Chapter 4 (1/2)

Chapter 4 — Rock You

1

A devastated rooer care about anything and everything

This is where I will soon die My journey with Kozuki has already ended We had bickered for sothe past three months since our escape from Tokyo But, this was the first time we actually beat each other, and perhaps the last

I think over Kozuki’s words

“You hate having to bring that thing around with you, aren’t I right?”

It hit me when I heard that sentence; not a shock, not a fear, but a realization I came to know the reason behindmy mind But when she cleared it aas revealed was nothing but oistic self

It tells me to throw the Ark away, na the Ark isthat would mean—

I want to h, but even that small ould never co to my side

I grab my katana I reht to ed it in a nook of my heart

——that dying would be so easy

People die eventually Professor did, and Mother, and I will, too But I need to keep running away And as a result, ht now—

Crack There is so the floor I ready my katana as I turn around in reflex, only to see Levan standing there, dumbfounded He is stunned to see what this room has turned into

“What are you doing here?”

“This room is— what happened here?”

“It’s none of your business”

This guy keeps hindering me in all the i, or bad

“Why are you here?”

Levan brings out a sketchbook

“I have finished ht to show it to you, Minami…”

“Just leave me alone!”

Right now anything, everything irritatesface makes me want to puke I slap the sketchbook from his hands and I thrust my katana before him

“I’ve told you! Your kind has nofor his death in this garbage dump!”

Tears are welling in his eyes, but he does not turn his face away from me

“Get out of here!”

Even withat ure of his overlaps with Urushi+ba Rinka, and also Kyoutarou

No Don’t look atto those with merits There is no reason for you to pity me I live alone, and I will die the same Because this… is my only option

“No need to be scared”

My hand starts tre, and it makes my katana shake, too Because of it, the blade is now brushi+ng against Levan’s neck But instead of backing away, he takes one step closer to me

“I’th”

“What! Are you going to co that you will become a terrorist?!”

My shouting is already close to a scream My sound is rasp, to the extend that I feel ashamed

“You’re wrong That’s not it”

Levan shakes his head

“Let’s live together”

I almost drop my katana from how earnest he is

“If you don’t like this place, we can go so Let’s find a quiet place to live I will always stay with you”

He picks up the sketchbook that fell to the floor and presents it to me

“Just have a look I didn’t draw anything scary in it”

I es The paper has turned stiff froe contains a different object: a pigeon, a car, scenery fro object becomes only one

‘Me’

I wonder when he drew all this In one drawing I a down He has reproduced ly But at the same time, the contours are so delicate, and its appearance looks so gentle

I turn the pages again All of his drawings are beautiful, and energetic None of the pictures are s, but I can feel a war is looking soives off the emotion of kindness and love

The person inside this sketchbook is notshe gives comes from what he thinks of me This must be how I look in his eyes

Now I understand the reason I see Kyoutarou on his face It was the way Kyoutarou looked atthe battle It was not that of hatred, but perhaps that of kindness, seeking to rescue me

It was not a look of pity, but rather a gaze full of concern and thoughtfulness It was the look of a Hero ould jump into the depths of hell itself in order to save so at me the same way?

I was thinking of killinghas relieved my heart I feel an e time I feel… happy

I shed off nation and despair in a husk

I can feel it fro amity

And I reach the final page It is a picture ofmy hair, which is ruffled by the wind In this picture, the edge of htly in a smile

I airl who only looks her age

It is as if all ofis not that of a shame

I feel liberated And at the sa forth from within my chest That is because I know that I have become Levan’s aspiration

I close the sketchbook and return it to its owner

“So, you really like me”

He nods, while being bashful

“Thank you”

I i on a sofa Levan is sitting inme into a picture The roo pen Then we have a break, and I drink ain with the lingering aroma of the coffee still in the air

We ht just be able to live our days like that

I can take his hand right now and dash away I can discard everything, and live just as a hu

There is soht here, one with no ulterior motives Yet he tellsti to feel happy about, which is how I can perceive all these feelings from this sketchbook

“Minami…”

He holds out his hand to rasp

“I’m sorry”

But that is why, I cannot take this hand

“Why…?”

“I’s That’s not a lie, but I can’t stay with you I don’t deserve it”

“I don’t mind!”

“We, are the reason behind the annihilation of your country”

I tell him about e had done to his country He stiffens His face pales As though cuttingmy mouth

I am too heavy for his hand

I am too filthy for his hand

Instead of rasp with his hand

Levan clearly has the talent One look at these pictures is enough forleft for me to do Like what I did to Kyoutarou, I have to disappear from him I did it with my oill back then, and this time will be the same

At the same time, the place where I need to be has been established

This is not where I belong Perhaps I will end up leavingthat must be done

However, this ti a world for humans with merits, nor will it be for Professor, either

This is necessary for myself, and for my own sake, ‘I will finish what Professor had started’ After that, my life will start

I have no idea ill be when it all ends I aive me But that is fine, because I have seen these pictures

Because I have received his affection And that is all I need to continue living

“But Minami, I…”

I gently place s out his words, as if trying to bear with the harsh reality

“You’ll have to bear with it forever if you choose to stay withthis abhorrent person, isn’t it?”

“But, I’m okay…”

He is clearly faking his courage His earnest nature is pressing me on my heart

I laugh, which is notthe stiff ain

“Just forget about me”

He is about to say so in reply, when a cell phone suddenly appears in the air It then falls to the floor with a thud

I pick it up and take a look at the screen It is displaying thered dot is visiblyOn its side, it reads…

‘The Ark’

2

Aah, I have all the reason to be angry I will use this occasion to visit don and play The Ark, Popper, whatever Minami can die in some ditch for all I care!

Still intowards Whitechapel Road as I set Liverpool Street as my destination

There are pedestrians around, but they look startled when I enter their viealk pass each other What are you looking at, you ignorant bunch I will crush your head into a sorbet

I continue walking as I glare at everyone around me Then my eyes meet with my own reflection in a shopI almost scream when I see my terribly awful appearance My hair is disheveled, my makeup has cru to my cheek ItIn short, my face is currently in a monstrous state

This is unacceptable In a fluster, I produce aout my comb and put my hair in order Now I look acceptable, at least

But without h… how I despise my own baby face My eyes are the only parts of er in size This is the reason why h ht have possessed My boorish elder sister does not use lint look on her eyes, and their sharp, pointed ends are a source of my envy

I feel like redoing my makeup, but I hesitate to do so in public I shall endure, until I reach a washroom in the nearby station

Liverpool Street Station is what you call a ter towards the suburbs gather This station is brickwork-tiled It has ters in its front, one of which is a clock tower In appearance, the station looks closer to a church Including the subway area, this station is the largest in the eastern part of London

It is perhaps a good idea to ride on a train out of London Then I will change to another heading eastwards Yup, east sounds good Maybe I will head to Scandivania I wonder if I have enough money with me Well, I can always procure the sufficient a around here

There are several police here and there in surveillance because of the terror bomb incident at the Queen’s Theatre But since I am aware of their circuard They would not be so attentive to anyone with a fine British appearance like me

I transfermyself to bump into soentleht there Excuse me, please allow me to steal your—

Suddenly, my thief’s intuition reacts

“I’ tailed”

Nine out of ten, they are affiliated with Popper I suppose the fact that I have cutto them

I shall move to a ht of me this way But unfortunately, their distance to me does not increase at all, neither does it decrease in any way Consequently, I decide to descend to the packed subway

It would be preferable if I can set up an ambush and beat them up However, the police are numerous even down here It would be troublesome if they somehow notice me I would rather not be surrounded by a ridiculous number of them at the same time

I pass through the ticket gate, and I head towards the platfor for their chance while hiding somewhere on this platform

A Tube has arrived, and into this red colored train I go It is full of people Although not as bad as in japan, the underground trains in London are still quite congested

And so I board the train I shove between the passengers,from one car to another, then I leave to the platfor out of the train to follow o

Here comes the announce, I squeeze ain

Now on theon the platform, so I wave to thehty thousand times over, but still you will not be able to catch me

Luckily, there is an e below Leaning against the backrest, I ponder on what I should do next In the meantime, I should pick a suitable station to disembark, and eventually depart from London

Still unable to decide, the train stops in its next stations, with soradually beco to stand out After passing three stations, I notice a see on one of the seats In fact, the two of us are the only persons I can see on this car at the moment

Odd Around this tiested Also… this train has not stopped at all since the previous station We did not pass through any stations either I wonder if this train is going out-of-service Did I miss the announcement?

“Both of you are slow to understand”

All of a sudden, the sleeping drunkard rises and looks infrom that person’s eyes, the whole place becomes dark The place is loomed with darkness, one so black that I cannot see the tip of my own nose

“Haeh?!”

I lose track of the drunkard’s presence, leavingof the train and the sound of it running on its track The one who can achieve this feat is…

“Grandmother?”

“[You’re coirl, do you?]”

Her voice can be heard through the PA system Not even thirty minutes have elapsed since I left the block, but she has already figured me out She is beyond uncanny, to the extent that she terrifies me

However, I have the least intention to bon and say ‘Yes, I will’ to her words I transfer a gun to my hand with ESP I aim towards theand shoot

“Impossible! How could—?!”

The glass ht dent, but there is no crack at all Theuses reinforced glass… even more, its quality is extraordinary!

“You’re not going anywhere”

Hearing her voice coht beside my ear I flail my arms around and shoot everywhere Despite that, I cannot even make out her shadow

“[To think darkness would make you tree of Black Fist]”

Her voice interchanges between one heard froenuine Fear envelops me down to the tip of my toes It has been a while since I last felt it I have hated this feeling of dread that I experienced when I was a child An overwhelain…

My feet,fast No more I do not want to stay here Get me out of here!

“Really, I can’t leave you alone The sahter Both of you resemble each other”

Grandhter In other words, she means my mother I have no recollections of her What I know is only the fact that she gave birth to Sister and myself, and that she has been disinherited by the Black Fist

“[You and she are similar, both with a timid part somewhere inside You adhere to our rules, but are careless, and have no friends]”

This is the first time Grandmother ever talks about Mother to me

“In the end, it resulted in her ruining her own self”

Being compared to Mother

“I am… different!”

I hold back my tears as I shouted But my voice is sucked into the dark and vanishes What I heard instead is a sneer, and the grating sound of a lighter

“[Of course I know I even left for Tokyo in order to keep you in watch]”

The darkness laughs once more What does she mean? Grandmother, she… went to Tokyo?

“What were you doing? All while your elder sister, Kobushi+, was risking her life, hunting for treasures? You did nothing, only ith the flow You were playing around, and deceived by the Professor, were you not?”

“That’s…!”

“[What? Say it aloud I’ I knohy you went to the other side You thought it impossible for you to succeed the name by yourself]”

She strikes where it hurts My hair is standing on ends, I feel cold

“But Kobushi+ is not like you She chose to break our rules, knowingly She is aware that she is alone, but not you Perhaps you have intended to protect that child (Mina too reliant on her”

She is revealing mywatched Why would she— I am so ashamed…

Oh no… I think I a for Mina looked after… This only proves… that I am the idiot

“[Speaking of the reason that I irl

With the whole world currently pursuingthat they would guarantee your safety As fickle as he is, the organization behind him is one to be trusted And thus, I offered the Ark to them]”

“Your concern… was uncalled for…”

It takespride has already shattered into pieces I grit my teeth with sheer stubbornness I rub

All of a sudden, I can feel a presence appearing out of nowhere in thisvehicle It walks step by step, closer towards me

“No Let’s go You’ve been playing enough”

“I don’t want to”

“Don’t be selfish!+”

“I don’t wanna!”

“Listen to me!”

“No, no, no, no! I don’t wannaaa…!”

If I back do, everything will become just as Grandht I will turn into a nobody, an e freely I must really look like an idiot now… but please, at least spare me from that

I feel the presence wince slightly

“I never thought that you of all people would disobey me”

“sniff… hic…”

“It would seeht now But, the Ark is already with Popper”

“Uwaaaah…”

This is unfair! So unfair! Why did the situation end up like this? Everything is going exactly as Grandmother planned!

“The stalking, the location of the treasure, I was the one who infore rooood place to hide it, but it is too obvious”

“sniffle… Grandmother, you… hic… you stupid…!”

Crying and shouting in a total darkness, I wonder when I last did it The , thedarkness

I have been living in the shadows since I was a child

Born in a thieves fa the love and bonds that should be natural for any ordinary children When they would learn to speak, I was learning how to steal When they would make friends, I was told to never trust others

Truthfully, whenever I saw other childrenin a public park, I would often think of joining them However, even that was out of the question I did not kno to play I did not know the way to make people happy

There was a time when I felt it painful, but that is ato the e live The sense of achieveet my hands on my prey, the elation that I feel when I outwit my opponents; they would never be able to perceive these kinds of feelings

That is why I have no friends, only enee in life-or-death battles with my blood-related sister

It is a natural thing It is the common practice in the world of darkness

Solitude is how darkness lives And since I cannot adhere to that, Grandain

However, it makes my heart throb to think about it As ifthat is stopping me

Mina to mind? What is Minami to me exactly?

She is not anization

If so, do I think of her as a convenient pawn? No, she has already lost such value

Because it was a request froe whom I had admired, perhaps The Professor had entrusted Minami to me On the other hand, I am not such an earnest felloould faithfully follow through

I consider various kinds of relationshi+ps Just what is she to me?

She has had the worst kind of mental condition even prior to our arrival in London AlwaysIt would have been better to leave her, but that was not an option for me

I have no idea how to encourage others, though I do kno to encourage myself I just need to spend some time in my favorite place For reatest playground

I was sure that bringing her here would improve her moods I transferred her to a tourist spot, Piccadilly Circus, then I invited her to go shopping in various locations However, all of theht to her

And in the end——as we can see, this happened

I a out of character As a matter of fact, it is a mystery even to myself why I would do all this

It would have done ood if I immediately ran ahen the Professor died If I did then, there would be no reason for me to be imprisoned in the darkness like I am now

Then why? ——Whilein circles, a voice from the darkness interrupts me

“Geez, you’re pathetic This is all because you were hanging with a glooirl like her”

“…huh?”

My thought process that andering in all directions iathers up

“I have hated her from the start She has no courtesies towards the elders It sho her parents were like, how she was raised”

As if you are one to say We are thieves, aren’t we? I can still re like it was yesterday

“She looks so gloomy She’s a terrorist, and she’s cheeky, too”

You said gloomy and cheeky twice Still, what is this? Somehow… I feel sooo…

“…irritated”

“Did you say so?”

My tears have dried Although er due to shaer

“What you said is true for the most part But Grandmother… it somehow irritates me when you say it”

“What’s wrong with speaking the truth?”

“The one allowed to badmouth Minami is me alone!”

I will give this old hag a surprise I have nificent idea has hitunder my seat Grandmother, its content is not limited to only my purse, you know!

However, a rope flies froht hand

“[Stop trying now]”

Her voice is now coain, and her presence disappears Yup, perfect I use rab a phone hidden in my pocket I launch a certain application and transfer the phone altogether to the hideout

As stealthily as I did it, Grandmother saith her keen eyes Another rope flies fro my left hand as well My two hands are held up in the air as if I a

With the shaking train in addition to le my limbs

“What did you do?”

There is a presence at my back, to the extent that I can perceive her silhouette I can tell it is the real deal

“Grandive the Ark to Popper”

“Hle ant under my nose”

“Just now, I activated the GPS that I had buried inside the Ark Leaving the detailed mechanism, it is possible to track the location with a round”

I hear the sound of an ignited lighter Then a sweet fragrance wafts in the air It is Gudang Garaarette

“Would that be your final letter for that little girl? Doesn’tas you are now back with me…”

Her cigarette gives off a spark, which will surely drop from her mouth soon Because, I have transferred a certain item into my left hand

“Can you see it, Grandh, it is perhaps hard for your old eyes to see with this darkness”

It iscylindrical, which I aly Then I resolutely press on the red button lying on its top with my thumb

Grand to happen She is shouting so, it see from the explosion, of course it would be inaudible

Heat, shock wave, and light Subsequently, I aain

3

I sense Levan’s gaze co atat the phone screen I aer the Minami that he yearns for

But that is fine It only relieves ht

I can see hie of my view Yes… our worlds have parted For the last time, I see him face to face I want him to etch it in his mind, that one day, that someday, in a future I am not aware of…

Regardless of when it will happen, I shall make him remember in that future

And so I closewords are unnecessary It is merely by accident that our paths have intersected; it is so years—like a meteor shower I believe people call it a miracle, but for me——