Tantei wa Mou, Shindeiru - Volume 5 - Chapter 37

Buenas Noches 

"Why…" 

I blurted out, but I had actually expected Nagisa to come here. 

Just like when I woke up and borrowed Nagisa's body to help Assistant in the past, Nagisa would rush to Assistant's side no matter where she was. People probably laugh at that as a deus ex machina, but that's how we were. 

"It's been a long time, Siesta." 

The arms that had been holding me gently left my body. 

I saw Nagisa's soft smile before me, her long hair completely cut off. 

She got me. I hadn't expected her to trick me by disguising herself as Hel. 

"You haven't changed, Nagisa." 

Somewhat frustrated that she had surpassed my expectations, I snapped. 

"Really? I think this is quite the bold image change for me though?" 

"I'm talking about what's inside. Anyway, did you get your heart broken?" 

"…Please don't make it sound like I’m a losing heroine." 

Nagisa stared at me with dumbfounded eyes, and then we laughed at each other—but, 

"…Hmm, huh." 

I suddenly felt my body lose strength, and my knees involuntarily buckled. 

"Oops." 

And as I was about to fall, Nagisa held me again. I didn’t remember being hit by the anesthesia gun, but I just suddenly felt sleepy. 

"I'm sorry." 

Nagisa apologized with a quiet voice to my ear. I couldn't stand upright, and my knees fell to the ground while I leaned against Nagisa. 

"What is this…?" 

Speaking of which, I feel a slight pain in my left arm. I managed to open my eyelids that were getting heavier to check the spot, but there was no bleeding. I felt something when Nagisa first hugged me— 

"Sleeping pills." 

It was Assistant's voice. 

With his jacket all tattered, he approached me, borrowing Noches’ shoulder for support. 

"It's a special potion I got from a certain back-alley doctor. It seems to have been made using the same pollen that put me to sleep a long time ago." 

"…That's the thing, huh." 

If that's the case, then perhaps the potion in the Assistant's weapon was really this sleeping potion. A week ago, the?Inventor?was supposed to have left us, but it seemed he had returned. Maybe he wanted to observe Nagisa’s progress because she had woken up and assisted Assistant with this plan. 

"But, then what? What are you going to do to me now that I'm asleep and unresisting?" 

I teased the Assistant as I rested my head on Nagisa's lap, frustrated once again that I had fallen for their plan. 

"Are you an idiot? You still have zero trust in me after all this time?" 

Yeah, that’s the face I want to see. 

When I laughed, the Assistant also laughed with a sigh. 

But then Assistant reverted to his serious face and explained why he was putting me to sleep. 

"The?seed?buried in your heart should stop working for a while." 

—Ah, as expected. 

I closed my eyes and listened to the Assistant's blunt, but somewhat gentle voice. 

"Yesterday, when Natsunagi woke up, we thought about how we could help you and came up with a plan. And then I realized that there was one thing that didn't feel right—when you were alive inside Natsunagi's heart, you only came to save me only once, when Chameleon was trying to kill me." 

That was over a month ago now. On a large cruise ship, I borrowed Nagisa's body and fought Chameleon with Assistant. I was persuaded by Nagisa to reunite with Assistant through her body only once. 

"But the problem is the one-time part." 

Assistant then explained the truth of that day somewhat wistfully. 

"Why did Siesta only wake up once, and never again? …It was simply to keep the seed that takes root in your heart from waking up. In other words, as long as you continue to sleep, as long as you don't awaken your consciousness, the seed won’t grow." 

—He’s right. 

I wondered if Nagisa had already noticed it. No, maybe they noticed because she had been working together with Assistant over the past few days. The fact that I slept longer than usual on that trip to New York was also an unconscious defensive reaction to protect my body. 

"But, Assistant, you do realize that this doesn't make any sense, right?" 

I opened my heavy eyelids to find not only Nagisa and Assistant, but also Noches, Charl and Yui gathered there. They were all staring at me, and I felt a little embarrassed…but yes, they were all Assistant’s friends. 

It's okay. Assistant. It’s okay. 

I felt at ease, so I told him that he didn’t have to do this. 

"No matter how much you put me to sleep, this is only a stop-gap measure. Besides, we can't guarantee that this will completely stop the growth of the?seed?in my heart. In the years to come, the?world-destroying seed?will sprout, and I may transform into a monster that may kill you all someday. That’s why—" 

"That’s the choice we made after knowing that." 

Assistant got down on one knee and approached me, "Besides," he continued. 

"You know what Stephen gave me this sleeping potion for, don't you?" 

"…I see. You really don't cut corners until the last minute, do you?" 

That's right, the?Inventor?Stephen Bluefield wouldn’t help patients that certainly couldn’t be saved. That's because he would devote all his energy into lives that have a chance of survival. In other words, given that he prescribed this medicine to me, there's always a safe chance for me, and he wouldn’t let me give up on living. After all, I was the one who told Stephen that philosophy at that time. 

"—A complete defeat, it seems." 

A detective should protect the interests of her client and ensure her wishes come true. 

Nagisa fulfilled both my wish ‘for the Assistant to be alive’ and their wish ‘for me to be alive’ at the same time. 

The old me couldn’t have done that. Back then, I could only fulfill it with my own death, but Nagisa made the same mistake I did once—and then found the answer. At this moment, she had surpassed me. 

"Ma'am! Ma'am…!" 

My right hand was warm with tears and the warmth of a hand. Charl has both hands wrapped around my right hand. She couldn't hold back the tears that were dripping down her cheeks, and she would always be cute and adorable, my number one student. 

"…Hmm, I see. I was finally surpassed by the two of you." 

My eyelids grew heavier as the medicine began to take effect again. Still, I peered into Assistant and Charl's faces as though I was looking up at the sky. Did you guys get along a little better? I didn’t know for sure, but one thing is for sure. 

"You’re stronger." 

Strong enough to surpass me. 

When I said this, Assistant's eyes widened in surprise for a moment, and then his cheeks relaxed. 

"Yeah, actually, making Charl and I look like we don't get along was part of the plan. We're actually very close friends, you know?" 

"Huh, ehh? …yeah, that’s right! I-I love you, Kimizuka!" 

Charl's cheeks twitched as she smiled at the Assistant's recklessness. 

"…Hmm. Well, that's good to know." 

I couldn't help but laugh since I never dreamed that I’d see these two hugging each other, even though it was just an act. 

"It must be tough for you to have so many rivals, Nagisa." 

"Ahh, ahh, I can't hear you." 

Nagisa covered her ears in response to my teasing…and she smiled, just like Assistant. 

"Hey, Siesta." 

"Hmm?" 

Nagisa's shortened hair swayed in the wind. 

"Thank you for giving me a place to stay, famous detective." 

Nagisa laughed through her tears and said something she had said to me before. 

"No, me too." 

I reach out a heavy hand and wipe away Nagisa's tears with my fingertips. 

"Thank you for teaching me how to feel, famous detective." 

Because of you, Nagisa, because of your passion, I'm sure I'm smiling right now, wrapped in a feeling of incomparable happiness. 

"Siesta". 

Assistant was gently nudged in the back by Yui and Noches,and gently took my left hand. 

"Assistant." 

As I squeezed his hand back, I said something that came to mind. 

"If you ever lose your energy, first of all, get a lot of sleep." 

Assistant looked at me bewilderedly, and blinked slowly. 

There was one last thing I wanted to tell Assistant. I couldn’t think of anything too difficult anymore, so I recalled a recent memory, and told him. 

"Then, take a bath, okay? Clean your body, clean your mind. Then we'll eat a lot of food." 

"… Yeah, just like last time." 

"But you can't be eating pizza all the time. You need to balance your health, and get some exercise… and you have a lot of friends, so if you have any problems, talk to them right away. You tend to take everything on by yourself." 

"That's my line." 

Assistant tried to flick my forehead with his middle finger like before—and gently brushed my bangs with his fingertips. 

"You've been talking about me a lot." 

"I don't know. I'm too sleepy to understand what I’m talking about." 

All I wanted was for Assistant to eat a lot of food, laugh with his friends, and spend an ordinary, peaceful, and extraordinary life. 

"Haa, goodness." 

Then Assistant looked at me with a probing look. 

"Don’t you like me too much?” 

And he tried one really big payback at the very end. 

"Yes, I do. I like you." 

"…Please don't be straight with me." 

Yeah. It's unacceptable for a famous detective to keep losing to an assistant. 

With the help of Nagisa, I finally sat next to Assistant. 

Assistant sighed heavily and said with a bitter smile. 

"You're an idiot." 

If that is the case, my response to that was obvious. 

"That's unreasonable, isn’t it?” 

Then we all burst out laughing, Nagisa and Charl, and Yui and Noches, all laughing. We were laughing and crying at the same time. 

"I'll…we'll wake you up one day, I promise." 

So, until then... 

Assistant grabbed my left hand tightly. 

"Good night, famous detective." 

I, who loved naps, heard Assistant's mutter at the very end. 

A ray of sunshine passed through the thick clouds, illuminating us warmly. 

"Yeah, I'll wait." 

Again, someday. 

Ten thousand meters above the ground, in the sky.