As his knife fell, the tomato split into two halves under his hand, red juice spread across the cutting board.
“Kisaragi-kun.” Upon hearing the sound, the culprit turned around and looked at him with a smile, her face wearing a flawless grin, along with appropriate confusion and innocence.
Pretending.
"Is something the matter?" The Evil Spirit blinked, his dark purple eyes curving slightly with a hint of a smile.
Kisaragi Chiyo looked at the other party coldly, her gaze sweeping across the Evil Spirit's handsome face before finally coming to a rest on the prepared Neapolitan cheesecake nearby; the questions she had intended to demand were suddenly forgotten, leaving her with nothing but a cold sneer.
Dropping the play-dead tentacles without a word, he turned and left with a flourish.
Hara Kenji watched the retreating figure until it was out of sight, then manipulated the tentacles to merge back into the wisps of white mist.
"What do you think you're doing?" Matsuda Jinpei didn't want to catch Kisaragi Chiyo's bad luck, so after she left, Matsuda poked his head out from the other side.
To be honest, he was really just passing through this time.
"Playing hard to get?" Matsuda Jinpei raised an eyebrow, looking at his childhood friend teasingly.
"No." Hara lowered his eyes, slicing the tomato into even small pieces with his knife.
I don't know.
You don't know?
"I don't know.. I don't know what I am right now, but I don't want to keep going on like this." Although Hara Kenji did not turn around, Matsuda Jinpei could feel the emotional fluctuations coming from him.
This isn't what I wanted.
After recovering his memories, Hara Kenji's emotions remained in an extremely complex state.
On one hand, he could not help but be attracted to Kisaragi Chiyo; he could only deny the impulses and affection that surged within his chest the moment he saw the young man; but on the other hand, he wondered if he was merely disrupting Kisaragi Chiyo's normal life as an ordinary person, if the emotions born from such emptiness and hunger were truly love, or just a misplaced longing brought on by appetite from spending so much time together.
To devour the other, to completely invade the other, to..
Hara Kenji slowly closed his eyes, restraining his thoughts from sliding further into dangerous territory.
Anyway, let's leave it at that for now; before he completely figures out his own ***, he and Kisaragi Chiyo had better maintain a certain distance.
-----------------------
Author's Note: Thank you for the support, little angels. Mwah 0330
Chapter 92
"The purpose of my coming here.." Kisaragi Chiyo looked up, her eyes drifting to the wheat fields outside the car window, where signs for Route 51 occasionally appeared along the edge of the wide road.
The Miss Hezi mentioned in the story, Hezi.." Kisaragi Chiyo paused for a moment, "Since she belongs to the same publishing house, you could consider us colleagues, right?
"Colleagues?" Hara Kenji's eyebrows twitched slightly upon hearing this. Even though he was merely repeating Kisaragi Chiyo's words, for some reason, it came across as incredibly sarcastic.
Must be an illusion, right?
Kisaragi Chiyo thought absentmindedly, then he continued, "I've read her work; she's an excellent novelist.. Of course, the main reason I came here is that I'm quite interested in this highway paranormal incident."
"Just that?" Hara Kenji asked in return, his voice tinged with amusement and his expression lacking any seriousness. However, when Kisaragi Chiyo caught sight of those dark purple eyes in the rearview mirror ahead, she couldn't help but feel that the other person was actually sulking a little.
Like the way a dog would intentionally bump its head against you.
"Not entirely.." Kisaragi Chiyo recalled how, when she first suggested coming to Route 51, she immediately faced strong opposition from Hara Kenji.
"How are you any different from those protagonists in horror movies who go looking for trouble?" The Evil Spirit blocked his path of escape, his tall stature enough to cast Kisaragi Chiyo entirely under his shadow.
A hint of displeasure flickered in his lowered brows, his thin lips were pressed tightly together in silence. His long black hair was casually draped behind his head as he raised a hand, trapping Kisaragi Chiyo in the corner.
"You knew it all along, didn't you?" Kisaragi Chiyo had no intention of saying anything to justify her actions.
His current behavior was indeed, as Hara Kenji said, like knowingly walking into a tiger's den. He was hardly different from someone who acted on a sudden impulse or a moment of madness.
But wasn't this what he had always been doing? If he didn't have this kind of personality, then he and Hara wouldn't have met.
"I have already made my decision, I will not waver for anything." Kisaragi Chiyo raised his eyes, a smile playing on his lips, as he spoke words with a slight sting in a calm tone.
If you don't want to go, I won't force you; neither of us is indispensable to the other.
You have always been free; you can choose to do anything you want, you don't necessarily have to act with me.
Hara Kenji said nothing after hearing that; he simply pressed his lips even tighter, his dark purple eyes staring fixedly at the young man. The slightly ferocious gaze made Kisaragi Chiyo feel a sense of danger, as if his throat might be bitten at any second.
But Hara did not do that; he simply gave Kisaragi Chiyo a long, deep look and left without saying a word.
After learning about this matter, Matsuda Jinpei expressed his own views on it.
"So, is our original deep bond between human and ghost going to start developing into some kind of tragic romance where people have mouths but just refuse to speak properly?" Matsuda Jinpei looked at Kisaragi Chiyo, who was sitting in a chair, calmly reading a book, feeling somewhat speechless.
From his expression, it seemed as though he had accumulated a mountain of things he wanted to complain about regarding what had happened between Kisaragi Chiyo and Hara Kenji recently.
"You could have clearly just talked to me about this, right?" Matsuda Jinpei tilted his head, his tone tinged with confusion. He was curled up on the bay window's soft cushion like a lazy big cat, a spot that enjoyed the soft, non-glaring sunlight this time of afternoon.
".." Kisaragi Chiyo fell silent for a moment. He lowered his eyes, holding the book in both hands; the scent of ink lingered at the tip of his nose, but he didn't absorb a single word.
The words he was usually so interested in had become dull and tedious at this moment.
Matsuda Jinpei was right; it was expected that Hara Kenji would oppose him taking such a risk, he had his own valid reasons for doing so.
Of course, it wasn't just that the missing Hezi and he were colleagues; even if one were to stretch that connection, both Matsuda Jinpei and Hara Kenji knew that Kisaragi Chiyo wasn't quite that kind.
The main reason Kisaragi Chiyo wanted to go to Route 51 was actually somewhat related to Hezi.
Hezi's mother is a member of the Church of Hope, an piece of information that Date Wataru told him.
Because he had seen the case of Hezi's disappearance through a colleague, Date Wataru had originally called just to ask Kisaragi Chiyo if she knew anything about Hezi from the same publishing house. However, that casual mention caused Kisaragi Chiyo to have other thoughts regarding the matter.
After hanging up the phone with Date Wataru, Kisaragi Chiyo immediately went to ask her editor. According to the editor, although she had been working from home due to health reasons since joining the company, she still had some influential connections within the organization.
"Hezi?" The editor quickly provided a response.
[Have you read her debut work, The Vanishing Butterfly?]
That book can be considered her autobiography. It is said that her mother had joined a cult when she was young, her behavior and manner of speaking became quite eerie; strange people also frequently came to visit the house.
She herself had once been taken by her mother to worship the cult leader, but because the cult leader said she was a child without talent, her mother never took her again.. Later, one morning, her mother left home and never returned.
"In that case.." Kisaragi Chiyo explained the matter regarding the post she had seen on the forum to the editor.
Why do you think she went to Route 51?
"There are probably only two reasons, right?" After asking this question, the editor remained silent for several dozen minutes before giving a reply.
One, perhaps a passion for supernatural rumors, just like yours, Oboshima-sensei?
[Another possibility, perhaps this is related to her mother's disappearance?]
After all, Hezi had also mentioned in the book, "To this day, I still have not given up on searching for The Vanishing Butterfly."
At this point in the conversation, the editor had already guessed Kisaragi Chiyo's thoughts.
Without waiting for Kisaragi Chiyo to reply, he sent another string of messages.
[If you are interested in this matter, Oboshima-sensei, I have some other materials I can give you.. but if you want to go to Route 51.. please forgive my offense, but it is not a wise choice.]
The editor spoke very tactfully, but he also understood Kisaragi Chiyo's paranoid and stubborn nature. Knowing he could not dissuade her, he sent over the remaining materials.
It was the truth behind the disappearance of the butterflies—a cult sacrifice that resulted in over twenty deaths.
Although the investigators failed to find direct evidence proving that those twenty-plus people were dead, the paper documents recovered through undercover infiltration all indicated that the sacrifice was successful, that ■■ had been created.
Kisaragi Chiyo stared at those documents for a long time. He wasn't interested in the Church of Hope; if it hadn't been for the request from the Mechano Family, he wouldn't have paid any attention to it after the Shimizu incident.
But when the Church of Hope was linked to the figure of his enemy, Kisaragi Chiyo had to investigate, no matter what.
*
“This is my fault.” Kisaragi Chiyo had been silent for quite a while—so long that while Matsuda Jinpei was becoming drowsy in the warm embrace of the sunlight, the young man, who had been sitting as motionless as a statue, finally spoke.
"Sorry," Kisaragi Chiyo said, looking at Matsuda Jinpei, her misty-gray eyes carrying a faint smile, warm and bright.
I'm a little embarrassed to say this, but I really am angry.
Matsuda Jinpei lifted his eyelids, his teal eyes narrowing slightly in the sunlight; he knew that Kisaragi Chiyo's words were not meant for him.
We were once so close, yet now you are intentionally distancing yourself from me.
I felt a bit sad and angry.. that's why I said those things.
"I'm sorry," Kisaragi Chiyo repeated once more.
Upon hearing the faint sound from outside the door and catching a glimpse of a white, translucent tentacle flickering in the shadows, Matsuda Jinpei knew that Hara Kenji would definitely be unable to withstand this move.
To be honest, even Matsuda Jinpei felt a bit envious himself; he also wanted to experience the feeling of being coaxed by Kisaragi Chiyo personally.
'It really is different after all..' This thought flashed through Matsuda Jinpei's mind, but quickly dissipated.
After confirming that the suspicious person had already left, Matsuda Jinpei glanced sideways at Kisaragi Chiyo. "I thought you wouldn't choose to speak up first."
“A week is still too long.” After saying this, Kisaragi Chiyo casually flipped through the pages of her book, but at her current speed, she likely hadn't read a single line.
I don't want to endure it for that long.
"I've had enough," Kisaragi Chiyo closed the book with a heavy thud and looked up at Matsuda Jinpei.
"I've only just realized something I have to admit." Kisaragi Chiyo sighed, a hint of melancholy appearing on her face.
"What is it?" Matsuda Jinpei craned his neck with feline curiosity. He had been completely intrigued by Kisaragi Chiyo's behavior; looking at the young man's distressed expression, he felt as if he were looking at a tangled ball of yarn.
He wanted to reach out his claws and poke at it.
"I've found.. that I've become somewhat unable to part with you all," Kisaragi Chiyo said with a sigh.
As he watched Matsuda Jinpei's eyes slowly widen and the expression of disbelief wash over his face, a soft chuckle escaped his lips.
This was something Kisaragi Chiyo had realized long ago, but she was somewhat reluctant to admit.
Because admitting it felt like losing control and falling into a state of being forced, Kisaragi Chiyo had always acted as if she could walk away at any time, until she felt the sense of detachment from Hara Kenji.
Although she could understand Hara Kenji's inner conflict and struggle after regaining his memories from his previous life, this was also the fundamental reason why Kisaragi Chiyo was angry.
What is there to be conflicted about? Shouldn't he just choose the three of them without hesitation and continue living a sweet and clingy life?
Fine, Kisaragi Chiyo reflected inwardly for a second, knowing that her moral baseline was indeed much lower than that of Hara Kenji when he was a police officer during his lifetime.
There was no other way; after a brief moment of self-reflection, Kisaragi Chiyo quickly regained his sense of righteousness.
How could one blame him for such a thing? When something so perfectly aligns with his desires and aesthetic sense, even a greedy cat or dog would want it; isn't that just human nature?