Ch.414IF Side Story: Seems I’ve Arrived a Bit Early (111)

Perhaps, is my life tightly bound to some plot?

This world resembles a novel, after all.

Is someone placing new chess pieces every time I let my guard down, just to prevent me from becoming happy?

That being I’ve met whenever I faced death always spoke to me gently. As if finding me interesting, and almost as if cherishing me.

But every time I heard that voice, I wondered.

This strange being who calls me precious and refers to itself as “she.”

That being who told me it would happily wait for me to speak to it, said it was crawling and writhing in chaos.

I’m not sure what that chaos means. Does it refer to me, who crossed over from another world?

When it comes to crawling chaos, there was something famous that came to mind, but it seemed a bit strange to think that I was that being.

I am human. Probably, I am human.

……

But, like Koko, mixed with something not human.

Did it tell me to be happy?

I didn’t know what it thought when looking at me, but I was planning to be happy even without being told.

Unlike my previous life, I wanted to protect things this time.

Yuka stood beside me.

She went into the room briefly and quickly came back with a knife. The fact that she brings a knife even to places like this shows her professional mindset.

“…I never thought I’d be using a knife in a place like this.”

Yuka said as she unsheathed her knife.

The chilling sensation had grown much stronger. From across the sea—something was coming.

“What about the people?”

“We’ll go in first and resolve it. It’s not like they can just randomly pull people into the nest.”

Yuka looked at me. Her face was calm.

She’s not really fine. Yuka has been hurt in fights before. No matter how accustomed you become, pain is still pain.

Hiding pain and pretending to be okay, or becoming so used to pain that you consider it normal.

I don’t know which is more tragic, but neither is normal.

Even in moments like this, when we should be happy.

“Let’s go.”

Yuka said calmly. I nodded and walked beside her.

The people out playing at this hour of night didn’t particularly look our way. They were too busy laughing and chatting among themselves, as if enjoying their own company.

Cars drove around on the streets as if nothing was wrong, and lights were still on in some houses.

Even as everyone’s daily life continued, something lurked beyond it all.

With soft footsteps on the sandy beach, we went inside, and Yuka raised her sword.

The way her sword reflected the moonlight as it cut through the air was beautiful.

*

Blood splattered across the sandy beach.

A giant octopus tentacle fell to the ground and writhed. Tentacles don’t die easily.

In the brief moment I was lost in thought, something grazed past my arm. Blood flowed, but I didn’t pay much attention to it as this much was expected.

The octopus tentacle that had tasted my blood recoiled backward. I had the trivial thought: does it dislike it that much?

I cut my hand with the knife. With the blade coated in blood, I rushed toward the recoiling tentacle.

I didn’t have Yuka’s trained skills or abilities beyond human cognition like Koko, but I was capable enough to chase something that was fleeing.

The sensation of a knife sinking into flesh wasn’t particularly pleasant.

Spines shot out between the suction cups and pierced my body again, but I didn’t mind since it would heal soon anyway. It did hurt a bit though.

“Kotone!”

Yuka was calling my name.

Ah. Right.

Actually, I might not be fine after all. Normally, I wear a raincoat. And I try my best not to bleed this much.

Wincing in pain, I pulled out the knife with a downward slash, and tilted my head.

Why was I doing this?

I don’t… really know. This isn’t something I would normally do—

“……”

Kagami’s face flashed in my mind. Not far from here.

Ah, I see. That was the reason. I wanted to prevent this from reaching Kagami.

It was the same before. When I first met Kosuzu. I threatened by cutting my neck with a broken toy.

It was the same when I was bitten by that bear-like thing. I sent Mako away first.

Was I used to dying? Because I’d already died once? Or was it because of what I did in my previous life?

I pulled out the knife, and while catching my breath, I looked at the sea.

The tentacles resembled octopus legs, but they kept rising from the sea, more and more.

Be happy.

How could I be happy? I was happy when I was with Kagami, when I laughed with friends, when I patted Koko’s head. This wasn’t happiness.

I don’t want to do this.

But I approached those things anyway.

Yes. It’s a somewhat familiar sensation. If the undulating things before me were flames instead of tentacles, it would feel somewhat similar.

My sister once asked me why I did it.

Because fire trucks were cool, because I wanted to ride one since I was a child.

Because jumping into fires wearing firefighter gear looked heroic. Because school teachers had mentioned a few times that we should always be grateful.

These were all thoughts I had before taking up that profession.

The reason I didn’t quit after starting was—

—if not me, then who?

Yes.

That was probably the reason.

Yuka ran toward me. Several tentacles were cut off by her knife. But even Yuka didn’t seem to have anticipated this situation.

I tilted my head. Had I encountered something like this in the novel?

Probably not. If so, it would have been mentioned. Many people would have died. Yuka was someone who hunted yokai, so she would have talked about it as a case study. It would have made for good prologue material.

So, this is probably because of me. I don’t know exactly how it’s because of me, but it is.

I swung the knife, but this time it just passed through the tentacle without cutting it. Seeing that it didn’t make contact, it seemed the blood had been wiped off after cutting so many times.

Once again, I cut my hand with the knife.

Yuka grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

“Kotone, let’s go…!”

“……”

“This isn’t something we can handle!”

Yes. It was sudden. Sudden.

Like last time. Just when I try to be a little happy.

Whenever I think everything is going well, my life always falls apart like this. In my previous life, and in this one.

“If we run away?”

I asked, strangely calm.

“If we run away, can we survive?”

“……”

Yuka was at a loss for words.

“What about the people?”

“Kotone.”

“Yuka. You go first. Take your mother and others and run as far as you can.”

“What?”

At my words, Yuka’s eyes widened. Was it strange for me to say such things?

It would be strange. I haven’t been with Yuka for long. I’m a bit different from Yuka, who has lived in this world since she was very young.

But somehow, I felt like I understood.

Those things that had tasted my blood seemed to avoid coming near me. They didn’t fear Yuka’s sword that could cut through tentacles effortlessly, but they wouldn’t crawl over the sandy beach soaked with my blood.

So, I could somehow hold them back. I didn’t know how it would end, but still.

“……”

Yuka looked at me with her mouth slightly open, then frowned and swung her knife. A tentacle that was descending toward Yuka was split vertically into two and collapsed. It didn’t stop writhing though.

“No.”

Yuka said.

“Alright.”

And then, she continued.

“Let’s try to hold them back somehow. Well, someone will notice. There seem to be some experts around too.”

After saying that, Yuka readjusted her grip on the knife.

“…Then, let’s do this.”

I raised the knife and placed its tip against my wrist.

I didn’t intend to die from excessive bleeding. It’s almost impossible to cut an artery this way anyway, and I just… needed a bit more blood.

Yuka looked a bit dazed as she watched me cut my wrist.

……

This is a method Souta used too. Not this extreme, but well, I heal quickly.

This much is fine.

I swung my arm, splattering blood. There was a bizarre sound that was hard to describe in human language, and I saw the tentacles momentarily flinch and retreat.

Not all of them, but at least those that had my blood droplets on them.

“We might not be able to block them all, but at least we can make them retreat.”

“You…”

Yuka murmured while looking at me, then shook her head.

“…You, let’s have a talk, just the two of us, when this is over.”

Sounding almost like a counselor, Yuka readjusted her grip on the knife.

Hmm. Somehow, Yuka saying that is a bit scarier than the tentacles.

Alright.

How long can we hold out?

With that thought, I turned my gaze toward the beach.

Dawn was still far away.