“Konuma-kun, are you okay—?”
“W-Well, mostly...”
The next day after school, Ichikawa called out to me with a smirk on her face.
Today was the day we were supposed to go see Ariga-san.
“The meeting is at six, right? It only takes a little over an hour from here, so you might arrive quite early.”
“I guess...”
So it’s actually quite close... I feel like I heard some incredibly long transfer instructions yesterday, but I’ll look it up again properly later.
“Konuma, sorry to keep you waiting.”
“O-Oh, Azuma.”
At that moment, Azuma came to the classroom to pick me up.
“What, Konuma, are you nervous already? You won't last at this rate, you know?”
“No, I mean, you’re right, but...”
“Konuma-kun has been restless since this morning, hasn’t he?”
“Of course I’m nervous... It’s an adult, an actual adult.”
“I suppose so?”
Ichikawa was laughing teasingly.
“Amane, you seem to be in a good mood. Did something good happen?”
“Nope, I just find Konuma-kun amusing for some reason. Ehehe.”
Please don't find me amusing 'for some reason,' you're not Erina-san...
“Ahaha... Well then, I’ll be borrowing this 'amusing person' for a bit. Oh, wait, are we going together as far as Kichijoji?”
When Azuma asked with a wry smile, Ichikawa shook her head.
“No, the school studio reservation was open, so I’m going to practice before going home. I feel like a song is coming together.”
“Seriously? We can't afford to slack off either... We’ll definitely bring back something useful from our end.”
“Yes, I’m counting on you!”
With that, Ichikawa gave a little salute-like pose.
“Phew... alright, shall we go...!”
“No, you're putting way too much energy into it while we're still at school...”
As I stood up and began walking with the exasperated Azuma, a voice called out from behind us.
“Ah, Konuma-kun.”
“Hmm?”
“Um... do your best! Also, Yuri, please take care of Konuma-kun, okay?”
Ichikawa gave us a beaming smile.
“O-Oh...”
“Understood. Guhe.”
We both replied. ...Did she just say 'guhe'?
As we started walking toward the station again,
“Amane asserting her status as the legal wife is drop-dead cute...!”
Azuma revealed the reason behind her 'guhe' laugh.
“Drop-dead cute...?”
While feeling exasperated, I took out my smartphone again and typed the destination into the transfer guide.
“...Just like Ichikawa said, we’ll arrive in about an hour.”
“It’s that close. It’s only 3:50, is that okay?”
“She said to contact her if we arrived early, so it should be fine.”
“Okay, I don't know much about Tokyo, so I’ll leave it to you.”
“Yeah, leave it to me! ...You don't know much about Tokyo?”
...About two hours later.
Two high schoolers were looking up at a building, probably about 30 stories high, near Akasaka Station.
“”We finally... made it...””
We were both out of breath, huffing and puffing.
Even though we were supposed to arrive nearly an hour early, it ended up being just ten minutes before 6:00 PM...
Azuma glared at me with judgey eyes.
“I was a fool for trusting Konuma and following him...!”
“Ugh...!”
After all, I had made a massive blunder along the way.
“Who mixes up 'Akasaka' and 'Asakusa'!?”
“I’m sorry!!”
I bowed my head deeply.
I was sure I had heard 'Akasaka' clearly yesterday, but for some reason, the memory got twisted somewhere, and I naturally boarded the train headed for Asakusa.
Without a single doubt, I reached Asakusa Station and the moment I said, “We’re here! Which exit is it?”, Azuma tilted her head and asked, “Eh, we’re here...? Weren’t we going to Akasaka...?” My blood ran cold.
“I mean, Azuma, you could have noticed midway too... You should have realized we weren't heading toward Akasaka.”
“I wouldn't know! I told you, I have absolutely no sense of geography in Tokyo’s 23 wards! I told you I didn't know Tokyo!”
“Why don't you know Tokyo? Azuma, you're a resident of the Metropolis, aren't you?”
“I’m a citizen of Ome!”
“Ah... that explains it...”
In that case, I guess it can't be helped... I backed down.
“Wait, it ticks me off that you're actually convinced. Did you just look down on Ome even though you're from out of the prefecture?”
“I’m not looking down on Ome, but I was shocked that you have a worse sense of direction than I imagined.”
Azuma, for her part, had kept making wrong turns on the way from Asakusa to Akasaka.
While walking through transfers, her presence would suddenly vanish from beside me. When I looked around, she’d be in a completely different place, forcing me to run and call her back multiple times.
“I mean, all you have to do is walk according to the signs, right?”
“We were walking for how many minutes just for a transfer!? Why do we have to go through the ticket gates for a transfer? I thought I was lost!”
“When you think you're lost, why do you start walking based on intuition instead of stopping?”
“I’m really sorry about that!”
Otemachi Station was particularly bad.
'Hey, Azuma, this way!'
She seemingly got irritated by me pointing out the way constantly,
'I’ve had enough! Just take me there!'
She said something childish like that and, from then on, grabbed onto my bag firmly and followed along as if being dragged.
“As expected of the Demon King’s Castle... You can't reach it through ordinary means...!”
While wiping her forehead, Azuma started saying something weird.
“What do you mean, Demon King’s Castle...?”
“No, you see, I was thinking about it yesterday, and I realized today’s situation is a pretty hot development.”
“...What are you talking about?”
The 'Sako' inside me awakened. I looked at her with judgey eyes, but Azuma didn't care and began her explanation.
“Ariga-san is basically like amane's foster parent, right? And now that parent has become the Last Boss. Like Darth Vader. But in her heart, she still has those feelings for amane, like a parental love. We're storming the Demon King’s Castle to use that as a clue. How do I put it... this deep, heavy karma in their relationship... do you get it?”
“I don't.”
“You don't!? I thought you of all people would understand, Konuma...”
I’m very sorry I couldn't meet her expectations, but I feel like I’m in the majority on this one...
“Well, whatever... Look, Konuma, please call Ariga-san.”
Azuma instructed me while showing the time on her smartphone.
“Right...”
After taking a deep breath, I called the number that had called me yesterday.
After two or three rings, a woman's voice came from the other side.
『Hello, this is Ariga.』
“H-Hello! This is Konuma! We’ve arrived at the first floor!”
『Haha, you're still nervous. Can you see a visitor pass machine around there? Could you go over to it?』
“T-The pass machine! Y-Yes! I’ve discovered it! Heading there now!”
“Konuma, are you saying that seriously?”
Looking around the incredibly vast first-floor lobby, I found a machine that looked like it along a nearby wall. I moved in front of it.
The touch panel screen displayed: 'Welcome. Please enter your issuance number.'
『Please type in the number I’m about to tell you.』
“Y-Yes.”
When I typed it in as instructed, the screen displayed 'Welcome, Mr. Konuma,' and two visitor passes came out of the machine. Th-The future is here...!
『You can pass through the gates with those passes, so please come up to the 13th floor. I’ll be waiting at the elevator hall. ...Will you be okay?』
“Y-Yes...!”
I gently hung up the phone.
“Azuma, I’ve obtained the visitor passes...!”
“Amazing, it’s the 'Final Key'...!”
The two of us were getting a bit weirdly excited.
“Well then, shall we go...!”
“Ah, wait a second, Konuma.”
“Hmm?”
Azuma stopped me as I started to walk.
“Your tie is looking sloppy.”
Saying that, she began to fix my tie.
“H-Hey...!”
“Hmm?”
Even so, Azuma’s face was so serious that I felt like being self-conscious about it would be... strange.
“N-No, it’s nothing...”
Then, keeping her posture, Azuma slowly looked up and gave me judgey eyes.
“...Now your face is looking sloppy.”
“It is not...”
“Ahaha, that’s funny. ...It’s fine now. Well then, shall we go?”
Azuma said, “That’ll do,” and gave me a little pat on the chest.
“Yeah...”
“Now, to the Demon King’s Castle...!”
“Don't you dare say that in front of Ariga-san, okay?”