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Ain

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Despera/Ain
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Ain (あいん) is the main character of the light novel (and planned anime series) Despera. She serves as a spiritual successor to Lain Iwakura from Serial Experiments Lain, to where her design was originally meant to be what Lain would look like during her period of time.

She is a young Japanese girl who possesses scientific knowledge far ahead of her era, creating advanced inventions using limited materials. In addition to her technological genius, Ain exhibits a mysterious ability to produce electricity from her hands.

Ain is a girl who has the appearance of a 12-year-old Japanese girl who lives in a workshop located in the basement of the Ryōunkaku in Asakusa, Tokyo. Despite having no formal scientific education, she is a technical prodigy capable of inventing complex electronic devices far beyond the technology of her time. Among her creations are early forms of modern computers, including machines with typewriter-style keyboards and CRT display monitors. She is shown developing a mysterious robot that she refers to as Father.

"Spoilers Ahead"
This character has very important lore or story elements, with the profile having spoilers for the story and the fate of said character, avoid reading if one would like to pursue the verse without any spoilers for themself.
Ain
Articles About Ain
Lain Iwakura - Ain
Origin
Origin Despera
Creator Chiaki J. Konaka (Writer), Yoshitoshi Abe (Illustrator)
First Appearance Despera Chapter "Asakusa Junnikai"
Characteristics
Species Abstract Being
Gender Female
Pronouns She/Her
Age About 12
Birthday Unknown
Height Unknown
Weight Unknown
Ethnicity Asian
Status Other
Alignment Neutral Good
Archetype Reality Bender
Occupation Mechanic
Time Period 1920s
Language Japanese
Combat Style Street Fighter
Homeworld Earth
Relationships
Affiliations Takeshita
Enemies The Tank Squadron

Background

It is later revealed that Ain is a concept and she has the ability to imprint herself onto people having them perceive her and letting her exist within reality, which is why Takeshita and Lt. Enoki were able to see her despite her being a doll from others perspective, and why at the end many artist are making art based off her figure.

Appearance

  • Looks:
    • Ain is a small-framed Japanese girl with a youthful appearance. She has fair skin and brown eyes, with short brown hair that tends to fall unevenly across her head. One distinct feature is a longer lock of hair that falls along the left side of her face, standing out from the rest of her haircut.
    • Her facial features are soft and childlike, with a rounded face and a neutral expression in most depictions. A black bow is always present in her hair, usually fastened on top of her head, serving as a consistent part of her look across various outfits.
  • Regular Clothes:
    • Ain is often shown wearing Kimonos with varying patterns, many of which being floral patterns. An example dress is a light-colored with small flower prints, offering a modest and traditional appearance.
    • Over the dress, she wears a plain apron, usually white or beige, tied securely around her waist and neck. The apron often has minimal detailing, functioning more as a practical garment.
    • Her footwear in these appearances is not always shown, but when it is, it usually consists of basic flats or slip-on shoes.
  • Special Clothes:
    • Ain has also been seen in an outfit consisting of a white blouse and dark platted skirt.
    • In other instances, she wears a simple white dress that is paired with a short purple cloth or shawl that drapes over her shoulders.
    • She is occasionally depicted in traditional kimonos, typically with understated patterns and subdued colors. These kimonos follow standard design conventions, including an obi belt and long sleeves, and vary based on the specific context in which she is shown.

Personality

Goals

  • Build Father (succeeded).
  • Help out Hirotake Takeshita (succeeded).

Relationships

Hirotake Takeshita (Possible Alias)

Hirotake Takeshita and Ain work together in the basement of the Ryōunkaku tower. Ain invents devices capable of predicting the future, and Takeshita helps fund these inventions by selling the "prophecies" to powerful clients, such as the Japanese military and aristocracy. Their partnership is practical but also emotional. As an older adult, Takeshita assumes a fatherly role toward Ain, who is still a young girl. He shows genuine affection and care for her, often acting as her protector and primary supporter as she continues her work.

When Ain went missing for around three months, it caused Takeshita to have a downward spiral of constantly drinking and collapsing from drunkenness acting like an insane homeless person. He described her being gone as the same as if a part of his body and soul had gotten up and disappeared. He also started seeing Ain in a movie he was watching, wishing to enter the movie with her.

When he woke up from his drunkenness, Ain was by his side and told him she had always been right there.

When Takeshita went missing, Ain felt immense anxiety and sadness, stating to herself that if Takeshita goes away, she will disappear.

When told by Kita that the military will likely seize Takeshita's machines that allow him to see the future, Takeshita starts panicking, fearing that they'd do something to Ain, running back to make sure she's fine.

Barbara Andreyeva

Ain is visibly unsettled by Barbara Andrei's presence. She appears frightened of Barbara’s extremely pale complexion, which she finds unnatural or unfamiliar. This fear may be due to Ain never having encountered a Russian before, leading her to respond with discomfort or anxiety whenever Barbara is nearby.

When Barbara has her face brighten when Takeshita says a few words in English to Barbara, Ain seeing that face for reasons beyond her gives her burning, inexplicable anger.

Kimiyasu Fuenokōji

Kimiyasu Fuenokōji’s relationship to Ain is not fully detailed, but he is shown to have a strong interest in her inventions. While the nature of their interaction is unclear, his attention suggests that her work has gained the interest of influential figures.

General Information

Name: Ain[4]

Nicknames: The Electric Girl[5]

Origin: Despera

First Appearance: Despera Chapter "Asakusa Junnikai":

Company: Tokuma Shoten

Creator

  • Writer: Chiaki J. Konaka
  • Illustrator: Yoshitoshi Abe

Gender: Female

Refers to Herself: First-Person & Third-Person (Ain when talking to Takeshita[6], will shift from using "I" to using "Ain", using her own name[7])

Pronouns: She/Her

Handedness: Likely Right-Handed

Apparent Age: About 12 (It's noted in the novel that going by her apparent age, one could guess she's about twelve[8])

Birthday: Unknown

Time Period: 1920s

Timeline: Main Timeline

Homeworld: Earth

Residence: Juunikai, Japan

Story Role: Main Protagonist

Legacy: Unknown Legacy (Throughout the story, most people were not able to see or perceive Ain and instead saw Takeshita hold a doll with him[9])

Influence: Unknown Influence

Language: Japanese

Ethnicity: Asian (She was shocked by seeing a white foreigner in Japan[10])

Religion: None

Classification: The Electric Girl[11]

Species: Abstract Being[12]

State of Being: Abstract (Throughout the story, most people were not able to see or perceive Ain and instead saw Takeshita hold a doll with hiM[13], as in truth, Ain is one that's imprinted across everywhere in Kiki, where those who existed close to the place felt some sort of inspiration from her and needed to make her in art, to where Ain essentially exists as long as there are those that have the inspiration of her[14])

Physiology: Humanoid Physiology

In-Universe Creator: Unknown

Occupation: Mechanic

Combat Style: Street Fighter

Affiliations: Takeshita

Enemies: The Tank Squadron

Height: Unknown

Weight: Unknown

Status: Other (At the end of the novel, Ain is imprinted across everywhere in Kiki, where those who existed close to the place felt some sort of inspiration from her and needed to make her in art, to where Ain essentially exists in multiple places at once[15])

Alignment: Neutral Good (Ain merely is an assitant of Takeshita, who intially wanted to prevent the Earthquake from happening)

Threat Level: Street Threat (Easily defeated an entire Tank Squadron trying to go after Takeshita[16])

Potential

Archetypal Tiering: Reality Bender

Codex Statistics

Grade: S

Tier: 10-B. Can ignore conventional durability with Electricity Manipulation

Cardinality: Finite

Dimensionality: 3-D

Power Source: Electricity

Attack Potency: Average Human level (It's noted in the novel that going by her apparent age, one could guess she's about twelve[18]). Can ignore conventional durability with Electricity Manipulation (Easily melted tanks with her electricity[19]. Electricity can pass through the body causing things such as tissue damage and cardiac arrest)

Durability: Average Human level. Immortality makes her very diffult to kill (At the end of the novel, Ain is imprinted across everywhere in Kiki, where those who existed close to the place felt some sort of inspiration from her and needed to make her in art, to where Ain essentially exists in multiple places at once[20])

Striking Strength: Average Human Class

Lifting Strength: Average Human Class

Travel Speed: Average Human Speed

Attack Speed: Average Human Speed

Reaction Speed: Average Human Reactions

Stamina: Unknown

Range: Standard Melee (Average size of a 12 year old girl), at least Kilometers with Electricity Manipulation (Ain's electricity powers emit unsettlingly powerful radio waves[21], with Lt. Enoki directly telling Takeshita that the military has detected the powerful radio waves[22], with Ain later being shown to be the one connected to the supicious radio waves[23]), Higher through Imprinting (At the end of the novel, Ain is imprinted across everywhere in Kiki, where those who existed close to the place felt some sort of inspiration from her and needed to make her in art, to where Ain essentially exists in multiple places at once[24])

Intelligence: Supergenius Intelligence (Ain has shown to be a skilled engineer, creating a mass of gears and pulley, assembling objects together[25], that allows one to look into the immediate future[26]. Ain shows a fundamental understanding of Einstein's theory of relativity[27])

Knowledge: Grandmaster level (Ain has shown to be a skilled engineer, creating a mass of gears and pulley, assembling objects together[28], that allows one to look into the immediate future[29])

Powers and Techniques

Equipment

Future Seeing Machine

A machine made by Takeshita and Ain that allows one to look into and see the immediate future, getting exact details from it.

Father

A mysterious robot Ain was working on, which likely attributed to her being able to imprint herself across reality, giving everyone inspiration to make her in the process.

Notable Techniques

Electricity

Ain has the power of electricity, allowing her to destroy entire tank squadrons with it. She uses this electricity to help develop machines and to causes powerful radio waves.

Other

Standard Tactics: Ain has only shown to fight when those come to threaten Takeshita, as shown when she took down an entire Tank Squadron when they came to attack[42].

Weaknesses: Nothing notable.

Note

  • While Ain is revealed to be a doll that's imprinting on people allows her to exist and influence reality, she would still be of Asian descent as her doll design is naturally Asian, along with this she was shocked by seeing the way a white foreigner looked.

Trivia

Misconceptions

"Ain was a hallucination"

This comes from the reveal that Ain was actually a doll the entire time[44], however she is directly shown to be able to influence and affect the real world when she took down the entire tank squadron[45], and at the end of the story it's noted by Takeshita himself that she does indeed exist[46]. It is thus more reasonable to say everyone's perception of her differs per person as Lt. Enoki also knew of her existence despite having no past connections with Takeshita.

Battle Records

1 - 0 - 0


  • The Tank Squadron - Fight[47]
    • Conditions: None.
    • Location: Ueno

None.

None.

References

This dropdown contains the the entire reference section that directly lists to passages of the novel.
  1. ↑ Despera Chapter "Asakusa Junnikai": ""Hey, aren't you satisfied yet?"
    Unable to endure her boredom, the girl finally spoke for the first time in some hours.
    "If you're bored, why don't you go outside? But don't go threatening people with your electricity like you did the other day."
    "Ain wouldn't do something like that!"
    Going by her apparent age, one might guess she was about twelve, but her expression appeared somewhat more mature. On her head a giant ribbon was perched in a rather implausible way. One couldn't say it didn't look almost exactly like the big ears of a cat."
  2. ↑ Despera Chapter "Asakusa Junnikai": "That's right, I just remembered, today there's a lecture in Mita—hey, by that professor that came from Germany!"
    "Oh, is that so, that was today?"
    "Weren't you planning to go meet him?"
    "Well..."
    Since he had been formally invited by the magazine Kaizou, the visit of Prof. Einstein, who had been awarded a famous prize the previous year, had become a much-discussed topic of conversation.
    "Hey, let's go! And I'll tell you what! Professor Einstein, his theory of relativity is what's going to allow me to see the future through this cathode-ray tube!"
    "It's not just the theory of relativity, you know."
    While Takeshita had built his instruments himself, his designs had been heavily influenced by Nikola Tesla, under whom he had studied in America.
    All day long he would stare into the images projected by the cathode-ray tubes, but once in a while, he would decide to go to Kabutochou, only to return carrying a huge sum of money in his bag. This is why he could do as he liked in the Juunikai's basement: because he always had an appropriate sum of money.
    Once Ain's goodwill toward the man, who was single-mindedly determined not to go outside, was exhausted, she returned to the small, low-ceilinged room she had claimed as her own. On the floor, in the center of scattered wires and disassembled electrical parts, there lay an incomplete mass of gears and pulleys that was even larger than the seated figure of Ain. When Ain began to work on it, she entered into such a trance that she even forgot about the man's dinner. But what stupefied the man more than anything else was that he had no idea whatsoever what Ain was making.
  3. ↑ Despera Chapter "The Nobleman of Surugadai": "Fuenokouji Kimiyasu's main residence was in Sanbanchou, but he had also built a secondary home in Kanda-Surugadai, and it was here he spent almost all of his time. Upon entering the newly-built secondary home, one was struck by the illusion that they had just walked into a New York hotel, for it was laid out in a Western style. However, the Viscount was housing a Russian emigre, Varvara Andreyeva, at this secondary home; perhaps it was for her sake that it had been built this way.
    “Hey, that woman is so white it's scary!”
    Takeshita scowled at Ain's insolent comment.
    “Don't stare, Ain.”
    “But…”
    Fuenokouji Kimiyasu smiled with amusement.
    “That is a Russian lady, who fled here from Harbin.”
    Though she looked to speak hardly any Japanese, seemingly noticing that the conversation had turned to her, Varvara rose from the couch across the room on which she had been sitting."
  4. ↑ Despera Chapter "Asakusa Junnikai": "It wasn’t the backdrop of women entwining their fingers with the latticed doors he noticed; behind them, crouched on the dim dirt floor, there was a young girl.
    Perhaps she had just been sold. Insufficient to service any customers herself, maybe she had been made to work as a servant.
    It wasn't like he felt any pity for her. But the downcast expression of the girl in that dark room had been irrevocably burned into Takeshi's memory.
    About half a month after that night, as the machines finally began their operation, Takeshita, barely leaving the house, was continuously locked into his basement. But he was not alone there, as he had been previously.
    The girl named "Ain" had come to live with him."
  5. ↑ Despera Chapter "The Electric Girl vs. the Tank Squadron"
  6. ↑ Despera Chapter "The Electric Girl vs. the Tank Squadron": "In his confusion, Takeshita now began to wish strongly to go himself to the place being projected onto the screen. He stood from his seat, began to walk unsteadily toward the screen, grabbed the narrator's arm; but that's where his memories suddenly stopped.
    When he awoke from his drunkenness, Ain was by his side.
    “An illusion.....?”
    Ain, looking at him, seemed on the verge of tears.
    “Where did you go, Ain?”
    “Where? Ain's always been right here.”"
  7. ↑ ref>Despera Chapter "The Anarchist and the Majin": “I'm tired of this song.”
    “Just don't listen to it.”
    “I can't do that!”
    “I know you can, Ain.”
    To Takeshita's proposal, which was based on nothing in particular and completely devoid of even a scrap of consideration of Ain's feelings, Ain said disinterestedly, “I don't know about that.”
    “Hey, how come whenever we come here, we take some roundabout tram route?”
    The aforementioned Dangozaka climb was reasonably close to Asakusa. Old people with weak legs would more typically take the tram that circled the Imperial University, but Takeshita's legs were on the strong side.
    “Well...how come indeed?”
    He had intended to brush off the question, but he found himself genuinely wondering why they didn't commute here on foot as Ain said. An answer did not readily present itself.
    Takeshita was intently staring at a burly-looking man reading a book by the window.
    “What time is it?”
    Takeshita asked Ain without looking at her.
    “Don't know. Ain isn't carrying a watch!”
    Ain answered while glaring at a clock hanging on the wall."
  8. ↑ Despera Chapter "Asakusa Junnikai": ""Hey, aren't you satisfied yet?"
    Unable to endure her boredom, the girl finally spoke for the first time in some hours.
    "If you're bored, why don't you go outside? But don't go threatening people with your electricity like you did the other day."
    "Ain wouldn't do something like that!"
    Going by her apparent age, one might guess she was about twelve, but her expression appeared somewhat more mature. On her head a giant ribbon was perched in a rather implausible way. One couldn't say it didn't look almost exactly like the big ears of a cat."
  9. ↑ Despera Chapter "Day of Prophecy": "One night, Takeshita waited for the old doll-maker to fall asleep, broke down the door of the workshop and went inside, where he clutched the doll in his arms and ran off with her.
    In his arms, the doll turned to look at him and said “Thank you.” He was first shocked, and then overjoyed.
    From then on, he began to call the living doll Ain, and to him, she became like a living human being.
    In Conversation with Viscount Fuenokouji
    “A certain Takeshita, eh? I don’t remember him too well, but I remember he had gone to America to study, and I was interested enough in his stories to invite him over. Did he bring a young girl with him? (He laughs for a while.) You must be talking about his doll? I remember hearing stories of Mr. Descartes bringing a doll around in his bag, but that man walked around with the doll clutched in his arms. Sometimes he would talk with the doll in a low voice, so my wife and I would half-heartedly try to play along, but…”
    In Conversation with Lady Journalist Mayumi Igarashi
    “Ah—yes, that’s right. After Takeshita was released by the Tokkou, I did go to meet him. At that time, the doll you mentioned was not present, as one would expect. But in a conversation I had with the female pilot Noriko Inbe, who I had covered previously in an article, she mentioned that Takeshita petitioned her for a sightseeing flight, but in actuality put that doll on the plane—he called her Ain, but in any case, he only put that on the plane, and it seems that he himself did not fly with them.”
    In Conversation with Toyama Military Research Laboratory’s First Lt. Enoki
    “Originally, I was conducting research at the research laboratory in Shinjuku Toyama, on radio weapons already developed by the Navy. I heard that there were radio waves emanating from Asakusa that surpassed the Navy’s machines in strength, and when I went to Asakusa to investigate them on my own, I got to know Mr. Takeshita. His daughter, Ain? Eh?...I met her. A doll? What insolence are you spouting? She was a person. Yes, definitely.”"
  10. ↑ Despera Chapter "The Nobleman of Surugadai": "Fuenokouji Kimiyasu's main residence was in Sanbanchou, but he had also built a secondary home in Kanda-Surugadai, and it was here he spent almost all of his time. Upon entering the newly-built secondary home, one was struck by the illusion that they had just walked into a New York hotel, for it was laid out in a Western style. However, the Viscount was housing a Russian emigre, Varvara Andreyeva, at this secondary home; perhaps it was for her sake that it had been built this way.
    “Hey, that woman is so white it's scary!”
    Takeshita scowled at Ain's insolent comment.
    “Don't stare, Ain.”
    “But…”
    Fuenokouji Kimiyasu smiled with amusement.
    “That is a Russian lady, who fled here from Harbin.”
    Though she looked to speak hardly any Japanese, seemingly noticing that the conversation had turned to her, Varvara rose from the couch across the room on which she had been sitting."
  11. ↑ Despera Chapter "The Electric Girl vs. the Tank Squadron"
  12. ↑ Despera Chapter "Day of Prophecy": "One night, Takeshita waited for the old doll-maker to fall asleep, broke down the door of the workshop and went inside, where he clutched the doll in his arms and ran off with her.
    In his arms, the doll turned to look at him and said “Thank you.” He was first shocked, and then overjoyed.
    From then on, he began to call the living doll Ain, and to him, she became like a living human being.
    In Conversation with Viscount Fuenokouji
    “A certain Takeshita, eh? I don’t remember him too well, but I remember he had gone to America to study, and I was interested enough in his stories to invite him over. Did he bring a young girl with him? (He laughs for a while.) You must be talking about his doll? I remember hearing stories of Mr. Descartes bringing a doll around in his bag, but that man walked around with the doll clutched in his arms. Sometimes he would talk with the doll in a low voice, so my wife and I would half-heartedly try to play along, but…”
    In Conversation with Lady Journalist Mayumi Igarashi
    “Ah—yes, that’s right. After Takeshita was released by the Tokkou, I did go to meet him. At that time, the doll you mentioned was not present, as one would expect. But in a conversation I had with the female pilot Noriko Inbe, who I had covered previously in an article, she mentioned that Takeshita petitioned her for a sightseeing flight, but in actuality put that doll on the plane—he called her Ain, but in any case, he only put that on the plane, and it seems that he himself did not fly with them.”
    In Conversation with Toyama Military Research Laboratory’s First Lt. Enoki
    “Originally, I was conducting research at the research laboratory in Shinjuku Toyama, on radio weapons already developed by the Navy. I heard that there were radio waves emanating from Asakusa that surpassed the Navy’s machines in strength, and when I went to Asakusa to investigate them on my own, I got to know Mr. Takeshita. His daughter, Ain? Eh?...I met her. A doll? What insolence are you spouting? She was a person. Yes, definitely.”"
  13. ↑ Despera Chapter "Day of Prophecy": "One night, Takeshita waited for the old doll-maker to fall asleep, broke down the door of the workshop and went inside, where he clutched the doll in his arms and ran off with her.
    In his arms, the doll turned to look at him and said “Thank you.” He was first shocked, and then overjoyed.
    From then on, he began to call the living doll Ain, and to him, she became like a living human being.
    In Conversation with Viscount Fuenokouji
    “A certain Takeshita, eh? I don’t remember him too well, but I remember he had gone to America to study, and I was interested enough in his stories to invite him over. Did he bring a young girl with him? (He laughs for a while.) You must be talking about his doll? I remember hearing stories of Mr. Descartes bringing a doll around in his bag, but that man walked around with the doll clutched in his arms. Sometimes he would talk with the doll in a low voice, so my wife and I would half-heartedly try to play along, but…”
    In Conversation with Lady Journalist Mayumi Igarashi
    “Ah—yes, that’s right. After Takeshita was released by the Tokkou, I did go to meet him. At that time, the doll you mentioned was not present, as one would expect. But in a conversation I had with the female pilot Noriko Inbe, who I had covered previously in an article, she mentioned that Takeshita petitioned her for a sightseeing flight, but in actuality put that doll on the plane—he called her Ain, but in any case, he only put that on the plane, and it seems that he himself did not fly with them.”
    In Conversation with Toyama Military Research Laboratory’s First Lt. Enoki
    “Originally, I was conducting research at the research laboratory in Shinjuku Toyama, on radio weapons already developed by the Navy. I heard that there were radio waves emanating from Asakusa that surpassed the Navy’s machines in strength, and when I went to Asakusa to investigate them on my own, I got to know Mr. Takeshita. His daughter, Ain? Eh?...I met her. A doll? What insolence are you spouting? She was a person. Yes, definitely.”"
  14. ↑ Despera Chapter "Showa": "The next evening, Takeshita walked towards Shiinamachi.
    It's not as if he had much interest in the atelier village, but after hearing the poet's story, he may have wanted to see it once, at least.
    He quickly found a street lined with distinctive triangular roofs built of red concrete shingles.
    In the afternoon, as expected, the artists were hard at work on their individual projects, and the whole area was blanketed with a death-like quiet, completely different from the liveliness of the West Exit at night.
    Walking around with no particular goal in mind, he may have been struck by some premonition.
    Around the sculptors’ ateliers, plaster figures, perhaps studies or pieces already retired from exhibition, were strewn about.
    Many of them were human figures, and in the gloomy, shadowed alleyway, the numerous pale figures left a somewhat horrific impression.
    Lazily stopping to stare at the sculptures, he was suddenly stunned by a feeling as if a cold hand had grabbed hold of his heart.
    Among the discarded statues, he found himself staring at something he couldn't believe.
    It was a life-sized nude statue of a young girl. And no matter how much he tried to disillusion himself, that girl was the very same one he had once lived with—it was impossible to see her as anyone other than Ain.
    He must have been wrong. After all, Ain was only a doll. Before the great earthquake, he had spent a period of time believing that Ain was a living human being. But it's not as if she disappeared. She had never existed to begin with.
    Even after telling himself that for so long, it was nevertheless true that Takeshita, believing that no matter where he went, Ain might possibly be waiting for him, continued to unconsciously search for her.
    Takeshita stumbled away from the statue of Ain, trying to distance himself from his frantic thoughts, and he found himself looking into the window of another atelier.
    It seemed to be the room of an abstract painter who had been swept up by the Surrealist movement. It seemed that the owner of the room was away. In the room there was a painted canvas left on an easel, and this was not an abstract painting but a realist one.
    Takeshita wondered if his sanity had finally abandoned him.
    On the canvas was a portrait of Ain. Ahhh, I want to see her again… he wondered if such thoughts had strengthened until they finally caused him to begin to see phantoms.
    I see…well, if that's all it is, then that's all well and good. Thinking that, he picked up his heavy feet and began to find his way out of the atelier village.
    Then, he saw, behind the last atelier, a bronze statue of a little girl. This was made by a completely different artist from the previous works, but it was still unmistakably Ain.
    After staring at the sculpture for a while, Takeshita softly touched it with the tip of his finger. He felt the cold surface of the bronze.
    No...! It wasn't a phantom.
    He finally understood, clearly, that it was a statue made using Ain as a model.
    He turned back toward the atelier village.
    Ain was here.
    Just as Montmartre in Paris had their muse, Kiki, this atelier village had Ain.
    With the exact same appearance as she had before the great earthquake, Ain existed somewhere. And those who existed close to that place continued to feel some sort of inspiration from her.
    To the man named Takeshita, such influence was no longer present. He was conscious of that fact.
    But, Ain still exists… Just by being sure of that, Takeshita felt the warmth return to his heart.
    He began to walk toward the lights of the town, and what happened after that no one knows."
  15. ↑ Despera Chapter "Showa": "The next evening, Takeshita walked towards Shiinamachi.
    It's not as if he had much interest in the atelier village, but after hearing the poet's story, he may have wanted to see it once, at least.
    He quickly found a street lined with distinctive triangular roofs built of red concrete shingles.
    In the afternoon, as expected, the artists were hard at work on their individual projects, and the whole area was blanketed with a death-like quiet, completely different from the liveliness of the West Exit at night.
    Walking around with no particular goal in mind, he may have been struck by some premonition.
    Around the sculptors’ ateliers, plaster figures, perhaps studies or pieces already retired from exhibition, were strewn about.
    Many of them were human figures, and in the gloomy, shadowed alleyway, the numerous pale figures left a somewhat horrific impression.
    Lazily stopping to stare at the sculptures, he was suddenly stunned by a feeling as if a cold hand had grabbed hold of his heart.
    Among the discarded statues, he found himself staring at something he couldn't believe.
    It was a life-sized nude statue of a young girl. And no matter how much he tried to disillusion himself, that girl was the very same one he had once lived with—it was impossible to see her as anyone other than Ain.
    He must have been wrong. After all, Ain was only a doll. Before the great earthquake, he had spent a period of time believing that Ain was a living human being. But it's not as if she disappeared. She had never existed to begin with.
    Even after telling himself that for so long, it was nevertheless true that Takeshita, believing that no matter where he went, Ain might possibly be waiting for him, continued to unconsciously search for her.
    Takeshita stumbled away from the statue of Ain, trying to distance himself from his frantic thoughts, and he found himself looking into the window of another atelier.
    It seemed to be the room of an abstract painter who had been swept up by the Surrealist movement. It seemed that the owner of the room was away. In the room there was a painted canvas left on an easel, and this was not an abstract painting but a realist one.
    Takeshita wondered if his sanity had finally abandoned him.
    On the canvas was a portrait of Ain. Ahhh, I want to see her again… he wondered if such thoughts had strengthened until they finally caused him to begin to see phantoms.
    I see…well, if that's all it is, then that's all well and good. Thinking that, he picked up his heavy feet and began to find his way out of the atelier village.
    Then, he saw, behind the last atelier, a bronze statue of a little girl. This was made by a completely different artist from the previous works, but it was still unmistakably Ain.
    After staring at the sculpture for a while, Takeshita softly touched it with the tip of his finger. He felt the cold surface of the bronze.
    No...! It wasn't a phantom.
    He finally understood, clearly, that it was a statue made using Ain as a model.
    He turned back toward the atelier village.
    Ain was here.
    Just as Montmartre in Paris had their muse, Kiki, this atelier village had Ain.
    With the exact same appearance as she had before the great earthquake, Ain existed somewhere. And those who existed close to that place continued to feel some sort of inspiration from her.
    To the man named Takeshita, such influence was no longer present. He was conscious of that fact.
    But, Ain still exists… Just by being sure of that, Takeshita felt the warmth return to his heart.
    He began to walk toward the lights of the town, and what happened after that no one knows."
  16. ↑ Despera Chapter "The Electric Girl vs. the Tank Squadron": "Accompanied by a thunderous roar, three boorish tanks were en route to Ueno Forest. Unlike the rhomboid tanks built in England that had previously been experimentally introduced by the Army, the France-built Renault tanks were hardly larger than a one-yen taxi; but in these tree-lined groves that would prove too dense for the taxis to enter, these tanks carelessly trampled the trees and open-air stands that blocked their progress. After all, the owners of these open-air stands were only in business illegally, so even if evicted in such a violent manner, they had no grounds to voice their displeasure.
    The commanding Army Infantry School Guidance Officer brushed off the Ueno residents’ complaints, explaining that the deployment of the tanks into the city was merely part of a practice exercise.
    Witnessing this state of affairs from a distance, Lt. Enoki of the Army Sciences Institute spoke with amazement.
    “This is hardly the Aoyama parade grounds—what a ridiculous thing they're doing. Don't you agree?”
    Startled by Lt. Enoki's voice, a man also dressed in civilian clothes and a hunting cap, turned to look at him.
    “...it's an initiative of the Army Cavalry Company.”
    The man with the hunting cap, testing Lt. Enoki, said only this.
    “Hahaa, then big shot with some influence over there must be thinking there's something mighty rotten in this neighborhood.”
    The man with the hunting cap gave a slight smile of agreement.
    “You're a member of the military police, aren't you? I'm Enoki, from the Toyama research institute.”
    “...Military police, Sergeant Yamanoi.”
    “You were looking into the matter of the man who seemed to be living at the Juunikai, weren’t you?”
    Enoki, knowing he was higher than Yamanoi in rank but about ten years younger in age, continued to speak in polite Japanese.
    “This must be training for later use on the continent, but to run tanks through the middle of town like this is insane, isn't it?”
    “They couldn't match its power without using tanks...was probably what they were thinking.”
    Lt. Enoki cocked his head.
    “Against Takeshita alone? Even though it's just him, and that girl?”
    “Girl?”
    “Weren't they living together?”
    Now it was Yamanoi who cocked his head in puzzlement.
    “Don't know...I didn't see her myself.”
    Weren't they together when you were tailing them, too, though? Enoki prepared to say, but Yamanoi changed the subject before he could speak.
    “Most likely, it’s a connection with the suspicious radio waves, but lately in the Juunikai's basement, there's been a mechanism that—well, I'm not sure how to explain it, but it's strangely humanoid, but also not humanoid, almost like a two-ken (3.636 meter) rabbit, walking around.”
    Enoki was completely shocked. Was this another creation of Takeshita’s?
    At that time, below their gaze, there spread a dazzling light.
    “That's the girl—!”
    The light spread immediately in front of the tanks. In the middle of the light, it's Ain—!! thought Enoki, sure of what he saw, but it seemed like Yamanoi was totally unaware of her presence.
    As the light died away, the tanks began to move around frantically, firing their machine guns at each other. What a truly outrageous spectacle, thought Enoki, even as he knew it would never appear in any newspaper."
  17. ↑ Despera Chapter "Showa": "The next evening, Takeshita walked towards Shiinamachi.
    It's not as if he had much interest in the atelier village, but after hearing the poet's story, he may have wanted to see it once, at least.
    He quickly found a street lined with distinctive triangular roofs built of red concrete shingles.
    In the afternoon, as expected, the artists were hard at work on their individual projects, and the whole area was blanketed with a death-like quiet, completely different from the liveliness of the West Exit at night.
    Walking around with no particular goal in mind, he may have been struck by some premonition.
    Around the sculptors’ ateliers, plaster figures, perhaps studies or pieces already retired from exhibition, were strewn about.
    Many of them were human figures, and in the gloomy, shadowed alleyway, the numerous pale figures left a somewhat horrific impression.
    Lazily stopping to stare at the sculptures, he was suddenly stunned by a feeling as if a cold hand had grabbed hold of his heart.
    Among the discarded statues, he found himself staring at something he couldn't believe.
    It was a life-sized nude statue of a young girl. And no matter how much he tried to disillusion himself, that girl was the very same one he had once lived with—it was impossible to see her as anyone other than Ain.
    He must have been wrong. After all, Ain was only a doll. Before the great earthquake, he had spent a period of time believing that Ain was a living human being. But it's not as if she disappeared. She had never existed to begin with.
    Even after telling himself that for so long, it was nevertheless true that Takeshita, believing that no matter where he went, Ain might possibly be waiting for him, continued to unconsciously search for her.
    Takeshita stumbled away from the statue of Ain, trying to distance himself from his frantic thoughts, and he found himself looking into the window of another atelier.
    It seemed to be the room of an abstract painter who had been swept up by the Surrealist movement. It seemed that the owner of the room was away. In the room there was a painted canvas left on an easel, and this was not an abstract painting but a realist one.
    Takeshita wondered if his sanity had finally abandoned him.
    On the canvas was a portrait of Ain. Ahhh, I want to see her again… he wondered if such thoughts had strengthened until they finally caused him to begin to see phantoms.
    I see…well, if that's all it is, then that's all well and good. Thinking that, he picked up his heavy feet and began to find his way out of the atelier village.
    Then, he saw, behind the last atelier, a bronze statue of a little girl. This was made by a completely different artist from the previous works, but it was still unmistakably Ain.
    After staring at the sculpture for a while, Takeshita softly touched it with the tip of his finger. He felt the cold surface of the bronze.
    No...! It wasn't a phantom.
    He finally understood, clearly, that it was a statue made using Ain as a model.
    He turned back toward the atelier village.
    Ain was here.
    Just as Montmartre in Paris had their muse, Kiki, this atelier village had Ain.
    With the exact same appearance as she had before the great earthquake, Ain existed somewhere. And those who existed close to that place continued to feel some sort of inspiration from her.
    To the man named Takeshita, such influence was no longer present. He was conscious of that fact.
    But, Ain still exists… Just by being sure of that, Takeshita felt the warmth return to his heart.
    He began to walk toward the lights of the town, and what happened after that no one knows."
  18. ↑ Despera Chapter "Asakusa Junnikai": ""Hey, aren't you satisfied yet?"
    Unable to endure her boredom, the girl finally spoke for the first time in some hours.
    "If you're bored, why don't you go outside? But don't go threatening people with your electricity like you did the other day."
    "Ain wouldn't do something like that!"
    Going by her apparent age, one might guess she was about twelve, but her expression appeared somewhat more mature. On her head a giant ribbon was perched in a rather implausible way. One couldn't say it didn't look almost exactly like the big ears of a cat."
  19. ↑ Despera Chapter "The Electric Girl vs. the Tank Squadron": "Accompanied by a thunderous roar, three boorish tanks were en route to Ueno Forest. Unlike the rhomboid tanks built in England that had previously been experimentally introduced by the Army, the France-built Renault tanks were hardly larger than a one-yen taxi; but in these tree-lined groves that would prove too dense for the taxis to enter, these tanks carelessly trampled the trees and open-air stands that blocked their progress. After all, the owners of these open-air stands were only in business illegally, so even if evicted in such a violent manner, they had no grounds to voice their displeasure.
    The commanding Army Infantry School Guidance Officer brushed off the Ueno residents’ complaints, explaining that the deployment of the tanks into the city was merely part of a practice exercise.
    Witnessing this state of affairs from a distance, Lt. Enoki of the Army Sciences Institute spoke with amazement.
    “This is hardly the Aoyama parade grounds—what a ridiculous thing they're doing. Don't you agree?”
    Startled by Lt. Enoki's voice, a man also dressed in civilian clothes and a hunting cap, turned to look at him.
    “...it's an initiative of the Army Cavalry Company.”
    The man with the hunting cap, testing Lt. Enoki, said only this.
    “Hahaa, then big shot with some influence over there must be thinking there's something mighty rotten in this neighborhood.”
    The man with the hunting cap gave a slight smile of agreement.
    “You're a member of the military police, aren't you? I'm Enoki, from the Toyama research institute.”
    “...Military police, Sergeant Yamanoi.”
    “You were looking into the matter of the man who seemed to be living at the Juunikai, weren’t you?”
    Enoki, knowing he was higher than Yamanoi in rank but about ten years younger in age, continued to speak in polite Japanese.
    “This must be training for later use on the continent, but to run tanks through the middle of town like this is insane, isn't it?”
    “They couldn't match its power without using tanks...was probably what they were thinking.”
    Lt. Enoki cocked his head.
    “Against Takeshita alone? Even though it's just him, and that girl?”
    “Girl?”
    “Weren't they living together?”
    Now it was Yamanoi who cocked his head in puzzlement.
    “Don't know...I didn't see her myself.”
    Weren't they together when you were tailing them, too, though? Enoki prepared to say, but Yamanoi changed the subject before he could speak.
    “Most likely, it’s a connection with the suspicious radio waves, but lately in the Juunikai's basement, there's been a mechanism that—well, I'm not sure how to explain it, but it's strangely humanoid, but also not humanoid, almost like a two-ken (3.636 meter) rabbit, walking around.”
    Enoki was completely shocked. Was this another creation of Takeshita’s?
    At that time, below their gaze, there spread a dazzling light.
    “That's the girl—!”
    The light spread immediately in front of the tanks. In the middle of the light, it's Ain—!! thought Enoki, sure of what he saw, but it seemed like Yamanoi was totally unaware of her presence.
    As the light died away, the tanks began to move around frantically, firing their machine guns at each other. What a truly outrageous spectacle, thought Enoki, even as he knew it would never appear in any newspaper."
  20. ↑ Despera Chapter "Showa": "The next evening, Takeshita walked towards Shiinamachi.
    It's not as if he had much interest in the atelier village, but after hearing the poet's story, he may have wanted to see it once, at least.
    He quickly found a street lined with distinctive triangular roofs built of red concrete shingles.
    In the afternoon, as expected, the artists were hard at work on their individual projects, and the whole area was blanketed with a death-like quiet, completely different from the liveliness of the West Exit at night.
    Walking around with no particular goal in mind, he may have been struck by some premonition.
    Around the sculptors’ ateliers, plaster figures, perhaps studies or pieces already retired from exhibition, were strewn about.
    Many of them were human figures, and in the gloomy, shadowed alleyway, the numerous pale figures left a somewhat horrific impression.
    Lazily stopping to stare at the sculptures, he was suddenly stunned by a feeling as if a cold hand had grabbed hold of his heart.
    Among the discarded statues, he found himself staring at something he couldn't believe.
    It was a life-sized nude statue of a young girl. And no matter how much he tried to disillusion himself, that girl was the very same one he had once lived with—it was impossible to see her as anyone other than Ain.
    He must have been wrong. After all, Ain was only a doll. Before the great earthquake, he had spent a period of time believing that Ain was a living human being. But it's not as if she disappeared. She had never existed to begin with.
    Even after telling himself that for so long, it was nevertheless true that Takeshita, believing that no matter where he went, Ain might possibly be waiting for him, continued to unconsciously search for her.
    Takeshita stumbled away from the statue of Ain, trying to distance himself from his frantic thoughts, and he found himself looking into the window of another atelier.
    It seemed to be the room of an abstract painter who had been swept up by the Surrealist movement. It seemed that the owner of the room was away. In the room there was a painted canvas left on an easel, and this was not an abstract painting but a realist one.
    Takeshita wondered if his sanity had finally abandoned him.
    On the canvas was a portrait of Ain. Ahhh, I want to see her again… he wondered if such thoughts had strengthened until they finally caused him to begin to see phantoms.
    I see…well, if that's all it is, then that's all well and good. Thinking that, he picked up his heavy feet and began to find his way out of the atelier village.
    Then, he saw, behind the last atelier, a bronze statue of a little girl. This was made by a completely different artist from the previous works, but it was still unmistakably Ain.
    After staring at the sculpture for a while, Takeshita softly touched it with the tip of his finger. He felt the cold surface of the bronze.
    No...! It wasn't a phantom.
    He finally understood, clearly, that it was a statue made using Ain as a model.
    He turned back toward the atelier village.
    Ain was here.
    Just as Montmartre in Paris had their muse, Kiki, this atelier village had Ain.
    With the exact same appearance as she had before the great earthquake, Ain existed somewhere. And those who existed close to that place continued to feel some sort of inspiration from her.
    To the man named Takeshita, such influence was no longer present. He was conscious of that fact.
    But, Ain still exists… Just by being sure of that, Takeshita felt the warmth return to his heart.
    He began to walk toward the lights of the town, and what happened after that no one knows."
  21. ↑ Despera Chapter "The Nobleman of Surugadai": "Second Lieutenant Enoki was wearing not a military uniform but an everyday outfit as he came to Asakusa that morning. At that time, soldiers were becoming less and less respected in the streets, to the point where those who would stupidly wear a military sword in public couldn't even board a shared tram. It's because of all these useless military expeditions to Siberia, wasting the common people's tax money, thought Lt. Enoki, but he wasn't in any position to say such a thing out loud. With everyone crying for demilitarization, pondered Lt. Enoki grimly, how long can my Army Science Institute hold out, I wonder... He had not come all the way to Asakusa from the research institute in the woods of Shinjuku-Toyama to play with the ladies beneath the Juunikai, but instead for an investigation, ordered by his superior officer, of the unsettlingly powerful radio waves that had been emitting from the area.
    Even so, with no radio stations yet in existence, the only facilities that would be able to emit radio waves at this point would have to be the Ministry of Communications and Transportation's telecommunications laboratory on Daiba, or the slightly more distant Choushi wireless telegraph station, and both of these were initiatives of the Navy, and used a huge amount of power, which had to be generated by giant turbines. Such a facility could not be found in Asakusa. If he had to say, the Ryouunkaku known by the name Juunikai could be compared to a radio tower just on the basis of its height, but before he enlisted, during a trip from Fukushima to Tokyo, he had climbed the Ryouunkaku and found nothing but a dim stairway decorated with pin-ups and a gift shop selling souvenirs from God knows where; he knew that the Ryouunkaku housed no such facility.
    Despite this, he went to the base of the Ryouunkaku just to ensure he hadn't missed anything, and there, even though there weren't yet many people out, he saw someone coming out of the Juunikai. It was a man of about thirty wearing a dark expression on his face, along with a girl about half his age. My goodness, to bring a child sightseeing at the Juunikai in this day and age - how thoughtless! said Second Lt. Enoki to himself disapprovingly; but in the midst of his indigance, he noticed another figure following the couple. If it isn't a military policeman targeting a Rotan (Russian spy)...! Why would he be following this man? thought Lt. Enoki, who was suddenly beginning to develop an interest in the situation.
    Oh, I see, he must've received a report that that man was engaging in suspicious activity at the Juunikai...it must be that man Takeshita, thought Lt. Enoki, now determined to follow the group.
    He boarded a tram in pursuit, and followed Takeshita and the girl to Surugadai. Upon doing so, the nimble military officer he had noticed before vanished. My goodness, where on earth are those two going?
    Takeshita and the girl entered the gates of an especially large mansion.
    When Lt. Enoki saw the mansion's nameplate, he was not a little startled."
  22. ↑ Despera Chapter "The Nobleman of Surugadai": “The military hasn't yet grasped what you're doing at the Juunikai, but they've detected powerful radio waves. There are those who see it as a threat, and they may mobilize soon.”
    “Aren't you putting yourself in a bad position by telling me that?”
    “As a scientist, I have an interest in your experiments. I wouldn't want to interfere.”
    Lt. Enoki looked at Ain. What a mysterious girl, he thought.
    “Interfere? What do you mean?”
  23. ↑ Despera Chapter "The Electric Girl vs. the Tank Squadron": "Accompanied by a thunderous roar, three boorish tanks were en route to Ueno Forest. Unlike the rhomboid tanks built in England that had previously been experimentally introduced by the Army, the France-built Renault tanks were hardly larger than a one-yen taxi; but in these tree-lined groves that would prove too dense for the taxis to enter, these tanks carelessly trampled the trees and open-air stands that blocked their progress. After all, the owners of these open-air stands were only in business illegally, so even if evicted in such a violent manner, they had no grounds to voice their displeasure.
    The commanding Army Infantry School Guidance Officer brushed off the Ueno residents’ complaints, explaining that the deployment of the tanks into the city was merely part of a practice exercise.
    Witnessing this state of affairs from a distance, Lt. Enoki of the Army Sciences Institute spoke with amazement.
    “This is hardly the Aoyama parade grounds—what a ridiculous thing they're doing. Don't you agree?”
    Startled by Lt. Enoki's voice, a man also dressed in civilian clothes and a hunting cap, turned to look at him.
    “...it's an initiative of the Army Cavalry Company.”
    The man with the hunting cap, testing Lt. Enoki, said only this.
    “Hahaa, then big shot with some influence over there must be thinking there's something mighty rotten in this neighborhood.”
    The man with the hunting cap gave a slight smile of agreement.
    “You're a member of the military police, aren't you? I'm Enoki, from the Toyama research institute.”
    “...Military police, Sergeant Yamanoi.”
    “You were looking into the matter of the man who seemed to be living at the Juunikai, weren’t you?”
    Enoki, knowing he was higher than Yamanoi in rank but about ten years younger in age, continued to speak in polite Japanese.
    “This must be training for later use on the continent, but to run tanks through the middle of town like this is insane, isn't it?”
    “They couldn't match its power without using tanks...was probably what they were thinking.”
    Lt. Enoki cocked his head.
    “Against Takeshita alone? Even though it's just him, and that girl?”
    “Girl?”
    “Weren't they living together?”
    Now it was Yamanoi who cocked his head in puzzlement.
    “Don't know...I didn't see her myself.”
    Weren't they together when you were tailing them, too, though? Enoki prepared to say, but Yamanoi changed the subject before he could speak.
    “Most likely, it’s a connection with the suspicious radio waves, but lately in the Juunikai's basement, there's been a mechanism that—well, I'm not sure how to explain it, but it's strangely humanoid, but also not humanoid, almost like a two-ken (3.636 meter) rabbit, walking around.”
    Enoki was completely shocked. Was this another creation of Takeshita’s?
    At that time, below their gaze, there spread a dazzling light.
    “That's the girl—!”
    The light spread immediately in front of the tanks. In the middle of the light, it's Ain—!! thought Enoki, sure of what he saw, but it seemed like Yamanoi was totally unaware of her presence.
    As the light died away, the tanks began to move around frantically, firing their machine guns at each other. What a truly outrageous spectacle, thought Enoki, even as he knew it would never appear in any newspaper."
  24. ↑ Despera Chapter "Showa": "The next evening, Takeshita walked towards Shiinamachi.
    It's not as if he had much interest in the atelier village, but after hearing the poet's story, he may have wanted to see it once, at least.
    He quickly found a street lined with distinctive triangular roofs built of red concrete shingles.
    In the afternoon, as expected, the artists were hard at work on their individual projects, and the whole area was blanketed with a death-like quiet, completely different from the liveliness of the West Exit at night.
    Walking around with no particular goal in mind, he may have been struck by some premonition.
    Around the sculptors’ ateliers, plaster figures, perhaps studies or pieces already retired from exhibition, were strewn about.
    Many of them were human figures, and in the gloomy, shadowed alleyway, the numerous pale figures left a somewhat horrific impression.
    Lazily stopping to stare at the sculptures, he was suddenly stunned by a feeling as if a cold hand had grabbed hold of his heart.
    Among the discarded statues, he found himself staring at something he couldn't believe.
    It was a life-sized nude statue of a young girl. And no matter how much he tried to disillusion himself, that girl was the very same one he had once lived with—it was impossible to see her as anyone other than Ain.
    He must have been wrong. After all, Ain was only a doll. Before the great earthquake, he had spent a period of time believing that Ain was a living human being. But it's not as if she disappeared. She had never existed to begin with.
    Even after telling himself that for so long, it was nevertheless true that Takeshita, believing that no matter where he went, Ain might possibly be waiting for him, continued to unconsciously search for her.
    Takeshita stumbled away from the statue of Ain, trying to distance himself from his frantic thoughts, and he found himself looking into the window of another atelier.
    It seemed to be the room of an abstract painter who had been swept up by the Surrealist movement. It seemed that the owner of the room was away. In the room there was a painted canvas left on an easel, and this was not an abstract painting but a realist one.
    Takeshita wondered if his sanity had finally abandoned him.
    On the canvas was a portrait of Ain. Ahhh, I want to see her again… he wondered if such thoughts had strengthened until they finally caused him to begin to see phantoms.
    I see…well, if that's all it is, then that's all well and good. Thinking that, he picked up his heavy feet and began to find his way out of the atelier village.
    Then, he saw, behind the last atelier, a bronze statue of a little girl. This was made by a completely different artist from the previous works, but it was still unmistakably Ain.
    After staring at the sculpture for a while, Takeshita softly touched it with the tip of his finger. He felt the cold surface of the bronze.
    No...! It wasn't a phantom.
    He finally understood, clearly, that it was a statue made using Ain as a model.
    He turned back toward the atelier village.
    Ain was here.
    Just as Montmartre in Paris had their muse, Kiki, this atelier village had Ain.
    With the exact same appearance as she had before the great earthquake, Ain existed somewhere. And those who existed close to that place continued to feel some sort of inspiration from her.
    To the man named Takeshita, such influence was no longer present. He was conscious of that fact.
    But, Ain still exists… Just by being sure of that, Takeshita felt the warmth return to his heart.
    He began to walk toward the lights of the town, and what happened after that no one knows."
  25. ↑ Despera Chapter "Asakusa Junnikai": "That's right, I just remembered, today there's a lecture in Mita—hey, by that professor that came from Germany!"
    "Oh, is that so, that was today?"
    "Weren't you planning to go meet him?"
    "Well..."
    Since he had been formally invited by the magazine Kaizou, the visit of Prof. Einstein, who had been awarded a famous prize the previous year, had become a much-discussed topic of conversation.
    "Hey, let's go! And I'll tell you what! Professor Einstein, his theory of relativity is what's going to allow me to see the future through this cathode-ray tube!"
    "It's not just the theory of relativity, you know."
    While Takeshita had built his instruments himself, his designs had been heavily influenced by Nikola Tesla, under whom he had studied in America.
    All day long he would stare into the images projected by the cathode-ray tubes, but once in a while, he would decide to go to Kabutochou, only to return carrying a huge sum of money in his bag. This is why he could do as he liked in the Juunikai's basement: because he always had an appropriate sum of money.
    Once Ain's goodwill toward the man, who was single-mindedly determined not to go outside, was exhausted, she returned to the small, low-ceilinged room she had claimed as her own. On the floor, in the center of scattered wires and disassembled electrical parts, there lay an incomplete mass of gears and pulleys that was even larger than the seated figure of Ain. When Ain began to work on it, she entered into such a trance that she even forgot about the man's dinner. But what stupefied the man more than anything else was that he had no idea whatsoever what Ain was making.
  26. ↑ Despera Chapter "The Nobleman of Surugadai": "It seemed that the Viscount had told her to dance. Varvara's skin flushed like baked clay from confusion and shame.
    As Varvara, still standing stock-still, hung her head, it was as if the Viscount was staring at her even as she was outside his field of vision. Breaking her self-esteem was something the Viscount very much enjoyed, and her acceptance of it allowed her to continue to live as an aristocrat even in this foreign country.
    “Seems like plenty of nobles and soldiers are being killed over there.”
    Unable to bear the oppressively awkward atmosphere, Takeshita changed the topic of conversation.
    “Ah. That woman's husband was also executed. They said she can dance ballet, so I took charge of her.”
    Recently, the world-famous Anna Pavlova had come to Japan to dance in front of a sold-out audience.
    “Before we get to the real discussion, I have a small favor to ask…”
    Takeshita somewhat uncomfortably broke the ice.
    “Well, what is it? Please, tell me.”
    “I've noticed that I'm being watched, for a while now, by the Tokkou. Or, I wonder if it's a military officer—I noticed that someone who looked like a soldier started following me…”
    “...I'll look into it. If there's anything I can do, please allow me to be of assistance.”
    “Thank you very much.”
    “Well, then, let's hear about today's discussion. Ah...no, not so much today's discussion as ‘tomorrow’s’...hahahaha!”
    “Hara Takashi will be assassinated. I'm a bit early, but it will happen on November 4th, at Tokyo Station.”
    Viscount Fuenokouji's eyes narrowed and his gaze sharpened as he listened.
    “The culprit will be a railroad employee, Nakaoka Kon’ichi, who is actually Nakaoka Tarou’s grandson…”
    The matters which Takeshita discussed were in fact “tomorrow”; he included nothing beyond the immediate future. By revealing just a small fraction of the future he observed through the machines in the Juunikai's basement, Takeshita had extracted accommodations from the Viscount. And while the men talked, Ain seemed on the verge of death by boredom."
  27. ↑ Despera Chapter "Asakusa Junnikai": "That's right, I just remembered, today there's a lecture in Mita—hey, by that professor that came from Germany!"
    "Oh, is that so, that was today?"
    "Weren't you planning to go meet him?"
    "Well..."
    Since he had been formally invited by the magazine Kaizou, the visit of Prof. Einstein, who had been awarded a famous prize the previous year, had become a much-discussed topic of conversation.
    "Hey, let's go! And I'll tell you what! Professor Einstein, his theory of relativity is what's going to allow me to see the future through this cathode-ray tube!"
    "It's not just the theory of relativity, you know."
    While Takeshita had built his instruments himself, his designs had been heavily influenced by Nikola Tesla, under whom he had studied in America.
    All day long he would stare into the images projected by the cathode-ray tubes, but once in a while, he would decide to go to Kabutochou, only to return carrying a huge sum of money in his bag. This is why he could do as he liked in the Juunikai's basement: because he always had an appropriate sum of money.
    Once Ain's goodwill toward the man, who was single-mindedly determined not to go outside, was exhausted, she returned to the small, low-ceilinged room she had claimed as her own. On the floor, in the center of scattered wires and disassembled electrical parts, there lay an incomplete mass of gears and pulleys that was even larger than the seated figure of Ain. When Ain began to work on it, she entered into such a trance that she even forgot about the man's dinner. But what stupefied the man more than anything else was that he had no idea whatsoever what Ain was making.
  28. ↑ Despera Chapter "Asakusa Junnikai": "That's right, I just remembered, today there's a lecture in Mita—hey, by that professor that came from Germany!"
    "Oh, is that so, that was today?"
    "Weren't you planning to go meet him?"
    "Well..."
    Since he had been formally invited by the magazine Kaizou, the visit of Prof. Einstein, who had been awarded a famous prize the previous year, had become a much-discussed topic of conversation.
    "Hey, let's go! And I'll tell you what! Professor Einstein, his theory of relativity is what's going to allow me to see the future through this cathode-ray tube!"
    "It's not just the theory of relativity, you know."
    While Takeshita had built his instruments himself, his designs had been heavily influenced by Nikola Tesla, under whom he had studied in America.
    All day long he would stare into the images projected by the cathode-ray tubes, but once in a while, he would decide to go to Kabutochou, only to return carrying a huge sum of money in his bag. This is why he could do as he liked in the Juunikai's basement: because he always had an appropriate sum of money.
    Once Ain's goodwill toward the man, who was single-mindedly determined not to go outside, was exhausted, she returned to the small, low-ceilinged room she had claimed as her own. On the floor, in the center of scattered wires and disassembled electrical parts, there lay an incomplete mass of gears and pulleys that was even larger than the seated figure of Ain. When Ain began to work on it, she entered into such a trance that she even forgot about the man's dinner. But what stupefied the man more than anything else was that he had no idea whatsoever what Ain was making.
  29. ↑ Despera Chapter "The Nobleman of Surugadai": "It seemed that the Viscount had told her to dance. Varvara's skin flushed like baked clay from confusion and shame.
    As Varvara, still standing stock-still, hung her head, it was as if the Viscount was staring at her even as she was outside his field of vision. Breaking her self-esteem was something the Viscount very much enjoyed, and her acceptance of it allowed her to continue to live as an aristocrat even in this foreign country.
    “Seems like plenty of nobles and soldiers are being killed over there.”
    Unable to bear the oppressively awkward atmosphere, Takeshita changed the topic of conversation.
    “Ah. That woman's husband was also executed. They said she can dance ballet, so I took charge of her.”
    Recently, the world-famous Anna Pavlova had come to Japan to dance in front of a sold-out audience.
    “Before we get to the real discussion, I have a small favor to ask…”
    Takeshita somewhat uncomfortably broke the ice.
    “Well, what is it? Please, tell me.”
    “I've noticed that I'm being watched, for a while now, by the Tokkou. Or, I wonder if it's a military officer—I noticed that someone who looked like a soldier started following me…”
    “...I'll look into it. If there's anything I can do, please allow me to be of assistance.”
    “Thank you very much.”
    “Well, then, let's hear about today's discussion. Ah...no, not so much today's discussion as ‘tomorrow’s’...hahahaha!”
    “Hara Takashi will be assassinated. I'm a bit early, but it will happen on November 4th, at Tokyo Station.”
    Viscount Fuenokouji's eyes narrowed and his gaze sharpened as he listened.
    “The culprit will be a railroad employee, Nakaoka Kon’ichi, who is actually Nakaoka Tarou’s grandson…”
    The matters which Takeshita discussed were in fact “tomorrow”; he included nothing beyond the immediate future. By revealing just a small fraction of the future he observed through the machines in the Juunikai's basement, Takeshita had extracted accommodations from the Viscount. And while the men talked, Ain seemed on the verge of death by boredom."
  30. ↑ Despera Chapter "Asakusa Junnikai": "That's right, I just remembered, today there's a lecture in Mita—hey, by that professor that came from Germany!"
    "Oh, is that so, that was today?"
    "Weren't you planning to go meet him?"
    "Well..."
    Since he had been formally invited by the magazine Kaizou, the visit of Prof. Einstein, who had been awarded a famous prize the previous year, had become a much-discussed topic of conversation.
    "Hey, let's go! And I'll tell you what! Professor Einstein, his theory of relativity is what's going to allow me to see the future through this cathode-ray tube!"
    "It's not just the theory of relativity, you know."
    While Takeshita had built his instruments himself, his designs had been heavily influenced by Nikola Tesla, under whom he had studied in America.
    All day long he would stare into the images projected by the cathode-ray tubes, but once in a while, he would decide to go to Kabutochou, only to return carrying a huge sum of money in his bag. This is why he could do as he liked in the Juunikai's basement: because he always had an appropriate sum of money.
    Once Ain's goodwill toward the man, who was single-mindedly determined not to go outside, was exhausted, she returned to the small, low-ceilinged room she had claimed as her own. On the floor, in the center of scattered wires and disassembled electrical parts, there lay an incomplete mass of gears and pulleys that was even larger than the seated figure of Ain. When Ain began to work on it, she entered into such a trance that she even forgot about the man's dinner. But what stupefied the man more than anything else was that he had no idea whatsoever what Ain was making.
  31. ↑ Despera Chapter "The Electric Girl vs. the Tank Squadron": "Ain never went outside alone. When she did go out, it was always as Takeshita's companion. Surely Takeshita cared for Ain as a much younger sister; so it may have seemed, but in reality it was nothing of the sort.
    As if she had multiple personalities, Ain would sometimes yammer on like a baby bird no matter how much Takeshita warned her to shut up, while at other times she would go days at a time without saying a single word."
  32. ↑ Despera Chapter "Asakusa Junnikai": "That's right, I just remembered, today there's a lecture in Mita—hey, by that professor that came from Germany!"
    "Oh, is that so, that was today?"
    "Weren't you planning to go meet him?"
    "Well..."
    Since he had been formally invited by the magazine Kaizou, the visit of Prof. Einstein, who had been awarded a famous prize the previous year, had become a much-discussed topic of conversation.
    "Hey, let's go! And I'll tell you what! Professor Einstein, his theory of relativity is what's going to allow me to see the future through this cathode-ray tube!"
    "It's not just the theory of relativity, you know."
    While Takeshita had built his instruments himself, his designs had been heavily influenced by Nikola Tesla, under whom he had studied in America.
    All day long he would stare into the images projected by the cathode-ray tubes, but once in a while, he would decide to go to Kabutochou, only to return carrying a huge sum of money in his bag. This is why he could do as he liked in the Juunikai's basement: because he always had an appropriate sum of money.
    Once Ain's goodwill toward the man, who was single-mindedly determined not to go outside, was exhausted, she returned to the small, low-ceilinged room she had claimed as her own. On the floor, in the center of scattered wires and disassembled electrical parts, there lay an incomplete mass of gears and pulleys that was even larger than the seated figure of Ain. When Ain began to work on it, she entered into such a trance that she even forgot about the man's dinner. But what stupefied the man more than anything else was that he had no idea whatsoever what Ain was making.
  33. ↑ Despera Chapter "The Nobleman of Surugadai": "It seemed that the Viscount had told her to dance. Varvara's skin flushed like baked clay from confusion and shame.
    As Varvara, still standing stock-still, hung her head, it was as if the Viscount was staring at her even as she was outside his field of vision. Breaking her self-esteem was something the Viscount very much enjoyed, and her acceptance of it allowed her to continue to live as an aristocrat even in this foreign country.
    “Seems like plenty of nobles and soldiers are being killed over there.”
    Unable to bear the oppressively awkward atmosphere, Takeshita changed the topic of conversation.
    “Ah. That woman's husband was also executed. They said she can dance ballet, so I took charge of her.”
    Recently, the world-famous Anna Pavlova had come to Japan to dance in front of a sold-out audience.
    “Before we get to the real discussion, I have a small favor to ask…”
    Takeshita somewhat uncomfortably broke the ice.
    “Well, what is it? Please, tell me.”
    “I've noticed that I'm being watched, for a while now, by the Tokkou. Or, I wonder if it's a military officer—I noticed that someone who looked like a soldier started following me…”
    “...I'll look into it. If there's anything I can do, please allow me to be of assistance.”
    “Thank you very much.”
    “Well, then, let's hear about today's discussion. Ah...no, not so much today's discussion as ‘tomorrow’s’...hahahaha!”
    “Hara Takashi will be assassinated. I'm a bit early, but it will happen on November 4th, at Tokyo Station.”
    Viscount Fuenokouji's eyes narrowed and his gaze sharpened as he listened.
    “The culprit will be a railroad employee, Nakaoka Kon’ichi, who is actually Nakaoka Tarou’s grandson…”
    The matters which Takeshita discussed were in fact “tomorrow”; he included nothing beyond the immediate future. By revealing just a small fraction of the future he observed through the machines in the Juunikai's basement, Takeshita had extracted accommodations from the Viscount. And while the men talked, Ain seemed on the verge of death by boredom."
  34. ↑ Despera Chapter "Showa": "The next evening, Takeshita walked towards Shiinamachi.
    It's not as if he had much interest in the atelier village, but after hearing the poet's story, he may have wanted to see it once, at least.
    He quickly found a street lined with distinctive triangular roofs built of red concrete shingles.
    In the afternoon, as expected, the artists were hard at work on their individual projects, and the whole area was blanketed with a death-like quiet, completely different from the liveliness of the West Exit at night.
    Walking around with no particular goal in mind, he may have been struck by some premonition.
    Around the sculptors’ ateliers, plaster figures, perhaps studies or pieces already retired from exhibition, were strewn about.
    Many of them were human figures, and in the gloomy, shadowed alleyway, the numerous pale figures left a somewhat horrific impression.
    Lazily stopping to stare at the sculptures, he was suddenly stunned by a feeling as if a cold hand had grabbed hold of his heart.
    Among the discarded statues, he found himself staring at something he couldn't believe.
    It was a life-sized nude statue of a young girl. And no matter how much he tried to disillusion himself, that girl was the very same one he had once lived with—it was impossible to see her as anyone other than Ain.
    He must have been wrong. After all, Ain was only a doll. Before the great earthquake, he had spent a period of time believing that Ain was a living human being. But it's not as if she disappeared. She had never existed to begin with.
    Even after telling himself that for so long, it was nevertheless true that Takeshita, believing that no matter where he went, Ain might possibly be waiting for him, continued to unconsciously search for her.
    Takeshita stumbled away from the statue of Ain, trying to distance himself from his frantic thoughts, and he found himself looking into the window of another atelier.
    It seemed to be the room of an abstract painter who had been swept up by the Surrealist movement. It seemed that the owner of the room was away. In the room there was a painted canvas left on an easel, and this was not an abstract painting but a realist one.
    Takeshita wondered if his sanity had finally abandoned him.
    On the canvas was a portrait of Ain. Ahhh, I want to see her again… he wondered if such thoughts had strengthened until they finally caused him to begin to see phantoms.
    I see…well, if that's all it is, then that's all well and good. Thinking that, he picked up his heavy feet and began to find his way out of the atelier village.
    Then, he saw, behind the last atelier, a bronze statue of a little girl. This was made by a completely different artist from the previous works, but it was still unmistakably Ain.
    After staring at the sculpture for a while, Takeshita softly touched it with the tip of his finger. He felt the cold surface of the bronze.
    No...! It wasn't a phantom.
    He finally understood, clearly, that it was a statue made using Ain as a model.
    He turned back toward the atelier village.
    Ain was here.
    Just as Montmartre in Paris had their muse, Kiki, this atelier village had Ain.
    With the exact same appearance as she had before the great earthquake, Ain existed somewhere. And those who existed close to that place continued to feel some sort of inspiration from her.
    To the man named Takeshita, such influence was no longer present. He was conscious of that fact.
    But, Ain still exists… Just by being sure of that, Takeshita felt the warmth return to his heart.
    He began to walk toward the lights of the town, and what happened after that no one knows."
  35. ↑ Despera Chapter "Day of Prophecy": "One night, Takeshita waited for the old doll-maker to fall asleep, broke down the door of the workshop and went inside, where he clutched the doll in his arms and ran off with her.
    In his arms, the doll turned to look at him and said “Thank you.” He was first shocked, and then overjoyed.
    From then on, he began to call the living doll Ain, and to him, she became like a living human being.
    In Conversation with Viscount Fuenokouji
    “A certain Takeshita, eh? I don’t remember him too well, but I remember he had gone to America to study, and I was interested enough in his stories to invite him over. Did he bring a young girl with him? (He laughs for a while.) You must be talking about his doll? I remember hearing stories of Mr. Descartes bringing a doll around in his bag, but that man walked around with the doll clutched in his arms. Sometimes he would talk with the doll in a low voice, so my wife and I would half-heartedly try to play along, but…”
    In Conversation with Lady Journalist Mayumi Igarashi
    “Ah—yes, that’s right. After Takeshita was released by the Tokkou, I did go to meet him. At that time, the doll you mentioned was not present, as one would expect. But in a conversation I had with the female pilot Noriko Inbe, who I had covered previously in an article, she mentioned that Takeshita petitioned her for a sightseeing flight, but in actuality put that doll on the plane—he called her Ain, but in any case, he only put that on the plane, and it seems that he himself did not fly with them.”
    In Conversation with Toyama Military Research Laboratory’s First Lt. Enoki
    “Originally, I was conducting research at the research laboratory in Shinjuku Toyama, on radio weapons already developed by the Navy. I heard that there were radio waves emanating from Asakusa that surpassed the Navy’s machines in strength, and when I went to Asakusa to investigate them on my own, I got to know Mr. Takeshita. His daughter, Ain? Eh?...I met her. A doll? What insolence are you spouting? She was a person. Yes, definitely.”"
  36. ↑ Despera Chapter "Asakusa Junnikai": ""Hey, aren't you satisfied yet?"
    Unable to endure her boredom, the girl finally spoke for the first time in some hours.
    "If you're bored, why don't you go outside? But don't go threatening people with your electricity like you did the other day."
    "Ain wouldn't do something like that!"
    Going by her apparent age, one might guess she was about twelve, but her expression appeared somewhat more mature. On her head a giant ribbon was perched in a rather implausible way. One couldn't say it didn't look almost exactly like the big ears of a cat."
  37. ↑ Despera Chapter "The Electric Girl vs. the Tank Squadron": "Accompanied by a thunderous roar, three boorish tanks were en route to Ueno Forest. Unlike the rhomboid tanks built in England that had previously been experimentally introduced by the Army, the France-built Renault tanks were hardly larger than a one-yen taxi; but in these tree-lined groves that would prove too dense for the taxis to enter, these tanks carelessly trampled the trees and open-air stands that blocked their progress. After all, the owners of these open-air stands were only in business illegally, so even if evicted in such a violent manner, they had no grounds to voice their displeasure.
    The commanding Army Infantry School Guidance Officer brushed off the Ueno residents’ complaints, explaining that the deployment of the tanks into the city was merely part of a practice exercise.
    Witnessing this state of affairs from a distance, Lt. Enoki of the Army Sciences Institute spoke with amazement.
    “This is hardly the Aoyama parade grounds—what a ridiculous thing they're doing. Don't you agree?”
    Startled by Lt. Enoki's voice, a man also dressed in civilian clothes and a hunting cap, turned to look at him.
    “...it's an initiative of the Army Cavalry Company.”
    The man with the hunting cap, testing Lt. Enoki, said only this.
    “Hahaa, then big shot with some influence over there must be thinking there's something mighty rotten in this neighborhood.”
    The man with the hunting cap gave a slight smile of agreement.
    “You're a member of the military police, aren't you? I'm Enoki, from the Toyama research institute.”
    “...Military police, Sergeant Yamanoi.”
    “You were looking into the matter of the man who seemed to be living at the Juunikai, weren’t you?”
    Enoki, knowing he was higher than Yamanoi in rank but about ten years younger in age, continued to speak in polite Japanese.
    “This must be training for later use on the continent, but to run tanks through the middle of town like this is insane, isn't it?”
    “They couldn't match its power without using tanks...was probably what they were thinking.”
    Lt. Enoki cocked his head.
    “Against Takeshita alone? Even though it's just him, and that girl?”
    “Girl?”
    “Weren't they living together?”
    Now it was Yamanoi who cocked his head in puzzlement.
    “Don't know...I didn't see her myself.”
    Weren't they together when you were tailing them, too, though? Enoki prepared to say, but Yamanoi changed the subject before he could speak.
    “Most likely, it’s a connection with the suspicious radio waves, but lately in the Juunikai's basement, there's been a mechanism that—well, I'm not sure how to explain it, but it's strangely humanoid, but also not humanoid, almost like a two-ken (3.636 meter) rabbit, walking around.”
    Enoki was completely shocked. Was this another creation of Takeshita’s?
    At that time, below their gaze, there spread a dazzling light.
    “That's the girl—!”
    The light spread immediately in front of the tanks. In the middle of the light, it's Ain—!! thought Enoki, sure of what he saw, but it seemed like Yamanoi was totally unaware of her presence.
    As the light died away, the tanks began to move around frantically, firing their machine guns at each other. What a truly outrageous spectacle, thought Enoki, even as he knew it would never appear in any newspaper."
  38. ↑ Despera Chapter "The Nobleman of Surugadai": "Second Lieutenant Enoki was wearing not a military uniform but an everyday outfit as he came to Asakusa that morning. At that time, soldiers were becoming less and less respected in the streets, to the point where those who would stupidly wear a military sword in public couldn't even board a shared tram. It's because of all these useless military expeditions to Siberia, wasting the common people's tax money, thought Lt. Enoki, but he wasn't in any position to say such a thing out loud. With everyone crying for demilitarization, pondered Lt. Enoki grimly, how long can my Army Science Institute hold out, I wonder... He had not come all the way to Asakusa from the research institute in the woods of Shinjuku-Toyama to play with the ladies beneath the Juunikai, but instead for an investigation, ordered by his superior officer, of the unsettlingly powerful radio waves that had been emitting from the area.
    Even so, with no radio stations yet in existence, the only facilities that would be able to emit radio waves at this point would have to be the Ministry of Communications and Transportation's telecommunications laboratory on Daiba, or the slightly more distant Choushi wireless telegraph station, and both of these were initiatives of the Navy, and used a huge amount of power, which had to be generated by giant turbines. Such a facility could not be found in Asakusa. If he had to say, the Ryouunkaku known by the name Juunikai could be compared to a radio tower just on the basis of its height, but before he enlisted, during a trip from Fukushima to Tokyo, he had climbed the Ryouunkaku and found nothing but a dim stairway decorated with pin-ups and a gift shop selling souvenirs from God knows where; he knew that the Ryouunkaku housed no such facility.
    Despite this, he went to the base of the Ryouunkaku just to ensure he hadn't missed anything, and there, even though there weren't yet many people out, he saw someone coming out of the Juunikai. It was a man of about thirty wearing a dark expression on his face, along with a girl about half his age. My goodness, to bring a child sightseeing at the Juunikai in this day and age - how thoughtless! said Second Lt. Enoki to himself disapprovingly; but in the midst of his indigance, he noticed another figure following the couple. If it isn't a military policeman targeting a Rotan (Russian spy)...! Why would he be following this man? thought Lt. Enoki, who was suddenly beginning to develop an interest in the situation.
    Oh, I see, he must've received a report that that man was engaging in suspicious activity at the Juunikai...it must be that man Takeshita, thought Lt. Enoki, now determined to follow the group.
    He boarded a tram in pursuit, and followed Takeshita and the girl to Surugadai. Upon doing so, the nimble military officer he had noticed before vanished. My goodness, where on earth are those two going?
    Takeshita and the girl entered the gates of an especially large mansion.
    When Lt. Enoki saw the mansion's nameplate, he was not a little startled."
  39. ↑ Despera Chapter "The Nobleman of Surugadai": “The military hasn't yet grasped what you're doing at the Juunikai, but they've detected powerful radio waves. There are those who see it as a threat, and they may mobilize soon.”
    “Aren't you putting yourself in a bad position by telling me that?”
    “As a scientist, I have an interest in your experiments. I wouldn't want to interfere.”
    Lt. Enoki looked at Ain. What a mysterious girl, he thought.
    “Interfere? What do you mean?”
  40. ↑ Despera Chapter "The Electric Girl vs. the Tank Squadron": "Accompanied by a thunderous roar, three boorish tanks were en route to Ueno Forest. Unlike the rhomboid tanks built in England that had previously been experimentally introduced by the Army, the France-built Renault tanks were hardly larger than a one-yen taxi; but in these tree-lined groves that would prove too dense for the taxis to enter, these tanks carelessly trampled the trees and open-air stands that blocked their progress. After all, the owners of these open-air stands were only in business illegally, so even if evicted in such a violent manner, they had no grounds to voice their displeasure.
    The commanding Army Infantry School Guidance Officer brushed off the Ueno residents’ complaints, explaining that the deployment of the tanks into the city was merely part of a practice exercise.
    Witnessing this state of affairs from a distance, Lt. Enoki of the Army Sciences Institute spoke with amazement.
    “This is hardly the Aoyama parade grounds—what a ridiculous thing they're doing. Don't you agree?”
    Startled by Lt. Enoki's voice, a man also dressed in civilian clothes and a hunting cap, turned to look at him.
    “...it's an initiative of the Army Cavalry Company.”
    The man with the hunting cap, testing Lt. Enoki, said only this.
    “Hahaa, then big shot with some influence over there must be thinking there's something mighty rotten in this neighborhood.”
    The man with the hunting cap gave a slight smile of agreement.
    “You're a member of the military police, aren't you? I'm Enoki, from the Toyama research institute.”
    “...Military police, Sergeant Yamanoi.”
    “You were looking into the matter of the man who seemed to be living at the Juunikai, weren’t you?”
    Enoki, knowing he was higher than Yamanoi in rank but about ten years younger in age, continued to speak in polite Japanese.
    “This must be training for later use on the continent, but to run tanks through the middle of town like this is insane, isn't it?”
    “They couldn't match its power without using tanks...was probably what they were thinking.”
    Lt. Enoki cocked his head.
    “Against Takeshita alone? Even though it's just him, and that girl?”
    “Girl?”
    “Weren't they living together?”
    Now it was Yamanoi who cocked his head in puzzlement.
    “Don't know...I didn't see her myself.”
    Weren't they together when you were tailing them, too, though? Enoki prepared to say, but Yamanoi changed the subject before he could speak.
    “Most likely, it’s a connection with the suspicious radio waves, but lately in the Juunikai's basement, there's been a mechanism that—well, I'm not sure how to explain it, but it's strangely humanoid, but also not humanoid, almost like a two-ken (3.636 meter) rabbit, walking around.”
    Enoki was completely shocked. Was this another creation of Takeshita’s?
    At that time, below their gaze, there spread a dazzling light.
    “That's the girl—!”
    The light spread immediately in front of the tanks. In the middle of the light, it's Ain—!! thought Enoki, sure of what he saw, but it seemed like Yamanoi was totally unaware of her presence.
    As the light died away, the tanks began to move around frantically, firing their machine guns at each other. What a truly outrageous spectacle, thought Enoki, even as he knew it would never appear in any newspaper."
  41. ↑ Despera Chapter "The Electric Girl vs. the Tank Squadron": "Accompanied by a thunderous roar, three boorish tanks were en route to Ueno Forest. Unlike the rhomboid tanks built in England that had previously been experimentally introduced by the Army, the France-built Renault tanks were hardly larger than a one-yen taxi; but in these tree-lined groves that would prove too dense for the taxis to enter, these tanks carelessly trampled the trees and open-air stands that blocked their progress. After all, the owners of these open-air stands were only in business illegally, so even if evicted in such a violent manner, they had no grounds to voice their displeasure.
    The commanding Army Infantry School Guidance Officer brushed off the Ueno residents’ complaints, explaining that the deployment of the tanks into the city was merely part of a practice exercise.
    Witnessing this state of affairs from a distance, Lt. Enoki of the Army Sciences Institute spoke with amazement.
    “This is hardly the Aoyama parade grounds—what a ridiculous thing they're doing. Don't you agree?”
    Startled by Lt. Enoki's voice, a man also dressed in civilian clothes and a hunting cap, turned to look at him.
    “...it's an initiative of the Army Cavalry Company.”
    The man with the hunting cap, testing Lt. Enoki, said only this.
    “Hahaa, then big shot with some influence over there must be thinking there's something mighty rotten in this neighborhood.”
    The man with the hunting cap gave a slight smile of agreement.
    “You're a member of the military police, aren't you? I'm Enoki, from the Toyama research institute.”
    “...Military police, Sergeant Yamanoi.”
    “You were looking into the matter of the man who seemed to be living at the Juunikai, weren’t you?”
    Enoki, knowing he was higher than Yamanoi in rank but about ten years younger in age, continued to speak in polite Japanese.
    “This must be training for later use on the continent, but to run tanks through the middle of town like this is insane, isn't it?”
    “They couldn't match its power without using tanks...was probably what they were thinking.”
    Lt. Enoki cocked his head.
    “Against Takeshita alone? Even though it's just him, and that girl?”
    “Girl?”
    “Weren't they living together?”
    Now it was Yamanoi who cocked his head in puzzlement.
    “Don't know...I didn't see her myself.”
    Weren't they together when you were tailing them, too, though? Enoki prepared to say, but Yamanoi changed the subject before he could speak.
    “Most likely, it’s a connection with the suspicious radio waves, but lately in the Juunikai's basement, there's been a mechanism that—well, I'm not sure how to explain it, but it's strangely humanoid, but also not humanoid, almost like a two-ken (3.636 meter) rabbit, walking around.”
    Enoki was completely shocked. Was this another creation of Takeshita’s?
    At that time, below their gaze, there spread a dazzling light.
    “That's the girl—!”
    The light spread immediately in front of the tanks. In the middle of the light, it's Ain—!! thought Enoki, sure of what he saw, but it seemed like Yamanoi was totally unaware of her presence.
    As the light died away, the tanks began to move around frantically, firing their machine guns at each other. What a truly outrageous spectacle, thought Enoki, even as he knew it would never appear in any newspaper."
  42. ↑ Despera Chapter "The Electric Girl vs. the Tank Squadron": "Accompanied by a thunderous roar, three boorish tanks were en route to Ueno Forest. Unlike the rhomboid tanks built in England that had previously been experimentally introduced by the Army, the France-built Renault tanks were hardly larger than a one-yen taxi; but in these tree-lined groves that would prove too dense for the taxis to enter, these tanks carelessly trampled the trees and open-air stands that blocked their progress. After all, the owners of these open-air stands were only in business illegally, so even if evicted in such a violent manner, they had no grounds to voice their displeasure.
    The commanding Army Infantry School Guidance Officer brushed off the Ueno residents’ complaints, explaining that the deployment of the tanks into the city was merely part of a practice exercise.
    Witnessing this state of affairs from a distance, Lt. Enoki of the Army Sciences Institute spoke with amazement.
    “This is hardly the Aoyama parade grounds—what a ridiculous thing they're doing. Don't you agree?”
    Startled by Lt. Enoki's voice, a man also dressed in civilian clothes and a hunting cap, turned to look at him.
    “...it's an initiative of the Army Cavalry Company.”
    The man with the hunting cap, testing Lt. Enoki, said only this.
    “Hahaa, then big shot with some influence over there must be thinking there's something mighty rotten in this neighborhood.”
    The man with the hunting cap gave a slight smile of agreement.
    “You're a member of the military police, aren't you? I'm Enoki, from the Toyama research institute.”
    “...Military police, Sergeant Yamanoi.”
    “You were looking into the matter of the man who seemed to be living at the Juunikai, weren’t you?”
    Enoki, knowing he was higher than Yamanoi in rank but about ten years younger in age, continued to speak in polite Japanese.
    “This must be training for later use on the continent, but to run tanks through the middle of town like this is insane, isn't it?”
    “They couldn't match its power without using tanks...was probably what they were thinking.”
    Lt. Enoki cocked his head.
    “Against Takeshita alone? Even though it's just him, and that girl?”
    “Girl?”
    “Weren't they living together?”
    Now it was Yamanoi who cocked his head in puzzlement.
    “Don't know...I didn't see her myself.”
    Weren't they together when you were tailing them, too, though? Enoki prepared to say, but Yamanoi changed the subject before he could speak.
    “Most likely, it’s a connection with the suspicious radio waves, but lately in the Juunikai's basement, there's been a mechanism that—well, I'm not sure how to explain it, but it's strangely humanoid, but also not humanoid, almost like a two-ken (3.636 meter) rabbit, walking around.”
    Enoki was completely shocked. Was this another creation of Takeshita’s?
    At that time, below their gaze, there spread a dazzling light.
    “That's the girl—!”
    The light spread immediately in front of the tanks. In the middle of the light, it's Ain—!! thought Enoki, sure of what he saw, but it seemed like Yamanoi was totally unaware of her presence.
    As the light died away, the tanks began to move around frantically, firing their machine guns at each other. What a truly outrageous spectacle, thought Enoki, even as he knew it would never appear in any newspaper."
  43. ↑ Despera Chapter "Ain Flies ": "Ain settled into deep thought. She had never considered any places beyond those she was used to.
    “If Ain says a place, will you actually take me there?”
    “...Ah. Yes, I suppose so.”
    Ain became afraid. Takeshita had never been this kind to her before.
    Ain had already fallen into the pattern of thinking she would always be with him, and this was all she wanted. But it seemed like Takeshita was hinting that the current situation was soon to come to an end.
    After Ain had sat quiet for a while, Takeshita finally spoke in a resigned tone,
    “...Fine. If you don't want to go anywhere…”
    “Ain wants to try flying.”
    “...Flying?”
    No matter how many aviators there may have been in the country of Japan, it was not as if a normal person could waltz up into the sky on a momentary whim.
    But Takeshita seemed already to have an idea of where to ask, and only a few days later, he brought Ain to the Aoyama parade grounds.
    He introduced the pilot who came to greet them as Noriko.
    “I won’t be coming along. I'd like you to take this girl. If you can, she'd be happy if you could fly over Asakusa.”
    At the man's words, Noriko's face took on a dubious expression.
    “So by ‘this girl,’ you mean...well, that's fine. I understand.”
    Ain was surprised that he wouldn't be joining her, and she looked up at him in protest.
    “You promised that we would go everywhere together!”
    “It's just for a little bit, isn't it? Only one person can fit in the front seat. You wanted to fly, right? Please try to enjoy it.”
    In a hurry, Ain was made to put on her flight helmet and goggles. She was to be seated in the front seat, which was positioned in the front of the cockpit.
    “I have a favor to ask.”
    As she went, she entreatied Takeshita with deathly seriousness.
    “What is it?”
    “Would you stand on the Juunikai's viewing deck? Ain'll surely fly right over. I want you to wave to me.”
    “...If I make it in time. I'll try, but…”
    Ain broke into a shining grin and ran to the plane, jumping as she went.
    Then, the Taube that carried Ain approached Asakusa Park. The Juunikai towered above Hyoutan Pond. None of the other buildings were nearly as tall.
    Ain puffed up her chest expectantly and trained her eyes on the Juunikai's observation deck.
    Though the plane took its time in circling the Juunikai's surroundings, his figure was nowhere to be found."
  44. ↑ Despera Chapter "Day of Prophecy": "One night, Takeshita waited for the old doll-maker to fall asleep, broke down the door of the workshop and went inside, where he clutched the doll in his arms and ran off with her.
    In his arms, the doll turned to look at him and said “Thank you.” He was first shocked, and then overjoyed.
    From then on, he began to call the living doll Ain, and to him, she became like a living human being.
    In Conversation with Viscount Fuenokouji
    “A certain Takeshita, eh? I don’t remember him too well, but I remember he had gone to America to study, and I was interested enough in his stories to invite him over. Did he bring a young girl with him? (He laughs for a while.) You must be talking about his doll? I remember hearing stories of Mr. Descartes bringing a doll around in his bag, but that man walked around with the doll clutched in his arms. Sometimes he would talk with the doll in a low voice, so my wife and I would half-heartedly try to play along, but…”
    In Conversation with Lady Journalist Mayumi Igarashi
    “Ah—yes, that’s right. After Takeshita was released by the Tokkou, I did go to meet him. At that time, the doll you mentioned was not present, as one would expect. But in a conversation I had with the female pilot Noriko Inbe, who I had covered previously in an article, she mentioned that Takeshita petitioned her for a sightseeing flight, but in actuality put that doll on the plane—he called her Ain, but in any case, he only put that on the plane, and it seems that he himself did not fly with them.”
    In Conversation with Toyama Military Research Laboratory’s First Lt. Enoki
    “Originally, I was conducting research at the research laboratory in Shinjuku Toyama, on radio weapons already developed by the Navy. I heard that there were radio waves emanating from Asakusa that surpassed the Navy’s machines in strength, and when I went to Asakusa to investigate them on my own, I got to know Mr. Takeshita. His daughter, Ain? Eh?...I met her. A doll? What insolence are you spouting? She was a person. Yes, definitely.”"
  45. ↑ Despera Chapter "The Electric Girl vs. the Tank Squadron": "Accompanied by a thunderous roar, three boorish tanks were en route to Ueno Forest. Unlike the rhomboid tanks built in England that had previously been experimentally introduced by the Army, the France-built Renault tanks were hardly larger than a one-yen taxi; but in these tree-lined groves that would prove too dense for the taxis to enter, these tanks carelessly trampled the trees and open-air stands that blocked their progress. After all, the owners of these open-air stands were only in business illegally, so even if evicted in such a violent manner, they had no grounds to voice their displeasure.
    The commanding Army Infantry School Guidance Officer brushed off the Ueno residents’ complaints, explaining that the deployment of the tanks into the city was merely part of a practice exercise.
    Witnessing this state of affairs from a distance, Lt. Enoki of the Army Sciences Institute spoke with amazement.
    “This is hardly the Aoyama parade grounds—what a ridiculous thing they're doing. Don't you agree?”
    Startled by Lt. Enoki's voice, a man also dressed in civilian clothes and a hunting cap, turned to look at him.
    “...it's an initiative of the Army Cavalry Company.”
    The man with the hunting cap, testing Lt. Enoki, said only this.
    “Hahaa, then big shot with some influence over there must be thinking there's something mighty rotten in this neighborhood.”
    The man with the hunting cap gave a slight smile of agreement.
    “You're a member of the military police, aren't you? I'm Enoki, from the Toyama research institute.”
    “...Military police, Sergeant Yamanoi.”
    “You were looking into the matter of the man who seemed to be living at the Juunikai, weren’t you?”
    Enoki, knowing he was higher than Yamanoi in rank but about ten years younger in age, continued to speak in polite Japanese.
    “This must be training for later use on the continent, but to run tanks through the middle of town like this is insane, isn't it?”
    “They couldn't match its power without using tanks...was probably what they were thinking.”
    Lt. Enoki cocked his head.
    “Against Takeshita alone? Even though it's just him, and that girl?”
    “Girl?”
    “Weren't they living together?”
    Now it was Yamanoi who cocked his head in puzzlement.
    “Don't know...I didn't see her myself.”
    Weren't they together when you were tailing them, too, though? Enoki prepared to say, but Yamanoi changed the subject before he could speak.
    “Most likely, it’s a connection with the suspicious radio waves, but lately in the Juunikai's basement, there's been a mechanism that—well, I'm not sure how to explain it, but it's strangely humanoid, but also not humanoid, almost like a two-ken (3.636 meter) rabbit, walking around.”
    Enoki was completely shocked. Was this another creation of Takeshita’s?
    At that time, below their gaze, there spread a dazzling light.
    “That's the girl—!”
    The light spread immediately in front of the tanks. In the middle of the light, it's Ain—!! thought Enoki, sure of what he saw, but it seemed like Yamanoi was totally unaware of her presence.
    As the light died away, the tanks began to move around frantically, firing their machine guns at each other. What a truly outrageous spectacle, thought Enoki, even as he knew it would never appear in any newspaper."
  46. ↑ Despera Chapter "Showa": "The next evening, Takeshita walked towards Shiinamachi.
    It's not as if he had much interest in the atelier village, but after hearing the poet's story, he may have wanted to see it once, at least.
    He quickly found a street lined with distinctive triangular roofs built of red concrete shingles.
    In the afternoon, as expected, the artists were hard at work on their individual projects, and the whole area was blanketed with a death-like quiet, completely different from the liveliness of the West Exit at night.
    Walking around with no particular goal in mind, he may have been struck by some premonition.
    Around the sculptors’ ateliers, plaster figures, perhaps studies or pieces already retired from exhibition, were strewn about.
    Many of them were human figures, and in the gloomy, shadowed alleyway, the numerous pale figures left a somewhat horrific impression.
    Lazily stopping to stare at the sculptures, he was suddenly stunned by a feeling as if a cold hand had grabbed hold of his heart.
    Among the discarded statues, he found himself staring at something he couldn't believe.
    It was a life-sized nude statue of a young girl. And no matter how much he tried to disillusion himself, that girl was the very same one he had once lived with—it was impossible to see her as anyone other than Ain.
    He must have been wrong. After all, Ain was only a doll. Before the great earthquake, he had spent a period of time believing that Ain was a living human being. But it's not as if she disappeared. She had never existed to begin with.
    Even after telling himself that for so long, it was nevertheless true that Takeshita, believing that no matter where he went, Ain might possibly be waiting for him, continued to unconsciously search for her.
    Takeshita stumbled away from the statue of Ain, trying to distance himself from his frantic thoughts, and he found himself looking into the window of another atelier.
    It seemed to be the room of an abstract painter who had been swept up by the Surrealist movement. It seemed that the owner of the room was away. In the room there was a painted canvas left on an easel, and this was not an abstract painting but a realist one.
    Takeshita wondered if his sanity had finally abandoned him.
    On the canvas was a portrait of Ain. Ahhh, I want to see her again… he wondered if such thoughts had strengthened until they finally caused him to begin to see phantoms.
    I see…well, if that's all it is, then that's all well and good. Thinking that, he picked up his heavy feet and began to find his way out of the atelier village.
    Then, he saw, behind the last atelier, a bronze statue of a little girl. This was made by a completely different artist from the previous works, but it was still unmistakably Ain.
    After staring at the sculpture for a while, Takeshita softly touched it with the tip of his finger. He felt the cold surface of the bronze.
    No...! It wasn't a phantom.
    He finally understood, clearly, that it was a statue made using Ain as a model.
    He turned back toward the atelier village.
    Ain was here.
    Just as Montmartre in Paris had their muse, Kiki, this atelier village had Ain.
    With the exact same appearance as she had before the great earthquake, Ain existed somewhere. And those who existed close to that place continued to feel some sort of inspiration from her.
    To the man named Takeshita, such influence was no longer present. He was conscious of that fact.
    But, Ain still exists… Just by being sure of that, Takeshita felt the warmth return to his heart.
    He began to walk toward the lights of the town, and what happened after that no one knows."
  47. ↑ Despera Chapter "The Electric Girl vs. the Tank Squadron": "Accompanied by a thunderous roar, three boorish tanks were en route to Ueno Forest. Unlike the rhomboid tanks built in England that had previously been experimentally introduced by the Army, the France-built Renault tanks were hardly larger than a one-yen taxi; but in these tree-lined groves that would prove too dense for the taxis to enter, these tanks carelessly trampled the trees and open-air stands that blocked their progress. After all, the owners of these open-air stands were only in business illegally, so even if evicted in such a violent manner, they had no grounds to voice their displeasure.
    The commanding Army Infantry School Guidance Officer brushed off the Ueno residents’ complaints, explaining that the deployment of the tanks into the city was merely part of a practice exercise.
    Witnessing this state of affairs from a distance, Lt. Enoki of the Army Sciences Institute spoke with amazement.
    “This is hardly the Aoyama parade grounds—what a ridiculous thing they're doing. Don't you agree?”
    Startled by Lt. Enoki's voice, a man also dressed in civilian clothes and a hunting cap, turned to look at him.
    “...it's an initiative of the Army Cavalry Company.”
    The man with the hunting cap, testing Lt. Enoki, said only this.
    “Hahaa, then big shot with some influence over there must be thinking there's something mighty rotten in this neighborhood.”
    The man with the hunting cap gave a slight smile of agreement.
    “You're a member of the military police, aren't you? I'm Enoki, from the Toyama research institute.”
    “...Military police, Sergeant Yamanoi.”
    “You were looking into the matter of the man who seemed to be living at the Juunikai, weren’t you?”
    Enoki, knowing he was higher than Yamanoi in rank but about ten years younger in age, continued to speak in polite Japanese.
    “This must be training for later use on the continent, but to run tanks through the middle of town like this is insane, isn't it?”
    “They couldn't match its power without using tanks...was probably what they were thinking.”
    Lt. Enoki cocked his head.
    “Against Takeshita alone? Even though it's just him, and that girl?”
    “Girl?”
    “Weren't they living together?”
    Now it was Yamanoi who cocked his head in puzzlement.
    “Don't know...I didn't see her myself.”
    Weren't they together when you were tailing them, too, though? Enoki prepared to say, but Yamanoi changed the subject before he could speak.
    “Most likely, it’s a connection with the suspicious radio waves, but lately in the Juunikai's basement, there's been a mechanism that—well, I'm not sure how to explain it, but it's strangely humanoid, but also not humanoid, almost like a two-ken (3.636 meter) rabbit, walking around.”
    Enoki was completely shocked. Was this another creation of Takeshita’s?
    At that time, below their gaze, there spread a dazzling light.
    “That's the girl—!”
    The light spread immediately in front of the tanks. In the middle of the light, it's Ain—!! thought Enoki, sure of what he saw, but it seemed like Yamanoi was totally unaware of her presence.
    As the light died away, the tanks began to move around frantically, firing their machine guns at each other. What a truly outrageous spectacle, thought Enoki, even as he knew it would never appear in any newspaper."
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