Cinderella before midnight
After I'd parted ways with Charlie and her incomprehensible question, I t up with Natsunagi and Saikawa, who'd returned from the pool.
After that, the three of us explored the vast ship together, searching for "Siesta's legacy"...but we had no idea what we were even trying to find. Naturally, our search didn't go well.
While we were busy, the sun went down, so we decided to have dinner in the restaurant. The tour's guest of honor, Saikawa, was busy making the rounds and greeting everyone, so Natsunagi and I were the only ones who got to eat.
"This feels kind of weird." Natsunagi was using her knife and fork to cut up her salmon unière in the ship's French restaurant.
"What does?"
"Sitting across from you and eating dinner together like this." "You don't want to?"
"You know I didn't say that."
Even filled with reproach, her eyes were remarkably cute. How nice it would be if her personality got just a little cuter, too.
"Then what?" I said. "Are you saying that having dinner alone together is almost like a date?"
"...It takes real guts to say that when you're flat broke." "I have no excuses to give there."
If it hadn't been for Saikawa's kindness, I wouldn't even have been able to pay for our als here, and I'd probably have spent the rest of my life on this boat working off my debt. Gambling is a terrifying thing.
Speaking of gambling, should I fill her in on what happened with Charlie earlier? This morning, the two of them ended up goading each other into a fight, but I should probably tell her Charlie isn't really all that bad.
"Natsunagi, do you have ti after this?"
"Huh? Um, I don't have anything planned. I'm just gonna shower, then go to bed."
"I see. In that case, there's a little sothing I'd like to talk about." "Talk? We could just do that here..."
"Uh, the subject's a little hard to discuss in a place like this." SPES would co up as well, and we'd be touching on so sensitive stuff. I'd rather do that away from so many eyes. "There was a bar across the way, wasn't there? Can I ask you to et there in an hour?"
"Ummm... , by myself? Alone with you?" "Yeah."
This was really sothing I should fill Saikawa in on, too, but she was busy being the guest of honor right now, so it would keep.
"I—I see. So you want to talk, alone with , at a bar...and tell sothing you don't want other people to hear..." Natsunagi's lips were moving; she was mumbling. She was looking down and, for so reason, blushing. "W-well, all right... Okay, so I'll see you in an hour."
She speared her remaining unière with her fork, cramd it into her
mouth all at once, got up, and trotted away. What the hell was that about? "The main course isn't even here yet," I called after her.
I'd really rather have given the extra food to Charlie, but she was probably relaxing in my cabin by now. She couldn't actually have found a way off the ship.
"Well, if we'd had dinner alone together, we'd have nothing to talk about." Over the course of an hour, I sohow managed to finish a multicourse al for two by myself. Then I headed for the bar where we'd promised to
et.
"...Sorry to keep you waiting."
When I'd been sitting at the table for a little while, Natsunagi ca in, right on ti. To avoid being noticed, I'd chosen a spot away from the counter; we were in one of the booths in the back, facing each other across the table.
...Even so.
"You changed clothes for this?"
"Huh? Oh, no, it just, um, happened? After I took a shower, this was all I had to wear."
Natsunagi's outfit was a dramatic change from the casual clothes she'd been in before. She was wearing a low-cut dress, with a thin shawl around her shoulders.
I an, yeah, it was an appropriate way to dress for this place... But she'd taken more care with her makeup than usual, and I caught the scent of perfu. Was this why she'd hurried back to her room like that? So she could get ready?
"Haaah, well, you can wear whatever you want."
"Whatever...?" Natsunagi pouted, looking a little cross. Had I said sothing wrong? "And? Um, the talk..."
"Oh, right. Well, let's drink while we talk."
The drinks I'd ordered before Natsunagi got here had just arrived. "Is it alcoholic?" she asked.
"No, Cinderella." "?"
"The drink."
I'd ordered her a nonalcoholic cocktail by that na. For myself, I'd gotten a Shirley Temple, another famous virgin cocktail. I was sick of alcohol- fueled mistakes.
"All right, just listen for a little while."
After we drank a toast, I began to tell her about Charlie as a person, including how I'd t her.
"This was not what I thought it was going to be." Once I'd finished my story, Natsunagi seed to wilt a little. "...Well, I an, this isn't that... It's just the influence of the heart's owner, that's all..."
"What are you muttering about?"
"—! ...Huh? What?" she said, suddenly irritated. "Huh? Why did you just snap out of nowhere?" "I didn't snap."
"No, you totally did."
"I'm telling you, I didn't!" The toe of her high heel connected with my shin. "I'll double-kill you!"
"That's not fair!"
—Getting back on topic.
"Anyway. I see what you an. She's not as awful as I thought she was." As Natsunagi spoke, she took a sip of her cocktail. "Siesta was always on her mind, and she still is, even now. She's so genuine it's a little inspiring."
"Yeah. She's genuinely dumb. Sotis what she says and does is out there, but that might be one of the best things about her." Although I'd die before I told her that.
"You're right... To be honest, I knew it, too." "That Charlie wasn't a bad person, you an?"
"That, too, but...the fact that I was in the wrong." With a troubled smile, Natsunagi went on. "The things she said were right on the mark."
She must have been talking about their argunt that morning. Charlie had told Natsunagi to quit playing detective. And Natsunagi had just admitted that she was doing just that.
"I didn't spend a long ti with Siesta the way Charlie did, and I don't have any strengths I'm really proud of. All I have is this heart...and the belief that I've inherited her last wish." Her voice dropped to a self-deprecating
murmur in the quiet bar. "I do know that much."
She was right. As Natsunagi herself admitted, she and Siesta were different in many ways.
The color of their hair, of course. The way they spoke, their personalities, their principles, and even the way they carried themselves.
Natsunagi could never beco a Siesta doll. And yet— "What made you decide you'd accept Siesta's role?"
That day—the day when we'd learned that Natsunagi's transplanted heart had belonged to Siesta—Natsunagi had decided to beco an ace detective. Even when I'd told her she didn't have to replace anyone, she'd chosen to take that path.
But I still hadn't really heard her thoughts on the matter. I'd decided her silence was sothing I should respect, and I'd looked the other way. But it was probably ti to wake up. For both of us.
"The thing is—I've had poor health ever since I was little." Natsunagi narrowed her eyes, rembering the distant past. "While everyone around was going to school, I was stuck in bed, all alone. My only friends were so picture books and a little teddy bear. When I saw idols singing and dancing on TV, I was so, so jealous of them."
In my mind's eye, I saw a white hospital room, filled with the sll of chemicals, and a young girl with an IV drip in her thin arm.
"I used to think, I'll never go anywhere. I'll never get to leave this room. I couldn't study, couldn't exercise. I was sure I'd never be anyone." Natsunagi smiled, but I could see a hint of tears in her eyes. "It was really scary. But ti passed, and then I flew out of my cage. I was given a new life; after that, I had no choice but to test out my wings. Only...I didn't know how to fly."
"How to fly?"
"Yeah... How to live. So I think I wanted an axis." An axis, to help her live her life.
When Natsunagi said that word, I realized it was probably the core of our entire conversation.
"I wasn't anybody, and then all of a sudden, I had to be. So I relied on this heart... I decided to model my approach to life on hers."
These were the true feelings she'd kept hidden inside.
This was why she'd listened to the voice of that heart. She'd pursued the person the heart was looking for, "X"——and had taken up the role of ace
detective.
It had happened during the Saikawa incident as well. At first, I'd been planning on turning down the request, but Natsunagi had given a random reason to make us take it. Now I could understand the logic behind her unnatural proactiveness.
Natsunagi could only find her way in life by using the ace detective— Siesta—as her axis. And that was just as true of .
"So it's exactly as Charlie said. I've been playing detective this whole ti. I know this is only make-believe."
"Natsunagi..." I tried to say sothing to her, but the words wouldn't co out right.
...Because we were the sa.
I had the sa complex she did, and I didn't know what I should do from here on out. Which ant that right now, I had no answers to give her.
"I'm sorry. I'm going to call it a night." Draining the rest of her cocktail in one gulp, Natsunagi stood up.
"Natsunagi, I..."
"Good night. See you tomorrow, okay?" As Natsunagi waved at , her expression was no different from usual. That was how I knew this conversation was over.
"Yeah, see you tomorrow." All I could do was watch her small back get farther and farther away. " 'See you tomorrow,' huh...?"
That's right—this isn't over yet.
I'd have to get my thoughts together and watch for a chance to talk about it again. For now, I decided to head back to my cabin...except Charlie took it over, didn't she? If I tried quietly slipping into the bed with her, I'd probably wake up dead tomorrow.
Well, that left only one option. I took out my phone. "Uh, hello, Saikawa?"
"Yes, speaking... What is it? It's kinda late, isn't it?"
"Are you in your cabin already? Sorry, but could you let stay there tonight?"
While I was there, I'd tell her about Charlie and what I'd just discussed with Natsunagi.
"...I'll put on so cute undies while I'm waiting."
"What is wrong with you?"
The worst happens
The next morning, the commotion outside the cabin woke up. "Urk, ngh... What's going on...?"
"Nnnnngh, be quiet...Kimizuka..." "...Nn. Hey, stop. Let go of , Saikawa."
Untangling myself from Saikawa, who was hugging my arm, I sluggishly sat up.
"What the heck is all the noise about...?" Joints cracking and popping, I stepped into the corridor, and...
"What the hell was that announcent?! Whose voice was that?!"
"I don't know! I don't see any signs that soone got into the radio room, but..."
For so reason, there were crew mbers running around in a panic. "Kimizukaaaa...?"
"Hey, Saikawa, look alive. Sothing's wrong."
Saikawa ca over to , rubbing sleep-dazed eyes. I was urging her to go wash her face, when—
"Attention all passengers."
—an announcent in a creepy, synthesized voice echoed through the ship's corridors.
"We have a girl with us in the lounge."
Was this about a lost kid? Under most normal circumstances, that would have been the case. But from the way the crew mbers were reacting, this wasn't an official broadcast.
That ant—
"The girl's na is—Nagisa Natsunagi."
""...!""
Saikawa and I looked at each other. I had an awful feeling about this, and I knew it wasn't just a feeling.
"If this rings a bell with anyone, please hurry to the fifth-floor lounge."
"Saikawa... This is what I think it is, isn't it?" "...Yes. I think the worst is happening."
"We have a girl with us."
If this wasn't about a lost child, I could think of only one possibility. That girl, Nagisa Natsunagi, had been kidnapped.
"See you tomorrow": The words she'd said when we parted last night played in my ears, over and over.
First, Saikawa and I went to Natsunagi's cabin and confird that it was empty, then headed for the lounge ntioned in the announcent, the one on the fifth-floor deck.
When we got to the entrance, it had already been closed off by ship security, and an inspection was underway inside.
"Was Miss Natsunagi there?" Saikawa asked a security guard. As the owner of this ship, she had the right to know everything.
"No. Crew mbers ca running imdiately after the announcent, but they found nothing."
The guard shot a glance at , because I looked like an outsider, but Saikawa gave a small nod to indicate that I belonged.
"...That being the case, we haven't found anyone who appears to be the
criminal yet, either."
"I see..." Saikawa looked down, apparently thinking hard.
...Dammit, what's going on?
We'd followed instructions and co here, but we couldn't even find Natsunagi, much less her kidnapper.
"For now, go over the passenger list carefully. Then check all the cabins and compare the faces and nas."
"Understood, miss."
Saikawa issued instructions to the security guard, searching for a clue that could get us sowhere.
She was right. This was a cruise ship, out on the ocean. Even if there was a criminal, he couldn't possibly have gone anywhere else. Natsunagi had to be on the ship sowhere.
...Hmm? A way to get off this ship...?
"Hey, Saikawa." I waited until the security guard had left his post, then asked my host, "Is there any way to get off this boat in the middle of the cruise?" Excluding regularly scheduled ports of call, of course.
"Huh? Charlie asked that sa question yesterday."
"Yesterday? You talked with Charlie before I went to your cabin last night?"
"Yes, in the evening. She ca to see ."
What? When did that happen...? "And? Did you tell her?" "Yes, well. I ntioned the lifeboats."
I see. Of course the ship would have those. So had Charlie really left the ship? If so, don't tell ... Did she take Natsunagi along?
No, I had to be overthinking it. Charlie had absolutely no motive for grabbing Natsunagi and jumping ship.
"...Actually, Saikawa, why did you help Charlie?" Speaking of motives, I couldn't think of a single reason for Saikawa to side with her...
"Heh-heh. Didn't you know, Kimizuka? Looking through solid objects isn't the only thing this eye can do." Saikawa touched the patch covering her left eye with her fingertips. At first glance, that didn't seem to have anything to do with this situation, but...this definitely wasn't idle rambling. "For one thing, it can also see whether soone is telling a lie or saying what they really feel."
"It can...?"
"Yes. And last night, when Charlie ca to see , she didn't tell a single lie. She said there was sothing she had to do, which was why she had to get off this ship imdiately."
That did sound like the sort of thing Charlie would say.
"I'm planning to do it my way."
It probably ant Charlie had an idea, and she had made a move before I had.
"So I decided to help her just a little. After all, when a girl's in trouble, I can't just leave her there."
I suspected this story might be a white lie on Saikawa's part. I really couldn't believe that her sapphire eye had the ability to read minds. But Saikawa was probably doing the job she believed was right, in her own way.
"...Still, why didn't you tell about it? I don't mind if you helped Charlie out, but you could have ntioned it to , couldn't you?" I even stayed in your room last night because I thought Charlie had taken mine.
"What? Well, I an, if I'd told you, you wouldn't have spent the night in my room, would you, Kimizuka?"
"That was the goal there?!" No, seriously, what was she after...? "Heh-heh! Just kidding. Did I make your heart skip a beat?" Then she gave an exaggerated wink with her right eye.
...I swear. Unlike you, I don't have the ability to detect lies. Gim a break.
But the tension had softened a bit. The next thing I knew, both my nervous sweat and the crease between my eyebrows had vanished. Maybe that was one of Yui Saikawa's idol skills.
"Miss Saikawa!" Just then, a security guard ca running toward us from the lounge. "This was discovered on one of the counter seats inside."
He was holding a book. The title was—
"The moirs of Sherlock Hols," Saikawa murmured softly.
I knew that book. It was a collection of short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, detailing the exploits of the legendary detective.
I took the book from the security guard and flipped through the pages...and a bookmark fell out. The page it had been marking was in the short story "The Adventure of the Gloria Scott," a tale of the event that had led Hols to beco a detective. A ship had also sunk in that story.
The bookmark had a ssage on it:
At 8:00 PM, co to the main deck with the ace detective's legacy.
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