Ch.274If Side Story. Tokyo Slayers: Final Chapter (12)

At first, she seemed reluctant to talk, but once she started conversing with Souta and the others, she gradually opened up.

Perhaps it was because Kurosawa was nearby.

Though their relationship didn’t seem particularly good, she was still connected to her dead friend.

The blonde girl’s name was Harumi Fukuda.

She had been in the same class as Kurosawa during their first year, and apparently had a close friend named Mako.

And that Mako was the one who died last year.

Yuka slightly bowed her head upon hearing this. Fukuda didn’t seem to notice, but Yuka appeared to feel quite guilty about the incident.

But Souta had no idea how to comfort Yuka. That was natural. He couldn’t possibly explain the whole situation to Fukuda right now.

“Well, I guess it’s not entirely Kurosawa’s fault. The time it takes to consider someone a friend varies from person to person. Honestly, thinking about it now, I don’t even know what Mako thought. Mako was kind to everyone… I don’t know if she just wanted to help someone pitiful or if she truly considered her a friend.”

Kurosawa listened without saying a word.

“And then something else happened soon after. Well, you might not care, but this is about another friend of mine. Someone who knew Mako well.”

“…”

“I don’t know exactly what happened, but she ran away from home and something terrible happened to her. She’s in the hospital now, and… well, she’s been like that for about a year, so she probably won’t wake up again? She was already upset about her closest friend dying, and then all this happened on top of that, so she probably wasn’t thinking clearly.”

What Fukuda revealed was much heavier than Souta had expected, and he couldn’t think of how to respond.

This must have been difficult for Fukuda to talk about. The reason she could open up to Souta and his friends, whom she’d just met today, was probably because… she’d been keeping it bottled up inside. It might have been harder to tell someone she was close to.

This conversation happened because of Kurosawa’s presence, creating a situation where she could finally open up.

“Apparently her father found most of the guys who did that to her… but I still can’t get over it. And it seems they didn’t catch everyone. So, well… I’ve been looking around on my own. Though I know I probably won’t find anything this way.”

Fukuda, who was crouching against the alley wall, lifted her head and rested the back of it against the wall. Then she looked up at Kurosawa.

Kurosawa was looking at Fukuda, but her face was expressionless, making it impossible to tell what she was thinking.

Fukuda gave a small, empty laugh.

“Well, sorry for getting angry. It’s not really your fault.”

And if she truly believed that, perhaps Fukuda wouldn’t have helped Kurosawa at the cost of getting hurt herself.

Maybe she was following the thoughts of that girl named Mako. If she was a friend of that girl who had wanted to help Kurosawa, and who was no longer in this world.

“…Did you call the police?” Fukuda asked with a somewhat resigned expression.

“We’ll explain everything properly.”

“That’s right. Those kids were in the wrong too.”

Nanami quickly added to Souta’s words.

“…It’ll probably be fine.”

Yuka said in a heavy voice.

Souta knew what she meant. Yuka’s family fought yokai, and naturally, it was almost impossible to perfectly follow the law in that process. There must be ways to circumvent the legal system for various reasons.

But at the same time, she would need to talk to her grandfather, which would mean revealing that she was friendly with Kurosawa.

This was ultimately Souta’s fault. If Souta hadn’t been hanging around with Kurosawa, Yuka wouldn’t have been involved in this situation—

…And as for Kurosawa, it was hard to say what would have happened to her.

After that, the four of them were lost in their own thoughts as they waited for the police to arrive.

After going to the police station, Yuka’s grandfather and father, as well as Fukuda’s father, arrived, and the situation was quickly resolved.

The three of them went to the hospital. Though they could walk, they weren’t in a condition to just go home.

Fukuda wasn’t completely uninjured either, and Kurosawa had a wound on her arm, so they all ended up going to the hospital together.

“…”

After all the treatments were finished, outside the hospital, Fukuda’s father stared at Souta with a cigarette in his mouth. He had a somewhat gaunt impression, perhaps because his cheeks were slightly sunken.

Though he was wearing a suit with bright primary colors, he somehow looked gloomy.

As if contemplating whether to say something, he looked at Souta and raised his hand before Souta could greet him first.

And ignoring how Souta flinched, he patted his shoulder. It was as if he was saying “good job.”

“Thank you.”

That was all he said before walking over to Fukuda, who was standing at a distance, looking in their direction.

Then he glanced in the direction Fukuda was looking.

After briefly looking at Kurosawa, Fukuda’s father turned back and lightly placed his hand on Fukuda’s shoulder.

Fukuda turned around without saying goodbye and walked away side by side with her father.

“Kurosawa, are you okay?”

Nanami asked worriedly.

The wound on Kurosawa’s arm wasn’t severe enough to require stitches. Still, it had been disinfected, treated with ointment, and bandaged.

But regardless, the wound itself looked quite painful to anyone who saw it. Yet Kurosawa didn’t even blink.

“…”

Kurosawa slightly bowed her head. Souta arbitrarily thought that it was similar to nodding.

“Can you go home alone? Or should we go with you…”

Kurosawa quietly looked at Nanami.

Nanami cut her sentence short. Did she see some emotion in Kurosawa’s eyes?

Or did she sense the meaning behind what Fukuda had said?

As Yuka had told Souta, if they weren’t going to take responsibility for Kurosawa until the end, it might seem like they were going too far.

Kurosawa looked at Nanami quietly, then turned her gaze to look at Yuka and Souta.

Then she turned around and slowly started walking.

Souta, Yuka, and Nanami quietly followed her, eventually entering the station together.

“…Will she be okay?”

Nanami murmured as she watched the small figure walking away.

“She’ll be fine.”

At least the kids who were bullying Kurosawa were in the hospital.

Souta knew it was somewhat wrong to think this way, but he thought that while those kids were in the hospital, Kurosawa might be a little better off.

Even so, interpreting someone else’s injury as a “good thing” made him very uncomfortable.

“…”

Yuka was quietly watching Kurosawa’s back. Her expression was quite complex. The most prominent emotion was “concern,” but Souta could instinctively feel that this concern wasn’t simply directed at Kurosawa as an individual.

“Sasaki. Did you see it earlier?”

Yuka asked Souta.

“See what?”

“On her left wrist earlier. The tattoo.”

“Oh, I saw it.”

Nanami said.

“Something like a magic circle.”

“Yes.”

Yuka nodded and said,

“No matter how I think about it, I don’t think she got that willingly.”

“Are you starting with that again?”

Nanami said, sounding a bit annoyed at Yuka’s words.

“Seeing how neglected she is, her family might… just leave her alone. So that could just be something forced on her.”

“I agree it was forced on her. She probably doesn’t even know what it means. For some… purpose of her family.”

“Are you saying you know what it means?”

Yuka couldn’t answer Nanami’s question.

“What, is it some kind of seal or something? You’re not looking for a way to solve this with that sword again, are you?”

“Nanami.”

Souta stopped her, thinking her words were going too far.

Sometimes, Yuka reacts sensitively to things that others might consider trivial. In fact, Souta himself sometimes wonders if it’s really something to worry about that much, but Yuka’s intuition often proves correct.

Besides, didn’t Yuka’s grandfather warn her to stay away from Kurosawa?

He did think there might really be something there.

But if Yuka were to… draw her sword, that would be a different story.

“I don’t always look for that kind of solution.”

Yuka said, sounding a bit angry.

“I… try in my own way too.”

After saying that, Yuka turned around.

Nanami slightly raised her hand as if she just realized she had misspoken, but she couldn’t bring herself to call out to Yuka again.

…Both of them would be better off if they were a bit more honest.