Vol 3 Chapter 1 (1/2)

Chapter 1

Tada Banri bowed his head to the Kaga parents

And then I backed off to get a wider view

Thishumans would have been forced to back off froa Kouko She must be a rather important person

At any rate, this evening's arrest was a sight to see--- Stickingmyself to the max in other people's problems What had happened in these past few hours was relevant even to me

It was about two hours ago

With such awful offenses: drinking while underage, even stealing a bicycle, she was interrogated in a room at the police station Banri ith her too And then, inevitably, as Banri's guardian spirit this me ith them too

Separated fro her, he proceeded uncomfortably under the cold flourescent lamps and was led into a room with some small sofas squeezed in

The room didn't look like it was ”for crih it was thein and out, and noisy offices nearby It sees

He was made to wait there for a little while No, quite a while

Up to that point the very picture of hesitation, looking around nervously, Banri had becoiven soh-looking uys in windbreakers, punch-per ”Well, well” They passed them papers and told them, ”Write clearly, OK?” Made to write his naood fortune fading, his nervousness returned and he began to tremble

So that's hoas Even he was nervous Scared, even Would these signed documents remain his whole life? Would these not haunt hiht like that when suddenly and oh the floor

'Errr,' Banri's mouth opened and a feeble voice came out His face fell into a servile smile

”Is she being arrested? I, I, I h I am to blame per, perhaps”

With nobody sitting in the sofa facing hiuys--- the police officers in the priht in the face Banri, in desperation, spoke as honestly as he could

With his fellow classainst better judge In retrospect, it was a disaster There were problems related to hisdays Perhaps persuaded by his drinking, he had dashed outside to the dangerous streets Kaga Kouko, before causing her own accident, desperately chased after him to ensure his safety However, unable to keep up on foot, requisitioned the bicycle temporarily, or rather, borrowed it The result turned out like this

They had caused a lot of trouble, both for the owner of the bicycle, and for the public in general

”Really I am very sorry!”

While sunken in the sofa, leaning forwards, Banri suddenly bowed his head It ht turn out pretty bad if he told the Of course, nobody noticed ards to the responsibility for the underage drinking, even the club ht be implicated

'Hmph,' they could not see his eely well, and one of the police officers nodded

Made to write the address and phone number of his home in shi+zuoka, his parent's cell-phone numbers and the name of his hospital on a fresh sheet of paper, Banri's hand holding the ballpoint pen tre the paper was tre as cold aslike crazy for sure Forms in hand, the police officers left the room

And then, when a little more ti towards the still open door At the sound of footsteps, Banri's face andcould be seen He realized they were speaking of Kouko, so and 'idiot' He wondered if they were Kouko's parents

Just then a policeman stuck his head in, ”Tada Mari, no Banri Your parents are already headed here” --- 'Really!?' I shouted As for the fleshly Banri, he looked up at the ceiling in silence and covered his face in his hands He slid fro

Even his parents had been called

By car? By bullet train? No, it didn't matter which, or how they did it aaahhh Aaaahhh It's coht

Their son: causing such trouble, nearly dying (al them sick, yet trusted and sent to Tokyo, was currently under arrest

How badly must you disappoint your parents, Tada Banri? Or rather, me

However, only a few minutes from that information, the same police officer (it seemed) reappeared,

”Your parents, they've turned back”

”Yes!?”

This time, Banri slipped down from the couch

With the sudden appearance of her parents, you could say that Kaga Kouko's release from custody was settled And so, with no bla home quickly, he wouldn't drink anymore until he was an adult

If he could have heard, the high-schooler victi his case for reienerous of settlements”, so to speak And what's uarantee of special consideration for his so-called memory loss be dis consideration Kaga Kouko, also, was reflecting deeply on her actions

And then even more, her parents were very respected doctors in the area, and as leading members of the Men's Club had contributed to society for hter's behavior from now on

Under such circuet off with only a light reprimand, and so on

The Kaga household followed right behind the police the lobby they finished up Banri stopped without thinking, and I collided with his back That hurt, I tried to tell the back of his head, but of course there was no reply

Saying ”We are very sorry Our daughter has caused you so much trouble,” their bodies bent nearly double, repeatedly bowing their heads, her parents see showed incredibly good taste Ordinary ed men and women around here--- say, for instance, Tada Katsuhiro or Mieko-chan--- were quite clearly of a different class That much was obvious to anybody's eyes, and to a spirit's eyes

And then, behind the two of thea Kouko

Her head hanging dejectedly, the torn knee of her tights had been repaired with a bandaid Her flower-patterned chiffon es could be seen on her white elbows and on her cheek, visible through a gap in her long falling hair Her high-heels were hanging from her hand by their straps, and on her feet were slippers Without heels, she was shorter, and looked completely dispirited

”Kaga-san! Are you OK!?”

Banri spoke up without thinking

It was at that moment

Pfft Making an iht breeze blew inside strongly The turned-around Kouko's long hair was blown high upwards with a whoosh, like soirly pro else was in slow motion

She located Banri, and twice, three times, shook her disheveled hair wildly, and struck a pose--- squinting as if looking into the distance and opening her lips partway, she held her disordered hair back fro the tip of her little finger With the suppleness of a she-panther she twisted her waist, put her other hand to her hip, and then,

”Mon bien-aimé”

She hispering Quickly Ecstatically

Buhaa! Banri suddenly explodedall over Drained of strength, I crumbled to my knees Kouko's mother pulled her hard by the belt attached to her dress, as if it were a leash

Kouko grunted once when she was yanked back trying to get closer to Banri, but she wasn't perturbed

Once again a pose at a 45-degree angle Fixing up her hair while flashi+ng a slittering Her chest, pushed by her arm, rose suddenly as if pushed out

”Doesn't it feel rather like we're already having thewith the family?”

That the police didn't stop him was perhaps due to the speed of his fist, or a reluctance to judge Kouko's father's right fist knocked an awful dent in the back of his boy-crazy daughter's head Crack! At the sound echoing from her skull, Banri automatically drew back, and I disappeared behind Banri As for Kaga Kouko, did she say ”The cops don't they stop so much as a mosquito?” or no, was it ”Come to think of it, why are we still here?” She suddenly turned lightly back towards her parents and,

”Hey papa, uy?”

Looking quite happy, she pointed towards Banri

Up to thattired Transported as she was, to an extreme those ell in my world would not find funny, her parents looked wordlessly at their broken-down daughter, their shoulders drooping

And then Banri,

””

He could see that her parents were at their li silently

It was too s at once, emotional and physical tatters strewn about They couldn't even open their mouths any more

And then I pulled back to take in the big picture

He hadn't decided to start going out with that aoman, had he?

Before, in this irl She was , proether to become an official couple

Anyway, unable, of course, to ask such a presumptuous favor as ”Could you drive me to my apartment?” Banri headed for the station by hi, hunched over like a shrimp

It was nearly the last train, horribly crowded inside Jostled by drunks, Banri planted his feet firmly, closed his eyes intently, and endured the confusion and jolting

Indeed, for things to turn out like this--- I don't kno ain, I was pushed into Banri's back the very same way

Of course, the biggest ”indeed” to this point has been my death

Having an accident, falling froh school, I, or rather my substance, was expelled frohteen years up to that point as Tada Banri could no longer return, the enosed with ”ed And then I beca like that, always at Banri's side

As it was, he wasn't going to entertain any notions as to just how bad a relationshi+p the living Banri was headed for

His cell-phone buzzed, a text-h he didn't want to move his arm, he opened his phone anyhow to check it It was fro details from hoe, and we're already ho 'reply', Banri stuffed his phone back into his pocket

”Excuse ,” hisfor the train, her voice sounding very tired ”Though I intend to worry about you your whole life long,” he had been told

Not replying to the text, there were still two more The sender for both of them: Hayashi+da Nana

Linda

---Linda

Banri looked at the as facing In the gaps between people's heads, the dark Tokyo night could be seen Tada Banri's face, reflected in the glass, was alone, naturally

A young, tireda hard look at hi ehtful shadow crossed his face Little by little, the saze sadly downcast, his face reflected in the glass shook back and forth as if he atching other people

Thinking about his new lover, and then about his future, he's probably getting lost in confusion and fatigue

Banri thinks ofthat despises his very existence, and is trying to drag him off into the world of the dead

While watching lass, I spoke softly to Banri's ear

I've never thought of you reproachfully

I've already resigned ht of wanting you to die I've not been trying to pursue you, to run you down

Of course, there is no doubt that I am ”The Ghost of the Past”

But I don't even have a reason for staying here Thinking that I a you down, about the stress of the situation, I say to myself, ”There's no way I can have a healthy life fro weariness of the soul (surely an illusion without substance), kind of It's a bad dream

Still, I simply cannot help but be here Because I cannot disappear, I cannot help but be That's all there is to it, really

”Lord Ro~me~o~”

So pure white reached towards him from the corner of his eye,

”It's tie”

”You”

Suddenly Banri's left arhtly like that,

”surpriseda mochi to me as a prank!”

”I am not a rice-cake”

It's me, c'est moi,

”I'm Kouko, your woman, your Juliet!”

A broad smile and upturned eyes

Kouko, the white hand that had been htly to Banri's arm still, made her eyes sparkle

”Good , Tada-kun”

”Goo”

His tongue tied, embarrassed, this ti slackly with his whole face, his expression began to slowly azed at each other,mochi to mochi

”Good a-san”

Kouko said ”good hed together

Like that

That one night unlocked the present The two of the boyfriend and girlfriend In the school of life, being called ”a couple” should earn you a credit

Holding each other's hands, they felt like spinning round and round at this place Though they didn't, already all the world was turning into a stage for the two of them

This traffic jaht This crowd as a parade of blessing, the beep of the ticket gate an angel checking out a tru each other in warrance of rose eau-de-toilette sweetly overflowing, Banri would go weak in the knees First thing in the ht away

In love as he was and continued to be, it'd be fine if he fell down in front of Her Majesty's beautiful face, if she wanted hi, the ticket gate of the nearest station to the university was the stage for the new couple's debut, at the precise time the school commute was at it's worst

For the people going to and fro, crowded together horribly in this narrow place, stopped in a passageway, twoat each other were an infinite nuisance If it was an older's person's throat, then the sound of the angel's true of love, but just an unexpected cry of welco the flow of people,

”Ah, excuse us! Oh no! Sorry!”

For the ry people pummeled Banri on his back and rump They took the opportunity to run over his feet with their carry-ons, not even excusing the noises Banri turned around to face the while he hurriedly bent backwards, standing tiptoed, bending his body in a vain atte the flow of people

Off to one side, Kouko maintained her pose

”You knoaited here thirty ?'”

She grabbed hold of the ar her head to one side, like a child pestering so

”Thirty minutes? You waited in a place like this? You could've sent me a text”

”I wanted to show ”

”Fuzzy?”

”It died waiting for Richard Gere”

Showing hiht both her softly clasped hands before her face, stuck out her tongue, said ”he he he he” and looked up at Banri

”E, e, e? D, dog?”

”Yes, a dog! Isn't it in shi+buya? Look, that dog”

”Eh? Are you by chance talking about Hachiko?”

”That's it, fantastic, Tada-kun! We understand each other, of course!”

Kyaa! He stared at Kouko as the lonely faithful dog, but a huge questionaround inside Banri's head Why'd she coure out No, no Wait, wait, before that,

”Waited for Richard Gere as that about? That was maybe the first time I'd heard of it”

”Hahaa”

Kouko poked Banri's chest lightly with her index finger ”I knew it,” she said, chuckling

”You're i!”

Not even being given the time to deny it,

”That one, in U-e-no But in that case, nobody died waiting Probably So, let's go soou-san, stroll around Ueno Park and shi+nobazu Pond, walk around the art museums, and take the time we have left to see the zoo We can skip the panda But what a fun date it would be! Hmm, in that area, what people are out in the open air are a few and far between, though wouldn't you say they're also 'part of the scenery'?”

”In other words Ueno, I ah, whoa!”

Struck on the shoulder from behind by a blood-thirsty salaryman, Banri stumbled forward

The next train leaving the platform, an ever more numerous crowd of people descended on theate With Banri and Kouko just standing there, facing the transfer gate, right in thewithout a care in the world, they seeh

”For now, let's walk! Let'sa nuisance waa, sorry, I stepped on your foot!”

While taking the lead and heading out, he tried to take Kouko's hand in acrowded, and soon the flow of people had separated him from Kouko

Moving helplessly forward, he was about to escape to the side of the station to wait for her a bit Kouko, falling out of the crowd a moment later,

”Phew Wasn't today's rush hour a bit worse than usual?”

She straightened up her slightly mussed up hair

”It looks like the subas running a little late, maybe that's why”

Banri tried to casually take Kouko's hand, but,

”Oh, that reminds me”

Unnoticed, Kouko had her hand deep into her bag, ru sure her wallet was OK, that it hadn't been lifted And then, noticing that Banri had his hand held out,

”Eh?”

With an innocent face, she tilted her head to one side in curiosity

”Hmm?”

What? Though it doesn't ely e, Banri pretended to scratch his head

It was a mystery to hio, but now he couldn't, onceand confusion oodthe next rush-hour, then he had better not let go for a lifetime

For the ti hands at school, Banri and Kouko stopped shoulder to shoulder in front of a pedestrian crossing Closing her sparkling eyes a bit, Kouko said ”I' to need a parasol soon” and held a white hand over her face The beautiful geers

Today's weather being thin white clouds, Banri laughed ”You're exaggerating,” and stared at her ”Yes it burns, it really burns, or rather I' roasted,” said Kouko, her hand still lifted up, stubbornly shaking her head side to side

According to the television weather forecast, the Okinawa region was already entering into their rainy season, but in the heart of Tokyo there wasn't so ely warm The temperature would likely rise fro up Under a long-sleeve shi+rt, Banri's skin et already

Crossing elegantly at the green light in her high-heels, Kouko peeked at Banri's face a little mischievously

”To to ambush you in front of your apartment With a parasol and ThreePlus SPF 50 UV sunblock”

”By all means, by all h If we go to school together, then we can try to calm ourselves down in a quiet place half-way there Ah, just kidding A noisy place is fine, of course Squeezed to death by the crowds, in a busy spot”

”Because, I love”

Going behind the narrow street's guard-rail, they walked one behind the other

Casually checking his appearance reflected in the glass fronts of the aptitude test prep schools, Banri looked back at Kouko's white face, following close behind him He indeed looked like a stalker Shefor with that hand, like a private eye busy at his craft, but co to a realization,

”Tada-kun”

At the unexpectedly sords, his feet stopped automatically I love you Tada-kun

”For that reason, appointments are forbidden I don't want to waste so ether with Tada-kun fro of every day, from the first second”

Kouko passed by the halted Banri, stepping out in front in her high-heels Looking back, tilting her head in query, she asked ”What's wrong? Shouldn't we hurry?”

This is only the beginning there's a long way to go yet and he would try to be equal to the task, and yet he found his face heating Unable to keep a straight face, Banri laughed A huge grin on his face, head over heels in love, turning into a mochi, at such a level he'd never seen before,

”Wahahahahahahaha!”

A laugh frohed loudly He shook all the way to his clasped hands Even standing lightly on his tip-toes

The busy people going to and fro in the narroay early in the ood distance fro students, with their bizarre expressions, daunting stance and deep breathing

While he was laughing, Banri was thinking

He wondered when, nor loved by somebody, to that reality His current self, at least, was not at all used to it He could hardly believe that he and Kouko were going out together Too happy, having too h like an idiot

Kouko laughed too, s loudly, to return to sanity Not Banri, nor in fact any other person passing by, see wo: how could such a person as this love me?

Kaga Kouko was perfect The Gods selected her spirit, deliberately and carefully, giving her literally perfect form

Look at her Those finely shaped features, her beautiful looks

Her wo bow, in beautiful style Graceful legs and feet A delicate frame Muscles softly outlined in shadow

Polishedit saw and a shi+ny, deep red rose-colored lip gloss The contrast between thehted the beauty of her face

Next, she earing a long silk and linen cardigan Slender pants which eh-heeled sandals that see from her shoulder, black calfskin leather rather squashed, perhaps due to a pocket copy of the Six Codes

Today she had done her dark brown hair in wavy curls, with a bright e partway down her back in ”Kaga Kouko Indeed” style Recently, the college girls were all wearing hair-bands and scarves, soht was due to Kouko's influence It st Banri's group of students, the style was introduced first by Kouko, and spread from her

So The woman is all-around perfect Everybody is aware of her Everyone looks at her

Blessed with exceptionally good looks by nature, having good taste, unsparing of ti herself by degrees, attaining to a state of perfect beauty Making the effort, spending the s in preparation, Kouko was now in a specially blessed place No, if you speak of blessed, there was one --- to the extent that the upper class barrier protects a person fros, she has not been hurt even once

On the other hand, with regards to Banri

Without realizing it, his laughter stopped He looked down upon the fool he was becolass wall, his was just another unrefined form

Apart from his second-hand deni at a slant, his Jack Purcells worn Spiced by Koenji, brought to life at shi+ blasé about branding a typical, ordinary person's outlook carried to an extreue fellow that could be found anywhere A boy punched out by a sta press in God's subcontractor's subcontractor's subcontractor's subcontractor's factory by an old guy naked froarette stuck into the gap where one of his front teeth had been knocked out That was Tada Banri

He wasn't even thinking about whether such a self would really be good for a girl's boyfriend Which wasn't to say that he wasn't thinking To get along together well, you need to hts at first

Hadn't, and yet,

”As for a-san makes me happy”

That was the reality

He really was dating Kouko Without thinking about it, heon his joy

”Come now, Tada-kun”

Kouko,her hand to her chest, looked back at Banri and suddenly looked sad, as if she were about to cry Banri reached out nervously, trying to touch her shoulder softly Even frohtly, like wet gemstones

”I could go to meet you at your house every day, for sure I wasn't the one who said, 'I wouldn't want to waste one second' So as to not wander about too much, just where was the nearest station? If I can be with you, be it to ambush you or to stalk you, whatever you like”

However,

”Ah, err”

Suddenly, sticking out her lower lip as e look on her face, Kouko separated herself fro towards campus

”What was that all of a sudden?”

”It's rather hard to say”

Looking back a little aardly,

”Coood”

That's right Sigh

He forced a haphazard s after her, Banri called ”Hold on!”

”Eh, not good!? What's this: planning to stalk me is OK, but for me to do it back is not allowed!? How selfish!+”

”You misunderstand! It's not what you think It's just, ether, it looks like”

”Don't want to see, us!?”

While chasing quickly after Kouko, who didn't seeht, it suddenly dawned on Banri His heart beating hard, he covered his mouth

We're from different classes, they have their so-called way 'Our Kouko and this idiot are out of control already! Isn't what's happening typical? You can't be friends with such an unknown boy, who made you steal a bicycle Besides, he lost his memory'

”Wow are you serious!? They're against us going out!? No way! I's over with your parents! No way, parents against our dating, there's absolutely no way, no way no way no way!”

For the happiness so hard to find, that he had at long last caught hold of, to be cut lose this way---!? Such a deter Banri into a real probles were, their upper bodies swingly wildly forward, he and Kouko were coether quickly and siuard, Kouko uncomfortably pointed at herself

”Whoa there, Tada-kun Cal Besides, there's the other side of it It's a problem for me”

The other side? Giving a big nod towards the confused Banri,

”So it is They told eness stuck to you, your life was going to go aet!”

”The old target Yana-ssan?”

Turning suddenly, he wondered if the way her big eyes could be seen spinning was an affirmation

”Speaking out of turn, I even made probleh already! Hoful! You were scolded your nose seeh”

'Oh,' holding her tongue in front of Banri, Kouko let out a sigh once ed, downhearted

”Between Father and Mother, in the end, they were talking about locking me up in a cell”

”Huh? You have a lockup? Isn't it enough that you have poisonous snakes? Wow, incredible, Tokyo's Mystery Zone”

”We don't, of course And that's probably why I'm a free woman But, when for a mos under the floor, I was a bit, nervous”

After politelya pose like a runner, Kouko took the lead and went up the stairs to the law building lobby Pushi+ng open the glass door, the two of them walked happily side by side into the confined atmosphere there

Sleepy-looking students were leaving from there in twos and threes, apparently fros

If he thought back to the confusion of when he'd just entered college, it seeht even be a inal smallness of the central city campus

Kouko looked at her wristwatch, and once h

”So, we truly have some difficulties in store Ro in open opposition to our parents, like poor Roht even take poison together”

Banri was about to reply, 'But those two people poisoned themselves separately' when she looked up at him,

”That reminds me, what about your parents? Did they talk to you frooing out together?”