Kouhei seems to be a fan of “MacGyver.”
“I’m hoooooome, Father!”
As the three middle-aged men returned from the hotel, they heard the sound of their home’s door being flung open and a sweet girl’s voice.
“Is that our Princess returning, Father?”
“Hush, Gondo. ‘Father,’ though. Not bad. …No, it’s the best.”
“Welcome home, Airi.”
As I embraced Airi, who had just entered the living room, Fumiyo, carrying shopping bags, spoke to me.
“Darling… it’s tonight, isn’t it? You truly must go?”
“Of course. I will go to Planet Terra and do what must be done. Do you expect me to wait passively for death?”
“…I understand. For your own sake, and for Kanata and Airi, you have to go. I understand that… but I’m worried.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll manage.”
Truthfully, I’m also anxious, but as a man, I have to put on a brave face here.
While enduring the pain, I put on my most dignified expression.
“Fumiyo, Amakake has reached the pinnacle of the bureaucracy. He’s shrewd and will handle things well.”
“Perhaps due to past misdeeds, illness interfered just as he reached the top.”
Amemiya was trying to comfort Fumiyo, but Gondo added an unnecessary punchline. He’s a man who always says one word too many.
I can see why the bigwigs at the Sanryu Shimbun are exasperated with Gondo.
“Mr. Gondo! It’s fun to stir up my anxiety!”
Fumiyo’s protest made Gondo look sheepish.
“Sorr-sorry. I’ve been told I tend to say too much since I was little, but I just can’t seem to help it.”
“Even with Planet Terra’s scientific advancements, they probably can’t fix Gondo’s twisted personality. He should just live his life as a pariah.”
“He should live it down~♪”
Airi, my daughter, came to my defense. Nice assist, my girl.
“It’s disadvantageous to be condemned by father and son. I surrender, I surrender.”
“Now that we’ve won the preliminary skirmish, let’s confirm the procedure. Everyone threw a party for my discharge from the hospital. I suddenly lost consciousness and collapsed during the feast.”
“Kanata and I will be the witnesses. There will be no external injuries or drug reactions on Amakake, and no indication of foul play. It will just appear as a tragic coincidence that befell Kouhei and Namihei’s family.”
“It’s the kind of story the TV people would love. Amakake will be sent to the hospital in a coma. Fumiyo and the others, who will appear to be grieving family members, will await contact from Amakake.”
“The one who receives the contact will be Airi, who has your Magatama! Father, please be sure to call Airi and Mother to Planet Terra!”
“…Yes, I will absolutely call you. Until then, listen carefully to Mother and be a good girl.”
“Okay!”
It hurts to lie to Airi… If a cure can be found, I want her to live on Earth. Here, in safe Japan.
“The ritual will be performed after nightfall. Fumiyo, please prepare for the party that will serve as our alibi.”
“Leave it to me. Airi, help me out.”
“Okay~♪”
Whispering to Gondo so that the mother and daughter in the kitchen, my family, wouldn’t hear.
“Gondo, do as we agreed. Regarding the cure and about revenge, too.”
“Leave it to me.”
I’ve entrusted the revenge plan against those who humiliated me to Gondo. I’m a tenacious sort.
I will bring ruin to those who have grown complacent with their privilege, starting with Mizuki. It’s a bit disappointing that I won’t see their tear-streaked faces.
“I’m sure Amakake has made all the preparations, but is there anything he might have forgotten?”
“No problems, Amemiya. I’ve seen every episode of MacGyver.”
Including the recently produced reboot. The reboot was good, but the Original is still the best.
“You’ve seen The A-Team, too, haven’t you?”
Gondo is an A-Team fan. The A-Team is something I’d rather show Kanata.
The leader of that group of misfits, Kanata’s current position is exactly like Hannibal’s.
“The A-Team? I’ve seen the movie.”
“Watch the Original! It’s the best, isn’t it, The A-Team!”
“I’ve always wondered, why do they put “tokkou yarou” or “bouken yarou” in the Japanese titles of those kinds of foreign dramas?”
Indeed, the American version is “The A-Team.”
“Who knows? I don’t really understand the reason, but I suppose it’s a kind of established convention.”
“In that regard, my favorite, Knight Rider, doesn’t need any “yarou” attached. Knight Rider is truly the best.”
Amemiya was a Knight Rider supporter.
From there, the three men began a debate about which show was the best.
The debate grew heated, but no one yielded, and no conclusion was reached. Just then, Fumiyo appeared with a tray of piping hot Neapolitan spaghetti, carrying the enticing aroma of ketchup.
The three men, knowing it was futile, asked Fumiyo for her opinion.
Placing the sizzling Neapolitan spaghetti on the table, Fumiyo put her index finger to her cheek and thought for a moment.
The hopes of the three men, holding their breath for Fumiyo’s answer, were the same. They intended to settle it by majority vote.
“…Hmm, I’m not really sure.”
That’s understandable. It’s an old drama, and not one women would typically watch.
“Because the one I like is ‘Super Sonic Attack Helicopter Airwolf’.”
…So there was an unexpected dark horse. Airwolf is too niche…
The cafe-style sizzling Neapolitan spaghetti is my favorite.
The ingredients include onions, green peas, canned mushrooms, bright red sausages, and don’t forget the fried egg.
The sizzling Neapolitan spaghetti, my mother’s specialty, is becoming an endangered dish.
I had decided that my last meal on Earth would be the Neapolitan spaghetti that Fumiyo had recreated.
“It tastes nostalgic. There aren’t many cafes serving sizzling Neapolitan spaghetti these days.”
“Didn’t Gondo’s family own a cafe?”
“Yes. But both my parents were terrible cooks.”
How did it survive? A cafe that didn’t serve coffee and was a bad cook…
“To answer your question. For some reason, only their cookies were delicious. It was a cafe that focused all its culinary skill on just cookies and tea. The menu only had tea and cookies. Also, the location was excellent.”
I see. That makes sense.
“This is the Neapolitan spaghetti that Amakake and I used to eat often when we were students. It’s made with simple ingredients, but it’s delicious.”
“The value of things isn’t measured by money. Money is merely the lubricant that makes life run smoothly.”
“I agree, but didn’t you say the opposite when you were a bureaucrat?”
“They say, ‘A gentleman changes his ways.’ But change happens even to those who aren’t gentlemen.”
I wiped the ketchup off Airi’s face with a napkin.
“I can wipe it myself~!”
Airi protested with a smile… My lovely daughter. Yes, compared to family, money is truly as valuable as scrap paper.
It was our last meal together with family and friends, but the intercom rang, and we looked at each other.
“Who could that be? Aside from us, there’s no one who would visit the friendless Amakake.”
The patient with the “one word too many” sickness is having an episode.
“That’s true, but that’s incredibly rude, Gondo.”
“Even if it’s true, there are things you should and shouldn’t say.”
Amemiya had a bit of a naive streak. Because there was no ill intent, the damage was all the greater.
“My husband seems deeply hurt, so I’ll take it.”
Fumiyo, who didn’t seem particularly sympathetic, stood up to answer the videophone.
“Darling, our visitor is someone named Mononobe.”
Mononobe-san? Did he come all the way from Kyoto?
“Fumiyo, please let him in.”
As Mononobe-san, dressed in traditional Japanese attire, entered the living room, he twitched his nose.
“What a wonderful aroma.”
“Would Mr. Mononobe like some? It’s a rare cafe-style Neapolitan spaghetti these days. Welcome, please have a seat.”
“I’ll gratefully accept. The Neapolitan spaghetti that Shohei loved.”
Mr. Mononobe, an elder, sat down in the chair Gondo pulled out and began to eat the Neapolitan spaghetti Fumiyo brought, looking nostalgic.
“Mr. Mononobe, why are you here?”
“I had a feeling Shohei asked me to.”
“My father?”
“That Shohei, he’s causing trouble for me even after death… I had a dream. Shohei and his wife appeared in my dream and asked me to save their son.”
Father, Mother… are you watching over me?
“It seems my feelings weren’t mistaken. When you visited me in Kyoto, I didn’t ask, but the situation seems to have changed. I want to help, too. May I hear the details?”
I decided to tell Elder Mononobe the situation.
“I see, so Shohei was from another world. Hahaha, that makes sense. His eccentric behavior did seem otherworldly. To think he was actually an alien.”
Elder Mononobe laughed gleefully, then his face turned serious.
“And so, Kouhei-kun, you are also going to Planet Terra?”
“Yes. To save my daughter and to atone for my son.”
“Have you brought the ritual implements from Amakake Shrine’s hidden room?”
“The preparations for the ritual are in the empty room.”
“Though our worlds are different, we are both Shinto priests. I will oversee it. These are the ritual steps that Shohei wrote down.”
Elder Mononobe readjusted the placement of several ritual implements, purified the room with salt, and recited a norito (Shinto prayer).
“In Namihei-kun’s case, Shohei had already imbued the術 (jutsu) into the Magatama, so it was fine. However, Kouhei-kun, you will have to succeed in the術 yourself. It’s a dangerous gamble.”
“And so it is.”
“Kouhei-kun, let’s practice the norito for transference together for a bit.”
“Please do.”
“That’s why I came.”
For about two hours, I practiced the norito under Elder Mononobe’s guidance.
“You have quite a knack for it. Kouhei-kun, you should have become a Shinto priest instead of a bureaucrat.”
That’s impossible. On Planet Terra, I am prepared to commit murder, making me a person distant from the path of a Shinto priest.
“During the ritual, I will pray with you. It may not be of any help, but I had wanted to do so for Shohei’s time as well.”
Elder Mononobe, who was my father’s close friend, seemed to regret only being able to see my father off. He probably wanted to pray with him as a Shinto priest.
“I am grateful. Please do. …Then I will go say goodbye to my friends.”
The norito practice took up time. It was almost the scheduled hour.
Fumiyo and the others don’t know yet, but at least Gondo and Amemiya, it’s goodbye. …Honestly, I’m going to miss them.
“Gondo, Amemiya, thank you for everything.”
“No need to be so formal. We’re accomplices, or rather, friends, aren’t we?”
“Amakake will surely succeed. I believe in him. I’m glad I could become true friends with Amakake in the end.”
I shook hands firmly with Amemiya and Gondo, then embraced them.
“Fumiyo, Airi, temporary farewell.”
“Yes, you too, be careful. I’ll be praying for your safety.”
“I’ll be waiting for your call, Father!”
Yes, I will definitely contact you. I can only hope it will be limited to contact…
“Well, I’m off. To the world where my son lives!”
If I talk any longer, I might cry. In front of my family, I want to be a strong father, even if it’s a pretense.
Shaking off my deepening feelings for my family and friends, I headed to the room where Elder Mononobe was waiting.
“It seems you’ve finished your goodbyes.”
“Yes. Let’s begin.”
I started the ritual exactly as written in the letter my father left behind.
Father, Mother, please lend me your strength.
Wait for me, Kanata. I’m coming to the world where you live now!
