Ch.165Chapter 24. Flesh (10)

“Koko!”

My throat hurt.

I wonder if anyone nearby heard me? The mountain is usually quiet at night.

Bzzt.

And while I was shouting, I heard my phone vibrating.

I took it out to check, and it was my father. The missed calls had already exceeded five.

This was the first time Yuka had done anything resembling rebellion. Her family wasn’t particularly oppressive, and both her grandfather and father understood the burden Yuka felt, so except for unavoidable situations, they tried to let Yuka do what she wanted.

So, in truth, Yuka hadn’t had any reason not to listen to them until now.

But now.

Now—probably from the moment Yuka explained her reasons, various problems would erupt. Someone might be eavesdropping on phone calls, and perhaps her grandfather and father wouldn’t want to confront those people.

Yuka didn’t want Kotone to… fall into the hands of such people.

“Koko!”

Quickly putting the phone back in her pocket, she shouted again.

Actually, she might not need to shout. Yuka would eventually find Koko anyway.

Koko’s condition hadn’t looked good earlier. She wouldn’t consider that fortunate. Yuka didn’t want to lose Koko too.

But, for that reason, it seemed Koko couldn’t have run far. She still felt goosebumps on her back.

The wind blew through the trees. Even though she was wearing a coat, and despite generating heat from searching the mountain for a long time, it felt like the wind was piercing through her clothes.

How cold must Koko be?

Yuka moved her feet as quickly as possible.

And then—

“…Koko.”

Catching her breath, Yuka murmured.

“Don’t… come.”

Koko said, hiding Kotone behind her back while sitting on the ground.

The tips of her hair were twitching. But those hairs could no longer attack Yuka.

Thinking back, Yuka had never seen Koko this starved before. Koko had always moved as if she had unlimited energy.

But the person who had consistently fed Koko various foods, ensuring she never went hungry, was Kotone.

…Perhaps they had simply never encountered this situation before.

“…”

Yuka put down the sword she was holding.

And slowly, slowly approached Koko.

The part where Koko had cut her stung. Though it wasn’t bleeding, the wound itself hurt, and the wind was coming through the tear in her clothes.

But Yuka wasn’t angry at Koko.

Rather, she felt sorry.

After all, Yuka had… essentially taken everything from Koko.

Even if she apologized now, Koko probably wouldn’t forgive her.

She searched her pocket. There was some chocolate she had brought just in case.

Yuka stood about five steps away from Koko and unwrapped it.

Then slowly offered it to Koko.

Could she smell it? It must have been very tempting to the starving Koko.

But Koko only glanced at the chocolate for a moment, then looked back at Yuka and turned her head away.

“Koko.”

Her chest ached.

“If this is okay with you…”

Yuka slowly approached Koko.

“You don’t look well right now. Hmm? Let’s satisfy your hunger first. Then, we can think about what to do next…”

Koko curled up her body.

As if determined not to be taken easily even if she couldn’t resist, she hunched over Kotone’s body, holding her tightly.

“…”

Yuka moved closer to Koko.

Even when Yuka knelt on the ground and reached out, Koko didn’t move.

Only when her hand finally touched Koko’s back, causing Koko to flinch, did Yuka feel relieved. She didn’t want to lose another precious friend right before her eyes.

Yuka said nothing.

Instead, she embraced Koko.

She felt slightly dizzy. Was the fatigue she’d forgotten in her relief suddenly rushing back?

The three of them stayed like that for a while.

None of them said a word.

*

After being caught, Koko seemed to have given up completely.

Even when Yuka brought the chocolate to Koko’s mouth, Koko slightly turned her head to avoid it.

The atmosphere suggested she would absolutely not accept Yuka’s help, which pained Yuka.

But it was okay.

She thought this was enough.

At least Koko wasn’t running away anymore. Though it might just be because she had no strength left.

“Here, take this.”

Yuka wrapped the chocolate back in its packaging and put it in Koko’s pocket.

“If you get really hungry, eat it.”

“…”

For a moment, Yuka considered saying that’s what Kotone would have wanted, but she chose to keep quiet. Such words might backfire in this situation.

Still, she was relieved that Koko didn’t immediately take it out and throw it on the ground.

“Uu…”

When Yuka bent down to touch Kotone’s body, Koko lightly grabbed Yuka’s arm, but soon her hand fell limply.

“…Can you walk?”

Koko kept her head down and said nothing.

Yuka decided to take that as a yes and lifted Kotone onto her back.

Thud.

Kotone’s hand dropped down.

For a moment, she almost burst into tears—

“…Huh?”

Yuka looked down at Kotone’s arm.

Kotone’s arm, which had fallen along Yuka’s shoulder, continued to sway with Yuka’s movements.

A dead person could do that.

But not someone who had been dead for some time.

Corpses stiffen over time. The various organs and fluids that keep human joints moving smoothly only function properly when a person is alive. Over time, they settle at the bottom due to gravity and harden. Naturally, Kotone should have been the same.

But Kotone wasn’t.

The same was true for her hands. If her palms had been facing the ground, there should have been bluish discoloration where blood had pooled. But Kotone’s hands were just pale.

Was it because she had lost too much blood?

Although decomposition progresses more slowly in winter, Kotone didn’t even smell.

Was it because she was a child who had received power from another world—

Yuka shook her head.

“Ugh.”

She stood up and walked slowly. The ground felt a bit unstable beneath her feet. After all, Yuka hadn’t eaten properly for the past few days either.

The fallen leaves and dry branches on the ground crackled as they broke.

Looking back, she saw that Koko was following her, perhaps unable to let Kotone go alone.

Matching her pace with Koko, Yuka continued down the mountain.

She felt an emotion she couldn’t understand or express.

Maybe…?

Of course, she thought it wasn’t good to have such feelings.

Kotone was dead.

The dead cannot return.

But still—

Kotone wasn’t an ordinary child—

As they descended the mountain, Yuka’s heart remained unsettled.

*

“Koko.”

“Uu…?”

After reaching the bottom of the mountain and arriving at the road, Yuka called out to Koko.

Whether because she had given up or understood that Yuka wasn’t going to do anything immediately, Koko responded to Yuka’s call.

Seeing Koko looking up at her weakly momentarily left Yuka speechless, but she spoke calmly.

“From here on, we need to be careful. Kotone is… in this state now. If others see her, it could be a big problem.”

Koko stared at Yuka. She seemed to understand. Had she eaten the chocolate in her pocket? Yuka hoped so.

“So… if anyone asks, you need to answer calmly. We can’t let them know about Kotone’s… condition.”

“Uu…”

Koko nodded.

Yuka looked around and then crouched down. With Koko’s help, she carefully set Kotone down and took off her coat.

Then she lifted Kotone onto her back again.

“Koko, please cover her with the coat.”

This way, at least they could hide the hole in Kotone’s chest.

Koko covered Kotone’s back with Yuka’s coat.

Yuka shivered slightly.

It was much colder without her coat. But they couldn’t go to the police station like this.

Occasionally stopping to look back at Koko, Yuka walked forward. Koko followed, keeping some distance from Yuka.

Several cars passed on the road, but none showed interest in the three of them. Yuka thought that was fortunate.

“Haa… haa…”

Gradually, she became short of breath.

Her legs trembled.

Should she call someone now? She couldn’t be sure the call wouldn’t be intercepted, but still…

After walking for a long time, they finally reached the residential area.

“We’re going to your house now.”

Yuka had decided.

She would take them there first, then call Kagami.

Or maybe he was already there.

“Let’s think about what to do once we get there.”

“…”

Koko nodded.

There weren’t many people on the street. It seemed most places except convenience stores and family restaurants had already closed. The New Year’s atmosphere was fading as schools reopened.

As they were walking—

“Hey, students.”

A voice called out to the three of them.

“…”

It was the police.

I see. Was it already that time?

Yuka turned toward the officers.

Koko stood between Yuka and the police, as if on guard.

“You’re students, right?”

There were two officers.

“What are you doing out here at this hour?”

Normally, she wouldn’t have worried much. She could just call her father or say she was already heading home. After all, they were just checking to make sure they weren’t up to no good.

But now, it was problematic.

Kotone was… in a state that would be very difficult to show to strangers.

“We’re on our way home.”

“What were you doing? What’s wrong with the student on your back? If she’s sick—”

Perhaps carrying an unconscious child on her back was the issue.

The officers didn’t seem inclined to let them go easily.

“Maybe…”

Did they think they had been drinking?

“Today, we had something exhausting happen. So I’m carrying her—”

“…”

It didn’t seem like a convincing explanation.

Not just Kotone on her back, but both Koko and Yuka looked disheveled. In the dark, it hadn’t been noticeable, but now in an area with many light sources, the leaves and twigs stuck to their clothes were clearly visible.

…What should I do?

As the officers’ eyes narrowed seeing Yuka’s face turn pale—

“Excuse me— what’s going on here?”

A passing man spoke up.

No, really.

Yuka had never seen this person before.

The man’s gaze was directed at Koko, not Yuka.

Koko was looking at the man with slightly widened eyes.

“You—”

The man’s gaze shifted between the police and Koko several times, then his brow furrowed. His expression looked like he was pondering something.

And then the next moment.

“What have you been doing out this late!”

The man shouted.

Yuka looked back and forth between Koko and the middle-aged man.

“Waa?”

“Do you have any idea how long your parents have been waiting?”

For a moment, she wondered if this middle-aged man might be an acquaintance of Kagami. But judging by Koko’s reaction, that didn’t seem to be the case.

“I apologize. My nieces have caused trouble.”

“What? No—”

Seeing the man bow to the police, Yuka blinked.

It didn’t take long to decide how to respond.

“Uncle, we—”

The middle-aged man’s expression wasn’t intimidating at all when he looked at Yuka, but she deliberately closed her mouth.

Whatever else might be happening, seeing Yuka’s reaction, the police seemed to genuinely believe they were relatives.

The man and the police exchanged some words, then looked toward Yuka and Koko.

“You kids got lucky. Do you know how many people target kids like you? It’s fortunate your uncle is a good person.”

“Quickly, apologize.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“Uu…? I’m sorry…?”

Koko followed Yuka’s lead. She still didn’t seem to understand the situation, but she apparently thought this was the better course of action.

After watching the police walk away for a while, the man turned toward Yuka and Koko.

“…What happened?”

“I’m sorry for the trouble, but thank you for helping us just now.”

Instead of answering the man’s question directly, Yuka spoke with a cautious voice.

“Do we know you?”

“Ah.”

In response to Yuka’s question, the man scratched his head and said.

“A while back, this student—”

The man looked at Koko and tilted his head.

“No, was it that student?”

Looking at the sleeping student on Yuka’s back, the man tilted his head again.

“…Anyway, I received help once. She helped me when I collapsed at the train station, so I was able to survive… Was I being nosy? You looked troubled.”

“Ah, no.”

Yuka was a bit surprised by the man’s words.

Koko was also staring at the man.

“…Thank you for helping us.”

“But, that child…”

“Today, something difficult happened. She’s just asleep.”

“Is that so…?”

It seemed that while he had helped them, upon closer inspection, the situation looked strange to him.

To the man who was staring at the two of them, Yuka bowed her head again.

“Our home is nearby. I’m taking her there now.”

“I understand. All three of you, get home safely.”

The man said, still tilting his head. Perhaps it was thanks to Koko. Maybe he was practicing the most important part of social life: not meddling too deeply in others’ affairs.

Yuka, Koko, and the nameless man parted ways.

It was fortunate. If the police had detained them until the end, the story would certainly have taken a strange turn.

Yuka quickened her pace slightly.

She couldn’t go much faster. She was too exhausted.

*

Should she call it fortunate?

Long before they reached Kotone and Koko’s house, a person came running.

At first, she thought it might be someone from the government, but the clothes they wore were so distinctly yakuza that she felt somewhat relieved.

Were there no government people around here? Perhaps they wanted to avoid conflict. Or, thinking more hopefully, maybe they had given up on trying to secure Kotone’s body.

After all, Kotone was dead. The government and exorcists know most accurately what “Mumeishi” do. Over the long years, they’ve attempted to take them several times.

Perhaps something more urgent had come up elsewhere. The number of experts in this field is always limited. Moreover, each search requires covering a wide area, often necessitating bringing in people from other regions.

It wasn’t right to think this way, but if yokai were rampaging elsewhere, that would be… fortunate for Yuka.

“…Couldn’t you have chosen to make a phone call?”

When Yuka, Kotone, and Koko arrived at the old apartment by car, Kagami asked, as if finding it somewhat absurd.

“…We might have been tracked…”

When Yuka spoke in a small voice, surprisingly, Kagami just stared at her without saying anything.

His expression didn’t reveal any particular emotion. Still, Kagami didn’t mock her further. He simply helped Yuka bring Koko out in silence.

“…Aren’t we going to the second floor?”

“What we need is over here.”

Yuka looked up at the second floor. The light was on in the room where Koko and Kotone stayed. Had he been there all this time? After losing his daughter.

“From here on, leave it to us.”

“…Me too.”

“I know.”

Kagami looked at Yuka intently and said.

“If you were cautious enough to avoid using your phone on the way here, I can trust you. But in your current state, you won’t be of any help.”

“…”

“Take Koko to the second floor. There will be people there. Let’s… feed her something first. You should eat too, and clean up.”

Yuka could only nod at those words.

“What about Kotone?”

Koko, who had been waiting anxiously outside the room, asked.

“First, let’s fill our stomachs.”

“Uu…”

“Your… mother has received her. I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

“Is Kotone okay?”

Seeing Koko ask that, Yuka felt many emotions.

Sympathy that Koko had no one to rely on now. Gratitude that she was speaking to her. …The pain of wondering how Koko felt after losing what was most precious to her.

“First, let’s recover our physical condition. You’ve been apart from Kotone before, right? That’s enough for now.”

“Uu…”

Koko lowered her head.

Meanwhile, Kagami came out of the room.

“What are you doing standing here?”

After saying that to Yuka, Kagami looked at Koko and was momentarily speechless.

Silently approaching Koko, Kagami grabbed her wrist.

“Waa?”

“Let’s eat something first.”

And he half-forcibly pulled Koko toward the second floor.

Koko followed weakly.

“You too.”

Only after Kagami looked back and said that did Yuka slowly follow.