Vol 8 Chapter 5 (2/2)
So, is this the reason? Is this why Ayaka once grew thereenhouse?
“This is yet another mutation of the mutated variety that Hakamizaka shi+rou found in Iran”
Alice said, looking at the dazzling white wrapping up the rooftop
“Iharagi Tomoki probably made them bloom only once on his school's flowerbeds That hen everything started Hakamizaka and the others fixed their eyes on this whiteness They wanted to ain someday”
The reason why Hakarow different flowers A really simple reason And the blue flowers that hadn't rowing on Ayaka's hands
“They're not narcotics Major investigated the but beautiful flowers”
I nodded faintly My heart was still iht
“Of course, this iswhen he wasany the deceased They just drifted away ai only this beauty behind”
Is that a bad thing? The detective smiled
How stupid For the sake of this beauty, a great number of people died The only reason they had to live was staring at this beautiful thing
When I came to my senses, I asked Alice:
“But, what's with these flowers? Why are they here?”
“Hm? I asked Major to pick them up from that elementary school, and we let them bloom”
At thatup the stairs behind
“Alice! I called Fujishi+ma-kun but--”
Ayaka's voice hit my back
“Ahh, that's not fair! I wanted to see Fujishi+ma-kun's surprised face!”
“It's okay, Narumi still probably has that stupid look on his face We still have thole hours You can look at him as much as you like”
“What do you think, Fujishi+ma-kun!? Aren't they pretty!? This is a celebration for your pro the year!”
“Aah, yeah”
I gazed at Ayaka as now bywhat face to make
“Sorry I'et this started with soht I should show the flowers to onii-chan before the blossoms scattered, so I dashed to the hospital!”
Onii-chan That word echoed insideme stiff
So, did Ayaka remember Toshi+-san? Her father? Even Hakas? And despite all that, she can still get close to poppy flowers?
Yet Ayaka just smiled, embarrassed
“Ahh, but since I still can't remember onii-chan's naht? Toshi+o, Toshi+o”
A feeling like lukewarm salt water which I didn't know if it eariness or relief spread inside my chest
Even after all she has lost, she always lived with a smile Even now
“What did Toshi+ say when he saw Shushuri?”
“'He said ′What? Ain't it just a norht?”
Alice's shoulders shook as she laughed
“Don't laugh Sheesh I didn't really understand all that you told h lots of trouble for these flowers! They don't grow in japan's soil at all, so he can't possibly understand how difficult it was to make them bloom”
“That man has a poor sense of aesthetics Look, in many ways he's si out for a while now”
“Yeah? I don't think they're sih”
At that casual statement, my consciousness finally returned towere connected to ain
Toshi+-san and I were siht differently I have changed, and Ayaka has changed too It's that siradually walk away
What Ayaka was groeren't raw materials for narcotics The sin that had crushed Ayaka wasn't a sin after all
But, what about that? It doesn't matter She's here, and all that ht?
“What do you think, Fujishi+ma-kun?”
“Ah, u-uhm”
I inhaled the scent of the flowers, and ascertaining the fact that I was able to breath, I exhaled
“These flowers sure have a strange shape”
“You're not going to say so-!?”
Tears appeared on Ayaka's eyes as she grabbed ized with a “S-sorry”, her tears quickly disappeared Oh, crocodile tears
“But it's frustrating, I thought everyone would cry This will probably be the last time we see these flowers I don't have all that money after all”
That's right, money Wasn't a lot of money necessary for the fertilizers and medicines?
“How did you get the money?”
Ayaka was about to speak, but she noticed so
“Our sponsor has come, too”
I turned around
Yondaime, who had pushed the door open with his knee and stepped on the rooftop, looked at me first and frowned, then he looked at Ayaka and Alice for two seconds with a sullen expression, and after that his eyes returned tothat sa that day when I saw hiency, he looked scarier than ever For so on his left hand
“Huh? Those flowers sure have a weird shape” Yondai at the fully bloomed Shushuris
“Now these two are quite silare from Yondaime
I raised aze to look at Yondaie to aze
He hasn't done anything wrong, and neither have I—No matter how many times I tried to persuade myself with that, it was useless
“Uhm, hy?”
“Beats me Those two called me”
Surprised, I looked in Alice's direction Not only Alice called him, Ayaka too?
“You know, Fujishi+ one of the poppy floith her finger “I did sos to Yondairy, Fujishi+ma-kun”
“Wha--”
“He even payed a coes, and thus this matter ended”
I looked at Yondaime's face once more With a sullen expression on his face, he stared at the white angels surrounding us
“And why did you make me buy this?”
Yondai in Alice's direction Ayaka as by her side caught it in hot haste
“Don't throw carbonated drinks, you barbarian!”
In a huff, Alice took out dark red cans fro in Ayaka's hand and piled them up on the concrete floor They were Dr Pepper cans, four of them
Then, Alice looked ats to this extentunable to look at hi to himDr pepper cans and spoke:
“The first time, we did the Hirasaka ceremony This time Can we do it in Alice's style?”
“Do what you want”
We stood in a circle around the Dr Pepper cans Yondaime and I faced each other, with Ayaka as the witness on the left and Alice as the go-between on the right
“I think I said the sa last time, but I don't know any speech for sake ceremonies Does anyone want to request a speech in particular?”
“Idiot Just play house however you like Sing a song of that bratty hard rock you're so fond of if you want”
“Bratty? What's your proble? In the first place, it's not just so I'm fond of--”
“Alice, if we don't hurry, they'll get lukewarm”
Being admonished by Ayaka, Alice put a sulky look and took the first can
Taking a deep breath, she began her chant:
“One for love”
The first can was handed to Ayaka
“One for truth”
The next one was pushed into Yondaime's hands
“One for you”
I accepted the third one This—What song is it again?
“One for me”
Alice, as holding the teddy bear, took the last can with her left hand
“Where we once were divided, noe stand united”
Alice's voice sounded like she was singing a chorus Ahh, that's right, that song ritten by Jon Bon Jovi a year after a plane crashed into a building in New York A song about new blood
Alice pulled up the tab The sound of the carbonated bubbles popping overlapped The four blood-colored cans were raised and ca voice followed
“—We stand as one Undivided”
When I took the first sip, the bubbles burnt my mouth cavity I didn't quite understand the taste It was like sertips
“Tastes awful as usual”
Yondaime spoke in a subdued voice, and Alice ruffled up her hair, exasperated
“Not only you don't have a sense of aesthetics, you don't have a sense of taste either-!? I won't tolerate insults to Dr Pepper, if you think it tastes bad, file your reasons in writing, and it should rival the length of the Raument-”
A strong wind suddenly blew on the rooftop, interrupting Alice's voice
The first to notice was Ayaka, who turned around whileher unraveled hair, Alice turned her back too, looking ard Yondaime also looked up at the sky over my shoulder
When I turned around, I saw the grains of pure white light scattering towards the clouded winter sky The flower petals coiled in the wind, being released one by one, and flying away The slow tail
“They're scattering”
Ayaka's voice was blown by the wind together with the petals, disappearing into the sky We bid farewell to frager had angels A beauty that no one would receive It couldn't have been other way
While looking up at the petals groings and flying away into the deep blue sky, the words started taking forht The case is over And the winter ofthe spring
And of course, after my most tiresome case as an assistant detective, I waited for the brand new page of the notebook to open