Part 129: Okabe Rintarou pays his respects

I guess it's because of my mental weariness, but that was my best sleep in a long time.





I stare at the Braun Tube Workshop storefront. The usual bike is no longer there. Suzuha liked it so much, she insisted on bringing it with her to 1975.

And then Manager opens the workshop door, sluggishly coming inside.



What does he mean by a "single Braun tube monthly salary"... So basically, for one month's work, I get a single Braun tube? I absolutely refuse.

"...When did Suzuha quit?"

"Suzuhuh? Who the hell's that?"

I'm startled.



But that's impossible.

"The name of that part time worker who quit after just 10 days? I've completely forgotten about it."

"Damn you and your misleading words..."

So Suzuha did work here after all. That fact - that evidence that Suzuha spent several days in 2010 - still remains.

"And I even thought she'd help me out. That's what I hate about you damn kids these days. You got no guts. Anyway, she lied when she said 'I like Braun tubes' during the interview, didn't she? She got me good."

Tennouji shrugs his shoulders, annoyed. Naturally, this guy doesn't know about Suzuha's hidden identity.

"Do you know someone named Hashida Suzu?"

Tennouji unexpectedly opens his eyes wide upon my abrupt question.



"Eh...?"

Nostalgic?

Knew her?

"Then now, she's...?"

"It's already been about ten years, huh."

10 years? 10 years since what? Don't tell me...

I have a bad feeling about this, so I can't ask any more. But Manager has a faraway look in his eyes, as if he's looking back to the past.

"She really used to help me out."

Why are you talking in the past tense...

"It seemed she had no relatives, so I wanted to help care for her at least.

Care for...

He definitely just said that. I realized when I heard those words.



"Well, I say that, but her dying face was calm."

"Calm...? She didn't commit suicide?"



Sickness... It was sickness?

I shouldn't feel good about that. I could say it's better than what happened before the world line changed. It might be overdoing it, but I tell myself so.

"So, how did you know Suzu?"

"...Long ago, she helped me out, too. I wanted to meet her again."

"Is that so. I'm using the house she lived in. Her memorial tablet's there, too. Want to come pay your respects?"

I nod deeply at the offer.





From Chu Dori, we head towards the station. I quickly gaze at the Akiba scenery. The moe shops are still nowhere to be found. Then, after a little hesitation, I look towards Radio Kaikan.



The satellite isn't lodged in there. All that's left is the hole the satellite - the time machine - made when it time traveled.

Suzuha went on a journey to 1975 riding that time machine. It's only natural that the satellite is gone.

"When did the satellite disappear?"

"Ah... about five days ago, wasn't it? Strange things happen all over the world, huh."

So Suzuha left before it rained.

Like Manager said, his house really is closer than expected. We took the train to the next station, Okachimachi, and then walked for about 5 minutes.



When I come to the front of the house, what jumps into view is...

Suzuha's bike...!



The bike Suzuha would ride to the Braun Tube Workshop was more shiny and new. This bicycle's design, brand, and painting are all the same, but it's fairly rusty and old.

"This bicycle was very important to Suzu. In her last years, she couldn't ride her herself, but she'd still polish its frame once a week. I couldn't just throw it away, so I ended up leaving it there for 10 years. I've maintained it to the best of my ability, but it still ended up rusting."

I gently put my hand on the seat. It's faintly warm from the sunlight. In the few days Suzuha was in Akiba, I guess two of these bicycles existed at the same time.



It wasn't what you'd expect from seeing the mess at the Braun Tube Workshop. Maybe the usual small woodland creature cleans up with all her might.



I tell myself that was just an accident. That event has already been undone. Tennouji Nae has done nothing wrong.

Next to the living room is a child's room. There's a children's study desk, and a toppled over red backpack. I can't find Nae.

Which reminds me, his daughter visits the workshop often, but not once have I seen Manager's wife.



I mean, when I think about their ages, Hashida Suzu should've been a lot older than manager. But, as they say, love knows no age.

Mmmmmm. I wonder what really happened. I don't know how Id feel if those two married, and then gave birth to Tennouji Nae. If that were the case, then that means Daru would be Manager's father-in-law.

...That's actually pretty interesting, so I kinda wanna see, though.



There's no picture, so I couldn't see Hashida Suzu's face as she died at age 44. I offer up incense and look around the house again.

This is the house that Suzuha lived in after leaping to 1975....





For some reason, Manager takes out a can of beer and offers it to me. When I decline, he slightly clicks his tongue and starts drinking it himself.

"I was born in Europe and raised in Europe."

"Is that a joke?"

"The hell's with you? I can speak English and French, ya know."

He really doesn't look it... I didn't think this guy would be a returnee.

"Both my parents died, so about 15 years ago I came back to Japan. Well, it was the first time I ever came to Japan. The one who looked after me when I knew nothing about the country was Suzu, living alone next door."

Al-Alright, now. This is my only chance to ask the question.

"...and marriage?"

"Haah? Marriage?"

"Did you marry Suzu?"



Denied. So that's how it was.

"She lived very stoically. Doesn't look like she was too sociable, but she treated me well. About one year after I came here, my house burned down. It was my smoking habit that caused the fire, though, so I deserved it."
"It was then that she let me lodge in this house, after I had lost everything."



"Eh...?!"

"She gave it to me cheap. That's why I was able to set up the Braun Tube Workshop. She's my benefactor.
Once, I tried asking her how she could treat me so well even though she doesn't have any relatives or friends, but she just smiled, and said..."



"She was kinda mysterious. She seemed to know exactly how events were going to happen, like a prophet."

That was probably... a repayment of kindness to Manager for looking after her at the Braun Tube Workshop, even for only ten days. And so, it formed a loop.

"But its a small world after all. I never knew there was someone so close by who knew her. That's right! Wait here a sec."

Tennouji seems to remember something as he goes to the child's room next door. He returns, holding something.

"Ah...!"



(Anime episode 16 cleared.)