Shiinamachi Senpai Volume 2 Interlude
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Translator: DarkHeartedAlchemist Editor: Weasalopes
【Interlude:Boundary Between Dream and Reality】
All of a sudden, I found myself drifting through the soft, murky darkness.
This should be what, my third time coming here? Or was it actually more than that? Anyway, the last time I was here, I had an unexpected meeting with my mother, who we thought was long missing, but that was when my heart and soul were erased by 『Code Calvariae』, so if she’s not here, then it must mean that my condition is not as dire as it was then, so I guess that’s good. Now that I have that firmly established, time to recollect what exactly happened to me.
I know for certain that Yugao-chan was the one who killed me by stabbing me in the back with a knife so hard that it came out of my chest. The bleeding that was the result of that action was the most likely cause of my death this time… again, same as the first time I died from Kuhoh’s hands. But unlike that time, her movements were rather slow and unrefined, I’d say wild even, and she missed the center of my heart, resulting in me not dying on the spot. This leads me to believe that unlike me and Kuhoh, she’s probably not familiar with any techniques used by professional assassins.
The real question here was: why did she killed me? That is what I wanted to understand the most, but I won’t obtain any new information by being here.
At the very least, it seems that she did not kill me out of hatred. If that was the case, then she wouldn’t have cried and apologized to me so much. But then, did she actually liked me, exactly as Asagao-san said? If that turns out to be the truth, it would be quite a shocking development. No, but wait, if she indeed likes me, then why did she stab me through the heart? Ahh, looks like figuring this one out is going to be more complicated than I initially thought, but as long as I’m here I have virtually nothing else to do, so might as well ponder about it a little.
Since Shiinamachi-senpai had everyone else to protect her, I left her room to investigate the 『Darkness』 her story mentioned, then was that happening with Asagao at the courtyard, then we returned inside and Yugao-chan found us. Afterwards she told me she knew something about the 『Darkness』, or a 『Dark Thing』, as she called it, and we agreed to meet in my room later, so I contacted senpai to tell her that I will be investigating some more, after which I was killed my Yugao-chan in her room. Now that I think about it more carefully, that room might’ve been just a simple study, not her private quarters. That would also explain why she opened the door with a master key instead of a normal one. That’s it when it comes to summarizing the events that took place tonight, but what now? In my current situation, it may actually take some time for my corpse to be found so that senpai could bring me back to life, but the best-case scenario is that it will be found eventually, I will be revived, and that will be a happy end to that? But, hypothetically speaking, what if the things won’t turn out so good?
「Yes, what if the things won’t turn out so good indeed?」
I heard a familiar voice speaking to me from the void. Trying to locate its source, I twisted my body around in every direction.
「Fufu, looks like you were killed again, Monjiro-san.」
The one who spoke those words was Yugao… no, with that manner of speech and that smug smile on her face, it had to be Asagao. She had her hair let down, so I couldn’t tell for sure. What I was sure though, was that her face was only a few centimeters away from me, enough so that she could smooch me on the cheek if she wanted to.
「Oh lookie you, in such a pickle and still thinks about such lewd things? Monjiro-san, you perv~~」
Was she able to read my thoughts, or was it due to us being in such a place? Whatever the case, it would seem that she could hear my thoughts, but I couldn’t hear hers. Typical.
「Being salty about it won’t help you with anything, Monjiro-san. Because the gap in the time of our servitude is too vast.」
There were some differences, but she definitely sounded like the Asagao-san I knew from the real world. Aside from that, instead of her maid clothes she had a white one-piece dress, and she looked somewhat older than me now.
「The time of servitude?」
「Yup, the time of servitude.」
It didn’t look like she intended to elaborate on the subject any further.
「But hooo boy, who would’ve thought that my precious Yugao-chan would do something so bold, she really surprised me there.」
Most certainly, what she did there was… unexpected to say the least. Even though she was embarrassed, she used her feminine charms to ensure that my assassination would be successful. True, the symbols of her womanhood are still developing, but they were definitely there, together with her snow-white skin and somewhat alluring curves. Was it also because of the special blood of the Yahata family? Was that the reason why she and the male Knights are apparently drawn towards each other? And because of that she would be forced to be their plaything, being treated as nothing more but a tool to imbue them with more power? The more I thought about it, the scarier, sadder, and more unforgivable it was to me. Even more than the burden that my own assassin’s bloodline has placed on me.
「Wow, you look like you could rip someone in half with your bare hands, Monjiro-san.」
Asagao made a surprised face and made her lips in the shape of the letter O. I know that I’m probably looking like a murderer now, but can you blame me? The more I thought about Yugao’s circumstances, the stronger the feelings of anger and regret were becoming. I wanted to help her in any way I could, but I can’t do anything now because I’m dead and I’m wasting my time here!
「Hmm, how was it again? Oh right 「People die if they are killed, that is how it’s supposed to be」. Well, it doesn’t look like that same rule is going to apply to you, right, Monjiro-san? But you know, this time it might be a little difficult.」
It was exactly like she said, but nevertheless, my heart was still hurting. Because normally senpai would bring me back to life, but now she was nowhere near me, so she could not save me. This time I might’ve died for real, and it filled me with the fear of 『never being able to experience the joys of living with my friends again.』
I don’t want that. I don’t want my life to end here, in this moment, without ever fully understanding life, emotions and their importance.
That is why…
Maybe you really liked me, Yugao-chan. Even if that was something that you couldn’t have done in any other way, no amount of apologizing could change the fact that you have killed me. But even so, even if your murderous intent was genuine… I still want to help you, even though you might end up hating me for it. That should be enough to atone for my obliviousness towards your feelings.
「As I thought, you really are someone who is straightforward with his feelings, aren’t you, Monjiro-san? That’s good, very good.」
Somehow, I have this strange feeling that I’ve seen Asagao’s smiling face before. I wonder why’s that? After all, the Asagao I met today and the Asagao who’s standing before me right now are completely different.
If this place is a reality created by my mind, then she might’ve been an illusion created by my subconscious, but… that was not the feeling I was getting from her.
「Fufu~~」
Instead of answering another one of my questions, she just laughed cheerfully.
「Humans are curious creations, don’t you think, Monjiro-san? Each and every one of them loves themselves first and foremost, to the point of thinking 「There’s no way I can ever die.」 But when they do, when they realize that there is no hope for salvation, the only thing they can do is be filled with regret, jealousy and hatred. So, so much hatred.」
「You really think so? Because you know, even though I was stabbed to death by Yugao-chan, I don’t feel any kind of hatred towards her. Then again, that might be because of my immortality.」
「Hmm, nope, I don’t think that immortality has anything to do with it.」
Oh?
「I think it’s more about who you are as a person, Monjiro-san. You were killed once before, when you didn’t have immortality, right? What were you feeling when it happened, can you remember?」
Now that she mentions it, when I found senpai dead and was killed, I didn’t feel hatred or anger. I was grateful. Grateful to the killer for killing me so I could be together with senpai.
「Monjiro-san, your heart is still immature, and not human-like, but at the same time more human than any other human. It might be so that because of that, things that are inhuman take a liking to you.」
Not human-like, but more human than any other, huh? So does that make my something that’s closer to a Lord, like Shiinamachi-senpai or Fujisato? Or perhaps someone with a special quality like Shiki or Kuhoh?
「And even if you manage to come back to life, it won’t change the fact that my sister killed you, the person she genuinely liked. So your task will probably be to somehow handle that troublesome situation.」
Asagao’s words filled my heart with new determination. She might just be an illusion based on my preferences, but that was still a nice thing of her to say. I should probably express my gratitude to her.
「No need to thank me, Monjiro-san. But, if you insist on showing your gratitude towards me, then how about you do it by crossing the river of death once again, and prove to those who are dead that there is still hope for them in this world?」
What does that even mean?
While I tried to ponder the exact meaning of her words, the darkness around me became somewhat smoother.
「Ah, looks like our time is up. That was pretty short if you ask me. Something is telling me that Shiki-sama had something to do with it, and if so, then she must’ve taken quite a liking to you, Monjiro-san. There are still some things that I wanted to tell, but I guess you’ll have to make do with what you already know.」
Is that so? That last part got me worried for a bit, but oh well. Since the world around me was getting blurrier by the second, this probably means that someone found by body and reported it back to senpai and the others.
「Take care of Yugao-chan for me, will you. She might be extremely shy and dishonest with her feelings, but she’s a good girl, you just have to get her out of her shell.」
As if I wasn’t planning on doing that from the start. Now that I had a rough grasp of the situation, I’m sure that I’ll be able to help her, even if I had to use that immortal body of mine.
「You can count on me! I’ll be sure to save your sister!」
Just leave it all to me. Saying something so cool in front of a girl filled me with an unexpected sense of fulfilment and harmony.
Was this Asagao the real Asagao? I felt like it was no longer that important of an issue. I made a promise to her, and that’s all that matters. She waved her hand at me and just stood there, smiling.
Soon after that, I was enveloped by a blinding light.
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