Sasaki and Peeps - Volume 6 - Chapter 4.3

<The Neighbor’s POV>

Once I’m done cleaning myself up in the train station restroom, I wait until classes end and head back to school on foot.

My wet uniform sleeve feels gross. And really cold, too, when the wind blows on it. I’ll change into my gym clothes once I get to school, then head home, I think, walking silently down the road in the light of the setting sun.

When I get to the front gates, though, I see someone strange standing on the road in front of the entrance, looking at the building. It’s a girl, probably around my age. Her lustrous, silver hair and bright red eyes really stand out. Her features aren’t very Japanese, and her skin is very pale. She’s wearing a black one-piece dress in a simple design and a round hat.

I see her from several meters away and unconsciously come to a stop.

“Abaddon, that wouldn’t happen to be an angel, would it?”

“She doesn’t look like someone from this country, but she also doesn’t look like an angel.”

“Then is she one of your friends?”

“I somehow doubt that.”

Then who is she? I wonder.

It must be a trap. Why else would a shady character be waiting right in front of my new school not an hour after an angel and her Disciple attacked us? Could Abaddon just have dementia and not realize this was an angel or a demon?

The strange part is that she doesn’t seem to have noticed us, even though we’re so close. If she was an angel, she should have realized we were there a lot sooner.

After all, they know our faces now, and we were just engaged in combat nearby. Yet this girl is simply staring at the school from the road like some kid peering into a zoo cage at a rare animal. But as far as I can tell, the campus is deserted, without a student or faculty member in sight.

I get tired of thinking through the possibilities and decide to simply go up and talk to her. After shooting a glance at Abaddon and seeing him nod, I walk up.

“Excuse me,” I say. “Do you have a moment?”

“…What is it?”

“Do you have business with the school?”

She turns back to me with movements much more natural than I’d imagined, then looks me straight in the eye. Her face is totally impassive. “I have no business with this facility,” she says.

“Then what are you doing here?”

“I am looking at it.”

“……”

Is she making fun of me? Or does she just not understand Japanese? I’d rather not test out my English conversation skills here.

Then, as if sensing my concern, she asks me a question. “Are you a student attending this school?”

“Yes, as you can see,” I say, looking down at my uniform.

It’s actually a different school’s uniform, but an outsider won’t be able to tell the difference. At this point, it’s clear she’s not a local. Is she a lost tourist separated from her parents? It’s possible, I think, given that the area is famous for holiday homes.

But the next thing she says blows that idea out of the water. “I was looking for you, but then I saw this facility called a school and came here.”

“You know who I am?”

“Your viewpoint is correct. I know who you are.”

I knew she had something to do with your people, Abaddon, I think, throwing the demon a critical glance.

“Oh, come on,” he complains, looking between the girl and me with a troubled expression. “I’m telling you, she’s not one of us.”

He’s visibly flustered, like he really doesn’t know anything. I don’t often see him like this.

Personally, I think she’s a demon like Abaddon. The problem is that there’s no Disciple anywhere in sight. Could someone at my new school be her Disciple?

I need information, so I take the lead. “Why are you looking at the school?” I ask her.

“A certain human told me that a school may serve to soothe my loneliness.”

“Your…loneliness?”

“Yes. My loneliness.”

“……”

Is she just a weirdo, then?

She responds when I ask questions, but her responses are kind of off-kilter. There was a girl like this at my old school, too, in a different class. She had a very distinct personality, and even bullies avoided her.

“Are you here with your parents?”

“I have no family. And it is that very fact that eats away at my being.”

“…Oh.”

She keeps adding personal anecdotes into our casual back-and-forth. I get the feeling she’s a bit sensitive about this particular topic; I’d better not get her started.

If she isn’t an angel but a demon, or someone linked to demons or their Disciples, what’s my best move? I should probably reveal my position and form an alliance with her. And yet I can’t help hesitating.

As I try to puzzle out her identity from our conversation, the school bell rings, and students begin pouring from the building. With classes over, those not in a club are heading home. I spot some kids I know in the crowd. A few of the boys notice me and call out.

“Oh, hey, it’s Kurosu!”

“What happened to you during sixth period?”

“The teacher was really worried about you.”

“Hey, who said she vanished into thin air? She’s right here.”

“But how did you get outside?”

“Your uniform sleeve is soaked! Are you okay? You’re not cold, are you?”

“Wait, is that…blood on your uniform? Nah, can’t be, right?”

They all crowd around the two of us at the front gate and start talking enthusiastically about this and that.

Apparently, my sudden absence due to the isolated space caused something of a problem. I expected this, but if it keeps happening, it could very well affect my position at school.

I should probably talk to Futarishizuka about this as soon as I can.

“Is this girl your friend?”

“Wow, she’s really cute!”

“Where’s she from? Is she on vacation here?”

“Whoa. She’s, like, way cuter than most idols. That’s crazy.”

“And the way she stands is so elegant.”

“That dress looks so good on you!”

“Your hair is practically sparkling. How cool is that?!”

The boys’ attention shifts to include the weirdo standing next to me. While I get the feeling she might go off any second, she is very cute. As long as she keeps her mouth closed, I bet she’d be popular with the opposite sex. Actually, she’s cute enough that I think a lot of boys would hit on her even if she is a little strange on the inside.

The boys keep going, ignoring all the stares we’re getting from other students passing by.

“Hey, do you two want to come with us and hang out?”

“Oh, right. We still haven’t shown Kurosu around town!”

“Leave it to us locals—we’ll show you all the hole-in-the-wall spots. Your friend can come, too.”

“Yeah! Hopefully she can go back home with some good memories.”

“How long will you be in Karuizawa?”

As one might imagine from how they accosted us almost as soon as they saw us, these boys hold relatively conspicuous positions in class. Basically, they’re the bright, extroverted characters. They don’t look half bad, either—I could see someone calling a few of them pretty cute.

Most other girls in my class would probably be happy to go with them, though I think they’d be at a distinct disadvantage if their looks were compared to the weird girl’s.

Personally, I want to leave immediately. I still don’t know who this oddball is, and if she is linked to the death game somehow, I really don’t want to piss her off. Starting to get nervous, I check on her out of the corner of my eye, and—

“…My…my loneliness, it… My emotions, they…”

What is with her? I think. That’s a really weird expression. It looks like her cheeks are twitching. And what the heck is happening with her mouth?

“Ah, how…how wonderful!”

It looks like she’s desperately trying to hold in a smile and maintain her poker face, but it’s not completely working. Compared to how impassive she was the whole time she was talking to me, her current reaction seems all the more extreme.

Wait, I think. She can’t be drowning in ecstasy from having boys her age fawn over her, can she? With how pretty she is, she must have people complimenting her looks every day.

“Uh, Kurosu, is she okay?”

“Did we say something weird?”

“If we did, then we’re sorry.”

“Wait, does she even know Japanese?”

“Should we try English? Um… <H-hello?>”

“Man, that was the most monotone ‘hello’ I’ve ever heard.”

“Now I regret not listening in English class.”

Now the boys seem worried about her, too. One after another, they shower her with words of concern and apology.

For her part, the weirdo seems to be teetering on the edge, muttering over and over again about “her loneliness.” Maybe she’s more mentally unwell than I thought.

“They’re worried about you, you know,” I tell her.

“…They’re…worried about me. Ah, that must be something that soothes loneliness.”

“You’re acting weird. And talking weird. Are you all right?”

“I am fine. I am perfectly fine. So please, keep worrying about me.”

“……”

Okay, now she’s acting really, really odd. I’m a little scared—it feels like she might suddenly attack me at any moment.

“Kurosu, your uniform is wet. You should go get changed.”

“Yeah. Wouldn’t want you catching a cold.”

“Your stuff is still in class, right? If you want, I can run over and get it for you.”

“Do you have gym clothes? If not, you can borrow mine.”

“Hey! That’s not fair! I was gonna offer.”

Abaddon, too, is watching the girl with a troubled expression. After seeing our exchange firsthand, he’s put a lid on his characteristic banter. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the demon this concerned.

The girl doesn’t seem able to see him, at least. He flies around her several times and waves a hand in front of her face, but she doesn’t react at all.

“They are worried about you as well,” the girl says. “Do you feel the same sensation as me?”

“No, I’m not really feeling much…”

“Then humans are afforded this level of comfort from others on a daily basis?”

“I think it depends on the person.”

“I see. I have been able to obtain a fascinating response.”

Does she want the same kind of treatment from me?

The boys are looking at me questioningly. And here I was just about to settle into the perfect position at school. I really hope I don’t get labeled a weirdo after all that effort.

Now that it’s come to this, I decide to be direct. I whisper in her ear so the boys don’t overhear. “Excuse me, but would you happen to be a demon?”

“From a human’s point of view, I may appear to be a devil.”

Am I supposed to take that as a yes? I can’t tell. Even Abaddon is out of his element right now.

Either way, staying here will only draw attention. A change of location seems in order.

“I’m sorry, but would you mind coming with me?” I say.

“I wish to further soothe my loneliness here. I want others to worry about me even more.”

“If you want boys to fawn over you, I can introduce you to as many as you want later.”

“Really?”

The girl stares at me. Her face is blank, but her eyes seem, ever so slightly, to sparkle. How starved for male attention is this girl? Her cheeks are still twitching, and she’s still got that weird half smile on her lips. I look down slightly and see her arms moving around restlessly.

I can tell she can barely wait. “Really,” I reply. “I think you could be very popular.”

“In that case, I shall accept what you say.”

She’s pretending to be calm, but her breath is shrill and ragged.

Having secured her approval, I turn my attention to the boys. I’ll need their help if I’m going to keep my promise to her. Now that I’ve got confirmation from the weirdo herself, whether she wallows in debauchery or gets labeled a loose woman is no concern of mine. Everyone has their own interests, after all.

“I’m sorry,” I say, bowing politely to my classmates. “I have business with her, so please excuse me for today. I’d like to introduce her to you all, but another time, if you don’t mind. Once I do, I’d appreciate it if you treated her well.”

The boys surrounding us don’t push back. They comment about how unfortunate it is, but they see us off without objection. I bow again, then grab the girl’s arm and give it a light tug. She obediently follows me.

“I would like you to tell me our destination,” she says.

“Somewhere we can sit down and talk.”

I was hoping to go back to the classroom to get my things, but the teachers are sure to scold me if I bring an outsider into the school, especially after I already skipped sixth period. For now, I’ll focus on dealing with this strange girl.

After turning away from the front gates, we leave the group of boys and the school behind.

I keep my distance from the other students by veering away from the main road and turning onto a side street. There, after making sure nobody else is around, I use the phone Futarishizuka gave me to request a pickup.

A few minutes later, we impose on the older gentleman and his boxy-looking car and head off down the street.

A short while after we decided to wait for my neighbor to get home, Ms. Futarishizuka received a phone call from the man responsible for ferrying the girl to and from school. She had contacted him earlier and instructed him to let us know when my neighbor would be returning. This call, then, was his notification that she was now back from school.

We then left Ms. Futarishizuka’s villa and headed to Abaddon and my neighbor’s mansion next door. It was significantly colder outside than in Tokyo. Too cold for my tastes, to be honest. Still, because I was so used to the sour city air, the fresh breeze was novel enough to make our short walk down the greenery-lined road a nice change of pace.

Our destination was a few minutes away on foot, and once we arrived, we approached the front door and pressed the doorbell. We could hear a pattering of footsteps from within. A moment later, the door opened, and a familiar face appeared.

“Sorry for making you wait,” said my neighbor.

“It seems a tad careless to come out before checking the intercom,” replied Ms. Futarishizuka.

“The driver already told me you’d be coming.”

“A quick check wouldn’t hurt, though.”

Abaddon, floating in midair as usual, was bobbing up and down at my neighbor’s side. I could see how seriously he took the death game from the way he was never apart from her, even inside the house.

“Please come in.”

My neighbor quickly took two pairs of slippers off the rack against the wall and set them out for us. After thanking her for her hospitality, we moved inside. The scent of wood had wafted out from within the moment she opened the door, but as we passed through the threshold, it grew even thicker in the air, wrapping us up like a blanket. It was like walking into a temple.

Just then, another person appeared farther down the hallway.

“What is wrong, Kurosu?” she said, walking toward us from the living room. “Why have you suddenly left me?”

There was no way I’d ever forget those striking features. The newcomer had gorgeous silver hair and red eyes—and even the clothes she wore were the same. It had to be her: the girl we’d met on the spaceship after our alien abduction. Her long-winded self-introduction was still clear in my memory.

“Wh-what is she doing here?!” demanded Ms. Futarishizuka as I groaned.

Our attention was pulled away from my neighbor and became fixed on the girl who had just appeared. Both Ms. Futarishizuka and I immediately braced ourselves. It was a good thing we’d sent Miss Hoshizaki home, or she’d have gotten involved, too. I could imagine her whipping out her gun and boldly pointing it at the alien without a second’s pause.

“You two were part of the group I sampled yesterday as part of my investigation into humanity,” she said, looking at us. Her voice was monotone—in stark contrast to our current states of mind.

That mechanical way of speaking—there was no mistaking it. This was definitely the girl we’d encountered on the UFO.

“Kurosu, I would like you to describe your relationship to these humans.”

“Um, mister, I just met her a few minutes ago,” said my neighbor, growing flustered at our suddenly tense demeanors.

She’d brilliantly avoided the girl’s question, and I saw Abaddon nodding to himself in approval next to her.

It certainly didn’t seem like she was lying. And anyway, I’d known my neighbor for several years. If she’d ever been abducted by a UFO or anything like that, I was pretty sure I’d have noticed a change. For that reason, all I had were questions—what had brought them together?

“Then why did you bring this threat into your house?” demanded Ms. Futarishizuka.

“She’s a threat?”

“Well, yes! A menace, even. Why would you bring her home with you?”

“Abaddon says she’s not a demon, but I wanted to be certain, so I brought her with me.”

“My senses are telling me she is one hundred percent not a demon.”

“Ahhh, the world is getting too complicated for me!” cried Ms. Futarishizuka. “Recently it feels like my heart’s always pounding.”

Evidently, my neighbor had mistaken the visitor from outer space as a participant in the death game. Had she just happened to be present during a fight? Or had she done something crazy and my neighbor had witnessed it? I couldn’t be sure of the details, but considering the alien’s otherworldly words and actions, I could understand my neighbor’s confusion.

“Kurosu, I would like you to describe your relationship to these humans,” the girl said, repeating her question

I couldn’t sense any emotion from her face, as usual. She was playing it cool. After almost dying at her hands, the flatness in her voice felt terribly oppressive. I feared a laser beam might come shooting from the sky at any moment.

“These people are important to me,” my neighbor said. “I strictly forbid any violence toward them.”

“Understood,” replied the alien. “I shall act in accordance with your words.”

“Huh?” said Ms. Futarishizuka. “What’s this about? How did you manage to tame this menace?”

“I wasn’t trying to tame her,” my neighbor explained. “But we’re successfully communicating, I think.”

However the two of them had wound up together, I couldn’t imagine it was a coincidence. But no matter how much I racked my brain, I couldn’t think of a single thing that might link them. I even considered that the angel–demon proxy war might be taking place on an interplanetary scale, but in that case, Abaddon’s reaction wouldn’t make sense.

So I decided to simply ask the alien directly. “Can you tell us what brought you to this area?”

“Following my own emotions, I was investigating your dwelling as my next target.”

Her answer was immediate. And a few dangerous-sounding words were in the mix. I recalled the photograph of the crater we’d seen at the bureau that day—and how whatever caused it had wiped a whole town off the map. I couldn’t think of anyone else who could possibly be responsible.

My coworker seemed to think the same thing and quickly asked a follow-up question. “Then were you the one who blew away that town around noon today?”

“Futarishizuka, your thinking is correct.”

“Ah, I see…”

Ms. Futarishizuka had been struck dumb. I couldn’t think of anything good to say, either. Apparently, the alien was targeting our home. But why, exactly?

The answer came a moment later. “You all made me very lonely. I cannot afford to leave such beings unchecked.”

“Are you saying that the conversation we had with you on the spaceship rubbed you the wrong way?” I asked.

“If I take your words metaphorically, what you suggest is not impossible.”

“That wasn’t much of a metaphor,” murmured Ms. Futarishizuka.

I could understand where she was coming from. Even we felt like we’d wronged her somehow. But had she really needed to act on it so immediately?

“I hesitate to ask this,” I continued, “but do you have a similar reason for blowing up that town earlier?”

“Sasaki, your viewpoint is correct. The samples I collected from that area greatly stimulated my emotions, then amplified my loneliness. Had I left them unchecked, it might have put unnecessary pressure on the ship’s processing resources, so I removed them first.”

“To translate,” I said, “they made you so mad you could barely sleep?”

“If I were to use a roundabout expression, it is possible I could express my sentiments in that way.”

“It seems pretty literal in your case,” murmured Ms. Futarishizuka.

Apparently, we’d stepped on the tiger’s tail. What terrified me was that if we hadn’t run into each other like this, we could have been killed without even realizing it. I wasn’t sure what would rouse her ire—I felt tense, like I was squaring off with a wild animal.

“Then in the process of searching for us, you encountered this girl here?”

“Sasaki, your thinking is correct.” She nodded, then continued smoothly. “After expelling all of you into space, I traced those who returned to Earth safely. However, during that time, I suddenly lost all trace of your group. To rectify this, I entered the data banks of the organization I assume to be your place of employment and collected your information. I discovered that one of you has already experienced your dwelling exploding.”

She’d probably lost track of us when Peeps used his teleportation magic. Then, while trying to find us again, she’d hacked into the bureau’s database and fished around for clues.

“I judged it impossible to fulfill my objective. I needed further information. From that data bank, I learned of a person who appeared to be connected to one of my targets. Her information stated that she attended an educational institution.”

I’d guessed as much, but it seemed the bureau had gathered intel on my neighbor, too. They’d probably set up hidden cameras or something, though I hadn’t expected them to have already discovered her new school.

“During that process, I recalled information that I received from humanity yesterday regarding how to soothe my loneliness.”

“You mean the whole spiel our other companion gave you about transferring into a school?”

“Futarishizuka, your thinking is correct.”

I remembered this, too—Miss Hoshizaki suggesting that if the alien girl came to school as a transfer student, plenty of other students would want to be friends with her. To us, it had seemed like meaningless banter.

She, however, seemed to have taken it pretty seriously.

“When I went to the location, I encountered a human with a link to my target—Kurosu.”

With her hyper-advanced technology, far beyond what we had on Earth, it would be no problem for her to use wireless LAN waves leaking from buildings to infiltrate a company’s network. I bet even our most advanced encryption methods looked like plain text to her. In fact, there was a very high chance she was monitoring the radio waves from my phone at this very moment.

“So to sum up,” I said, “you wanted to find a way to attack our dwelling?”

“The information I collected states that humanity soothes its loneliness by spending time at home with family. As you can see, I am currently burdened with loneliness. I infer that you are all leading fulfilling lives, and my core module cannot help but cry out.”

“You act so cool on the outside,” said Ms. Futarishizuka, “but underneath it all, you’re quite spiteful, aren’t you?”

“Your remark further amplifies my loneliness.”

“Hey, that was a joke. A lie, understand? I believe what you are describing is just how emotions work.”

Her demeanor was level and dispassionate, but the things she said sounded more like a child throwing a temper tantrum. The gap between what she said and did, between her outside appearance and the truth of what she felt inside, concerned me. I felt a chill crawl up my spine as I thought of what could have led her to wipe an entire town off the map. Was this really all because of her new, unfamiliar feelings?

Suddenly curious, I decided to go ahead and ask. “Forgive my rudeness, but how many times have you come down to Earth since you developed emotions?”

“My terminals have been operational on the surface for the entire extent of my mission. However, this is the first time I have sent my point of contact here.”

According to the explanation she’d given us on the UFO, her “point of contact” was the android currently standing in front of us. By “terminals,” she probably meant the craft that had sucked us and our swan boat up from the lake in Nagano. She’d told us her point of contact was mainly used for communicating with humanity. I assumed the terminals were for transportation and the movement of resources.

“I’m really getting a sense of how dangerous these so-called emotions of yours are.”

“What do you mean, Futarishizuka?”

“You wouldn’t understand even if I told you. You’ll have to learn it on your own, the hard way.”

“Sasaki, I request an explanation in your words regarding the meaning of Futarishizuka’s statement.”

“I believe she’s saying that, rather than the information you gather, it’s the environment and process by which you gain it, the act of communication itself and those engaging in it that are truly valuable. We humans, at least, perceive information and experiences separately.”

“This vessel’s configurational information is in a place where you humans will never reach it.”

“I believe she still isn’t sure,” I said. “Or she would have affirmed it.”

“Ohhh?” mused Ms. Futarishizuka. “Well, you two certainly seem to be on the same page. How nice for you.”

My colleague was as impressive as ever, bantering in every direction no matter the situation. My neighbor and Abaddon, meanwhile, were keeping their mouths shut as they watched our exchange.

“You’re loaded with computers light-years ahead of our silly brains,” Ms. Futarishizuka continued. “I’m sure you’ll understand in no time at all. So until you do, I would appreciate you showing Earth some lenience.”

“……”

Sensing the girl’s momentum begin to wane, Ms. Futarishizuka quickly let her true feelings be known. Given that our homes and the people around us were in the crosshairs, I was prepared to pray and plead with the alien—she was far more of a threat than the magical girl from Japan going around hunting psychics.

Eventually, the alien collected herself and spoke again. “Sasaki, Futarishizuka. My records show that you had one other companion.”

Nervous about the sudden change of topic, I answered, “If you mean Miss Hoshizaki, then she is currently acting separately from us.”

“Thinking back,” she said, “she was the one who explained the wonder of school to me.”

Her attention had now left us and jumped to something else entirely. Thinking back? You just talked to her last night.

“It is thanks to her that I was able to gain an opportunity to soothe my loneliness. I believe she gave me the clue I needed to process this new function that resists my control. That is very pleasing, indeed.”

“Good to hear,” said Ms. Futarishizuka at the alien’s unexpectedly friendly words. Unfortunately, the person we were talking about wasn’t here right now.

“That is why I am exceedingly grateful to her,” the alien went on. “Should she wish it, I may accept your proposition. Kurosu has also promised to assist me in soothing my loneliness.”

“Did you now, dear?”

“I didn’t promise anything that spectacular…,” said my neighbor.

“I have a feeling you’ve just landed a very big role,” Abaddon told her.

Apparently, the alien girl’s meeting with my neighbor had brought about a change in her. Just what had she experienced at Miss Kurosu’s school? She hadn’t actually transferred in like Miss Hoshizaki had suggested, had she? I hoped she hadn’t caused the school any trouble.

“That’s excellent,” said Ms. Futarishizuka, “but what brought all this about?”

“Should I continue on this path and wipe out humanity, my loneliness will never heal. This bug called emotion will never be fixed. In addition, humanity may be wiped out at my leisure. My focus, then, should be on how to make use of it.”

“That’s very honest of you.”

“Lies are inefficient. Mechanical life-forms do not lie like humans do.”

I was really curious about what a society without lies would be like. What was it like where she’d come from—where, according to her, emotions had been deemed a significant risk and strictly outlawed? My imagination filled with thoughts of what lay beyond the frontiers of space.

“Having accepted Hoshizaki’s viewpoint, I have discovered that communication with humanity offers a great number of possibilities. And with so many of you here, perhaps one exists who can ease my loneliness and erase this new function from me.”

“In that case, perhaps we can help,” offered Ms. Futarishizuka.

“Request denied. You two are not trustworthy.”

“Ouch. That’s quite harsh of you.”

“However, I have determined that Hoshizaki’s statements are worth listening to.”

I was beyond thankful that Earth’s last day had been postponed, even temporarily. Thank you so much, Miss Hoshizaki. In a way, her love for her sister had just saved the world.

“Then it looks like we’ll have to work on proving ourselves for the time being,” said Ms. Futarishizuka.

“It certainly does,” I agreed.

And so the two of us with impure hearts decided to stay quiet and well-behaved.

Now that the alien girl had revealed the circumstances leading up to our reunion, my neighbor—seeing an opening in the conversation—looked over at me nervously. “Can I ask something, too, mister?”

“What is it?”

“Who exactly is this girl anyway?”

“Right, right! I’ve been wondering this whole time,” chimed in Abaddon.

“This girl is… Well…,” I stammered.

“To state my name in accordance with the rules of your language, I am Independent Multipurpose Early-Model Frontier Sector-Pioneering Long-Range Space Cruiser Type Three-Seven-Six-Nine. However, this point of contact possesses a unique manufacturing name.”

“Long story short,” said Ms. Futarishizuka, “she’s the alien everyone’s talking about.”

“Wha…?”

When she heard this belated introduction, my neighbor’s jaw dropped.

After confirming that the UFO was no longer a threat, we all left the entryway of my neighbor’s house and moved back outside. We headed to the villa’s large yard and stood in a rough circle, looking at one another.

Type Twelve had told us she wanted to thank Miss Hoshizaki and get more advice from her, if she could. She was one greedy mechanical life-form, that was for sure. We didn’t want to refuse her, so we decided to give it a shot. Maintaining a good relationship between the two of them would be crucial if the planet was to survive. Still, it would probably take some time to get back to Tokyo from Karuizawa.

The alien girl then proposed that we use one of her spacecraft to make the journey. Supposedly, it would come if she called for it.

“Is it like the one that scooped us off the lake last night?” asked Ms. Futarishizuka.

“No. That one’s role is to link other terminals and resources. Another form of transportation exists.”

“Oh-ho? In that case, I accept your hospitality.”

Ms. Futarishizuka’s eyes were sparkling. She seemed incredibly curious about this unknown vehicle.

“If you have any idea where Hoshizaki is currently located,” said the alien, “please tell me her coordinates.”

“Didn’t you say before that you’ve been tracing us this whole time?” asked Ms. Futarishizuka.

“I also explained that I had lost track of your biological readings.”

“Ah yes. Can’t keep up with the Java sparrow’s smoke and mirrors, eh?”

“What do you mean, ‘Java sparrow’s smoke and mirrors’?”

“Don’t worry about it. Just talking to myself.”

Peeps had sent us from our Tokyo hotel to Karuizawa using his teleportation magic. I suspected that was how we had eluded Type Twelve’s tracking. After that, her attention had shifted to the bureau’s data, which she had used to get close to my neighbor, ultimately leading her back to the two of us.

As she and Ms. Futarishizuka spoke, I took out my private phone and brought up a map. I knew where Miss Hoshizaki lived, since I’d gone to visit her before to study English. I zoomed in on it and dropped a pin on her address. I figured it wasn’t necessary to determine her exact present location.

I held the screen out to the alien. “I believe she’s at home at the moment, so please take us here, if you could.”

“Location received,” she said after a quick glance. It had taken her less than a second, making it clear once again that she was a mechanical life-form with powers of perception far beyond our own. In terms of artificial intelligence, she was way past anything humanity could touch—we were still struggling with our own bodies.

As I was thinking all this and feeling very impressed, I noticed something moving right next to us. Naturally, everyone’s eyes shifted toward it.

What is that? I wondered. It was like a big hole had been cut out of space and was floating right in the middle of my neighbor’s well-maintained yard. It seemed to form an open door into an interior area.

I recognized the space inside it. It was similar to the waiting area and competition space we’d been brought to after our abduction the day before. I could see a metallic floor, ceiling, and walls, with the occasional strand of light traveling this way and that.

“What is this? What is this?!”

Ms. Futarishizuka was extremely excited. She gleefully ran over and peered through the doorway.

The rest of us followed her. I reached my hand just to the side of the gap hovering in midair and felt something cool and hard against my palm. I couldn’t see it, but there could be no doubt something was there.

“It is hidden from human eyes,” said the alien. “If such a precaution is unnecessary, I shall disable it.”

“No, please keep it hidden,” I said.

I didn’t know what…whatever it was…looked like, but we didn’t want any neighbors seeing it. Come to think of it, the craft that took us from the lake was hidden just like this.

“I’d like to see the whole thing, though,” said Ms. Futarishizuka.

“Can we take a raincheck on that?”

“If you would like to confirm the frame’s appearance, I can give you that data. More importantly, let us board with haste.”

Sped along by Type Twelve, we all stepped into the strange vehicle. My neighbor and Abaddon came with us, too.

Once inside, we found ourselves in a room measuring about fifteen square meters with no noticeable features. There weren’t even any windows or buttons, much less chairs or tables. As I had come to expect, it felt more like a “space” than a room.

It was my neighbor’s first time boarding a UFO, however, and naturally, she had questions. “Will this really be okay? Are you sure this thing is a vehicle?”

“Not being able to see outside certainly makes me uneasy.”

“In that case, I shall display external imagery here,” said Type Twelve as a picture appeared over one of the room’s walls.

It was a midair display, like the one we’d seen in the competition room back when she’d abducted us. This time, it was larger, covering up the entire wall. I felt like I was in a small movie theater. No seats to watch from, though.

The display showed the mansion’s yard. The huge panorama made it look like the outside terrain was right there in front of us.

A moment later, the entrance closed up, and the craft ascended into the air.

“This is incredible. It’s bigger than the TVs in the mansion.”

“Are we really moving?” my neighbor wondered aloud. “I don’t feel any shaking.”

“Internal inertia is being perfectly controlled. The level is currently set to zero, but it is also possible to enable the full effects. If necessary, I will change the setting, but I believe it will cause you all great distress.”

“Definitely do not do that,” said Ms. Futarishizuka.

The craft climbed into the sky at an incredible speed. On the display in front of us, the ground grew distant in no time at all—in just a few seconds, the cars on the road were no bigger than grains of rice. Our altitude continued to increase until eventually we were so high up we could see clouds below us.

If the ship hadn’t canceled out the inertia, we’d all be unconscious by now, squished against the floor.

The next thing I knew, we were moving horizontally. We had probably started heading toward Tokyo. If we’d been in a passenger plane, we’d be facing the endless noise of jet engines, but the space we now stood in was quiet. As my neighbor had implied earlier, it made it hard to believe we were actually flying.

All of us passengers simply stared in admiration at the display. But we only had a short time to be astonished at this super technology from beyond the solar system.

In mere minutes, Type Twelve said, “We have arrived above our destination. Descending now.”

“Huh?” I said in spite of myself. “We’re there already?”

I could see the Tokyo Bay and the Boso Peninsula in front of me. It seemed we were indeed in the capital, but I still felt shocked hearing the alien say it. Because of our elevation, it was hard to tell how far we’d traveled.

“This thing’s even speedier than a jet fighter, eh?” remarked Ms. Futarishizuka.

“And I’m not feeling any weightlessness as we descend,” I added.

In a reversal of our take-off, our craft swiftly decreased in altitude. The clouds moved from below to above as we headed straight toward an area with a lot of houses and other buildings.

By the time the image on the display stopped moving, familiar scenery greeted us. Not too far away, facing the road, I could see the condominiums where Miss Hoshizaki lived. It looked like the alien had put us down exactly where I’d dropped the pin on the map.

A moment later, the same entrance hole we’d used to board reappeared—and in the same place.

“We have arrived,” said Type Twelve. “I request that you guide me to Hoshizaki now.”

“Yes, understood,” I said. Urged along by Type Twelve, we all exited together.

But no sooner had we done so than we all realized something.

“Wait, did you just land that thing in the middle of the road?” asked Ms. Futarishizuka.

“There are cars coming this way,” I said. “Are you sure this is all right?”

“Oh!”

Our concerns turned into reality in a matter of seconds. Just as Abaddon said “Oh!” a car traveling along the road crashed into the ship. There was a loud bang, and it came to an abrupt stop. The entire front was dented from colliding with the invisible object, and we could see the airbags deploy through the car’s front windshield. This came as no surprise, since Type Twelve’s craft was taking up the entirety of the small road.

“The ship is protected,” explained Type Twelve. “There has been zero damage. A collision of this magnitude is within the expected range.”

“I’m more concerned about the car that crashed into it,” I told her.

“Well, no use crying over spilled milk,” said Ms. Futarishizuka.

This must have been a disaster for whoever was in the crashed car. The road was so small it didn’t even have a dividing line, though, so thankfully the driver hadn’t been going very fast in the first place. Through the windshield, I could see the occupant start to move on their own. I doubted they were very badly injured.

“The accident was unavoidable. Let’s just leave it at that and get going!” declared Ms. Futarishizuka, walking away as if to flee the scene.

I felt bad, but I followed her anyway. I was very worried about the effect this was going to have on my young neighbor’s ethical development.

I saved the crashed car’s license plate number in my phone. I’d contact the bureau later and have them deal with it. If the driver had a dashcam and had recorded the whole thing, we’d be in trouble—and I could see something resembling one near the driver’s seat.

Ms. Futarishizuka seemed to be thinking the same thing. “Can you erase recordings of what just happened on nearby surveillance cameras?” she asked Type Twelve.

“I believe that problem is yours,” the alien replied. “I am uninvolved.”

“If you leave things as they are,” argued Ms. Futarishizuka, “it will cause problems for Hoshizaki, too. Being selfish is no way to thank her—in fact, it’s just the opposite.”

“Futarishizuka, your viewpoint is correct. I will erase the recordings immediately.”

“Excuse me,” I said, butting in, “but for the same reason, could you also send your ship back into the air while keeping it invisible?”

“Sasaki, your viewpoint is correct. I will send it back up immediately.”

Bringing up Miss Hoshizaki was a pretty easy way to get her approval, it seemed. Her responses were monotone, but she was probably frightened on the inside. It was obvious how much her emotions were pulling her around.

A short walk brought us straight our destination—Hoshizaki’s condominium. I punched the familiar room number into the auto-lock CALL button out front, then waited a few moments. Soon there was a response from across the intercom. The voice we heard, however, was not Miss Hoshizaki’s, but her sister’s.

“…Oh,” she said. “You’re the coworkers who came here a few days ago, right?”

“Apologies for the sudden visit,” I replied. “Could we talk to your sister?”

“She’s out shopping right now.”

“Do you have an estimate as to when she’ll return?”

“Probably soon. You can wait up here,” she suggested as the entrance door opened automatically.

Last time, I’d been pretty hesitant to go in, but the people behind me being who they were, I decided to simply agree and intrude. Even Type Twelve would never harm a member of Miss Hoshizaki’s family.

We all climbed into the elevator and headed up to the sixth floor, where Miss Hoshizaki lived with her sister. When we pressed the bell at the front door, it immediately opened, and the younger sister appeared.

When she saw us, she looked at me meekly. “…Mr. Sasaki, you’re not actually a dangerous person or anything, right?”

“Why would you think that?” I asked.

“If you’re not a weirdo,” she said, “then why are you always hanging around children?”

“……”

I turned back to look at the others with me.

My neighbor, Abaddon, Ms. Futarishizuka, and Type Twelve. Now that she mentioned it, they did all look like they were in their early teens. And Abaddon was invisible, too, so the only ones she could see were girls.

In reality, three of the four were far older than me, and two of them weren’t even human. The younger sister had no way of knowing any of that, though. From an outsider’s perspective, I was nothing more than a suspicious middle-aged man who had brought several children along with him.

In the otherworld, between Count Müller, Mr. Marc, and Mr. French, I never wanted for age-appropriate companions. Thinking about that made me start to feel lonely. I wished that at least Ms. Futarishizuka had grown up to look like she was around my age.

“You’re not…panicking right now, are you, Mr. Sasaki?” the younger sister asked.

“No, no. Not at all.”

That was a lie. I was definitely panicking. Starting with Peeps, I’d been meeting one person after another whose inside and outside didn’t match up at all. My sense for such things had begun to go all out of whack. That said, it wasn’t that I had stopped being able to see children as children, but that I now felt the need to scrape and bow to anyone I met, regardless of their appearance.

“I don’t wish to impose,” I told the sister. “We can wait outside for now.”

“Someone might call the police,” she replied. “Just come in.”

“…Thank you.”

“I can’t let one of my sister’s coworkers become a criminal.”

Though reluctant, she invited us inside.

Yeah, I could see someone calling the cops, I thought. I couldn’t think of a good defense if anyone ever questioned me about my job. Even the police book in my pocket might only go so far. People would think it was a fake. In the end, it would cause trouble for my boss, and I’d wind up owing him one out of carelessness.

So instead, I accepted her hospitality and went into the living room. She led us to a sofa, where we took our seats. On the three-person sofa sat Ms. Futarishizuka, Type Twelve, and my neighbor. The little sister sat on a stool next to that. I was a short distance away, borrowing a dining room chair. I feel small, I thought.

“Is your sister shopping for tonight’s dinner, perchance?” asked Ms. Futarishizuka.

“No, I’m in charge of meal prep. That includes buying things.”

At that point, Ms. Futarishizuka took the lead. I decided to just sit back and listen. My neighbor and Abaddon were quiet as well, since they’d never met the girl before. The same went for Type Twelve.

“As soon as she got back, she said she was going shopping for stuff like toilet paper and emergency food and water,” the sister explained. “When she left, she looked a little scared. She never used to worry about stuff like that.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Do any of you know why?”

“Hmm. Well, we might, but then again, we might not…”

I got the feeling that after witnessing what amounted to an alien invasion, Miss Hoshizaki’s mental state had gone into “protect my family” mode. She’d never dream the root of all evil was right here in her condo, paying a visit. To be honest, even I wanted to start stockpiling necessities.

We chatted with Miss Hoshizaki’s sister for a little while, but no matter how long we waited, she didn’t return. After about thirty minutes, Ms. Futarishizuka looked over at me. “Well, this is rather odd. Should we try to get in touch?”

“You’re right,” I said.

I promptly called her bureau phone. But all I got in response was an automatic voice telling me the number I had dialed was either out of service or powered off. Miss Hoshizaki was a workaholic. She would have picked up any call to her work phone, even one that came out of the blue. This wasn’t like her.

“Apparently she either doesn’t have reception or her phone is off.”

“Do you think her battery ran out?” asked Ms. Futarishizuka.

I tried using the bureau’s service to get her phone’s location data, but that, too, claimed her position was unknown. I received a response stating that her token had been lost. If her location data was unavailable, then it was very possible her battery had run out.

After hearing our conversation, Type Twelve said in a critical tone, “Have you all lied to me?”

“Not at all,” I said. “Miss Hoshizaki is simply out at the moment, and we can’t get in touch with her.”

I didn’t want to give an explanation that would fan the flames of Type Twelve’s familial anxiety. But if I wasn’t careful, she was liable to resume her UFO-borne assault on Earth, so I decided to be as up front and straightforward as possible.

The sister’s expression as she stared at us grew increasingly severe.

Then, as if fed up with her useless guides, Type Twelve said, “In that case, I will use my terminals to conduct a search.”

In this case, I suspected “terminals” referred to the craft that had brought us here, along with some reinforcements. She must have been sending instructions to them remotely, like when she’d summoned one to my neighbor’s yard. I figured she also planned to illegally view the neighborhood’s information network in the same way she had hacked into the bureau’s database.

Everyone’s attention turned to her. She closed her mouth, faced directly forward, then froze. With her spine perfectly straight, she stayed absolutely still—so still I started to worry she was broken.

After a few minutes, she finally turned back to us. “I have discovered traces of Hoshizaki very close to this structure.”

“Traces?” repeated Ms. Futarishizuka. “What do you mean by that?”

“I shall display the event in question.”

As if in response to Type Twelve’s words, a display appeared in the air in front of the sofa. It was of the same type as the one that had allowed us to see outside the ship on our way here. This one was smaller, though—about the size of a normal living room TV.

“What’s that?” exclaimed the sister upon seeing Type Twelve’s super technology. “It looks like a TV floating in midair!”

Similar items existed, sure, but without any equipment nearby? It must have seemed like magic. How was I supposed to explain it?

“This is a recording captured by a camera positioned close to this building.”

“W-wait, then is…?” the sister stammered. “So if this is showing her, then…”

In front of her frightened sister, Miss Hoshizaki appeared on the display in her suit. She was walking down the road with large plastic bags in both hands. She seemed to have bought quite a lot, and both bags were fit to burst. I could see some toilet paper wrapping peeking out, just like her sister had said.

She was in a small alley between two buildings. Nobody else was visible nearby. The camera was focused on the back door of one of the buildings, and Miss Hoshizaki could be seen walking along at the corner of the screen.

As soon as the video started, a van drove past her from behind. It then parked a few meters ahead. The back doors flew open, and several people got out, their heads hidden by full-face helmets. One of them appeared to be holding a gun—and they had it aimed right at Miss Hoshizaki.

“It’s a taser,” explained Ms. Futarishizuka. Tasers worked by shooting a wire at someone, then running an electric current through it to shock them.

Miss Hoshizaki immediately dropped her things and reached for her inside pocket, probably to take out her own gun. Unfortunately, it seemed the taser had struck her before she could. While I couldn’t make out the shot itself, she began to convulse and twitch. Then, unable to get her gun out, she fell flat onto the road.

The men moved quickly, transporting her into the car in the blink of an eye, before driving away as though nothing had happened.

“Well, it would seem our beloved senior colleague has been abducted,” said Ms. Futarishizuka.

Evidently, a very terrestrial abduction had just been carried out right under our noses.