Chapter 4:

Back at the Otogi Bank, we continued to discuss how to proceed in the search for my notebook. I looked around at each of the members, each one looking just as focused as the next. Their passion for their jobs inspired me.

"What do you think about that idea?" Liszt suddenly turned and asked me. I didn't at all hear what he was referring to, but I nodded.

"Sounds good…?" I was too embarrassed to admit I was sidetracked. These people were determined to help me, so I decided to do my best not to burden them too much.

"It's settled! In two hours, we will all meet at the park with the fireworks. Majolica, is that experimental human cannon functional? And Alice, be sure to pick up the chicken suit from the dry cleaner."

What?

"Also, before I forget, you're not afraid of heights and alligators, are you?"

How does that sentence exist?

"Actually, I…" I began but drew a blank. I couldn't begin to understand what the plan was.

"You aren't allergic, are you? That won't do. On second thought, we'll just have to move on to plan B."

Alice explained, "Ryoshi will design the missing posters, while Ryoko, Ringo, and Otsu will help with creating copies. Everyone else will distribute them." She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

Ryoshi seemed slightly nervous but didn't say anything at that point, so I brushed it off.

"Okay! I'm ready when you are."

Later, we met up at the school grounds, waiting for Ryoshi and the others to arrive with the flyers. I was left wondering what kind of person would want to steal my notebook. It was just my personal writing, after all. Maybe it was in a lost and found box, or trash can somewhere.

"It's getting kind of cold, don't you think?" I said, trying to pass the time. "I hope the others arrive soon."

I saw Taro look at his watch. "I wonder what's taking them so long." Just as he said that, the group walked (Or hobbled, in Ryoshi's case) onto the scene, the tension in the air as thick as the plot of this story.

"Whoa, now, what's got you in such a sour mood?" Taro asked Ryoko, who simply glared at Ryoshi.

"My, my, whatever could have happened to these two to put them in such a state?!" Ringo exclaimed in mock despair.

"Oh, like you don't know!" Ryoko snapped. The small girl flashed a devious smile.

"No idea what you're talking about."

Ryoko suddenly shoved a piece of paper into Liszt's hands. "This is what this Grade A screw up came up with for the missing posters—And he made twice as many copies as you told him to!"

Liszt carefully looked it over, very serious, before smiling and looking at me.

"I'm sorry for this inconvenience," he said, then looked at Ryoshi. "Mind telling us what happened?"

"A-a… We didn't have any pictures so…" he explained. I grabbed a copy and examined it.

"Is this a stock photo? And what do you mean, 'if seen, it would be okay if you would maybe return it, please?'"

"Well, I-I didn't want to seem too aggressive and scare off someone if they had it," Ryoshi said, averting his gaze. We all continued to look at him, suddenly making him very nervous. "D-don't look at me!"

"And Otsu? You didn't stop him?" I asked.

"I thought it was nice!" Otsu said, clearly not realizing the problem.

"Where was Ryoko in all this? She was supposed to be helping, was she not?" Ringo grinned deviously again, sending a shiver down my spine.

"I… was taking care of some punk!" Ryoko said with a slight blush that implied more to the story.

"Uh-huh, sure," Ringo said with a knowing smile.

"I didn't manage to catch up to him, but anyway, there was some weirdo snooping around while we were at the print shop."

"How did you find him, pray tell?"

"It doesn't matter! I just saw him!"

"While you were petting those cute dogs outside the shop?"

"No! …I happened to notice before you guys went inside. Some guy was watching us. When I saw him, he ran away. That's it. Nothing else."

"Sure."

"Would you just focus on the fact that there's some creep spying on us, and leave it at that?"

"I agree with Ryoko," Alice said. "I think a creep takes precedence over dogs, no matter how cute."

"Forget about the dogs!" Ryoko fumed.

"We can still use them," I interrupted. "They're not… too bad." If for nothing other than Ryoshi's emotional preservation I figured using the posters wouldn't cause any harm.

"But didn't you say your notebook is blue?" Ringo asked, "This picture shows a red notebook."

"Um… well, the binding is similar…?"

"She's right, these will do just fine," Liszt said, to my surprise. "Now then, everyone be sure to cover as much ground as possible."

I thought it was a bit strange that he approved of the posters, but nothing could be done about it. I just hoped that somehow the plan would work and my notebook would be found. Liszt seemed sure that he could help me, so I wanted to believe that it wasn't hopeless. Still, I didn't know if—

"How does that sound to you?" Liszt asked me, his smile never wavering.

"Oh! Um…" What did he say?

"If you're not sure, we can move on to plan C."

"Oh, no, I'm sure that will work. After all, you guys have helped so many people in the past, whatever you think is best should be good." I really hoped that I wasn't visibly nervous.

"Good! Now remember that as long as you run fast enough, you shouldn't have any trouble."

"What?"

"Oh, and before I forget, you can hold your breath for at least ten minutes, right?"

"What?"

His face didn't change, but I could tell he was disappointed. "Oh dear. If you haven't been listening, I wonder if we can really work together." He sighed. "Perhaps it's a hopeless endeavor after all."

"No, wait! I didn't come this far just to give up." That's right. I came to them for help, and I wasn't going down easy. Ryoshi broke his leg for my request, and I wouldn't let his sacrifice be in vain. "I'm willing to do whatever it takes to see this through. Please don't give up on me yet."

"Excellent! Then you take these flyers and be sure to cover the lower levels of the school. I'm counting on you!" He walked away, only stopping to add "oh, and if you see any suspicious characters, just let us know." He was gone before I could process what happened.

Ryoko shook her head. "He's messing with you because you space out too much."

"Oh. I hoped it wasn't obvious."

"Well, it was," she said as she took a stack of posters herself. "Anyway, if you're serious about what you said, then let's hurry and get these posters up." She went on her way, and Ryoshi followed, looking as apologetic as ever.

I looked down at the papers Liszt gave to me and mentally resolved to focus more when they were talking.

All of us walked around the school grounds, pasting flyers to every visible surface. As time wore on, it got windier, making it difficult to continue our "mission". And the shadows cast by the fading sun began to play tricks on my eyes. I thought I saw someone watching me from behind a tree, but as I looked, there was no one there. I shivered, as much from unease as from the cold. Were there really suspicious characters around?

"Ah!" I exclaimed as the wind blew a couple of my papers out of my hands.
I was startled by Liszt chuckling lightly from behind me. "Maybe we should call it a day, we've put up quite a lot after all, and it's getting dark now."

"Oh, good. My fingers are going to fall off from the cold," I said, tucking the remaining posters into my coat. "But shouldn't we put up the rest?"

"No need. We've already completed this stage of the plan. For now, we should return to the bank."

Relieved at the idea of being inside, out of the wind, drinking hot tea, not being cold, I followed after him. In the meantime, we were alone, and there was an awkward silence over us.

"So," I began. "How about this weather, right? I mean…it's so…windy." I cringed inwardly at my own words; I was the one making it awkward.

"That it is." He simply smiled.

"Eheheh," I was trying to come up with another conversation point when my foot caught on the sidewalk and I toppled forward, flyers, living up to their name, flew out of my coat and were blown away by a sudden gust of wind. "Oh no! The flyers… flew!"

Laughing again, Liszt simply shrugged. "Just nature's way of helping you find your notebook."

I stared off in the direction the papers blew before smiling.

I guess that's one way to look at it.

A/N: Hello again, so sorry for the long pauses between chapters. I assure you the story's not over yet, I have quite a few ideas for it that I'm actively working on and hope to publish really, really soon. Thanks so much for reading!