434 Pretend not to see anything (1/2)
Aoran mentally sighed as he understood what Natsuya meant.
He felt annoyed and helpless at Natsuya's naivety and stubbornness. Sometimes, he would think to himself that it would have been better if his younger sister had been slightly dumber, or slightly less independent, and more of an obedient daughter.
”The hunt's something that's already been decided upon. Even I can't change it.”
”But, you can pretend not to see anything.”
”Yes, but why should I?” Aoran increased the volume of his voice. ”Should I be naïve together with you!?”
Natsuya fell silent.
”Sister, I wasn't lying when I said I was on your side,” Aoran continued. ”But, the prerequisite is that you don't do anything too foolish! If you occasionally vent your anger or act willfully, I won't say anything, and you can do whatever you please. But, some things are still impossible. There's still boundaries. It's time for you to face reality.”
A moment of silence fell between them.
”Reality… whether or not I recognize it as such, I don't know,” Natsuya said in a light voice. ”But, perhaps the reality that I see is different from the reality that you guys see.”
Her tone of voice was quite nonchalant as if she didn't have any emotions. However, Aoran felt as if he was being stabbed painfully, and the annoyance in his heart increased even further.
He forcefully told himself many times over to calm down, and somehow managed to suppress his feeling of annoyance. What remained was a deep feeling of helplessness.
”Since you object so much to having people over there, then I won't arrange for anyone else. I'll just have Ritsujirou Rokuhou assist you by himself… Stop venting your anger and finish the task as quickly as possible.”
He hung up the call there.
Natsuya slowly put down her cell phone. Then, she came to a sudden realization that lit up her eyes.
'Thank you, Brother Aoran,' she said in her heart.
Ritsujirou located Shinkou Sentani in a public restroom close by to Genhana High School.
Shinkou was injured all over, lying on the toilet like a dying dog. He looked rather pitiful.
Although Ritsujirou didn't sympathize with Shinkou, he wasn't delighted to see his condition, either.
Ritsujirou contacted a hospital and dragged Shinkou out of the restroom and brought him to the ambulance that the hospital sent. He watched the ambulance take Shinkou away.
And just as he was about to return to Genhana High School to finish his task, a tall boy wearing the Genhana High School uniform appeared in front of him.
”My name is Seiji Haruta. I would like to have a discussion with you, Rokuhou-san.”
Haruta… Ritsujirou immediately tensed up upon hearing this name.
”What would you like to talk about? Haruta-san.”
”Let's go somewhere more convenient to chat,” Seiji indicated to Ritsujirou as he turned around and walked off.
Something flashed in Ritsujirou's eyes as he followed Seiji.
They entered a coffee café.
At this time of day, there were very few customers. The two of them sat down in a corner, each ordered a coffee, and then they both fell silent.
Only after the server brought both their coffees and left did Seiji finally speak up.
”Judging by your reaction, you know who I am, so I won't waste any unnecessary time on introducing myself. What I want to talk about is regarding your task to search for Awakened… Please stop your search for Awakened after you discover two Awakened, and then report to your boss that 'these are all the Awakened here at Genhana.'”
Ritsujirou squinted his eyes.
”Why?”
”Of course, to reduce the number of possible victims.” Seiji looked at Ritsujirou. ”You should know what will happen to the Awakened that you find, don't you?”
Ritsujirou fell silent for a moment.
”What's in it for you to do all this?” he asked.
”Nothing.”
”Then why are you doing this?”
”Because I want to, just like Natsuya.”
Ritsujirou tensed up even further upon hearing this.
”This was indeed Lady Yoruhana's intention after all…”