Amagi Brilliant Park - Volume 8 - Chapter 3

3: In the Ruins 

Though abandoned, most of the old Sanami Amusement Park’s structures were still intact: Roller coasters, merry-go-rounds, Ferris wheels, teacups... nearly all of it was where it had always been. Everything was dirty with rust and limescale, and creaked unsettlingly every time the wind blew past; weeds grew wild and high through cracks in the pavement. Nearby, several of the cars of the Ferris wheel had lost their linchpins from aging and seemed like they might crash to the ground any second. It looked like Handa-san was right, in that young locals slipped in every now and then; most of the buildings were tagged with graffiti, and there wasn’t an unbroken window in sight. AmaBri had been in bad shape when Seiya first visited it last March, but it was nothing compared to this. 
“It’s 330,000 square meters... that’s about two-thirds of AmaBri’s current area,” Isuzu said, while reading through the documents Handa-san had given her. The two of them were standing in the park’s entry plaza, wearing their borrowed yellow safety helmets. Handa-san had said she’d be waiting near the entrance; she didn’t know enough about the property to give them an in-depth tour. “Not very big...” Sento muttered. 
“We’re too big at the moment,” Seiya told her. “And it’s about right for a place in the mountains.” 
“It’s hilly as well,” Isuzu argued back. “It might be hard for children and the elderly to get around.” 
“Well... we can compensate with elevators and escalators. Universal design is important anyway, nowadays.” 
“The demolition will be costly. I would estimate one billion yen to remove the existing structures.” 
“It would be, normally,” Seiya agreed. “But having the Mogute Clan on our side will give us more breathing room.” 
“And then there’s the poor access... construction will be challenging,” Isuzu put in, “given the narrowness of the road leading here. Bringing in the heavy machinery we need, alone, will be a significant feat.” 
“What’s with you? Don’t you have anything positive to say?” Seiya said in annoyance. 
Isuzu furrowed her brow slightly. “I’m merely giving you the facts. That is my job.” 
“Hmph.” 
“Even so...” Isuzu looked out over the ruins. “It’s a depressing sight, isn’t it? I feel like I’m seeing one possible future for AmaBri...” 
“Of course you do,” Seiya grumbled. “This is completely how it would have ended up if I hadn’t arrived. You could show a little gratitude...” 
“I’m always stunned by the confidence it must take for you to say such things...” she mused. 
“Come on, let’s look around.” Seiya ignored Isuzu’s barbs and began to walk towards the hall of mirrors just ahead, while adjusting the safety helmet he’d borrowed from Handa-san. Of course, the mirrors out front were all broken, and the structure was so covered in ivy and graffiti that it was hard to tell where the original entrance even was. 
“It looks dangerous,” Isuzu cautioned him. “Like the whole building might come down at any minute.” 
“Wait outside if you like, then,” Seiya retorted. 
“I think that I will. You’ll need someone to inform the others when you’re mortally injured.” 
“......” He had no reply to that one. Couldn’t she show concern like a normal person? That said, they were only here to examine the grounds; he didn’t actually have to paw through the ruins themselves. Still, Seiya wanted to get a feel for how badly off the buildings were, and to estimate how much the removal might cost. 
He was approaching the hall of mirrors, peering in, when he caught sight of a feral cat inside. “There’s a cat in there,” he remarked. 
“A cat?” Isuzu questioned. 
“Well, it looked like a cat, anyway...” He’d only seen it for a second; some kind of small, black-and-white animal that had slipped through the corridor just ahead of him. It was so sudden that he couldn’t be sure, but it had looked like a cat to Seiya, at least. 
“A feral cat colony might prove troublesome,” she observed. 
“Why?” 
“We’d have to drive them out before we could demolish the buildings, wouldn’t we?” 
“It’s not that big a deal. We can just lure them out with cat food or something.” 
“Seiya-kun,” Isuzu protested again, “this isn’t safe.” 
“Actually, it’s surprisingly intact...” he told her. Despite its outer appearance, conditions inside the hall of mirrors weren’t that bad. There were a few broken mirrors, and Seiya saw a lot of graffiti, but that was the worst of it. He proceeded down a path and turned a corner, where he spotted the cat in a T-intersection ahead. It was too dark for him to see it clearly. 
Is that... really a cat? he wondered. Maybe not. It was too round to be a cat, and its legs and tail were too stubby. What was it, then? A puppy? A piglet? The animal disappeared around the corner. “Piglet” seemed like the best guess, but it was hard to imagine wild hogs in a place like this... 
“Seiya-kun?” Isuzu called after him. 
“I’m just going to have a look,” he called back. Seiya followed the small animal, taking several more turns. He was surrounded by mirrors, by countless Seiyas in safety helmets. He couldn’t tell where the openings were; there were no lights, thanks to the building’s abandoned state. 
All right, maybe this was a little dangerous... he thought uneasily. Hands outstretched to keep from banging into any mirrors, he fumbled his way forward and proceeded carefully. 
“Seiya-kun? Where are you?” Isuzu asked from afar. 
“Just shut up and wait outside!” he yelled. 
“Seiya-ku—” Her voice seemed to get further away. It was probably because of the winding pathways. He didn’t think Isuzu would get hurt, but he was still a little worried. 
Seiya came out into a faintly lit passageway. The exit was probably close. After a little more uncertain walking, he found the little creature again. It wasn’t a piglet; it was a tapir. 
Black and white fur; short and stout body; long, dangling snout—a tapir. 
“A tapir? What’s... a tapir doing here?” he asked. Had the old Sanami Amusement Park been home to some kind of miniature zoo? He’d seen no suggestion of that on the guide sign at the entrance... 
“Oink,” the tapir said. 
Seiya wasn’t aware that tapirs made noises like pigs, but the oink seemed to carry a sense of “follow me.” He wasn’t exactly happy being at the beck-and-call of a tapir, but his curiosity won out. Keeping his guard high, Seiya followed after it. 
He came out of the hall of mirrors, on what seemed to be the other side of the building. Ahead of him, a narrow path traced a leisurely curve. 
“Oink.” The tapir took off running. Seiya hesitated, then looked back. He was worried about Sento. 
“Sento! I’m going to go on a little further!” he shouted. “Just stay where you are!” The ruins were so quiet, she could probably still hear him if he shouted. But no reply came. “Hey! Sento?!” he tried again. 
“Oink...” The tapir was leaving. If he waited too long, he’d lose sight of it. 
“Ah! ...Just stay there, okay, Sento?!” Still no response. He was sure she must have heard him, though... 
Seiya quickly followed the tapir. He ran down the overgrown path and turned several corners. 
“Oink,” he heard it say again, but he couldn’t see it. Its cries grew more and distant as he ran, and eventually, Seiya lost sight of the tapir. 
The hill’s slope had put the hall of mirrors out of his sight by now; he couldn’t even tell which direction it was in. He was surrounded by overgrown vegetation and buildings deteriorated beyond recognition. The words on the signs were so faded by decades left to the elements that they could no longer be read. 
“Am I... lost?” he wondered. No, he could always get back to the gate using his smartphone’s compass app. Still, he had no idea where he was at the moment. And the remote mountain setting presented another problem: he wasn’t getting 3G, let alone wireless internet. 
The September sunlight was still harsh. It glared blindingly off the white, cracked asphalt. Traversing all the hills had caused him to sweat profusely. The heat was unbelievable. 
“Whew...” He walked up a long hill, panting for breath. The path here was wide; he was flanked by the remains of attractions long since deteriorated. 
Actually... these weren’t exactly attractions. They were haunted houses, shooting ranges, carnival games, and lunch corners: rusted and weather-beaten; faded, dirty, and overgrown. 
But even among them, Seiya noticed one building still intact. The sign was faded and hard to read. All he could see was “—us” on the far right side. But the walls were in good condition, and it was almost unusually clean. 
What’s that place? he was thinking, when just then, he heard a hoarse voice. 
“H-H-Hey! Y-You there, young man!” 
“...?” 
“Yes, y-you there! What are you d-d-doing here?” 
Seiya turned to see an old man, dressed in a worn track suit. His hair and beard were overgrown and wild; he wore a ratty towel like a cape, and he limped toward Seiya, dragging one foot behind him. He was, in a word, the quintessential homeless man. 
“I’m not sure how to answer that...” Seiya finally responded. He genuinely wasn’t. He couldn’t exactly tell some stranger that he was thinking of moving AmaBri here. “I’m just taking a walk. I’m, er... interested in old ruins.” 
“Th-This place isn’t a ruin!” the old man protested vigorously. “C-Can’t you see? It’s an am-m-musement park!” 
“The ruins of an amusement park, yes,” Seiya agreed. 
“N-N-No! It’s an am-m-musement park!” 
“Ah-hah...” The man seemed adamant about the idea, so Seiya just dropped the issue and began to look around. “Er... do you live here, then? Is there anyone else here?” He couldn’t see any kind of settlement, at least. Driving out people would be much more difficult than driving out a feral cat colony. 
“N-N-No... I d-d-don’t want to tell you...” 
“No reason to hide it, is there?” Seiya questioned. 
“S-Sometimes... people like you come in c-c-crowds and... and a-a-ask all kinds of questions... m-making such a racket...” the old man grumbled. “I’m s-sick of it.” 
“I’m very sorry to hear that,” Seiya responded politely. 
“S-Sorry?” The old man parted his bangs and looked at Seiya. His eyes were wrinkled and sunken, but they were also unexpectedly sharp. “A-Are you... by y-yourself?” 
“Well... at the moment, yes,” Seiya said, remembering that he’d left Isuzu behind. He doubted she’d be worried about him, but she might snipe at him later for walking around on his own. He should probably get back to her right away. 
“C-Come... over h-here...” 
“What? I don’t think—” 
“Just come along. It w-won’t... t-take long.” The man started walking toward the building behind him. He seemed to be muttering to himself, but Seiya couldn’t make out what he was saying. 
Uncertain as to what to do, Seiya remained where he was. Immediately, the old man yelled back at him, “C-Come with me... right now!” 
Seiya knew he should probably ignore him and go, but he couldn’t help but be curious. The man didn’t seem to be dangerous, at least... “Darn it...” Seiya shrugged and followed after him. 

The building was a two-story affair, designed to look like a single story from the outside; a common layout for these minor attractions. The second floor would be full of maintenance corridors and lighting equipment. It was all a mess from its long abandonment, and light streamed in from holes in the ceiling. 
The first floor was divided into several small rooms, but collapsing of the walls here and there made it hard to tell where corridors ended and rooms began. They went further in, until they arrived at a rather large hall. Here, it was surprisingly neat and tidy, with no trash or broken-down equipment. There was just a slightly elevated stage, surrounded by a half-circle arrangement of folding chairs. 
“S-Sit down,” the old man said. 
“Sit down?” Seiya asked. “Why?” 
“J-Just... s-sit,” the old man ordered. 
“All right...” Having no other choice, Seiya sat down in one of the spectator(?) seats. The dusty folding chair let out an unnerving creak beneath his weight. 
The old man came up onto the stage. “N... now I’m going to perform.” 
“Perform?” 
“Y-Your attention, please. Attention.” 
“Um...” 
“I’m g-going to perform! Attention, please!” 
“Um, but—” Seiya didn’t understand what was going on. 
While he sat there, dumbfounded, the man quickly began preparing his “performance.” He pulled out a small candle, the kind you’d put on a birthday cake. “N-Now... I’m going to light it.” 
“......” Seiya waited. 
“I w-won’t use a l-lighter, or a m-match. B-But I’ll light it. M-Mysterious... eh?” 
“Uh, sure...” 
“N-Now, pay close attention...” The old man began to rub the wick, purposefully, between thumb and forefinger. 
Ugh... Seiya could see a lot to criticize here. First, the man shouldn’t tell the audience what was about to happen; if you told them you were going to light the candle before you did, you would lose the air of surprise. 
Besides, the candle-lighting trick was one of the oldest in the book. You just had to rig the wick up with some magnesium or phosphorus sulfide. Even Seiya could perform that trick better than this— 

“Th-That’s strange... urhmm...” The old man continued to struggle, but he just couldn’t get the flame to light. Seiya waited three minutes. The candle never caught fire. 
“Well... th-th-these things h-happen...” the old man said, as he threw the candle to the floor in annoyance. “It’s p-probably just... the angle!” 
“Angle?” Seiya questioned. 
“Th-The humidity! I-It’s all wrong...” Grumbling to himself, the old man pulled out a deck of cards. They were the really cheap kind you’d find sold in shops like Daiso. “P-Pick any c-card you like from the d-d-deck!” 
“Okay...” 
“Th-Then I’ll guess which one it w-was. D-Draw!” The old man approached him on unsteady legs, then offered up the deck with trembling hands. Before Seiya could take one, though, the old man dropped the cards. “Ah... Ah. Ahhh...” the old man coughed in dismay, as they spilled out all over the floor. In an absolutely pathetic sight, the old man got down on his hands and knees and started to gather them up. 
“......” Finding it awkward to just sit back in his folding chair and wait, Seiya knelt down and tried to help him. 
“D-Don’t touch them!” the old man cried out, and Seiya found his hand slapped away. This motion, too, was weak, but it still left him surprised and dumbfounded. For whatever reason, this old man was trying to show him a magic trick. In other words, Seiya was his audience—how could he treat him this way? 
“I-I’ll p-p-pick them up. Y-You just... watch.” 
“But—” 
“W-Watch!” With that trembling, high-pitched shout, the old man continued to scoop up his cards... but he could barely even manage that. 
Seiya had no choice but to sit there and wait. It probably took five minutes in all. At last, the old man finished gathering them up and began to shuffle them again, slowly. A few remained at his feet, but he didn’t notice them. 
“D-Draw,” the old man demanded. Seiya did as he was told. It was the three of hearts. “N-Now put it back.” Seiya put the card back without showing it to the man. “Now... sh-shuffle.” He handed Seiya the cards, and Seiya shuffled them. “G-Give it back!” He did so. 
“N-Now, let me guess... W-W-Wait just a... minute...” With unsteady hands, the old man searched through the cards. Even a novice magician could probably do better than this. It seemed unlikely that this old man would guess the three of hearts. This was a classic old trick called ‘the ambitious card;’ Seiya had learned it when he was a child. Normally, you’d put the card on the top of the deck and show it off that way. You didn’t just try to verbally guess it. 
But the old man spoke: “Th-The six of diamonds.” 
He was wrong, but Seiya said nothing. 
The old man was bursting with confidence. “D-Did you... enjoy that?” 
“Huh?” 
“D-Did you enjoy it?!” 
“Um... er, well...” Seiya hadn’t enjoyed it at all, but he had to admit it was a novel experience. 
The old man muttered to himself, scratching his head. The action caused flakes the size of fingernails to fall, and Seiya grimaced at the sight. “A-Anyway... wh-what are you d-d-doing here?” the old man demanded to know. 
“I’m starting to wonder that myself...” Seiya grumbled. 
“Sh-Show’s over. G-Go home.” The old man waved his hand as if swatting flies, then turned to leave. 
“It’s over?” 
“I-It’s over.” 
“Hang on a minute. None of this makes any sense...” Being polite with the man was starting to feel like a nuisance. Seiya returned to his usual bluntness as he stormed after him. “Are you always here, doing this? Performing magic tricks for intruders?” 
“G-Go home,” the old man told him. 
“But it’s dangerous!” Seiya protested. “Haven’t you run into anyone violent?” 
The urban explorer types were probably respectful enough, but you could get bad eggs in a place like this, too; they’d trash the structures or paint graffiti just for fun, and torture any squatters they found for their own amusement. Seiya had seen more than one news report of someone venting their frustrations by beating an old person to death. His question wasn’t purely out of concern for the man, of course; he also didn’t want someone dying on the site they were planning on moving to. 
“I’m f-f-fine...” The old man entered a door in the back of the hall. It was probably a corridor leading backstage. “G-Go home.” 
“But...” Hesitant to just turn back, Seiya followed him into the dark passageway. The floor was littered with all kinds of things, and it was hard to find secure footing. It looked like a hoarder’s house. 
They came out of the building. The flower beds behind the ruins had been turned into fields for eggplants, onions, mustard greens... there seemed to be tubers planted, too. Was the old man growing them all? At the very least, there was no danger of him starving to death. 
On the other side of the field, Seiya saw something like a grave marker. It came up to about Seiya’s waist; dozens of fist-sized rocks, piled up on top of each other. It couldn’t be a human grave, of course. It was probably for a pet dog, or something like it. 
Beside a grove of trees, Seiya could see a small hut built out of scrap material, a cooking range made out of rocks and concrete, and a rusty pot. A large plastic bucket contained household water. 
He’s really made himself at home... Seiya thought. And for quite a few years, at that. He couldn’t believe this had never been a problem before. Were the real estate company and the city even doing their jobs? “How long have you been here?” he asked the old man. 
“I... I d-don’t know. Go h-home.” Despite his refrain, though, the old man showed no signs of trying to drive him out by force. He probably just didn’t care. 
The old man drank some water from the bucket, using a plastic bottle cut in half as a cup. There were dead bugs floating in the water’s surface. Seiya shuddered; his interest had acquired a sort of rubbernecking quality. Despite knowing it was rude, he poked his face inside the hut. 
The inside was a mess, too, but what drew his eyes more than anything were the written materials on display; books, books, and more books. The bookshelves were stuffed with novels and magazines, instruction manuals, nonfiction, dictionaries, annuals, and manga in all genres. There were the kind of “true stories” manga for women sold in convenience stores, and engineering documents you only saw in large bookstores. Lots of Western books, too. The old man must be going out into town to collect things people threw away. 
He must be an avid reader, Seiya decided. Fluent in English, too, perhaps. But the randomness of the assortment made it impossible for him to tell any more than that. 
Next to a pile of bundled-up rags Seiya assumed must be the bed, he noticed a small cage. It was full of shredded newspaper, and contained a small dish full of sunflower seeds. Probably a hamster. He could see it immediately as he got closer: a white hamster poked its nose out of its little nest. Did it think he was bringing it food? 
“Hmm?” The hamster looked on the skinny side. Maybe it hadn’t been fed properly. “There, there...” He offered it a curious finger. The hamster didn’t react immediately, but it eventually approached the finger, nose twitching. Its cute button eyes were pale and cloudy. Was it blind? 
“What are you doing?!” The old man exploded from behind. He sounded so angry that it caused Seiya to flinch. Frightened of the voice, perhaps, the hamster withdrew swiftly into its nest. 
“G-Get away from there!” The old man charged. 
“But I wasn’t—” 
“G-G-Get away!” The old man tried to shove Seiya, but he was so weak that it was the old man who was sent flying instead. “Urgh...” He hit the ground hard. Seiya tried to help him up, but the old man slapped his hand away. “G-G-Get away from me!” 
“Look, I’m sorry for barging in,” Seiya tried to apologize. “But you don’t have to be so—” 
“G-Get out!” 
“Guh...” Seiya grunted. The man had started throwing his manga and magazines. Seiya shielded his face with his arms, running out of the hut. 
“G-G-Get out! Get lost! You... you h-h-hoodlum!” 
“What’s the big deal?” Seiya protested. “It’s just a hamster!” 
“G-Get out!” 
“Okay, I’m sorry! But—” 
“Get out!” 
“Urgh...” The old man wouldn’t budge. Left with no other choice, Seiya just shrugged and walked away. For heaven’s sake. What’s he so angry about? None of this makes any sense, especially those weird tricks he did... 
Forget you, then. If I put out an eviction order and you try to resist it, I won’t help you. I’ll toss you out on your ass like the mad old squatter you are. Seiya stopped outside the hut and turned around. He thought the man might be trying to follow him, but he hadn’t; he had started talking to the hamster, as if he’d forgotten that Seiya was ever there. 
“Was it scary? Are you okay now? Are you hungry?” Seiya could only hear snippets, but that was roughly what it sounded like; the old man’s voice was overflowing with love and care. 
All that, for just a hamster? What’s that old man thinking? He tried to be dismissive, but Seiya still felt a strange chill up his spine, and found himself walking swiftly away. 

“Absolutely pathetic...” Seiya whispered to himself, once he’d gotten some distance from the hut. He didn’t know who that old man was. He didn’t want to know. All those bizarre tricks, the way he treasured that hamster... Seiya couldn’t muster any interest about any of it. He just found it pitiful; pitiful and ugly. 
The man had lived there for decades just to end up like that. To let that be the way your life ended... If he left that touched-in-the-head old man there, he’d eventually freeze to death in winter or get heatstroke in summer and die, one or the other. Neither ending was how any man should go out. 
That’s what people call “one of life’s losers,” Seiya thought. Gives me chills... like I’m going to catch bad luck just from being near him. I want to forget that old man as soon as possible. These were the unvarnished feelings of Kanie Seiya, 17-year-old boy. 
Ugh, seriously... that was unsettling. He found those thoughts entering his mind as he kept walking, when he caught sight of that tapir again. It was down the path, just past a brick building, at a fork in the road. That little round tapir that resembled a piglet... 
That’s right. It was following that tapir through the hall of mirrors that led me here... Seiya tried to follow it again, but the tapir got further away. 
He continued to follow it, anyway. Wait, tapir. The tapir didn’t wait, though. It just got further and further away. 
That’s when he heard a voice nearby. “Seiya-kun?” 
“Sento?” The next thing he knew, it was Sento at the fork in the road. The tapir was nowhere to be seen. 
“Where have you been? I’ve been searching everywhere.” There was anger in Isuzu’s voice. 
“What,” Seiya asked, “are you mad at me?” 
“Yes. I thought you had been in some kind of accident. Don’t you realize how worried I was?” 
“Oh, calm down. I was only gone for fifteen minutes.” 
“What are you talking about?” Isuzu demanded coldly. “It’s been four hours.” 
“What?” It was then that Seiya realized it: night was falling around them. Since they were in a mountain valley, the sun set early, and the sky was already a dusky indigo. “That can’t be,” he protested. “I was just—” 
Confused, he took out his smartphone. It was already 6:30. “Ugh...” he groaned. “What’s going on here?” 
Seeing him so confused, Isuzu’s expression turned concerned. “Did you fall and wind up unconscious? It might have affected your memories.” 
“No. I didn’t fall, and I’m not hurt. I was chasing that tapir...” 
“A tapir?” she questioned. “You mean, the animal?” 
“A tapir,” he confirmed. “Before we got separated, I think I said it was a cat. But it wasn’t a cat; it was a tapir.” 
“Seiya-kun... are you certain you’re all right?” 
“I’m totally fine! ...I mean, to be honest, I’m actually not sure right now. The point is, there was a tapir. That’s pretty unusual, right?” 
“I suppose... that is unusual,” Isuzu admitted. 
“Most people would follow it, wouldn’t they?” 
“I’m not sure most would, but it wouldn’t be unusual to do so,” she agreed. 
“Then I came to this weird theater,” he went on, “and I met this old man.” 
“Old man?” 
“I think he was homeless... well, he was a squatter technically, I guess. That old man... he performed for me, and... um...” Seiya trailed off. Now that he was saying it out loud, he realized how crazy it sounded. Even though it was only a few minutes ago, it already felt like the distant past. 
“You can explain later,” Isuzu told him firmly. “For now, we should find our way out.” 
“R-Right...” he agreed. They were on an abandoned property, which meant there was no lighting, and things were getting darker and darker by the minute. Once the sun set completely, they’d be lost in the ruins. 
“I told Handa-san to go back,” Isuzu told him. “She’s waiting at her office, and she’ll come and pick us up if we call her.” 
“I see... I’ve made a lot of trouble, I guess,” Seiya said. 
“I don’t mind. I’m just glad that you’re safe.” 
“I didn’t mean for you. I meant for Handa-san.” 
“......” Isuzu’s typically sour expression became even more dangerous. “You’re a louse, you know.” 
“Heh. You expect a man of my greatness to apologize to you?” 
“I spent four hours searching around these ruins for you,” she told him acerbically. 
“Then you must have gotten a good view of the property. Anyway, let’s hurry.” Seiya began to walk, heading for the ruined amusement park’s entrance.