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

A person with many secrets often causes discomfort for others.

They might abruptly interrupt themselves while speaking, halt conversations in awkward situations, or openly show that they’re hiding something but refuse to talk about it.

Yuuki had encountered such people many times until now.

Even adults were like that. Even his father and grandfather had those moments.

The reasons for hiding things were always good ones.

It’s because they’re afraid you’ll get hurt if you know, or because it’s dangerous for people to find out.

But deep down, he knew it was all just a façade.

Pain becomes a bit easier to bear when shared, and any danger must be known and shared among a group in order to find a solution.

No matter how good the reason for hiding the truth, ultimately there is only one underlying reason.

It’s because they cannot trust Yuuki.

They didn’t believe that young Yuuki could handle the fact that his mother had passed away. They didn’t believe he wouldn’t tell anyone the secret. They didn’t believe he could protect others. They didn’t believe he wouldn’t give up on this matter in the future.

He understood that.

Yuuki and Yuka didn’t live believing in everyone.

Yuuki had always hidden everything from his friends, or rather, from those kids who could have been his friends.

There are countless reasons simply for transferring schools, enough to count on both hands. Reasons like suddenly leaving class, not even showing up, or giving up on promises with friends were far more numerous than that.

And it was also because Yuuki couldn’t bring himself to talk about it that he couldn’t trust his friends.

If he told them that the long object he carried was a knife, would the kids avoid him? If they knew that Yuuki fought monsters, would they treat him like a monster too?

Would they consider him a weird kid? Would they hate and despise him? Would they not become his friends and ostracize him—

—But still, it wasn’t that secrets were pleasing to him. Even knowing that he had so many secrets, Yuuki felt… uncomfortable about it.

“Should I… help?”

In that sense, the boy in front of him was quite unique.

“No, I’m okay.”

Kurosawa shook his head as he spoke, a child full of secrets.

With each secret revealed, a little more of the child was unveiled.

And every time a secret came to light, it was something so terrible that Yuuki couldn’t even figure out how to react… a past like that.

Always pale-faced and skinny, always on the brink of falling over with just a touch, yet somehow, always holding on tenaciously, that admirable child.

Kurosawa looked up at Yuuki with those dark eyes.

Koko stood beside him, and Kuro was in his arms.

The child named Kurosawa Koto Ne was hesitant to share his secrets.

And Yuuki was curious about that secret.

Curious, but decided not to dig deeper on purpose.

“How’s your body?”

“I’ve been lying down, and I feel a lot better.”

Due to the strong recommendation of the medical staff, Kurosawa ended up staying in the hospital throughout his vacation. He didn’t need to receive a blood transfusion, but after losing too much blood, moving around too soon could lead to serious problems.

Usually, Kurosawa would have forced himself to discharge, but perhaps it was because he didn’t have to go to school the next day or didn’t have work, so he just stayed quietly in the hospital room.

The rest of the group was the same.
They’d sleep at a hotel and then return to the hospital the next day. They went back and forth like that.
And during that time, Yuuki had formed yet another relationship that could be called a friendship.

“Work starts from Thursday, right?”

When Yuuki asked, Kurosawa nodded.

“Then rest until Wednesday.”

“…I know.”

Still, there were many secrets left with Kurosawa.

Just like how Yuuki had when he attended his previous school.

But Yuuki didn’t find it… particularly unpleasant. It was strange.

“Do you have any plans?”

“I have this and that.”

When Kurosawa asked, Yuuki smiled and replied.
It was summer. There would probably be all sorts of events at the shrines. Yuuki helps out with shrine work when he’s not busy hunting Yōkai.

“Let’s meet again during vacation.”

Yuuki said, and Kurosawa nodded.

“……”

For a moment, they stayed silent, and without anyone saying who should go first, they raised a hand.
And waved.

“See you again.”
Words he had said to kids he almost became friends with until now.
Yuuki had never believed that these words would come true. After all, he always ended up transferring schools whenever incidents happened.

But now it felt different.
Looking at Kurosawa waving at him with a tiny smile on his lips, Yuuki felt a certainty that they would definitely meet again.
A certainty that he would see them again tomorrow.

Yet still, a corner of his heart felt uneasy.
Because of the secrets Kurosawa hadn’t spoken about, afraid Kurosawa might disappear. The existence of Kurosawa Koto Ne, which had suddenly appeared in Yuuki’s life, might vanish like a mirage.

…Ah, I see.
Yuuki lowered his hand and turned away.
Up until now, he was the one who had vanished. Because he had always drifted away without even having the proper time to know one another, never becoming friends.

Because he had remained a background character someone else remembers fleetingly.
He didn’t want to lose the connection he had built with Kurosawa.
Not being uncomfortable with secrets was because he could understand Kurosawa due to that state.
In front of Kurosawa, Yuuki could freely share his secrets. He didn’t have to worry about being discovered; Kurosawa was someone who would understand and listen to Yuuki’s story.

“……”
I see, I wasn’t uncomfortable with secrets.
Yuuki thought, clenching his fist.
It’s not that hiding secrets is uncomfortable—it’s just that he was reflecting the appearance of people he couldn’t trust enough to tell them his secrets.
He simply didn’t want to be someone like that.

“……Hoo……”
As he headed backward, Yuuki stopped his steps and looked up at the sky, exhaling deeply.
He wanted to be of help.
Even now, when he recalled Kurosawa’s past, his heart felt like it was being crushed. Just like the feeling of recalling a victim’s emotions while hunting Yōkai, Kurosawa’s past was just as dreadful.

For now, let’s just keep an eye on him.
While watching over him, let’s be his strength.
Yuuki made that vow once more.

*

“Meow~”
Kuro, whom he hadn’t seen for a while, seemed to have grown a bit. Was it just his imagination?

Even if kids grow really fast, could it be that noticeable in just three days? It’s not like it’s some kind of bean sprout.

Hmm, I just decided it was my imagination and moved on.
“Meow~”
Koko hugged Kuro tightly and rolled around on the blanket. She seemed happy to see Kuro after a long time.
Well, Koko had never had bad feelings toward Kuro from the start. She had no reason to feel negatively towards Kuro at all.

“Hoo.”
After giving Koko a bath and scrubbing Kuro with wet wipes, I was completely exhausted.
…Maybe I should have accepted Yuuki’s offer for help?
That thought briefly crossed my mind, but I quickly shook my head and dismissed it.
If I kept accepting help, eventually I wouldn’t be able to live without it. Besides, it was better to be overwhelmingly tired right now.
That way, I wouldn’t dream of anything weird.
…Though, tiring myself out for such a reason felt incredibly gloomy. But it couldn’t be helped.

While thinking whether I should turn on the TV or go to sleep with the kids,
knock, knock.
I heard someone knocking at the door.
I got up from my seat.
Back when I lived alone in my previous life, I often just wore a t-shirt with a single trunk. But now that I’m here, it felt a bit weird to be like that.
I don’t know if it’s a prejudice or if I just haven’t adapted to this body yet. But still, being in just my underwear felt awkward.

If there’s any upside to being careful, it’s that I could welcome occasional visitors without much preparation.
I approached the door, opened it with only the top chain locked.
click.
The door opened but got stuck halfway.
The person standing just far enough back to be seen through the chain was Kagami.
“……”
I closed the door again, removing the chain.
“I’ll be right back.”
“Where to?”
“To the front.”
“The front?”
“The hallway.”
“Hallway?”
Had I not taught her the hallway?
“Right in front of the door.”
“Right in front of the door.”
As Koko tried to get up from her place, I gestured for her to sit back down.
“I’ll be back soon.”
“Soon?”
Koko tilted her head and asked.
“You said the same thing last time.”
“……”
I momentarily closed my eyes and opened them again.
I went to Koko, gently grasped her shoulders, and lowered her down.
Koko followed my touch and sat down without a struggle.
“I’ll be right there.”
Koko stared at me, and only then did she nod.
Though she was admirable and cute… honestly speaking, I had no idea how to proceed from here.
Whether it was from learning the stories I had with the children throughout our journey, she could now at least speak in sentence units, but words like ‘clothes’ were still many that she hadn’t properly learned.
Plus, I wasn’t even registered as a student at Hanagawa High School.
What should I do when the semester starts?
……
Well, okay.
Let’s just put that aside for now.
First, let’s take care of the immediate tasks to resolve.
After placing Kuro in Koko’s arms, I quickly went out the door.
Kagami was waiting patiently.
“Can’t go far.”
“I know. There’s now a ‘kid’.”
If I said it like that, people would misunderstand. I stole a glance at my next room. The light seeping out from the crack in the door indicated that they were still out late again tonight.
The other room… uh, maybe I should just say Koko is using it.
“So?”
I asked with an intention for him to get straight to the point.
“……”
I was a little surprised.
Kagami looked like he was lost for words upon hearing my words.
Of course, I had seen him flustered before when I unsealed Koko.
But this was different; he looked like he was carefully choosing his words this time. Kagami, who always maintained his composure.
“……Last time was our failure.”
“Huh?”
“……The other sect attacked you.”
“Ah.”
Right, of course.
Having gone through such a huge ordeal, I had completely forgotten that Kagami had offered to send someone to help.
“After that, we also went back to the scene of the incident. We tried to investigate in various ways, but it seems the higher-ups took measures quickly. After all, it was a tourist spot, and there were several private residences nearby. The car crashed into a wall, and then a truck crashed into that car.”
“……”
Good point.
That’s a major incident. Even if a truck hadn’t carried a Yōkai, and even if no one was on the van when the accident happened, it would still be a major incident. It could even appear briefly on local news, or may even make it to national news.
However, I hadn’t heard a single thing about such news while in the hospital.
“How come?”
“Well, first, the media can be controlled.”
Kagami stated the major point for that first reason.
“An incident as minor as a fender bender could be swept under the rug.”
It could involve media suppression and all, but if one were to delve into such things, a light novel’s world wouldn’t even be established.
“Then, what about those who witnessed the incident?”
“About that…”
Kagami frowned slightly, looking up as if he was thinking for a moment.
“The concept of a nest is probably something you already know.”
“……Yeah.”
“You might have been in that nest the whole time you were fighting.”
“In the nest?”
Only after answering did I recall the truck that had smashed right after the van.
Considering the time it was struck, the distance between the two cars wasn’t that far apart.
“Even the radicals wouldn’t reveal themselves to everyone. Even though they might have powerful weapons, they can’t face humanity as a whole.”
“……”
“You should have died there.”
“Then?”
“The existence that was just like you probably did not expect it.”
“But I was with Koko on the beach the whole time?”
“Was there something that could have caused a misunderstanding?”
“……”
Ah. Right.
The hair tie.
Initially, Yuuki had tied a red hair tie into Koko’s hair, but it broke while Koko was attacking the men hunting us.
The next one was a spare tie he had been using to tie his own hair.
And Koko… if she needed it, she could move in an instant.
At a speed so fast that it couldn’t even be seen.
If they had seen me entering the nest with Yuuki, Koko would surely have been seen following me back to my spot.
However, Koko must have appeared as if she had suddenly popped out of nowhere.
Just like how Yuuki and I had entered the nest.
“You seem to be getting it.”
“Yeah.”
I nodded my head.
“So?”
“What kind of feeling did you have when you faced that mass of flesh?”
“……It felt like fighting a Yōkai.”
“Is that so…”
Kagami sighed heavily.
“We could not have anticipated how violently they would come at you.”
“……Killing people?”
“No.”
Kagami shook his head.
“……How did you know about your existence?”
I looked briefly at Kagami’s face, trying to grasp his intentions.
But Kagami’s face was completely expressionless.
“……The avatar of a God.”
“Correct. But it’s not a Yōkai. Even though you were born from a precious seed of a distant being, the blood didn’t mix with otherworldly beings.”
“……Huh.”
Wait a minute.
No way?
“……What if the blood of a God mixed with that of a monster to create something?”
“What if that God was also a being that had no interest in conversing with humans?”
“Then that nest would have been created.”
“Probably because of that power. But they may not have been able to control it. Perhaps that power was applied too overwhelmingly, or it could have been too weak. Honestly, I’m not sure. I unfortunately have no ties with the government’s ‘that.’”
“The reason for the attack on me was personal anger?”
“About that, I really don’t know. Maybe it was jealousy.”
“Jealousy?”
“……”
Kagami silently looked at me.
“It takes a long time for a human body to grow. It takes exactly 16 years to grow to 16 years old, doesn’t it? If you have to wait for 16 years to find success, just imagine if you couldn’t wait and gave up after 15 years. That would drive you mad, wouldn’t it?”
“Are you talking about me?”
“Yes, that’s right. Talking about you.”
Kagami drew slightly closer to me.
I took a step back, but Kagami seemed unconcerned.
“Do you think that I’m cooperating with you to this extent for no reason? Do you think I seem like an angel who expects nothing in return?”
“……”
Kagami smiled slightly and leaned toward me.
Then, in an extremely whispered voice, almost too quiet for anyone else to hear,
“That’s right.”
He whispered.
“Despite how I appear, I’m a believer. I just have faith in the one I must believe in and follow their plan. Of course, I don’t just wait idly; thanks to that, I gained your existence…”
His gaze shifted toward the door of the room.
“……So, perhaps I could unexpectedly gain something.”
His eyes returned to me.
“So, I apologize.”
And suddenly, he apologized, which took me a bit off guard.
“……Why?”
“We attached a person, but something unexpected happened. We almost messed everything up.”
Does that mean I could have died?
“You attached a person?”
“……Yes.”
“What happened?”
“……”
I felt I didn’t want to hear it.
“Since this happened, we better be more careful next time. I’ll also let Yamashita know in advance.”
……
I was left speechless.
My shoulders felt heavy.
Seeing me like that, Kagami seemed to want to say something but ultimately kept quiet.
After looking at me for a while, he lightly nodded.
“Then, even though there were unfortunate events, please take your time to rest. You still have quite a long vacation ahead. At your age, you should be enjoying it.”
After hearing that, I wasn’t so sure if I could enjoy what’s left of my vacation properly.
“Then I’ll take my leave. If anything happens, I’ll contact you again, or I’ll come looking for you. Since you’ve moved this much, you’ll likely lay low for a while. There are probably people with bloodshot eyes tailing you now.”
For some reason, I felt that it might be Miura’s father.
Kagami lightly waved his hand in my direction, then without lingering, turned his back on me.
And without looking back, just walked away.
“……”
For a moment, I stared at his back, then turned towards my room.
Koko was sprawled out on the blanket, hugging Kuro.
Even Koko must have felt tired after going through that much.
……Alright.
I guess I’ll just sleep for now.
I yawned loudly, turned off the lights in the room.
And lay down next to Koko, closing my eyes.
I probably wouldn’t dream of anything special tonight. I was mentally that tired.
Whether that’s a good thing, I’m not so sure.

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