The sticky red mass climbed steadily up my body and settled inside my collar.
Until it reached my knee, it left a terrible stain going downwards, but by the time it passed my chest, it had become a jelly-like goo on the outside.
…I couldn’t exactly say that was a good thing.
Clang, the blood-red katana fell to the floor with a bit of a thud. Well, it did cut a Yōkai with a sword made of blood. It’s not like it’s foreign to me. After all, it wouldn’t be weird to create some… bizarre creatures.
As I got up from my position—
“Ah!”
I screamed and crouched down on the floor.
My left wrist… it hurts too much.
Looking down, the wound was still there. No, why?
I clearly had the wound disappear after I had slept last time.
I… scratched my wrist… quite hard. After all, the blood had to wet the magic circle.
Grinding my teeth, I rolled my left hand toward my body. The gaping wound was somewhat closed, and the blood slightly stopped flowing.
First, I yanked a ton of toilet paper from beside the toilet and pressed it down hard. But it didn’t stain my clothes that much. Anyway, since it was black, I figured it wouldn’t be too noticeable once it dried. I might end up tossing my clothes while trying to change anyway.
But there were no bandages at home.
Blaming my brain for not preparing a first aid kit, I made my way to my room. In the meantime, the bleeding had stopped a little. I wasn’t sure if it was because my recovery speed was fast or if the wound wasn’t as deep as I expected. It still hurt when I moved my arm. It definitely hadn’t completely stopped.
Or maybe the wound was just closed for a moment. Either way, it was just as urgent.
With my right hand pressing down on my left wrist, I kicked my bag open with my foot. When I flipped it over—
Out came the tape.
I had a moment of clarity.
Is this really how it should be?
Yeah, it has to be. It’s my fault for cutting my wrist without a single bandage.
No matter how much of a golden holiday it was, there should be at least one pharmacy open. Isn’t there a duty pharmacy in Japan? If it’s closed, I guess I could buy stockings at a convenience store.
I took a deep breath and dropped the toilet paper on the floor. The saturated paper fell with a splash that felt disgusting.
I quickly moved and grabbed a sock that I had tossed into the corner of the room and pressed it against my wrist. Good. Since it’s black, it wouldn’t stand out too much.
Holding my wrist up in that state, I took the tape and tore off the end.
I gently stuck it to my wrist and wrapped it around.
Phew.
I finally let out a sigh.
Kyuu.
I heard that sound near my ear.
I looked, and there was that… I don’t know if I should call it a worm; let’s give it a name. What was blood in Japanese? Chi (血)?
Well, calling it that doesn’t sound too weird.
“Alright, from today on, you’ll be Chi.”
Kyuu.
It resembled the world’s smallest snake. The Babyliss snake is what it’s called, and it feeds on white ants.
It looks somewhat like a worm but has really tiny black eyes on the end, and its mouth can open. It even has a tongue. It looks incredibly insignificant and probably appears dull when raised as a pet. It just stays underground, creating the feeling of soil.
If you enlarged that Babyliss snake to the thickness of half a pinky and shortened its length a bit, it would look something like this.
Besides being a solidified dark red color, it could be somewhat cute.
“How would you guide me?”
Kyuuuu.
The cute-sounding Chi tried to crawl back into my clothes. I picked it up and set it back on my shoulder.
It clung to my neck and whispered—
“What a cute name.”
“Oh, don’t worry. He’s not a threat.”
“…Can he communicate over long distances?”
“The one you left behind, Chi, seems to be responding to your ‘questions,’ so there’s no reason for him to ask any other questions.”
“…”
Hearing words that sounded like deliberate teasing, I held my neck.
“Oh, right.”
Chi conveyed the message.
“You have to maintain the barrier to keep him, so your wrist probably won’t dry until he goes back. It’s going to be dangerous if you don’t find him today.”
I gritted my teeth and got up.
Yeah, I’m going.
After all, it was something that needed to be dealt with during the holiday. I might as well think of it as having reduced the time frame to just about one-seventh.
That’s quite a cut down.
The bleeding wouldn’t stop, but at least the thing sucking up the blood was in a proper state, so I got up from my seat and headed to the bathroom.
Once inside, there was a bare, unsheathed knife just sitting there. The tiles were horrifically soaked with a lot of blood.
Well, that amount of blood is about equal to the mass of the knife itself. In the meantime, I had spilled some other blood too.
Hmm, considering I still maintained my consciousness, it definitely wasn’t a normal human body.
After grabbing the knife—
—what now, I wondered.
Shit, thinking it over, I realized I had to move the knife ‘out of sight’ when transporting it. It wasn’t just about being caught. It’s the law. You can’t appear to threaten those around you.
And of course, if this katana was seen by the police, they’d demand a sword possession certificate. I learned that when I was going through options to buy a katana when I was in the throes of my middle school delusions. It was back in 2004 too.
Had I not searched how to buy a katana during my trip to Japan, I might have just taken this out and ended up in the lockup, collapsing from excessive blood loss.
With my lower lip bitten, I came back to the living room.
The two blankets were incredibly obvious in sight.
Ah, I really don’t want to do this.
Thinking that, I placed the sword on top of the blanket that I was sleeping under. Then I rolled it up.
At least the sword wasn’t showing. If I kept holding it like this, I probably wouldn’t cut myself again.
With the sword rolled up in the blanket, I went outside.
I’m sorry, Suzuki-sensei.
But a life is certainly more precious than just one blanket.
*
“Well, see you after the holiday.”
Yuka waved as she said goodbye.
Kurosawa looked at Yuka with a slightly uneasy expression but still raised a hand.
I intentionally swiped my card, entered the station, sat on a bench by the ticket barrier, and waited for about three minutes.
After that, I sprang up from my seat and quickly stepped back through the ticket barrier.
No matter how much I thought about it, the atmosphere around Kurosawa had been odd.
Even if it wasn’t because of the bloodline, doing this for a long time gave rise to a sense of intuition.
And that intuition turned out to be more important than I had expected. The longer Yōkai stay among humans, the more dangerous they become—and they begin to behave more like humans.
To find such Yōkai, besides the inherited abilities, a larger portion of something else is also needed.
The newspaper Kurosawa had seen spoke of a man-eating demon.
The reason Yuka came to Hanagawa High School.
And the feeling I got from Kurosawa.
Those two facts were entangled, warning me.
Once I stepped out of the ticket barrier and walked quickly, I could see from afar the back of a girl wearing a black sailor uniform.
Her black hair covered her back, and the ends were held together with a white hair tie.
It was fortunate that Kurosawa had such a distinctive look.
While following her, I couldn’t help but notice that Kurosawa seemed to be busy with something, not even glancing around. Then—
“Oh.”
Kurosawa went up to a very old-looking two-story apartment.
It seemed like it wouldn’t even qualify for earthquake-proofing. The wood had all turned a dull color, and the exposed metal had rusted. Weeds were abundantly growing in the flowerbed.
Moreover, Kurosawa had walked a whole thirty minutes to get here. She hadn’t taken a bus. Thanks to that, I could follow her, though…
Yuka quickly shook her head.
She must have some circumstances. Digging deep into such a place wasn’t Yuka’s style. She had roamed around too much to feel deep attachments to any single student.
After all, it was just near Tokyo—a place where friends tend to drift apart quickly if they don’t meet every day.
Thinking about what to do, I eventually followed her up to the front of the house.
Quietly, on tiptoe so no one would notice me.
Fortunately, it seemed Kurosawa didn’t pay much attention to anyone who might be wandering outside—
Hiccup.
A moan came from inside.
It wasn’t very loud. Even if the door wasn’t flimsy, it wouldn’t have been audible.
A chill ran down my back. This… this isn’t just someone crying alone.
“…I want to ask something.”
Kurosawa’s voice.
“What do you want?”
“I understand.”
Soliloquy?
No, that’s not it. She was speaking with someone else.
I couldn’t hear the responding voice.
“…”
If someone had heard that, they would have called her insane.
But Yuka knew that there are cases where it isn’t so. She had seen it herself before.
Moreover, right now—
Do you know that feeling when the hairs on the back of your neck stand up? Like someone lightly tracing their nails down your spine.
This was the sensation I had felt at school.
Grandfather’s words crossed my mind.
…Kurosawa, could it be.
There were sounds of movement from inside. Was she going to come out again?
Yuka quickly descended and hid in a nearby alley.
A little while later, Kurosawa came out.
She was hugging something wrapped in a blanket.
With her foot, she closed the door and, with her left arm tightly holding the blanket, locked the front door with her right hand.
Then she scampered down the stairs.
…The white blanket was stained red in various places.
Does Kurosawa not realize that? Or was she in such a rush that she didn’t have the time to consider it?
Kurosawa hurriedly walked toward a nearby pharmacy.
“Ah.”
Noticing the pharmacy closed for the holiday, Kurosawa let out a sound.
“…”
In the end, Yuka gave up on following her any further.
Even now, she could still feel that shivering energy emanating from Kurosawa.
“Kurosawa.”
At Yuka’s call, Kurosawa’s shoulders shook violently.
Kurosawa, who had her neck bent low like a turtle, hesitated and slowly turned around.
“What on earth are you trying to—”
While speaking, Yuka suddenly caught sight of the particularly red stains on the blanket Kurosawa was holding.
When blood dries, it becomes a dark brown, and if left for too long, it turns completely black. And it rots too.
But the blood smeared on the blanket was a vivid red hue.
The area around Kurosawa’s left wrist was particularly vivid, as if red paint had been splashed on it.
Yuka’s eyes shifted back to the pharmacy.
No way.
“Y-Yuuki?”
As Yuka stepped forward, Kurosawa retreated as if she were about to run away.
Quickly, Yuka lunged and grabbed Kurosawa’s left arm.
“Gah!?”
From Kurosawa came an unexpectedly loud sound. It hadn’t been long since I got to know her face, but it was a voice I’d never heard before. It sounded like she was forcing herself to endure pain.
“What… what is this…?”
Her left arm… First aid…
No, could it even be called first aid?
She just had a black cloth against her left wrist, wrapped with transparent tape. It was obvious she had done it with one hand, so it was unlikely to stop the bleeding properly.
The cloth was already well past its absorption capacity, with bright red blood seeping through it.
Yuka’s hand was smeared with Kurosawa’s blood.
Getting closer, the scent of blood amplified the seriousness of the situation.
“What is this… let go.”
Kurosawa said.
“What? What’s going on?”
“Ugh.”
“Ah, I-I’m sorry.”
Having inadvertently gripped Kurosawa’s arm too tightly, seeing her body slightly twitch, Yuka quickly released her grip.
Kurosawa then hugged the blanket tightly again and said,
“You… it’s none of your business.”
“…”
Yuka’s eyebrows knit together at her words.
“I…”
“…Are you hunting a man-eating demon?”
At Yuka’s words, Kurosawa fell silent.
“Do you know something? Isn’t a human involved in this?”
“…”
“Kurosawa.”
As Yuka took a step forward, Kurosawa stepped back.
Now that I looked again, it seemed the blanket Kurosawa was holding wasn’t just a blanket. It looked as if she had rolled something up to hide it.
Something long and hard. Probably a sharp object.
A katana.
“Are you…?”
Kurosawa clamped her mouth shut.
*
Ah, damn, what should I do.
I hadn’t expected to get caught, which makes me realize I was way too complacent.
Yuuki could be considered a pro in this area. He’s only a high school student now, but he was raised in a family like that.
He even managed to take a weapon to school.
Still, it didn’t seem like he was aware of my true identity. Yuuki’s gaze was only on my face, my left wrist, and the blanket I was holding.
So, to be specific, I wasn’t caught for being the avatar created by the foreign entity. I… probably thought I was some kind of hunter or exorcist like him.
Yuuka, who was staring at me, closed her mouth, took a deep breath, and exhaled.
The tension in her shoulders relaxed.
“Okay, fine. If you don’t want to disclose your identity, you don’t have to do it now.”
Yuuki raised a finger, pointing at my wrist.
“Instead, let’s do something about that wrist.”
“…No.”
“…”
At my answer, his beautifully shaped eyebrows furrowed deeply, now resembling an eight or nine.
“Why?”
“This… this is…”
I stammered. Was coming up with a lie really this hard?
Oh, I get it. I’m in a situation where I need to deceive someone with professional experience in front of me. Think of it like trying to convince a physicist that something is not a physical phenomenon. That would be tough, right?
“It’s necessary for my consciousness.”
What the hell am I saying?
Aren’t there talismans that use blood and such? They write in red, right? In fact, Sasaki managed to kill a Yōkai with that blood.
It’s not necessarily related to the foreign entity, but isn’t it a similar principle to how I was able to use my blood to slay that Yōkai?
“Are you saying you need to keep bleeding?”
I nodded.
Yuuki frowned. Moments ago, his expression reflected complete disbelief, but now he was frowning in disgust. Did he know anything about related rituals?
“Why does it have to be your blood?”
“…Because I’m the only one around.”
He seemed to understand something now. There must be some rituals that involve animal blood? I feel like chicken blood is often used for such things though.
Or was that something Korean shamans do?
Anyway.
Yuuki pressed a hand against his forehead. My tension loosened somewhat. My left wrist still hurt, my head was a bit dizzy, and I had a sword that could kill a person hanging on my arm, but at least my opponent wasn’t an ordinary person.
“Still, let’s at least do something about that wrist. You’re going to throw away your school uniform, right?”
Honestly, I was already thinking of tossing it away.
“Also… what’s that? A handkerchief?”
“…It’s a sock.”
Yuuki’s face scrunched up once again.
*
The tape, stuck on my wrist, was easily removed. It had bled so much that the adhesive had almost disappeared.
If people saw it in various ways… I’m sure it would be regarded oddly, so we entered a nearby alley.
Someone might have already seen my wrist. Surely Suzuki-sensei must have noticed? After all, she was the one who had come searching for me to my house. Well, that person doesn’t seem to have any prejudices, so seeing how they treated me normally afterward, it didn’t seem to bother them.
As for my friends… they probably didn’t see it. If they had, they wouldn’t have treated me so normally. Fukuda would have shown major concern.
But anyway… this was the first time I was showing it outright.
As I peeled off the tape from my arm and removed the sock beneath, Yuuki’s eyes widened at the tattoo underneath.
There was even a wound shaped like an eye.
“…Don’t worry. I can control it.”
“You’re brimming with confidence, huh?”
I heard a whisper in my ear, but I ignored it.
Thankfully, it didn’t seem to have reached Yuuki’s ears. Of course, that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t feel that creepy sensation one feels when something non-human is present around.
Despite that, Yuuki didn’t press any further.
…And then, he placed a sanitary pad bought from the convenience store on my wrist.
What a brilliant idea. I have no idea why I didn’t think of that.
…Oh, it’s because I had never bought a sanitary pad before. Not even after coming to this world.
I mean, I… had never had a ‘that’ happen to me. It hasn’t even been a month since I arrived here, so I’m not exactly sure what happens.
Yuuki placed the sanitary pad on my wrist, added some bandages on top, and wrapped it tightly. I couldn’t move my wrist freely now, but, well, I guess it wouldn’t matter since the wound was already too extensive to move my wrist anyway.
“How is it?”
Yuuki, who skillfully wrapped the bandage, asked.
“What a friend without prejudice.”
I ignored the sound whispering in my ear and nodded.
At least blood hadn’t seeped through the white bandage yet.
“So.”
Yuuki continued.
“Do you know where we need to go? I don’t know what kind of being you summoned either.”
“I do.”
“I see, you can tell me.”
Chi, that little Jjapgurasu, whispered in my ear.
Hmm, this feels good. Jjapgurasu.
Since I was pumped up, I decided to refer to it this way for a while.
*
“I’m sorry to say this, but honestly, we’re heading in the opposite direction of what I thought.”
Yuuki commented.
I thought the same. The man-eating demon… killed a person in the bustling area. And then just carelessly dumped the leftover corpse.
But it didn’t cross my mind that the man-eater might not be able to escape anywhere. After all, man-eaters are Yōkai that need to constantly consume something to survive. The nest they built in the bustling area was probably to consume a lot of people.
Isn’t that so? People are just animals, and it can be said that people are more gluttonous than you think. They wouldn’t be as much as pigs or cows, but they can still cover for their numbers. They can eat a number of people in the middle of a large city.
“This looks right.”
But I trusted the words of Jjapgurasu, who said that.
There was no reason for them to lie about something like this.
The place we boarded the subway to was a residential area.
“…”
Yuuki kept his mouth tightly closed, following only me. It seemed like he had a lot to say, but was holding it all in.
…Am I right?
“Do you suspect Chi?”
That voice chuckled.
“But there’s no need to worry. It definitely exists over there.”
“…Are you going?”
I turned to Yuuki and asked.
“Yeah.”
Yuuki nodded in response, his facial expression was different from his words.
I placed the blanket I had been holding down on the ground.
I didn’t see anyone passing by just yet.
Quickly, I unfolded the blanket and grabbed the bright red sword hidden inside.
“…What’s this?”
“…My sword.”
I wanted to give it a meaningful name, but nothing came to mind immediately.
In truth, my body was nearing its limits. Seeing how my vision was starting to sway, I figured it was best to end this quickly.
I walked, slightly swaying, toward the old apartment that looked just like mine.
