NOVEL NEXT Chapter 7 - Takayashiki Mio
July 16, 2022 (Saturday)
The room was dark.
The room was cold.
Inside the room were a bed, a desk, a chair, and a square electronic device.
There was a sound in the room. Crackling.
The blue light was the only light source.
“…Hmm, hmm, hmm.”
A girl sat in a chair—a gaming chair—and tapped away on the latest computer. Her scarlet eyes glowed faintly in the light.
She was small, her feet not reaching the floor, so she kept them on the chair.
Her hair was long enough to reach her waist. The sight of her tiny hands tapping away at the large keyboard was somewhat endearing, but the dark room and her incredibly fast typing were unsettling.
“Ah, so that’s how it is.”
The girl occasionally muttered something, paused for a few seconds to think, then resumed typing.
“…I’m coming in.”
The only door connecting the room to the hallway opened.
A boy in black entered. Before him was the sight of a solitary coworker in the dark room, busy with the computer.
“…Turn on the light.”
“Ah! Mikoyuki? What are you doing here?”
The light flicked on with a snap.
At that moment, the girl finally looked over. Her eyes widened in surprise.
Squinting in the light, she said weakly,
“Can you… turn it off? It’s very bright… Hey, don’t open the curtains! It’s too bright!”
“The amount of light is suitable for humans! …Your hair is growing long again… And those clothes, how long has it been since you went outside?”
“It’s none of your business! My hair grows on its own, I can’t help it. I change clothes every three days, and I take a bath every day!”
“…What about going outside? Talking to people?”
“O-Outside… Oh, right. I talked to someone at the convenience store a week ago!”
“That’s just a convenience store clerk! That doesn’t count as a conversation!”
Mikoyuki sighed and opened the window to ventilate the room, which was filled with air from the air conditioner.
“What’s the big deal… I have my computer. I can chat online, that’s enough. As long as I have you to talk to, that’s all I need.”
With tears in her eyes, she shielded herself from the sunlight with her hands, exclaiming, “Wow!”
Her white hair was quite long, reaching down to her waist.
“That’s not enough. Anyway—”
Mikoyuki handed her something he was holding.
It was a blue item and a white hanpen—
“Could it be…”
“That’s right—cleaning.”
No, it was a rag and a bucket that Mikoyuki handed over.
The organization Mikoyuki Kamishiro belongs to—the ‘Special Ability Division’—currently consists of five members.
Among them, Mikoyuki and Alicia are in the combat team that goes directly to the field. Reese is the strategist. And the core of the ‘Special Ability Division,’ the information team (one person), is this girl in front of him—Takayashiki Mio.
“…To visit a lovely girl’s room out of nowhere and make me clean… Are you a natural-born cleaner?”
“Your butler was crying. And I have something to discuss. About cleaning… No, in this room, you’ll get sick. It’s only natural.”
In the sunlit room, Mio wiped her sweat and spoke with a sullen face, to which Mikoyuki responded logically. He sat on a cushion on the floor.
The air conditioner was restarted. Cool air circulated through the room.
“…How’s your body?”
Mio asked with concern, peeking at Mikoyuki.
Just yesterday, Mikoyuki had been ambushed by a man believed to be from the dark side and was severely injured. Normally, it would have taken a week to recover from such a serious injury, but Mikoyuki either had high natural healing abilities or the doctor was exceptionally skilled, as he miraculously discharged after just one day.
“Today was that day, right? …Well, I see you wanted to see me.”
“Yes, I really wanted to see you.”
“…Mikoyuki, I’ve heard you’ve gotten quite used to women while I was away.”
Mio hugged a cushion and pressed her face into it as she said this, her ears slightly red. Mikoyuki, unaware, was staring at the PC in front of him.
“I told you beforehand… I want to know more about ‘Collad Bomb.'”
That’s why he came here.
Mikoyuki said this while looking at the computer over Mio’s shoulder. The blue screen had various tabs open.
“…Oh, I just finished. As expected of an organization no one has ever known about. I hopped through multiple dark web sites, but it was tough to trace them.”
“But—you did trace them, right?”
“Of course. You know there’s no one who can beat me on the internet, right? I’m extracting the data now.”
Mio said proudly, showing the loading screen. Mikoyuki smiled slightly at her words.
“So—what do you want to know about ‘Collad Bomb’?”
“I’d like to know everything if possible. I’ve gone through the materials, but there are many kanji I don’t understand.”
“…Didn’t you go to high school?”
“Ah. I thought it was a waste of money.”
Mikoyuki nodded while munching on the ice cream he brought with him. At that, the hand holding the spoon to eat the cup of ice cream stopped. Her water-colored eyes wavered, clearly showing her agitation.
“Uh… Is that okay?”
“Ah. At least I learned general knowledge in junior high. Besides, as long as I continue this job, high school is nothing but a restriction. …Well, it is troublesome in places like this.”
Given Mikoyuki’s background, just attending high school would be challenging. Moreover, this is also to prevent his abilities from being discovered by Mari, who holds parental rights.
Mikoyuki doesn’t seem to care much, but for Mio, who is attending high school, it is as unbelievable as if a technological singularity had occurred.
“…Mio?”
“Oh, no… It’s nothing. Well, to start from the beginning—”
Mio explains clearly to Mikoyuki. It takes about ten minutes. Summarizing what Mio said:
‘Collad Bomb’ is an extremist organization mainly active in the Third City. The exact time of its formation is unknown, but it had been causing incidents frequently. However, the police, considering them to be a gang at the time, did not view them as a significant issue.
“The incidents they caused were not life-threatening. Besides—at that time, the Third City was frantic about the approaching ‘Technological Singularity.'”
“I see… I have another ice cream. Do you want it?”
“Oh, yes, I want it! I haven’t eaten anything since this morning. The cup noodles ran out, so I was thinking that rationing would be fine at worst.”
“…I’ll make dinner tonight.”
Mikoyuki, now feeling a sense of crisis about Mio’s lack of life skills, decided to make dinner.
“And so… the name ‘Collad Bomb’ spread—”
“The incident in the second city of Hokkaido…?”
On October 6, 2016, in the Second City (formerly Hakodate). That day, there was an event called the ‘School Festival’ where students with abilities living there all participated. It was a large-scale event, attracting tourists from around the world.
On this day alone, non-ability users were allowed to enter the city, so security was tighter than usual.
However—
“…I remember this too. They say the damage was enormous.”
“Yes. It was a tragic event where about ten thousand people, including both ability users and civilians, died, and one hundred thousand were injured.”
Mio looked down, working on the computer. The emergency news flash from that day appeared. Tall buildings were billowing black smoke, and flames were visible from behind. Buildings in the vicinity were completely burned down, and the charred canopy—along with the cute character and font written ‘School Festival’—intensified the tragedy.
“With this incident, ‘Collad Bomb’ was marked as a first-class extremist organization.”
Mio said this quietly. Mikoyuki looked at the news footage and said:
“At that time… the security was supposed to be tight. Moreover, the Second City was undergoing training for emergencies. So, for such damage to occur—”
“You want to say that someone leaked information… right? Actually, I think that line is accurate. It’s nearly impossible to bypass the police at that time, and moreover, to do so without being noticed by the ‘Top Ten’ of the Second City.”
Mikoyuki pondered with his head down after Mio’s words. However, no suspect came to mind. Perhaps—a mere speculative logic vanished with the summer wind in the sky.
“…It’s hot.”
“Because it’s summer…”
Inside, the cicadas were slowly buzzing. The air conditioner was running, but it would still take some time to cool down. Both were sweating, their clothes damp. Mio, who generally doesn’t exercise, seemed quite exhausted from the earlier cleaning. Throughout the conversation, she kept eating ice cream non-stop.
“…Can I borrow the bath? I want to wash off some sweat.”
“Sure. The bathroom is—”
“On the first floor, around the kitchen. I remember.”
Mikoyuki stood up, saying this, and left Mio’s room. As he went down to the first floor, he said quietly:
“…It’s become quite lonely here.”
The cleaning was thorough, but there was no sense of life. There were several photo frames on the living room shelf, but that was all. Other items were missing. This house—had only those memories of the family.
“——”
The warmth that this living room once had had cooled. He felt this every time he passed through this place, but his heart couldn’t keep up. Only two people still knew that warmth.
Mikoyuki entered the door next to the kitchen and closed it.
—The photo showed young Mio and another person—a boy with black hair.