Kaori
“Kaori-san! And you too, Blood-Soaked Lady-san?”
Oze-kun had a tendency to say rude things offhand. Even now, he called this girl, who was no longer blood-soaked, by that name.
“Oze-san, ‘Blood-Soaked Lady’ is going too far. Let’s at least call her Silent-chan.”
With that one remark from Oomi-kun, the girl became Silent-chan from then on.
At the far ends of a large sofa in the back of the lounge, Aochi-kun and the Harvester from the other ship were seated. Between them sat Mamoru-kun and Ululu, perched side by side.
—What is this? Adorable.
Ululu was wearing a psychedelic long T-shirt and had something like a green blanket draped over her head.
Mamoru-kun, noticing the change in my expression, waved at me.
“Ululu, turn around. This is Nonno. I drew it. This fire truck here is big brother Aochi. This cosmos flower is Oomi-san, and this is big brother Oze’s Miiko.”
Calling a bird a fire truck, or a dog Miiko, didn’t make any sense, but it was childlike and charming.
“Uruu-uru-uru—”
Ululu, too, looked smug. His skinless, raw-red face was frightening, but his cheerfulness made me smile.
“Ululu really is adorable. I hope you’ll stay just like this until tomorrow.”
It was Rhone who spoke, his voice as gentle as a tolling bell.
His gaze at Ululu carried the same lingering sweetness as his voice. No, I was sure now—this wasn’t the person.
—The one who killed those three men and women on the neighboring ship was Silent-chan.
No one else had noticed. When our eyes met, Rhone pleaded with me silently, moving only his eyebrows: Don’t tell anyone.
The reason the Harvester from our ship had been angry at him was something else entirely. The two of them were deliberately letting us misunderstand.
My hand hurt. Silent-chan was gripping my left hand tightly, her eyes beneath those long lashes fixed on Rhone.
I wouldn’t tell. I couldn’t tell. But—I remembered. The moment I was killed.
Dizziness hit me, and I crouched where I stood. I shook off her grip, covered my face, but the world kept spinning.
“Kaori-san!”
I knew from his voice that Oze-kun had dropped to one knee beside me.
Oze-kun had always been kind. A truly good kid. Yet he had lived his life hiding that kindness from everyone, choosing solitude for himself.
He had been honest with me. Now, with hands larger than they’d been back then, he supported me, but even with that support, the room still spun around and around.
“Maybe lying down will help. Kaori-san, the infirmary’s just two doors down. Please hang on.”
I heard the words close to my ear, and realized I was on Oze-kun’s back. Warmth spread across my back where his blood still flowed. It felt good, but the dizziness made me want to throw up. I couldn’t. Just a few more seconds. I couldn’t die again—not yet.
When we reached the infirmary, Oze-kun bent down to set me down, and I couldn’t hold back anymore. I stumbled into the bathroom.
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“Kaori-san!”
Oze-kun followed, but at least he didn’t barge in when I slammed the door shut.
“Kaori-san, are you okay…?”
His teenage voice overlapped in my ears, making me unbearably sad.
“…I’m fine. I think it’s seasickness.”
I wasn’t fine at all. Vomiting up something like stomach acid eased the nausea a bit, but the dizziness remained, and I couldn’t move.
“Even the dead get seasick—ah, sorry.”
It wasn’t his fault. I leaned against the toilet, keeping my head still, but it felt like the ship’s rocking was getting stronger. Come to think of it, the weather had been turning bad.
Voices outside the bathroom grew louder. Oh—it was the Harvester. I managed to turn the knob and half emerged from the bathroom, still kneeling.
“Hey, you okay? That’s what you get for messing around with people from the other ship.”
A strong arm helped me to my feet. A large hand covered my eyes.
He was cold and warm at the same time—like being inside a winter snow hut. The dizziness vanished in an instant.
“Thank you…”
“Don’t deal with those people anymore. Between this tall pale guy, the one with glasses, and your precious Aochi, you’ve got enough living humans. For Mamoru’s sake, too.”
“What?!”
Oze-kun looked at me with that teenage expression again. No matter what, I couldn’t bring myself to hate him.
“You’re kidding, right? Kaori-san, you and Aochi—”
“Oze-kun, you’ve got it wrong.”
The Harvester tilted his head, but Oze-kun, being straightforward, seemed to believe me. Of the three, Oze-kun was the one least capable of suspicion.
“I see… Good. Oh, and it’s good your seasickness is gone too.”
At his words, the Harvester let out a sigh so soft it was barely audible, saying nothing more.
Yes—since returning as one of the dead, the one I’d fallen for was him, the Harvester. He was fairly old, but still—That was something I could never tell pure-hearted Oze-kun.
Everyone seemed to be mistaking my attraction to Aochi-kun’s vitality for something else, so I decided to leave it that way.
“Oh, sorry for intruding.”
Rhone was standing at the infirmary door. He was much younger than our Harvester. Maybe there were Harvesters of all ages, or perhaps—
“If you managed to crawl back up, you should’ve just gone back to your own ship. Don’t come here.”
The Harvester turned with a resigned air.
“That’s because you took my passengers away. I’m worried about them too, you know.”
“And? How was him?”
“He was resting, protected by the sea. By morning, he’ll start moving again.”
The new arrival caught Oze-kun’s attention.
“Who’s that person?”
The Harvester answered as if it were obvious.
“The sea, sky, and wind that were only pretending to be dead are coming back to life. To guide them to the next world. I’m talking about the one who leads them.”
Oze-kun didn’t seem to understand at all, but in times like that, he had a habit of changing the subject.
“Ah, well… I see. By the way, Rhone, there’s something I forgot to ask you.”
“Go ahead. If I don’t want to answer, I won’t, but if I can, I’ll tell you the truth.”
He said this and sat down in a chair in the infirmary. I’d noticed back in the lounge that whenever he touched a chair, sofa, or table, he would run his fingertips over it almost lovingly.
“It’s about the ship’s destination. Our Harvester said something vague like ‘heading for the homeland of whoever’s will is strongest,’ but—I get the feeling Ululu and Silent-chan’s homeland is the same as ours. If that’s true, maybe we just never met Silent-chan before. But Ululu—someone like him would stand out.”
“You’re meticulous, I see. Yes, their homeland is the same as yours. That’s what being connected by the ladder means. Ululu was just born today, so of course you’ve never seen him before.”
Oze-kun was speechless. I wasn’t so surprised, since I’d had a feeling.
“Born today…? No way. He’s huge. Whose kid is she? Silent-chan’s? Or one of those dead people’s?”
It was cute how he leaned forward with his questions. He could be surprisingly assertive with anyone except me and Mamoru-kun.
“Well, a lot happens on ships that you don’t know about. It’s everyday life for us Harvesters.”
Up close, Rhone had long eyelashes and a startlingly beautiful face.
“You’re only planning to take one of them to the next world, right? Which means you’ll kill either Silent-chan or Ululu again. Our Harvester said he wanted to save all three.”
“I don’t want to do that either. But whether I want to or not, it’ll happen. Your Harvester might be able to save all three. Maybe even Kaori-san and Mamoru-kun too. He’s an eccentric, after all.”
I wanted to look at the Harvester, but couldn’t. Somehow I knew what kind of expression he’d be wearing.
“You’re eccentric too. No—our Harvester is way better than you.”
“True. I always want to save my own passengers, but when it comes time to sacrifice myself, I get scared. I lose my nerve. I’m a coward.”
Rhone lowered his straight lashes as far as they’d go. The Harvester spoke to him.
“That’s the right answer. You’re right—I’m the eccentric one. Don’t imitate me.”
Even though I still couldn’t bring myself to look at the Harvester, Oze-kun, in his usual straightforward way, asked,
“Sacrificing yourself…? I don’t get it, but you don’t have to decide it’s only one person, right? I mean, I understand you can’t take bad people to the next world, but our Harvester’s way is right. The others should copy him.”
In place of the Harvester, who had gone silent, Rhone spoke in a sad voice, his head still lowered.
“You think he’s old, don’t you? He’s the same age as me. Every time he’s saved passengers like you, he’s been shaving away at his own life.”
Just then, the inside of the ship went as dark as night, and a flash of brilliant silver streaked past the window.