OTO Chapter 128

[Sweet Scent of Death]

Having landed on the first floor of the apartment, I immediately start running, kick the front door and go outside.

However, Yoiyami-san’s sound is already gone.

He must be using ‘Blackout’ which allows him to move between black and black in no time.

But it’s daytime now.

In daytime when there is little black or darkness, Yoiyami-san can’t exert even half of his original power.

He shouldn’t be too far away yet.

If it’s the current Yoiyami-san, even I can follow him.

I close the eyelids of my eyes which was covered in black and concentrated on the sound.

In a radius of several kilometers.

I search for Yoiyami-san’s sound.

If he is trying to escape from my detection using his ability, he has two options, which are to keep lurking in black or to cover himself with black.

However, if he does so, he won’t be able to use ‘Blackout’.

No, in the first place, Yoiyami-san doesn’t care even if he’s detected by me.

So, me must be heading straight toward Saint Celia.

I maximize my sound detection toward the north.

Then, I detect Yoiyami-san’s sound which is moving from point to point there.

There he is. But he has gone that far, huh.

I have no means of stopping him at this distance.

However, I can send a sound, enough for a conversation.

“Yoiyami-san.”

There’s no reply from Yoiyami-san.

In a few seconds, he’d be out of my reach.

There is only one way for me to stop Yoyami-san.

“Observer is alive,” When I say so, his sound – which is moving from point to point – stops.

“……”

I swallow my saliva. Cumulonimbus clouds gradually cover the sun.

Yoiyami-san doesn’t move.

Although he stopped as I intended… the thing about Observer being alive is of course a lie.

She committed suicide.

I have to lie. If I don’t, Yoiyami-san won’t stop.

“Then, where is Observer now?” Yoiyami-san says.

It’s a natural question.

But how do I respond? Regardless of whether Observer is alive or dead, Yoiyami-san who had guessed the truth would eventually go to Boss’ place.

That’s not the main problem now, but rather, it is the point of Yoiyami-san’s anger which is aimed perfectly at Boss.

I want to deceive him for a while. Only until Yoiyami-san regains his composure.

“Inside Yumesaki Aika.”

What squeezed out of my mouth after a thought was her name.

Observer said she copied a part of herself in Yumesaki Aika after she possessed her.

In that case, even if the lie is exposed, there’ll be somewhat of an excuse I can use.

“That Yumesaki Aika, where is she?”

“If she wasn’t caught by the Self-Defense Forces, she should be with Midou Tsurugi… I don’t know where he currently is either.”

“…Thought so. He’s also wanted now.”

Yoiyami’s voice is frighteningly calm, but it can’t hide the anger inside.

So scary. I’m afraid, but I have to stop him.

The only person I could rely on is Yoiyami-san after all.

“I beg you. Please come back. You’re not calm right now.

If you don’t come back, we will end up…” I say as though to plead him, looking up at the sky.

When the sun is completely hidden by the clouds, Yoiyami-san is already standing behind me unnoticedly.

I’m surprised and try to take a distance, but I manage to plant my feet on the ground.

“…You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“No.”

The black of my vision quickly recedes with a *suu*, returning my view.

Then, I see Yoiyami-san going up the stairs *clonk clonk* to the apartment.

———

The second floor of the apartment. We gathered again in the room next to the broken one, however, because Yoiyami-san wasn’t feeling well, we went back to our respective rooms.

Since Yoiyami-san’s killing intent has subsided without having to be snuffed out by the Self-Defense Forces, it seems we can still stay here.

Then time passed without me doing anything, and night falls in no time.

I’m thinking while lying on a sofa.

The discussion is tomorrow.

The content of the discussion is about our future.

While I was sleeping, Roll and co decided to act together going forward.

And since I’ve woken up, it seems they decided to talk about what course of action should we take in the future.

…Future course of action, huh. Actually, there are only two options we can choose.

Whether to keep running away for the rest of our life or fight.

We have to choose one of them.

However, now that it has come to this, there is no point in discussing it anymore.

Yoiyami-san who was ambiguous clarified his hostility to Boss, and Utsusemi-san – got hit by Yoiyami-san’s intimidation – began to starve for battle.

I want to run away. I don’t want to fight Boss.

Just remembering his face gives me a flashback of the dying moment of various people. I don’t want to meet him again.

Perhaps Roll and Sen will go along with what I said, but whether we keep running or fighting, the power of Yoiyami-san and Utsusemi-san is essential.

Without their help, even if we continue to run away, our future would be short.

“You sure can make a long face, Shion.”

Rolling on the bed, Roll who is wrapped in a thin blanket turns to me and said so.

The room I’m in now is the room assigned to Roll. This apartment – which is rented by Yoiyami-san – has many rooms that has become unusable due to the various reasons following the incident in the morning (mainly due holes opened in the walls), so I spend my time in Roll’s room.

We shared room even at the Derrida branch, so she didn’t oppose it at this late hour. The problem is, I have to sleep on the couch because there’s only one bed.

“I was just thinking, perhaps we should stop using codename like Shion.”

After a short while, I give an unserious reply to Roll.

Seeing Roll immediately turn silent, I immediately realize that I have made a mistake.

That’s right. Roll have no name other than her codename.

“Ahh, sorry.”

“No, I’m not thinking about that.”

Roll shakes her head, making me tilt my head.

“…?”

“Anonymous is really gone now, is it…”

Anonymous was Roll’s home and family. It can’t be helped that she ended up being strongly influenced by its destruction.

However, I can only answer with ‘yeah’. Though I wish I could’ve said something more decent even just a little bit.

“We…”

“Roll, let’s sleep,” I say, interrupting Roll who was attempting to say something.

I get off the hard sofa and press the lighting switch of the room. The light in the room turned off with a *pushin*, and in total darkness, I return to the sofa.

When I picked up the fallen dusty blanket from the floor, covered myself with it, and closed my eyes, Roll opens her mouth again.

“Shion, on second thought, why don’t we sleep together…?”

It’s a faint voice.

Roll then adds with a small mutter, “From today”.

It must be because of that, Roll and I had a little dispute over which of us should sleep on the sofa earlier.

Roll wanted me – who is injured – to sleep on the bed because she felt bad. On other hand, I can’t bring myself to let Roll to sleep on the hard sofa either.

Given that, it is somewhat rational to sleep together, so I proposed that idea earlier, but I kinda got embarrassed, so I immediately took my spot on the sofa.

“Okay, as long as you don’t mind it.”

“…I don’t mind it.”

In that case, it’s okay, huh. For one reason or another, I want to sleep on the bed as well.

Getting off the sofa, I lie down next to Roll slowly so as not to hurt my body.

It’s not a big bed, so we’ll likely fall if we don’t put our bodies in close contact to some extent.

“So narrow.”

“Un…”

“But it’s better than the hard sofa. Thanks.”

Our skins touch, allowing me to directly feel Roll’s body temperature.

“Shion…”

Again, Roll calls me with a voice that sounds about to vanish. Snuggling up to me little by little, she rubs her face against my shoulder.

“What’s wrong?”

When I ask, Roll answer with a quivering voice.

“…Even though Anonymous is gone, we are still, partners, right…?”

This time, it’s my turn to turn silent.

It’s easy to affirm her. Roll is frail now. She wants to be assured.

However, that is no good.

“This is unlike you, Roll.”

“Because…”

“That’s no good. Roll isn’t such a weak girl, right?”

Where is your pride as Anonymous’ member the Rolling Cat Roll gone to?

“But…”

Hearing Roll’s sniffling, I reflexively turn my head toward her.

“…Are you crying?”

“But I only have Shion left…!”

I tremble at those words.

Only have me left she says, stop that. I also want to depend to someone.

I’ll be troubled if she relied on me.

I don’t have that kind of leeway.

However, contrary to my feelings, my mouth cheers Roll up without permission.

“Ahh, it’s okay. We won’t die in a place like this.”

“No. You got it wrong… I’m afraid to be alone. I don’t want Shion… to die and leave me too.”

If it’s about that, I can assure her.

“I won’t die. Absolutely.”

I will live, no matter the cost.

“…I love you, Shion.”

In the end, Roll murmurs so and pull the blanket over her head.

Then, I lower my eyelids with a complicated feeling.

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