Who the Hell Are You?
“…Ryuzaki?”
Just as I was feeding the cat, a voice called out behind me. I turned around and found Alice standing there.
“Who are—Alice?”
“…A panda?”
A panda? What was that supposed to mean? Some trendy new slang I hadn’t caught up on yet?
“Your face! You’ve turned into a panda! Look at those bruises… Are you okay? Who did you fight with?”
Ah. She meant my face. I hadn’t checked a mirror, but from her reaction, I must have been sporting some pretty colorful contusions.
“No. I just… had a little talk with my father.”
“What kind of ‘talk’ ends like that between a father and son!?”
In short: I’d gotten thoroughly beaten black and blue.
In my previous life, I’d taken my share of thrashings from loan sharks. I’d always prided myself on my toughness—yet that pride had nearly gotten me knocked out cold. He really was a yakuza boss for a reason. Even when I tried to fight back, I’d been completely helpless.
Not that I can’t understand how Father feels.
He’d spent a lifetime building a secure, comfortable future—and then his son had decided to throw it all away and start from scratch. To him, I must have looked like some reckless brat who didn’t know how the world worked. Calling studying a “delinquency” still sounded a little strange, though.
Nothing I could do about it. It wasn’t as if I could tell him about my past life.
I’d be lucky if he didn’t lock me up in a psych ward.
Still, it hadn’t been a total loss.
“…Take a break from the organization for a while. Once you’ve sorted out your thoughts, we can talk again.”
A promise from my father that he’d leave me alone for the time being. Meaning I could focus on studying without worrying about anything else for a while.
He’d beaten me without the slightest mercy—and then, once it was over, maybe his heart had softened just a little.
My father from my past life, or this one… which of them was the bigger piece of trash?
Hmm. Not an easy contest to call.
“You don’t want to know.”
“When you say that, it actually gets scary.”
“I’m not joking. I’m being serious.”
“Oh, come on…!”
Alice lightly smacked my shoulder. Of all places, she hit one of the spots that had just been pulverized, and it stung.
“That hurts.”
“Ah—really!? S-sorry…”
“That one was a joke.”
“Oh, so you want to fight? Is that it?”
She played along just enough and didn’t press any further. Watching her back off without prying told me again that she at least had basic manners.
“…So, what were you doing?”
“Feeding this little guy.”
“You know this cat?”
“A little. I’ve seen it a few times while walking by. Today it latched onto my leg like it was starving.”
Alice came over and crouched down beside me. Then she grinned as she looked down at the kitten—an open, unguarded expression I never saw from her at school.
“You like cats?”
“Yeah! More than anything in the world. They’re so cute. Just looking at them makes me happy.”
“Is that so? That’s good, then.”
“Huh? What’s good?”
At her question, I pointed at the cat.
“I was thinking about raising it. I’ve never kept a pet before, so I had no idea where to start—but I guess I can just ask you.”
“Raise it? You can’t!”
“Why not?”
“It might still have a mother! If you just take it, that’s not a rescue—that’s kidnapping.”
“I think we’re fine on that front.”
Alice tilted her head. In the dim light, her dark blue hair swayed.
“I’ve never once seen it with its mother.”
“It’s always been alone?”
“Yeah. I waited about an hour just in case the mother would show up. I kept glancing around while reading my textbook, but nobody ever came.”
At the word “textbook,” Alice’s expression tightened for a moment.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. So you want to raise it? Do you like cats, Ryuzaki?”
Years ago, a mock exam passage had described the effects of keeping a cat. It said owning one lowered the risk of stroke and heart disease, and that the psychological comfort they provided was a genuine help in daily life. After reading that in my past life, I’d wanted one—then realized I couldn’t afford it and gave up cleanly.
“I’ve just wanted one for a long time.”
But things were different now. Money wasn’t tight, and I lived alone at home anyway. As long as I could take responsibility, there was no reason not to try.
More than anything else—cats didn’t lie. And they were cute.
“It’s cute, and there’s nobody else at home. Outside of school hours I’m always there, so I can look after it.”
“Your parents are—never mind. Forget I said that.”
“My father’s always busy with work, so he’s mostly out. My mother…”
There were no memories of Ryuzaki’s mother. Whether she was dead, had run away, or was living somewhere perfectly fine—even Ryuzaki himself didn’t know. I let the sentence trail off, and Alice seemed to take it the wrong way.
She parted her lips as if to speak, then gently patted my back with her head bowed a little.
“…That still hurts, you know.”
“Shut up. You’re a guy—deal with it.”
There didn’t seem much point in correcting the misunderstanding, so I didn’t. Not that I could have corrected it even if I’d wanted to.
“…Anyway! If the mother never came, then this little one really has been abandoned. Look how skinny it is, and all that gunk around its eyes—it’s clearly been without care for a long time.”
Alice suddenly stood up and scanned the area. Then she unfolded a cardboard box that had been stacked in the corner and carefully set the kitten inside.
“Listen carefully. At this size, it’s already past the formula stage. But hard kibble is still too much, so you’ll want to soak dry food in water, or…”
She handed me the box and rattled off every caution for raising a kitten—how to handle the litter box, when it was safe to bathe it, how to set up its environment. Did she know all this because she actually kept cats?
I’m grateful, but… why is she going this far?
She was pouring out knowledge so eagerly that suspicion stirred unbidden in a corner of my mind. What did she want from me, to be this generous? We’d only spoken for the first time today.
“Got it? If there’s anything you don’t know, just message me.”
“…Thanks.”
“Of course. I keep five cats, you know. I know more than most so-called experts. Ask me anything.”
I was grateful for her kindness—and yet something about it felt a little off. Probably just because I was a twisted person.
As if she could read that murky thought, Alice gave me her signature bright, smiling eyes.
“Are you free tomorrow? If you are, want me to come shopping for cat supplies with you?”
“No, it’s fine—”
“Ah, wait—I can’t. I just remembered I have tutoring. Sorry for bringing it up. You’ll have to go by yourself.”
I watched her retreating back in a daze—and for a fleeting moment, I felt the slightest twinge of envy.
“I’ll send you a list of what to buy on the way home, so check Rain.”
“……”
“Answer me!”
“Yeah. Got it.”
What exactly I was envious of—even I couldn’t say.
Tutoring, my ass.
For Alice, tomorrow was a rare and precious day with her after-school schedule completely empty.
So why had she told Ryuzaki she wasn’t free?
Just because she wanted to rest? As if.
I can’t let a chance like this slip away.
This was an opportunity—a chance to see with her own eyes how Ryuzaki actually lived.
He’d said he studied mainly from textbooks? What a joke. If that worked, why would anyone go to cram school or pay for expensive private tutors?
There was no way she could believe a lie that absurd. He had to have some special workbook, academy, or tutor of his own.
Tomorrow, Alice planned to trail Ryuzaki all day and uncover every last secret of his studying methods.
And so the day passed.
Sure enough, even in class he kept his textbook open and continued studying. Watching that massive frame bent seriously over a textbook gave her a strange sense of cognitive dissonance. At this point, it almost felt like he was mocking her on purpose.
“Alice! What are you staring at so hard?”
“H-huh? Nothing! Just… nothing.”
It didn’t matter. She’d know everything by the end of the day.
Before long, school was out. Ryuzaki left the building right away, and Alice carefully followed.
She’d already changed clothes, put on a hat, and pulled up a mask. The disguise was perfect. Keeping her distance, she trailed him step by step.
Then a sudden wave of self-awareness nearly stopped her in her tracks.
…What am I even doing right now?
Hiragi Alice—top entrant to Asahi High School, one of the 5 Geniuses of Tsukuyomi Academy City—was currently playing spy and tailing some delinquent.
The sidelong glances from passersby felt especially sharp today. If she got caught? She’d be branded a creepy stalker in an instant. She looked completely suspicious.
Guilt stabbed through her, but she shook her head hard and forced it down.
“No. This isn’t stalking—it’s information gathering. Yeah. That’s right.”
He’d been the one to lie first, after all. This was a rational, reasonable move by a rival to strip away his pretenses.
“…Why does he walk so fast!”
Still rationalizing, Alice hurried after Ryuzaki.
Thirty minutes later, under the sweltering heat, she was bitterly regretting the thick clothes she’d chosen to wear.
…Someone was following me.
“……”
Another yakuza? Or some punk from another school?
Who the hell are you?