In a Daze Read online

  “You know, it’s like you’ve got the worst luck or something…”

  “Tell me about it. I’m really feeling it today, too…”

  “So what do you think he’s here to buy?”

  “I have no idea…Probably something for his computer. Who knows why he’d go out and buy it himself, though…”

  “Huh…Maybe it’s the holiday. You know, Obon? And the shopping sites are closed or something.”

  “Oooh…That sounds pretty likely, actually. But he just had to come here right now, didn’t he…?”

  “Well, the two of you do look kinda alike. Like, maybe you’re both groovin’ on the same wavelength or something?”

  “…I will hit you, I swear.”

  “Okay, maybe not that much alike. My bad.”

  “Ugh…I’m really sorry about this, Marie. I promise I’ll make it up to you, okay?”

  “Oh, no…This is all my fault anyway, so…Besides, this is really fun.”

  “Nghh…What is taking him so long?! Just buy whatever crap you need and go already…”

  “Well, you know, it’s only been about five minutes. Just hang tight!”

  “I can’t! I want to contact my agency and go shopping with Marie…! Ughh!”

  “Yeah! I want to go shopping, but I can wait, okay? So don’t worry!”

  “Oh, Marie, you are so nice to me! Wanna go to the sweets section later? Hmm?”

  “Okay…! Oh, here comes someone.”

  Marie moved away from a customer walking down the aisle, a large backpack slung behind him.

  This customer didn’t seem terribly keen on browsing, though. He came to a stop in the middle of the aisle, removing his sack and peering inside.

  “What’s with this guy? Why isn’t he going anywhere…?”

  I looked to my side, only to find Kano looking suddenly tense.

  Kido’s brows were furrowed, apparently noticing whatever Kano had.

  “Kido, this is bad.”

  “Yeah. Kisaragi, Marie, let’s get out of here.”

  “Uh…okay…?”

  We stepped back into the main aisle, Kido and Kano’s faces still racked with apprehension.

  “What now? Should we fall back?”

  “You get Kisaragi’s brother over here. Try not to scare him too much.”

  “Got it. You take care of these guys.”

  “Sure thing. Hurry,” said Kido, at which, Kano disappeared down the side aisle my brother had just stepped into.

  “Um, boss? What did you mean by ‘get my brother over here’? How am I gonna find a cell phone if we’re…”

  “That guy’s backpack stunk of gunpowder. I could smell it from here. He’s probably carrying weapons. I think I saw the barrel of a gun in there. Explosives, too.”

  “Huh?”

  “…Ah, crap! The guy who just walked down the opposite aisle must be with him. Hey, once Kano comes back, we’re getting out of here!”

  “W-what…? Kido, what’s going on…?”

  Marie was clearly shaken at Kido’s sudden change of tone.

  Probably less than half of what she told me had made it inside my head.

  I hadn’t gotten the full message, but the atmosphere had gotten so tense, so quickly, that I felt pangs of anxiety shoot up and down my body.

  My mind was having trouble keeping up. But the sight in front of me was shockingly clear as it burned into my retinas.

  “Boss…Look!”

  “Dammit…Just follow what I say for now, all right? We’re probably in a…”

  Suddenly, there was a loud, echoing bang.

  Screams rose up from across the floor, as if on cue.

  “Ah…!”

  Marie clung to my side, startled.

  The screams slowly, gradually grew in volume, forming an avalanche that buried the entire show floor.

  The man in the aisle from earlier removed his shirt, revealing an outfit resembling a special-forces military uniform. Grabbing a gun from the backpack, he leaped out from the aisle.

  “Ugh. Too late…?! Whoa!!”

  As I stared dumbfounded at the unfolding events, Kido grabbed both Marie’s and my arms, pulling us deeper into the showroom.

  Right after our momentum sent us to the ground, a large iron shutter fell over the spot we had just stood, completely shutting us away from the elevators we were facing.

  “Hey! You okay?”

  “I, I think so…! Are you all right, Marie?!”

  Marie, still in Kido’s arms, was quivering with fear.

  Luckily, she still had it together enough to follow Kido’s orders as we ran to a narrow aisle and hunkered down.

  “Calm down, Marie. It’s gonna be all right. They haven’t noticed us over there…but…”

  We could still hear screaming scattered across the showroom.

  In unison, there were loud footsteps as customers ran around, searching for an escape.

  “Great…We’re probably dealing with terrorists. They’re well trained, and they’ve got everything planned out, too. I’d guess they’re going to take everyone on this floor hostage.”

  I felt goose bumps on my arms.

  My brother was just on this floor.

  Which means that, right now…

  “Shintaro…!!”

  “Hold it! Kano’s over there right now, okay? If you go, you’re gonna get caught!”

  “But…!!”

  I allowed myself to imagine the worst-case scenario. Tears began to well in my eyes.

  He may be that kind of brother, but he’s still the only one I have.

  A shut-in, an unemployed geek, a thoughtless baboon; but he’s still family!

  Why did all of this have to happen?

  I had finally found a glimmer of hope that my body could be cured of…whatever it was.

  I had finally found a chance to make a new friend, a real friend.

  This must be what I get for causing so much trouble for so many people today.

  Maybe this whole thing, and all the people caught up in it, is my fault.

  “Kisaragi! Just stay calm for me. If they’re taking them hostage, they’re not gonna just kill them. There’s no point jumping in there unless we get a better bead on the situation, right?”

  “R-right…I…Sorry.”

  I tried to wipe away the tears, but they kept welling up on me.

  It was the second time I’d cried today, and given all the fun I’d had up until now, it felt like the first time in years.

  What are we supposed to do now…?

  After an extended silence, we heard a clamor of tense voices on the other side.

  It was the police, apparently, but the shutter had left them helpless.

  Marie was curled up on the floor, shaking in fear.

  Kido’s eyes were closed, as if she was thinking something over.

  “Agh…!”

  “Eep…!”

  Without a word of warning, Kido suddenly sprang forward. Marie, surprised, jumped out of her way.

  The cause was the jingling cell phone inside Kido’s jacket.

  “A text…?!”

  Kido extracted her cell phone, muscles still tensed.

  A moment later, her face loosened up into one of near disgust.

  Marie and I were both bewildered. Her expression was a major mismatch for the situation we were in.

  “Um…who’s it from?”

  “From that idiot…”

  Kido tossed her phone at me.

  The screen was still showing the text. Kano’s name was up top.

  “Subject: Got caught!

  Hey, how’s it going over there? We’re managing over here somehow! They’ve got us all sitting in a row! It’s like, wow, first hostage experience! Oh, they got Kisaragi’s big brother, too! And he’s sitting right next to me! Here, check out the selfie [IMAGE ATTACHED]! Anyway, that’s the situation here!”

  I read the message text, then opened the attached photo. There was my brother, hands bound, back to t
he camera. Kano was front and center behind him, flashing a peace sign. Nervous-looking hostages filled in both sides of the picture.

  It was an absolutely perfect shot. Not even the slightest bit out of focus.

  “Boss, is…is something wrong with his head, or…?”

  “Pretty much. He’s beyond help at this point.”

  “Uh, K-Kido? Is he…is he in trouble?”

  “Trouble? Hell, Marie, he’s mentally unstable. I need to take him to the doctor so he can get his brain dissected.”

  “…How is he typing on his cell phone if he’s been caught?”

  “Ooh, wow, you’re right, Kisaragi! Everyone around him’s all tied up, but he’s giving us the peace sign and everything!”

  “The terrorists must’ve thought he was too much of an idiot to waste the rope on.”

  “……”

  Silence fell over the three of us. Suddenly things seemed far less serious.

  For some reason, I was seized by the notion that I was in the middle of some screwball comedy about a bunch of bumbling crooks.

  “So, uh…boss?”

  “…This is still a pretty bad situation. I think.”

  “Aw, but Kano’s having so much fun!”

  Marie had a point. I sighed as I stared at the photo, which for all the world looked like it was from a particularly crazy night during senior field trip.

  What kind of situation is this, anyway? I was starting to lose my grip on reality.

  “Really, though, why isn’t he tied up? Stupid or not, they’d do that, at least.”

  “Kano’s bound up along with the rest of them. Or at least it looks that way. To everyone else.”

  “Ooh, so he’s disguised himself again?”

  “Wait, what? What do you mean…?”

  “To put it simply, he has the ‘deceiving eyes’ ability. He can make them see something other than what’s actually there.”

  “I don’t…How does that…?”

  “Well, imagine you find this cute kitten on the street. You take it home, and whoops! It’s actually a huge Rottweiler. It’s kind of like that.”

  “Aw, that’s such a cute example, Kido!”

  Marie giggled to herself. Kido turned red in the face. It was a rare sight to see her this embarrassed.

  “No, I…Quit it, Marie. W-we’re not getting any pets, okay…?”

  “So he can make…optical illusions or something?”

  “Yeah, that’s close enough. It doesn’t have much range, though. He can only do it on himself.”

  “Huh…”

  “Remember when we were walking here? He didn’t look it, but he was actually running lookout duty for us the whole time. That’s how he spotted that bike.”

  “…Oh.”

  So when I thought he was walking backward, he was actually watching the whole street for us?

  Did he not want us to notice, or…?

  “That’s pretty amazing, but still…uh…”

  “Oh yeah. He’s still an idiot.”

  The man with his fingers in a V in the photo was flashing a healthy, contented smile, only serving to further emphasize how silly the whole thing looked.

  But I had to hand it to him—he did calm us down. There wasn’t even a sniffle from Marie any longer.

  He might be a more amazing person than even he lets on.

  Especially compared to that idiot brother of mine behind him. All he ever does is make me worry.

  The first time he goes out in forever, and look what happens. We’re never gonna get him out of his room now.

  As I looked at the photo, pondering over this, an idea sprang to mind.

  The idea quickly began to spawn other ideas, and before long, a plan began to form in my head.

  “Ah…ah…!!”

  “Mm? What? What is it?”

  “With your ‘concealing eyes,’ and my…”

  “Huh? What are you going on about?”

  Kido’s vote of complete nonconfidence made me feel a tad abashed, I had to admit.

  But this plan I had just conceived might be our only chance out of this situation.

  “Listen, boss. I’m not totally sure, but I think we might be able to beat these guys.”

  “…What do you mean?”

  “Well, it’s like this…uh. It’s kind of hard to put into words…Can I borrow your cell phone? I want to brainstorm a bit while I try writing it out.”

  “Oh? Sure, but…”

  “So, here’s the basic idea…”

  As I tapped away at Kido’s cell phone, a man’s voice suddenly sprang forth from the department store speakers. The terrorist leader, I imagined.

  “A one-billion-yen ransom…? Man, these guys are pretty stupid, too.”

  “One billion does sound a little stupid, doesn’t it? It’s like what a child would imagine when he tries to think of a really big pile of money.”

  Perhaps because of the sheer lunacy we had just seen among the hostages, the terrorists themselves were starting to look pretty dumb as well.

  “Hey, uh, how much is one billion?”

  “Imagine you made two flowers a day, Marie. Then do that for the next one hundred million days.”

  “One hundred…huh? I don’t get it.”

  “Ah, forget about it…”

  I struggled to write out my plan in concrete form as I cast a less-than-focused ear toward the terrorists’ verbal manifesto.

  Using the reply window from Kano’s text, I silently typed away at the software keyboard.

  “Uh, hang on, give me just one second…This goes here, and…”

  “Take your time, but…are you sure you really got something?”

  “Yeah, I think so…Wait. Huh? Oh, okay. Uhhh…”

  Halfway through writing it out, I realized I had forgotten the last part.

  Uh-oh. Ending too early would lead to casualties, a lot of them. I had to avoid that, no matter what…

  “Oh, no…Maybe not?”

  “What?! Don’t give me that!”

  “Ahhh, just give me another second…ummm…”

  “Hey, hey, what’re you two talking about?”

  Marie, listening in from the side, suddenly ducked her head close to mine.

  I hadn’t noticed before as I spoke with Kido all this time, but Marie was acting remarkably calm at this point.

  “Oh, um…just kind of putting together a plan of operations, so…”

  “Oooh, an operation? Coooool…!”

  “Hey, shut up for a second, Marie. You’re not helping.”

  “Aww…”

  “Hmm? Well, hang on a second…My ‘drawing eyes,’ Marie’s ‘locking eyes’…”

  “Huh? What was that, Kisaragi? Hey, tell me too!”

  “…Yeah!…Yeah, I think this could work! All set!”

  It was finally all typed in. I showed off my cell-phone treatise to Kido, with Marie craning her neck to read along.

  “Hmm…Whoa, hang on. Who’s this girl showing up midway?”

  “Uh, it’s someone I know, and…well, it’s just like I have it written, so…”

  “And she’ll do that?”

  “She will…or should…probably. No, definitely! B-but that’s what I want Kano to check on!”

  “Oooh, that’s my name there at the end!”

  “So, so is it all right if I just text this to him…?!”

  “Hmm…assuming she’s actually over there, then maybe…”

  “Huh…?”

  Kido remained where she was, mulling things over within her mind. Suddenly, she looked back toward me.

  “No…This is a good plan. Assuming she’s really there, I mean. It might be the only course of action we have right now…Not bad, rookie.”

  “…Great! Thanks, boss! Here, let me send this…!”

  I was elated.

  None of the compliments I’ve received in my life ever made me happier, maybe.

  I was so glad I joined the Mekakushi-dan.

  “Hey, um, what’
s the operation? I don’t get it.”

  “Oh…uh, I’ll give you a signal! So just stick close to me until then, okay, Marie?”

  “Um? O-okay! I’ll try to be ready!”

  Marie made two fists, trying her hardest to make a tiny, waifish “Let’s do this!” muscle flex for us.

  She and I needed to work in perfect tandem for this operation to have any chance, but there was no time to rehearse. All I could hope was that things would work out once we got started.

  I was still a tad nervous, but it was going to work…We had to make it work!

  A new text arrived on Kido’s phone.

  It hadn’t been that long since I sent mine, but it was from Kano nonetheless.

  “Subject: Fun!

  Kisaragi, your plan sounds so fun! I think the girl you were talking about is here, too. I heard her voice earlier. Such a brave lass! I’ll try to make sure, but can you get closer without getting caught? Also I had some time to kill so I took another selfie—”

  Once I made it to that point, I clicked “yes” on “Delete?” without even thinking about looking at the attached photos.

  “I think it’s A-OK on his end!”

  “Yeah? Good.”

  Kido had probably assumed Kano’s text was just as insipid as the last one.

  “But do you think we’ll be safe if we try getting closer?”

  “As long as we don’t bump into anyone, no problem. But keep a sharp lookout. They’re armed with guns.”

  “Right!”

  It was time to begin operations. Bunching together, the three of us emerged into the main aisle.

  Looking across the showroom, I saw the hostages gathered in front of the wall.

  “Wow…they really were taken hostage, weren’t they? It didn’t really feel real to me until now.”

  “Me neither. Don’t go too far away from us, Marie.”

  “I won’t!”

  Earlier, Marie had been terrified of the crowds, but now that we were facing actual, literal terrorists with real guns, she seemed more or less fine. I was starting to think she might be something pretty special.

  Getting as close as I could, hugging the edge of the aisle, I finally reached a safe angle to spot Kano and my brother sitting on the floor.