Utsuro no Hako to Zero no Maria Volume 4

“…I will, if I can get back in time.”
Mogi’s eyes begin to tear up at the words she doesn’t want to hear.
“Why?” she pleads in a trembling voice. “Stay with me, okay? You can see
Otonashi anytime, right? You won’t even see me off after I went through so
much to come see you?”
Of course, I feel awful. I can see in Mogi’s expression and hear in her tone
that she’s on the verge of tears.
Maria just isn’t here with us at the moment. I simply need to fight down my
impulse to run to her. There’s no need to hurt Mogi so thoughtlessly.
Shouldn’t I stay here with her?
“—”
I made a decision, though.
I want to protect Maria, more than anything or anyone.
That’s why—
“Sorry!”
—I rush out of the classroom.
I don’t turn back at the voices calling for me to stop.

I can’t reach Maria on her phone.
Despite school rules, she commutes to school on a motorcycle, which she
always parks nearby. But her bike is already gone from its usual spot.
Even though she always waits here for me if she has nothing else going on.
After confirming that her bike isn’t there, I run over to the station and get on
the train.
Impatient at the knowledge that I can’t hurry any quicker, I come to
understand the true nature of my anxiety.
I’m deceiving Maria. I’ve kept quiet about the Game of Indolence and lied by
saying I didn’t know Koudai Kamiuchi.

And I haven’t said a word about how O might have lost interest in me.

So even though I may not always be aware of it, a certain thought is always
lurking in my mind.

Maybe Maria is going to disappear, possibly even at this very moment.

Seeing Mogi in her school uniform probably made it impossible to contain this
anxiety.

When Mogi was in the classroom, Maria wasn’t. She wasn’t in my normal life.
And that’s not all. Just as I transformed Koudai Kamiuchi’s Box into a catalyst for
growth, Maria also changed Mogi’s Box into something similar.

Maria and Mogi are inseparable.

So even though I have no evidence, I think:

When Mogi returns to the classroom, won’t that mean Maria is already gone?

“……”

Next, I think about Daiya and Kokone.

Daiya is gone. Yet, Kokone doesn’t seem worried about him at all. Daiya
certainly isn’t a minor presence in her life, but his disappearance seems to have
merely annoyed her. She acts like she hardly cares.

Why?

Here’s my hypothesis.

—What if Kokone suspected Daiya would vanish someday?

I’m sure she probably didn’t think he would do it like this, of course. I doubt
she knows anything about Boxes.

But what if she knew he was going to leave her, at least? What if she knew
Daiya’s mission all along?

That would be why she’s given up on the idea of his swift return. She’s already
prepared herself for Daiya’s eventual departure.

I don’t know what occurred between the two of them. It’s a mistake to accuse
Kokone of being cold for apparently accepting Daiya’s disappearance so easily.

But I’m not the same as Kokone. Though I know Maria’s objective, though I
know she’ll try to vanish someday, I will not give up.

I will never, ever allow her to leave me.

I arrive in front of Maria’s apartment building.
As soon as I try to go in, I remember you can’t even go through the front door
of a building like this without a tenant with you. I can’t even make it to the
elevator.
What should I do?
I loiter for a bit in a panic. Drawing on what rational thought remains in my
brain, I pull out my phone again.

After dialing the number from memory, I make the call. The phone rings. I
pray Please answer with each ring.

And then—
“What’s up?”
—Maria’s voice.

“—”
Ahhh—
Though I just heard her voice a little while ago, even though it’s as brusque as
always, I can’t even make myself give a response.
“Hey? What is this? A silent phone call? You didn’t even hide your number.”

“N-no.” I can finally speak. “I’m out front at your place now, so can you let me
in?”

“What? Fine by me, but…why didn’t you call beforehand? Oh, you did. Sorry, I
was on my bike, so I guess I didn’t notice.”

“It’s okay. Anyway, I’m on my way up, so buzz me in.”
“Okay.”

I end the call, and the door opens.
My legs carry me to the elevator of their own volition. My heart won’t stop

racing—not while I wait for the elevator, and not while I’m on it.
When I reach the fourth floor, I find myself running to room 403, even though

it’s not very far.
I ring the bell, then hear the click of the door unlocking.
Maria’s face peers through the crack.
That, at least, gives me a glimmer of hope.
Before the door can open fully, I push my way into the room, almost leaping

on Maria.
“…What’s the matter, Kazuki?” Maria questions, her eyes round at my odd

behavior.
“Maria… Why did you leave before me without saying anything?”
“…I left early because I’m not a fan of Mogi; you know that. Why is your face

so pale? And why are you here so early, too? You don’t need to talk to Mogi
anymore?”

“No, it’s fine.”
I tell her:
“You’re the most important person to me.”
Maria’s eyes open even wider—
—but then quickly narrow.
“I see.”
She then strokes my head gently.
“I swear… You’ve been different recently.”
Maria’s caught on to the changes in me a little bit.
“It’s all in your head.”
So I play it off as nothing.
As payback for Maria’s head pats, I run my fingers through her long hair.
The shy smile rising on her face still contains a hint of melancholy to me, and

yeah—it’s frustrating.

AFTERWORD

(This will touch on the story, so be forewarned if you haven’t finished
the book yet.)

Hello, Eiji Mikage here.

This is the resolution of the Game of Indolence, the fourth volume of
HakoMari! (I’m really starting to like that nickname).

I kind of assumed everyone would understand why it isn’t “Vol. 3, Pt. 1” and
“Vol. 3, Pt. 2” even though the books deal with the same Box, but what do you
think?

Oh yeah, I have an apology to make. In the afterword of Volume 3, I wrote
that this volume “should be out in the spring,” but it was released in June. I’m
truly sorry… I’ll work harder.

Now then, I’d like to talk about the story a little bit.

As an author, I was a little surprised by something that happened during the
writing of Volume 4.

The Classes in the final game were assigned in a way that fit the image of each
character perfectly.

To be honest, it wasn’t deliberate. I gave the characters their Classes in order
to heighten the drama, so whether they suited the character’s image was
secondary.

And yet, things worked out that way.

It’s possible this was no coincidence. Since I was thinking so much about the
story, the things I couldn’t see during the conceptual stage revealed themselves
in the end.

It feels wonderful to go beyond your superficial comprehension in crafting a
tale.

And now for the acknowledgments.

To the illustrator, Tetsuo: Thank you once again. It may sound like lukewarm
flattery, since I say it every time, but I think it must be truly difficult to draw
appealing images that fit my work so well.

To my new editor, Miki: Thank you for the keen pointers and assistance. I
know I’m a difficult author who writes in a quirky way, but I look forward to
working with you more in the future.

Now, as for my plans for upcoming work, there will most likely be a bit of a
longer window than usual before Volume 5 comes out. I don’t know if I can call
it a replacement, but sometime in the summer, I’ll be taking part in a certain
project, so please pick it up and give it a look if you’re so inclined. It won’t bear
the name Eiji Mikage for various reasons, but I think all of you who have read
this series will know the book when you see it.

See you next time!

Eiji Mikage

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