kicked the door open and said, "My fiancée's in trouble."
I don't care if you make fun of me
"Alicia!"
What I saw when I reached my destination was exactly what I'd been afraid of, the worst-case scenario. In a dark alley, under a blinking streetlight, two figures lay on the ground. The one closer to me was Alicia.
I ran to her. "...! Are you okay?!"
She was lying facedown. When I helped her sit up, supporting her with my arm, I saw she was bleeding heavily from her right shoulder. However, I didn't see any other wounds—
"...—Kimi...zuka."
She was conscious, too. Okay, she'll live, I thought, and immediately used my cell to call an ambulance.
"What about...him...?" With a trembling hand, Alicia tried to point at something.
Right, what about the other person on the ground...? "There's a gash in the left side of his chest."
When I moved toward him, Siesta was already performing first aid on the fallen man. She must have followed me here.
"He's unconscious, but I don't think his life is in danger. He's a police officer."
I saw a gun and a knife on the ground nearby. Yeah, I guess a police officer would be wearing a knife-proof vest. It must have kept that wound from being lethal.
"Hey, Assistant?"
"Alicia's safe, too. It was probably the work of Hel...Jack the Devil, but for now, no one's dead. That's good."
"Assistant."
"It looks like the ambulance is here. I'll ride with Alicia, so... You go home and rest, all right?"
Relieved by the sound of the approaching siren, I picked up Alicia's petite body.
"Assistant. Are you all right with that?" Siesta's voice was vaguely sad, and for a moment, it stopped me in my tracks.
However...
"When we get back, let's have apple pie. All three of us." That childish wish was the only thing I could say.
"...Kimizuka?"
After that, when she woke up in the hospital bed, Alicia rubbed her eyes and noticed my presence.
"Hey, you're awake. Does anything hurt?" Alicia shook her head. "Kimizuka, I..." "It's fine."
Alicia tried to sit up, but I held her back on the bed.
"Who'd have thought you'd run into Jack the Devil, huh? From what the doctor says, though, if you rest for a while, you'll heal up. That's some consolation anyway." I took a chilled apple out of the fridge, set a knife against the peel, and began turning it. "The police should be stopping by soon. You were a victim in this incident, so they're probably going to ask you lots of things...but I'll be here, so don't worry. I'll make sure nothing ugly happens."
"Kimizuka."
"Oh, and it sounds like the police officer who was on the ground with you is going to pull through. For the moment, that fifth victim is still the last one. So you just rest easy for a while, and—"
"Kimizuka!"
Alicia grabbed my right arm. A thrill of tension ran through me, but... "You're down to the core."
"...Peeling apples is hard."
I put the slices, which were now very small, on a plate. "Aaaaaah."
"What, you too?!"
Pretty sure I've seen this one before. I speared an apple slice with a toothpick and brought it to Alicia's lips.
"Mm, it's so sweet."
"It's great that you're honest."
"Did you say I was cute and honest?" "Hang on, I'll go get you an ear pick."
"Aren't you being a little too harsh with somebody who's injured?" "If you can joke around, you're doing just fine."
After that brief back-and-forth, we both cracked up a little. The same sort of conversation as usual. The same smiles.
"Actually, Kimizuka, how did you find that place so fast?"
Slowly, Alicia sat up, and I sat down on the little round stool beside the bed.
"Oh, I'd tagged you with a transmitter." "Oh, I see."
"Want some more apple?"
"Yes. Ah, I'll eat on my own, though." Alicia picked up one of the remaining apple pieces, put it in her mouth, and... "...Bfft! Wait, did you think you could slip that past me?!"
"Don't spit out your food." Using a tissue, I wiped off the substance that had spattered my face. It smelled awful.
"What transmitter?! That's scary! Stalker!" Alicia was hugging her shoulders, her eyes teary.
"No, you've got the wrong idea. You know how you always run off? It was a precaution."
"Seriously, when did you do that?! Where did you put it?!" "Alicia, your underwear is surprisingly loud."
"You're awful! Of all the places I can think of, that's the very worst one!" Alicia covered her face and flopped over onto her side.
"That's why I managed to rescue you today, though." "...That's not going to get you off the hook."
"I'm sorry, all right?"
Alicia pouted, sulking, and I stuck a piece of the small apple between her lips.
"So, what were you doing? It's really late," I said, gazing absently at the window of the hospital room.
"...I didn't want anyone else to go through anything that sad."
She was probably talking about the fifth victim's mother. Earlier, Alicia had saved the woman in a way neither Siesta nor I would have been able to.
"Besides, that's my job," she added. "...Why are you so determined, Alicia?"
Why was she so set on becoming a detective? It wasn't as if she was
obligated to do it, and neither of us was forcing her.
Besides, Alicia should have been primarily focusing on reclaiming her memory. And yet she'd prioritized the role of detective that Siesta had assigned to her, not only during this Jack the Devil incident, but even back at the beginning... Even after Siesta had tried to stop her. What on earth was driving her?
"I...," Alicia said softly. "I was always in a dark room somewhere. It was so, so dark... No light, no sound. Nothing."
That was... But no, her memory probably hadn't come back. This was just what it had felt like, a subjective impression, and that was why it was the most important factor to her.
"I didn't know anything. I was nobody. Every day, all I could do was count down until it ended. It was so boring, so painful. But then..." Alicia went on. "One day, all of a sudden, I could see. Light streamed in, I heard sounds... And then I learned how sweet apples tasted."
Alicia looked at the warped, peeled fruit on the plate and smiled faintly. "So I thought maybe, just maybe, I could live my life over. A single thread
had been lowered into that bottomless blackness. So I desperately reeled it in. I pulled and pulled... If I reached the end, if I could become someone new... if 'detective' was the mission I was assigned, then I'd live for that," Alicia told me, her expression fearless. "That's why."
She really didn't look seven, or thirteen. She looked like a woman, noble and beautiful enough to give Siesta a run for her money.
"...I'm getting a little tired."
However, that lasted for only a moment. Alicia's wan smile was as childlike as she usually was.
"I guess we chatted a bit too much." "Uh-huh... I'm kind of sleepy." "Well, it is the middle of the night."
Rubbing her eyes, Alicia rustled her way back under the covers. "I'll stay here until morning, so just relax and sleep."
"Then..." Alicia slipped her left hand out from under the blankets. That ring was still on her finger. "Hold my hand."
I tried to see her face as she said that, but unfortunately, she'd solidly blocked my view with her comforter.
"Are you sure? I'll make fun of you for acting like a kid."
"...I don't care if you make fun of me. Just hold it." Her voice was sulky, but somehow persuasive.
"If those are your orders, ace detective."
I dimmed the lights, took Alicia's small left hand—and for just a little while, I slept, too.
Barely an hour later, I regretted my foolishness.
By the time the breeze from the window woke me, Alicia had vanished.
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