MOONSHINE RECITAL

A light, refreshing breeze blew across the vast field laid out before me.

My body felt light, like I had grown a pair of wings.

A light kick against the ground made me spring into the air, like I could soar right up to infinity.

I gleefully sproinged my way around the meadow for a bit. As I did, a herd of cattle began to gather around.

Must’ve been having some kind of conference. Maybe they were opening a Brazilian steakhouse.

I instinctively leaped into the air, hoping to float off to safety, but my body suddenly sunk like a stone, thudding helplessly against the grass.

“Oww! Why’d that happen…?”

A sharp pain throbbed against my rear.

I tried rubbing it in response, only to hear someone laughing at me from parts unknown.

“Bah-hah-hah-hah! What’re you doing, Gran?”

Turning around, I saw Hibiya, rolling around and clutching his stomach as he roared in laughter.

“Wh-wh-what’re you doing here?!”

I was embarrassed enough that anyone had to witness my pathetic fall from grace. But that kid? Of all the rotten luck.

“Well…I mean, you kinda made a ton of noise when you fell. It’d be weird if I didn’t notice!”

I could feel hot flashes throb across my face. Being mocked by this kid was something I never, ever could have expected.

“Um…Look, kid, maybe you don’t realize it, but I’m kind of a big shot, all right? Like, a huge pop idol!”

I struck one of my trademark poses to drive the point home, the kind of boasting I almost never did.

This was all a little…all right, a lot embarrassing to me. But hopefully even this thickheaded brat will see what makes me so attractive.

“Huh? Uh, what’re you talking about? You’re a cow.”

“Y-you said that again…?!”

“No, I mean, look.”

Hibiya flashed a hand mirror in my direction, revealing…

 

 

“Yeaaaggghhhh!! Aaarrrrggggnnhh!!”

I practically woke up in midair.

My body was bathed in sweat, my mind hazy and disheveled, like someone threw it on a baker’s stone and kneaded it with a rolling pin.

I was surrounded by total darkness. I could see a spindly ray of light reaching in, peeking out from the edge of a curtain.

What was going on with me?

Slowly, deliberately, I tried to reorganize my brain’s memory banks. But, for some reason, I couldn’t piece together the events that brought me to my current stupor.

The light, springy thing I felt under me was a bed, I decided I was safe to assume.

But when did I go to bed, and how did I wind up here in the first place? I don’t remember anything…

As my hands groped around blindly, the bouncing of the bedsprings was suddenly replaced with the slap of skin against skin, followed by a painful groan.

“Eep!” I chirped back in surprise. Then I realized it was Kido sleeping next to me.

A blaze of anxiety flew down my spine. I must have hit her pretty hard just now.

“Wh-why you, boss?! Wait…like, am I in your room?”

Slowly, gradually, my memory fell back into place.

Right. We brought Hibiya over from the hospital to our hideout, Seto cooked dinner for all of us, and then…

“…I fell asleep on the sofa.”

A dramatic orchestral vamp played in my head.

I knew I was far from a pretty sight whenever I was sleeping. My brother used to grief me about it all the time. “If you ever wanna get married,” he’d tell me, “make sure nobody ever records you grimacing and talking to yourself in bed, man.”

I didn’t believe him at first. “Yeah, sure,” I’d always reply. “You’re just too scared to let your cute li’l sister sleep with some strange man, aren’t you?”

But after I got the notion to record myself one night, I saw the truth. There I was, spurting out witty observations like “Eww, it’s coming out your butt!” and “This one’s so funny, it’s gonna make your sides split into a banana split! Dee-hee-hee!!” in my sleep. I vowed never to share a room again.

I burned the tape, of course.

The idea of revealing that side of me, in plain view, right in the middle of this living room, made me want to vomit.

But wait. I made my brother swear that if anyone ever saw that sordid state of affairs, he’d kill me on the spot. He obviously hasn’t, and besides, I was on top of a bed now. Maybe nothing happened after all.

I really needed to be more careful from now on. I wasn’t expecting to fall asleep right after dinner like that…right after eating that huge…spread…

“What’re you talking about? You’re a cow.”

My fists slammed against the comforter as I recalled the dream.

“Oooh…” Kido groaned in reaction.

“Oh, no…But, but it’s that stupid brat’s fault anyway, you know. Kids receive absolutely no discipline at home these days…”

I fell silent before I could complete the thought. The pangs of guilt were too much to stand.

That’s right. Hibiya collapsed in front of that hospital yesterday. Me and Kido and everyone else took him into the hideout.

The way he acted last night wasn’t something you could file away as the carrying on of a spoiled brat.

I couldn’t imagine what he was feeling right now. I’d never glared at anyone like he did before.

“What was wrong with that kid, anyway? That was crazy…”

What was crazy was his “eyes.”

The way they were slowly being doused in red like that…Maybe it really was a sign he was earning (growing?) an ability. One like me and Kido and the gang all have.

As a full-fledged member of the Mekakushi-dan, I was growing used to people like me. But I’d never seen an ability…manifest itself like that.

“What made us get these eyes, anyway? Some kind of…illness? No, that doesn’t make sense…”

I absentmindedly focused my eyes on an empty spot in the air. Soon, I could gradually feel my eyes grow warmer and warmer.

“I thought I hated having this thing, but without it, I wouldn’t have met all these guys. I guess harnessing it a little is making me like it a bit more, maybe.”

I was still a long way from Kido and Kano, able to summon their latent abilities with ease.

Did it all come down to…practice? I guess I didn’t really have control over it quite yet. All this running around from place to place, we kind of didn’t have time.

And I didn’t know what kind of ability he had yet, but I could guess that Hibiya had a long, tough road ahead of him, too.

“…Well. I can wait for him to apologize to me first. I’m not gonna budge ’til then.”

I felt justified in that. Calling a pure-hearted maiden “granny” and a “cow” was a sin as deep as an ocean trench.

“Well, guess I better get up, huh? What time is it, anyway?”

I took my phone out from the pocket of my hoodie. It was just about seven in the morning.

“Ooh! Nice. I love it when I can get up this early. Maybe I could take a shower before everyone else wakes up.”

I flipped the comforter to the side and carefully stepped over Kido and out of bed, giving her face a glance to ensure I didn’t rouse her.

“…Man, she really is beautiful, isn’t she?”

Kido, sleeping in a regular pair of women’s pajamas, was attractive enough to make a fellow woman jealous.

“Too bad about that mouth of hers. She’s never gonna find someone like that.”

She acted so cool all the time, only to reveal a much more feminine side at the most unexpected of occasions. I remember hearing that about someone else once, too. Who, though? Not…

Wait! Wait up! That’s dangerous thinking! If I can’t remember who, I should just forget about the whole thing! Yep, that’s the best thing for my sanity!

But enough about that. I needed to hop in the shower.

I couldn’t open the curtains, of course, so I groped my way across the dim room.

I clunked against something, probably a table, on my way. It made me eject a soft “ow,” but it still wasn’t enough to bother Kido.

Funny how much of a sound sleeper the boss was.

Making it to the door, I found myself facing the brightly lit living room. It was finally starting to feel a little like morning.

The light was enough to rev me to action as I excitedly bounced toward the bathroom.

Turning downward for a moment, I saw both Konoha and my brother fast asleep, the former on the floor and the latter on the sofa across the table from him, clutching his phone.

“Hee-hee…All that fun he had outdoors must’ve exhausted the poor guy.”

He seemed to be pretty chummy with the rest of the Mekakushi-dan, at least. And I suppose I was doing my part to make him a contributing member of society again.

And once he recovered, maybe I could have him build a cute little house for all of us. That would be just darling.

Walking across the living room, I turned on the bathroom light and opened up the lower cabinet, moving the clothes I brought with me from home to the empty space by the sink.

Taking out a towel, I locked the door, removed the outfit I had on, and headed for the bath. Just as I did, there was a loud, violent rapping on the door.

“Gagghh!!”

In a huff, I wrapped the towel around me and edged away from the door.

“Um, excuse me! It’s Momo! I’m in the shower!”

But the loud knocking continued, completely ignoring my plea.

Something was starting to feel weird about this.

The gang who called this hideout home wouldn’t act like this once they knew I was in here. Dreadful images flashed across my mind.

“A, a break-in…?”

The person on the other side pounded on the door again. He must have heard me.

I was racked with surprised, startled fear.

“Aiiigh! I, I’m sorry! No, wait, I mean, ummmm, there’s nothing valuable in there, okay?! I’m serious! You know, one of them even called me a cow in broad daylight! Isn’t that just terrible…? Ha…ha-ha-ha…”

I slowly collapsed to the floor, administering last rites to myself, when I heard a familiar voice.

“Gran? …Wow, you’re awake?”

In an instant, I gave the door a board-splintering kick with all my might.

I could hear the voice on the other side yowl in surprise.

“…What are you doing out there?”

My voice noticeably shook as I seethed in disquietude. Why wouldn’t it? If this didn’t make me angry, what would?

“Whoa, whoa, chill out. I’m sorry…Um, is my vest in there?”

“Your vest?”

Looking at the topmost level of the cabinet I just took my clothes out from, I saw a white vest, neatly folded, that I assumed was Hibiya’s.

“Oh, yeah, I think this is it.”

“R-really?! Give it back! I got something important in there!”

“Something important? …Oho! So that’s what’s got you banging on the door, huh? That important to you…Gee, I wonder what could be in there, mmmmm?”

My pent-up resentment was probably pretty clear now, what with the spiteful tone of my voice. Hibiya, not picking up on this, gave me exactly the reaction I hoped for.

“Whoa, whoa, wait! Don’t steal it! That’s something really important I got from someone! You better not take it!”

“Well, boy, that just makes me wanna take it all the more. Let’s seeeeee here…”

“No! Really! Stop it!”

Turning a deaf ear to Hibiya’s door pounding, I thrust a hand into a vest pocket. It felt like there was some kind of paper bag inside.

“Ooh, bingo! I wonder what could be inside this bag…”

“N-noooooooooooooo!!”

I don’t remember very much about what happened after I took out the bag’s contents.

What I do remember is: me bursting out of the bathroom, all but shouting, “Please! Can you give this to me?!”; Hibiya turning tomato red as he saw me, and the light, delicate scent of a fish market. I could’ve been more discreet, I suppose, but otherwise I have zero regrets.

“A-haaa! I see. So you got swallowed up there, huh…? Boy, that’s a bad break…”

“Uh, Gran, you’re really not making any sense.”

“Hah-hah! Well, I think I’ve got the gist of it, anyway…”

We were a pretty fair distance from the hideout. The tree-lined sidewalks along the way offered just the right amount of sunlight, making it perfect for some friendly, urban summer hiking.

After our little early morning episode, Hibiya predictably tried to bust out of the hideout as soon as possible.

I tried my best to stop him—Kido mentioned that sudden “ability” manifestations like this were dangerous—but he refused to listen to reason. He did eventually agree to let me come along with him, and the rest is history.

Hibiya began to open up a bit about the accident he got wrapped up in around the time we stopped by a convenience store and shared a sandwich for breakfast.

But something was odd about it.

The story, as Hibiya explained it, was something I had trouble comprehending.

First he was hit by a truck; then he suddenly found himself wandering around in another world.

And there, after witnessing his female friend die over and over again like a broken record, he got spat back out by himself.

Even figuring out this much required tracing through three forced repetitions of Hibiya’s story. I had to applaud him for making all that effort for me.

That, and I suppose I’m a bit slower in the head than I thought. It happens to the best of us.

“All right. So to summarize, you’re trying to track down that Hiyori girl you got separated from, right?”

“Unh?! Um…you kinda summarized a lot there.”

Hibiya looked like he wanted to scream something to me, or to the world in general, but it never came out. Maybe he thought it wasn’t worth the effort.

“So do you like her?”

“Yeah…Wait! Gah! Did you have to ask me that?!”

“Oooh, thought so! Aren’t you quite the little man!”

That elementary-age innocence behind the reaction made me grin to myself. But not for long. Anything that made me seem any more grandmotherly around him, I hoped to avoid.

“Wha…! Ugh. Well, yeah, okay? I’ve always had a thing for her…but she kinda dumped me, so…”

“Huhh?! She dumped you?! Ooooh, bummer!”

“Knock that off, Gran! Why’re you getting so all excited over this…?”

Even as he fired back, Hibiya turned his eyes downward in the most darling expression of embarrassment I’d ever seen.

Just a boy coming to age. That’s all he seemed like to me.

But even though I only picked up bits and pieces of the story so far, there was no doubting that Hibiya was caught up in some pretty terrifying events. There was no way a boy his age could handle this crisis all by himself.

“But I still need to help her.”

Hibiya’s voice was hushed but resolute, despite my concern.

“Well, we gotta save her then, right?”

“…Yeah. We gotta.”

Was there something we could do to help him?

More to the point, why was Hibiya so obsessed with going it alone?

“So, uh, Hibiya? I’m just wondering…I’m assuming you ran out of that hospital so you could look for that girl, but…that’s gonna be kinda difficult, isn’t it? Wouldn’t it be better if we all looked together instead of you going around by yourself?”

Hibiya heaved a mighty, frustrated sign in response.

“I mean, didn’t you just see how much time it took for you to get my story, Grandma? I’m in, like, a huge hurry right now, so can you blame me if I figure doing this alone would work better?”

“Oof…”

I had nothing to say in response. My suggestion couldn’t have been refuted more thoroughly.

“Besides…”

“Besides?”

“Besides, I don’t care if you don’t believe me or whatever, but if you people start getting in my way, it’s gonna drive me nuts, okay? I mean, time is kinda of the essence. I gotta help her.”

Hibiya’s eyes, despite his youth, were pointed straight ahead, toward his own future. I felt like I could almost depend on them, somehow.

But along with that youth came an oversize suitcase full of fragility.

Hibiya, a fresh transplant from the countryside, didn’t really know the lay of the land. He had hardly any cash to work with.

That, and no way could he have mastered whatever eye ability was coming to life. If that went out of control, he wouldn’t be the only one in trouble.

“…Well, I’m still gonna be with you. I’m worried.”

Hibiya stopped walking, disbelieving eyes pointed toward mine.

I could never figure out how to deal with a stare like that. I found myself grinning awkwardly, trying to pretend I said nothing.

“How would helping me help you at all, Gran? You and those other guys, too. Why are you all so hell-bent on hounding me like this? That’s what I’m having trouble trusting in.”

There were a few painful barbs to his reply, but that made him sound all the more darling to me.

Those feelings were probably the clearest reason I could give why I couldn’t leave this kid to fend for himself.

“…Totally like my brother.”

“Huh? What’d you say?”

“Right! Where were we? Okay. If that’s your take, then how about we do this, Hibiya? I’ll work with you, and if we manage to find that girl, you have to stop calling me ‘Gran.’ Oh, and ‘cow,’ too. Also, if you could avoid the…the whole f-f-‘fat’ thing…”

I stuttered a bit at the end, over a word that always seemed to present me with a serious mental block.

That’s what I deserve for starting at such a breakneck clip. I have got to start picturing the whole sentence in my mind before I start blabbing away.

“Uh, what? What’s that all about? Is that what you’re getting out of this?”

“Yep! If I can make that happen, I’m happy as a clam! Oh, and it’d be nice if we became friends and stuff, too!”

I crossed my arms as I spoke, drumming up as much contrived confidence as I could. Hibiya, for the first time, offered me a smile.

“…You are so weird, Gran. What if I still can’t find her, even with you around? What’re you gonna do for me then?”

“Hmm…Well…”

I thought I would spout something off the top of my head again. But I didn’t need to. It was such a simple question:

What would the Mekakushi-dan do?

All I had to do was channel that thought, and the answer would make itself obvious.

Looking into Hibiya’s eyes, I spoke as clearly as I could.

“…I’ll give you support until we do.”

The members of the Mekakushi-dan knew all too well how hard it was to sit in anguish by yourself.

That’s why they helped me out…and why I’m able to smile a little now.

So now it’s my turn to support somebody else.

As a rookie member of the Gang, I knew that had to be my most important assignment right now.

“Uh, Gran, do you even realize how embarrassing that sounds?”

When he finished talking, Hibiya turned his quickly reddening face to the side.

I found myself doing the same thing, turning downward as I began to feel my head grow warm. I wasn’t deaf. I could hear how embarrassing it was, too, to be brutally honest with myself.

Why was I letting myself act all ashamed around this grade-schooler?

As I dwelled on it, I saw Hibiya stagger on the sidewalk.

I shot an arm out to support his back, helping him regain his balance as he held a hand against his head.

“Um, I…I’m getting all light-headed…”

“Wh-what’s going on…Ah!”

Peering into Hibiya’s face, I noticed that, while his right eye was hidden behind his palm, his left was now a bright shade of red.

Oh, no. That color. Crystal-clear evidence that Hibiya’s ability was grinding into motion.

None of the abilities I’d personally witnessed before were the kind of things that seriously hurt anyone. But they were all so different, so unrelated to one another, there was no way I could begin to predict what Hibiya wielded power over.

This sudden development quickly fanned the flames of terror burning in my heart.

So much for that. And right after I said I’d support him, too. I have to do better than this…!

“Hibiya! Do you feel anything strange going on with your body anywhere?!”

“N-no. I feel okay, but…it’s like I’m seeing this weird thing. What’s…Is that a clock tower…? It’s like a four-story building or something. Maybe a…school? I think I see some guys in gym clothes.”

Hibiya stared into empty space as he described the features of the building he perceived.

And the more details he gave, the more I realized that his description matched a place I knew pretty well myself.

“Th-that’s the school I go to, isn’t it?”

“What?! Here?! Oh, wait…Wow, it is. One of the shoe lockers has ‘Momo Kisaragi’ written on it. And is this…the teacher’s office? Oh, here’s one of your geography tests…Jeez, you got a one?! That’s not seriously out of one hundred, is it?”

“Aaghghhhhh!! W-why do you know that, Hibiya?!”

The test so suddenly rearing its ugly head into the conversation definitely belonged to me. There was no doubting it. I still remembered how badly I bombed that exam.

But why would Hibiya know about that? Between his red eyes and his testimony, even an idiot like me could figure out what his ability was.

“So you got…like, remote vision, or…?”

“…I think so.”

When our gazes met, the red faded from Hibiya’s eyes as they returned to their regular color.

“W-whoa! It’s gone, but…Why?!”

“Eesh…It’s just anything goes with these eyes, isn’t it?”

It looked like the ability birthed within Hibiya’s eyes was the power to see things from far away.

He accurately described my school, right down to my paltry test scores. Judging by that, he could control what he saw to some extent.

“That is so awesome…”

I couldn’t even hide my childish disappointment.

If there was some kind of Top Ten Wacky Eye Skills Today’s Youth Are Clamoring For list, Hibiya’s ability would definitely make it into the top three or so.

And look at my ability. Ooh, I stick out a lot. Yippeeeee. For the first time in my life, I wished my eyes could’ve done something more practical for me.

“Huh? What? What do you mean?!”

Hibiya’s head darted around, unable to comprehend what just happened.

I couldn’t blame him. With my ability, it took me a while to notice I even had it at all.

“Okay, well…Long story short, Hibiya, when your eyes turn red like that, you gain the ability to see faraway things…Probably.”

“Turn red…?”

“Yep. Your eyes were bright red just a second ago.”

Hibiya froze for a moment. Then, his face beamed brighter than anything I’d seen from him before.

“So it’s like ESP or something?!”

“Uh…yeah. I think so, probably.”

It wasn’t like I understood every nook and cranny of it, but I felt safe in confirming that much to him.

But why was Hibiya poking around my high school, anyway? Why would he—

“So, uh, I dunno if it’ll work or not, but do you think I could use this to find Hiyori?!”

Hibiya’s words brought me back to reality.

He was right. That was the perfect skill to track someone down with.

If we could harness it to figure out where Hiyori was…

“We totally could, Hibiya! That’s great! Here, try doing it again!”

“Um, okay! All right. Nnnnnnngh…c’mon, loooooooooook…”

Hibiya planted both feet on the ground and tensed his body, like a certain anime superhero trying to make his hairdo turn all blond and spiky.

“Rrrrrrnnnhh…”

“Right, right! Keep it going!”

“Grrrhh…aaaaahhhhhhh…”

“Hang in there! You got this!”

“Hsssskkkhhh…nrrraaaaahhhh…!!”

This went on for three minutes or so.

The sight of Hibiya flexing his muscles on the sidewalk was starting to seem a bit awkward.

“…Nothing yet?”

“Orrrrrggghhh…Nothiiiiiiing…yeeeeeettttt…!!”

The ability must have been too new for Hibiya to control at will quite yet.

It was kind of a shame. The perfect ability to make Hibiya’s most fervent wish come true, but it didn’t mean much if he couldn’t summon it.

I wish I could have done something to trigger it for him, but I surmised that it wasn’t the kind of thing that required intense concentration or anything.

“Well, that’s rough…Wish I could get it back, ’cause I think I was really on to something there…Uh?”

As Hibiya tensed his upper body one more time, a woman in a miniskirt passed by his side down the sidewalk. Then, everything fell into place.

A sudden breeze tossed the fringes of the skirt into the air. For a single instant, Hibiya’s gaze was transfixed on the sight.

“Agh! I, I think I can see it! A room…I think it’s that girl’s room? There’s a photo of her…A big pile of laundry, too…Yeoww!”

I punched Hibiya full-bore on the head, draining the red from his eyes in the process.

“Hey! Are you seriously trying here?! And that’s what triggers it?! You getting the hots for someone?!”

“What?! I don’t know! It just turned on by itself!”

“Yeah, that’s not all that got turned on, I bet…Guess you’re kind of an early starter, huh?”

“It’s not that! I swear! I have no idea what’s going on…”

Standing next to Hibiya as he vigorously attempted to defend himself, I felt a theory take form in my head.

Oh, dear. If that was the case, this wasn’t better at all. It was very, very bad.

“Hey, uh, Gran? How do you think I can see where Hiyori is…?”

The first time Hibiya’s ability appeared was when he looked at me. He all but gave himself the grand tour of the school I went to.

The second time was when he looked at that girl’s…um, when he looked at that girl. That time, he rummaged around her room like a sex offender.

We had only two examples to go on, so I couldn’t say anything with too much confidence, but based on what we have so far…

“If you look at someone with your eyes, you can see into someplace that’s related to them…?”

“Huh? What do you mean by—”

As Hibiya asked me to clarify, a car pulled up to the curb right next to us, letting out a short honk as it did.

Turning around, I saw a man in the driver’s seat that I really would prefer not having to look at during my time off.

“Yo, Kisaragi! Hittin’ the books hard, I hope?”

“You could try to act a little more friendly to me on the street, Mr. Tateyama…”

Mr. Tateyama, talking to me through an open window, looked as unkempt and off-kilter as always, a cigarette absentmindedly hanging from his lips.

“W-who’s this guy, Gran…?”

The sudden appearance of this odd stranger put Hibiya on guard.

“Oh, he’s fine. He’s a teacher at my school.”

“Oh. Really? He’s…kinda funky, isn’t he?”

I imagined Hibiya sifting through all the adjectives popping into his mind and selecting the most benign one possible to go with.

If “funky” didn’t sound like a compliment, that was no doubt because all the other candidates he thought of to describe Mr. Tateyama were the kind of thing you’d see in the scratch-and-dent bin of the big-box store in his brain.

“Ooh, who’s that, Kisaragi? Out on a date, huh? Boy, you’ve got allll the luck! I’ll be expecting a wedding invite, okay?”

“It’s not a date, Mr. Tateyama. I was just helping this boy look for somebody.”

My teacher studied Hibiya intently for a moment, then smiled cheerfully and pointed a thumb toward the rear seat.

“Well, if you got somewhere you wanna go, lemme drive you there, huh? I’m a pretty mean chauffeur, y’know.”

“N-no, that’s fine, sir! I don’t think he’s really up for that kind of thing!”

I turned him down with the first thing that came to mind. Mr. Tateyama looked visibly deflated.

“Aw, come onnn…It’s not like I got anywhere to go, this Obon holiday…You like seeing me all alone like this…?”

That deflated look apparently wasn’t the end of the act, as Mr. Tateyama proceeded on with his plaintive, well-polished, woe-is-me appeal.

Nothing could be more awkward than someone Mr. Tateyama’s age putting on that act.

“Uhm…”

As I sighed to myself, Hibiya unexpectedly tried to capture my teacher’s attention.

“Oh? What’s up, kid?”

“I, um…I think there’s a park by the rail station, right by the intersection…It’d be great if you could take me there, but…”

I didn’t follow what Hibiya was saying for a moment. Then it suddenly made sense, as the story he had to repeat to me three times burst back into my head.

“Oh, that’s a good idea, maybe…! Could you do that for us, Mr. Tateyama?!”

He burst into a practically giddy smile before regaining his composure and thumbing at the backseat again.

He must get off on doing that thumb thing a lot. Probably thinks all the women melt when they see it.

“Heh. You got it. Hop on in, kids.”

“Hey, Hibiya, you think maybe we should take a taxi?”

“Daaahh! Sorry! Please, you two, just have a seat!”

I opened the door latch, only to be greeted with the subtle mix of stale tobacco and artificial air freshener you can only experience inside a smoker’s car.

Climbing in, I sidled to the far end of the seat. Hibiya followed after me, closing the door behind him.

“Um, thanks for the ride…”

“Sure thing! There’s only one park I can think of that’d be nearby the station. You guys mind if I head there for the time being?”

“N-no problem! Thank you!”

The air-conditioned interior felt remarkably refreshing as he put the car into gear and drove off.

Looking at the clock, I saw it was about to hit two in the afternoon.

I had been walking around discussing things with Hibiya for six hours, but we still only had a vague idea of what ability he had.

Still, if the theory I devised a moment ago was true, Hibiya’s skill had less to do with people and more to do with places.

Thus, if we wanted to figure out where Hiyori was, we’d need to have Hiyori here with us. The perfect Catch-22.

If that’s how it was, Hibiya was gonna have a lot of trouble with this search.

That, and not being able to figure out how to use your own ability was proving to be a major annoyance. It’s not like he could call some helpline and ask how to use it, and it didn’t exactly come with an instruction manual, either.

He was like an infant, in a way, with legs that he didn’t quite know how to work yet.

With my ability, at least, I had it a lot easier.

When it came to attracting people’s eyes, it was pretty much an on/off switch for me.

And here’s Hibiya, meanwhile, nowhere near as afraid of his skill as I was of mine, trying to harness this incredibly complex ability to save his girl.

I’d love to do anything I can to help him out.

Hopefully we can discover something useful in the park up ahead—

As I turned to Hibiya, I found myself face-to-face with a startling sight.

Hibiya, eyes drenched in red, were staring, captivated, at the seat back in front of him.

I leaned over, looking at what had him so transfixed. I should have guessed it. In the pocket was what I’ll call a “men’s-interest magazine,” a bikini-clad woman gracing its cover.

In one smooth motion, I plucked out the magazine, rolled it up, and whapped Hibiya in the head with it.

“Oww! You…Agh! No! It just kinda came into sight, all right?!”

“Oh, just ‘came into sight,’ huh? You were staring all google-eyed right at it! Stop abusing it like that!”

My voice was louder than I meant. I shot a worried look at the front seat, only to find Mr. Tateyama’s smiling reflection in the rearview mirror.

“Whoa there, Kisaragi. Men, you know…Sometimes they just can’t help themselves, when it’s right there like that. If you’re gonna get all jealous over a bikini chick or two, that doesn’t exactly bode well for your relationship, y’know?”

It took a moment to compose my thoughts before I understood what my teacher meant. Flames of anguish shot from my face.

To someone unfamiliar with Hibiya’s ability, I was just some shrew physically abusing my poor man for sneaking a quick look at an adult mag.

“Th-that’s not what the problem is!”

“All right, all right. Hey, you know, my wife’s always naggin’ me about this and that, too. I’m just saying, I know how you feel.”

“Daaahhhhh!! That’s it! We’re getting off! Please, just drop us off right here!”

Just as I stopped screaming, Mr. Tateyama flipped a turn signal and stopped by the side of the road.

“Huh? Wait, are you actually stopping for…?”

“Hah-hah-hah! Sorry to disappoint ya, but we’re here at the park. You little lovebirds keep the conversation going by yourselves, okay?”

Looking out the window, I saw a small, cozy park, the type you see on nearly every corner of the city.

There was nothing unusual about it in the slightest, to the point where I found it hard to imagine it being the scene of Hibiya’s supernatural adventures.

Hopefully we could find something that connected to Hiyori here, but…

Hibiya opened the door and hopped out, me following meekly behind.

We turned around to find Mr. Tateyama rolling the window down as he lit his cigarette. He was nice enough to wait until we left, at least.

“Well, thanks for helpin’ me kill some time! Best of luck with that manhunt or whatever you’re up to. I’m assuming I’ll see you in summer school, huh, Kisaragi?”

“Gehhh…Yeah. I can’t wait.”

“Um, thank you very much! I…oh, I never told you my name. I’m Hibiya.”

My teacher laughed—no doubt finding it amusing that Hibiya introduced himself just as he probably left his life forever.

“Oh yeah? I’m Tateyama. See you around, Hibiya.”

With that, Mr. Tateyama put the window up, gave a few distracted waves, and drove away.

“Ugh…I wish I didn’t have to be reminded about summer school during my days off, at least…Oh? What’s up, Hibiya?”

“Mm? Oh…I dunno, I feel like I heard that guy’s name before…”

“Did you? Well, worst-case scenario, maybe you know him. It’s not that common a last name.”

“Worst-case…?”

Hibiya grinned to himself before turning his attention to the park before him.

“So do you see anything, Hibiya?”

“I’m not gonna see anything that fast…but I’ll try.”

Hibiya steadied his eyes upon the park, focusing in an attempt to summon his skill.

The place was oddly devoid of children, despite the sunny weather. After listening to Hibiya’s story, it seemed almost eerie, like a park that greedily devoured any kid unlucky enough to step inside.

Hibiya kept up the effort, doing everything he could to have another vision. But even when the sun set, we couldn’t turn up a single trace of Hiyori.

An oversize moon shone dully, just newly fully visible, as it hung in the navy blue night sky between the trees.

We sat there, on a park bench, for several hours.

I couldn’t guess how long Hibiya had been focusing all his mental powers on the task at hand. Judging by his face, he had reached the very limits of exhaustion.

Not only did we fail to grasp how his ability worked—we wasted all of this energy trying, and failing, to summon it. It was clear to both of us that we faced an ominous situation.

“Um…hey, Hibiya? It’s getting pretty late, so maybe we could give it another shot tomorrow?”

“Ah, you can go back home, Gran…I can do this by myself, so…”

“I can’t just leave you here! I mean, you’re about to fall over, Hibiya! You should get a good night’s sleep before you…”

Hibiya stopped me midsentence with his eyes.

They were cold, cruel, laced with hatred, the eyes he had when we first met yesterday.

The overwhelming, vengeful hatred behind them silenced me.

He was right—Hiyori’s fate was riding on every minute, every second. There was no way Hibiya would ever allow himself to rest.

He turned his face downward, focusing his consciousness on the ground nearby.

I watched him—I couldn’t do anything else—and then I noticed tears start to fall around his feet.

Before I could even comprehend what they were, I felt my chest tighten.

“What…what is this, even…? This ability’s completely useless…!”

I couldn’t find the words to address his tears with.

If anything was useless here, it was me. I acted all suave, promising to give him support, and look at what I’d accomplished…Nothing.

The tears even began to well in my eyes as I thought about it.

Soon they formed neat little droplets, running down and falling away from my face.

Without warning, Hibiya stood up and started walking toward the park exit.

“Wh-where’re you going?!” I called to him, my unsteady voice making it clear I was crying. Hibiya kept going, paying it no attention.

Unable to take it anymore, I stood up and grabbed his hand. It was quivering.

“If I try to rely on this thing, I’m never gonna find her. It’s a lot faster if I just keep searching like I did before.”

“But you’re not gonna accomplish anything if you start this late at night. Come on. We can invite everyone else to come help you search tomorrow. What do you think?”

The moment I made the suggestion, Hibiya jerked his hand away from mine.

“I told you…I can’t trust any of them! I can’t even trust this ability anymore…”

He started walking again but stopped after a few steps.

Then he set off again, taking a few strides, before picking up something off the ground.

It was the same kind of paper bag as the one I saw in his vest pocket.

“Hiyori bought this…”

The moment he whispered the thought, Hibiya fell to his knees.

“Hibiya?!”

I ran up to him. By the time I reached him, he was all but passed out.

“Hang in there, all right? We can do this together…Okay?”

“I…I don’t even know if I can go on or not…I don’t…I don’t even know if she’s alive, or…”

“…Don’t say it!!”

That was the one thing he could absolutely never say.

If you don’t believe that somebody’s alive—if you don’t try to find them—they might really disappear on you. That’s the one fact I knew here.

“You…you can’t say that…You can’t give up…! I…I believe in you, Hibiya…!”

“So, so what should I do, then?! Hiyori isn’t here any longer…I can’t even look at her anymore!”

That, I couldn’t deny. His ability was meaningless without someone to look at. Meaningless unless Hiyori was actually here.

So what were we supposed to do…?

“…No.”

Then, a dull sense of discomfort that had taken up residence in my mind began to glow brightly.

Why couldn’t I have noticed it sooner, something as bleedingly obvious as this?

“…Hibiya, that…that porn mag in Mr. Tateyama’s car…What did you ‘see’ there?”

The beyond-inappropriate question made Hibiya freeze for a second before he meekly gave his answer.

“That…I wasn’t using my ability at all! I told you, I just happened to put my eyes on it. That’s it.”

The theory building itself in my mind suddenly began to take on the shining halo of truth.

Hibiya was using it. I could tell.

But he claimed he wasn’t. Put that together, and it meant he used that skill…but didn’t see anything.

“I think we got something to work with…!”

“What?! Something how?!”

“So when you look at somebody, your vision takes you someplace else, right, Hibiya? But when you looked at that magazine, you ‘couldn’t see anything.’”

Hibiya tilted his head at me, clearly having issues understanding my gist.

“But when your eyes were on that mag, they went red. I saw it. We’ve spent the whole day trying to make it happen, and they just flicked right on in that car. I think you really did trigger it.”

“But I couldn’t see anything…”

“But that’s the thing. You might have been seeing something. I mean, think about this. If a person triggers a vision of some place, what would watching an inanimate object bring you to?”

“…The owner?”

That was the crux of it. If Hibiya’s skill let him look at an object and see a vision of its owner, then that mag in the back of my teacher’s car would have triggered a vision of…well, my teacher. He mistakenly assumed he “couldn’t see anything” because Mr. Tateyama was in a position where Hibiya could see him just fine without his ability. Could that be it?

“This is still, like, a total theory on my part, but you know, if that was actually the case…”

Hibiya clutched the bag dropped by Hiyori tightly in his hand. Now he seemed to follow my drift.

“…Let me try it.”

Hibiya opened the bag. Inside was an elastic band for putting your hair back with.

“Huh. This has gotta be cheaper than what she got for me.”

After a short pause, Hibiya began to focus on his hand.

If my theory from earlier was correct, this might just give him a glimpse of Hiyori and her surroundings.

But nothing happened. Try as he did, Hibiya just couldn’t coax his new power back to life. Time began to creak by.

“Gran, I…I can’t get myself to concentrate…”

His eyes were glassy and unfocused. He looked ready to collapse at any moment.

I could see why. There was no telling how much stress the events of last night and today put on him.

Maybe we should pick this up tomorrow after all…

…No. He’d never let me.

Saying “Let’s go home” right now to Hibiya wouldn’t make him move an inch.

I wished there was some way I could use my own ability to help him, at least.

…And come to think of it, I felt like there was something I’d been forgetting this whole day. I wondered what it was.

Something really important, I thought. And something to do with my own “eyes”…

“Ahhh!”

“Whoa! What, Gran? You scared me…”

“I, I, I’ve been walking around by myself all day!”

“Uh? Um, I’m here too, but…”

“Woo-hooooo!! Awesome! I guess this means I can control it now!”

“Control what…?”

I felt waves of joy overcome me as I realized the extent of my progress, Hibiya staring coldly at me to the side.

Now I could have the one thing I’ve craved up to now—a normal life. If this didn’t make me want to shout for joy, nothing would.

That, and one other important fact:

Something about the ability in my body, and how to use it.

“Whew…Hee-hee! I’m sorry. I just remembered something. I can help you with this after all.”

“You can, Granny…?”

“Yeah. Can you give me that hair clip for a second?”

Accepting the band from Hibiya, I stood up and walked a slight distance away from him.

“…What are you trying to do?”

“You’ll see. Just keep your eyes right on me, okay?”

Holding the clip in my right hand, I raised it into the air, closed my eyes, and focused.

I needed to attract as many people’s eyes to this hair band as possible.

Just like I did at the department store. Hibiya needs this. Full power, now!

My body tensed, I threw my eyes open. Somehow, the park we were in seemed to bathe itself in sparkling light.

“Wow, Gran. Look at all this light you attracted…It’s like you’re a real pop idol or something.”

“Well, yeah! I could sing a track or two if you like…once we find her, of course.”

“Let’s do it!” Hibiya shouted, his eyes now a shining crimson.

Once we find her, I have got to make him stop calling me “Gran.”

I looked upward into the sky as I had the thought. It felt like the moon itself was staring wide-eyed at me. As a newbie pop star, still not that used to being onstage—it all began to seem intensely embarrassing.