Volume 2 - CH 3.2

I let out a sigh. Nanami did not like Mayuzumi, it seemed. But dealing with the supernatural without Mayuzumi was impossible. When I returned to the living room, I found her talking with Yukihito, which was rather unusual. Yukihito, facing the wall, drew with trembling hands, while Mayuzumi asked him about various things.

“What are you doing, Mayu-san?” I asked.

What are you making him do?

“Oh, Odagiri-kun. I had nothing to do, so I thought I’d try a little experiment. Feel free to watch.”

Mayuzumi was staring at Yukihito while biting into the chocolate. Her gaze was bothering him; his fingertips were quivering. Shirayuki did not say anything, like she gave tacit her approval. After drawing a large 示 radical on the wall, Yukihito let go of the brush and exhaled.

“An experiment?”

“Yes, an experiment. I was wondering what would happen if someone without much power drew the character for god. The clan head is too powerful, so I decided to ask Yukihiko-kun for assistance.”

A Minase drawing the character for god on the wall.

Was that not different from summoning a god?

A chill ran down my spine. I turned my attention to Shirayuki, and she unfolded her fan in front of her face.

“I am not interested in such childish games. I already know the results. Do as you please.”

If she said so, maybe it was fine? But Mayuzumi’s smile suggested she was hoping for something unexpected. Her cat-like eyes blinked.

“I told you before, didn’t I?” she said melodiously, biting into her chocolate. “The Minase clan’s ability is powered by their personal conceptions. God, in particular, is a symbol of something beyond human knowledge. God as a being is very ambiguous and highly influenced by an individual’s thoughts. It is extremely difficult to create a being that everyone recognizes as God. The mind’s subsconscious hinders that, believing that human beings cannot possibly create a god. But what if forced to create one?” Red tongue licked her chocolate-stained lips. “I just wanted to see if it could be manifested.”

I gulped. Still shaking, Yukihito drew the last line. The brush stopped and slowly moved away.

On the wall was the word “god.”

A word written by a Minase, a clan of espers.

I watched with bated breath. After quite a while, the word began to quiver. It convulsed, as if the walls themselves were shaking. There was a loud, rattling sound as the shaking grew fiercer like an earthquake, the letters trembling violently.

Then, the letters peeled off the wall.

The word ‘god‘ started walking.

Silence descended.

“No, no, no, no. This can’t be. It’s not possible.”

“Calm down, Mayu-san. What on earth is this?”

“Don’t look at me. This is too much. I can’t handle the unexpected. What is this creature?!”

Mayuzumi, panicking for once, quickly jumped away from the word ‘god‘. Shirayuki sighed and covered her face. Yukihito turned bright-red, trembling. The word ‘god,’ now a bizarre creature, moved its whole body and looked around. The motion would’ve been adorable had it been a puppy, but it just looked creepy as hell. The ‘god’ froze, then bolted away at an incredible speed.

Mayuzumi screamed. “Catch it, Odagiri-kun!”

“You’re practically the one who created this weird creature!” I shouted as I followed the word.

Using its flatness, god slid into the newspaper slot in the door. Just when I thought it got away, a voice came from outside.

“Sup, Odagiri-san? I’m here to hang out. Can you please open the door? Wait, what’s this thing?”

Diving into the mail slot in hopes of gaining freedom, god was reflexively caught by Yuusuke with his one hand. It was currently struggling inside a tied plastic bag. It was flailing about, but did not have the strength to tear through the plastic. Mayuzumi and I studied it closely. There’s ridiculous and then there’s this thing. How could such a creature exist?

“I expected two things,” Mayuzumi said. “Either nothing would happen, or some poor representation of a god would come to life. The former would be the result of the practitioner being unable to picture a god, and the latter would be a case of being able to picture it, but not having the capability, in which case, something would materialize but immediately crumbles. But what is this? I suppose this is the result of having both poor abilities and imagination.”

Yuusuke was playing with the god, poking it with disposable chopsticks. On his back was a brand-new bat bag. Yukihito turned redder and redder as he sank down, holding his knees. If there was a hole nearby, he would have already crawled into it.

“It’s not exactly my business, but maybe you should have trained a little better,” Mayuzumi said with a hint of dismay.

“I-I’ve never liked training,” Yukihito replied, quivering. “I-I could only manifest frogs, b-but I like to draw, so I did some street art a-and stuff. But still I couldn’t m-materialize anything else…”

“Why did you even run away?” I asked.

Yukihito gave a start and raised his head. He bit his lip as he glanced at Shirayuki.

“I-I’m afraid to s-speak to people because I c-couldn’t speak well. I-I was honored a-and happy to be the m-master’s attendant…”

Yukihito took several shallow breaths. He must have something to say. But after staring at Shirayuki, he only said a few words.

“But… s-something awful happened.”

Shirayuki dropped her gaze. Yukihito closed his eyes as if recalling some memory. He opened his mouth again, but he couldn’t seem to find the words. He shook his head wildly.

“S-So I ran away,” he muttered.

That seemed to be the end of the conversation. They had nothing more to say about the matter. Slowly, Mayuzumi’s lips twisted into a blatant sneer. Propping an elbow on her crossed legs, she let out a sigh.

“Staying quiet again, are we? Not that I mind. I have a question. When I was a little girl—right after I became Mayuzumi Azaka—as I recall, it was someone else who had their tongue cut out, wasn’t it? You were quite the chatterbox back then.”

Shirayuki’s eyes widened, and a crack appeared on her expressionless face. Biting her lip hard, she kept her face down. But Mayuzumi was relentless. Like a cat cornering its prey, she flashed a ferocious smile, and went on.

“Why did your brother betray the clan?”

Like a critter on guard, Shirayuki’s whole body tensed up momentarily. But the tension soon dissipated, leaving only a calm visage. In her nigh-blank expression were eyes that betrayed sorrow. Her whole being said she did not want to talk about it.

After a moment of silence, Mayuzumi turned to me. “So what was that phone call about?” she asked, as if she had completely forgotten about Shirayuki.

“Oh, right. It was from Nanami-san. You met her before. She shared something concerning.”

“Ah, yes, Nanami-kun. What did she say?”

Glancing at Shirayuki, I told Mayuzumi what I heard from Nanami. There was a possibility that similar things were happening with other dead bodies. I wanted to check it out because it could mean harm.

Mayuzumi nodded wearily. “Sounds fine by me. But it’s too much trouble to go out for something so trivial. Then again, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to leave my side, either. Hmm… I really don’t want to go out just to see a dead dog.”

Mayuzumi lay on her stomach. She didn’t want to bother moving for something she wasn’t interested in. As I watched her mull it over, I gave up on the idea of taking her with me. If it was just looking into the matter, I could probably do it on my own.

“I’ll just go alone, then,” I said. “I’ll be back as soon as I finish checking it out. If there’s an actual oddity involved, I’ll be counting on you. Above all, Nanami-san actually told me not to let you come.”

“Now why would she say that?” Mayuzumi rose upright. I thought she was angry, but there was a twinkle in her eyes. “I’m going with you, then. Nanami is an amusing fellow, and I want to see her.”

Before I could even ask her what and why, she jumped off the couch. Yuusuke, who had been swinging the plastic bag around, calling it a roller coaster, turned around.

“Hmm? Where are you two headed?” he asked. “Who’s Nanami?”

“The granddaughter of Odagiri-kun’s landlord. A fascinating girl who’s fond of him.”

“Really, now? Considering your awful luck with women, I wonder what kind of a girl she is.”

“What are you talking about? I’m warning you: do not follow us this time,” I said.

“You don’t seriously think you can stop people from doing what they want, do you? I actually wanna go buy something right now, and by some coincidence, the store’s in the same direction you’re headed to.”

He stopped spinning the bag around. He clearly planned to follow us, and I couldn’t be bothered to say anything at this point. Shirayuki lifted her head when she saw Mayuzumi slinging her red parasol over her shoulder.

But before she could stand up, Mayuzumi said, “You will wait here. Yes, you’re not obligated to speak at all. But despite dragging others into your mess, you still don’t say anything for the sake of your clan. I don’t like your stance.”

Shirayuki froze.

Keeping her eyes ahead, Mayuzumi continued. “If you don’t want to talk about it, fine. But I’m not in the business of keeping dolls in my apartment.” She started walking, closing the door behind her as she left.

Her words shocked me. Shirayuki quietly sat back down, hanging her head low. She did not speak with her fan, nor did she move a muscle. She looked dignified still, but there was a tinge of sadness in her eyes.

I turned to her. “If anything happens to Mayu-san while we’re out, it’s our own responsibility.”

Shirayuki looked up curiously. Her dark, clear eyes regarded me. She cocked her head in wonder.

“We’ll be back,” I said. “Make yourself comfortable in the meantime.”

Yes. If something happened to us, it wouldn’t be her fault. She didn’t need to agonize over our safety.

Shirayuki’s eyes widened slightly. She picked up her fan and lifted her brush, but she put them back down without writing anything. Instead, she slowly bowed her head. I responded with a bow, turned, and followed Mayuzumi.