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V4 Story IV – Part 07

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Translator: Kell

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It was so fucking silly.

“I know. No matter how perfect you made it look, no matter how grand the stages you created, she never appreciated them. Mayuzumi Azaka never showed any interest in your nasty games. She was neither amazed nor horrified. Do you know what she thought about Mayuzumi Asato? A thug who just wants to show off.”

The fox’s eyes widened. His face, which was usually all smiles, stiffened.

The white child cocked her head silently. Her red, glass-like eyes were studying me. She tilted her neck to the other side, and slowly opened her mouth.

A drop of blood trickled down between her tiny teeth.

“That’s why you couldn’t tolerate Mayuzumi Azaka. Am I right, Asato? No matter what you say, no matter what kind of situation you create, just laugh it all off. Mayuzumi Azaka knew that that was all you were worth.”

I clenched my fists tighter. I saw a familiar picture in my mind.

Mayuzumi Azaka gave a cat-like smile.

“And I get that now.”

“So you finally realized it, huh, Odagiri-kun? So silly. The fox’s games are for children. You don’t have to act like one to play with him.”

I thought I heard a sarcastic voice in my head. If I closed my eyes, I would probably see her standing beside me, chomping on a piece of chocolate as she twirled her red parasol.

Licking the sweet candy, she said matter-of-factly, “You should have gotten angry.”

Reflecting, regretting, were my choices to make. I alone will make amends for what I did. I don’t care what people say. I know my own self, and I live with that knowledge.

I don’t need the fox to tell me all that.

“So what are you trying to say, Odagiri?” Asato asked calmly.

Yet it also sounded like a final pronouncement.

There was a note of intense rage deep in his voice. Shirayuki’s head would no doubt fall if I uttered another word. So I remained silent, and pressed the knife against my neck.

Blood trickled down my throat. Asato’s smile softened. He must have taken my words as my last defiance.

“There’s nothing more I need to say,” I whispered softly. “Not to you, at least.”

I touched my belly. I could feel something pulsating beneath the flesh. The next moment, the bloodstain expanded, and the blood that couldn’t soak into my shirt spilled out. Asato’s eyes widened. But it was too late.

This time I wasn’t going to let him beat me.

There was no one left to put her back in my belly. With this, my death was set in stone.

But I didn’t hesitate.

I completely acknowledged her existence, and deliberately gave her orders.

I’m going to hand over all my anger to her.

“Come out, Uka,” I said. “Eat to your heart’s content.”

“Okaaay,” she replied.

My wound tore open, and from inside a child jumped out with incredible speed. Her long black hair fluttered. A young child of about three years leapt into the air. Her body stretched, arms and legs growing, and the balance between head and torso changed. A child of about six years landed on the floor.

The naked girl looked up. She smiled at the humanoid holding Shirayuki’s arm.

Uka opened her mouth and devoured its head.

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I grabbed the knife and charged forward. My vision was blurry from pain and blood loss, but I had to move. Gripping the knife in my hand, I thrust it toward Asato.

The knife shattered like ice. The white child was clutching her tiny hand, looking at me through the flying debris with wide-open eyes.

The next instant, delight tinged her red eyes.

A small palm reached for me. I shifted my body and forced myself to leap backwards. Black hair fluttered in front of me, and Uka caught the white palm. Small fingers interlaced. The white child exerted more force to crush Uka’s hand.

But it didn’t work. Uka peered into the white child’s face, and her crimson eyes narrowed in a smile.

Hehe.

The white child’s face contorted for the first time. The moment she opened her mouth like a dog, Uka let go of her hand and crawled on the floor like a beast. I tossed away the broken knife and rushed toward Shirayuki.

Uka finished most of her meal. Shirayuki was lying among the remains of the headless humanoids scattered on the floor.

Shirayuki was unmoving, her eyes closed. I lifted her up gently and embraced her tight, relieved to feel the beating of her heart.

Uka’s and the white child’s back and forth continued. A grown Uka was fighting toe-to-toe with the white child. Like beasts, they crawled on the ground, trying to devour the other. However, Uka was still inferior to the white child. Uka could only brush aside the hands that the child extended innocently.

Nevertheless she was able to fight. Uka was demonstrating agility befitting a demon.

Asato was watching the battle on his feet. For once he seemed shaken; the chair had toppled beside him.

Mayuzumi’s words replayed in my mind. Pressing my bleeding stomach, I smiled.

“Once you’re dead, the child will move as an independent creature. Or it may die with its soul still attached—or, in human terms, with its umbilical cord still connected to its body.”

Uka’s and my soul were closely linked. She fed on my negative emotions, increasing her power. For that reason, I suppressed all my emotions and lived my life not sympathizing with others. Now I deliberately sent all of those emotions to Uka.

And Uka grew by how much I acknowledged her.

Uka was only a baby when I conceived her. But during the incident with the Minase clan, she grew to the point where she was able to stand on her own. I’d felt it ever since then.

By acknowledging her existence, and not suppressing my rage, she would keep growing. And a grown-up Uka should not get killed easily by the white child.

I watched my girl with a smile. Asato turned around, slowly.

“Odagiri.” His voice was dry, his eyes wide open in shock.

He looked at me as if I was a monster.

“Well? What do you think about my child?” I asked with a smile.

“You’ve gone crazy,” he muttered hoarsely.

Whether I was crazy or not was for me to decide.

Uka stuck to the ceiling. Her long black hair hung down, and her red mouth curved into a smile. Then, she scuttled like a spider.

I carried Shirayuki in my arms and ran. This place wasn’t safe. I couldn’t leave her like this. Uka could stand her ground at the moment, but she could lose at any point.

The white child was an abnormal monster.

Two children crawled across the ceiling like spiders. Black and white streaks ran parallel, sometimes intersecting. I dashed to the elevator, lay Shirayuki inside, and pressed the button. I then jumped back out before the doors closed.

But a thin hand grabbed the sleeve of my shirt.

I looked over my shoulder and saw Shirayuki with her eyes open slightly. With a dazed expression, she opened her mouth.

Shirayuki pleaded over and over.

Her powerless hand clung to my arm.

As though telling me not to go.

But I removed her hand, peeled off each finger one by one. I gripped her hand tight, then walked out of the elevator.

I put on a smile. I couldn’t let the last expression she saw on my face be a sad one.

“Goodbye and thank you, Shirayuki-san.”

I didn’t deserve you.

Tears welled up in Shirayuki’s eyes. She desperately tried to reach out a hand. Soon she disappeared from sight.

At that moment, I heard laughter.

The white child clung to the wall, her fingers digging into the red. She bent down, then leapt at a tremendous speed like a bullet.

Toward Shirayuki.

Laughter erupted. The afterglow of her red eyes flashed past my eyes. The child extended her finger toward the elevator just before it closed. I raised my arm quickly, reaching for the creature that zipped past me instantaneously and, with only my hunch to go on, closed my hand.

In my hand was white hair.

“…Hmm?”

Then I pulled as hard as I could. The white child fell to the floor, rolling in a pool of blood. Her big eyes blinked. She looked up at me in her dirty, white gothic lolita outfit.

White hair was in my hands.

The elevator closed. The smile in her red eyes said she understood the situation.

She had changed her target—she was now after me. And I welcomed that. The elevator carrying Shirayuki was descending to the first floor.

She was someone who fought for me.

A woman who said that she loved me.

I’m not gonna let you kill her.

“Hahahahahahahahaha!”

The white child laughed. Uka jumped at her from the side. Asato was studying me with a frown. Even in this situation, the fox would never get his hands dirty.

He still believed that I was powerless.

I surveyed the room. The white child bit Uka’s arm. While she moved like a kitten, she was vicious. Blood spurted, followed by a cry of pain. Listening to Uka’s scream, I clenched my fists tight.

I could definitely kill Asato.

But if he died, what would happen to the white child?

I didn’t know what she was exactly. It would be great if she died too. But a child who had lost its guardian could go out of control. And Shirayuki was on the first floor.

The child must not stay in this world.

I quickly thought about my options, enumerating the conditions that came to mind. At the same time, events from the past flashed through my mind. I remembered the people who died because of me, the familiar faces I’d interacted with.

Would Nanami be worried?

Would Yusuke be angry?

Would Yukihito cry?

I doubt Shirayuki would approve.

And Mayuzumi—she was no longer around.

She would definitely mock my course of action, call it foolish.

But that was fine.

I decided to leave this world behind.

I checked the room again. Fixing my eyes on the target, I started running, gathering momentum, then rammed into Asato. I pushed his body into the wall, but he didn’t resist.

The moment my arms were occupied, I sensed the white child closing in on me from behind. I could hear Uka chasing after her, but I didn’t think she would make it in time. I decided not to look back. Feeling the animalistic breathing on my neck, I pushed Asato down into the wall.

We slammed into a particularly reddish wall. A soft sensation enveloped my whole body.

Asato’s eyes widened.

“Odagiri!” called a muddled voice.

My calm façade was about to wear off.

It was too amusing. I raised my middle finger and let out a hearty laugh.

“Suck it!”

Asato and I fell into the wall that was merging with the spirit world. My vision was tinted red, and I was wrapped in a warmth like I had been swallowed by a living creature. A small hand touched my hair. I couldn’t tell if it was Uka or the white child. The thick smell of blood filled my lungs. We were drowning in a red, red world.

I fell into the spirit world together with Asato.

In the distance, the real world disappeared behind the rift.

I thought I heard a familiar voice.

“Ah, I knew you’d make that choice, Odagiri-kun.”

I was sure it was just my imagination.

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