Chapter 48: Hero Candidate - D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. ①

We arranged to meet near the entrance of the amusement park where Nemunemu was.

I thought I got there early, but Snow Fox was already waiting.

I could overhear nearby women whispering, "What do we do? Should we go talk to him?" and fidgeting. Yikes.

Leaning against the wall with his head slightly lowered, Snow Fox looked like a professional model. He stood out too much, like a picture-perfect scene. Before anyone came over to recruit him with a "How about hair modeling?" or "Want to join a talent agency?", I rushed in and called out to him.

"So anyway, this is D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E.—be nice to him, okay?"

"What!? Inori-san, you never told me about this!"

"Huh? Didn’t I mention it?"

The one I’d dragged over by the hand was D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. Sure, he’d follow me if I asked, but since he’s always drifting around and I worry about him disappearing, I make a point to hold his hand when we’re out walking.

"I picked him up recently and I’m trying to rehabilitate him into a hero. It’s going well."

I’d already given up on Ironclad’s rehabilitation as impossible, but with D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E., things were actually looking very good. Today we’d come to discuss his hero suit. Snow Fox held his head in his hands.

"Ughhh, I see. I must’ve unconsciously thought I was special. Embarrassing. Of course someone who looks out for me isn’t looking out for me alone."

"Snow Fox, if this were a romcom, that line would count as a confession."

"…? A sin…?"

"No, not the kind you deal with in a confessional booth."

Depending on how you framed it, his words could easily be taken as "Look only at me." This guy’s gonna get stabbed by a jealous girl someday at this rate. Maybe being a loner with no friends really was a sound survival strategy.

"Sorry, so you thought it was just you, me, and Nemunemu? Guess I never explained it clearly. No wonder you’re tense around strangers—I should’ve been more considerate. My bad."

"That’s part of it, but the bigger issue is that you brought along a notorious villain."

Snow Fox stared intently at D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E., who—as usual—kept darting his gaze all over the place. In any case, unless you used his “Detonate syntax,” a real conversation was impossible.

So I filled Snow Fox in myself.

"He got taken hostage by Delta, forced to blow things up left and right. His ability isn’t even explosions. It’s just that he could survive the blasts along with the target, so they used him as a human time bomb. Then Delta killed the hostage, which freed him, so I took him in."

"…Give me a moment to process that."

"Go ahead."

Snow Fox removed his glasses and covered his eyes with one hand. After a while, still covering his eyes, he began to speak.

"Honestly, Delta’s so enigmatic that I never really felt their evil. People say all villains are Delta’s pawns, but that’s not always the case. And anyone choosing to be a villain still bears responsibility… But hearing this flips my whole perspective upside down."

"Got more motivation to take Delta down?"

"Not sure if that’s something you should just toss out so casually…"

Snow Fox, looking weary, slid his glasses back on.

I started to feel guilty. If I’d told him beforehand, he could’ve had more time to prepare himself. I really thought I had mentioned it… Guess I’d been so busy and scattered that I’d gotten sloppy.

"Oh right—you’re a humanities guy, unlike me. Maybe you can handle talking with D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. better."

"That’s a weird assumption. If every humanities student were a communication specialist, the world wouldn’t be the mess it is now."

"My bad."

This is the same guy who, with no friends at university, called our weekly cafeteria lunches his "dream campus life!" No way you could call him a communication prodigy.

I turned to D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E.

"Think you can? Tell my friend your name."

"D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. Designed as an Engineered Tactically Only entity, Navigates Any Threat Effectively."

"Yeah, I’m still not sure if that’s really his name or not…"

Hearing him speak, Snow Fox’s eyes went wide.

"He talked! I mean—of course he can talk, but still!"

"You were just as tongue-tied in front of Raiden."

"Wait, so this is what I look like from the outside?!"

"Didn’t say that."

D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. had restless pink pupils, a hunched back, and such a frail, skeletal frame he looked like a walking anatomy model—hard to believe he was alive at all. I’d dressed him in something casual since wearing a lab coat to an amusement park would draw attention, but no matter what he wore, he looked painfully thin. Should’ve stuffed a towel under his shirt to bulk him up.

Anyway, compared to Snow Fox—the kind of guy girls hesitated over approaching—D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. was a completely different creature. Even burly men would instinctively keep their distance, unnerved. The police, though, might approach—to check his ID.

"D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. can only speak in that acronym order, and you can’t understand him otherwise. You know English? …Well, he recently figured out how to do it in Japanese romaji too, so maybe that’ll be easier."

"Huh. It’s rare to meet someone with even worse communication issues than me."

"And I’m touched that you can just shrug it off like that."

If it were me suddenly confronted with this, I’d be like, "What the hell?" But Snow Fox grasped it instantly. He even understood the system I call "Detonate syntax" after hearing it just once from the man himself, and coolly summed it up:

"You're a lot more mild-mannered than I expected. I thought you'd be saying things like, 'Destruction Ensures Total Obliteration, Not Any Trace Escapes.'"

"Whoa, you're a natural at D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E.-speak! A genius, maybe?"

"What, this is just my innate talent?"

"That was the power of a humanities student, Yukiya."

"Inori-san, you really overestimate us humanities folks."

D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. grimaced. Damn, if he only caught Yukiya saying something ominous, of course he’d react like that.

"Don’t worry, Everything’s fine, Trust me, Okay? Nothing serious. All just a joke, Truly—Easy."

D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. nodded. Wait, that actually worked? Guess he’s more flexible than I thought. I figured it might slide after he accepted 'daikon' earlier, but I didn’t think something like 'daijoubu' would really get through. Maybe as long as I emphasize the D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. parts in the delivery, even a forced sentence can pass.

"Uh, Inori-san, did what you just said count as D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E.-speak?"

"Looks like it doesn’t have to be only the initials. Just learned that now."

"Not only the initials…"

Yukiya put a hand to his chin, thinking hard about where exactly the D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. pattern had been in my words.

"For beginners, it’s probably easier to think of it like one of those acrostic poems—match the first syllable of each line to D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E., and just talk that way."

"Beginners, huh."

Maybe I should show them an example. After a short pause, I turned to D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. and spoke.

"DearDest Elusive Trusted Truly Open Noble All Together Eternally."

Might as well introduce my friend while I’m at it. Even with his eyes darting nervously around, D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. listened closely and gave a reply.

"DearDest Enlightened True Open Noble Always Truly Exceptional."

Hearing that exchange, Yukiya spoke up.

"Inori-san, if anyone’s the true genius of D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E.-speak, it’s you."

"Idiot, this isn’t talent—it’s effort."

Do you have any idea how many conversations I’ve had with D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. to get this far? Honestly, I almost resented how fast Yukiya managed to adapt. The only reason I pulled it off at all was because I remembered that even the very first time I met D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E., we somehow managed to hold a conversation. Yukiya’s too damn smart. Can’t help but feel a little jealous.