Chapter 8: A New Family Member

Kouki Arakawa’s Point of View

“Mom, I’m home,” I called.

That evening, I’d returned home from the academy as normal to find Mom in the kitchen preparing dinner.

Judging from the smell, it’s stew today.

I went to my room to change my clothes, and then I went to talk to Mom again.

“Mom, I’m hungry.”

“It’ll be done soon, so just sit down and wait,” she replied.

“Kon, kon!”

When I urged dinner along, it seemed to bother Mom, and she made me sit down and wait quietly. After I’d waited for a while, Mom brought dinner over to the table, and we ate it together. Ever since I’d been admitted to the academy, we’d made it a rule that during dinner, I’d talk about what had happened at the academy and anything that had left a big impression on me, and I’d listen to Mom talk about her research.

“Oh, really? That’s interesting,” said Mom.

“Kon.”

“Yep, Aikawa was all over Shingo again today,” I replied.

After I’d finished eating, I took a bath and then returned to my room. That was when I noticed I’d missed a call from Alice.

It’s unusual for her to call at this time... I thought before calling her back.

“Kouki, sorry about this, but tomorrow...” she began.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Kon...”

She was going to be doing pharmaceutical research in my research complex the next day, so she wanted me to contact her using her personal terminal first if I was going to go up to the second floor.

That reminds me, I thought. When Shingo went to the second floor to fetch a drug without asking, the powdered drug product that Alice was making was blown onto the floor. That was a lot of trouble. I’ll have to warn everyone.

“Okay, got it,” I said.

Alice added, “By the way, I keep hearing something making a ‘kon’ sound. What is that?”

“Oh, this? This dragon was just here when I got home,” I answered, taking another look at the dragon in front of me.

I could tell Alice was speechless.

It’s fine, Alice. When I got home and saw this thing, I didn’t know how to react either, so I’ve been ignoring it, I thought.

“I think I must be a little tired, so I’m going to bed early,” Alice said before ending the call.

I guess that’s a normal reaction. Anyway, what even is this thing? It must be some strange creature that Mom made...

“Hey,” I called out to it.

“Kon?” it responded, as if it understood what I was saying.

I said nothing.

The dragon tilted its head as if to say, “What is it?” It seemed to be waiting for me to speak.

I poked its face with my finger.

“Kon! Kon kon!”

It didn’t seem to like that. It snapped angrily at the tip of my finger, but that didn’t hurt me at all. It was only about 20 cm long, after all.

It looked like the kind of dragon that would appear in a fantasy story world, except that it was a miniature version. Even its wings were fully-formed.

A thought occurred to me.

“Hey, can you fly?” I asked it.

“Kon...”

It flapped its wings up and down in a cute little motion as if to tell me it wasn’t possible.

What about that other thing dragons do?

“Do you have fire or ice breath or anything like that?”

“Kon...”

It seemed it couldn’t breathe fire or anything.

“What kind of dragon are you?” I asked it, and it responded by puffing out its chest.

If you can’t fly and you can’t breathe fire, you’re just a plain old lizard! But wait... You’re a lizard that understands speech.

“Think I’d get a good price for you?” I asked.

“K-Kon?!”

I was only joking about selling it, but I had to find out more about where it came from. I didn’t doubt for a second that Mom was responsible for this strange creature being in our house.

At this time of day, she’s probably doing research in her room, I thought.

I went to Mom’s room and knocked on the door, but there was no response. Could she be in the library in the basement?

I went down into the basement, and there was Mom, drawing a magic circle on the floor for some reason.

Huh? What?! No way! Mom summoned this thing?!

I called out to her, and she quickly closed the book she was reading—it looked like it was full of dark magic—and turned to face me.

“Kou?! Is something wrong?”

“Is something wrong”? That’s what I want to ask you!

Up till now, I’d thought she was a genius scientist. It was a bit of a letdown to know she was doing this sort of thing on the side. I told her so, though in a more roundabout sort of way, and she was quick to deny it.

“That’s not what this is! I didn’t think a baby dragon would just suddenly hatch out of it. I was working in my lab as normal when it suddenly hatched from the scale you gave me earlier. I’m sure you can understand why I’m now starting to think magic might actually exist after seeing something like that.”

I don’t understand at all, but what’s this about something hatching from the scale? When they gave it to me, they told me it was a legendary elder dragon scale... Did Mom make a clone of it? I wondered.

“After you gave it to me, I used it to decorate a shelf in my work area. I was working when it suddenly cracked open, and this little creature came out.”

While talking, she took the dragon that was standing by her feet into her arms and looked at me.

It came from a scale? Am I the only one who thinks that’s weird?! I pressed Mom for more information, and she told me her thoughts.

“Kou, when you were telling me about the other world, you mentioned there were demons there, right? You told me that you’d heard it was difficult for humans to defeat dragons. So how would the people there know it was a scale?”

Well, that was the legend that was passed down, wasn’t it? It didn’t even look anything like an egg. It had to be a scale.

Mom continued her explanation: “I think it probably wasn’t a scale. It was an egg or something similar. I suspect it’d become dormant, and that made it seem dead. Even in our world, there are creatures that lie dormant for several years or even several decades in the same way. If their world has unbelievable technologies like magic, it’s not so hard to believe something could remain dormant for hundreds of years.”

I hated to admit it, but what she was saying made sense. “But if you’re right, then why did it wait until now to hatch?”

“Kou, a lot of people all had to use something you called magic power at the same time to return you to this world, right? Perhaps that was the trigger that woke it up?”

So I’m the one responsible... I thought, looking at the dragon cradled in Mom’s arms. Sorry about all this. This world really isn’t where you belong.

“It’s harmless right now, so let’s take care of it here at home,” Mom said. “It’s a dragon that will live for several hundreds of years, so it should take some time to grow up. Let’s make sure we find a way to return it to its home world before then.” With a smile, she added, “Given how it looks, it could pass for a rare lizard.”

I’d better talk to my friends at the academy about this tomorrow, I decided, and returned to my room.

**

“So cute!!” cried Alice.

“Can you breathe fire?” Aikawa asked it.

The next day, I’d brought the dragon with me to my research complex, and Alice and Aikawa had taken to it immediately. I stood with Shingo watching the spectacle, and all I could do was smile wryly at their reactions. It’s a dragon! At least be a little surprised!

“Kouki, have you given it a name?” Shingo asked me.

I hadn’t thought to give it one. What would be a good name...? I looked over at the dragon, and when it noticed me looking at it, it let out a cry and came over. It looked surprisingly cute as it rubbed its face against my hand.

“Kouki, let’s all come up with a name together,” said Alice.

“Sure. Let’s decide together,” I replied.

I figured I couldn’t go on forever just saying “Hey!” and “Dragon,” so I agreed with the idea. Somehow, it wasn’t until that moment that I discovered what terrible taste everyone had.

“Buh hee! I like the sound of ‘Phantom Nocturna,’” suggested Shingo.

Remind me how old you are, Shingo.

“No way, Shin. Let’s call it ‘Rose Weldey.’”

Aikawa, what kind of name is Weldey?

Alice had been looking at the dragon intently the whole time. She turned to me and suggested a name: “Kouki, I like the name ‘Knight Clayde, the Silver.’”

Not you, too?! It’s not even a knight! It’s just some freaky lizard!

The dragon had been quietly making unhappy “kon...” sounds the whole time.

“How about we name him ‘Kon’?” I suggested.

“Kon! Konkon!!” the dragon replied happily to my suggestion.

Well that settles it. If it likes the name, then from today onwards, it’ll be known as Kon. Everyone else was making jeering noises in disapproval, but I paid them no mind. I’m not calling out the name “Nocturna” when there are people around!

Aikawa started loudly complaining: “The problem is that it’s making cute ‘kon’ sounds! What kind of dragon does that? If it would just make more dragon-like sounds, ‘Rose’ would be a perfect fit.”

I tried asking Kon, “Can you make any other noises?”

Kon climbed down from the table and walked to the edge of the room. Then he turned to us, and took a deep breath...

“Graaaaaaaaaaw!!”

It certainly wasn’t the cry we’d heard from him up to now. It was a genuine roar. He looked over to me and puffed out his chest as if to say, “Good enough for you?” Aikawa was staring at him in amazement.

“I think I’m okay with ‘Kon,’” said Alice. Apparently she really wanted it to go back to making the “kon” sound.

I promised myself I’d make Aikawa sweep up the cup that’d been shattered from the shock of his roar. It had been all her fault, after all.

**

“Kouki, will you come with us on a test of courage?” Aikawa suddenly asked me while I was cleaning up the cup that had been shattered by Kon’s roar.

I looked at Aikawa as if to say, “Are you feeling tired?”

She became flustered and denied it. “I-It’s not like that! Of course I don’t actually believe in ghosts. I just want to investigate the seven wonders of the academy.”

I’ll bet they’re just clichéd rumors... Why should I have to figure out seven wonders after getting into this kind of academy? And it’s only June! This is the kind of thing you’d normally get excited over in August when it’s the height of summer. You can’t seriously be arranging a test of courage at this time of year.

“That sounds good to me,” said Alice. I thought she’d be the most set against it, but Alice was agreeing enthusiastically.

I glanced sideways at Shingo, and he shook his head in resignation.

Looks like I’m about to get dragged into this... I thought. Lately, it seemed as though I was getting dragged into everything that happened around me, and it was a real pain, so I wanted to refuse for once. With that decision in mind, I was about to tell Alice, “I think I’ll pass,” but she spoke before I could.

“Aren’t you coming with us, Kouki?”

Those teary eyes of hers were really putting the pressure on me.

What a dirty trick. She knows I can’t refuse now.

In the end, I broke down as always, and had to go with them.

“So what’s the story behind the seven wonders, Aikawa?” I asked.

Whatever the story is, I’m sure it’s just something exaggerated that got blown out of proportion. When I hear more about it, it’ll probably be something easily explained... I thought to myself before allowing Aikawa to explain the details.

Aikawa began to explain in an unusually quiet voice, as if she was afraid of something.

“First, there’s the story of the sakura tree with petals that never wilt. There’s a sakura tree in the courtyard that continues to blossom, even after the other trees have lost their flowers already; and then, after some time, all of its petals suddenly scatter at once.

“Second is the basement of the medical research complex. Every night, you can hear a boy screaming.

“Third is the mystery of the gym shed. When night falls, a pale figure appears, peering through a slightly open window of the gym shed of the sports club near the middle school.”

Well, I can explain every one of these stories so far, I thought. I asked Aikawa for a few more details, and then urged her to continue when I was satisfied with her responses.

“Fourth is the dancing shadow. The dancing shadow appears on the third floor of the pharmaceutical research complex when there’s no one around.

“Fifth is the clock tower guard. The instant the clock reaches 9 PM, you’ll face the wrath of the guard if you’re inside the clock tower.

“Sixth is the disappearance at the main gate. The story goes that if you go home from the academy at night, when you walk toward the main gate, an academy student ahead of you will vanish in an instant. The seventh...”

Aikawa became quiet when she reached the seventh rumor, and everyone pressed her to hurry up and continue. But Aikawa just looked at us and said, “I don’t know it.”

At the sound of those words, we all collapsed in a heap. Even Kon must have been angry because he was sinking his teeth into Aikawa’s foot.

“If you don’t know of a seventh wonder, then why not call them the six wonders?!” I complained, and Aikawa got angry at me for some reason.

“The fact I don’t know what the seventh wonder is is a wonder in itself!”

Okay, whatever. I know the stories now, and I’ve figured out a likely explanation for each, so now I’ll just explain them one at a time.

“Well I’ve got my theories, but what about everyone else? Should we go to each site and try to find the explanation?” I suggested to everyone.

We decided we’d all go to find the truth behind each story.

This is a pain, but it’s the only way. First I’d better grab this and that... I’d better have that tool with me, too, I decided. I figured out which tools I’d need to take.

Meanwhile, Aikawa was whispering something to Shingo. “Shin, I’m scared. Will you hold my hand?”

“Buh hee?!”

You two are just looking for an excuse to mess around with each other! Damn! I’m so jealous!! I couldn’t say what I was thinking, but I gave Shingo a look that was intense enough to kill.

Alice must have noticed. She laughed and told me, “We can hold hands, too.”

I’d almost forgotten how cute Alice is...

**

“We have to think about timing, so let’s start with the second story about the medical research complex,” I said to everyone, since it was still light outside. Everyone came along without showing any fear.

“I heard there’s a morgue down in the basement,” said Shingo, who now seemed to be getting cold feet. If I’d guessed right, we’d find something unusual there.

“Aikawa, I know you just told me this, but the teaching staff have no reason to visit this building, right?”

“Yes, it’s left up to the students to manage the building.”

Well that just about settles it... I thought as we arrived at the basement entrance where the screams had been heard. Feeling a little playful, I told Shingo to go open the door. Shingo seemed scared, so I told him, “Don’t you want to show your girlfriend how brave you are?”

That seemed to convince him.

“Buh hee! I’m opening it,” he said before bravely throwing the door open.

The door opened, and before our eyes... there was a mahjong table.

It was exactly what I’d expected to see, and I pumped my fists in celebration. On the other hand, Shingo and Alice were standing there with blank looks on their faces, so I decided I should explain it to them.

“This is a research building of the elite high school where no teaching staff go, so if any guys wanted to gather and play mahjong, this would be the place. If no one comes here because of the ghost stories, then that just makes it even better. I suspect the screams come from whoever loses the game.”

“That’s all?” asked Alice in surprise.

“That’s just how ghost stories are,” I said.

She smiled and agreed.

Next up... What time is it? Where we head next depends on the time of day, I thought.

I was about to check the time on my terminal, but Shingo guessed what I was thinking and told me, “It’s 4:30 PM.”

What a great friend! I shot Shingo an appreciative look.

“Shin, you’re wearing your watch on the opposite arm today,” said Aikawa, as if she’d just noticed something very strange.

Shingo must have just felt like wearing it on the other arm for a change. I do the same thing. I wear my terminal on different arms from day-to-day. Anyway, he said 4 PM... That means the third story is next.

We arrived at the third-floor terrace of the gym used by the sports club at the edge of the academy grounds. From here, we had a good view of the rear side of the gym shed. I looked through the binoculars I’d brought, and I could see the window slowly opening.

“I knew it,” I mumbled to myself.

Aikawa grabbed the binoculars to get a better look at the gym shed. There was anger in her voice as she said: “Is he standing there smoking?!”

That’s right... Just as Aikawa said, a middle school student was there smoking a cigarette. Everyone wants to look tough at that age, so I understood how he felt, but he’d chosen the worst place for it. If he wasn’t careful, he could set the place on fire, so I thought we should warn him. Aikawa had other ideas, and she immediately sent an email to the school counselor using her terminal.

We watched for a while, and eventually we could tell that the teacher had come running into the gym shed.

Looks like we put him in a tough spot.

“Well, it’s dangerous. And it’s against the law.” Aikawa’s anger still hadn’t subsided.

I watched Shingo try to calm her down while he decided which location to guide everyone to next.

Next, we arrived at the botanical labs of the academy. I was sure that this was the place that managed the sakura trees in the courtyard. Alice was nodding as if she had it figured out, so I told her to go ask one of the researchers about the courtyard’s mysterious sakura tree.

“That sakura tree in the courtyard?” the researcher said. “That’s a tree we selectively bred to have a long flowering time. It’s not quite perfect. It scatters all of its petals in one night, and that’s something we’d like to fix.”

That male researcher gave a straightforward and honest answer to Alice’s question. I felt as though everyone was losing enthusiasm each time we found that one of the seven mysteries could be easily solved.

Honestly, this whole thing is going way too predictably, and now I just want to go home! I thought, sighing. One of my favorite animal documentaries would be on TV today at 6 PM, and I wanted to go home right away to watch it. Can’t we quit this now?

I tried asking everyone. “Are we going to keep going with this? I think the truth behind all of the other stories is going to be just as much of a letdown.”

“I want to understand them all, no matter what!” insisted Aikawa.

“Kon! Kon!” Surprisingly, even Kon was urging me to continue.

Shingo and Alice both said, “Well, we’ve gotten this far,” as if they were just continuing under inertia.

I sighed and led everyone to the next location. I knew that we’d be able to see the pharmaceutical research complex from the second floor of this building. We all looked out on the pharmaceutical research complex, and Kon began sniffing as if he’d noticed something.

“Someone is dancing?” Alice asked, noticing that there was a human figure in a room at the end of the pharmaceutical research building.

I was looking at that room, too, but even though I was seeing just what I expected, it was still disappointing. This was the kind of thing I could see at any time in my own research complex.

“He’s just airing out the place,” I said. “You always do the same thing in your lab before you leave, right, Alice? You use a fan or something to blow bad smells outside. Unlike Alice, this guy moves around like an idiot, so it looks like he’s dancing. The reason it happens when ‘there’s no one around’ is because it’s something he does before going home. He’s the only person there.”

“I wonder if the way I move looks stupid to anyone who sees me from outside...” whispered Alice, seeming a little concerned.

Not letting her distract me, I headed toward the clock tower to investigate the fifth rumor.

**

“Let’s see... it’s 6:50 PM right now, so we’re right on time,” I said.

Shingo gave me a suspicious look, and asked, “Kouki, didn’t the story say it happens at 9 PM?”

I just laughed and didn’t answer him. I poured some water into a glass that I’d brought and walked over to place it inside the clock tower before returning. Then I turned to everyone.

“The clock tower’s bell will chime in three minutes, so you’d better cover your ears. Kon, why don’t you curl up inside my bag for a moment?”

Everyone covered their ears as I’d instructed, and Kon happily curled up inside my bag. Then we heard the bells begin to chime the hour. It was rather loud.

I can’t believe how stupidly loud this is! To think, I was originally planning to go stand inside there! Putting a glass in there instead was the right idea.

When the bells stopped, I opened the door to the clock tower to show the glass I’d placed inside.

“Kon?!” I could tell that Kon was shocked. Well I guess he has only just been born. I can’t exactly expect him to understand why the glass broke.

No one else seemed to understand either, so I gave them a simple explanation.

“It’s the oscillations from the sound,” I told them. “That’s the guard’s true form. When Kon roared in the lab a while ago, you all saw the cup on the table shatter, right? It’s the same thing. If someone stood inside there while the bell was ringing, I expect they’d fall over with a concussion. Sonic grenades work on the same principle.”

Everyone accepted my explanation with a nod.

All right, there’s just the mystery of the main gate, and then we’re finished! If we finish this up, I can go home. The idea of being released from this troublesome task made me so happy that I walked with a spring in my step all the way to the main gate.

When we arrived at the main gate, I asked everyone to wait while I thought about the location.

I think that place over there might work, but I can’t be sure. If I mess this up, we’ll be stuck waiting for another car to arrive, I thought. Just at that moment, a car appeared from inside the academy! Perfect timing. And there’s another one approaching from the road, too.

I spoke loudly so that everyone waiting would hear. “Blink and you’ll miss it, so watch closely!”

The headlights of the cars overlapped, centered on the spot where I was standing.

Did I pull it off? I apprehensively turned to face everyone.

“He disappeared!” they cried.

Looks like it was a success.

Once the car had passed, Shingo came running toward me. “Buh hee! What was that? What just happened?”

“It’s the effect of the glare from the headlights,” I explained. “Anything located at a point where two car headlights overlap at night will seem to disappear. It’s dangerous, and it causes a lot of accidents. What probably happens is that the person in the headlights leaves through the gate and turns the corner, so they leave your field of view. Then you might make the mistake of thinking that they’ve truly disappeared.” I felt a little proud of myself.

Everyone nodded appreciatively.

In the end, every story had turned out to be just a big deal made out of nothing.

When something a little mysterious happens, the news spreads quickly, I reflected. I realize it’s all good fun, but I hate getting mixed up in it.

Just then, another car emerged from within the academy grounds and stopped in front of me. The driver lowered the window, and spoke to me. “Oh? Is that you, Arakawa? What are you doing out here? I thought you had a car taking you home.”

The principal was gazing at me through the window. I told her what we’d been doing, and she responded bluntly while smiling. “I see. But you know, it’s getting late, so head on home. Are Saito, Aikawa, and Miss Alford with you? It’s time you all went home and had dinner.”

We watched the principal leave, and then we all headed home.

**

As I was returning home to eat dinner, I received a message on my personal terminal.

I skipped over the nagging emails I’d been getting from Mom (“Kou, I’m serving dinner!”) and opened Shingo’s email.

Shingo’s email read, “Sorry that I had to leave halfway through, Kouki! Did you explain all of the seven wonders in the end?”

What does he mean? He was with us the whole time. I asked him for an explanation, and he soon replied. I read his email and was frozen in shock.

“What do you mean? I had to leave soon after we saw the mahjong table because I had somewhere else to be. After you explained the sakura tree in the courtyard, Megumi and Alice sent me a message to say they’d both gone home. I heard you went on alone to check out the pharmaceutical research complex because you were curious. Was that wrong?”

So who (or what) was with me today?

**

Kaori Yamamoto’s Point of View

I held back a laugh while driving. It turned out that even Arakawa had a childish side. I couldn’t believe it that he’d told me with a straight face that he was investigating the seven wonders, even though there were “actually only six of them.” He seemed to be under some misunderstanding, because there certainly were seven wonders.

I’d heard the story from students when I’d taken up the position as principal, and I remembered the story involved an “imitating mirror.” The story said that if you passed before a certain mirror in the academy, something would appear, disguised as someone you know, to play tricks on you. It was the childish kind of story that children would often make up for fun.

“But I wonder...” I said thoughtfully. “I wonder... If Arakawa was by himself in front of the main gate, then where had his friends gone?”

I wonder if everyone had hidden themselves after being surprised to see me, I thought to myself as I drove on toward home.