Chapter 16

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“It was Washizu-san who was attacked, wasn’t it?”

These were Tendou’s words which greeted them when they arrived back at the office. At that seen-it-all line, Shouma let out a genuine “Scary…” under his breath.

“Aiya, it’s quite simple. Didn’t she say that she works part-time as a tutor on Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights?”

“Yes, she did, but she said she is quitting today…”

“That’s right. But on the other hand, that means she had to go today to quit.”

“Ah”

A foolish sound leaked out from Shouma.

“Although I wasn’t sure if the house she went to work was in front of the station or not, I thought it wasn’t impossible since there were a lot of people on that main street and the houses were built reasonably close to each other. Besides, she exactly fits the criteria of the Random Assailant’s type.

After informing him of the obvious, Tendou opened up the Collected Records in his hand with a sleek movement.

“The Fusuma also came back properly. Wondrous!”

“I just kept my word, that’s all!”

The Fusuma turned his jaw prickly.

“Then, let’s return you to the book.”

“Ready whenever you are!”

The Fusuma sprawled on the floor, paws outstretched, as if he had given up. His white, fluffy belly was also exposed.

Tendou opened one of the blank pages of the Collected Records and blew on it again with a whiff. A white, ash-like substance whirled up from here and covered the body of the Fusuma. Then, the contour of the kaii’s body gradually turned into letters, twirling in the sky.

“…Shouma”

The Fusuma called his name as he lay down.

“Yes?”

“I’ll give you the right to call my name!”

“Huh?”

“My name is Subaru. Call me whenever you need me. I could lend you a hand!”

It only said that much high-handedly while its body turned into small letters all over to the tip of its head, then the letters settled themselves into the book. The Collected Records slammed shut, emitting a faint glow. However, that light too gradually faded away.

“You must have gotten along very well with the Fusuma to tell you its name.”

Shouma tilted his head in puzzlement towards Tendou, who looked somewhat impressed.

“Um, what about its name…?”

“Names are names. The ’Fusuma’ is the same when one refers to mankind as ’humans’. The names are proper nouns which are unique to particular kaii’s…although, just because the terms ’human’ and ’Fusuma’ are similar, it doesn’t mean there are Fusuma species of kaii all over the place.”

Tendou seemed to be enjoying himself. He was a cheerful man most of the time, but today he looked even more so. As if he was delighted that the Fusuma and Shouma were getting along so well.

“What will happen if I call its name?”

“If you are interested, just give it a try. It’s given its permission to you. It wouldn’t be mad whenever you call it.”

“Isn’t that the kind of thing that would make one quite angry?”

“Don’t worry! Go ahead, call its name.”

“…Subaru”

In the next moment, sparks seemed to scatter in the air and the Fusu-Subaru appeared in front of Shouma.

Subaru sternly glared at the boy.

“Why are you calling me now! You-! We just parted moments ago!”

“Whoa! Sorry! I was just trying to call out to you.”

“He was just trying to call, huh. If you don’t need me, I’m leaving!”

This time, the little kaii disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Tendou laughed, shoulders shaking as he watched the exchange.

“Well, that’s the case.”

“What is the…case?”

Shouma glared at the man beside him.

Tendou told him it wouldn’t be pissed off even if he would try, but the result happened to be just that.

The expression didn’t even falter on the man’s face even to Shouma’s questioning look, whether it was naivety or he simply dared to ignore it.

“Just like that. It means it became a friend of yours who would come running if you would call. That’s what it means when a kaii gives you the right to call it by its own name. I could go on and on with more difficult explanations, but for now, this is all you need to know, alright?”

“Well…”

Shouma nodded vaguely.

He wondered how far Tendou had predicted any of today’s events. Since he was the one who found out about Subaru and the Random Assailant even with so little information at hand.

Maybe he had left that place in anticipation of Shouma and Subaru befriending each other. As proof of this, he even assisted the two of them over the phone.

If he really didn’t care about the Random Assailant he wouldn’t do that…but who knows.

Tendou held out his hand toward Shouma.

“So, keep up the good work, Shouma.”

“I look forward to it.”

Shouma squeezed his hand back. Although, he still didn’t seem to get used to that fishy smile of his.

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