Saikyou Series

Jinrui Saikyou no Jun"ai –Nisioisin
p. 33-37

Ofcourse, this isn’t to say that the true ident.i.ty of the infamousDoctor Kitsuregawa, the researcher of humans who doesn’t give a fluteabout anyone, is a five-year-old girl; that would be stupid. Nomatter how you slice it, the timeline wouldn’t make sense. When Ifirst heard his name, that mad scientist was already over seventyyears old. And the full name I heard wasn’t even “HotsureKitsuregawa” to begin with, but rather “Motsure Kitsuregawa”.Hotsure and Motsure. I wouldn’t go so far as to say those two namesare completely unrelated to each other, but there’s still no way I’dbelieve something so idiotic as Doctor Kitsuregawa being a littlebaby girl.

“Giveme a break, Jun Aikawa. We’re not trying to pull your leg here—letme explain the situation. Let’s go inside and have a nice talk oversome coffee.”

AsShimegiwa urged, I entered the Kitsuregawas’ house. Part of meexpected that a bizarre sight would await me inside, but I was wrongagain; it was no different from an ordinary home. There was even awood-carved bear on top of the shoe shelf. Is this one of thosesemi-affluent European-style houses? Hey, Shimegiwa-kun, I’d justlike to ask; is Doctor Kitsuregawa trying to disguise the fact he’sdoing research by using this normal-looking house?

“No,there’s no point in disguising anything. No one can copy DoctorKitsuregawa’s research anyway, and no one can interfere with iteither.”

Isee. …Come to think of it, he called Doctor Kitsuregawa“Hotsure-sama” earlier, didn’t he. Hmm? I get that he’d want topay respect to the man who developed him (though, to be honest, if itwere me whose arm got remade into flames, there would be h.e.l.l to pay,not respect)(1), but I have a hard time understanding why he’d use“sama” to refer to one of Doctor Kitsuregawa’s relatives(grandchildren?), especially a little girl. It’s not like she’s achild of a n.o.ble family or something… Could this kid really beDoctor Kitsuregawa? No, there’s no way… While I was thinking, I wasshown to the dining room. Needless to say, it was an ordinary diningroom. If you lead a life like mine, it’s actually more unusual to beinside a normal home, so this run-of-the-mill stuff was quite freshfor me. But, where does the research happen?

“Thesecond floor, generally. I hope to show it to you later—that is, ifyou accept my job.”

Thelittle girl—Hotsure-chan—spoke falteringly, and sat down in oneof the dining room chairs. Shimegiwa headed to the kitchen; it seemedhe was really going to make me coffee. Maybe he’ll turn his arm intoflames and boil the water in an instant. Imagining that, I sat downacross from Hotsure-chan. So? Where’s Grandpa? Or Daddy or Mommy.

“Whereshould I begin…”

Hotsure-chanlooked up at the ceiling, with a troubled expression most unbecomingof a little girl.

“Inever had a daddy or a mommy. And just recently, Grandpa—”

Shepointed at the ceiling.

“—Wentup into the sky.”

Oh?The news itself was of little surprise, and I was able to accept it.I wouldn’t want to spout something pretentious like “life and deathare just two sides of the same coin”. Those words would be as emptyas the sky.(2) Even I’m not so immature as to tell a child somethingcynical like “I’m sure Doctor Kitsuregawa didn’t go up into thesky, he went deep under the ground”. So, how’d he die? He doesn’tseem like the type to die of old age. Hotsure-chan turned her gaze,her piercing gaze, toward me.

“Asuccessful experiment.”

Now,that was an answer I had trouble processing. A successful experiment?Not a failed experiment?

“Yes,a success—Grandpa didn’t fail.”

Whata thing to say. Makes him sound like an inventor like Edison. Whatwas it, again; I have not failed, I have succeeded in finding a wayin which it doesn’t work—right? Now that I think about it, Edisonseems like a pretty eccentric man… I wonder what kind of personDoctor Kitsuregawa was.

“Sorryfor the wait… black is fine, right?”

Shimegiwaplaced a cup of coffee in front of me, then sat down next toHotsure-chan. Even for a young seventeen-year-old, his demeanorseemed almost parental. It’s true that I can’t read interpersonalrelationships very well with my mind-reading technique, but I wonder.Judging from his work in the kitchen and how familiar he seemed withthings, Shimegiwa must live here… But a teenage boy and a littlegirl in the single digits living alone in a house in a residentialarea makes me feel a bit uneasy. Maybe it’s a sense ofincongruity—pondering that, I chugged the cup of coffee I’d beengiven. Yeah, that was good.

“Weought to give you a detailed explanation to start things off, right?Of course, what we say here is strictly confidential. DoctorKitsuregawa’s honor is at stake.”

Honor?Honor, huh. I wouldn’t think a peerless mad scientist would possessanything so splendid as honor… Well, if you say so, I won’t tellanyone. Doctor Kitsuregawa’s death is a secret, right?

“Death…He’s dead in the physical sense. However, mentally, he’s stillalive.”

Ashe was talking, Shimegiwa moved his gaze towardHotsure-chan—Hotsure-chan looked fixedly at me.

“Hotsure-samahas taken over as Doctor Kitsuregawa.”

Ashis successor, you mean? Like, she’s taken over Doctor Kitsuregawa’sresearch? …No, there’s no way a five-year-old child could dosomething like that. Even I couldn’t have done that when I wasfive… When I was five, I’d already turned into a good-for-nothingkid, now that you mention it. In light of that, I guess I can’tcategorically deny anything.

“Ihaven’t taken over in the way you’re thinking, Jun Aikawa. I saidearlier that Grandpa went up into the sky, but to be precise, hisspirit did not go intothe sky.”

Hotsure-chanpointed at the ceiling once again. Obviously, she didn’t seem to meanthat Doctor Kitsuregawa had gone to h.e.l.l—next, Hotsure-chan turnedher finger toward her head. It was the pose you make when shootingyourself with a pistol.

“He’sinside my head.”

Eventhen, I still didn’t get it, so I have no choice but to admit that Iwas being dull. Inside her head. In a broad sense, that could stillbe a metaphor for taking over his research… However, the nuanceseemed  rather different—Hotsure-chan’s way of speaking, as well asthe dignity I could feel from her presence; I could even say it feltuncanny. I looked at Shimegiwa. You explain.

“It’snot that hard to understand. Well, in a way it is, but what happenedis simple—you know that Doctor Kitsuregawa did research thatinvolved tampering with the human mind as a physical object, right?”

Iknow. I nodded—I won’t make the reference out loud, but I don’tsuppose Shimegiwa knows about the Niounomiya siblings. …Hm? So,what you’re saying is… Really, is that what you’re saying?

“That’sright. On the brink of death, Doctor Kitsuregawa inserted his mindinto Hotsure-sama’s head—technically speaking, it was a transfer ofmemories and knowledge.”

Footnotes:
(1)In the j.a.panese there’s a play on words with 敬意を払う(topay respect) and 薙ぎ払う(tomow down), since both incorporate the verb 払う(harau),to pay.
(2) In the j.a.panese she uses a word for“false/hypocritical” (空々しい)that comes from the character for “sky” (空).