NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 90
Earlier, when I dropped the knife…
I saw the knife slicing through the air.
To be precise, it wasn’t slicing through ‘air.’
It was probably the arm or tentacle of the guy who was hiding by making himself transparent… that guy named Waitley.
The green liquid must have been blood.
I don’t think an ordinary kitchen knife could slice the flesh of a yōkai. If that were possible, there wouldn’t be a need for someone like Yuka to struggle for survival.
That kitchen knife was the one that had cut my wrist today. Its surface was so smooth that there wouldn’t have been any time for blood to seep into it, but I’m sure my blood was definitely stuck to it, since I hadn’t cleaned or wiped it.
So, what I need to do is…
Thud.
A suspicious sound came from near my wrist.
“Guh!”
I let out a groan through the gaps of pain.
When I previously manipulated my blood into a tentacle shape, it didn’t hurt this much.
Crack.
I felt something sprout from my wrist and then stab into whatever was in front of me, and I could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
The guy who had been holding my hand didn’t make any sound despite bleeding green blood.
Or maybe he was already making sounds, just too high or low for me to hear. There might even be monsters whose wavelengths are mismatched, making them invisible—something like ultrasonic sounds.
I didn’t have time to check my injured wrist as I flailed around.
Scrape.
I felt something get sliced.
It worked!
I turned my gaze forward and, realizing why my wrist was hurting, swallowed hard.
A pointy object was protruding from my wound, like an icicle made of blood sprouting from my wrist. It seemed to be slowly but surely continuing to grow, possibly matching the speed of my bleeding.
Though the thick icicle pushed the flesh on either side apart, it looked like all my blood was going there, because not a single drop was flowing out. The skin on the palm near my wrist looked distorted because of that… just looking at it made it look incredibly painful.
No, it actually hurt. As much as I was cut. As much as the wound was opened.
To clear my mind from the pain, I decided to focus my hatred on the guy holding me. First, let’s kill the one in front of me, then think about Kosuzu afterward.
Click! Click! Crawling along the ground with my broken right arm, I left marks with my left arm. My blood was dripping in a pattern, so I could see where that guy was moving.
The footprints looked like a human barefoot. I stabbed the pointy object every time I saw where the footprints stopped.
Each time, I felt pain in my wrist as if nails were being hammered in, but that was also proof that I was alive. As long as I could feel this way, I wouldn’t die.
“Gah!”
But the enemy wasn’t just sitting still. Naturally, since I was down on the ground, I had a larger area to be hit. I struggled from the pain that dug into my calves, feeling like something sharp had stabbed me.
I flipped my body over and swung my hand wildly at the air. Maybe from slamming my wrist onto the ground, the blood shards that were slightly broken scattered all over.
While I couldn’t completely block the yōkai, most yōkai have a strong aversion to blood. I wasn’t sure if it was effective against that guy or not—
Scrape.
Good. At least I managed to slice one of its tentacles.
In return, my whole body was struck as if whipped.
Humans couldn’t produce the claws of beasts or sharp fangs, but instead, they evolved their hands with precision. And the joints of the arms below.
Meaning if I twisted my wrist, I could also use my palm to hit above my head.
In this case, it was still an act of stabbing the opponent with my wrist as a weapon.
Green substances poured all over my face.
“Ugh.”
It had an immensely disgusting smell.
Thankfully, I had clamped my mouth and eyes shut in preparation but couldn’t help a little from coming in my nose and ears.
“Phew…!”
As I spat out a breath, I put strength into the pointed object jammed into a hard spot.
“Grr…!”
While letting out a rough groan, I stood up as if grabbing something to lift me.
Whoosh, whoosh.
Even though it was poking me all over my body in resistance, oddly enough, nothing seemed effectively damaging.
Yes, it must be because of my blood. An inexplicable amount of this blood was flowing beneath my skin.
Moreover…
“Kyu,”
I heard the sound of teeth dropping from beneath my feet. Could it be that my blood, flowing from all over my body, started to shift? Or was it the stuff that was gradually breaking and melting from the wound in my wrist?
Well, it doesn’t matter.
All I need to know is that teeth are here.
I forced my body to rise and planted my right hand on the ground. Although it was still broken, I could move a few fingers.
“Kyu! Kyu!”
The teeth caught between my index and middle fingers squirmed, but I didn’t care.
I thrust my right hand toward the location, which seemed to be where my left wrist had stabbed into, possibly his abdomen. I felt the pain seeping in from the broken area, but I held it back.
Then, I opened my eyes and looked into the air.
Both he and I were covered in blood.
“Ha.”
I chuckled.
“Your belly is showing pretty well, too.”
I looked at my right arm pierced into him with green blood streaming down.
Then, I bottled up my hatred. It might not be powerful since it was elementary, but I had one attack method I tested last time.
I clenched my fingers and burst the target.
“———!!!!”
Finally, he screamed.
A voice that was hard to express in human language, yet somehow strangely sounded like a human language.
Crack!
Immediately after that sound, blood gushed from my mouth.
I looked down.
Although the wound was hard to see, I could feel blood flowing profusely toward my legs. Ah, this ain’t good. My uniform and underwear would surely be stained red.
… If I go to Yuka in this state, she’ll worry again.
Sigh, just when things seem to be going well, something else happens. Damn it.
“It’s strange.”
Despite watching such a fight, Kosuzu maintained her calm tone.
Tap, tap. I heard footsteps approaching me.
I turned my head to look at Kosuzu, but my vision was a bit hazy, so I couldn’t clearly see her expression.
“Why do you have such beautiful abilities? How can it be perfect?”
“Yes… to your eyes, does this look perfect?”
“Yes, it’s beautiful. So beautiful. Your body, inheriting the blood of the gods… Surely, we all must be, but why?”
“… I told you.”
At least I think I now understand how to scratch Kosuzu’s personality.
A strong prideful human, with an inflated ego. When human beings possess abilities that make them jealous, there are few ways to mess with them.
I merely need to possess the ability they envy.
Ha.
I know it sounds ridiculous.
“… Just like me, you should receive the gods’ favor.”
“…”
Kosuzu didn’t say anything.
The transparent monster in front of me also wasn’t moving at all.
How long did that silence last? Though it might not have been that long, it felt incredibly lengthy to me.
I mustn’t lose consciousness. Otherwise, the abilities I’m using will end, and those guys might take me away and disappear somewhere.
Crash—!
And the sound that broke the silence was the sound of glass shattering.
“… Koto Ne?”
Ah. You finally came.
Hmm, right.
She seemed to know how to find out where I was.
Moreover, almost immediately after that sound, I heard a siren. Given all the suspicious sounds coming from the bathroom, it made sense.
“… As expected, we can’t do it just the two of us, Mr. Waitley.”
Kosuzu said.
I heard the sound of everything supporting my body sliding away in unison.
“Koto Ne!?”
Koko called my name.
I heard something swoosh and stab. Clang, clang, the sound of them colliding in the air followed.
Pathetically, lying face-down on the dirty floor of the bathroom, I looked in Kosuzu’s direction.
Kosuzu glanced at me for a moment, then casually turned and opened the door of the public restroom she had locked up until now.
Koko’s hair followed behind her, but—
Kosuzu disappeared just like that.
“…”
We both stared blankly in that direction.
“Koto Ne!”
“Koko.”
I worried what would happen if Koko followed her, but thankfully, Koko turned toward me.
I saw Koko quickly kneeling down on the ground. Ah, it’s dirty over there, I thought.
“Koto Ne! Koto Ne!”
Though she had learned quite a bit of vocabulary, Koko kept holding onto me and shouting that.
“It’s okay.”
I’ll be fine soon.
I wanted to continue, but the chunk of blood rising from inside made me choke up.
Ah.
I ended up showing this kind of appearance to Koko.
I didn’t want her to see me like this, especially Koko.
Bang!
The public restroom door swung open, and I heard people entering.
“…!”
After a brief moment of being stunned by the sight of the bathroom covered in blood, they then looked shocked again after seeing Koko, who was hugging me.
“Koko, no.”
I told her to calm down, fearing she might attack those people if she got scared. Koko nodded her head vigorously. What a good girl.
Yuka… Ah, I need to call Yuka.
She will definitely be extremely worried. I was late; Koko suddenly vanished. She shouldn’t feel guilt for something she wouldn’t even notice.
And I, the cause of that.
Every time I try to do something for someone I care about, things keep twisting. Why must the options I choose always lead to such dire outcomes?
… Is my existence itself wrong?
“Koto Ne! Koto Ne!”
“Hey! Stay calm! An ambulance…!”
Because the crime scene was so terrible, it seemed like they considered it an attempted murder or something.
… Ah, this is really going downhill now.
“Koko. Just a bit…”
It was hard to maintain consciousness, so I closed my eyes.
Seeing me slump, Koko shouted—but I’m sorry.
Right now, I think it’s tough.
Once I wake up again, I’ll properly apologize.
*
So, from the perspective of others…
I left my younger sister, who lives with me, at my best friend’s house and tried to commit suicide in a public restroom.
Turns out, almost got killed by a perverted murderer who broke into that public restroom.
Furthermore, when discovered, I had numerous cuts all over my body, making it seem like I was nothing but a high school girl on the verge of death.
Though most of the injuries were obtained while I was sleeping.
“…”
Yet, the area beneath my chest still ached, so I probably wasn’t all the way healed.
“…”
No, rather, it felt like my heart ached more.
Mostly my conscience.
“…”
“Y-Yuka.”
When I called out Yuka’s name, she was sitting with her arms crossed, staring at me silently, and her eyes blinked slightly.
“… Yes.”
Her voice was low and husky.
I tried to slightly lift my body, but belatedly realized something was pressing down on the blanket I had covered myself with.
Looking down, Koko was lying there.
She curled up like usual, snuggling right next to me.
There were tear stains on Koko’s eyes as she slept.
My conscience was pricking me to the point of bleeding. If there were actually an organ called Yamashita, I would have already needed to go to the emergency room due to bleeding.
“What happened? Can you explain?”
There must have been a lot she wanted to ask. Even if I immediately grilled her the moment I opened my mouth, I wouldn’t have had any answers.
I wanted to keep everything hidden, trying to know it all by myself, but I accidentally got caught in the worst way possible.
“… I…”
But how should I explain it?
I had already lied before.
No, it wasn’t just a matter of having lied. Almost everything I said regarding this matter was a lie. The biggest reason was that I didn’t want to reveal my true identity.
How do I even talk about this incident after lying about everything?
“…”
I kept my mouth shut for a moment when suddenly I realized I was feeling relieved.
Yeah. I could be caught right there and dragged off no matter what. Kosuzu seemed to have come looking for me for just that reason.
They must have been waiting for the moment when I was alone. I heard that even if the Otaku’s influence reached Yama Shita Kai, it shouldn’t be as strong as near Minato Ward. I wasn’t even sure how many organizations there were in each region.
The cult was the same. The Kurosawa family seemed to have been around for a long time, but it seemed they had only recently started to expand their religious influence.
They didn’t even seem to have settled on a name for the cult. Perhaps the high-ranking members only had ties with influential families before they seriously expanded.
… Even though Yuka was around, I hadn’t mentioned where I was going. Above all, it didn’t seem like Yuka was part of an organization that watched over everything like this.
For various reasons, I nonetheless came face to face with Kosuzu.
Thinking about how she had been persistently watching me and came looking at the moment I was alone sent chills down my spine. And had I messed up, that plan might have succeeded.
I might have gone my whole life never crossing paths with these two.
Sigh, here I am, feeling relieved while leaving behind two people I worried about.
“…You know about Hacha?”
“… I know.”
Well, when you get down to it, those over there are experts.
It’s stranger if they didn’t know. They probably know way more about yōkai than I do.
“A yōkai that steals the corpses of sinners.”
“Right.”
They referred to it as ‘burning with fire.’
“Could it be that you inferred that just because the con artist couple died?”
Yuka asked.
“… I can understand.”
“Just like last time?”
Just like when I figured out that killer was a flesh-eater.
“… Ah.”
Yuka seemed to realize something on her own and pressed her fingers onto her eyelids.
“So, you went to check? On your god?”
“… Right.”
“You intentionally left me and Koko in order to do so.”
I could only nod my head, unable to respond with words.
I wanted to disappear somewhere. I thought it was a perfect plan at the time, but considering it now, it was a situation where they would know as soon as they realized.
“…”
Yuka didn’t say anything for a while.
I wish she would scold me, but Yuka was absolutely not that kind of person.
“… Huh.”
Yuka sighed long and lowered her hands from her face.
And then looked at me with eyes filled with blood.
“… I haven’t eaten dinner yet.”
“… Huh?”
I opened my eyes wide at Yuka’s words.
“Koko suddenly disappeared, and you didn’t come back. Dad and I went out looking for you. Grandpa was watching the house.”
“…”
I glanced at the clock hanging on the hospital wall.
The lights were bright in the ward, so I couldn’t tell at a glance when it was, but that wall clock was definitely pointing to one o’clock in the morning.
So, it means we hadn’t eaten anything until this hour.
“… I’m sorry.”
“Do you even realize you’re sorry?”
Yuka’s question made me flinch.
I had no excuse.
“So…”
Yuka sighed deeply again.
“Just eat dinner and go.”
“…”
When she said ‘today,’ she must have been referring to today literally. Since it had already passed the exact time.
“Your stuff has already been brought. Just in case, your spare uniform was also brought.”
“Ah.”
“When we briefly dropped by with Koko earlier, that’s when we brought it. Kuro is also at our home.”
Really… I am quite troublesome.
“The dinner ingredients are still in the refrigerator, so just cook something and eat.”
“… I’m sorry.”
“…”
Yuka silently looked at me, then sighed again and rubbed her head.
We didn’t say anything for a while.
*
The girl called Koto Ne…
Thinking back, she was always like this.
She always wanted to take everything upon herself. Even when Yuka met Koto Ne, it was the same.
Without asking for help from the neighboring adults, she struggled on her own trying to escape from an abusive woman who neglected her… all while not having any money to eat proper meals.
Koto Ne was also the one who saved Koko. The person who tried to take responsibility for Koko, who lived apart from human life, was also Koto Ne.
If only she had asked for someone’s help, things could have been resolved somehow.
She could have cared less about helping others.
It would have been much better than losing a friend she had properly interacted with for the first time.
Koto Ne just wanted to take it all on herself.
That must have been the kind of life she lived. All alone, without anyone to lean on.
At first, I wanted to scream out loud.
It was so suffocating. When I saw Koto Ne in the hospital, covered in blood with holes in her uniform, that was how I felt.
What’s up with the raincoat? Why are you wrapping your left arm with a rubber band? Is it because you don’t want anyone to know you’re bleeding?
Koko couldn’t even speak properly. Like she had lost the ability to connect words, she was just muttering clumsy phrases. Koto Ne is hurt. Koto Ne is in pain. How? Why? Koko, who seemed to be in a trance, hadn’t seen it before, but at least there was a way to manage it—
It was just as hard for her to manage her own feelings.
“I’m sorry.”
Koto Ne said she was sorry.
There was no need for that.
“Do you realize you’re the one who should apologize?”
And in the end, Yuka spat out harsh words.
She regretted it right afterward. Even though she thought asking for help wouldn’t matter, she hadn’t managed to reciprocate even a single word.
She was just a girl with nothing, someone who didn’t know anything.
When I saw her flinch, I was already regretting it.
In reality, didn’t Yuka try to call Koto Ne when she needed her? The people who made that thin wrist get cut were Yuka and Grandpa.
All in the name of saving the world.
… But I couldn’t pick my words back up.
“Eat dinner and go.”
Eventually, Yuka said it as an excuse.
“… I’m sorry.”
And ultimately, I ended up saying that again.