Ch.380IF Side Story: Seems I’ve Arrived a Bit Early (77)

After that, nothing unusual happened for a while.

I couldn’t relax completely. After all, I knew exactly what kind of work Yuka did.

Even after that conversation, Kagami treated me the same as always, and so did Dad. I also lived normally, deliberately avoiding bringing up that topic.

But, well, I never thought nothing would ever happen again.

“Kurosawa.”

“I told you to call me Kotone.”

“…”

When I came home after school, Yuka was waiting for me.

She had a somewhat complicated expression. It was probably because Kagami and Dad were standing beside her.

If you had to tell someone’s parents that their daughter was going to risk her life in battle, it would be gut-wrenching.

Besides Yuka, there was also the man who had driven her here.

Yuka was wearing the same school uniform as when I last saw her.

In the original illustrations, she always wore a black sailor uniform when in school clothes. It felt somewhat refreshing. Well, those original memories only existed in my head now anyway.

“Kotone.”

Kagami called me.

Despite our previous conversation, she clearly didn’t want to send me to such a place. That was natural for a mother.

“…”

I silently approached Kagami and embraced her.

Without saying anything, Kagami just patted my back and hugged me tightly.

After staying like that for a few minutes, she released me and took my bag.

“I’ll be back.”

“Yes, I’ll be waiting.”

Kagami stroked my hair a few times and then hesitantly pulled her hand back.

When I looked toward Dad, he nodded.

I took a slight breath, then turned to Yuka, who was staring blankly at us without saying anything.

“Let’s go.”

“…Right.”

Yuka answered with a somewhat complicated expression.

*

“Yokai, even the weakest ones, are dangerous.”

Yuka explained this in the car on the way to our workplace.

“Even ones that look smaller and weaker than us are the same. Think of a malicious child running around with a knife.”

That’s a comparison I’ve heard before.

I can’t remember if I read it in another manga or light novel, or in “Tokyo Slayers,” but it’s not wrong to say that most yokai in this world harbor malice toward living people.

“I understand.”

“…Well, I heard you’ve already encountered one before.”

Yuka wasn’t being as curt as she was with Souta in the original work.

Of course, Yuka was a tsundere character. She acted that way to hide her feelings, but she didn’t treat everyone around her the same way.

“…What are you smiling about?”

Yuka asked incredulously.

Oh, was I smiling? I must have smiled without realizing it.

I quickly covered my mouth, and Yuka let out a long sigh.

She looked like she had a lot to say but was holding back. She probably thought there was no point explaining to someone who hadn’t seen it firsthand.

“Today I’ll be the one fighting anyway, and you’re just here to learn…”

Suddenly, Yuka blinked and had a blank expression for a moment.

Her gaze scanned me from head to toe.

“By the way, where’s your weapon?”

“Weapon?”

When I tilted my head in confusion, Yuka ran her hand down her face.

She glared at the driver’s seat as if she wanted to argue about something, then let out a long sigh and crossed her arms.

“I told you, didn’t I? Every yokai is dangerous. You need some means to fight, at least something to swing around. You said you’ve encountered one before. How did you survive then?”

I fainted and when I woke up, the bear was gone without a trace.

Feeling that Yuka probably wouldn’t accept that explanation, I just shook my head as if I didn’t know.

Yuka ran her hand down her face again.

Hmm, I feel a bit sorry now.

It’s like an amateur intruding on a professional’s work.

Though it’s not entirely my fault.

In the end, Yuka remained silent until we arrived at the site. To avoid making things worse, I also sat quietly.

*

In the original work, people like Yuka could instinctively sense yokai when they got close.

Most yokai establish nests in reality. Those that cross over from another world can’t simply exist in this world without consequences.

Their nests start small but expand as the yokai grows stronger.

Yokai lure humans into their nests and sometimes devour them. That was actually the story in the early episodes of the series. Serial killings, signs of cannibalism. In reality, it was the work of man-eating yokai.

…There had been victims at the school Souta would attend, the school I wanted to go to. The main story began when Yuka saved Souta and Shii from almost falling victim to that yokai.

Could I help those people? In the original work, they were just nameless extras, but in this world, they’re all beings with their own lives.

It might be arrogant to think this way, but—

“…”

However, my thoughts couldn’t continue.

At some point, I began to feel an unpleasant, chilling sensation crawling up my back.

It was as if my body had noticed something and was warning me to escape the danger.

“…Looks like it wasn’t a lie that yokai were driven away.”

Yuka said, looking at my expression.

The car stopped.

Yuka opened her door and got out first, and I followed, opening the door on the opposite side.

The car we came in was a black mid-size sedan. We must have driven for nearly two hours, so we’d probably come quite far.

“Normally, this area would be someone else’s responsibility.”

I don’t know the details, but perhaps incidents were happening simultaneously in multiple locations, forcing Yuka to step in.

Well, if there were that many people, the setting that she never made friends because she was always transferring schools would seem a bit strange.

“Follow me closely.”

I walked behind Yuka.

As she moved forward, she removed the cloth covering her sword.

In the distance, several people in police uniforms were blocking the entrance to a river. Police lines surrounded the area.

They must be government people, but I had a feeling they might not be real police.

If they were, they wouldn’t let a middle school girl with a sword pass through.

As we descended to the river with Yuka, that chilling sensation intensified.

“Stay behind me.”

Yuka said.

“Otherwise, it could get really dangerous.”

Near an area where the grass had grown quite tall, Yuka said this and then drew her sword from its scabbard.

The blade reflecting the sunset was beautiful.

Yuka lightly swung the sword, cutting through space. That’s probably the right way to describe it.

She was trying to enter the yokai’s nest.

*

When you think of a kappa, it’s actually hard to find it that scary.

It’s like a person inside a turtle shell, but not actually a turtle. As Yuka had said, they weren’t much taller than children.

With beaks for mouths—well, they’re usually depicted somewhat comically in manga and such.

But the feeling of seeing one in reality is, how should I put it, a bit different.

My body was already sounding alarms like crazy…

It’s like how a flasher might sound ridiculous in description, but encountering one alone in an alley at night would be terrifying.

A wrinkled old man staring at me while wearing a turtle shell costume. As if he wants to kill me.

With a severed human hand in his mouth.

And there were several of them.

The shells didn’t seem particularly hard. Or maybe Yuka’s sword was just that excellent at cutting through yokai.

As if their horrible appearance wasn’t enough, the sounds they made were like multiple people’s voices mixed together. A blend of screams and laughter.

There wasn’t just one kappa.

Even after Yuka had cut down about four of them, several still remained.

“…”

Fighting, huh.

Yuka could probably handle everything here on her own. If anything, I might be getting in her way by sticking close behind her.

However, no matter how skilled Yuka was—

Thwack.

She couldn’t fight without sustaining any injuries. Given that she survived until high school, they probably weren’t serious injuries.

“…You…”

Yuka turned toward me with a slightly surprised expression.

“Keek!?”

The kappa that had been rushing toward Yuka had a shocked expression.

It wasn’t just surprised that its attack on Yuka’s back had been blocked by my hand. It must have seen people bleeding before.

Was it surprised that I blocked it? Maybe. A human arm would be like paper compared to a yokai’s claws.

But that didn’t seem to be all.

“Kyak!? What is this smell!?”

The yokai shouted that upon seeing my blood.

Then it hurriedly backed away.

Hmm.

I don’t smell anything unusual.

…

Right, Souta used to help Yuka in a similar way.

Perhaps I’m of that bloodline too.

I slightly raised my hand. Blood dripped from the wound on my arm, which looked like a cut from a razor blade.

I shook my hand to splatter the blood, and the yokai hastily retreated while screaming.

So that’s how it is.

I was starting to get a sense of how to act.