Ninamori knew her father's secretary had been in his room all night. The reason for her parents' separation was, without a doubt, all because of this woman.
Remembering the sight of her father holding her mother's hand when he'd first been elected mayor, Ninamori could hear him thank her mother all over again. Ninamori's parents had been very close. Any small thing could bring them closer together. If her parents could only enjoy something together again, they'd definitely go back to being a family like they had been before. If this woman weren't in the way, that is.
'You have a change of clothes, too? Why's that?' the woman asked after noticing the paper bag filled with clothes near Ninamori's feet.
It was Ninamori's costume for the Marquis de Carabas. 'I'm doing a play for the school fair. I'm the lead role,' she explained.
It's at the most painful times that people grow up. The most painful few days of Ninamori's life were about to begin.
This is the story of the girl who pretended to be the Marquis de Carabas.
The thing is… although the types of happiness one can experience are limited, there are unlimited variations of misfortune. One of Ninamori's classmates understood this better than she did. In fact, he'd considered himself the most unfortunate person in the world for the past month.
The boy was none other than Naota Nandaba.
Naota left the house to go to school with a backpack slung over his back and a baseball cap on his head. Naota had become better acquainted with misfortune because of what was under that baseball cap.
Naota's house was a bakery, but in the mornings when there should've been customers, there wasn't a single person to be seen. Shigekuni Bakery wasn't particularly popular.
In the shop's small parking lot, there was a Vespa and a girl crouched next to it, whistling happily. She was examining her beloved scooter carefully for any problems.
It was Haruko Haruhara. The other day, she'd moved into the Nandaba house as a hired housekeeper.
'Hey, wannabe housekeeper,' Naota called out to Haruko.
Although she must've heard, Haruko acted as if she hadn't, turning on the Vespa's motor. Engaging in an over-the-top display of revving her engine and turning her ear to the engine noise, Haruko seemed to be teasing Naota. Her actions clearly indicated that she wasn't going to acknowledge his presence at all.
'Cleaning lady!' Naota yelled out, enraged by the fact that he was being ignored. In class, Naota played it cool, but when it came to Haruko, he became angry very quickly. 'Maid!' he continued mockingly.
Haruko revved the engine again as though she still hadn't noticed Naota was there.
'Alien!' Naota shouted, half ready to give up.
Finally, Haruko turned around. When Naota shouted, 'Alien!' he'd actually meant, 'weird girl who might as well be an alien'; but Haruko, who tended to have a horribly stubborn attitude, reacted in a rather peculiar way. 'Yes?' she asked.
'Clean up my room, will you?'
Since Haruko had come to board at the Nandaba house, she'd been staying in Naota's room, taking the top bunk of the bed. Now, the room was scattered with all the bike parts that Haruko had brought with her. There literally wasn't space left to walk.
'What's the big problem?' Haruko asked. 'The room matches the store in that way.'
When Naota scanned the area, he saw that the empty bakery was, indeed, piled high with cardboard boxes. Every box bore the mark of a printing house.
Naota stared at the boxes, letting out an extended sigh.
'Mon-chan said he's a journalist,' Haruko said.
'Mon-chan?' Naota replied.
It sounded as if Haruko were referring to Naota's father, Kamon. Before he'd come to the suburbs of Mabase, Naota's father had worked as an editor at a publishing house in Central. Although Kamon was now working in the bakery, it seemed as though he hadn't completely given up his former career and was publishing things himself. Naota thought it was a complete waste of money and effort.
Employing Haruko was a prime example of wasting money.
The idling Vespa engine emitted a small explosion, spewed out black smoke, and stopped. Haruko crouched over her scooter once again and started fiddling with engine parts. 'I don't understand why such quality parts are malfunctioning…'
'Junk heap,' Naota spat out as a parting shot before heading toward school.
Haruko's greasy arms suddenly reached out from behind, grabbing Naota by the collar.
'That hurts!' Naota yelped.
'You're going to school in that really ugly hat again?' Haruko asked, pulling the hat off Naota's head.
A new horn—a double one, no less—had been growing under Naota's hat. The pair of horns resembled cat ears and were most unusual appendages, which made Naota the most unfortunate person in the world.
It'd happened a couple nights before; the horns had started growing out of nowhere. To hide them, Naota had worn a hat for the entirety of the previous day. He'd even slept with it on. It was annoying, but if he didn't keep the horns pressed down, they'd grow even more.
This was actually the third time this had happened to Naota. No matter how much one traveled the world, one wouldn't find another boy with cat ears growing out of his head.
'I can't get enough of them. They're so soft and cute—and so therapeutic to stroke!' Haruko squealed.
'D-don't touch them!' Naota pleaded.
As Haruko continued to admiringly stroke the cat ears, Naota sank down on the ground. It seemed that whenever his newly acquired ears were touched, he lost control over his body—but in a feel-good kind of way.
'See you tonight,' Haruko waved, returning the hat to Naota's head.
'Tonight?'
'You're coming shopping with me, right?'
'Shopping?'
'You want your normal curry, don't you?'
Naota suddenly realized what Haruko was talking about. The night before, they'd eaten curry for dinner, but at Haruko's request, the curry roux used hadn't been their normal one. It was super spicy, making it troublesome for Naota to eat. Actually, it was so spicy that he couldn't even manage a mouthful. The only curry Naota could digest was the least spicy curry roux sold, Star Prince Curry, which could only be purchased at a small supermarket outside of town.
'Fine, show me where the supermarket is,' Naota recalled Haruko telling him. He was surprised that Haruko really wanted to go shopping with him. He hadn't actually seen her do any housework— not even once. The previous night's curry had been made by the robot, Canti, according to Haruko's orders.
Surprisingly, the Nandaba household had a robot in it, too—a humanoid robot with a TV set for a head. The robot had emerged from the first horn that had come out of Naota's head.
A few days earlier, a horn that had grown out of Naota's head had turned out to be a section of a robot that proceeded to separate itself from Naota. Indeed, the kinds of happiness are limited, but the variations of misfortune are limitless.
The absurd robot, named Canti, did more housework than Haruko. Even now, it was standing on the balcony airing the bed sheets while staring down at Haruko and Naota.
'You're late!'
According to the clock on the classroom wall, Naota was only a little late; but the moment he put his bag down on the desk, Ninamori scolded him. She seemed genuinely annoyed.
'You seem to be in a bad mood this morning, Class President,' Naota observed.
'I told you yesterday, turn up to morning practice on time,' Ninamori replied scathingly.
'Oh…'
