#56: Valse des fleurs
Akazawa was running.
Her plan to satisfy Kosugi had been completely derailed by the appearance of the mysterious masked woman.
It was the worst possible outcome.
Now, the meaning of the Masquerade waltz she had danced with Mikoto would be completely different. The purpose of that spiteful dance had been to make a spectacle of Mikoto’s clumsy footwork. To protect the Secretarial Division, and to satisfy Kosugi, with whom she had a personal relationship, Akazawa had deliberately led Mikoto into one failure after another.
And now, the masked woman’s appearance had turned all of that against her.
The audience had been captivated by her performance. That alone would have been bad enough. But worse, the masked woman had called Akazawa a witch.
Her plan had been destroyed, her face dragged through the mud. She had been made into the villain, completely and utterly.
“……I’ll never forgive you……!”
Fifteenth floor of the Hotel Maverick. Room 1508, a semi-suite reserved under her own name. Akazawa unlocked the door with trembling hands, twisted the handle, and screamed with rage.
“I’ll fucking kill you……! I’ll kill you!!!”
She hurried down the corridor of the suite towards the bedroom where Kosugi had been tied to a chair. She threw away the cover of the fruit knife she had hidden in her bag, then lunged forward, intending to plunge it into him—
“Did you enjoy the dance, Akazawa-san?”
“Hiya! Long time no see, Kurumi-chan~!”
—Akazawa was struck speechless.
Standing on either side of Kosugi, who was strapped to a chair and screaming in terror, were Sanae Yanase, the “Hound of General Affairs”, and her wife, former Hibiya General Affairs employee Toko Yanase.
“Wh—what the hell are you doing here!? Get out of my way! I’m going to—”
“To put it simply, there is no need for you to dirty your hands over scum like him.”
“What!?”
Akazawa faltered. At that instant, Toko stepped in and kicked the fruit knife away. She disarmed Akazawa in a single move, then seized both her arms behind her back, leaving her completely helpless.
“L-let go! That hurts, you know!?”
“Look, Sanae! My correspondence-course self-defence training finally came in handy!”
“I see.”
Despite the urgency of the situation, Toko was laughing cheerfully behind her.
As Akazawa continued to make incoherent noises, Sanae spoke.
“I have heard everything. Akazawa-san, this scum has something on you, doesn’t he? A video, perhaps?”
At those words, Akazawa fell silent. She stopped resisting altogether and collapsed onto the floor.
Because it was true.
She had hidden it all this time.
“You were never someone who could have entered Hibiya under normal circumstances. Our company has an exceptionally strong obsession with academic pedigree. With your educational background, you would have been filtered out at the first interview. The fact that you were able to join the company means that someone exerted influence on your behalf.”
“Yes. It was Kosugi! He—”
“You needn’t say anything more. Please do not reopen the wound.”
Sanae’s excessively polite words contained not a trace of emotion. Somehow, they eased the overwhelming humiliation Kosugi had inflicted upon her, if only slightly.
Just remembering it made her feel crushed beneath an unbearable disgust, enough to drive her mad. That was the root of why Akazawa had no choice but to obey Kosugi.
Sanae avoided mentioning the precise facts, careful not to provoke her.
“In any case, you were forced to obey Kosugi because of your past mistake. Kosugi promised to delete the video once the accusations of stealing the project were cleared and he was allowed to return to headquarters, correct?”
“Yes…… Though I failed……”
“Even if you had succeeded, I doubt he would have kept that promise.”
“……I know. That’s why I was going to kill him……!”
“You are remarkably easy to read. There is hardly any challenge to solving the puzzle.”
Even when Akazawa struggled, Toko’s grip did not loosen in the slightest. For some reason, she remained firmly pinned down by a woman dressed as a nurse.
“Let us proceed. Akazawa-san, would you like my help?”
“I don’t need your help! He’s mine—”
“I am not asking that. I am asking whether you would prefer to inflict something more painful and prolonged upon him than simply killing him.”
“W-what……?”
Sanae deftly flipped a butterfly knife through her fingers. She lowered its blade from Kosugi’s neck, down across his chest and stomach, stopping around his waist.
“How about cutting this off?”
At Sanae’s words, Kosugi screamed miserably. He shook his head frantically from side to side, begging her to stop.
“If you resist too violently, I may accidentally cut it off.”
Kosugi immediately went rigid and fell silent.
His pathetic state did a little to dispel the fury inside Akazawa.
“……You’d do it?”
“I have one condition. Become my subordinate, Akazawa Kurumi.”
Faced with the sudden, incomprehensible proposal, Kurumi could not answer.
She had never understood Sanae, her fellow recruit, ever since their new-employee training immediately after joining the company. Sanae’s leaps in logic were simply too great for her to understand her intentions.
“What…… do you mean……?”
“To put it simply, my assignment from upper management to dismantle the Secretarial Division has failed. In the first place, those troublesome rules of high society should never have been imposed upon General Affairs employees who are already overworked.”
Akazawa remembered.
The exhibition dance in which she had been cast as the villain was, to people who knew nothing of the circumstances, simply a surprise performance. If Mikoto and the masked woman continued to handle things as they had, the performance would not diminish the Secretarial Division’s reputation at all. If anything, the division’s standing among the guests would rise considerably.
“That said, the Secretarial Division’s arrogance cannot be left unchecked. So you will remain officially assigned to the Secretarial Division while passing information to me.”
“So you’ll be Sanae’s spy! Awesome! I wanna be a lady spy too!”
Akazawa thought that Toko was practically the same thing already, given that she was infiltrating the place despite not even being an employee.
“The price for punishing Kosugi is that you become my spy. I believe it is the most mutually beneficial arrangement imaginable. What do you say?”
Kurumi finally understood.
Yanase Sanae was trying to save her.
Not only was she stopping Kurumi from killing Kosugi, she was offering to take responsibility for his punishment herself.
“……Then…… help me……”
“Understood.”
Sanae raised the hand holding the knife. She swung it down towards Kosugi’s groin as he screamed voicelessly in terror—
—and stopped.
Instead, she took out her phone and made a call.
Kosugi had fainted from terror. A yellow stain had spread beneath him.
“This is Yanase. It is done. The dismantling of the Secretarial Division has failed, but we have gained an internal collaborator. I believe this is an appropriate compromise.”
Toko released her hold on Akazawa. She gently stroked the head of Kurumi, who was sprawled on the floor.
“Additionally, further misconduct by Kosugi has come to light. Please have his residence searched immediately and the evidence recovered. As for his disposition, I will leave that to the president…… I see. Appointment as branch manager of St. Helena? An excellent exile, or rather, personnel transfer. Very well.”
Sanae ended the call, then cut through the ropes binding Kosugi with her knife.
The unconscious Kosugi pitched face-first into the yellow puddle.
“……It is done. You are now my subordinate.”
“……Weren’t you going to cut it off?”
Sanae answered with an unsettling smile.
“Only those prepared to have their own weaknesses exploited have the right to exploit the weaknesses of others. Kosugi has demonstrated that he possesses no such fear. Therefore, I think we shall let him sob with joy at the pleasure of endless labour.”
“What does that even mean……?”
“The St. Helena branch is hell on earth. Toko, do not forget to retrieve the syringe.”
“Already done!”
Toko was idly playing with an empty syringe in the palm of her hand. Combined with her nurse’s uniform, she looked remarkably like an actual nurse.
“……Did you poison him?”
“Diuretics! I was too scared to inject him, though, so I made him drink it~”
Akazawa’s anger had been thoroughly overwritten by the actions of the two Yanases.
What the hell even is this completely insane wife-wife duo?
＊
Tchaikovsky’s Waltz of the Flowers from The Nutcracker.
It was an iconic piece from the ballet of the same name, and one Mikoto knew well. As the music played at a tempo at least as fast as the waltz before it, Mikoto held the masked woman—Shandy—in her arms.
“Let us use the same figures as before. I shall add a few arrangements of my own, so please concentrate solely on not falling, Mikoto-san. Can you do that?”
“If it is your request.”
“Hehe. Then let us dance.”
They took their preparatory step and moved forward together.
At last, the tempo and the steps had settled into Mikoto’s physical sense of rhythm. Her form might not have been particularly elegant, but she no longer stumbled and fell as she had before.
Applause from the audience was mingled with sounds of admiration. Shandy’s steps and the fluttering of her dress had captivated everyone in the room.
“Mikoto-san.”
“Yes?”
“……Mikoto.”
“And?”
“I merely wanted to call your name.”
“Because you couldn’t call me that for a while?”
“Yes. I really…… missed you.”
Shandy’s whisper tickled at her heart.
Mikoto did not know whether those words had come from the heart. But it no longer mattered. She had decided to trust her and love her.
Her heart felt warm. She had never imagined that dancing while holding the person she loved could feel this wonderful.
“What about you, Mikoto?”
“……Of course I missed you.”
“Hehe. Do you really love me?”
“You’re far too suspicious.”
“You do understand by now that I cannot trust other people, don’t you?”
“So you’re basically a misanthrope.”
“Therefore, you will have to whisper your love to me forever. So that I can continue to believe in you without doubt.”
Shandy took Mikoto’s hand and spun gracefully in place. Each elegant, delicate step and turn suited Waltz of the Flowers perfectly, drawing fresh applause from the audience.
“You really are a selfish queen.”
“And who was it that fell in love with such a selfish woman?”
“And who was it that chose such a little child?”
Their words were a game of echoes.
After a week without it, this exchange of affection felt wonderfully familiar. Shandy seemed to feel the same way. Her cheeks had flushed ever so slightly, and her eyes curved into crescent moons.
But there was still something Mikoto needed to say.
Something she needed to make Shandy say.
“Before that. Is there something you have to say to me?”
“Did I do something?”
She had no intention of apologising. Her expression was that of a wicked woman.
Mikoto wanted to change that. She wanted her to be a little more honest, so she pressed the matter.
“If you do this again, I really might stop believing in you.”
“That would be troublesome.”
“It would, wouldn’t it? Is all this love still not enough?”
“It is not enough. I am greedy.”
“……I love you, Shandy-san.”
“…………”
Shandy buried her face against Mikoto’s chest.
Mikoto had seen that gesture several times before. It was Shandy’s own expression of embarrassment, the way she hid her face when she could not bear to be seen.
After a breathless, heated sigh, she continued.
“I cannot believe it myself……”
“Believe what?”
“I have never loved anyone this much. The week I spent without you was nothing short of a living hell……”
“You missed me?”
“Yes. And you, Mikoto?”
With an endearing little gesture, Shandy continued to toy with her words.
But Mikoto had realised what was happening.
This suggestive exchange was simply another dance figure, looping back to the beginning and repeating itself.
Shandy was stubbornly refusing to apologise.
“……You really are too stubborn, you know?”
“Oh? Why do you say that?”
“It would all be over if you just said you were sorry.”
The moment Mikoto pointed it out, Shandy faltered.
Mikoto braced herself for whatever objection she might produce.
Instead, what Shandy whispered into her ear was entirely unexpected, and painfully apologetic.
“……Because I thought you wouldn’t forgive me even if I apologised.”
That was why she had kept the conversation going in circles.
It was not that she did not want to apologise.
It was exactly what she had said when she had been wearing the identity of Riddle Smith.
Losing the ability to trust one’s lover was not something trivial.
Shandy was more afraid of Mikoto losing faith in her than Mikoto herself had realised.
“I told you. If you apologise sincerely, I’ll forgive you.”
“Will you really forgive me? It was such an awful prank……”
As she asked while they danced, Shandy’s eyes glistened with tears.
Mikoto could tell how frightened she had been. Shandy had continued to speak contritely, all the while terrified of what Mikoto might say.
Mikoto had felt exactly the same way towards Shandy.
“If you want me to forgive you, what do you think you should do?”
“Get down on my knees……?”
Shandy’s face had clouded so helplessly that the answer was obvious.
How exactly did she intend to prostrate herself while dancing Waltz of the Flowers?
It was not a thought that would normally occur to anyone in circumstances like these.
“Prostrate yourself? Hehe……”
“D-don’t laugh! I’m serious…… If I could apologise, I really would……”
“All you have to do is say ‘I’m sorry’.”
“……I don’t want to be made to say it!”
“You really are ridiculously stubborn.”
Mikoto could not help laughing.
Shandy’s agitation was completely unlike her usual self. It was exactly the same behaviour she had displayed when Mikoto confessed to her.
The woman who was always treating others like children had a childish side of her own.
Perhaps she merely pretended to be the mature older woman. Perhaps she was actually younger than Mikoto.
Mikoto felt like being a little mean.
Considering the severity of the wound Shandy had inflicted on her, surely she could be forgiven for that much.
“If you won’t apologise, maybe I can’t forgive you~?”
“Why are you so good at playing games when the situation is reversed!?”
“You’re weak when our positions are reversed, aren’t you, Shandy-san?”
“Boo.”
Shandy’s face turned bright red with indignation.
She was a proud, haughty, selfish liar.
She could spout any number of empty words without difficulty, but when it came to the one meaningful phrase, I’m sorry, it simply refused to come out.
With such a troublesome queen, Mikoto had to be the one to approach her.
“I’ve already forgiven you. So if you can just say you’re sorry, I’ll forgive you properly.”
“You’re not angry?”
“I feel your love more strongly than anything else. It’s just indirect and difficult to understand.”
Waltz of the Flowers.
The prescribed figures had already entered their third loop.
Mikoto had now improved enough to lead Shandy herself. She caught Shandy as she completed an elegant variation on the Overturned Natural Spin Turn, then guided her into the next step.
To protect her. To nurture her.
Shandy’s indirect way of loving her had helped Mikoto grow.
“Because I’m embarrassed. Because I’m afraid of being betrayed. If you stopped believing in me, I……”
“I’ll believe in you. No matter what happens. I’ve already decided.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“May I believe in you……?”
“Believe in me.”
“……You won’t go anywhere? You won’t abandon me? Will you stay by my side…… forever?”
The only past Mikoto knew was the story of Alice written by Shandy herself.
She had no intention of letting go of that sad Alice, who had been abandoned by so many people, not least the Cheshire Cat.
If anything, Mikoto was the one who wanted to stay by her side.
Shandy was her beloved, indirect and endlessly kind.
She had waited patiently while Mikoto struggled to come to terms with loving a woman, something that had left her confused and frightened.
Even when she could have forced Mikoto to break off her relationship with Rinko, she had tried to accept things instead.
That was why Mikoto wanted to support such a kind woman.
And be supported by her in return.
Just like Waltz of the Flowers.
She wanted to dance together for the rest of their lives, surrounded by the blessing of delicate flowers in full bloom, whispering their love to each other.
“I won’t go anywhere. I won’t abandon you. I’ll stay by your side. In sickness and in health.”
“T-that cliché……!”
“Don’t like it?”
“……I’m sorry.”
“Eh……?”
Mikoto’s once-in-a-lifetime proposal had failed.
Her steps nearly came to an abrupt halt, but Shandy immediately noticed and frantically shook her head.
“N-no! That was because I wanted to apologise……! I wasn’t rejecting your proposal……!”
“Didn’t something like this happen before?”
“……Maybe. I’ve forgotten.”
“You’re forgetting that proposal too?”
Tears spilled from Shandy’s amber eyes.
“……As if I could forget.”
“Good.”
There was still no answer to the proposal.
It would probably take a long time to draw one from Shandy, who had been so stubborn about even saying a single I’m sorry.
Mikoto was in no hurry.
Shandy had waited for Mikoto to find her courage.
Then Mikoto would wait for Shandy in turn.
So that they could become equals, rather than Mikoto forever being the one who learned from Shandy.
The classical music was approaching its conclusion.
The final swell was beginning.
“Are you…… not going to ask for my answer?”
Shandy’s voice was small and fragile, almost like a girl’s.
Mikoto found that fragile, vulnerable Shandy attractive.
But she knew that this was probably not the person Shandy herself wanted to be.
So Mikoto took a breath and did what she always did.
She stretched herself tall.
“If I asked, would you give me an answer?”
That reaching beyond herself was the version of Mikoto she wanted Shandy to see.
Facing the other Mikoto she had cultivated through the games at antiqua was, naturally—
“……Hehe. What answer would make you happiest?”
—the usual Shandy, the enigmatic bartender who played with words.
Even her tearful smile was another carefully adorned face, the face Shandy wanted Mikoto to see.
They already understood each other’s feelings perfectly well.
Precisely because they loved each other, their suggestive words and meaningful gestures could unfold without misunderstanding.
Mikoto only hoped Shandy understood that.
Convincing someone who could not trust other people to trust her would require no small amount of effort.
Shandy would undoubtedly continue to test her love, playing games with her again and again.
Even so, Mikoto wanted to swear that she would keep loving her for the rest of her life.
“I see. Then perhaps you would like to see me in a dress?”
“I would. What colour do you think would suit you?”
“Choose one for me. The colour you want me to wear.”
There was only one colour Mikoto wanted her to name.
Shandy, of course, understood what she meant.
This very roundabout wordplay was something Mikoto had learned from her.
Shandy pretended it was an accidental mishap and briefly brought their lips together.
“……Pure white would suit you beautifully.”
For now, this suggestive vow, whose meaning was nevertheless perfectly clear, was enough.
Mikoto pulled her body close.
“And you too. Though Shandy-san is already wearing pure white.”
“I’m wearing a tuxedo because you are. I’m allowed to wear something different once in a while, aren’t I?”
“Then next time, shall Shandy-san wear the tuxedo?”
“If that is what you want.”
“Then I want a dress.”
“Of course. We’ll match.”
Waltz of the Flowers came to an end.
Mikoto and Shandy finished their steps and bowed to the audience on all four sides, still holding hands.
The hall erupted in thunderous applause and cheers.
The audience was smiling.
Mikoto had long since forgotten about the original objective, the Secretarial Division and Akazawa.
Her heart felt as though it might burst from the joy of being blessed alongside Shandy.
A tear slipped down her cheek.
“……Are you crying?”
Shandy whispered so softly that none of the audience could hear.
She was crying too.
“……I’m not crying. Even if I were……”
“Because you’re happy?”
“You should know without me saying.”
“I can’t know unless you tell me.”
After bowing to the audience on all four sides, Mikoto turned back towards Shandy.
“I love you, Shandy-san.”
“I know. I love you too, Mikoto.”
The dance that had seemed so depressing before had become something she already regretted leaving behind.
As Mikoto walked away from the floor, she found herself thinking that perhaps she ought to take up another hobby.