“I hope you stay well.”
Never in my life did I imagine hearing those words from my own parents.
It was like something out of a hard-boiled Western film or manga. With those parting words, my father and mother walked out of our rundown apartment that cost only twenty thousand yen a month. The time was ten at night. Maybe they were off to an izakaya? At the time, I thought they would probably come back once the date changed.
But days passed, and my parents never returned.
It looked like I had been abandoned.
“…You’ve got to be kidding me.”
More precisely, it seemed my parents had done a moonlight flit.
Our household finances had always been on the brink of collapse, largely due to my father’s drinking and my mother’s gambling. The neighbors had known all about it. Several of them had actually witnessed my parents fleeing in a panic. Once I heard from the neighbors that the two of them had run off somewhere in a hurry, the situation finally sank in.
“…By the way, tomorrow is the first day of high school.”
Looking back, the fact that I had even managed to attend high school at all was probably a miracle.
While taking care of my parents, I had worked part-time every single day to pay my tuition. Somehow I had scraped together enough to make it to my second year… but now I had no idea what would happen. What about the rent? Utilities? Food? I had basically been the one keeping the household afloat with my earnings, though my parents had at least chipped in a little for rent. There was no way I could suddenly cover everything on my own.
…Maybe I should go buy something to eat.
I gave up on thinking.
The clock showed four in the afternoon. I hadn’t had anything to eat since morning. I had searched the entire house, but there wasn’t a single yen left. All I had was the two hundred yen that happened to be in my wallet.
Should I talk to the police? Or maybe ask a friend from school first? No… even if I did ask for help, I would only cause them trouble.
The bright sunlight only made my mood heavier.
As I walked through the familiar streets, I heard voices coming from somewhere.
“Ufufu.”
“My, isn’t that right?”
The exchange was remarkably refined.
When I looked over, I saw two girls in neat school uniforms walking up a gentle slope.
I had heard about this place. At the top of that slope stood one of the top three most prestigious schools in the country. It wasn’t an ordinary college-prep high school. To put it bluntly, it was a school for the rich.
Only the children of wealthy families—young ladies and young masters—attended it. The academic level was exceptionally high, the facilities were luxurious, and the classes were far more advanced than anything you would expect from a normal high school. They apparently lived extremely refined lives in every sense. While my own high school’s entrance ceremony was tomorrow, it seemed their school had already started. Prestigious schools probably had shorter breaks.
“We really do live in different worlds… I can’t even laugh about it.”
Even the way they carried themselves was different. Their refined upbringing showed in every movement. I didn’t even feel jealous anymore.
Still, it was unusual to see students from that school walking around here.
It was after school hours, but the students at that academy were supposed to be picked up and dropped off by car. Spotting them in a place like this was rare.
“…Hm?”
On my way to the convenience store, I noticed something like a name-card holder lying on the ground.
I picked it up and looked inside. It was a student ID.
It looked like one of the two girls from earlier had dropped it.
“Hinako Konohana, huh… No, this isn’t the time to be reading her name.”
The owner was right in front of me. There was no need to check her name or address.
I jogged after her and quickly caught up. Her friend must have already gone home, because she was now walking alone.
“Excuse me!”
When I called out, the girl turned around.
Her bright amber hair swayed, revealing a graceful profile lit by the sun. This must be what they call a beauty who looks even better from the side, I thought, momentarily captivated—until.
“—Eh?”
A glossy black car suddenly stopped right beside her.
The door opened, and two burly men stepped out.
In an instant, they grabbed the girl and dragged her into the vehicle.
—What the hell was going on?
No, what was happening was perfectly clear. I was simply stunned because it was the kind of unrealistic scene I had only ever seen in manga or dramas.
This was no time to be frozen in shock.
Right in front of me, a kidnapping was taking place.
“H-Hey, hold on!!”
Deciding I couldn’t just ignore it, I shouted.
“What the hell are you!?”
“You know this girl!?”
The two men I assumed were the kidnappers yelled back.
Unfortunately, there was no one else around. My earlier shout had only succeeded in panicking them.
“Tch, we can’t let a witness escape! You’re coming with us!”
“Uwah—!?”
My arm was seized in a powerful grip, and I was dragged into the car.
And so, I was kidnapped together with the girl.
“Alright, that should stop you from moving. Both of you, stay quiet.”
The smaller of the two kidnappers said.
We were now deep inside an abandoned factory. The kidnapping appeared to have been carefully planned. Both the girl and I had our wrists and ankles bound with handcuffs and leg irons prepared in advance. On top of that, our handcuffs were linked together by a thick chain.
“…Um, I don’t think my parents can pay any ransom.”
“Shut up. You’re just extra baggage.”
The kidnapper spat the words.
A sigh escaped me. My parents had run away in the middle of the night, and now I had been dragged into a kidnapping… Had I done something terrible in a past life?
My spirit was breaking. Either way, my future was pitch black. No matter how this ended, I had no hope left.
“You’re in luck, bro. This kid’s the Konohana family’s daughter. She’s the biggest jackpot out of all our targets, isn’t she?”
“Yeah… The Konohana family is one of the two or three richest at Kikou Academy. We should be able to squeeze a huge ransom out of them.”
The two kidnappers grinned vulgarly as they talked.
While listening to them, I looked at the girl beside me, who was also in handcuffs.
It wouldn’t have been strange if she had been taken for reasons other than money. Her face was that beautiful. Her round eyes gave an impression of innocence, yet a sharp intelligence lurked in their depths. Cuteness and cleverness existed side by side within her. Her straight nose conveyed elegance, and her slightly moist, crimson lips radiated loveliness. Her bright amber hair gleamed like silk, and her skin was as white and fine as fresh snow. Her arms and legs were long and slender.
“…Hey.”
The girl spoke.
How should I put it… Her attitude was a little different from when I had seen her on the street. Back then she had carried the perfect aura of a refined young lady, but now she seemed listless and gloomy.
Well, that was understandable—she was being kidnapped, after all. It was only natural that she would be anxious and unable to act normally. This young lady who attended a prestigious school had a bright future waiting for her, unlike me. She was probably far more terrified than I was.
Even though my own future was hopeless, maybe I could at least comfort the girl in front of me.
I carefully chose my words, trying to encourage her.
“I-It’ll be okay. Kidnappings for ransom usually have an extremely low success rate, so—”
“Bathroom.”
“And besides, the Japanese police are excellent, so if we just wait patiently……Huh?”
Did I mishear her?
For some reason, I thought I had just heard something incredibly casual.
“Bathroom. I’m about to leak.”
The girl stated her need with surprising force.
Even a distinguished young lady was still human. It was only natural that she would need to use the toilet.
But did she really have to say it now? And so calmly?
“What should we do?”
“Eh. Well, even if you ask me…”
“I’m going to leak.”
Her tone was so flat it was hard to read, but she was probably troubled.
Feeling somewhat bewildered, I called out to the smaller kidnapper in front of us.
“Excuse me! This young lady has something to say!”
“…What?”
The kidnapper tilted his head. Without any trace of fear, the girl told the two men:
“Bathroom.”
“…Ha?”
“I’m going to leak.”
Even the kidnappers seemed caught completely off guard. Their eyes widened.
This girl wasn’t afraid at all.
“…If you wanna piss yourself, go ahead. It’d be a pain if you started squirming.”
One of the kidnappers said irritably.
The girl, however, remained calm and simply asked:
“Is that okay?”
Her eyes were so pure. It was as if she had zero resistance to the idea of wetting herself. Even a stray cat would look somewhat ashamed.
“I-I think that’s a bad idea. If you can hold it, please hold it… For my sake too.”
I spoke up in place of the stiffening kidnappers.
Since the girl and I were connected by a chain, we couldn’t get very far apart. If she had an accident, I would end up suffering as well.
“…Take her.”
The taller kidnapper finally said.
“But, bro—”
“We don’t know how many days we’ll be stuck here. You don’t want it getting dirty, do you?”
The younger kidnapper seemed convinced. Scratching the back of his head, he approached the girl.
“Tch… I’m not taking the chain off.”
The kidnapper removed the leg irons from both of us.
Since I was chained to her by the handcuffs, I had to go with her. The girl entered the stall right in front of us without showing the slightest embarrassment.
When she eventually came out, she awkwardly washed her hands, then looked at me and the kidnappers.
“All refreshed.”
““You don’t need to report that!””
The kidnapper’s and my retort overlapped perfectly.
Feeling a strange wave of exhaustion, we returned to our original spot and had our leg irons put back on.
“Hey.”
The girl called out to the kidnappers again.
“…What is it this time?”
“Tea.”
Are you invincible?
The kidnappers were clearly stunned as well.
“Uh, bro… Is this girl really the Konohana family’s daughter? She doesn’t really seem like it…”
“Yeah… you’re right.…Is she someone else? No, but her face is the same…”
Looking troubled, the older kidnapper approached the girl.
“Hey. You are the only daughter of the Konohana family, right?”
“That’s correct. So, about the tea?”
She was far too laid-back. The kidnappers stared at her in disbelief.
“F-Fine, whatever. I’ll at least give you something to drink. It’d be a problem if you starved to death… But in exchange, you’d better cooperate.”
Saying that, the kidnapper placed a plastic bottle beside the girl.
However, it was mineral water.
“I said tea.”
“Wha—!? D-Don’t be so damn picky! Water’s fine!”
“I want tea. And snacks too.”
When the girl spoke, a vein bulged on the man’s forehead.
“Hey! You over there! Take care of this girl!”
“Why me!?”
“We’re busy right now!”
The kidnapper roared.
There wasn’t much I could do with both hands and feet bound, but I reluctantly nodded.
“Hey. What about the snacks?”
“…It doesn’t look like we have any.”
“…I see.”
The girl picked up the plastic bottle with clear dissatisfaction.
A short while later, the sound of liquid dripping—plop, plop—came from her direction.
When I turned, I saw that she was completely soaked.
“Uwah!? W-Why are you so wet…?”
“…Who knows?”
Tilting her head, the girl tipped the plastic bottle toward her mouth. Because her lips weren’t properly sealed around the opening, the water poured down her face and soaked into her uniform.
“No, you’re spilling it!”
“…I’m not used to drinking from plastic bottles.”
Not used to it? That wasn’t even the same dimension of the problem.
Were all young ladies from high society like this? She was either far too laid-back or far too bold… She was supposed to be kidnapped, yet she showed absolutely no sign of fear.
“…I’ll give it to you, so hand me the bottle.”
“…You won’t take it?”
“I won’t take it! This is such a pain!!”
Because I had raised my voice, the kidnappers turned toward us.
Crap, I’ve ruined their mood—or so I thought, but instead I received sympathetic looks. Stop it. Don’t look at me like that. She’s the hostage you brought here.
“…There’s a puddle now, so we’re moving a little.”
“Nn.”
The girl stood up and moved together with me.
The next instant, she tripped over nothing and fell flat on her face.
“…It hurts.”
The girl got up with teary eyes.
Her forehead, which had struck the floor, was bright red. She was beyond clumsy.
“Uh, bro… According to the information we gathered beforehand, the Konohana family’s daughter is called the perfect lady, right? She doesn’t seem like such a slow, clumsy girl…”
“Y-Yeah, but her face matches. I’ve never heard anything about her having a sister…”
The kidnappers whispered to each other.
Meanwhile, the girl was rubbing the spot on her forehead with tears in her eyes.
“It hurts…”
“…Let me see for a second.”
Seeing her let out such a sad voice was too much to bear. I checked the injury.
“It looks more like a scrape than a bruise. Bacteria might get in, so it’s better not to touch it too much.”
“…Mmm.”
The girl lowered the hand she had been holding to her forehead and nodded.