Plate 6: Haruka
Plate 6:
Haruka
Scene 1
IT HAPPENED YESTERDAY. Yesterday evening, to be precise.
“Glad our zombie this time is a tough one.” Reo and Mabu zoomed through the air on an underground elevator. Reo seemed to be in a good mood as he fiddled with the photograph in his hand. Nioino was still visible in the picture.
“Indeed. I can finally leave the station,” said Mabu.
Reo’s expression soured. “What? Maintenance? Again?”
“Yes. It’s a matter of life or death for me.” Mabu’s tone remained entirely even, either unaware of or ignoring the sudden shift in Reo’s mood.
“Pfft, yeah, I wonder about that! You sure you’re not just hooked on it because it feels good?” As Reo flung words dripping with sarcasm at his partner, the elevator arrived at its destination—the inside of their police box.
Mabu immediately headed for the door. “Absurd. What benefit would there be in prioritizing my personal feelings?” He turned and disappeared into the darkness of the night.
Once his partner was gone, Reo slammed his fist against the wall. “As if you could ever understand even an ounce of what I’m feeling!”
Scene 2
“GOOD MORNING! ✩ Every day is happy! And with your lucky selfie, you’ll have even more happiness on your plate! It’s me, Azuma Sara, dish! ✩”
The living room filled with the sound of Sara’s voice as her Asakusa Sara TV segment began, but their morning routine lacked its normal liveliness. Haruka never ventured over to the breakfast table, but silently watched the television, instead.
His father looked on and asked, “Have you heard anything from Kazuki?”
Haruka’s mother shook her head, holding a coffee cup in either hand. “Not since I got a message last night that he’s staying over at Enta-kun’s house.”
“All right.” There was a brief pause before he continued, “Now that I think about it, she does kind of resemble him.” His eyes were turned toward the screen, where Sara was dancing.
“Yes. Maybe that’s why Haruka became such a big fan.”
“Now then, what will today’s lucky selfie item be?” droned Sara’s voice in the background.
Neither of Haruka’s parents could see the expression on the boy’s face.
“Oh dear, what’s this?” Sara sounded confused. “It looks like today’s item is a sachet too, dish.”
A headdress decorated with ribbons rested in Haruka’s lap. Yesterday, after Kazuki took off running, the real Sara had picked it up and handed it to him. There she’d been, the idol he adored so much, right before his eyes…and he’d barely noticed. He just murmured, “Thanks.” Sara offered him a gentle nod in return.
“Okay then, have a wonderful day, and may you have lots of luck dished your way! ✩” said the Sara on the television.
“Kazu-chan…”
Krunch, krunch, krunch, krunch, krunch, krunch…
Toi and Enta were standing in the Kappa Plaza, still in their kappa forms, and utterly speechless at what they were witnessing. Before their eyes, Kappa-Kazuki was binge eating a literal mountain of cucumbers.
“Cucumbers are delicious! They taste even better now than when I was human!” Kazuki continued to be in unusually high spirits.
Toi gave him a look of pity. “He’s lost it.”
“It’s a Kappa High, ribbit,” Keppi explained. “A euphoria that occurs when someone remains a kappa for a prolonged period of time, ribbit.” He was equally at a loss for what to do.
In the meantime, Kazuki continued to munch away at his cucumbers. “Being a kappa rules!”
Du-dun, dun, dun, dun…
“To the eeeast, Kazuki no Umi. To the weeest, Enta Yama!” Keppi’s high voice rang through the air, mimicking the referee’s style of speech from sumo matches. In the center of the plaza appeared a wrestling ring, joined by the delightful, rhythmic sound of taiko drums. “Eyes on your opponent!”
Kappa-Enta lifted his knee up high and stomped down, his hair tied up in a topknot. “Uh, does sumo have anything to do with our current predicament?”
In front of him, Kappa-Kazuki braced himself for the match, sporting a similar hairstyle. “It has absolutely everything to do with it!”
“Still safe, still safe, still safe~!”
The two grappled with each other, kappa-letely evenly matched and struggling for the upper hand. Sweat slowly beaded on their skin. The droplets made quiet plip, plip sounds as they sprinkled across the ground.
Ah, ahh! Kazuki’s skin is rubbing up against mine… Enta’s expression suggested he was in the throes of ecstasy. In contrast, Kazuki looked entirely serious about their match.
“Show me what you’re made of, Enta.”
“K-Kazuki…!”
Plip, plip, plip. Their skin grew even more slippery.
“I-I can’t…take it any—”
“That’s pathetic, Enta! We’re the Golden Duo, aren’t we?!” Kappa-Kazuki pressed his knee hard against Enta’s crotch.
“Aaaaaaah~!”
Kappa-Enta went soaring through the air, landing outside the ring. When he hit the ground, Enta realized that this must have been another one of his delusions.
“Enta!”
But for some reason, it didn’t just end there as it usually did.
“Are you okay? You aren’t hurt?” Kazuki looked handsome and suave as he reached out for Enta.
“Huh? Wait, is this a delusion too…?”
Keppi offered him a pack of gum with only a single stick of gum left. Pa-chink! When Enta grabbed the gum, a trap attached to it came swinging down, pinching his finger.
“Ouch! It’s not a delusion!”
Keppi, still dressed in his sumo referee outfit, gave a quiet nod.
“Being a kappa rules!” Kappa-Enta and Kappa-Kazuki shouted in unison.
“Ribbit!”
Behind the three, who had thrown their arms around one another’s shoulders, Kappa-Toi was busily sweeping up the sumo ring.
“Time for our next piece of news, dish! ✩ The police reported that an investigation is ongoing regarding the fragrance bag theft that began yesterday. They currently believe the crime is a large-scale operation.” The nightly news was playing on a large monitor hanging on the front of the Asakusa Culture and Tourism Information Center.
Kappa-Toi looked up to watch and mumbled to himself, “Have any of the incidents before made it on the news the day after?”
“Come to think of it, no, they haven’t—ack, no!” Kappa-Enta replied on impulse, but then immediately forced his mouth shut. The two had been at each other’s throats since this whole thing began. Their current ceasefire had only happened because they’d been turned into kappa and kept too busy to resume fighting. Granted, judging by Toi’s demeanor, he wasn’t the least bit concerned about the unresolved conflict.
Enta, however, wasn’t ready to bury the hatchet. “Hmph!”
Kappa-Toi just watched in exasperation as the other boy made an obvious show of giving him the cold shoulder.
“Oh hey! No one can see us in our kappa forms, which means we’ve basically got a free pass to Hanayashiki, right?”
It was just like Enta to suggest such a thing. The group made their way to the small playground with a multipurpose bathroom.
“Oh, there’s a soccer ball here!” Kappa-Enta exclaimed. He ran over to it and began playing.
“This place is…” Kappa-Toi’s voice trailed off as he realized where they were.
Kazuki smiled and replied, “Yeah, this is where I always came to change into my Sara costume. I mean, so hilariously stupid, right? Cross-dressing as an idol!”
“You put a lot of effort into it though,” said Toi.
“Enough, it’s over. Anyway, let’s just have fun! Being a kappa rules!”
Toi watched him go with a sigh. It was obvious that Kazuki was just putting on a brave face.
Kappa-Enta continued dribbling the soccer ball, all the while piecing together a magnificent plan in his mind. Although it was true Kazuki was putting on a façade, he was still full of energy today. Which means that maybe if I play it smooth, I can pass him the ball…
“Heey! Enta!”
He glanced back to see Kappa-Kazuki racing toward him. “Pass it to me!”
“Really? I thought you said soccer didn’t have anything to do with you anymore.”
“It absolutely does have something to do with me! Let the Golden Duo be reborn!”
Enta had been waiting to hear those exact words, so he didn’t hesitate. “Okay, Kazuki, I’m passing the ball!” He aimed and sent the ball soaring high up through the air.
Kappa-Kazuki leaped up with it, performing an overhead kick. “Enta! Here it is, straight to your heart! Miracle ✩ Shoot!” In the next instant, Kazuki’s powerful kick sent the ball whizzing through the air like a bullet, slamming straight into Enta’s stomach.
“Guuuuh…!”
The ball’s trajectory remained unchanged as it soared onward, sinking into the net of the goalpost. Toi, acting as the goalkeeper, wrinkled his face in frustration.
“Nice shot!!” Even as he spat blood, Kappa-Enta savored his moment of happiness. But… Ah, no way. There’s just no way. This delusion is just too much.
With an effort, Enta brought himself back to reality—just as the real Kappa-Kazuki called over to him.
“Hey, Enta!”
“Okay, this is my chance to casually… Kazuki, here, pass!” Enta sent the ball flying forward with a smack, but Kazuki only stood there and let it roll uselessly past him.
“Sorry, I actually have to use the bathroom.”
The ball rebounded off the wall and slowly rolled back toward Enta, whose shoulders sank in disappointment. “I should’ve known it was hopeless.”
As he stared at the locked door to the bathroom, a voice called out from behind him. “Staying in this form isn’t going to do him any good,” said Toi.
Enta’s temper flared. “Like I need you to tell me that!”
Next, the three of them ventured to Sumida Park.
“There’s a perfect cucumber patch just ahead!” said Enta. “You love cucumbers, right, Kazuki?”
“Yeah!”
“What the heck is a ‘cucumber patch’ anyway…?” Kappa-Toi was certain there had to be some better excuse the other boy could’ve come up with.
Kazuki stopped dead in his tracks. Just up ahead was…
“Nyantaro! Come here!”
Haruka in his wheelchair, his father pushing him along from behind.
Domp, domp, domp, domp, domp…!
Kappa-Kazuki sped off into the distance, leaving the others in his dust.
“He ran…” Enta mumbled.
“I knew it.”
“Ribbit.”
Scene 3
“SORRY YOUR FOOD’S so late today, Nyantaro.”
“Mreeow.” Nyantaro chowed down greedily on the Fishtopia kibble, meowing back in response as if to say she didn’t mind at all.
“Hey, Nyantaro, Kazu-chan will come home, right?”
The cat didn’t have an answer for that. Nor did anyone else, for that matter.
Haruka pulled out his phone. Having finished her meal, the feline flopped over and began snoozing.
“I hope this reaches him,” Haruka whispered in prayer as he pressed the send button. Static suddenly flew across his screen, and a crimson red heart appeared. “Huh? I don’t remember downloading this app…”
A shadow was suddenly cast over Haruka. “And who is this naughty boy?”
He looked up to find a uniformed police officer in front of him. It was Reo, with his dark skin, sharply pointed teeth, and bold smile.
Haruka nervously asked, “A-am I in trouble?”
“Why would you think that?”
“Because I stole Kazu-chan’s smile from him.”
“Who is ‘Kazu-chan’?” asked Reo.
“My older brother. He hasn’t come home since yesterday,” Haruka confided, looking down at the ribbon headdress in his lap.
“Yeah? You’re just like me, then. My partner left me yesterday and hasn’t come back either.”
“Mr. Policeman, are you naughty too?”
Reo looked dumbfounded for a moment but soon smiled and dismissed the notion. “Hah, of course not! My partner’s the naughty one. He keeps a cool face, but he continues to betray me again and again. Like a doll, empty of all emotion.” Reo held in his hand a ningyo-yaki, a chilled sweet baked into the face of a doll.
“I just want my brother to smile…”
“Oh?”
Haruka could feel the other man’s gaze on him. He turned to find Reo’s eyes peeled wide open, staring over at him.
“In that case, show me. What lies behind your door? Desire? Or love?” Reo’s large hand covered the boy’s sight, and Haruka’s eyelids slowly closed. “Only those who can connect to their desires have the ability to grasp the future in their hands.”
Reo reached out his arms to cradle the slumbering boy, but Nyantaro leaped up, her fur standing on end as she hissed at Reo.
Reo spared her a brief glance and muttered, “Be gone.”
“Mreeeeeeow…!”
The words alone were enough to send the cat hurtling through the air.
Reo faced no further interference after that. He pulled Haruka into his arms and disappeared from the riverside.
“Enough, just be honest with him already!”
“I said I don’t want to!”
Kappa-Toi watched in exasperation as the other two repeated the same argument in an obnoxious, unending loop. Kazuki latched on to the side of a raised flowerbed at the riverside, trying to fend off Enta’s attempts to peel him off. “Let go already! I don’t want to see him, Haruka’s better off without me!”
“You know, Haruka’s always been worried about…gweh!” The loop ended abruptly when Nyantaro came crashing through the air. The cat landed squarely on top of Enta’s head, then started frantically licking at her ruffled fur.
“Nyantaro!” exclaimed Kazuki. “What the…what happened?!”
Kappa-Kazuki was aghast when he returned to the promenade. His little brother had been sitting there moments before, but now he was gone, his wheelchair left behind, empty.
“Haruka’s gone?!”
Their father was slumped over his table at the coffee shop on the terrace.
“Your dad’s out cold!”
“Tch, who the heck would’ve…?” Kappa-Toi was quick on his feet as well, racing around to see if they could spot anyone suspicious in the area.
As Kazuki stood frozen, his phone pinged to alert him of a new message. He whipped it out from the pouch under his shell—a space which existed in a separate dimension, ensuring anything left there wouldn’t be damaged by water—and looked at the screen in surprise.
“Rii-ii-ii-ing! Rii-ii-ii-ing!” The plate atop Keppi’s head transformed into a rotary phone and began obnoxiously mimicking the sound of an incoming call.
“Ugh, that’s just creepy,” commented Kappa-Enta.
“What the heck are you doing?!”
As Enta and Toi watched, Keppi lifted the receiver from the top of his head and answered. “Yes, good afternoon, ribbit. Yes…all right…very well, ribbit.”
The receiver gave an audible clang as he returned it to the hook. Then Keppi reported, “I’ve got information coming in from a reliable source, ribbit. Yasaka Haruka has been kidnapped by the imperial army, ribbit.”
“Seriously? The imperial army?! Wait, who are they?” Kappa-Enta asked, confused by the unfamiliar name.
“An army from the Empire that destroyed the Kappa Kingdom. Our enemies, ribbit.”
“And what will they do with him?” Toi asked, wanting Keppi to get to the point.
“…Kill him and turn him into a Kappa Zombie, ribbit.”
Enta and Toi sucked in surprised breaths when they heard that, but another voice cut in: “I won’t let them!”
They glanced back at Kappa-Kazuki, who looked like an entirely different kappa now. A light burned in his eyes that hadn’t been there before. “I will save Haruka!”
Scene 4
BY THE TIME Reo returned to the police box, Mabu was back from his maintenance run.
“Reo, where were you? And that child… We were told not to act alone.”
“Hmph! Like I need to hear that from you.” Reo didn’t even try to hide his irritation toward his partner as he placed Haruka on a folding metal chair. The boy was still lost deep in sleep. “Now, let us open a door…”
Mabu didn’t challenge him any further as Reo aimed his gun, just like he always did. “Is it desire?”
“Or love?”
A large taiko drum appeared above Haruka’s head.
“Desire Extraction!”
“The Otter Empire?!” Kappa-Enta’s cry of dismay echoed along the evening riverside. Kazuki and his kappa comrades were at an area beside the Sumida River encircled by a crescent-shaped railing and overgrown with shrubs.
“The war between us kappa and the otters has stretched on for many years, ribbit. Now…please follow me, ribbit.”
Ploop!
Keppi leaped into the pool of water by the shrubs. Diving down to follow, the boys soon realized that the wall of the structure stretched on indefinitely. The plate on Keppi’s head shone bright as he led the group, its light providing a dim illumination of the way ahead, though they still couldn’t see the bottom at all.
“How did we get wrapped up in all of this?” Kappa-Toi asked, voicing a question that had been circling his brain.
“The thing we were struggling over was the Desire Energy from people’s shirikodama, ribbit.”
A faded mural appeared along the wall. The images were records of the past, depicting what had happened between the kappa and otters.
“After the Otter Empire drained all of the Desire Energy from the Kappa Kingdom, it set its eyes on the human world, ribbit.”
“So, you’re a survivor of the Kingdom, then…” Toi realized.
At some point along their journey, the vertical channel shifted into a horizontal one, and they were able to break the surface once more. The only thing they could see in the darkness of the tunnel was the steady glow of Keppi’s head plate.
“I’m the only one capable of producing Wishing Plates, ribbit. If the Empire knew about me, they would be after my life, ribbit.”
They could see the light of an exit in the distance. Once they swam past it, they found themselves inside an enormous structure. Unfortunately, their momentum came to a screeching halt as they went tumbling down a seemingly endless waterfall.
“Waaaaaaaaaah?!”
The place’s white framework expanded around them. When they looked deeper within, they could see a countless number of boxes being transported across the space, almost as if this were an enormous warehouse for a distribution company.
“What in the world is this place?” Kappa-Kazuki asked in disbelief.
As they continued plunging through the air together, Keppi replied, “This is the Otter Empire’s secret base, ribbit!”
Tentacles stretched out from his body, wrapping around Kazuki and the others. In the next instant, Keppi transformed himself into a parachute and began smoothly gliding through the air.
“Where is Haruka?!”
“They put everything into boxes, ribbit.”
“So, we have to open all these boxes and check?!” Enta gasped.
“Like we’ve got the time for that!” said Toi.
“What did you say?!”
Kazuki ignored his two comrades as they began to bicker—now, of all times—and started to think. “Maybe…” He pulled out his phone from his shell and dialed a number.
Brrrrrring… Brrrrrring…
Enta and Toi both gulped as they watched.
“Please, ring…!”
Suddenly they heard the faint sound of an incoming call coming from somewhere.
Brrrrring… Brrrrring…
Where? Which box?
There, amid the countless boxes carried along on conveyor belts, Kazuki spotted one with a heart and the kanji for spring written on it—“Haru!”
“I found him! He’s in that box! Huh?!”
Just when he’d finally found his little brother’s box, it plummeted off the end of the conveyor belt and landed on a pallet of other boxes. An enormous red crane clamped onto the pallet and began to carry the whole pile of them away.
“Haruka!” Kappa-Kazuki and the others raced after the crane. They slid down along the framework of the structure before darting down narrow pathways. Unfortunately, the crane only seemed to get farther away.
“Ack! Stop!” Kazuki had been leading the others when he suddenly slammed to a stop. When the others peered out from behind him, they realized the path abruptly ended. “What do we do now?”
Kazuki felt himself losing all hope, but Enta just snatched him up by the scruff of his neck and flung him through the air as hard as he could. “Hmph!”
“Gah!”
Kappa-Kazuki landed with a thunk on the metal plank on the other side of the gap.
“Hyaaaah!”
“Guh!”
Soon, Toi also came hurtling through the air after him. Kazuki sprang to his feet and shouted back after his friend, “Enta!”
Enta heaved Keppi through the air and shouted, “Go, Kazuki! Don’t give up on Haruka!”
Time was of the essence right now. Kazuki and the others decided to hurry on ahead without their comrade.
A light suddenly began flashing red as a siren blared. They could see a barred gate ahead of them, beginning to slide itself shut.
“The gate!”
“No!”
Kappa-Toi leapt and smoothly slid forward, ducking under the gate. Gah-gon! It creaked in resistance as it hit his shell, propping it up just enough for Kazuki and Keppi to squeeze past.
“Kuji!”
An instant later, a durable fence slammed down between them, locking Toi out. He gave Kazuki a bitter smile as he said, “Jinnai and I will catch up, I swear.”
Kazuki and Keppi found themselves on an elevator that gradually began to descend.
“You can still get him back,” Toi called after them. “So keep running!”
As he waited for the elevator to come to a stop, Kazuki chewed his friends’ words over in his head. He couldn’t let their sacrifices go to waste.
Ga-thunk. As the elevator came to a stop, the two snuck out the doors. Before them loomed a hulking cylindrical structure spanned by an enormous bridge. The crane came soaring down from above them, its claws locked onto the pallet that contained Haruka’s box. It came to a stop just in the middle, by the very tip of the bridge that extended inward. Black flames began bursting out of the taiko-shaped engines surrounding the center, almost like some sacred ritual.
Kazuki started over the bridge, sprinting toward the middle. There wasn’t much distance left between him and the crane now. “Haruka, just a bit more…!”
Just then—
Ka-klink!
He heard the cold sound of metal as the crane’s arms sprang open. The solid pallet of boxes came apart as they were sent sprinkling through the air. The sight before him seemed to play out in slow motion as Haruka’s box went plummeting down into that valley of darkness.
“Haruka! Harukaaaaaaaa!” The sound of his shrieking was swallowed up by the gaping emptiness in front of him.
Bom, bom, bom… The blaze from the engines gradually began to fade. It was almost like watching the flame of someone’s life being snuffed out.
Kappa-Kazuki was crumpled to the ground in a daze. On the opposite side of the pathway, Toi and Enta arrived, though they were frozen in place by what they just witnessed.
“No way, it can’t be…”
“No!”
Kazuki was white as a sheet by the time he heard a voice call out from behind him. “Do you want to save Yasaka Haruka, ribbit?”
He glanced back to find Keppi. “Can I save him?”
“I can transfer your shirikodama to him, ribbit. If I do that, his life will be restored.”
“You mean it?”
“There’s no other way, ribbit.”
Before Kazuki could say anything, Kappa-Toi shouted from the other side of the chasm. “Wait! If he loses his shirikodama, what happens to him? Will he die like the Kappa Zombies?!”
That immediately made Enta bristle in refusal. “You can’t do that! Absolutely not!”
Keppi leaped over to stand on the tip of the crane as he continued, “Humans are connected by their shirikodama, ribbit. If you lose it, you won’t be able to connect with people anymore. This world is linked together in one great circle, and you’ll be flung outside of it.”
Kazuki echoed the words to himself. “Flung outside the circle…”
“Indeed. With your shirikodama removed, it will be as if Yasaka Kazuki never existed in this world at all, ribbit. All memories involving you—events, objects, everything—will cease to exist, ribbit.”
“What the heck? That’s worse than dying!” Kappa-Enta roared, disturbed by the thought.
“So, the Kappa Zombies we defeated, it was like they never existed at all?” Toi realized.
“You can’t do that, Kazuki!”
Kappa-Kazuki didn’t respond to Enta’s cries. Instead, he aimed a question at Keppi. “Does that mean…Haruka’s accident would have never happened?” His mind flashed back to that day.
“…Indeed, ribbit.”
As he looked down at the ground, a thin smile suddenly appeared on Kazuki’s face. “Okay. All right, then.” He dragged himself up off the ground, resolved. “I’d like you to give my shirikodama to Haruka, then.”
His voice was quiet, but it still carried through the open air all the way to Enta and Toi.
“All right, ribbit. Then jump down into this chasm, ribbit.” Keppi pressed a button, transforming the crane into a giant hoist instead. “I’ll take your shirikodama into my body for safekeeping, ribbit. We’ll need to cut all your connections to people before I make the transfer, ribbit.”
“Okay.”
“Kazuki! Stop this!” Kappa-Enta shrieked at them.
“Stay right there!” Toi joined his shouts of protest, and the two went scrambling down the pathway.
Kazuki slowly stretched out his hand to grasp the chain dangling from the hoist. The chill of the steel against his skin seemed to clear away his thoughts. I was never inside that circle to begin with, he realized. Everything will be perfect for them without me.
He remembered what Haruka had told him: From beginning to end, you and I are connected by a great big circle. Kappa-Kazuki shook his head and stepped forward, resting his foot on the hook at the bottom of the chain.
This is my last chance…an opportunity for someone like me, who can’t connect with others, to atone for what I’ve done.
Ba-chink!
He pressed the button to begin lowering the hoist. The chains rattled, echoing as the machine powered up and began to move.
“Stop it, Kazuki! Do you really think this would make Haruka happy?!” Enta bellowed as he ran.
“It’s fine! Haruka will forget everything and move on. You, too, Enta. Soon you’ll forget all about me.”
“There’s no way I could forget! Just stop already. No more! Kazukii!”
Toi sprinted along behind Enta, frantic. The hoist continued to plunge Kazuki farther down into the chasm. “Tch! We’re not going to make it!” He skidded to a halt, having realized that they’d never catch up. Kazuki was gradually receding from them.
“Kazukiiiii!” Enta’s cry echoed around them.
Baaaang! Baaaang! Light flashed as Toi whipped out a gun and fired it, smoke rising from the barrel. His bullets arced down into the hoist, hitting it in just the right spot to cause the machine to backfire.
Ga-rarararara…
The recoil sent the chain that had been lowering Kazuki into the abyss instantly skyrocketing upward.
“Wh-whoooaaa?!” Kappa-Kazuki’s body flew up over the hoist. He danced through the air before landing with a splat in front of Enta.
“Kazuki!”
“You okay?!”
Kazuki remained splayed out on the ground, motionless, so the two each took one of his hands in theirs and heaved him back onto his feet. Now he was upright at least, and still safely breathing.
“Give us a break,” said Toi.
Kazuki quietly muttered to his two relieved friends, “Why?” His face crumpled in frustration. “Why did you stop me?! I’m the one who wanted this, so keep out of it! It’s better if I just don’t exist—”
Thwack!
Kazuki’s sentence hung in the air, unfinished, as heat blossomed on his cheek. He collapsed backward from the force of the blow.
Toi had socked Kazuki in the face. His fist was still clenched as he bellowed at his friend, “If you’ve got the time to run your mouth with that nauseating rubbish, then you’ve got time to use your brain and think of another way!”
“That’s right! I won’t forgive you if you just disappear on me like that!” Enta flared in agreement, leaping on top of his fallen friend’s stomach. As Kazuki groaned in protest, he saw a blue string twirling above his eyes. Enta was dangling the old friendship bracelet above his head—the same one he threw out.
“Huh? I thought I threw that away.”
“Haruka entrusted me with it, because he still hasn’t given up! He believes in you and is waiting for you!”
“Haruka…” Kappa-Kazuki’s trembling fingertips brushed over the bracelet.
“Verdict: Love. Box: Returned,” announced a robotic voice, echoing around them.
Keppi, still balancing atop the crane, peered down into the chasm and noticed something. “Oh? He’s still alive, ribbit.”
A crane rose up from the abyss, carrying a single, tiny package.
“That’s Haruka’s box!”
The machine began carrying the box through the air, shuttling it away from them.
“Harukaaaa!”
This time he had to get his brother back. Kazuki swore to himself as he and the others dashed after the box. As the crane disappeared in the distance, their group ran up on three large ducts, with Kazuki at the front of their line. They kept silent as they each hopped into a different duct.
Scene 5
THE UNLIT DUCTS were slanted such that they just slipped along the sides on their way down. As he jetted through that darkness, unsure when it would end, Kazuki reflected back on the events of that afternoon.
When they first discovered that Haruka had been kidnapped, he’d received a message on his phone. One from his brother. It was the longest one he had ever received from Haruka before, and it began like this:
To Sara-chan,
This will be the last message I send to you.
Haruka had written it knowing full well that Kazuki would be the one reading it.
I enjoyed every single day that I was able to connect with you. So now that it’s at an end, can I tell you a secret I haven’t been able to share with anyone else?
The angle of the duct suddenly ended, planting him squarely on even ground with no light in sight. Kazuki rolled slightly as he landed but soon hopped to his feet, desperately throwing one leg in front of the other.
I did something really bad, you see. I really love my brother, but I hurt someone he really loves.
“No, Haruka, you’ve got it wrong!” Kappa-Kazuki choked out, speaking to his little brother even though his words would never reach him. He continued aimlessly sprinting forward. Meanwhile, as Haruka still lay fast asleep in his box, tears beaded at the corners of his closed eyes.
I chased after my brother back then because I was scared. Scared he was going to leave me behind. That day, I picked up something his real mother dropped.
It was the sakura fragrance bag. Haruka recognized the scent because he’d smelled it on Kazuki’s clothes when he’d come home.
“Oh, could you be Haruka-kun?” the woman had asked him.
He’d been so much younger then, and he’d frantically yelled at her, “Don’t take Kazu-chan from us! Go home! Don’t come here again!”
She just smiled and said, “It’s okay, don’t worry.” Her smile looked just like my brother’s. And ever since then, Kazu-chan stopped smiling and even threw away his friendship bracelet. I know it’s all my fault, but I just wanted him to stay with me, laugh with me.
Kazuki’s legs got tangled up, sending him skidding to the ground.
I’m so happy for everything my brother’s done for me.
He struggled back to his feet and started forward again, the friendship bracelet dancing around the base of his ankle as he moved.
That’s why I’m not going to give up. I believe that Kazu-chan will come back and smile at me again!
A dim light shone in front of him.
“There’s the exit!”
As he came sprinting out into the neighboring room, he found himself looking out over an enormous dump. When he glanced up, he saw the crane, Haruka’s box dangling from it as it soared through the air toward the center of the room. It was headed for a line of those strange taiko drums floating overhead, fastened together to form a strange structure.
“There he is—Haruka!”
“Kazukii!”
He looked down, following the sound of Enta’s voice. The other two boys had found their way here as well, though their exits led them to slightly different positions.
“We won’t be able to reach him from here!” exclaimed Enta. “What should we do?!” He looked back at Toi, who was standing on a platform further down below.
Toi glared up at the drums and crane overhead and snapped, “Are we gonna have to go back and find another way?!”
Suddenly, the drums roared to life. In the middle of them were sharp, gleaming blades, giving off an eerie, clanking whir as they spun around. Toi spotted a sparkling pile of dust on the floor immediately below them.
“It’s a shredder!”
They each felt a shiver run down their spines.
“Haruka’s going to be ground to dust…!” Kappa-Kazuki gasped, any composure he still had now lost.
Enta glanced around the area. “There’s gotta be something… Do you see anything?!”
“Anything? Like what?!” Kappa-Toi whipped his head around and spotted Keppi, who finally caught up to him.
After a brief moment of silence, Keppi suddenly transformed himself into a round ball. “Sometimes solutions require sacrifice, ribbit. I am sure it will pain you to have to do this, with how adorable and precious I am, but please throw—”
Gonk!
“—me?!”
Kappa-Toi slammed his foot down on the Keppi-ball. Then he bounced the ball up into the air, promptly slamming a kick into it, which sent it rocketing upward. “Jinnai, catch!”
Keppi groaned as he flew through the air. “Geeeugh!”
“Whoa!” The pass connected perfectly as Enta caught the sphere square in his hands.
“Now pass it up to Yasaka! Have him use that ball to stop the crane!”
Enta hesitated. “But Kazuki won’t…”
“Enta!” a voice called from above. When he lifted his head, he saw Kazuki gazing down at him, his expression solemn. “Enta, please pass me the ball!”
“Okay, Kazuki, I’m leaving this one to you!” His deepest wish—the Golden Duo pass—was finally coming true. “Here you…gooooo!”
“Owwwww!”
The Keppi-ball went hurtling through the air straight toward Kazuki.
The crane carrying Haruka’s box finally came to a stop just above the shredder.
Kazu-chan’s a bit stubborn, but he’s also straightforward—always heading straight toward the goal.
“Great job, Enta!” Kazuki got himself a running start before leaping into the air.
Ka-chink! The crane’s arms opened, sending the box plummeting downward. Toi and Enta kept their eyes on Kazuki, praying.
He can be difficult to read, but he’s very kind and warm. I know that well.
“Haruka, I’m never going to give up on you again!” His overhead kick landed hard on the ball, blasting it through the air.
His aim proved to be perfect, and the ball slammed right into Haruka’s box. The recoil, however, sent Haruka’s body tumbling out of the box and straight down toward the jaws of the shredder.
“Ribbit!”
A roar tore through the air as the blades ripped into the box. Its remnants crumbled to the floor in front of Toi, landing neatly on the pile that was already there. Haruka and Keppi were nowhere to be seen.
“Haruka!” Kappa-Kazuki called out weakly, praying as he stared into the air.
From out of the shadow of the shredder, Keppi appeared in parachute form, gliding gently downward. Haruka, still fast asleep, was cradled safely in his long arms.
I’m not the only one who wants to see Kazu-chan’s smile, either.
“Haruka!”
He’s at the center of a great big circle.
Kazuki caught his unconscious brother safely in his arms. Kazuki almost couldn’t believe he was real; but the weight of Haruka’s body and the heat of his skin were proof that he was really here, that Kazuki had regained something precious. Joy rippled up through his body.
“We did it!” the three called out gleefully, their voices rising through that large dumpsite with the word “Love” written over it.
“Sarazanmai!”
That night, the three of them went to the Desire Field that hung over the Azuma Bridge. There, they performed their best “sarazanmai” yet.
“Dishing it out!”
Until now, the three of them had always moved slightly disjointedly, but now they were perfectly in sync. They didn’t hesitate when transferring the shirikodama to each other. None of them cared if their secrets leaked. There was something between them that couldn’t be seen, couldn’t be touched or verified in any way. Something ambiguous. But it was definitely there, linking them together—something shared between their entwined consciousnesses.
Scene 6
“THIS FEELS so much better!”
“Agreed.”
Back at the Kappa Plaza, Enta and Toi had returned to their human forms and were speaking to each other normally.
“I don’t know how to put this, but, um…” Enta started. “Sorry.”
“Nah. It didn’t bother me.” Toi looked away as he answered.
Having finally learned to trust each other, the two turned their gaze to the third member of their group. Kazuki stood with his back to them. He’d been quiet since they regained their human forms, patting his hands over his body as if to confirm he’d really changed back.
“Would you have rather stayed a kappa, ribbit?” asked Keppi, who was badly battered after being kicked around repeatedly.
Kazuki touched the skin of his face as he replied, “It feels weird. I know I’m the same person I was yesterday, but it feels like I’m a whole new human being.”
Enta and Toi watched quietly.
“But…this is really me,” he said, finally looking back at them.
“Kazuki…”
“Hmph. ”
Kazuki gave them a goofy, clumsy smile, as if his muscles were making this expression for the first time. Then he said something that he’d never said before: “Thank you. I’m glad the two of you are with me!”