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Haruka had hoped to spend a relaxing evening at home, possibly trying to see if she could break through her artist’s block. Now, it seemed that wasn’t going to happen. Saruhara had called her, Tarou, and Kijino for a “summit conference” (the summit of stupidity, if you asked her) at Donbura to discuss what to do about Jirou.
The conclusion everyone reached was that they didn’t know what to do about his evil double, and the best idea would be to keep him away from Tarou as much as possible. In all, it had been a huge waste of an hour. Haruka thought it would at least be polite to offer them tea and snacks – which they’d have to pay for, except Saruhara. She didn’t have any sales targets, but surely Master would be happy with her if she brought in a little more cash.
“No, thank you,” said Tarou. “I had a wonderful dinner with one of my customers.”
“Hot date?” said Haruka.
It seemed to go completely over his head that she was teasing him, “No. I was invited in for dinner after a delivery.”
“Isn’t that, like, the second time this week?” said Haruka.
“Yes. Our customers often invite me to have dinner or drinks, but I’m not allowed to drink on the job,” said Tarou. “No one ever asks my co-workers. I wonder why?”
Haruka closed her eyes. The obvious answer was that he was – well, kind of charming, in his way. He was sweet and helpful, so it made sense that people would offer to repay him. He was also attractive and probably appealed a lot to bored, lonely people. Even her aunt had been pretty taken with Tarou. There was no accounting for taste.
She was walking home by the riverfront when a flash of blue caught her eye up ahead, close to the water. Haruka approached the familiar figure, “Sonoi?”
He turned around, his expression initially hopeful, but he paused when he saw her – “Ah. Good evening.”
Haruka’s cheeks puffed up indignantly. He might as well have said Ugh, whatever, it’s you, “What are you doing out here?” she said. “I thought you …”
She meant to say she expected he’d be in the Nouto world whenever he didn’t have to deal with the Hitotsuki or the Donbrothers on earth. But then, how was she to know what he did with his free time?
Sonoi blinked at her, and gazed up at the sky, “I wait here in case Tarou Momoi should return. If he did, we may have to fight, but … this is the spot where my feelings for him became clear.”
Haruka spluttered. Was he saying what she thought he was? “What?!”
“He asked me if I preferred the moon or the sun. I said that the moon is a liar, but I find it more trustworthy, since I can keep an eye on it,” said Sonoi. “Tarou understood me. From that moment, I knew.”
Well, it was cute and all that Sonoi was in love with Tarou, but Haruka didn’t want to hear about it. She had no idea what he was trying to say about the moon. If Tarou had the patience for that conversation, maybe he and Sonoi were suited to each other, “OK. Right,” she said.
Sonoi looked back at her, “Do you know where Tarou is?”
“I just left him. We were at Donbura. A café, where I work,” said Haruka. She had no idea if Tarou had told Sonoi about Donbura.
“We must go back there,” said Sonoi.
“Can’t. It’s closed.”
Sonoi grabbed onto the front of Haruka’s shirt, “Then you must help me find him.”
Haruka wrenched herself indignantly free from Sonoi’s grasp. She had more than enough drama going on, without getting involved in this too, “I have nothing to do with it! What do you want with him, anyway?” She should probably make sure he wasn’t planning to try to kill Tarou right away.
Sonoi fixed his unnaturally turquoise eyes on her and said, “I need to know he’s safe.”
“He’s fine,” said Haruka. “Unless one of his customers kidnapped him.”
The moment those words left her mouth, she knew she would regret it. Like Tarou, the Nouto didn’t seem familiar with jokes or sarcasm. Sure enough, Sonoi’s mouth dropped open, “He’s been kidnapped?”
“I was joking. I didn’t mean it,” she said.
“Why would you say such a thing?” said Sonoi, his voice dangerously low and calm.
Haruka took a step backwards. It didn’t seem a good idea to get too close, “He said that a customer invited him in for dinner earlier.”
“Who is this person?” Sonoi demanded.
“I don’t know!”
“Then you must help me find them. I need to protect Tarou,” said Sonoi.
Haruka was very close to screaming. She didn’t know why she didn’t just run, “He’s perfectly safe. He left hours ago. He’s fine.”
“I must tell them to leave Tarou alone. I am the only one who can defeat him.”
“No one’s going to try to defeat him –” That did it. She wasn’t going to get any sense out of Sonoi this evening, “Bye!”
She’d barely moved half a centimetre before Sonoi had clamped himself onto her left side - “Where do you think you’re going?”
***
Tarou hadn’t answered Haruka’s call, and he wasn’t at the offices of Shirokuma Express – which, as she’d pointed out to Sonoi, was unlikely anyway since Tarou had already finished work. Sonoi told her he’d been to the office before and knew a way in; then disappeared around the back. As Haruka began to entertain visions of herself in a women’s prison for facilitating burglary, Sonoi reappeared.
“Well?” she said.
Sonoi took hold of Haruka’s hand, and in the next moment, they were walking down a street she’d never seen before. Haruka blinked, trying to acclimate herself to her surroundings. She was about to ask Sonoi what had just happened, when it dawned on her; this was how Sonoza had taken her to Naoki Shiina. Evidently, it was an ability the Nouto had – “Where did you take me?” Haruka asked.
Sonoi produced a file from inside his jacket. He opened it and showed Haruka a piece of paper inside, “We are going to see Mrs. Mitsuko Kimura. Tarou Momoi’s most recent customer.”
“Because she invited him to stay for dinner?” said Haruka.
“Yes. I need to know what her intentions are,” said Sonoi.
“Probably nothing! He just delivered a package for her.”
“Let’s see what she has to say for herself,” said Sonoi.
“I’m not gonna bother some stranger! It’s getting late. I’m getting out of –” said Haruka.
The doorbell sounded. Sonoi had already gone ahead to call at the house.
Mrs. Kimura was well into her seventies, if not over 80. She probably wasn’t going to try to kill Tarou or seduce him. She blinked at Haruka and Sonoi through thick glasses, “Can I help you?”
Sonoi said, “I need to talk to you about Tarou Momoi.”
“Momotarou?” said Mrs. Kimura. “I used to read that story to my children.”
“Tarou Momoi!” Sonoi repeated, louder. Haruka looked around to make sure he wasn’t disturbing the whole street.
“I’m really sorry about this. A young man delivered a package for you earlier today, do you remember him?” said Haruka.
“Oh, yes! He was a very nice boy.”
The look Sonoi was giving Mrs. Kimura could have curdled milk. Haruka moved in front of him, “I’m sure he was. Sorry to trouble you –”
Sonoi pushed Haruka aside and said, “Did you invite Tarou Momoi for dinner?”
“Oh, yes,” said Mrs. Kimura. “It was the least I could do. He helped me move some furniture and dust the wardrobes, you see I haven’t had much help around the house since my husband passed away –”
“What did you cook?” Sonoi said.
“It was only some minced ginger chicken. Quite simple, but I always make it for my granddaughter –”
“Hmm,” said Sonoi.
“Let her talk. You keep interrupting her,” said Haruka. She spoke up a little for Mrs. Kimura’s benefit, “I’m sorry he’s so rude!”
Sonoi frowned, but continued, “What are your intentions with Tarou Momoi?”
“You’ll have to speak up a little. My hearing isn’t what it was,” said Mrs. Kimura.
“What are your intentions with Tarou Momoi?”
“He was here to deliver some vegetables. From my daughter. She met her husband on the internet and moved all the way out to Miyagi –”
“Do you plan on using Shirokuma Express again?” Sonoi said.
“Yes, I would like to. They’re an excellent company.” Mrs. Kimura turned to Haruka, “Do you work for them, dear?”
“Yes. Yes, we do. Thank you for your time, Mrs. Kimura. We’re grateful that you’re a satisfied customer.” Haruka began pushing Sonoi towards the door, “We really must be going now.”
“She didn’t answer my question! What does she mean to do with Tarou?” Sonoi said.
“Nothing. She’s about a hundred years old. She’s not exactly gonna elope with him,” Haruka said in Sonoi’s ear.
“Doesn’t Tarou look like my grandson Kenta?” said Mrs. Kimura. She showed Haruka a photo of a cute, college-aged guy with wavy hair. He might have looked a tiny bit like Tarou, if you were elderly and had really bad vision, which was clearly the case for Mrs. Kimura.
“Oh yes, he really does. Thank you for supporting Shirokuma Express. Please enjoy your evening,” said Haruka.
“Wait –” Sonoi began.
Haruka dragged him out the door and closed it behind her.
***
Mrs. Kimura was a little confused by her visitors. Why were they asking her about Tarou? She hoped he wasn’t in any kind of trouble. He was so helpful, and he did remind her of Kenta. The last time Kenta visited, he’d got upset when she opened the door to a tradesman, and told her she needed to be careful that con artists didn’t take advantage of her. Just because she was older didn’t mean she was totally gullible, but of course she’d take care. You heard all sorts of horror stories these days.
She took some hot water from the boiler to make tea, and then opened the back door and went into the garden, “Tarou?”
Tarou looked up at her, “Hello! Don’t worry, I’ve pulled up all your weeds.”
“Thank you so much for coming back to help me. It’s getting late. Come and have some tea,” she said.
She probably should have told her visitors from Shirokuma Express that Tarou was here, but then, he would have left with them and she’d have no one to help her with the lawn. It was difficult to manage by herself, what with the arthritis in her hands and the knee that needed replacing. Besides, she wasn’t sure she trusted that young girl. Would a delivery company really hire a teenager who couldn’t carry heavy packages? She’d call Shirokuma Express in the morning and check with them.