Episode 110 – Fateful Threat

Tell her about me.

I don’t have anything in particular to tell this guy, even if she told me to do so. On the contrary, I don’t even think I should tell her anything unnecessarily. At least, there is not a single interesting story in my past.

“I’m just an ordinary high school boy.”

That’s why the answer I came up with was nothing more than that. But as soon as I said that, Yukihana next to me frowned. She didn’t believe a word I said.

“It’s absolutely a lie.”

“What makes you say that?”

“I know. You’re definitely not normal.”

The elevator arrived at the first floor at the same time as Yukihana said that. Yukihana follows behind me after I leave the elevator. Even after completing the formalities to end the meeting, Yukihana still asks questions as if she’s clinging to me……no, she develops her own theories.

“Normal high school students don’t disguise themselves, don’t use aliases……and don’t get involved with me.”

“Poor guy.”

“……Shut up.”

I thought I was allowed to make fun of her because she said something like self-deprecation, but that wasn’t the case. Yukihana’s face blushed a little because she felt a little embarrassed for saying it herself. However, as if to say that it doesn’t matter, she continues to repeat her words.

“Suddenly disassembled the air conditioner, had an impromptu exchange with my mother that only the two of you could understand, and did all sorts of other strange things.”

“It could just be a coincidence.”

“How can you find a bug by accident?”

It seems that Yukihana can’t help but see me as a special existence in her eyes. No, rather than special, it would be more fitting to say that I’m a different existence. Well, it was mainly my relatives who created the opportunity for me to become a so-called “weird guy”.

However, there was one thing that bothered me, so I decided to ask Yukihana directly.

“Hey, Yukihana. You’ve been talking for a while now, is your throat okay?”

“……Eh?”

I said that and Yukihana seemed to have noticed her condition as well. Come to think of it, I didn’t replenish any water in this heat. Even when I gave her the water, she didn’t pretend to drink it, so she must have been completely off guard. I guess she was just on the verge of dehydration rather than a heat stroke.

“……”

Yukihana turned the cap of the plastic bottle I gave her earlier and started drinking the contents while looking at me. It’s brand new, so I don’t think there’s much resistance, but it seems like she hasn’t taken it for a long time because it’s suspicious. But it seems that she couldn’t replace her own health condition.

“……That kind of accurate knowledge of other people’s physical condition is not normal either.”

It seems that she wants to know about me, no matter how hard she tries. She stared into my eyes and waited for me to speak, acting as if she would not let me go.

“What are you going to do now that you know about me? At least it has nothing to do with this case?”

“It has. You knew that scumbag. Then you must be related to him.”

“Now, now.”

“….Also.”

“Hm?”

“You’re always prying into my affairs. It’s not fair.”

Apparently, Yukihana is annoyed by the fact that her family environment and other details are continually known one way or the other. Or rather, there is even a section where it occupies the majority of the reason. I mean, Yukihana is calling Shinya a scumbag. Well, it’s not wrong.

“If you don’t tell me, I’ll tell Hisui and Nanase san.”

“Huh?”

“One call and they’ll both come.”

I didn’t expect it either, but apparently Yukihana had exchanged contact information with Nanase. It didn’t look like that when we went to that mansion together, so maybe they met again at school and were pestered to exchange contact information. As for Hisui, he would certainly come running here immediately after the one-call.

“Depending on the case, I might even involve your sister.”

“So why?”

“Just tell me quickly !”

Yukihana’s cheeks are puffed out and she is completely pissed off. The calm and collected atmosphere of the past is now completely gone, she’s like a spoiled child.

“……Sigh.”

I walked past Yukihana as if I was passing by her. Because it was such a natural movement, even Yukihana was dumbfounded for a moment. However, she immediately grabbed my shoulder.

“Hey, we’re still talking……”

“……Hm.”

“Eh?”

I pointed with my thumb to a nearby coffee shop. For the time being, I gestured to Yukihana that I would enter there and headed there. Then Yukihana stopped saying anything in particular and followed me.

We entered the shop and were taken to an empty seat. The number of customers was sparse, but the background music and conversation of the customers in the restaurant made it easy for me to talk about it. At least it was a good place to have a secret conversation.

We ordered our drinks as soon as we were seated. I ordered tea and Yukihana ordered orange juice. According to Yukihana, she doesn’t drink coffee, tea. She said they were not good for her palate. As I was beginning to suspect that Yukihana had a child’s tongue, she started to ask me questions.

“Then, let’s get right to it. First of all, where did you learn that dismantling technique?”

“Dismantling?”

“The air-conditioning thing earlier.”

I try to fawn for a moment, but apparently she won’t let me off the hook so easily. And Yukihana seems to put off the relationship between me and SHinya, which is probably the most important thing on her mind. Does she want to know what kind of person I am first, or does she want to put off important things for later? Or is it both?

But if that’s the question, I don’t have anything to hide.

“I just learned it from my father.”

“……Is he a craftsman or something?”

“Criminal.”

“Eh.”

When I said just one word, Yukihana froze. I thought back to the fact that I should have hidden it from her, but it was a thing of the past and there was no need to hide it. By the way, it’s my actual father, not my current step father.

“What kind of criminal?”

But Yukihana was quicker to come back than I had expected, and she was eager to know what kind of crime my father had committed. But to that I can only reply.

“Various.”

To Yukihana, it must have sounded like I was misrepresenting. She tried to get deeper into that part of the story.

“…..Be a little more specific.”

“No, it’s really various things. I don’t have them all figured out either.”

From controlling people’s minds and bodies to how to fight, from engineering to hacking into computers. I was trained by my own father in all sorts of criminal methods and techniques, at least the kind that can’t be revealed. He passed on various things to me with a devilish expression on his face, without regard to whether I was about to get hurt.

I don’t know why he trained me in such a dangerous skill unless I ask him directly, and even now I don’t know why he was doing such a thing. But the foundation of all the abilities that make up who I am was instilled and refined by my father. And I simply developed them as I saw fit.

By the time I can remember, my father was easily caught. I still don’t know what the circumstances were. But I heard that he was thrown into prison without any resistance. So I don’t have many memories of my father. All I have are the skills my father taught me, and everything else is pretty hazy. To be honest, I don’t even remember my father’s face well.

I heard that he is going to be released from prison soon, so maybe I will be able to ask him directly. Well, I don’t think I want to meet him at all. After all, there was no need to go to the trouble of meeting him. Besides, it would be troublesome if I had to involve my current family.

“According to what I’ve heard, he was on the international wanted list or something.”

“Huh !?”

“….Don’t shout.”

I regretted saying something unnecessary, I calmed down Yukihana, who was surprised and raised her voice involuntarily. I don’t know why someone on the international wanted list was able to get out of the cage in just over ten years, but I’m sure there was some kind of exchange going on that I didn’t know about.

And Yukihana did not go any further into the matter of my father. But what I had just told her seemed to have convinced her of the reason why I have a wide variety of abilities. She was probably considering the possibility that I was lying, but she finally asked me something that got to the heart of the matter.

“Tell me, then. What’s your relationship with this scumbag?”

“……”

“……Look.”

“Don’t try to threaten me by showing me your brother’s phone number.”

Yukihana threatens me by showing me the screen of her phone, saying that she can call her brother anytime with one tap. Moreover, Nanase’s number was really registered on it. Overall, the home screen is noticeably low on contacts, but I think it was well thought out because it could really be a tool of intimidation for me. If she had my sister’s contact information on the home screen, it would be a real threat to me.

“By the way, I hear Nanase san has a wide circle of friends.”

“……What’s your point?”

“She might have your sister’s contact information as well.”

In other words, Yukihana would like to say this. She can call my sister through Nanase. It’s an unreliable threat, but I can’t deny it because I’ve witnessed Nanase’s acting power and the scene where she met my sister in front of me before. It’s even possible that Nanase and my sister have exchanged contact information.

“Come on, speak to me.”

“……Pfft.”

“……What’s so funny?”

“No, don’t worry about it.”

I was honestly appreciating Yukihana’s bargaining power or rather, her destiny. She would threaten me and then try to expose the truth beyond that. I had been threatened by a different kind of threat when I was in middle school, but unlike that time, this time I honestly admired it in my heart as brilliant. The guy whose expression had been so clouded just a few minutes ago was coming at me with such a clear face.

What if Yukihana had not been involved with me? What if I had never met her brother? What if Yukihana had never met my sister or Nanase? If my actions had been even slightly off, this threat would not have been made. But she took it into her own hands and held it out to me as a weapon.

“…..Are you going to talk or not?”

“……”

“……You’re annoying.”

“…..Fine.”

I replied just before Yukihana tapped the call button. For the time being, let’s honestly admit defeat. I was rather enjoying the negotiation with Yukihana, but she seemed to have been nervous all the time.

I sipped the tea I had ordered and thought about the past. I dug up a memory from middle school that I didn’t want to recall.

“Right…….”

At least I shouldn’t talk too much about Shinkai. She doesn’t know that Shinkai and I had a connection in the past. The only thing she wants me to tell her is Shinya.

“Hey, Yukihana. Are you ready to betray everything and make enemies?”

“……Eh?”

Let’s talk about it anyway. I’m Shiina Kanata……or rather, Tachibana Kanata. I’m going to talk about what happened in those Middle school days.