“Change of orders. Forget about him,” Spooky E sneered.
“Eh?”
“Looks like he's going to keep doing Boogiepop on his own. Saves us the bother.”
“What do you mean?”
“Sooner or later, they're gonna find Boogiepop's corpse lying in an alley somewhere. Then everyone'll know the truth behind the legends. It was just some heartbroken idiot!” Spooky E guffawed.
Aya's face turned white. “W-was... !”
Was that what 'cut him loose' meant?
Kill Masaki as the 'real' one publicly, and make the real one 'fake.' Was that Spooky E's plan?
If that drew the real Boogiepop out of hiding, then great. If not, well, at least Spooky E would have cheered himself up.
He planned to kill Masaki!
“Y-you can't!” Aya cried, grabbing Spooky E. The shoulder he was holding felt like it was going to pop.
A second later, electricity ran from Spooky E's hands, coursing through Aya's body. It rattled her bones, her spinal cord, her brain. Every nerve in her body shook, and her skin quivered.
“Aaaauuuugh!”
Her head flung back, the walls of her nostrils tore open, and blood shot out.
(M-- Masaki... !)
Even now, her immobile body was struggling to escape Spooky E's shocking grasp.
Electricity raced through her again.
“------- !” She fell unconscious.
“Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!” Spooky E laughed on and on, echoing through the deserted space below the bridge.
***
But what was Boogiepop?
“Hah... hah... hah...” I ran till I was gasping for breath, then collapsed on the sidewalk, and started thinking.
Orihata had no family, apparently. There had to be some sort of reason why she could live in such a nice apartment building.
And if that reason had some connection to the crazy legends of a black cloaked shinigami boy. . .
(... Then what?)
How the hell did that have anything to do with that ludicrous outfit?
Certainly not money. She'd thrown away drugs worth millions without so much as a second thought. If it was that type of syndicate, then they'd hardly do something so wasteful. But her actions themselves did seem productive as far as cleaning up the city.
“You're a hero, Masaki,” Aya had said to me once, and these words suddenly echoed through my head again.
(Damn it!)
Tears welled up once more. She'd been acting, but I couldn't stop the burning feeling in my chest.
But this was no time for crying.
I had to calm down, and decide what to do.
I looked around myself, and made sure no one else was there, then sat cross-- legged on the pavement. I closed my eyes, and began meditating.
My shishou once said, “When you are in trouble, at least maintain the appearance of control. Pretend to be calm. This may actually trick you into cooling down.”
For a karate instructor he never once said anything about spirit or mental focus. He'd get angry every time he saw me frowning. All in all, I must say, it was a rather strange way of learning.
“Imagine a staff in your heart. Decide your direction by letting it topple over. The less logic you force into your imagination, the better the results.”
... But the staff in my heart just spun round and round, and never even started to fall.
“At times like this, the way you are tackling the problem is mistaken. You are trying to decide something that cannot be decided. The first thing you need to do is look for that which you can.”
... I was starting to feel like Shishou was whispering in my ear.
(Okaaay... )
Did I hate Orihata?
... No, I didn't.
Did I dislike being Boogiepop?
... Not true either.
Was I trying to poke my nose in something way over my head?
... Yeah, probably.
Was this because I wanted to be Boogiepop, so I could beat up people?
... No, not really. Not that at all.
Then what?
... I don't know. But I can't just do nothing. I think I have to do something.
What was it I had to be careful of?
.. .Don't get carried away. Shishou always said that. And. ..
“----Nagi-neesan.”
I opened my eyes.
“Then I can't go home.”
I couldn't get her mixed up in this. That had been bugging me.
(She'll be pissed... )
I stood up, dusted myself off, and managed a feeble grin.
Here I was, just starting high school, and already I was gonna be skipping.
If I'd known I was gonna end up like this, I wouldn't have been so careful in junior high...
“Ha ha! I sure was an idiot!”
Hoisting the Boogiepop bag over my back, I headed off down the street.
III
When humans think something
is absolutely correct,
in most cases, that truth
is already in the past.
-- Kirima Seiichi (VS Imaginator)
“What is it, Suema?”
We were waiting in line at the bus stop in front of our school when I suddenly stepped out of line, much to the surprise of my friend Miyashita Touka, who was standing behind me.
I didn't answer. I just kept walking forward, abandoning my place in line.
“Wait, Kazuko!” Touka yelled, grabbing my sleeve.
“Just remembered something, Touka. I'm skipping cram school today,” l said, not even turning around to look.
“Hunh? Why?”
“Just let me borrow your notes later, okay?!” I said airlessly, and quickly ran away.
If I didn't hurry, I'd lose sight of her.
Walking down the hill that our school is on was unmistakably one of the girls I'd seen with Asukai Jin.
Her name, I'm sure, was “Kitahara Misaki.” She went to our school?
No, I'm sure the last time I saw her, she was wearing a different uniform. Which means...
(She's in disguise? Sneaking in?)
Why on earth would she do something like that?
Plus, to get into our school, she would need a card. If she had managed to get one, then this would be pretty hardcore.
“Misaki” was moving down the hill at a good clip. I managed to keep her in sight, but at this speed, I stuck out like a sore thumb.
And I was wearing leather shoes, while she had on sneakers. I was obviously less natural than her.
After a few minutes of this, Misaki turned off the road into a park. It was a collecting ground for water in the event of a flood, and there was nowhere to hide. It was right below the school, and in full view of the staffroom, so students hardly ever went near the place.
(Uh-oh.)
There was nothing I could do but keep on walking.
But a short distance away, I bent over, doing a bad impression of someone whose shoelaces have come undone.
I glanced sideways into the park, and Misaki was talking on her cell phone.
“... No, she's not here. She's been absent for the last few days...”
A gust of wind carried her words to my ears, but quickly dissipated a moment later, leaving me unable to hear anything.
('She'... ?)
She was looking for someone?
A second later, Misaki ended the call.
She headed towards me, so I hurriedly stood up, and began walking before she caught up with me.
I gave up walking quickly. In a few minutes, Misaki had caught up with me, and passed me. Clearly, I couldn't chase her any further than this. She'd seen me.
I was sure she was headed for the cram school and Asukai Jin.
I just went back to school.
Touka was still standing there at the bus stop.
“Um?” 1 said, eyes widening. Yeah, the bus had already left, and Touka hadn't gotten on.
“Thought you'd be back, Suema,” she grinned.
“Why?”
“'Cause you forgot your bag. You didn't notice?” she said in astonishment. I gaped. Now that she mentioned it, my hands were kind of empty.
“Ah. .. !” How stupid of me. I was so preoccupied with chasing after Misaki that I didn't even remember that my bag was lying on the ground.
“Here you go,” Touka said, handing it over. My face was bright red.
“Th-thanks. Sorry. So, uh, you waited for me?”
“Yep. I thought you'd be back,” Touka nodded.
She was such a nice girl, I thought. So I said it aloud, “You're really nice, you know that?”
Touka snorted, “What?”
“No, really.”
“Oh, please,” she said, playfully tackling me... As her fist bounced off my head, I frowned.
Touka's bag caught my eye.
It wasn't the school bag that she normally carried, but rather a huge Spalding sports bag.
I wondered what was in it, but...
“So, what now? Still skipping cram school?” she asked.
“Eh? Uh... ahhhh... nah, let's go.”
To be honest, I wanted to see if Asukai Jin was there or not.
Touka and I lined up at the bus stop, which was empty, since a bus had only just been by.
I changed my grip on the bag Touka had been holding for me.
(But I don't remember putting it down... )
True, it wasn't in my hands. When I started off after Misaki, Touka grabbed my sleeve, and I didn't have it then...
(Hunh... )
There was a hole in my memory. I felt like someone had picked my pocket.
“So why'd you run off like that? You looked pretty serious. . .” Touka asked.
“Eh?” I pulled out of my thoughts and turned to look at her.
She was grinning. It was one of those blameless sort of smiles.
“Um, I thought I saw someone I knew from Junior High... but I was wrong,” I lied.
“Really?”
“Y-- yes! Some boy I knew.”
“Your first love... ?”
“Uh, maybe.”
“Oooh? I demand details,” she insisted, grinning.
“Maybe sometime later. Not right now.”
I couldn't let Touka get mixed up with Asukai Jin and the unfathomable strangeness clustering around him. She was a good friend. I couldn't put her in harm's way.
“Oh, all right,” Touka nodded, resigned.
Then she gave me a hard-to-describe, asymmetrical expression.
“lf you're up against something you can't handle, you should consult your friends. That's what they're here for,” she said, as if performing a speech on stage.
I felt like someone had wrapped their fist around my heart. It was like my nuclear core had been pierced.
“I-it's nothing like that!” I hastily protested.
“Sure,” she said, shoulders slumping, and then her face went back to normal.
“……..”
I found it rather hard to calm down. For some reason, I thought Touka had wanted to warn me about something. I had no real reason to think that, but I just couldn't shake that impression.
We got on the bus, got off at the station, and just before we entered the school, I said, “Uh, there's a study guide I need to get. I'll catch up with you, okay?”
“Want me to come?”
“Nah, you go on in.”
“I'll save a seat for you.”
“Thanks!”
We split up. I waited for about thirty seconds after Touka went inside, then I snuck into the building after her.
I avoided the elevators, and went up the stairs instead.
Asukai Jin was not in the guidance office.
(His day off?)
I tried to remember if Asukai Jin had been off this day last week, but I couldn't be sure.
“Hmmm...” I hesitated for a moment, but then I went back down the stairs and used the pay phone in the lobby to dial the phone number to Kinukawa Kotoe's house.
I didn't really want to cause any more worry for a single-minded girl like Kotoe, but she lived next door to him, so she ought to know if Asukai Jin was there or not.
It rang several times, but at last someone answered. “Kinukawa residence.”
Sounded like an older woman, probably her mom.
“Um, my name's Suema... is Kotoe-san there?” I asked. Halfway through the sentence, I heard a gasp on the other end of the line.
“She's not here,” she snapped, her tone suddenly becoming very harsh.
I was a little taken aback, but asked, “Do you know where she is?”
“.......” There was no answer.
“Hello?”
“What do you want with her?” she suddenly shrieked.
“Uh...”
“What were you going to do with her? Where are you now?” she screamed.
“Whoa! H-- hang on! What are you talking about?” I asked, flustered. She asked where I was again, so I said, “The cram school by the station.”
“The cram school?” she asked, mystified.
“Yes,” I said, nodding into the phone.
“You are... Kotoe's. ..what?”
“Um, we both go to Shinyo Academy. Different classes, but... we're friends. My name's Suema Kazuko.”
“You're at the cram school?”
“Y-yes, I'm an exam student.”
“Kotoe hasn't been to school. You didn't know?” her mother said, surprising me.
“Eh... ?” I said, stunned. “R-really?!”
“Her sensei called... she hasn't been to school in three days!”
“H-- has she been home?”
“We had a fight and she ran away,” her mother said, sounding like she was about to cry. “She's always been such a good girl. She would never have stayed out all night, or taken money out of the bank without permission...”
“............ !” I was floored.
That girl?
The girl who'd cried and begged me to 'save Jin-niisan?'
“I-- I don't believe it...”
“Do you have any idea where Kotoe might be?”
“H-- how long has she been gone?”
“Four days...”
“O-okay! I'll go look for her!”
I hung up, badly shaken.
I forgot to take my telephone card out, and the warning buzzer echoed through the lobby for a few minutes. At last, I realized it was for me, and reclaimed it.
(Wh-what's going on... ?)
Had Asukai Jin done something to her?
(No... if he wanted to, he would have done something a long time ago. She's been right next to him all this time.)
Been thinking about him for so long...
Staying out all night and withdrawing money?
Trying to calm my spinning head, I ground my teeth.
(What now? Obviously, I've got to find Kotoe. If I don't talk to her, I can't begin to figure this out... )
I picked up the receiver again, and called everyone I knew who might know Kotoe, anyone who was in her class this year.
“Eh? Kinukawa? Dunno... she's got a pretty bad rep lately, been throwing around how rich she is and all...”
“That girl asked me if I wanted to go out partying with her. Who is she kidding? We have exams! Even said she'd pick up the tab, so I won't say I wasn't tempted! Ha ha ha!!!”
“Sorry, Suema. Should never have introduced her to you. I was a little worried about it, so I asked how things were going, and she just looked at me blankly. Last time, she was almost crying! Something's strange about her. You heard anything?”
“Yeah, I saw her leave school with a bunch of lower classmen. No, all boys. Most of them scary looking, rough types. Why? Dunno, after her money, I guess...”
“Don't even talk to me about her. She used to be okay, but now she's just another rich bitch. Oh, get this: I asked her what she was doing for college, and she said, 'W
ho gives a shit?' Bet you anything she has some back road in.”
I gave everyone non-committal replies, but inside I was just flabbergasted.
The opinions varied, but the general consensus was the same.
Kinukawa Kotoe had changed... and with unbelievable speed.
Completely confused now, I flopped down on a leather bench in the lobby.
What the hell had happened to her? What was going on?
If what everyone said was true, then she had probably already forgotten that she ever asked me to help, forgotten she was worried about Asukai Jin. She must have. Kyoko said she had, and Kyoko's the one who sent her to me in the first place.
Even speaking generously, I'm not that great of a person. Something I was passionate about one day, I'll more than likely have grown tired of the next. I was always thirsty for something new.
Maybe Kotoe had just fallen prey to what adults always describe as, “Kids these days.”
But...
“l knew I could count on you. You seem so with it.”
The way her eyes sparkled when she said that... I couldn't believe the girl who said that could be this shallow. This wasn't anything to do with belief-- it simply didn't parse. I couldn't even begin to figure it out.
“.......”
I balled up both fists in front of my lips, stared at nothing, and thought as hard as I could.
But my thoughts cut off suddenly.
I had seen someone come in the automatic doors at the building's entrance. Someone wearing white clothes.
Asukai Jin.
“............ !”
Reflexively, I stood up.
Asukai Jin noticed that there was a high school girl, me, glaring at him.
He smiled at me. “Hey. You a student here?”
“.......”
“Something wrong? You look pale,” He said as he started walking towards me.
“Asukai Jin?” I said, before I knew it.
“Yes?”
“l need to talk to you. Do you have time?” Like I was not myself. My voice was so quiet, so calm.
“Oh, sure. Counseling... ?”
“No.”
I took a step towards him.
“As Kinukawa Kotoe's friend.”
***
One hour earlier--
Asukai Jin was sitting alone in a cafe near his university, drinking coffee and flipping through the pages of a paperback.
Boogiepop Returns VS Imaginator Part 2 Page 4
