Ch.62Chapter 10. Mirror (2)

You know what?

Despite appearances, I’m actually quite a conscientious person.

With my profession and all, I’ve lived my life trying to maintain my integrity.

But right now, my heart was pounding violently because of the lies I’d piled up for these two people.

Come to think of it, Kagami wasn’t that great of a person.

She behaved respectfully enough in front of me and never did anything that would directly harm me.

She might be swindling money from people somewhere far away, or cheating men at bars, or doing various bad things with the yakuza, but at least in front of me, on the surface, she maintained the appearance of a decent person.

So my conscience couldn’t completely ignore Kagami’s reaction.

I opened my mouth to try to salvage the situation, then closed it again. After taking a brief moment to organize my thoughts, I finally managed to speak.

“W-why are you here?”

“…”

Kagami stared at me blankly for about three seconds.

Her eyes were still trembling slightly, but her expression had hardened.

She looked somewhat angry, but more than that, she appeared bewildered.

“That child… where did you get her from?”

Kagami’s voice wasn’t quite acting. At least, it wasn’t the vicious act she usually put on in front of me. No, it didn’t even have her usual composure.

“She was… in the apartment.”

“…”

Kagami’s eyes widened.

As a woman, Kagami is quite tall. Probably almost 170cm? She’s even taller than Yuka, who is considerably taller than me.

Naturally, when she stands facing me like this, she looks down at me.

When someone like that stares at you with a hardened face, it’s… kind of scary.

Should I have contacted her first?

The reason I didn’t contact her was because I thought nothing good would come from revealing Koko’s identity to Kagami.

It was certain that she had been created by the cult, and it was also certain that she had been chopped up and stored in the refrigerator.

“Why would you go that far?”

Well, you see…

…

No, thinking about it, this was the cult’s fault too.

If they hadn’t lost Kuro in the first place and had properly wrapped him up for storage, I wouldn’t have had any reason to create Koko’s body like this.

And if the apartment had looked a little less haunted, I would have just lived there normally!

“That thing?”

Kagami doesn’t seem to need to act in front of Yuka.

“Did you just refer to Koko as ‘that thing’?”

Well, since she put on such a convincing act earlier, I guess Yuka can’t help but overreact to everything Kagami says.

“How could you say that about your own daughter?”

Yuka was so shocked that she completely abandoned honorifics.

Um… Yuka, I’m sorry, but…

When I first saw Koko, I thought of her as “that thing” too. To be fair, there was hardly anything human-like about her. She was just a nose.

…Though I suppose she was about half human.

“Koko?”

Kagami’s face, which had been maintaining an emotional line, crumbled again.

My face flushed a bit.

“Yes, whatever you called her, this child is now Koko.”

“Koko!”

Kagami stared with her mouth wide open at Koko, who was behind Yuka.

For reference, Koko was hiding behind Yuka, her body curled up tightly. Koko’s reaction was probably what caused Yuka to move more aggressively.

But if we’re being honest, this was Kagami’s fault. After all, it was Kagami who had cut Koko into several pieces and stored her in the refrigerator.

“You gave her a name?”

Kagami looked at me, then back at Koko behind Yuka. Then she quickly turned her head back toward me.

Her expression showed she couldn’t comprehend the situation at all.

…Well, I’d feel the same way.

Koko, who had appeared to be nothing more than a lump of flesh with limbs and a head randomly protruding, was now perfectly imitating a human. At least on the outside, she looked normal.

In fact, if I hadn’t mentioned finding her in the apartment, Kagami probably wouldn’t have recognized Koko at all.

Though her expression was bewildered, I could almost see her brain spinning at high speed inside her head. Isn’t Kagami’s mind in a semi-overclocked state right now?

“What did you do to Koko?”

Kagami didn’t turn to look at Yuka when she spoke.

“What did you do to make Koko so obsessed with pet food?”

Um…

Sorry. I was the one who fed her that at first.

And pet food is probably fine for humans to eat. It’s just that, well, it makes you look like you’ve lost your dignity as a human.

Besides, cat food is quite expensive, right? Probably much more expensive than the bean sprouts I often eat!

“Hmph.”

Kagami snorted.

It seems she’s made up her mind.

With a very cold expression, Kagami took out her phone and typed something, ignoring Yuka’s words.

Bzzt.

My phone vibrated.

I shouldn’t check it right now, right? It would be too obvious that Kagami sent me a message.

“So?”

Kagami said as she turned around.

“What’s wrong with me using something I created?”

“…What.”

Yuka’s face drained of color at Kagami’s single statement.

“Yuka. Yuka. Come to think of it, you’re from quite a famous family, aren’t you? Aren’t you also enjoying yourself living with my daughter who lives alone?”

“What are you…”

Ah.

“Since you’re so close, you must know what kind of body my daughter has? She seems to be doing some part-time work lately. Last time she went to a yakuza house, didn’t she?”

My mouth fell open.

I mean, I thought Kagami would know about it, but…

That’s not the important thing right now!

If you’re going to say something, say it all the way through! Otherwise, Yuka will seriously misunderstand!

I cautiously looked toward Yuka.

Yuka was looking at me with the roundest eyes I’d ever seen on her.

“It’s not like that!”

I shouted without thinking.

Wait, what do I mean by “like that”? What am I even saying?

There’s a saying in the world: “Strong denial is strong affirmation.” Of course, most of the time it’s nonsense. It’s just empty talk to corner someone who’s denying a fact.

However, when confessing to a crime, it’s a bit different.

Usually, innocent people say, “I didn’t do it!” But people who actually committed crimes often unconsciously half-confess by saying things like, “Bring evidence that I did it!”

My answer was similar. It implied that I had gone there.

Yuka’s face turned pale.

“Kurosawa…”

“…Wait. No. Really.”

I held out my hand and said that, then looked at Kagami.

Kagami was looking straight at me.

I could feel sweat forming between my hair. Well, it’s natural to be hot after running halfway home in this weather, but somehow this sweat seems to include cold sweat from being flustered.

Is she angry?

Is she doing this on purpose?

Is she exposing facts I’ve been hiding because I’ve been hiding extremely important information from her?

Ah.

I get it.

The reason Kagami came.

Even before hearing the story, I can somewhat grasp the situation.

Something must be actively happening outside the range of my knowledge. Perhaps Kagami’s sister, who is supposedly Yamashita’s ex-wife, is making moves.

Considering Kagami’s position within the cult, her sister’s position must also be significant.

“…”

I kept my mouth shut.

“Kurosawa?”

“…”

What should I do?

Who should I send away from this place?

Koko should stay in the room, but—

Yuka came to my house out of concern for me. I couldn’t say something heartless like “go home first” in the middle of the night.

Kagami came to tell me something very important and witnessed this situation. Is it something I need to hear right now?

After a brief deliberation, I made a decision.

I don’t fully understand Kagami yet, but I know Yuka fairly well.

Yuka is more stubborn than I thought. In this situation, if I tell her to go home, she’ll absolutely refuse. Especially after hearing those things from Kagami.

I took a deep breath and exhaled.

“…Yuka. Please wait a moment. I’ll come back and continue our conversation after this.”

“But—”

“…Even in this kind of relationship.”

I spoke in a slightly coaxing voice.

“Even in this kind of relationship, she’s still my mother.”

“…”

Yuka closed her mouth.

She looked back and forth between me and Kagami a few times, and although she still didn’t seem convinced, she nodded.

“…If you don’t come back within 30 minutes, I’m calling the police.”

“What an impressive child.”

Kagami mocked Yuka.

“Even if the police find us, I’m not sure they’ll bring this child back to you.”

After all, Kagami is officially my mother.

Leaving Yuka glaring at her, Kagami went outside and closed the door.

“Follow me.”

Kagami said to me, making me flinch a bit.

But this house has poor soundproofing. If Yuka is listening from inside, using honorifics would break the concept.

And this is just my thought, but I think there was some sincerity in that one statement.

*

There aren’t many places to talk at this late hour.

For secretive conversations, it’s good to have some background noise, but the residential area at night wasn’t noisy enough.

There were faint TV sounds from various places, someone drunk singing in the distance, and cars passing by, but they were all too far away to mask our voices.

We ended up going to a nearby family restaurant. It’s open 24 hours. Plus, even without people around, music was already playing, so our voices would be sufficiently muffled if we spoke quietly.

No one would hear us talking about curses or yokai.

We each ordered a cup of coffee and sat facing each other.

Yuka gave us 30 minutes, and it took 10 minutes to get here.

“Should I speak first? Or…?”

Having regained much of her composure now that we were alone, Kagami asked in a relatively calm voice.

“…You go first.”

“Alright.”

Kagami nodded and said,

“It seems my sister has noticed that you dealt with the loneliness.”

As I thought.

I sighed deeply.

“But only now?”

“‘Only now’ isn’t quite right.”

Kagami said.

“Loneliness affects people differently. It might kill someone in just a few days, or it might get better at some point and then suddenly worsen.”

And the latter would be better for tormenting someone. If you’re a nasty person, you wouldn’t kill someone all at once but torment them slowly over a long time.

“But if she was controlling it, shouldn’t she have known the moment I killed it?”

“The nose was still in the house. She probably thought we had taken some… measures to block it. She might not have been confident that it could be killed completely.”

“…Is that so?”

I had the feeling Kagami wasn’t telling me everything.

Perhaps it was Kagami who instructed or advised to leave the nose there. And Kagami probably took some measures too. She must have used some method to delay information from reaching the other side as much as possible.

“Besides, you splattered blood everywhere, didn’t you?”

“…”

“I’m not sure of the exact reason, but that blood was also ‘loneliness,’ wasn’t it?”

“…Did you hear about it?”

Kagami nodded.

She must have heard through her members about how I made lots of blood and splattered it everywhere, and how I went around cutting and bursting things with a knife.

And also how people collapsed and writhed on the ground each time I did that.

Someone knowledgeable about curses could probably deduce it quickly.

“It seems they’ve realized that you did something more than just dealing with the loneliness. Thanks to that, we were able to weed out some people.”

After saying that, Kagami took a sip of her coffee.

“…Was there a spy?”

“Wouldn’t it be strange if there wasn’t? We were originally on the same side.”

“…Didn’t that woman just leave on her own?”

“How nice would that be?”

Kagami slightly raised her gaze.

For a very brief moment, her eyes looked into the distance, but she quickly returned to her usual smile full of composure.

“I’m not someone who believes in the sanctity of marriage… but I do understand how strong that bond is. If it broke, it means the situation was that serious.”

“…”

I paused for a moment to infer the situation.

Let’s see.

Since there’s a Shub-Niggurath, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were also Cthulhu or Hastur in this world. Since they believe in an outer god modeled after Shub-Niggurath, they probably wouldn’t go worship Cthulhu or Hastur, who are below that.

Rather, wouldn’t she try to worship something like Yog-Sothoth, her husband? It would make sense if she rebelled saying, “Why not worship a stronger god!”

Besides, someone feeling inferior to their more capable sibling and trying to win through some shortcut appears in many works.

Of course, I’ve never met Kagami’s sister, so I can’t comment on her abilities.

…

Hmm… come to think of it, Yog-Sothoth.

Recalling that name gives me a strange feeling.

Like I’ve misunderstood something.

I don’t know why I feel this way just from recalling the name.

While I was lost in thought, Kagami continued.

“So I came to warn you.”

“Warn me?”

“If my sister appears and tries to talk to you or persuade you, please don’t give in.”

“…”

I stared at Kagami.

“Come to think of it, you never gave in to me either.”

She knows well.

“However, my sister has a more impatient personality than me. Since she found out you were involved in the investigation of the Yamashita family, she might be more aggressive.”

“Aggressive how?”

“I don’t think she’ll come knocking on your door. She might kidnap you into a van while you’re walking down the street.”

“…”

“I’m serious about this. No joke. So if you need to go out, make sure to return before dark, and try to stay in places with many eyes. We’ll assign people to watch over you, but it’s better to be careful.”

“…Alright. I’ll be careful.”

“Fortunately, my sister has been in seclusion away from us for a long time. Sending the loneliness was a very typical choice for her, but usually she doesn’t appear near us even in that way, so she must have acted impulsively. Perhaps she truly loved Yamashita?”

That would make sense if she has a jealous personality.

Otherwise, there would be no reason to do such a thing to someone she doesn’t know much about.

“Being in seclusion means it’s difficult for them to obtain information about us, but it also means it’s hard for us to get information about them. Please be careful.”

I nodded again.

“…”

We drank our coffee in silence for a moment.

“Now, about that child called Koko.”

Kagami glanced at me.

“…You said you found her in the apartment. Was she in that form from the beginning?”

“…”

I clutched my head.

*

“…Well, that’s something.”

There were very complex emotions mixed in Kagami’s gaze as she looked at me.

Surprise that they had lost a piece of flesh, annoyance at me for not contacting them after finding it, and bewilderment that I had opened the refrigerator and released the flesh in an attempt to solve the problem.

“What if it had eaten you…?”

“…”

“More than that, a sashimi knife…?”

Kagami broke off her words, which was quite rare for her.

“What happened to your usual weapon?”

“…Wasn’t she born in a similar way? I thought a weapon made from my blood wouldn’t work.”

“…”

Kagami thought for a moment, then nodded.

“That’s… true. Actually, we have many questions about your fighting style.”

“So… about Koko.”

“Ah, that child.”

After listening to my story, Kagami immediately smiled brightly.

“Of course, you’ll have to take responsibility for her.”

“…”

Well, that’s true, but…

More than that, aren’t you going to tell me how she was born or why she looks like that?

Well, I guess it makes sense since she hasn’t told me everything about myself yet.

“Didn’t you already say it? That you wouldn’t accept support from our side.”

I had nothing to say to that.

After all, I had decided not to accept their help in protecting Koko.

“…I have one question.”

“Yes, go ahead.”

Seeing that I had given up on that fact, Kagami answered leisurely while picking up her coffee cup.

“The person living next door to me, the only other resident in the apartment.”

“Yes?”

“…Is he connected to the cult?”

“Let’s call him an external collaborator. Not by choice, of course. He probably doesn’t even know he’s being helpful.”

“Really?”

“Why?”

Kagami suddenly leaned her upper body toward me with interest and asked,

“Are you perhaps interested in him? First love?”

“No.”

When I answered seriously, Kagami shrugged.

“Well, he’s not a dangerous person. You know how it is? Overseas, there are societies claiming the Earth is flat, and people who seriously try to create evidence to support such claims.”

“…And?”

“What would ordinary people think if they saw a research group studying yokai, ancient civilizations, or other fantastical stories, believing they might really exist? I mean ‘normal’ people, not people like us.”

They would probably scoff. There might be a very small number of people who take it seriously, but even all of them together would amount to just a handful.

“You seem to understand my explanation right away. It’s good to see you’ve integrated well into society despite being born the way you were.”

Kagami’s eyes narrowed, though I hadn’t answered.

I chose to keep my mouth shut and not respond.

Anyway, whatever I understood, my guess is probably right.

Even if you gathered all the believers, the number would be far too small to fund research.

Ah, is that it?

“Yes, their research is quite helpful to us. Of course, we don’t sponsor them under the name of a ‘cult group.’ There’s a small company in between.”

It probably serves as a money laundering operation.

“I’ve heard he’s been looking for a new job lately. We’re trying to introduce him to a stable place. We don’t want to lose one of the few experts we have. There’s a professor, but efficiency drops without an assistant, doesn’t it?”

…So he’s like a graduate student.

And in a field that’s not even properly recognized by academia.

That person is quite unfortunate too.

“…”

A moment of silence passed between us.

Looking at the clock, there were about five minutes left from the time Yuka had given.

“You should go now. It’s not good to get involved with the police.”

Kagami doesn’t seem to plan on coming along.

I’m grateful for that.

Yuka’s image of Kagami will probably worsen, but Kagami doesn’t seem to care.

…

Still, I feel a bit sorry, so maybe I’ll try to make it up to her somehow later.

As I was thinking that, I saw Kagami smiling at me very annoyingly.

She was laughing at my situation of having to go back home and explain things to Yuka.

Well, at least that expression helped reduce my guilt a bit?