Ch.154Chapter 23. Blood (8)

# A Friend Has Died

Death was an unfamiliar concept to the children around her.

For high school and middle school students, they might have attended a relative’s funeral. If their great-grandparents had been alive, they might have gone to a funeral in their childhood and possibly seen the deceased.

They might have accompanied their parents to a distant relative’s funeral. Perhaps one or both parents had passed away.

Even so, that didn’t make it familiar.

Especially the death of a friend.

In countries at war, politically unstable nations, regions with poor security, or places where even one proper meal a day was difficult, the death or disappearance of peers might be commonplace.

But Japan wasn’t such a place. Especially for children who had never experienced poverty.

“……”

Yuu Yamashita was one of them.

Her gaze was directed outside the window. Though the weather wasn’t cold yet, she didn’t feel like going outside.

She had been thoroughly questioned by government agents last night. She couldn’t remember how many times she had answered that she didn’t know. So she didn’t particularly want to go out and face more officials.

Yesterday, Koko had disappeared with Kotone. This wasn’t just a matter of carrying her away. Of course, it was remarkable that someone of her build could run while carrying Kotone, who was almost exactly her weight, but what Yuu saw yesterday was literally a “disappearance.”

The officials couldn’t follow them. They seemed to have tried tracking them by blood traces, but it wasn’t easy.

And now, those people were scooping soil from the Yamashita estate’s yard into ziplock bags.

The soil on the edge of the shovel was dark. It was soaked with the blood that Kotone Kurosawa had shed yesterday.

Kotone Kurosawa.

Yuu had seen it yesterday. The sight of her being stabbed, falling sideways, and ceasing to move.

It was… something she couldn’t have imagined normally. Even though she had seen it with her own eyes, when she tried to recall that moment with squinted eyes, the memory was strangely blurry.

Ah, yes, she remembered that.

The person called Kagami, who was said to be that girl’s mother, kneeling beside her.

The way she neatly arranged the carelessly sprawled body and closed her eyes seemed strangely sad.

Yes. It was strange.

That person… had acted as if she disliked Kotone Kurosawa. Hadn’t she even hit her on the head at that time? But whatever change of heart she had experienced, the way she straightened the body looked like that of a mother who had lost her daughter and didn’t know what to do.

Kurosawa’s face looked peaceful.

As if she were sleeping.

Is that what dying is always like?

Yuu shook her head.

She couldn’t imagine Kurosawa dying. So meaninglessly? Without leaving any words behind?

Death, well, how should she put it.

It shouldn’t be like that.

Besides, Yuu had seen Kurosawa get up perfectly fine after being covered in blood. That day in the bathroom, when Kurosawa fell after being pushed accidentally, her neck was clearly bent in a strange direction. But she got up immediately the next moment.

It wasn’t just because she had seen such things, but for various reasons, Yuu still couldn’t fully accept that Kurosawa was dead.

“…Yuu.”

She heard her father’s voice.

“Dad.”

Yuu answered calmly.

Perhaps concerned by her calm voice, her father sighed.

His gaze also looked outside the window. Beyond the window, people wrapped in protective gear as if this place had been contaminated were mechanically shoveling.

“Let’s talk for a bit.”

Her father said.

Yuu nodded.

It’s not like someone would suddenly appear and explain everything if she kept staring out there.

Kurosawa’s mother was still in the temporary interrogation room set up in this mansion. It would probably take a while before she came out and gave a proper explanation.

Her father turned and started walking, and Yuu followed.

“What about Miho—”

“She’s fine. She’s at a hotel quite far from here.”

That was fortunate.

Miho’s room had been completely wrecked anyway. According to testimonies, that’s where it all started. If she had stayed there, she might not have survived.

Yuu’s father, Ryohei, had evacuated Miho to another place as if he was worried about something.

Yet, was there a reason why Yuu remained here?

The two walked in silence for a while and entered a room.

The mansion had many rooms. Naturally, quite a few of them were unused. The room they entered was one such place. It was kept clean, and everything inside was perfectly prepared to accommodate sudden guests, but normally, no one except the cleaning staff would enter.

Her father placed two cushions side by side on the floor.

He sat on one of them and looked up at Yuu. Yuu silently took the seat facing her father.

“First, I want to apologize for how things have turned out.”

Her father bowed his head.

Yuu looked at him in astonishment. In her memory, her father wasn’t the type to offer apologies to her.

He wasn’t entirely a good father, but she thought he was decent enough. The judgment that “he wasn’t entirely good” included the fact that he was far from being someone who apologized.

Was it because he carried the burden of being a yakuza? Or was it just his pride?

“What things are you talking about?”

Yuu asked, and her father raised his head.

“…I don’t know where to begin.”

“From the beginning.”

Yuu answered sharply to her father’s words.

“Tell me from the beginning.”

“……”

After a moment of silence at Yuu’s words, her father eventually nodded heavily.

“I should start with the story of your mother.”

Her father slowly began.

Yuu stared at her father. Why bring up her mother here?

“Your mother… Kosuzu, was a shrine maiden.”

*

“…Can you believe it?”

After the story ended, her father asked Yuu.

Yuu looked at her father with a blank expression, then shook her head.

“I thought as much.”

It was as he said.

No matter how she thought about it, it wasn’t easy to accept that yokai and such things actually existed. Even after seeing such a scene yesterday.

It was as difficult as accepting the fact that Kurosawa was dead.

But what could she do?

If this situation wasn’t a dream, Yuu would eventually have to accept it.

“……”

She slowly bowed her head.

And tightly gripped the hem of her skirt. Though she had changed clothes, she still felt as if something sticky was clinging to her body.

So, according to her father.

Yuu’s mother is the leader of a cult that has killed several people. She might have blood on her hands directly.

That… strangely resonated with her. Among the stories she had heard from yesterday until today, it was the most realistic one.

Yuu remembered her mother.

The person named Kosuzu was perfect. She always smiled warmly when looking at Yuu and often hugged her. She taught Yuu the names of flowers and kindly explained things whenever Yuu made mistakes, never scolding her.

That’s the kind of person she was.

“…I want to ask one thing.”

“Go ahead.”

“If it was my mother who tried to kill Miho.”

Yuu spoke in a low voice, looking down at the floor.

“Is yesterday’s incident also related to my mother?”

“I don’t know yet.”

Her father answered immediately.

“Is there a possibility?”

“I don’t know that either. It would be more certain to hear from Ms. Kagami.”

Kurosawa’s mother.

“Why did she do that?”

“…I don’t know.”

“……”

Yuu looked up at her father.

There was no expression on her father’s face. Yuu found it frustrating.

“You don’t know anything? You married my mother without knowing anything? Why?”

“……”

Her father remained silent again.

“Why? Why? How did things end up like this?”

“……”

After a long silence, her father finally closed his eyes and slowly moved his lips to answer.

“At that time, I thought it would be beneficial for both of us.”

Yuu was at a loss for words.

“Then, what about me?”

Her voice was weak as she asked.

“How was I born? Was I also born because you thought it would be beneficial?”

“…Yuu.”

“Can’t you even say that’s not true?”

Yuu’s voice trembled.

“Then, what about Kurosawa? How was she born?”

“……”

“Was she also born for that reason? Because they thought it would be beneficial? Is that family always like that?”

Her father seemed at a loss for words at Yuu’s consecutive questions.

“What happened yesterday? Was that also because it had to happen that way? Because it wouldn’t be beneficial if she remained alive?”

“Yuu.”

The memory of yesterday came back again.

Her pale face looked peaceful.

Yuu had never seen her make such an expression. She had seen her smile. She had seen her in pain, and she had seen her worried. But looking back, she always seemed to be chased by something. Even when she was just sitting still. It’s just that Yuu hadn’t realized it because she had never seen such a relaxed expression on her.

She thought they had become somewhat close. They had to be. She had stayed at her house, and she had stayed at Yuu’s house.

But she knew nothing.

Yuu never thought that she and Kurosawa might be blood-related.

Being cousins isn’t just about being close. But still.

…Were they not actually close? She knew nothing despite being right next to her.

Yuu knew nothing about her.

They hadn’t even reached the point of calling each other by name.

Her heart beat a little more intensely.

Yes. Only after thinking about it did Yuu become a little scared.

She would never see her again. Perhaps she could visit her grave, but that’s it. Now she couldn’t go to her house, which was a bit small but somehow full of life, she couldn’t suddenly speak to her when she was sitting absentmindedly, and she couldn’t plan an unexpected Christmas event to surprise her.

She had just thought they would naturally become closer and become friends.

“…Why did you leave her in such a place?”

“……”

Her father couldn’t answer Yuu’s question.

“Why did you stay silent when her mother did such things…?”

Her father answered that he didn’t know.

If he didn’t know, he could have asked. She was his wife’s younger sister, after all.

“Yuu.”

Her father called out as Yuu stood up abruptly.

“I’ll ask her myself.”

“Yuu, wait—”

But before her father could stand up and grab her, Yuu had already kicked the door open and was running.

She couldn’t understand. She couldn’t accept it.

She didn’t want to realize that she hadn’t even properly thanked her before she left.

Certainly, if Yuu had heard today’s story at a time that seemed no different from usual, she wouldn’t have been angry.

She would have just opened her mouth in disbelief, rolled her eyes once, and shrugged.

And she probably would have acted awkwardly, as if in disbelief, towards the person who would have heard the same words with her, or perhaps even told her directly.

As time passed slowly, such things would have felt normal, and she would have gone around with Mako and Harumi as usual, seeing and eating various things.

…What should she do?

Once she started to be conscious of it, subsequent thoughts came flooding in.

What should she tell Mako and Harumi? Both Harumi and Mako cherished that girl very much. Especially Mako. She had consistently helped her since learning about Kurosawa’s situation.

Everything felt unfamiliar. It was a feeling she had never experienced before in her life.

Yuu… considered Kurosawa a friend.

She hadn’t really talked much with her or taken the initiative to go out and play.

However, there weren’t many people around Yuu.

Until Mako and Harumi approached her first, the other children avoided Yuu once they knew about her family background.

That’s why Yuu had stopped paying attention to those around her. Until Mako and Harumi casually approached her.

Kotone Kurosawa was unique in that sense. Or perhaps she didn’t care about the yakuza background because she already had a more unusual past than Yuu.

It was a strange feeling.

It felt like something that had occupied a corner of her heart was suddenly disappearing.

So Yuu ran. As if escaping from it. Making various excuses.

“Wait…!”

Of course, there were people standing by the door.

When Yuu put her hand on the door, the two men immediately rushed over and grabbed her arms.

“Let go!”

Yuu shouted.

“You can’t enter here!”

“This is our house!”

Finding the men’s words absurd, Yuu struggled. As she kicked, the men tried to throw her to the ground—

“Can’t you let go of her?!”

Yes. As Yuu said, this was “our house.”

Yuu wasn’t a yakuza, but her father was. And there were always people residing in this house.

Moreover, Yuu had somehow saved their lives. At least, all the survivors in this mansion now owed their lives to Yuu.

Many more people than the two clinging to Yuu suddenly gathered.

Even for professionally trained individuals, it wasn’t easy to immediately respond to those people while using both hands.

“Miss!”

“Yes!”

Without even having time to say thank you, Yuu got up and immediately rushed to the door.

It wasn’t locked. Did they think there was no need? Well, it was a sliding door, so the locking process might have seemed a bit cumbersome.

Thanks to that, Yuu was able to roll into the room.

Bang!

There was quite a loud noise as her body hit the floor, but Yuu, unaware of the pain, jumped up.

And she shuddered.

Everyone there looked like important people. Including the unnamed elderly man she had seen earlier, there were quite a few men and women in suits.

Among them were the people said to be Yuka Yuuki’s grandfather and father.

And Yuka Yuuki herself.

“……”

Yuu unconsciously looked at her.

She sat with her head bowed, saying nothing. She was just sitting in a chair. Why had they brought her here?

“Miss.”

Yuu heard someone calling her.

Looking towards the voice, she saw Kurosawa’s mother, Kagami Kurosawa, sitting there.

Were they holding some kind of temporary hearing? No, it looked more like an interrogation.

Her hands were handcuffed. She wasn’t tied with ropes like in court videos, but she didn’t look particularly comfortable either.

People were sitting in a wide semicircle around Kagami.

“…If you want to do this, I’d prefer you did it somewhere other than our house.”

That was the first thing Yuu said to those people.

She didn’t have any particular thoughts. Her mind was too complicated, making it difficult to think clearly.

So she just said what came to mind.

…Like when she had thrown that punch.

“I’m sorry about that.”

The elderly man responded to Yuu’s words. His expression certainly looked apologetic. Watching the elderly man who lowered the ends of his eyebrows and made a troubled expression, Yuu thought he was like other adults she had seen in her childhood.

The people from the “other faction” who occasionally visited this house used to make such expressions.

“But it’s an urgent matter. Could you understand?”

“…There are other buildings nearby.”

“Considering what happened in here, it would be problematic to leave before investigating a bit more. We don’t know what might happen.”

“……”

Yuu’s eyes narrowed.

It sounded like an excuse no matter how she thought about it.

Of course, she couldn’t know exactly what conversations were happening behind the scenes or what precise reasons there might be.

“So, I’d like to ask for your understanding.”

Yuu looked back at Kagami.

“After questioning her all night, you still have more to ask?”

“If there are things she doesn’t answer, we have to ask for hours.”

Kagami and Yuu’s eyes met.

Kagami’s eyes were calm. She didn’t look like someone who had lost a daughter.

…No, perhaps it was because she had lost her daughter? She was one of the few people who had confirmed what had happened to Kurosawa at that time.

She was the only one now. Koko, who had been sitting next to her at that time, wasn’t here now.

Was it because she was her daughter?

At that time, those people were trying to take Kurosawa away.

She couldn’t know exactly what they were trying to do. But one thing was certain: it wouldn’t be something welcome to those who knew her.

She turned her gaze back to Yuuki.

She wasn’t even looking this way. The knife she had been holding was gone, put away somewhere. She hadn’t even washed the blood off her body. There were dried dark red marks on her hands.

Seeing that, Yuu’s heart started racing again.

Is that… her blood?

“…Is that the reason you didn’t let people who experienced such events last night get even a wink of sleep?”

Yuu said.

“Child—”

“I think you’re forgetting something.”

Yuu said.

“This mansion doesn’t belong to you.”

“We know that, but—”

“So, the person who decides who stays where in this house isn’t you.”

“……”

The elderly man stared at Yuu.

From beyond the open door, groaning sounds could be heard.

The two officials were pinned under the men, their faces flushed red.

“Don’t you think that if you’re inside, it wouldn’t be strange if something happened to you, even though we couldn’t do anything if you were outside?”

The reactions were varied.

Some snorted, some shifted uncomfortably. The elderly man was among those who did nothing.

“…You said you sealed this place because of pathogens. We can’t refute without evidence.”

Yuu slowly recalled the moment she had stopped the monsters.

“Conversely, even if I said you were mauled by unidentified beasts, there wouldn’t be any evidence either.”

She recalled the sensation she had felt then.

A mirror reflecting the truth.

Conversely, it was also a passage to “the truth beyond.”

Now, only a few people were snorting.

Instead, a few were glaring at Yuu, and most of the rest had slightly uncomfortable expressions.

“I believe you all know who my mother is.”

Yuu put on a show of bravado.

She was just acting on impulse, like when she had thrown that punch.

…She thought it was fortunate that she had some resemblance to her father.

Kagami was quietly looking up at Yuu.

Her expression was complex in many ways.