MEKAKUSHI CHORD

The water softly coursed down my body, lapping at each and every curve. It was the shower I had longed for ever since early this morning, but I never expected it under these circumstances.

    Here I was, in a shadowy organization’s secret base, myself and my phone covered in hot tea, deluged with apologies all the way to the bathroom.

    It sounds all the more strange when put into text form. I suppose truth really is stranger than fiction…or a TV drama script.

    Once out of the shower, I returned to the main room, wiping my hair dry. TheF three of them turned toward me for a moment, but quickly returned to normal.
    The old clock hung on the wall ticked away, its pendulum swinging back and forth.
    It was just past eleven thirty in the morning.
    “Hey, thanks for lending me these clothes and everything…”
    “Nah, nah. This was our fault in the first place. But, man, what a dilemma…”
    “You sure said it…Ah! No! I mean, it’ll be fine! It’ll be totally okay! Right?!”
    Marie had been incessantly apologizing for the past while, but even at this point, she still looked about ready to bawl if I so much as sighed.
    “But…But…!”
    Marie’s hand was gripping a sealed bag filled with chemical drying agent
    —the stuff in those little “do not eat” bags. My phone, doused in tea a few moments ago, was safely ensconced inside.
    After wiping the phone dry, they had whipped through all their bags of candy and other snack foods to salvage every packet they could. The opened snacks were laid out on the table like an hors d’oeuvre spread.

    “I…I have to pay you back…”
    “Pay her back? Where’re you gonna get the money for that? You gonna sell your books?” Kido suddenly interjected, her body draped across the sofa as she read a magazine. That was all it took for tears to finally stream down Marie’s face.

    “Whoa, whoa! Take it easy on her, boss!”
    “It’s true, though. It’s not like she has any way to pay you.”
    “Well, maybe not, but still…L-listen, Marie, you really don’t have to worry about it, okay? There’s no need to cry!”
    I tried to comfort her, but to no avail. The tears continued to stream as she stood there, still tightly gripping the bag.
    “More to the point, though, getting shut out from the outside world is pretty bad news for you, huh, Kisaragi? Shouldn’t you at least, like, give them some kind of contact?”
    Kano let out a very deliberate shrug, all smiles as always.
    “Yeah…I guess you have a point.”
    That message I just sent was a disaster, no doubt about that.
    I had the sense it was going to blow up into a massive story. It was already starting to get on the news. The afternoon news shows were all running ads with narration like “Fans Shocked at Megastar Idol’s Sudden Disappearance!! Was She Kidnapped…or Worse?!”
    “Do you remember any of the phone numbers? Like, your manager’s, or at least your home phone?”
    Kano had already looked up my agency’s phone number. He tried giving a call, but never got anything but a busy signal. That seemed unlikely to change anytime soon.
    “I…uh…I don’t…”
    “Really? Eesh, Kisaragi…”
    “Well, I’m just…not good with numbers, okay? I…I know that if you add up all the numbers, you get fifty, but…!”
    “Yeah, that’s real helpful.”
    “Ugh…”
    Ever since I woke up this morning, I felt like people had been taking pity on my stupidity.
    “You know, the police are probably already on the move. If this keeps up, they might storm in here, like, any minute.”
    “Then we’ll all be arrested for kidnapping, huh…? We sure could use that phone.”
    Kido sighed and looked toward Marie. Her shoulders convulsed as she unloaded yet another trickle of tears.
    I could see the situation was serious, but for some reason, the two of them seemed to enjoy it. That, and bullying Marie.

    Suddenly, Kano pounded a fist against his palm, a bright smile on his face.
    “I know! We can just have Marie work as a day laborer until she gets the money to pay for a new phone!”
    “Good idea. Let’s see…Looks like there’re some jobs directing traffic. Ooh, and they’ll even take you if you don’t have any experience.”
    Kido chucked the job-search magazine on the desk. It was open to a page showing a cartoon construction worker waving a fluorescent light baton to and fro.
    Marie stopped crying at the sight, her face growing more and more devoid of color.
    “Hang on, this job looks better for her. ‘Get Fit on the Job! Work for Ishiburo Package Delivery!’ Hmm…That’s the guys with the penguin logo, huh? The pay’s pretty cheap, but hey, they’re an equal opportunity employer!”
    “Not bad. She could use a little muscle on her anyway…Whoa, wait, wait, wait.”

    Marie was quietly edging her way out of the room, the bag she so dearly clung to placed on the desk. Kido grabbed her by the collar before she made it, sitting her back down on the chair.

    “Where were you going?”
    Kido interrogated the poor girl, who seemed concerned less about the phone and more about the intense, frightening danger she suddenly faced.
    “I…I can’t do it…that sort of thing…”
    The magazine on the desk was open to an advertisement prominently featuring an illustration of a cute, pink penguin. It was apparently the mascot of the delivery service, a far cry from the picture spun by the ad copy. NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY! MEN AND WOMEN WELCOME! IF YOU’RE STURDILY BUILT AND LOVE MOVING YOUR BODY, COME ON IN! You could smell the sweat just reading the ad.

    “Uh…Don’t you think you’re both being a little hard on Marie?”
    “No way! We’re just trying to help her learn about the real world! Oh, wow, the available work hours run from six a.m. to eleven p.m.! You can start working immediately, too. She could save enough to pay for that phone in no time flat!”
    Kano was staring directly at Marie, his smile really more of a demented smirk at this point.
    Marie, for her part, reacted to every new stunning revelation with a light “Ahh!” or “Eep!” or whatnot.
    There was something about this girl, apparently, that made it endless fun to pick on her.

    “Look, that’s enough! You’re just being mean to her! Can’t you see she’s in distress?”
    I took the job-search magazine off the desk. Marie piously looked up at me, as if I were some sort of goddess.
    “Well, yeah, but if you ask me, I think it’s time she learned a little about, like, how hard life can be. She can’t stay cooped up in here forever,” Kano, stretched out on the sofa, chimed in. Kido nodded her firm agreement.
    But do either of these guys have a job?
    “I…I’m working real hard, too…!”
    For once, Marie finally fired back at them.
    However, Kido and Kano both countered immediately, cutting her off.
    “Huh? You mean that job making artificial flowers at home? That pays, like, five hundred yen a month, doesn’t it?”
    “F-five hundred yen?!”
    I had to confirm I heard her right, unable to hide my shock at the idea of a job paying for maybe one Happy Meal monthly.
    Noticing my reaction, Marie’s face gradually turned red, presumably out of shame.

    “I know, but…but I make sure every flower’s made up right, so…”
    “Look, you know you get paid, like, five yen per flower, right? You can’t spend the entire day making three or four of them.”
    Kido sighed at the absurdity of it all.
    Kano stepped up to deal another telling blow.
    “You know, Marie, most normal people probably make, like, a hundred times what you do. Right, Kisaragi?”
    “Huh? Me?!”
    I could feel Marie’s gaze upon me, pleading for my aid. But, honestly, at five hundred yen per month, there wasn’t much defending her job efficiency.
    “Uhh…Well, I mean, everyone works at their own pace, I guess! I bet Marie probably does a great…job?”
    “…Even though she gets paid in coins? One per month?”
    “Even…even if it’s one per month!”
    I tried to stand strong against Kido’s commonsense question. Tentatively turning toward Marie, I was greeted with a supreme look of satisfied confidence.
    I had mixed feelings about it, but also a sense of relief. There was no doubt, though, that this girl’s future was uncertain.

    Kano sighed and turned to Kido.
    “Well, if that’s how Kisaragi feels about it, I guess she’ll have to cover the phone costs, huh?”
    Kido nodded silently.
    “Right! Excellent! Boy, isn’t that great news, Marie? Kisaragi’s agreed to pay for the whole thing!”
    “Huh?! Wait, when did I…? What?!”
    I was violently thrown by this harrowing conversation derail.
    “Oh, so you’ll have Marie pay for it?”
    Kano’s face beamed a little too brightly for my tastes as he asked.
    “…Ugh! I…I mean, I’ll pay, but…”
    “There! You hear that, Marie? Isn’t that wonderful?”
    “That settles that, then.”
    I had thought about covering the cost from the start, but now I felt like this whole discussion was one big trap. Was this how these people always treat each other…?
    This group was weird, right down to the core.
    “Uh…Are, are you sure it’s really okay…?”
    Marie still looked anxious as she stared at me.
    “Y-yeah! Sure! Absolutely okay!”
    The money I earned from my “work” wasn’t managed by me. I was still too young for that. There was an allowance I could use for whatever, but I wasn’t sure if I could cover the whole phone with this month’s stipend alone.
    But, thanks to not having any friends to waste money going out with, I had way too much saved up. Once I find someplace to withdraw it, that should—
    “Ooh, I don’t know, though…You think this is really enough, Kisaragi?”
    “Well, we’ll have to make do with…Hey! Why do you have my wallet?! When…How did you…?!”
    Kano was nonchalantly rifling through the wallet I thought I had stowed inside my bag.
    Checking inside the bag, I saw it definitely wasn’t there. When did he take it…?

    “Whoa! Man, Kisaragi, you should really start pitching these receipts! Also, wow, you eat a ton of dried mangoes, don’t you?”
    Kano placed all the receipts he snatched out of my wallet onto the desk. Kido joined the party.
    “These show you eating them every day…alongside these dried shredded squid snacks. You trying to strengthen your teeth, or…?”
    “Yeah, totally. Oh, eww, what’s this stuff you’re drinking? Red bean soup–flavored…soda? You start buying it every day starting with this one. Is it that good?”
    Marie tittered a little, looking from the side. My face felt so hot, I was ready to spew fire.
    “Aaaaaaggghhhhh!”
    In a rush, I snatched up the receipts from the desk, ripping the wallet out of Kano’s hands.
    “W-what are you doing to me?! You can’t just go looking into people’s wallets…!”
    “Huh? Oh, uh…guess I just wound up doing it?”
    Yeah, and you “just wound up” revealing my food and drink habits to the world, too!
    I should’ve just bought a clubhouse sandwich and tea every single day.

    “The squid and red bean idol, huh?”
    “W-what’s that mean…? What’s so bad about that?!”
    I looked at the receipts I had taken from Kano, wallowing in self-pity. Suddenly, Kano spoke in a much more serious tone.
    “I dunno…Like, I guess you had to deal with a lot of stuff, didn’t you? Sorry I kind of poked around in there.”
    “L-let’s just drop it, all right?! Ooooooh! Look at these snacks! That kind’s pretty rare, isn’t it? And such an attractive bag design, too! I can’t wait to dig in…”
    Attempting to change the subject any way I could, I picked up one of the bags on the desk that Marie didn’t get around to opening.
    It was a bag of dried, flavored radish slices. The front read THICK KELP SOUP STOCK FLAVOR! A SNACK FOR HARD-BODIED MEN!
    “Uh…yeah, go ahead. Dig in.”
    Kido’s reserved response contrasted with Kano’s uproarious laughter.
    I wanted to crawl into a hole, have someone shovel dirt over me, then keep on digging until I hit the Earth’s core.
    “But…but red bean soup can be yummy, too…I like it a lot…”
    “M-Marie…!”
    Marie was making a strenuous effort to back me up.
    I knew she was a nice girl at heart!
    “Yeah, but in soda form?”
    “Th-that might be kind of gross…”
    Well, that sure blew up in my face.
    I was utterly crestfallen after all of this emotional damage.
    “All right, all right…I know I’m a weirdo, okay? That’s why I could never make any friends.”
    Somehow I doubted that most of the country’s teenage girls would carry around wallets jam-packed with receipts for dried squid strips.
    “Oh, cheer up! There’s no need to be down about it.”
    “Yeah, but ‘Thick Kelp Soup Stock Flavor’? Ugh…my stomach…it hurts…”
    “Will you stop laughing at me already…?! Oh! Uh, I’m sorry…?”
    While I tried to tell off Kano, who was still holding his stomach and laughing his head off, Marie’s shoulders convulsed as a fearful expression spread across her face.
    “Yeah, sorry, sorry. Whew! Thought I was gonna die there for a moment. Anyway, enough chitchat. Ready to get going?”
    “Huh? Get going where…?”
    Kano stood up and stretched, arms high in the air.
    “We need to, like, get you a new phone, right? There’s a place right nearby here.”
    “Oh, yeah, that one…?”
    Kido’s response sounded distracted as she thumbed through a gadget magazine she had plucked from the rack next to the sofa.

    “Just to be sure, though…Would getting a new phone help me at this point?”
    “Well, I mean, you should be able to transfer your contacts, at least. Don’t know unless you ask.”
    “Yeah, but…but if I go outside again…”
    If I went outside again, seriously bad things would happen.
    The next time I attracted a crowd like that, I had a feeling that running would no longer be an option.
    “Oh, you’ll be fine if we’re along. Right, Kido?”
    “…Pretty much.”
    Kano looked at my bewildered expression and gave me an excited smile.

    “We showed you Kido’s ‘skill’ just now, but that’s just part of what she really is.”
    He continued to explain, arms open wide to emphasize his point.
    “To make a long story short, Kido can control not only her own sense of presence, but that of anyone around her she wants. We call that her ‘concealing eyes’ ability. Basically—”
    “Y-you mean she can make me disappear, too?!”
    I raised my voice, more than a bit enthused at the concept.
    “Not disappear, exactly. More like make your presence as utterly thin as possible, I guess. You probably already know how it works, actually. Like, it’s not like you’re just constantly attracting attention everywhere you go, right? You know you can do certain things, in certain ways, and that will draw people to you.”
    This did sound familiar to me. I could think of a few examples—the picture I drew during that class in elementary school, for one.
    “In other words, you could take that, like, ‘drawing eyes’ skill and apply it to the outside world. Whether you’re consciously aware of it or not, it gets set off and people react to it. Kido’s skill can completely neutralize that, so you’re gonna be just fine. You know, this may have been all Kido’s mistake, but, like, maybe you were destined to be here all along, huh?”
    Kido buried her face in her magazine, still embarrassed over the mix-up.
    “A mistake? What do you mean, mistake?”
    Marie looked toward Kano, a distressed expression on her face. He responded with another defiant smirk, like the one he gave her earlier.
    Kano must really enjoy tormenting this poor girl, deep down.
    “Well, like, look at her. I know she just spent the past little while bullying you, but really Kido’s just a—”
    “R-right! Right!! We all ready to go?! And don’t worry about it, Marie. It’s nothing.”
    With that, Kido tossed her magazine on the sofa and briskly stood up.
    “Ready to…go?”
    “Y-yeah. Just over to the phone store.”
    Kano seemed to suddenly tense up as he briskly answered Marie’s question.
    Kido, adjacent to him, must have been intimidating Kano with her presence, imploring him not to tell her.
    It was an interesting glimpse into who positioned themselves where on the social totem pole around here.
    “…Are we going by the park?”
    “That park? Yeah, I guess so. Why?”
    “Okay. I’ll come along too. I…I want to bury something.”
    Kano gave Marie a blank stare as she stood up and went toward the kitchen.
    Kido and I wore the same face, not expecting this reaction.
    “Bury…? Did Marie have a pet or something?”
    “God, if she’d lost a pet we’d have bigger problems than burying it. Anyway, she doesn’t have one.”
    “Yeah. I doubt Marie could pay to feed it, for one. For two, she would’ve had to be, like, hiding it from us this whole time.”
    “So why is she…?”

    As we discussed Marie’s announcement in hushed tones, a clinking sound came from the kitchen. She was placing the pieces of the cups she broke while making tea earlier into a cloth bag.
    “Oh…”

    It was at that point that I remembered. Marie had taken the effort to bring out her favorite teacups for me. She had taken the effort, and it led to them breaking when she tripped.
    Handling the shards of animal-print ceramic, Marie’s face gradually returned to the state it was before she started bawling the first time.

    “Huh. That’s what she means?”
    “Well, she really liked them, you know.”
    The clinking continued as she carefully transferred the pieces, one by one, from a plastic convenience-store bag into the festively patterned cloth sack.
    This wasn’t just a chore to her. It seemed like she was putting every effort possible into this, making sure it was an unforgettable moment.

    “Um, can I ask a question, boss?”
    “Mm? What?”
    “Would it be all right if we didn’t go to the nearest phone shop? Like, maybe if we went to a bigger department store with a phone section?”
    Kido looked confused for a moment, but soon relaxed her gaze, apparently sensing my motives.
    “Fine by me. We can go anyplace you like.”
    “G-great! Thank you so much!”
    Kano flashed me a smile—a sincere one this time, I felt.
    “Yeah, I’m all for it too. Marie’s never been to a department store, either. I bet she’d really like it. And with you around, Kido, she’ll be just fine, yeah?”
    “Assuming Marie’s up for it, anyway. Here, could you invite her for me?”
    I headed for the kitchen, half-pushed by Kido.
    By the time I arrived, Marie had already taken care of most of the large pieces. She stood there, wondering how to handle the tinier pebbles.
    The littler pieces were undoubtedly too sharp for her to pick up by hand.

    “Need some help there, Marie?”
    Hearing a voice next to her, Marie turned, a bit startled.

    “Huh…?”
    “You’ll hurt your fingers if you touch the smaller pieces. I can hold the bag, so how about you just pour them inside?”
    “O-okay…”

    After she consented to my offer, Marie handed me the attractively patterned cloth bag she was carrying.
    The glass pieces inside weighed about the same as four cups.
    She must have decided to bury the regular broken cups alongside her favorites.

    I opened the bag wide while Marie emptied the remaining contents of the plastic bag into the sack.

    “They must have been really important to you.”
    “Y-yeah…Mom gave them to me.”
    I hesitated for a moment. Judging by how Kano and Kido fretted over her future, I assumed that Marie’s parents were not a part of her life.
    I had no way of telling if that was temporary or they were never coming back, but for now, at least, there were no family members close to her.

    —I felt my chest tighten a bit at a memory I couldn’t forget, one I recalled despite myself.

    “Oh…”
    “But it’s okay. I’ll make sure I don’t forget, so…”
    I was concerned she would start crying again, but when I looked, Marie had a gentle smile on her face instead.
    The sight was enough to make me tear up a little instead.
    But Marie didn’t cry. She wouldn’t let herself make a sad face right now.

    “Well, that’s great, that’s great. Listen, would you like to go shopping with me afterward?”
    I decided to plunge forward with the idea I had earlier.
    “Shopping…? For the phone?”
    “No, not that…If you’d like, I was thinking we could all go shopping for a new set of teacups.”
    The moment I said it, Marie looked right up at my face.
    “A-a new set?! I can help choose, too…?”
    “Of course! Wouldn’t it be lots of fun if we could all drink tea with our matching cups?”
    Marie’s face turned bright with excitement, apparently delighted with the proposal.
    “…Okay!”
    “Really?! Wonderful. It’ll be a great day out!”
    “Uh-huh…! But how far are we going…?”
    “Well, today we’re going to the department store! It’s like a whole bunch of different shops in one! If you come along, I bet it’ll be a ton of fun!”
    “The department store…?!”
    Marie’s face shone with excitement and imagination.
    I had no idea this would make her so happy…!
    I had thought this was the unluckiest day of my life, but weirdly enough, it was starting to get pretty fun.
    A real shopping trip…The idea made my pulse quicken, too.

    “I, I’m gonna go get ready…!”
    Placing the cloth bag carefully on the kitchen counter, Marie scampered off to her room.
    Watching her bound across the hideout warmed my heart, making a smile organically curl across my lips.
    Oh…but look out, I don’t want you falling again…

    “Oh, did Kisaragi invite you along?”
    “Y-yeah…I’m gonna go get ready!”
    Marie’s expression was one of pure anticipation as Kano spoke to her.

    —Until Kano just had to keep talking.

    “Well, great! Oh, man, are you gonna go out in those socks?! Pff… khhh…!”
    Kano suddenly struggled to stifle his laughter, as if suddenly remembering some hilarious joke.
    Socks…?
    Did he mean Marie’s “weird socks” they were talking about a while ago?
    But that made no sense. Marie was barefoot in the kitchen.
    As I thought it over, the stifled chuckling awkwardly stopped midway.
    In fact, Kano himself stopped moving at all. It was as if time stopped for him alone.
    A concerned “now he’s done it” expression crossed Kido’s face.

    “K-Kano…? Is something wrong…?”

    As I approached him, I noticed the change in Marie first.
    She was a completely different girl from before, emitting cosmic waves of pure rage as her face tilted downward.
    The long hair that flowed off her shoulders stood edge to edge, wriggling like a living creature. The eyes I saw through her hair were completely different from the light pink ones I knew…They were red, pure red.

    “Aghh!!”
    I shouted, surprised at this sudden transformation.
    This obedient little girl I was just speaking with had a look of pure murder on her face, her hair writhing in midair.

    “Ughh…You idiot…”
    Kido rapped Kano on the head. Kano remained standing, completely unresponsive.
    His expression remained firmly unchanged, like a store mannequin.

    “W-what’s this about…?”
    “Oh, uh, Marie’s ‘locking eyes’ can turn anyone who looks at her into stone.”
    “S-stone?!”
    Kido knocked on Kano’s head a few more times as she explained. The sight was so surreal that I had trouble comprehending her.
    Turning people into stone was something on a wholly different dimension from being about to “draw” people’s eyes.
    This was something closer to magic.
    Marie continued to stare at Kano, her breathing taut and rapid.

    “What kind of…I mean, is Kano all right?!”
    I hated to say it, but Kano, his face still straining in unbearable laughter, was a ridiculous sight to see.
    “Nah. If he’s like this, it’s already too late. He’s staying like this the rest of his life.”
    “…Huh?”
    “Boy, that’s sure a pity…Oh, well! I guess we’ll just have to make him into a coatrack! Not that we even need one…” said Kido, her facial expression completely unchanged.
    Kano…We had only just met, and this is how you leave me…?
    But she was right. This kind of coatrack wouldn’t look right in anyone’s home.

    “How ’bout we just throw this piece of junk in the trash…? Oof! Here, can you take the other end, Marie?”
    “Yeah…Let’s get this garbage out of here…”
    “—Yagh! What’re you doing, Kido?! Don’t grab me from behind like that! Ngh!!”

    The moment the two of them were about to drag Kano off, he suddenly came back to life.
    Without missing a beat, Kido buried a knee into his side.
    I had figured from Kido’s sarcasm that he would unfreeze sooner or later, but that blow probably hurt a lot worse. He collapsed to the floor, groaning.
    “What is your problem?! Stop shooting your mouth off when we’re trying to go out!”
    “S-sorry, boss…”

    Even though he had to feebly reply to Kido from his curled-up position on the floor, Kano’s smile was still there.

    “You go get ready, Marie. It’s gonna close if you don’t hurry.”
    “Wha?! Oh, no! I’ll be back in just a second…!”

    Marie skipped over to her room.
    Kido shrugged bitterly.

    “Um…Is Marie…? What is she?”
    “We don’t really know much either…but apparently she’s descended from a Medusa.”
    “A M-Medusa?! As in turns-people-into-stone, that Medusa?!”
    “Yep. I couldn’t believe it myself at first, but no way she’s human, anyway.”
    Faced with one outrageous concept after another, my expression went completely blank.

    I had heard the name Medusa before, at least.
    Not that I knew anything anyone else didn’t. A legendary monster, snakes for hair, petrifies folks, etc., etc.

    I had just seen one, right here, using her skills before my very eyes.

    “She said her parents had told her from birth that they were a family of Medusas. Her mother really could stone people for good, supposedly, but I guess all Marie can do is stop them in their tracks for a bit.”
    “But…but this is so unreal…”
    “Mm-hmm. I hear you there. But there she is. Besides, we’re kind of similar, you and I. Ignoring whatever science is behind it for the moment, some people have some pretty weird abilities. You know that by now, right?”
    “Y-yeah, I guess, but…”
    “—Do you hate her?”
    “…Huh?”
    “Now that you know she might not be human, does that make you hate her?”
    “…No. I’m hoping I can be her friend…!”
    “…Great. In that case, don’t think about it for now. We’ll tell you about it sometime later. You can tell us about yourself, too, if you’d like.”
    “O-okay…!”

    “I…I’m ready, but…”
    Marie poked her face out the door she’d entered before.
    But she refused to go out any farther, an embarrassed look on her face.

    “What’s the problem? Let’s go.”
    “A-all right…”

    Marie opened the door and left her room, revealing…nothing out of the ordinary.
    The socks that Kano couldn’t resist making fun of were plain, old, normal white socks.
    “Huh? Is there something…odd with those socks at all?”
    “Nah, those are normal. But the ones she came out wearing earlier were those real loose, baggy socks.”
    “Those socks…?!”
    I tried to imagine matching her current outfit with the long, baggy socks popular back in the nineties. It would have been…unusual.
    Marie, her face reddened, stormed up to Kido.
    “W-why did you say that?! I put on normal ones this time…!”
    “Mm? Sorry. She asked, so…Those oughta be just fine.”
    “B-but…!”
    Marie’s eyes darted around the room. She had to have been hurt by her friends picking on her all day.
    But what could have driven her to try on socks like those…?
    “I mean, I…I saw them in your magazine, Kano…”
    “His magazine…? You mean this?”

    Picking up the magazine Kano was reading earlier, I was greeted by the sight of young women dressed in outfits that were all but parodies of street fashion a few decades ago. The headline above them read KICKIN’ IT OLDSCHOOL! NOSTALGIA FASHION BLOWOUT!

    “It was really cool, so I…I just…”
    There was some real retro fashion sense in this modern-day Medusa’s mind.
    “I spent all that time knitting them, too…”
    Oh, man, and they were even homemade.

 
Making our way through the tight path to the main street, we were greeted by the usual hustle and bustle of city life.
    We could see the restaurants that lined the opposite side of the road, all filled to the brim with families and large groups of customers.
    I didn’t think I would be back here right after attracting that mob of onlookers, but everything was completely different from before.

    I wasn’t hiding, I wasn’t wearing a disguise, and yet not only was a crowd not forming around me—nobody even spoke to me. Pedestrians didn’t so much as bat an eye as they went past, eyes forward, walking in a straight line.
    “This…This is so novel.”
    “Yep. I’ll bet. Not so much to me, though. But when the hell is Kano going to notice us?”

    Kano, walking a little ahead on the sidewalk, suddenly turned around.
    He strained his eyes, as if searching for a contact lens on the ground. A moment later he confidently strode toward us, a look of recognition finally crossing his face.

    “Yeah, you guys are perfect. I mean, I had to, like, seriously look for you.”
    “Sure took you long enough.”
    Kido sighed, as if stood up for a date.
    “Hey, what do you want me to do about it? I couldn’t see you.”
    The smile remained firmly planted on his face as he grumbled.
    “Wow…You really couldn’t. It’s like we’re totally invisible…”
    “Nah, it’s not like that. It’s like…I dunno, I can see you, but I can’t will myself to notice you? That sort of thing. Pretty unnerving when you’re on the receiving end of it.”
    The way Kido described it, she could erase the “presence” of anything she wanted within a two-to-three meter radius.
    She couldn’t literally make us invisible, however, so everything remained seemingly normal from our perspectives.
    “Wow…! Can I try finding you, too?”
    “What’re you, crazy? If you left my side, you’d be right back where you started…Come on, Marie, you’re too close to me! Gimme some space!”
    Kido wrested Marie away, keeping her from nervously clutching the bottom of her jacket.
    “So…soooooooo many people…”
    “Well, yeah. We’re on a busy street. Anyway, everything’s okay, I guess. On with the mission.”
    “O-okay!”
    Hearing her put it that way made it feel like we really were on some secret infiltration mission. I was starting to get a little excited.
    Of course, the mission—to sign up for a new phone and buy some teacups —wasn’t exactly black-ops material.

    Kido and Kano led the way as we began to walk down the wide street. It was like another world.
    I was walking freely, completely unobstructed. It was like watching a movie, except this one was being shown 360 degrees around me.
    Nobody around us seemed to notice our presence, and I almost had to be careful not to bump right into them. The sensation of seemingly turning invisible gave me a sense of profound relief like nothing before in my life.

    The road we walked along was laden with fast-moving traffic, something that did distress me a little. Concerned, I looked down at Marie, walking side-by-side with me. She was white as a sheet. I hadn’t noticed until now, but I could hear her deep in the midst of her “It’s okay…it’s okay…” incantation.

    “Um…Kano? I…”
    “Huh? What? You don’t have to whisper.”
    “I don’t know…I just…”
    “It’s okay to talk like normal, you know. Hell, you can even start singing if you want. How did your debut single go? Like, ‘my peach-colored’ something-or-other?”
    “Aaaaghhh!! Don’t talk about that all of a sudden! I’m gonna punch you!”
    “Whoa, when did punching enter the picture…? Anyway, did you notice? You just shouted, and nobody even flinched.”
    “Oh…You’re right. But that’s not what I’m asking about! Marie looks like she’s having a lot of problems.”

    Marie continued to recite her would-be calming mantra.
    Even if she were visible, I was confident people would still go out of their way to avoid her.
    “Ah…Yeah, I figured she’d be like that. Hey, uh, Marie? Hello? Yeah, that sure ain’t good.”
    Kano began to walk backward, waving his hand in front of Marie’s face. She remained unresponsive, her gaze transfixed at some faraway point in space.
    I was unsure it was completely safe for someone like Kano to walk backward down a busy street.
    Don’t we have to watch out for other people? They can’t see us at all, right?

    “Oop. Hang on. Halt.”
    Just as I was about to voice my concern, Kano suddenly stopped.
    Kido stopped walking at the same time, causing Marie to bump right into him.

    “Huh…?”
    Before I could ask what was going on, a child on a bicycle cut right in front of us from the left. If we kept going at our previous pace, it would have been a nasty collision.
    What’s more, the kid had come in from a blind angle. I was looking straight ahead and had not even I noticed him.

    “…Oww! Marie!”
    “Ngh…I, I’m sorry…”
    Kido turned around to find Marie bowing in apology.
    “Ugh. You really need to pay more attention.”
    “But I’m scared…! All these people…”
    “Yes. All these people. I told you, that’s why you need to be more careful. What are you, stupid?”
    “I, I’m not stupid…!”
    Marie tried to counter, but her voice trailed off toward the end.
    “…Well, all right. Let’s get going.”
    Kido began to walk. The rest of us followed her.
    Marie appeared calmer than before, but now she was whining under her breath at Kido—“Why’d she have to say that to me,” and so on.
    Kano, meanwhile, kept walking ahead, carefree as always.

    “Say, Kano, how did you notice that kid on the bike?”
    “Hmm? Oh. I dunno. Just a hunch.”
    “Just a hunch…? Can you see the future or something?”
    Honestly, at this point, I would have accepted it if he replied “Yeah, so?” to me. Instead, he responded with a corny joke. “The future?” he said. “Boy, wouldn’t that be nice? Then I wouldn’t have to read my horoscope!”

    The traffic began to grow thicker as we drew closer to the department store down the street.
    A lot of the cars seemed to be leaving the complex, too. I spotted a giant stuffed animal in the backseat of one sedan on the opposite side.

    “Hey. We gotta cross this intersection. Stay close to me.”
    Kido stopped in front of the stoplight, pointing the crosswalk out to us.
    We needed to be careful. Cars were turning in and out from both sides.

    “I’m…I’m scared to cross…”
    “Mm? Oh, it’s all right. Just stick to Kido’s side, okay?”
    “Yep. Just not so close. You’re…you’re dragging me down…”
    “But I…I can’t…!”

    Marie was tightly hugging Kido, as if preparing for her big German suplex finisher.
    Kido pried her off, clasping Marie’s hands around the bottom of her jacket instead.
    I found myself naturally sidling up to her as well.
    Seeing the trucks passing right in front of us, I could feel myself gripped by an uncertain stress.
    “Okay. Free over there.”
    “All right, let’s go. Follow me.”
    After the light turned green, Kido let two cars in front of her make a turn before setting off.
    Kano followed along behind her.
    I checked a few times for oncoming cars, but since we were far from the only pedestrians crossing, my brain shifted over to the task of dodging them instead.
    Once we crossed safely, we saw just a bit of the department store peeking between the buildings in front of us.
    Navigating another crosswalk beyond, we hung a quick left. It was a straight shot after that.
    I had passed nearby the store many times before, but every encounter gave me a new appreciation for how enormous it was.
    I always thought it looked like something out of an epic RPG or something.

    “Wow. This joint looks like something out of, like, an RPG, doesn’t it?”
    Kano suddenly struck up a conversation as we waited at the crosswalk for a green light.
    “H-huh? Whoa! How did you…?!”
    “Uh…what’s the deal? Did I say something weird…?”

    The sheer spot-on timing of it was enough to shock me into losing control of my motor functions.
    I could tell that Kano was plainly unnerved by this.
    It seemed like just a simple coincidence, but to be honest, it seemed like the guy was reading my mind. It scared me.
    “Oh, uh…Ha-ha-ha! Nothing that important.”
    “Mmm? Well, you sure weren’t acting that way. Oh, were you maybe thinking the same thing or something?”
    “Whoa! How did you know that…?”
    That, or he really could read my mind.
    So was he picking up on all the crazy thoughts that have crossed my mind so far today…? The idea sent a chill up my spine.

    “Oh, you were? It was just kind of a hunch, really. Guess great minds think alike, huh, Kisaragi?”
    “C-could you knock that off? It’s really weird.”
    I had to give Kano my honest take. He drooped his shoulders dejectedly, obviously put off by it.
    Or maybe he’s not reading my mind after all? This was getting confusing.

    “Oh, Kidoooo…You’re the only one who really understands me!”
    “Get away. I’ll kill you, I swear.”
    “Oh, all right…”
    Kano had tried to approach, but then Kido sent him reeling back through sheer force of will.
    There’s the boss for you. She knows her troops well.
    Once the light finally turned green and we crossed the street, the department store was almost upon us.
    As we walked down the opposite side of the street from before, Kano and I marching forward in a straight line, I noticed a large white van passing us by.

    Come to think of it, I wonder what’s going on with my drama shoot right now.
    I bet my manager was livid.
    The agency might have every employee out on the streets, combing the city for me.
    I really need to get in contact. We need to talk this over, and I need to get my true feelings across…

    “A-are you all right?”
    “Huh?”
    I looked where the voice came from, only to find Marie worriedly staring at me.
    “Ah! Y-yeah! Yeah, I’m just fine. Did…did I really look that bad?”
    Marie lightly nodded, not even trying to hide the truth.
    Yes. I think I am on the path to finally making a friend.
    I have a child here who worries about me. The normal me, not the girl on the idol pop charts.
    “I…I’m sorry. But, hey, we can see the department store now, Marie!
    There’s bound to be all kinds of neat stuff in there. Isn’t it exciting?!”
    “Huh…? Oh! Oh, you’re right! Ooh, it’s like an enchanted palace!”
    The line of buildings to the right suddenly gave way to the grand sight of the department store.
    It was a grand, opulent-looking edifice. Marie’s appraisal was far from an exaggeration.
    I had thought before about visiting the amusement park up on the roof, but it always felt a little awkward to go by myself.
    But today was different. The whole gang was here. Maybe we’d have a little time to see the sights.
    I could palpably feel the excitement bubbling in my heart.

    “It sure is, isn’t it? And it’s even more amazing inside!”
    “Ooh, I can’t wait!”
    Marie’s eyes were wide open and filled with wonder, like an excited child.
    Sneaking a glance at Kido, I could see her smiling a little.
    I began to feel a little embarrassed. My eyes were probably just as wide and childlike as hers.

    I walked up to Kido’s side and spoke, trying to keep my voice soft.
    “Why don’t we all go shopping together, boss?”
    “Mm? I don’t really have anything I need…”
    “Aw, but we already walked all the way over here. Let’s go look at some clothes! I could pick a cute outfit for you!”
    “You…?! I should probably pass.”
    “Oh, you don’t have to be polite! You know, I’ve got a pretty good eye for coordinating outfits, so…”
    “Well, no, I mean…Your outfits, they’re kind of garish. It’s not really my thing, so…Uh, something wrong?”

    We had just approached the entrance to the department store complex.
    I hadn’t noticed until we were practically touching, but I saw someone familiar standing there.
    You’re kidding me. That’s impossible. Why would he be here, and why now, of all the times…?!
    I doubted he was aware of any of this, but either way, I needed to get out of there, fast.

    “—Kisaragi? Something up?”
    “My brother…”
    “Your…What? Your brother?! How…Whoa!”
    My feet tripped over each other in my haste to escape, sending me careening into Kido at full speed.
    I threw her off balance, sending her straight in the direction of my brother, Shintaro.
    “Ow!”
    Oh, no. I’d gotten so freaked out that I’d just made things worse.
    “A-a-a-ahhhh!”
    Marie, just as surprised as I was over these events, had majestically stumbled to the ground herself, even though she was nowhere near us.

    Kido quickly gathered herself together and turned toward my brother.
    “Uh…umm…So, uh, I’m sorry for—”
    It was almost sad, hearing my brother try to interact with a woman using that limp, mumbling voice of his.
    He also had his head down practically to the ground, all but groveling to her. It surprised all of us.

    You have got to give me a break. I sighed, my body racked with regret at spurting out “my brother” to my friends.

    “…Oh, no biggie. Sorry about that.”

    After quickly apologizing, Kido turned back toward me.
    Standing back up straight, my brother suddenly spun his head around, confused, before putting his hands on his knees and hyperventilating.
    Oh, man. What a pathetic-looking creature this is.
    All he did was bump into a woman, but he was acting like he’d just walked straight into a grizzly bear.
    He didn’t seem to have noticed me, thankfully, but that was probably because Kido was focusing her powers on the rest of us.
    That, or maybe all that staring at his PC monitor finally made him go blind.
    Either way, I brought my hand to my face, too embarrassed to look.
   
    “Ugh…this is awful…”
    “Are you for real, Kisaragi? That guy’s your brother?!” As we returned to our neat little line, Kido—cool as a cucumber as she dealt with Shintaro—broke out in a cold sweat as she addressed me.
    “I…no, he’s not…He’s not. Please.”
    “No, I definitely heard you use the word ‘brother’ just now.”
    Kano, a cool observer to the whole catastrophe, chimed in as if on cue.
    “Ngh…! Uh, hey, Marie, are you okay?! Sorry if I surprised you…!”
    Marie had already stood back up, although there was a tear around the knee of one of her socks.
    “Agh…! Are, are you hurt?!”
    “Awww…This was the first time I wore these, too…”
    All Marie seemed to care about right now was her socks. I doubted she was too traumatized.

    “Whew! That’s good. Kano, why are you smirking at me like that? You’re creeping me out!”
    “Huh? Oh, no, no, I didn’t mean to…Uh, don’t worry about it, okay?”
    Kano looked exactly like a kid who had just found a new toy to play with. He is such a creep.

    “Arrrghhh! This is just the worst! What could he possibly be doing here…?”
    “S-so that was your brother over there? Really?”
    “Please, boss, stop reminding me! I don’t want to see him! Ugh, I hate this…”
    “O-oh…! Uh, sorry.”

    I looked back at my brother, apparently chatting with his cell phone by the entrance gate.
    Probably talking with her again.
    But what would bring them here?
    He hadn’t even tried to set foot outside of the house in nearly two years…

    “Look, let’s just get going, okay? How’s that sound, Marie?!”
    “Uh, yeah…Are you mad, Kisaragi?”
    “No! Not mad at all! You hurry up too, boss!!”
    “Um…okay…”
    Let’s just get in the store before my brother decides to follow me in.
    Pushing Kido through the gate, I scrambled inside the department store as quickly as I could.
    “Huh? Hey, do I get a push, too?”
    Kano stuck his nose between us, beaming brightly, an inquisitive finger pointed at himself as he walked alongside me.
    “Kano, why don’t you just go home and die?!”
    “Aww…Hey, maybe your brother wants to hang out with me, huh?”
    “Aaahhhhh!! Just kidding. Never mind! Come with me!!”
    “Oh, don’t be so shy, Kisaragi…If you want me to come along, like, say so, huh?”
    Repressing the murderous urges welling up from my stomach, I silently headed inside the department store.
    Let’s just get to the seventh floor. They’ve got to have phones in the electronics section.
    My brother might not even be going inside in the first place. Besides, this store is huge. Even if he did enter, no way would we be heading for the exact same place.
    I just have to get away from him, and I’m safe.
    We gotta get inside. We’re here to have a fun shopping trip, dammit! 

The afternoon sun shone through the glass windows that lined the walls.
    The Obon holiday had brought a lot of families out of the house. Small children were playing around with the giant refrigerators on display, messing with the doors and hiding inside the freezer.
    I wished I could run around and shout like they could. Reality can be cruel like that. Sometimes I wonder if I’ve been possessed by some kind of demonic spirit.
    “K-Kisaragi…?”
    “Mmm? What is it, Marie?”
    “Eep! Uh…uh, cheer up, okay?”
    “Oh, don’t worry, Marie. I feel great! Isn’t this fun…? Heh-heh…”
    “Oh…uh, yeah…sorry…”
    The seventh floor.
    Up-tempo music filled the space, blaring out of speakers placed around the home-appliance section.
    Kano launched into a cheek-stretching yawn, acting oddly fatigued.
    He was apparently already tired of waiting for us. That was his problem, not mine.

    We had decided to take the stairs up to the seventh level. The elevators and escalators were too dense with people for Kido to have confidence in her skill. We haven’t really disappeared, after all. If someone touched us, that would immediately break the spell, so to speak.
    I tried to hurry the gang along, but Marie could only take the steps two at a time for short spurts before running out of breath. We were forced to take frequent rests, costing me untold amounts of time.
    The moment we finally reached the seventh floor and headed for the phone section, my brother strolled out of the elevator.
    I had thought this was a good day. Let me amend that. Today was absolutely, positively, the unluckiest day of my life.
    Some might find all of this romantic, the idea of me reaching the exact same destination as my brother on his first outing in two years. If the goddess of romance were here right now, I was ready to clock her.

    Incidentally, Kido would have to relax her ability a little bit if I wanted to replace my phone.
    By “relax,” she explained to me, I would be noticed by others, but still wouldn’t stand out that much.
    I would be just another face in the crowd, too humdrum and normal for anyone to recall me afterward.

    But, as Kido put it, my brother would be another matter.
    When it comes to family members and other people I shared a great deal of time with, if I made my presence even a little bit known, there was every possibility that he could sniff me out.
    My brother was far too obtuse and thick-headed for that, I figured, but just to be doubly sure, we decided to wait and scope out the scene until he went away.

    So here we were. Waiting for my brother, currently shuffling around in front of some stupid grenade-shaped water heater he surely had no intention of buying anyway, to log out of my life.

    “Why did this have to happen…?”
    I murmured it to myself softly as we waited, four in a line, in a relatively inconspicuous aisle.
    The Mekakushi-dan, on a covert mission to replace my cell phone, sidling this way and that to keep passersby from blundering into them. In my eyes, there was no simpler way to portray hell on earth.
    “You know, it’s like you’ve got the worst luck or something…”
    “Tell me about it. I’m really feeling it today, too…”
    “So what do you think he’s here to buy?”
    “I have no idea…Probably something for his computer. Who knows why he’d go out and buy it himself, though…”
    “Huh…Maybe it’s the holiday. You know, Obon? And the shopping sites are closed or something.”
    “Oooh…That sounds pretty likely, actually. But he just had to come here right now, didn’t he…?”
    “Well, the two of you do look kinda alike. Like, maybe you’re both groovin’ on the same wavelength or something?”
    “…I will hit you, I swear.”
    “Okay, maybe not that much alike. My bad.”
    “Ugh…I’m really sorry about this, Marie. I promise I’ll make it up to you, okay?”
    “Oh, no…This is all my fault anyway, so…Besides, this is really fun.”
    “Nghh…What is taking him so long?! Just buy whatever crap you need and go already…”
    “Well, you know, it’s only been about five minutes. Just hang tight!”
    “I can’t! I want to contact my agency and go shopping with Marie…! Ughh!”
    “Yeah! I want to go shopping, but I can wait, okay? So don’t worry!”
    “Oh, Marie, you are so nice to me! Wanna go to the sweets section later? Hmm?”
    “Okay…! Oh, here comes someone.”
    Marie moved away from a customer walking down the aisle, a large backpack slung behind him. This customer didn’t seem terribly keen on browsing, though. He came to a stop in the middle of the aisle, removing his sack and peering inside.
    “What’s with this guy? Why isn’t he going anywhere…?”

    I looked to my side, only to find Kano looking suddenly tense.
    Kido’s brows were furrowed, apparently noticing whatever Kano had.

    “Kido, this is bad.”
    “Yeah. Kisaragi, Marie, let’s get out of here.”
    “Uh…okay…?”

    We stepped back into the main aisle, Kido and Kano’s faces still racked with apprehension.

    “What now? Should we fall back?”
    “You get Kisaragi’s brother over here. Try not to scare him too much.”
    “Got it. You take care of these guys.”
    “Sure thing. Hurry,” said Kido, at which, Kano disappeared down the side aisle my brother had just stepped into.

    “Um, boss? What did you mean by ‘get my brother over here’? How am I gonna find a cell phone if we’re…”
    “That guy’s backpack stunk of gunpowder. I could smell it from here. He’s probably carrying weapons. I think I saw the barrel of a gun in there. Explosives, too.”
    “Huh?”
    “…Ah, crap! The guy who just walked down the opposite aisle must be with him. Hey, once Kano comes back, we’re getting out of here!”
    “W-what…? Kido, what’s going on…?”
    Marie was clearly shaken at Kido’s sudden change of tone.
    Probably less than half of what she told me had made it inside my head.
    I hadn’t gotten the full message, but the atmosphere had gotten so tense, so quickly, that I felt pangs of anxiety shoot up and down my body.
    My mind was having trouble keeping up. But the sight in front of me was shockingly clear as it burned into my retinas.
    “Boss…Look!”
    “Dammit…Just follow what I say for now, all right? We’re probably in a…”

    Suddenly, there was a loud, echoing bang.

    Screams rose up from across the floor, as if on cue.
    “Ah…!”
    Marie clung to my side, startled.
    The screams slowly, gradually grew in volume, forming an avalanche that buried the entire show floor.
    The man in the aisle from earlier removed his shirt, revealing an outfit resembling a special-forces military uniform. Grabbing a gun from the backpack, he leaped out from the aisle.
    “Ugh. Too late…?! Whoa!!”

    As I stared dumbfounded at the unfolding events, Kido grabbed both Marie’s and my arms, pulling us deeper into the showroom.
    Right after our momentum sent us to the ground, a large iron shutter fell over the spot we had just stood, completely shutting us away from the elevators we were facing.
    “Hey! You okay?”
    “I, I think so…! Are you all right, Marie?!”

    Marie, still in Kido’s arms, was quivering with fear.
    Luckily, she still had it together enough to follow Kido’s orders as we ran to a narrow aisle and hunkered down.

    “Calm down, Marie. It’s gonna be all right. They haven’t noticed us over there…but…”
    We could still hear screaming scattered across the showroom.
    In unison, there were loud footsteps as customers ran around, searching for an escape.

    “Great…We’re probably dealing with terrorists. They’re well trained, and they’ve got everything planned out, too. I’d guess they’re going to take everyone on this floor hostage.”
    I felt goose bumps on my arms.
    My brother was just on this floor.
    Which means that, right now…
    “Shintaro…!!”
    “Hold it! Kano’s over there right now, okay? If you go, you’re gonna get caught!”
    “But…!!”
    I allowed myself to imagine the worst-case scenario. Tears began to well in my eyes.
    He may be that kind of brother, but he’s still the only one I have.
    A shut-in, an unemployed geek, a thoughtless baboon; but he’s still family!

    Why did all of this have to happen?
    I had finally found a glimmer of hope that my body could be cured of… whatever it was.
    I had finally found a chance to make a new friend, a real friend.
    This must be what I get for causing so much trouble for so many people today.
    Maybe this whole thing, and all the people caught up in it, is my fault.

    “Kisaragi! Just stay calm for me. If they’re taking them hostage, they’re not gonna just kill them. There’s no point jumping in there unless we get a better bead on the situation, right?”
    “R-right…I…Sorry.”
    I tried to wipe away the tears, but they kept welling up on me.
    It was the second time I’d cried today, and given all the fun I’d had up until now, it felt like the first time in years.

    What are we supposed to do now…?
    After an extended silence, we heard a clamor of tense voices on the other side.
    It was the police, apparently, but the shutter had left them helpless.

    Marie was curled up on the floor, shaking in fear.
    Kido’s eyes were closed, as if she was thinking something over.

    “Agh…!”
    “Eep…!”
    Without a word of warning, Kido suddenly sprang forward. Marie, surprised, jumped out of her way.
    The cause was the jingling cell phone inside Kido’s jacket.
    “A text…?!”
    Kido extracted her cell phone, muscles still tensed.
    A moment later, her face loosened up into one of near disgust.
    Marie and I were both bewildered. Her expression was a major mismatch for the situation we were in.
    “Um…who’s it from?”
    “From that idiot…”
    Kido tossed her phone at me.
    The screen was still showing the text. Kano’s name was up top.

        “Subject: Got caught!
        Hey, how’s it going over there? We’re managing over here somehow! They’ve got us all sitting in a row! It’s like, wow, first hostage experience! Oh, they got Kisaragi’s big brother, too! And he’s sitting right next to me! Here, check out the selfie [IMAGE ATTACHED]! Anyway, that’s the situation here!”

    I read the message text, then opened the attached photo. There was my brother, hands bound, back to the camera. Kano was front and center behind him, flashing a peace sign. Nervous-looking hostages filled in both sides of the picture.
    It was an absolutely perfect shot. Not even the slightest bit out of focus.
    “Boss, is…is something wrong with his head, or…?”
    “Pretty much. He’s beyond help at this point.”
    “Uh, K-Kido? Is he…is he in trouble?”
    “Trouble? Hell, Marie, he’s mentally unstable. I need to take him to the doctor so he can get his brain dissected.”
    “…How is he typing on his cell phone if he’s been caught?”
    “Ooh, wow, you’re right, Kisaragi! Everyone around him’s all tied up, but he’s giving us the peace sign and everything!”
    “The terrorists must’ve thought he was too much of an idiot to waste the rope on.”
    “……”

    Silence fell over the three of us. Suddenly things seemed far less serious.
    For some reason, I was seized by the notion that I was in the middle of some screwball comedy about a bunch of bumbling crooks.

    “So, uh…boss?”
    “…This is still a pretty bad situation. I think.”
    “Aw, but Kano’s having so much fun!”
    Marie had a point. I sighed as I stared at the photo, which for all the world looked like it was from a particularly crazy night during senior field trip. What kind of situation is this, anyway? I was starting to lose my grip on reality.
    “Really, though, why isn’t he tied up? Stupid or not, they’d do that, at least.”
    “Kano’s bound up along with the rest of them. Or at least it looks that way. To everyone else.”
    “Ooh, so he’s disguised himself again?”
    “Wait, what? What do you mean…?”
    “To put it simply, he has the ‘deceiving eyes’ ability. He can make them see something other than what’s actually there.”
    “I don’t…How does that…?”
    “Well, imagine you find this cute kitten on the street. You take it home, and whoops! It’s actually a huge Rottweiler. It’s kind of like that.”
    “Aw, that’s such a cute example, Kido!”
    Marie giggled to herself. Kido turned red in the face. It was a rare sight to see her this embarrassed.
    “No, I…Quit it, Marie. W-we’re not getting any pets, okay…?”
    “So he can make…optical illusions or something?”
    “Yeah, that’s close enough. It doesn’t have much range, though. He can only do it on himself.”
    “Huh…”
    “Remember when we were walking here? He didn’t look it, but he was actually running lookout duty for us the whole time. That’s how he spotted that bike.”
    “…Oh.”
    So when I thought he was walking backward, he was actually watching the whole street for us?
    Did he not want us to notice, or…?

    “That’s pretty amazing, but still…uh…”
    “Oh yeah. He’s still an idiot.”

    The man with his fingers in a V in the photo was flashing a healthy, contented smile, only serving to further emphasize how silly the whole thing looked.
    But I had to hand it to him—he did calm us down. There wasn’t even a sniffle from Marie any longer.
    He might be a more amazing person than even he lets on.
    Especially compared to that idiot brother of mine behind him. All he ever does is make me worry.
    The first time he goes out in forever, and look what happens. We’re never gonna get him out of his room now.

    As I looked at the photo, pondering over this, an idea sprang to mind.
    The idea quickly began to spawn other ideas, and before long, a plan began to form in my head.
    “Ah…ah…!!”
    “Mm? What? What is it?”
    “With your ‘concealing eyes,’ and my…”
    “Huh? What are you going on about?”
    Kido’s vote of complete nonconfidence made me feel a tad abashed, I had to admit.
    But this plan I had just conceived might be our only chance out of this situation.
    “Listen, boss. I’m not totally sure, but I think we might be able to beat these guys.”
    “…What do you mean?”
    “Well, it’s like this…uh. It’s kind of hard to put into words…Can I borrow your cell phone? I want to brainstorm a bit while I try writing it out.”
    “Oh? Sure, but…”
    “So, here’s the basic idea…”
    As I tapped away at Kido’s cell phone, a man’s voice suddenly sprang forth from the department store speakers. The terrorist leader, I imagined.
    “A one-billion-yen ransom…? Man, these guys are pretty stupid, too.”
    “One billion does sound a little stupid, doesn’t it? It’s like what a child would imagine when he tries to think of a really big pile of money.”
    Perhaps because of the sheer lunacy we had just seen among the hostages, the terrorists themselves were starting to look pretty dumb as well.
    “Hey, uh, how much is one billion?”
    “Imagine you made two flowers a day, Marie. Then do that for the next one hundred million days.”
    “One hundred…huh? I don’t get it.”
    “Ah, forget about it…”
    I struggled to write out my plan in concrete form as I cast a less-thanfocused ear toward the terrorists’ verbal manifesto.
    Using the reply window from Kano’s text, I silently typed away at the software keyboard.
    “Uh, hang on, give me just one second…This goes here, and…”
    “Take your time, but…are you sure you really got something?”
    “Yeah, I think so…Wait. Huh? Oh, okay. Uhhh…”
    Halfway through writing it out, I realized I had forgotten the last part.
    Uh-oh. Ending too early would lead to casualties, a lot of them. I had to avoid that, no matter what…
    “Oh, no…Maybe not?”
    “What?! Don’t give me that!”
    “Ahhh, just give me another second…ummm…”
    “Hey, hey, what’re you two talking about?”
    Marie, listening in from the side, suddenly ducked her head close to mine.
    I hadn’t noticed before as I spoke with Kido all this time, but Marie was acting remarkably calm at this point.
    “Oh, um…just kind of putting together a plan of operations, so…”
    “Oooh, an operation? Coooool…!”
    “Hey, shut up for a second, Marie. You’re not helping.”
    “Aww…”
    “Hmm? Well, hang on a second…My ‘drawing eyes,’ Marie’s ‘locking eyes’…”
    “Huh? What was that, Kisaragi? Hey, tell me too!”
    “…Yeah!…Yeah, I think this could work! All set!”
    It was finally all typed in. I showed off my cell-phone treatise to Kido, with Marie craning her neck to read along.

    “Hmm…Whoa, hang on. Who’s this girl showing up midway?”
    “Uh, it’s someone I know, and…well, it’s just like I have it written, so…”
    “And she’ll do that?”
    “She will…or should…probably. No, definitely! B-but that’s what I want Kano to check on!”
    “Oooh, that’s my name there at the end!”
    “So, so is it all right if I just text this to him…?!”
    “Hmm…assuming she’s actually over there, then maybe…”
    “Huh…?”
    Kido remained where she was, mulling things over within her mind. Suddenly, she looked back toward me.
    “No…This is a good plan. Assuming she’s really there, I mean. It might be the only course of action we have right now…Not bad, rookie.”
    “…Great! Thanks, boss! Here, let me send this…!”

    I was elated.
    None of the compliments I’ve received in my life ever made me happier, maybe.
    I was so glad I joined the Mekakushi-dan.

    “Hey, um, what’s the operation? I don’t get it.”
    “Oh…uh, I’ll give you a signal! So just stick close to me until then, okay, Marie?”
    “Um? O-okay! I’ll try to be ready!”
    Marie made two fists, trying her hardest to make a tiny, waifish “Let’s do this!” muscle flex for us.
    She and I needed to work in perfect tandem for this operation to have any chance, but there was no time to rehearse. All I could hope was that things would work out once we got started.
    I was still a tad nervous, but it was going to work…We had to make it work!

    A new text arrived on Kido’s phone.
    It hadn’t been that long since I sent mine, but it was from Kano nonetheless.

        “Subject: Fun!
        Kisaragi, your plan sounds so fun! I think the girl you were talking about is here, too. I heard her voice earlier. Such a brave lass! I’ll try to make sure, but can you get closer without getting caught? Also I had some time to kill so I took another selfie—”

    Once I made it to that point, I clicked “yes” on “Delete?” without even thinking about looking at the attached photos.

    “I think it’s A-OK on his end!”
    “Yeah? Good.”
    Kido had probably assumed Kano’s text was just as insipid as the last one.
    “But do you think we’ll be safe if we try getting closer?”
    “As long as we don’t bump into anyone, no problem. But keep a sharp lookout. They’re armed with guns.”
    “Right!”
    It was time to begin operations. Bunching together, the three of us emerged into the main aisle.
    Looking across the showroom, I saw the hostages gathered in front of the wall.

    “Wow…they really were taken hostage, weren’t they? It didn’t really feel real to me until now.”
    “Me neither. Don’t go too far away from us, Marie.”
    “I won’t!”

    Earlier, Marie had been terrified of the crowds, but now that we were facing actual, literal terrorists with real guns, she seemed more or less fine. I was starting to think she might be something pretty special.

    Getting as close as I could, hugging the edge of the aisle, I finally reached a safe angle to spot Kano and my brother sitting on the floor.

    “Ugh. That fool’s grinning ear to ear. At least try to conceal yourself, you idiot.”
    “Look at Shintaro. All serious like that…He’s usually a massive wimp, too…I have this sneaking suspicion he’s thinking the same thing I am.”
    “Yeah? Maybe you resemble each other in more ways than one…Marie, what are you doing?”
    “Oh, uh, I thought this looked really neat, so…”
    Marie was carrying a handheld electric massager.
    Judging by her expression, she must have thought it was some sort of weapon.

    “…Sure, fine. Put it back later, okay?”
    “ ’Kay, I will!”
    “Ha-ha-ha…Right. Let’s go around through this aisle.”

    Ducking into a smaller side corridor, we saw a stubble-bearded man, the apparent leader of the group, sitting on a bench. He was playing with his cell phone as he seemingly idled away the time. The confidence he exuded indicated that everything was going according to his devious plan.

    “That’s the main guy, isn’t it? He sure looks like a meanie.”
    “Yeah, it’s gotta be. That beard makes him seem positively deranged.”
    “Wow, he’s scary…”
    He likely wasn’t expecting a gaggle of young women critiquing his looks as he sat there.
    Still, this was it. A terrifying criminal mastermind, right before our eyes.
    The stubbly, unkempt beard only served to complete the “vicious, rampaging maniac” image.
    “Oh, there’s Kano…”
    “You just noticed now?”
    “Yeah. I went and got this first, so…Whoa! Huh…? A-a-a-ahhh!!”
    “Hey, what’re…?!”

    As Marie held the massager into the air, she tripped over the electrical cord she had been dragging behind the whole time. As she tumbled to the ground, the massager flew in the air, straight for the stubble-bearded man.

    “Aaaahhhhhhhhh!!”

    Kido’s and my scream sounded out in perfect harmony. We tried to reach for the massager, but it managed to strike the man right on the back of his head.
    The man’s expression instantly twisted in pain. Just as it did, Kido slid in, catching the massager just in time before it clanged to the floor. The deed done, we all scurried back into a side aisle.
 
    “Are you stupid?! Do you want to die here?!”
    “Eep…I, I’m sorry…”
    “Phew…I thought for sure we were dead. I didn’t think you’d actually see all those flashbacks and everything…”
    Sitting down in the aisle, we could hear the stubble-bearded man’s minions groan in pain as their leader flew into a psychotic rage.
    We’re really sorry about that, minions…Not that you don’t deserve to be punished, but…

    After a moment, another text from Kano reached Kido’s phone.

         “Subject: Good to go!
        Your bro says if he gets a chance it’ll be 100 percent OK! This is starting to get fun! Oh, and that thing you just did…It was amazing, lol.”

    Looking up from the aisle toward the hostages, I spotted my brother, his face still oddly solemn. Waiting for the right chance I supposed. A grinning Kano sat behind him.
    The text continued:

        “Anyway, I’m starting to get bored. Wanna go home. Oh, and don’t worry, I told your bro to wait until the beard guy starts broadcasting again.”

    “I think it’s all good over there. Let’s keep this operation going!”
    “All right…I’m ready!”
    “Good. I really don’t want to see any more of that bearded guy…!”
    “Hey, um, don’t you think I should apologize to him…?”
    “Look, don’t go away from me until I say it’s okay, all right?”
    “Uh, okay!”
    Marie’s hand was clamped upon Kido’s jacket, just like before.
    “Well, here we go…”
    “Uh-huh…Whoa! He’s got another message?!”
    Just as we had walked into the main aisle, the PA system came to life once more.
    “Huh…?! He’s too early! C’mon, Marie! Hurry!”
    “Wha? Huh…? Ahh!”

    We made our way toward the TV section, me taking the lead while Kido half-dragged Marie along with her.
    Cutting across the main aisle, we reached the opposite side of the stubble-bearded guy and his men, the hostages located between us.
    I could see several dozen big-screen TVs on display across the right-hand wall.

    “Great! We’re in ti—”
    The next sight that crossed my eyes was the still-enraged stubble-bearded man picking my brother up by the hair.
    “Sh-Shintaro…”
    “Wait! I told you, don’t go by yourself! You’re the only one who knows how we’re timing this thing!”
    “…!!”
    She was right. But look at him! Right in front of me…!
    “…K-Kisaragi!”
    “Huh…?”
    Without warning, Marie had grabbed my hand.
    “I don’t really get it…but it’s all right!”
    She applied more force to my hand as she continued, eyes pointed straight at mine.

    “…This is gonna work!!”

    The moment she said it, all sound disappeared from my world.
    I could feel an intense heat from within my eyes, as if every nerve in my body was pointed toward my vision.
    Suddenly, I could tell exactly where the eyes of every person in the showroom were looking.

    “…Okay!”

    I took a deep breath and focused.
    There were nine terrorists on this floor. I could easily spot their positions from here.
    “Boss! The forty-two-inch TV, third from the left! We’ll start with that!”
    “Got it. Marie, let’s go.”
    “Uh, okay…!”

    The three of us lined up in front of the television I marked out, placing our hands behind it.
    Now it all comes down to timing.
    And I, more than anyone else, knew the exact moment people’s eyes would be upon us.

    “…for life…”

    …Keep waiting…hold on…!

    “I hope all you bastards get shut into a jail cell for life!”

    Shintaro was suddenly being pretty cool for someone who was normally so useless.

    The moment his voice echoed across the showroom floor, all eyes focused upon him.
    All those eyes, and now I can draw every one of them!
    “Now! Go!”

    The television smashed to the ground with a loud crash.
    At that moment, everyone focused on the TV’s shattered carcass.
    The moment every single one of them began to gasp, we knocked over the speakers lying beneath it.

    “Where next?!”
    “Next is…There! That shelf!”
    “…That’s more taking a potshot than attracting attention, no?”
    “Ha-ha…Maybe a little.”
    The stubble-bearded man approached, pistol in his hand.
    “There somebody in—?!”
    “Two, and three!”
    On three, we all kicked the merchandise shelf over in unison.
    “Ngh! Whoa!”
    An avalanche of heavy electronics flew off the shelf, effectively burying the man.
    “Now…!”
    Looking across the collapsed shelf, I saw my brother stand up and start running.
    He ran right past my side, not giving me a moment’s notice, a stern look of resolve on his face.
    “—You’re up, Ene.”
    I found myself murmuring it out loud.
    There was no way I’d get a response. I wasn’t expecting one.

    I heard my brother call for Ene as her image floated across screen after screen.
    Just as I thought it was all over…

    —I heard a single gunshot.

    “…?!”

    Turning around, I saw my brother on the ground in front of the computer.

    “…Huh…?”
    “Dammit! They got him…!”

    A large motor rumbled to life, and the shutter began to clatter its way upward.

    “…Shintaro!!”
    My brother had fallen facedown. He wasn’t getting up.
    Kano ran up to his side.
    “Come on, Kisaragi! The shutter’s open! Hurry!”
    “—!!”
    Once the shutter was about eight inches open, I could see the feet of the police squadron as they prepared to storm in from the other side.
    Kido, noticing them, let out a panicked yelp.
    The showroom floor was the loudest it had ever been.
    Several terrorists pointed toward the shutter, shouting something in loud, frazzled voices.

    If the shutter kept opening and a gun battle erupted between the cops and the terrorists, we could have dozens of injuries on our hands.

    “Kisaragiiiii!”
    “I know…!”

    I need to get my brother out of here. Now. I have to do this!

    “Marie!”
    “Yeah!”
    “…Let’s go!”

    I nodded to Kido, and then she released her ability from me.

    At that moment, I could feel the eyes of everyone in the area, including the terrorists, focus upon me—no meaning to it, no reason, no matter of preference; just nothing but unrelenting stares.

    “This…this is Kisaragi. Momo Kisaragi. Sixteen years old.—And I’m a pop idol!”

    —Silence.
    At that moment, my “drawing eyes” had ensnared them all.

    “It’s all you now, Marie!!”

    Before my eyes, Marie began to walk forward.
    She stopped right between myself and all the eyes pointed toward me.

    Marie’s “locking eyes” locked upon every gaze except for mine. Her hair began to writhe, and with her deep, deep red eyes, she said:

    “Sorry.”

    —It sounded almost like a magical time-stopping incantation.
    “Charrrrrrrrge!…Ah?!”

    I could hear the shutter clatter. A chaotic drumbeat of footsteps spontaneously erupted.
    The police squadron were past the shutter.
    But not only were the hostages safe—the terrorists offered them zero resistance, their eyes still fixated upon a single point in space.

    Nobody was there.
    Or, to be exact, no one could recognize the presence of anyone there.

    “Blindfold complete, I guess.”

    Kido sighed raspily in apparent relief.
    Her eyes had a red tinge to them, the fatigue all too clear on her face.

    “…! Shintaro!”
    I ran up to my brother, lying on the ground nearby.
    “…Kano! How is he?!”
    Kano, watching over him, had a profoundly serious look on his face, like none I’d seen before.
    “…Sadly…”
    No…! It can’t be…!!
    “—Sadly, I think he just fainted. Must’ve gotten, like, grazed, you know?”

    My brother was muttering in his sleep, his face pained. “Give me a break…” he moaned. “I just had a crazy impulse…”

    …Ugh. He acted so cool just now, too. I take it all back.
    —My idiot brother was just that all along. An idiot.

    The police squadron had the situation with the terrorists fully under control, although their statuesque behavior was an obvious surprise to them. It was understandable. Even the hostages sat completely motionless.
    “Hey! You all right? Hey! Hello?!”
    “Just…Just get them under arrest! There’s one under that shelf, too! Get him secure!”
    As the squadron fanned out across the showroom floor, Kido, Kano, and I congratulated one another on a mission well done.
    “That was some pretty impressive thinking, you know? Like, getting everyone to focus on Marie like that.”
    “Yeah…I figured Shintaro would get the shutter open for us, but I didn’t want the terrorists to start trading fire with the cops. So I was trying to figure out how to keep everyone where they were, and then I remembered Kano getting petrified like he did, so…”
    “Huh. Sounds like that dumbass actually came in handy.”
    “Hey, quit being so mean! Oh, did you see the photos, Kido? You know, the ones I sent?”
    “Deleted ’em.”

    We could all breathe a sigh of relief now. The police, their terrorist mop-up work complete, were now frantically trying to figure out how to get them moving and talking again.

    “Well…that’s that, isn’t it?”
    “Yep…You did good, Kisaragi. It’s all thanks to you.”
    “Huh? Aww…heh-heh-heh. Oh, speaking of, where did Marie—”
    Realizing that Marie was no longer nearby, I took a look around, only to find a terrifying sight unfold before me.
    Marie, electric massager still firmly in hand, was being pelted with a barrage of questions from one of the police officers.

    “Aaaagghh!!”
    Just as before, I shouted alongside Kido in unison.
    “That stupid little…! She went to put that thing back!”
    “Oh man oh man oh man…Now what? This is pretty bad, isn’t it?!”
    “Ha-ha-ha! That’s the massager she bopped that stubble-bearded guy with, huh? Like, of all the weapons she had to pick! She’s a comedic genius! Oh, man, I’m gonna bust a gut…”
    “Will you shut up for a minute?! Dammit…Now what…?”
    Kano fell to the floor at the force of Kido’s well-timed punch.

    As we bickered with one another, Marie was gradually surrounded by a herd of officers.
    She was doing her best to plead with them about something, looking ready to cry at any moment.
    “Uh…boss, did Marie just point at us…?”
    “Oh, you have to be kidding—”
    “W-whoa! They’re coming this way! Ah…Dammit, Kano, stand up! You’re in the way!!”
    “You knocked…the wind…outta me…”
    “I…You…Ugh, just get up!…Oh no…”

    The moment after Kido groaned pathetically at his assailant, one of the approaching officers tripped over Kano’s body. Shouting in abject surprise, he flailed for balance before falling flat on the floor.

    “Let’s…” “Let’s…”
    “Run!!” “Get outta here!!”

    I took off right alongside Kido as I made a beeline for Marie.
    She finally noticed me once I reached in between the cops to grab her hand, an expression of relief spreading across her face.
    I could hear the officers left around her shouting things like “Where are you going?!” and “Wait, little girl!” but I was in no mood to stop running.
    But what now…?!

    Just as I felt my mind beginning to panic, the showroom floor was suddenly filled with noise. Marie’s petrification had finally run its course. The policemen immediately turned their eyes to the crowd. Kido was ready for it.

    Presumably we had gone unnoticed once more.
    One of the officers looked back. “She’s…gone?!” he blurted out apprehensively.

    “Kisaragi! We can’t stay here! Let’s get going!”
    “R-right!…Oh, but…!”
    “…Kano!! Pick up Kisaragi’s brother and get moving!”
    “Whaa? Man, what a pain in the…er, nothing! No pain whatsoever! Like, I can’t wait to carry this dude around!”
    “That’s a bad cover-up job, Kano…”

    Thanks to the ominous fist clenched above Kido’s head, Kano was kind enough to carry my brother away.
    As he did, I could hear my brother murmuring, “Nnngh…Give me a break, man…” into Kano’s ear, over and over again. It made me pray for sudden deafness.

    “Oh! Wait!…Ene! You there?”
    I took the cell phone connected to the computer and was greeted by a cheerful girl’s voice.
    “Ohh! Is that you, Momo?! Wow, are you out shopping, too?! What happened to my master?!”
    “Uhh…I’ll explain later, okay? Do you mind coming with us for now?”
    “Oh, absolutely! To the amusement park?”
    “Uh…no, not exactly…?”
    “C’mon! We’re going!”
    “O-okay!!”

    I ran as fast as I could for the stairwell.
    What on earth did I even come here for? I still don’t have a new phone, and we didn’t so much as look at any tea sets.

    Of course, if I did accomplish anything here…
    I looked toward Marie. Her breathing was already accelerated from all the excitement.
    “Hey, Marie?”
    “Y-yeah, Kisa…I mean, Momo?”
    “—!…You know, I’m really starting to love this day!”

    Marie looked confused for a moment. Then she beamed at me. “Me too,” she said softly.

    “…Thanks!”
    “—Hey! Momo, Momo!”

    I heard Ene’s voice from the phone in my pocket.

    “Mm? What is it, Ene?”
    “What’s with you two? Is it one of those yuri things? You know, girl-ongirl romance and—”
    I shut off the phone’s power and stuck the handset as deep as my pocket would go.
    “ ‘Yuri’? As in lily flowers? Ooh, they’re so beautiful, aren’t they?”
    “N-no! Forget about it! It’s no big deal, Marie!”
    “…?”
    I started to sweat, this time for reasons besides our running pace.
    The utter lack of tact that Ene showed on a regular basis may be one of the few things she and my brother have in common.
    “All right! Start going down!”
    Just as we reached the stairwell, I heard a mighty sigh behind me.
    “Uh…are you really expecting me to carry this guy all the way down? This is the seventh floor!”
    “Yep. And then outside.”
    Kido’s reply was enough to even make Kano’s face turn desperate.
    “Gehh…”
    “I’m sorry I have such an idiot brother, Kano. Let’s, uh, try to take it slow down—”
    “I’m telling you, it was her! Momo, in the flesh! I’m not lying to you!!”
    Just as I made the suggestion, I began to hear ominous-sounding testimony as the police interrogated the hostages. We exchanged worried glances.
    “She’s got to be somewhere nearby still! I swear, she saved us!”
    The voices gradually grew louder, ignoring the officers’ attempts at preserving the peace.
    “Looks like taking it slow isn’t an option, huh?”
    “I, I’m sorry…um…”
    “Ughh…What a day this turned out to be…”
    “I, I can’t hold him anymore…”

    The sun filtering in through the windows was as powerful and punishing as always.
    It was still chokingly hot outside, no doubt.
    The cicadas had to still be blaring as loudly as they could, and I could already picture the haze rising up off the white-hot asphalt.

    It was enough to fill me with more than a little bit of dread, but it was far, far different from the kind I felt before.

    August 14th.
    No way am I ever going to forget what happened today.

• Previous: Kagerou Daze III
• Title: Kagerou Daze, Vol1_ In a Daze
• Next: Epilogue