Chapter 10: Departure
Chapter 10: Departure
Yaegashi Taichi.
Nagase Iori.
Inaba Himeko.
Kiriyama Yui.
Aoki Yoshifumi.
The five second-year members of the Cultural Research Club were gathered at the first-floor entrance of the Yamaboshi school building. With them was «Heartseed», piloting the body of Gotou Ryuuzen.
For the past year and a half, «Heartseed» was an entity they couldn’t seem to escape... but this time, things were different. Instead of fighting each other, they were fighting together.
“Well then, I’m glad you’ve decided to join us. But I’m gonna ask you this one last time, «Heartseed»: are you sure you’re not lying? You haven’t omitted any inconvenient details, have you?” asked Inaba.
“No... This time around, I’ve been almost completely honest,” «Heartseed» replied lethargically.
“Almost...?” Kiriyama repeated under her breath, pouting her lips.
“Okay then, let me ask you this: Why is it that you and your kind even bother going to all this trouble? If you’re so all-powerful, surely there must be a more logical method, right?”
This was something Taichi had wondered as well. As far as experiments went, there were too many variables; «Heartseed» always seemed to leave things up to chance.
“Well... that lack of logic is... actually preferable...”
“How come?” Aoki asked.
“Because... humans are irrational creatures... One could argue that... that is what makes you human... and we so dearly wish to be human.”
The words sent a shockwave through the CRC. Everyone froze; Taichi could scarcely breathe. This was the most open and honest «Heartseed» had ever been with them—
Out of nowhere, they heard loud footsteps barreling in their direction.
“S-See?! I told you they’d be here!”
It was Enjouji Shino, one of two first-years in the CRC. And as for the other one—
“Yeah, yeah, I heard you! Now let go of me!”
A very annoyed Uwa Chihiro yanked his hand out of her grasp.
“Wait, what the... What are you guys doing here?” Nagase asked, startled.
“W-Well, you must be gathered for a reason, right?! I... I can’t believe you were going to leave us behind! We... We’re in this club too, you know!” Enjouji shouted, her face flushed, and it was clear she was desperate to get through to them.
“But how did you know where to find us?” Taichi asked. Surely the timing was too perfect to be a coincidence.
“Well, we got a call from Taichi-san’s sister and Nagase-san’s mom,” Chihiro explained.
“Are you serious? How does my sister have your number...?” Taichi groaned.
“The heck did she tell you?!” Nagase yelped.
“That you’d left the house, and if we happened to know where you were going, would we please look out for you? That kind of thing,” Chihiro clarified.
“Oh, okay. So she’s not trying to hunt me down...” Nagase let out a sigh of relief.
“And if we had to guess where you’d be headed, our first thought was the clubroom...”
“S-So here we are!” Enjouji chimed in.
“My, my, my... How very entertaining...”
“Wait... Huh...? HUHWHAAAA?! «HEARTSEED»?!”
“Took you long enough,” Chihiro retorted. Apparently Enjouji honestly hadn’t noticed it standing there.
“Wh... Wh-What do we do...?! How are you so calm about this, Chihiro-kun?!”
“I dunno. I’m just kinda over it at this point.”
“Enough chatter. We need to get this ball rolling,” Inaba commanded, and the two first-years immediately fell silent. “Long story short, we’re about to head to the battlefield, and... we estimate it’s going to be pretty goddamn dangerous. More dangerous than anything we’ve ever faced.”
Enjouji and Chihiro swallowed hard.
“So I’m not gonna mince words here: go home.”
And yet, despite her harsh tone, she must have known how they’d respond—
“N-No!”
“No can do.”
“Why not?” Inaba asked, testing them.
“If... If you’re not going home, then neither are we!” Enjouji shouted.
“Plus, if you know the risks and you’re choosing to do it anyway, then it must be important,” Chihiro added calmly.
“We’ve seen how much our Liberated friends are suffering... and how much you’re all suffering, too!”
“So if there’s anything we can do to contribute, then count us in.”
They were the protagonists of their own lives, and they had come to this conclusion of their own free will. Their minds were made up.
Inaba still seemed reluctant. “But since we don’t know what will happen in there... ideally someone ought to stay behind...”
“Why don’t you stay behind?” Taichi suggested.
“If I had to stay behind, I’d be worried sick about the rest of you!”
“Well then, there you go.”
“Ugh! Fine! Whatever!”
That said, they couldn’t exactly drag the first-years into the Isolation Zone totally blind, so they gave a quick overview of the situation at hand.
“This is ridiculous...”
“You can’t be serious, right...?”
But although they were briefly tempted to avoid facing reality, the two first-years ultimately insisted on tagging along.
“Alright then. Are we ready?” Inaba asked.
“Bring it!” said Nagase.
“Yeah,” said Kiriyama.
“Let’s do this!” said Aoki.
“R-Right!” said Enjouji.
“Ready,” said Chihiro.
Lastly, Taichi turned to the supernatural entity standing with them. “We’re counting on you, «Heartseed».”
“Well then, let’s get going... I’ll have you know, I put a lot of effort into setting this up...”
And off they went into the Isolation Zone.
+++
At the table, Mom and I finished our dinner alone. Without Taichi.
“Thanks for the food, Mom.”
“No problem. Want an apple or something for dessert?” She paused. “You know, after everything I said tonight, I gotta say... I’m curious where exactly your brother went off to. Maybe I should talk to the other kids’ parents.”
Muttering to herself, she carried the dirty dishes to the sink.
“I think I’ll skip the apple for tonight,” I told her. And with that, I headed upstairs.
As I passed by Taichi’s room, I could feel the total emptiness radiating from inside, and it made my nose sting.
“Oh, that reminds me...”
Come to think of it, Uwa Chihiro-san and Enjouji Shino-san had given me something I was meant to pass on to my brother. Sure, I could always wait until he came home, but... something told me I might forget.
Weird that I would feel that way, since it seemed super-duper important, but oh well.
I went into my room, retrieved the item from inside my backpack, then stepped into Taichi’s room. Glancing around nervously, I headed for his study desk—
“Ouch!”
Then I tripped over something. It was his bookbag.
“Jeez, you’re such a slob! Wait...”
On second thought, maybe this was the perfect spot.
So I rummaged through his bag, picked out a notebook that looked like it saw a lot of use, and slid the item between its pages.
The End