“Chrysalis,” Mao burst out. “It means chrysalis!”
“Hmm?” Sousuke asked.21 December, 1537 hours (Japan Standard Time)Jindai High School, Tokyo
“Hey, Sagara-kun.” After school was over for the day, Sousuke’s classmate Tokiwa Kyoko approached him. “Did you know that Kana-chan’s birthday is the 24th?” Her question was met with silence. “Hello? Earth to Sousuke!”
“Oh, that’s... right,” Sousuke responded awkwardly. He wasn’t in the habit of celebrating birthdays, so even though he’d seen Kaname’s noted in her profile prior to his infiltration of the school, it had completely slipped his mind. He’d also ended up making plans with Mithril for that day.
Ignoring Sousuke’s sudden discomfort about his oversight, Kyoko continued. “You’re coming on that cruise with us, right? I figured we’d put together a big surprise for Kana-chan, to wish her a happy birthday.” She cast a glance at Kaname, who was on the other side of the classroom, clapping erasers out the window. “See, I think she’s not expecting to get anything this year, so the timing is perfect. I was thinking we’d all buy her flowers. You want to chip in?”
“Chip in?” Sousuke questioned.
“You don’t know what that means? Um, it means we all put in a little money for the whole,” Kyoko explained. “In this case, 300 yen each. Please?”
“I see. I’ll pay the money,” Sousuke promised. “But...”
“But...?”
Sousuke hesitated, gripping his wallet. “I’m sorry, but I won’t be going on the cruise. Something else came up.”
“You won’t be coming?” Kyoko asked in shock. “But you were all worked up about it! You said you were gonna come loaded for bear this time!”
“Ah. Well, I...” Sousuke dissembled.
“Plus, it’s Kana-chan’s birthday!”
“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I’ve made other plans.”
“Jeez... Kana-chan’s gonna be crushed, y’know,” Kyoko told him.
“It’s unavoidable,” Sousuke said shortly.
“What’ll you be doing instead?”
Of course, Kyoko didn’t know about Mithril—none of the students of Jindai High did. “I’m very sorry, but I can’t tell you.”
Just then, Kaname strolled up to them. She lay down the erasers on the blackboard nearby, then started arranging the chalk. “What’s going on here?” she asked, casually.
“Huh? Ah... nothing! Ahaha...”
Kyoko’s protestations just made her more curious. “Seriously, what is it?”
“N-Never mind. But did you hear, Kana-chan? Sagara-kun isn’t coming on the cruise! Sucks, huh?” Kyoko said, fists balled, as she forced a change of subject.
This announcement caused Kaname to suddenly cease her chalk arrangements. “Oh, really?” she said coldly.
“There are mitigating circumstances,” Sousuke said, trying to explain himself. “I’m sorry.”
“Hmm... I wonder why you feel the need to apologize to me...” Kaname mused.
Sousuke’s eyes opened in surprise. “Um, well, I—”
“I mean, it sounds good to me,” she went on. “Things will be quieter with you gone, anyhow. I guess it’s some kind of mission or whatever, so merry Christmas and all that. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.”
“Actually, I just—”
“You just what?” The power of Kaname’s side-eye caused Sousuke to falter. He couldn’t bring up Mithril with Kyoko standing right there.
“Wow,” she went on icily. “Something so important you can’t even tell me, huh? Well... I’m sure it’s none of my business, anyway. Bye, I guess. Don’t expect a souvenir, okay?” Then she strode out of the room.
Kyoko, watching the exchange, let out a deep sigh. “I told you! See? You totally bummed her out!”
“It does... appear that way,” Sousuke said, feeling greasy sweat rise on his temples. “But I don’t understand. Why was she so upset?”
“Why do you think?” Kyoko retorted. “It’s her birthday. She’s sad that you won’t be coming. She just won’t admit it because she’s stubborn and full of herself. C’mon, it’s not that hard!”
Sousuke understood every word in Kyoko’s statement, but its meaning as a whole remained elusive. “I don’t quite understand,” he admitted. “Are birthdays that important?”
“Um, yes! And you’d better not forget it!”
“Understood,” he said, acknowledging the point. “But regardless, I’m not free that day. I’m sorry.”
Kyoko’s pigtails drooped. “Okay... got some party to go to, huh?”
“Party... I suppose so,” Sousuke reflected. “It is a party, in a sense. My party plans became another kind of party.”
Kyoko shot him a curious look.
“Ah, it’s nothing,” he said hastily.
After class, Kaname headed alone for the shopping street near Sengawa Station. She entered a teen-oriented shop that sold cute stuffed animals and such, and while she was hunting for Bonta-kun goods, a nearby man approached her. He looked like a white-collar worker. “Hello, my dear. Would you like to join me this evening?” the man asked, somewhat awkwardly.
“Get lost, asshole.”
“Don’t be like that. I’ll treat you to something nice.”
This line, too, was said entirely without commitment. It caused Kaname to snort in derision. But she still said, “Good, you remembered the password.”
“Couldn’t you pick a less awkward line and location?” the man asked, his voice low.
“This is fine,” Kaname told him. “It means I’ll never mistake you for someone else.”
“But it’s so unnatural,” the man complained. “The things my bosses would say if they knew we were making contact like this...”
“Don’t tell them,” Kaname suggested flippantly. “Then they won’t find out.” She cast another glance at the man, who was an agent with Mithril’s intelligence division. His codename was Wraith, and his mission was the monitoring and protection of Kaname (though she had her doubts about the ‘protection’ part).
He seemed to be a master of disguise, and looked different each time she saw him: sometimes a well-to-do older woman; sometimes a young freelancer; sometimes a middle-aged white-collar worker; a 40-something housewife; a construction worker; an insurance salesman... anything you could imagine. Kaname didn’t even know for sure if “he” was really a man.
“But... I gotta say, this is another awesome disguise,” she told him. Kaname found Wraith’s disguise skills extremely impressive; he could even change his voice at will. “Why not ditch the whole ‘lonely spy’ racket?” she suggested. “I bet you could make real money in show business.”
“Butt out.” Wraith slumped over, seemingly annoyed by her comment.
“Ah, sorry
