Aragaki's home.
The June sunlight filtered through the window screen, and golden dust motes floated in the Tyndall effect beams. The tatami mat's rush patterns were sun-baked to a honey colour.
Outside the window, in the clear blue sky, clouds were scattered like cotton candy. In the distance, from what was likely a convenience store down the street, a speaker was playing the latest hit song, "Here, The World!", by the popular girl group Sumimi.
The girl, the room's owner, sat upright on her bed, enjoying the concern from someone.
"Ayase, are you really okay?" Kosaka Kirino asked her best friend, who was half-sitting on the bed, with concern.
"Kirino, you worry too much, I told you I'm fine—" Ayase Aragaki said with her usual gentle smile. "I can go to school normally tomorrow."
"This isn't about worrying, is it?" Kosaka Kirino said irritably. "Mass hysteria… I can't believe those experts came up with that. Ayase, you won't even tell me what happened…"
As early as two days prior, the disappearances, or rather, the missing persons cases, had already been officially concluded. A group of experts and professors were brought in to say that the missing children, due to mass hysteria, had unknowingly gathered in Chiba Port Tower—which was temporarily closed for equipment maintenance and not open to visitors at the time—through sleepwalking-like behavior. It was a stroke of luck that they weren't caught in the subsequent natural gas explosion.
"I'm sorry, Kirino—" Ayase Aragaki said with a perfectly appropriate apology. "Some things aren't as simple as you think, after all, the City Hall people just left not long ago."
Kosaka Kirino was silent for a moment, then grumbled with a somewhat petulant tone, "I know, honestly… You must have signed a non-disclosure agreement or something, right? That's why those politicians are so unreliable, Japan's future is doomed… Oh, sorry, I wasn't talking about your father."
Misled by Ayase Aragaki's attitude—something like 'the disappearance case involves some important figures so I can't just talk about it,' 'it's complicated and I don't want to get Kirino involved,' 'those who understand, understand, and those who don't, won't understand even if I explain'—Kosaka Kirino sighed and decided not to pursue the matter further. After all, as a middle school student, the boldest thing she had ever done in her life was merely playing adult-rated eroge behind her father's back. The situation her friend was facing was clearly beyond her scope.
However, it couldn't be entirely called misleading, because City Hall did have a similar implication: if any relative of a missing person wanted to claim compensation from the authorities on grounds such as 'poor management of Chiba Port Tower,' then the investigation results of the subsequent natural gas explosion case might be linked to their children, whom they had finally managed to find.
The subtext was clearly, 'If you don't want to face exorbitant fines, then shut up and don't make trouble.'
Ayase Aragaki even felt that if her father hadn't been a somewhat reputable House of Representatives member, and if the parents of the other children involved in the disappearance case hadn't also had some influence, this matter wouldn't have been so easily dismissed.
But no matter how much the authorities investigated, this matter would probably yield no results.
After all, everything that happened that day had exceeded the realm of normal human comprehension.
Even now, recalling what happened that day still felt like a dream—
"Ayase? Ayase!"
"Huh?" Ayase Aragaki snapped back to reality, realizing that Kosaka Kirino was looking at her worriedly.
"You're still not feeling well, are you? You suddenly started spacing out just now—" Kosaka Kirino asked anxiously, clearly very concerned about her best friend's physical condition.
"No, nothing, really, I'm almost completely recovered—" Ayase Aragaki quickly reassured her.
She couldn't possibly say that the reason she was staring blankly at her phone was just because after so many days, that adult hadn't contacted her, which made her overthink, could she?
Kirino carefully examined the other person's expression for a moment, and after confirming there was nothing unusual, she started talking about other things.
"The magazine's agent and photographer are also very worried about your condition, but they also understand your difficulties, so it's fine to give you a long break. You can go back whenever you're well-rested."
Ayase Aragaki listened absentmindedly, her mind, however, couldn't help but drift to the 'Prince Charming' who had saved her…
Could it be that he was still busy saving others, which was why he didn't have time to contact her?
It was also possible that that adult judged that she was still under surveillance from City Hall, which was why he deliberately didn't contact her. After all, that adult looked like someone who would only appear in stories, wouldn't accept official supervision, and was just a lone righteous samurai;
He couldn't have simply forgotten, could he?
"Ayase? Ayase!" Kosaka Kirino's voice once again pulled Ayase Aragaki's mind back from her wild fantasies to reality.
"I'm listening, I'm listening—" Ayase Aragaki said, regaining her composure with her habitual gentle smile, "Kirino has developed again, right? I can go with you to buy new underwear anytime, you know."
"Not only were you not listening, but you're also trying to brush it off with a strange topic…" Kosaka Kirino stared at Ayase Aragaki with deadpan, highlight-less eyes, trying to discern something from her friend's face.
"Oh, Kirino doesn't need new underwear…?" Ayase showed a very innocent look of surprise. "I thought Kirino was about the same as me… No, never mind, please don't pay attention."
"Being too considerate of my feelings just makes me super conscious of it!" Kosaka Kirino pounced on Ayase Aragaki in dissatisfaction, playing around with her: "Damn it, why did your figure get even better after being missing for a few days?!"
"Stop, stop it!" Ayase Aragaki let out a shy hum, but this alluring appearance only made Kosaka Kirino more excited.
"What does it matter? We're all girls anyway…" As soon as Kosaka Kirino finished speaking, she was surprised to find that Ayase Aragaki easily pulled her away.
She knew that in terms of pure athletic ability, she used to be much stronger than this quiet best friend, but now it seemed different: "…Ugh, Ayase, that, it hurts a bit, can you loosen your grip?"
"Honestly, Kirino, even if we're all girls, there are things you can do and things you can't." Ayase Aragaki said seriously.
"Hmph, can we make up?" Kosaka Kirino whispered, trying to struggle twice but finding herself completely unable to break free.
"It's fine if you know you're wrong."
"Sorry…"
"Your apology isn't sincere enough."
Although Ayase Aragaki said that, she still let go of her hand.
Just then, the girl's phone rang.
So Kosaka Kirino, who was still rubbing her wrist and feeling quite dejected, saw her best friend's expression change from dissatisfaction to extreme brilliance in just an instant.
She stared at her, dumbfounded: Is this still the Ayase I know?