Chapter 36: Kadokura Kousuke

『Since he could have been absent without notice, I contacted the person at home, but it seems that she hasn’t even returned home after that.』

“Is that so?”

『Have you also not heard of anything from your end, Inamori-kun?』

“No, I’m sorry.”

『There is no need for you to apologize. But if you find anything, can I ask you to relay it to us as well?』

“Yes, I understand.”

『Well then. I will be counting on you.』

After finishing the call with my part-time job manager, I returned back to the classroom.

Perhaps because the rainy season was approaching, our classroom’s windows were full of water droplets pouring down.

It was almost 16:00 hrs.

The number of people left in the classroom was sparse, with most of them either having gone to their club activities or home.

I returned to Fuyuki and Masaya, who I had kept waiting for, and opened my mouth to report the results.

“It seems that she hasn’t returned to her part-time job nor at home.”

“… I haven’t heard from her for two days and counting from yesterday. It’s really worrisome.”

“Yeah. Maybe it’s about time her parents file a request for search operations.”

A heavy atmosphere flowed between us.

Yakumo didn’t even come to school yesterday.

There wasn’t much to think about if that was all to it.

No matter how energetic she usually appears or how she seldom catches a cold, she’s just a person like any other and not something extraordinary just because she acted like one at the end of the day.

It was not strange for her to get sick or take time off due to family issues.

The problem here was that she was absent from her part-time job without notice, and even today, she was absent from school without notice as well.

At the very least, I really don’t think Yakumo would take a day off without contacting anyone beforehand.

Even if the person is bedridden, there is no way her dutiful parents, who are quite close to her as a family, wouldn’t contact and inform the school in her place instead.

Thus, the anxiety started overflowing in me when I got contacted by my part-time job manager.

“She is not a girl who would run away from home, is she?”

“Yeah. Even if she ran away from home, Yakumo is the type to come back when she’s hungry.”

“Ah, somehow I got that reference… Then that only leaves us with…”

Saying that, Masaya kept his mouth shut.

I understood what he was probably getting at.

There was a high probability of her getting involved in a situation we couldn’t contact Yakumo because some extreme external factors played a heavy role; something such as being involved in some incident.

“… It may be just a small effort, but should I ask someone from my father’s company to come here? Someone who is free right now? We may be able to find a clue if we search around the route she takes after school.”

“W–will that be really ok?”

“It’s not like I can bring a detective, so I think it’s really going to be just an addition in manpower. But… if my father hears that a good young child might be in danger, he would cooperate as much as possible.”

When Fuyuki started contacting her father, she asked me if I had any pictures of Yakumo, so I sent her the two-shot selfie she had taken forcibly just the other day.

Seeing Yakumo’s and my faces huddled so close that they were almost touching each other, Fuyuki’s, had the image of hannya appear on her face for a moment.

[TL note: It means having a face like the demon-like masks you see in Japanese folk-lores.]

“When was—this —taken?”

“Eh, erm… this one is after Yakumo joined me on my part-time job… so about two weeks old, maybe?”

“And what was the cause?”

“Right after I refused Yakumo’s request to take a picture together, I got forced to…”

“Is that so oops— Right now, it’s not the time to think about that.”

I was thinking of telling her the details after we found out about Yakumo’s whereabouts―.

Saying that, Fuyuki saved the image on her phone.

I could not help but feel chills at the tone of her voice, filled with animosity and resentment that was saying she would never forget about this incident ever until it got resolved.

No, well. Un, right now really is not the time for all this.

After Masaya made a noise as if clearing his throat, we returned to the situation at hand.

“By the way, is there anything we can even do? In the unlikely event that we were involved in some serious incident, there’s nothing we, kids, can do anything about it at all.”

“That’s… —that’s true.”

What Masaya said upfront was absolutely correct, and there was no room for objection.

If we consider the manpower Fuyuki holds into consideration, it might be a possible contribution. However, Mayaya and I alone trying to go about on our feet would leave us exhausted after extinguishing our physical strength.

Even if we happened to find her in a scenario, if it’s a dangerous case like a kidnapping case, there is a chance that those finding mummies would become mummies at the end of the day.

[TL notes: Probably a proverb.]

[EN: Reference to how tomb raiders in pyramids died from suffocation because of the still air inside them, thus ‘becoming mummies.’]

It’s best to leave this situation to the police and not make unnecessary moves.

If you think about it calmly, it was the most natural line of thought, and we should actually follow that.

“Let’s go home for today. If we had any clues in the first place, that would be a different story. But I don’t think that we should make a move when we don’t even know what to start with in the first place.”

“I agree… Let’s wait, believing in her return, for now, Haru.”

Unfortunately, as it was, all I could do was just nod to the suggestions given to me upfront.

◇◆◇

After parting ways with Masaya, who had his club activities, Fuyuki and I headed towards the school gate.

There was little to no conversation between us whatsoever.

It’s not that I was in a particularly bad mood, but that I couldn’t be so imprudent as to have a cheerful and carefree attitude while knowing my friend had gone missing.

“… At that time, if I hadn’t provoked her, wouldn’t this have never happened?”

“Eh?”

As we walked side by side, each holding our umbrellas, Fuyuki suddenly blurted out something like that.

“I’m sorry, I know that the possibility of that is extremely low, but… I feel kind of helpless, and my head is constantly feeling dizzy.”

“… I can understand how you are feeling right now.”

It was nothing more than self-admonishing.

However, you just couldn’t help but think about the possibilities.

A possible reason behind Yakumo’s disappearance could even have been that I couldn’t respond to her feelings in agreement.

But I didn’t say it aloud because if I did, it would be rude, even to Fuyuki walking right beside me.

I didn’t want to, in any way, say that I regret choosing Fuyuki in the first place.

“… Nnn?”

Just before leaving the school gate, my smartphone, which was in my pocket, shook.

It looked like a phone call was coming in.

“Did you get a call?”

“Ah, yeah, can you wait a minute?”

“Yeah, of course.”

On the surface, the name of the number resulted in a public phone displayed on the screen.

[TL notes: Truecaller?]

Thinking that there might be a possibility of that being Yakumo, I answered the call.”

“… Hello?”

『Is this Inamori Haruyuki.』

“Yes… That is so.”

A man’s voice came from the other side. It seemed like a voice I had heard somewhere before.

But before I could connect it and search for it in my memories, the man began to spit out words with a non-judgmental attitude.

『Move to somewhere where you are alone. There’s something I want to tell you about Yakumo Sera.』

“Wha–!?”

『Don’t you want to hear it?』

“…”

I glanced at Fuyuki standing beside my side.

I was worried about leaving her alone, but if I could hear some information about the location of Yakumo in the process―.

“I’m sorry, Fuyuki. Could you wait here for a minute?”

“Hue? Yes, of course, it’s fine.”

“I’ll be right back.”

I returned to the school building while continuing the call.

Now that it was raining, there was no shadow of anyone standing in the courtyard.

Standing alone under the courtyard’s eaves, I continued my call with the man through my smartphone.

“I’m all alone now”.

『I see― So you address her as Fuyuki, huh.』

“TH!??”

『Excuse me, I’m late in introducing myself. My name is Kadokura Kosuke. Fuyuki-sama’s former secretary.』

“Huh!?”

Confusion spread through my brain.

Why does he know the number of my smartphone?

And why in the first place was he calling my smartphone in the first place?

Why does he even know about Yakumo in the first place?

My head was a mess, and it reflected on my voice as it became hoarse.

『 Let me tell you bluntly. Yakumo Sera is in my custody. If you want her to be returned unharmed, you’ll come alone to the abandoned building near the station.』

“W-why, Yakumo?”

『 Why? You’re really such an idiot. It’s to lure you out, Inamori Haruyuki-kun. I just can’t help that an eyesore such as you were able to close in and approach my Fuyutsuki-sama so blunt and easily.』

“Do you want to… kill me?”

『 Ha, you’re really so dumb. The world is full of idiots like you. After all, the only person I can respect is Fuyuki-sama. Even her father, from my point of view, is an extremely imbecile piece of work. Well, we got off topic. Don’t worry. I will not kill you or even Yakumo Sera. It’s a waste of time to clean up after that. She’s just a bait to lure you in, and you will be the bait to lure Fuyuki-sama in. You’re being protected by a troublesome guard dog even if I tried to do something about you directly.』

I see, so you were letting me come to you and become your captive with my own two feet?

It’s certainly something I wouldn’t have thought of if I were in Kadokura’s position.

『I did say I wouldn’t kill you, but if you don’t do what I asked, I will have you pay a certain price. Obviously, it won’t be you but Yakumo Sera, who is right here.』

“You…!”

『Oi oi, ordinary person. You should be careful with how you use your mouth, okay? Every time you go against my instructions or act outside of them, I will scratch this child’s face with a knife. Please keep in mind that peeling her face right here and now is something I can easily do. Indeed, I won’t do something that will kill her, but I’m planning on doing everything that can make her want to die… Ah, I’ll just send you the photo proof just in case.』

The call got cut off unilaterally, and an image arrived via the chat app.

In that image was Yakumo being gagged and tightly tied to a chair.