Ch.53Chapter 8. About the Future (6)

I thought about it, and I realize I did something extremely dangerous.

Of course, it’s unlikely, but if there had been a criminal wandering around the mountains in the middle of the night, I would have been kidnapped while unconscious on that cliff.

It feels awkward saying this about myself, but I have a face pretty enough to be a heroine. That means I have looks that someone with bad intentions would definitely covet.

And truthfully, someone already has coveted me before. I don’t know what’s become of them now.

Well, at least no such person approached me while I was unconscious.

“…”

When I opened my eyes, I was in some room.

It seemed familiar, but thinking about it again, I hadn’t seen this specific room before—it just looked exactly like the interrogation rooms I’d seen in detective dramas and movies.

I raised my body from where I was slumped over a metal desk and felt something strange, so I looked down at myself.

My body was restrained. More specifically, I was wearing a white straitjacket like the kind they’d put on mental patients at risk of self-harm.

It was the type where your right and left hands cross to the opposite arm below the elbow, and the long sleeves extending from those hands are bound behind your back.

Briefly, I thought it was quite wise.

If someone wants to create wounds and draw blood, they don’t necessarily need something like a box cutter. They could somehow bite themselves with their teeth, or scratch with their fingernails… People would probably come in and stop them before enough blood flowed, but I think the possibility of success isn’t zero.

Hmm…

For a moment, I wondered if Shura Nirlas might pop out and help me in this situation, even without blood.

But even if he did help, I doubt he’d help exactly as I asked. He always twists his words in subtle ways, and even when helping me, he makes me do various things according to his own preferences.

[Kotone Kurosawa.]

A voice echoed in the room.

There was a speaker attached to the corner of the ceiling.

Just like the “interrogation room from movies and dramas” I’d mentioned, there was a large mirror on the wall. It was probably a one-way mirror where I couldn’t see through from this side, but they could see me from the other side.

[Did you hear the prophecy?]

“…”

It was a bit absurd to hear such a question right after waking up.

“Where’s Yuka?”

I reflexively asked that.

She must be extremely worried about me. Whether these people found me before Yuka could, or they took me away after she found me.

…Considering that Yuka’s family has connections with high-ranking people in this country, rather than forcibly taking me away, they might have brought me here through official channels.

[Answer the question.]

Hmm.

I pondered for a moment.

Whether to tell them about the prophecy I heard, or just keep my mouth shut.

But thinking about it again, the prophecy wasn’t that detailed. It said I would die, so it would happen before the end of my life, but even if I roughly estimate my lifespan at 70 years, I still have more than 50 years left.

A prophecy with a 50-year expiration date seems like something the current generation wouldn’t even worry about.

The government would worry, but most high-ranking officials probably wouldn’t care much. How many current members of parliament would even be alive 50 years from now?

…Maybe 50 years is too long?

Well, considering the original work was a light novel, it probably wouldn’t span that long. I didn’t read it to the end, but I think the story would have concluded before the characters graduated high school.

So it would probably happen within the next two years.

I quickly made up my mind.

“I’ll answer if you answer my question first.”

[…]

If I make them too angry, will they torture me?

I wondered how much pain I could endure.

I think I’m pretty good at holding my breath. I can also withstand heat quite well. Well, I’d still scream if my body caught fire.

It wouldn’t be easy for them to persuade me by bringing in my friends. Even if this is 20 years before my time, it’s still problematic to mess with civilians.

Those people must have noticed the cult behind Yamashita to some extent, right?

And if so, it means Kagami’s act had worked. Thanks to Kagami treating me like an abandoned child whenever he saw me, these people had formed this bold plan to kidnap me.

Japan is a country that has already suffered from cult religions. In reality, since the opponent takes the form of a “religion,” it would be difficult to dismantle them without them first causing social problems, and they couldn’t openly suppress them, but this world isn’t just fantasy.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they were carefully planning how to eradicate them.

When no answer came from the speaker despite waiting, I finally asked:

“What’s today’s date?”

[…It’s July 28th.]

Hmm, then I can be a bit more relaxed.

I released the tension from my body and leaned back in the chair.

I looked toward the mirror where I was reflected. Would there be someone on the other side looking directly at me?

“What about Yuka?”

I asked again since I hadn’t received an answer.

[She’s nearby. Waiting for you.]

I nodded.

So Yuka knows I’m here. That’s a relief. If we had parted without her seeing me, she would have been extremely worried until now.

Organizations like this tend to be stubbornly unhelpful in strange ways, not telling people things they should out of courtesy, making readers frustrated to death.

[Now it’s our turn to ask. Tell us about the prophecy.]

“…In three years from today, a leader from another country visiting this nation will be assassinated.”

I answered vaguely.

It was the answer I had been thinking about in my head since the first question.

Of course, I had no intention of giving them a straightforward answer, so I made sure to speak as naturally as possible, trying not to stutter so it wouldn’t sound like a lie.

[…]

I heard a commotion from the other side.

It seems my mention of high-ranking people successfully drew their attention. Was my acting good?

Actually, I don’t know much about such matters in this world, but surely the names of important people in the novel wouldn’t overlap with those in reality?

From the atmosphere, there must have been such figures in the latter part of the story, but if they shared names with real people, wouldn’t that cause problems? I think Japan has laws about defamation and such.

Well, anyway.

[Any more detailed information?]

“…I don’t know anything beyond that.”

My words were met with silence again.

[Are you sure?]

“…I have nothing to gain by lying.”

And honestly, if they really wanted to hear it, they shouldn’t have locked me up like this. If I’m the only one who knows the information and I don’t answer, what are they going to do?

There was no response from the other side for a while, but they seemed to eventually accept that my statement wasn’t particularly strange.

They talk about “disasters,” but I don’t think that only refers to things like earthquakes or typhoons. The prophecy I heard was about my death.

If that causes great trouble for this country, it could be called a “calamity.”

Moreover, such words can also be connected to the phrase “think again.”

With natural disasters, what humans can do is extremely limited. Building embankments might block waves, but there’s no fundamental way to prevent earthquakes. And these kinds of real natural disasters can’t be prevented just by saying “think again.”

It’s thoroughly man-made, a “disaster” that can be prevented if prepared for.

I think it’s quite a plausible excuse even to myself.

Plus, I didn’t have to specify who it was. As long as it’s a foreign head of state on August 28th three years from now, they would be the subject of that prophecy.

They could either not invite them, investigate more thoroughly to prevent the assassination in advance—well, that would be up to them to figure out.

Anyway, it’s three years away, so I don’t need to worry about it right now. At least not until I graduate high school.

[…]

Whether people on the other side were talking or simply at a loss for words, there was no response for a long time.

As I sat blankly staring at the mirror, I finally heard a click as the door opened.

Turning my head, I saw the doorknob of the entrance to this room turning.

And.

“…”

The person who entered was… someone I hadn’t expected to meet here.

“Miss Kurosawa.”

The person who entered saying that was—

“We’ve met once before. Do you remember me?”

“…”

I carefully examined the person’s face once more.

I don’t think I’m mistaken. While there wasn’t anything particularly distinctive about their face, that unique atmosphere wasn’t something easily forgotten.

“Miura’s father…”

“Yes. You remember. Let me introduce myself again, I’m Masao Miura.”

Mr. Miura, who approached me speaking in a gentle voice, was dressed in a neat suit.

“Are you with the police?”

“Police… no. Though I could be.”

Answering ambiguously, Mr. Miura approached me and stopped about five steps away from where I sat sideways in the chair, looking at him.

My steps, not Mr. Miura’s.

“You have plans with Mako tomorrow, right?”

“Yes.”

“Mako seems quite happy about it. She’s looking forward to it.”

“…”

“What do you think of Mako?”

There was no particular expression on his face as he asked. If anything, he was smiling, but it was more like a smile for show rather than one of genuine joy. Like the expression when asking your daughter’s friend, “Hello, you came to visit?”

So it wasn’t scary.

But that made it seem more dangerous.

“…A friend, I’d say.”

“I see. Mako thinks the same.”

Although there was light in this room, the overall illumination was low. So the light pouring in from the corridor cast a long shadow from Mr. Miura toward me, giving off the atmosphere of a mastermind behind some incident.

In this situation, if anyone were close to being a mastermind… it would be me.

Though I felt wronged since I hadn’t actually plotted anything.

“So, you shouldn’t lie about these matters. I… we think you’re different from the group behind you.”

He probably means the cult group.

And I think so too. We had a very ambiguous, cooperative yet non-cooperative relationship, and while I seemed to hold a fairly important position in that group, I don’t consider myself the “same” as them.

Of course, the “difference” I see and the “difference” Mr. Miura sees are probably different.

“I’d like you to tell me once more if what you’re saying is true. If that prophecy foretells a disaster, we must prevent it.”

I stared intently at Mr. Miura’s face.

There’s no sign of tension in his expression. Is he hoping I won’t be scared?

But at the same time, seeing him mention his daughter’s name while saying such things to me, he seemed quite sincere.

…What was it like in the original work?

If Miura had died, what would have happened to this person? Would he have broken down and gone berserk? It’s hard to know now.

“What I said is everything. The message wasn’t that long.”

“…”

Mr. Miura looked at me quietly, as if trying to gauge my words.

Then he nodded.

“I see. Understood.”

And he walked steadily toward me.

Going behind me, Mr. Miura slightly pulled the sleeve connected to my arm, and then unlocked the restraint.

Looking at it now that it was removed, I saw that the restraint device looked like a belt buckle. It really was the type of straitjacket used in mental hospitals.

…Or maybe for prisoners. Looking at this room again, the latter seems more fitting.

“How did I get here…?”

I asked Mr. Miura.

“By helicopter.”

Mr. Miura answered very simply.

Ah, I see.

Such a simple method.

…Well, it wouldn’t have been easy to search for Kudan by helicopter from the beginning. In the middle of the night in the forest, they wouldn’t have been able to see between the trees from above, and if Kudan heard the distinctive loud noise of a helicopter, he would have fled immediately, even from a distance.

I stood up.

“Your clothes are outside.”

Weren’t they covered in blood?

I tilted my head and went outside the room, and was a bit surprised.

…It just looked like an ordinary building.

I thought it might be a police station or some kind of hospital, but it was like a commercial building commonly seen on the street. The kind that might have a convenience store or restaurant on the lower floor, and small ordinary offices on the upper floors.

Through the corridor window, I could see outside. The outside was just a street with people walking around.

I must have been unconscious for quite a while, as the sun was already high in the sky.

And—

“…Yuka.”

In front of that corridor, there was a row of chairs that looked like the ones placed in front of operating rooms for patients to wait. Yuka was sitting there, asleep.

Had she been waiting for me all night?

I felt guilty.

And on Yuka’s lap, there were a pair of pants and a T-shirt, neatly folded. Yuka seemed to have fallen asleep sitting with her hands on top of them.

Her usual sword was nowhere to be seen.

“…”

“She’s been waiting here since we brought you.”

“What about her grandfather?”

“Mr. Yuuki has many things to do.”

“…”

After thinking for a moment, I remembered to ask one last thing I hadn’t forgotten.

“How did the church people get there? They arrived before us.”

“…”

Mr. Miura looked at me quietly.

Was he worried about a potential conflict?

“I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you that.”

“…Mr. Miura, who exactly do you work for?”

“I’m sorry, but that’s also difficult to explain. It’s something even Mako doesn’t know much about.”

Then there’s nothing I can do.

By the sensibilities of this era, it might be a place referred to only by pronouns like “the Organization,” “the Agency,” or “the Foundation” without any actual name.

At least I could tell they were people who tracked supernatural phenomena occurring in this country.

Mr. Miura closed the door and locked it.

Other people… ah, they must be in the room on the opposite side.

After locking the door, Mr. Miura looked at me quietly.

Is he telling me to leave now that our business is done?

…

Is he just letting me go because if they release me, I’ll solve various things on my own and bring them information? He saw Kagami last time too.

“…Yuka.”

Feeling a bit guilty, I grabbed Yuka’s shoulder and shook it gently.

I thought she wouldn’t wake up easily since she seemed deeply asleep, but Yuka jumped up in surprise.

“Kotone!?”

She didn’t seem to be shouting after seeing me; she must have been having a similar dream, or perhaps she was so worried about me until the moment she fell asleep that she unconsciously called out like that.

“Kurosawa!”

The way she addresses me changed again.

Is she perhaps calling me by my first name in her heart?

Come to think of it, Fukuda already calls me by my first name. Well, given her personality, she seems like the type who would naturally start using first names after knowing someone for a short time.

“Are you alright!?”

As she said that, she placed her hands on my shoulders.

She was still holding the clothes, so they touched my face. Yuka said, “Ah, sorry,” and awkwardly withdrew her hand.

“I’m fine.”

“She should be fine after the emergency blood transfusion.”

Hearing Mr. Miura’s words, Yuka and I both looked at him at the same time.

Was my condition that serious?

…Well, it was always like that after using my ability.

Yuka was about to say something, but then closed her mouth and slightly bowed toward Mr. Miura. Mr. Miura returned the bow to Yuka.

I did something similar. Then, to my honor, Mr. Miura bowed to me in exactly the same way.

“Let’s change your clothes first.”

“There’s an empty room nearby, get ready there. Leave the straitjacket behind.”

“…”

Yuka looked at Mr. Miura again, then grabbed my wrist and pulled me along.

As we went to the next room, Yuka whispered to me.

“…I’m sorry.”

“…”

I should be the one who’s sorry.

Is Yuka… perhaps feeling guilty about making me slit my wrist?

But looking at the clothes Yuka is holding, I’m the one who received help. I’ve received so much help that it’s becoming difficult to cut off that help.

I shook my head.

“I’m the one who should be sorry.”

“…”

But even though I said that, Yuka’s mood didn’t seem to improve much.

“…Want to go see the fireworks together?”

After hesitating, not knowing what to say, I finally asked that, and Yuka finally smiled slightly.

“Didn’t you say you had plans with your friends?”

“…Adding one more person…”

“It’s okay. Honestly, it might be a bit awkward.”

Is that so?

She’s probably saying that out of consideration for me.

“I’m going with my grandfather and father. I was thinking of inviting you, but it’s actually good that you already have plans.”

…Was she planning a surprise?

“We might meet nearby. Right?”

“Yes.”

Seeing Yuka’s face, which seemed to have brightened considerably, my heart also felt a little lighter.