Boogiepop Returns VS Imaginator Part 1 (15 page)

He would die alone. . . misunderstood.

(N-no! I don't want
that
!)

From the bottom of his heart, he knew.

He had still not done anything of any real worth.

He screamed something, but he couldn't catch the meaning of his own words. He might have begged for help, but what did he think would help him? His scream did not even reach his own ears --

***

Suddenly, he felt his arm twist violently backwards, his body forcefully thrust in a very different direction. Like a bungee cord reaching its length, he was shot back up into the air, and yank onto the roof.

He landed awkwardly on his back, and let out a howl of pain.

Still beside himself with panic, he stared up at the black figure perched on the edge of the roof. Had it saved him? Or just deflected the enemy's attack?

“. . . . . . . .”

The setting sun behind it kept him from seeing its expression. A strong gust of wind blew its cloak around, but failed to move the figure itself.

Glumly, it whispered, “He got away. . .”

Shinjirou looked around, but the hideously fat man who had raved incomprehensible things at him was nowhere to be seen.

“Oh well. . . at least he won't go near you again. He knows if he does, there's surely a risk of crossing paths with me again.”

The cloaked figure came towards him. It was shorter than he'd thought at first.

But now that he thought about it, the girl who had been waiting for him was actually this guy in disguise, so of course he was tiny.

Then the letter had all just been a ruse to draw out the mysterious blubberball?

“. . . . . . . . .” He stared vacantly up at the cloaked figure.

Halfway to him, the cloaked figure bent over and picked something up off of the ground. It was the blubberball's ear, freshly severed. The cloaked figure tossed it lightly into the air, like he'd picked up a ten -- yen coin.

“How did you get out from under his control? That's what interests me the most. Although, if I ask, I doubt you'll know. They'd hardly leave such an obvious clue.”

Shinjirou was unable to grasp any meaning from those words.

The cloaked figure stopped just in front of him, reached into its cloak, and pulled out not an ear, but a letter.

“This is the real letter. You should have it. The meeting is not for today, but for the day after tomorrow. Make sure to be there,” the figure instructed as it handed over the letter to Shinjirou. “I apologize for infringing on your privacy, but will you forgive me? I had no choice.”

He took the letter absently, and opened it. It was in the same handwriting, and had the same words. Only the date was different.

“What does this mean?” he asked, looking up.

But the cloaked figure was gone.

There was nothing left but the wind.

Two weeks later, Anou Shinjirou passed the entrance exam for Shinyo Academy.

“Please Suema-san. Save Jin-niisan. . .”

I couldn't get Kinukawa Kotoe's earnest appeal out of my head. And Asukai Jin's strange behavior at the cram school. . . that drawing of the girl who killed herself.

I couldn't forget. Even if it wasn't someone like me, a recovering abnormal psychological behavior addict, I don’t think anyone else would be able to distance themselves from the matter that easily.

Early in the morning the day after Kinukawa Kotoe had made her request, I went to the place where Minahoshi Suiko had killed herself. It was spring vacation, so I thought the place would be empty, but there was quite a crowd around the gates.

“'What's going on?” I wondered.

My friend Miyashita Touka had come with me. “You know, new students getting fitted for uniforms, and handing out the ID cards. You know, orientation crap,” she said.

“Oh, yeah.” Come to think of it, two years before, we had done the exact same thing. I had completely forgotten.

They all looked like they were having fun. That wouldn't last long. Soon they would be back to the stress of exams, or job hunting, like we were.

“Not the mood for checking out a suicide, is it?” Touka said' “What do you think, Suema? You can go home if you like. I gotta swing by the library.”

The reason she'd come with me was something about a book she'd forgotten to return. Wanted to get it back early before we had to head to cram school.

“Nah, I'll come with you.”

“Okay then. Ah. . .” Touka made a face as we reached the gates. “That girl's here. Dang it!”

“Mm? Who?” This was unusual. Touka was not the kind of girl who disliked people easily or avoided them.

“Discipline committee president,” she muttered, glumly.

I was even more surprised. “Really? Niitoki-san? But she's so nice!”

“Nah, it's all me. This and that.” She put her palms together. “Sorry, gotta go!” she yelled, turning her back and darting off.

“B-but. . . ?!” I stammered, abandoned.

'Oh well,' I thought, as I turned back towards the school.

The new first year students were all happily gathered around the gates, which as anyone who's ever visited our school would know, are set up with gate checks like those found at a train station. You have to actually run your ID card through it just to get in. It's completely useless! And here all the new kids were just “oohing” and “aahing” over it! If you looked really closely though, you could see only about half of them were actually excited about it, while the rest seemed pretty darn alarmed by it.

“Excuse me, coming through,” I said, pushing my way towards the gates.

“Morning, Suema-san,” said the apparently problematic discipline committee president, Niitoki Kei. We've known each other since we were first year students.

“Morning. You get roped into this just because you're president?” I asked,

She laughed. “I'm not president anymore. But even so. . . ,,

“Ah, right, your term's over. It just seemed like something you'd do. . .”

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“I mean, you know, the big sister thing.”

“Pot calling the kettle, Doctor.”

We looked at each other and laughed.

“So what brings you here, Suema-san?”

I couldn't answer. It wasn't something to tell just anyone about. “I’m. . . just, you know,
stuff
.”

“That Miyashita-san with you?” she said, suddenly.

I was taken aback. “Uh. . . um, well. . .”

“She doesn't want to talk to me, huh?”

“Yeah. . . what's going on there? You two don't seem like you’d rub each other the wrong way. . .”

“Nah, that's not it. Just, uh. . . this and that,” Kei said, meaningfully and a little forlornly.

“Is this about a boy?” I asked, on a hunch.

Kei's eyes nearly popped out of her head. She gave a nervous giggle. “. . . You're scary sometimes, you know that? Like you can read my mind.”

“Oh. . . I didn't mean to. . .” I scrambled.

But it seemed like she didn't take it that badly, and she said pretty lightly, “Bingo. Her boyfriend turned me down. No room for doubt. . . just clear and direct.”

“Oh, the designer guy?”

I'd met him. He was. . . well, not a bad guy.. .but that was about the extent of my impression. I think there's something about your friends' boyfriends that makes them hard to get to know.

“Right, that one,” Kei said, somehow refreshed.

She was free now, I realized. She'd let him go. I was impressed. I doubt I would manage my heartbreak so neatly. I bet I'd be dragged around by it for ages, but here Kei had already put it behind her.

“If only Touka could be so relaxed about it,” I muttered.

Kei laughed. “If only that were all of it. If only that were all.”

“Eh? There's more?”

“I know who that girl really is,” she said, naughtily.

“Uh. . . wha?” I asked, but the buzzer on the gate went off.

“Sorry,” Kei said, and turned towards the noise.

There was a boy standing in front of the gate, looking blank. He had forgotten to run his card through.

“What's wrong?” Kei asked him.

“Ah. . . nothing,” he said, like his eyes weren't focusing.

The other kids were starting to cluster around.

“You all go on ahead, find your classrooms,” Kei said, loudly. Her manner brooked no questions, and everyone did exactly as they were told. She had more authority than most of the teachers.

Kei pulled the boy over to the side. One girl followed him. “What's wrong, Anou-kun?” she asked, worriedly, putting her hand on his shoulder. They wore the same uniform. Looked like they were a couple moving up from the same junior high.

I don't know why, but I thought to myself how nice it must be to be a carefree youth. I was a little jealous.

“N-no. . . just, um. . .” Anou-kun stuttered, apparently shaking his head.

“-------- “

I knew it was nosy, but I couldn't stop watching them.

“. . . I just thought, why am I
here
?” Anou-kun said, like nothing made sense to him.

“What do you mean?” Kei asked, puzzled.

“I just. . . I feel like I lost something really, really important to come here. I don't know what. . .” Anou-kun muttered.

“Are you okay?”

“Anou-kun had a rough time last year,” his girlfriend said.

But he just carried on, like he hadn't even heard her. “I can't figure out what it is. I haven't lost anything. I know that. I know that, but. . .  I don't know what it was, but it was really important. The first time I'd found it. . .” It was like he was delirious.

Then tears started pouring down his cheeks.

I was surprised, and so were Kei and Anou-kun's girlfriend.

“W-what? What's wrong?”

“Anou-kun?”

“Huh?” He looked up, apparently surprised by his own tears.

He rubbed his cheeks, amazed. “Why am I crying?” he asked, bemused.

I moved away. I just couldn't watch anymore without feeling guilty.

***

I went around the back of the school. It was quiet. There was no one else around.

Just to be on the safe side, I looked around, making sure that I couldn't be seen.

“Okay. . .”

I clambered up and over the railings of the locked fire escape behind the school. This was the only route left to the roof these days. The door to the roof from the inside set of stairs was locked, and you couldn't get outside. It was locked because Minahoshi Suiko had jumped off the roof, killing herself.

The fire escape made a racket as I climbed, surprising me, so I put my feet down as softly as possible.

It was windy on the roof. Keeping my hair out of my eyes, I headed towards the spot where Minahoshi Suiko had jumped.

I knew I would gain nothing by coming up here' I'm not Sherlock Holmes. I can't claim that a simple visit to the scene will tell me everything, my dear Watson.

But I hoped I would at least catch a feeling.

To be honest, despite all the books I'd read on abnormal psychology, I didn't know squat about suicides.

Of course, I had read interviews with the survivors of botched suicide attempts, but that was ultimately just the words of people who
didn’t
die. More than half of those people made no further attempt at suicide, and just went on with their lives.

But those who actually succeeded must be dramatically different. For example, I had read an essay by a writer who had been involved in a number of attempted suicides before finally managing to die. He wrote, “I myself do not particularly want to die, but I am pulled along by my obsession with the woman.” Then when he did manage to die, it was in a botched display of attempted suicide which apparently succeeded.

But the real deal, the ones that intentionally die. . . even if they leave a note, it feels to me like they die without ever really communicating the true reason.

But what about Minahoshi Suiko?

Was she for real? Or was it a failure? Or had everyone misunderstood her, and it was only an accident? Or even worse, was it actually. . .

I shivered as I walked slowly forward. Then. . . as I reached the spot, I nearly shrieked. “--------?!”

There was a girl standing there, hands on the railings, with a face so desperate she looked like she was about to jump right then and there.

***

Orihata Aya never asked Spooky E why she suddenly had to go to Shinyo Academy.

Even if she had, she could hardly have disobeyed, and as far as tests went, she had enough academic ability implanted in her to pass any test put in front of her, so that was no problem.

“. . . . . . . . . . . .”

She had come for the new students' orientation, but there was still some time left before it started, so she had gone up to the roof. She wanted to see the sky. Why the gate was barred, she didn't know, but she simply climbed right on over it.