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I watched my breath whiten in the air and looked up at the sky, then at the station platform ahead. A woman's voice announcing the departure time drifted into my ears, mingling with the sound of passing cars. It was the station bearing the city's name, though no Shinkansen lines ran through it. The last time I rode a train was probably for my middle school field trip, wasn't it?

"...Senpai?"
She was next to me.
"Hm?" I glanced to my right. Our eyes met, and the doubtful edge in her voice softened.
"Oh, it *is* you, Senpai. Good evening."
The person waiting next to me at the light was Biwashima Yagoto (Bicycle-Riding Edition).
Unlike the last time I saw her, she was in casual clothes today, and her usual kendo equipment was nowhere to be seen. She had a reddish-brown backpack on her back. She wore a hat and gloves, avoiding exposing her skin, leaving only her face and neck visible. *Seriously, no idea what her goal is with that getup, but it looks like she could achieve it, whatever it is.*
"Good evenin'. What're you up to?"
"I'm on my way back from lessons. And you, Senpai... what was it? 'Night Offside'? Is that it?"
Biwashima guessed, her tone slightly mocking. "Close, it's 'Nighttime Seven Battles'."
"You seem pretty carefree for a student who skips class so much. Anyway, is that bump on your head okay?"
Her gaze fixed somewhere above my head, Biwashima asked, like it was just a polite formality. I rang my bell once.
"Right now, I'm searching for the demons who are having a banquet. I'm not confident in my dancing, so I plan to try my best with some anecdotes."
"...Haaaah," she sighed. It was a blatant, grand sigh, a luxurious display of lung capacity fit for a festival. She followed it up with a yawn for good measure.
"Maybe it'd be better if you got abducted by aliens or something, Senpai, had surgery, and got that bump turned into a 'seriousness switch'."
Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she recommended I undergo a transformation into a non-human entity. Thanks to her, my 'seriousness switch' got flipped halfway on.
"Were you watching Ichimiya punish me too, Biwashima?"
"Unlike you, Senpai, I'm not in the 'Go Home Club.' I was at club activities. I just heard about it from someone else."
Biwashima put on a prickly attitude with light sarcasm. Before she could flaunt her title of Vice President, the light turned green, and without checking left or right, our bikes started crossing the road.
"Well, to be honest, I got hit too."
Biwashima pressed a finger to her head. *Hmm, seems like her bump is a frown switch.*
"That's rough. So, what bonked you on the head?"
"Bare hands. I didn't even have time to dodge. Kawana's despair afterward was unforgettable."
*So Ichimiya-san is a feminist, huh?* The warmth of friendship dried the night dew on my cheeks. *That's a lie, though.*
"Speaking of which, I ran into Fushimi Yuyu earlier too. She was wandering around the neighborhood where Souda-kun died. What's she doing?"
"Don't ask me." *News to me, anyway.*
"She didn't say a word even when I talked to her. Is she sick or something? Can't she talk?"
"That's not it. She talks quite a bit with me."
"Huh..." Biwashima reacted without much feeling, turning right in front of the prep school. I decided to follow her. Even though I was just heading to the drugstore, it felt exactly like I was chasing Biwashima's tail.

"Senpai, where are you going?" Biwashima slowed down, turning her head back towards my bike with a questioning murmur.
Saying something like "To your room, Biwashima," even as a joke, would obviously make her seriously recoil or annoyed, so I pointed to a building visible in the distance and lied, "To the manga cafe."
"Oh, really? ...I've never been inside one before."
Biwashima rang her bell once. *Is that a habit of hers?* She curved gently left along the line of buildings, then stopped again to wait for the light to cross the road. Biwashima stopped right next to me.

"I've been to the movie theater next door, though."
Biwashima looked at me, making no effort to hide her obvious curiosity. When I started, "Well, to put it simply..." she latched onto my words, nodding innocently like a little girl, so I explained in more detail.
"They have private booths, and you pay by the hour. About 400 yen for an hour, maybe? It's a bit cheaper for women, though. They have computers, too. And drinks are all-you-can-drink. Something like that."
I explained each point separately. Biwashima reacted with a "Hmm," seeming not entirely uninterested. Her gaze shifted from me to the neon glow of the manga cafe.
"Why not come check it out tomorrow? It's a day off."
"Mmm, no thanks," she rejected my casual suggestion. "I'll go now."
"...Oh, really?" I replied to Biwashima's smile. *Mentally closing the drugstore for the night*, I decided to go along with her, partly to follow through on my own bullshit suggestion. *Besides, I had some hope I might be able to gather some information from her, since she'd been touring the crime scenes with Ichimiya.*
The light changed, and this time we checked both ways before riding onto the sidewalk. After crossing the road, we parked our bikes side-by-side in front of the shop. There's a car park around back, but no bicycle parking, so customers just leave their bikes wherever they please.
Biwashima took off her gloves and lifted her bag from her basket. Then, with me leading the way, we went through the automatic doors.
Inside, the first thing that hit me was the blast of hot air from the heating. Next came a half-hearted greeting from the clerk behind the counter, who didn't even glance up, keeping their eyes glued to a computer screen.
The interior was pleasantly dim, considerate of people who might want to sleep. Desk lamps were provided at each station, so you could adjust the light for reading.
The waiting chairs near the entrance, for people waiting for a booth, were all full. Seeing this, I told Biwashima, "Looks like we'll have to wait a bit," and she replied, "That's fine."
At the counter, I told the clerk we wanted a booth. We accepted their utterly unapologetic statement, "You'll have to wait," and stepped away from the counter for the time being.
I waited silently for our names to be called, browsing the manga on the store's recommended shelf. Biwashima occasionally let her gaze wander around the shop. *She looks like a tourist seeing the big city for the first time,* I thought, watching her with amusement. I managed to finish two volumes of manga before they called us.
The clerk called my last name with "-sama" attached, so I went to the counter.

"How long?" "Uh, one hour," Biwashima held up one finger sharply.
"Which room type do you want?" "Huh? There are different types?"
Biwashima asked the clerk, who explained. According to them, the options available were a standard private booth or a sofa seat, the kind "favored by couples."
Biwashima paused uncertainly for a moment. Then, after glancing around at the man in the suit and the group of uniformed girls who had come in after us and were now sitting in the waiting chairs, she announced her decision.
"This sofa seat is fine. This is for two people in one room, right?"
"...Well, yeah, but... are you sure?"
"It's fine." *Wait, didn't she say she disliked me? Oh, right, just that she could never* like *me.*
"You're not going to call this 'filthy' or something?"
"Don't lump this together with living together! What about you, Senpai? Is Misono-senpai okay with this? I'm not responsible if she mistakes it for cheating."
"Well, this kind of thing is necessary sometimes." *Besides, it might be convenient for digging up dirt.*
"I really don't think so."
We probably shouldn't keep standing here arguing and helping the clerk's eyebrows merge into one.
We took the sofa seat, confirmed the number, and then headed off towards the bookshelves based on our respective tastes.

I flipped open my folding phone. Forty minutes had passed since we entered the room.
Biwashima and I were sitting on the red synthetic leather sofa with a slight gap between us. To cope with the heat inside, Biwashima had taken off her coat and kicked off her shoes, making herself comfortable.
I was engrossed in a book titled "Recommendation for Underground Living Due to Debt," while Biwashima was poring over an introductory guide called "How to Acquire Job Skills if You Develop Multiple Personalities." *Though my summary of the contents might contain some falsehoods and distortions.*
"Senpai, about that thing from earlier..." Biwashima finally spoke up as she swapped books.
"Ah, so it was bothering you after all? No idea what you're talking about."
"What did you mean by 'this kind of thing is necessary sometimes'?"
"Hm? Oh, it means exactly what it says." *I'm using my feigned absorption in the manga to sound deliberately vague,* I realized.
"I don't understand at all." Biwashima opened a new book.
"Basically, it means that social interaction is important."
"Coming from you, Senpai, that's really hard to believe."
"Does it look that way? Personally, I feel like I'm better than I used to be." *Because now I have a reason. The necessity of maintaining my own self.*
*Living with Mayu, I'm aware that my own composition is dissolving.*
*The reason and sense of ethics I've been barely scraping by on, leftovers from childhood, are disappearing entirely. I can't go so far as to imitate the original Mii-kun's criminal tendencies, after all.*
*So, even playing the part of Mii-kun requires some effort to maintain myself.*
*...Mmm, for an excuse for cheating, that actually sounds rather legitimate.*

There was no point telling Biwashima any more than that, so I forcefully changed the subject.
"Is Ichimiya patrolling the town again today?"
"She's apparently restarting the night patrols tomorrow. Right now she's searching the school grounds, you know that, right? Wandering around even during class... Though I doubt either will satisfy Kawana."
"Hmm, so she stopped the school search? Did you put her up to it or something?"
"Well, yeah. For some reason, the teachers complained to *me* about it, so I figured it'd be better to get her to stop searching the school."
"I see. And you're not joining her on the patrols, then."
"Kawana isn't my everything, you know. My own grades are important too."
Biwashima closed her book and gulped down the oolong tea she had poured into a paper cup. Her attitude seemed more distant from Ichimiya than before. I briefly wondered if something had happened between them in the last ten days or so, but then I remembered she'd been sucker-punched by her. That probably explained it. The question resolved itself instantly.
Biwashima finished her tea and crushed the empty paper cup in her hand. Our time was gradually running out, so I closed my book too and started getting ready to leave. As I did,
"Besides, dealing with Kawana and her... unique values... I think it's better to take a little break now and then."
"Well..." *It probably is tiring, true.* Still, she puts up with her. *Such a lukewarm conscience she has.*
"Since that time, I haven't been accompanying her on days when I have things to do."
"Hm? Oh yeah, you mentioned lessons or something."
"I go to an English conversation class. My mother strongly recommended it."
"Is that so," I replied, imagining myself suggesting we try speaking English right then and there, only to just repeat "How are you?" over and over. *Hey, that actually seems pretty fitting for me.*
"Besides, there are parts of it I'm not really enthusiastic about."
"Oh?" *The one actually doing the patrolling is scarier, though.*
"To be honest, I wasn't fond of Souda-kun either, though for different reasons than you, Senpai, so somehow..."
*What's your game, comparing me to him, missy?*
"What's wrong? You look unusually troubled."
"No, I was just moved by how close you two were... ...I wonder what kind of face I usually make..."
"The kind of face that looks like you're losing brain cells. Anyway, about Souda-kun... Right from when Kawana first introduced us, I just couldn't stand him. His taste in clothes, the way he laughed..."
*So, the athletic type apparently prefers the straightforward judo-maniac type—the kind who'd play piano wearing iron geta with his belt cinched tight—over the refreshing, clean-cut type,* I arbitrarily decided.
"More than anything, it came down to his personality."
Maybe she was letting her guard down a bit today, because Biwashima was being quite talkative. *If I played along and steered the conversation right, she might even confess the name of a boy she likes.* Not that I care.
"You saw it too, didn't you, Senpai? How he was showing off that chocolate at the committee meeting."
"Yeah, I remember."
"That's just not acceptable. Getting one chocolate from your girlfriend should be a given, right? But I can't approve of someone who's satisfied with just that one. People with no ambition are no good."
"...But still, getting chocolate from other girls would just start a fight."
"Overcoming that is one of the real thrills of life."
A seventeen-year-old high school girl was lecturing me smugly about life.
I just smiled and offered half-hearted agreement, "Maybe you're right." *Which was, of course, a complete lie.*

After leaving the room, as we were parting ways in front of the shop, I asked Biwashima a question.
"Biwashima, do you have a rank or anything in kendo?"
"Well, I have my shodan, but...?" Biwashima replied, pulling on her gloves.
"No, I was just wondering if it's dangerous for you walking alone on dark streets at night."
"Ah, then never mind. Sounds like you're stronger than me."
"Huh... So you can be kind sometimes, Senpai. Thanks for the concern."
She expressed her thanks with an unusually gentle attitude for her.
"But when you're being nice, Senpai, it feels like there's an ulterior motive, so I can't really trust it."
*She always has to get the last word in, doesn't she? One wrong step, and she could easily cross over into true bitchiness.* It's nice to have company, I guess.
"Besides, getting shodan is actually pretty easy. It's not really proof of strength."
"Oh, is that so."
"Yes. Senpai." "What is it?"
Putting her foot on the bicycle pedal, Biwashima's tone shifted, becoming colder, like autumn turning to winter.
"Senpai, when we were about to get the two-person room, you asked 'Are you sure?', right?"
"Yeah, well."
"Did you mean that in terms of, you know, boys and girls, that kind of thing?"
"Not really, I doubt either of us feels that way, but just in case, you know."
To my vague answer, Biwashima gave a faint, lukewarm smile. "So that's what it was." It was the kind of smile that could easily be taken as unpleasant.
"This might be meddling, but in your case, Senpai, I think you should be considering other things."
"Other things?" An idea immediately surfaced, but I hesitated to voice it myself.
"Senpai, aren't you aware that your classmates at school see you as dangerous?" I thought you knew.
*The kind of shock like getting pecked on the temple by a bird, which is then eaten by a dog, which is then devoured by a cat.* So *that's* how you see it, Biwashima—in terms of physical danger. If I'm seen that way, then Ichimiya was right to suspect me.
"Having done committee work with you, seeing you throw that dragonfly stake at Misono-senpai, and then spending an hour beside you today observing you... I felt it. You're lacking some essential components."
*Ah, so* that's *why she agreed to the shared room.* To observe me.
"Com... ponents?" *The word echoed in my mind in simple hiragana, making me feel like an idiot.*
"The things that make up a person. I believe it's life, heart, and money."
"Huh, money, huh?" "If people lose sight of the element of money, they forget ambition. That's something to be ashamed of."
"And you, Senpai, are lacking a heart. That affects your gaze and your behavior."
"Hmm? That's hard for me to perceive myself."
"You clearly have flaws, Senpai, but you're too accepting of them. More than Misono-senpai... I find *you* scarier because of that."
Seeing my reaction (or lack thereof), Biwashima looked up at me slightly. "...I might have said too much, but... are you angry?"
*Say something, damn it.*
*If anything, her tone sounded like she* expected *me to be angry. Okay, stay calm.*
"Hmm... So, to summarize, you're saying it's presumptuous for someone like me to even try to socialize?"
"I'm sorry." Biwashima used an apology as affirmation. *Like the inverse of how you apologize when rejecting a confession,* I thought.
"Hope we're in different classes in our third year. And you should probably stay away from the Beautification Committee too."
"Yes, I'll take that to heart. Well then, goodbye. Thank you for today."
Pushing off the ground with her right foot for momentum, Biwashima hopped onto her bike. Her back was perfectly straight and healthy, with no hint of a slouch.

"...Uaaaaah." *It's spinning around inside my head.* This is bad. This is really not good, Kimi (Now broadcasting to Secretary A-ko. *Bzzzt*). This hasn't happened since the rooftop incident.
*Reuniting with Nagase, breaking things off with her, getting my head bashed in, my sister coming back to life... I'd let my guard down, so the chances of it coming loose are high.* Wonder if it'll hold until the collection truck arrives.
Suddenly, I felt the urge to just lie down spread-eagled right there on the pavement. Stare up at the neon lights, wait for dawn, and stumble home in the morning. But no. Maa-chan's waiting, asleep. Gotta go home, go home.

***

"Hey, Mii-kun? Maa-chan kinda wants donuts."
"Oh yeah? Should we go buy some later?"
"Uh-huh, together, okay? Together, together!"
Mayu's little finger swayed innocently, and via the thread connecting us, my own finger was pulled along from the inside, accompanying hers. The sewing thread, which we'd retied and replaced before lunch today, was digging into our flesh, putting Mayu in a good mood. The infection was also doing splendidly.
After a night's sleep, I'd also settled back into a state of relative calm. Sleep really does fix a lot of things.
And so, this Saturday afternoon was lazy and comfortable.
I was lying on the sofa, and Mayu was lying face down on top of me, having retied the threads connecting our little fingers from a left-right pairing to a left-left one. If our positions were reversed, it'd be sexual harassment, but like this, it's just heartwarming. Recommended for children and top breeders alike. We could even take this act to the zoo.
"Oof, oof," Mayu, whose head had been resting near my shoulder blades, started inching her way upwards by stretching and contracting her body. Bumping her chin against my neck and the back of my head, she successfully reached the summit via inchworm locomotion. Her breath tickled my scalp, sending a chill and a shiver through me.
"Ah, a white hair. *Pluck!*" Without a second thought, Mayu yanked out the outlier among my head hairs. Actually, it wasn't a single *pluck* but more of a *rip-rip-rip-rip*, in the plural. Well, yeah, if you grab a whole clump instead of using your fingertips... Ouch. Painful for both the present and the future.
"Hmmmm..." Mayu murmured thoughtfully above my head. "What's up?"
"It feels like a waste to throw it away..." "Throw what away?" "*Thump.*" Mayu rolled off my back onto the floor. She hit her side but stood up without a single groan and started toddling off. Naturally, due to the connecting thread, I was obliged to accompany her every move. Whistling, Mayu headed for the kitchen.
"Hmmmm," she said, looking left and right, scanning the area. "This'll do." She picked up an unopened jam jar from the shelf. She opened the seal, dumped the entire contents down the sink, and rinsed the inside with water. After stuffing a cloth inside to wipe away the droplets, she dropped the hairs she'd been clutching into the bottom of the jar.
"Starting my Mii-kun Collection!"
She screwed the lid on tightly, then contentedly shook the jar, showed it off, and gazed rapturously at the few black hairs and the single white one inside. Watching her, I somehow felt the temperature of my brain drop.
"It's going to grow more and more from now on!" Mayu smiled, looking up towards my bangs.
*Doesn't she have the determination for more roundabout methods, like waiting for them to grow with water and fertilizer, or just collecting fallen hairs?* Not that those options aren't weird in their own way.
"Are you really happy collecting something like my hair?" I tried disparaging it.
As expected, Mayu immediately objected with a pout. Didn't work.
"Geez, Mii-kun, you're so dense!"
"Yeah, well..." *If I weren't so stupid, I probably would've run away long ago.*
"Girls, you know, they want anything that belongs to a boy they like," Mayu lectured proudly.
"Is that how it works...?" I started to casually agree, then... *Hm? Hmm? What she just said... that might actually be important.*
"Hmmmm..." Imitating Mayu, I stirred the idea that had surfaced around in my head. This is subtle, no— "Mii-kun?" Mayu tilted her head, but that possibility exists, doesn't it? In that case, this pretty much— "Mii—" Mayu was raising her hand with a smile, but since all the pieces are here— "Mii-ii-kyun!" Mayu was flailing, so now just the date and time— "Don't—ig—nore—me—!" My bangs were ripped out.
"Whoa!" I pretended to be calmly surprised. Inwardly, I was terrified of premature balding.
"How dare you ignore Maa-chan!" Mayu fumed, simultaneously preserving her new acquisition in the collection jar. The day this jar became full might not be too far off.
As I watched this whole process, filled with dread for the future, Mayu noticed my gaze. Perhaps struck by an idea, her mood brightened, and she peered into my face expectantly.
"Does Mii-kun want Maa-chan's love too?"
"Hmm..." *If I say yes, seems like she'd give me a haircut right here, no barber needed, chopping it off at the roots as a present.* "Just touching like this is the best," I tried to deflect.
I pulled her closer and stroked the back of her head. Mayu squirmed but stretched up, letting her fingertips brush against the hair at the nape of my neck. My goal of muddying the waters seemed to have been sufficiently achieved.
Then, still hugging, we crab-walked back to the sofa and lay down, upon which Mayu jumped onto my back.
"Nyu? Mii-kun has a bump." Mayu, who had started playing with my hair again, parting it, noticed the small hill on my skin.
"I've been studying so hard, it feels like another head is about to sprout," I lied.
"My oh my, bad boy!" *Whap, whap.* I was smacked repeatedly. Even as a thick scream like someone undergoing dental treatment escaped me ("Agagagaga!"), Mayu paid no mind.
"Mii-kun needs to become even more of a dummy and think only about Maa-chan, or it's no good!"
Mayu made angry "ブンブン" buzzing sounds. *I see, that's probably Maa-chan's ideal, huh.* Though the meaning of "even more" is concerning.
"That too, well..." If I could actually reach that point, "it might be acceptable, I guess..." *In fact, I might even end up striving for it.*
"It's not 'acceptable'! " My right cheek was pinched and pulled.
"Yee-gi-gi-gi!" A new kind of agony echoed through the otherwise peaceful apartment room.

Such was my mud-like play with Mayu.
The flow of time carried the scent of elaborate corruption, like that released by rotting fruit.
Gently, stagnantly, it passed by.

"Hey, Mii-kun?" "Hmm?"
Once things calmed down, Mayu brought up a different topic.
"You know, I want to be able to ride a bicycle too."
*My, for Mayu, that's quite a positive and healthy thing to say.*
"Any particular reason you thought of that?"
"Um, well, I want to put Mii-kun on the back and drive. That seems kinda nice..."
*Well now, that's a desire completely opposite to a boy's dream.* In other words, it's very girl-like. A fake emotion struck me in the chest—and the bump on my head.
"Okay then, let's practice. I'll help you out."
"Uh-huh," Mayu nodded, digging her chin into the top of my head.
"But starting tomorrow, okay? Today, we're just gonna laze around like this foreeeever, until dinner."
As if to prove her point, she rolled over from side to side.
"What about the donuts?"
"That's for tomorrow too! We'll go buy them with me carrying Mii-kun on the back of the bike!"
She laid out her holiday plans dreamily.
Did Maa-chan seriously intend to master the two-wheeled human-powered vehicle in a single day?
For Mayu, whose sense of balance was completely dried up, was riding a bicycle even possible in the first place?
"I'm so happy!"
"Yeah, seems so."
*Thoughts going nowhere. A hazy mind.*
Ah, this is unbearable.
*Something important is melting away.*
*Still, I need to at least hold onto that insight from earlier.* Ugh, what a pain.

***

The practice began on Sunday morning at the early hour (by Mayu's standards) of 11:50 AM.
I would have liked to practice in a vacant lot with three clay pipes piled sideways, practicing until the crows flew home at dusk, but that wasn't happening. Nowadays, such settings don't exist naturally, whether in the countryside or the city, unless they're artificially created. You don't find grumpy old men yelling about kids breaking their windows with baseballs anymore, either.
Having no choice, we compromised on the parking lot of the nearby agricultural cooperative (JA). The JA parking lot—home to a lone vending machine selling freshly laid eggs 24/7, visited only by customers on bicycles or foot—had enough space to play dodgeball. A splendid waste of good land.