CH 63

By Effugium January 30, 2023

The shopping mall, named Nakano Times Square, was crowded with people on the second day of the New Year. Rintaro and Samecchi were looking for a restroom amidst the various stores.

「There it is. Aniki will also go to the toilet so hurry and go inside.」

「Anikiii~」

「Even if you make that face, we still can’t go together. If aniki also goes in, then it would cause an uproar.」

Unlike the women’s restroom, the men’s restroom was empty. Rintaro didn’t have to wait in line, unzipped his pants, and sighed while standing in front of the urinal.

Everyone would be vulnerable in this moment. Yes, everyone.

Rintaro was fully relaxed when a cold object was placed against his neck.

It was a drawn knife shining silver.

「”If you’re going to make a surprise attack, aim for the optimum moment.”…… If you move even a little bit, I’ll slash your throat.」

「Seriously……」

It was a woman’s voice, ice-cold and clear, the kind of voice one would not hear in a boys’ garden(toilet?).

More than anything else, Rintaro recognized the voice. Needless to say, Rintaro’s natural enemy, Mayuzumi Kirika, was there.

「I am a public safety officer. Please raise your hands slowly and without turning around」

「No, wait wait……! My hands aren’t free right now……」

「It’s no use wasting time like that! Let go of that weapon right now, Death Green!」

As soon as she exclaimed this, Kirika grabbed the “weapon” that Rintaro was fumbling with in his hand.

Gyumumuuuh! ! Gyuuuuuuuuuuuh! ! ! !

「Hyyaaaaaaaaaaaaahh! ! 」

Rintaro’s screams, like ripping silk, roared through the peaceful New Year’s shopping mall. While the neighboring uncles looked on in stunned amazement, Rintaro’s life and death was literally seized a young girl in the men’s restroom.

Without even time to resist, he was yanked from the toilet bowl and forced to lie down on the floor with “the weapon still in his hands”. Kirika placed her thigh on Rintaro’s stomach, firmly blocking his movement, and thrust a mysterious device like an inro[1] the size of a palm at him.

「Give up, heinous mysterious Death Green!　No amount of human disguise can fool my eyes!　The fact that this mysterious being sensor is beeping is the best proof of all!」

「I- i- it’s not beeping though!」

「…………Huh?」

Kirika’s face quickly turned red up to her ears.

…………

A few minutes later, Kirika and Rintaro were taken to the security room by the security guards who arrived on the scene.

「I don’t care if you are a public safety officer, it’s not a good idea to start the New Year by brandishing a knife and mistakenly arresting someone……」

「I am really sorry……」

Kirika was as small as a slug that had been doused with salt. Next to her, a 26-year-old man covered his face with his hands and cried bitterly.

However, even for Rintaro, a member of an evil secret society, it would be troublesome to have other heroes and policemen rush to his door to make matters worse. He had no choice but to cry himself to sleep after suffering a trauma at the beginning of the New Year.

「You can’t do this anymore!」

「……Yes, I apologize for the inconvenience……」

Rintaro offered a settlement on the spot, and the two were quickly released.

「I am truly sorry……」

「I- it’s okay, you don’t have to worry about it. Besides, we were released immediately……. Public Safety Officers are really strong after all…….」

Kirika bowed deeply, to which Rintaro responded with a tight smile. Rintaro, for his part, was filled with a desire to leave as soon as possible.

「You are so similar to a person I know…… By mistake, even your precious thing. 」

「Let’s forget about that, we had a bad dream.」

It was so shocking that Rintaro himself doesn’t want to remember it anymore. Also, no matter how much you know him, you should not grab so suddenly.

More than that, Rintaro wants to get the conversation over with and get out of there.

「Well, I’ll leave you here…good luck with your studies!」

「Yes…… Oh, wait a minute. I just want to ask you one thing.」

At this point in time, Kirika was still hanging onto Rintaro. Rintaro was impatient, but calmly analyzed the situation.

（Should I run and escape here?　If I do that, I will look suspicious, and there is no guarantee that I can run away from Kirika. Should I just go along with it……?）

After thinking for a moment, Rintaro decided to respond to Kirika’s question.

「Yes, what is it?　Anything I can do to help.」

「I thought I identified myself as public safety……. Why were you talking about studies?」

The air froze with a snap. Sweat poured down Rintaro’s temples.

「Sure, I’m enrolled in Hero School and I’m in the midst of on-the-job training……. Why did you say that?」

No, no, no, no, don’t be hasty here. Mayuzumi Kirika is a celebrity in some circles, he can still make up for it.

「You see, Aren’t you a famous person, Mayuzumi Kirika, from the Victor Rangers? Haha, Didn’t you get a medal, sometimes on the news, right? Right!?」

「Did you just say Victor Rangers?　The fact that I am a member of Victory Sentai Victor Rangers is classified information that has not yet been released to the public. Where did you get that information?」

No! The more I try to fix it, the more I got exposed! If I don’t do something, I’ll be exposed like a sack of potatoes!

Rintaro was like a husband who had been caught in the act of adultery.

It is not difficult to imagine that if he revealed his true identity here and say, “I am Rintaro Kuriyama,” the fact that he had been pretending to be a stranger would be brought up. If this were to happen, he would be questioned on the reason why he had been lying and then it would be the end.

And it would be too much of a stretch to go back to the side of justice now. Rintaro had done too much wrong, and not only against Mayuzumi Kirika, who was right in front of him.

But it is out of the question to come forward and say, “I am Death Green.”. If he did, he would have his head chopped off right away.

The drawers of excuses installed in Rintaro’s evil brain were opened one after another. As a means of maintaining his third-party status, Rintaro ends up with one person in particular.

「Well, Rintaro Kuriyama is my brother. Ahaha, I’m Shinjiro. I heard a lot from my brother about the unofficial decision, haha, well then, goodbye.」

Rintaro muttered to himself, “I’m sorry, Shinjiro”. What’s there to hide? Rintaro’s younger brother, Kuriyama Shinjiro, is a real person.

Rintaro, or Shinjiro, decided to go for it and ran away as fast as he could.

But the opponent was a woman who had rewritten 50 years of hero school record. She soon caught up with him and tightly gripped his arm.

「You must be the brother Senpai mentioned. May I ask you a little more about yourself?」

There was no such thing as an option.

…………

In a coffee shop in a shopping mall, Shinjiro, or Rintaro, was smiling awkwardly. In front of him sits a beautiful woman with swaying silvery hair and sky-blue eyes shining brightly.

He was taken in forcefully and even forced to exchange contact information. From the outside, it may seem like an enviable scene, but the person in question feels like he is not even alive. It is as if he were a young girl being offered up as a sacrifice to a legendary mysterious being.

It was fortunate that she believed the lie, but when she did, of course, he was now faced with another round of questions.

Rintaro told Kirika as many memorable stories as he could remember, as if he had “overheard” them. Each time, the girl was happy or sad, her eyes shining with joy or filled with tears.

「Haah…… Senpai…… So much things about me……」

Kirika’s face turned bright red and she put her hand on her chest and smiled a little sadly. Rintaro unexpectedly thought such a gesture of Kirika’s was a little cute.

（Did I talk too much…… But, was Mayuzuma such an expressive person……?）

His heart prickles at the thought of the deception.

「I see, you brothers were very close.」

「Yeah, well…… I guess so.」

Rintaro thought of his distant brother’s face. They were not close, but they were not bad either. Rintaro sipped his coffee and wondered how long this nightmare would last.

「Shinjiro-san! Join me in my revenge against your brother’s killer, Death Green!」

「Nffu!」

Rintaro almost blew coffee out of his nose. What a nice smile she had on her face.

「Actually, I already have a few strategies in mind. How about dropping the Metropolitan Highway burying him underneath?」

「No…… that’s a lot of work to reconstruct, so you shouldn’t do that, right……?」

「How about this then?　A deadly poison in the water supply at the predicted hiding place……」

「Wait, wait!　I can’t help you even if you ask me in the first place!　And I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but what you’re trying to do is just terrorism!」

When Rintaro stopped her, Kirika’s shoulders slumped again and she nodded.

「That’s right……」

Rintaro could only hope that Kirika’s diabolical plan would not be carried out. As expected, he shouldn’t have finished it off with the “meat”.

Should he put a laxative in the coffee that Kirika is drinking right now? That’s what Rintaro was thinking as he brought the coffee to his lips.

『We would like to inform all visitors of a lost child. Saeya Samejima’s brother from Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo. Saeya-chan is waiting for you, please come to the lost child center on the 1st floor. ……』

「Nffu!」

Rintaro almost blew coffee out of his nose again when he heard the broadcast. Because of the exchange of shocking developments, he had forgotten all about Samecchi.

「What’s wrong, Shinjiro-san?」

「I’m sorry!　I’m keeping my companion waiting! That’s all for today!　I’ll leave the money here for you!」

「Ah, wait……!」

Rintaro left the coffee shop as if he was running away from Kirika, who was chasing after him. Kirika was left with no choice but to sip her coffee and lean back against the back of her chair.

「I see, so it’s his brother…… I knew there was no way senpai is still alive……」

Kirika quietly closed her eyes as she stared at Rintaro’s name plate, now her only memento.

In her jacket pocket, the mysterious being sensor beeped.

Kirika let out a big sigh, thinking that this was just a prototype.

[1]An inrō is a traditional Japanese case for holding small objects. inrō were most commonly used to carry identity seals and medicines.