Ch.263If Side Story. Tokyo Slayers: Final Chapter (1)

Ominous things approach gradually.

That’s why, before you notice the ominousness, by the time you realize it, your knees are already submerged too deep to escape.

Yuka Yuuki had been feeling this way quite often lately.

She didn’t know if it was just her imagination or an instinctive sense of foreboding.

But feelings often contain surprisingly much information.

The faint smell of rot permeating everyday scenery, the moans from the basement barely audible if you concentrate, screams almost inaudible beneath people’s cheers.

Many times, we instinctively hear such things and feel discomfort.

“Yuka.”

“…Huh?”

Yuka, who had been staring blankly out the window, flinched at the voice.

When she turned her head, Souta Sasaki was looking at her.

She felt her face flush slightly.

The reason for this was something Yuka had been gradually becoming aware of recently.

It wasn’t just because he was handsome, or because he had a good personality, or because they occasionally talked since they sat in front and behind each other.

It was something she came to realize through their continued conversations after they became entangled by chance.

She had never attended the same school for this long before, so she hadn’t really known a friend for this long either.

Friends who used to send her messages after she moved would gradually forget about her, their contact becoming less frequent until it stopped altogether.

She had thought about reaching out again, but this year she just gave up.

After all, she had attended too many schools, making it nearly impossible to maintain relationships with all those children.

Someone once said that one deep relationship is better than many shallow ones. Yuka was definitely someone who could understand that sentiment deeply.

In that sense, Souta was somewhat special to Yuka.

Even when she showed her rough personality, Souta never said anything mean. Sometimes they argued, and even when she thought she had really made a mistake, Souta was always the one to speak to her first.

Moreover, he was a boy she had never properly talked to before.

It was natural to have various thoughts. And among those thoughts, very subtly, was an emotion Yuka was feeling for the first time.

Though she wasn’t honest enough to acknowledge that feeling yet.

“It’s nothing,” she answered coolly, then looked back out the window.

The sky was clear. Contrary to her gloomy mood, there was no sign of rain.

Even someone like Yuka would normally feel better looking at such a sky.

Though she couldn’t smell or hear anything unusual, Yuka couldn’t shake the ominous feeling.

*

The same scenery as always. The same daily life as always.

Souta deeply felt how precious this ordinary life was.

Since meeting Yuka at the beginning of last year, he had been caught up in various incidents.

Or rather, Yuka had helped when Souta and Shii got caught up in various situations.

Starting with Yuka saving Shii when she was almost attacked by that serial killer… no, the man-eating demon.

The demon was just the beginning.

According to Yuka, there had been an unusually high number of yokai appearances recently. That “recently” actually covered quite a broad range, from right before Yuka met Souta until now.

Well, it made sense for Yuka to say that, having spent almost her entire life fighting yokai.

What Souta realized after encountering various types of yokai was that Yuka didn’t actually want to live such a life.

When yokai-hunting duties overlapped with times she was having fun, Yuka would make a pained expression. It wasn’t obvious on the surface, and her behavior seemed normal, but Souta could sense the subtle difference.

While pretending not to care, she envied other kids shopping, and she carefully treasured the ornament Souta had given her.

Despite being in unusual circumstances, she was at heart just an ordinary girl no different from others.

That’s why Souta worried about Yuka.

Lately, she had been spacing out lost in thought more often.

What busy matters was she handling in places Souta couldn’t see?

Since Yuka wasn’t the type to easily answer if he probed too deeply, Souta felt anxious but had no choice but to keep his distance.

“…Huh?”

While walking lost in these thoughts, he suddenly felt something was off.

Look carefully, listen carefully, smell carefully.

Was it thanks to Yuka repeatedly telling Souta this until he was sick of hearing it?

Just once, he thought he heard a thud—

He hadn’t fought directly himself.

But he had watched those fights from the sidelines many times.

Souta’s blood had been helpful in those fights, allowing him to assist Yuka several times.

And in the process, he had learned to distinguish certain sounds. Not intentionally, but at least he could recognize the sound of someone being hit.

And the sound of someone falling to the ground.

Maybe he had misheard. After all, Souta wasn’t a real exorcist. He had no delusions of having skills comparable to Yuka’s.

But even so.

He couldn’t just pretend he hadn’t heard such a sound and walk away.

Souta turned toward the back of the school building.

Between the fence and the school building.

There were windows there too. But the corner between the edge of the building and the fence was difficult to see even if you looked carefully. It was also unlikely anyone would stand there listening.

And there, some students were standing.

“Hey, Sadako.”

Souta’s steps faltered momentarily at a girl’s voice.

Sadako. A famous name.

It could be a real name, but it was more famous as the ghost from the movie. The ghost known for crawling out of the TV.

A nickname? No, considering when the movie was released, that might not be it.

But that didn’t mean the current situation looked okay.

The corner of a building, an angry voice.

No matter how you looked at it… it was that kind of scene.

Souta approached quietly, muffling his footsteps.

The conversation continued as he did.

“Didn’t I tell you to carry more than this?”

What were they telling someone to carry?

“I told you to earn more. There must be plenty of people who are into girls like you.”

Laughter followed those words.

Hearing that, Souta could guess what was happening.

This was the sound of someone being bullied.

Such things at Hanakawa High School…

…wouldn’t be strange. Such situations could happen at any school.

The voices were only those of girls, but was it okay? Would it be better to go get a teacher?

But the situation might worsen in the meantime. If only he weren’t alone, one person could go get a teacher.

“What? Don’t like older men? Or are peers okay too? If you prefer that, go ahead. What about… who was it? That pig.”

“Oh, that one from Class F? Don’t know the name.”

“Yeah, that one. Didn’t he look at you closely? Why don’t you go talk to him? Who knows? He might give you whatever you ask for.”

Souta’s pace quickened.

“Isn’t that going too far? He must have his preferences too. You know, they say you shouldn’t judge people by their appearance.”

Giggling laughter.

“Well, it might be a bit much to tell her to sleep with a ghost. She’s so filthy.”

“Since they’re older men, maybe youth is a bonus point?”

“Excuse me.”

When Souta interrupted, the students who had their backs to him all turned around at once.

Souta was a bit surprised.

All of them had unremarkable appearances. Each one looked like the type of ordinary student you’d find one or two of in any class.

None of them had the stereotypical delinquent look—no bleached blonde hair or strange makeup.

Well, people can’t be judged by appearances anyway.

…Souta had already experienced that firsthand.

“Huh?”

The student closest to Souta froze.

As if they hadn’t expected anyone to discover this scene.

Did they really expect that after laughing so loudly?

No, perhaps they had repeated similar acts so often that they’d forgotten to be cautious. Yuka had said something similar. Don’t get sloppy just because you’re used to something.

“What are you all doing?” Souta asked, looking at the student who was sprawled on the ground, barely managing to raise their upper body.

That student’s appearance—

With long hair covering their face, it was difficult to describe precisely.

The glimpse of expression Souta caught was so blank that he felt slightly unsettled.

“…What are you doing?” Souta asked again, putting some anger into his voice.