Tantei wa Mou, Shindeiru - Volume 5 - Chapter 29

The client and the substitute detective. 

When I opened the door of the wardroom, I found a girl lying on the bed as before. 

"I'm back." 

I called out to her, staring at her sleeping face. 

It's been two weeks since we fought our last battle against SEED, but Nagisa Natsunagi still showed no signs of waking up. 

"Not so convenient, huh?" 

Although Saikawa and Charl had pushed me to come here, there was no miracle that Natsunagi had just woken up. Still, I just wanted her to listen to me, so I sat down on a chair near Natsunagi. 

It had been four days since I had been here, and before I left for New York, I had visited this hospital room many times, and I had scolded her often. 

"Do you know, Natsunagi?" 

Seeing your sleeping face reminded me of that matter again, and I ended up complaining again. I said I wanted to get Siesta back, but I didn't want to lose you in return. 

Natsunagi paid no heed to my anger though and was sleeping peacefully with a cute face. 

"…Natsunagi, what do you think I should do?" 

Her breath escaped from her, and the red ribbon on her pillow came into view. 

Siesta had come back to life, and Natsunagi had died instead. Natsunagi was supposed to have inherited Alicia's and Hel's life and will and come back to us once more, yet she's still asleep, and in the meantime, Siesta left us again, and would probably disappear from this world as well. 

"What is it with you people?" 

Why do you always trouble me like this? It’s annoying. 

Why can't you two be safe? Why aren't you smiling and laughing? 

Serious, you famous detectives are always... 

"No, I know. It's my fault." 

The whole reason Natsunagi ended up like this was because I misjudged the willpower she had. My desire to bring Siesta back to life at any cost was something that Natsunagi had as well. 

I didn’t consider the situation Siesta was in…with the?seed?inside her body, I brought her back to life out of selfishness alone. This was the result...Siesta, trying to disappear on her own, before she becomes a monster. 

"It's only been two weeks." 

That's how long I was able to meet Siesta again. During the first half of that time, I was hospitalized due to the aftermath of the battle against SEED, so I was barely able to talk to her. Ultimately, all the sacrifice made was a few days' worth of memories to lessen my regret and the sadness of a second goodbye. 

"What do you think I should do, Natsunagi?" 

Knowing there would be no answer, I still asked again. I told Siesta what I hadn't been able to tell her before, and Siesta accepted my thoughts and feelings… But still, she was going to take the option of disappearing from our presence. 

In response, Saikawa told me that if Siesta made that choice, I could make my own choice too…but I wondered if that really was the right choice. No, I didn’t mean to say that Saikawa's advice is wrong. 

I was just hesitant to deny Siesta again. It is true that I once exceeded Siesta's intentions on my own. But if this is the result of that, then I have to admit, however begrudgingly, that Siesta's decision was more correct than mine. 

"The answer is already there, isn't it?" 

That's all I needed to ask myself at this moment. I was wrong and Siesta was right. I didn’t have to overthink it. She was always right those three years and had never been wrong, not once. 

…But looking back to a year ago, the day Siesta died. At that moment, I wanted to be wrong for once. Of course, that's just me being childishly emotional. I don't need anyone to tell me that. 

"Still, I wanted Siesta to live…" 

I knew I was making a mistake, and I was sure that my wish was nothing but arrogance. My wish is so clear, but I couldn’t think of any way to make it come true. I bite my lips, dig my fingernails into my palms, and my eyes turn black at the thought that nothing will change. 

"…What should I do, famous detective?" 

If biting my lips didn’t change anything, I spoke up, at the very least. 

Yeah. Before I got here, Charl shoved me back, as if to reproach me for being so beaten down. She said that if I couldn’t find an answer, I should go to another famous detective. 

So I clung to her even though I knew it wasn’t the right thing to do. If digging my fingernails into my palms couldn’t change anything, at least I can say... 

"—Please, famous detective, save Siesta." 

Then I opened my stiffened fist and grasped the left hand of Nagisa Natsunagi, who was asleep in her bed. 

"If you want me to act as your detective, I'll do it." 

I suddenly heard a familiar voice. 

It sounded like a conversation we had in a classroom at dusk. 

Or perhaps I was the one who said a similar line. 

Then I felt my left hand grab hers, and she squeezed my hand back. 

"You held my hand like this back then, didn't you?" 

I looked up from my prone position and saw a girl looking at me with a reassuring smile on her face. 

Her words now reminded me of that day. It was more than a year ago now. Back then, I held her hand when she was Alicia, on the hospital bed. 

"Natsu, Nagi…?" 

I managed to squeeze a faint voice out of my throat. 

Seeing me, Nagisa Natsunagi smiled as she laid back down. 

"You're an idiot, Kimizuka." 

Then she slowly untied our hands, and flicked my forehead with her middle finger, saying. 

"I don't want you to keep talking about other women whenever you come to visit me."