Published at 16th of January 2020 8:44 pm

Chapter 32: The Inquiry

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I wonder if something happened to this girl.

I had an unbelievably bad feeling about this.

As for why,

Ayako’s clothes that I can see from her collar was ruined.

Her right-hand side of her collarbone was exposed.

Yet the left-hand side was covered by her rather thick sweater.

Her clothes were torn right in the middle

I felt discomposed.

The ruined clothes, the crying girl, and the suicide by jumping.

And that reminded me of…

“Don’t tell me…”

For now, I have to get out of here.

This place is too exposed.

I inched closer to Ayako-chan’s ear and asked if she could walk.

“…”

Silently, she shook her head to the side.

I had no choice but to carry her.

“You’re light.”

“….ah…”

Passing through the crowd, I turned back to the ticket gate.

I faced the information desk and explained the situation to the person in charge.

The person in question is a young station staff.

I tried to keep a low profile so bad that I actually felt sorry for the person.

“Well, you really helped us there. If there is a dead person, we’ll be busy for a whole day.”

The station staff came out from the door next to the reception window. went to the station guards’ office and made a report.

…would there be an inquiry or something? It’s not like we did something bad.

But it’ll probably take time. I have a recording session though.

If I’m going to be late, should I tell the staffs?

“This way, please.”

As I was lost in thought, the station staff started walking. He’s unbelievably fast.

I didn’t even get a chance to take out my phone.

I ran after the back of the deep blue uniform in a fluster.

We turned the countless corners in the maze-like alleyway, going deeper and deeper into it.

Before long, we saw a red lamp and a banner with the words “Molestation is a Crime” written on it.

Behind the door were several police officers on standby.

It looks like they forced themselves to have a police box inside the station.

I asked Ayako-chan; “Can you explain it to them yourself?”

“…” she lightly nodded.

Can I let you down already?

The three of us; me, Ayako-chan and the station staff entered the police’s office.

The officers turned our way, and with a sharp voice, asked “Is it a case of molestation?”

Seems like after seeing a man in his thirties and a frail-looking girl, that was the first suspicion they have.

“No, this man saved the girl after she fell from the platform.”

The station staff explained in a disorderly manner.

Afterwards, the police officers’ expressions soften, and they extended a folding chair and said “please have a seat”. The man’s tone was gentle, but his eyes weren’t smiling. They doubt people for a living, so it’s a type of occupational disease I guess.

I let Ayako-chan sit down first before lowering my arse into a chair next to her.

I bet there’s going to be a lot of questions.

Looks like it’s going to take some time.

I want to contact the TV staff, but unfortunately it’s not the time for that.

“Was it an accident?” the police in his 40s said.

But with his eyes that looks like he’s not going to let his guard down, he’s basically implicitly asking; “It was an attempted suicide, wasn’t it?”

“It was an accident. Isn’t that right, Ayako-chan?”

I want to take care of this as peacefully as possible.

I heard that you will be asked to reimburse their loss if you attempted suicide. If it’s just an accident, they’ll just treat the victim and call it off.

“…please don’t report it to school”, Ayako-chan whispered so softly that it was difficult to hear.

The police officer responded with “I can’t hear you, can you say it one more time?”

“…please don’t tell my school or my home.”

As she exchanged glances with the officer, she started her talk with a whisper.

After a while, the officer turned towards me and asked.

“You called her by name earlier, right? Do you know each other?”

I was also included in the target of his questioning.

Perhaps this would give him a quicker answer.

“Yes. She’s the daughter of the bookstore I always go to.”

“So you know her identity, right? Can you tell me about the name of that bookstore?”

Ootsuki Antique Bookstore…I said, and it was then,

“No…!”

Ayako suddenly stood up and covered my mouth.

“Please don’t tell this to my mother”

I don’t want to cause any troubles, she pleaded in an agitated voice.

The officer’s expression changed.

His pupils are moving up and down, observing closely as if his eyes are crawling at Ayako-chan’s body.

His eyes were purely impersonal and carries no emotional purposes. Perhaps he also does this to a man’s body or to a bloodstained sharp tools.

“There’s something wrong with your clothes, isn’t there?”

Shall we call a policewoman? murmured the officer.

After that, as Ayako-chan was surrounded by several female officers, she said something with a lowered voice.

As for me, after they told me that I can go home already if I want, I still standing by outside the police station.

I couldn’t possibly just leave her be like that.

I told the TV staff that I was involved with a passenger accident.

It wasn’t a lie, so I hope they’ll let me off.

I also hope that it won’t affect my workload for later though.

According to my smartphone, it’s already close to 10 AM.

If I go to the studio anyways, I’ll still be late for the recording session.

As I walked around in a circle, the station staff came out.

Ayako-chan was persistent in not wanting to give her contact details, so it seems like they had no choice but to ask me instead.

“For whatever reason it is, we need compensation for stopping the train, so we need her contact information to send that invoice at a later date.”

Since there are no damages on the train and it was stopped for a short time, it should only be about 100,000 yen though, explained the station staff.

“If you know her contact details, can you please tell us?”

If we can’t get it, we can’t ask for her family to reimburse us, he depended on me.

“What did Ayako-chan say?”

“She was persistent, begging us not to tell her mother. Well, It’s not like I don’t understand why she doesn’t want her family to know.”

100,000 yen in payment.

If she doesn’t give her personal information, Ayako-chan won’t be able to go home.

That, and my decent pay as an entertainer.

Aahh…

I was merely showing off when I was called a Hero in the other world,

Turns out I was too nice to people.

“Alright, I’ll tell you about her address and her telephone number.”

You’re a huge help, said the station staff with a bright tone of voice as I gave him my personal contact instead.

This’ll be a major expense.

I entered the police box again and called out to Ayako-chan.

“You can go home they said. Let’s go.”

I know her parents, so I’ll send her home, I told the officers.

“What’s your proof?”

Ayako-chan swung her head horizontally, so shouldn’t it be enough of a proof?

“…Nakamoto-san is very close to my mother.”

Well, yeah, he did know her contact information after all, said one of the officers.

I can hear the weariness starting to leak out from his voice.

I felt that they want to be quickly released from the troublesome girl.

“Alright, then we can leave it to you.”

Of course, I hit my chest.

What the hell am I doing.

I thought of my youthful days, because this is why I failed to conduct the plan to eradicate the Orcs and got done in trying to capture a dragon alive.

“…Nakamoto-san?”

“What is it?”

“…”

I think I heard a low whisper of her saying thank you.

“Don’t worry about it. I was a hero after all.”

“Hero……?”

“Ah, no, I’m just talking to myself.”

Seeing Ayako-chan walking with hollow paces, I suggested for us to take a break somewhere.

I feel that I’ve been concerned with bringing underaged girls around, huh? Or rather, I was just sent away by the police officers anyways.

I want to think that I’m in the safe.

I purposely shortened my stride, moving in a speed where a girl could follow me without hurrying.

On the way, I saw a certain famous coffee chain store.

I couldn’t quite recall the name, but it’s that store with green circular sign with a mermaid in it, so you could probably tell.

If we go there, probably we could stay for a while without getting yelled at to leave, and it would be a perfect place to catch our breaths.

Speaking of which, would I be the one paying for the drinks? I bet I would, wouldn’t I?

“…Um,”

“What is it?”

“…I didn’t mean to do what the people around us was saying I was doing…”

“What do you mean?”

Perhaps she doesn’t want to accept the harsh reality, I thought as my chest tightened.

“I…got cloned”

…has Ayako-chan lost it already?

Remembering the recent worries I had, we arrived at the front of the store.

I let Ayako-chan sit down first. I brought her to the seat at the furthest back in consideration of her not wanting to be seen easily by people from outside the store.

It is but basic etiquette when escorting a woman.

Somehow I remembered the time when I went eating with Elza. While thinking with strange feelings, I lined up on the counter.

Because there weren’t much customers around this time, my turn came quickly.

“What are your orders?”

Two drinks please, I said, showing two fingers.

The server rattled on about the tall and a grande. I almost don’t understand.

My Language Understanding skill doesn’t work for my mother tongue apparently.

And even if it works on another language, it just feels weird.

…shall I just consider tall and grande as a local language?

If someone pronounced a word with Katakana, then perhaps it counts as a part of Japanese language.

This is really a complicated skill.

“Anything is fine, but pick one that a girl would like, and for me, I’ll leave it to you.”

I left everything to the store employee.

I thought that it would be best if I don’t risk picking anything.

I’d probably fail if I choose the drinks following my instinct after all.

After a while, I was handed two cups.

Cafe Mocha and Caramel Macchiato, the server said quickly as if chanting a spell.

Probably, judging by its name, the caramel one should be for Ayako-chan.

I walked towards the seat, walking carefully as to not drop and spill the drinks.

Our seat were two sofas with a round, wooden table in between them.

Naturally, we’d be sitting facing each other.

“Thanks for waiting.”

Ayako-chan was still depressed.

“You said you got cloned earlier, what do you mean by that?”

Go ahead and drink, I said pushing the Caramel whatever at her.

But her hands aren’t even touching it. Did she not like it?

I hope she just have no appetite.

“That baseball player…or that shogi player…they recently got cloned, didn’t they? It’s something like that.”

So that happened, I thought as I put my straw into my mouth.

“Then…that means there are two Ayako-chans right now?”

“Yes.”

“When did you get cloned?”

“Late last night.”

According to her,

Last night, she headed for the convenience store after noticing that she had ran out of pencil lead.

When she went back, she walked while looking at her smartphone, and all of a sudden, she felt a stinging pain on her back.

Because of that sharp pain, she lost consciousness.

When she came to it, half of her clothes were torn away. The right part of her body was completely naked.

At first, she thought of the possibility that she was assaulted.

Fortunately, as she investigated her body, she found no traces of an assault.

She didn’t even shed a single drop of blood.

She heaved a sigh of relief for a while, but as she lifted her face…as if she’s looking at a mirror, another figure of her was sitting down in front of her.

“Our eyes met.”

The other Ayako-chan was half-naked on her left side.

It’s as if her whole set of clothes are split clean in half.

She immediately recalled the cloning incident.

The question now is; who is the clone?

Ayako-chan looked at her own hands. She wasn’t bringing anything.

But the other her that was in front of her was holding her smartphone in her right hand. The smartphone that she’s always been using and the one that’s all too familiar.

“So…I’m the fake one. I was the clone that appeared later.”

The two Ayako-chans covered their exposed parts and went back to the road home.

Her family was already asleep long ago, not noticing that their daughter had grown in number.

Then, the same two persons started discussing.

They argued that the Ayako that held the phone was the original one. The girl firmly believed that she was the real one.

For the two who were no geniuses to have been cloned, she didn’t think the society would accept them.

She would feel sorry if her parents would have to pay double the child support, so she couldn’t possibly let them know.

Supposing they reveal the secret to her parents, what sort of social life would await them? Would they have to split everything they have from now on? Won’t their quality of life drop by half from this point onward?

What’s more,

“Even the person I like…would we have to compete against each other for him? We continued to question ourselves that.”

And so what could possibly be a method to make sure the fake Ayako doesn’t get in the way of the real one?

The solution both of them came up with was…death.

A prompt suicide.

“I think the other me had agreed as well. We were both…arguing while crying.”

This Ayako-chan would wear an extra coat and wait around the station the whole night.

If she doesn’t end her own life quickly, she’ll put more burden for herself.But she can’t bring up her determination to do that.

She wanted to live.

But she needs to die.

As she kept hesitating, dawn breaks—and her attempted suicide failed.

That was her story.

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