But as they say, once bitten by a snake, one is afraid of a rope for ten years.
Kisaragi Chiyo didn't know where her future self would get the audacity to keep two such dangerous existences by her side with only such a flimsy contract.
After all, her twenty-year-old self had only recently suffered a major setback caused by a Yokai, it had taken her three months to recover.
Even though these two were both incredibly powerful and good-looking, happened to be one cat and one dog.. Kisaragi Chiyo thought, realizing her own shameful heartbeat. Even though she had only recently learned her lesson, it was truly difficult to refuse an existence that met her every desire.
"And why is that?" Hara Kenji's voice brushed against her ear, while the dark purple-eyed Evil Spirit watched her intently, his gaze so fervent that Kisaragi Chiyo felt somewhat uneasy.
It's nothing particularly interesting.
Kisaragi Chiyo rested her chin on one hand, a slightly wicked smile appearing on her face—an expression that rarely appeared on her face.
I don't think my future self has ever mentioned it to you all, have I?
In her narrow, willow-leaf eyes, her misty-gray pupils gazed at the Matsuda Jinpei across from her. The young man's lips moved as he spoke, his voice intentionally lowered: "My past self—or rather, just not long ago—personally disposed of a Paper Shikigami."
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Author's Note: Thank you for the support, my little angels. Mwah!
Chapter 84
Kisaragi Chiyo stood up, walked over, took out a suitcase.. Kisaragi Chiyo sighed.
"I say.." Kisaragi Chiyo turned around with a helpless expression, looking at the two people sitting in a row, their hands propping up their chins as they watched him.
Do you two really have to stare at my every move like this?
Tell me about it, Chiyo-chan," Hara Kenji said, drawing out his words in a cloying tone as he acted spoiled toward Kisaragi Chiyo. "That Paper Shikigami you mentioned in the past..
"The Paper Shikigami you personally disposed of." Beside them, Matsuda Jinpei leisurely finished the sentence that Hara Kenji had left incomplete.
Kisaragi Chiyo: ".."
At the mention of this, Kisaragi Chiyo couldn't help but sigh again. She rested her head on one hand and pushed her suitcase aside.
"This is nothing interesting." Kisaragi Chiyo walked up to the two of them, dragged over a chair, sat down.
You always say that," Hara Kenji complained softly. "Is this some kind of special warning before storytelling?
“Contains blood, violence, content unsuitable for minors?" Hara Kenji tilted his head and winked at Kisaragi Chiyo.
"It's not quite that exaggerated." Kisaragi Chiyo smiled, placing her hands on the table and interlacing her fingers.
If you have any questions you want to ask, you can bring them up while you have the chance." As he spoke, Kisaragi Chiyo glanced back at the clock hanging on the wall and added, "You have ten minutes.
"Only ten minutes!" Hara Kenji let out an exaggerated, protesting cry.
What can you ask in ten minutes?
"Ten minutes is enough time for you to let a bowl of instant noodles soak until it's swollen," Kisaragi Chiyo stated coldly, leaving no room for negotiation.
"Oh, you still have nine minutes and thirty-six seconds left." Kisaragi Chiyo continued to remind them.
“First, let's talk about the Paper Shikigami." Matsuda Jinpei suddenly felt a sense of urgency, a feeling like waking up late on a workday with only a dozen minutes left before being late, that moment when one must push themselves to the limit just to maintain perfect attendance.
"Because of my own stupidity, I entrusted the wrong person, ultimately suffered betrayal during an accident, so I killed it." Kisaragi Chiyo shrugged, opting for a more blunt explanation this time. But after speaking, he immediately shut his mouth and lowered his eyes, shifting his gaze elsewhere, as if waiting for the reaction of the two people opposite him.
After two seconds of silence, Hara Kenji was the first to speak.
"Kisaragi Chiyo, I need to ask you a question." Hara Kenji's sudden shift to a serious tone caused Kisaragi Chiyo to unconsciously bite her lip.
Fine, he admitted, he cared somewhat about their opinion.
"You ask." Kisaragi Chiyo raised her eyes with a calm expression and looked back, her dark purple eyes staring intently at him.
What you just said about being 'entrusted to the wrong person'—that was a cold joke, wasn't it?
“..”
Really," Kisaragi Chiyo replied with a sincere expression, "sometimes, you really make me have violent and inappropriate thoughts about you.
"I told you to stop rewarding him." Matsuda Jinpei's eyes narrowed.
Then, he noticed a problem.
But Kisaragi, why do you insist on separating violence from content unsuitable for minors?
"Because those are two different things," Kisaragi Chiyo replied, sounding completely matter-of-fact.
Matsuda Jinpei looked at the other's face, which currently wore a completely indifferent expression, making it impossible to tell at all what kind of inappropriate thoughts the minor might be having.
In the end, Matsuda Jinpei gave up on thinking about it deeply. He slapped his forehead hard with one hand and waved his other hand feebly.
You two have really had enough.. do you really have to do *** at a time like this?
"So, is there anything else you want to ask about this matter?" Kisaragi Chiyo coughed, pulling the conversation away from flippancy and back to seriousness.
"Were you injured in that accident?" Matsuda Jinpei's hand, which had been shielding his forehead, slowly lowered, revealing those beautiful teal eyes.
Kisaragi Chiyo hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
Is it serious?
Not really.
"Alright, I get it, you're seriously injured." Matsuda Jinpei could now completely deduce the true situation hidden within Kisaragi Chiyo's words through her subtle facial expressions and movements.
Kisaragi Chiyo: ".."
"Alright, next!" Kisaragi Chiyo shouted.
Matsuda Jinpei spread his hands, but after seeing the grim expression on the young man's face, he pulled a serious look back onto his own, quietly suppressing the smile at the corners of his mouth.
"Regarding the shrinking, did you ask that monster called Tsukiyoushoku to do it?" Although the Exorcist from the Mechano Family had given an answer previously, Hara still wanted to confirm it once more from the person involved.
Yes." Kisaragi Chiyo admitted it quite readily. "Weren't you all curious about my past? I think this is a rare opportunity for us to be completely honest with each other.
However, the mystery has only grown.." Hara shook his head. "Chiyo-chan is a complete enigma of a man.
So, isn't this your chance to resolve your doubts?" Kisaragi Chiyo said with a soft laugh. "Go on, you have less than six minutes left.
"Your eye." Matsuda Jinpei raised his hand, pointing his finger through the air toward Kisaragi Chiyo's right eye, which was partially obscured by her hair.
"Well," Kisaragi Chiyo revealed a thoughtful expression, appearing to organize her thoughts as she considered how to answer.
You could think of it as a transit station.
"A transit station?" Matsuda frowned slightly upon hearing that word.
“What do you mean?”
"It has to do with my ability," Kisaragi Chiyo said, raising her hand to brush back the hair covering her right eye, revealing that dark red eye.
It's something like purification, I suppose? Absorbing and converting powers like curses and resentment. Of course, this ability can only be used when I sense clear malice.. If I could convert anything, a person would be like a bottle; the capacity to endure is limited.
"If it's too much, it might just go boom and explode," Kisaragi Chiyo said with a faint smile in her heterochromatic eyes, her playful tone delivering words that left Matsuda and Hara feeling somewhat startled.
Then.. what is that red text in your eye?
"Hmm.. I suppose it's a kind of secret technique that Oboshima-san placed upon me?" Kisaragi Chiyo subconsciously covered her right eye with her palm.
Something like a seal.
It's like a safety valve for water flowing into a bottle; you open it when needed and close it when it's not.
When I was a child, I must have mentioned that I spent most of my early years in the shrine, right?
"Yes." Hara Kenji remembered it clearly; Kisaragi Chiyo had indeed mentioned it.
"Because back then, I couldn't control my abilities, my spiritual power would frequently leak out. This made me, at that time, no different from a walking ginseng in the eyes of other yokai," Kisaragi Chiyo said, letting out a helpless smile.
So staying at the shrine is actually a form of protection.
And later, Oboshima-san found a secret technique to place this barrier on me. However, she still felt uneasy, so while she was visiting the Mechano Family to fulfill an invitation, she asked the Mechano Family head at the time to place another seal on me. But this kind of seal is prone to fading, so every once in a while, I have to trouble the Mechano Family.
"Is this also one of the reasons you came to Yashihara?" Matsuda Jinpei's mind worked quickly.
"That's right." Kisaragi Chiyo nodded slightly.
"That man's purpose??" This time, the one asking was Hara Kenji; compared to the previous two questions, he was more concerned about this point.
The last time you went to the mountain villa, it was because of this too, wasn't it, Kisaragi Chiyo?
Yes, because I received news that the man had appeared in Gunma.
"And the result?" Hara Kenji pressed for an answer immediately.
"It really was that man." As soon as anything related to that mysterious man was mentioned, Kisaragi Chiyo's expression turned cold once again.
However, since things had come to this, he no longer hid the reason why he had been angry last time from the two of them.
I wasn't certain at first, but that killer said he saw something in the notebook that the man always carries with him.
It's names," Kisaragi Chiyo said, her tone cold. "My previous name, the names of the three children who escaped with me.
So that's how it is.." Matsuda Jinpei muttered, "No wonder you're so angry.
"What an inexcusable piece of work." Hara Kenji also wore a look of disgust. He still remembered that it wasn't just the manipulated monster corpse in Gunma, but also the monster experiments related to Matsuda Jinpei—that person had orchestrated all of it.
“A guy like that is definitely going to hell.”
“His target has always been you.” Matsuda Jinpei pressed his finger against his chin, his handsome, long eyebrows knitting together. He looked at Kisaragi Chiyo and voiced his speculation: "In the past, you mentioned a term: Vessel."
That man.. is he trying to create something?
Something like that." Kisaragi Chiyo let out a sneer, the expression on his face fading as he replied nonchalantly, "In short, it's just some boring goal, like obtaining greater power or longevity.. it's truly laughable.
"Is that guy trying to become a god?" Matsuda Jinpei laughed as well, but it was a laugh of exasperation. According to Kisaragi Chiyo, they had become entangled with a lunatic who was both mentally unstable and delusional.
"Perhaps?" Kisaragi Chiyo didn't care at all about what his enemy was thinking; all he wanted was to kill the other, nothing more.
There was no obligation to understand the other person's boring inner thoughts.
"Alright, I have one last question." Matsuda Jinpei took several deep breaths before he could calm himself down, he looked at Kisaragi Chiyo with a complicated expression. It was hard to imagine what kind of mindset the other person was in to say these things to them in such a calm tone.
Please, go ahead.
You said before that you dressed up as a girl.
"I never said that." Kisaragi Chiyo denied it quickly; even during the time he was small, he had kept certain memories to himself. Therefore, he knew very clearly what he had said in the past.
"Oh, so it really happened then." Matsuda Jinpei glanced at Yuki Ayaki's expression, which was clearly trying to hide something, let out a slightly smug smile.