“Ugh. That fool’s grinning ear to ear. At least try to conceal yourself, you idiot.”
“Look at Shintaro. All serious like that…He’s usually a massive wimp, too…I have this sneaking suspicion he’s thinking the same thing I am.”
“Yeah? Maybe you resemble each other in more ways than one…Marie, what are you doing?”
“Oh, uh, I thought this looked really neat, so…”
Marie was carrying a handheld electric massager.
Judging by her expression, she must have thought it was some sort of weapon.
“…Sure, fine. Put it back later, okay?”
“ ’Kay, I will!”
“Ha-ha-ha…Right. Let’s go around through this aisle.”
Ducking into a smaller side corridor, we saw a stubble-bearded man, the apparent leader of the group, sitting on a bench. He was playing with his cell phone as he seemingly idled away the time. The confidence he exuded indicated that everything was going according to his devious plan.
“That’s the main guy, isn’t it? He sure looks like a meanie.”
“Yeah, it’s gotta be. That beard makes him seem positively deranged.”
“Wow, he’s scary…”
He likely wasn’t expecting a gaggle of young women critiquing his looks as he sat there.
Still, this was it. A terrifying criminal mastermind, right before our eyes.
The stubbly, unkempt beard only served to complete the “vicious, rampaging maniac” image.
“Oh, there’s Kano…”
“You just noticed now?”
“Yeah. I went and got this first, so…Whoa! Huh…? A-a-a-ahhh!!”
“Hey, what’re…?!”
As Marie held the massager into the air, she tripped over the electrical cord she had been dragging behind the whole time. As she tumbled to the ground, the massager flew in the air, straight for the stubble-bearded man.
“Aaaahhhhhhhhh!!”
Kido’s and my scream sounded out in perfect harmony. We tried to reach for the massager, but it managed to strike the man right on the back of his head.
The man’s expression instantly twisted in pain. Just as it did, Kido slid in, catching the massager just in time before it clanged to the floor. The deed done, we all scurried back into a side aisle.
“Are you stupid?! Do you want to die here?!”
“Eep…I, I’m sorry…”
“Phew…I thought for sure we were dead. I didn’t think you’d actually see all those flashbacks and everything…”
Sitting down in the aisle, we could hear the stubble-bearded man’s minions groan in pain as their leader flew into a psychotic rage.
We’re really sorry about that, minions…Not that you don’t deserve to be punished, but…
After a moment, another text from Kano reached Kido’s phone.
“Subject: Good to go!
Your bro says if he gets a chance it’ll be 100 percent OK! This is starting to get fun! Oh, and that thing you just did…It was amazing, lol.”
Looking up from the aisle toward the hostages, I spotted my brother, his face still oddly solemn. Waiting for the right chance I supposed. A grinning Kano sat behind him.
The text continued:
“Anyway, I’m starting to get bored. Wanna go home. Oh, and don’t worry, I told your bro to wait until the beard guy starts broadcasting again.”
“I think it’s all good over there. Let’s keep this operation going!”
“All right…I’m ready!”
“Good. I really don’t want to see any more of that bearded guy…!”
“Hey, um, don’t you think I should apologize to him…?”
“Look, don’t go away from me until I say it’s okay, all right?”
“Uh, okay!”
Marie’s hand was clamped upon Kido’s jacket, just like before.
“Well, here we go…”
“Uh-huh…Whoa! He’s got another message?!”
Just as we had walked into the main aisle, the PA system came to life once more.
“Huh…?! He’s too early! C’mon, Marie! Hurry!”
“Wha? Huh…? Ahh!”
We made our way toward the TV section, me taking the lead while Kido half-dragged Marie along with her.
Cutting across the main aisle, we reached the opposite side of the stubble-bearded guy and his men, the hostages located between us.
I could see several dozen big-screen TVs on display across the right-hand wall.
“Great! We’re in ti—”
The next sight that crossed my eyes was the still-enraged stubble-bearded man picking my brother up by the hair.
“Sh-Shintaro…”
“Wait! I told you, don’t go by yourself! You’re the only one who knows how we’re timing this thing!”
“…!!”
She was right. But look at him! Right in front of me…!
“…K-Kisaragi!”
“Huh…?”
Without warning, Marie had grabbed my hand.
“I don’t really get it…but it’s all right!”
She applied more force to my hand as she continued, eyes pointed straight at mine.
“…This is gonna work!!”
The moment she said it, all sound disappeared from my world.
I could feel an intense heat from within my eyes, as if every nerve in my body was pointed toward my vision.
Suddenly, I could tell exactly where the eyes of every person in the showroom were looking.
“…Okay!”
I took a deep breath and focused.
There were nine terrorists on this floor. I could easily spot their positions from here.
“Boss! The forty-two-inch TV, third from the left! We’ll start with that!”
“Got it. Marie, let’s go.”
“Uh, okay…!”
The three of us lined up in front of the television I marked out, placing our hands behind it.
Now it all comes down to timing.
And I, more than anyone else, knew the exact moment people’s eyes would be upon us.
“…for life…”
…Keep waiting…hold on…!
“I hope all you bastards get shut into a jail cell for life!”
Shintaro was suddenly being pretty cool for someone who was normally so useless.
The moment his voice echoed across the showroom floor, all eyes focused upon him.
All those eyes, and now I can draw every one of them!
“Now! Go!”
The television smashed to the ground with a loud crash.
At that moment, everyone focused on the TV’s shattered carcass.
The moment every single one of them began to gasp, we knocked over the speakers lying beneath it.
“Where next?!”
“Next is…There! That shelf!”
“…That’s more taking a potshot than attracting attention, no?”
“Ha-ha…Maybe a little.”
The stubble-bearded man approached, pistol in his hand.
“There somebody in—?!”
“Two, and three!”
On three, we all kicked the merchandise shelf over in unison.
“Ngh! Whoa!”
An avalanche of heavy electronics flew off the shelf, effectively burying the man.
“Now…!”
Looking across the collapsed shelf, I saw my brother stand up and start running.
He ran right past my side, not giving me a moment’s notice, a stern look of resolve on his face.
“—You’re up, Ene.”
I found myself murmuring it out loud.
There was no way I’d get a response. I wasn’t expecting one.
I heard my brother call for Ene as her image floated across screen after screen.
Just as I thought it was all over…
—I heard a single gunshot.
“…?!”
Turning around, I saw my brother on the ground in front of the computer.
“…Huh…?”
&nb
sp; “Dammit! They got him…!”
A large motor rumbled to life, and the shutter began to clatter its way upward.
“…Shintaro!!”
My brother had fallen facedown. He wasn’t getting up.
Kano ran up to his side.
“Come on, Kisaragi! The shutter’s open! Hurry!”
“—!!”
Once the shutter was about eight inches open, I could see the feet of the police squadron as they prepared to storm in from the other side.
Kido, noticing them, let out a panicked yelp.
The showroom floor was the loudest it had ever been.
Several terrorists pointed toward the shutter, shouting something in loud, frazzled voices.
If the shutter kept opening and a gun battle erupted between the cops and the terrorists, we could have dozens of injuries on our hands.
“Kisaragiiiii!”
“I know…!”
I need to get my brother out of here. Now. I have to do this!
“Marie!”
“Yeah!”
“…Let’s go!”
I nodded to Kido, and then she released her ability from me.
At that moment, I could feel the eyes of everyone in the area, including the terrorists, focus upon me—no meaning to it, no reason, no matter of preference; just nothing but unrelenting stares.
“This…this is Kisaragi. Momo Kisaragi. Sixteen years old.—And I’m a pop idol!”
—Silence.
At that moment, my “drawing eyes” had ensnared them all.
“It’s all you now, Marie!!”
Before my eyes, Marie began to walk forward.
She stopped right between myself and all the eyes pointed toward me.
Marie’s “locking eyes” locked upon every gaze except for mine. Her hair began to writhe, and with her deep, deep red eyes, she said:
“Sorry.”
—It sounded almost like a magical time-stopping incantation.
“Charrrrrrrrge!…Ah?!”
I could hear the shutter clatter. A chaotic drumbeat of footsteps spontaneously erupted.
The police squadron were past the shutter.
But not only were the hostages safe—the terrorists offered them zero resistance, their eyes still fixated upon a single point in space.
Nobody was there.
Or, to be exact, no one could recognize the presence of anyone there.
“Blindfold complete, I guess.”
Kido sighed raspily in apparent relief.
Her eyes had a red tinge to them, the fatigue all too clear on her face.
“…! Shintaro!”
I ran up to my brother, lying on the ground nearby.
“…Kano! How is he?!”
Kano, watching over him, had a profoundly serious look on his face, like none I’d seen before.
“…Sadly…”
No…! It can’t be…!!
“—Sadly, I think he just fainted. Must’ve gotten, like, grazed, you know?”
My brother was muttering in his sleep, his face pained. “Give me a break…” he moaned. “I just had a crazy impulse…”
…Ugh. He acted so cool just now, too. I take it all back.
—My idiot brother was just that all along. An idiot.
The police squadron had the situation with the terrorists fully under control, although their statuesque behavior was an obvious surprise to them. It was understandable. Even the hostages sat completely motionless.
“Hey! You all right? Hey! Hello?!”
“Just…Just get them under arrest! There’s one under that shelf, too! Get him secure!”
As the squadron fanned out across the showroom floor, Kido, Kano, and I congratulated one another on a mission well done.
“That was some pretty impressive thinking, you know? Like, getting everyone to focus on Marie like that.”
“Yeah…I figured Shintaro would get the shutter open for us, but I didn’t want the terrorists to start trading fire with the cops. So I was trying to figure out how to keep everyone where they were, and then I remembered Kano getting petrified like he did, so…”
“Huh. Sounds like that dumbass actually came in handy.”
“Hey, quit being so mean! Oh, did you see the photos, Kido? You know, the ones I sent?”
“Deleted ’em.”
We could all breathe a sigh of relief now. The police, their terrorist mop-up work complete, were now frantically trying to figure out how to get them moving and talking again.
“Well…that’s that, isn’t it?”
“Yep…You did good, Kisaragi. It’s all thanks to you.”
“Huh? Aww…heh-heh-heh. Oh, speaking of, where did Marie—”
Realizing that Marie was no longer nearby, I took a look around, only to find a terrifying sight unfold before me.
Marie, electric massager still firmly in hand, was being pelted with a barrage of questions from one of the police officers.
“Aaaagghh!!”
Just as before, I shouted alongside Kido in unison.
“That stupid little…! She went to put that thing back!”
“Oh man oh man oh man…Now what? This is pretty bad, isn’t it?!”
“Ha-ha-ha! That’s the massager she bopped that stubble-bearded guy with, huh? Like, of all the weapons she had to pick! She’s a comedic genius! Oh, man, I’m gonna bust a gut…”
“Will you shut up for a minute?! Dammit…Now what…?”
Kano fell to the floor at the force of Kido’s well-timed punch.
As we bickered with one another, Marie was gradually surrounded by a herd of officers.
She was doing her best to plead with them about something, looking ready to cry at any moment.
“Uh…boss, did Marie just point at us…?”
“Oh, you have to be kidding—”
“W-whoa! They’re coming this way! Ah…Dammit, Kano, stand up! You’re in the way!!”
“You knocked…the wind…outta me…”
“I…You…Ugh, just get up!…Oh no…”
The moment after Kido groaned pathetically at his assailant, one of the approaching officers tripped over Kano’s body. Shouting in abject surprise, he flailed for balance before falling flat on the floor.
“Let’s…” “Let’s…”
“Run!!” “Get outta here!!”
I took off right alongside Kido as I made a beeline for Marie.
She finally noticed me once I reached in between the cops to grab her hand, an expression of relief spreading across her face.
I could hear the officers left around her shouting things like “Where are you going?!” and “Wait, little girl!” but I was in no mood to stop running.
But what now…?!
Just as I felt my mind beginning to panic, the showroom floor was suddenly filled with noise. Marie’s petrification had finally run its course. The policemen immediately turned their eyes to the crowd. Kido was ready for it.
Presumably we had gone unnoticed once more.
One of the officers looked back. “She’s…gone?!” he blurted out apprehensively.
“Kisaragi! We can’t stay here! Let’s get going!”
“R-right!…Oh, but…!”
“…Kano!! Pick up Kisaragi’s brother and get moving!”
“Whaa? Man, what a pain in the…er, nothing! No pain whatsoever! Like, I can’t wait to carry this dude around!”
“That’s a bad cover-up job, Kano…”
Thanks to the ominous fist clenched above Kido’s head, Kano was kind enough to carry my brother away.
As he did, I could hear my brother murmuring, “Nnngh…Give me a break, man…” into Kano’s ear, over and over again. It made me pray for sudden deafness.
“Oh! Wait!…Ene! You there?”
I took the cell phone connected to the computer and was greeted by a cheerful girl’s voice.
“Ohh! Is that you, Momo?! Wow, are you out shopping, too?! What happened to my master?!”
“Uhh…I�
�ll explain later, okay? Do you mind coming with us for now?”
“Oh, absolutely! To the amusement park?”
“Uh…no, not exactly…?”
“C’mon! We’re going!”
“O-okay!!”
I ran as fast as I could for the stairwell.
What on earth did I even come here for? I still don’t have a new phone, and we didn’t so much as look at any tea sets.
Of course, if I did accomplish anything here…
I looked toward Marie. Her breathing was already accelerated from all the excitement.
“Hey, Marie?”
“Y-yeah, Kisa…I mean, Momo?”
“—!…You know, I’m really starting to love this day!”
Marie looked confused for a moment. Then she beamed at me. “Me too,” she said softly.
“…Thanks!”
“—Hey! Momo, Momo!”
I heard Ene’s voice from the phone in my pocket.
“Mm? What is it, Ene?”
“What’s with you two? Is it one of those yuri things? You know, girl-on-girl romance and—”
I shut off the phone’s power and stuck the handset as deep as my pocket would go.
“ ‘Yuri’? As in lily flowers? Ooh, they’re so beautiful, aren’t they?”
“N-no! Forget about it! It’s no big deal, Marie!”
“…?”
I started to sweat, this time for reasons besides our running pace.
The utter lack of tact that Ene showed on a regular basis may be one of the few things she and my brother have in common.
“All right! Start going down!”
Just as we reached the stairwell, I heard a mighty sigh behind me.
“Uh…are you really expecting me to carry this guy all the way down? This is the seventh floor!”
“Yep. And then outside.”
Kido’s reply was enough to even make Kano’s face turn desperate.
“Gehh…”
“I’m sorry I have such an idiot brother, Kano. Let’s, uh, try to take it slow down—”
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