#mai kamisaki | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

kaibutsushidousha · 4 years ago

Text

Cat, Ghost, and Revolution Sunday (Sagrada Reset 1) - Chapter 1: Starting on Sunday (part 3)

[INDEX]

Kei and Haruki split up immediately after leaving the café. Kei had asked Haruki to go to the bakery in front of the scene of the accident.

(She is not the best at starting conversations with strangers, but she isn't exactly shy either. She can get this done.)

After watching her leave, Kei went to a public phone in a corner of a commercial district. It was a phone without a booth, easy to slip unnoticed by people who didn't know where it was. He took the receiver, inserted a coin, and typed the number he had memorized.

He immediately heard a voice.

"The number you called is currently not in use. Please try ag-"

He picked up the returned coin and inserted it again. And then, he typed the same number.

"The number you called is currently not in use."

He kept repeating the process.

"The number you called-" "not in use. Please try-" "again. The number-" "called is currently not-" "try again."

The soft voice of a woman repeated insistently.

Kei mechanically continue the same process, until eventually

"The number you called"

The voice on the receiver changed. To be precise, it was the same inorganic voice, but the tempo changed.

"not in"

Kei opened his mouth.

"Asai here. I have something I want to know."

The voice said "Please try", but the sound was overlapped with three different beeps. And then,

"again- It's been a while, Kei."

The voice on the phone responded. It was still the same inorganic female voice as before. Kei told the person on the phone that no one could overhear them, and sighed quickly.

"Can you consider trying a different system?"

(And stop talking in this voice while you're at it. I've gotten used to it recently, but it was really weird and unpleasant at first.)

"Nope. What am I supposed to if someone, I don't know, traces my voice patterns to find out who I am?"

"What's wrong with that? You might finally make some friends."

"I look like I have no friends to you? Really? What a shock."

(Honestly, I was doubting if they even had acquaintances. That said, they're just a person I call on the phone from time to time. I don't know them enough to feel confident that they aren't full of friends.)

"Do you have any friends?"

"I do. Just you and Tsushima, but I do."

"We'll talk about that some other day."

"That was mean. Why can't you be friendly like me?"

(This voice can make any small talk get creepy.)

Kei didn't know who was on the other side of the phone. He didn't know their face, name, or even their gender. He referred to them as Unknown Caller, but Tsushima was the one who made up that name. All he knows about them is that they gather all sorts of information and share them under special conditions.

"So, today you're looking for a cat, was it?"

"Yes, you're right."

(They must have heard from Tsushima. He loves to pull strings at the most pointless places. He might be trying to live his dream of being an evil mastermind.)

"I'll introduce you to a cat expert. This information will cost you exactly two pure white sheets and 3 T-shirts."

"Whatever, send the bill to Tsushima."

"Tsushima asked me to say no."

"Ok, then I'll pay you the sheets and shirts."

(I'll send the bill to Tsushima myself later.)

"Roger."

With that, the purchase of the sheets and shirts was debited from Kei's bank account. The fact that Kei didn't need to input his password is not a problem. After all, he had full trust in Unknown Caller due to his connection to the Bureau. Kei continued the conversation.

"Who is this cat expert?"

"Nonoo Seika, 15. Same age as you, but she attends a different school. Her ability is to share intelligence. Kinda similar to yours, I guess, although not by much. The catch is that her effect is limited to cats. She may be the biggest cat lover in all of Sakurada, and no one knows cats better than her."

(I see. That's convenient.)

"Where can I find her?"

"It's a weekend, so I guess she'll be at the Kamisaki Shrine. She often naps with cats there."

(Kamisaki Shrine. That's the shrine that'll host the festival I promised to go to with Haruki.)

Unknown Caller continued, enjoying himself for some reason.

"Want a little extra info, on the house?"

" If it's free, then it's for me."

"Okay, 'cause you're my friend even if you say otherwise. Nonoo is a student at Oomiya High, and usually goes to the shrine after school. She skips classes often, but not enough to threaten her academic progress. Due to her childhood relationships, the way she talks is kinda curt for a teenage girl, and the fact she's makes no attempts to fix it to this day shows that she's a bit lacking in friends her own age."

"Ok. I'll keep that in mind."

"Telling you her address wouldn't be legal, right?"

(The fact you know it is already a problem, I think. Well, you already told me about her school, so it shouldn't be hard to find her.)

"You already told me more than enough. Thank you so much."

" 'kay. By the way, I got something to ask you, Kei."

"What is it?"

"You know about the MacGuffin?"

(MacGuffin. I heard this name before.)

Two weeks ago, Tsushima ordered him to pass on a message. A message he didn't understand. "The MacGuffin was stolen".

"I think Mr. Tsushima knows it better than I do."

"He wouldn't tell me. In fact, he told me not to ask you about it. That's what got me curious."

"Then don't ask me."

"I was actively told not to ask, you know? It'd be rude to actually not do it."

(Your logic makes no sense, but I get what you're getting at. If Tsushima really didn't want Unknown Caller to know, he wouldn't have mentioned it by name... The MacGuffin. I agree it's a little intriguing.)

"You don't know what it is?"

"I know the dictionary definition of the name and the urban legends. But I don't know further details. Well, that's no big deal."

They said goodbye and hung up. When Kei put down the receiver, the coin he inserted rolled down. Unknown Caller's number wasn't a legally registered line, so the call wasn't charged.

It still felt bad to use the phone without paying, so Kei left his coin where it fell and moved to the bakery. He's very particular about this habit.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Haruki had already finished her questioning. She was carrying a paper bag, presumably because she bought things from the bakery during the conversation. Looking inside the bag, it was all cream-filled rolls.

"This one is for you."

He grabbed the roll she offered and took a bite. It was stuffed with very voluminous custard cream.

(That's very sweet. Nice. I like it sweet.)

After swallowing it, he started talking.

"What did you find?"

"The bakery employee didn't see the cat or the accident, but she thinks she heard the car braking. She didn't know the exact time, but she thinks it was somewhere between 8 and 9 a.m."

"I see."

Kei nodded. Murase found the cat around 9:15. No chronological inconsistencies here.

"What are we doing next?"

"Unknown Caller told me about a cat-loving girl. They said she has a useful ability."

Kei checked the time on his phone. 11:22.

(We don't have much time left, but I want to meet Nonoo Seika still today. I gotta go to that shrine she's usually in.)

Kei and Haruki left the commercial district. She was showing signs of interest, so he gave her a summary of his conversation with Unknown Caller along the way. After listening to his whole monologue, Haruki raised her head to meet Kei's eyes.

"What's a MacGuffin?"

"Great question."

(The MacGuffin. It probably doesn't have anything to do with our cat search.)

"You don't know it either, Kei?"

"It's not easy to explain. It's an unknown object."

Kei continued with an example he read on a book once before.

"The MacGuffin is the tool they use to catch lions in Scotland."

"Why Scotland? That came out of nowhere.", said Haruki.

Kei nodded.

"Because there are no lions in Scotland."

Haruki slightly furrowed her shapely brows.

"Is this some kind of riddle?"

"It's not that simple. A MacGuffin is a device that enables a situation. That's all the word means."

Haruki stopped to think for a few seconds, but she was quick to indifferently say she didn't understand, as she always does.

(I have to admit my explanation was terribly out of order. I'll start again from the top.)

"The word MacGuffin is a narrative term. It refers to the item that pulls the protagonist into the plot. It could be a mysterious suitcase forced on their hands, an indecipherable letter, anything really."

"And how do you use that to catch lions in Scotland?"

"The term was named after a story by Hitchcock."

What's that package up there in the baggage rack?'

Oh, that's a MacGuffin.

What's a MacGuffin?

Well, it's an apparatus for trapping lions in the Scottish Highlands.

But there are no lions in the Scottish Highlands.

Well then, that's no MacGuffin!

"You don't understand because MacGuffin is a word that never meant anything."

(A MacGuffin is a cookie-cutter trope. The MacGuffin should always be presented using the name of the physical object it actually is, "the suitcase", for example, instead of the actual word MacGuffin. The phrase "The MacGuffin was stolen" doesn't make any sense unless they're the words of an author still trying to come up with a plot.)

"The word MacGuffin must have some other meaning I don't about."

(Will I be able to become the protagonist if I discover this meaning? What would this story be about? I can't even imagine.)

The two arrived close to the shrine during their conversation. Both sides of the walk were filled with attraction booths for that evening's festival. Takoyaki, cotton candy, fishing. Most of them were ready to open, and a few were already doing business. For that reason, the walk was more crowded than usual.

"We were only supposed to come to this festival in the evening.", Haruki grumbled next to Kei.

She was expressionless most of the time, but at that moment she showed a bit of dissatisfaction. Kei could tell she was leaking her frustration to her face on purpose.

"We'll be back here in the evening. Oh, do you want me to buy you a candy apple?"

"No, it would be a waste to eat one in the afternoon."

"Candy apples taste the same no matter when you eat them."

"That's not true. Candy apples taste best when eaten in the evening, under the lights of a festival. They're not something one would go out of their way to eat in the afternoon."

(I'll agree the ambiance is half of the joy of stall food. That must be why you can't find candy apples in the supermarket. Ok, I'll save the mini sponge cakes for the evening myself, too.)

"You're right.", Kei nodded. Haruki smiled.

"You said something like this last year."

(Oh, she's right. I remember saying that.)

"But I'll gladly accept the candy apple if you're still willing to buy it for me."

"Let's save it for the evening. We're short on time, and look, we're not done with our cream rolls."

(That said, it's going to be a while before we get to the evening from my point of view.)

The duo hastened their pace, still checking interesting stands as they went, and climbed the stone staircase to the shrine. It has been a long time since the last time Kei was here. Around one year. Kei could remember the exact number of days if he wanted to, but there would be no point in doing that.

The shrine's grounds were far calmer. It's a lot less lively than it was in Kei's memory, but that's also because they weren't preparing for a festival on his last visit. People wouldn't visit the shrine because they were too busy visiting the festival downstairs. And, unsurprisingly enough, he didn't find any girl napping with cats there.

"Perhaps she's not here today?"

"Probably."

"Would you like to search around some more?"

"Yeah."

Kei looked around, giving a vague nod in response to Haruki. He found a calico cat.

He walked towards it. The cat couldn't decide if it wanted to stop or escape. Kei started talking before it could make its decision.

"Excuse me. I'm looking for someone named Nonoo."

(I'm already 15, so it feels horribly embarrassing to talk to a cat, but I was told Nonoo Seika's ability is to share information with cats. There's a decent enough chance that this cat could be passing on my words to her.)

The cat walked away, uninterested.

(That did nothing? I don't know yet.)

Kei kept talking to the cat.

"I want to ask her about a cat that suffered an accident yesterday. The cat passed away in front of a bakery in the commercial district. We might be able to save this cat."

The calico cat stopped and made eye contact with Kei. He couldn't get a read on what it was thinking. He felt like he was being judged.

"Please."

When Kei bowed to the cat, it approached him. The cat sat on his feet and rubbed its paw against his pants twice. Immediately after that, it walked toward the shrine.

"Is it asking us to follow it?", said Haruki.

"Let's hope so. Or else I embarrassed myself for nothing."

The calico cat walked steadily, without turning back to see who was behind it. Kei and Haruki followed it. Kei checked the time on his phone. 12:46.

(Almost out of time.)

The cat went behind the shrine. They could get a full view of the mountains from there. There they found a narrow and quiet staircase. It looked like an aged tombstone.

(This must be quite old. The stone got white from too much time in the sun, and the corners of the steps got naturally polished round.)

The cat climbed the stairs. Kei and Haruki followed it. The cicadas were chirping. The sunlight was filtered by the trees. Past the abrupt end of the staircase, there was a grassy hill. The sensation on the sole of their shoes changed. The lively summer grass was soft and induced a vague feeling of guilt.

When they least expected, the calico cat ran away. A small shrine was in front of them. It was surrounded by cats.

A girl was sitting in the middle of them, on the short staircase in front of the shrine. Her eyes were closed.

(She's like a porcelain doll. Even her eyelids are.)

"Are you Nonoo?"

Hearing her name, she slowly opened her eyes.

"Morning.", she said. Kei made eye contact. He could tell cats all cats around the shrine were looking at him.

"You said someone suffered an accident yesterday?"

Kei nodded.

"A gray blue-eyed cat with a crooked tail. His owner was a girl named Murase Youka."

Nonoo closed her eyes again. Kei checked the time. When he moved his eyes back to Nonoo, she opened hers again.

"Since when?"

"What?"

"When did this Murase adopt the cat?"

"6 months ago."

His answer made Nonoo shift her gaze like she lost her interest.

"There's no such cat in Sakurada."

(This can't be right.)

"You couldn't possibly know every single cat in the whole city."

"Why do you think so?"

"It's too much information to process."

(Just like how it's impossible to have read every book in the world because new books keep being written all the time, she can't know every cat with new ones constantly being born. I bet she doesn't even know the exact number of cats in Sakurada.)

But Nonoo nonchalantly answered.

"You only think that because you don't know how cats experience time. Matters impossible in human time might be possible in cat time. And vice-versa, of course."

(Cat time? That's hard to imagine. That said, this city is full of incomprehensible abilities. I don't have enough time to unravel every question that comes to mind. Right now I need to tell her our story as accurately as I can.)

"Look at this photograph. This cat was run over last morning in front of a bakery."

He showed her his phone screen with the photo Murasa sent him. She looked at the picture and let out a quiet, disappointed "Hmm".

"Now that you mention, I haven't seen him lately."

"The accident did happen. At least that's what we heard."

"But if you're telling the truth, how do you plan to save him?"

"We have an ability that can do it. Well, she does."

He answered and turned his head to Haruki. Haruki didn't demonstrate any interest in the conversation, but when she noticed everyone was paying attention to her, she offered Nonoo a cream roll.

"Do you want one?"

After a moment of silence, Nonoo shook her head.

"No. I'm fine. If we ever meet again, bring me cream puff from March Hall, the shop next to the train station."

"Ok."

Kei cut the conversation short.

(We're out of time. It's already 12:55.)

"We just need you to tell us more about the cat, please. If we know where he was and what he was doing in the past three days, we'll be guaranteed to save his life."

"I don't know, but I can find out."

"Please do. The cat's life depends on it."

Nonoo raised her eyebrow a little. She seemed confused.

"I'm indecisive. I don't know if should trust a man tailed by a girl."

(What? I have no idea what she means here. She could mean Haruki, but that would be a stretch.)

"Excuse me? I've been walking side-by-side with Kei the entire way."

Haruki denied her claim, but she was not who Nonoo meant.

"That reminds me. Is this Murase a woman with red glasses?"

"She is. Do you know her?"

"Oh, I understood everything. Give me a moment."

Nonoo closed her eyes again. She lied down on the stairs. Kei kept a close eye on the time on his phone's screen. After about one minute, she opened her eyes.

"Can't sleep."

(What the heck?)

"You need to sleep to use your ability?"

(Well, I shouldn't be expecting an ability not to have any restrictions.)

Nonoo scratched her head.

"Not exactly. But I must cease my thoughts to the point I forget my ego. Sleeping is the quickest way."

(What an annoying gimmick. Her ability takes time to activate and loses easily to physical interference.)

"It's mostly your fault. I was sleeping comfortably until you woke me up."

"What could I have done? I need you awake to talk."

"Appear inside my dream. Why couldn't you have done something that simple?"

"How do you suppose I could?"

"Don't ask. You know what curiosity can kill."

(But asking things is what I came here for. Wait, actually, I already got pretty much every I need to know by now. I'll just confirm one last thing and call it a day.)

Kei asked:

"If you use your ability, you'll know where the cat was, right?"

"Not if he's dead, I don't think."

(That's not important.)

"What if he was alive? Would you be able to tell?"

"I would. Is he alive?"

"He isn't."

(This is going pretty smoothly. Thank you, Unknown Caller. Sakurada has dozens of thousands of abilities, so with perfect data, you can always find the perfect ability for any situation.)

Nonoo closed her eyes again.

"I'll try to sleep. Sing me a lullaby."

"Haruki."

Haruki tilted her head slightly when Kei looked at her.

"I'll be doing the singing?"

"I know a good song. What was the title again?"

Nonoo hummed a melody.

Haruki was staring at Kei, flustered.

"Do I need to pick up from here?"

"You don't have to sing."

Kei checked the time. 12:58:47. This adventure didn't need to continue any further.

"Reset."

One word.

This was all it took for three days worth of the world to die.

#sagrada reset #cat ghost and revolution sunday #asai kei #yoshii ryouji #haruki misora #nonoo seika

3 notes · View notes