The two bantered with one another just like usual. He opened his eyes to find the familiar faces of the redhead tomboyish Momo holding a sharpie close to his face and an embarrassed Fumiko in the back unable to meet his gaze. Fidgeting in place, looking cute enough to have him experience the desire to tease her a bit.
"Cat whiskers, huh? My, my, I didn't know you were into that kind of thing," he teased with a lazy grin. "Should I be worried about all these boys getting jealous of the attention you're giving me? Though maybe..." He leaned forward slightly, his voice dropping playfully. "You're hoping for some special pictures in return?" It was fun seeing her face turn crimson red faster than it took Archer to summon that damned shield. Wait, why was he even thinking about that bastard?
Damn it, that dog's smug face and the cat discussion just naturally made his mind wander to that smug prick.
"N-N-No! I–I-I don't have such intention—"
"Oh? Am I not good enough? Guess I can understand, Fumiko only likes cute boys with whiskers."
"Seth!" Unable to hold back her embarrassment, the girl came over and kept throwing at his chest a barrage of light punches that barely made him feel anything. No different from getting hit by fists made of cotton, it was cute he had to admit. From this angle especially, she started to remind him of a younger-looking Kyouko from the images around her house. "I was helping you to stop Momo from drawing something embarrassing on your face and this is how you repay me!? How could you!?"
"Ah! Hahahaha! It hurts! My ribs! Ooh! You'll break something at this rate—ouch! Don't pinch my nose!" At first, he was just playing along with fake reactions, but that pinch actually hurt like hell! "Hit your friend as well, she's just there!"
Slowly, Fumiko stopped and managed to regain her cool, taking several deep breaths and giving him a dry look.
"If I so much as try to do that, she will take advantage of it and grope my breasts."
Oh, well, he had to admit, given what he remembered from their first interaction, the girl was right. Giving him a free show in public no less, bold to say the least. "Well you did say to not do that in public, right now no one is looking, so…"
"No."
"Shame."
At least he gave it a try.
After that, both girls took a seat beside him and somehow, after a string of moments with Momo, suggested finding a way for them to make up for disturbing his sleep. Something that was meant as mostly a joke to also tease Fumiko took a rather unexpected turn that even made the redhead speechless at first.
"A-Are you sure this is comfortable for you?"
With the soft sensation of her warm thighs beneath his head, malleable and not too firm, enough to make it feel like one of the most comfortable pillows he tried for a while.
He looks up, his vision half-obstructed by two big mounds, the bespectacled girl's eyes peeking out at the end. The juxtaposition of her cute behavior and seductive nature is quite a sight to behold.
"Mmm~ Very," he gave her a curt response, staring back at Momo who just sat there with her mouth open. "Not that I mind having to experience heaven for a bit, but what's the occasion?"
"N-Nothing… I just f-felt bad for having Momo disturb you out of nowhere… and also no one is l-looking, so it's fine for just a few minutes." Looking away from him when talking was enough of an indicator that she was indeed hiding something from him. Cu raised an eyebrow, while it had been a while since he had last been in a relationship — that did not mean he could not spot the signs of a gal with interest in him.
But what caught him a bit by surprise was from whom this was coming from, the shy girl who gave him the impression of being someone who would faint by just giving a hug to someone of the opposite gender.
Not that he was going to say it out loud for now.
"Is that so, then don't mind me." Taking what he was given without hesitation, the man got comfortable and enjoyed the warmth without declining the advance. He was a bit tired and sleeping next to a woman's embrace seemed like a good opportunity no matter how he saw it.
"Hey Fumiko, I should probably get up - don't want to make you uncomfortable with my weight," he said, starting to lift his head. But before he could move, her hands pressed firmly on his shoulders, pushing him back down. The sudden motion buried his face deeper between her legs, giving him an unexpected view of lacy underwear that made his eyebrows shoot up in surprise.
Huh, baby blue suit the girl.
"You're not heavy!" Fumiko quickly answered him, her face still crimson but at least now she managed to speak without stuttering. "I-I won't do it again, this is just to make it up for waking you up!"
"If that is the case, then I don't mind being woken up from my sleep more often." He gave her a cheeky response, seeing her pout in a similar fashion to Kyouko made him start to wonder if these two were not related after all. Momo still remained in her spot, speechless at how bold her friend showed herself to be away from the attention of the public.
"Your hair is surpassingly soft, Cu." Fumiko said after a few seconds of silence, starting to touch his strands and playing with them soon after. "They are softer than mine… how is that possible? What shampoo do you use?"
"None, just regular soap. My hair has always been like this." He attributed this small element to perhaps his divine heritage that also got carried over here. Even if this body was that of a normal human being, his soul remained that of a demigod. And certain changes were bound to happen sooner or later.
"Is there a reason why you're so tired today? Usually you tend to be very energetic. For you of all people to be tired is like Momo becoming quiet."
Did the close physical intimacy give her a confidence boost to speak such words about her friend when the latter sat right next to them? Certainly looked like it, that smile that started to become more relaxed by the second as she continued to play with his hair.
"Nothing like that. It's something else, I've been looking into a few things that I consider important. Say, do either of you two know about Ishio High School?" He took the opportunity to ask that question to the girls as well.
"Ishio? Why do you want to know about that place?" Momo, having finally been able to overcome her prior state, answered him with a curious glance.
"Found a dead student there - well, undead actually. Need to track down what caused it before things get messy. And before you ask, no, I'm not training either of you to fight zombies. This town's got enough problems without me turning you two into wannabe zombie slayers."
"Hah? You should probably ease up on the late-night horror movies, Cu."
Momo burst out laughing, shaking her head at what she clearly thought was just another one of his wild stories. Fumiko joined in with a softer giggle, her fingers still absently playing with his hair. Cu let himself laugh along with them, knowing all too well how this went. It reminded him of trying to convince his parents about who he really was - same skeptical looks, same dismissive chuckles. No point trying to prove anything to people who'd already made up their minds that you were just telling tales.
"One of my friends goes there, it's a normal school I would say without anything standing out. The big wigs don't have their kids go there so most of them are just from regular families from around town. Our schools even tend to hold annual competitions against one another and as you might expect, they rarely won out of the dozens of matches against our clubs."
Truthfully, there was not much in this piece of information that he could use. Then again, she did answer his question as told and thus it was not her fault.
"Speaking of bigwigs, you still haven't told us about what happened between you and Busujima-senpai! Since when could you use a sword like that and was good enough to reach a stalemate with the best Kendo practitioner in the entire district if not the country!? The fight between you two was so sick! It was like I was watching an action movie with samurais!"
Fumiko nodded along enthusiastically, making her chest bounce with each movement from his point of view.
"I have to agree, You two were moving like those people inside those action movies. I could barely keep up with either of you the entire time, even the other students were captivated by the display and stopped what they were doing."
"Are you perhaps one of those people who grew up on a mountain completely shut off from society with an old wise kung fu master trying to teach you everything he knows?"
Ah, the girl was a bit too close to the truth than anyone else. Even if this was said mostly as a joke.
"Change the Kung Fu master to an immortal witch spear user and mountain to a magical realm shrouded in shadow, then you're right on the mark." Both girls chuckled, even though he had not mentioned a single lie the entire time. "To answer your question, I think I already mentioned at one point that I was trained to use a spear before. But that was not the only weapon I learned to use, whether it be swords and shields, I learned to use them all. That Busujima girl is crazy good, I never met someone with that much potential so far."
Momo scoffed, "Look at you, speaking about the literal kendo champion as if she were a novice. Had I not seen the match with my own eyes, then I would have accused you of being arrogant! Do you have any idea just how many of her fans you will piss off by saying those words?"
He shrugged, not at all afraid by these fans so to say. "Let them come, might even distract me from my boredom if they all come at me at once. Spear or no spear, I am sure I can take them all on with just my fists… or I can just borrow a wooden spear from Rei."
"Oh yeah, and speaking of Rei. Is she your girlfriend?" As soon as Momo asked that question, he felt Fumiko's entire body grow stiff. Her expression remained mostly the same, but everything else was tense. Was he a bad guy for wanting to give a false answer just to see her response? Maybe.
"She's my beloved student and future second-best spear user in the making!" He declared proudly, for the Irishman was truly serious when he intended to increase her skills far enough to become amongst the top experts.
In this town at least.
"I didn't hear a no." This time it was Fumiko who answered, her voice a tad bit more saddened than usual. She tried her best to hide it, but was very bad at it.
"Jealous? Don't be, she has two guys competing for her affection — one of them is a childhood friend. While I admit it would be fun to mess with them, I don't want to get in between that and possibly hurt someone. Those lads deserve a chance, good people at heart in my opinion." Her eyes turned hopeful with some light shining brightly within them. His grin returned and the next moment, Cu quickly snaked his arm around her waist, feeling up her developed curves. "Don't get so hung up on something like this, have more confidence in your looks because right now, your making it hard for me to control myself."
"Wait, real—hold on! That's not what I meant!"
Too late trying to change it. "Hya!"
Of course, feeling left out, Momo decided to join in. Taking the other half of Fumiko's thighs and shamelessly rested her head just an inch away from his.
"Don't hog Fumiko all for yourself."
"Please, there are plenty of her for us to share."
"Good point. Mmm~ so soft~."
He did not even need to look upwards in order to catch her changed expression. Even her breathing became more audible, the slightest movement making her squirm and twitch, occasionally letting out involuntary moans.
This was getting a bit out of hand.
And just like that, they ended up spending their entire lunch time on their friend's thigh. Waking up right after the bell rang and forcing them to return back to their classes.
Now, at least he had a better understanding of that other high school. Not much information to be honest but enough for him to plan things out for his next move. For now, though, he wanted to enjoy the sensation he was feeling, so he closed his eyes and took advantage of the forty minutes left.
–Break–
(A few hours later)
"What a long day."
With another few hours passing by, Cu went through his day without any issues. Aside from occasionally avoiding a certain kendo practitioner girl who kept hounding him to join her club.
So, now that his classes were over, the blue-haired man made his way to the club room where once more found the room to be nearly empty with barely any practitioners left. Even though he struggled to call them practitioners since they were just half-assing it.
Rei continued to have a steady progression with her skills but still remained prone to making rookie mistakes under stress. No amount of words would remove them, but instead, the best teacher was experience itself. Thus rather than using words, he preferred to continue sparring with her again and again till she eventually learned.
Not wanting to break the poor girl, he gave her a break and decided to end it early.
"Want me to walk you home?" As they were putting on their shoes to leave for the day, Cu asked while standing near Rei waiting for her to get ready. His answer got the girl to look at him with a raised eyebrow.
"What's the occasion?"
"Nothing, just want to make sure everything is fine on your end."
"Sorry, I'm not going home right now. My mom asked me to stop by the police station to check up on my dad, he's been working a lot lately. More so than usual."
He wondered if it had anything to do with the case of the undead boy. Given how that Takagi guy had his subordinates gather information about the missing kid, then there was a chance that even the cops were on it.
"Is everything alright with you, Cu?" Rei asked, walking closer and getting a good look at his face. "You were very quiet today."
"You're the second person to ask me that today. Am I really that loud for you all to think something is wrong with me today when I'm being quiet?" He immediately got a confident nod from Rei. "I don't know whether I should be glad about that or not."
"You didn't get into any trouble, right?"
"Me? In trouble? Come on now, I'm not some kind of delinquent. You're looking at one of the most honest men in the entire school who does his best to avoid trouble of any kind~!"
The face she made entailed not a single word he said was taken seriously. Ouch, was his image really that tainted?
Finally, Rei ended up chuckling, giving a light slap to his arm "How about next time then? Tomorrow I don't really have anything to do. There is a nice cafe that opened recently near the mall, we can go there together. Unfortunately for you, they don't serve alcohol and you will be paying — take responsibility for all these bruises on my body. I can still barely walk because of you, jerk."
"Oi, I don't just drink beer." She scoffed at his response. "Also, you need to seriously work on your phrasing, Rei. You make it sound like we're doing something more naughty than sparring."
His eyes stared at something behind her back, gesturing to her to turn around as well. Taking his advice, she turned to find Takashi awkwardly standing there in front of his shoe locker.
"..."
"..."
He could practically feel the tension in the atmosphere between these two. From the awkward gaze of Takashi to Rei's noticeable frown. He figured something must have happened between these two recently.
"You two hash this out, gotta meet Kyoko and run some errands in town for dinner. See ya later, Rei, and you too, Takashi."
Giving her no time to respond, he turned his back to them, and left school, practically feeling the girl's glare boring holes behind his headbut pretending to not notice it. The best way to deal with such tensions between two people was to just talk it out.
.
.
.
"Takashi."
This day just took a turn for the worse in her opinion. Getting constantly beaten during their sparring was bad enough, but now having been left behind purposely just to force her to talk was not something she enjoyed.
So to try her best, she swallowed her anger and forced out a smile on her face while facing her childhood friend.
"How are you doing?" She said, speaking politely and intending the conversation to be short. For she was serious about going to check on her father at the precinct, apparently some case of several students disappearing came to his attention early on this morning. "Sorry we could not talk to each other often recently, with all the school work and other issues that pop out of nowhere, it has been pretty stressful for me."
"... I understand."
Did he? She doubted it. Every fiber of her being wanted to roll her eyes and call bull on his empty words, but she held back for civility's sake. After getting tossed around by Cu all afternoon, she didn't have the energy to deal with Takashi's moody teenager act.
"Have you joined any clubs yet?" she asked, trying to keep things civil. "The deadline's passed. Teachers might give you grief about it." She kept lobbing easy questions his way about classes and school life, but all she got back were grunts and one-word answers. Like trying to have a conversation with a brick wall.
After a few more painful attempts at dialogue, Rei gave up with a weary sigh. This was going nowhere fast.
"Just say what you want, Takashi. I have to get going, I can't stay here all day with you barely answering me." The polite and formal tone she used had been dropped after figuring that taking such an approach proved to be a complete waste of time.
"..." The boy was taken aback at first at her response, perhaps not expecting her to be so direct. Thankfully, his reaction only lasted for a few seconds before he regained his composure. "Rei, you have been hanging around Seth a lot lately."
Hah?
Her eyebrows shot up at that. Irritation flared through her as she processed his words. The jealous undertone in his voice was impossible to miss, and it only made her blood boil more. Who was he to question who she spent time with? And the way he said Cu's name, like it left a bad taste in his mouth - that really got under her skin.
'Don't get angry yet, let's just hear out what he has to say.' She said to herself, cooling her temper.
"Well, we are in the same club and he does teach me from time to tim—"
"That's not what I meant," he interrupted, making her eye twitch as her practiced calm expression shifted to annoyance. "Look, Rei, I get that you two seem friendly and all, happy to make another friend, but... you should be more careful about who you spend time with."
Was he…
Was he seriously insinuating what she thought he was? She stared at him, anger and disbelief warring inside her. The sheer audacity of him - of all people - trying to warn her about who she could be friends with left her momentarily speechless.
"I admit that I don't know much about him, but I can say with certainty that something just isn't right with him. Early on this morning when I was making my way to school, I saw him talking to a suspicious-looking man, one who looks like he belongs to the local gang and both of them were coming back from out of town."
She listened patiently at first, but the longer he went on for the more of her patience started to chip away. "So? I still don't see your point. He can have different kinds of friends that look different from regular people. I wouldn't be surprised if he made friends with a bear."
"Not when that friend of his has several gang related tattoos on his body," he countered. "Trust me on this, I don't know what is going on with him but this does not look good no matter how you look at it. He's supposed to be new to the town but is already hanging out with the wrong crowd. I don't want you to get in trouble by being associated with those kinds of people. You know how dangerous they can be, Rei."
Her fits clenched, the soreness she felt all over her body had become just enough to thoughts at this point.
"Look, I know things haven't been the same between us lately," Takashi began, his tone careful, almost pleading. "But I'm just worried about you. I'm trying to help you avoid getting into trouble. It's for your sake—"
"Would you shut the hell up?"
Her voice cut through his like a knife, louder than she'd intended, but she didn't care. The floodgates had opened. Rei's eyes, now filled with disappointment and a storm of negative emotions, solely locked onto him.
"Worried about me? For my sake?" she spat, her voice dripping with disbelief. "What kind of bullshit are you spouting, Takashi? Don't stand there and act like you care now. Where were you when I needed you the most?"
He flinched but said nothing, his mouth slightly open, as if searching for a response.
"I don't remember getting so much as a single phone call from you when Shido sabotaged my grades and humiliated me!" Rei continued, her voice cracking with pent-up frustration. "Not one text, not one word from you for an entire month while I was stuck dealing with that mess. Even Igou came by to check on me—but you? You were nowhere in sight!"
Her chest rose and fell as she struggled to rein in her emotions. "And now you have the audacity to say you're suddenly worried about me? Worried because I'm spending time with Cu? What gives you the right to say anything at all?"
Her words hung in the air, heavy with accusation, as she glared at him. Takashi stood frozen, unable to meet her eyes, the weight of her anger and disappointment pressing down on him..
"Rei, it's not that I didn't want to help," he said, his voice steady but tinged with frustration. "I wanted to be there for you. I really did. But every time I tried in the past, you were the one who pushed me away. Do you remember? You'd ignore me, distance yourself, like none of it mattered anymore."
He hesitated, searching for the right words, his gaze meeting hers. "And this time… what could I even do? Your grades, your dispute with Shido—those weren't things I could fix for you. And honestly, I was afraid. Afraid that if I reached out, it'd just happen all over again. You'd pull away like before, and I'd be left wondering why I even tried."
"Is that seriously your excuse?" She responded back in disbelief, his answer not helping the situation in the least. "I didn't ignore you because I no longer needed you! I did it because… I-I…"
Because she wanted him to try harder, to be the first one to take a step forward and take their relationship from just friends to something more. But he never tried, showing no interest that she started to believe he truly only saw her as a friend. But then his lack of response to her conflict with Shido made her question if he was even looking at her as a friend anymore.
"You're so fucking frustrating." In the end, she could not say it and just decided to end the conversation on that matter.
"One more thing," she said without turning around, stopping right at the entrance. "Don't you dare talk about Cu like that again. He might be a bit eccentric, but he's honest. He wouldn't put me in danger. I genuinely have fun when I'm with him, despite how painful it can be at times, at least he's helping me to become better and actually cares on how I'm doing."
Rei finally turned to face him, her eyes blazing. "And for you to say such things about him... wait." She paused, narrowing her gaze as if piecing together a puzzle. "I get it now."
Takashi blinked, confused. "Get what?"
"You're jealous, aren't you?"
"Jealous?" His tone was incredulous, but Rei's accusation struck a nerve.
"Don't play dumb," she snapped, stepping closer. "You're just saying those things about him because you want me to stay away from him. You can't stand the idea of someone else being close to me, of me being in a relationship with someone else. Are you seriously still clinging to that stupid promise we made as kids?"
Takashi opened his mouth to respond, but Rei didn't give him the chance.
"If that's what this is about, then grow up, Takashi. I can date whoever I want—it's not your place to decide otherwise. Whether it's Igou or Cu, it shouldn't matter to you. And for you to act like it does?" Her voice dripped with venom. "It's pathetic."
With that, she turned on her heel and walked out, leaving Takashi standing there, frozen, her words echoing in his mind. Watching her figure walk away, several students avoided her after seeing her furious face.
{Break}
-???-
"Ah damn it!"
On the other side of the town, hidden underneath a bridge, a bald middle-aged man leaned against the wall whilst taking deep gulps of air. His face filled with sweat, pale and with some residual traces of blood that were quickly wiped away.
His face familiar to anyone studying or working within Fujimi Academy.
Wakisaka, one of the teachers who taught social studies, His prior prim and proper look now completely disheveled.
"Hah… Hah… Hah…"
Leaning against a stone wall, hidden within the darkness and holding onto a metal pipe covered in blood, He stared in terror at the bloodied corpse of a student in front of him that he had been beating for quite a while.
"Eur—rkeu…A-Ah…"
Yet much to his horror, even after having its skull fractured and several limbs smashed to bits, the body continued to move and looked at him with soulless eyes filled with hunger. The teacher trembled in fear when looking at his former student, one of the kids who got involved in the case concerning Izumi Kenji.
According to some of the reports, him being one of the five kids who had beaten him to death.
But the truth was different and the boy had called him here to confess away from any prying eyes about how he was innocent and had nothing to do with the killing. Only hanging out with the group and only mocking Kenji from time to time.
Wakisaka did not even know why he had come in the first place, forgetting involved in this matter wrist endangering his career in both schools. He'd rather lose his job in Ishio High School than Fujimi Academy. But unfortunately, one of these kids just happened to be his nephew so he had little choice on this matter.
Which just so happened to be this kid.
But things took a strange turn up for when he arrived, the boy seemed to be in a strange state. His face was pale and his face sunken as if he hadn't eaten for days, clear signs of a fever and a generally bad state of health. He could barely talk at first and he knew that continuing this conversation was a waste of time.
So taking this opportunity to draw a line into this affair and attempt at distancing himself, Wakisaka ended up experiencing a turn of event he could have never imagined in his life. For out of nowhere his nephew let out a strange sound that sounded like a roar and a moan of pain before lunging at him.
Having barely managed to dodge the assault in time, here unfortunately could not manage freeing himself from several scratches on his body from his feral nephew's attacks. Splatters of saliva and blood having reached his face filling him with disgust and a sense of danger.
Without having a choice, he grabbed the nearest item he could find, which ended up being a rusted metal pipe and started to bludgeon the kid again and again. Shouting him to stop, even begging him to get back to his senses but none of that worked.
"S-Stay away from me! Why won't you die? Why won't you die!? WHY WON'T YOU JUST DIE!? DIE!"
Watching the barely recognizable boy still trying to bite him, Wakisaka lost himself in his rage and started stomping on its face with all his might. Cracking the skull with brain matter spilling everywhere upon the ground and his clothes. This state lasting for another minute till he came back to his senses.
"W-What have I done…" He spoke with terror, extreme guilt knowing at his being upon seeing the pile of flesh that was once his nephew. "No… nononono—eurgh!"
Growing delirious come up the world started spinning and the middle-aged demand fell to his knees spilling his guts onto the ground.
"Hah… hah… I-I can't let the police find out about this… get out… I have to get out of here!" But of course, he could not just leave the body here and soon be discovered that could potentially trace it back to him. So with trembling hands and a shaken spirit, he forced himself to slowly push away the body into the stream of water. "Ah!"
In his haste, his feet ended up slipping on the pool of blood and landing on the body that was once his nephew.
"AAAAAAAH!" Seeing the single eyeball still attached to the skull staring back at him without any life within further pushed him to the edge. "Argh!"
His movements were completely out of control, trying to crawl away as fast as he could but without doing so safely, something sharp ended up piercing his palm. A flash of pain spread across his body and he looked down to see a canine tooth lodged within his palm. It obviously belonged to his nephew. "Why me… WHY ME!?"
How did things turn like this? He had no answer to that but regardless, Wakisaka's goal was to return to his regular life and make sure for him to never get involved and lose the career he built through blood seat and tears. "It hurts… ah!" With some effort to come up He managed to remove the tooth and threw it into the river. Doing the same with the body leaving only a patch of blood on the grass.
"I-It will wash away, right? I heard it was going to rain today. If I stay here for longer I'm at a bigger risk of being discovered." With that in mind, he quickly did a quick rinse of his clothes to wash away as much of the blood as it could, hiding some of his wounds and getting out of there as fast as he could.
For now, you just needed to act like nothing happened and he wasn't aware of where these kids had gone. To continue his regular life as a teacher and let this matter slowly die with time.
"Shit! Argh… fucking stings."
There was a slight burn in his palm. As if bugs were crawling under his skin and stinging him. Going to the hospital was also not an option, for he feared they could link him back to the murder in the future. So best to go back home and dip his hands into some pure alcohol to dissolve any infection that he might've caught.
------------------Tokonosu-
(Early in the morning)
It hadn't been long since he discovered the undead, and so far, Cu failed to find any other victims or even a clue about what sparked this mess. Sure, he had a few theories rattling in his noggen, but without proof, they were just guesses.
If he didn't figure this out fast, though, he had a bad feeling that things were about to get a lot worse.
"You're not going to school, boss?"
His musing was interrupted by the person next to him, the gangster-looking guy he met on his second day in town. This was the same guy who begged him to spare him after confessing to only working with small gangs due to financial issues and supporting his little sister at school.
Yoshito still wore the durag over his head and the necklaces, and his overall appearance remained the same after their last meeting.
Cu took another chip. Both of them were eating a couple of snacks in an old Kei car that looked like it would fall apart at any moment. Rusted in some areas from the outside, smooth tires that offered little to no grip on the road, and a broken door handle with wires sticking from the side.
Yet it still ran reliably, after all, it got him to the shrine and back to Tokonosu without much issue.
"Took myself a day off," was all he said, calmly listening to some of the western rap songs Yoshito loved. "And quit callin' me boss, will ya? Sounds bleedin' odd. If some idiot heard ya, they'd be thinkin' I'm in with the Yakuza. Already had run-ins with the cops, don't need more trouble on my plate. Kyoko might genuinely try to strangle me in my sleep if she found out."
"Got it, aniki!"
Oh well, it was better than the alternative, and he was older than the guy, so he wasn't technically wrong.
"You know, for someone who just lost the brand-new car your boss lent ya, you seem awful happy with this one." He recalled when they first met, Yoshito would hang out with the group where the leader had them as a driver and would even let him keep the old car when it was time to go home. "Did you buy it or nick it?"
"Hahaha! Come on, aniki, don't say that. I'm seriously paid for this thing fair and square. Used up some of my savings from the gang work. My grandparents would haunt me if I lied about that."
In that case, the savings must not have been very much to begin with. The two-decade-old car his father had looked at least ten times more valuable and in better condition than this one.
"My friend had this lying around for many years, I bought it at an extremely cheap price and spent the rest of the money on replacing the engine and the wiring and even got some of these comfortable seats."
The man had a point; the seats were in good condition and were more comfortable to lie on than the ones in Kyoko's car, but still, the thing he sat on was barely bolted down and would rustle in place at each turn. The guy was certain that he saw a piece of rusted lug nut falling off the tire a few minutes ago.
"You sure sound like you have a lot of confidence in this car."
"Of course I do! It may not look impressive, but this baby can survive an apocalypse, let alone a peaceful town like Tokonosu. "I even got this new radio with that money you gave me."
"Friendly advice: don't put so much trust in a tin you just bought recently, especially when being held together with hopes and prayers."
"I trust it!"
The Irish man chuckled at his enthusiasm, while he himself did not have that much funds to support this guy, he had enough to just compensate him whenever he could as he did not want to take advantage of him whenever he needed his car. Of course, it meant sacrificing a few beers he could have bought with that money, but Yoko had several in stock, so he would just secretly drink there if his fridge was empty.
"How's your sister, for that matter? And your family overall, last time you said they were pretty sick."
Yoshito let out a heavy sigh, running a hand over his durag. "This damn town's getting pricier every year, thanks to that asshole mayor. Between that and the medical bills, I'm lucky I even had enough to scrape together for this car. Had to fix it up just to keep it running. Can't let my sister stress about money, though—she's got enough on her plate with school. But try finding a decent job looking like me," he said, gesturing to himself. The tattoos certainly didn't help, along with his overall thuggish appearance and height, made him look like someone who would cause trouble.
Which baffled him a bit, he saw the man's sister, a small cute gal with red hair like Momo that resembled a little angel and was very polite. He truly wondered if these two were really related or whether or not he was adopted.
"Cheer up, things will work out for you in the end, I am sure of it." Cu said with a forced smile, keeping his eyes on the road and going silent for a moment until he heard Yoshito mutter something under his breath.
"Another one missing."
"What?" Cu asked, relaxing against the chair with the wind blowing on his face. Having almost fallen asleep but forcing himself to stay awake.
"More missing posters, look."
Slowing the car, he pointed at a bus stop. On the nearby signboard, multiple posters could be seen, all of them of missing people, and all of them had recently been added.
The sight made Cu frown.
Perhaps it was unrelated, but he did not remember seeing so many of these when he first came over. Not to mention the timing made it that more suspicious. "Does it happen often?"
Still, best to ask someone who grew up around these parts.
"Kinda. Even in a town like this you have your regular johatsu cases pop up with people just… vanishing. Or murder cases, people escaping from violent relationships, human trafficking, rapes, kidnappings, you name it. It's not as bad as the numbers in Tokyo from what I heard, but it is a bit strange."
"How so?"
"It's just… I feel like there are more and more of these posters lately. Look over there," he pointed at a phone poll where multiple posters were present, all of them recent as well. None of those on the posters were part of the group that trashed the shrine, but most were very recent. "The majority are students with the few being adults. What's really weird is that you won't hear anything about this on the news, not a fucking word, these politicians are keeping us in the dark I tell you. Probably got caught by the Yakuza to be sold off outside the country or maybe even the Triade, heard that those groups have a monopoly in the slave trade."
The conversation kept rolling as the car rumbled down the road, neither of them in any particular rush. About twenty minutes later, Yoshito pulled over a block away from Ishio High School. The place was a complete circus—reporters shoving microphones in every direction, parents yelling over each other, and cops looking like they'd rather be anywhere else.
"Tch, it's worse than I thought. The whole neighborhood gathered here and even the cameras are rolling." Yoshito mentioned as he got out of the car, scowling which made a few passerbys immediately avoided the duo. "Why even come here? If the girl is sexy enough then I suppose it makes sen—ouch!"
The man was silenced by a slap at the back of his head. "Idiot, I didn't come here to mess around with any girls. As for the reason, you remember what I told you yesterday?"
"The missing brats, yeah I remember." He answered, not really showing much concern about the missing people. Cu didn't mention about the undead, only about finding a dead body. "You see this kind of stuff regularly on my side, kids with powerful parents or those who got involved with bad eggs going about causing trouble and being your typical assholes. They end up going too far and someone dies by accident or because someone forgot to hold back, and then they all scatter like rats, dropping that tough facade shit and hiding under their mother's skirt and whining to their wealthy daddy's to fix it."
"Sums it up, though these ones most likely got involved in something that ight be really bad news for the entire city if not taken care of quickly." Leaning against the hood of the car, accepting a cigarette handed to him, Cu continued to observe the school in front and any entry points he could use. "So unfortunately for them, they'll have to deal with me."
"Is it really that bad?" He was asked this question, this time with a more worried expression from the other side. "Can't you just let the police handle it? I heard the Takagi are involved with this, you just don't mess with them no matter who you are. They'll drag those kids out whether they are screaming bloody murder."
Cu chuckled, that was what he was worried about most. People who had no idea what an undead was and getting bitten by them. It did not matter if those kids were killed later on or not, for the infection would have already started to spread by now. That was if the infection was even transmitted by bite. It could involve a curse for all he knew. "Tell me, do you believe in the supernatural?"
"Supernatural? Like ghosts and stuff?"
"I guess they are part of it, but more specifically things like undead or zombies if you'd like."
This answer clearly took him by surprise as he stared at Cu for a few moments before exhaling a puff of smoke while looking upwards. "Shit man, that's scary stuff but they are one of my favorite genres to see in movies. My sister and I will have Friday nights where we'll watch something like that."
"And if that were to become reality?"
He puffed his chest then exhaled a cloud of smoke, showing a confident face. "Weird kind of question, but since you asked… then I'll crush them all with ease! Whether it be with a knife or gun, those things can only walk slowly, super easy to deal with. Don't know how those characters in movies always struggle so much, like, it's not like a quick shot to the head is that hard."
The former Servant of the spear wanted to shake his head at the man's naivety. "Saying is much easier than actually doing it. While one undead is not a threat, a thousand of them, tens of thousands or even millions will easily overwhelm anyone, no matter how strong or fast they are. But you're missing something, what if someone close to you were to become an undead?"
Yoshito's mouth froze in place, unable to provide an answer he became uncomfortable with that idea, frowning and showing clear aversion to that idea.
"Like hell I would let that happen, my sister is too cute to become a zombie and I'll fucking kill an army of them if they even tried." He shook his head, perhaps trying to get rid of a thought that he did not like. "In any case, why even bring this up? Don't tell me those brats involved with zombies…"
"Hahahaha!" That ended up making the blue haired man laugh at how close his friend was to the bullseye. "You won't believe me even if I tell you why I want to find them, it's easier to just show you next time. In any case, while we wait for a bit, how's my order going? Is it gonna be ready anytime soon?"
"Yeah, though my friend asked for more time. For some reason the materials he ordered from the outside haven't arrived and not a single fucker is picking up his calls — but the shaft is already done and all that remains was the spearhead, which he's just going to make with local materials to save time. But he was not the only one, I also lost contact with a few of my friends in the States. All of them went radio silent man."
Cu furrowed his eyebrow, checking his phone where he read a few messages from his parents from yesterday. Giving him an update every so often and asking him how things were on his side. Yet yesterday they also mentioned how they won't be able to contact him for a few days, something about the cell service in their area needing maintenance.
He tried sending a single message, but it was not received from their end. A single tick appeared on his side, last seen online for almost half a day.
"..."
A hint of paranoia that originally would not have been present at any other day started to gnaw at his mind. Not a pleasant sensation in the least, he hoped it was just a simple issue getting resolved in a day or two. There was no other way to check on them even if he wanted to, all of his old friends were in that area.
"You have a scary fucking face." The sudden remark from Yoshito shook Cu away from his trance, pocketing his phone and discovering he was being stared at warily. "You didn't have that kind of face back when you were fighting the gang. Anything happened?"
"It's nothing, also, heads up." He waved the latter's worries away. "Hm?" Just as he was about to walk towards the school and find a path inside, a familiar figure approached them. Wearing a large coat and having the same scowl on his face as his daughter.
"Why aren't you at school?"
"Ooooh, good morning to ya, Tadashi!" A grin stretched on Cu's face as he saw the police officer who detained him on his second day here and funnily enough the father of his 'disciple' Rei. "Should have known you were going to be here, I hope Rei got home early yesterday."
"Don't you dare bring her up," the middle-aged man hissed, his tone sharp enough to cut through steel. His glare shifted to Yoshito, who stiffened under the scrutiny. "And you—I remember you. Last time I saw your face, you were in that alley. Paramedics had to clean up his mess while you where just standing there. Now here you are, hanging around another school when one of you should be in Fujimi. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't slap cuffs on both of you and toss you in a cell where you belong?"
"Didn't get enough sleep yesterday from the looks of it, you're just as grumpy as Rei during her mood swings."
"I told you to not speak about my daughter!"
Yoshito flinched in place, looking absolutely terrified while Cu tried to calm the policeman with an easy going smile. "Oh calm down will you? I was sick and Yoshito here felt bad for what happened last time and took it upon himself to make it up to me. So we were just going to the pharmacy and then saw this commotion here. I don't think you'll be worried about two random people when you have more important things to worry about."
Tadashi squinted his eyes at that answer, continuing to look at him in the eyes for a few more seconds before sighing. "Fine, you're not worth the effort. But talk about my little girl again and I will handcuff you to the bed frame of a jail cell."
Just as snappy as his daughter, at least now he knew where she got her personality from. The looks must have been from the mother's side and she was definitely a looker from the pictures that Rei showed him.
"You seem very against the idea of both of us hanging out."
"I prefer for her to focus on her studies more than making friends with a delinquent who couldn't help himself from causing a lot of issues on his second day." He said sternly, "I already have enough to deal with, I don't want you to drag her down."
Drag her down, that was the last thing he would do and the girl was too stubborn to fall for such a thing in the first place. Though he could understand why the father was so worried, she was his daughter after all. "Rei is a smart girl, she'll figure out what's best for her. I won't force any decision on the gal. In any case, mind filling me with what's happening here?"
"None of your business," he answered dismissively, "This isn't something a student should get involved with, so just go back home. Despite my feelings, I can tell deep down you're a good kid, so don't get into trouble and cause unneeded worry for your guardian… also stay away from my daughter."
Cu raised an eyebrow, "What if she is the one approaching me? Her entire goal so far has been to beat my ass during sparring, I doubt she'll back away easily, that gal is as stubborn as a mule. Wonder where she got it from."
"Watch your mouth!" Even if those words were mentioned angrily, he saw the man's mouth twitch upwards, almost forming a smile. "Hah, I pity the woman taking care of you."
"C'mon, I make sure to not cause too much stress to Kyoko as well." He watched as Tadashi scoffed before leaving, paying them no more attention until he recalled something. "When you go back home, can you tell Rei that I appreciated the bento box she made for me, but she really needs to add more meat in her diet."
"She did what!?" Horror showed on the father's face as he turned around and rushed at Cu, grabbing him by the collar with clear murderous intentions in his eyes. "You bastard, are you dating my daughter!? I'll lock you up in a jail cell!"
"Calm down pops, I'm actually being serious here. With how often she pushes herself, that girl barely listens to me whenever I tell her to rest or follow my advice. So if you don't want her to see herself get injured during training, best she follows what I say. Unless You are able to convince her to stop sojutsu."
The middle-aged man scowled, looking at the boy as if he was going to strangle him at any moment. But with how many eyes were on them and the fact that the cameras could turn towards them at any moment, he was forced to let go while grinding his teeth.
But just as he was about to leave, Cu had one final thing to say to him.
"I know we started out on the wrong foot, but I really am not going to make her life harder. She's a good girl, her temper could use some work but overall, she's not a bad person. If she starts to get involved with bad company or some shitty scumbag wants to make her school life hell… I'll give them a good beating in your stead." Tadashi's eyes widened, staring at the boy with surprise as he most likely hadn't thought the latter would be aware of that side of the story.
"You…"
"She's the one who told me if you're wondering, I didn't force her or anything like that. It's already hard enough for her to go to school with practically everyone afraid to approach her because of Shido, that is why let's both of us make sure she gets to have an enjoyable year." He said sincerely, getting the other one to calm down and let go of him. A complicated expression flashing on his face as he broke his gaze and looked downwards.
"You have no idea, kid. I can't make it up to her when it is actually my fault as to why she's in that situation in the first place." He whispered quietly, the prior intimidating presence completely gone leaving behind nothing but a weary father.
Cu sighed, slapping the latter's shoulders. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself, moping around won't make things any better. I don't care what you did or how this even happened in the first place, but as long as you're willing to put in the effort then that's all I care about. Just treat her like you would always do, don't act pitifully as it will affect her. She is more perceptive than you imagine, try to smile a bit will you?"
The policeman was taken aback, finding himself speechless to say anything else. After a few moments of mulling over something in his mind before taking a deep breath.
"...You're a good kid." He proceeded to pat Cu's shoulders as well. "I'm still going to warn you to not get too close to her, let her focus on her studies first before doing anything else. Got it?"
"These pants aren't coming off around her anytime soon, old man. But what if she is the one who is coming at me?" He said playfully come on getting a reaction out of Tadashi who regained his prior demeanor and this time left them with big strides.
"You'll have to go through me first, you fucking brat. Just make sure she doesn't get in any trouble at school… and here is my number in case Shido tries anything else."
That earned a chuckle from the Irishman, feeling both amused and happy that they could come to an agreement. They're interaction had been witnessed by the stupefied Yoshito who hadn't uttered a single word the entire time. His knees trembling the entire time, "Holy shit, aniki, you are banging the girl of the guy who arrested you!? That's so aweso—ouch!"
Whatever he was about to say afterwards was quickly put to a stop with the help of another slap to the back of his head.
"I ain't fucking Rei for that reason, we ended up meeting each other by pure chance. Also, chin up, we need to move." He pointed at the entrance of the building, the crowd of journalists and parents being told to leave by policemen. Several cars with the teachers leaving the premises with the students soon walking out from the gates.
From one of the cars, he found a familiar face and pointed at him. "There, the white car, that's our guy. Follow him, now." He ordered, getting in the car with Yoshito following along with a large grin on his face.
"Count on me, aniki!" Quickly getting inside the rusted Kei car, he turned the key a couple of times. The vehicle took a few attempts to turn on, and the engine made a couple of worrisome noises but turned on the end. His foot slammed the gas pedal, the tires screeching as he swerved around and rushed to catch up. "Let's goooooo!"
"Hahaha!"
Cu laughed at his enthusiasm, grinning as the car nearly struck a lamppost but managed to dodge it at the last second. Attracting plenty of concerned and shocked gazes from the reporters nearby as they left the area,
They tailed the white car, keeping a careful distance to avoid detection. Cu's eyes narrowed as he recognized it - the same one that was always parked next to Shido's. Had to be that creepy gym teacher who taught at both schools, the one who couldn't keep his eyes to himself during stretches.
Whatever this guy knew about the missing students, Cu intended to find out. One way or another.
"Oi, careful there buddy. Prison's not my idea of a good time, and I doubt you can afford to replace this rust bucket."
"Don't sweat it, I'm an excellent driver!" Given how they nearly ended up crashing against a store, a pedestrian and an actual police car, Cu highly doubted that claim. Not to mention the traffic camera a few blocks back that definitely took their picture. "Where is this geezer going?"
The white car in front of them took a turn that did not lead back to his school, taking on a completely different direction and heading north.
"Not to Fujimi from the looks of it, strange. Keep following him, don't get too close though, he will grow suspicious."
The road they were on led to the outskirts of Tokonosu or more accurately at the upper end where the large multi-storey buildings and standard homes started to be replaced with villas and large empty lots filled with trees and parks. He recognized the place, having visited with Rei not that long ago but never this far.
"Damn, just what the hell are they paying to the teacher at your school to have a house in this area?"
"There's no reason to believe he's going back home, probably meeting someone. Stop the car." The white car came to a halt and so did they, Yoshito taking a turn and going out of sight before parking within the forest with the rusted appearance of the car perfectly blending with the surrounding foliage.
From there they saw the bald teacher get out of the car and head towards the door of a large villa where a man in a suit came outside with a bag in hand.
"What now?"
Cu opened the door, giving him an unreadable stare. "You can come with me, stay here in the car or go back home. I'll be questioning the old man a bit. The topic is a bit sensitive and could get you in trouble. Personally, I think it would be better if you went back home, this is a dangerous matter and I don't want you to put yourself in danger for my mess."
At first, Yoshito hesitated, but after further debating, he nodded. "If this is about those students, then I'll come with you. The last thing I want is for my little sister to be on those posters. There have been too many disappearances lately, and I don't want her to be next."
Cu nodded at him before the two headed in.
{Break}
Wakisaka felt absolutely horrible since early this morning, a head splitting migraine, constant wave of nausea and his body burning up as if he had a high fever. Taking on some painkillers that help early in the morning to continue his job as usual and not be absent, with the Takagi family getting involved, he knew putting any kind of suspicions with his actions would not be ideal.
So best to keep up the facade and continue on with his job as usual.
"Four million yen as agreed upon, you will get the other half wired to your account when you leave the city and keep your mouth quiet. Say a single word to the police, then you and all of us will be in jail regardless of how much you plead with them — this is the Takagi family we are talking about. I hope you make your choice wisely and keep your nephew away from the media as we discussed as well."
The man who spoke to him, a butler serving the family of one of the kid's parents who owned a construction company.
This morning, he received a call about a topic that made his stomach churn and his state worsen. The more he conversed with them the more clear it became that they also wanted the same thing as him. For all parties involved to stay quiet even offered hush money for him to do so. Wakisaka did not refuse the deal. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him to take the sum and leave the country as soon as possible.
Staying hidden in this place would only buy him so much time until he would be eventually tracked down, his actions under the bridge still haunted him and the horrific scenes surfaced whenever he closed his eyes. This place was cursed, staying here was not an option and quitting his hard-earned job at Fujimi had to be something he needed to do.
"Yes, you will not hear from us from now on, no from the boy. You have my word, by next week I will be gone from Japan."
No one was aware that his nephew had also died, and he did not intend for them to find out while he was still alive. So, using the excuse that the boy wanted to stay hidden, he managed to strike up a good deal with this family and came to collect the fee. Before the weekend, he planned to give his resignation letter at Fujimi and leave with severance pay on top of that.
Where could he even go?
A few ideas roamed in his mind, having some connections in China that could help him go under the radar for a year or two before he could think about returning. But none of his friends over there were picking up his calls this morning, not even any of his emails were answered which left him worried they were purposefully ignoring him after hearing about the news.
'W-Wait, they wouldn't know about the murder in the first place!' Paranoia grew within and affected his judgement, he wanted to keep a clear head but the pain made it hard to think.
"Then we are done, have a good day sir." The butler said before slamming the gates at his face, leaving the bag filled with cash at his feet.
Even the parents couldn't be bothered to come out and talk to him themselves.
Wakisaka's eyes turned wide with surprise when he saw the large amount of cash inside the bag, seeing it had a bigger impact than knowing about the amount and his heart couldn't stop racing with joy. "In… In a few days, in j-just… hn! Just a few more days… and all of this will be behind me… I can be free. Cough cough!"
Weakness gripped at his limbs, with more and more fits of coughs in the past hour.
Right as he was about to head back into his car, a surge of pain engulfed his body and he nearly fell onto his knees. "Argh!" Black spots appeared within his vision, along with the overwhelming urge to vomit. "Shit! Shit! Shit!"
Not wanting to make a scene in the area, he quickly forced himself to get up and run within the forest, away from any prime eyes with a bottle of painkillers and other medicine to help with his issue. He felt a burning sensation coming from his left palm, reaching to his forearms and onto his shoulders, slowly creeping closer to all over his body. As if hot magma was running across his veins.
"That fucking kid, even when he's dead, he is finding ways to make my life a living hell! Just as fucking troublesome nephew!" Leaning against a tree, he vomited his guts out with bile and blood coming out of his mouth. "Uuuurgh! Kah! It hurts!"
Retching for a good minute, nothing but blood and his stomach acid staining his chewed lips.
The site looked horrific and for some strange reason, his mouth started to salivate. His vision growing more hazy, his fingers getting numb more and more, along with a deep-rooted hunger starting to creep up. "Hn!" Opening the bottle with trembling hands, most of the pills fell onto the ground. "Damn it!" He tried hastily to collect whatever he could, even those that were stained with his vomit.
About to swallow them whole until he heard a voice from behind.
"You don't seem to be in good condition, Wakisaka-sensei." his heart came to a sudden stop, a chill going up his body as he slowly turned around to find a familiar boy squatting right behind him with a curious look on his face. "Yo."
"Aaaaaaah!" A terrified screen escaped his mouth, feeling no different to a criminal being caught red-handed as he scrambled backwards only to hit the back of the tree. A myriad of emotions swirling within his guts only for it to slow down when he recognized the newcomer's face.
"Y-You… you're that new student from abroad, S-Stephane?"
"It's Seth or Cu, pick your favorite." Cu said dryly, "at least you remember me somewhat, I thought you would not, given how often you tend to check the asses of all the girls in my class to pay any attention to the boys. A bit of a surprise to find you around here, least of all in this state. Need help?"
Panic stricken, he tried to ignore the pain coursing through his body and hide it from the boy. "You shouldn't be here! Wh-Why aren't you at school!? I can call the cops and have you deported back to your country for breaking the rules!" He stuttered over his words a bit, saliva flying everywhere while hoping to scare the boy away.
But that only earned a yawn from him, not even looking the slightest bit concerned.
"Bit of an overreaction there sensei. Besides, I already met a cop on the way here, we had a good talk. Though I don't think it's a good idea for you to call them, that's a lot of cash you have there. Would be a shame if they tried to question you about where and how you got it and ended up taking it. We wouldn't want that, would we?"
This unnerved Wakisaka, for the boy was right. With his condition growing worse and how he had dropped the pills, he just did not have the luxury to stay here and try to talk things out with him. So with a large shout, he turned around and ran past Cu towards the path he took to come here. The blue haired Heroic Spirit gave him an unimpressed side eye but didn't go after him.
"Hah… hah… hah! Oof!"
Unfortunately for him, his eyes that kept looking back expecting for Cu to give chanse failed to spot another person standing in front of him. Colliding against the wall of muscles that stopped him in his tracks and fall tothe ground once again, shaken and groaning.
"It ain't polite to ignore my brother there, geezer. Don't think you're getting your ass out of here till he says so." Yoshito warned, hands inside his pockets and putting on an intimidating face which made Wakisaka feel suffocated. "Try this stunt again and I'll break your legs."
Cu walked over and shook his head, "Maa, Maa. No wonder you can't land a job with that attitude. Anyways, don't be scared, we're just to ask you some questions. Also as a student I am concerned with your health, sensei. Yoshito here can get you to the hospital in a matter of minutes, he's a good driver."
"Yeah, like he said!"
Just what the hell was going on here!? Wakisaka tried to make sense of it all, wondering why the new student and this gangster were after him. Then the realization that someone must have slipped the word of him getting the money became the conclusion. 'That fucking butler ratted on me! They want me dead!'
He wanted to scream in anger, go back and make those people regret their decision by ratting them out to the Takagi regardless of his fate! But now… now he needed to find a way to survive.
"P-Please, mercy, y-you can have the money but don't kill me! Please!" He begged, forcing out tears and pressing his head against the ground.
"Ah shit, look at what you've done. He thinks we're the bad guys. You're just too mean lookin' man."
"Sorry, aniki!"
The two spoke while he continued to beg while hoping for an opportunity to present itself where he could slip away without getting caught. Staying in this town for another day was no longer an option, he would leave immediately regardless of how suspicious his actions would look with the local powers.
He would be long gone the moment they tried to find him.
"We're not here to mug you, sensei." Finally, for what felt like ages, Cu spoke to him. "We just want some answers, I really don't care where you got that money.."
"What?"
Was the boy telling the truth? He couldn't say, not like he had any options though and was forced to cooperate regardless. "F-Fine, tell me what you want quickly. I-I'm not feeling well and need to go home to rest…"
The black spots within his vision continued to multiply increasingly faster than before as his heartbeat rose. The bottle in his grasp was empty and he could not even take the pills that helped him ease up these symptoms. Whatever infectious disease that boy gave him, Wakisaka swore to curse his name hundreds of times after leaving this place.
"I know one of your relatives was in the same group as Izumi Kenji. That name ring any bells?"
"—!"
That name was no different to a death sentence, someone he wanted to stay away as far as possible and never get associated with. The murder of the boy by the hands of his late nephew's group spelled only trouble for him.
How did a random foreign student manage to get hold of this information!?
"I-I don't know what you're talking about! I have no association with Kenji! I always focused on my work and never had any close connections to my nephew or… or anything concerning his private life. So please, l-let me go! I-I can't help you…!"
The only response was a low, haunting whistle. It drifted through the air, carried by the wind rustling through the towering trees.
Wakisaka trembled, his breath coming out in short, uneven gasps. His back pressed against the rough bark of an old cedar, its surface digging into his skin through his sweat-drenched shirt. He could barely breathe let alone see with his vision growing more hazy.
The ground moved and contorted, looking like quicksand about to engulf him entirely. He felt their gazes on him, staring intently and he prayed to all the gods that they believed his words.
A chuckle cut through atmosphere, casual yet laced with something that made his blood run cold.
"Oh, really?" Cu's voice was light, a bit amused. "Guess my ears must've been playin' tricks on me, 'cause I could've sworn I heard you agree to keep your mouth shut with that other lad. Do ya think I'm mad, Yoshito? Mad enough to just imagine a whole conversation?"
The henchman's voice chimed in, "No, I heard it too."
Cu let out a thoughtful hum. "Huh. Does that make us both crazy, then?"
"Eh… I've been called crazy before, but I don't think I am."
"Fair enough."
A cold gust of wind whispered through the trees, making the branches creak. Wakisaka shuddered—not from the cold, but from the sheer, suffocating presence of the boy in front of him.
Cu took a slow step closer, even with his vision the sight of his smile remained clear. But there was something present there that made his fears grow by the second.
"You heard him, sensei. We all heard it. Lying really isn't your strong suit, is it?"
The forest suddenly felt smaller, the towering trees pressing in, suffocating. Wakisaka had nowhere to run.
"Let's cut to the chase. I'm looking for the people who were there the day Kenji died. Your nephew was one of them—hell, he was close with them, wasn't he? So just tell me where to find them, and we can all walk away happy. Sounds fair, right?"
"—!"
Wakisaka stiffened. Kenji was long dead and pushed inside the river. They were wasting their time searching for a corpse which had mostly likely turned into fish food by now. But they couldn't know that. If they did…
His mind spun. The others, though… he did know where they were. Not that he cared about them, or the families who had shoved hush money into his hands. His life mattered more, and going to any length to keep himself was just the most logical action to take.
His body betrayed him, his knees nearly buckling as he forced out a desperate plea.
"H-He… Uhn!" His voice cracked, his hands gripping at the bark behind him like it could save him. "If I tell you… y-you'll let me go? I-I'll even give you the money!"
Silence.
But somehow, the stillness was more terrifying than any threat.
"If I am satisfied with the answer, then yes. And like I said, I'm not interested in the money, just give me an honest answer. I'm reaching the limit of my patience." Cu said, his previous laid-back tone replaced with a chilling one.
"Yes! Y-Yes, I'll tell you everything! The Tachibana family, t-the one who owes the construction company is the one you should be looking for! They m-made a deal to take the boys out of town discretely and should be in a bus now. M-My nephew is with them, you'll find him there!" He hastily said, trying to sound as genuine as possible. It was not a complete lie, so he should be in the clear. "Hah… hah… hah…"
His state kept getting worse, saliva dripping from his mouth and his teeth gnawing against one another with enough force it hurt his sore jaw.
He became horrified when recalling the state his nephew was in before death, the paralles between both of them now made him question just what kind of disease that boy got infected with to make him this miserable. Regardless, the man knew he needed to seek medical attention as soon as possible before leaving.
"A bus going to another town? Ah shite." For some reason, Cu did not receive that answer well, and the latter frowned and looked over the horizon. "Yoshito, how fast can you get to the main road leaving Tokonosu and catch up with the bus?"
"Um, if it just left now then we can catch up to it. Probably will need to break a few traffic laws for that and run every red light we come across."
A smirk secretly stretched upon his face, they took the bait and all was left was for him to be let go!
"I-I told you everything, so please let me go now." He pleaded again, already halfway up and stumbling away from the two until his left arm was grabbed. "NO! You told me you'll let me go! I told you everything!"
Trying to pry his arm away proved fruitless, they were held in a vice grip by what felt like a machine. Wakisaka was not weak, he trained his body regularly due to his aging body and had gotten pretty confident in his strength. So for a boy half his age to ignore his efforts so easily raised a lot of concerns and shock.
"Say, mind telling me what happened to your arm there?" Cu said, pointing at the black stain on his left palm. The entire limb was swollen with patches of darkened skin and blisters that made it look quite sickening to anyone. Even he could not bare to see it, there being any sensation left over there did not help.
But he could still move his digits weirdly enough.
"N-Nothing, just an injury I got and it b-became infected."
"How did you get it?" Cu asked again sternly, applying more force in his grasp yet still Wakisaka felt no pain. Something which the former took notice of with how his gaze sharpened. "Are you feeling any different? Got the urge to ea̶t̸ ̵m̵e̵? Bí̷̢̮̻͋̓t̸̘̮̟̿͆e̸͈͑̏ ̴̢́́̚m̸̧̟̗̿͆é̸̺? Anything?"
His voice started to get more and more hard to discern, a constant ringing in Wakisaka's ears making it hard to listen. His behavior growing erratic along with his movements, his nails digging into the dirt all the while a strange urge grew within him.
"S-Shit, aniki! B̴̩̬͒̽̚l̷͓̀o̷̘̾o̷͎̞̾́ḑ̴͎̓͑ͅ, the geezer's eyes are b̷l̷e̸e̸d̶i̸n̸g̸."
While the other started to shout with shock and even fear present in his voice, Cu just stared at him in the face with eyes that grew colder and more freighting from what little consciousness remained active in Wakisaka's mind.
"Aah, I see now. You're turning right now, aren't you? And it looks like it's that kind of infection."
"... N-No… j-just… Illness." Even his words could not come out correctly, his jaws no longer obeying his will and nearly biting off his tongue. "L-Leave… me… lone"
Cu sighed, taking a step back which would have made the man ecstatic. But no longer did he feel that, his mind and body growing increasingly numb with all thoughts becoming harder to form. He was terrified, wanted to ask them for help, but none of that came out of his throat other than a nonsensical gurgle with more blood oozing from his mouth.
Everything became dark around him, for even if it was morning, it felt like he was stranded in the dark room with no light.
As his consciousness faded, a hunger was lit up deep within his body. No longer trying to escape, his body moved on its own purely driven by instinct.
"It's too late for you."
"Watch out, aniki!"
.
.
.
"Watch out, aniki!"
Cu did not need to hear Yoshito's warning, for he was already out of the way a second before Wakisaka lunged at him with his mouth wide open ready to bite him. A monstrous moan coming out of his throat as he wriggled on the ground.
"Tch, so that's how fast it changes someone huh…"
Truthfully, he had already seen the infection from the beginning, but didn't immediately associate it being the cause of turning someone into an undead. But the moment he started to change, Cu carefully analyzed every bit of change from the outside and even examined every detail within his body.
Once more, not a single trace of Magical Energy anywhere.
"Waaaaaaah! Aniki! Save me!"