Cross my heart and hope to die
Shortly after that, we reached SPES's test facility. Since this had been their base of operations, I thought information about Seed might still be here, but…
"Want to walk around a bit?"
Natsunagi and I explored the building, which looked a bit like a hospital. Not much sunlight made it inside. The rooms were gloomy, and the place felt deserted. Once I started to think we were wasting time just wandering around aimlessly like this, I was about to head for that other location, when…
"Natsunagi?"
…I realized she was pinching my sleeve between her fingertips.
"…I'm sorry." There was a shadow in her eyes, and a barely perceptible tremble in her hands.
…Oh, right. What sort of place had this research facility been to her? How had they made her feel here? It was no wonder Natsunagi was like this.
"It's okay," I told her. "There are no enemies here to hurt you now."
A year ago, SPES had already almost abandoned this place. Then, as Natsunagi herself had said, Charlie must have come here to investigate. We didn't need to be that wary anymore; it wasn't that dangerous.
"…Yes, I know. Logically, I understand that." But Natsunagi couldn't get her feet to move.
She knew this place was safe as well as I did. However, the pain and fear she'd experienced here long ago had left an indelible mark on her. That was why Natsunagi had unconsciously created Hel: to carry that pain and those memories for her.
—In that case…
"Here." I turned my back to Natsunagi, then put my hands behind me. "Um… Piggyback?" Natsunagi sounded bewildered.
Yeesh. Having her spell it out like that was embarrassing. "Well, you know. I can't give you a ride on the back of a motorcycle, but you can ride me." I prompted Natsunagi to climb onto my back.
"…Pfft!"
"Hey, stop. Why are you cracking up?"
Had she noticed my failed attempt to look cool? Well, I wish you hadn't. And even if you do notice, don't laugh at people's failures.
"Heh-heh, no… I just thought that line couldn't have sounded more like you.
Not that that's a compliment."
"What, it's not?! Why not?!" Never mind that, hurry and get on. Just standing here like this is embarrassing.
"If you say I'm heavy or something, I'll double-kill you." "I do have that much tact."
"Then okay, I guess… Thanks," Natsunagi murmured in a little voice. Then she jumped onto my back.
"Huh. You're in better shape than I expected."
The whisper had come from right behind my ear. "—Hel, huh?"
The voice was pitched a little lower than Natsunagi's, and then there was the way she phrased herself. I apparently had Natsunagi's second personality on my back now.
"Why are you here? You can just come out on your own like that?"
"This is a special case. As you know, this place is a little difficult for my master."
Had Hel emerged because she'd picked up on Natsunagi's fear? Just as she'd always taken on her pain and suffering for her?
"I thought I'd gotten her calmed down pretty nicely."
"No, have some common sense. Piggybacks won't work. Really lame. My master is kind, so she went along with you so she wouldn't hurt your feelings, that's all."
She'd just dropped a complete bomb. She had to be kidding. Was Natsunagi always looking out for my feelings like that? I'd thought we'd been having fun conversations; had it all just been in my head? Girls' mental ages might be higher than they looked…with the exception of Charlotte Arisaka Anderson…
"No, wait. In that case, why are you still on my back, Hel?" I thought piggybacks were lame.
"Oh, I just didn't want to go to the trouble of getting down. Besides…" Hel gave a wry smile. "I thought it might be all right to act as your partner, just this once."
Come to think of it, I remembered she'd tried to get me to be her partner at one point…although I couldn't imagine the words in the sacred text had been written with this situation in mind.
"And you helped Natsunagi out yesterday, too, didn't you?"
She'd told me that Hel was the real reason the Medusa incident had been resolved. Over my shoulder, I thanked her for giving my partner a hand.
"I swear. You have two Ace Detectives, and yet you lean on me." Right by my ear, Hel gave a faint, resigned chuckle. "I don't have a powerful sense of justice or strong passions that aren't swayed by circumstance, the way those two did. However, there are apparently places where devils can prove valuable by being themselves."
Her self-deprecation wasn't genuine self-loathing. Hel had once called herself a monster, but she'd been saved through her conversation in the mirror with Natsunagi. Natsunagi had told her that she certainly wasn't a monster or devil— she had always been particular about love. That being yanked around by trivial emotions proved that she was human.
"Well, I don't think it's the sort of move we could use again and again. In any case, my master is quite strong now, even without me there," Hel told me.
"If you can surface in Natsunagi's body, then what about Siesta? Could she come out anytime she wanted to?" I asked as I walked along, piggybacking Hel.
"That Ace Detective and I have different origins, so it's hard to say for certain," Hel hedged. "Even so, I can't see her taking control of this body again. She probably decided it was all right to loosen my bindings to a certain extent, and the relief sent her into a deeper sleep. Besides…" She drew a small breath, right next to my ear.
"Hel?"
"…Oh, it's nothing. I just thought that the Ace Detective really is the only thing you think about, in any situation," Hel whispered, making fun of me. Geez, that's extremely unfair.
"What, are you jealous?" "I'll drop you into hell."
"Why are you harsher than the detectives…?" Her threats made "stupid" and "double-kill" seem cute.
"Since you're a human who's been kind enough to get close to my master, I'm simply trying to secure you as her partner. I personally have no interest in you."
"I'm calling BS. You fought over me with Siesta."
"Why are you the princess?" Hel exhaled, sounding rather appalled. She's able
to show all kinds of different emotions now, huh. "As a matter of fact, I'm intensely irritated with you right now." This time, her voice was cold. "You're free to love that Ace Detective, but—"
"I don't love her."
"—But," Hel repeated firmly, cutting me off.
"If you make my master cry, there will be consequences."
Those were Hel's unwavering feelings toward Natsunagi. Even if it meant getting her own hands dirty, she'd try to protect her master's life. To her, it was an absolutely changeless vow.
"Yeah, I know." I nodded without hesitating. I did it for Nagisa Natsunagi's sake, of course.
Either that, or for Hel, who might have become my real partner on one of those countless potential routes.
"That's a promise, then," Hel said. She put her lips right up next to my ear. "If you lie—I'll double-kill you."
In a voice that numbed my brain, she made a promise for two people with me. "…Huh…? I…"
The next moment, the voice I was used to came back.
"Are you okay, Natsunagi? We're almost there," I said over my shoulder. "Ah… Oh, yes… I see."
She must have realized why her memories of the past minute or so were missing—but her sigh carried a hint of relief.
"Oh, sorry. You've been carrying me this whole time."
"Don't worry about it. Your boobs are touching me more than I figured they would, though."
"Didn't you say you had tact?!"
Forging ahead with Natsunagi still on my back—while she hollered at me to put her down—I stepped into the elevator that went underground.
"Does this thing still work?"
"I dunno. It did last year, but…"
This was the elevator Charlie and I had taken to the basement a year ago.
Down there, we'd encountered Seed, the leader of SPES. "Hmm?"
However, the instant the elevator doors shut, it was obvious that this time would be different. Orange light streaked across the inside of the mechanical box
in a mazelike pattern—and then the floor buttons stood out like 3D images. "…So we've got two options, huh?"
Only two floor numbers were displayed: B1 and B2. I didn't know why this system had activated, but…I didn't think the B2 option had been there last time.
Thinking I'd go with the safer option first, I pressed B1—and, with a dull
clunk, the elevator began descending.
"Listen, if this still has power, isn't there a chance that someone's here?" Natsunagi whispered uneasily in my ear.
Yeah, it might be a good idea to prepare for that contingency. But we'd only brought the bare minimum of weapons with us. Natsunagi had left the musket on the boat. The tension around us was rising.
"Natsunagi, can you walk on your own?"
"Yes, we'll have to be ready to run, just in case." "Yeah. Also, you are getting a little heavy." "You know, I may actually hate you, Kimizuka."
While we were talking, the elevator reached the first basement.
This was the research facility's core, and the place where we'd both encountered Seed: six years ago for Natsunagi, one year ago for me. Although there shouldn't have been any members of SPES here, what we found was—
"...! Why are you here?"
The room held rows of culture tanks, and inside one of them was—the body of a familiar white-haired detective.