Volume 1 - CH 2.4

19-23 minutes 11.06.2023

4

Even after school was out, the rain continued its incessant drizzle.

Kei tried to meet up with Tsushima, but couldn’t find him anywhere in the staff room. Although his teaching duties likely kept him busy, Kei found it a bit odd that he still hadn’t responded to last night’s phone call.

After making his way to the school gates with Haruki, the two went their separate ways. Kei was headed to the shrine to meet up with Nonō, and Haruki was tasked with investigating the rumors around the wall with the hand-shaped hole in it. He couldn’t afford to leave it alone, since it was a post-reset anomaly.

Kei walked down the mountain path with his plastic umbrella in hand. Nonō was the same place she always was, her eyes quietly shut, sitting in the storm like a tree sapling with no choice but to accept the rain.

The shrine she sat under had a roof over it, but it was so miniscule that even the slightest wind blew the rain underneath. Kei had brought both an umbrella and a towel for her. After weighing all his options, he had decided this was the best use of his after-school hours.

Nonō’s investigation didn’t seem to yield many results. She shook her head as she said, “It’s useless. I can’t figure out where he is.” Fortunately, her voice wasn’t layered with as much negativity as before. She seemed much calmer than when they were talking on the phone.

“You’re gonna get sick if you stay out in the rain like this.”

“That doesn’t matter. A little cold won’t kill me, and it’s easier to sleep when I’m feverish anyways.” She placed the white towel over the top of her head, looking every bit the part of a cat sticking its head out of the laundry.

“So, how’s he doing?”

“He was alright an hour ago. The kidnapper wasn’t in the room, but he was pretty happily feasting on some high-quality cat food, the kind that comes in a gold tin.”

“Well, that’s good to hear.”

“Whoever this person is, they’re taking very good care of him. He might even become domesticated at this rate, and honestly, the way things are going, I might be okay with that.” Nonō rubbed the towel across her head. Her wet, jet-black hair clung to her white cheeks. ”Sorry for making such a big deal out of all this.”

“Don’t be. We still don’t know where this is all going, and until then, I think it’s safer for us to be honest about our worry than to force ourselves to stay calm.”

“Cats are very extreme in their emotional expression. If they’re afraid, then all they feel is fear. But if they feel safe, they’re at peace no matter where they go. They’re quite simple that way. I think my ability has made them rub off on me.” Nonō wiped her face with the towel while saying in a muffled voice, “I apologize if I’ve caused you any trouble.”

Kei shook his head. He wasn’t concerned in the least. In fact, he thought that her concern for the cat, and the way it reflected in her actions and tone, was quite beautiful. “We still haven’t found the cat, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

“Don’t worry about that. Before, he was frightened, so I felt the same way. Now, he’s calmed down, so I feel relieved too. Cats are much more aware of being alive than humans are. Of course, that’s another way of saying that they’re always aware of death,” Nonō said. She immediately stretched, pushing her mouth into a warped smile, but her eyes were hidden by the towel. “Alright, time to give my ability another shot.”

“Even though we know he’s safe?”

“Think of it as a check-up. I spent so long worrying about him that I don’t wanna just drop it all of a sudden. Wanna help me out again?”

“Sure thing.”

Nonō scooted over, and Kei sat down next to her. The two of them eased into “talking nonsense” once more. Today’s topic was the kindest words in the world. Which was kinder, “thank you” or, “don’t mention it”? “Good morning” or, “good night”? “I’m heading out” or, “have a good day”?1 Neither of them ended up giving a definitive answer.

They both knew that the conversation was pointless, so Kei ended up being able to say what was actually on his heart. “Could any words be kinder than the sound of gently falling rain?”

Suddenly, Nonō fell silent, with her eyes closed. Her power was likely at work.

As Kei absentmindedly stared at her face, her white eyelids flitted back open. “He’s safe. The kidnapper wrapped him up in a towel blanket, and he was quite taken by it.”

The most important thing was that he was at peace.

In the end, their conversation was over before either of them had stated what they thought were the world’s kindest words. But perhaps that was to be expected, since they had never directly asked the other for an answer in the first place.

After visiting Nonō, Kei headed towards the park where the cat had been abducted. Perhaps it was because he couldn’t understand the emotions of cats, but he found it much harder to be at ease. Was it possible that someone had taken the cat before their last reset? If that was true, then the cat was still headed towards an accident tomorrow morning. But on the other hand, if this was a new turn of events, there was a high chance that someone was working behind the scenes of Kei’s influence, and that couldn’t be ignored.

It wasn’t as though he expected to find anything at the park, but he at least thought he could ask around. Unfortunately, nobody had chosen to visit the park on that rainy day.

Kei slowly made his way around the block. He finally happened across a young boy with a yellow umbrella. He looked to be about elementary school age, and was squatting on the wall of a house across from the park.

“Hey there,” Kei said, smiling. The boy turned to look at him. “I have a few things I’d like to ask you. Is that okay?”

The boy stood in place, staring at Kei. He waited for some kind of reply, but all the boy did was continue to blink at him.

Kei decided to go ahead with it, since he hadn’t been explicitly denied. “Do you come around here often? Like when you go to school?”

The boy nodded.

“Have you seen a certain cat around here? He’s gray, with blue eyes and a crooked tail.”

It was pretty lucky that he found an elementary schooler who lived nearby, since elementary schoolers wouldn’t overlook the neighborhood cats.The boy nodded once and, probably due to nervousness, responded with a quiet, “I know that one.”

Kei followed up immediately. “Did you see the cat here yesterday?”

After a moment of hesitation, the boy shook his head. “He wasn’t here yesterday. But that’s normal. I only see him about once a week.”

So the cat did consider this area part of its territory. It wasn’t a lot, but Kei hadn’t expected to learn too much anyway.

Kei waved, thanking the boy and excusing himself. Then, another question came to mind, and he stopped before walking away. “What exactly are you doing here, by the way?”

After all, the boy was just sitting here in the rain, staring at a wall. It may not have had to do with finding the cat, but the boy looked so serious about it that he couldn’t help but ask.

“Looking for another hole. Everybody keeps calling me a liar,” the boy answered.

A hole? As in a hole in the wall? “You wouldn’t be talking about a hand-shaped hole, would you?”

The boy’s eyes widened as soon as Kei asked. “You know about it?”

Kei nodded. “It closed right in front of you, didn’t it?”

“Yeah, I swear I saw it.”

It was at least worth considering that the hole in the wall and the cat were both related. After all, the hole in the wall was a new event that only came up after a reset, so it was worth looking into. Kei couldn’t quite figure out how to tie them together, though.

Kei recalled Nakano Tomoki’s story. As he told it, the hole was found near the foot of Mt. Tsukube, which was quite the distance from this park. It was about the same distance that he walked to get here from the school, but in the other direction.

“When did you see the hole?”

“Yesterday, on my way home from school. I saw the hole open up in the shape of a hand, then it closed really fast.”

“What time was that?”

“Probably like 3, maybe a little before. I dunno.”

That matched with the time of the cat’s kidnapping.

The boy continued, with a completely serious expression. “It was definitely a ghost.”

No, that couldn’t be it. It was a human. A human that was intentionally using some kind of ability. “Do you remember anything else about what happened then? For example, maybe you saw someone nearby?”

The boy put his head down, and seemed to be thinking hard. Then, with a slight, “Oh,” he looked back up at Kei, before responding, “I heard a cat meowing.”

All their information was slowly piling up, although it was hard to string some of it together.

A kidnapped cat, a hand-shaped hole, an ability that could cancel out Nonō’s, and the MacGuffin. All of them had to have some kind of deeper connection.

Kei walked under his umbrella, and considered everything they knew. How did everything piece together? He could think of a few ways, but without more information, he was just making guesses, not deductions.

The rain continued pattering against the asphalt. Kei rather liked the sound. He enjoyed the tranquil atmosphere that quiet, continual sounds created. It put him at ease.

Other than the sound, though, he didn’t much care for rain. Although it was good that they wouldn’t be entering a drought anytime soon, he couldn’t bring himself to look forward to the incessant rain. Carrying an umbrella and dealing with the humidity was downright annoying. What was he supposed to do if his phone started ringing with his hands full of his school bag and umbrella? It was high time that someone invented umbrellas that could suspend themselves in mid-air.

Just as those thoughts went through Kei’s mind, his cell phone rang. Kei walked underneath the eaves of a nearby shop, folded his umbrella, and put it in the same hand as his bag, finally pulling his phone out of his pocket and answering. Maybe it wasn’t worth tossing around any more hypotheticals.

“Hello, this is Haruki. Am I speaking with Kei?”

“Mhm.”

Haruki’s voice sounded different over the phone. It probably had something to do with transferring her voice into digital radio waves, but it sounded more tense, and wavered slightly.

“I’ve looked into everything regarding the hole in the wall,” she said.

“Great job. What’d you find?”

“I met several U-Lab members at the location in the rumors.”

“Oh, is Minami-san there?”

“She’s here as well.” That made sense, as the incident was certainly something the U-Lab would be interested in.

“So, what happened?”

“In exchange for helping them gather information, they told me everything they knew.”

“That’s good. Those kinds of things are always faster with more people.”

“I agree. They already had gathered quite a lot of information, too.”

“Really? That’s interesting.” The hole was spotted just yesterday, and everyone had school today. U-Lab’s passion for research was not to be underestimated. But, if they already knew most of the details, that probably meant that there wasn’t much to know.

Haruki continued, “It would seem this isn’t the first time that rumors of a hand-shaped hole have cropped up. The last time was around one year ago.”

“What was everyone saying in those rumors?”

“Evidently, the holes were being referred to as the ‘Reaper’s Passage.’”2

“That must have been one small Grim Reaper, then.” If the holes were the size of a hand, then the Reaper using it could have fit in your palm.

“They didn’t say how tall the Grim Reaper was. Shall I go ask them?”

“No, that was just a joke. Why did they use the Grim Reaper?” asked Kei.

“There was a traffic accident last year, and a hole was found opened in a wall nearby on the same day. The rumor spread that the Grim Reaper was moving through walls, and killed anybody he came across.”

“I see. But this time, we’re only dealing with an abduction case.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“There was a hole in the wall near the area the cat was taken from yesterday, The times seem to match up with what Nonō-san had told me.” On top of that, the cat was still alive, so it was unlikely that the culprit was the Grim Reaper. Although, perhaps you could twist the story into saying that the Grim Reaper‘s presence doomed the cat to die the following day.

Kei continued with his questions. “Was the car crash from a year ago fatal?” If they could talk to the people involved in the accident, they could learn quite a lot.

“I don’t know. The U-Lab members didn’t have many details on the crash specifically.”

“Is the rumor about the hole in the wall well-known?”

“No, Minami-san had never heard about it until today. On top of that, from what I can tell, the ‘Reaper’s Passage’ name was adopted by the U-Lab in the first place, so it’s possible only the club members know about that connection.”

“Oh, so it’s like that.” It was even more likely that the “connection” was entirely made up by U-Lab, whether the club members believed in it or not. After all, the club was less about seeking truth than it was about making reality more “interesting”. “So, what did you all do today?”

“We went to investigate if a similar incident occurred around the hole over here.”

“And?”

“We received unconfirmed reports that a small child fell down on a street near the hole.”

“That’s a pretty chill Grim Reaper.” Of course it was nothing special. If anything, it was impressive that they managed to find out that much. The part that stood out to Kei the most was, “near the hole.” That could point them in the right direction. “I need as many details as you can give me about where and when the hole appeared.”

“Of course. I’ve been taking notes,” she responded offhandedly.

There were three eyewitness reports of holes in walls. They were all within 30 minutes of 7:00 PM. When Kei compared locations, they seemed to be moving northwest, directly towards Kawarazaka. Whether it was the Grim Reaper or not, calling it a “passage” made sense.

“Did that help with anything?” Haruki asked.

“Our Grim Reaper is on the move.”

“What?”

“The park where the cat was abducted is the only place that doesn’t line up with your information timewise. Whoever it was, they had to have changed their location at least twice for all of the sightings to fit together.”

“It’s possible our information is biased. My interviews were only in the Kawarazaka area.”

“Yet despite that, all three of your sightings can be connected by a single line. That line can’t possibly connect with the time and place of the hole over here.”

It wouldn’t make sense for these to be the only four holes. Surely there would have been more around this park that could directly connect to the hole spotted here, just like in Kawarazaka. But then, you had a series of holes at 3 PM, and another series at 7 PM. The Grim Reaper, or whatever it was, had to have moved significantly at least twice.

“Did the holes over there close on their own?” Kei asked.

“They did. All of the contextual information fits in the same way. They were small, hand-shaped holes that closed themselves after a short while. Everyone we talked to only saw it after it was already open, so we can’t say for sure how long they last.”

“What was the longest span of time someone saw it open for?”

“Roughly two or three minutes.”

Why did someone put a hole in the wall? Why did it close itself? Why didn’t they close immediately? What kind of power were they dealing with, and what were the purposes and limitations behind it? There were too many questions.

“That summarizes everything I learned today,” Haruki stated.

“Roger that. You’re a lifesaver.”

“What’s the plan for tomorrow?”

“Well, the best place to start would be the scene of the impending accident. I’ll just have to figure things out from there.” If the cat showed up, he could make sure to keep it safe. If it didn’t show up, he would have to get a little more creative.

“Understood. What time?”

Kei thought for a moment. “I’m gonna go for 6 in the morning.” The bakery clerk claimed to hear brakes screeching around the 8 or 9 area. That time period was their best lead, but a little extra vigilance couldn’t hurt, since the bakery opened at 6. They didn’t have any definitive proof that the screeching brakes were connected to the accident, but the cat would have almost certainly been noticed if it were run over before the bakery opened.

“Will we be meeting in front of the bakery?”

“I think I’ll be fine by myself for this one.” This job didn’t require any manpower, and they weren’t even sure the cat would show up. Kei figured it’d be better to minimize the number of people possibly wasting their time.

But Haruki countered in an unexpectedly strong tone. “I’m going, too. I’ll make us some coffee, or possibly tea, and we’ll eat some freshly baked bread together.”

Kei couldn’t argue with that. It sounded wonderful. “Works for me. Do what you want.”

“Would you prefer coffee or tea?”

“Probably tea. I drink enough coffee as it is.”

“Understood.” But, before hanging up, she added in a small voice, “Don’t be late tomorrow, okay?”

It took everything Kei had to make sure his voice sounded normal. “Yeah. I’ll make sure of it.”

Before the reset, Haruki had used Tomoki’s ability to send that exact same message, but she didn’t know that right now. She couldn’t remember that loud, obnoxious message he got. Although he made sure never to lie to Haruki following a reset and its happenings, it wasn’t as though he had the time to tell her about absolutely everything.

Ultimately, Kei was the only one who remembered all that happened within resets. There was a time he would have felt proud of that, but all he felt anymore was a slight, resounding loneliness.

✽

Kei finished his call and slipped his phone into his pocket.

He headed towards the shopping district, to a payphone that blended into the background and was easy to miss. He inserted a coin and began the same familiar process once again. Another day of following the procedure for contacting The Operator.

He needed information. Everything he lacked came down to information about those holes in the wall. He didn’t need any definitive answers. All he needed was a hint about the ability causing the phenomena. Just being told that the information was confidential would still give him something.

But the phone call wasn’t going through. No matter how many calls he made, or how long he waited, he got the same robotic message. There were no inconsistencies.

After his twentieth attempt, Kei returned his coin into his wallet. He pulled out his cell and messaged Tsushima, The Operator is gone.

This had never happened before. The Operator was never unavailable for calls. Kei didn’t even know of any other ways to contact him aside from the singular phone number, because it had never mattered before.

The Operator had only ever existed as someone on the other side of the phone, and now he had vanished entirely.

1 The two phrases at play here are いってきます, “ittekimasu”, and いってらっしゃい, “itterasshai”, standard call-and-response phrases spoken by someone who leaves with plans to return and the one who expects to see them upon their return, respectively. In modern times, it’s most commonly started by the caller leaving home for work or school, with the responder being whoever is staying behind.  Although the phrases are very standardized in Japanese, modern English culture lacks a similar structure, so various phrases could have fit both of these. The other two pairs are self-explanatory. return

2 死神の通り道, “Shinigami no toorimichi”, or “the pathway/passage of the shinigami”, the Japanese god(s) of death. return