002
I was trapped in the gym storage room.
No, it’s not actually accurate to say that I was trapped—technically, I had been driven into the gym storage room.
Given that it was the gym storage room of Naoetsu High School, I can’t help but be reminded of the time when I went against the vampire hunter Dramaturgy, a vampire-killing vampire. Back then as I was chopped into pieces by both of his flamberges, I was forced to scuttle into the gym storage room as well.
A chill ran down my spine just thinking back to that spring break, which was a quite literal do-or-die situation for me. But strangely enough, in the current situation, I didn’t feel any negative emotions at all.
Because this case was different.
Because this evening, I was not alone.
“It’s a strange thing, Risuka-chan. Even though I just met you today,
I feel like we’ve been fighting together for a long time.”
“Your imagination is probably what that feeling is.”
It was a strange phrasing of words (dialect?). The one who turned around and answered me was a girl sitting on track and field mats piled up in the left corner of the gym storage room—a girl of about 10 years of age, sitting on a pile of mats, pointing the blade of a box cutter at me.
A box cutter?
“Pfft, this reminds me of my early days with Senjougahara.” “H-how can you remain so composed with a blade pointed at you?” Red hair, red eyes.
Red thigh highs and red dress.
Red witch’s hat and red gloves.
All, entirely red.
Both the box cutter and the holster for carrying it were red—the only thing that wasn’t red was the silver handcuffs that adorned her right wrist like a bracelet, perhaps as some kind of fashion accessory.
In the town where I lived, you didn’t see many people with outfits like that, even if they were an oddity. But, it looked good on her, there was no sense of discomfort whatsoever.
From the very beginning, it felt like I was watching a paradise bird, covered in intricate patterns—looking again with the eyes of a high school student who knew a thing or two about fashion, I couldn’t help but intently admire the coordination of those designs.
“B-but aren’t you staring at my absolute territory? Not intently, but pervertedly.”
“Dear me! Looks like we’re in agreement for the first time, Risuka-chan.”
“What I don’t want you doing is answer in a cool way to this kind of question.”
“But I’ll tell you one thing. There isn’t a single non-absolute area on your entire skin.”
“What do you know about my skin?”
Risuka-chan said in a disgusted manner and adjusted the aim of her box cutter towards me with even more precision—if she came any closer than she already was, it would go without saying that I would be cut down without mercy.
Schk schk schk schk…..
Schk schk schk schk…..
Schk schk schk schk…..
She slid the blade in and out as if threatening me.
“Koyomi. I know someone like you. Someone I met in the past.”
Mm… I guess I needed to do some deciphering here. Let’s see, “I know someone like you”? “Someone I met a long time ago,” is that what she meant?
“Really? It’s hard to believe. I wouldn’t have thought people similar to me could even exist.”
“Do you have to show off for each thing you are saying?”
“By any chance, are they the ‘Kizutaka’ guy you spoke of before?”
“No. Kagetani Hebiyuki, a magician.”
I see.
I didn’t know what kind of guy he was, but just hearing his name, I couldn’t help but feel a connection—he must be a fellow gentleman, kind to children just like me.
The fact that I had a fellow companion somewhere out there in this world, or maybe in another world, was really reassuring. I was happy to know that I wasn’t alone, but unfortunately, that happiness was shortlived.
Clunk—the sound of the door being kicked reverberated throughout the gym storage room.
“!”
“He’s here!”
Risuka-chan stood up on the mat—her wobbly behavior due to her sudden movement on the soft mat was cute. However, while that may have been the case, I couldn’t afford to ignore the presence repeatedly kicking the iron door.
By the time my gaze reached the door, it had already morphed into a dented bumpy mess.
I lurked along with Risuka-chan on our honeymoon, wait no. I mean, in this locked room. I was helpless in the face of the pressure that threatened to kick down the iron door… Hm?
Why did I assume that the attacker on the other side of the door was “kicking,” or that the sound was caused by them “kicking the iron door”?
Because I could.
Regardless of whether I wanted to, I had to...
“What do we do, Risuka-chan?”
I asked, preparing myself for battle.
“It’s only a matter of time before he comes storming in here.”
“Time?”
Then, Risuka-chan jumped off the mats and landed beside me with a casual demeanor that seemed too used to battle for a 10-year-old girl. Then, with a fearless smile, she said:
“The concept of time is problem that is immensely trivial where I am concerned.”
Crrrrreeeeaaaaaaaaak!
And with that, the iron door was finally torn open.
What I saw on the other side of that torn-apart door was—as expected, a foot.
A right foot.
With a heel kick from that right foot, the iron door was torn open like a slit plastic bag—but the person standing there was not a taekwondo practitioner or a soccer player.
I repeat again. It was a right foot—yes. With only the right leg attached.
A self-supporting right foot—an autonomous right foot.
That foot, without shoes or socks, looked like a part of a dismembered corpse, as often found in shinhonkaku mystery stories. One of the Six Wizards led by Mizukura Kagi.
This was the right foot of the magician once targeted by Mizukura Risuka, the magician of multiplication known as Carousel—the right leg of Chikyuugi Mizore.
---------------
2 Araragi first says 蜜月 (mitsugetsu, “honeymoon”) instead of 密室 (misshitsu, “locked room”).
3 The Shinhonkaku School (新本格派, lit. “Neo-Orthodox School”) of detective fiction is a Japanese genre of mystery characterised by more metatextually dense and youthful stories than their more classically-styled counterparts.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login