Urged on by Yumiko, Minoru moved to the side of the bed. Sleeping there was a girl who looked to be the same age as him. Her brown hair was cut short like a boy’s, but the reason Minoru was sure she was a girl was that her figure was overwhelmingly delicate. Her skin, as white as the flowers surrounding her, looked as if it would melt away in sunlight. Her long eyelashes were closed and unmoving, but from her slightly opened lips, a person could hear her faintly breathing.
It took a few seconds for Minoru to realize for sure that she wasn’t simply asleep. From under the bed ran a clear tube and black cord connected to a machine on the other side of the bed. A monitor partially hidden by the flowers showed an unusually low heart rate and body temperature. This girl was not sleeping, but in a coma.
After slowly breathing in the air scented by the flowers, Minoru turned to Yumiko.
“Is this…Ms. Ikoma?” he asked.
“Yes. This is Sanae Ikoma. Until last month, we worked together as a team. Her code name is ‘Shooter,’” Yumiko answered.
Minoru blinked twice at the fact that the name didn’t seem to match the faint presence of the girl in front of him. Yumiko, without lifting her gaze from the girl in front of her, continued.
“She was an archer. As long as it was a target that she could see, she had the power to hit her target every time, even if she was shooting from ten kilometers away. Sanae and I worked together in a perfect team of a forward and backup. In the month after the SFD was formed, we captured seven Ruby Eyes. With my stun baton and Sanae’s tranquilizing arrows, there was not a single Ruby Eye who could escape us. Until that one man, Igniter, showed up…,” Yumiko explained, her last sentence trailing off into a subdued sigh, and then sat down on a corner of the bed.
Yumiko twisted around and brushed her left hand through Sanae’s short hair, and then continued her explanation in a whisper. “…We, who firmly believed that Igniter’s power was to heat a target, thought that we would be safe as long as he didn’t see us. So we planned to chase him in a car that had a heat-resistant ceramic coating and have Sanae shoot at him from inside the car. However, that man’s true power was to concentrate oxygen in a single spot. Even though we were facing an opponent like that, we had taken the worst strategy by shutting ourselves in a closed room.”
As if she was remembering what happened at the time, Yumiko suddenly took a deep breath.
“…Igniter took away all of the oxygen in the car, and DD who was driving, myself in the passenger’s seat, and Sanae in the backseat all breathed in a lungful of oxygen-deprived air. I was somehow able to open the door, grab DD, and escape with my accelerator power, but my consciousness was fading, and with the last ounce of power, I leaped once more and stabbed Igniter with a knife and immediately lost consciousness. By the time I came to, Igniter had disappeared, leaving only a bloodstain. While I and DD were able to get away with just fainting for a few minutes, Sanae, who was left in the car, suffered irreversible brain damage.”
Minoru realized that at some point he had held his breath and stopped breathing. Taking in a deep breath, he tried to imagine what it would be like to breathe in oxygen-deprived air, but it was beyond him.
On the other hand, Yumiko had leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Sanae’s sleeping head.
“Sanae actually shouldn’t be able to breathe on her own anymore. From her cerebellum to her brain stem, everything has irreversibly stopped functioning. However, as you can see, it only looks like she’s just sleeping.…Do you understand why?” Yumiko asked.
“…No,” Minoru replied.
“It’s because of the Third Eye,” Yumiko answered. “The Third Eye in Sanae’s right shoulder has taken over her central nervous system and is making her continue to breathe. You saw what happened four days ago, right, Utsugi? Biter’s brain was blown away, but he still kept thrashing about.”
“She’s gone…berserk?” Minoru asked in a raspy voice.
Yumiko nodded slightly. “Yes, right now, Sanae is quietly going berserk. Even though her real consciousness no longer exists, her Third Eye is not letting her die. It’s awful…isn’t it? Chief Himi and Professor Isa both say that we should surgically remove her Third Eye. Remove it and let her die a proper death, and then return her to her family. But… But I…” Yumiko trailed off, her words containing a pain Minoru had yet to hear from her that rang through the space of the room buried in flowers.
“I don’t want to forget her,” Yumiko continued. “I don’t want to make Sanae part of the past. I want to make more day-to-day memories with her…even if it’s just memories of me talking to her as she is now, unable to wake up.”
Minoru realized that Yumiko’s words described the exact opposite of what Minoru’s wish was. Was that why? Was that why Yumiko was so against Minoru’s wish of wanting everyone to forget about him?
However, he wasn’t able to put his conjecture or anything else into words. He was overwhelmed by the situation, overwhelmed by the cruel reality that occurs because of Ruby Eyes and Jet Eyes fighting each other. That a small, kind-looking girl like this could lose her life like this, in just a single battle…
“…Why?” Minoru finally asked, even though it was way past the time to ask. “Why didn’t you or Sanae choose to have your Third Eyes removed and forget everything?”
“If I had known this would have happened, I might have done that,” Yumiko replied.
Yumiko’s answer itself was not combative, but her eyes as they gazed down in the darkness looked as if they had cold flames within them.
“But I will not run away anymore. For Sanae’s sake, I cannot run away anymore. Until I finish with Igniter, until I finish disposing of every single one of the Ruby Eyes,” she said.
Dispose of. In other words, have their Third Eyes surgically removed or kill the host. Yumiko’s determination was admirable, but at the same time, Minoru couldn’t help but think that something about it was wrong.
It was true that those who host a red Third Eye are dangerous. Even though they look no different from everybody else, their psyche is filled with the desire to kill others, and they have been gifted with special powers. The only ones who can sense their presence are other Third Eye hosts, so it makes sense that it is necessary to have an organization such as the SFD with which to oppose them.
However, there was no reason for Yumiko or Sanae, both of whom must have been normal girls before they became Jet Eyes, to fight them directly. There must be other options.
For example, if Yumiko and company were to assist in finding and tracking the Ruby Eyes, the police or the Japan Self-Defense Forces should be able to do the rest. Ruby Eyes weren’t immortal. If something like a tranquilizer dart would work, then that is all the more reason to not get directly involved. Was it really necessary for Yumiko and company to put their lives in danger to fight?
However, Minoru wasn’t able to voice that doubt. The fact that Sanae was laying there asleep, never to wake again, was proof that things had already gone past the point of no return.
What finally broke the silence was Yumiko’s voice, which had regained its calm.
“…You’ll have to participate in the battle with Igniter now that he has regained his strength. I don’t think you will be fighting directly. However, you should prepare yourself just in case. From now on, even if you get caught up in a battle, you shouldn’t fight without a plan…not like what happened with Biter. We will proactively seek out the Ruby Eyes, neutralize and dispose of them. You mustn’t forget that you are now part of the hunt.”
After Yumiko finished her declaration, she stood up from the bed and pointed toward the door.
“We’ve prepared room 403 for you to stay in,” she said, adding, “though there’s nothing but a bed.”
Following Yumiko as she headed for the door, Minoru finally asked the question that had been bugging him since before they entered the room.
“Do you live here, Yumiko?” he asked.
“Yes. I commute to school from here.
That is, when I feel like going,” Yumiko replied.
“…What kind of explanation did you give your parents?” Minoru asked in return.
“I told them that I’m attending a boarding school. The real reason my parents believed me was due to Chief Himi’s reputation, his virtuous nature, and his power, though,” replied Yumiko.
In other words, she had her family’s memories altered.
Did she really have to go that far? Minoru thought, surprised, feeling the weight of the fact that the current situation was dire enough to lead her to do such a thing.
As Minoru prepared to leave the room, just as he set his foot out into the hallway, he felt as if someone had called him and turned around, but of course there was no change in the silhouette of the girl as she slept on the bed.
5
When his cell phone rang, Ayato Suka was just preparing to go to sleep.
It wasn’t the phone that he was using for work. It was a smartphone he had signed a new contract for two months ago, and there was only one person he had exchanged that number with.
It was one of them.
As Suka reached for his cell phone, he took a deep breath, sending oxygen to his brain. When meeting with “them,” even over the phone, he had to be very cautious. With his brain clear and ready, he pressed the button to answer the phone.
“Good evening, Mr. Igniter.”
On the other end of the phone was a woman’s voice, which rang as smooth as silk. Like before, Suka still couldn’t even guess what age she was.
“…I told you to stop calling me by that name,” Suka argued. The ones who gave him that wrongheaded name, “Igniter,” were his enemies, the black hunters. But the woman on the phone just laughed.
“A name is nothing but a code. It doesn’t help to have more than one. Even I put up with the nickname forced on me by my superiors.”
“…Well, that’s your choice to make, Ms. Liquidizer. …Why are you calling me at this hour?” asked Suka.
“I’m just checking in on you. Welcome back, Mr. Igniter. It looks like going off to train in the mountains paid off for you. That show you put on for us today was wonderful,” Liquidizer replied.
“…Hmph,” Suka muttered, thinking, You say that as if you saw it yourself, but swallowing those words before they made it out of his mouth. If he said something like that, this woman would only reply with something like, “But of course.”
The woman didn’t seem to take offense to Suka’s attitude and kept talking in her smooth voice.
“Your power is absolutely wonderful. With that much potential, you would easily qualify to become a member of our organization, Mr. Igniter.…So what do you think? Are you still not ready to join us?”
“No, I am not,” Suka replied, holding back his irritation. “You all may be like me, but we don’t share the same goals. Not at all. Despite being given powers and an obligation to a cause, none of you act on it. You all just gather together in some hole, thinking only of protecting yourselves.”
“Oh, so you are saying that we Ruby Eyes should just go out and slaughter humans as much as we can, until we are hunted and killed by the Jet Eyes? Just like that handsome, sad, stupid gourmet, Biter?” Ms. Liquidizer asked.
“…He died?” asked Suka.
“Yes, four days ago,” replied the woman.
Suka said a silent prayer for Biter, whom he had never met nor spoken to. Biter hadn’t known about Suka, nor should he have known about the existence of any other Ruby Eye, but to Suka, they were one of the same mind.
Opening his eyes, Suka spoke in harsher tones than before. “I don’t like your attitude. At the very least Biter was a martyr to our cause. Furthermore, aren’t you partially at fault for his death, for deciding that you didn’t need to approach him?”
“We had no need for an inelegant power like his,” Liquidizer replied with a chuckle. “But you are different, Mr. Igniter. Your power is beautiful. Our doors are always open to you. If you ever change your mind, just give us a call.”
“…Hmph,” muttered Suka as he moved to end the call. But just before he could, some unsettling words reached his ears.
“Be careful. The black ones have already started to move. This time they are determined to catch… No, they are determined to kill you,” Liquidizer said before ending the call from her end.
Suka stared at his phone for a minute before returning it to its charging stand.
“…I’m the one who’s going to be doing the hunting, Ms. Liquidizer,” he muttered.
6
Minoru, who didn’t sleep well on his brand-new bed in its unfamiliar room, left SFD Headquarters at 6:00 a.m. so that he could return to his home in Saitama. The one who saw him off at the exit of the wooded area around the apartment complex, in the freezing cold, was DD, whom Minoru hardly had a chance to speak with the previous night.
“Sorry it’s just me, but the others tend to stay up late and never get up in the morning,” DD said.
“Don’t worry about it…,” Minoru said, smiling a little as he remembered the (no-alcohol) welcome party thrown for him in the large fifth-floor room that lasted late into the night. Then, after hesitating a few seconds, Minoru turned to ask DD something that had been bothering him for a while.
“…Do all of the SFD members live in that apartment building?” he asked.
“Yeah. The eight rooms on the third and fourth floors are used for our private residences,” DD answered.
“Eight rooms…,” Minoru repeated, thinking back over the names of the members he knew.
On the fourth floor, room 404 was Yumiko and Sanae’s room. The neighboring room 403 was for Minoru to use. There was also Professor Riri; DD; Oli-V, who didn’t return that night; and the mysterious “Lindenberger.” It didn’t seem that Chief Himi lived at headquarters, so that left two additional rooms.
As if he had read Minoru’s thoughts, DD nodded. “There are also some members you probably haven’t been introduced to yet… I mean, I’m not sure you even can be introduced to one of them…”
“Huh? What do you mean by that?” asked Minoru.
“It has to do with her power. I mean, even I haven’t seen her face in the two months I’ve been here. Maybe you’ll be able to meet her if you’re lucky.”
“Well…okay.” That wasn’t exactly a clear explanation, but Minoru didn’t have much time so he decided to worry about that later. Instead, he asked the question he had been wanting to ask most.
“So… How is everyone explaining this to their parents?”
“Oh…that,” DD, Denjirou Daimon, replied, pulling at the brim of his trademark cap. “Well, it’s sort of done on a case-by-case basis, but basically we have the chief do a little memory manipulation.”
Everyone had that done?! thought Minoru, surprised. But DD quickly waved his head back and forth as if to say, “It’s not what you think.”
“It’s not like we made them forget we exist or something,” DD explained. “Yumiko and Oli-V have it so everyone thinks they’re at a boarding school, and for me, it’s that I’m in a study abroad program in France for the culinary arts. No one plans to return home until everything has been taken care of here.…To be honest, I wasn’t planning on saying this yet, but Utsugi, I think that you should do the same.”
Minoru immediately knew why DD was telling him this. It was dangerous.
If your identity was exposed to the Ruby Eyes, it was not unlikely that your family would be attacked. Actually, Minoru’s adoptive sister, Norie, was attacked by Biter and kidnapped. Though she got away unscathed in the end, she could have easily suffered a grave injury or—and he didn’t even want to think about this—she could have been killed.
When put that way, it would certainly give him peace of mind to take DD up on his offer.
However, at the same time, it would put an end to the “ever-repeating daily life” that Minoru sought. His routine that took him back and forth from his home and school and the library would disappear, and he w
ould be subject to a large number of new memories. Minoru didn’t think he could handle that.
All of the memories that Minoru had would flow deep into his brain and attempt to connect with that one incident. Once the switch was flipped, Minoru would be forced to relive that memory. The memory of that terrible incident, which took the lives of his kind parents and his beloved older sister Wakaba.
Already, at that very moment, Minoru found it hard to breathe. Both of his arms went cold and numb, and his sense of balance began to suffer. His vision tilted, and a dusty smell filled his nose as he remembered that dark, cramped storage compartment under the floor. Thump, thump, thump went the sound of violent footsteps, closing in. Minoru could feel his heart rapidly beating, like an alarm bell. Or maybe it wasn’t his heart that was beating, but that parasitic black eye that fed on the wounds of human hearts…
“…tsugi. Utsugi, can you hear me?”
His right shoulder shaken, Minoru suddenly looked up. In front of him was DD, who looked confused and suspicious.
“Are you all right, man?” he asked.
“Uh… Yeah, I’m fine. It’s nothing,” said Minoru quickly and a bit frantically, shaking his head as he took one step back. He readjusted his messenger bag, which contained the small canister Riri gave him.
“I guess I should get going now. If you call or text me, I’ll come running as fast as I can… I’ll consider what you said about moving in,” Minoru said.
“Yeah, please do. Also, make sure you stay alert in case you catch the scent of a Ruby Eye. Even I can’t sniff them out if they’re in a place as far away as Saitama,” said DD, who seemed sincerely worried.
“I’ll be careful. Tell everyone I wish them well. …I’ll see you later,” said Minoru, waving back at DD before raising his scarf to his mouth and walking down the path out of the wooded area around the apartment complex.
When Minoru went through the rusted gates that led out into the adjacent two-lane street, a middle school student in a tracksuit who was just crossing by looked suspiciously at Minoru. If due to Chief Himi’s barrier, outsiders really couldn’t perceive the path leading to SFD Headquarters, it must have looked as if Minoru had suddenly sprung out from under the trees.