You're Dead Meat

"Okay."

Mr. Izaki didn't ask any more questions, so the car followed the map's directions toward an ordinary family restaurant.

About half an hour later, Kitagawa Ryo and Mr. Izaki arrived at their destination. As for their luggage, they'd had the driver take it to the hotel they'd booked in advance.

"It looks pretty ordinary."

"There's certainly nothing special about it."

From the sign alone, all they could see was a flag hanging in the window with the simple word "Japanese Cuisine" on it. Kitagawa Ryo and Mr. Izaki took a quick look inside. There weren't many people, so they went straight in.

Kitagawa looked around the restaurant but didn't see any girl who matched the photo. Thinking that maybe it was still too early, he found a table and sat down with Mr. Izaki. Before long, a server brought them ice water and menus.

"A classic family restaurant. Even the dishes are the familiar ones."

Although Kitagawa had spent almost half a year in the United Kingdom, he'd spent most of his childhood in Tokyo. He'd been to plenty of affordable family restaurants like this one. Seeing the flags stuck into the hamburger steak, fries, and salad on the kids' menu brought back memories.

After ordering two pork cutlet sets, Kitagawa turned his gaze toward the window and traced circles in his water with the straw.

Outside, people still streamed past. Even at the height of the sweltering midday heat, the crowds in this bustling metropolis showed no sign of thinning. Inside, however, it was much quieter. The handful of customers ate lunch without saying much.

Soft yellow light fell across the room. A sense of ease and comfort stirred in Kitagawa's eyes, and a relaxed smile touched his face.

Coming back this time should count as a surprise for Kei, right?

Another ten minutes or so passed. As two large pork cutlet sets were brought to Kitagawa's table, a girl with long black hair pushed open the restaurant door.

"Oh, that should be her."

Kitagawa stuffed a large piece of pork cutlet into his mouth. He had no intention of going over to her. Horikita Manabu had only asked him to take a look, and since she'd turned up in one piece, he'd done what he was asked.

Mr. Izaki sipped his miso soup with impeccable refinement. Somehow, even in an ordinary roadside family restaurant, he managed to make the meal look upper-class. Kitagawa had always figured that his butler must have been a strikingly handsome young man, but now that he was nearly sixty, he still seemed to be single.

"She certainly seems like a regular."

The girl seemed to have a usual seat and routine. Kitagawa and Mr. Izaki hadn't even seen her order, yet a little while later, a server was already bringing her lunch. While she waited, she'd kept her head down and read a book, completely absorbed in it.

"It's Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None."

It wasn't that Kitagawa had unusually sharp eyesight. Any mystery fan would know Agatha Christie and her famous novel, which had sold over a hundred million copies worldwide. A single distant glance at the cover had been enough for him to identify the book.

Perhaps sensing Kitagawa's faint gaze, Horikita Suzune glanced over at him. But she didn't seem to care. She put down her book and began eating lunch.

"So far, she seems perfectly normal. Judging by both her appearance and her table manners, she's quite exemplary. I suppose that's only to be expected of Horikita Manabu's younger sister."

Mr. Izaki had finished the food on his plate. With interest, he followed Kitagawa's gaze and took a look at the girl.

"If Horikita heard you praising her, she might come over and pick up your bill herself."

Kitagawa ate quickly, finishing his lunch right after Mr. Izaki. He wiped the corner of his mouth with a napkin and said:

"Going by the information Manabu gave me, Horikita Suzune is a pretty clumsy imitator."

"Is that so?"

"Like you can see, she eats and reads alone. And it isn't just that. She does everything else alone, too. She doesn't want to interact with other people or work in a team, and she doesn't even think there's anything wrong with that."

Kitagawa thought of Horikita Manabu, who'd looked rather troubled as he described his younger sister. He chuckled.

"Sometimes I think that if Kei had the same mental strength and ability to adapt, she wouldn't have been bullied in elementary school."

"Do you think this way of living is a good thing, young master?"

"No."

Kitagawa shook his head.

"It's just that everyone has qualities worth appreciating. In this particular respect, I think Horikita does all right."

"Even if she's charging down the wrong path, at least she's running pretty fast."

After saying that, Kitagawa lost interest in watching her.

"Did you find the Karuizawa family's address and contact information?"

"Yes. They moved to Toshima Ward. Here are their address and contact details."

Mr. Izaki showed Kitagawa the page on his phone.

"Should we go over now?"

"Hmm..."

Before they'd found the address, Kitagawa had seemed eager to go. Now that they actually could, he started to hesitate.

"Um... would it be better to buy a gift?"

"...I believe Miss Karuizawa has already received quite a few gifts from you, young master. She has four custom-made dresses alone."

"That was so Kei would have clothes suited to every season."

Embarrassed by Mr. Izaki's words, Kitagawa turned aside and tried to explain.

"Besides, Kei said she only wears them for me."

"I don't think giving Miss Karuizawa gifts so often is good for either of your growth."

Mr. Izaki offered the reminder with great care.

"What surprises me is that Miss Karuizawa accepted every single one."

"Because I insisted she take them," Kitagawa replied instinctively.

"..."

Mr. Izaki didn't seem inclined to say anything more. It seemed he'd finally understood how Kitagawa felt.

"Grandpa."

They walked along the roadside for a while before Kitagawa tugged at his coat hem. As usual, he called him Grandpa.

Kitagawa lowered his head and apologized.

"I'm sorry."

"You should understand, Grandpa. If I want something, you might even go and pluck a star from the sky for me. You've always been like that. You've been by my side all my life."

"It might be a little presumptuous, but I really do want to become someone others can rely on, just like you."

Kitagawa smiled at him and took small steps along the squares in the pavement.

"That's why I think it's amazing to live alone. But no one can live alone forever."

"If a turtle gets flipped onto its back with its head facing down, it might take a long time to turn itself over again without someone to help, even if it can manage it eventually."

"If you think doing this will only make Kei a girl who can't be independent, then so be it."

"I can't just ignore her when she can't turn herself over. I want to help her. I have to help her."

Mr. Izaki simply nodded in silence.

"It's your choice, young master. I won't interfere."

"Right. It's my choice."

The moment Kitagawa finished speaking, a familiar figure in a white sleeveless dress appeared in his field of vision.

"Kei?"

Chapter Eight: You're Dead

"Kei?"

At the edge of his vision, Kitagawa saw a figure so familiar that he almost thought it was an illusion.

He knew that white sleeveless dress all too well. He'd watched the tailor make it by hand, piece by piece, and it had been one of the gifts he'd given Karuizawa Kei the previous summer.

Even now, Kitagawa often dreamed of Karuizawa Kei holding the hem of that white dress and twirling in front of him.

Karuizawa Kei seemed not to hear Kitagawa calling. She appeared to be on the phone with someone, hurrying toward a bus pulling up nearby without breaking stride.

Almost without thinking, Kitagawa rushed after her, but he was still a step too late. The bus doors shut a few seconds before he reached it, and it pulled away in a cloud of exhaust.

Just as Kitagawa was starting to feel frustrated, he noticed that Mr. Izaki had somehow already hailed a taxi. He hurriedly opened the back door and climbed in.

"Driver, could you follow that bus up ahead?"

As soon as he sat down and fastened his seat belt, Kitagawa pointed to the bus, which was already about fifty meters ahead.

"Sure thing. Hold on tight."

The driver didn't know what was going on, but seeing how anxious Kitagawa looked, he readily agreed. Then he drove along at a pace that didn't quite match his bold promise. They were in the city, after all, and there were speed limits.

Fortunately, the bus ahead would have to stop at the next station. Kitagawa figured the taxi could catch up within a stop.

"Did you two leave something important on the bus?"

The driver asked with interest as he turned the wheel to avoid pedestrians. He picked up a dozen or twenty fares a day, but it was still pretty rare for someone to get in and immediately ask him to chase a vehicle.

"...Yeah."

Kitagawa didn't know how to explain, so he answered vaguely.

"Yeah, my young master left something very important behind."

To Kitagawa's surprise, Mr. Izaki suddenly started waggling his eyebrows at him.

"It's his prized possession. If someone else bumps into it or scratches it, well..."

Before he could finish, Kitagawa, whose nerves had already settled, gave him an exasperated nudge in the arm.

The driver smiled kindly at that. When the bus ahead pulled into a stop, he quickly closed the distance and pulled over by the roadside.

Kitagawa had Mr. Izaki pay the fare, then opened the door and got out first. They seemed to be outside a large shopping mall. People were packed shoulder to shoulder, and he stood on tiptoe, desperately searching for Karuizawa Kei in the crowd.

"Excuse me, coming through."

"Sorry, let me through."

Kitagawa soon spotted Karuizawa Kei walking into the mall. There seemed to be three other girls with her. Keeping his eyes on them, he pushed his way through the crowd, but by the time he finally reached the entrance, he'd lost track of Kei again.

Mr. Izaki, who'd paid the fare, pushed through the crowd and came up beside Kitagawa. He squinted at the mall directory hanging by the entrance. The first floor was mostly household goods, while the second was largely luxury stores, especially watch and accessory shops. The third floor was mainly small restaurants, and the fourth was a movie theater.

Below that, the second basement floor was a parking garage, while the first basement floor was lined with snack shops, as well as all sorts of milk tea and coffee shops.

It was around two in the afternoon.

Once he'd taken in the information, Mr. Izaki quickly went over to the escalator railing and looked down at the first basement floor. Sure enough, it was crowded with junior high and high school students.

"Young master, let's look on the first basement floor."

Quickly catching on to what Mr. Izaki meant, Kitagawa nodded and hurried down the escalator to the first basement floor.

Emi Eura was admiring her somewhat long fingernails. While school was in session, both the teachers and the disciplinary committee strictly forbade students from deliberately growing their nails long. But it was summer vacation now, and after a month of growing them out, she'd ended up with nails roughly four to five centimeters long and slightly pointed.

"Emi, did you get your nails done?"

Sayu and Yuko, who were with her, had good eyes and asked about the obvious.

"Yeah, I got them done yesterday. What do you think?"

Emi Eura proudly held out both hands for them to see. All ten nails were painted different colors, with various decorations and patterns on them. They looked very delicate.

"They're so pretty."

"They suit you really well, Emi."

Sayu and Yuko nodded enthusiastically. Since Karuizawa Kei had become embroiled in a scandal, Emi Eura had naturally become the center of the girls' group. But unlike Karuizawa Kei, who was somewhat timid and easily pushed around by her classmates, Emi was much more assertive. The two of them didn't dare slight her, even outside school.

"Are we waiting for someone today? Your boyfriend, Emi?"

Seeing that Emi seemed to be in a pretty good mood, Sayu took the initiative to tease her.

"How could you even think that?"

Emi Eura shot her a sideways glance.

"Though I heard you broke up with your boyfriend from the other class."

"I got bored after we'd been together for a while. Anyway, I was the one who dumped him, so it's no big deal."

Sayu shook her head and said indifferently: