The Igniter Read online

  He was probably fifty meters away, but perhaps because his eyesight had been improved by his Third Eye, Minoru was clearly able to see Tomomi’s face. The reason she had a grimace on her face was probably because she was stretching her calves and Achilles tendons to their limit, Minoru thought. But just from her serious expression, Minoru wasn’t able to read what was going on inside of her.

  Well, if they’ve already started practice, it’s not like I can call out to her or anything. No, even if they hadn’t started, I couldn’t do something that would leave a memory of me in all of the track club members… The watch on my left wrist says it’s 3:50 p.m. The track club’s practice should continue until around 7:00 p.m. Just standing around at the corner of the grounds would be too suspicious, so I should probably retreat to the library and then come back later, Minoru thought and turned to head back toward the main school building.

  Minoru left the grounds and took a left turn past the gym. After walking a little bit after that, Minoru noticed footsteps approaching him from behind. By the time he had noticed them, they were already close by and slowing down.

  It can’t be, Minoru thought as he turned around, but next to him jogging in place was Tomomi Minowa, who had been practicing with the track club not a minute before.

  Tomomi, still jogging in place, looked up at Minoru, who froze from this unexpected development, and asked in a small voice, “…You were looking at me from the grounds just a second ago…weren’t you?”

  Apparently Tomomi also had exceptional eyesight. Minoru wasn’t sure if Tomomi had identified him as “Minoru Utsugi from Class One,” but he had no choice but to nod in response.

  “Y-yeah…”

  “…Why were you looking at me?”

  Minoru had trouble answering this second sudden question and averted his gaze from Tomomi and looked down, thinking hard about what he would say.

  Tomomi Minowa had had all of her memories related to Biter sealed away by Chief Himi. The problem was exactly what memories were included in that scope.

  Tomomi should have forgotten that she’d been locked in that shed in Akigase Park, as well as the fact that Minoru had saved her. She probably also had forgotten about how she met Minoru in the park before that incident. However, it seemed that from how she was questioning him now, she might remember part of when she met Minoru in the morning on the banks of the Arakawa River two weeks ago.

  That was probably not intentional on Chief Himi’s part. Then, perhaps, if Minoru said something careless now, the seal on her memories might weaken, and there was a possibility that it might cause a chain reaction that would lead to her remembering everything about being attacked by Biter.

  Minoru thought that he might avert the conversation by saying that he was thinking of joining the track club, but that was very unnatural given that it had been nine months since the start of the school year, and furthermore, he didn’t want to lie. Minoru didn’t think he had any other option but to tell the truth.

  “Well… I actually wanted to talk about something… But since your club practice started, I thought I might wait for it to be over…,” he said.

  “You wanted to talk…to me?”

  “…Yeah.”

  After Minoru nodded in response to Tomomi’s third question, Tomomi stopped jogging in place and adjusted her stance. Her clean-cut hairstyle and large brown eyes were just as Minoru remembered, but he felt that compared to before, her brilliant, energetic nature was more muted and replaced with a certain melancholic, hesitant shadow that came over her expression.

  Tomomi looked straight into Minoru’s eyes and asked her fourth question in almost a whisper. “We’ve…talked before, haven’t we?”

  “…!” Not knowing how to respond, Minoru felt sweat form on his forehead, but Tomomi, who continued to stare at Minoru, suddenly let out a chuckle for some reason.

  “Let’s talk somewhere else. I’m going to go do road training right now, so could you follow me from a little distance behind me?” Tomomi said.

  Minoru followed Tomomi, who was jogging very slowly, from about thirty meters behind about as fast as he could walk, as she led him to a small stream about two hundred meters east of the school.

  When Tomomi stopped as she got to the road that ran along the stream, Minoru caught up to her about thirty seconds later. He stood next to her as she looked at the water’s surface beyond a white chain-link fence.

  Just as Minoru was wondering what to do, Tomomi asked, “…Do you know the name of this river?”

  “…No, I don’t,” replied Minoru, blinking in response to that unexpected question, but Tomomi quickly gave the answer.

  “Its name is the West Minuma Irrigation Canal.”

  “That’s interesting…”

  Minoru had learned about the Minuma Irrigation Canal in elementary school as part of his social studies class. A person named Sobee Izawaya constructed the canal, during the Edo period under the reign of Emperor Kyouhou in the early 1700s, as part of the Nitta Development Project under the orders of the eighth shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune. Minoru had a memory of riding a bus far upstream to look at the dams along it, but he had no idea it flowed this close to his high school.

  “…Do you like rivers, Minowa?” Minoru asked as he looked down at the water’s flow, and Tomomi responded with a short nod.

  “I do. I think it’s strange…that all this water keeps flowing without stopping even a single second. Far to the south, this stream flows into the Sasame River, and then the Sasame River flows into the Arakawa River,” she said.

  “Huh.”

  “Every morning, I run along the banks of the Arakawa River. It’s calming to run while sensing the river’s feelings, and it helps me concentrate…”

  Minoru felt like he understood what she was talking about and nodded. “I think I understand what you mean. I also run along the banks of the Arakawa River every morning.” But after he said that he realized he had made a mistake.

  Feeling Tomomi’s stare on his left cheek, Minoru slowly turned to look at her. When he did, he felt as though he had been pierced through by her eyes filled with a serious light and was unable to look away.

  “You know, last week I was absent for a few days because of a light injury, but…something feels strange about it,” she said.

  “Strange?” Minoru replied.

  “Past Hanekura Bridge, just a little farther upstream there’s a barrier for traffic…and whenever I go past there, I find my feet stopping and my chest tightens. I feel as if something very frightening happened there…but also something that made me happy…,” Tomomi continued.

  “…Something frightening?” Minoru repeated, as his thoughts began to race desperately.

  The car barrier near Hanekura Bridge… That was where, in the early morning on December 3, Minoru first ran into Tomomi. Tomomi seemed to have forgotten what happened, but as they were talking, a bike had come along at an incredible speed, and Minoru had protected her as it almost clipped her.

  That certainly was a chilling experience, but at the same time he didn’t think anyone would call it “very frightening.” Maybe Tomomi was conflating that incident with the fear she felt when she was attacked by Biter in the adjacent Akigase Park. As Minoru looked at her, Tomomi closed her eyes tightly, furrowed her brow, and bit her lip as if she was trying to remember something. This had to be the “painful expression” that Oguu was talking about at lunch.

  What should I do? Minoru thought. Should I contact Chief Himi and have him reseal her memories? But would that help the situation at all? Tomomi would still continue to run along the banks of the Arakawa River, so the same thing might happen whenever she ran past the barrier…

  “…You’re Utsugi, aren’t you? We were in the same class in middle school,” Tomomi said after slowly opening her eyes and staring at Minoru.

  “…Yeah.”

  “Just a little while ago, you said you came to the grounds because you said you wanted to talk to me about something, right? Wh
at is it?” Tomomi asked.

  “Well…” He could tell her that it wasn’t anything important. That he was sorry, that she shouldn’t worry about it. Then, he could leave and never talk to her again. All things considered, that was his best option.

  If the seal on her memories of meeting Minoru was unstable, he shouldn’t do anything to make it worse. Even if that meant ignoring Oguu’s request… Even if that meant breaking his promise to Tomomi about becoming friends again.

  Even though that was what he thought intellectually, Minoru’s mouth would not move. Somewhere deep in his chest he felt a sort of helplessness rising up and catching in his throat.

  Three months ago, in an area with Tokyo at its center, mysterious spheres fell to Earth and infected dozens of people. Minoru was one of them, and so was Hikaru Takaesu, code name Biter.

  As a result, Minoru was dragged into an extremely abnormal fate, but he had no intention of bemoaning his circumstances. After all, in a way, Minoru might have called this black sphere in his chest to himself.

  However, Tomomi Minowa was not liable for these circumstances. Attacked by Biter, she was almost killed, and to top it all off she had her memories altered… There was no reason for her to have to feel these lingering feelings of fear, even after she returned to school.

  “I made a promise with you,” Minoru said, after a time. Tomomi’s eyes opened wide.

  “…A promise? What kind of promise…?” she asked.

  “I promised that if I met you again, I would become friends with you,” Minoru replied.

  Since Tomomi shouldn’t have any memory of that promise, Minoru had prepared for Tomomi to either laugh at him or think that he was being creepy, but he answered truthfully anyway. However, Tomomi had a serious look on her face and walked a half step closer to Minoru.

  “…Are you talking about a promise made when we were in middle school? I’m sorry… I can’t remember…,” she said, twisting her face and pressing a finger from her left hand against her forehead as she tried to recall her memories. She seemed to be dizzy. Her small body started to tilt, and she hit her right shoulder against the white fence.

  “Minowa, are you all right?!” Minoru quickly reached out his right hand to support her shoulder. Over her clothes he could feel that her small body was very cold, and again he felt as if something was caught in his throat.

  Was it even right for Tomomi, suffering the shock of being attacked by such a monster as Biter, to have been treated only by the manipulation of her memories? Rather than forcefully putting a lid on that shock, wouldn’t it have been better to carefully explain the situation and give her proper counseling? Was the reason Chief Himi sealed away her memories really for Tomomi’s sake? Or was it just to protect the secret of the Third Eyes? Were they prioritizing the SFD or perhaps even a higher authority over Tomomi?

  The moment Minoru thought that, he felt a strong anger well up inside him and he clenched his teeth. However, that emotion quickly turned to one of surprise. Tomomi had clasped both of her hands around Minoru’s right hand and was holding it against her chest.

  “Your hand is really warm…Utsugi,” she said.

  It’s not as if Minoru could say that it was because of his Third Eye.

  “…Well, it’s because I’m wearing a lot of layers…,” he said in a small lie.

  Tomomi chuckled a little and looked up at him. “I’m sorry. I can’t seem to remember making that promise with you… But if you’re okay with that, I don’t mind being friends,” she said.

  “Ah… O-of course! I mean, I’m sorry for bringing this up all of a sudden. It’s no wonder you forgot about it. It was a really…really long time ago,” Minoru replied.

  “Well, okay… But it’s kind of strange. This doesn’t feel like the first time we’ve done this. When I’m with you like this, it feels like the fog in my head is starting to clear…,” Tomomi said, closing her eyes with Minoru’s hand still held against her chest.

  The dry December north wind rushed past them and created ripples on the surface of the irrigation stream. Minoru instinctively moved to shield Tomomi, who seemed to shiver in the cold from the wind, taking her hand and pulling her closer. However, before he could do that, his smartphone vibrated in his coat pocket. Tomomi, who seemed to hear the noise and come to her senses, let go of Minoru’s hand and took one step back.

  “Um… Ha-ha, I’m sorry for being weird like that,” she said, blushing, before starting to jog in place while slowly taking a few steps back. “But I’m really happy you asked me to be friends. Let’s meet up some time and run along the banks of the Arakawa River!”

  After saying that, Tomomi turned around and started running down the road along the irrigation stream at a fast pace. As Minoru watched her run away in her lavender tracksuit, he wondered to himself whether this really was for the best. But he knew that the answer to that question would only come after all of the incidents relating to the Third Eyes came to a close. For the time being, he could only do what he was able to do—even if once he got home, he ended up regretting the choice he’d made here.

  After taking a deep breath in the cold air, Minoru took his smartphone out of his pocket. Displayed on the screen was a short text message that had arrived about ten seconds ago. The sender was Yumiko Azu, and the text was a single line:

  “I’ll be there to pick you up in ten seconds.”

  …In ten seconds? In ten seconds from when? Minoru thought, staring dumbfounded at the screen when immediately behind him—vroom!—he heard the loud but smooth rumble of an engine.

  What Minoru saw as he nearly leaped, turning around, was a sport bike–type motorcycle with a pitch-black fairing, its rider dressed in a full-body black leather riding suit. Behind the rider’s full-face helmet flowed long, straight black hair.

  After setting the kickstand, the rider flipped a slender leg over the back of the bike and dismounted before lifting the visor on her helmet. As soon as Minoru saw the shining eyes within, he gave a shout.

  “Y-Yumiko?!”

  “Sorry for interrupting you in a good moment,” Yumiko replied.

  Her voice was a little bit muffled by the helmet, but there was no mistaking that it was her voice.

  “It wasn’t anything like that, but…why are you dressed like that?!” he asked.

  “Well, I came here on a motorcycle, so this is pretty normal wear, right?” she replied.

  “Ah, right… No, that’s not what I mean!” said Minoru, flustered.

  Ignoring Minoru, Yumiko set down her large backpack and took out a white roundish thing. Minoru, who reflexively took the object as Yumiko thrust it in front of him, realized it was the same kind of helmet Yumiko wore but a different color.

  “…Umm…?”

  “Put it on,” said Yumiko.

  “But I mean…”

  As Minoru thought to himself that he had never worn one of these things and didn’t know what to do, flipping it over in his hands, Yumiko grabbed the straps hanging from the helmet with both of her hands and forcefully put it on over his head. Just as Minoru was panicking from the sudden change, he heard Yumiko’s voice incredibly clearly in his ear.

  “Not bad. I think it suits you,” she said.

  From the nature of the sound, Minoru realized that there must be a speaker on the inside of the helmet, which also meant that there was probably a microphone as well.

  “Umm… It’s a little tight…”

  “It used to be Sanae’s. Later we’ll have the inside padding switched out so that it fits you better, but you’re going to have to bear with it today,” Yumiko said, returning to the motorcycle and putting her empty backpack in the trunk compartment attached to the back of the motorcycle.

  “Let me see your bag,” Yumiko said, extending her right hand. Minoru gave her his school messenger bag, and once she put it away in the trunk compartment, she leaped back on the motorcycle.

  “Get on behind me,” she said.

  Ever since he had the helmet put on h
is head, Minoru had figured that this was what was going to happen next, but he still took a hesitant step back.

  “B-but I’ve never ridden a motorcycle before…”

  “I’m not asking you to drive it or anything, all you have to do is hang on.”

  “…Okay,” said Minoru, realizing that it was impossible for him to escape. After securely buttoning up his Chesterfield coat, he reluctantly mounted the rear seat. Since there was really no place to hang onto, he felt very anxious.

  “Put both of your feet on the passenger foot pegs and hold onto my hips firmly with your knees,” Yumiko said.

  “Your…hips?” repeated Minoru before doing as Yumiko said and hesitantly gripping her slender hips between his knees.

  “Good. Now position both hands around where my eighth ribs are and hold onto me,” she continued.

  “…Eighth?” repeated Minoru. It wasn’t like he could touch and count her ribs from the top, so he guessed and wrapped his arms around her.

  “Around here?” he asked.

  “That’s right. Now make sure you do not move your hands either up or down!” she commanded.

  “O-okay.”

  “All right, let’s go,” Yumiko said, kicking back the kickstand and putting the motorcycle into gear.

  The engine made a light rumble, and Yumiko deftly maneuvered the definitely-not-small motorcycle into a U-turn on the thin road beside the stream. Perhaps because she was paying mind to Minoru, a complete beginner, Yumiko drove slowly, and after a while they stopped at the light of an intersection right under the highway. Then, a group of elementary school boys, on their way from school, who were just crossing the crosswalk, all raised their voices at once and ran over.

  “Whoa! That’s so cool!”

  “Hey, Miss, what kind of motorcycle is this?!”

  Minoru thought that Yumiko would ignore them, but she gave a serious answer.

  “It’s an MV Agusta F3 800,” she said.

  “How much horsepower does it have?!”