Chapter 37: Tying Up Loose Ends
"How is your back? Are you okay?"
"Ugh!" I groaned as I shifted in my seat. "It's on the mend," I said, "But I'm still very sore."
It was New Years Eve, and I was sitting in Kumokawa Seria's office. Kumokawa-san sat serenely across from me, stirring her cup of tea while surrounded by all her plushies. Meanwhile, my own cup rattled in my lap, and I sat in my armchair, contemplating all that had happened in the past few days.
Since my time at Fremea's boarding school, I've been staying at Oni-chan's dorm and getting nursed by Tsuchimikado Maika. As Oni-chan was getting embroiled in a separate case, I was essentially left to my own devices.
"So? What happened after the Nutcracker case?" Kumokawa-san asked, "I'm assuming that you're keeping the Nutcracker's heart safe."
"Eh," I said, "Later that day, Oni-chan and Index-san went back to retrieve Marie's little box. Since then, we've been keeping Krakatook in there, safe until Rasputin and Alexei needed it."
"So, where is it now?" She asked, to which I shrugged. "I couldn't tell you, even if I wanted to."
The raven-haired girl studied me over the rim of her cup. Her cold black eyes pierced into me, probing for answers. When I didn't yield, she sighed and changed the subject. "Well then, why are you all keeping it around?"
"Eh?"
Kumokawa-san let out an exasperated sigh. "If Marie truly wanted the curse to break, then the simplest solution just happens to reside in Touma-kun's right hand. What is keeping you from fulfilling her wish? Why wouldn't you just break the curse?
"It's not that simple," I said, "The Nutcracker's curse was set more than a hundred years ago. If the curse breaks, then the Nutcracker might die, and then all their dormant growth could come back all at once. Marie and Rasputin would all get older and die too."
"How do you know that?"
"Well, let's think about it more critically," I said, "When Marie just cracked the shell on Krakatook, she aged up by ten years. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what will happen if the nut breaks entirely."
"So, you aren't going to break the curse?"
I shook my head. "It's not our decision to make."
Kumokawa-san considered my answers as she sipped her tea.
"You had quite an interesting day, hadn't you?" She said, "First, there was the Nutcracker case, and then there was that horrible affair at the Performing Arts School. You're getting into just as many adventures as your dear cousin. Honestly, I'm surprised how well a kid like you was able to handle so much excitement in one day!"
"I don't know about being able to handle it all," I said, shivering, "All that fighting up in the secret lab was very scary. I've had nightmares of those zombified girls attacking us. Every night, I keep dreaming of them burying me deep in a pile of bodies, until I gasp and wake up."
I drank my tea, thinking about all that had happened that day. "I did enjoy working with Shirai-san," I said, "I learned so much from her, from giving first aid to hearing her story with Oni-chan. It was a refreshing break from all the violence happening all around me. I wouldn't mind working with her again."
"Oh?" Kumokawa-san said, "Are you thinking of joining Judgement?"
"No, I wouldn't go that far," I said, "I've only lived here for a few days, so I'm not ready to make such a commitment. I just want to stay a normal middle school student for a little longer."
"Hah! A normal middle school student who goes on crazy adventures," she quipped, "You're becoming more like your Oni-chan every day!"
Laughing, she sipped her tea. "So, have you come to any conclusions about your Oni-chan?"
"Eh?"
"Ma-ma-ma!" she chided me, "You told me before about how much you wanted to understand Touma-kun. Well, have you learned anything new?"
I thought for a moment. "Not really," I said, "Oni-chan's life is just full of crazy adventures, and there's barely any time to do any normal high school boy stuff. He claims that he wants to go back to being a normal high school student for the next school year, but I just can't see that happening. All I can see is a world balanced squarely on his shoulders, and he can barely hold it all together."
Kumokawa-san laughed. "Truly, you've come to understand how he lives his life. Touma-kun will go to such lengths to save others, but he rarely ever thinks about saving himself."
She was sipping tea from her cup when suddenly, the clock near Kumokawa-san chimed loudly. We both jumped at the sound, and some of Kumokawa's tea splashed onto her school uniform.
"Kuso! That's going to stain!" She cursed as she scrambled from her seat. "Alas, it seems our time together is coming to an end. Are you going home to see your parents? Are they coming to pick you up?"
"Well actually, I've been talking to my Mom and Dad," I said, as I drained my cup of tea, "I've decided to celebrate New Year's Day here, in Academy City."
"Oh? Why is that? Don't you miss your parents?"
"I do, but I really don't want to face them right now," I said, "After everything that has happened, they are going to be asking a lot of questions that I don't want to answer. Also, I've been hiding my injuries from them, and I don't want them to know what happened. Surely, they would be worried and pull me out of Academy City. Worse, they would blame Oni-chan and forbid me from seeing him ever again."
"I see," Kumokawa-san reached out her hand. "It was a pleasure to see you again, but do you have any plans for the rest of today?"
I stood up and shook her hand. "Oni-chan got some tickets to the fireworks show for tonight. He says that we're going to the school garden to watch it."
"Sou-ka?" Kumokawa smiled, "Well, I hope you have a great time!"
"Hai!" I said, "See you."
Between the lines: Genesis Testament
Deep in the bowels of Anti-skill Headquarters, at the end of a long hallway, a boy named Accelerator walked into a windowless room. Behind him, two Anti-skill guards stood at rigid attention while he inspected his new home, and they jumped when he growled his displeasure. He was Prisoner number 24601, and for the next 12,000 years, this was going to be his home.
To his annoyance, this so-called prison cell had all the trappings of a luxurious penthouse suite. The only thing that was secure about this chamber were the stereotypical prison bars, a narrow antechamber that allowed visitors, and a huge round bank vault door which in turn sealed the chamber off from the rest of the building.
On one side of the room, he could see a king-sized bed and a wardrobe with enough closet space to house all of his clothes.
Not that he wore very much.
At the foot of the bed, there was a couch, and opposite that was a home theater. It was set up with a big wall-mounted television screen, a retro-style vacuum tube amp, and a state-of-the-art surround sound system. On the other side of the room, there were his spacious bathroom facilities, complete with a tub, a combined sink and shower facility, and a separate water closet, featuring the latest in bidet technology.
Finally, in the middle of the prison cell, facing the big round doorway, there was his office set-up. These included a clear plastic chair with metal legs and a large modern glass desk, on which sat his computer, a charger for his choker, and a secure telephone line that connected to the whole rest of the Anti-Skill Headquarters. Behind his desk, there was a waist-high sideboard featuring bookshelves and cupboards. Flanking either side was a filing cabinet.
The only thing he didn't have was the luxury to cook his own food.
"Are you really sure about this?" Yomikawa Aiho, the newly appointed chief of Anti-skill, was sitting on the couch with a tablet PC perched in her lap. In stark contrast to her usual wear, she wore a three-piece suit, black with thin white stripes. Now, she was watching the new chairman pace about in front of her. "I really think there had to be other options. This might be the right thing to do, but you're clearly accepting some tragedy here."
"I've already delayed the operation by a week," he growled, "If I wait any longer, then the city's darkness will once again slip beneath the waves. We will have wasted the opportunity to strike!"
To be frank, Accelerator truly intended to start his plotting and confinement a week ago, but a certain spiky-haired high school boy had convinced him to delay his plans.
At Kamijou Touma's insistence, the new chairman had delayed Operations Handcuffs to the New Year so that they could avoid the holiday season, and so that Touma could gather more intel on the Academy City's dark side. That was one of the many reasons behind the raid on GROUP headquarters. Now that the Yotsuba Performing Arts School incident is over, the time to strike was at hand. Accelerator had a firmer grip on what he hoped to achieve through these operations. The goal remained the same: root out the Academy City's underground and bring all those responsible to justice.
The monster smiled a little. His lips silently split apart and spread into a crescent moon shape.
"I want you in charge of this," He growled to her, "I trust you more than anyone, but if you won't do it, then I'll just get someone else. I've given you plenty of time, so I'm sure you've got everything set up."
Yomikawa Aiho gnashed her teeth. As part of Anti-Skill, she was duty-bound to protect the children of Academy City. If dragging that white monster to the floor and putting him in an armlock would stop this snowball from rolling down the hill, she would have done so without hesitation. Now, however, she understood that doing that wouldn't stop what he had started.
She sighed in frustration. "This will change everything."
"It will."
"Not just for the kids in this city. The choices you've made all on your own will affect the fate of this entire planet of 7 billion people!"
"It wouldn't be worth doing otherwise." Accelerator laughed, "Well? will you be a part of the world's conclusion, or won't you? Choose. Which will it be?"
Yomikawa didn't answer. Instead, there was a commotion at the door, and the Anti-skill guards were talking into their radios. Yomikawa went to speak with them.
Accelerator lightly clicked his tongue and ignored them. Instead, he retired to his office chair and rested his feet up on his transparent desk.
He knew full well what he was doing. He was sure of it!
"The adults in this city have messed with my brain so much for their own purposes. Now that they've dumped all this authority in my lap, I hope they're ready. Because it's my turn now!" The albino monster cackled at his own thoughts. "You've given me a clever brain, so you've got no right to complain if I use it against you. I will utilize this new power to its fullest!"