chapter4 · 070-ep70

Episode 70: A Present

What the hell was going on?

Beyond the curtains I'd just opened.

Outside my second-floor window were two middle-school-aged kids—a boy and a girl.

And the moment he made eye contact with me, the boy smiled and waved.

No, no.

Explain yourselves before waving.

This is the second floor, you know?

I stared at them for a while, then unlocked the window for now.

"...Who are you?"

"You finally opened it."

"Of course I did. I want to know what's going on."

I opened the window a little and looked at them again.

Both looked completely ordinary.

They wore casual clothes and didn't seem to be carrying any large bags.

The boy and girl were clearly younger than me. I couldn't see them as anything but middle schoolers.

The problem was that ordinary middle schoolers didn't show up outside second-floor windows. Or float in midair, for that matter.

"So, who are you?"

"Oh, right."

As if he'd only just remembered, the boy pointed at himself.

"I'm an Achiever, just like you. My Observer role is Gate Administrator."

"...Gate Administrator?"

"Yep."

Achiever.

Observer.

At those words, it finally clicked why his face looked familiar.

"Ah."

Right.

I'd seen him before.

In the stream from a little while ago.

The boy in the white room talking about Achievements and World-First Rewards.

No wonder I recognized him.

"From the stream..."

"That's me!"

The boy nodded happily.

"And she's an Achiever too. My childhood friend, Mizuki. Her Observer role is Artificer."

"Haruto!"

The girl beside him turned to face him immediately.

"I always tell you not to use people's names in situations like this! And don't just announce my Observer role without asking!"

"But they'll find out our Observer roles sooner or later."

"That's not the point. I get to decide how much I tell someone about myself."

"Is that how it works?"

"Yes, that's how it works!"

...She was really tearing into him.

And thanks to that exchange, I now knew both their names.

Haruto and Mizuki.

Their Observer roles were Gate Administrator and Artificer.

The titles made them sound extraordinary, but watching them talk, they looked like ordinary childhood friends.

"Anyway, could you let us in?"

"Uh..."

I knew who they were now.

But that didn't mean I should let them into my room.

Haruto was the one who'd done that stream.

Mizuki was another Achiever and Observer.

I didn't even know how they were floating outside my second-floor window.

Should I really let people like that into my room without warning?

"If you don't let us in, I'll shout really loud."

"What?"

Still smiling, Haruto cupped his hands around his mouth.

"We're Observeeeers!"

"All right, all right! Come in!"

Please don't.

My whole family was right downstairs.

If someone shouted that from outside my second-floor window, I'd suddenly have a lot more people to explain things to.

"You could've let us in from the start."

"Whose fault do you think it is that I hesitated?"

I opened the window wide. Haruto came in first, with Mizuki following.

Mizuki closed the window behind her, so I asked her to lock it too.

"Thanks."

"Sure."

Wait.

Why was I letting a middle-school boy and girl into my room through the second-floor window?

How would I explain it if Mom came in right now?

They're my friends.

They came through the window.

Yeah.

I'd be the one who looked suspicious.

"So."

I turned to the two of them.

"What are you here for...? Actually, before that, how did you find me?"

That came first.

I'd never given them my address.

This was our first meeting. I'd never even had the chance.

"Oh, that?"

Haruto nodded like it was nothing.

"I'm the Gate Administrator. I can tell roughly where the Observers are."

"...You can tell that too?"

"Yep. I'm the Administrator."

What sort of authority did that title give him?

I'd thought Gate Administrator meant he could do something with Gates.

"Haruto, are you sure you should tell him that?" Mizuki cut in.

"Why not? We've come to see him, haven't we?"

"That doesn't mean you have to volunteer everything you can do."

"I haven't told him everything."

"That's what worries me about you."

Mizuki sighed.

I'd been thinking this for a while, but I bet they acted like this all the time.

"Then you know where the other Observers are too?"

"I do."

"All of them?"

"Yep."

Seriously?

Then it made sense that he'd casually said in the stream he'd visit them one by one.

I'd assumed he planned to go looking for each of them.

If he already knew their locations, there was no need to search in the first place.

"But I won't say any more than that," Haruto added.

"Mizuki will get mad."

"Don't blame me for it."

"You would get mad, though, right?"

"I would."

So she would.

I still wanted to know how precisely he could locate us and how he did it.

But at least I understood how Haruto had made it to my house.

"Speaking of which."

I looked at him.

"In the stream, you said you were going to visit the Observers one by one, right?"

"I did."

I hadn't expected him to come through my second-floor window.

"Why are you visiting us?"

"I want to meet everyone and have a proper conversation at least once."

"A conversation?"

"Yeah. We're all Observers, but we don't know what anyone else is thinking, right?"

Haruto said it like it was obvious.

"So I want to meet everyone and talk at least once."

"That's all?"

"For now."

That was more ordinary than I'd expected.

I'd imagined he might be planning to gather all the Observers for something.

"And that's why you came with him, Mizuki?"

"Yeah."

Mizuki nodded.

"If I let Haruto go alone, he'll start telling people things they never asked about."

"I wouldn't."

"You would. Even last time—"

"They asked, so I answered."

"You answered about three times as much as they asked."

"I thought it was better to explain properly."

"That's what I mean."

Every exchange turned into an argument, but Mizuki must really worry about Haruto.

What a good childhood friend. I'm jealous...!

"Okay, next question."

"There's more?"

"Of course. I've got tons to ask."

Two Observers I'd only known existed were suddenly right in front of me.

It would be stranger if I didn't ask anything.

"Why did you do that stream?"

"Oh, that?"

"You talked about Achievements and even World-First Rewards. Why did you suddenly decide to stream it all?"

"There was something I wanted everyone to know."

"Something?"

"Yeah. Most people didn't know about Achievements or World-First Rewards, did they?"

"Well... that's true."

I hadn't known either.

I'd found out about Achievements on my own, but I hadn't known about World-First Rewards at first.

"So I thought they should know."

"That's all?"

"Not all, exactly. But that's the main reason."

Haruto thought for a moment.

"I understand the idea that it's dangerous, so we shouldn't tell them."

"Then you knew Awakeners might start doing reckless things, like they are now?"

"To some extent."

"And you still did it?"

"Yeah."

His answer came quickly.

"You fulfill Achievement conditions yourself, and you're the one who gets the reward, right?"

"Right."

"Then I don't think someone else should get to decide whether you even know those Achievements exist."

Haruto looked at me.

"I think people should know, then decide for themselves whether it's dangerous and whether they want to try."

I see.

I could understand what he meant.

But the result was the chaos right now.

More Awakeners were taking risks for Achievements, and some were even hurting other people.

I'd only just heard today why the government had kept Achievements secret.

If someone asked me which side was right, I couldn't easily answer.

"I still think you could've gone about it differently," Mizuki said.

"You do?"

"Yes. You didn't have to broadcast everything all at once."

"But if it was going to be announced eventually, what's the difference?"

"There is a difference."

"We're back to that?"

"We are."

Being childhood friends didn't mean they agreed on everything.

They actually disagreed quite openly.

"Were you both Observers from the start?"

"Nope. I came first," Haruto said.

"When I got ten Achievements, I became an Observer. So I told Mizuki she should try for ten too."

"Just like that?"

"It seemed like something special. I wanted Mizuki to get it too."

"Haruto wouldn't stop pestering me," Mizuki said, sounding a little exasperated.

"'Try getting ten. There's definitely something there,' over and over."

"And there was something, wasn't there?"

"That's hindsight."

"But you did get them."

"Because you kept telling me to."

"And when Mizuki got ten, she became an Artificer."

"I see..."

Haruto had become an Achiever first, then suggested that his childhood friend try the same thing.

And now both of them were Observers.

"There's more I want to ask, though."

"Still more?"

"Yes. I've still got plenty of questions."

Two Observers I'd only known existed were standing right in front of me.

How could I not ask?

"What can an Artificer do? How many other Observers are there? How long have you been the Gate Administrator, Haruto? And—"

"Ah, wait a second."

"You haven't answered even one of those yet."

"Before I do, let me give you your present."

"Present?"

"Yeah. If I leave it until later, I'll probably forget."

"Then hand it over first next time," Mizuki said matter-of-factly.

"Okay."

He listened to her so easily.

"So what's this present?"

"Before that, do you have any empty space in here?"

"Empty space?"

"Yeah. Somewhere with nothing in it. As long as a person can walk through, that's enough."

What was he talking about all of a sudden?

I looked around the room as he asked.

My bed, my desk.

The shelves.

The whole room wasn't packed with stuff, so there was a decent patch of open space along one wall.

"Well, if you mean empty... over here?"

I pointed to a spot beside the wall.

"That'll work."

"Really?"

"Depends what you're putting there."

"It'll be fine."

Haruto walked over to the place I'd indicated.

...A present.

I looked at them again. Neither seemed to have brought anything.

Empty-handed.

Not even a bag.

Could this be one of those things?

He was an Observer. Maybe he'd pull something huge out of his pocket like Doraemon?

No.

I hated that, at this point, I thought it was entirely possible.

"Here, right?"

"Yeah, that spot."

"Okay, I'll make it."

"Make it?"

Haruto held his hand toward the empty space beside the wall.

The air beyond his hand warped and twisted.

"Huh?"

Something black spread outward.

At first I couldn't tell what he was doing.

But as it gradually grew large enough for a person to pass through, even I realized.

No.

Wait.

I'd seen this before.

"Hold on."

"Hm?"

"Is that..."

A few seconds later, it had finished forming in the spot I'd pointed to.

A black entrance.

No matter how many times I looked, it was unmistakable.

A Gate.

"There you go."

Haruto turned around with a satisfied look.

"Your present."

"..."

No.

What kind of present is that!?