Ch.268If Side Story. Tokyo Slayers: Final Chapter (6)

“Yuka?”

Souta sensed something in Yuka’s gaze.

It was a certain emotion.

He couldn’t tell exactly what she was thinking, but this look was similar to the one he’d seen when Yuka was protecting him.

“…Did you find something out?”

“…”

Yuka paused briefly before speaking.

“I looked into the Kurosawa name. My grandfather knew about it. They’re a family that worships some… god.”

“What kind of god?”

“We don’t really know. Even the followers don’t know well.”

“What do you mean they don’t know?”

“…You know Christianity, right? How they worship an omnipotent, singular god.”

Senior Hagiwara was that type. Souta didn’t know much about it, but he wasn’t completely unfamiliar with the concept. It had been mentioned several times in history textbooks.

“It’s not easy to ‘specifically’ explain that god in any way. The Bible says God created humans in his image, but we don’t actually know if that god really resembles humans. That’s a more… conceptual matter. The being the Kurosawa family believes in is like that.”

Yuka took a breath, then exhaled softly as she spoke.

“Those cult people we met. They said they were from that group. You remember, right?”

Yuka moved closer to Souta as she spoke.

“So this time, absolutely don’t go near her. Don’t think about your sense of justice or whatever. Just leave that girl alone.”

“…”

Souta felt strangely overwhelmed by Yuka’s attitude.

It was a feeling he’d never experienced before. At the same time, Souta suddenly realized that Yuka’s attitude toward him until now had been somewhat restrained.

“Promise me. Promise you won’t approach that girl.”

Yuka spoke as if pressuring Souta.

“…Alright.”

In response to Yuka’s words, Souta could only nod.

For whatever reason, Souta trusted Yuka.

Though the look in Yuka’s eyes as she gazed at Souta didn’t seem to hold very strong expectations.

*

In truth, Yuka’s instruction to “not approach that girl” wasn’t difficult to follow.

All he had to do was avoid going near that classroom. Actually, that girl rarely came outside anyway.

Did she eat lunch during the lunch break, or was she being dragged around by those three people again?

To be honest, he was curious. But—

“…”

As if to prevent Souta from approaching that girl, Yuka’s gaze followed him everywhere.

And Nanami didn’t seem too pleased seeing Yuka like this. If there was any consolation, Senior Hagiwara was now a third-year and seemed busy with various things, so she didn’t appear interested in getting involved in the relationship between the three.

Souta knew that other kids would envy his situation. He was well aware that all three girls were beauties whose faces would leave a deep impression, and it was a happy thing that such girls would casually make physical contact and act friendly.

That’s why he was trying hard not to cross any lines.

He was still concerned about that girl. It was like seeing Shii again when he first met her.

But even so, he had no intention of ignoring Yuka’s words. If he didn’t know how desperately Yuka fought to protect people, he might not have understood the meaning of her words, but he had seen her fighting several times already.

…That was what he had intended, anyway.

*

Yuka and Souta couldn’t always be together.

At school, Yuka could stick to Souta like she was marking him, but that wasn’t possible on days when Souta went to his part-time job.

Besides, Yuka seemed to have a lot to deal with at home. Probably because of that Kotone Kurosawa girl.

It was a bit worrying. Though he’d never seen Yuka cut someone, as Nanami said, if she felt it was necessary—

“…”

Let’s not worry about that.

Souta shook his head and focused on what he was doing.

His job was mainly at a convenience store.

The part-time position he’d found by chance near the school was busier than expected. There were many people walking around the area, and somehow it seemed like the number of customers had increased since Souta started working.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a job that required him to work too late at night, but it was still tough going straight to work after school ended. Since his working hours weren’t that long, he didn’t earn that much money.

Thankfully, it was enough to contribute to his living expenses.

“Phew.”

He steps outside after finishing all his work.

It was getting to be the time when police might stop you if you wandered around too much. Fortunately, it wasn’t too far by train.

It was pure coincidence that Souta, walking under the completely dark night sky, encountered four classmates.

“What, going home?”

He heard that voice first. Just hearing the words, it wasn’t particularly strange. There could be kids playing outside until a bit late.

Souta didn’t have such an excellent memory that he could remember a voice after hearing it just once.

But what’s easier to remember than an ordinary voice is the tone and situation.

So when Souta turned toward that sound, it couldn’t be called a coincidence.

“Hey, we were having fun, weren’t we? I told you we’d let you sleep over, right? No need to worry too much.”

“Yeah, that’s right. The man is waiting. Don’t worry too much. He said he’d appear at just the right moment to save you.”

“Yeah, yeah. We’re friends, right? Don’t you trust us?”

“…”

The place the four were about to enter was a dark, secluded alley.

Suddenly, Yuka’s words came to mind. Not to get involved with that girl.

The Kurosawa family was a dangerous family—and that danger was related to something inhuman. Yuka had worried about Souta.

But even so.

Should a girl be bullied like that just because she belongs to a family with such a name?

Though he could only see the black hair that almost reached her knees, somehow her appearance seemed like that of someone who had given up all expectations of the world.

If she were a child who thought someone would help her, would she have followed them so obediently—

By the time he had thought that far, Souta’s feet were already moving.

“…Hey.”

Tap.

When Souta suddenly approached and grabbed her wrist, the girl who had her hand on Kotone Kurosawa’s shoulder was startled.

He lifted the wrist upward. The girl seemed to try to resist, but she wasn’t as strong as expected, and her arm followed Souta’s hand.

“Oh, you…!”

Souta remembered their faces. Conversely, they seemed to remember Souta’s face too.

Even in the darkness of the secluded alley, Souta could clearly see the girl’s face turning pale.

“What are you doing right now?”

Souta asked in a low voice.

The two girls whose wrists weren’t grabbed backed away from the two, as if unsure what to do. Their faces had also turned pale.

“What are you doing?”

The girl whose wrist was grabbed regained her composure surprisingly quickly.

As if knowing Souta wouldn’t hit her, though one arm was being held up, she regained her posture. Her face was still somewhat pale, but a sneering smile appeared on her lips.

“Do you know what will happen if you put your hands on a girl in a place like this? If we scream here…”

“Scream.”

Souta muttered.

“You’re thinking of screaming?”

Souta himself didn’t know what he was thinking when he said that. If Nanami had seen it, she would have been shocked. She might have turned paler than the girl whose wrist was currently being held.

What about Yuka?

If it were Yuka, she probably would have sighed deeply and stopped Souta before it got to this point.

And Shii—

…

He decided not to think about Shii. That was… a bit scary.

When Souta asked back with an expressionless face, unlike at school, the girl seemed to get a bit anxious again.

“In a situation like this—”

Souta extended his other hand.

The girl flinched as if she’d been hit, but Souta’s hand was directed toward Kotone Kurosawa.

And Souta’s hand lifted one of Kotone Kurosawa’s arms.

The sailor uniform sleeve, a bit large compared to her thin wrist, slid down slightly.

And on that white wrist, blue marks were clearly visible.

“Did you do this?”

“W-we…”

“Yes, something might happen if you scream.”

Souta said, trying his best to imitate Yuka’s tone.

“But, I couldn’t help overhearing what you were saying. Didn’t you say some… man would come here?”

“…”

The girl’s face turned pale again.

“You barely got into a good high school, but if you bullied a classmate and tried to make someone do something strange, what kind of punishment would you receive for that?”

“D-do you have evidence?”

“If it comes to that, I might be able to create evidence.”

Souta said in the flattest tone possible.

“Couldn’t I make you say those things? And somehow catch that man and stall for time?”

He did wonder if he’d gone too far. To be honest, he was just making up whatever came to mind to dominate the atmosphere.

But strangely, his words seemed to be working.

The two girls were already backing away slowly as if about to run away.

Souta released the hand he was holding.

The girl ran away in a hurry. The other two did the same.

…Should he be glad it worked, or should he be afraid of what might happen next?

To be honest, he did regret it a bit—

But still, he could say he had achieved his goal.