バリエーションスパイラル – Variation Spiral
Haruka made his way back to the table that Takane's body was at to find that she was already awake. It wasn't obvious from far away, but when he approached, she opened her eyes and looked up at him, though she kept her head in her folded arms.
It looked a lot like she had been crying, and he paused for a moment before sitting down next to her and putting on a smile. "Welcome back! How is Ayano doing?"
She answered the question by burying her face in her arms, so when she spoke it came out muffled. "Dead, probably…"
A chill ran up his spine, and he froze. "… Eh?"
"Dead. Shot. Bang. Right as Shintaro picked up her call."
"That's… strange…"
She lifted her head again and cast him a confused look. "What is?"
"No, ah, I just… I'm not sure. Something about that…"
There was something about it that was strange, though, wasn't there? Something that, in his inexperience, he couldn't quite put his finger on. But in that case, he'd have expected Takane to know what sort of thing was bothering him, because she was the one who understood these sorts of things. But from her reaction, it seemed she too didn't know, leaving just him with his confusion.
Her eyes narrowed for a moment, and then she glanced away. Was she avoiding looking at him?
"Hey, Haruka…"
"What is it, Takane?"
She hesitated a moment, then sat up suddenly, gaze glued to the table in front of her.
"Where have you been? I expected you to be here when I got back…"
"Ah, I was playing my next match. I texted Shintaro when he didn't call me back. I thought you'd see it too that way. I'm sorry…"
She still didn't look at him, still keeping her eyes on the table as she mumbled. "Kind of convenient…"
"Hmm?"
"Ah, nothing…"
She glanced to the side, looking at one of the monitors where the current match was being projected. Haruka turned as well, and they both watched in silence for a little while. Ah, it was one of the top seeded competitors. He was doing really well this match. Wouldn't Haruka have to compete with him today? Probably. Well, at least he hadn't lost yet, so he still had one chance to lose a match without being out of the tournament.
"Aren't you going to say something?"
He turned back to Takane, but she was still looking at the monitor. "About what?"
"You know, about…" but she only vaguely waved her hand instead of clarifying, leaving Haruka no less confused than before.
He tipped his head to the side a little. "About…?"
"I dunno. Ayano, maybe. Or 'that guy'. Or the way… argh, never mind!" She was burying her head in her arms again.
"Ah, well… I'm not sure what there really is to say, you know? What sort of thing are you supposed to say when a friend dies?"
He didn't actually know the answer to it, so he looked to the person who had been his guidance for so long. She seemed to realize after a moment that he was asking her in seriousness, and she glanced at him for a second. "No idea. Usually it doesn't happen enough that we really have something to say for it."
"Alright, then. But, Shintaro will definitely help everyone out next time, right? Because that's the special thing that only he is able to do. So I'm sure it will be fine then!"
"… Do you even realize what you're saying…?"
But before he could answer, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, buried her face against his neck, and sobbed.
Ah, for someone who had been close enough to Ayano to really care about her, this sort of thing must be incredibly, unfathomably painful…
He wound up making it to the top four of the night, despite losing one of his matches. Takane stayed in her body for the rest of the time, at least what he was aware of, and it was well past midnight by the time the two of them were heading back to their hotel room. The adrenalin had kept him going for most of the night, but now that they were away from the crowds and it was just the two of them again, Haruka felt exhausted.
"Hey."
"Hmm?" He'd already crawled into bed and had almost put his head on the pillow when Takane spoke up, a little quietly, and he straighted up again and glanced at her just in time to see her turn away from him.
"Do you want to swing by Shintaro's place tomorrow? It should be fine as long as we're back by 9 or so, right?"
It took him a moment to realize what she was talking about. "Ah, to check in on everyone, you mean? That sounds like a good idea to me!" Thinking about it, he couldn't help but smile at the chance to spend time with his friends again. "I haven't seen everyone in over a year, too!"
"We're not just doing this for fun, you know!" Though he could tell that she was smiling a little, now, too. Even though it was under these circumstances, it seemed that even she was a little bit happy at the prospect of actually seeing the rest of them in person. "I'll let Shintaro know, then. Let's try to head out by 10, okay?"
"Alright!"
"It feels like it's been so long that I don't even remember this place!"
"That's because that's the wrong house."
Haruka turned and realized that, in fact, Takane had moved to the opposite side of the street from him and was walking up to one of the houses on that side instead. He let out a sheepish laugh and followed her, scratching the back of his head. "I guess that only proves my point, though, doesn't it?"
"Yeah. I mean, it's only been two years, but, I guess that can be a long while, too…"
She trailed off a little awkwardly, but then she was pressing the doorbell.
It was answered by a woman that Haruka only vaguely recognized. "Ah, you two must be Shintaro's friends. He said to tell you to just head up to his room." She stood to the side to let them in, giving a slightly strained smile as she did so. Haruka thought about saying something, but decided against it. Probably, Shintaro wasn't the only one having a hard time. Since Momo had also died last night…
Takane entered first and Haruka followed right after her, letting her lead. Soon the two of them were heading up the stairs, and Takane didn't even bother knocking before opening the door.
"Yo."
Shintaro gave a soft grunt of acknowledgement, looking up from his computer to the two of them. Again without asking for any sort of permission, she entered and sat down on his bed, and again Haruka followed.
Ah, the two of them seemed to be closer than he'd expected… or had he misunderstood the social rules surrounding this sort of thing? Sometimes, it was hard to figure out which case it was…
"… I remembered more last night."
Shintaro glanced away from the two of them for a moment, then back, mostly keeping his gaze on Takane. She crossed her legs and settled back a little, making an expression that seemed a bit annoyed. "Yeah?"
"It could still be Haruka, so don't give me that look."
The statement made her deflate a little, and Haruka glanced back and forth between them. "Ah—me?"
Slowly, they both turned to him. After a moment, Takane shifted a little and looked away. "Well, it could be me, too, so you're in good company. Or something like that. At least, as far as Shintaro knows, and I… can't exactly say for sure myself, either."
"Since… I wouldn't remember it, right? Or, whoever it is…"
Thinking about it like that… it could be him, couldn't it? If, during some of the matches, he lost control… would such a thing happen? It had felt so cruel, so violent, so deliberate last time…
But just because it had didn't mean it would again. He could only remember such a thing happening once. Even though, apparently, it had happened many, many times before.
He would never claim to remember every single match he had watched in the tournament last night. What if, during those moments when he wasn't really focused…
"Hiyori."
Both his and Takane's attentions snapped back to Shintaro in an instant.
"'If it's not Haruka, the next most likely person would be Hiyori.' That was one of the conclusions that Shuuya left behind last time."
Takane glanced towards Haruka before turning back to Shintaro. "Why her? I mean, I'm not complaining to not be prime suspect #2, but…"
"A snake without a person. A person without a snake." He shifted a little in his chair. "Hibiya said Hiyori left early in the morning. Since then, we know nothing about her whereabouts. Shuuya was dead before the afternoon. Thinking about it from the perspective of, 'these events have only happened a few times', doesn't it become much more convenient for 'him' to possess Hiyori? Maybe we were never checking in on Haruka at exactly the right time to rule him out as a suspect, but at the same time, making every deadline such that we didn't get suspicious is something I'd only expect 'him' to be able to do with more knowledge of our own behaviors. Meanwhile, Hiyori has moved completely freely. That's not to say it can't still be you," he looked at Haruka, then turned back to Takane, "or you, so I don't think we can let our guard down yet. But, she's a possibility that we've largely disregarded until now, so…"
"… Speaking of the brat." Takane gave a soft huff. "Not to be a downer or anything like that, but… ah… while we're talking about possibilities, are you sure he's really dead?"
"… Huh?"
"Well… that's what his power is, right? To make you think you're seeing something you're not. So, what I'm asking is, are you sure he was actually dead when you found him?"
Had that not been something Shintaro had thought about? Probably, from the way his face went pale, it wasn't something he had thought about before. Maybe that brought another possibility back into consideration? Although, Haruka hated that they even had to think about these things at all…
"N… no. No, but… ah. Definitely, he died before I did, last time. Because, Marry… when we die, our snakes go back to Marry. So, last time, she could tell that he was dead…"
"Ah. Maybe that's a relief, then…" though Takane certainly didn't sound relieved. Maybe she'd wanted someone else to point the blame at so there would be less suspicion on either of them. But, that wasn't useful when it really could be either of them, was it?
"Couldn't we ask Marry right now, then?"
Shintaro shifted awkwardly. "She doesn't keep a cellphone, remember? Though, I guess I could try calling Kosuke… Tsubomi said he didn't pick up yesterday, though."
"Oh. So how did you ask her last time?"
He opened his mouth for a second, eyes wide, and then closed it. It took a few more seconds before he spoke again. "I… It was in person. So, maybe, we went to her place…? We tried yesterday and there was no answer, but, maybe today…"
Takane stood up and dusted off the front of her skirt. "Sounds like as good a thing as any to try right now. I can't really say I ever trusted that Shuuya brat, so, I'm not going to believe he's really dead until someone knows for sure."
"Okay. I'll call Tsubomi, and we can head out."
He lifted his phone to his ear just as there was a knock on the door.
"Shintaro? I've brought some tea for you and your friends."
"Ah. We were actually about to lea—"
"Oh, tea? I've been so thirsty!" Takane suddenly exclaimed with such a fake cheer that both of them turned to her in shock just in time to see her quickly sit down again. But that seemed to be the cue for Shintaro's mother to open the door, smiling as happily as she could force herself to look.
"Well, I hope you enjoy it, then. I'll leave it right here for you."
Takane didn't drop the smile until his mother had closed the door behind her again, at which point she shot a glare at Shintaro. "Your mother tries her best for you, so you're not allowed to squander it."
"Where did that come from all of a sudden…?"
"… Over a year of watching things you didn't get to see because you were asleep."
Shintaro's gaze flicked away guiltily, and after several more seconds he lowered the phone from his ear. "She didn't pick up. Guess I'll text her and we can go."
"After we drink."
"… After we drink."
It was the same hideout as before, with 107 marking the unit. Considering how large it was and the fact that it had once been the home of five people, Haruka imagined it must now be really quiet with only two.
Shintaro was the one to knock.
"Ah, Kosuke? Marry? Hello?" He knocked again, a little louder this time. "Are you two home?"
He went quiet, and eventually turned back to Takane and Haruka.
"Guess… maybe not. Maybe we found her somewhere else. She could've been at the park, maybe. I know we were there…"
But a sound behind him made him turn, and they all noticed a pink eye peeking out at them through the cracked doorway. "Ah, it's everyone…! I wasn't expecting to see you all…"
She hesitated, and Shintaro took a step back towards the door. "Hey, Marry. Can we come in?"
"Ah! Yes, come in!"
She stepped away from the door, but as soon as she spun around it was as if her feet got tangled together and she fell to the floor, blocking them from entering once again. Shintaro waited a good several seconds for her to move before finally giving her a small nudge. "Ah, hey… are you okay…?"
"Y-yes, fine!" She scrambled out of the way and finally pulled herself back to her feet, flustered. Still, she couldn't meet his gaze again.
"Marry, I have what might be a difficult question to answer."
She winced, eyes going wide, gaze glued to the floor. She seemed to be shivering a little, and Haruka suddenly felt as if he should stop Shintaro, maybe. "Shintaro—"
"Who's already dead? You can tell, right?"
Ah, she winced again. Haruka hadn't stopped him in time.
"I'm sorry to ask you this, but it's important."
"Shintaro, don't you think asking that is a little mean right now? We just got here, and I'm sure she's not—"
"It's okay." She cut Haruka off, voice unsteady to the point of breaking. She was shaking where she stood, she looked so close to crying, and she had her hands clenched in her hair as if willing herself not to cover her ears, but she continued to speak anyway. "Because Shintaro sees these things, because I asked him to remember them, right? I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Ah…"
Haruka couldn't help it. He stepped forwards and wrapped his arms around her, and that was when the tears started in earnest.
"I asked you to see such terrible things over and over again… And now you're seeing them again, right? I didn't want this to happen again…! I didn't want you to have to see things like this ever again…!"
"Marry. I need to know who else is already dead."
She seemed to try to say something but could only sob loudly, her noises obscured and indistinct. It took her several long, shaky deep breaths before she could speak properly again. "E-everyone else. We're the only ones left now. Everyone else is already gone. They're… already gone…!"
Haruka looked up to see the way an expression of fear slowly overtook Shintaro's face. "E-everyone?! Then, Tsubomi, and Hibiya…?!"
Marry could only nod as she continued to cry into Haruka's chest. Ah, no wonder she was clutching him so tightly. After a moment, he started rubbing her head, and that seemed to calm her down at least a little.
Finally her grip let up and she stepped back a little. "Ah… thank you, Konoha…"
"You're welcome. Do you want me to get you something to drink? Ah, maybe I should make tea! Although, Shintaro's mother just made some for us, too…"
"N-no! It's my job to make tea, since you're the guests! So, I can…!"
But she didn't even get through her second step towards the kitchen before giving another sob and wavering on her feet, and Haruka quickly moved forward to grip her by the shoulders and steady her. "Ah, there! How about we make tea together, then? And then we can serve it to Takane and Shintaro!"
She puffed out her cheeks a little, though she kept her gaze lowered and her eyes were still swollen from crying. "I can do it on my own! But… fine. You can help."
It had turned out to be a good thing that he was in there with her, given how many times she nearly dropped one thing or another, and he had to snatch the tray out of her hands at one point before she sent their efforts flying and they had to start all over again. Haruka found it a slight wonder that any of the dishes remained intact at all. But between the two of them, they managed to get the tea and a full set of cups back out into the living room, and Marry flopped down next to the table.
"That was so exhausting. Ah, even working with Konoha, it felt like I had to do a lot…"
"Well, now you get to have some tea!" he said cheerfully, pouring her a cup before serving the rest of them.
Shintaro glared at it for a moment, and then turned to Takane, but she managed to mumble an icy "Don't say anything," under her breath before he could even speak up.
Though if Haruka were to be honest, the tea that Shintaro's mother had made was more delicious anyway.
"Feels kind of weird to just be sitting here like this. Guess it… just doesn't feel real, huh?" Takane shifted in her seat, mostly holding her cup in her hands and staring at it, only occasionally taking small sips of it.
"Well, it's not like it's the sort of thing you normally have to deal with, right? So…" Shintaro took a sip of tea as if to buy himself time to figure out his thoughts. "Of course it feels weird."
"This is all my fault," Marry mumbled as Haruka refilled the cup she'd already finished off. "If I had only kept the snakes, none of this would be happening…!"
"It's not your fault," Shintaro muttered, though even to Haruka it sounded unconvincing. "It's… all because 'that guy' wants to have his way though, isn't it? He…" but he trailed off there, eyes flashing red for an instant. "… Are there pictures again this time?"
"Eh?! Pictures?!"
Kneeling on the floor, Marry went completely still.
Shintaro turned to Takane. "Y-yeah! Last time, I think, there was something like that…" He trailed off, gaze drifting back to Marry.
Without saying anything, she stood up and moved to the shelves. Haruka hadn't even noticed the cellphone connected to a charger sitting over there, but Marry unplugged it and started walking back to Shintaro. But not four steps and she suddenly tripped, and the device went flying from her hands towards the table.
"Whoa—!" It was Haruka's turn for his eyes to flash red, as with inhuman quickness and precision he caught the cellphone an instant before it landed straight in the pitcher still half-filled with tea. "… Wow, that was really close! Ah, that would have been bad, wouldn't it?!"
Shintaro gave a heavy sigh. "You're telling me… I think I had a heart attack just watching that. Ugh. Give it here."
Haruka passed the cellphone to Shintaro and moved to sit next to him, and Takane crowded closer. Meanwhile, Marry pulled herself up to her knees but stayed where she was on the floor, gaze cast downwards. "I'm sorry…"
"Well, Haruka caught it, so there's no prob…"
But he trailed off as the moment he woke up the phone, the three of them were greeted with a picture that made at least Haruka's blood run cold.
It was Hibiya, surrounded by a dark puddle, with a matching stain on his head.
Shintaro swiped for the next picture, but that seemed to be the last one, so he swiped the other way instead.
This time it was Tsubomi. Same dark puddle, same stain. It might even have been the same lighting.
"Whoever it was, looks like they got both of them together." It seemed Shintaro noticed it as well. "So even together, they were no match for him… Guess that's not really surprising." He swiped to the side again.
Ayano. This time the picture was lighter, so it was easier to tell that the puddle was red. And, he could tell that the wound was on her forehead…
Momo. Half-covered by something large and metal, but also completely covered in red.
The back of a figure with dark hair, who at this point could only be Kosuke, lying crumpled next to a crashed truck.
Shuuya. Red puddle, red stain. So much red.
The picture before that one seemed to be a bird on a windowsill, and Shintaro turned off the phone's screen for a moment. "… That was… a lot of blood."
"You're telling me." Takane slumped back against the couch.
"No, that… It wasn't… quite like that, last time. Last time, only… Hibiya, was shot. The rest… it was different. They weren't shot. He… I think he went after Shuuya earlier, this time, to get his gun…" Shintaro gave an unsteady sigh. "So, it's probably less convenient to kill them without the gun. Which makes it less likely to be Haruka, at least, because of his ability…"
But when he glanced to the side it was Takane whom his gaze settled on.
"Can you figure out where the pictures came from?"
"… Huh?"
"If you can figure out where the pictures were sent from, or what sort of cellphone took them, or, anything that might help… you can do that sort of thing, right? With your ability."
Takane's look of surprise soon switched to one of determination. "Yeah. Well, I don't know what I'll figure out, but I can at least take a look!"
She settled back against the couch, and a moment later her eyes slid shut and her body went completely limp.
