Plate 10: Doll

Plate 10:
Doll

 

Scene 1

 

THIS WORLD WAS overflowing with connections. Connections were like sweet poison.

All he had to do was think back.

But why did he have to drink the bitter medicine of despair?

Unfulfilled desires for connection accumulate almost like layers of sediment. And just as you can’t stop the currents of a river, nor can you stop people from being born.

One of the two young people said, with their dying breath, “Don’t let go of your desires. Only those who can connect to their desires have the ability to grasp the future in their hands.”

The other of the two faithfully swore to keep that promise.

It was all a clinical test, to prove that we are who we are.

Beneath his eyelids, Mabu could see his partner desperately trying to shout something at him. He couldn’t quite tell if the other man was angry, or if he was about to burst into tears at any moment…

 

“Reo…”

When Mabu opened his eyes, the person before him wasn’t Reo. He found himself staring up at a hemp leaf-patterned ceiling. As he watched it absentmindedly, a black shadow slipped into view.

“Odd-er…” the creature said.

“…Who are you?”

Just how long had he slept? It felt like he couldn’t speak properly—as if he was using his vocal cords to form words for the first time.

“I’m an otter. You were reborn as my doll.”

Mabu did vaguely recall that he had lost his life.

Regardless…

“I want to see Reo…”

He tried to lift his heavy arm—to reach out and touch a person who wasn’t even there. Instead it was the shadow that took his outstretched hand.

“Very well. He strongly desires to meet you again as well. However, there is one condition…”

Scene 2

 

IT WAS LATE AT NIGHT when Kazuki and Enta met in the Kappa Plaza.

Keppi wore a reserved look on his face as he sought one final confirmation. “You know I can’t guarantee your lives won’t be in danger, ribbit. Knowing that, will you still go to retrieve the other plates, ribbit?”

Kazuki showed no hesitation. “I’ve already made my decision.”

“Kazuki…” Despite the emergency situation they found themselves in, Kappa-Enta savored the joy he felt receiving Kazuki’s attention.

Keppi watched the two of them, thinking back to the two that betrayed the Kappa Kingdom for the Empire. He didn’t know their exact circumstances, but there was one thing he did know. “You have formidable opponents, ribbit. The bond that the two of them share is so strong, no one can hope to take it from them, ribbit.”

“Hah, don’t pretend like you understand!” A voice broke out from above. A man stood there, aiming his gun at the three of them, the sign on it reading Capture.

“Huh?!” In the blink of an eye, Keppi was trapped in an elastic restraining device.

“Keppi!”

Reo slammed his foot against the now tire-shaped Keppi. “So this is where you were hiding yourselves. Unfortunately for you, that barrier you put up is only good against otters. It doesn’t work on us kappa, you know?”

“Kappa?!” Kazuki gasped.

“They’re actually my servants, ribbit! Reo…just what in the world happened, ribbit?!”

“Doesn’t matter. All I want is the Wishing Plates.” For a former servant, Reo certainly did have a disrespectful attitude. He kicked the bound Keppi over and started toward Kazuki. “Where is the final plate?”

So they already know what our trump card is, Kazuki realized. Fortunately, they didn’t yet realize its whereabouts.

Kazuki stepped protectively in front of Enta and responded, “I’m not giving it to you! It’s your fault that Enta is… Just give back the other four plates!”

“Kazuki…” Once again, Enta savored the joy he felt despite their dire situation. Suddenly, he found himself hoisted up into the air. “Huh?”

Reo completely ignored Kazuki’s bristling, waltzing over and hauling Enta up to peer at the plate on his head. “Ahh, you’re the kid I shot, huh? Just four hours left. Too bad, you won’t even last ’til dawn.”

“Just four hours?!” Kappa-Enta couldn’t hide his shock when he realized just how little time remained.

Every second mattered in this fight. Unable to just stand by and watch, Kazuki intervened. “We don’t have time for this! Just tell us where the plates are!”

“Hmm. Looks like we both have something important we need those plates for.”

 

Kazuki and the others found themselves dragged to the underground area beneath the Asakusa Otter Police Box.

“Just four more hours, just four more hours, just four more hours…” As they rode the elevator down, Kappa-Enta kept mumbling incessantly to himself.

Keppi was trying to find any opening he could to convince Reo to help him, but so far, things hadn’t turned in their favor. “Reo, it’s not too late, ribbit. You can join forces with me for the sake of the Kappa Kingdom and—”

“Sadly, I have no interest in either the otters or the kappa. I just want to make my wish come true,” Reo said.

“What’s your wish, ribbit?” Keppi asked. “Does Mabu share the same feelings as you, ribbit?”

“Enough useless talk.”

“Just four more hours, just four more hours, just four more hours…”

Kazuki wrapped his arms around his frightened friend’s shoulders and tried to soothe him by saying, “I swear I’ll save you, Enta. Just trust me!”

“Kazukiii…!” This was the third time Enta found himself overwhelmed with joy despite their circumstances.

“Hah, how laughable!” Reo spat, as if disgusted by watching the two of them. “False beliefs are dangerous, you know? There isn’t a person out there that won’t hesitate to cut someone off in the pursuit of their own desires. Just like this selfish prince, or that heartless doll!”

“Reo, you…” Keppi pursed his lips, having recognized the anger in his servant’s voice. It was true enough that Reo and Mabu had gotten swept up in all of this because of Keppi’s own weakness. He falsely assumed the two perished during the Kingdom’s collapse, which was why he didn’t search for them even after he awoke in the human world.

“Even so…” Kazuki suddenly stood up. He stared unflinchingly at Reo. “I can’t change that I hurt the people that were precious to me in the past, and I may still continue to make mistakes…” He had Haruka, his parents, Enta who was by his side now, and even Toi who wasn’t. “Still, I don’t want to give up on the bonds I have with other people. We’re going to stay together—now and forever!”

No matter how many times Kazuki fell, he’d get back up and run again. He had to, so he and his friends would remain connected.

“Tch, just how big of a fool are you?” Reo was the one who turned his gaze away first. He felt absolutely awful. Soon he would make these kids taste despair.

Scene 3

 

THEY WALKED INTO a cylindrical room with pillars, the same one they had seen before when they came to rescue Haruka. Reo kept his gun trained on Kazuki and Kappa-Enta, forcing them to walk ahead. At the end of the central bridge stood Mabu, his back turned toward them.

“Mabu!” Keppi called out. He was cradled in Kazuki’s arms, still trapped in the restraining device.

“…Prince Keppi.” Mabu peered back at them, not looking particularly surprised at all. But his emotions had always been rather flat compared to Reo, so that didn’t particularly strike Keppi as odd.

Since Reo seemed completely uninterested in hearing them out, Keppi decided persuading Mabu was their only chance. “Mabu, you have to convince Reo for me, ribbit. Sing that song like you two used to so long ago, ribbit!”

“I can’t do that.”

“Why not, ribbit?!”

Mabu turned his back on them once again, responding in a flat monotone, “I’m not the person you want me to be.”

Although Reo was quiet up until this point, the moment he heard that he burst out, “Exactly! You’re just a failed puppet!”

“Reo,” Mabu continued, “the otters found out about the plates.”

“What?”

“They read my memories and found out.”

He probably meant the maintenance Reo just recently intervened in. That must have been when they discovered the truth. Reo didn’t want to recall the scene. He suffered flashbacks constantly, but this time they swept over him like a flood. “…You,” he hissed, “how many times must you disappoint me before you’re satisfied? Enough of this, you traitor!” Reo was so preoccupied rushing over and snatching at Mabu’s collar that he completely lost sight of Kazuki and the others.

“Now’s our chance!” Kazuki and Enta moved in sync, each slamming a foot as hard as they could into the tire-shaped Keppi.

“Dehurgh…!” He went spinning through the air, bouncing up and down across the long, narrow bridge. Kazuki and Kappa-Enta rushed after him.

 

“Tch…!”

As Reo looked over his shoulder at them, annoyed, Mabu opened his mouth to try to speak. “Reo…”

“I can’t take this anymore… Are you happy? I’m always getting pissed at you, while you act oblivious and devote yourself to those otters!” Reo shrieked, forcing each word out as he clawed at his chest.

Mabu reached his arm out to try to touch Reo’s hand. “Reo, without you, I—”

Reo slapped the other man’s hand away. “Don’t touch me! I don’t care if your heart stops. You’re not my Mabu. You’re not the Mabu that found me when I was alone…the one who told me the words I wanted to hear!” He hurried after Kazuki and the others.

Reo was so close, and yet Mabu’s hand—his voice—couldn’t reach him. Mabu pressed his hand into the left side of his heart. “It hurts.” No doubt his machine heart was having some kind of malfunction.

 

“This is the innermost room of this place, ribbit.” Keppi rolled himself to a stop. Despite being stuck in the restraining device, he managed to master how to move in it.

Right now, they were in the deepest level of the cylindrical tower. Darkness spread out all around them, so they had no way of guessing how big the room really was. If they glanced up, they could see an enormous round object floating above them, with a ring orbiting it like Saturn. The planet-like structure in the middle was actually a gigantic taiko drum. The four silver Wishing Plates were inserted into the rim of the drum.

“There they are!”

When Kazuki tried to approach, the drum suddenly began to beat. The Saturn-like ring emitted a light, and a mysterious creature from deep within began to groan.

“D-d-d-d-darkness!”

The transparent interior of the drum filled with liquid, and something pitch black within glared out at them with red eyes, seeming ready to leap out at any moment.

“So I’ve finally found you, ribbit. Black Keppi…!”

“Black Keppi?” Kazuki asked, confused.

“That’s the embodiment of my despair. The otters stole him from me, ribbit.” Keppi began to recount the story, his tone gravely serious as he spoke. “During the war, I lost so many people who were important to me that despair threatened to swallow me whole. Thus, I split my own shirikodama in half, ribbit.”

“So then that thing is…?”

“He’s my other half. I came to this world to fuse myself with Black Keppi, so I could take down the otters, ribbit.” At long last, Keppi revealed his true motive—something none of them were privy to before.

The situation was a bit difficult to grasp for Kazuki and Enta. The only thing they’d fought up until now were Kappa Zombies. “Just what are these otters?” Kazuki asked.

Suddenly, a spotlight cut through the darkness in the room. “Odd-er. We are your desires in their rawest form.” Within the ring of light, a single dark shadow appeared—an otter.

“That’s…an otter?” said Kazuki.

Enta was just as confused. “I really don’t get what’s going on.”

No matter how much they squinted, the outline of the figure remained little more than an undefined, indiscernible silhouette. It was like a mosaic, like a larger shape broken down into a thousand tiny pieces—but neither the pieces nor what they added up to made any sense. If someone asked them to later recall what they had seen and draw it on paper, the sketch would be blank.

“We are an amalgamation of desire with no singular form. We can manifest ourselves into whatever shape the person seeing us wishes.”

The spotlight switched over to the tire-shaped Keppi. The otter now stood on top of his head.

Keppi barked up at him, “What have you done to Reo and Mabu, ribbit?!”

“What otter slander. Enough of your accusations. We just saved two pitiful kappa, that’s all,” the otter asserted loudly.

“Saved? You took advantage of their weaknesses and manipulated them, ribbit!”

“They were otterly broken to begin with, which made it easy. Just like this…” The otter’s body suddenly transformed, melting into a liquid-like substance that bolted through the air toward Kappa-Enta.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! What’s that?!”

“Odd-er!”

In seconds, the dark shadow dove right inside Enta’s nostrils. He collapsed to his knees and went silent.

“Enta?!”

He was a bit unsteady as he returned to his feet, eyes now dyed red. “We’ll be taking those plates. We’ll use despair—the kind without beginning or end, rooted in the inability to connect to others—and we’ll rule over this world!” The otter’s voice reverberated inside Enta’s head.

 

“Mm… Where am I…?”

Enta opened his eyes to find himself at their secret soccer practice area. At some point, he returned to his human form and was now clad in his soccer uniform. There was no one else in the area. He couldn’t even hear the sound of the Sumida River.

Suddenly, a soccer ball rolled over to him. His eyes followed its trajectory back to a familiar silhouette.

“Kazuki?”

The other boy wore the same soccer uniform as Enta. It had been a long time since he’d seen Kazuki wearing his. His heart was secretly pounding.

 

Kazuki shook Kappa-Enta, calling out to him and trying to wake him from his daze. “Enta! What’s wrong?! Hey, can’t you hear me?!”

Seeing the other boy’s condition, Keppi groaned. “This must be… They’ve got Enta in a trance.”

“Oh no! What should we do?! Enta!”

His little kappa body jolted. It looked as if he was reacting to the sound of Kazuki’s voice, but the way he stared blankly forward without meeting Kazuki’s eyes was strange.

Kappa-Enta squirmed, seeming embarrassed as he muttered back, “K-Kazuki…?! What is it?”

 

Enta had no idea what was going on. Kazuki—dressed in his soccer uniform—was now hugging him from behind.

He could feel Kazuki’s warm breath against his ear. Kazuki’s arms were wrapped around his front, gently caressing him and holding him in place. As pitiful as it was, Enta couldn’t even move an inch.

No, this is the luckiest moment of my life, one I’ll never get to have ever again, why can’t I move?!

In truth, his mind was basically overloaded. He was on the verge of tears.

Just then, he heard Kazuki chuckle. “Hey, Enta. Won’t you give me that Wishing Plate?”

“Huh?” Enta instinctively peered back at the other boy. Kazuki’s beautiful face was so close and smiling at him. It almost sent a chill down his spine.

“Don’t you like me, Enta?”

“O-Of course I do! We’re the Golden Duo, after all!” Enta turned his face away as he spoke, unable to handle their close proximity.

He could feel something soft press against his earlobe—Kazuki’s lips. “If you give me that plate, I’ll let you do whatever you want to me.” Kazuki’s whisper felt like it was crawling straight into his ear.

Enta’s gray matter seemed to tremble, as if he’d taken a punch right to the head. His whole body was so filled with emotion that he didn’t know what was happening. A hand gently cupped his cheek, turning his head until he could see Kazuki’s large pupils staring back at him. He couldn’t look away anymore.

“Now, come. Do this for me…”

 

“Do it for…Kazuki…” Kappa-Enta slipped out of Kazuki’s grasp and took several unsteady steps forward.

“Enta…?”

He was approaching the giant Saturn-like structure floating above them. Out of nowhere, underlings came and lifted Enta up through the air by his little arms.

“We’re in trouble, ribbit!”

Enta hovered, as if led by angels, until he finally landed safely on the outer ring of the structure.

“Enta! Stop this!”

Kazuki’s voice couldn’t reach him.

Kappa-Enta slowly reached back into his shell and pulled out the last silver Wishing Plate. Kazuki entrusted it to him, just in case anything happened.

 

Back in the practice area, where time had stopped, Enta was drowning in ecstasy. This love was a wish he was sure would never be granted—a wish he was sure would one day fade away—and yet Kazuki’s warm body was there, right before Enta’s very eyes. Kazuki had a satisfied look on his face as he accepted the plate.

Kazuki’s thin fingers caressed Enta’s cheek, brushing over his lips. Enta just closed his eyes and remained silent. He felt completely fulfilled, wrapped up in Kazuki’s embrace like this.

“Thank you, Enta. Now instead of just being the Golden Duo, we can be even more special to each other…”

“…What are you talking about?” In an instant, Enta’s eyes snapped open. A relationship more special than being the Golden Duo? No such thing existed in this world!

The real Kazuki wouldn’t just do whatever I wanted!

He snatched the plate back and shouted, “Kazuki is fine just the way he is! That’s the Kazuki I want to be connected to!”

Enta threw the plate to the ground, shattering it into pieces. Then, heaving, he toppled backward. As his body went plummeting down through the air, Kazuki raced forward to catch Enta in his arms.

“Enta! Are you all right?!”

The other boy painfully rasped, “Sorry…for breaking the plate.”

This wasn’t the time for such words. Kappa-Enta couldn’t see it himself, but the timer ticking down his life had almost run out. Without the fifth plate, the silver Wishing Plates were worthless.

Suddenly, Kazuki recalled what Keppi told him before. “I can transfer your shirikodama to him, ribbit. If I do that, his life will be restored, ribbit.”

That’s right, there was a way!

“It will be as if you never existed in this world to begin with, ribbit.”

Still, he had to do it.

“Keppi, use my shirikodama—” Before he could finish speaking, a weak fist flew at him.

“Loser…!” There was a light tapping sound as Kappa-Enta’s fist made contact with his cheek. Enta was out of breath, but his voice still carried the full weight of his anger as he scolded his friend. “Only a loser would sacrifice themselves like that, moron!”

“But—”

“I’m not giving up on the possibility of a future where we get to be together… If you give up first, I’ll resent you in the afterlife…”

“Can’t you just forget about me?” asked Kazuki.

In true, stubborn kappa fashion, Enta just flashed him a thumbs up sign and said, “Don’t underestimate the power of our Golden Duo—ngh!”

The otter suddenly came bursting out of Enta’s nostrils. “How foolish. But we’ll still take those four plates…”

BANG!

The creature’s head was suddenly blown off by a bullet, giving it a warped silhouette.

“Not on my watch!” At some point, Reo retrieved the other four plates. The sign on his gun currently read Attack.

The now-headless otter floated up through the air and turned to face Reo. “What an otter surprise. What’s this about, Reo? You don’t care what happens to Mabu?”

Up until now, he’d been controlled by those words. That ended today.

“I don’t need that puppet! I’m going to use these plates to bring back the real Mabu!”

“What an otter fool you are. Allow me to enlighten you,” said the otter. Static ran across its body.

 

A long, thin bridge stretched high over the cylindrical floor, with pillars standing all around it. At the end of this bridge stood Mabu, facing the otter. “Now, Mabu,” it said. “It’s time to make your wish come true.”

Mabu fell gently backward, pulled by gravity. There was nothing beneath him but air. Below, darkness opened its jaws to swallow him up. Lying in wait for its prey at the bottom was a taiko-shaped engine spewing pitch-black flames.

It all happened in slow motion.

Even in moments like this, Mabu’s heart pulsed in a perfectly normal rhythm. It would never thrum again as it once had.

I thought being near you would be enough for me. But if I can’t have your heart again, then I want to at least fulfill this selfish desire of mine, Mabu thought.

 

Mabu’s plummet into the large taiko drum housing Black Keppi lasted only a few seconds. The closest person watching it happen was Reo. His mind went blank. He even forgot to breathe. Despite how light Mabu’s body looked, it still obeyed the force of gravity as it fell.

Slowly, Mabu turned his head to face Reo. The latter couldn’t peel his eyes away.

Stop it. I don’t want to look. Stop. This can’t be happening.

Mabu stared straight back at Reo the whole time. Then, for just a second, right at the very end…he smiled.

 

“Mabuuuuuuuuuuu!”

Reo’s cry tore through the air, just as it had once before in the past.

Scene 4

 

“VERDICT: Desire. Mabu: Transform.”

Mabu’s transformed Zombie body was transported to the Azuma Bridge.

Reo was utterly confused. “I don’t get it! What is he thinking?!”

What was the purpose of this? How stupid. Was it Reo’s fault?

“That’s up to you to find out, ribbit. If you’re prepared to see Mabu’s desire for yourself, I can help,” Keppi said quietly.

Is he telling me to do what I think he is? Reo wondered. All by myself?

“Shit…” Reo aimed his gun and shot at the restraining device holding Keppi hostage. Then he whipped himself around and leaned his butt out. “Do it now!”

Keppi shouted, “Sing that song!”

A familiar pain shot through Reo’s butt, one that he hadn’t felt for a while.

 

Reo landed inside Azuma Bridge’s Desire Field. A large number of Mabu’s ningyo-yaki were being gathered on top of it. The Mabu Zombie was at their center, his back facing Reo as he

sipped away at his green tea. The cup was Reo’s favorite, one with the word Desire written on it.

Reo sang the odd lines of the song while Mabu’s voice cut in periodically to join him:

 

There is something I have to take back.

—Our connection.

Before the person I like figures things out, there’s something I must take back.

—Our connection.

Something no one else can find out about.

—This secret.

 

Long ago, back when Reo and Mabu were still Keppi’s servants, the three of them would perform Sarazanmai. They could never have known back then that the future would lead them here.

 

“Kappature it!” Keppi’s voice brought Kappa-Reo back to his senses as he dashed toward Mabu Zombie.

Their song continued:

 

You and I

—Should be connected together.

Desire, confirm the meaning

Of life.

—Burst open.

Swim through life, grab success.

—You can believe that

This is love.

Serve up your soul on a plate, stack them up

Catch the ball.

—Pluck it out.

 

Mabu Zombie got down on all fours. All preparations were complete.

 

Make my wish come true.

Sarazanmai!

 

Hardened with resolve, Reo propelled himself through the air, heading straight toward Mabu Zombie’s butthole. “I kappatured it!” he shouted as he claimed Mabu’s shirikodama. The sphere felt cool in his hands as he stared into it, and he handled it carefully so as not to drop it. “So this is…his desire.”

 

Reo’s consciousness was pulled back in time until he found himself staring at a hospital room in the Otter Empire.

“However, there is one condition…”

Mabu had just awoken. The otter beside him was grasping his hand.

“You must abandon your connection to Reo.”

Those words crashed like a shockwave into Mabu’s ears.

The otter continued, as if trying to convince him. “Connections are poison. If you profess your love to Reo, your heart will explode, leaving nothing behind. Then you’ll never be able to be with Reo ever again.”

“No…” Mabu pressed his hand over the left side of his chest. He could feel the steady beat of his heart there. Yet he could sense no warmth at the tips of his fingers.

“Now, tell me you hate Reo.”

Hate.

Mabu hadn’t used that word in a very long time. Memories from his childhood came rushing back—those wild eyes from when they first met, the way Reo’s brows sank when he first laughed, the way his lips trembled when he was hurt, the strength in his voice when he called Mabu’s name. Each of his facial expressions, too many of them to count, had been so precious that Mabu carved them all into his heart.

 

I want to be connected to you… I want to live with you… I want to be connected to you… I want to be with you… I want to be connected to you…

Reo…

It’s fine, really.

There’s nothing more to worry about.

 

“I…hate Reo.” Even he was surprised by how cold his voice sounded. But he had to kill off his emotion, otherwise it threatened to spill over.

“Very good, Mabu. Now why don’t you cook up some ningyo-yaki for me again?”

Ever since then, he felt like he was caught in a dream. Whether it was a dream or reality, he didn’t care.

In order for Reo and I to have a future together, I can’t let go of my desire.

 

Mabu’s emotions washed over Reo like a flood, threatening to drown him.

“Mabu, you threw away our connection just so you could stay with me?”

“Finally, I was able to tell you…” the Zombie shouted, sounding satisfied, before its body burst.

 

“Mabu…” Reo was in a daze as the water streamed around him, Mabu’s shirikodama still held tightly in his hands.

A green blob came flopping down beside him, hitting the ground with a thump. “Hurk…” It was Kappa-Mabu.

“Mabu?! Why are you…?!”

“Come on, we have to get that shirikodama to the prince.” Mabu quickly lifted himself to his feet and set off running.

“Hey, wait!” Reo chased after him, still completely confused. The figure racing ahead of him was so familiar.

Who are you? Are you really some emotionless doll that just keeps betraying me? Are you a fake? Or are you…are you…

“Saraaa!”

“Saraaa!”

And then the two of them together, “Sara! Zan! Mai!”

 

“Leaking.”

 

Reo’s own secrets and memories began to leak now. He was walking through a sterile white hallway, wearing a casual type of kimono. Months passed since he first awoke and found himself in the Otter Empire, though he wasn’t sure how many. They hadn’t told him how much time had passed since he agreed to the conditions they forced upon him.

And as he waited, walking around, he heard a faint voice. Reo noticed the door in front of him was left slightly ajar. He tiptoed closer and peeked in to find that Mabu was sitting on a bed within.

He was alive. Mabu was alive!

“My wish really did come true,” he mumbled to himself.

It was as if the clouds of gloom that hung over him were finally gone, giving way to sunlight. Reo didn’t care if it meant he was a slave to the Empire. As long as he was together with Mabu—

“I…hate Reo.”

It almost felt as if his heart stopped.

Hate.

That was only the second time Reo ever heard the word come from Mabu’s mouth. “Very good, Mabu. Now why don’t you cook up some ningyo-yaki for me again?” Unable to watch as the otter pushed Mabu down onto the bed, Reo fled.

He ran and ran, but no matter how far he ran, Mabu’s words seemed to chase him.

Hate.

Hate.

I hate Reo.

“The Mabu I know would never abandon our relationship!”

That’s right. He’s not Mabu. He’s not my Mabu!

 

He’d already mentally prepared himself before he officially met Mabu after his revival. At least, he was supposed to be prepared.

“No! You’re not the Mabu I know! Mabu never had that kind of look on his face!”

“He keeps a cool face, but he continues to betray me again and again. Like a doll, empty of all emotion.”

“As if you could ever understand even an ounce of what I’m feeling…!”

Every discrepancy that Reo found made him bristle. Yet there were perplexing moments when he suddenly felt like this was the real Mabu.

Mabu’s life wouldn’t last long without help. For Reo, holding the other man’s life in his hand was a sweet hell beyond his imagination. Reo lost count of how many times he considered stopping that mechanical heart from beating. He considered leaving as well. He even thought, at one point, that maybe he’d be better off dead.

But each time he did, he remembered the warmth of Mabu’s hand as he lay dying in the rubble. Mabu asked him not to let go of his desires, and said that they were what kept people alive.

The two of us kept wishing for the same thing.

“The one who didn’t understand…was me?” Reo squeaked out at last.

 

“There’s something I want to say to you, Reo.”

Mabu suddenly appeared in front of him as they slipped down through a column of water in Sarazanmai. His eyes glimmered gently, as if they already understood everything.

You were always telling me what I wanted to hear, Reo thought.

“Wait, don’t say it! If you say it…”

Still, he wanted to hear it from Mabu’s mouth. He wanted to relay his feelings too. It was a thoroughly selfish and yet entirely innocent desire…

“You’re my one and only partner, Reo. You always have been, and you always will be.” Reo spread his arms wide, like an all-forgiving embrace. The rhythm of their heartbeats joined and became one. “I’ve always loved you!”

 

A massive explosion erupted at the center of Azuma Bridge.

“Desire Absorption!” There were tears in Prince Keppi’s eyes as he swallowed down Mabu’s shirikodama. “Mabu… I promise to carry your desire into the future, ribbit…”

A violent wind sent droplets of water from the Sumida River pelting down like rain. On top of the bridge, Reo returned to his police officer form. He stood with his back facing the others, his shoulders trembling.

“Reo…” Keppi tentatively called his name.

“Heh…heh heh heh, ha ha ha! I bet this whole thing was set up by the otters, wasn’t it?! You’re not going to fool me!” Reo looked pitiful; his hands covered his face as he screeched.

“That leak was the truth, ribbit. You should already be aware of that!”

Ka-blaaaaaam…

Reo whipped around and fired his most powerful blast. Keppi just narrowly managed to transform and block the attack from harming Kazuki and Kappa-Enta.

“Keppi!”

Keppi returned to his original form and crumpled to the ground. “Guh…”

Reo began shooting aimlessly, destroying anything and everything around them. He continued to curse at Mabu as he went. “That bastard, he broke his promise to me again…”

The sign on his gun was switching back and forth at a dizzying speed. One of the shots blew up the Shuto Expressway in the background, causing the whole bridge-like structure to collapse.

“And what am I supposed to do, huh? You went and left me behind! Weren’t you the one who told me not to let go of my desires?!”

He even blew up the neighboring Komagata Bridge.

 

Kazuki stepped out protectively in front of Keppi.

Reo leveled the barrel of the gun at him and said, “Give me that plate.” Kazuki had a single silver Wishing Plate in his arms.

“No way!”

“Reo! Enough already, ribbit!”

“I’m going to get him back… I won’t let anyone stand in my way!” Overcome with rage, Reo slammed his foot against Kazuki.

“Guh!”

“Kazuki!” Enta gasped out.

Even as he fell to the ground, Kazuki kept a solid grip on the plate. “I’m not going to hand it over! I won’t give up on what’s precious to me!”

“Everyone keeps pissing me off…” growled Reo. I’ve never given up either, he thought.

The sign on Reo’s gun turned to Kill. His finger moved to the trigger, and Kazuki squeezed his eyes shut.

“Kazukiiiiii!” Enta’s cry echoed across Azuma Bridge.

Kazuki peeked his eyes open. He hadn’t been shot yet. Timidly, he lifted his head. He saw Reo standing there, a puzzled look on the man’s face.

 

Mabu faded from the picture the two had taken together, leaving Reo alone in the photo.

 

“Who…am I angry at…? Who…are all these passionate feelings for…?” Reo looked like a child who had gotten lost on the way home. “Who?! Who am I forgetting?!” Unable to bear it anymore, he began clawing at his chest. The tips of his fingers grazed something that felt strange. Upon searching his left breast pocket, he produced a silver ring.

This didn’t belong to him.

The letters patterned into its center read Mabu.

“What…?” Reo had no idea what those letters were supposed to represent. Not a single clue, and yet he couldn’t stop his tears from overflowing. “I…I…”

The rage and hatred he felt seconds before slipped away. He had a sense that what he had lost—whatever it was—was irreplaceable.

So lonely…

That was the only emotion he felt.

BANG!

He heard a dry crash, and when he looked down, he found a hole in the middle of his chest. Unable to stand anymore, he crumpled to his knees. “Ha ha… My chest hurts…”

Behind Reo stood Toi, a gun held in his hands.

 

Reo’s lifeless body fell facedown. Keppi stared at it, blinking several times. Almost immediately, the man’s body emitted a light. It disappeared, leaving only the four silver plates and two rings in its wake. The two silver rings were tightly connected, never to be pulled apart, each with the two men’s names engraved into them.

“Reo, Mabu. Sleep for now, ribbit…”

 

It was still night at the Kappa Plaza, where Haruka sat in his wheelchair. Nyantaro was beside him, grooming herself.

“I had that dream again,” said Haruka. “The dream where I ride an enormous Nyantaro and meet the Little Prince. The prince told me to choose between love or desire, but I was scared. It felt like if I picked one or the other, then the great big circle connecting us would be shattered…” He glanced up at the sky, eyes filled with unease.

Azuma Sara stood next to him. “The world is undergoing another trial. Is it connected or is it not?”

The sky above grew increasingly more menacing.

Suddenly, the plate headdress in Haruka’s lap fell to the ground.

Ka-shiiiink!

“Oh no…”

The round, circular plate shattered into two halves.

Scene 5

 

ONCE THE FIVE SILVER Wishing Plates were stacked together, they transformed into a glowing golden Wishing Plate. Kazuki held it in his hands, relief in his voice as he called over to his friend, “So you came back, Toi…!”

Kappa-Enta tried to convey his appreciation as well, even as he swayed in place. “Thanks for helping out Kazu…guh…” Before he could finish, he collapsed.

“Enta!”

The timer ticking down on his life was about to run out.

“Enta: forty seconds remaining until death,” an emotionless announcer informed them.

“Hurry up and make your wish, ribbit!”

Kazuki nodded and help up the plate, but before he could do anything else, Toi interrupted, “Give me that plate.”

Kazuki glanced back to find himself staring down the barrel of Toi’s gun. “Toi?”

“My brother died. I’m going to use that to bring him back.”

Dark clouds gathered above, and soon droplets began to fall.

“Enta: fifteen seconds remaining until death,” the robotic voice droned.

A curtain of rain poured around them, filling the space that separated Toi and Kazuki. Neither said a word. In the interim, the countdown continued.

“Ten…nine…eight…seven…six…five…four…”

Kazuki squeezed the plate tightly in his arms.

“Three…two…one.”

 

Once the golden plate granted the wish made upon it, it shattered into tiny pieces.

 

The rain grew stronger. Enta could feel it pelting against his skin as he cracked open his eyes. “Mm… Was I…saved?” He looked at his hand—a human’s hand now, no longer green and webbed.

Immediately, Keppi said, “Kazuki used the plate to grant his wish, ribbit.”

Oh, so Kazuki really did use the plate for me…

Enta remembered pieces of the conversation between Kazuki and Toi moments ago, when he’d still been wracked with pain.

That means Toi’s wish…

“Toi!” The sudden sound of Kazuki’s voice broke Enta out of his reverie.

Toi and Kazuki were still separated, no closer to one another than they had been moments ago. The former lowered his gun. “I know. I’d have done the same thing in your place.” His voice was so low that it was barely audible beneath the pounding rain. He tilted his head up and gazed at the sky, sighing out his next words. “I’m so tired of all of this.”

“Toi…” Kazuki tried to approach, but thunder roared through the sky.

“Odd-er… In that case, let’s sever all the connections in this world!”

Despair: Unleash.

Black Keppi was released from his transparent taiko-shaped cage. He roared as he slammed down onto Azuma Bridge.

“D-d-d-d-d-d-darkness!” Wrapped in ominous flames of despair, the creature opened its mouth wide, spitting out numerous tentacles.

“Guh!” Toi immediately tried to run for it, but he was unfortunately snatched up by the dark tendrils.

“Toi!” Kazuki grabbed his outstretched hand. The other boy looked back at him with surprise.

 

Suddenly, Toi heard Chikai whisper into his ear, “Come with me. Come outside the circle that binds everyone together. Cut off all those boring ties you have to other people.”

His suffering was caused by his attachments to other people.

The tentacles suddenly released him, meekly drawing back. Now that his arm was free, Toi shook Kazuki off. He heard his friend suck in a breath. His brother was waiting for him inside of Black Keppi. He didn’t even bother looking back as he started in that direction.

 

“Tooooooi!” Kazuki shrieked.

Toi disappeared, swallowed up by the despair.