vncnus Chapter 206 Alright, let's gather those involved in the incident.
Chapter 206 Alright, let's gather those involved in the incident.
Chapter 216 Alright, let's gather those involved in the incident.
Mr. Kuribayashi seems to be having a lot of bad luck lately.
Since the Alola Exeggutor incident, the circus's popularity has plummeted, with fewer and fewer customers, impacting both him and his wife's performing careers. His original plan to go solo was aborted; not only is leaving the circus out of the question, but even their family finances have become strained, unable to raise the most basic start-up capital.
Those heated arguments I had with my wife before now seem like a joke...
No, on the contrary, the current situation indirectly proves his correctness. If the couple had acted earlier and left the White Tree Hole Circus at the peak of their career, they wouldn't be affected by the circus's business downturn now—but this is just an idealistic assumption. Not only for his wife, but even for Kuribayashi himself, the sense of belonging to the White Tree Hole Circus he had accumulated over the years was not something that could be easily severed. Whether the plan could be implemented in reality was a question, and settling scores later would be meaningless.
Time cannot be reversed, and there is no medicine for regret in this world.
His relationship with his wife also failed to improve. Although they no longer had any reason to argue, and the atmosphere between them was at least much better than their previous cold war, there was still some awkwardness when they were together. The reason they took turns going home to be with their daughter was largely due to Sachiko's strange illness, but it was also partly because they found it difficult to face their partner after their arguments.
I got into some inexplicable trouble at work yesterday—
While Kuribayashi was performing his so-called "superpowers" at the circus as usual, a guy in the audience used real superpowers to interfere with the performance. Whether it was "telepathic performance" or "levitation," the mechanisms that were originally set up were all messed up by the guy, and Kuribayashi was even lifted into the air by the guy's telekinesis... Fortunately, the troupe staff reacted quickly and immediately notified the nearby police station. Officer Jenny and her assistant arrived shortly after, found the culprit who was interfering with the performance, and successfully subdued the blue-haired superpowered person.
Looking back, that power, like the Psychic-type Pokémon "Psychic," is truly chilling. This is the difference between magic and sorcery, between an entertainer and a supernatural being. It's understandable to feel fear. Is it because his wife is afraid of this genuine thing that she's unwilling to start her own business and prefers to continue hiding under the circus's protection?
No, these things are fine no matter what.
Although I am said to be entangled in many things, there is only one thing that is truly bothering me.
If that matter can be resolved, everything else will be fine.
If that issue cannot be resolved, then no matter how smoothly the rest of life goes, it will all be meaningless.
Thinking of this, Kuribayashi looked at his daughter who was holding his right hand. Her hand was very light and small, and holding her felt like holding a soft, ethereal feather.
In his daughter's eyes, he and his wife lived in two parallel worlds that could not see each other. The worlds were clearly separated, but his daughter was the only bridge that could connect the two people who had died.
This was such a dreamlike theory that Kuribayashi felt an overwhelming sense of regret whenever Sachiko reiterated it to him.
Let me reiterate, it doesn't matter how many times I confess—there are no parallel universes, only two foolish adults who ignore each other and attack one another.
That was neither a dream nor reality, not even a possibility; it was simply a lie.
Now, this lie has become so serious that it affects reality. Even if the couple stands in front of their daughter at the same time, Sachiko can only see one of them.
Is this a medical condition? A hallucination? Or a double lie told by the little girl to mend her family's relationship?
None of that matters, Kuribayashi thought, feeling he had no right to press his daughter for answers.
Unlike his wife, Mr. Kuribayashi felt that leaving Sachiko's current situation alone wasn't a big deal—Kuribayashi, who played a superpowered person at work, was a realist. In his view, even if the worst, most horrible, and most insane fantasies his daughter had told him came true, the situation wouldn't be unacceptable.
It's not that he doesn't worry about his daughter, but rather that the phenomenon of his daughter being unable to see people only occurs within the closed three-person household, and only with Kuribayashi and his wife.
Although Sachiko had mentioned that she would occasionally disappear during school hours, the school had not informed her of this, indicating that the problem was not serious. The specific situation was also easy to imagine: her daughter probably hid in class intentionally or unintentionally to satisfy her imagination.
When the two worlds in the daughter's imagination are completely separated, she will only be unable to see one of the Kuribayashi couple, and will only lose one of her parents.
After becoming a "single-parent family", Sachiko's life was able to continue without any major ups and downs. Moreover, compared to a typical single-parent family, the Kuribayashi family had an additional invisible supporter, so their lives were not in dire straits.
Having escaped the illusion of a dual world at a terrible cost, her escapism at school will lose its justification and cannot continue. Her world will gradually return to normal; aside from losing one of her parents, everything will be back on track—she still has a bright and promising future.
The ones who will truly be punished and suffer for the rest of their lives are the husband and wife who are the culprits.
This can be considered a just punishment.
It's fair to the point of being somewhat lenient.
Mr. Kuribayashi thought to himself.
However, at this moment, standing before the gates of the preschool, holding his daughter's hand, light as a feather, his gaze sweeping over Sachiko's wide, clear eyes, this realistic man couldn't help but pray—
Although he felt sorry for his wife, he still didn't want to be on the side of the 50-something percent, and he didn't want to be the one whose daughter ignored him.
If there were even a one in ten thousand chance—if only someone could resolve this matter.
.
"Oh dear, even a friendly novice detective like me can't explain reasoning to a group of preschoolers."
A cheerful voice came from behind, instantly breaking the man's worries.
Just as Kuribayashi and Sachiko were about to leave the school, a chestnut-haired girl suddenly appeared out of nowhere and arrogantly blocked their way.
"Although my sense of ritual isn't as strong as my boss's, revealing the truth in front of children and strangers is completely pointless, isn't it? If you want to reveal the truth that sweeps away all troubles, you have to tell it to adults who understand things. No, according to the usual tropes in popular novels and comics, you can't do it without gathering all the people involved in the incident together."
Dressed in the mature attire of an urban white-collar worker, wearing leather boots, and with her disguise glasses twirling back and forth on her right index finger, the substitute detective, Ms. Azure, appeared elegantly before Mr. Kuribayashi.
The girl talking to herself was behaving strangely, but Mr. Kuribayashi and the little girl Sachiko neither looked at the beautiful face of the person blocking their way nor at the glasses that were twirling in her hand. Their attention was firmly drawn to something that was tucked under Bilan's left arm.
As a psychic entertainer, Kuribayashi was no stranger to that thing—
Rather than calling them things, they are more like living beings, specifically Pokémon.
It was a huge Dreamweaver, a psychic Pokémon that was half-asleep and half-awake.
The Dream Eater was clearly unconscious, its belly helplessly rolled upwards, its eyes spinning like dazzling spots, and its body covered in dust and wounds, indicating the inhumane treatment it had suffered.
"Don't worry, little Sachiko, your mother is about to travel from another parallel universe. I've accepted a request for two people, so just wait patiently for the perfect ending!"
The chestnut-haired detective, seemingly oblivious to her own dangerous status, announced with a bright, sunny smile.