CH 62

By Effugium January 25, 2023

I heard that it is good luck to see Fuji, hawk, and eggplant in your first dream of the year. Actually, there is a continuation to this, which is a fan, a cigarette, and a zato.

What I am trying to say is that even when you think something is over, there would be a continuation.

It could be the moment you forget to turn off the fire, or the moment you forget to turn off the main gas valve. In a horror movie, it could be the moment you catch your breath after escaping from a killer.

These often have bad outcomes.

On the first night of the New Year, Rintaro was replaying memories of the distant past in a fluffy dream.

That was exactly one year ago. He was about to go to the Hero School for on-the-job training when he received a job offer to join Victory Sentai Victor Ranger.

It was a time when he was dealing with a junior who was getting involved with him in the usual way. They weren’t close enough to have a flirtatious talk because of their age difference, but they once talked about the opposite sex that they liked.

「Senpai, I like strong people.」

「Heeh, are you hitting on me by any chance?」

「I’ll bury you」

「There is such a crude way to reply?」

From then on, the two of them were forbidden to talk about love. It was a nostalgic memory of a bygone era.

But the dream did not end there.

Before Rintaro knew it, his eyes caught sight of the distant Mt. Fuji while he was tied up. A hawk flies by, and an eggplant is roughly shoved into his mouth.

「Muguh,Muguguuh!!!」

Just like that, he was thrown roughly into a hole about three meters deep. When he looked up, he saw a girl with silvery white hair looking coldly into Rintaro’s face with her sky blue eyes.

「………… I’ll bury you, Death Green……」

Kirika muttered a curse and began to shovel dirt onto Rintaro’s body with a snow shovel in her hand.

「Mogomogooh! Stop! I am part of the future generation so don’t bury me!!」

In spite of his desperate pleas, he was covered in dirt up to his face and gradually became unable to breathe. Rintaro was finally buried up to the tip of his head and became one with the soil of Aokigahara Jukai.

Oh, dirt smells surprisingly good…….

………………

…………

……

「Fuguh……! Fuguguguuuuuuuuuuuh!!!」

When he woke up feeling too suffocated, it was pitch black before his eyes. On the soft king-size bed, Rintaro pulled off the girl who was stuck to his face.

「Appuhaaaaahhh! ! ! ! !」

Breathing heavily with his shoulders heaving, he pumped oxygen into the hemoglobin in his blood as much as he can. The blood rushes to the cold ends of the body, and the head, he gradually awakened from his dizziness.

「Honyam…… A, Aniki, good morning, ssu……」

「Good morning, Samecchi. Please, let’s not use Aniki’s face as a pillow.」

「ssu? Did you have a good first dream of the year?」

「Yeah, it was great. I almost stayed permanently in this one.」

Isn’t it really thankful to complete everything from Mt. Fuji to the eggplant? It would be nice if there was a little more benefit.

Rintaro showered, dried his hair, and dove into bed again. He did not know if mysterious beings have New Year’s vacations, but he was in the mood for a day of relaxation.

「Aaaaaniiiiikiiiiiiii!!」

Rintaro is giggling like a dad on his day off, and Samechi bounces around on his back like a girl who wanted some attention.

「Guuh! Gueh! Wait, Samecchi, Aniki’s waist will die.」

「Aniki promised to take Samecchi shopping today!」

Samecchi spread the envelopes she collected yesterday as if they were a deck of card. Then, as if saying ‘how is it’ , she sniffed them.

「Shopping……? Oh, did I mention I’m going today……?」

「You did, ssu!!!」

He was being pushed around at the New Year’s party last night and his memory of the second half is a bit fuzzy, but thinking back, he remembered that he might have made such a promise. Rintaro was rushed off his back by a piggybacked Samecchi and leisurely got ready to go out.

…………

Meanwhile, reorganization work was proceeding at a rapid pace at Hero’s temporary headquarters in Asagaya. Director Morikuni himself was in charge, and the staff was hard at work through New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

Commander Samejima Asaka of Victory Sentai Victor Ranger had also volunteered to do the physical labor. As she was engaged in sorting equipment that had just arrived this morning from the Kansai branch, a silvery white hair caught her eye.

「Mayuzumi-san, is it okay for you to move now?」

「…………Yes.」

Mayuzumi Kirika responded shortly with her eyes downcast. From her weak reply, it is hard to imagine that she is the strongest hero in the world.

It seems that her recent complete defeat at the hands of the heinous mysterious Death Green took its toll on her. Fortunately, the external injuries were minor, but for her, the emotional scars are probably more problematic.

「Where are you going with those wobbly steps?」

「For a little bit of fresh air……」

Asaka did not miss the way Kirika’s blue eyes swam.

「Now that you have lost your Victory Transformation Gear, you are not allowed to engage the mysterious beings according to regulations.」

「…………!!」

「Especially since Mayuzumi-san is famous, there is a great possibility that the mysterious beings will approach you. From the standpoint of a superior officer, I cannot condone you going out in this condition.」

Asaka said coldly.

She is not saying this to bully Kirika. It is a natural decision taking Kirika’s safety into consideration.

But――――

「However, my duties do not give me the authority to restrict Mr. Mayuzumi’s personal activities. If you must go outside, please keep this with you at all times.」

「……This is?」

Commander Asaka handed Kirika a palm-sized machine. It was a simple device with a speaker and a lamp, but she had no idea what it was for.

「It was developed jointly by the Kyoto Branch and a university. The name of the device is “Wireless, small portable, acquired, localized, human disaster, receptor factor, spatial information detector”.」

「Wireless…… Eh? Sorry, I don’t understand anything at all.」

There should have been other names. Why do the hero headquarters want to give it such a long name?

「I call it the “mysterious being sensor” because it is so long. It makes a sound when it detects the reaction of a mysterious being cell within a radius of 10 meters. It is a prototype, though, so there are many malfunctions.」

「…… Mysterious being sensor, is it?」

「It will be standard equipment for all public safety employees in the future. …… In about 5 year. Oh, and I suggest you wear a hat.」

Asaka then put a black cap on Kirika’s head.

「The “meat” written on the forehead should be hidden.」

「……I understand.」

Because it was written with an oil-based pen, the word “meat” still shines brilliantly on Kirika’s forehead, just like a banner. Kirika had no idea what it meant to have the word “meat” written on her forehead, but apparently it was something to be ashamed of.

After tucking the mysterious being sensor into her jacket pocket, Kirika left the Asagaya temporary headquarters.

She had no intention of going anywhere in particular, but she wandered aimlessly in the direction of the crowd, and before she knew it, she found herself in Nakano. When sge went through the automatic doors of a large commercial facility, the heating was working so well that I was sweating a little.

Kirika stared at dogs through the show window of a pet store there and frightened them. She bought a can of coffee from a vending machine and drank it.

But no matter what she did, Kirika’s heart was never cleared.

「Hey, you’re cute. Are you interested in modeling or something? There’s a photo session going on in the building next door.」

「…………」

「Huhh? The didn’t hear you type? Am I being ignored? No, I really just want to take a bit of photo and video. I thought I would give you a bit of pocket money……」

Kirika silently crushed the coffee can in her hand “vertically”. The pickup guy screamed and ran away.

It might have been better to just agree to it.

Biyobiyobiyobiyobiyobiyobiyobiyo!

At that moment, a distracted beep sounded from Kirika’s jacket pocket. Before Kirika could look around, two people who looked like siblings passed in front of her.

「Anikyi, Samecchi wanna go to the toilet, ssuu.」

「It’s because you drank so much juice, I guess it can’t be helped.」

The moment she saw the man’s profile as they passed each other, she could not believe her eyes. It was unmistakably the man she had been subconsciously searching for.

「Death…… Green……!?」