allendalepharm Chapter 143 - 2.1
Chapter 143 - 2.1
Chapter 143: Chapter 2.1
If that's an idol's job...
Five days after Bruno and Noel's visit, because school was still on winter break, Nagisa and I went to a certain artist's concert.
The venue was the National Stadium, which had been designed by a famous architect.
The stadium was surrounded by trees, and it really felt as though we were in the middle of a forest: Nature and the artificial had been joined in perfect harmony. On that stage, Japan's most famous idol was giving the final performance of her national tour.
"Farther, farther, out beyond the skies, our hearts will always be our allies...
?"
The concert was near its midpoint. The idol on the central stage was turning up the heat, whipping up the excitement of the audience. We stood at the back of the standing room section, waving back at her with a pink-colored light stick in each hand.
"The sign is hope, shout out that motto louder, louder... ?" Thunderous cheers and shouts rocked the venue.
However, I just kept silently offering my light sticks to the stage. Yelling wasn't the only way to cheer someone on. As her fan, sometimes it was important to watch over her quietly from the back rows...
"Y-you're crying." Next to me, Nagisa was staring at me like I was a total weirdo. "That other time, you yelled like crazy. I think that might have been healthier, don't you?"
"Just look at Yui-nya, all grown up. Who wouldn't cry?"
"What exactly are you to Yui?" Nagisa sighed and rolled her eyes. I didn't have time to bother with her now, though.
"Thank you so much, everyone! That was You-Colored Gimmick!"
Finishing her song, Yui-nya—aka Saikawa—waved at her fans. I returned the gesture with a little wave of my own... Oh, hey! Our eyes just met!
She was looking at me! I'm positive!
"When Yui grew up, are you sure you didn't switch places with her and
regress, Kimihiko?"
Right after that, Saikawa launched into a talk segment, carrying herself with even more confidence than before.
"Although I guess it does feel as if she's gone somewhere out of reach." As Nagisa gazed at Yui, she seemed to be looking at something very far away.
Yui Saikawa, idol and current high school student.
She'd been in middle school when we met, and now she was in her second year of high school. Her popularity hadn't suffered at all in the meantime; she was more successful than ever now. She was working as an actress in the domestic film industry, too, and she was nailing overseas performances one after another.
She was the idol whose tickets were hardest to get. Nagisa and I had only been accommodated because we were connected. Siesta had wanted to come, but then she'd said she had work today and holed up at the agency instead.
"Even for fan club members, the win rate for concert tickets is under five percent. It's gotten even harder to see her in person."
"Yes. More importantly, Kimihiko, I'd never heard that you were in Yui's fan club."
Hadn't I mentioned that? I've been a member for three years. A group bulletin shows up every month.
"Well then, we were really lucky to be invited today."
"As a genuine fan, I do feel a little guilty for taking a shortcut."
"I mean, it's not like we came to the concert for fun in the first place." Yeah, I know that. There's a rather serious conversation waiting after this.
But until then, at least, I thought I'd bask in Super Idol Saikawa's catchy, crazy world. Updated from
About two hours later, when we visited Yui Saikawa's dressing room as scheduled, we found her drinking tea and taking a breather after a successful concert.
"Oh!" When she saw us, she jumped to her feet and ran over, her eyes sparkling. A little nervous, I spread my arms, bracing for her to fling herself into them—
"Nagisa, I missed you!"
—but Saikawa dived into Nagisa's arms instead. "Yui, it's been ages!"
Next to me, Nagisa was hugging Saikawa close and spinning around and around.
Yeah, this was about what I expected.
"Oh, Kimizuka. Hello." Saikawa poked her head out of Nagisa's arms.
"That was on purpose, wasn't it? You can't have done that by accident." I gave her a look. Saikawa giggled.
"Actually, Saikawa, why are you dressed for school?"
Now that the concert was over, for some reason, she was wearing her high school uniform.
"I hadn't seen you in a long time, Kimizuka, so I was trying to think of the very best outfit for the occasion, and this is what I came up with. How does it look?" Saikawa plucked her uniform ribbon up between her fingertips, showing it off.
Yes, Saikawa in uniform was a novel sight, but... "So does that mean you were actually looking forward to seeing me, too?"
"...Oh, shut up. I can't stand people who can't read the mood." Saikawa averted her face, snubbing me, and went back to Nagisa.
Why is Nagisa getting all the attention? Should I have been born as a girl or something?
"Honestly, you haven't changed a bit." Someone in the dressing room was watching me coldly. "Nothing's more unsightly than jealousy in a man, Kimihiko."
A beautiful, consummate kidnapping
After that, we chatted with Saikawa and Noches for a bit, and then Nagisa and I left the stadium. Just as we were thinking about heading home for the day, I got a text from an unknown sender.
It said, I have your precious Ace Detective.
As soon as we saw it, Nagisa and I headed for the Shirogane Detective Agency.
"Siesta!"
We unlocked the door and burst into the office, but the white-haired detective wasn't in her usual chair at the back of the room. Our ray of hope was gone.
"...! No... Why?"
Someone had snatched Siesta.
We were too late. I dropped to my knees, and my vision went dark.
"Oh, come on! What is this, a visual novel bad ending? Get up already!"
Nagisa hauled me back to my feet. "Look at this." She showed me the notebook that had been sitting on the desk. Something was written on it.
"'If you want your precious detective back, come to the top of the communications tower,' it says. So it really is a kidnapping?" I said.
"Mm... I don't think Siesta would let herself be carried off that easily."
She had a point. If anything, I could see her lethally injuring the kidnapper with a counterattack. "Then, what, somebody she knew did this?"
"Right. And I bet Siesta knew she was being taken away. The kidnapper wrote this note with the ballpoint pen on the desk over there."
"Oh, you're right. You can sort of tell from the texture of the ink."
That meant the kidnapper had written their challenge to us right here, in this office, probably in Siesta's presence.
"They put the pen back in the holder, though, and I don't see any signs of a fight. That means this was premeditated, and Siesta agreed to it."
I see. Which meant the threat level was pretty low.
"Now that we know that, let's go find our precious Ace Detective. Our
'precious Ace Detective.'"
"What's that look for? I didn't write this, okay?"
I picked up the letter the kidnapper (?) had written. The top of the communications tower, huh? "Which one, though? Red or blue?"
Japan had two famous communications towers: a venerable old red one, and a comparatively new blue one.
"What are you saying? The other day, the blue one got, you know..." "Oh, right. So red, then."
Leaving the agency, we grabbed a taxi and headed for what was formerly the nation's tallest communications tower. Siesta wasn't there, though. Instead, taped to the glass on the observation deck, there was another note with the name of a new destination.
We got shunted around from place to place—cafés, used bookstores, churches
—until well after the sky had darkened and filled up with stars. Finally, Nagisa and I found ourselves at an old amusement park. It was closed for the day, and apart from us, there wasn't a soul around.
Of course, we weren't there to have fun. In accordance with the letter's instructions, we infiltrated the service area of one of the attractions. When we removed some of the floor tiles, we found a ladder leading down to a door.
"Any day now." Weary in body and soul, I opened the iron door, and— "Hold still, Charlie. You've got soot on your face."
"Hee-hee! Ma'am, that tickles!"
A woman in a tank top was inside, cheerfully letting Siesta clean her face with a towel.
"What are you doing, Charlie?"
"Oh, that didn't take you as long as I expected."
The woman's name was Charlotte Arisaka Anderson. She was our former companion, an agent who was active worldwide. She used her assassination techniques to save people, and I didn't even know how many scrapes she'd gotten me out of.
Charlie had weaknesses, though. For one thing, battles of wits were definitely not her forte. For another, she liked Siesta so much she'd accidentally kidnapped her, among other things. (Don't accidentally kidnap people.)
"Oh, Assistant and Nagisa. You came." "...Sheesh. Well, I'm glad you're all right."
Come to think of it, when Charlie had chosen the phrase "precious detective," had she been speaking from her own point of view? Talk about the world's dumbest kidnapper.
"You made us take the long way around on purpose. You wanted to enjoy your alone time with Siesta."
"I have no idea what you're talking about. I was just testing you, to see whether you'd lost your edge," Charlie said, brushing me off with a vague smile. She straightened up and took the long-barreled gun that had been leaning against the wall—Siesta's musket. She began polishing it with a cloth.
"What is this place? What were you doing here, Siesta?"
My first impression of the room had been "somebody's secret base." Multiple monitors showed security footage from inside the park, and there was a worktable littered with brushes and oilcans by the wall.
"I've been having Charlie do maintenance on my gun. I'm considering having her decorate the barrel with a new floral pattern while I'm at it. What do you think?"
"I couldn't care less if I tried."