Published at 18th of December 2021 10:00 am

Volume 5, Chapter 3

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

You, you say you're lonely? ...Selectively picked out like that from the start,

"...Hm? Wha, what...?"

It was if Banri's waking brain had had a question mark painted over it. Drool spilling out, an angel arriving fallen from the paradise of late risers, he had woken all of three seconds earlier. He still couldn't deal very well with emotional topics.

'Well, so, it seems like you're feeling lonely. It's turning into gossip.'

"Yes...? Wh, where...?"

'Between me and Yana-ssan.'

At eleven in the morning it was already hot and humid.

Raising his body slowly like a cow from the uncomfortable night-sweat dampened sheets, Banri sat up on his bed. While scratching his stomach as if he were breaking out in a heat rash, he put his cell-phone to his chin, and listened once more to Two Dimension's voice in his right ear.

'I had a few things to do yesterday, and though I fired off an e-mail, the gist of the story I got from Yana-ssan was that he had just been invited over by you, and he gave me the impression he regretted having lightly turned you down. He said you sounded rather pitiful.'

"Eh?"

Not having thought that Yanagisawa cared, Banri stopped moving for a moment. Even though it wasn't particularly important. Or rather, the guy wasn't to blame at all.

He himself was the one being unreasonable. With his emotional instability already like a chronic illness, he had turned himself over to his feelings of loneliness on his own and was suddenly saying things like "come over here." Was he a boyfriend or something? Worse, once rejected, he got all bent out of shape like a little child.

In this bright mid-day sunlight, when he remembered his self-centered self from last night, he was suddenly ashamed of many things. By contrast, the faithful Yanagisawa Mitsuo... would he concern himself with such a one as himself?

Banri, rubbing his dripping wet forehead with the back of his hand, turned on the television with his other hand for now.

Outside the curtain and window he'd left open as he'd slept, today, too, was emphatically mid-summer. An orchestra of cicadas resounded at high volume, hysterically echoing like the ringing of stir-fry pans and cymbals.

"Two Dimensions, did you perhaps call me because of that?"

'Yep'

"No way, that's nice... ah, you've got to be kidding! Those two people got married!?"

The variety show on the channel he'd randomly selected was on the subject of marriages between young talent. His attention suddenly switched to the television.

'Oh, you saw it on television, didn't you? Yes, yes, since this morning the news has been nothing but that. I mean, I don't have work today. Shall we go out and do something?'

"Eh! Yes, let's! But Two Dimensions, is your novel doing okay?"

Satou Takaya (a.k.a. Two Dimensions) was writing novels as a hobby. He remembered hearing not long ago that he'd been spending all his time on the task of late.

'I'm working on it, but because lately it's been nothing but that, I've already decided that today I would go for a change of pace. What about Kaga-san?'

"Aah... what to do? I know that she'll probably be coming over today. Typically, when she has nothing to do, she just comes over to my place. Even if we decide a meeting place beforehand, she'll tell me 'I want to walk with you to the meeting place,' thus she arrives beforehand at my place. That's her usual pattern."

'Her stalker habits are showing. Then let's go have fun together with Kaga-san. I hope I don't get in the way, though.'

"No way! It's not like that! We never do anything when it's just the two of us. If I said you were coming, she'd surely be happy. Let's try texting that hunk too."

'Yana-ssan said he's busy. When I texted him last night, I asked him if he'd call you out to have fun today. Then I was refused.'

"That so? I wonder if it was his job again."

'Hmm... perhaps. I mean, it seems his job keeps him busy day and night, but is he really that busy all the time? I mean, lately whenever I call him I get the feeling he's busy.'

"I wonder what it is? Before he stayed inside a lot, I mean he generally stayed in his own room listening to music or surfing the web, though he complained about how little spending money he had."

While Banri chatted with Two Dimensions, he flipped through the talk shows with the remote control. Even chasing after a little fresh entertainment, the movements of his fingertips operating the remote control were a sight to behold. But,

'Frankly, it's suspicious. That is. It wouldn't be a girl, would it?"

At Two Dimensions' words,

"...Eehh!?"

His fingers came to a stop. Now, this was the most interesting topic. He wasn't watching the talk shows at all. Abandoning the remote control, Banri, raising up his body melting from the heat,

"Yana-ssan, a girlfriend!? Seriously!? You've got to be kidding! ...No, no wait, Yana-ssan ought to have tons of 'em. There's no time or place where he shouldn't!"

He had to be bothering Two Dimensions, raising his voice without thinking and shouting 'Shut up!' Stop that. He was getting himself so riled up he was popping the veins on his temple. Somehow he managed to recover his composure.

"Sorry, sorry. I was careless and got excited... but I guess if it really seems like it, the other person,"

"Oka-chan"

In no time at all getting back to the answer,

"...Is, that, so..."

He had no objections to that at all.

Since they'd entered the school, Yanagisawa had devoted himself to a pure, onesided love for her. Devilishly cute, Oka Chinami was popular throughout the school, regardless of gender.

Even when he tried to confess to her with drunken energy, when he tried to ignore her in a normal way, when he tried to maintain an injured distance, when he tried to be awkward, even while trying somehow to build a relationship as good friends... Chinami continued to be there, always, at the very center of Mitsuo's turbulent campus life.

If he was working to make his feelings known so they might become a couple, it was probably no mystery in how Mitsuo was behaving. For the sake of finally obtaining such an extremely lovely woman, he would probably devote his time, his money, everything he had.

"But if he's started dating Oka-chan, then I wonder why he hasn't said anything to us?

'Because if the relationship has only just started, you'd want to be left alone, maybe?'

"Ah~... hmm... is that how... it is?"

'Look, doesn't it seem like that couple that set one time, rowing out to the edge of the abyss to keep themselves away from outsiders, carefully shutting them out? From Two Dimensions' way of saying things, he understood, saying 'I see... it might be...'

"Whoa!?"

Suddenly hearing a sound as if the door were opening, Banri started and raised his voice.

'What? What happened?'

"Well, something was suddenly opening the door... what do I do? Somebody has to be trying to break into my room right now..."

Catching on the deadbolt with a bang,

'Uh, wouldn't that be Kaga-san?'

From around the half-open door he could clearly hear Kouko's voice saying 'open～up～you～'.

"Yeah, it's Kouko... hold on a second, she can't undo the lock from outside."

Setting aside the phone call with Two Dimensions for a moment, he headed down the entrance way, phone in one hand. Pushing the door shut so he could undo the bolt,

"I called from below, but you were on the phone! So I tried to sneak in quietly! ...Who are you talking with?"

Along with the humid midsummer breeze, wearing a cute lemon yellow one-piece miniskirt, Kouko came into the entrance way. She smoothly passed him the plastic convenience store bag in her hand. When in exchange he handed her the cell-phone,

"Eh? Who? Who is this?"

Even Banri could hear his voice when Two Dimensions called out "Yo, nice stalker!" Twisting around and saying "No way~ It's Two Dimensions~ What the heck~" while looking rather pleased, Kouko took off her high-heeled sandals and came up into the room as she started talking with Two Dimensions.

Having placed the 100% fruit juice (two person's worth) in the refrigerator for the time being, Banri took the moment to finish up in the bathroom. He was glad he had something on... the normal chances of him having even short house pants on at bed-time were less than 30%.

Rinsing his mouth at the sink, when he peeked out into the room, toothbrush and toothpaste stuck in his mouth,

"Huh!? Mitsuo's got a girl!? ...Wa, wait a second, the other person... is it Ultrasonic!? Eeh!? Hold on, are those two getting married!? ...Hmm, this is Mitsuo now! You're kidding...!"

Kouko was sitting there on a cushion, well behaved even when suddenly distracted by the television, and talking seriously with Two Dimensions over Banri's cell-phone.

"...I know. I don't even need to double check it. It's okay, trust me. I'm a pro! Because when it comes to stalking Mitsuo, I'm quite good at it!"

As he brushed his teeth, Banri felt a little odd. His girlfriend used to be his friend's stalker. What's more, a self-proclaimed pro. A person is hardly warned of the strangeness of human relationships.

"Yeah, that's right. Well, we'll get in touch later! ...Banri!"

"Fffft!"

At Kouko's sudden turn towards him, he'd reacted like a Greek character. Kouko stood up energetically, a lively expression on her face, and walked towards him briskly.

"He told me the whole story. There was a super lunch place I thought we could go to today, but let's do that next time. We'll be getting busy after this! Let's get a move on!"

She smiled handing over the cell-phone, then waited a bit and their eyes met.

He rinsed the foam from brushing his teeth from his mouth, then with his bangs raised up with a turban, he briefly washed his face. He beat face-washing foam in a bowl, then put it on his face with his palms... everything exactly as Kouko had instructed him. Kouko was the guardian diety of Banri's skin... so he beat it to a thick, fluffy froth. Kouko was like a reliable coach, watching over him as he rubbed the froth over his skin.

"...By 'get a move on' you mean, to where? Where will we be going?"

He'd said the appropriate words from an adult video. Noticing it himself, he secretly laughed, snickering beneath the heavy foam. Of course Kouko, not noticing anything of such sleazy thoughts on Banri's part,

"Wasn't it decided? We're calling Ultrasonic!"

"Aah, Oka-chan..."

"Why so vague and cryptic? Okay? Listen carefully, you'll be speaking like this: 'Long time no see~, I wanted to come and check on you in the summer heat, so could you give me your address~?' Because Ultrasonic goes straight for what's relatively warm and fluffy, she'll say 'Hey~ summer visits in analog are fun~! Yada yada~! This and that~!' and so on, yipping and yapping, making all sorts of noise on her own."

Affectedly jerking her chin to the right when playing the role of Banri, and to the left when playing Chinami, Kouko's mood was amusing. While nearly breaking out in laughter over and over again, Banri rinsed the foam from his face.

"No, under the chin. And by the edge of your hair. There's still more, so rinse carefully."

He was grateful for her guidance. Politely doing it over again, it was finally neat and tidy. He raised his face as he wiped away the moisture on his cheeks with a towel.

"...So, having asked her address, what do you plan on doing?"

Eluding his revised question with a charming smile, she stood leaning against the washroom door in a model's pose. Today Kouko was once more in perfect form. Laughing softly, she simply urged Banri with her gaze to make the phone call quickly. And in spite of that urging, suddenly taking back Banri's cell-phone which she had thrust at him and waving it on high,

"Before that, the face lotion and latex, okay?"

"Yes, yes."

"And finally, of course, sunblock."

"I know, I know."

Smiling perfectly, his sparkling guardian angel in jet black mascara was as beautiful as an actress. The sparkling play of light on her eyelids was pretty too. The beauty she was born with polished up more and more by unremitting effort and good sense, was certainly in the style of the Per! Fect! Beauty.

It was unbelievable that such a woman was now Banri's lover, when she had up to not long ago been Yanagisawa Mitsuo's stalker, with a one-sided love for him. In truth, up to not long ago. ...From when only a little girl until just recently, through how many years had she persisted?

"...Umm, just ask her for now."

Nevertheless, she wasn't worried in the least.

"For now, for now. It's just a little matter to check. Umm, supposing the matter of Yana-ssan and Oka-chan is true, don't you get the feeling we should be quiet about this?'"

Having unintentionally asked Banri while caring for his skin like a girl's,

"Of course!"

Kouko answered forcefully, as if she wanted to say that she had not expected to hear such a thing.

"I really, really feel I want to do it quietly! ...But before that, we need to make all the facts clear. Because it worries me. Isn't it for you? Mitsuo, making friends and not telling me a word about it? Don't you get to wondering why?"

That, of course, was nothing to worry about. Mitsuo and Chinami may have finally become a couple this summer and weren't saying anything to anybody. There was simply nothing to worry about.

"Once we're done with the phone, I'll give you some juice."

"...Even though you don't know where I put it away."

Keeping a relaxed eye on him even while Banri applied sunblock,

"Isn't it in the refrigerator? I watched, carefully. I mean, such actions can normally be predicted. Yes."

Kouko dangled the cell-phone in front of his nose again. When he silently took it, his lover gave her accomplice an even more beautiful smile.

* * *

"Do I look too conspicuous?"

"Warnings are loud. When you are in the natural world, you make dangerous things obvious."

"I couldn't make up my mind when I left the house. About a khaki all-in-one."

"What's an 'all in one'? Ah, that outfit with the upper and lower body joined?"

"Yes, that. You've forgotten after all? Because I only wore it before, I stopped wondering if it was new to memory. But for today that may have been the right answer."

Looking down at her splendid lemon yellow one-piece, Kouko tilted her parasol hard over, seeming to try and hide her gaudy form somehow against the fence of somebody's home.

The shadows of the three idlers on the street corner in broad daylight seemed distinctly black, burned there until the red hot sunshine. The loitering trio, the lot of them, had been like this for all of twenty minutes already.

While wiping the sweat from his face with a hand-towel, Two Dimensions whispered in Banri's ear.

"I was undecided too. About whether to wear grey stealth clothing."

"Ah, what they wear in that ninja school's test of practical skills?"

"Yes, that. But it's gotten all torn up, so today I chose a whole body leotard. The Rui-nee version."

"That's good, you don't wear it! And as for me, the Ai-chan version."

Crouching down with their hindquarters in the air and humming Anri, the two guys posed like she-leopards on the prowl and looked back at Kouko.

"Hitomi-nee! How's this!?"

"Has Toshio-san shown up!?"

"...If by 'Toshio-san' you mean Ultrasonic, then not yet."

While hiding under a parasol, flushed from the heat, Kouko peered through a pair of tiny opera glasses. She always carried them with her, her favorite opera glasses. No matter how small the bag she had. She never said why. Kouko was a creature of such habits... so there was no point in explaining.

Kouko and Banri, and then Two Dimensions had come to the neighborhood where Oka Chinami lived. Relying on the address they had obtained by telephone a bit ago, they were hiding quietly at a corner close to Chinami's house.

Two Dimensions, of course, was not dressed in a deep black hard core leotard, an Eros complete with a paste-on mole, but rather was dressed quite formally with a fresh, mint green polo shirt. Ankles peeking out from between his deck shoes and his slightly short chino-pants, a smallish body-pack slung across his back (regardless of how badly bent were the contents), no matter how passionate he was for the bride who lived in his head, at least in appearance, he was a modern, self-taught fashionable male. He fit well in the world around him.

On the other hand Banri, barely appropriate T-shirt, old denims, cheap flip-flops, empty-handed (not a hand bra, so don't worry about it...), looked rather like a local middle-schooler dripping wet with sweat.

Kouko, brimming with self-confidence, had led the two guys this far, claiming "If we stick right here, it will all become clear in the end."

According to Kouko's theory, if Mitsuo really was going out with Chinami, then every time he went out with Chinami, he would have to show his diligence by seeing her back to her place. Today he's busy = Today he plans to go out with Chinami. Which meant that if they hung out in front of where Chinami lived, sooner or later they would catch the clingy couple red handed.

Be that as it may, as far as seeing somebody off is concerned, she said, "That's what I think. Surprisingly, Mitsuo is that type," without further proof.

It was just a thought, but you meet somewhere in a normal way, you go home too. If you're going to be fussy about how you end your date, no matter how you stretch it, it means nothing in the end. Even so, Kouko insisted that rather than going somewhere without a clue, they should try out this possibility instead.

The two guys were relatively lacking in independence, so... if you called her the leader, then they would become Kouko's minions in stalking.

"But, you know, isn't it too hot today to be out stalking?"

Not being in love with their leader in the any way, Two Dimensions gave up quickly.

"I'm already getting a little bored... isn't it about time we took a break? I mean, I want some shaved ice. There was a lot of those places around the station. Then while we're at it, I don't care where, but someplace cooler for the time being."

At Two Dimensions' words, Kouko exclaimed and raised her parasol up.

"Shaved ice!? We didn't decide on that! I cannot permit it!"

"Why not? Isn't shaved ice okay? Isn't eating it in this best the best? As for me, a Blue Hawaii. Kaga-san, you give me the impression you'd like strawberries and condensed milk. And as for you, Banri, hmm, you should go yellow. Yeah, it should be curry flavor!"

Curry flavor was absolutely disgusting. Lemon, mango, pine flavor, I suppose, but he couldn't forgive any more than those. Without thinking, he drew closer to Two Dimensions to say "Take back what you said just now!" but,

"No flavor is allowed! It’s cold and wouldn’t you have to go to the bathroom soon!?"

A pro, of course, looks at things differently. Banri took back his self-control, breathed out, calmed shook his head and clapped the pro stalker on the shoulder.

"But this situation... it's strange. Think about it. Is that really where Oka-chan lives...? Perhaps we should as you said: go somewhere, cool down and think about it. In a shaved ice shop, or perhaps a coffee shop."

"Eh!? Hey, Banri, you're saying it too!? I verified it properly with Google Maps. We'll find her over there!"

At the address that Chinami had given them, innocently believing it to be for a summer greeting card from Banri, was a quite ordinary, not particularly unique, single house with a whitish outer wall.

Indeed, feeling like a pre-built house anywhere the 23 wards of Tokyo, it was made like a pencil, trying with all it's might to maximize the ratio of floor space to plot size. With neither yard nor wall, the concrete approach doing double-duty as a car-port, the place was built like a bunch of folded cardboard boxes bound together.

Without a car parked there, you could see a dark blue entrance inside. All the houses around there looking pretty much the same, the listless heat of an early summer afternoon hung over the residential area. It felt like summer-vacation, as every now and then elementary schoolers soaked in sweat made a commotion.

Unfortunately, it was hot.

"You shouldn't depend on electronic information like Google, Kouko. You mustn't disparage your human senses. But, if that really is Oka-chan's house... why, shouldn't it be a mushroom? Hey, wouldn't that be strange? There's not a sign to the woods, no bunnies, nor even squirrels to be seen. Isn't that strange, Two Dimensions?"

"Ah, Banri. As it happens, I remember having a strange feeling about it before. If that's Oka-chan's house... wouldn't it be unnatural if it weren't fluffy, whipped house of candy...?"

"Hmm... or have we somehow already fallen into the enemy's trap... what do you think?"

"Jeez, now we've done it... is this the enchanted forest!?"

"Don't let your guard down, Kilobyte! They might have us surrounded!"

"Yeah, Password! Watch my back...!"

Smoothly putting themselves back to back and about to draw weapons, the pair of stupid idiots was already tired of stalking. Kouko, jamming her parasol between their backs and ripping them apart,

"That's enough! If you're going to get so dramatic, then I'm going to go check the nameplate!"

"You can't! Don't break ranks, Tiffany!"

"You'll run into the enemy's magical early warning net!"

"Oh shut up already! Don't go dragging me as you please into that world view! I hate feeling like that! Do you see my face!? This face doesn't look old: it's barely that of a teenager! This very strong face they suspected of plastic surgery! It doesn't belong in a comedy skit, now does it!? In other words, don't say such things!"

Shaking off Banri's and Two Dimensions' hands, she took off walking alone, her slim sandals sounding on the pavement.

Beautifully braided, her hair was kept up by a rhinestone hairpin like some character out of Greek mythology. It sparkled under the mid-summer sun. While they saw off that sparkle, dwindling in the distance,

"Do you think we've gotten Tiffany Kaga angry? Have we been messing around too much?"

Two Dimensions frowned slightly as he spoke to Banri.

"No, she may get angry at little things, but she's not a small person. She's a big person. ...Yesterday made me air-yakisoba today, you know..."

"Wha, what's that?"

It was at the very moment he launched into an explanation of just what "air yakisoba" was.

"Dohii!?"

Sugary sweet, like strawberry milk, her strangely young anime voice rang behind Banri and Two Dimensions. But she said, "Dohii." It probably meant something more.

Turning around, there, as they thought,

"Banri, Two Dimensions, why are you in front of my house!? Without using the postal system!? Eh, maybe, you couldn't wait to deliver your summer greetings!? Was that last phone call a prelude!?"

A pair of gem-like eyes, sparkling jet black as if wet. A tiny white face. In both hands plastic bags from bookstores and convenience stores.

Upon seeing her, the two guys uncomfortably and speedily saw their bones turn to jelly. It was the entry on stage of Oka Chinami from the galaxy Adorable.

The surprised look on her face was adorable too. Her slender finger, alternately pointing at Banri's and 2D's faces was also adorable. And the forefinger inserted into the toy-like red stone ring was also adorable.

Her long hair was gathered into two buns, and her delicate shoulders were a little sunburnt, colored slightly pink like those of a child. She was wearing loose denims, a beaded tank top layered as if in native dress, and Birkenstock sandals.

Around the fine bridge of her nose it was bright pink, as if it had been daubed, perhaps due to heat. Every time Banri saw Chinami, she made him think of a foreigner child, and yet today she looked even more innocent.

So, Oka Chinami is a precocious fairy... a princess of the fairy realm... therefore that house that looked so exceedingly real couldn't be right, and Google was mistaken... after all, if there was a certificate of residence for a creature as cute as this, it would of course have to have been made of soft, fluffy fur, such that the Sumida ward office would never approve it... ah, a cute, a really, really cute certificate of residence, a soft, fluffy, downy certificate of residence, a curly, whorly, cute certificate of residence, a soft, skin-pink certificate of residence...

The soft fluff fluttered down on him from another world and broke Banri's connection with what was before his eyes...

"I mean, why're you so quiet~!? Can't you see me here!?"

Chinami was jumping up and down as if she were impatient. The beads on her tank-top jingled. Loosely done up into two buns, her hair bounced.

"Hah...! It can't be, taken prisoner by her indecent maw, or no, by her chaotic ambience, was not your ability to adapt to the real world lost thereby...!? Master Two Dimensions, get ahold of yourself! Oka-chan's certificate of residence is being digitized!"

"That so!? Did you even think about the certificate of residence!? Be about the matter, Master Tada! As for me at this time, I am sad to say that when I see hair done up in two buns, the power of my imagination is so low that only Chinese characters come to mind. Oka-shaojie, tsenmayan!? Gobi 'aru' kyara de, jintien wa tsenmayan!? Ma!? Yaopuyao!? Ma!? N~, SO puriti~... raira~!"

"No way~! What is this, I don't like it~! It's a bit scary when you don't know~! Really, why were you here~!?"

That's because we're stalking you! If he were to say it so frankly, it would probably scare Oka the little big sister with the fuzzy certificate of residence, so he gave her a little white lie.

"It's a joke, a joke! It's summer vacation, so we were trying a visit without calling ahead. That kind of visit! Sorry, but it is a problem? If you're busy, we'll go home right away. Right, Satou Takaya?"

'Eh, who's that...' Chinami calmed down in what seemed an instant as her face turned serious.

"Yes, it's as Banri says. We had so much free time, we were just wandering around."

When she responded as if it were natural to Two Dimension's real name, he wondered if she already knew it. Turning on a dime, her smile turned into that of a little kitten, spoiled rotten yet boundlessly innocent and pure.

"What's the big deal? For something like this you normally only need to call. If you had, I would have prepared snacks and such and come out to meet you. As it happens, I had free time today. I've been killing time by myself since the morning!"

She struck Banri's upper arm lightly, as if in fun. Without even saying 'What a pure touch! Now you have paws!"

"Free time...?"

Banri repeated it without thinking, and glanced over at Two Dimension's face. Two Dimensions also looked over Banri's direction at the same moment. They were probably thinking the same thing.

"Is, is that true...?"

"Yep, it's the truth! So if you've come to visit, then of course I'm happy! A warm welcome! What shall we play? Where shall we go? Come inside? What to do...?"

Chinami had free time.

Which meant that their assumption from the beginning, that "Today, Mitsuo is busy = Today, he's going out with Chinami" was wrong? ......Then the idea that if he said he was busy probably meant he had a girl, was a misunderstanding from the very start? Well then, perhaps Mitsuo's companion wasn't Chinami?

While looking at the eyes of Banri, thinking about this and that but saying nothing, Two Dimensions had an odd expression on his face too, perhaps from thinking about the same things in general. Unconcerned over the appearance of the two of them,

"I mean, just you two? Isn't Yana with you?"

Chinami was suddenly zeroing in on the matter at hand. No, Mitsuo isn't with us. We were moving on the assumption that you were going out with Mitsuo...

"Uh, well, umm... yes, Yana-ssan seems to have something he has to do."

Looking up at Banri, who was thinking with a slightly complicated expression, Chinami said, "That so...," puffing out one pale pink cheek. Devilishly cute, that expression.

"That Yana. Lately he's been strangely hard to see. Even before vacation, since vacation started, he hasn't once shown up at the club drinking parties and such. Even for an event the other day at the art museum, one I'd wanted to go to from the start and had invited him, he said he couldn't. Even though if he had to do something we could go another day. He said he couldn't. I wonder what it is all about?"

......Really, I wonder what he meant, saying that.

Still looking at Chinami's well ordered, lovely face, Banri fell to thinking too.

Even though he'd been invited by Chinami, the one he had been wholeheartedly and one-sidedly in love with, of all things to say, he said he couldn't. Even more than the rejection in itself, it was the way he said that was strange. In reality, he couldn't think but that something came up for Mitsuo.

An angel passed by... everything went completely silent, under the dazzling mid-summer sunlight an unbecoming silence fell. A little flustered, Two Dimensions said, "Look Oka-chan, over there",

"Yana-ssan isn't here, but Kaga-san is."

"Eh? ...Wow, you aren't kidding! I mean, what is Kaga-san doing at my front door!?"

Over where she was pointing, while she shielded herself from the public eye with her parasol, she prowled suspiciously indeed around the entrance to the Oka house. In her hand was the opera glass still. Two middle-school boys passed by on kick-scooters, eyeing her suspiciously from a safe distance.

While he quietly kept an eye on Kouko, pointing with his finger as if referring to some unusual wildlife, he had no choice but to answer Chinami.

"That there, Oka-chan. ...Is an air prowler."

Before the entrance the three of them, attempting to capture the air prowler,

"What!? I was just checking the name plate!"

"Don't bother! If I had a nameplate it'd be on the mailbox! Looking like that, completely visible near the entrance to my house, you could be mistaken for a rank amateur attempting to trespass!"

Approaching Kouko playfully from behind, Chinami stuffed both her hands deep into the armpits of Kouko's sleeveless one-piece dress.

"Uohhoo!"

A sudden, perverted look on her face, she was at a loss for words. Pulling the hands out of her armpits, she looked at them in amazement.

"What's wrong Oka-chan, arm-pit sweat!? You went directly for it just now!"

Even though Banri was the one asking, shaking her head from side to side,

"You've got it backwards, completely backwards...! I was shocked by how clean and smooth your armpits were... how, how, how did they get so cool!? You may be beautiful, but are you superhuman!? Isn't it mid-summer!?"

Pfft, the proudly grinning Kouko lifted her chin, and like a heroine character from somewhere thrust out her finger and loudly declared,

"It's a private import only just this summer! Not sold on the Japanese domestic market, it's a roll-on antiperspirant and deodorant for foreigners, kind of like Yamato Arabic!

"Whoa, as you might expect..."

Close to the trembling Chinami's ear, Two Dimensions immediately and quietly said,

"Wrong. Kaga-san, you see, is a mecha human whose armpits have been rebuilt of metal."

Banri, taken by surprise, roared with laughter. Chinami, understanding and nodding in agreement,

"Uh, as expected? It seemed like she was showing signs of being mecha from the start, uuuf...!"

Two hands heretofore unworthy of mention came down like a chop, then lifted up from beneath. By brute strength, Kouko lifted Chinami's body high into the air, as if she were a child. The speechless Chinami's feet dangled feebly. From the way Kouko showed off the prey she'd caught, the two guys wondered if she wsa planning on offering her up as an example sacrifice. She seemed to be asking, "You bums want to wind up like this too?"

Would the neighborhood elementary schoolers pull cell-phones out of their bags and make a report? Even though they started whispering about suspicious activity,

"...It, it's okay... these people... are my friends...!"

No sooner had she heard Chinami squeeze that out with a groan,

"Cut that out. You're no friend of mine. And for some reason your armpits are damp!"

Kouko released Chinami's body as if she were tossing it away. However long you live, however cute you may be, your armpits will probably be damp... "Shall I import some for you too?"

Suddenly, Kouko turned towards Chinami, who'd been tossed aside and was staggering pathetically, and frowned at her.

"Rather, what're you doing in a place like this?"

"Ah, this here is my house... What am I doing? I suppose I'm living here... I could ask you what are you doing outside my front door...?"

"That's not what I meant. I was asking why you were here by yourself. We all thought you'd gone somewhere with Mitsuo."

When she looked for support from Banri and Two Dimensions, they glanced at each other and mumbled uncomfortably. Quite naturally, the two guys managed to read the situation and chose to keep their mouths shut.

"...What? Me and Yana?"

Puzzled, Chinami's eyes opened wide. Those eyes glittered in the sparkling sunlight, like those of a little woodland creature, frozen in the middle of the road, unable to do anything but look at the approaching car's headlights.

Kouko elegantly wiped her forehead and neck with a handkerchief as she stared at Chinami's face, then suddenly shut her mouth. But that moment was truly brief, as her next expression was her usual: as high as Everest and every bit as rude.

"That's right. You cannot permit that the disgusting predatory form of such a loli-faced carnivore been seen by humans. You surely have tentacles blooming from your face like a sea angel. For that reason thinking, "Won't she be going out secretly with Mitsuo?" we came here specially to catch you in the act. And here you show up, looking like some fool all dressed down for the sun, making the rest of us stuck out here in the heat look like fools."

The helpless minions were being called idiots by the leader who insisted they keep watch, and yet...

"I'm no 'blooming carnivore'..., eh, 'going out'? What's that about?"

"Don't even think of trying to trick us. Because we'll see through your deceptions no matter what. I mean, frankly, we were already about to collapse. It was a matter of life and death! Even if my armpits were dry, our whole bodies were soaked and we were on the verge of dehydration. Something needs to be done before somebody collapses of heatstroke, here and now. Answer me, Ultrasonic. You aren't going out with Mitsuo, are you?"

"...Huh? Wh, why are you talking about that again? There's no such thing. Not at all."

Facing Kouko, Chinami shook her head from side to side very clearly.

"Really?"

"Really. We haven't been seeing each other at all. I mean, since summer vacation started I haven't seen Yana even once."

Denying Chinami entirely, as if she hadn't even heard her, Kouko gave a small shrug of her shoulders. Suddenly turning to the two guys and looking particularly at Two Dimensions' face,

"...A terrible miscalculation, eh, 2D-kun?"

She brilliantly passed the buck.

"Eh!? Why does it suddenly look like it's my fault!? I mean, weren't you the one saying 'For sure! I think so!'!? I mean, weren't you the one who told us to stand watch on Oka-chan's house!? Right, Banri, isn't that right!?"

"Wow, so even Leader makes mistakes at timesm huh. Right, Kouko? We just came along for the ride."

"That's for sure. But our Leader, he's okay. Everybody makes mistakes!"

"Now just one second! How come you two are making me out as the leader!? The responsibility isn't all mine, you know. What a breaktaking betrayal!"

"Whaat!? Will you abandon your responsibility as leader!? I'm filing a complaint!"

Making as if to toss aside a non-existent hat, Kouko showed everyone her flowing Kururinpa hairstyle. Nobody understood what she was getting at. She hadn't planned on pinning the responsibility on Two Dimensions, but frankly, she was only following on to Banri was saying. What she'd done in miming tossing her hat was not supposed to be some message or reference to some pop culture icon, but rather an attempt to set aside the current conversation, seeing as it was creating a strange atmosphere, and that it wasn't going to end on it's own anytime soon. Although he didn't understand Kouko's intentions here, believing she was trying to make a show with a face she claimed wasn't suited to a stand-up comedienne,

"Oh Banri, you're so nice!"

'Yeah!' Kouko and the two all held out both hands. Without realizing it, Two Dimensions did too.

At that moment, Kouko, her expression suddenly serious, said "Look here!" and pointed with her chin.

"Of course Two Dimensions was the Leader. What I mean, Ultrasonic, is that Two Dimensions will take the responsibility for this mistaken stalking."

However,

"No! The leader was Kaga-san! Not nice at all!"

Decisively pointing at Kouko, Chinami said, "Good grief!" and broke into a half-amazed laughter. With her usual innocence, though the corners of her eyes were crinkled, with her usual relaxed attitude,

"Well, for now come on inside, all of you. Please, cool off to your heart's content. You took the time to come over here, and whatever misunderstandings you had, getting heatstroke wouldn't be cool at all."

* * *

Chinami opened the front door for them and the trio of mistaken stalkers followed her inside.

"Ah, Kaga-san. From the moment you cross over that threshold, you will officially be seen as a friend of mine."

"Huh!? Tell me before I cross! Had I known, I would have willed myself to stop even if if shock from an explosion behind me were blowing me inside!"

"You should take off your shoes here. Wow, as I'd expect from you, Kaga-chan, your shoes are cute～"

"...The next time you call me that name in that tone of voice, my top of my skull will self-destruct, and only my brainstem will manage an emergency escape . . . on your house's doorstep!"

Smiling as he said it, Two Dimensions looked over his shoulder and whispered, "These guys really are idiots," and then,

"Pardon the intrusion... Ah, it's cool in here...!"

Banri last, they were permitted to come up into the Oka home. Escaping from the extreme sunshine, the air conditioner worked to make them feel cooler, and they finally felt they were coming back to life.

Inside the house it quiet enough to hear a pin drop, and they couldn't sense the presence of other family at all. Perhaps Chinami's parents weren't home.

"Excuse me, all of you, but there aren't any slippers."

"No, no, it's no problem."

Since he'd been wearing beach sandals, it was difficult to say if his feet were entirely clean, but Banri stepped in anyway, thinking to the place, "pardon me" instead.

A little impolitely, he looked all around. It smelled like somebody else's house.

This was Oka Chinami's house... far from what Banri had imagined, it was coldly set in order, and was an extremely ordinary house.

He wondered if it would be safe to say that it betrayed his expectations. Of course, there was no way that Banri really thought she lived in a mushroom house. But he had convinced himself that Chinami's house had to be staggeringly cool, with a special ambience. For example, one of the latest designer condominiums, or on the other hand an ancient row house with history all its own. It might have been from the strong impression left by the other-dimensional stylish café where she'd been working before.

Anyway, this unexpectedly impersonal house seemed to be far from his image of Chinami's normal "messy", "relaxed", "individual" way of being. If he were to be rather impolite about it, it was rather... lonely feeling house. Obviously nobody else lived here.

There were only the four sets of shoes set by the entrance door. He got the feeling that the way the spaced opened out, strangely grand, was likely due to the scarcity of things in there. On top of the shoe-rack, on the shelf of the bay window, in any of the spaces where living things (like Mother) would decorate, not one unnecessary thing was present.

Adequately lit by outside light alone, the entrance way immediately becoming a stairway,

"Would everyone go directly to the third floor? I'm going to bring something to drink from the kitchen. And be careful as you go up: the stairwell is rather narrow～"

Urged on by Chinami, the three visitors, led by Two Dimensions, went climbing the narrow steps. It looked like the second floor had the living room and kitchen space.

When he attempted to catch a glimpse of Chinami's back, Banri thought that there, too, it was all dreary.

It didn't feel like a family lived there at all, instead rather, there were stacks of neatly folded cardboard boxes here still. And garbage bags here and there. Indeed, with the feel of being in the middle of a large scale cleanup, with dust, paper scraps lying around, scissors and cutters scattered around.

"Ultrasonic, does your family really live here...?"

'Is she thinking along the same lines as I am?' Banri wondered as he heard little mutterings from Kouko walking on before, asking nobody in particular.

Once they had climbed three floors, there were two doors leading to rooms.

Both were open, and they didn't know which they should enter. The three of them looked at each other sidelong, then peeked through both doors.

That room was empty.

It was really empty.

It was a western style living room, but had no furniture. It was an empty room. On the dull flooring a thin layer of dust had gathered, the curtains were tightly closed... he guessed that nobody had even stepped in the room for a while now.

Reflexively, the three of them looked each other without saying anything. In a normal, single family dwelling, even such an empty room probably wouldn't feel quite so vacant.

"...No way, there's nothing in this room at all, is there? I wonder what this is over here...?"

Kouko in the lead, they quietly looked into another room. They all caught their breath as one. In a western-styled room with light from two directions, there was evidence of being properly lived in.

Not that there was all that much illumination due to the neighbor's wall being close to the window, but even so, Banri felt relieved. Here, finally, there were signs of human presence... Oka Chinami's presence.

First there was a decent TV, and on a simple white bed with a gaudy Indian-style print cover, something you might see in an Asian store. On the desk there was a still-open MacBook. Though her bookshelves were large, it was filled to overflowing with books, paperbacks, DVDs and CDs. Looking like it wouldn't handle a 2.0 earthquake, it reminded him of the mountain of CDs in Mitsuo's room.

There were two cameras on the counter. The treasured o-camera was enshrined there as well. There were a few beads and turquoise accessories. Roughly taken off and scattered about were some thick rags, a light hoodie and the black day-pack they remembered seeing before. Hanging on the closet knob there was an antique-looking tiny leather shoulder bag.

It's Oka-chan's room... Banri thought, clearly. It had a certain aroma about it. Sometimes smelling of a woman's skin, like cool ink, like a warm fire, like sweet jasmine, an oddly spicy aroma drifted past, pleasant and fleeting.

Lying face-down on the rug, books that looked like she'd been reading them. The books looked second-hand, or that they'd been re-read over and over again, wearing the covers ragged. A somewhat intellectual air about them, piled up in stacks by her bedside, though he was relieved when he realized it was just "Oishinbo." Over in that direction, was that Saitou Takao's "Shikake-nin Baian?" Yep, heavy stuff.

When he thought all those things,

"Sorry to keep you waiting! It's hot, so I'm turning on the A/C right now."

Deftly carrying water bottles under her arms, and using both hands to carry a tray with four glasses with ice, Chinami came in, her feet as quiet as a cat's. As you might expect from a person whose agility had been forged working in that stylish café.

The two guys said, "We don't mind!" "Oh, thank you thank you!" and slightly abashed, knelt side by side on a corner of the rug.

"Ultrasonic... are you okay?"

"Eh?"

Her arms folded in an imposing stance, looking over the state of the room with an air of self-importance, Kouko, still in that pose, turned back in Chinami's direction.

"Isn't it dangerous?"

"What about 'dangerous'? If you mean these bookshelves, yes, they're dangerous! They're not reinforced for earthquakes, and from the start have looked ready to fall over. I mean, don't stand over there. Sit over here rather. Look, for the sake of your beautiful butt I'll set out the only cushion in the house."

"That's not what I meant. I wasn't talking about the bookshelves, but the whole place. This 'house' seems more like a haunted house. Perhaps you haven't noticed? This room and the one before, frankly, are nearly home to spirits. I mean, are you properly alive? ...In fact, are you not really a ghost?"

Hey... though he was thinking much the same thing, Banri wanted to stop her, as it was a rather rude thing to say. However, Kouko seemed to be talking seriously, her eyebrows raised prettily as she looked at Chinami. She placed herself a certain distance from the bookshelves.

"What're you saying!? This isn't a haunted mansion! And from the start, this home was never a mansion! I've been living perfectly fine here, and though there might be spirits, there shouldn't be! Look here, sit down! Seriously! Because I'm giving you tea!"

Giving the cushion that was laid out a good slap, Kouko finally sat herself down. From where he sat next to her Banri poked her with his elbow.

"Hey, what was that you said!? No matter how you put it, it was just too rude!"

When he criticized her, from the other side Two Dimensions chimed in too, saying "That's right. From the ranks of the Air Burglars."

Kouko, twisting her lips as if in a pout,

"But it's awfully like a vacant house! Weren't you two thinking so?"

Having spoken back like that, she put her lips to the glass of barley tea that Chinami had poured. Just like that, she drank down the whole glass in one go. Following her, Banri and Two Dimensions did likewise. Perhaps because they lost more water than they'd realized in their mistaken stalking, the cool barley tea was awfully delicious, and the three of them quickly emptied their glasses. Seeing that, Chinami gave them more tea.

"I'm glad I brought more in plastic bottles～. Here you go, drink up!"

"Thank you, Oka-chan. Sorry about that... even though Kouko here was so rude..."

When Banri apologized on behalf of Kouko, Chinami smiled distractedly about something else as she poured herself some more tea. And then,

"Hmm, well, it isn't a haunted mansion, and seeing as I'm living here, it's only halfway to being a vacant house."

Having said that, she giggled, her eyes closing as she tilted her cutely to the side. Having drank two cups worth, Kouko asked her.

"What's that? What do you mean?"

Banri inadvertently failed to notice that Chinami's answering voice had become excessively bland.

"Actually, right now, the Oka house is in process of dissolving. This house is leased, but will shortly be empty. I have wound up being the last person here."

'Dissolving'... caught too much by surprise, Banri lost the moment to repeat his question. Two Dimensions pulled his glass from his lips as if he were startled, but couldn't say a thing.

Guessing from the way Chinami was speaking, her strict family had reached a state of unavoidable and serious breakdown. Things like divorce, debt, dismissal. Should they be barging into other's dark areas, invading them thoughtlessly? Even as Banri's discomfort solidified,

"Eh!? No way, the family's scattering to the winds!? You should have said something about it before! Then I wouldn't have said something so awfully KY!"

Real KY, most likely. But flustered, Banri couldn't get a word in edgewise.

"Hey now, could you please stop talking like the family was breaking up? It can sound pretty bad."

Laughing unexpectedly, Chinami flopped down on the rug and looked up at Kouko calmly. Kouko being Kouko, she faced Chinami as she always did. Her chin raised, with a haughty mein, she looked excessively proud as she served herself her next tea and continued drinking. It felt almost as if the two girls didn't know each other well. Even Banri could not tell if they were on good terms or bad.

Dripping with an "I'm relaxing at home" mood, Chinami pulled hairpins from her hair one by one.

"Well... actually, this Spring, my paternal grandmother, who had been living separately, suffered a stroke. Living by herself. Though Mother was always having to go out there and care for her, last month word came out publicly of his retirement, and Father, as he had hoped, got to return to his hometown too. It's a story where though we had all moved to Tokyo with his job transfer originally, only my parents returned back to where they were before."

"In other words, you got left behind?"

"Yes. I had college. But without going home, which is Fukuoka. For that reason, every now and then Mother comes up to Tokyo and quietly tidies up the house. As for me, I'll be living alone starting next month... I haven't settled on a place yet, so I'm a little worried."

'It's such a hassle,' groaned Chinami in her sweet anime voice. The last of the hair-pins having been removed, she shook her head softly. Her long black hair, still curly from having been tied up before, spilled down to the middle of her back, thick and supple, like honey.

Two Dimensions frowned, looking somewhat pained.

"So that's how it is. That's what's happened. I didn't know a thing. ...Oka-chan, you've done well."

He lightly tapped his glass of barley tea against Chinami's. Chinami laughed, and with a smile replied 'Thank you!'

"I didn't know you were from Fukuoka. But I'm jealous. Of you, living by yourself."

Kouko tapped her glass too. With it was due to thinking about Chinami's difficulties, or using up her cluelessness, her way of speech seemed more than usual like how 'Gian' appeared in the movie version.

"Kaga-san, thank you too. I have to admit. Though I've always wanted to try living alone. Now that is is about to be real, I find myself impatient. For now, I have to hurry up and choose a place. Something like this... not too aimless. Aah, though I'd planned on traveling around this summer with O-Camera, I have to save money, search for an apartment and move. All of my plans for fun have gone poof!"

Banri thought he ought to say something to make Chinami feel better. But something to clever to say while clinking glasses together failed to come to mind, so in the end he just mumbled something for a few seconds.

"...Lonesome, isn't it?"

He blurted out what he really meant to say.

Suddenly, even to Chinami's wide eyes, a quiet shadow fell.

Perhaps he should not have said anything. But he'd spoken. Nobody able to say anything more, silence fell over the room.

An empty house. A family moved far away. Starting to live alone, this summer...

He wondered why he'd been feeling so awfully lonely of late. This emptied space where up to now Chinami had lived with her family, all of it had Banri feeling lonely. Too lonely, perhaps even too much to bear. Resonating of its own accord, the loneliness as if amplified suddenly attacking him in this place, Banri held his tongue lest he say things he should not.

He was with friends, with girls too, one of them recently his girlfriend, all in the same room even though it was so hot they stuck to each other. And in spite of that he had become lonely. He realized that his own questing emotions were truly bottomless and greedy. Perhaps he ought to feel ashamed, but even if he felt ashamed it wasn't like if he suddenly opened his mouth wide, that hole would always overflow.

Unable to bear it, Banri rolled back on the rug like Chinami. The ceiling was wood-grained.

After a while, nobody said a thing. Ice melting, a light tinkling rose from somebody's glass.

"Ah. ......That's it, isn't it?"

A little while later, Chinami murmured as if speaking to herself.

"...It might, be lonely, won't it...?"

When he noticed, Two Dimensions laid back too. Kouko, using her cushion as a pillow, did so too. Four young people in a single room, simply doing nothing, laid back.

While everybody listened to the air conditioner, fumbling for the sound of each other's breathing, each of them living that hot middle day of mid-summer. As if bound together, as if mixed up with each other, they shared that vague, out of focus time.

"...Ahh. My summer's over. This summer. I'm lonely, is it simply over...?"

At Chinami's murmuring like that, Kouko replied in a low voice, "sure looks like it." After that, she added in a soft voice "It's boring, isn't it...?"

At a sigh attached to no one in particular, the one who disrupted the sleepy quiet was Two Dimensions.

Suddenly sitting up straight, he said, "The sea."

Banri pointed at him in the "I sentence you to death!" pose.

"Let's go! Look, didn't we promise before at Banri's place!? Let's bring Oka-chan along too! Wouldn't it be no good for Oka-chan's summer to end as things are, feeling like it does now?"

The sea... the sea I'd promised to go to with Kouko. The sea which had come to make Kouko cry like that.

Without thinking, Banri looked over towards Kouko and,

"...That's right. Let's go? Everybody, together."

Like somebody who had just awakened, Kouko stared at the ceiling with her big eyes wide open. Then, suddenly sitting up,

"Ultrasonic! Do you have a swimsuit!? The sea! Let's go!"

Infected with the "death sentence" pose, Two Dimensions pointed at Chinami. Chinami tensed her stomach muscles and sat up too.

"Swim, swimsuit... Yes, I have one! The sea! When!? When are we going!? I have to schedule it properly!"

"Look, Banri! It's the sea! We're going to the sea!"

Kouko grabbed hold of Banri's chin. Moving it back and forth as if teasing him, she looked down into his eyes tenderly.

"We're going with everybody!"

That was said in a soft voice, as if providing him a rationalization. Permitted by that voice, Banri too at last smiled and sat up. The sea? That so? ...The sea, are we going?"

"...Yes! Let's go! Let's go have fun together, all of us! It's our long awaited summer after all! This is the only summer we will get this year!"

Who should I point to with my death sentence fingers? For the time being, the living humans are trying to use two fingers to seek a target in a non-existent, empty space.

* * *

They quickly decided it would be a day trip. And then choosing somewhere close, Two Dimensions offered his car. Then they invited Mitsuo.

Having firmed up their plans that much, the four of them left Chinami's house. Even if they had come together by mistake, they had at long last gathered, so they all got on the train together, and got off at a nearby shopping center.

"There's a cheap, but ridiculously delicious karaage bar here. It's where the senior members of the film studies club hang out, though."

It was a little before six in the afternoon.

Walking together in the not quite completely dark, but noisy district, before long they could see the one izakaya that Chinami was pointing them to.

Made to look like a private house, it was a shop with an ambiance that seemed indeed lively.

"Over there, over there! Good, they're already open. Though I hope there are seats, is this alright?”

"What should we do if there isn't space?”

"There should be something around here.”

"I mean, even something over there that has a good feel to it...”

At that instant Banri was trying to point at a particular shop. The four of them must have seen the same thing at the same time.

It wasn't just Banri. All of them caught their breath at the same instant.

Going through the entrance curtain of the shop that Chinami was looking at, right that moment, was Yanagisawa Mitsuo. On the other side of the street, he didn't seem to notice them across from him.

What he was saying, they did not know, but Mitsuo drew his face close to his companion, his smile never dropping, as he pushed her softly with his hand to make her enter the shop.

His companion was a second year college student from his home town, Shizuoka.

Her name was Linda.

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