鬼影
Onikage (Oni Shadow)
Kei: Haa~~~
Sakuya: What is it so early in the morning? Tossing out a sigh of gloom with the despairing face of a maiden who had a love letter shoved back in rejection, as if it were the end of the world, for cripes...
Kei: ......Uuu. My face isn't that bad.
Sakuya: You can't really tell without a mirror, you know. Well, with all that happened, I can bet you'd be lacking in sleep.
Kei: You're so lucky, Sakuya-san. You look like you never had worry or stress in your life.
Sakuya: Ah, I get it. The troubles of a young maiden, huh? Care to consult with your great sempai in life, Sakuya-oneesan?
Kei: If you're an "oneesan," you wouldn't add "great" to "sempai." And if you're a "great sempai" you wouldn't be an oneesan, but a---
Sakuya: ...But a what...?
As the air grows heavy. *do--n*
Though I'd be far more appreciative if it became cooler instead......
Kei: Ah, that is, umm, well. You were a friend of my mom, so maybe you're past
the age limit for "oneesan" I guess......
Sakuya: You don't know how old I am. You don't decide a person's generation by their relations, ya know. Geez...
Sakuya: From a rich girl in elementary school to a leisurely retired old man, my acquaintances cover the map. You wanna see a picture e-mail?
I see. Unlike me, being limited to one school year above or below, her range of friendships is much broader.
Very well, I'll acknowledge that you can't judge a person's age by the company they keep. However...
Kei: In that case, how old are you?
Sakuya: Well, then, how old am I, indeed? Hmm......
Feigning consideration, she showers soy sauce over her salmon cuts, unfastens her chopsticks, and begins her meal.
Kei: Ah, Sakuya-san, that's too much soy sauce.
Sakuya: Who cares? I like things salty, you know. And salmon's better that way.
Kei: Eh--- Even those spicy ones you have to drink with tea? Eating that'll raise your blood pressure. You can't live a long life, that way.
Sakuya: That's too bad, but you can say whatever you want. I'll probably live longer than you, anyway.
As she speaks, the amount of food ferried to her mouth is many times more voracious than my one mouthful.
Eating well, laughing well, and keeping her body moving diligently, Sakuya-san really does seem like she would live longer than me.
But, when you think about it, my mom, too......
Kei: ............
Sakuya: ......Come on, what's up with you now? It's not low blood pressure, or anything, right?
Kei: Ah, right now, it's something else. Looking at how you eat reminds me of mom.
Sakuya: Ah yeah, that girl Mayumi sure could eat......
Sakuya: And? Before that, what was it?
Kei: I noticed that Uzuki-san hadn't come......
When I look about the hall, her impeccable posture never catches my eye.
Kei: ......Probably because of how she left last night.
Sakuya: It's nothing to worry about. If you associate with a dangerous bunch who swing around shiny things like that, you're no doubt headed for trouble.
Perhaps because that affair was so far outside common sense, I'd written off that series of memories in my head as a dream or something...
I couldn't help but doubt the events last night, and expect that we could simply eat together again, like yesterday morning.
If Sakuya-san is bringing it up, it couldn't have all been in my head, I suppose.
Although, even now could be the middle of a dream, right?
Sakuya: Maybe after all that happened, she was like "how should I settle this blood-boiling feeling?" or something or other, and went loitering outside.
Kei: Come on, Sakuya-san. Uzuki-san wouldn't test her sword by killing people,
or do anything like that---
News Anchor: For our next item. In Hemidzuka Village, a male corpse was discovered today, in the early morning.
Kei: Eh!?
As we pick up a known place name and a grizzly incident, ill-fitting for the refreshing breakfast atmosphere, our eyes focus on the TV.
News Anchor: The discovered male was a teacher of history at the local junior high school, Kanogawa Satomori-san. Thirty years of age.
News Anchor: As of yesterday, Kanogawa-san had not returned home, and his family was worrying for his safety when they received the news.
Sakuya: There you go, she went and did it already.
Kei: I'm telling you, there's no way Uzuki-san......
News Anchor: As there was no blood left in the body, blood loss is ruled as the probable cause of death.
News Anchor: Further, the lack of blood stains at the area of discovery suggests the murder was carried out elsewhere---
Hostess: To think such a ghastly thing would happen out here.
Towards the head of the table, we hear the Okami-san having a conversation with another customer.
Without leaving a drop of blood, almost sounds like the work of a vampire---
Kei: There you go, it really wasn't Uzuki-san. If it's vampires, then it's Nozomi-chan and Mikage-chan. After all, last night they came for my blood and---
Sakuya: What's this about your blood? And not just Yumei, but Nozomi and Mikage?
She cuts off my words, asking about the events in a low, stern voice.
Sakuya: I came in the middle, remember? What happened to you before that, and what did you find out?
Kei: Okay......
I lay my chopsticks on the tray, and haltingly start talking.
About my smaller self with small hands, dyed in the blood of someone I can't remember, and the dream I saw in the company of red pain.
And about the ones who showed me that dream and appeared after it, Nozomi-chan and Mikage-chan.
And what they said, that blood has power resting in it, and that my blood in particular was special.
And so I was attacked, and Yumei-san came to save me, but she was overpowered, too. And at the last moment, Uzuki-san appeared.
Sakuya: That's strange. Uzuki is one thing, but her......
Kei: By "her"... you mean Nozomi-chan? Sakuya-san, you know them?
Sakuya: Y-...... yeah, kind of. Those two you call Nozomi-chan and Mikage-chan were supposed to have been banished......
Kei: Really?
Come to think of it, they might've said something to that effect against Uzuki-san.
Sakuya: ......Kei, you should go home.
Kei: Huh?
Her words were so sudden.
Kei: Umm...... "go home"?
Sakuya: Like they said on the news, a dangerous incident happened, and they haven't found the perpetrator.
Kei: I said, It was Nozomi-chan and---
Sakuya: If they're of that sort, all the more!
Sakuya: You're the target, right? And you have no means to protect yourself, right? Then isn't it only natural for you to run?
Sakuya: Understand? If you became a target when you came here, then you won't be when you go back. As long as they don't give chase.
Sakuya: It looks like Yumei has too much trouble protecting you by herself, and Uzuki might not come again. You should go home. Am I wrong?