Tantei wa Mou, Shindeiru - Volume 9 - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

  Super idol Saikawa’s distress

“Mm, this is delicious!”

We were at a fairly expensive restaurant in Tokyo, where I was watching Natsunagi cheerfully eat a forkful of roast duck.

Thinking back, Siesta had been the one to savor and thoroughly enjoy her food, but Natsunagi used her expressions, gestures, and voice to broadcast that feeling. I never got tired of watching her eat.

“You must’ve had curry over there, right?”

“It was a little different from what we think of as ‘curry’ here, but yes. It was so good! It tasted, you know, like the actual place.”

It had been two days since Natsunagi got back from India and I’d left Rill in her home country. We’d met up at this restaurant to swap travel stories and talk about what to do next.

“You may not be very interested in food, Kimizuka, but you’re not a picky eater.”

“I did a lot of traveling overseas. I can eat anything and enjoy it, up to a point.”

Ordinarily, when you went abroad, you even had to be careful about drinking the water. I had a weird tolerance for things like that, though, so I’d never had to worry about what I ate.

“Even though this trip was pretty hectic, I still managed to try some tasty food.”

“Oh? You mean like the meals at Rill’s house?”

“The salmon soup was superb.” That answer got me a cold look from Natsunagi. Had I put my foot in my mouth? “Never mind; for now, let’s just enjoy what’s happening over there,” I said, changing the subject. I was looking at a piano, a little distance from our table. A woman was playing it softly, accompanying herself as she sang.

“Marie’s an amazing singer, isn’t she?” Natsunagi sighed, impressed. Our client was sitting at the piano, wearing a magnificent gown. The days when she’d been considered an urban legend seemed like a dream. She’d captivated most of the diners in the restaurant with her voice.

Once she finished her song, Marie stood up and bowed deeply. Warm applause rang out, and she accepted it with a smile, looking far more like a saint than a witch. However, Natsunagi and I knew she was only the opener for this event.

“Good evening, everyone. Sorry for interrupting your dinner. I’m Yui Saikawa!”

All of a sudden, an idol stepped up onto the platform, and every eye in the restaurant widened.

Marie welcomed Saikawa, and the two of them stood side by side. This wasn’t like some sort of appearance arranged by a TV station; she was a genuine surprise guest.

“You see, my friend Marie has invited me to sing a song! Oh, I’ll be passing a hat around the room for tips later!”

That got a little laugh. Saikawa got a better grip on the mic, then made eye contact with Marie, who took a seat at the piano again. The elegant dinner wouldn’t be over for quite a while longer.

“Cheers!” Natsunagi said, and four glasses clinked together. After Saikawa and Marie’s mini recital, the four of us had relocated to a table in a private room.

“Thank you for coming today!” Marie tipped her glass back and drained it blissfully, then smiled at us.

“It was no problem…but is wine meant to be chugged like that?” Her actions had all seemed so natural that I was late with my comeback.

Marie cheerfully sloshed more wine into her empty glass; she’d ordered a whole bottle. “It’s fine; it’s a privilege adults enjoy. Would you like some?” Smiling, she offered me some wine. Personally, I didn’t dislike women who were bad at adulting.

“Hey, cut that out! Don’t get carried away!” Natsunagi, who seemed to have joined the discipline committee, whisked the glass out of my reach. It wasn’t like I’d actually been planning to drink or anything.

“Oh? So you two are in that sort of relationship, are you?” Marie teased.

“Wh-what’s that supposed to mean?” Natsunagi said, acting twitchy.

“She’s probably somehow gotten the idea that you and I are a couple.”

“I—I know that! How can you say something like that as if it’s nothing, Kimizuka?! Any normal person would feel awkward and try to change the subject!”

I see. Thanks for the lesson in communication.

“Marie, these two score poorly when it comes to romance, although they fail in different areas. Please don’t make them talk about things like that.”

I had a feeling Saikawa had covered for us in a way that made us sound pathetic, but Natsunagi was still scolding me, so I didn’t really catch it.

“Yui, thanks for your performance earlier. That duet was so much fun!”

“I learned an awful lot, too! Your voice really is terrific, Marie.” Saikawa’s eyes were sparkling. She had been incredibly impressed by Marie’s voice when they’d first met and had asked the other woman to coach her, but I’d had no idea she’d idolize Marie this much. Marie seemed to respect Saikawa as well.

“Well, should we get down to business?” I asked.

Marie’s face grew serious again, and she nodded.

Our main reason for meeting today was to give Marie a report regarding our search for her hometown. I shared what we’d managed to learn with her.

First, I told her there had been a place similar to the village in the picture—the one Marie had guessed was her hometown—in a rural area of Scandinavia. I followed this up by saying that someone had attacked and burned down the village about half a year ago, and all the residents had died.

The one thing I couldn’t tell Marie was that the culprit might have been a vampire. She did seem to know a bit about the world’s darker side, but telling her everything would have been too great a risk.

For now, I promised her that we’d try to find out more about the previous year’s incident, and that we were investigating whether there were other, similar villages elsewhere across the world.

“Thank you. Please let me say once again how grateful I am to you.” Marie bowed to us from across the table. “I’m sure that learning about the past and recovering even a few of my memories will further change the tone of my songs. I suspect I’ll end up getting much, much better than I am now. Is that too simpleminded of me?” She smiled, but her expression was earnest.

“Amazing. Just amazing…,” Saikawa murmured. She sounded a little dazed. “I want to know that, too. How to sing so that your song captures your listeners’ hearts and won’t let go. And make them hope it never does.”

“You’re already plenty amazing as an idol, Saikawa.”

Did she really need to worry like that? Her work seemed to be going extremely well.

“It’s true that I’m acknowledged as the ultimate, cutest idol, both by myself and others…”

“Yeah, you sound just fine.”

“…But it’s not enough. Look at this,” Saikawa said, holding out a flyer.

It was an advertisement for a certain musical. The scriptwriter and director were so famous that even I’d heard of them, and more than anything, one of the cast members—no, the star—was…

“Wow, Yui, it’s you.” Natsunagi’s eyes widened.

I skimmed the plot summary. Saikawa was going to play a nun who dreamed of becoming a singer.

“Rehearsals started quite a while ago, but…I’m completely out of my depth.” Saikawa gave a troubled smile. “I knew I wouldn’t be able to act on the same level as professionals, and I’m sure the staff never expected me to. But even when it comes to singing, I’m hopeless. When you’re performing in musicals, singing like an idol just doesn’t cut it.”

“They’re different specialties. You’ve spent years developing certain habits to project your voice and breathe in a certain way, so learning a new method of singing won’t be easy,” Marie said, summarizing Saikawa’s problem.

“Yes, that’s what everyone else seems to think, too.” Saikawa held out her smartphone. The screen showed an article about her playing the lead in the musical. The comments were filled with harsh questions about whether Saikawa, who was just an idol, could actually handle it.

“Don’t take stuff like this too seriously.”

“Thank you, Kimizuka. Unfortunately, though, they’re right this time.” Despite what she’d said, Saikawa’s expression was by no means downcast. I was sure she was more conscious of her lack of skill than anyone else, and that she was searching desperately for an answer.

“I’m going to take vocal lessons designed specifically for musicals, but you see, I’m also scheduled to release a new song each month for the next six months. Things are going to get really busy, and once spring vacation ends, I’ll be starting high school as well.”

Just as Natsunagi and I were going on to university, Saikawa would be moving up to high school this spring. The fight against Seed had ended and she was finally able to focus on being an idol, but now she’d come up against this new issue. Maybe having a job that was too fulfilling was its own sort of problem.

“I want to do it all, though. I want to perfectly pull off what people ask of me. I want to play the part of an ideal idol. I want to keep seeing pretty dreams forever… I’m sorry for going on about myself like this,” Saikawa said bashfully. “If I manage to complete these two big jobs—the musical and the back-to-back song releases—I’m positive I’ll be able to reach new heights. And so…” She bowed her head to Marie. “Please, let me ask you one more time: Would you be my vocal coach?”

Saikawa believed Marie’s sublime voice was what she needed right now to help her grow.

After a few seconds of silence, Marie nodded. “All right. I’m like you, after all. I believe in the power of music.”

Seeing the two of them take each other’s hands, Natsunagi and I exchanged nods.

A hand reaching out would join with someone else’s, just like this.

That was definitely what the previous detective had been working toward.