Chapter 2.2

The gossip doesn't stop

The next day, I went to a CD store in the big local shopping mall on my own. I was there for Yui Saikawa's albums and DVDs of her concerts. A lot of the time, gathering information on clients turns out to be a necessary part of completing a job. Natsunagi could have come with me today, too, but… Well, these dull jobs belong to the assistant. At least they did for those three

years.

"She has quite a discography."

Just inside the shop's entrance, they'd set up a display featuring Saikawa.

All the CDs she'd released over the past few years were lined up there, and a monitor was showing her singing and dancing at one of her concerts.

"I'm impressed she can dance with that eye patch on."

What had she called it…part of her "public persona"? There was a heart- shaped patch covering Saikawa's left eye, but from the way she was bounding around the stage, it didn't seem to affect her at all.

"—Kimizuka."

"...!"

Suddenly, someone spoke to me from behind, right next to my ear, and I flinched.

"I see, I see. Kimizuka likes it when someone blows in his hear. Duly noted."

"Don't randomly make things up to randomly convince yourself— Saikawa."

When I turned around, the girl who was currently showing on the monitor was standing there, looking smug for some reason.

"You sure you should be here without a disguise? You'll set off a stampede."

"I have my hood up. It's fine. You wouldn't think it, but people don't notice," Saikawa said proudly. "So what brings you here, Kimizuka? Can't stop thinking about me? Have you become a fan? Ooh, have you fallen for me? I'm sorry, but romance is off-limits for idols; please try again in the next world, okay?"

"Don't dump me when I haven't even confessed. I'm just here to do field research."

Apparently, the self-proclaimed cutest idol didn't have a trace of doubt regarding her own cuteness.

"Field research, hmm? I see, yes. You're just like me, then." "You too, Saikawa?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, my latest single just came out last week. I was curious about how it was selling."

What a pro. She might have nothing but contempt for the world, but she seemed serious about her job as an idol, at least.

…But why would she physically come to the store to do field research in this day and age? I mean, what I was doing wasn't much different, so I couldn't really talk, but still.

"You aren't with the detective today."

"Nope. There's no rule that says detectives and assistants have to be together all the time."

"Is that right?" Saikawa said, coming up to stand on my right. "She really is gorgeous, isn't she?"

"Well, on the outside, yeah. The jury's still out on the rest." "Oh, Natsunagi is as well, but I was referring to myself." "You've got no qualms about blowing your own horn, huh?"

Her confidence was so high it was actually refreshing. In fact, maybe any idol worth her salt should be a little like this.

"Of course not. A girl needs at least this much faith in herself to survive the idol industry." Saikawa gave a world-weary shrug, turning both palms up. "Rivals slash up your costumes and hide tacks in your shoes on a daily basis."

"I don't need to know all the backstage drama, thanks."

"And then, from what I'm told, those rivals will all vanish from public life by the next day."

"That's a coincidence, right? It's gotta be."

"Are you in favor of gun regulation in Japan, Kimizuka? Or against it?" "Don't bring that debate into this particular discussion, all right?! You're

freaking me out! And it doesn't matter whether I'm in favor or not; owning guns isn't legal in Japan anyway."

…He says, turning a blind eye to his past.

"Heh-heh. I like you, Kimizuka; your reactions are funny. I was joking. It was only a joke." Saikawa looked up at me with an affectionate smile.

"I couldn't quite tell where the joke started and ended." "The joke was the part where I said I like you."

"Okay, okay. I know contempt when I see it."

"Ah-ha-ha. What I said just now was the actual joke." Laughing, Saikawa reached out toward the display in front of us.

As always, this middle school kid was hard to pin down, and it wasn't easy to tell what she really meant and what was just her public face. Watching Saikawa cheerfully test-listen to her own CD out of the corner of my eye, I thought that being an idol really was a tough job.

"Probably should've asked before," I said, "but are you okay? With everything?"

"Pardon? Is what okay?"

"You've got that big concert on Sunday. And now you get a notice from a thief, and, you know… Mentally, how are you doing?"

Saikawa's parents were gone. This situation was so heavy for a girl who was still in middle school to carry on her own.

"…I'm all right." Still facing forward, Saikawa softly put a hand to her left eye. "I'm not alone, you see."

"...?"

"Mama and Papa are always—" She was letting me catch a glimpse of that slightly unusual side of herself, but not for long. "You're kind, aren't you, Kimizuka?" Spinning to face me, Saikawa peeked up into my face.

"Kind? That's not one I get very often."

"It's possible a human heart has begun to grow in you."

"What am I, a robot? Just now learning these mysterious emotions after living with the professor?"

"This is called 'joy.' That's called 'sorrow.' Those tears are your 'heart.' " "And now we're in a tearjerker sci-fi movie."

"And after all of it, you were built merely to sacrifice yourself to destroy our enemies."

"Ouch, that was really unfair… Give me back my emotional character development."

I poked her head lightly, and Saikawa giggled. "You really are funny, Kimizuka," she said, tucking her hair behind her ears, inside her hood. The way she intentionally used her opposite hand for the gesture, crossing herself, boosted her flirtatiousness by 20 percent.

"I'm not falling for a cheap trick like that."

"Heh-heh. I wonder if you'll still be able to say that after you've watched DVDs bursting with my charms."

"They're just concert DVDs; don't make it weird."

Although, once she'd said that, I felt hesitant about buying them in front of her. I turned on my heel, planning to go somewhere else and try again later.

"Well, I'm off."

"All right. See you later. And thank you for taking my request," she said behind me. Still facing away from her, I raised a hand in response.

After I left the store, I got out my phone and tapped my contacts list. "…This may be trickier than I thought."

Finally, after one, two, three rings, she picked up.

"Hello?"

"Uh, do you have a minute—Ms. Fuubi?"

That's "Yui-nya Quality"

A few days later, it was Saturday, and Natsunagi and I had gone to the dome that was serving as the venue. Yui Saikawa's concert was the following day.

"Hurry up. The rehearsal's gonna start."

As we climbed the long stairway to the dome, I called back to Natsunagi, who was slumped wearily a dozen or so steps below me.

"When you said you'd come without so much as a towel or a glow stick, I thought it was bad, but I can't believe you aren't even trying to make it to the rehearsal before it starts… And you call yourself a fan?"

"Uh, no. I don't." Natsunagi heaved a big sigh. She was glaring at me for some reason. "Come on, don't you think you're mixing business with pleasure?"

"What do you mean?"

"That!" Finally climbing the stairs, Natsunagi pointed sharply at my clothes. "What is this? Why are you wearing a Saikawa concert T-shirt? Why do you have several towels with venue-specific designs around your neck? What is that mass of penlights you've got tied around your waist? What about the wristbands? The hat? The sneakers?"

Apparently, she had quite a few complaints building up, and they all came out in a rush.

"They're all Yui-nya concert merch." " 'Yui-nya'?!"

All her fans called her that, to show their affection.

"Okay, what exactly did you do this past week? You didn't come to school, and you didn't respond when I tried to get ahold of you. When you finally did reply, you just said we were going to see the rehearsal the day before the show…"

"Uh, well, I was watching all the past episodes of TV programs Yui-nya

had been in, and the next thing I knew, it was today—" "Okay, I'm double-killing you."

"Ghk, stop… Strangling me with my towels is—against the rules…gweeeh…"

I smacked Natsunagi's shoulder in surrender.

"Do you know what's happening tomorrow?" Natsunagi looked up at me crankily from one step below me on the stairs.

"Well, it's Yui-nya's concert, right?"

"—. That too, but… That isn't why we're here, remember? The crime is supposed to take place then. We have to protect the Miracle Sapphire from the criminal. Am I wrong?"

I see. Natsunagi was probably trying to say we were in the wrong place, since this was the day before the theft.

"I get what you're saying, Natsunagi, but some truths only become apparent by learning the background of the client, right?"

"Well…" She didn't seem completely convinced yet. "Would you usually go this far, though? Begging Saikawa to let us watch a rehearsal…?"

"Once you take a job, give it everything you have. Besides, we'll have to guard Yui-nya's house on the day of the concert. Let's enjoy the heck out of today to make up for it."

"Um, you said 'enjoy'…"

I didn't need all that "business or pleasure" and "separation of church and state" right now.

"You were weirding her out; I know it."

"I didn't weird her out. She was flustered, but…" "Uh, that means the same thing."

Really? Well, I still think we're fine.

Even a week ago, depending on how you looked at it, we'd been close enough to have a fun conversation… Depending on how you looked at it.

"You can bet the opening number's going to be 'Raspberry × Grizzly.' " "Look, I don't know her standard setlist."

All right. The rehearsal was about to start.

Tugging the perplexed Natsunagi by the hand, I hurried into the venue. "The Love Express just won't stooop! ♪"

"Woo-woooooo!"

"Wait for me at the end of the line, okay? ♪" "Puff, puff!"

"Speeding past the local trains! ♪" "Don't leave meee!"

"No stalling allowed! ♪ On the Nine-Star! ♪" "Yeah!!!!!!!"

From a spot near the back of the stands, I waved a pink glow stick at the stage wildly.

As enthusiastic as she was, you'd never think it was a rehearsal. I was putting more energy into my cheering, too. From the next seat over, Natsunagi was judging the hell out of me, but I couldn't let that get me down. "Thank you very much! That was 'The Nine-Star Stops in November!'

from my second album!"

"Wait, why's it's stopping?" Next to me, Natsunagi muttered, straight- faced, "Didn't she just say the Love Express won't stop?"

"Details, details. This is Yui-nya Quality." "Yui-nya Quality."

I'd taken a full course in her songs over the past week, and most of them were like this.

Catchy melodies and off-the-wall lyrics. The more you chewed them over, the more they numbed your taste buds while giving you the illusion of flavor

—that was Yui-nya Quality.

"You too, Pervert! Thank you!" Yui-nya waved enthusiastically from the stage toward the seats.

"Hey, Natsunagi, she talked to you!"

"She's one thousand percent talking about you!" "Nah, you just couldn't hide your vibes from her."

"...! Hey, I'm not the one being weird here!" Natsunagi's face was bright red, and she tried to kick me with her high heel.

"Hey, why'd you wear heels to a concert? It's gonna be hard to jump around in those."

"I'm not jumping around! Your head is what's jumping around!" Rude. I just wanted to enjoy the concert.

"All right, and now for the next song!" Just then, Yui-nya signaled the sound crew with a glance.

"Here it comes." "What now?"

"Hey, come on, Natsunagi, we just heard 'Eighty-One.' That means the next song is…?"

"I told you, I don't know her setlist. And abbreviating 'The Nine-Star Stops in November!' as 'Eighty-One' is the geekiest thing I've ever heard. Nine times 'Novem' equals eighty-one? Come on."

Just what I'd expect from an ace detective—she understood instantly.

"So next up is Yui-nya's special song. We came here today so we could hear this, remember?"

"That's news to me."

I see; I guess I hadn't told Natsunagi yet.

Actually, well…I hadn't been planning to mention it in the first place. Not to Natsunagi nor to anybody else. This way made things easier, now that I was a pitiful fanboy who'd accidentally gotten hooked on Yui-nya in the course of doing his job.

Or at least, I was pretending to be…

"Don't you know? During this song, for just the last chorus, Yui-nya removes her seal."

"Seal?"

Yes. The seal Yui-nya—or rather, Yui Saikawa—placed on herself. Her secret.

 "Now then, please listen—to 'Sapphire Phantasm.' "

An up-tempo intro played, and Saikawa began running through light-footed dance steps.

"Like a mirror reflecting the blue Eaaarth… ♪"

For the past week, I'd listened to Saikawa's songs constantly and, more importantly, pored over all the videos in which she appeared.

As I did so, I'd discovered just one thing—one big thing—that felt off.

I'd sensed something was wrong the day I first met her, and it had only grown from there.

Yui Saikawa is lying.

I was here today to make sure.

Before long, the A section ended, and the song reached the bridge. Just then—

"Huh? Kimizuka… Look."

Next to me, Natsunagi leaned forward slightly.

A man was standing on the left side of the stage, back in the wings. He was wearing sunglasses and dressed all in black. He didn't look like a member of staff.

"Isn't that man kind of weird?"

That's a detective for you; she's got good instincts. However… "Hmm? What's up?"

…I pretended not to notice.

Sorry, Natsunagi. Wait just a little longer.

Then the B section ended, and just as the C section was beginning…the man in black started walking toward Saikawa. And then—

"Huh?! …Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!" Saikawa's scream echoed across the whole hall, amplified by her mic.

"Hey, who's that?! Get him!"

Just in the nick of time, right before the man reached Saikawa, the security staff grabbed him.

"…That's what I thought." I'd been feeling that dissonance all week. Now that I'd seen this in person, I was sure. I was glad I'd come here today, even if I'd had to bull my way through.

"Kimizuka! Hurry!" Natsunagi shouted.

Saikawa was crouched down and looking dazed, while Natsunagi kicked off her heels and dashed to the stage, barefoot.

It was a beautiful, and very human, reaction.

Nevertheless, a detective has no use for those passionate feelings. Kindness and consideration can sometimes come back to bite you—although she didn't know that yet.

"Are you okay?" I asked the frightened Saikawa, following Natsunagi up onto the stage.

"Oh, Mr. Pervert… Thank you."

"Don't keep calling me a pervert after what just happened."

If she could crack jokes, though, that was a good sign. I didn't want this to end up traumatizing her.

"Still, you never know what might happen. Guarding the vault tomorrow is important, but I'd ramp up security here, too. Show us around backstage later."

"All right…" Saikawa didn't seem to have fully recovered from the shock

yet. She nodded weakly.

I did feel bad, but the things detectives do are always guided by logic. I want to make sure you understand that.

…Even if I am just the assistant.