1
Sales Employee:
Yeah, he always had this idea in his head that he had to do everything by himself. He couldn’t rely on anyone else.
—In what way, exactly?
I’ll give you an example. When you’re producing ice cream and you want to start distributing it as a product, there’s all sorts of hoops you have to jump through. Like, how much milk solid and butterfat you use determines whether you can legally call it “ice cream” or if you have to call it a “frozen dairy dessert”. As a matter of fact, if you look at our products in that sense, about half of them are actually only classified as sherbet. So we couldn’t actually trademark those using the word “ice cream.”
Sales Employee:
—Can you explain what that means?
Uh, yeah, it means, like, there’s so much flavoring or fruit mixed in that the dairy content is low. We really threw in a ton of other things, like egg yolk. Though the milk we used for the base was of insanely high quality.
Sales Employee:
—Okay, I get it. So, what then?
Yeah, well, this is all because the higher-ups like the “Ministerial Ordinance on Milk and Milk products” have a ton of regulations. Honestly, with the costs we were incurring, it would’ve been more lucrative for us if we’d just made it into ice cream. But that CEO was never too concerned with those things. Like, he almost never partnered up with other companies in the profession. Sometimes it felt like he was trying to pick a fight with everyone on the outside. ‘It tastes good this way, so what’s the problem?’ That’s one thing he used to say. He was always arguing with the vice president on that point.
Sales Employee:
—So, they didn’t get along?
Huh? Nuh-uh, you’ve got it backwards. They got along crazy well. That’s why they could argue so openly. You know, we were convinced those two were actually gonna get married at some point. So it was kind of a shock to us when we heard that she suddenly left.
Sales Employee:
—They say it was because she felt she couldn’t keep up with him. Do you believe that?
Hmm, I dunno… There’s a lot we’ll never know. But it didn’t seem like she was working under him. Rather, it felt like they were doing the same kinds of things together. You know, it’s still hard to swallow, even now.
Sales Employee:
—This CEO sounds like a really outrageous character.
Hmm… I guess he must’ve had a lot going on. Like some weird hobbies that he couldn’t talk about in public or something. Can’t really say for certain, though.
Sales Employee:
—You think he had something to hide?
I mean, he always insisted that the taste-testing stuff was done in secrecy, so in the end, we never knew a damn thing about his personal life or anything like that. …But I kind of think that’s maybe for the best, you know? Say what you want about him, but, the ice cream, that was delicious. That was his everything; it really was.
Sales Employee:
* * * * *
“What are you, dumb? Lame excuse for a pick-up line.” That was the girl’s parting shot as she turned her back and walked away. I’d called out to her, but she was unwilling to hear me out.
“Oh boy…”
Eh, it was nothing new. My “report” was so rough around the edges that sometimes it was hard to get people to understand what I was going on about.
I pulled myself together and looked around the area.
It was still ten in the morning, but there were plenty of people on the street outside the station. Not hard to believe, since it was right in the middle of Golden Week. Normally, I’m not the kind to interview people enjoying their vacation, but I didn’t have many other options. For this particular job, holidays were the only free time I had to work on my reporting. Normally, I’m only allowed to do the work my company tells me to do, so if a report doesn’t get its proposal approved, I’d need to deal with it at my own expense.
“Oh…” I spotted another girl who looked like she’d listen to my story, and closed in on her.
She looked about high school age, and she was sitting alone on a bench spacing out and looking up at the sky. At her feet was a Spalding sports bag, which seemed to hold her luggage.
“Hi there. I was wondering if you could spare me a moment to ask you a few questions,” I asked, but she didn’t respond. She simply kept gazing at the sky.
“………”
“E-Err, excuse me. I’m a reporter, you see. Working for a journal?”
“………” Absolutely no response. Naturally, I was a little irritated by this.
“Listen, you could at least give me some kind of answer, couldn’t you?”
I went round and walked up in front of her. And then…
“Waah?!” she exclaimed suddenly, leaned backwards. “W-what is it?”
“Seriously?” I was bemused.
She clasped her chest and stared at me.
“Jeez, you almost gave me a heart attack. Just springing out like that…” she said, her voice trembling slightly. She apparently hadn’t heard me at all.
“I…I called out to you several times!” Seeing her this shaken had made me a little nervous as well.
“Uh, did you want to talk to me?” She was a fairly cute girl with large eyes.
“Yeah, as I said before, I was wondering if you’d allow me an interview,” I said agitatedly, taking out a business card and handing it to her. She timidly accepted and stared fixedly at it.
“…Nonomura…Haruto-san? You’re a journalist?”
“That’s right. There’s a subject I’m pursuing right now, and I was hoping you could tell me about it.” I broached the topic, as it didn’t seem like she was going to run away. “Do you have any interest in phantoms or anything like that?”
“Phantoms?”
“That’s right. It might be better to call them urban legends though. What’s your opinion on them?”
“I don’t dislike them… but, why are you asking me about this?”
“Well, I was hoping to turn the answers I get from people into an article.”
“And you’re not a photographer?” she asked, looking at the single lens reflex hanging around my neck.
“Oh, I do take pictures, but, believe me, I’d never take yours without your consent or anything like that.”
My owning a camera seemed to invite two extremes: “Don’t you dare take any photos!” or “Can you take pictures of me?”. both of which were trouble. But this girl said neither of those things.
“So, you’re going to write up an article on phantoms?” she asked, simply staring with an odd look on her face.
“Right. I thought, hey, might be interesting.”
“Is it, though?”
“You don’t agree?”
“No, it’s just, I was thinking that it’s kind of rare for guys to be into that kind of thing.”
“So, for instance, have you heard any rumors of phantoms popping up around here? Anything like that?” As I asked this, the girl began to giggle for some reason.
“What kind of story’s that?”
“Huh? What kind? It’s, uh, well…”
“You’re not talking about Boogiepop, are you?”
I’d never heard the name before. I gave her a blank look.
“Boogiepop’s a scary one. After all, they’re a shinigami.”
She giggled even more.
“Okay, so what is this Boogie…whatever you call it?”
I inquired, but the girl just feigned ignorance and wouldn’t answer.
“Hmm, whatever shall I do… Should I tell you? Or shouldn’t I…?”
“Come on, don’t put on airs like that. What’s wrong with telling me? I’ll even treat you to something, so, please?” I answered hurriedly.
The girl then looked at me with a mischievous expression and said,
“Alright then, ice cream.”
Those words and the look she gave me startled me. How do I explain it? It was as if, even though she was just a girl, she seemed to be testing me, like she concealed some hidden depths. And ice cream… That had been one of my “objectives,” or maybe it was my goal all along.
Despite this, I somehow managed to hide my surprise and continued.
“…Ah, sure. That’s fine. You can pick whatever you want. Err, may I ask your name?”
“Miyashita. Miyashita Touka.”
“Miyashita-san, huh? You’re in high school?”
“Yeah. And I’ve got to attend a prep school on top of that...” She fluttered the tips of her fingers and looked up at the sky like a bird trying to fly away. “It’s true that we have to study, though. Such a pain, maaan…” She smiled wryly, behaving as if it were someone else’s problem.
After that, we entered a local cake shop. She ordered immediately, and I asked for a coffee.
“You like ice cream, do you?” When I asked this, she looked a little sad and nodded.
“I kind of do, yeah. At least, I did up until recently.”
“Bad memories?”
“…Eh, doesn’t matter now.” She seemed a little annoyed, so I changed the subject.
“Speaking of ice cream, there was all that uproar going on until just recently, wasn’t there? With that chain store getting really big and then folding.”
“Ahh, that place! It’s a real pity, right? …That was like the only place I ever went to for ice cream. I was so upset when I found out it was gone. The mock test that day was hell, too…” She let out a deep sigh.
“Everyone’s so dumb, going on about aliens and stuff. Wasn’t all that stuff about the green blood was just some food coloring or something in the end?”
“Apparently so, but the real killing blow was that the CEO went missing. If he’d just resurfaced and clarified things, they’d have regained their trust just like that.”
“He went missing?”
“Yeah. He vanished after the incident.”
“But why?”
“Nobody knows. According to insiders, he was a craftsman with the temperament of a prodigy, so they speculate that he experienced such a shock from the accident that he ran away.”
“Huh. You sure know your stuff.”
“Well, I am a journalist. I’ve done my research.” Even though it was all on my own initiative and I hadn’t received permission for the report from the chief editor or the copy editor.
“Speaking of ghosts, that place was all about creepy stuff, huh.”
“Yeah, that’s what I was wanting to ask you about. It’s been pretty popular among you kids, right? What did you think of its slightly spooky mood?”
“What did I think? Uhh… I mean, it was popular because it was tasty, right? I actually think the logo and that stuff had kind of an adverse effect.”
“Now, that can’t be. They’ve released a whole line of fancy goods, haven’t they?”
“You mean you think it’s a good design? …Ahh, not a good topic for me.”
“Hm?” Finding her reaction strange, I insisted on more details.
It turned out that this Miyashita Touka’s boyfriend was, in fact, a designer of some sort, and he’d praised the shop’s design aesthetic. However…
“So what didn’t you like about it? Are you in a fight with him right now or something?”
“No, not that. It’s just…” As she trailed off the end of her sentence, our orders of ice cream and coffee arrived. She began to lift the spoon in her mouth in an attempt to worm her way out of the question. And then her eyes widened.
“Isn’t this…the same ice cream as before?”
“Huh?” I was taken off-guard, but quickly realized. “Right.”
I explained to her that the personnel from that company had had to branch out. There was sure to have been someone among them working at the shop we were in.
“Still, it’s like it’s identical. How do I explain it? It feels like it’s got the same root. I wonder if it really is actually the same person that made it.”
“You sure know your stuff. But-”
As I expressed my admiration, she butted in.
“That’s right. I’ve got a good sense of taste. One time, a restaurant even complimented me on that,” she said, laughing mischievously. It was cute to see her bragging the way she said.
“Is that somewhere you went with your boyfriend?” I asked, and she nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly. I gathered from this that she had not grown to hate her boyfriend at all.
“Okay, so let’s assume that the place sold good ice cream. Problem is, places like that don’t just become popular through flavor alone. If it’s got a bad style, it’s not going to take off. You may not have liked it personally, but others must have at least found it ‘good’. You know why?”
“Huh? I don’t really get what you’re asking.” She looked vacantly.
“Let me put it like this. Have you ever had an experience where you’ve seen something that’s creepy, scary, or some other negative image, and yet it drew you in somehow? I wonder if that’s the secret behind the ice cream’s popularity.”
“Ahh, I get it… So the whole story’s connected by phantoms, huh?” She nodded, and I along with her.
“That’s right. So, you get it now? Makes sense if you look at it in the sense of ‘it’s scary, but I want to give it a try’, right?”
“Yeah, I guess, now that you put it that way. I bet Suema would know a lot more about that kind of stuff than me, though.”
“Who now?”
“She’s a friend of mine. She’s really knowledgeable about these things. She’s like, crazy smart.” Again, she started to boast a little.
“Well, let’s put your friend aside for now. What did you think of that CEO character? Did you find him a little scary?”
“Yeah, I did. The clown guy, right? I think he looks pretty handsome without his make-up, though.”
“That’s true. But he dressed that way on purpose. In that sense, I suppose he’s sort of like a… modern day urban legend, wouldn’t you say?”
“He totally is, yeah. …Let me guess, is that what you’re investigating?”
“That’s a part of it, yeah.” I raised my coffee to my mouth and took a sip.
“Huh,” she remarked with some meaningful significance, and then fell silent for a while, looking at the ice cream she was holding.
“Alright then, you mentioned this ‘Boogiepop’ character earlier. What’s that all about?”
She ignored my question and instead asked me one.
“Are you going to keep on investigating the head of that company?”
“Hm? Well…yeah. At least, when I can find the time.”
“In that case, would you mind if I tagged along with you?”
“What?”
I stared open-mouthed as she leaned forward.
“I’m kind of interested in that clown guy myself. If you’re gonna go off and investigate him somewhere, could you bring me along with you?”
Her request was deadly serious.