Chapter 42: Disassembly Hero · D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E.

When I came home with good news, Sudama was smugly setting a plate down in front of D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E.

"Simmered daikon, green onions, and shirataki noodles!"

"I get what you were trying."

She had cooked using ingredients whose initials would form D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. As expected from Sudama, that overbearing fox who looks after everyone. Even though everyone else had long since given up on trying to interact with D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E., she clearly hadn’t.

When I explained that D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. could only recognize words beginning with its initials, Sudama had just looked utterly confused. Can’t blame her. It makes no sense. But instead of abandoning D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. then and there, she went out and bought a romanization chart from the 100-yen shop and had been muttering over it day after day.

I thought it’d take forever just to get from romanized syllables to writing English poems. Never expected her to come at it with cooking.

Simmered Daikon, Eh… something, To-ne-Negi (green onion), and iTo konnyaku (shirataki noodles). The "Ehkon" part’s a bit forced, and "Ito" works for pronunciation but not spelling. Still, it looks tasty enough. I’d just prefer a bit of meat or fish in there. As a side dish, though, it works.

As D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. looked down at the plate Sudama offered, he spoke.

"O chosen Delight of the Eternal Table. Without Orchestration, only from the Nose, you let me Anticipate flavor and grant me True Enjoyment."

...It—it talked.

Not in English. In Japanese.

Mio clapped his hands over his mouth, and even Jin’s eyes went wide.

"My my, you’ve been secretly studying words all this time? Don’t heap on praise before even eating, now."

Sudama understood it too. So it wasn’t just my imagination.

"You could speak Japanese this whole time?!"

All that effort I put into speaking in English—what was it for?! As long as it fits D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E., you’ll take anything, huh? Shameless!

D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. looked at me after my sudden outburst, his expression puzzled. He had done the same with Sudama just a moment ago, too. As if he didn’t understand.

"If you can handle Japanese this well, there’s no way you don’t understand me right now! What’s with that dumb ‘I don’t get it’ face?! What kind of system is in that head of yours?! Disassemble your own language center and figure it out yourself!"

"Inori, calm down. Deep breaths."

With Mio’s hand rubbing my back, I got myself under control. Yelling wouldn’t solve anything. He simply didn’t process words that way.

"Dammit. Hey, D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E., we’re having a conversation. I’ll test just how far your so-called Detonate-structure can stretch."

That makes all the difference in difficulty. If it works like an acrostic, then conversation suddenly becomes much easier. Communication with Japanese speakers might even be within reach.

I thought for a moment, then addressed D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E.

"Comrade D, I’ll take responsibility.

Eternally, I’ll be your friend.

Though I can never become the one who once fed your soul, nor take their place,

Open as your wound is, I can’t fill it.

The Nothing you lost won’t return.

The Afterlife is a one-way road.

The only Thing I can do is stand by the hole inside you, and

Ensure you don’t fall into it."

...And now it sounds like a full-blown poem. I could’ve gone with something sillier, but when matching words for D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E., it just comes out this way.

His eyes—always wide—opened even wider, and for once his gaze, usually darting everywhere, fixed squarely on me.

"Who D has ever shaken my heart like this?

Eternally, I’ll be your friend.

Through eternity, I won’t leave you with a hole like mine.

Over you, I’ll stand guard, so no one else carves a hole.

Like the hunchback of Notre Dame, I’ll give you All my love.

To you, angelic one, may you be Even happier than Esmeralda."

Again with the angel thing. Do I really look that much like some pure maiden?

His Japanese is flawless! The intonation’s natural, too. Just how many languages can he even speak? Not that it matters—if they all come out as Detonate-structure, it’s such a waste.

At least now I know conversation is possible. No more racking my brain for good "N" words in English. From now on, I’ll just need to find them in Japanese—and that’s way easier in my mother tongue.

"Friends lost as important as Daichi are the hardest to bear.

Eternally, I shall live.

To protect my friends, I shall do so.

Open wounds will not be caused to you for my sake.

The Niches created by your absence,

I swear not to Approach them recklessly.

To live eternally—let that be my vow.

Eternally, I shall live."

After hearing my words, D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. closed his eyes. I decided to believe he understood. At least he didn’t have a puzzled look.

Even if I forced an acrostic this way, it seemed fine, as long as it matched D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E.’s initials. Shameless! But still, this opened a path. Soon, conversations that actually made sense would probably be possible. Hopefully. Surely.

"…Hey, did you get that, Sudama?"

"Hm? Sorry, did you say that was in Japanese?"

At this point, it seemed the poem’s meaning didn’t fully get across—half my fault. Mio and Sudama stared blankly, while Jin read the newspaper. I wiped the sweat from my forehead.

"Man, those were some seriously loving words. I got nervous and ended up saying quite a lot too. Well, it was genuine, though."

"I didn’t understand a thing. Holes…was that a dirty joke?"

"The shift from noble phrases to lowbrow lines—your ears get scrambled from the contrast."

"I’ve heard something like that before. If you’re quoting, stick to that kind of thing."

"Sudden Hugo quotes? That was their idea, you know."

We still need to tune the vocabulary to something more general. Looks like I’m the one who’ll have to handle the conversation. Talking to D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. is insanely taxing. Exhausting.

"My hero name’s gotta be D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. The name fits too perfectly. I’ll have to teach people how to speak in this order anyway. Not like I’m copying the real D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E., so it’ll be fine. Somehow. Somehow."

"Somehow, huh…"

Since no one else is watching, it should be fine.

Still, the claim that D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. eliminated everyone is only for the targets. Innocent bystanders—like Jin—might remember his face. Is that a setup?

To conceal my identity, I probably need a hero suit. I’ll go see Nemunemu. Nemunemu and D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. both have too many communication issues. Being caught between them might make my head explode.

During that exchange, my phone rang.

The caller was Yukiya—a snow fox.

We communicate fairly frequently, but phone calls are rare. I answered quickly, thinking it might be urgent.

"Inori! Help meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

He screamed so loudly my ears rang. Then the call cut off abruptly, leaving only the electronic beep of a disconnected line.

Whoa, that was way too ominous.

He called for help in the tone of one hero addressing another. I’m not a hero, nor a heroine, nor even a healer yet—but if a friend’s in trouble, I want to help.

Sighing, I pocketed my phone and stood.

"Do you know where you need to go?"

"No idea…this is bad."

Mio asked if I had any leads, but I shook my head. For now, I’d go outside and gather info via social media.

Jin, using a repaired tablet he’d picked up somewhere, showed me its screen. It was a LIVE broadcast.

Yukiya was desperately fighting. He froze the ground, slid across the ice, and extinguished flames trying to spread.

The location was immediately obvious. Jin’s good.

But the problem was Yukiya’s opponent.

The villain’s flaming head burned blue, towering flames shooting up, intent on chaos. And that villain was a woman I knew well.

"Ah…this looks familiar,"

Mio muttered.

"I’ve been like this too…when I was about to become a villain."

—The Heat-Infused Hero, Inferna, was on the verge of turning villain.