Chapter 48

A/N – Third person point of view.

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“Why did you injure me, ……? What did I do to you? ……”

In a corner of a hospital room.

There was a young man who could not fall asleep even after the lights had been turned off.

He was hospitalized with a leg injury, and there was no telling what had happened to him.

However, the tears running down his cheeks under the covers were very hot and full of the “youthfulness” that one only realizes one has lost when one becomes an adult.

“I was so close, but then I got ………. If I’d kept on trying, I’d have been chosen for sure. ……”

Even dazzlingly bright passion cannot remain beautiful forever.

Too strong a desire can sometimes cause things to spiral out of control.

Yin and yang are two sides of the same coin.

It was the right kind of passion, and because it was the correct kind of passion, it ballooned without hesitation to whatever extent it wanted to go. That bloated passion was about to be overturned.

“Damn, I wish they would cancel the competition. Everything would be ruined, and then ……!”

“Shut up! Be quiet!”

His hospital room was for four people.

It was fine for him to enjoy his youth alone, but the sound of his voice whispering in the middle of the night was a major distraction that disturbed their sleep.

The roommates who had been putting up with it were now at the limit of their patience.

“Huh? You snore louder than this! You have no right to lecture me!!

“Shut up, both of you. Go to sleep.”

“You better stop grinding your teeth. I can’t sleep because it’s too loud.”

“What the hell, you geezer?

Every little incident is based on a series of small events.

Every big incident is built on a series of even smaller ones.

A curse so strong that it makes you hate the world is not necessary. (T/N – Not 100% sure about this sentence)

Small moments of stress, like lack of sleep and noise problems, have piled up and brought us to today.

A hospital with a secure Onmyoji ward. Right above it, he was born.

A hospital room in the middle of the night.

A mature woman was sleeping contentedly after having a video call with her grandchildren, whom she had finally been able to see in person this year.

Miyano, who had been having an uneventful dream, awoke from her slumber suddenly.

(It’s still night. Let’s sleep some more)

If one were to check their phone, one would find that it is the time of the Ox, when even the grass and trees are asleep.

As she gets older, she sleeps less and less, and these days it is not unusual for her to wake up several times a night.

She didn’t feel the sign that she had to use the bathroom, and she was about to fall back into a light sleep – when she was hit by a strong chill.

(……! (…… what is this?)

It’s not that she’s not in good physical shape. She has been feeling pretty good as of late.

Besides, the chill she was feeling was unlike anything she had ever felt in her life.

The bad feeling was getting stronger and stronger.

Surely this is not a sign of death? She does not want to die yet, she wants to watch her children’s children a little longer, and these thoughts overflow into her mind, consumed by negative thoughts.

If she were a regular person, she would say, “What is to come is just coming. I will be able to see my husband for the first time in a long time.” Death, which she would have welcomed peacefully, is now terrifying and unbearable.

(…… who?)

In a hospital room that was supposed to be empty except for herself, a presence arose.

At the entrance to the pitch-dark hospital room, something was there.

Her head slowly turned toward the entrance, and there she saw–

“Are you here to pick me up?”

“………”

— There was a Shinigami.

Wearing a jet-black robe and carrying a suspiciously shining blade in a hospital room with only a faint light source, this was someone who could only be described as the Shinigami, the God of Death.

For Miyano, who had thought of death, this is the most terrifying existence she could imagine.

Unconsciously, her breathing is becoming more and more frantic.

She wants to run somewhere, but she does not even have the strength to walk without difficulty.

If she were to reach for the nurse’s button, the embodiment of death, which is now still, might attack her.

There was something eerie about the God of Death in her eyes.

An old woman’s desperation is filling the quiet hospital room.

She has recently become somewhat forgetful, but with her life at stake, her brain is pumping blood at a rapid pace.

(Yes!)

The connection of synapses was miraculously established, and Miyano received a glimmer of hope from her most recent memory.

She reached out her hand with the single-minded desire to cling to a single straw, and sure enough, it grasped the best tool to save her.

Two amulets were touched by her hand.

One is a powerful work of art given to her by her son-in-law.

The other is the newest treasure she got, made in front of her by her grandson.

With an inward self-mockery that she was not showing signs of being old enough, she repeatedly kept pulling things out and looking at her treasures, she quickly searched for the former in her pockets.

Once she timidly pulled the amulet from inside the mattress, the Shinigami standing at the entrance appeared to slightly flinch.

This is …… working.

Miyano has no idea what the existence in front of her eyes is.

A Ykai that her youngest daughter encountered? It might be similar to that, but it wouldn’t be strange if the God of Death really came for her given her advanced age.

Now that she had an amulet to rely on, Miyano had more time to think about it.

Just as Miyano breathed a sigh of relief, the Shinigami swung his weapon, which he carried on his shoulder, and…

“Ah.”

The amulet in Miyano’s hand was cut in half.

There was no wound at all on her hand, only the amulet was destroyed as an eerie wind blew.

A little later, the curtains of the hospital room began to flutter.

The amulet made by Tsuyoshi surpassed its original role and neutralized the wind, which was endowed with lethal power due to the impurities.

(What should I do ……. …… What should I do ……… ……)

Having lost her emotional anchor, she was struck by a more intense fear.

Her eyes darted around the room, her fingers trembled, and her heart pounded as if it was about to burst.

She was left with no choice.

A Ykai, created by humans, desires only one thing – to torment and kill people.

A mere person who has no means to resist cannot escape their intentions.

The Shinigami slowly approaches and raises its scythe, as if to show its blade so that its prey will recognize its own death.

Miyo could only stare at that action. Her accelerated thoughts were showing her the happiness of her family in the future.

Naturally, this included the smiling faces of her grandchildren, whom she had finally met.

Beyond the happy family members, there was also the man who loved her more than anyone else. He opens his mouth with the best smile he could muster, the one he only ever directed to his wife.

It is something that he always used to do, as he would ask her something every now and then.

(Are you happy now?)

The scythe was finally brought close to her eyes, and it swung down from above.

Death touched her neck.

The Shinigami’s face, nonexistent under its jet-black robes, was stained with amusement.

“Just wait a little longer. I’ve become greedy. I have a child I want to watch over and worry about.”

Her words definitely reached him. Beyond the providence in which the souls of the dead ascend to Heavens and are reincarnated, her thoughts definitely connected to him.

He nodded as usual.

No matter how selfish she was, he would always accommodate her.

Their interaction was known only to Miyano.

Before long, her fear faded, and she found herself feeling warmth coming from her waist.

……!

There was something that reacted to the approach of the ominous scythe that would bring death.

A gift from her grandson that Miyano stopped herself from taking it out.

An intense light begins to spill out from the bedding.

The origin of this was the spiritual elements that the aspiring Onmyoji had put into it. The formation that counteracted the impurities took effect, and the vast number of spiritual elements overflowed and rushed toward the Shinigami to fulfill their assigned roles.

The Shinigami, who should have had an overwhelming advantage, was engulfed by the torrent of light and disappeared.

Just as when he first appeared, he disappeared in an instant, leaving no trace at all.

“……aa”

Miyano, having been drained out, went straight to sleep.

The long nightmare was finally over, and she was able to rest soundly until morning.

When she woke up, the first thing she did when she regained consciousness was to search her pockets.

“I knew it. ……”

When she woke up, she thought it was all a dream, but when she saw the black smeared pieces of paper inside the amulet and the amulet broken in half and scattered all over the bedding, she knew that it was all real.

“You protected me. Thank you.”

Miyano recalled the scene when her grandson made her a good-luck amulet.

She was surprised, thinking it was just an ordinary amulet made by a very young child.

The way he was drawing the formation was so serious. The sight reminded her of the profile of her husband when he was a young man, working as hard as he could.

The amulet he created had protected her.

She accepted it all without any feelings of discomfort as this was the reason why she was able to survive the attack of that dreadful Shinigami.

“I’ll have to thank that boy next time. I should ask her if there’s anything he wants.”

Miyano picked up her fully charged phone and opened a private chat with her youngest daughter.

All the while, she was imagining the happy face of her grandson who carries the resemblance of her late husband.