Ch.13Chapter 2. Bread and the Heroine (7)

That sticky blood mass steadily climbed up my body and settled inside my collar.

Until it reached my knee, it left blood marks below which felt extremely uncomfortable, but by the time it passed beside my chest, it had become something like a jelly with a fluffy exterior.

…I couldn’t say that was a good thing.

With a clang, the blood-colored katana fell to the floor. Well, I had slashed a yokai with a sword made of blood. It was an incomprehensible outer god anyway. Creating one small… strange creature shouldn’t be that unusual.

As I tried to stand up—

“Aaah!”

I crouched down on the floor, screaming.

My left wrist… hurt too much.

Looking at it, the wound was still there. Wait, why?

Last time, I fell asleep and when I woke up, the wound had disappeared.

I had cut my wrist… quite deeply. Well, I needed enough blood to soak the magic circle.

I gritted my teeth and curled my left hand toward my body. The open wound closed slightly, and the bleeding slowed a bit.

I tore off a bunch of toilet paper from beside the toilet and pressed it firmly. At least not much blood had gotten on my clothes. Since they were black anyway, once it dried, it wouldn’t be very noticeable. I might end up throwing away different clothes if I tried changing.

But I didn’t have any bandages at home.

I went to my room, cursing myself for not buying a first aid kit. By then, the bleeding had slowed somewhat. I wasn’t sure if my recovery speed was fast or if the wound wasn’t as deep as I’d thought. It still hurt when I moved my arm. And it hadn’t completely stopped bleeding.

No, maybe the wound had just temporarily closed. Either way, it was still urgent.

While pressing my left wrist with my right hand, I kicked my bag open with my foot. When I turned it over—

Tape came out.

I had a moment of despair.

Do I really have to do this?

Yes, I guess I do. It’s my fault for stupidly cutting my wrist without having a bandage on hand.

Even during Golden Week, there must be an open pharmacy somewhere. Doesn’t Japan have duty pharmacies? If not, I could buy stockings from a convenience store.

I sighed once and dropped the tissue on the floor. The tissue, soaked with blood, made an unpleasant sloshing sound as it fell.

I quickly moved to grab a sock that I had carelessly thrown in the corner of the room and pressed it against my wrist. Good. At least it’s black, so the blood isn’t too noticeable.

Keeping my wrist elevated, I picked up the tape and tore off the end.

I lightly stuck it to my wrist, then wrapped it around tightly.

“Phew.”

I took a breather.

“Kyuu.”

I heard that sound near my ear.

With my right hand, I reached for that… thing between my shoulder and collar. Calling it a worm would be too disgusting, so let’s give it a name. What’s blood in Japanese? Chi (血)?

Well, that doesn’t sound too strange.

“Alright, from today you’re Chi.”

“Kyuu.”

Its appearance… do you know the world’s smallest snake? It’s called the Barbados threadsnake, and it feeds on termites.

It’s a snake that looks similar to a worm, but it has tiny black eyes at the end, and its mouth opens. It has a tongue too. It looks extremely pathetic, and apparently if you keep one, it seems pathetic in real life too. It doesn’t move much and stays underground, so it feels like you’re raising dirt.

If you enlarged that Barbados threadsnake to about half the thickness of a pinky finger and made it a bit shorter in length, that’s roughly what this looks like.

Except for being the color of coagulated, dark blood, it could almost be called cute.

“How are you going to guide me?”

“Kyuuu.”

Making a cute sound, Chi tried to crawl back into my clothes. I picked up its body and placed it back on my shoulder.

It stuck to my neck area and—

“That’s a cute name.”

It whispered.

“Ah, don’t worry. That one isn’t her.”

“…Can you communicate over long distances?”

“The reason she left this child with you was to answer ‘what you asked,’ so there seems no reason to ask other questions.”

“…”

I grabbed the back of my neck at what sounded like deliberate teasing.

“Ah, that’s right.”

Chi relayed her words.

“Since you need to maintain the barrier that summoned her, your wrist won’t dry until she returns. It seems dangerous if you don’t find her today.”

I gritted my teeth and stood up.

Fine, let’s go.

I was going to deal with this during the holiday anyway. Let’s just think of it as the deadline being shortened to about one-seventh.

That’s a huge reduction, actually.

Although the bleeding wouldn’t stop, I had something to absorb the blood, so I stood up and headed to the bathroom.

Inside, the sword without a scabbard was just lying there. The tiles had a horrifying amount of pooled blood.

Well, I had lost enough blood to form the sword’s mass. And some additional blood too.

Hmm, the fact that I’m still conscious suggests my body definitely isn’t that of a normal human.

I picked up the sword and—

—thought, what should I do?

Damn, I just realized that in this country, when carrying a sword, you need to do it “invisibly.” It’s not just about getting caught or not. It’s the law. So people don’t think you’re threatening others.

And it’s clearly a katana, so if the police saw it, they’d demand a registered sword ownership certificate. I know this for sure because I researched it when I was going through my chuunibyou phase and wanted to buy a Japanese sword. That was back in 2004.

If I hadn’t searched for how to buy a Japanese sword when traveling to Japan, I would have just carried this out and ended up in a holding cell before collapsing from blood loss.

Biting my lower lip, I went back to the living room.

Two blankets were clearly visible.

Ah, I don’t want to do this.

Even while thinking that, I placed the sword on the blanket I sleep with. Then I rolled it up.

At least the sword wasn’t visible. If I held it like this, there shouldn’t be any risk of getting cut.

I hugged the sword wrapped in the blanket and went outside.

Ms. Suzuki, I’m sorry.

But a human life is more important than a blanket, right?

*

“See you after the holiday then.”

Yuka said goodbye with a wave.

Kurosawa looked at Yuka with a somewhat precarious expression but raised one hand in response.

Deliberately swiping her card and entering the station, Yuka sat on a bench by the ticket gate and waited for about 3 minutes.

Then she abruptly stood up and walked quickly back through the ticket gate.

She did this because Kurosawa’s demeanor had seemed suspicious.

Even without family bloodlines, doing this kind of work for a long time develops a certain intuition.

And that intuition was more important than one might think. Yokai become more dangerous the longer they stay among humans, and simultaneously, they become more human-like.

To find such yokai, one needs more than just abilities inherited through bloodlines.

The newspaper Kurosawa had been looking at mentioned a man-eating demon.

The reason Yuka came to Hanakawa High School.

And the sensation she felt from Kurosawa.

These two facts intertwined to warn her.

As she exited the ticket gate and walked quickly outside, she could see the back of a girl in a black sailor uniform in the distance.

Black hair that covered her entire back. And a white hair tie that gathered the ends slightly.

It was fortunate that Kurosawa had such a distinctive appearance.

Even while following her, Kurosawa was in such a hurry that she didn’t look around. And then—

“Oh.”

Kurosawa went up to a very old-looking two-story apartment.

It was the kind of place that probably didn’t even have proper earthquake-resistant design, with all the woodwork discolored to a dingy shade and exposed metal rusted. Weeds grew abundantly in the flower beds.

Moreover, Kurosawa had walked for a full 30 minutes to get here. Not even taking a bus. That had made it possible to follow her, but still…

Yuka quickly shook her head.

There must be some circumstances. Digging too deeply into such matters wasn’t Yuka’s style. Having moved around so much, she had never become too attached to any one student.

Even though this was still just near Tokyo— school friendships tend to fade quickly if you don’t meet every day.

After debating what to do, she ended up following all the way to the front of the apartment.

Quietly, on tiptoes, so no one would notice.

Fortunately, Kurosawa didn’t seem to care much if someone was walking around outside—

“Ugh.”

A groan came from inside.

It wasn’t very loud. If the door hadn’t been so flimsy, it wouldn’t have been audible.

She felt goosebumps rise on her back. This… this was different from the sound of someone crying alone.

“…I have something I want to ask.”

Kurosawa’s voice.

“What do you want?”

“I understand.”

Talking to herself?

No, that wasn’t it. She was conversing with someone.

Although the voice of the other party couldn’t be heard.

“…”

If someone else had heard this, they would have thought it was mental illness.

But Yuka knew of cases where it wasn’t. She had seen it firsthand.

Moreover, right now—

Do you know the feeling when the fine hairs on the back of your neck stand up? Like someone is lightly dragging just the tip of their fingernail down your spine.

This was the same sensation she had felt at school.

Her grandfather’s words flashed through her mind.

…Could Kurosawa be…

She heard movement from inside. Was she coming out again?

Yuka quickly went down and hid in a nearby alley.

Shortly after, Kurosawa came outside.

She was carrying something wrapped in a blanket.

She closed the door with her foot and, while tightly hugging the blanket with her left arm, locked the house door with her right hand.

Then she came down the stairs with quick steps.

…The white blanket was stained red in various places.

Did Kurosawa not know? Or was she in too much of a hurry to consider it?

Kurosawa walked somewhat urgently toward a nearby pharmacy.

“Ah.”

Seeing the pharmacy closed for the holiday, Kurosawa made that sound.

“…”

In the end, Yuka gave up following her further.

Even then, that chilling aura continued to emanate from Kurosawa.

“Kurosawa.”

At Yuka’s call, Kurosawa’s shoulders shook greatly.

With her neck tucked down like a turtle, Kurosawa hesitantly turned around slowly.

“What are you trying to—”

While speaking, Yuka suddenly noticed the particularly red areas on the blanket Kurosawa was holding.

Blood turns dark brown when it coagulates, and after a very long time, it becomes black. And it rots.

But the blood on the blanket was a vivid red.

The part where Kurosawa’s left wrist was gripping was especially red. As if red paint had been spilled.

Yuka’s eyes turned back to the pharmacy.

No way.

“Yu-Yuuki?”

As Yuka approached with determined steps, Kurosawa backed away as if she might run.

Yuka quickly rushed forward and grabbed Kurosawa’s left arm.

“Kk!?”

A loud sound that didn’t suit her at all came from Kurosawa’s mouth. Though Yuka hadn’t known Kurosawa’s face for long, it was a voice she’d never heard before. A sound like someone forcibly gritting their teeth to endure pain.

“You, what is this…?”

The left arm… first aid…

No, could this even be called first aid?

She had simply placed a black cloth on her left wrist and wrapped transparent tape around it. Of course, having done it with one hand, there was no way it could properly stop the bleeding.

The cloth had already far exceeded its absorption capacity, and vivid red blood was clearly seeping through. Kurosawa’s blood got on Yuka’s hand too.

Coming closer, the smell of blood made it feel even more serious.

“Let… go of this.”

Kurosawa said.

“What is this? What happened?”

“Ow.”

“Ah, s-sorry.”

Yuka had unconsciously gripped Kurosawa’s arm tightly, but seeing her body flinch, she belatedly let go.

Kurosawa hugged the blanket tightly to her chest again and said:

“This… this has nothing to do with you.”

“…”

At those words, Yuka’s eyebrows drew together.

“I am—”

“…Are you looking for the man-eating demon?”

At Yuka’s words, Kurosawa closed her mouth.

“You know something, don’t you? Is this not related to people?”

“…”

“Kurosawa.”

As Yuka took a step forward, Kurosawa stepped back.

Now looking again, the blanket Kurosawa was holding— it didn’t seem to be just a blanket. It looked like something was wrapped up and hidden inside.

Something long and solid. Probably sharp.

A katana.

“Are you, perhaps.”

Kurosawa kept her mouth firmly shut.

*

Ah, damn, what should I do?

I didn’t expect to get caught, but that’s too careless of me.

Yuuki is something of a professional in this field. Though she’s just a high school student now, she was raised in that kind of family.

She even went so far as to bring a real sword to school.

Still, she didn’t seem to know my true identity. Yuuki’s eyes were directed only at my face, my left wrist, and the blanket I was holding.

So, strictly speaking, she hadn’t discovered that I was an avatar created by an outer god. Um… she probably thought I was a hunter or exorcist like herself.

Yuka, who had been staring at me, closed her mouth, took a deep breath, and exhaled with a “hoo.”

Her tense shoulders slumped down.

“Alright, fine. If you don’t want to reveal your identity, you don’t have to right now.”

Yuuki raised a finger and pointed at my wrist.

“But let’s do something about that wrist.”

“…No.”

“…”

At my answer, her fine eyebrows drew closer together. They were now almost forming the character for “eight.”

“Why?”

“Th-this…”

I stammered. Was coming up with a lie always this difficult?

Ah, I get it. Right now, I was in a situation where I had to lie to a professional. Think about trying to convince a physicist that something clearly not a physical phenomenon is one. It would be incredibly difficult, right?

“It’s necessary… for the ritual.”

What the heck.

Aren’t there things like talismans written in blood? They’re written in red, right? Sasaki was actually able to catch yokai with that blood.

It might not be specifically related to outer gods, but isn’t it similar to how I was able to create a sword and slash a yokai?

“You’re saying you need to keep bleeding?”

I nodded.

Yuuki frowned. If her previous expression was one of complete incomprehension, this one was of disgust. Did she know about related rituals?

“Why are you using your own blood?”

“…Because there’s no one else around.”

She seemed to understand a bit. Are there rituals that use animal blood? Well, chicken blood seems to be used sometimes.

No, that might be Korean shamanism.

Anyway.

Yuuki put her hand to her forehead. The tension eased a little. My left wrist still hurt, my head was a bit dizzy, and I was holding a sword that could cut off a person’s head, but at least my opponent wasn’t just an ordinary person.

“Still, let’s change what you’re pressing against your wrist. Are you planning to throw away your uniform?”

I had actually already considered it lost.

“And… what is that? A handkerchief?”

“…A sock.”

Yuuki’s face grimaced again.

*

The thickly applied tape came off easily. It had lost most of its adhesive power due to all the blood.

Since people would definitely… look at us strangely if they saw, we went into a nearby alley.

Someone might have already seen my wrist. Maybe Ms. Suzuki? She had come all the way to my house. But she’s such an unprejudiced person that she still treated me normally afterward, so she probably didn’t mind.

My friends… probably didn’t see. If they had, they wouldn’t have treated me so normally. Fukuda would have shown great interest.

But this was the first time I was showing it so… openly.

After removing the tape from my arm and clearing away the sock, Yuuki’s eyes widened when she saw the tattoo underneath.

There was even a wound shaped like an eye.

“…Don’t worry. I can control it.”

“You’re quite confident.”

I heard a whispering voice in my ear, but I ignored it.

Fortunately, Yuuki couldn’t hear it. Of course, separately from that, she would still be feeling that creepy sensation that occurs when something non-human is present.

Yet, Yuuki didn’t ask more.

…And she placed a sanitary pad she had bought from a convenience store on my wrist.

It was an ingenious idea. I wonder why I didn’t think of it.

…Well, because I had never bought sanitary pads. Not even in this world.

I, um… have never had ‘that’ happen. It hasn’t been a month yet, so I don’t know exactly what will happen.

Yuuki applied the sanitary pad and wrapped a bandage tightly around it. I couldn’t move my wrist freely, but well, the wound was already so large that I couldn’t move my wrist freely anyway.

“How is it?”

Yuuki asked after skillfully wrapping the bandage.

“What an unprejudiced friend.”

Ignoring the voice in my ear again, I nodded.

At least no blood had seeped through the white bandage yet.

“So.”

Yuuki said.

“Do you know where to go? I don’t know what being you’ve summoned.”

“I can find out.”

“Yes, she can tell you.”

The fake Shura whispered in my ear.

Hmm, I like that. Fake Shura.

Since I was quite annoyed myself, I decided to call her that internally for a while as a way to vent.

*

“I’m sorry to say this, but honestly, we’re going in the opposite direction of where I thought we’d be heading.”

Yuuki said.

I think so too. The gaki… killed people in a busy area. And carelessly discarded the leftover corpses.

But I didn’t think that meant the gaki couldn’t leave. A gaki is a yokai that needs to eat constantly to survive. It probably made its nest in a busy area to eat more people.

Isn’t that right? If humans are considered animals, humans are creatures with quite a lot of meat. Not as much as pigs or cows, but the numbers make up for it. Being in the middle of a big city would allow it to eat as many people as it wanted.

“This is the right place.”

But I trusted the words of the fake Shura.

She wouldn’t lie about something like this.

The place we headed to by subway was a residential area.

“…”

Yuuki followed me with her mouth tightly shut. She seemed to have a lot to say but was holding back.

…Is this right?

“You doubt her?”

I heard a laughing voice saying that.

“But there’s no need to worry. It’s definitely there.”

“…Are you coming?”

I asked, turning to Yuuki.

“Yes.”

Yuuki nodded, despite her expression.

I put down the blanket I had been tightly hugging.

There were no passersby visible yet.

I quickly unfolded the blanket and grabbed the bright red sword that was inside.

“…What’s this?”

“…My sword.”

I wanted to give it a cool name, but nothing came to mind immediately.

In fact, my body was already approaching its limit. Judging by how my vision was starting to waver, I needed to finish this as quickly as possible.

Staggering slightly, I walked toward an old apartment that looked exactly like the one I was staying in.