TODAY, ON THE STREET

I wonder if that girl made it back to her body.

Not that it’d make much difference, I don’t think. At least I got to say what I wanted to say, in the end.

After all that yapping I had to endure, during all those lunch sessions on the roof, I felt I had the right to complain at least a little to finish the process off.

Yet, I couldn’t say how long it’s been since I talked to another person.

For all I know, it could be the very first time.

The fact that I’ve been able to go on and on about my personal story like this…It’s all thanks to that girl with the twisted personality, I suppose.

It was weird, but there were bits and pieces of us that scarily resembled each other. Not that it matters much, any longer.

The streetlights lit the nighttime path I walked at regular intervals, their dim glow filling me with an odd sense of reassurance.

With every step, the tapping of my feet resonated pleasantly in my ears. I can’t say exactly since when, but I was starting to like nights like these.

A pure shade of black concealed the pallid color of my own strained face.

A rabble of needless, putrid utterances covered up the night wind for me.

The darkness was willing to forgive even this warped, hideous heart.

…Have I changed somewhere along the line?

I couldn’t even tell any longer. It exasperated me.

Not even the pain was enough to remind me of who I was. By now, I was completely unable to ascertain where the “me” was in me.

But, I figured, there wasn’t any need to think about it any longer.

In just a little longer, everything will be over.

A blackness, incomparably darker even than the darkness I dwelt in, was going to crush me and all of my other powerless acquaintances.

…Still, I wasn’t very nice to those kids yesterday.

I wished I could have let that group go, at the very least. But it was out of my hands.

It said that the “snakes” instinctively sought to gather toward their “queen,” and I suppose those kids were no exception.

I couldn’t change a single thing.

As much as I struggled to in places, everything fell into place exactly as It said it would. Uncanny.

And if this world really was created for the reasons It gave me, I had no chance from the beginning.

What really is happiness, in the end?

At this point, I was starting to feel like we never had it from the get-go.

Even those days I spent at that house started to seem like the product of an overactive imagination to me.

Suddenly, I stopped, hearing the sound of someone else’s footsteps.

Looking in the direction of the sound, I saw the familiar sight of Seto.

“Ahhh! I finally found you!”

Seto gave me an exaggerated wave, then made a beeline toward me.

“Eesh, I’ve been looking for you ever since I got off work! You’re so mean! If you’re gonna go somewhere, you really oughta tell me!”

“Wh-what’d you go and do that for? It’s no big deal. I’m just out for a bit.”

Seto frowned at me.

“Wha?! Everyone was worried sick about you yesterday, too! If you can’t get back, you could at least call or something!”

Something about his lecturing tone began to irk me. Where does he get off, acting all high and mighty? He doesn’t know a thing.

“All right, all right,” I spat out. “Stop griping at me.”

“Oh, quit putting it that way,” Seto whined. “I’m worried about you, too, you know.”

…I could understand what he was saying well enough.

I knew full well they’re really worried about me, too.

But, as much as I hated to admit it, as much as I had lost hold of myself, “my” heart was in pieces, painfully ripped apart. The inky cloud of emotion that poured out of it made it impossible for me to do anything any longer.

“Shut up!! Geez, just lay the hell off me already!”

My shout echoed across the street.

“Quit going on and on like you know everything about me! ’Cause you don’t, all right?! Acting like you’re some kind of golden boy! You act like you care about me on the outside, but…”

My emotions thrust themselves out in all directions. I lost track of everything I was saying.

“Wh-what’s all that coming from…?”

“It…It’s from the way you’re talking to me!! What the hell…? Why…?”

I fell to the ground on my knees, tears rolling out of my eyes.

“Why’d you all have to change…? You, Seto, and Kido, too…Why hasn’t anyone noticed me?! Sis went and died all by herself…It’s too much…”

It felt like everything within me was collapsing into a giant heap of garbage.

“I can’t take it…this world, anymore…”

“Kano…”

Seto, crouching down, pulled my shoulder toward him.

“It’s all right…It’s all right…”

“What is…? What’s all right, for God’s sake…?”

Nothing was all right.

I wished this whole world would just end for me. Then, I could…

“I’m sorry I never noticed for you…I know I was near you this whole time, too…”

All I could do now was trust in Seto’s words.

“…I can’t do it. I’m so scared, I couldn’t talk to anyone…so…”

Seto patted me on the back. I felt like I was going to fall apart at any moment.

“I know. I’m sorry I made you carry it all by yourself…Let’s carry it together.”

“I mean, we’re brothers.”

That had a nostalgic ring to it.

I recalled the night we spent in secret conversation at Room 107 of the special-care facility.

I seem to remember laughing things off. Saying “Well, great” a lot more often.

Seto and I walked back to the hideout.

I wondered what was up with everyone. I never told them about any of this before. Maybe they’d hate me afterward.

“Oh, they won’t. You’ll be fine.”

Seto’s statement made me shiver with fright.

“Y-you used your power again…? That’s sure been a while. Kind of embarrassing, getting read like that.”

“Huhh?! Didn’t you just say you wanted us to listen to you?”

“Dahh! That’s in the past, all right? …Seriously, though, don’t tell everybody else about that, all right?”

“Ha-ha-ha! No problem! It’ll be a secret between men!”

Seto grinned at me. I kept my head down. This night was proving to be a major embarrassment to me.

“Ugh, this is so out of character for me. Agghh…”

“Well, what’s the harm with that sometimes?”

Seto was acting just as bright and jovial as always. I wasn’t sure he truly understood the weight of the situation.

Even if he did, though, he’d probably still act like this.

He used to be such a pathetic crybaby. Now he was one of the most relied-upon presences in my life.

As we chatted on the way home, I noticed someone standing in front of a set of vending machines.

“Oh, great…I really don’t wanna run into her…”

The figure, noticing me, began to walk on up. She had on some kind of hospital gown that she probably swiped from somewhere, her long black hair done up in a pair of ponytails.

“Hmm? Who’s that?”

“…Ene.”

My identification broke Seto’s brain for a few moments.

Which I could understand. We were talking the difference between two and three dimensions here, after all. Not too many people are going to swallow that on the first try.

“Huhhh?! I thought Ene was more…like, smaller than that.”

“Who’s smaller, huh? Who?”

The sharp-eyed girl approaching us glared at Seto.

“Eee?! Uh, no…”

His eyes rolled up in terror. I stepped up to take the slack.

“Would it be better to call you Takane, then?”

Takane looked even less appreciative of that.

“I…I don’t care. It’s all a big pain in the ass, anyway.”

“Umm…All right. Well, I gotta call you something, so Takane it is, then.”

“Whatever…,” she gruffly replied.

“But…Wow, you’re looking a lot better, aren’t you? You looked like you were gonna die a little bit ago.”

“Yeahhh, well, I’ve had a few ups and downs. Also, if you won’t mind, I’d like you to keep our last little chat secret from the rest of the gang, if you could…”

Takane gave me a devilish grin. She always was twisted like that. Just like me.

“Oh, come on! You’re that embarrassed about disguising yourself as your sister and going to school for her? Hmm…Innn-teresting.”

Great. I knew it was a mistake to talk to her. It was like adding oil to the fire.

“Well, I’m impressed you decided to come back, Takane. You looked like you were having a blast as Ene.”

The moment I mentioned the name, Takane crouched to the ground, head in her hands.

“Ooh, I wanna die, I wanna die, I wanna die, I wanna die…”

Guess I had a few weapons of my own.

“Oh, maaan, I have no idea what I’m gonna do. He’s gonna, like, totally freak.”

I imagine he will, yes. Hanging out around her sworn enemy, calling him “master,” running roughshod over him all the way to today…

…I guess I better apologize to Shintaro, too.

I know I had been angry, but there was no taking back what I did. It was pretty mean, actually. I doubted he’d forgive me, but I at least wanted to give him the whole story…

“What? You worried about him or something?”

Takane must have noticed. She looked up, still in her anguished crouch.

“Well…yeah. I kind of owe him one, you know?”

“Hmm…Well, he’s not stupid. I don’t think he’ll hold it against you that much, once you clue him in a little. There’s a lot of stuff I gotta discuss with him, too, so…How about we all talk together?”

“…Yeah. Sounds good.”

Takane, I suppose, had a unique insight into what made Shintaro tick. Lord knew they’d spent enough time together.

Then she started grabbing her head again.

“But oh, man, I don’t know…Just thinking about him makes me wanna barf…”

“What? Aw, come on, Takane! Plus, you haven’t eaten for, like, two years! You don’t have anything to barf out!”

“I just had some ramen.”

“What’d you pay for it with?!”

“Geez, lay off me! I was hungry, all right?! Two years, man, two years!! That’d give anyone a hankering for a steaming bowl of pork chashu-men!”

“Yeah, and how’d you pay for it…?”

Seto, watching silently, raised a hand into the air.

I guess we kind of left him by the side of the road in this conversation.

“Um, I don’t think I really get what you’re talking about…”

His eyes were darting between us in utter confusion.

I was happy to explain things, but we were about to hold a crash course for the whole gang back at our hideout. I opted to wait until then.

Nice of him not to try reading my mind, at least. That’s Seto for you.

“…Well, we’re gonna have to go through a lot of crap pretty soon, so I figure we’ll explain everything to everyone all at once. Save us some time that way. So how ’bout we just head back?”

Takane and Seto muttered “yeah” in simultaneous agreement.

“So if you’re back,” I asked Takane, “I guess you’re ready to do this, huh?”

She snorted back at me.

“Of course! I promised that to Ayano, besides. I just have to punch out that bearded freak, right? I’m not gonna call this over until I do, so…”

Takane, eyes sparkling, apparently didn’t know what I meant. But, considering the circumstances, I was glad she was rarin’ to go.

Seto slapped me on the back.

“I’ll try to talk with Marie about this, too. I dunno…This might get kind of hairy on us, but if we all work together, I think we’ll find a way!”

“Oww…Yeah. Seems kind of stupid, huh? Trying to carry it all by yourself.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at the sound of me saying that.

Even when faced with the end of the world, nothing changes between us.

I thought everyone except me had changed. I was barking up the wrong tree the whole time.

Takane looked at me, bewildered.

“Wow. So that’s how you smile, huh?”

“Huh?”

“It sure is! Kano gets flustered pretty easily, so he almost never smiles!”

My face began to redden in front of my companions. Takane immediately flew in for the kill.

“Oooo! Trying to hide something again?”

“Sh-shut up! C’mon, let’s get back already!”

“Sure thing! Man, I’m hungry, though. Better get something to eat back home!”

“I, uh, I just had ramen, so…”

…Sis.

You watching us?

Things have gotten a lot more hectic than before, but I guess we haven’t changed much after all.

We’re gonna be back playing our little superhero game in a sec, too. Funny, huh?

…Hey, Sis?

I’m gonna be with him soon. That guy you liked. And I’m gonna tell him everything.

He’s kind of a wimp, and honestly I don’t like him too much, but something about him…He’s interesting, you know?

Something tells me he’s just the guy to get Dad back, to get the world back, and to get you back, too. Pretty crazy story, I know, but…

Oh, right. Don’t worry about losing your number. As far as we’re concerned, No. 0’s been retired from the Mekakushi-dan. So once you’re back, let’s all join in the game together, okay?

I hope you don’t mind…

…waiting just a bit longer for us, Sis.