I Became the Final Subjugation Target of That Era’s Light Novel

It’s only natural, right?

We went to the police station and were released soon after.

Everyone who let us go had faces full of shock. Some looked worried, while others seemed completely baffled.

And who wouldn’t? Here we are, two blood-soaked girls wielding Japanese swords.

At least my knife was gone… but that led to another problem.

My blood-made knife, when it disappeared, just fell to the ground and burst like a water balloon. Naturally, that meant blood was left behind.

The wounds on my wrist kept bleeding until they healed, and I bled a lot from the bitten leg and arm. Bigger wounds take longer to heal, after all.

If someone called me a monster after seeing my body, they wouldn’t be wrong.

“…”

But even after my wounds had disappeared, we didn’t go straight home from the police station.

Instead, we headed to a nearby hospital that was a bit more substantial.

To say we went there for treatment is a stretch; it’s accurate to say we went there under a pretext.

So many people ended up witnessing it.

“…Will it be okay?”

“Mako?”

As I muttered while lying on the bed, Yuka asked.

“Yeah.”

Mako clearly came and took me away from Miura-san.

Even until we parted, Mako was trembling in shock. Thankfully, she didn’t see the scary appearance of the creature, but she still saw me covered in wounds and blood.

Mako didn’t cling to me in terror, nor did she scream or cry.

She just looked at me blankly, almost forgetting to shed tears.

I had nothing more to say to her.

Saying I was okay held no meaning once she looked at me.

“…”

Yuka tried to speak several times but held back.

The place I was lying at was a single room in the hospital.

I wasn’t really in pain anymore, yet I stayed here because there were witnesses around.

“Yuka, are you okay?”

“Huh?”

I asked somewhat out of the blue, making Yuka blink.

“No, I meant, back there…”

“Ah.”

Yuka chuckled softly.

“I guess it’ll be fine?”

I was injured. There were bites and torn wounds. My wrist was cut, and the people passing by saw all that.

Unfortunately, we were students from the nearby schools. And the Hanagawa High School uniform was pretty famous. Black sailor suits. I don’t know how many of those uniforms exist in Japan, but there’s only one with this design around here. The middle schoolers nearby only wore white sailor suits since they used a different building.

If only I was injured, perhaps it could be chalked up to some accident, but there was Yuka, blood all over her and wielding a knife right next to me.

And the girl next to me was basically a mirror image of me.

…If someone saw us for the first time, they would only think about what Yuka had done.

“Uhh…”

Koko, who was dozing next to me, made a sound. With our smaller sizes, both of us could comfortably fit on the bed.

Koko was curled up next to me, clinging tightly to my arm.

Even with the bed propped up, she comfortably lay there. Isn’t that uncomfortable? Then again, Koko’s flexibility is almost cat-like.

Or maybe it’s like a mollusk or something.

“Those people passing by will probably figure something out. People related to us. There have been quite a lot of murder cases involving other yōkai. The government people have been covering that up.”

Perhaps it’s lucky that we’re in the mid-2000s. The system doesn’t quite allow for easy distribution of photos taken with cell phones yet.

Even more so, I have no idea if someone passed by and took photos with their phone—

…Well, I decided to think like Yuka. There’s no point in thinking any further about it.

Knock knock.

Just as I finally gave up on thinking and collapsed onto the bed, I heard a knock on the door.

Instantly, my body tensed up again.

I wondered who could be on the other side of the door. It probably wasn’t just the doctor. It could be Miura-san or maybe Kagami.

Both are incredibly overwhelming individuals. Miura-san and I are not that close, and Kagami… well, she’s my mom.

Ah, I’ll have to talk about what happened today, right? Or maybe someone already heard about it.

The image of a tearful Kagami scared me too much. I was starting to fear seeing that face. It felt like I was cutting the heart of my mom, who had sacrificed her entire life for me.

“…I’m coming in.”

But the person behind the door wasn’t Kagami.

It wasn’t Miura-san either.

A person cautiously opened the door and peeked in. It was none other than Mako.

Not only I, but Yuka, who had been sitting next to the bed, was surprised.

“Mako?”

“Koto Ne.”

As I called Mako’s name, she awkwardly smiled at the corner of her mouth and carefully entered the hospital room, closing the door behind her.

“Um… are you okay?”

“Oh, yeah.”

I answered.

At least, in this situation right now, I was okay. I had no more wounds.

Mako shuffled closer to me.

In her hands was a… uh… fruit basket.

A typical hospital visitation gift.

I thought maybe Miura-san came along with her, but the door simply closed behind her. No one followed.

Mako took a quick glance at my legs but saw that I was covered with a blanket and wearing long pants, so of course no wounds were visible.

My arms were fine though.

“Ah, thank you.”

Yuka stood up to accept the fruit basket on my behalf, and Mako quietly greeted her. Yuka then gave up her seat and leaned against the window.

Mako sat silently in that spot.

And continued to gaze at me quietly.

“…Koto Ne.”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Could it be… today’s incident happened because of me?”

“Nope.”

I replied firmly.

“Really?”

“Yeah, absolutely not.”

“What about when the bear showed up last time?”

“That was different. Totally just a coincidence.”

To be honest, I wasn’t entirely sure.

Yeah. It might not be because of Mako.

Unlike Mako’s delusion, it could be that I was putting Mako in danger, rather than the other way around.

“…”

Mako bit her lip tightly.

She looked as if she couldn’t believe it at all.

“Koto Ne.”

“Yeah?”

“Where will you transfer to this time?”

“Nope.”

I replied firmly once again.

“…Is it different from last time?”

“Yeah, the situation has changed.”

Mako looked at my left wrist.

Though it was bound by Koko, some of the artwork drawn on my wrist was slightly visible beneath the hospital gown.

It was a tattoo that was a bit much for a high school student.

I’m not sure about how it is in the 2020s, but when I was in high school, not many people had tattoos. In this time in Japan, I thought there would be an even worse perception of that.

So I had been trying to hide it.

Mako’s eyes brimmed with tears.

But before I could comfort her, she suddenly pushed her glasses up and roughly wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

The area around her eyes turned red, but Mako didn’t seem to care.

“Is there anything I can help with?”

“Mako.”

“I don’t want to…”

Mako said.

“I don’t want to see you suffering alone, Koto Ne…”

Mako and I had only known each other for a few years.

While childhood memories might seem particularly significant at this age…

Was it just that Mako was too kind? Or maybe I was special for her somehow?

But thinking about it, several faces popped into my head.

Harumi and Yuu.

Both were special to me. Just as much as Mako.

It didn’t mean there was a specific reason they were special. They came up to me first during our childhood, grasping my hand, inviting me to play with them.

When Kagami went out to work, they would hang out at my home, having parties every Christmas… without any dark memories, only good ones as friends.

That’s what made them special.

…I see now.

I had those moments with Mako too. When Miura-san went out during the day, Mako would come over and play. Even without extraordinary toys or videos like Harumi’s place, we’d read books or have frivolous conversations, spending time together.

Did Mako see me as a sister since she didn’t have one?

“…”

I hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“Mako. I… only wanted you to be safe.”

“…Koto Ne.”

“If you got hurt, it’d be because of me. I was the one who could endure anything. So, I really didn’t care if you charged at that yōkai with a knife or shot at it with a bow.”

Mako remained silent with her lips tightly sealed.

We stayed that way for a while.

It felt like Mako didn’t hate me. Even until Kagami arrived, or rather, even after she came, Mako kept her seat.

But somehow, I felt uneasy, as if there was a part of our conversation that was slightly off.

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