Chapter 45 - Femininity, Masculinity
With my head full of question marks, I returned home.
I had absolutely no idea what was going on anymore.
Just before I appraised Saeki, I had been imagining a story like this.
'After returning to Japan from the other world, Saeki wanted to see Ayako-chan, the girl he had a one-sided crush on.
When he actually saw her in person, he ended up multiplying her on a whim.
A crime committed in an attempt to take one of them back to his own house.
But midway through, he was overcome with guilt and fled, abandoning the two Ayako-chans.'
But Saeki was not the Summoned Hero.
He was innocent.
That means the culprit is someone else, but then the question arises: why would they multiply someone like the bookstore's only daughter?
This case targets only people who can be called geniuses, those who excel in some kind of ability.
And yet, Ayako-chan, an ordinary person, was exceptionally targeted.
If it wasn't due to a secret crush, what could be the reason?
Could it be that Ayako-chan has some talent I don't know about?
Like, maybe she's been taking lessons somewhere and has achieved results in that field.
Thinking that there still seemed to be things I needed to ask, I opened the door.
"Welcome home."
And then, I was greeted by that woman who seemed to have secrets, Ayako-chan.
The face I had just been picturing in my mind appeared, startling me.
My brain still hadn't gotten used to the fact that Ayako-chan was in my house.
"I-I'm home."
Ayako-chan was wearing my apron over her pajamas.
I had left a note saying, 'Make something for yourself in the morning and eat it,' before leaving, so she must have taken on the cooking duty.
When I turned my gaze toward the living room, I could see Angelica waiting in front of the table.
While locking the door, I apologized to Ayako-chan.
"Sorry, running out without preparing a meal. There was just something I really had to check on."
I had left the house immediately after waking up this morning.
Thinking that meeting Saeki would solve the case, I just couldn't sit still.
"It's no problem at all. ...I am in a position where I'm being allowed to stay here. It would be wrong to trouble Nakamoto-san with anything."
Saying that, Ayako-chan smiled gracefully.
As for my fellow freeloader Angelica, she was slumped over the table, whining, "I'm hungry—."
It was like a perfectly capable eldest daughter and a spoiled second daughter.
"Will Nakamoto-san eat too?"
"I'm fine. I bought bread at a convenience store and ate while walking."
"...So you're not hungry, then."
She looked disappointed.
What was with that expression, like she wanted me to eat?
"Well. I could eat if I tried."
"...You don't have to force yourself..."
"Actually, I am a bit peckish. Yeah. I did get quite a bit of exercise."
"Really?"
Then let's all three eat together, Ayako-chan said, bringing her hands together. A radiant smile came with it.
Her inner self aside, just by appearance, she looked like nothing but a domestic girl.
Does this girl really possess the kind of talent that a Summoned Hero would target?
"Hey, Ayako-chan."
"What is it? You can go rest over there."
"Have you ever won any major awards?"
"...Huh?"
"No, I mean. The people being multiplied in this duplication case are all athletes, young shogi players, scholars—people society calls geniuses, right? So I was wondering if you were like that too."
Ayako-chan turned the knob on the gas stove and lit the burner under the pot.
"...I don't have anything in particular. I don't have any special skills I could boast about to others."
"Really?"
"I've always been bad at sports. And with studying, I work really hard just to be slightly above average. ...I'm completely hopeless at science subjects. Even though my father teaches that kind of thing at a university, it's pathetic, isn't it?"
It's a complex of mine, Ayako-chan said, holding a hair tie in her mouth.
She reached back to her hair, trying to gather it into one.
Since she was about to cook, it couldn't be helped.
Though it was frustrating to have the conversation interrupted midway.
Her hair went up, revealing her pure white nape.
I saw that mole again.
Once Ayako-chan finished tying her hair, I asked another question.
"Didn't you take any lessons? Any experience being recognized for that?"
"...In elementary school, I went to an abacus class at my father's recommendation. But I never really got into it."
"What about club activities?"
As Ayako-chan put ingredients into the pot, she began to speak bit by bit.
In middle school, she tried brass band, but again didn't think it suited her. Just memorizing the part she was given took everything she had.
When she entered high school, she became a go-home club member, spending every day just tending the shop after school. This is just right for me.
In a self-deprecating manner, the girl's life story was revealed.
"...I'm not a genius or anything. ...Um, it's hard to do this while being watched, so can we stop now?"
I don't really like talking about the past that much, she said, lowering her eyes.
Even if it was first thing in the morning, being subjected to something like an interrogation probably didn't feel good.
I ended the conversation and headed to the living room.
I sat in my usual spot, the position with the best view of the TV.
Immediately, Angelica sprang up with a start.
"Father's here!"
Wondering what she was going to do, she climbed onto my lap as if she had been waiting for this.
"Welcome home—"
"You're closer than usual."
"I'm tired of being kept waiting, you know?"
Acting like she owned the place, Angelica invaded my personal space.
She smelled nice, and she was soft. Straightforwardly adorable.
Open with her displays of affection, a real Westerner kind of feel.
In contrast, Ayako-chan was Japanese in both appearance and inner self.
Just when I thought she was smiling, she would suddenly show a gloomy face.
I couldn't tell what she was thinking, but you could also call it mysterious.
"While I was gone, you were alone with Ayako-chan. What did you talk about?"
"Huh? Well, we're girls together, so things work out somehow."
"Is that how it is? Ah, can you get the remote?"
"Okaaay."
Angelica stretched out her arm while keeping her bottom on me and grabbed the remote on the table.
I took it in a relaxed posture and turned on the TV.
I tuned to a news program.
I thought they might be covering new information about the duplication case.
"...They're just doing nothing but celebrity affair scandals."
There must be other things they should be reporting on.
Maybe this is why ratings are declining, I thought, changing channels with the mindset of a director.
But unfortunately, no program was any different. Only the faces of the performers changed; what they were doing was almost the same.
It didn't seem like there was anything to gain.
I took my eyes off the screen and spoke to Angelica, who was swaying her head on my lap.
"Earlier, I went to the house of someone suspected of being the Summoned Hero. But it was a wasted trip. That guy was just an ordinary person."
"See. That's why you should have taken me with you."
I would have known instantly if I sensed him, Angelica said, pouting her lips.
"If it's a villain who cuts people to multiply them, they'd show up with a bright red icon anyway. ...Like demons, or Ayako-san."
Because the person in question was nearby, Angelica lowered her voice a little.
So Ayako-chan was evil on the same level as demons?
And that very person was now making breakfast in my kitchen. It was an indescribable feeling.
"Ah, but there are cases where someone is committing evil deeds but doesn't get caught by my sensing. If that kind of person is the opponent, I might not be able to help."
"...Is that so? Don't all criminals show up as red dots?"
"There are humans who do bad things while their Attribute remains Good."
"What do you mean?"
"It's the pattern where they rampage thinking it's for the best. For example, you know, a ruler who massacres opposition forces believing it's for the good of the country. Or a priest who carries out brutal heretic hunts based on their faith. The person themselves acts believing from the bottom of their heart that it's a good deed, so they're a good person while being a heinous criminal. In cases like these, a skill that detects evil can't find them."
A pure heart doesn't always produce pure results, Angelica said in a solemn tone.
"...I wonder if the culprit in this case is also multiplying people thinking it's a good thing. Actually, that makes more sense. A Summoned Hero is someone who goes out of their way to save another world, right? If that person is doing something, isn't it because they're acting by their own rules?"
"If that's the case, it's troublesome. They probably won't stop precisely because they have conviction."
If that's how it is, then maybe it would work if I provoked them on TV, I also thought.
If it's a person acting on a distorted sense of justice, wouldn't they be unable to stay silent if their righteousness was insulted?
While I was thinking about such things, time passed quickly.
Eventually, a voice came from the kitchen: "It's ready."
Breakfast was served.
Ayako-chan efficiently arranged the plates and even served the rice.
She had practiced hands. Maybe she had helped quite a bit with housework at home.
...To think that I, of all people, would have a girl prepare a meal for me at my own home.
As I watched Ayako-chan, I trembled with emotion.
Even though she harbors such dangerous proclivities, when she faces me with a rice paddle in one hand and a smile, it's strange how I start thinking, Huh? Isn't she just normally cute?
"...Father, aren't you making a goofy face?"
"No way."
"Isn't your gaze fixed on Ayako-san?"
"W-What are you talking about?"
Even though I have a girl on my lap, there's no way my eyes would wander to another girl, right?
Even if my eyes did go there, it's not with ulterior motives.
When shown a domestic side, there's an unconditional healing feeling, you know?
Aren't all single men like that?
Sure, I'm totally looking at Ayako-chan right now, but this is an act of God.
As I was making these nonsensical excuses, Angelica grew more and more displeased.
"...As I thought, Father likes girly types too, huh. The kind that are good at cooking and stuff."
"I think Angelica is also quite girlish."
That said, while her figure is womanly, her inner self feels like a child.
It feels different from a mature, feminine allure.
"You like depraved female passions, right? Ayako-san has that perfectly, doesn't she? You're dizzy over a charm I don't have. I'm going to be thrown away, aren't I?"
"Don't say depraved."
"...It's fine."
"You have your own good points."
As the two of us were making a racket, Ayako-chan opened her mouth.
"Now that you mention it."
That reminds me, she prefaced, then spoke.
"Nakamoto-san, you wanted to know about Saeki-kun, right?"
"Huh? ...Ah, but it's fine now. It turned out that guy is harmless."
"Is that so. ...Then never mind."
"But well, I guess I'll ask anyway. Actually, why this timing?"
"...Weren't you talking with Angelica-san about femininity? That reminded me. ...This was also the trigger for Saeki-kun starting to get bullied."
"Femininity? Saeki is a guy, right?"
I recalled the room with game consoles scattered carelessly and walls full of holes from fists.
The owner of that room was feminine?
"...Saeki-kun was a bit androgynous, or rather, had a somewhat effeminate side. ...He was accepted by the girls, but with boys, that kind of thing is creepy, isn't it?"
"He was an effeminate guy?"
"Yes. Though it was just to the degree of, 'Is he a little different from normal boys?' But it shows in the way he talks and such, you know. He started getting targeted, being called a fag and things."
I remembered the two children's rooms in the Saeki house.
One was a room with a pink-based color scheme, the bed covered in stuffed animals.
The other was a room that looked exactly like where an emotionally unstable boy would sleep and wake.
"...Then don't tell me."
What if the pink one was Yuta Saeki's room?
If so, then his mental state is stable. A weak, girlish spirit, but never violent.
But that means his sister, Kana Saeki, is the one on the verge of exploding at any moment. Routinely punching walls, unable to control her destructive impulses.
"You're kidding. I even passed Kana at the entrance."
I took out my smartphone and sent a message to Rio.
'Got a minute?'
I had something I absolutely had to confirm.
'Thanks. I never thought you'd talk to me again.'
'I told you I'm not mad anymore. More importantly, can you tell me about Kana Saeki?'
'Why do you want to know? Do you like that kind of girl?'
'I'm not interested in that sense. Just tell me about Kana's personality.'
The time waiting for a reply was frustrating. A mere few dozen seconds felt like an eternity.
'She's super tomboyish. Amazing athletic ability, and she was the ace of the track team. That's why she could belong to the flashy group even though she looks plain.'
'Her brother was supposed to be a shut-in. Didn't she say anything about that?'
'From the way Kana talked, she seemed to get along well with her big brother.'
A feminine older brother and a masculine younger sister.
What kind of relationship did these siblings have, with their gender roles reversed yet remaining close?
'I don't really get it, but Kana's older brother seems a bit strange. Kana used to say scary things like, I have to protect him, or I'll kill anyone who bullies him.'
A personality that cared deeply for her brother and had a strong sense of justice.
The scattered pieces clicked into place with a snap.
'I wish the world could be filled with only kind and excellent people, was Kana's catchphrase, I think.'