Chapter 3 | Contents | Chapter 5
I ate the dekopon in place of dessert for breakfast, which had grilled salmon as its main dish. The nurse with very short hair had frowned and said, “Your meals already take nutritional balance into account, so please eat fruit sparingly.” However, Osanai-san’s get-well gift was not so indulgent that it would get stopped by such a restriction. That said, it was indeed sweet1.
The dekopon’s skin was not as difficult to peel as I’d feared, giving almost no strain to my ribs. As for the flesh… it had a velvety, smooth taste, and I could not stop my hand from continuously delivering segment after segment to my mouth. Osanai-san loved sweet foods, but also gave off the image of not being accepting of fruits that are only sweet. I had the impression that she preferred citrus fruit to have a slight sour taste. However, this dekopon was nothing but sweet. Did she think that sweet fruit was good for me, given the state I was in at this time? If so, her thinking was absolutely correct. With yesterday’s chocolate bonbon and today’s dekopon, my mouth was living in luxury.
I wanted to thank her, but my phone was still broken and I had no means to obtain a new one. To do that, I would have to go to a distributor in person. If this bed had the power to zoom down highways I would be able to rush to any store I wanted, but that didn’t seem to be the case, so I would have no methods of communication whatsoever for the time being.
In the early morning, Miyamuro-sensei came over to check my condition. Apparently, the post-surgical recovery was neither good nor bad. The pain in my leg was still unceasing, but it had at least weakened into a dull pain.
“You should still avoid putting too much strain on your right leg, but you should have no problem moving your body a little.”
That bit of news sent me to seventh heaven. Since I was hospitalized, there was nothing that felt worse than being unable to move my own body.
“Thank you very much!”
Without thinking, I exclaimed excitedly. Paying no heed to the sting of pain in my ribs from using too much energy to speak, I continued.
“Can I start using a wheelchair?”
The reply was simple and emotionless.
“It’s still too early for that.”
With Miyamuro-sensei’s permission, exercises for my right leg was added to Mabuchi-san’s rehabilitation menu, though for now they were only stretches where I would bend and extend my right knee. I was wondering if such exercise would be good enough, but it was unexpectedly arduous. Probably having noticed that I’d just received a shock, Mabuchi-san spoke to me kindly.
“You’re young, so if you do rehabilitation properly, your body will respond in good order.”
I believed those words. I could do nothing but believe them.
Since I didn’t seem to have any problems in my mind, Wakura-sensei who had checked my cognitive skill earlier did not appear afterwards. I suppose that could be considered heartening news.
…Eventually, no one else was left in the hospital room. The cleaner did come in once, but besides him I was visited by only an empty period of time. My consciousness gradually returned to the events of three years ago.
I was never the type to instantly become friendly with someone else.
In fact, I would sometimes naturally put up a wall between me and the other person, no matter who it was. I would only realize it later, but it was the same with Osanai-san. While she would hang out with anyone to a reasonable degree, it was rare for her to really open her heart.
However, in that library after school three years ago, we’d readily confided in each other about our goals, which was strange to us when we thought about it later. Even now, I still don’t know why we did.
Following the dekopon, I ate today’s chocolate bonbon, which was apparently made of Caribbean cacao beans. It was bitter, which was comforting to my mouth since it had been sweetened by the dekopon. I removed the cap of my pen.
Osanai-san said that she could not forgive the driver of that car.
On the day of that accident, the culprit’s car had braked fully, but it was too late, and Hisaka-kun still got run over. A few meters away, Osanai-san turned around and, thinking that a terrible accident had just occurred, tried running over to Hisaka-kun. At that moment, the car started moving again.
“About the accident…”
Osanai-san started.
“I won’t say it was unavoidable, but it happened. However, the driver looked at the person they’d just hit, then looked at the road ahead, and stepped on the accelerator. They should have noticed that I was in the way, because I made eye contact with them through their sunglasses.”
Even so, the driver who had run over Hisaka-kun did not let up on the gas. He did not even turn the steering wheel to avoid Osanai-san.
“I was only fine because I jumped off on my own, and I would have gotten hit if I hadn’t done that. At that moment, the driver thought that they didn’t mind killing me to protect themselves. I… I was scared. I want to know who that driver is. And then…”
After a small pause, she continued.
“Make them pay.”
Osanai-san did not mention that the crime should be exposed, or that the culprit should be stopped before they cause more casualties, or that Hisaka-kun’s score should be settled. All she said was that the culprit who had shown malicious intent towards her and stricken her with fear should pay the price and receive the retribution they deserve.
Once again, I stayed true to myself. Did I think that Osanai-san would not look down on me if I told the truth? …No, I probably felt that I didn’t mind if I was scorned for that.
“I want to track down the culprit who ran over my classmate, Hisaka-kun.”
Osanai-san nodded silently, prompting me to carry on.
“It might just be a small chance, but I think I can do it. And I might even be able to discover the culprit’s identity faster than the police. I want to see if I can really achieve that, and I want to know how far I can go.”
Osanai-san stared intently at me for a moment, then slowly opened her mouth.
“You’re not doing this to avenge your classmate?”
“Well, that could happen as a result of this investigation.”
“What would you think if I said that you’re doing this for the sake of vanity and reputation?”
“I would think that you understood my words exactly.”
Placing a finger on her lips, Osanai-san thought for a while.
“…I intended to do this on my own, but I was starting to feel the limits of working alone. What about you… Kobato-kun?”
“I don’t think it’s meaningless if I don’t investigate on my own.”
“Basically, you’re thinking that you just need to overtake me at the end, right?”
My face was probably calm, but I was quite amused inwardly, for I could sense that there were some commonalities between Osanai-san and I. We were not so similar that we would be hate each other for it2, but it felt more like we were kindred spirits… no, if anything, we were closer to companions in misery.
As a matter of fact, while I was investigating Hisaka-kun’s hit-and-run accident, I had not yet decided on my next move, only that I thought there was something I could do. That being the case, collaborating with an eccentric schoolmate with the same goal didn’t seem like a bad idea.
“Let’s work together.”
I suggested, causing Osanai-san to tilt her head.
“Kobato-kun, would you help me? And would I help you?”
Indeed, we didn’t seem like we would help each other that much. What should I say here?
“How about sharing information?”
“I think we can go a few steps further. Something that can allow us to receive benefits from each other…”
“If so, something like… a symbiotic relationship?”
Osanai-san grinned.
“That’s a strange term.”
“You don’t like it?”
“No, quite the reverse, I really like it. So, Kobato-kun, I’ll say it again. Would you like to form a symbiotic relationship with me?”
“Gladly.”
We could have shaken hands, but the only thing we exchanged was a gaze to gauge if we could trust each other. Returning the book to its bookshelf, I made a suggestion.
“Right, shall we talk about what we know?”
“I think we should move somewhere else.”
The library certainly could not be considered a fitting location for a standing conversation.
“Shall we look for an empty classroom?”
I replied, but Osanai-san shook her head.
“Kobato-kun, how much do you have?”
“…Is this a shakedown?”
“We won’t go to a place that sells fried food3. There’s a shop where we can have a quiet conversation.”
I had never been to an eatery in a group made up solely of students. At most, I’d been to a convenience store to buy drinks. While I was frankly shocked by Osanai-san’s proposition, I did not let it show.
“Alright, let’s go.”
“Yup. I’ll wait for you outside the school gate.”
Moving together within others’ sight would only invite troublesome speculation. Osanai-san’s suggestion was completely valid.
Osanai-san was the first to leave the library, while I followed suit after waiting for a minute or so. I changed into my sneakers at the entranceway, then headed for the school gate. The weather was clear today as well. Some cumulonimbus clouds that had gotten ahead of the season stood out against the darkening sky.
The school gate was fitted with brick gateposts, and faced a two-lane road. Verdant leaves decorated the trees lining the street as students in their summer uniform trickled out of the school gate. I looked around me and muttered.
“Huh?”
I could not find Osanai-san, whom I’d just separated from. She’d been holding her bag, so I’d assumed that she’d already finished packing up her things.
Thinking that I’d missed her, I returned to the school premises. I could see the Athletics Club and Baseball Club doing their activities enthusiastically in the sports ground, while the clashing of the Kendo Club’s shinai reached my ears from the gymnasium. Osanai-san was currently the only student in the school wearing her winter uniform, so I didn’t think it was possible to miss such a conspicuous figure. Thinking that I should have exchanged contact information with her, I went out of the school gate again.
From the shadow of a roadside tree, Osanai-san was glaring resentfully at me with eyes that said, “Why didn’t you notice!”
No, you weren’t there. You definitely weren’t there just now. That was how I wanted to plead my case, but before I got a chance to, she had already turned on her heel and started walking. She was probably telling me to follow her a short distance away.
With that, she trotted off at quite a fast pace. Since I had a larger stride, I intentionally walked slowly. After turning at some intersections, Osanai-san finally entered an area that I’d never been to before. I closely followed the dark blue sailor uniform while feeling daunted by the beauty salons and dental clinics I didn’t recognize.
Eventually, she slid open the door of a house that looked like a normal residence. By “shop where we can have a quiet conversation”, did she mean her own house? That was what I thought, but when I got closer to the door that had closed after Osanai-san, I noticed an extremely modest sign on the wall that read “Omotedana”. I didn’t understand what it meant, but there didn’t seem to be anything shady going on.
The door rattled when I slid it open to reveal a small interior with only three tables. Osanai-san was sitting at a four-seater table that was furthest from the door, so I sat opposite her. The table was also small.
A man with his hair shaven short on both sides wearing an apron and round spectacles brought over two glasses of water.
“Welcome.”
Not seeming to mind that we were middle school students in uniform, he said, “Please call when you are ready to order,” then retreated to the kitchen. I asked Osanai-san a question in a hushed tone.
“Will we get reported?”
“We won’t.”
What a clear answer. Given her confidence, I should stop worrying about it.
I wanted to get right down to business, but Osanai-san took the initiative and presented the menu to me. I see, perhaps it is good etiquette to first order something.
When I looked at the menu, I was a little surprised. Each drink was about twenty to thirty percent cheaper than I’d expected. That said, I usually did not carry much money with me while going home from school, so my choices were limited.
“A coffee, perhaps?”
I mused. Osanai-san quietly replied.
“Milk coffee is recommended.”
It felt like I was being told that I was too young to drink black coffee, but Osanai-san read my thoughts.
“Even if you like black coffee, Kobato-kun, milk coffee is recommended here.”
Thinking that there had to be some reason for that, I looked around, and found a short line on the side of the menu that said, “This shop uses milk right off our farm.” It was really just a recommended item.
“I see. I’ll order one, then.”
I was actually fine with any drink, so I obediently took her advice. Osanai-san ordered a milk soft-serve.
In almost no time at all, our orders arrived at our table. Osanai-san’s soft serve was heaped generously in a small round bowl. It was simple, with no toppings.
“Right, let’s…”
Start sharing information, I was about to say, but paying me no heed, Osanai-san inserted her spoon into the soft serve. Well, it would be a waste if the ice cream melted while we were talking. Resisting the urge to ask, “Is it really the time for this?”, I drank my milk coffee.
It was indeed tasty, but I didn’t feel like it was an amazingly unique taste. In the first place, I always drank coffee without sugar, so I couldn’t tell if this milk coffee was good or bad. As for Osanai-san, she scooped some soft serve into her mouth…
And for a moment, I thought I saw an extraordinarily relaxed look on her face. Was that just a figment of my imagination? As if it were a solemn ritual, she started devouring the ice cream with a serious look, and at a speed that seemed to say that delay ruins everything. Just to be sure, I asked.
“Is it delicious?”
But there was no reply. Perhaps we weren’t close enough for her to share her opinion.
Before long, Osanai-san emptied the bowl and took a deep breath. After wiping some water vapor that had condensed on the table with her handkerchief, she brought out a notebook from her bag and opened it.
“Now, let’s begin.”
I’d only drunk roughly a third of my milk coffee, but it wouldn’t lose its taste even if I drank it slowly. I nodded my approval.
“Which of us should start?”
“I don’t mind either way.”
Thus, I began the discussion.
“First off, Fujidera-kun told me that he informed the police of a girl from our school being at the scene of the accident, so the police is looking for you, I think. Did the teachers say anything in class?”
Osanai-san put on a bored look, implying that she didn’t think of it as an important topic.
“They asked eyewitnesses to come forward.”
“Did you?”
“I didn’t actually see it happen.”
Indeed, as far as I’d heard, Osanai-san had not seen the moment Hisaka-kun got run over.
She probably wouldn’t come forward if the police didn’t directly contact her. It wasn’t unreasonable since she wanted to find the culprit on her own.
Osanai-san tested writing some meaningless words on a blank sheet of paper from her notebook.
“…So, anything else?”
“Of course, there’s more.”
Following that, I proceeded to list what I’d learned and discovered about the accident from the day it happened. I spoke about the rumors that had spread in the classroom, how some classmates wanted to investigate the incident, and how I’d agreed with their decision. I then talked about how I went to the accident scene to find that everyone else either failed to show up or immediately left, how I saw the skid marks on the road, and how I discovered the traces of someone falling off the embankment road.
I brought out the vocabulary book which had its words smudged after being soaked.
“Is this yours, Osanai-san?”
She returned a slight nod and wordlessly accepted it. I continued on.
“After that, I visited Hisaka-kun in the hospital. From that, I learned the features of the culprit’s vehicle. It’s a sky-blue wagon car. Today, I met a second-year student who was walking behind Hisaka-kun when he witnessed the accident, and heard that it was a light car. That witness also recalled that there was a female student between him and Hisaka-kun.”
I spread my hands.
“And you know the rest.”
Osanai-san clasped her hands on the table.
“…I didn’t realize you can tell that it’s a light car from the tire width. I’m also surprised that you found my vocabulary book. You’re the only one who realized that it belongs to someone related to the accident.”
According to Fujidera-kun, the police had blockaded the area to collect evidence, so I couldn’t imagine that they never found the book. Simply put, they’d probably judged that it was not a clue tied to the culprit’s car. Even taking that into account, I found it fun to relay the results of my investigation to someone else. Frankly speaking, Osanai-san listening with admiration greatly satisfied my amour-propre4.
Next, it was Osanai-san’s turn.
She started drawing an image on the notebook with a mechanical pencil. While I was wondering what it could represent, a map centered around the meandering Inaba River appeared on the notebook.
The Inaba River flows from the north to the city, then takes a sharp turn to the west before snaking to the south again. The accident occurred on the river’s left bank before it turns to the south. Osanai-san switched to a pen and marked out that location on the map with a red cross.
“From here, the culprit’s vehicle drove off upstream along Inaba River, and it would reach Togou Bridge in about 100 meters.”
Ushio-kun and I had gone down from that bridge to the embankment road to reach the accident scene the day before.
“The culprit could not escape by crossing the bridge with his car, because the embankment goes under Togou Bridge as an underpass.”
So that kind of road is called an underpass? I should remember that so I can use it some time.
“There is no space to make a u-turn on the embankment road, so the culprit couldn’t have returned to the accident location. In the first place, the ambulance and patrol cars arrived immediately after Hisaka-kun was knocked down. If the culprit had somehow found a way to return, Fujidera-kun and the police officers deployed there would have seen the car.”
“You’re right.”
In fact, Fujidera-kun had kept a lookout on the road thinking that the culprit might return, and later on, the police had blocked off the road and alternated traffic on a single lane. It was difficult to imagine that the police searching for a hit-and-run vehicle would have missed one that matched the eyewitness account and probably still contained some marks from the accident. Thus it could be said that the possibility of the culprit making a u-turn was zero.
“They also couldn’t go down to the river and escape across the riverbed. On that day, the Inaba River swelled, and the water level almost rose up to the embankment.”
Osanai-san’s mechanical pencil followed the path.
“In other words, the culprit couldn’t do anything but follow the embankment road. In this case, no matter how long it is or how much it bends, it can be considered one straight road. So, as for what this road is like…”
The pencil kept heading upstream of the Inaba River on the map.
“The point where the accident happened on the embankment road is about seven meters high. As you go upstream, the embankment decreases in height, and so does the embankment road.”
There are two other bridges past Togou Bridge, but the embankment road apparently passes under them as well.
Far away from the accident scene, another road intersects with the embankment road at a right angle, forming a T-junction in the shape of the katakana character ト. After drawing that junction, Osanai-san put down her mechanical pencil, switched it with the red pen and drew a circle at that location.
“Here another road intersects at a right angle. That road continues on, but the embankment road ends here.”
“Basically, the culprit could only drive straight ahead until this point, right?”
Osanai-san nodded.
The two points marked in red looked quite far apart on the map.
“How far away is it?”
“About nine kilometers away.”
That’s far.
“Nine kilometers is quite a big distance. Were there really no other places for the car to escape to?”
“Nope.”
Since she answered so readily, I felt like pressing her on that point.
“Are you sure? Even if there are no side roads on the map, are there actually no routes that deviate from the main road?”
“No. There is a slope to go down to the riverbed, but with the Inaba River swelling on that day, a no entry chain was put up, so no one could get through.”
“…You’re very confident about that.”
Osanai-san looked squarely in my eyes.
“After I almost got run over by that car, I walked along the embankment, to see if the culprit’s car stopped anywhere. The pavement stops at Togou Bridge, so I walked on the berm after that point. That’s why I can say it so confidently. The car that caused the accident either followed the road until the location marked with a circle, or fell off the embankment causing another huge accident. And there was no such accident.”
Her manner of speaking was quiet and composed, but I could tell that her words had “If you don’t believe me our collaboration ends here” tacked on at the end. I spoke frankly.
“Point taken. Sorry, I didn’t mean to doubt you, but I didn’t think that you would walk the whole nine kilometers to confirm. There should be no mistake if you saw it for yourself. So the car passed this point marked by the circle.”
According to Fujidera-kun, after he saw Osanai-san fall off the embankment, he checked on Hisaka-kun’s condition before taking a peek at the berm, but there was already no one there. Osanai-san had probably started chasing after the culprit’s car immediately after falling off, even with her summer uniform wet and dirtied. Not caring about the elementary knowledge that a person on foot cannot possibly catch up to a car, she’d chased after the car that had threatened her life, in the process also breaking the school rule prohibiting students from walking on the berms.
The average human walking speed is approximately four kilometers per hour. Basically, she’d continued walking towards that T-junction for about two hours. I’d had a sneaking suspicion, but Osanai-san was… for want of a better phrase, not normal.
With an expressionless nod, as if saying that it was fine as long as I understood, she stood the red pen up.
“So, there’s a convenience store at that intersection. I think it was a 7-11… but it could have been a Family Mart… or a Lawson… Anyway, it’s more commonly known as the ‘Nanatsuya Town Store’.”
She wrote “Convenience Store!” on the map.
I could finally see what she was getting at, but I had no confidence that my understanding was correct. While wondering if such a thing could be possible, I replied.
“This means that the culprit must have passed the convenience store.”
“Yup.”
“And… I don’t know how it relates to us, but… many convenience stores have security cameras, right?”
Osanai-san nodded.
“The culprit could be on the video footage. I knew as much, but I didn’t know the characteristics of the car we want to find. Don’t think that I was inattentive. When I turned around after hearing the sound of the accident, I already about to be hit. All I could tell was that it was a blue car… but now, Kobato-kun, you’ve told me that it was a light wagon car.”
Osanai-san smiled joyfully.
“Thank you. That makes me happy.”
Good for her, then.
But simply predicting that the culprit could be caught on the convenience store’s security cameras didn’t make for a reason to be so happy. While we weren’t exactly normal, Osanai-san and I were objectively common middle school students, and could not access data from security cameras. Unfortunately, I was not a super hacker who could sit in a dark room and say, “That’s it! Good girl.” and retrieve data from the entire world. Could Osanai-san actually be a super hacker?
“So, how do we get that data?”
I went straight to the point, and received a curt response.
“I’m acquainted with a girl who has a family member working at that convenience store. I’ll try asking her to share that data.”
It was a more primitive method than I’d expected, but it was also easy to see the path to success. Osanai-san continued.
“I plan to have a talk with that girl today at 8. Kobato-kun, I would like you to witness it.”
“Eight… you mean eight at night?”
“It’s already past eight in the morning.”
She was absolutely right. It seemed that with regards to this case, Osanai-san was more determined, or rather, had a greater level of commitment compared to me. I was not so committed to consider slipping out of my house at night to get hold of some clues. I was too naive. I should be ashamed of myself.
In a somewhat anxious manner, Osanai-san asked.
“Is eight o’clock alright with you?”
Now would be the time to steel myself. I immediately answered.
“Of course. Where should we meet?”
“I think just outside the school should be fine.”
It was a location that both of us knew well, so we would never get lost or mistake it for somewhere else. It was settled.
“Let’s go home for dinner, then we’ll meet at a quarter to eight. Do you have a bicycle?”
I nodded. Osanai-san nodded back, and called in the direction of the kitchen for the shopkeeper to settle the bill. She certainly moved fast.
After taking dinner at home, I snuck out of the house, as promised. It wasn’t exactly the first time I’d gone out at night, but my parents either failed to notice, or decided not to say anything about it.
I rode through the streets on my bicycle, and reached the school in only ten minutes, when I would have normally taken thirty minutes on foot. This time, Osanai-san was not hiding in the shadows. She’d parked her bicycle, which had a black bag in its front cage, and was standing in front of the school gate. She was wearing a shirt with a sailor collar, and navy pants. I lightly raised my hand to greet her.
“Good evening.”
Osanai-san replied without moving an eyebrow.
“O-wah, good evening5.”
“Eh? What was that?”
“Let’s go. Do you know the way?”
I shook my head wordlessly, so Osanai-san also silently straddled her bicycle and started pedaling.
I followed, but she didn’t tell me to keep a distance away. It was a different situation from the afternoon after school, when we could have been seen by someone else. However, I still did not cycle beside her. Not all roads were wide enough for two bicycles, and on top of that, I thought that cycling side by side at night was overly familiar, when all we had was a symbiotic relationship.
Osanai-san took a right at an intersection, moved forward, then turned left, progressing without hesitation.
…But that was just what I assumed, for Osanai-san suddenly braked, got off her bicycle and took a 180 degree turn.
“What’s the matter?”
“I went the wrong way.”
Well, that happens.
Eventually, we approached the city ring road. From here on, bicycles could traverse on the walkways.
Osanai-san rode her bicycle straight ahead.
While it was close to the summer solstice, the sky was already dark at this time. In contrast to how Osanai-san’s bicycle was the only thing on the pavement for as far as I could see, countless cars went back and forth on the roadway. There were white passenger cars, red SUVs, blue light trucks, black taxis, yellow light vehicles, trailers with flashy decorations, trucks that were pristine of decorations, a tanker with a danger sign, a light truck with a plate saying “Poison”, cars, cars and more cars…
Trying to take my mind off the tedium of continuous pedaling, I started doing some calculations.
The population in this city numbers about 400,000. Now let’s assume that it is equally divided into families of 4. The public transport system here is not so developed such that a person can live without a car, so each family needs one car. Families that own two cars are also not rare, so each family can be assumed to have 1.5 cars. That would mean that there are 150,000 cars in this city, and the car that ran into Hisaka-kun is one of them.
Perhaps for the first time, I thought that it was an impossible task.
Let’s think of something else. Was the sky blue wagon car damaged?
If the car that hit Hisaka-kun had suffered damage to its blinkers or headlights, it couldn’t be used on the road any more, and needed to be fixed. Could it have been taken to an auto repair shop?
“I can’t really expect that.”
I subconsciously blurted out. We were far apart enough, and the wind should have drowned out my voice, but Osanai-san turned around.
“What?”
Without saying anything, I shook my head. Not persisting with her question, Osanai-san faced straight ahead again.
If the sky blue light car had been taken to an auto repair shop, there was no way that the police would be unable to find it. Distributing a description of the car’s characteristics to all auto repair shops in the city after the accident wouldn’t be a difficult thing to do, after all. Yet the police had not arrested the culprit yet, which was proof more than anything that the car had not been taken to an auto repair shop, right?
Even so, it would be worthwhile to confirm that to be the case. But only if I could get a response by calling an auto repair shop and asking, “Hello, I’m a common middle school student, but have you recently repaired a sky-blue light car?”
A middle school student, huh.
Osanai-san had resolve and initiative, while I probably possessed the powers of observation and insight. But we were still middle school students. In the end, wasn’t that a fatal handicap to our abilities to investigate and deduce?
“…Why bring it up now?”
This time, Osanai-san did not turn around.
It was certainly too late to worry about that now. All my classmates had already realized this long ago, and had retreated. I was cycling right here, right now because I wanted to discover the truth no matter regardless of my status, or rather, because I thought that I could prove myself by finding the truth. It was true that there were things I couldn’t do as a middle school student, but even high school students, university students and adults have things they cannot do. If so, wouldn’t it be best to think about what I should do to perform to the best of my ability?
I put some strength into my pedaling. Seemingly having noticed that I was accelerating, Osanai-san also sped up.
We arrived at our goal, the convenience store (Nanatsuya Town Store) at two minutes to eight.
If the normal road sticking out of the embankment road can be seen as the horizontal stroke of the katakana character ト, the convenience store would be located just underneath that horizontal stroke.
The Nanatsuya Town Store was on the first floor of a four-storey apartment building constructed right in the middle of spacious parking lots, like a small island adrift in the sea.
Looking around, the parking lot was rectangular in shape, and came into contact with the roadway on two sides. The side facing the normal road had a block wall constructed there, so the only way to enter the parking lot was from the embankment road. A number of cars were currently parked there. We stopped our bicycles in front of the convenience store.
Osanai-san retrieved her black bag from her bicycle’s front cage and operated her phone for a while before eventually speaking in a small voice.
“I’ve arrived. Where should I go… got it.”
After hanging up, she gave me some instructions.
“She says that she’ll come over to us. Stay behind me and don’t say anything.”
So I’m to keep quiet? If I had to say, that’s not something I’m skilled in.
While we were standing still at the parking area, I was comparing the brightness of the convenience store with the darkness of the river when a girl came over from behind the convenience store. She was clad in a reddish-brown tracksuit that seemed to be her loungewear, and had hair that was dyed a bright shade of hazel. It seemed that this meeting was against her will, for she had a glum expression on her face. Osanai-san was the first to speak.
“Good evening, Asoya-san.”
But the girl named Asoya did not reply to the greeting. Instead, she stared at Osanai-san, her face contorting such that it looked like she was about to click her tongue.
“Are you serious? Do you really want the data?”
“Yup, exactly as I said on the phone call.”
“I’ll get scolded if my father finds out. You’ll take responsibility for that?”
“If it comes to that, I’ll apologize as well.”
“Not like your apology means anything.”
So, how do you want her to take responsibility… I had a strong urge to butt in, but since I’d been told to keep quiet, I obediently watched the situation unfold at present. Asoya-san used her chin to indicate a direction in what seemed like a grudging manner.
“We’ll be a nuisance for the store if we stand around here. Follow me.”
I thought that we would go into the convenience store, but Asoya-san headed to its side, where a wire fence sat parallel to the embankment road, dividing the parking lot. What could this fence be for? There was a gap between the fence and apartment block which could fit one person, so we passed through the gap in turn. Right behind the shop was the apartment block’s entrance.
Now I understood the meaning behind the fence I’d just passed through. The parking area on the side of the convenience store was for its customers, while the one on the side of the entrance was for residents of the apartment block.
If cars were able to freely cross from one parking lot to the other, customers of the convenience store would take up the apartment residents’ parking space, and more importantly, the entire parking area could be used as a shortcut to bypass the traffic light. That was probably why a fence was put up to divide the two parking lots.
Pushing open a hinged glass double door, Asoya-san entered the apartment building, and we followed directly behind. She then opened one of the unremarkable doors that lined the corridor to reveal an office. I could hear traces of the store BGM, so this must be in the convenience store’s backyard.
Asoya-san spoke in a slightly stifled voice.
“My father is manning the register at this time, so no one should come here, but don’t make any loud noises. It’s actually prohibited for non-employees to be here, including me.”
Osanai-san silently nodded.
A table and two chairs were placed in the middle of the room. There was also a row of filing cabinets along a wall. A desk that seemed to be for work purposes was installed by a wall with a window, and on top of that desk was a small monitor and a laptop computer. Displayed on that monitor was the store interior as a video of not very high quality.
What we wanted was video footage of the store’s exterior. Osanai-san piped up.
“That shouldn’t be the only camera, right?”
Asoya-san wordlessly booted up the notebook computer and started operating it. Images of the store’s interior from other angles were displayed on the monitor, and even the man working the register showed up. But of course, Osanai-san was not satisfied.
“Any others?”
The next camera captured the area in front of the convenience store, and the bicycles we’d parked there were caught on it. Osanai-san kept silent, so Asoya-san switched to the next camera.
Now the parking lot in front of the convenience store was shown on screen, and Osanai-san gave an order.
“Stop.”
I carefully looked at the video again.
The parking lot took up half of the screen. That was only natural, since it was meant to monitor the parking area. But fortunately for us, the other half of the screen displayed the T-junction where the normal road intersected with the embankment road. The license plate numbers of cars passing through the embankment road were also perfectly shown in the video, although this monitor made them too small to read.
“This.”
Osanai-san said, then followed with a question.
“How long is this data stored?”
Asoya-san replied sulkily.
“Two weeks.”
“Good. Give me the data from five in the evening on the 7th… hmm, one and a half hours, just to be safe.”
“That’s impossible. The data’s stored in one hour chunks.”
“Right, then two hours.”
“One hour should be good enough. You just need the data from this camera, right?”
“No, two hours, and everything that shows the parking area.”
Asoya-san scowled.
“On second thoughts, this is crazy. Isn’t this breaking the law? In the first place, why do I have to listen to you?”
Osanai-san walked a bit closer to other girl. Even though she had the advantage in terms of physique, Asoya-san stepped back.
“W-What is it?”
“Isawa-san is…”
As if trying to drown out the words that were about to be released from Osanai-san’s mouth, Asoya-san let out a loud voice that sounded like a scream.
“I know! Fine.”
She then waved her hand, as though that would cancel the loud noise she’d made, then looked at the door that apparently connected to the store. A few seconds later, since no one else had come into the room, she turned to face the monitor again with a sigh.
“You’re playing so dirty. That wasn’t my fault. They even brought over a boy, they didn’t tell me anything, and I was scared. Tell me, what did I do wrong? In the first place, what are you even gonna use this for? You’re the worst. You’re really the worst, Osanai… so, where should I move this data?
Osanai-san pulled out a small object from her black bag. I couldn’t actually see it, but it was probably some kind of memory device. Asoya-san tapped some keys on the notebook, and handed that object back to Osanai-san soon after.
“Here. I shouldn’t have to say it, but don’t tell anyone that I gave this to you.”
“Of course, but only if you don’t say anything either.”
Asoya-san flicked her hand as if to say, “If you’ve got nothing else just leave already.” Thus Osanai-san and I turned to leave through the door we’d entered from, but Asoya-san also couldn’t linger in the office, so in the end the three of us exited to the hallway together.
Going around the apartment building, we returned to the convenience store entrance where we’d parked our bicycles. Osanai-san looked at the time display on her mobile phone.
“8:30. That was quick.”
I decided to air my thoughts.
“Osanai-san.”
“Yes?”
“You needed a boy standing behind you silently to pressure Asoya-san. It could have been anyone.”
Placing her phone into her bag, Osanai-san nodded.
“Yup.”
She didn’t even bother denying it. She then followed up with a question.
“Dissatisfied?”
“Not at all.”
“I was really happy. This is probably the first time I’ve seen someone not say anything when they’re told not to.”
“That’s because I knew what you were aiming for.”
“All the more that you would want to say something because you figured it out, right?”
I could not completely deny that. Indeed, I would usually be eager to speak out for something like that. Why was I able to go without running my mouth impertinently tonight?
…Well, in any case, the fact that I was saying unnecessary things after the job was done probably meant that Osanai-san’s compliment was misdirected.
Osanai-san did not expand on that topic.
“What are you going to do now?”
That question contained the implied suggestion of looking through the data now. Putting aside the query of how to view the video footage – I’d finally deduced the contents of the disproportionately large bag that Osanai-san was carrying; it most likely contained a notebook computer – I was concerned about the time.
“It’ll take us till 12:30 to see all of it now.”
“We might find it in five minutes.”
It seemed that Osanai-san wanted to check the data right now, but it was definitely risky to stick around later than this. It might not be weird for a middle school student to wander about the city at around eight o’clock after cram school, but we would have to worry about being stopped by the police if it got to nine. To be honest, it would be fine if I were alone, but being caught together with Osanai-san would be troublesome.
Thankfully, the next day was a Saturday.
“Let’s meet up tomorrow before noon. How about we go to today’s cafe?”
Osanai-san shook her head.
“That shop is crowded with people from the neighborhood in the morning. Do you know any other places?”
“Only school. Even on a rest day there are some club activities so we’ll be able to enter.”
“Alright. I want to think about it for a little while longer, so give me your number.”
“Sure.”
Even at this time, there were relatively many cars entering and exiting the parking lot, so the two of us were illuminated in the beams of headlights and taillights.
Finally, she asked one more question.
“Can you get home on your own?”
Osanai-san had led me here, so I wasn’t exactly sure of the path back home, but I should be able to manage somehow. I nodded, and Osanai-san wore her gigantic bag across her body.
“I’ll buy some chocolates before going home, then.”
It sounded like some kind of secret code, but she probably just felt like eating some chocolates. I straddled my bicycle and started stepping on the pedals. I did not turn to look back at the convenience store.
The hospital food was unexpectedly delicious.
The main dish for today’s dinner was meat and potatoes. The miso soup had radish and deep fried tofu as its ingredients. After I finished dinner, the very short-haired nurse entered the room, as if she’d aimed for that timing. Seeing that I still had a third of my water left, she talked to me in a tone one would use for a disobedient child.
“Make sure to drink all your water.”
She then stared at me as I gulped down the water, as though it was the most important element to my recovery.
While the nurse was assisting me in brushing my teeth, I was assaulted by a wave of drowsiness. I’d certainly become able to sleep well since I got hospitalized. Does an injured body need that much sleep? Feeling concerned that I would start getting a habit of falling asleep early after getting discharged, I thought that I should stay awake a little more. However, the next thing I noticed was that the sky outside, which I could see through the curtains, was dyed red. At first I thought it was evening, but the light was coming from the wrong direction. It was already dawn.
I searched for my phone on the bed, but of course, it was no where to be found. Looking up at the bland ceiling, I let out a deep sigh.
Three years ago, we’d obtained the video data on which the car that ran into Hisaka-kun must appear. Come to think of it, I recall being a little dissatisfied that everything had progressed so smoothly. With the investigation advancing due to Osanai-san’s initiative and connections, I’d probably wondered if there was anything left for me to do.
But things took a dark turn after that.
Is there really a need to recall any more of my failures? Going through these memories would not allow me to determine Hisaka-kun’s safety. I was simply digging my own grave. Perhaps I should stop unearthing these recollections.
…My foot hurts. The painkillers must have worn off. I suddenly sensed a fragrance. It was the scent of flowers. I turned my head to see a vase holding some flowers on the sideboard. That wasn’t there the day before.
I shifted my body in a way that wouldn’t put too much of a strain on the surgical scar I had, and touched the vase. Lightly shaking it resulted in the sounds of water ripples. The flowers were all red roses. But I did not think the red to be a symbol of passion, but rather, a sign of rage.
I reached out for the vase and took hold of it, inhaling the aroma of roses into my chest.
A message card was wedged within the flowers. I read it by the light of sunrise.
| The car was not shown. Something is seriously wrong. Osanai |
…Have I returned to the events of three years ago? If so, there is someone I want to apologize to.
Once again, my consciousness became foggy. I was only awake for a moment, and fell back into a deep slumber, just like the day before.
Chapter 3 | Contents | Chapter 5
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- I believe this is a bit of wordplay since indulgent and sweet are written in the same way (甘い)
- The original text uses what seems to be a psychology term (近親憎悪) but I couldn’t find an English equivalent, though I suppose the Narcissism of Small Differences seems close.
- Fried food (agemono) and shakedown (katsuage) share two syllables (age). Osanai-san was joking around with that line, I think.
- Self-esteem can only be found by gaining the approval of others.
- A reference to Sakutarō Hagiwara’s poem “Cats”. Here’s a pretty good translation of it if you’re interested.
muito obrigado pela tradução, adoro essa obra, ansioso pelo próximo capítulo! um abraço! (from: BR)
“But I did not think the red to be a symbol of passion, but rather, a sign of rage.” LOL
Thank you for your hard work! Looking forward to the next chapter!
As usual thank you very much for your work, it’s an awesome translation. This volume sure is fascinating I already have some suspicion about Kobato’s
current health state that would make the culprite pretty obvious (at least reduce greatly the suspect’s list). We will see if time will prove me right.
Thanks for the translation 🙏😭
I am beginning to wonder if Osanai was not directly targeted this time. If the hit-and-run driver from the first incident was never discovered, Osanai would remain a possible threat to him (as the only witness).
I must say — I began to suspect that Osanai was the possible “second victim” in the first incident as soon as it turned out that victim was a third year student. I was very surprised by the manner in which the two had their fateful first meeting, however.
Thank you for all your work in translating this.
Osanai never witnessed the actual accident, having turned around just when she was about to be run over hersef, so it was the other witness (who had seen a girl fall off onto the berm) who would be the actual threat. However, her investigation may have put a target on her back, let’s see how it plays out.