Ch.291If Side Story. Tokyo Slayers: Final Chapter (29)

Every place has an atmosphere.

How people around us behave, what objects surround us, what noises exist—all these factors determine how people will act.

Usually, bullying occurs for similar reasons.

When someone says a certain child is dark, unpleasant, and uncomfortable, others agree.

Agreement upon agreement upon agreement eventually creates an atmosphere.

To everyone, that child becomes the dark, uncomfortable, unpleasant one.

Right now, in this place, such an “atmosphere” existed.

An atmosphere of uncertainty about how to handle this situation.

Some people think they should help when they see someone being bullied, while others want to run away.

Moreover, if the person who created this situation isn’t in their right mind, the consequences of interfering could be beyond imagination.

Who in the world would think of putting an iron chain around someone’s neck and anchoring it to the floor? If Souta had been an ordinary person living a normal life, he might have been instantly outraged upon seeing this. It was the kind of thing that would make the social pages of newspapers.

And simultaneously, he might have wanted to escape from here. Justice is good, but not if it means risking serious injury.

However, Souta already knew aspects of a “not-so-ordinary” world.

Perhaps that person wasn’t even “human.” If she were a yokai, someone might have gone to great lengths to restrain her somehow.

If the Kurosawa family was related to the Yukane household, and if they were similar families—

But that thought changed when he saw Yuka move.

Yuka approached the woman without any hesitation. The gaunt woman with sunken cheeks looked up at Yuka as she approached.

With that, the atmosphere changed.

Following Yuka, Fukuda moved forward, and Nanami, with a somewhat frightened expression, followed behind.

Souta quickly stepped forward as well. He was the only male here, so he couldn’t just stand back and stare blankly.

“…!”

Yuka seemed to be approaching to unfasten the chain, but the woman suddenly grabbed Yuka’s clothes.

She pulled Yuka toward herself while looking up at her. Tears welled up in her wide eyes.

“Who are you…?”

“I’m Yuka Yuuki. I’m a friend of Kurosawa…”

“Ah.”

The strength left the woman’s hands.

“Hurry, hurry and leave. If you stay here—”

“Don’t worry.”

Yuka lowered herself while placing a hand on the woman’s shoulder.

“I am Kotone’s friend…”

“That won’t happen.”

Yuka’s voice was firm. This was Yuka when she had made up her mind about something.

Yuka unfastened the sword she had been carrying on her shoulder and showed it to the woman who was looking up at her again.

“No way.”

“I don’t know exactly about the Kurosawa family. My grandfather didn’t tell me precisely. But still, I’m not completely powerless. I know how to fight.”

“Then you should leave even more urgently.”

The woman said.

Tears were flowing from her eyes.

“Those people will surely be more vigilant…”

“…Yes, we can’t stay here. First, I’ll focus on getting you out of here.”

Yuka exhaled slightly and said.

“Are you… no, are you Kotone’s mother?”

“…”

The woman’s shoulders slumped.

“…Yes, that’s right. If that child still thinks of me that way.”

Nanami covered her mouth with both hands. Fukuda wore an expression that suggested he didn’t know how to process this situation.

And Souta.

Somehow, he noticed the only clean, well-organized spot in this dilapidated house.

There was a fish tank.

The goldfish that Kurosawa had received at the festival was swimming inside.

The water was clean. The tank was clean. It was impossible to know how long it had been since Kurosawa disappeared, but she must have taken great care of that fish tank.

“Let’s deal with the chain first.”

Souta said this as he immediately approached the floor where the chain was embedded.

Yes. First, let’s do what we can. This person is the only one who might know where Kurosawa is right now.

“…”

And the bound woman just stared blankly, as if unsure how to respond to Souta and his friends.

*

No matter how weakened an adult woman might be, if she tried with all her might to break free from chains, she could exert considerable force.

She couldn’t have been this thin from the beginning. Surely when she was first chained, her physical condition must have been better than now.

No, even if her physical condition wasn’t good enough to break free at once, she could have gradually, over time, widened the hole by constantly shaking the chain to escape.

So naturally, the chain was embedded quite deeply.

While Souta was trying to somehow unfasten the chain, he was also thinking about one thing.

Why hadn’t Kurosawa thought about escaping from here?

There could only be one reason.

This person here, Kurosawa’s mother.

Since Kurosawa never talked about her family, it was impossible to know how attached they were to each other.

But clearly, Kurosawa must have had enough attachment to her mother not to leave her behind.

Considering that Kurosawa literally had “nothing” until now.

Or maybe there was an even more serious problem.

Perhaps the chain was merely symbolic. A warning that something would happen if she escaped from here. No different from drawing a line and saying “don’t cross it.”

“…”

Gritting his teeth, he lifted the metal stake at the end of the chain along with the other kids.

Crack.

The worn-out wooden floorboard lifted slightly.

“Good, just a little more!”

“Heave-ho!”

Fukuda shouted, and the children holding the iron chain leaned back with all their might.

Creak.

And the metal stake came out.

Or rather, it broke in the middle. Whether the force was improperly applied during installation, or there was an internal problem from being there too long, or perhaps it was defective from the start.

The stake was broken at the end.

“We did it!”

Yuka exclaimed as she stood up and pulled Kurosawa’s mother’s arm.

“Come on, let’s go outside. We need to find Kurosawa. I know a safe place.”

“A safe place…”

Kurosawa’s mother muttered and shook her head. Her greasy hair, unwashed for some time, fell across her face. Ironically, that impression was very similar to Kurosawa.

“There’s no such place. If my sister…”

Sister.

Yuka’s gaze briefly rested on Souta. Souta nodded.

So Kurosawa’s disappearance was indeed a family matter.

If that was the case, they needed to move faster.

Souta had no way of knowing how the Kurosawa family operated—something even Yuka didn’t know.

But at least, considering the yokai they had encountered so far and the people who worshipped such yokai, it seemed unlikely they would simply keep Kurosawa with them without doing anything.

If they were people who desired blood, flesh, and hair.

“Let’s go.”

Yuka, perhaps thinking further conversation was meaningless, helped Kurosawa’s mother to her feet. Then she entrusted the unsteady woman to Fukuda and Nanami.

“Yuka?”

Seeing Yuka holding the katana case in one hand and drawing the katana with the other, Souta realized something was going wrong.

“…Sasaki, can you watch the kids’ backs?”

Yuka said this while pointing her blade toward Souta.

She wasn’t aiming at his neck or anything. The tip was almost pointing to the ground.

But Souta understood what it meant.

“Wait, Souta!?”

When Souta grabbed the blade, Nanami screamed in surprise.

“Hey, what…”

Even Fukuda was startled and spoke, but Souta calmly asked Yuka.

“Are they outside?”

“Yes. One… I think, but it’s strange. It moves as if there are many.”

“Will it come through the door?”

“Probably.”

Souta turned around, blood dripping from his hand.

The window wasn’t very large.

“I’ll try to make a path.”

“Please do.”

Yuka nodded in response to Souta’s words.

Souta immediately ran toward the window.

Fortunately, this apartment wasn’t built very sturdily, so the window rattled considerably with just a touch.

Souta hit the window.

“Souta!”

“What are you doing?”

“Something’s coming after us from outside. …Sorry, my mistake. I should have thought about this. It seems this entire apartment is filled with those things.”

“Ah, aah…”

Kurosawa’s mother clutched her head.

“That’s…”

“Do you know what it is?”

Yuka asked.

“Those are… flesh lumps.”

“Flesh lumps.”

Even Souta, who had been touching the window, turned around when he heard that.

Kurosawa’s mother, clutching her head as if in despair, said:

“They’re my… children… similar beings to Kotone.”

Yuka wore an expression suggesting she didn’t know how to respond to that.