23: Enigma Calls to Enigma
Makoto had an accident.
Haruyoshi was missing.
Upon hearing this, the students let out a collective buzz like the sound of rain, filling the classroom with a flood of rumors.
Ryugo, who couldn’t believe his ears, tried to grasp the situation.
What happened after that yesterday?
Makoto and Haruyoshi, unaware that they were under hypnosis, must have been fighting for a while.
Even in perceived time, it was probably only a few minutes.
In that time, it wouldn’t have been strange for something irregular to have happened.
But what did it mean that one had been in a traffic accident and the other was missing?
After the fight, Makoto ran away and was hit by a car. Haruyoshi, seeing this, thought it was his fault and disappeared.
It was a safe assumption, but there was a fair distance from that back alley to the road. Even if he hadn’t wanted to step out into the street where there were cars, he could have escaped any number of ways.
That said, it was also possible that the situation was beyond their comprehension.
His circular thinking wasn’t leading him to any conclusions.
“Quiet down.”
The teacher’s shout somewhat quieted the voices, but even so, you can’t put a lid on people’s mouths.
All the more so when the person at the center of it all was at the top of the social hierarchy.
“Let’s begin class. Everyone, please be quiet.”
That was the final push, and the commotion finally died down.
Of course, Ryugo couldn’t concentrate on class.
Even though his opponents were pieces of trash, he might be the reason they were seriously injured. He couldn’t help but feel some guilt.
“Hey, Raccoon.”
As he was being tormented by his anxiety, Misato turned to him, her head propped up in her hand.
“You know something, don’t you?”
Now it’s my turn to ask questions.
But judging by her expression, Misato genuinely doesn’t know the details.
“Yesterday, Makoto attacked me with an iron pipe.”
“Where?”
“On the way home. Haruyoshi seemed to be involved, so I was definitely caught in a trap. Somehow I managed to escape though.”
“Huh? How did it end up like this?”
“I have no idea.”
“You must have some idea. Can’t you think of anything?”
“Maybe he got into an accident while chasing me?”
“You wouldn’t have noticed that?”
“No, I wouldn’t have.”
As someone who had been at the scene of a traffic accident, I clearly remember how loud the impact was. I would have noticed it even if I had been a bit further away.
The accident seems unnatural no matter how I think about it.
Was this also the work of the supposed possessor?
No, no, no, if that were the case, there would be no reason to eliminate Makoto.
Wait.
To begin with, the idea that the possessor is supporting Aira and the others is just a hypothesis I came up with.
If that’s the case, their purpose becomes even more unclear.
My brain goes around and around in circles.
And by the time lunch break came around, I still hadn’t come up with any ideas.
As usual, I waited for the mysterious voice to call on the stairs of the separate building.
Since I don’t know when they’ll call, I have no choice but to be cautious. There’s no way I can just talk openly in the classroom.
With this incident, the mysterious voice must have also realized that the situation had changed dramatically.
They’re sure to call today.
Ring, ring, ring.
There it is.
“Hello?”
‘Is anyone around you?’
“No.”
‘I see. I know the gist of the incident, but not the details.
Can you tell me what happened?’
Ryugo explained yesterday’s events as accurately as possible.
‘It’s unlikely that it was just an accident. And the reason Haruyoshi has disappeared is unknown.’
“That’s what I’m saying. I’m worried about Haruyoshi disappearing, not just the accident.”
‘The hypnosis you used was just to protect them, right?’
“Yeah. Plus, it was a low-level ‘command,’ so the effects shouldn’t have lasted very long.”
‘The possessor might be involved. But I can’t think of a reason why.’
Even the seemingly omniscient mysterious voice isn’t at the stage where they can give me a definitive answer.
‘Aira falling down the stairs. Makoto’s traffic accident.
If they wanted to temporarily get rid of them, there would have been a more elegant way to do it.’
“Hey, maybe we should just ask the actual owner?”
The other person wouldn’t stay calm and collected forever.
No matter how meticulously you plan, unexpected obstacles can ruin everything, or a sudden rush of emotion can make you throw it all away.
I have a feeling that’s what happened this time, too.
Especially with what happened with Aira.
Going to the trouble of hurting her that badly, erasing her memories, and silencing her.
It all reeks of desperation.
“Hey, if you have an idea, spit it out.”
“Ah, sorry. I mean, such and such and so and so…”
“There’s no way that’s gonna get through with ‘such and such and so and so’.”
From Noble mtl dot com
“Just get the gist of it!”
After I voiced my thoughts, there was a brief pause.
“…….I see. That has some merit.”
“Right?”
“We may need to devise a plan first.”
“Well, that doesn’t really matter.”
“There wasn’t a single unimportant element. Where are you basing that off of?”
While receiving a perfectly reasonable retort, Ryugo asked:
“Have you ever used that app that checks favorability?”
“……Yes, but what of it?”
“Do you know what the upper limit is?”
“No? But it’s probably ‘100’. From what I’ve seen using it on my parents and friends, no one has ever exceeded ‘100’.”
“Maybe you’re just not well-liked.”
“Could you please refrain from looking down on me so naturally after asking me a question? You’ve used it too, haven’t you?”
“Yeah. I’ve used it on a few people in my class.”
“What about your parents?”
“I forgot.”
“If you were standing right in front of me, I’d punch you without hesitation.”
“Well, that doesn’t really matter.”
“Do you think that’s some kind of magic spell to change the subject?”
“I’d like to see your face soon.”
I was hesitant to put my trust in someone whose face I didn’t even know.
What if the person on the other end of this voice was the owner responsible for throwing this class into chaos?
I could just be getting used by them.
To begin with, the fact that they ordered me to “not look for the owner” from the very beginning was suspicious. Even if there was a proper reason.
“Who are you? What’s your goal? It’s about time you told me. Even if I’m investigating Makoto and Haruyoshi, I can’t do it alone. But I can’t trust you if we’re going to do this together .”
“…….True. The situation is changing rapidly. It may be better if I get involved directly. Shall we meet?”
“Then let’s decide on a place and time. But I’m not going to go somewhere where there are a lot of people.”
“Understood. How about the first-floor plaza in front of the fountain in the shopping mall by the station?”
“That works.”
“Let’s make it exactly 10 AM three days from now. That way, we’ll avoid running into the school kids, and there will be enough people around during the daytime on a weekday. Make up an excuse to skip school.’
When I agreed to all this, the call ended.
I wonder how much I can trust this person.
I’ll need a weapon, too. Even if the person on the other end of the line isn’t the Holder, there’s still a chance they’re plotting something.
“Should I head back to class?”
After that, I did some research and waited for the end of class.
Ira is still under hypnosis.
I haven’t found anyone else in the class who’s under hypnosis.
“No real progress.”
“Tanuki-kun!”
Enka spoke to me from the side, and I looked up.
“What?”
“I’m going to visit Seito and drop off some notes. Want to come with me?”
“Sure. There’s something I want to ask him.”
Seito is probably still under hypnosis.
As a countermeasure to my ‘orders.’
There’s not much I can do besides talk to him normally. Even though I know he’s been told to keep quiet.
“Speaking of which, this will be the second time I’ve been to the hospital this month.”
“First Ira, and now Seito… And Haruyoshi still isn’t home, is he?”
I know what she’s getting at.
The core members who rule the class have been suffering one misfortune after another. It’s natural to feel like someone’s behind it.
“You be careful, okay, Tanuki-kun?”
“Of course!”
The person who was the number one reason I would end up in the hospital has already been sent there, so there’s no major threat for the time being.
Number two is the Holder, but if they were going to directly harm me, they would have done so already.
“Let’s go, then.”
“Oh, by the way, Ira was supposed to be discharged, right? Isn’t she going? Seito is her boyfriend, after all.”
“I invited her, but she said no. She’s going to go eat parfaits with her friends.”
“Parfaits, huh…”
She’s a heartless woman, even though her boyfriend—or rather, her slave—is seriously injured.
It’s like she really does only see Seito as a convenient tool. Was she born without a heart?
Actually, from what she’s told me, it sounds like her mother doesn’t have much of a heart, either.
So, was she just born with those genes?
Ryugo and I headed to the hospital.
When we got there, we asked the receptionist for the room number.
Seito wasn’t in a private room like Ira was, but in a general room. In other words, he was in the same space as other patients.
We checked the nameplate and entered the room.
It was a pure white space with four beds lined up. I could see several patients with painful-looking bandages, and I felt a little uncomfortable.
“Hey, Seito. You in here?”
I called out to him unceremoniously, but there was no response.
Takeaki braced himself for Makoto’s scolding as he ventured deeper into the room. The patients glanced at him briefly, but that was all.
“Mako…”
He tried to call out, but the moment his gaze fell on the far right corner, he gasped.
Makoto was there.
However, his appearance left Takeaki momentarily bewildered and stiff.
Makoto, covered in bandages, stared blankly at his left hand.
His eyes were not sane.
There was no light, and it was questionable whether his pupils could even perceive objects; they were empty.
His gaze was fixed, as if trying to see through something that should have been there.
“…”
He stared at the missing middle finger.
“What happened…”
Makoto did not answer Takeaki’s question.
Makoto, in a state of mental absence, stared blankly at his missing middle finger.
Takeaki and Madoka sat down on the chairs beside the bed and spoke to him, trying to bring him back to his senses.
“Hey. What happened? Can you hear me?”
“Makoto-kun?”
They waved their hands in front of him, but he showed no signs of responding.
This was the type of case where his consciousness had completely drifted away.
No matter how much they called out to him, their voices would just pass through his brain and out the other side.
“Hey!”
They shook his shoulders, but there was no response.
He was like a soulless doll.
Normally, they would have punched him in the face, but a hospital was not the place to create more patients. Besides, Madoka would stop them.
Takeaki himself felt responsible and guilty for what had happened.
“What should we do…”
Madoka seemed equally perplexed.
Would the hypnosis app be able to bring him back to his senses?
Makoto was a person being targeted by the possessor, but this time it was quite irregular. It would not be surprising if the possessor had not had the opportunity to hypnotize him or had judged it unnecessary.
There was nothing else to do anyway. Should they try it?
Takeaki operated his smartphone out of Madoka’s sight and activated the hypnosis function.
“Attitude: Serious”
He thought about giving him an order, but since he had yet to grasp the questions he needed to ask, it was better to play it safe for now.
First, he would overwrite his mental state with “Attitude”.
And if he was “Serious”, he would not tell clumsy lies.
If he gave an “Order” first, it would only end up consuming levels unnecessarily if he was already under hypnosis.
“Makoto! Can you hear me!?”
“…Hey, Raccoon.”
Makoto spoke in a thin voice like a mosquito’s buzz.
It seemed that the hypnosis had worked.
Apparently, the possessor couldn’t handle it either because of the sudden situation.
“…What’s wrong?”
“What are these “experiments”…?”
“What?”