Nine in the morning.
That was around the time days at the Shirogane Detective Agency began, at least when we didn't have class.
The agency was on the second floor of a mixed-use building. When I unlocked the door and turned the knob, I was greeted by the familiar sight of the office.
I opened the curtains, then booted up my computer. After taking a quick look to make sure none of the new emails were urgent, I started to do some basic cleaning.
That said, since both the chief and the detective were neat people, the office stayed pretty clean anyway. I ran a broom over the floor, and I was starting to organize documents when the door opened.
"Good morning. You're early, Kimihiko." Nagisa Natsunagi came in, yawning a little. She hung her overcoat on the coat rack, then sat down at her desk and stretched.
"Didn't get enough sleep? I bet you spent all night watching foreign dramas again."
"No, my lab had a drinking party that went late yesterday. The professor stayed, too, so it was hard to duck out early."
"We're in the same lab, right? How come nobody invited me?"
Did the grad students and the professor just not know I existed or something? Would I actually manage to graduate? A little uneasy, I sat down at my desk as well. "I guess I'll get to work."
Nine thirty AM.
Now that two employees were present, we gradually got down to business…or that's what should have happened.
"Have we gotten any new cases?"
"Just marketing emails from a printer rental place."
"So it's the same as usual. I wonder if we'll get paid this month…" Nagisa slumped apathetically.
We hadn't gotten any proper cases since that infidelity investigation, aka "the stalker incident." That was partly inevitable, though.
The Shirogane Detective Agency didn't have a website. The only way we advertised was by posting a flyer on the bulletin board at the train station, and most people probably didn't even know we existed.
"Well, if that's the chief's policy, we can't complain."
According to Siesta, the service industry was all about assigning the right jobs to the right people. There were already plenty of places where regular people could ask for help and get it. She said our job was to be a place that would help the irregular types.
"I'll think I'll make a shopping run," Nagisa announced. "I'm bored. Do we need anything?"
"Snacks to serve clients with tea, maybe? Although we'll just end up eating them ourselves."
"True," Nagisa said with a laugh. Standing up, she grabbed her coat. "Want me to go with? I can carry stuff."
"Mm. If you're there, something weird will happen to me, so no thanks." "Not fair."
Nagisa left, and I was on my own again. The chief still hadn't come by yet. Ten AM.
I made myself some coffee, and when I got back to my desk, an email had come in.
It was from Noel de Lupwise, the Federation Government official. She hadn't contacted us since her visit two days ago. The email had a link for a video chat, and I got my headset out and responded to the call.
"Good morning, Mr. Kimihiko."
On the screen, Noel was primly dressed in a traditional Japanese kimono. She nodded to me. She seemed to be in her room; I could see European-style furnishings behind her. Had she gone back home? (She'd said she was from France, right?) If so… "It's the middle of the night over there, isn't it? You're sure this is an okay time for you?"
"Yes, I still have heaps of work to get through."
Apparently, the Federation Government was even harder on its staff than the detective agency was.
"Well, what did you need? If you want to talk to the chief, I'll go wake her up."
Siesta was probably upstairs sleeping peacefully right about now.
"No, that's all right. Grandfather told me how much the detective sleeps. He said she sleeps a lot, eats a lot, and she's still growing like a weed."
"What is she, a kid?"
While we were talking, a new email came in. This one had airplane tickets to France attached to it. They were for the Ritual of Sacred Return, ten days from now. For the Federation Government, this was unusually generous.
"I would like you to read through this email. We're also reserving a hotel for you. Do you have any requests regarding the type of room?"
"Nah, anything's fine. We don't care if you put all three of us in one room."
Back when I was wandering around with Siesta, just having a place where I could stretch my legs out and sleep was plenty.
"You three really are close, aren't you? Which of the two are you courting, Mr. Kimihiko?"
"If I were dating one of them, we wouldn't be sleeping three to a room. What kind of ethics do you think I have?"
"It's all right. I'll put together a list of countries and regions that allow polygamy for you right away."
"I know you're a government official; you don't have to show off," I retorted.
Noel dropped her cool, blank expression in order to smile just a little. "You three really do seem like family, though. I envy that."
"Like family, huh? As categories go, 'colleagues' is still more accurate."
Besides, if we were talking about family, Noel also had… I was about to say it, but instead of finishing my sentence, I decided to go with something else. "What are your living arrangements like now?"
"I've reassumed the Lupwise family name, but I live alone… To be honest, my memories of that house aren't very good ones."
"…I see. You still see Bruno, though, right?"
"Yes, we dine together and talk about unimportant things once a month, every month."
Considering their respective positions, they probably couldn't talk about work most of the time. Bruno had been the Information Broker for much of his life,
and he said he almost never shared his knowledge. Even members of the government or his family wouldn't be exceptions to that rule.
"I don't know whether Grandfather really enjoys those meals. We simply make small talk."
"I doubt Bruno would meet you every month if he wasn't enjoying it, don't you think?"
"I…hope that's the case," Noel said evasively, averting her eyes.
"Still, yeah, you never do know what the other person's feeling, do you?" Noel tilted her head slightly. "You don't either, Mr. Kimihiko?"
Nope. I didn't know what Nagisa and Siesta were actually thinking now.
"You can only vaguely guess what somebody else is feeling from memory and the time you've spent with them. No matter how much you think about it, you ultimately have to let your ego make the call."
For example, They must be thinking along these lines, so if I do this, it'll probably make them happy. People are self-centered creatures, and that's the only way we can live. That's why we at least need to build relationships that can survive the clashes of our egos.
"Yes, that's right. I'm sorry; that was an odd thing to say." Noel looked just a little happy. "And thank you… If I'd had someone like you in my family, I think I could have held my head a bit higher."
"Is that a dignitary joke, too?" I asked.
"That's a good question," Noel said, smiling slightly.
"I'm sure you've got a lot going on, but for now, we need to focus on the Ritual of Sacred Return and stay alert."
We had ten days before the unknown crisis was supposed to occur. In the time we had left, we needed to figure out what we could do.
"For starters, could you send us the guest list for the Ritual? We'd like to get a handle on who's going to be attending, just in case. If you can't reveal information about people connected to the Federation Government, then just information on the people who aren't would be fine."
"Very well. I'll send it right over. At the moment, we're working to contact the other former Tuners. As Grandfather said, he wants to have as many comrades as possible."
Right—the more allies we had, the better we'd feel. After arranging to contact each other again, we ended our chat.
"Huh. You worry about some surprisingly delicate things, Kimi."
I'd thought I was alone in the room. But when I turned around, I saw Siesta
standing there.
"How much of that did you hear?" I asked.
"I came in at the part where you were worrying about love." There hadn't been any such scene. Probably.
"If you're wondering, I hear there are many polygamous nations in West Africa."
"Huh. Is that right? What I am wondering is, when and why did you check into that?"
"…I just know it as general knowledge." With a rather pointed cough, Siesta crossed to her own desk. As she booted up her computer, she commented, "I don't think you're wrong, Kimi."
I knew we were on a different subject now, but I had no idea what she was trying to say. I waited for her next words, and then—
"After all, there's a detective right here who was set in motion by one boy's ego."
Siesta's expression didn't change at all, but she was definitely looking at me. "I see," I murmured. I took another sip of my coffee, which hadn't quite gone
cold yet.
"I'm hooome— Oh, Siesta's up." Just then, Nagisa came back, carrying a shopping bag.
"I've been up for ages. I was just late because I took a shower and did some reading and had my tea and watched a movie."
"Ah, mm-hmm, sure. Never mind the excuses." Parrying Siesta with well- practiced ease, Nagisa set the things she'd bought out on the desk. "I picked up some yummy-looking bread at the station. Want to split it three ways?"
Ten thirty AM.
It would be a while longer before we actually got down to business.