Ch.63Chapter 10. Mirror (3)

How could this be happening?

Yuka Yuuki wondered as she stared at the child in front of her who looked exactly like her friend.

Since middle school, Yuuki had been helping with family matters and thought she’d seen quite a few situations humans shouldn’t witness.

Of course, she didn’t blame her parents. If her mother hadn’t passed away, Yuuki would never have needed to pick up a blade. It was simply how fate had unfolded, not anyone’s fault. Eventually, Yuuki would have taken up the blade anyway, regardless of when.

Still, she had never directly witnessed someone dying. Usually, Yuuki was deployed after incidents occurred, but she never had to go see the corpses herself.

High-ranking government officials would collect evidence, analyze the situation, and pass the information to the Yuuki family. Then, depending on the need, her father, grandfather, or Yuuki herself would step in.

That was also why Yuuki had transferred to Hanakawa High School.

To solve a serial cannibalistic murder case that the police couldn’t resolve. Though there wasn’t clear evidence yet, the higher-ups in the area already suspected it wasn’t a human killer.

Though the trail had suddenly gone cold and hadn’t resurfaced since.

Anyway, living in such a world, Yuuki knew how evil humans could become. Some yokai fed on human emotions, and humans entangled with such yokai could become unbearable trash.

Though it would be an exaggeration to say Yuuki had solved many cases, she had still considered herself more worldly than her peers until now.

But.

“Kotone?”

“…Kurosawa stepped out for a bit. She’ll be back soon.”

She had been serious about reporting to the police.

Of course, she didn’t think it would drastically improve the situation. She had clearly seen how Kurosawa was treated at the police station last time. Even after witnessing such a scene, the police took no legal action.

There must be an organization preventing them from doing so.

“Kurosawa?”

Koko tilted her head as she spoke.

Koko didn’t understand the connection between Kurosawa and Kotone.

It didn’t seem to be just a matter of lacking intelligence. Rather, it seemed she lacked social reasoning abilities altogether.

“Meow.”

“Meooow.”

Koko mimicked Kuro’s sound as the cat climbed onto her lap, then flopped down sideways.

She pulled Kuro into her arms and rolled around on the floor.

“Nyaa. Nyaa.”

“Meooow.”

“…”

Typically, when thinking of a human with broken social skills, the first stereotype that comes to mind is “beast.”

Someone who doesn’t understand relationships with others, thinking only of themselves and focusing solely on survival. A sadly selfish image.

But Koko wasn’t like that.

She didn’t hate animals that bothered her and wasn’t aggressive toward people.

No, she seemed to enjoy having someone by her side.

So watching Koko made all sorts of thoughts arise.

When she saw Kurosawa’s mother, it seemed Koko was a being that shouldn’t be out in the world. To that woman, she was just something to hide.

Something not even given a name.

Yet that very being was now acting like an angel in front of Yuuki’s eyes.

“…Why?”

Why is this happening?

Even saying aloud what she’d been repeating in her mind all day, no conclusion came.

She checked the time. It had been almost thirty minutes since Kurosawa left.

Yuuki took out her phone.

Even if the police couldn’t resolve the situation, they could at least help find where Kurosawa was. That would be enough for Yuuki—

But fortunately.

Before Yuuki could press the keypad, the door flung open.

As if she had been running, Kurosawa was panting and sweating.

“Kotone!”

Koko jumped up from her seat.

“Meow.”

Kuro also got up, stretching his front legs. Then he leisurely followed behind the quickly running Koko toward the entrance.

“Koko.”

Yuuki quietly watched from behind as Koko hugged Kurosawa tightly.

Then, shifting her gaze slightly, she met Kurosawa’s eyes.

Kurosawa’s eyes wavered. She looked like she had many things she didn’t want to talk about.

But at least today, Yuuki wasn’t going to let her off easily.

She needed to thoroughly understand what was going on, what the yakuza story was about.

And if—

If Kurosawa was doing something illegal, not valuing her own body for money, Yuuki was determined to persuade her and take her to her own home if necessary.

*

Seeing Koko hug me tightly, I became certain of one thing.

Koko definitely had the intelligence to learn.

Not just repeating or remembering words, but also mimicking social behaviors.

The concept of “hugging” didn’t exist for Koko until yesterday. She was dismembered right after birth and put in a refrigerator, and the remaining body parts were… well, not exactly shaped for receiving hugs.

Though she avoided it herself, even if someone had seen her, they wouldn’t have thought of hugging her.

Someone once said that if cats weren’t cute, no one would feed stray cats.

That’s exactly it. Honestly, even if she had intelligence similar to ours and the same personality as Koko has now, if a nose the size of a forearm came at you, most people would panic and run away or push it aside rather than hug it and say “It’s okay now.”

So Koko surely didn’t know the concept of hugging. Well, beyond that, she had definitely learned how to use the bathroom.

Koko remembered and avoided doing things I disliked or frowned upon.

Perhaps because her thinking is simple, she doesn’t question what she’s told not to do or to do.

And Yuuki had hugged Koko tightly.

Koko seemed to really like that action.

I gently detached Koko and entered the room.

Yuuki was there with a very determined expression.

“…”

Suppressing a sigh that was about to escape, I knelt down on the unfolded futon.

“Where should I start?”

I asked calmly, setting aside everything in my mind.

Yuuki seemed to have many things she wanted to say, but seeing my attitude, she seemed to decide not to be too anxious.

Yuuki also sat across from me and spoke in a calm voice.

“Then, what was the story about the yakuza?”

*

Of course, I didn’t tell her “everything.”

I assumed Yuuki knew something about the Sakyou, but it was a bit much to tell her that I was connected to the yakuza.

Moreover, it was too early to reveal that the yakuza was the Yamashita main family, and somehow I was related to that Yamashita as a cousin.

No matter how much was discovered, I should tell him first.

“I see… So you solved a curse that came to the yakuza to earn money.”

“Yes.”

“Alone.”

“…”

Well… that’s true.

I didn’t call Yuuki on purpose.

“Don’t you know how powerful a loneliness can be?”

Yuuki stared at me intently as she asked.

“…”

“If you had been even a little less lucky…”

Right.

I could have died.

I don’t know to what extent Jjapguras allows me to withstand danger.

Would Jjapguras dislike it if I could die? It seemed so.

It makes sense if he dislikes his toy getting broken.

He’s strangely cooperative whenever I need something. In fact, the conditions Jjapguras sets seem less like fair trades and more like restrictions he imposes for his own amusement.

So here, I’ll just take Yuuki’s words at face value.

“If it’s about money, tell me. I might be able to… help somehow.”

“I’m already receiving too much help.”

“I…”

Yuuki was about to say something but closed her mouth.

“…Everything in this room is from you.”

“…”

“And I’m still here like this. So it’s okay.”

Yuuki seemed at a loss for words at my response.

Watching Yuuki sit there, seemingly touched, I felt a bit guilty.

It felt like I was using someone who had helped me.

I don’t know how to handle this.

*

We lay down side by side to sleep.

There was no shortage of bedding. Actually, there was only enough for two people, but placing two side by side made it enough for three.

And we didn’t really need a covering blanket.

The night wasn’t particularly cold, and Koko occupied the space between the connected futons.

Plus, there was Kuro, who insisted on squeezing between people.

Honestly, I have no idea what will happen next.

How to protect Koko, and how to resolve all the issues I’ve created one by one.

“…Koko is still not registered as a person, right?”

Yuuki, apparently also unable to sleep, asked me.

“…Yes.”

Since she wasn’t even in human form when she first came into the world, she wouldn’t be registered as a resident. Though I’m not sure exactly how Japanese resident registration works.

“Tomorrow, can I take care of her for a bit?”

Yuuki quickly continued before I could say anything.

“It would be complicated to go through administrative procedures now. I’m sure my grandfather will help too.”

So she’s saying she’ll use her government connections.

After thinking for a moment, I replied,

“…Alright.”

It was definitely a necessary procedure.

If she could attend the same school, I might be able to look after her.

Though Hanakawa High School isn’t easy to get into, so admission wouldn’t be simple.

At the very least, if there’s a nearby shelter, I could leave her there while I’m at school.

“Thank you.”

“No, it’s just… something that should be done.”

Something that should be done, huh.

I exhaled lightly.

It was the same when I first looked for work.

There are many people in the world who don’t think that way, and I saw many unpleasant things throughout my work.

The ending wasn’t very good either.

I thought I had saved many people, but in the end, I couldn’t save my own family.

But.

“Thank you.”

I said it once more.

Because I knew how great and noble it was to think that way.

I was confident that Yuuki, unlike me, would continue to think that way until the end.

This wasn’t just from novels I’d read.

It was my personal impression from knowing Yuuki until now.

*

The days after that were relatively easy.

When I returned from work, Yuuki and Koko were back at home.

I had been worried about how Koko might react if she was far from her body, but Koko didn’t seem to mind much.

“It was fun!”

“Was it fun?”

I was a bit surprised to hear Koko say that, wondering how many words Yuuki had already taught her.

“It seems she found everything fascinating after being cooped up inside and finally going out.”

“…Wasn’t it difficult? Like wandering around everywhere.”

“No, she didn’t do that much.”

Yuuki tilted her head and said.

“For some reason… this child seems to comply when told to do something.”

I think I understood what Yuuki was thinking. She probably thought Koko had been forced to learn things through abuse.

…Was there some condition in the creation process?

Like trying to instill some condition to make her obey human commands… Well, even if I asked Kagami, she wouldn’t tell me the details, so I can only speculate.

“Surely, there’s no need to worry too much.”

“…Alright.”

I replied, looking down at Koko playing with Kuro on the floor.

I want to believe that too.

*

As Yuuki said, there were no particular problems for about a week after that.

I’m not sure if Koko recognized the apartment as her home, but as long as we didn’t deliberately take her outside, Koko didn’t try to leave the apartment.

Oh, right. Maybe it was because she was afraid of people.

Koko was a bit afraid of people’s gazes.

Though Yuuki put it nicely, Koko’s anthropophobia was quite noticeable.

She would stick right behind me when we went to places with too many people. She would show curiosity if there was a delicious smell, and she would eat extremely well if given food. If someone approached her with a kind smile and spoke to her, Koko would lower her guard, but before that, she was always frozen.

She doesn’t dislike going outside, but she’s a bit afraid of seeing people. That was Koko outside.

The problem was compounded by the fact that Koko and I look exactly alike. Anyone who noticed both of us would stare at us. Are twins that fascinating?

Well, since both of us are pretty girls, it might be interesting.

Still, as we consistently took her out and walked around, Koko seemed to be adapting little by little.

I found that fascinating.

When a person’s mind is broken, it takes a lot of effort and time to return to normal. Even after treatment ends, scars can remain and torment the person for life.

But Koko’s mind hadn’t collapsed even after experiencing such things.

…Ah, I see.

Come to think of it, I was a normal person without any mental illness despite cutting my wrists repeatedly, so maybe we don’t consider the act of being cut up as something extremely serious.

After all, Koko was still alive and well after all that.

Well, the human part of her is probably at most half, so trying to fully understand her mental state might be a bit unreasonable.

Anyway.

After spending about a week like that, I became a bit confident.

Confident enough to show her to my friends.

I had already agreed to join the Sasaki siblings’ summer trip, so I naturally planned to bring her along. After that, I also planned to take her to the lantern floating festival.

Familiarizing her with various faces would be beneficial for Koko.

*

“Wow…”

After looking back and forth between me and Koko hiding behind me, Shii covered her mouth with her hand in surprise.

“Ah, I’m sorry! You two just look so alike…!”

It was indeed rude to stare so intently, but since Shii wasn’t the first to do so, I decided to let it pass.

Moreover, everyone else in the same place with us was also staring at me and Koko.

“This is Koko. My younger sister.”

Technically, she was closer to being an older sister, but it seemed better to call her a younger sister.

If I called her an older sister… it might make her seem more pitiful.

Regardless of the reality, I had set them up as twins in the story, so there wasn’t much difference, but the power of terms like “older sister” or “younger sister” in Asia is considerable. There are even character traits associated with calling someone “oppa” or “orabeoni.”

If someone was born just a few minutes or seconds earlier, a younger sister caring for an older sister seems much more pitiful than an older sister caring for a younger one.

“…Koko?”

“Yes.”

My name is extremely ordinary Japanese, but hers somehow ended up sounding like a mascot from a comic book.

But what could I do? Yuuki had already created the existence of “Koko Kurosawa” with this name. Changing it now would require annoying administrative procedures.

“Um… so.”

Sasaki looked at Koko and said.

“You mean she’s your twin sister who lives with you?”

Watching Koko peek over my shoulder from behind me, then quickly hide behind my back again after making eye contact, Sasaki spoke with a bit of surprise.

“That’s right.”

I nodded.

“They really… look alike.”

Hana Hagiwara, who was staring blankly at Koko, said. Since the Kudan incident last time, we naturally hadn’t met again.

At least from what I could see now, she didn’t seem to have any particular feelings toward me. Her person had pointed a knife at me, and her face had been soaked in my blood, so she probably wanted to put that memory aside.

“Well, they’re twins, so that’s natural.”

Nanami Nakahara, Sasaki’s childhood friend heroine, said.

But even while saying that, she didn’t try to approach Koko.

Not knowing the exact situation between me and Koko, she probably considered her a potential rival.

If she did anything to Koko, it would be like harassing a mentally vulnerable woman, and Sasaki would never do such a thing.

“…”

And the gaze of the female group, except for Shii, shifted from me and Koko to Yuuki, who was standing confidently beside us.

A look that seemed to say, what’s this now?

But Yuuki just exhaled softly through her nose and said.

“I’m Yuka Yuuki. I’m in the same class as Sasaki. And I’m quite close with Shii.”

Though in reality, they had barely met.

We had agreed to go with this setup.

The faces of the girls who had come to enjoy themselves with the boy they liked turned into expressions of shock.

Well…

I feel a bit sorry.

But we have things to do.

We won’t interfere, so it would be really appreciated if they just enjoyed themselves.

I thought, feeling the weight of Koko clinging to my back.