Interlude – Tachibana Kanata ①

–This is a story of when I, Shiina Kanata, was still Tachibana Kanata–

When I was in the fifth grade, there was a strange girl in my class. She was in the same class with me ever since we entered school, but I had never spoken to her.

“……”

She was a girl who was always quiet, always looking down, and everyone made fun of her for not being able to study.

After I told everyone in the class, they stopped making fun of her. In fact, everyone is looking out for her with concern. However, the girl herself is unaware of this and always avoids getting involved with everyone. She’s probably even afraid of them.

“Hey, Kanata !”

The people in the other classes are calling to me from outside the classroom. That’s….Tarou kun from the class next to mine. It’s just after lunch break, so I’m sure he’s inviting me to play.

“What are you doing today?”

“Hehe, I got beaten in soccer yesterday. Today we can use the gymnasium, so let’s play basketball together !”

“Basketball, huh……sounds good !”

“Oh, what the heck, I’m in !”

When I became enthusiastic, everyone in the classroom got up and started to head to the gym with me. Yeah, playing basketball with everyone’s second. When I noticed, not only boys but also girls were involved and everyone was heading to the gym. This is me, Tachibana Kanata’s daily life.

And so I took my gaze off the girl from earlier and headed for the gym with everyone else. There’s no point in continuing to dwell on things that can’t be solved. Besides, I didn’t move enough yesterday, and I haven’t played in a while !

–Fifteen minutes later–

“Ze, ze……”

“Who taught Kanata basketball…..?”

“Eh? I’ve never touched a basketball in my life……”

The team I was on won the basketball game. When I thought I had a sense of déjà vu, it was the same scene as yesterday’s soccer. Yeah, this is the first time I played, not bad.

“H-how can you shoot so well?”

“If you just let it go, it just goes in, I guess?　Because the ring doesn’t move.”

“That’s the same argument as yesterday’s soccer game !?”

When I exercise, for some reason, everyone starts to make a fuss. It’s funny, I’m just imitating the movements of the pros I see on TV…….

“The chime will ring in five minutes, do you want to play again?”

“……Everyone gather around !”

Takuya, who had been talking earlier, called everyone together. Hm, am I not included?

As I was thinking that, a group of boys with serious faces turned to me and said, 

“Kanata, it’s an exhibition match ! One against nine, can you win?”

‘Oh, hey ! That’s not fair, no matter what !”

And so begins a group lynching named “exhibition match,” ignoring my feelings. Moreover, the eyes of those who lost in the soccer game yesterday were shining brightly. The girls who were observing in the outfield were also getting excited for some reason.

Ah, enough, let’s do it !

※

“…..It’s crazy.”

Kenta kun puts his hand on the wall while lamenting so. Or rather, everyone else was also very depressed with their hands on the floor. The mood that was fun at first turned sour when I noticed it. It was like this at the end of yesterday’s soccer game…….

“How can you win with a cool face against this many people, you monster?”

“Fufufu, justice is never defeated by evil.”

“Who’s evil !”

Oops, it’s a habit. It seems that I’m saying too much. I don’t know if everyone will get depressed with that one word……

The chime rang and we rushed back to the classroom. By the way, we all cleaned up together. I had the privilege of being the winner and was in charge of the cleanup.

“Whew, I sweat a lot !”

I said something out of character as I walked back into the classroom. I thanked the school board for installing the air conditioner. Maybe I should write a thank-you letter on behalf of the school next time. Anonymously, of course.

(……Ah.)

I opened the classroom door and went straight ahead, but I saw her again from the direction. That quiet girl.

(……Still can’t talk to anyone, huh.)

I’m waiting for that girl to get up the courage to get involved with everyone. If I try to get involved, I may scare her, or she may not want to get involved with others. That’s why I’ve been struggling with this problem.

Oh well, maybe it’s time for me to talk to her……

The day went by quickly when I was thinking about that. I guess it’s not good to concentrate too much on one thing. I decided to give up for today and went home with everyone.

The next day, I noticed something strange in the classroom.

(Huh? She didn’t show up today.)

That girl I always see was absent today. It’s strange, she had been diligent in her attendance.

I passed by the staff room during my lunch break, wondering if anyone was feeling unwell. The latest trend in my life is to have a lively discussion with the principal about stocks. He’s probably making a lot of money.

“…like….now….don’t….”

“Oh?”

I was stopped by the words I heard coming from inside the classroom.  Because I felt like I heard the name of the girl I was thinking about earlier from inside the staff room. I quietly stick to the door of the staff room so as not to get found out.

The door to the staff room is closed, but if I concentrate, I can manage to hear what is being said, and I can see the mouth of the teacher who’s speaking through the slightly opened gap. From the outside, I look like an apprentice spy.

Fufufu, it’s times like this when my desperately mastered lip-reading skills and my natural ear come in handy !

“So, did you call the police?”

“Yes. I can’t get in touch with Kisaragi’s parents, so I guess that’s what I’ll end up doing.”

“Hm, so Kisaragi chan. The school board has informed us that they suspect that the child’s parents are neglectful in their parenting……”

“What if something had happened to Kisaragi?”

“……”

Apparently, an emergency situation has arisen. To piece together the conversation of the story, that girl……Kisaragi Yuu chan cannot be contacted and her parents cannot be contacted either. And there are suspicions that her parents are neglecting her.

(If she were to be left alone…..or involved in an incident or accident, you couldn’t hear from her right away.)

On the other hand, if she’s involved in something, by the time it all comes out, it may be too late. The teachers at this school are all very warm-hearted. That’s why there is a sense of optimism about the situation.

(……What would a hero do in such a situation?)

It’s obvious. Okay, I’m going to make my first move in a while.

I changed my course from the principal’s office to the infirmary. Sorry Principal, we’ll talk about stocks another time.

Then I lied and said I’m sick to leave the school early. Now I could move freely during the afternoon, at least to some extent. It was awkward, though, when the lady at the infirmary said to me, [You again?].

“Hmmm, first I had to retrace my steps.”

Come to think of it, I don’t know where that girl’s house is. Even if he was involved in the incident, the investigation probably hasn’t started yet. If so, I want as many new clues as possible. Yes, firstly…

“Yeah, let’s go home first.”

And so I walk home as fast as I can. After about ten minutes of running as fast as I could, I came upon a rundown apartment building. It may look like a wreck on the outside, but I’m trying to keep it clean on the inside. After all, the first thing I mastered was housekeeping skills, yes?

I then startup the computer that my father used to use and connect to the Internet. Even in a house like this, the fact that it is connected to the Internet shows my mother’s attention to detail. She’s indeed an egg of a fashion designer.

And…..

“There was one surveillance camera near the school, right, um, how do I do it?”

I started up the software on my computer and typed in the code I vaguely remembered. As I recall, this is how it works……

“Wow, it looks surprisingly clear.”

I was a little nervous because it was an old computer, but I was able to view the video from the surveillance camera without any problems. Okay, hacking success !

So I rewind the time to after school yesterday and stared blankly at the surveillance cameras. Then I saw Kisaragi pass by.

“Oh, there she is. Next, I’ll go back to the security camera over there.”

And I keep hacking the security camera. Once I copied the code I used, I could easily borrow (hack) the camera, so the investigation proceeded rather smoothly. Then……

“Here !”

I found it. I found the moment when a big guy attacked Kisaragi from behind and took her away. I had thought something might have happened, but I didn’t think she had been involved in the case so thoroughly.

“Seriously !? I have to hurry and track her down !”

When I learned that Kisaragi had been involved in the incident, I hurriedly tracked the destination of the car using the surveillance camera. It took about 30 minutes, but I managed to identify the location where the culprit was headed.

“In the mountains of the neighboring town ……that place used to be famous for its coal mines, as I recall.”

I hastily pull out the knowledge I have inside me. The place where the culprit was headed was in the mountains, famous for its coal mines in the past. However, I think it was mentioned in the social studies class that the demand for coal has decreased drastically in recent years due to the trend to focus on environmental issues.

But perhaps some of the sheds and other structures used at that time are still there. The culprit must have had his eye on a good spot.

I” know where it is. Now I just need to go…..”

Since I was involved in such a dangerous act of hacking into the camera, I couldn’t rely on the police. In the end, it was unavoidable, but I still wanted to do something about it by myself as much as possible.

I carefully thought about my plan as I typed my reservation email on my computer. This email would be sent only if I did not return by the set time. In other words, an insurance policy in case I was caught by the culprit

“Okay, let’s go !”

I grabbed what spare change I had and hurriedly boarded a bus to the next town.

※

It was surprisingly easy to get into the mountains. It was private property, but there was no fence, and anyone could enter if they wanted to. This is probably why the perpetrators chose this place as their stronghold.

“……”

I climbed the mountain nervously. I chose a special spray containing a homemade hypnotic and my father’s old baton as my companions for this trip. I have a lot of secret weapons (just security goods) for such a situation.

I’m small in size, but I should be able to manage as long as I don’t get caught by surprise. If possible, I would like to go so far as to incapacitate the culprit.

“……Found it.”

And I found the cabin surprisingly easily. It was lit and there was a sign of people. If anything, there was a car parked nearby. I checked the license plate number, and it was definitely the car of the culprit.

“…..Okay.”

I looked inside the cabin. Then……

“Goo….goo……”

(……He’s sleeping)

The culprit was sleeping soundly. From the fact that there is a bottle of liquor nearby, I assume that he must have fallen asleep while drunk. If so, he’s no better than a third-rate criminal. This would be something.

(Well, just in case.)

I sprayed the criminal with the special spray I had brought with me. Combined with the power of alcohol, he would not wake up for a while.

 “With this, I can save Kisaragi chan…….”

I looked around frantically. . However, there is no sign of Kisaragi-chan. Then how about nest room?

I slowly opened the door to the room. And….there she is.

“She’s sleeping…….”

I looked around at Kisaragi chan’s clothes, but there were no signs that they had been tampered with. I breathe a sigh of relief as it seems that nothing terrible has been done.

That’s how I put Kisaragi on my back and started going down the mountain.

(Since we’re at this point, I think I’ll call her by her first name from now on.)

I call the students in my class by their first names as much as possible, even if they are not in the class next to mine. She’s the only one in the classroom that I call by her last name. (If I do this, maybe it will make it easier for her to open up to me.

(I hope that one day, a hero will appear for this child.)

I’m sure that everyone in this world has their own hero. Then there would be no need for a fake hero like me. That’s why I wish for a kind world that doesn’t need…..heroes.

With that, I started to silently climb the mountain with Kisaragi Yuu on my back. Not knowing that this day will be the beginning for Kisaragi Yuu….

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