Ch.294If Side Story. Tokyo Slayers: Final Chapter (32)

Miura.

Souta had heard that name somewhere before.

Right. That child who died. The name of the child who was sacrificed to the Aoi was “Mako Miura.”

There must be more than just one or two people with the surname Miura in Japan, but since Yuka had told Fukuda that it was “someone you know,” the person with that name was probably…

“Mako’s father,” Fukuda mumbled with a blank expression.

He seemed unable to organize his thoughts after learning too many things in one day.

“Then Mako too—”

“No, she probably didn’t know. …It’s not something just anyone would know about anyway.”

Yuka said, glancing toward the doctors and nurses. They still seemed interested in our conversation, but fortunately, they didn’t seem to understand what we were talking about.

“…For now, let’s follow the police when they arrive. I can explain the situation.”

At Yuka’s words, Fukuda finally fell silent.

It was a bit pitiful to see him sitting there with his gaze lowered, his eyes unsteady.

*

The police arrived quickly.

After seeing Kurosawa’s mother and the chain around her neck, the police officer with a serious expression took us to the police station.

Fortunately, neither Souta nor the other children seemed to be under suspicion. The doctor must have explained that he was the one who brought the woman here.

If Souta’s group had done something like that, they wouldn’t have bothered bringing the victim to the hospital.

And—

“Yuka.”

The person who came to the police station wasn’t “Miura.”

It was Yuka’s grandfather and father, whom Souta knew.

“Ah, hello.”

Nanami greeted them somewhat awkwardly but politely.

And Fukuda also bowed slightly, just as awkwardly.

Though Fukuda and the two men were probably meeting for the first time, there wouldn’t be any major issues since they always had kind expressions unless there was a yokai in front of them.

And—

“…”

The two men’s gazes fell on Ms. Kurosawa.

Ms. Kurosawa didn’t raise her head. Rather than deliberately avoiding their gaze, she seemed too mentally drained to act properly.

“Wait here. I’ll talk to them and come back.”

Without scolding Yuka, her grandfather simply said that.

About ten minutes passed while Souta’s group waited.

After speaking with someone who seemed fairly high-ranking at the police station, the grandfather came back and said to Souta’s group:

“Let’s go. We need to head to our house for a while, if that’s alright?”

“Um…”

Souta hesitated a bit.

Shii would be waiting at home.

Of course, nothing would happen. The place where Souta and Shii lived wasn’t particularly dangerous; in fact, it was known as a good neighborhood to live in.

But still, leaving Shii alone at home didn’t feel right.

A thought suddenly occurred to him, and he took out his phone, but—

“…Ah.”

His phone was already broken. It must not have survived the impact when it fell earlier.

“Excuse me, but Shii—”

“…I’ll bring Shii,” Yuka said.

“Souta, you go ahead and wait. Probably today…”

“Wait, wait a minute,” Fukuda interrupted Yuka.

“What are you saying? ‘Today’? Are you suggesting we stay overnight at your house?”

“That’s right,” Yuka said firmly.

Fukuda’s eyebrows shot up, apparently displeased with her tone.

“Why—”

“Because of what we saw today,” Yuka said.

At those words, Fukuda closed his mouth.

It’s not a memory one can forget. Once experienced, it sticks persistently in some corner of your mind, surfacing repeatedly even when you don’t want to remember it.

You can’t erase memories. But you can overcome them. Souta had been able to do that.

Though not by his strength alone.

“…”

“Yes. Your father will surely be worried at home. We’ll make sure to contact him. He’ll probably understand.”

“…How could he possibly…”

This time, Yuka’s grandfather was silent for a while.

“It may be inappropriate to bring this up in this situation.”

Grandfather said with a bitter smile.

“Have you ever believed in fate?”

*

“Even if it’s not inside the shrine,” Yuka explained calmly to Souta.

“Just being near it usually has some effect. Besides, this house is quite close to the center of the shrine, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Um… yeah.”

Souta nodded awkwardly as he watched her lay out the futon on the floor.

Of course, Yuka wasn’t planning to sleep alone with Souta on this futon.

There were several rooms, but it was impossible for everyone to have their own room, so Souta decided to sleep in the living room with Shii.

He thought it was inevitable since he was the only boy among the children.

Yuka’s grandfather and father didn’t seem to have any intention of sleeping, and neither did Yuka.

“I could help too.”

“With that arm?”

Yuka sharply retorted to Souta’s offer. Then she rubbed her eyes and let out a small sigh.

“…Sorry. I guess I’m a bit on edge. Given the situation and all.”

“Yeah, it’s okay. I understand.”

By the way, Shii was currently taking a bath.

Ms. Kurosawa and Fukuda were sitting in the kitchen area with Yuka’s grandfather and father, having some kind of conversation. Mostly, Yuka’s grandfather and father were explaining, while Fukuda responded blankly or reacted with disbelief.

Ms. Kurosawa still looked very uncomfortable, probably feeling awkward about being in this house.

“…Um, about that Mr. Miura.”

“No, we can’t ask him for help.”

Yuka sighed deeply again and flopped down on the living room sofa. Souta sat down beside her.

“He’s an important person, but right now he’s in no state to think rationally.”

“Ah.”

The feelings of a father who lost his daughter—Souta could only imagine. And even if he tried to imagine, it would be impossible to accurately judge those feelings. It was too painful a story.

“And Kurosawa’s family is probably involved in that death. That’s probably why he could give me the address right away. For whatever reason, they must have been monitoring that place.”

“Wait, then…?”

“Yes. He probably knew about that monster there too.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means he doesn’t care, that’s what. He just wants to vent his anger at whatever caused his daughter’s death. Revenge, you could say. I… in a sense, I became the scout at the forefront, sent to see how the enemy would react.”

“Revenge? But that monster, you—”

“Right. I killed it.”

“Then how can that be Kurosawa’s fault?”

Yuka hesitated for a moment.

She seemed to be considering whether she should tell Souta directly or not.

The usual Souta would have said it was fine if she didn’t want to talk about it. He had no intention of pressuring Yuka just to satisfy his curiosity.

But this time was different.

Souta felt his heart racing.

It wasn’t a pleasant heartbeat. It was the feeling he got when facing a dangerous situation, when feeling fear of something.

Souta was afraid.

He didn’t want Yuka to get hurt. But he understood. She was a child whose job was to fight, and if it weren’t for Yuka, countless people would have already died.

In a way, she was like a special firefighter.

But understanding something doesn’t mean wishing for it.

Moreover, he didn’t want Yuka to be caught up in someone else’s battle and sacrificed.

Of course, knowing the truth wouldn’t dramatically increase their chances of success, but he still wanted to know what the situation was.

“Individual yokai usually have no connection to each other. They’re not beings that can band together and form groups like humans. Most are selfish and only think about their own desires.”

Yuka looked at Souta.

Her expression was blank, but Souta was certain that Yuka was hiding her emotions.

So that expressionless face looked somewhat sorrowful.

“But I told you, right? About things like the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons.”

“…But that’s—”

“Yes. We’ve already experienced it once. But you know, no one in this world has actually seen the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons. It’s too long ago, and everyone from that era is dead. So… what if we saw a tremendous downpour and thought it was a typhoon, but it actually wasn’t?”

“…”

“What if we thought the typhoon had passed, restored everything we had prepared for it, and were playing outside carefree, when suddenly the real typhoon approaches? A typhoon powerful enough to sweep away every house and temple.”

“That’s—”

“Yes, you’re right. Something like the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons couldn’t happen twice. That’s what we thought. That’s why we let our guard down.”

Yuka looked straight at Souta.

“But what if that wasn’t the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons? What if it was just some kind of precursor?”

Yuka’s voice trembled slightly.

“And what if the Kurosawa family is connected to it?”

Souta couldn’t give any answer.