Short Program 30

Short Program, Volume 3, Chapter 30 (pp. 119~142)


<119>
Memory Off: Part 2


<120>
Characters so far:
The college applicant
The girl with amnesia
The news reporter
—That's all.

[x2]JUCK

[sign]Toshino

=BEE-//BEEP


<121>
=Well?//How's your fever?

=97 °F.

=That was a quick recovery.
=Must have something to do with the page limit.

=Here's the paper.
=Oh,//Thanks.

=And the New Year's letters.
=Looks like you only got advertisements.

=That's because we're in mourning. The grandfather on my Dad's side passed away last year.
=And your family still went to Hawaii?

=Well,//They had a karaoke party the night of the funeral.


<122>
ZZT..

THUD

WHUP

=What's wrong?
=Hmm.

=No,//Nothing...
FLAP FLAP..


<123>
[headline]Murder in Yomogi Park

=A man shot to death in the bushes.

=Time of death, approximately 10pm to 12am.
=Skillfully carried out,//Possibly the work of a professional killer!?

=A professional killer?
=Hah-hah,//A girl like that?


<124>
=Maybe she's a killing machine trained from birth by some sort of secret organization...

=Idiotic,//Why would a killing machine show up at my house.
WHAP

=Maybe because you know something about the secret organization...
=How the heck would I know that!?
=I haven't even been outside these past couple days.

=I went to the video store the day before yesterday, but—

[bag]Rental Videos

=...No way.


<125>
=I'm terribly sorry.
=Oh no, it was my fault.

=Thank you, thank you.

=That guy was holding videos too...
[x2]SHUFF

=—I knew it.
=This isn't the anime I rented!

=So this is the tape about the secret organization...?

[bubble]GASHUCK

WHIRR...


<126>
DRIP DRIP

=BLICK
[button left]PLAY
[button right]STOP

=I might've missed something important.//Lemme rewind it and have a re—al good look.
WHIRR...

=Ahh—//Ahh—

=Is this the sort of thing a college applicant should be watching this time of day?


<127>
=Ahh—//Ahh—
Gotta patch 'em all!
[tv]Dorae-Monster

DRIP DRIP

=The snow's starting to melt.

=Well then, guess I'll head for the police station—
=Whoa, hold up—!

=Oh,//—Well, you know.
=You're gonna leave a sick person behind!?


<128>
=Your fever's gone, though.
=Oh, but—
=I still feel dizzy,//And nauseous.

=Besides, I really think it'd be easier to explain things if I went with you.//Right? Let's go tomorrow.
=And it's gonna get dark pretty soon.

=It's still 3 o'clock.
[bubble]PIP
Time for the 3 o'clock news

[bubble]PIP

=I don't think the police want to be bothered on New Year's Day.

=—But,//What about your studies?

=Hey, I know!//You can help me study!//You're probably smarter than me.

=Done deal!//Let's do it.
=Okay?


<129>
=This one's wrong.
=And this one.
=And that one.

=Are you sure you can't remember anything about yourself...?//I guess this stuff gets stored in a different part of the brain...

=Here,//Look.

=See the bump?
=Oh, yeah.

=I must've tripped or hit my head somewhere while I was walking around,//And it made me lose my memory.
=A young girl walking around on her own at midnight? On New Year's Eve?

=It looks easy on TV shows though. All they have to do is hit their head again, and voilà! Everything's back to normal!
=I wonder what "normal" is...
=—Yeah.


<130>
=—But why would I be carrying around a knife...?

=Or a gun,//Or a stungun...

=Now I remember!

SWOOP
=Whoa.

=I was baking rice cakes!


<131>
TOO—T

PLIP


<132>
[x2]TICK

SNORE—

=That one's//wrong.

=Don't give up//...Hajime.

[bubble]SNORE—

=I don't care if she's a murderer anymore...


<133>
=January 2nd, 2000—

DRIP DRIP

[bubble]CH-//CHIRP

[bubble]CHIRP

WHUP
=Good morning.

=You were studying?//This whole time?

=You kept cheering me on in your sleep, so...//Yeah.


<134>
=I'll go get the paper.

=Oh.

=I think the newspaper's on holiday,
[bubble]BWOOP//BWOOP
=For today—

[x3]BWOOP

=—Uck! They're headed for my house.


<135>
=Oh.
=Uh.
=Don't know her name!
=He-//He—y!

GACHUK

THUD

=Oh.

=A-Are you okay!?

=Uh,//Yes.


<136>
=There's a door out back.//Hurry!

=Your answer?
=I know!//I'll handle the rest!

=Okay,//Then on my birthday—
BATHUMP
=Just go!

=My birthday?

[x3]BWOOP

SCREECH
[x2]BATHUMP


<137>
=Do you live in this house?
=Uh,//Yes.

=You've heard about the murder in Yomogi Park, haven't you!
=Uh,//Yes.

=Where's the gun!?
=Huh?
=So it was real.

=You'd better not be hiding anything!
=Uh,//Look...
=We arrested the culprit last night, and he says he left it on your doorstep on New Year's Eve.

=Huh?

=You arrested//...The culprit?
=Where's the gun!?


<138>
=Why didn't you tell us immediately!?
=Don't be so judgmental, Yamada-kun.

=The gun was buried,//In the snow—

="To Mr. Hajime Toshino..."//A letter for you, maybe?
=Huh?

=Thank you for your cooperation!//—Have a nice day!

[x3]BWOOP

[letter]To Mr. Hajime Toshino


<139>
=Manami Nonomura?
[letter]Manami Nonomura

[x2]BOOM-CHUK
[sign]Nonomura

=Well well,//What a happy day!
=Forget about all that B2K computer crap!
GAH-HAH-HAH
=It's Y2K, mister.

=By the way, big brother.//I haven't seen Manami-chan around. Where is she?
WEE~
=Hmm?


<140>
=Ohh—//That's right, I remember!
=She went to confess to the guy she likes on New Year's Eve.
=On New Year's Eve?

=Yeah,//She said she didn't wanna regret it in case the whole B2K thing happened.
=Dude, it's Y2K.
[bubble]HICK

=Isn't it dangerous?//Letting a girl go off on her own at night—

=Don't worry!//She takes Aikido classes.
=Plus, I gave her a knife and a stungun just in case.

=—But,//Today's already the 2nd of January.
GAH-HAH-HAH
=2nd, 3rd—Who gives a damn!//It's all part of the holidays!
=C'mon, drink up!

=According to this letter...
BOOM-CHUK BOOM-CHUK


<141>
=Apparently, she saw me on the bus about 2 months ago and took a liking to me, but—

=That was right around the time when I was in the hole, and really had to buckle down and start studying for my entrance exams...

=My phenomenal last-minute concentration prevented me from noticing,//That such a cute girl was on the lookout for me.

=—And,//Page 6 of the previous chapter.
THUD
=Happy New Year!

=The Environmental Crisis,
=The Population Crisis,
=The Food Crisis,


<142>
=The Educational Crisis,
=Dino Crisis...
=With all these crises at hand,

=There's only 1 more year to go until the dawn of the 21st century...

=—By the way, her birthday is on January 3rd.
[calendar title]January: Toshino Family Weekly Schedule
[top row]Father//Mother//Hajime//Sister
[row1]Sat.//Hawaii//Hawaii//Studying//Hawaii
[row2]Sun.
[row3]Mon.//Date
[row4]Tue.//Golf//Karaoke//Studying//Movie
[row5]Thu.//Party//Pachinko//Date
[circle]THE END

Memory Off: Part 2 (END)