Vol 2 Chapter 9 (2/2)
“Hmm, well that doesn’t cost any money, so that’s good I guess.”
Now that I thought back, there was an incident in the rotary sus.h.i.+ when my brother got jealous that I was talking so much about Kagami and jumped on the table half-naked, putting sus.h.i.+ around his nipples and asking me in a deranged voice to “Eat me! I’m the one who can love Sasami-san the most!”
Ugh, my brother is such an idiot…
He should just go die.
“Hm?”
As I talked with my brother like I usually did, I suddenly felt a chill.
“Hmm…?”
We had already left the bustling shopping district and were riding through the spa.r.s.ely-populated residential district.
The streetlamps illuminated our way eerily like a row of jack-o-lanterns. And I felt that something was off.
The town looked just as plain and normal as it always did.
But…
I smelled blood.
“What’s wrong, Sasami-san?”
My brother might not have any ability to detect spiritual phenomena, but he was still very sensitive to my own changes in mood. He quickly brought the bike to a screeching halt, and looked at me with worry on his face.
“Maybe we shouldn’t have gotten on the bike right after eating? Are you feeling a bit sick?”
“No, it’s just… oniichan?!”
I suddenly felt a bit dizzy, got off the bike, and almost leapt to face the side.
n.o.body would usually give this normal town scenery a second look. But today, enshrouded in twilight…
Illuminated by the streetlights and the strangely red-glowing moon…
–
Was sitting a blood-strained Kagami.
–
She was squatting down in the shadow of a street lamp.
Her black hair, pale skin, and school uniform… all of it was stained here and there the color of blood.
Her long, labored breaths turned white in the chilled air, belying her exhaustion.
I blinked my eyes again and again.
I had no idea what was going on… but this wasn’t normal at all.
“Kagami?!”
I yelled out. Kagami seemed to notice me and lifted her head.
“Ahh-…”
This situation was just so unnatural.
“I was sleeping.”
She said the same thing she always said.
I quickly rushed up to Kagami and reached out to her.
“Are you okay, Kagami?! What happened?! Those wounds look serious!”
“Oh h.e.l.lo, Sasami-san… how strange to see you here. Right, you do live around here, don’t you? Why are you walking around all alone at this hour? A girl your age shouldn’t be-”
“Kagami-san?!”
At that point, my brother also came running over. Kagami blinked a few times.
“Oh h.e.l.lo, sensei… ah, Sasami-san is still in her uniform? Are you on the way home from school?”
Why was she acting like nothing was wrong?
“It doesn’t matter what we’re doing… Kagami, are you okay? W-We need to get you to a hospital… oniichan, what should we do?! Kagami is…”
“No need to worry about me.”
Kagami didn’t even pay me a single glance as she unsteadily got back up to her feet.
She clearly had wounds all over her body, but her face was still perfectly calm.
“Unlike you, we’re built to be a bit more durable, so these wounds will heal soon enough. Ah, it’s already so late… I have to get back or neesan will worry.”
“Hey, Kagami?!”
Kagami brushed me to the side and tried to walk off down the road.
Of course, I couldn’t just leave her alone like that, and grabbed her by the hand.
“What happened, Kagami? Let me know… we’re friends, aren’t we?”
She couldn’t have possibly gotten those wounds from a simple trip or fall.
“What does this have to do with you?”
Kagami sounded irritated as she spat that out while rubbing away a few bloodstains on her body with the back of her hand.
“Also… wasn’t the agreement that we would be friends only during school? You want to learn how to be a ‘normal’ human, and I’m just someone to practice with, correct? I’m not sure what I misunderstood about those terms, but really it’d be annoying for me if you get too clingy.”
Kagami knocked my hand away and swept a hand through her hair, looking rather annoyed.
“I didn’t have a choice but to accept you as my friend because neesan told me to. But other than that, I would appreciate it if you keep our interaction to a minimum. This is just a piece of advice… but if you would like to live a ‘normal’ life, then you’d best not become involved with people like us.”
She was right.
I was just a normal human who housed the power of the Supreme G.o.d.
And she… was different.
She wasn’t misunderstanding anything…
“Kagami.”
I looked down at the floor, holding back tears, and just called her name… like some small child, I just called her name.
Kagami didn’t answer, but just turned her back on me and began to slowly walk away.
— Ahaha. Guess I spoiled the mood a little, huh?
— Sorry for talking to you when you were in a bad spot.
— Bye bye. I’ll see ya at school tomorrow.
I should’ve just said something carefree like that.
“… Kagami!”
But all I could do was shout her name.
And like that, Kagami left.
TRANSLATOR’S NOTES
(1) The word is p.r.o.nounced as “red moon,” but the kanji used literally means “moon the color of life.” I decided to go with the p.r.o.nunciation for the translation here.
(2) For those of you who might be confused, in authentic j.a.panese sus.h.i.+ restaurants the wasabi comes already put on the fish. Usually, you don’t have to add any more to your soy sauce.
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