The Detective Is Already Dead, Vol. 2

Just before I made contact—

“I’m incredibly grateful for that love confession, but are you planning to scar up your beloved’s face?”

I heard some rather familiar snark.

I’ll come to see you, one more time

For a moment, I didn’t know where the voice had come from.

“…Huh?”

Hel didn’t seem to know, either. She cocked her head, her face expressionless.

This was extremely weird.

The mystery voice I’d just heard had been exactly the same as the voice of the person standing in front of me.

What the hell?

As my mind jammed with question marks, the girl in the military uniform suddenly dropped the saber she’d been holding. Then she stared at the results of her own action in surprise. It was as if, for the past couple of minutes, another will had been controlling her movements and speech.

“What… Hmm? ……This…is…”

Hel’s face spasmed.

Then, in the next instant, the color of her right eye changed from red to blue.

“Siesta, is it you?”

The left half of Hel’s face was astounded. The other half was watching me steadily.

Now I was sure of it: Siesta was alive, inside Hel!

“No, that… That’s—ridiculous…” Hel’s red left eye glared at the blue one right beside it. “You won’t…get away with this… Taking…over my body…without…permission…”

“Be quiet. I’m talking with him right now.” The girl squeezed her eyes shut tightly. When she opened them again, both were blue.

“Siesta, you…”

“I went and made you cry, didn’t I?”

There was no mistake. It was her.

She was borrowing the body of Hel, her mortal enemy, but the one speaking to me was Siesta. That fact made my knees go weak, and my eyes grew hot again.

Siesta was still alive.

“Siesta, I’m…”

“Assistant, there’s no time, so listen carefully.” But Siesta didn’t bask in the joy of our reunion. She just kept on talking to me. “The thing is, my heart is rather special. For example, by moving my own consciousness into it, I’m able to hold on to my sense of self inside someone else’s body.”

“That’s…”

Was it similar to the phenomenon of memory transference? There had been cases all over the world of organ transplant recipients inheriting the memories and preferences of their donors.

Since Hel had stolen Siesta’s heart, Siesta’s memories and awareness had also been partially transplanted into Hel. That was how Siesta was borrowing her body to speak—

“I came up with several different plans, but it really would have been difficult to defeat Hel in the truest sense of the word.”

“…! Siesta, are you saying you—?!”

“Yes, this was the only way. I had to infiltrate Hel and repress her mind. That was the only way to oppose her.”

…! Meaning that back then, Siesta had intentionally… She’d known she was going to die!

That wasn’t— That was just ludicrous!

“I told you, didn’t I? A real ace detective resolves the incident before it occurs. I’d known for a long time that things would turn out like this.”

“No… That’s not fair… All along, you…”

So she’d been able to see our destination right from the start?

In that case, why… Why?

“Because if I’d told you, you would have stopped me.” Siesta, wearing Hel’s form, gave a rather lonely smile. “I have a favor to ask you, Kimi.”

“…No way.”

“Listen.”

“No.”

“Are you stupid, Kimi? This is no time to be stubborn and you know it,” she said, putting out a hand and stroking my head. “I’ll infiltrate this body and keep Hel’s vicious personality in check. If I do, Alicia’s personality should wake up again.”

“…! She will?!”

“Yes. After all, this body has Cerberus’s ability… You understand what that means, don’t you?”

…Ah, I get it. The three heads of Hades’ guard dog. She was saying this body could house up to three people. Alicia and Hel had already been there, and now Siesta had joined them.

“She may have lost her memory again, but I want you to ask for her help—and someday, I want you to defeat SPES.”

That had been Siesta’s true secret plan.

The one and only stratagem to defeat Hel and let Alicia live.

“—! But then what happens to you? If Alicia’s personality wakes up, then yours will disappear along with Hel, right?! Don’t you dare… I won’t let you!”

Sacrifice Siesta to save Alicia? If that was the solution, I didn’t want it!

It didn’t matter what form she took. We could even be enemies.

As long as you, your mind, is still alive somewhere, that’s enough for me. So I won’t let you do anything this selfish!

“I thought you’d say that.” Siesta gave another ghost of a smile. “It’s going to be all right, though. Alicia has things I don’t. I’m sure you’ll be able to get along well with her. Remember those two weeks,” she told me gently.

“—I told you, don’t act like this is decided! I haven’t agreed to…”

Just then, the ground rocked under my feet.

Had I lost too much blood? No, that wasn’t it… I smelled something sweet.

In one buoyant moment, a euphoric and fuzzy feeling swept over my mind. Through dimming eyes, I saw that an enormous flower had bloomed from the corpse of the biological weapon.

It was pollen.

The sweet-smelling powder drifted to us on the wind.

“…Maybe this is fate as well. It’s been three years since then.” Siesta gave a troubled smile.

Three years… Oh. The Miss Hanako incident at the cultural festival, three years ago. This pollen was the drug that had rampaged through my middle school.

“So it came from a flower from this thing’s body, huh…?”

I knew what these conditions meant, even though I desperately didn’t want to.

“No… I don’t want to…forget…”

The very first side effect of ingesting this pollen was memory trouble. Inhaling this much of it had to carry a substantial risk. I might forget these three years entirely, and all about Siesta, everything—

“It’s all right.”

Maybe Hel’s body had an immunity to the pollen; Siesta was still standing firm. As I swayed, she let me lean on her shoulder.

“Well, you may forget a little. What happened here, for example, or the things I’ve told you. Still.” She smiled. “You won’t forget me. You won’t abandon your mission. You’ll sigh and whine that it’s not fair, and you’ll keep working with Alicia for me.”

“That’s…not okay… I won’t…”

By that point I couldn’t even stand, and I sank down right where I was. Black was creeping in at the corners of my vision, and it was getting harder to hear.

“I’m…your assistant… I won’t…be…anybody else’s…partner…”

“…Ha-ha. That’s a nice thing to hear, here at the end.”

I was sitting down. Putting a hand on my shoulder, she smiled softly at me.

Was this another side effect of the pollen? Was I hallucinating? Hel was our mortal enemy, but right now, I could only see the partner I’d spent three years with.

“I don’t…want to forget… You’ll… I’ll…always…”

“I’m telling you, it’s all right. Remember what I said? This whole time, we’ve trusted each other more than we trust ourselves.”

“…So, I should…believe…what you say?”

“Exactly. Have I ever been wrong?”

…No, she hadn’t. Not once.

You were always right. Way too right.

Every once in a while—I wanted you to be wrong.

But my throat wouldn’t let those words out.

“The next time you wake up, I’m sure I won’t be there anymore, but…”

Live. And thrive.

Was it my imagination? Siesta looked like she was crying.

She wouldn’t cry, though.

Was it because she was in a different body?

With large tears trickling down her cheeks, Siesta grabbed my shoulders and shouted.

“Listen to me!

I won’t forget you, Kimi!

Even if a ruthless enemy hijacks my mind, even if I forget everything else, I’ll remember you!

It may take a while!

A week, maybe!

Or a month!

Or a year!

It may take a long time!

Even so, I promise—!

This body will come to see you, one more time!

I swear, I swear it will!”

After I heard all that, I slumped over onto the ground.

In the last glimpse I caught of Siesta, she was smiling through her tears.