Chapter 3
“The young lady has entered the theater.”
“Understood. We'll continue securing the area as planned.”
“Yes. Thank you for your hard work.”
The small walkie-talkie crackled with static, then went silent as soon as I finished speaking. I looked around and casually stuffed it into my pocket.
‘The security detail is all clear. So far, everything’s going according to plan.’
Thank goodness.
I let out a sigh of relief and patted my chest. Then I shifted my gaze around, taking in the scene. A typical crowded weekend at the movie theater stretched before me.
And the Mochizuki family’s security personnel stationed throughout the building.
“Heh heh.”
I smiled, satisfied with the results of my efforts. It felt like I was finally being rewarded for all the hardship of the past few days.
‘That was close.’
Kaede’s schedule was normally set in advance, with a month as the basic unit. This was to accommodate the household staff who served her.
But although Kaede had given her permission, I’d effectively added a ‘trip to the movie theater’ to her schedule on my own, out of the blue.
As a result, I had to take responsibility and coordinate the staff’s schedules along the way. That much had been manageable, more or less. Unfortunately, there was still more to take care of.
The point wasn’t simply to get Kaede to watch a movie.
So I had to squeeze even more into my already nonexistent free time and meet with the theater staff beforehand. I needed to make sure Kaede could sit in the seat next to Arai today.
‘I somehow pulled it off.’
These past few days had taught me what it felt like to have your blood run cold in real time.
As time inexorably slipped away, a mountain of paperwork remained, even though I’d dealt with it as quickly as I could.
Under the pressure of those two things, I’d worked with tears in my eyes, cutting back on sleep.
If possible, I never wanted to go through that again. If I died from overwork before returning to my original world, all my efforts so far would have been for nothing.
……Still.
Kaede had been so excited.
As I dwelled on the misery of all that work, the image of Kaede just before she entered the theater came to mind.
‘Thank you, Takamine. I know how hard you’ve been working these past few days. …I don’t want all your effort to go to waste. So I’ll definitely get results!’
She was acting as though she were going off to war, when all she was doing was going into a movie theater.
Kaede. You adorable thing.
I’d worked hard and suffered, just as I said I would. I hope you manage to get a good result.
Otherwise, I really would,
……feel empty.
“Whew.”
As the tension eased, a groan slipped out. Overcome by fatigue, I decided to sit down and rest.
I could just sit on a nearby chair and wait until Kaede came out.
I looked around, searching for a good place to sit and rest.
It was then.
“………Hm?”
As I scanned the theater, my gaze got caught on something, as if snagged in a spiderweb.
‘There’s a kid by herself.’
A girl with silver hair like mine was sitting on a chair. On top of that, she kept glancing anxiously from side to side.
It was an obviously unnatural sight. Maybe she’d gotten separated from her family while they were out at the movies together?
‘Did she get lost?’
I watched for about ten minutes just in case, but she was still alone. It seemed she really was lost.
Looking at the girl brought back a memory. The moment ten years ago when, just after possessing this body, I’d wandered endlessly along a dim park path in a child’s body.
‘It was so scary.’
I’d suddenly become a little girl and been thrown into an unfamiliar environment. In that state, I’d hurried along the night streets, searching for help.
Would someone with malicious intent hurt me? Would I be kidnapped? Even if none of that happened, would I freeze to death?
With every step I took, those possibilities came to mind. I had to fight those thoughts while searching for someone who could help me.
Looking back, that experience had been hard to endure, even for an adult man with a healthy sense of self.
‘She must be scared.’
Even I, an adult, had found that fear overwhelming. What about a ten-year-old girl who hadn’t fully grown up?
The situation must be frightening for her. She must be hoping someone would help.
So I decided to speak to the little girl who looked lost.
“Hey. Are you alone?”
“Yes?”
When I spoke to her, the girl slowly looked up at me. Her eyes were beautiful, sparkling like the sea glittering in the sunlight.
Now that I was close, I could tell.
This girl was definitely going to grow up to be a beauty.
Of course, with her baby fat still there and her childlike figure, it was too early to talk about beauty now.
Even so, her distinct features, set in that adorable little face, hinted at the loveliness she’d grow into.
‘It’d be dangerous to leave her alone after all.’
Beautiful flowers attract bugs. Sadly, I knew that from experience. My pointlessly beautiful body had put me through that.
Looking back, those had been awkward moments for me as a man.
“…Um, who are you, big sis?”
The girl’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts. It had a tone that suited her cute appearance.
“You’ve been alone for a while, so… did you get lost?”
“No. I’m not lost.”
The answer wasn’t what I expected. She looked every bit like a lost child, but she said she wasn’t. Had I been mistaken?
—No, there was also the possibility that she’d reflexively said no because she was scared of a stranger.
I should approach her more carefully.
“My big brother is the one who’s lost.”
“Huh?”
Just as I was about to try a different approach, the girl said something out of the blue.
Her big brother was lost?
…What was that supposed to mean?
I understood that she’d come to the movie theater with her big brother, at least.
I looked at her intently, my expression asking her to explain.
“We were walking, and I stopped for a bit to look at the popcorn because it looked tasty. Then he suddenly disappeared. My big brother is so hopeless, isn’t he?”
“Aha. I see.”
I more or less understood.
She’d gotten distracted by something and stopped walking, and her so-called big brother hadn’t noticed and had gone on ahead.
“So you’ve been waiting here for your big brother to come find you?”
“Yes. At school, they taught us that when this happens, we shouldn’t wander around. We should sit in one place.”
“Right. That’s smart.”
“That’s right! I’m smart! I’m not like my stupid big brother who got lost.”
Praise her once and she gets all smug. How cute.
I wanted to pat her on the head, but held back. If I did and she got wary of me, things would only get complicated.
“Would it be okay if I sat next to you for a bit?”
“Huh? Why?”
“Aren’t you bored? I’m bored too. Would you keep me company while you wait for your brother to come find you?”
“Keep you company?”
“Yeah. Keep me company.”
Before answering, the girl’s eyes rolled around. Apparently, she was considering whether I might be a suspicious person.
“Okay. Sit down. You look like Hina-chan, so I’ll make a special exception.”
I’d been getting nervous at the thought she might refuse, but fortunately, the girl gave me permission.
Tap, tap.
The girl lifted herself up and moved to the right, then tapped the empty spot with her hand.
“Mm. Thanks.”
I had no idea who Hina-chan was, but it seemed to have worked in easing her wariness.
Thinking things had gone well, I smiled broadly and sat down beside her.
“Did you come to see a movie with your big brother?”
“Yes. There’s an anime I watch a lot, and they made a movie of it this time. So I came to see it with him.”
The girl pointed somewhere with her fingertip. In the direction she indicated was a standee for a popular anime.
Looking closely, I saw an illustration of a silver-haired girl in the middle of transforming, holding a magic wand. The girl in the picture must be the Hina-chan she’d mentioned.
“You have a nice big brother.”
“He’s a stupid big brother. He got lost, so now we can’t even see the movie. It’s already time for it to start.”
Her pouty voice suggested that the greater her anticipation, the greater her disappointment. Well, if I’d been looking forward to something for days, then couldn’t go because of an accident right before, I’d be dejected too.
“Hmm. Then we should hurry and find him, so you can at least go in partway through. Right?”
“Forget it. If I watch from the middle, I’ll lose the flow. I don’t want to see it anymore.”
She was really sulking.
Hmm. That big brother of hers.
He was in for a rough time.
Though it wasn’t really my concern.
“Do you know when you got separated?”
“My big brother?”
“…Yeah. Your big brother.”
We might need the police’s help later. I should ask for any information we might need in advance.
“About twenty minutes ago.”
“I see. Your big brother doesn’t seem very good at finding people.”
“Maybe? I’m not really sure. This is the first time it’s happened.”
The girl shrugged.
She didn’t seem to have a care in the world. It was about time she realized she was the one who’d gotten lost.
Judging by how she was acting, that wasn’t likely.
“What’s your name?”
“My name? ……Why?”
At the continued questioning, the girl looked at me suspiciously. It had been a pretty abrupt question. I hurriedly searched for an excuse in my head.
“Why? We’re friends, aren’t we?”
“……Friends?”
“Yeah. We’re keeping each other company, right? That makes us friends. And friends usually exchange names, don’t they?”
In my haste, I’d come up with a flimsy excuse. Even so, I couldn’t take back something I’d already said.
I waited nervously, hoping she’d accept it.
“I guess I have no choice. But you have to tell me your name first, pretty big sis.”
“……Heh heh. Sure. I’ll tell you. My name is Takamine Nagi. Not a difficult name, right?”
I wasn’t thrilled by the “pretty big sis” epithet, but I’d still gotten the result I wanted. So I hid my immediate displeasure and gave her my name.
“That’s a pretty name. It has a nice ring to it, like Hina-chan.”
“……Mm. Thanks. Now it’s your turn.”
“I’m only telling you because we’re special friends.”
When I asked, the girl nodded.
At last, she was going to tell me.
Whew. It sure took a lot to get her name.
I pricked up my ears and waited for her to continue.
It’d be a pain if I misheard her, after all.
“My name is Arai Yukie.”
“…………Huh?”
I’d never heard it before, but the name still felt familiar. I realized it was because of the ‘surname’ the girl had given me.
Arai.
The familiar surname automatically brought the name ‘Shota’ to mind.
A sense of unease began to rise.
‘No way, right?’
…Please.
Tell me it isn’t.
I’ve been working my ass off for days.
I put this event together for Kaede, cutting back on sleep.
“Yukie!!!”
“Ah.”
A man’s voice came from somewhere.
I knew that voice.
How could I not?
It was the voice of the man I listened to closely every day at the academy.
“Huh? ………Takamine?”
I turned toward the voice.
Just as I expected,
“……Hello, Arai-kun.”
Unfortunately, it was Arai Shota.