Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/2912051600327232539
The auto-lock system isn’t designed to protect residents’ safety.
It’s a massive sorting machine designed to completely isolate from society—and plunge into the depths of despair—anyone who “tries to pop out to the convenience store late at night and accidentally leaves without their keys.”
Sinking into the plush sofa of a high-rise apartment, I stared down at the massive air purifier in the corner of the room, emitting a blue glow.
“…The moment I sat down, the light on this air purifier turned red and it started running at full capacity. I wonder if it’s scanning my annual income and trying to treat low-income earners as pollutants.”
“It’s just a dust sensor. Minato’s hoodie always smells like deep-fried food from a late-night convenience store instead of fabric softener.”
Shizuku said this while cradling a large mug in both hands on the sofa across from me.
She wasn’t wearing the outfit she’d worn on stage in front of thousands of enthusiastic fans; instead, she was dressed in baggy loungewear.
After that escape, she obviously couldn’t go back to the park, so we ended up here—this fortress-like apartment that the agency had arranged for her.
“So, what are you planning to do?”
“What do you mean, what are we going to do?”
“Our secret meeting spot. The park bench—our sanctuary—is as good as lost. And the concierge downstairs gives me that look whenever I try to walk by, like, ‘Uber Eats delivery guys, go to the back entrance.’ It’s only a matter of time before it wears me down.”
“You don’t have to worry about it. But you’re right, meeting outside isn’t really an option anymore.”
Shizuku traced her finger along the rim of her mug, looking slightly pensive.
“Oh, maybe it’s not impossible after all. Hey, Minato. I’ve got a great idea.”
Shizuku was grinning, clearly up to no good.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this, but I’ll listen.”
“Minato dresses up as a girl. How about it?”
“Rejected.”
I shot back immediately.
“But then we could meet at the park, right? Minato, your bangs are long, and if you wear a mask and put on some makeup, I think you could just about pull it off. You’ve got a cute face, too.”
“I definitely can’t pull that off! Besides, what are we gonna do about my leg hair? Are we gonna spray it with weed killer or pave it over with concrete!?”
“Just shave it off! Oh, I have a blonde wig, you know? Want to try it on?”
Shizuku tried to stand up excitedly, so I stopped her with a hand.
“Let’s not. If I put on a blonde wig, I’d just end up looking like ‘the bassist who quits a visual kei band first due to creative differences.’”
“Hmm… I see. And here I was, all set to give Minato a cute makeover.”
Shizuku sat back down on the sofa, looking displeased. It was strange how genuinely disappointed she seemed.
“Let’s be realistic. Basically, we have no choice but to turn this place into a park outpost—in other words, our new base.”
“…Yeah. I guess so.”
“The problem is, how am I going to get past that bow-tie security checkpoint? I can’t exactly have Shizuku come pick me up at the entrance every single time, can I?”
Then Shizuku rummaged through her tracksuit pocket and slid a black key card onto the table.
“Here, this is a spare key. Or rather, a spare card.”
“……”
“With this, you can come straight up from the underground residents’ elevator without going through the concierge.”
“Whoa, whoa. You don’t just hand over the key to a top idol’s room to a part-timer making a thousand yen an hour. It’s too heavy a burden to think that Shizuku-san’s economic value of hundreds of millions of yen is riding on this single piece of plastic. It’ll tear the fabric of my cheap wallet.”
“It won’t tear—it’s just an IC card. Besides…”
Shizuku buried her face in her arms, resting them on the table. She looked up at me intently.
“This place is so big it’s suffocating.”
“The 24-hour ventilation system should be running, though. Why don’t you open a window?”
“That’s not what I mean. It’s like the vending machines in the park—if there’s no one around to buy me a hot cocoa, I feel like I’m losing myself.”
“Don’t put me in the same category as a coin slot.”
I sighed and picked up the black key card lying on the table.
It was surprisingly light. But even I knew that this overly light card would become the collar that definitively binds me to her “other world.”
“Fine. I’ll hold onto it if you promise not to report me for trespassing.”
“Really!?”
Shizuku’s face lit up instantly.
“But I’ll only come by when I’m bored. Don’t get your hopes up too high.”
“Okay! Any time is fine. You can think of this place as Minato’s second home.”
“I’ll pass. If I lived in a room where I felt like I was constantly being watched by an air purifier, I’d have a hole in my stomach in three days.”
As I shoved the key card deep into my wallet, Shizuku watched me with a look of pure joy, still holding her mug with both hands.
It wasn’t the perfect idol smile she put on in front of fans, but that awkward, vulnerable grin she only ever showed in the park late at night.
“…Well, I guess I should be heading out soon.”
As I stood up from the sofa, Shizuku’s expression clouded over for just a split second.
I could tell she was gripping the mug a little tighter.
“…Come visit again.”
“If I feel like it.”
“Definitely. You have to, okay?”
Shizuku’s expression clouded over, and she kept pressing me, repeating, “Definitely, right?” Overwhelmed by her persistence, I reluctantly nodded.
“y…yeah. I get it.”
From now on, it seemed this extraordinary fortress would become our new everyday life. The air purifier’s light must have sensed me again, because it began to emit an ominous red glow.
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