ccnovels Chapter 15 - 3.1
Chapter 15 - 3.1
Chapter 15: Chapter 3.1
Yesterday's enemy is today's enemy, too
"I didn't think we'd be seeing each other again after all this time, Kimizuka." We were on the deck of a luxury cruise ship.
The individual who'd interrupted my conversation with Natsunagi and Saikawa was Charlotte Arisaka Anderson—and it was the first time I'd seen her in a year, since the day Siesta died.
"Yeah, it surprised me, too. How've you been?"
"You have no reason to be concerned about my health." Oh yeah? Well, good to see you haven't changed a bit. I thought I'd fire back with a lighthearted jab, but—
"...Really, what on earth have you been doing all this time?"
Suddenly, Charlie's tone came down a step, and there was a sharp light in her large eyes.
"'All this time'?"
"Since she died." Charlie bit her lip. She was as beautiful as ever, but her expression was harder than it used to be.
"What have I been doing...? Nothing, actually." Thinking back over this past year, I answered honestly.
I could have said I'd done something, but only very recently. After I met Natsunagi.
"Yes, I imagine not," Charlie answered derisively, as if she'd been expecting that answer. "You caught bag snatchers, went around searching for lost dogs and cats, received commendations from your local police... And you think that makes you a hero?"
Oh, so she knew, huh? She knew about my tepid life. "Kimizuka—didn't you have any intention of inheriting Ma'am's job?"
...I see. So that was what she'd wanted to say all along, huh? She'd been checking into what I was doing this past year because she wanted to say that.
I seemed to remember Ms. Fuubi saying something similar to me at one point.
However, my answer to that was:
"For those three years, I was just the assistant. All I can do is assist." And the one I was meant to assist was gone. I was powerless.
"...That's right. You were her assistant, Kimizuka. Her only assistant. So..." The sea wind carried her whisper far away. Charlie's long eyelashes came down slowly, as if she was thinking about something. "Well? What are you doing here, then? Changed your mind?"
By the time Charlie asked me that question, she'd reverted to her usual firm expression.
"What am I doing here? Uh, I'm on a cruise."
"...I see. You don't even know." Charlie gave a disgusted sigh. "So it's only a coincidence that you're on this ship."
"...Is there something here?"
I glanced at Saikawa, but she shook her head emphatically. Apparently, she had no idea what this was about.
"Ma'am's last wish." "Huh?"
"Just before she died, in order to bring down SPES, she left her last wish— her legacy—all over the world. One piece of it is dormant somewhere on this cruise ship. The analysis took time, but that information is sound," Charlie said. "Although the analysis team isn't part of my organization."
I remembered that part of the work wasn't exactly her forte. Siesta had teased her about it quite a lot. Still—
"Siesta's legacy is on this ship...?" And Charlie was here to search for it.
And today, by coincidence, I just happened to be on the same boat.
Coincidence? Really?
"But since you have no intention of carrying out Ma'am's dying wish, it's none of your business. You can just rot in your tepid life forever." With that, Charlie turned to go.
"No, hang on a second. Charlie..."
"I'm not who I was a year ago," she said. "I'm not the girl who couldn't save Ma'am."
With that, Charlie told me good-bye...well, told her past self good-bye, in all likelihood.
"I inherited that last wish."
The voice that rang out then was clear and carrying, the sort that traveled all the way to distant islands.
Natsunagi stepped out in front of me, facing Charlie straight on. "And you are?"
"I'm Nagisa Natsunagi—the ace detective."
This was getting dangerous; I could almost see the sparks flying.
"Nagisa Natsunagi...?" Charlie said quietly, putting a hand to her chin, and then—
"Oh, you're the..."
Her eyes went to Natsunagi's heart. That had to be one of the most important items of information linked to Siesta. Had Charlie tracked that down as well?
"I don't suppose you'd want to play detective somewhere else, would you? I don't want to see you using Ma'am's life for a game of pretend," Charlie said frostily, with obvious irritation in her eyes.
"I'm not playing!" Nagisa shot back, setting her hand over the left side of her chest. "I was given this life, and that has to mean something! Siesta entrusted it to me! And so, I'll be the one to find that legacy—I swear on this heart!"
She'd snapped at me like this once, too; it was fierce and fiery, a declaration of war.
For a moment, Charlie's eyes went wide, as if Natsunagi had overwhelmed her.
"—I see. Do whatever you want," she said, promptly turning on her heel. "There's no way you could ever replace her. I'll be the one to inherit her last wish."
As I watched her receding back, I couldn't think of anything to say.
"Aw, she left..."
Finally, Saikawa spoke up. Maybe she didn't want the mood to get too heavy.
"Um, I'm sorry," she continued. "If I hadn't invited you two onto this ship, this would never have..."
"No, it's not your fault, Saikawa." I immediately rejected that idea. I couldn't let my personal situation spoil Saikawa's gesture of kindness. "It was more like, you know, a collision of really unfortunate coincidences," I said, partly to convince myself as well. "You too, Natsunagi. I'm sorry for pulling you into all that."
"..." "...Natsunagi?"
When I looked at her, her fists were clenched, her shoulders were trembling, and...
"Nnnnnnnnggggghhhhhhh! Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
...her face turned bright red, and she started pounding her knees with her fists, again and again.
"Kimizuka, do you think this is a greeting from abroad, perhaps?" "No idea... Makes me think of a gorilla more than anything, but..."
"A gorilla, hmm? Did you know their official scientific name is Gorilla gorilla gorilla...?"
"Yeah. And all of them have type B blood..." "Would you shut up about gorillas?!"
As I stood on the deck, staring vacantly at the ocean, someone was snarking at me from the vicinity of my knees, in a tone that would ordinarily be unthinkable.
Charlie leaned against the railing with her back to me. "What the heck was that? You stroll in like 'Oh, I'm so cool, I've always had a knack for poker' and then you go and lose?" Charlie was sitting on the deck, hugging her knees. She looked up at me teasingly.
"Oh, shut up. I just sort of thought I could pull it off, okay?" Long story short, I got destroyed at the casino.
Humans have a hopeless tendency to see the past through rose-colored glasses. When I thought back carefully, I remembered that it had been Siesta, not me, who'd won big at the casino with that knack for poker. I'd only been granted her leftovers... That's one hell of a trap.
"That is beyond pathetic. Not only that, but you got sucked in even worse than I did and blew all the money you had. Talk about stupid. Talk about sick."
"I already feel terrible, so don't pour salt in the wound, thanks."
Haaaah. Maybe I'll borrow money from Natsunagi when she gets back from the pool. Swallow my pride, et cetera.
No, this was a time to ask Saikawa. Everybody should have a rich friend. "Heh-heh. But yes, you were right," Charlie said. "That was pretty funny." Was it actually a joke all along?
Charlie gave a contrived-sounding laugh. "Pfft! Snrk, snrk."
Come to think of it, it was the first time in a year that I'd seen that smile. For a little while, we laughed together quietly.
"—So? What did you want to talk about?"
The wind blew, changing the peaceful atmosphere.
"Siesta." As I answered, I rested my arms on the boat's railing and gazed out to sea.
"...We already had that conversation. It's over."
"Says you. Communication is a game of catch, you know." Up till now, my conversations with Charlie had always been more like dodgeball.
"What could I possibly have to talk about, a year later, with Ma'am's assistant, who didn't try to carry out her last wish?" Charlie's voice was cold again.
Unsurprisingly, that was something she just couldn't compromise on. I'd been chosen as Siesta's assistant, and then after she'd died, I hadn't tried to carry on her legacy. I'd averted my eyes from the beings I should have been fighting and stayed in my lukewarm life.
And I was the one who hated myself the most for all of it. Yes. I bet that's why Charlie was—
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you," I said.
She'd been concerned about me, her enemy—her comrade—all this time. "...I'd like it if you wouldn't presume to know what I'm thinking."
"You even read all those newspaper articles about me." "I—I just happened to see them; that's all."
"And then you came all this way, just to see me." "I told you that was a coincidence!"
"Ow!"
Charlie's fist sank into my lower thigh... I guess I teased her a little too much. But really, I probably had worried her. I did feel bad about that.
"Still," she said, "since you did apologize, I'll give you one chance." "Oh yeah?"
Charlie got to her feet and came to stand beside me. "Why didn't you try to become a detective in Ma'am's place?" Her eyes shone like emeralds, and they wouldn't let me get away. It was too late to lie or pull a fast one.
"...She... Siesta said something to me."
I remembered what had happened on that day, four years ago. In the sky, at ten thousand meters.
On the plane that Bat had hijacked, Siesta told me—
"You—be my assistant."
That was what she'd said.
"That's why I can't be a detective. I couldn't four years ago. I can't now that she's dead, either. I'm sure I'll never be able to. I'll always be hers: the ace detective's assistant."
I can't be her. But I can continue to live for her.
"...Dummy." The corners of Charlie's lips curved up in a way that looked a little sad. "You're the one who's stuck in the past with Ma'am, not me."
Was that true? Maybe so.
Even now, I'm sure. Siesta is my—
"Well, it doesn't matter." Charlie smiled, then looked up ahead, far out to sea. "You should find Ma'am's legacy, and your own answer, your way. Because I'm planning to do it my way." Charlie pressed her lips together tight.
I swallowed the "Thank you" threating to escape me and went for a
grateful-sounding "Sorry" instead. "Her legacy, huh...?" Once again, I started to think about what Siesta had apparently left on this ship. "If your team got that information, Charlie, the enemy might have it, too... You think it's possible?"
"You mean SPES?" "Yeah."
When it came to information warfare, they gave as good as they got. On top of that, Siesta had been one of their greatest enemies. If they knew she'd laid the groundwork for something, they were bound to try to...
"It is a definite possibility. Well, I do technically have an idea, but..." "A-an idea? You have an idea, Charlie...?"
"...I see you're desperate to fight me," Charlie said, flashing the holster she wore on her hip.
What did it mean that all the girls I'd met lately carried handguns?
"I told you, remember? I'm not who I was a year ago." The way she was puffing up was still more or less the same, though. "Oh, speaking of that. Kimizuka, starting today, let me borrow your cabin."
"Huh? Why? If you're part of the tour, you've got your own."
"I have nothing of the sort." Charlie tilted her head, straight-faced. "After all, I'm a stowaway."
"Don't give me that!"
Come to think of it, she was particularly good at covert maneuvers...
C'mon, just pay the money. Don't use it to gamble.
"Give me the key to your cabin."
"That's not fair at all. Actually, how did you get onto the boat? Did you use optical camouflage?"
"Heh-heh. Industry secret."
For some reason, Charlie seemed extremely proud of this. She was puffing her chest out so far I wondered if her shirt would split open, so I wished she wouldn't stop.
"Optical camouflage, hmm...?" Charlie put a hand to her chin and murmured softly. Thanks to her mature looks, the pensive expression really suited her. Although for as long as I could remember, that face usually meant she was thinking What should I have for dinner tonight...? or something along those lines, so it wasn't much help.
"Listen, Kimizuka?"
Abruptly, Charlie looked up and asked:
"Do you suppose there's a way to get off this ship in the middle of the ocean?"