Part 72

"I'm back. Sorry about that."
"No, as long as you are back safely it is okay. I will go make dinner, so please wait in the sitting room."
"Ah---is Akiha there?"

...... Not because I broke curfew---but after hearing what Roa said, I don't think I can talk to her now.

"Something about her being half demon really makes me not want to fuck her anymore."

"You could say that."

"---No. I just heard something about me maybe having a brother, and I wasn't really sure."

"You and Akiha-sama are the only two siblings. I have worked in this mansion since I was a child, so it can't be a mistake."
She smiles happily.

"---Eh? Kohaku-san, you've been working here since back then......!?"

"Yes. We were just apprentices, but Hisui-chan and I would help around the mansion. It did happen a long time ago, so it is natural that you do not remember."

Is she getting nostalgic? She continues to smile as she heads back to the sitting room.

"............"
Just what was he saying?
"---I guess it doesn't matter anymore."
Muttering to myself, I walk towards the sitting room.

Just forget.
Forget about everything, and from tomorrow----

"------"
...... I can't.
There's no way I can forget.

"Damn----it."
But, I can't do anything about it.
From the beginning, Senpai and I have always lived in different worlds.
".................."
...... Just go to sleep.
I'll be able to take it tomorrow.
I'll sleep now, so I can calm down---

Music: stop

emo emo pout insomnia emo

I looked like my mother, who was oriental, so I grew up feeling a little out of place wherever I went.

But all the townspeople were great people and would greet me with bright smiles.

To be able to face those smiles, I lived my days honestly and positively.

...... There was no reason for those feelings.
I could not talk to anyone about it, so I started to lock myself away in my room.

My dark passions came forth from within me.
It's not like I had two personalities or someone came inside me.
First of all, I don't believe in such unscientific things.

My feelings are the small destructive passions everyone has.

Like yelling at your dad after coming to wake you up after you stayed up all night.

Like feeling angry when you walk along a rainy street and a car passing by splashes you with water.

Such small feelings I feel for an instant solidify inside of my mind and take over.

That's why.
I knew I would do something terrible if I stayed like this.

That day.
After I was completely replaced, what I thought about was how thirsty I was.
I took my weakened body out of my room.

My parents ran to me, as I came out the room for the first time in few months.
Greeting my worried parents with a smile, I killed them.

It really was quick.
With my weakened body, I bit into their necks and sucked their blood.
After sucking out their blood and life, I stood back up.

"---Has it been a hundred years? This body is very fascinating."

That was my voice that I had never heard before.
My lips shaping a smile, what used to be me hugged itself.

I could only fill the condition that the one I'm reincarnated into has a physical potential, resulting in an imperfect reincarnation.
As a result, I was born into a body with a high potential, but into a normal family without any high social standing.
It will be difficult to take over this town without having people notice.

But, I was not disappointed.
In fact, I was filled with happiness.

Certainly it would take a long time for a normal family to gain power.
Seizing power socially would be difficult with this self.

But in exchange for that inconvenience. I found a truly excellent body.

I cursed my calculating self up until now.
Things like social standing, they could always be set up later.
But the quality of the body is something natural that cannot be added later.

After my seventeenth reincarnation, I finally realized that truth.

...and then proceeded to ignore it.

The reincarnated will called myself cannot exist by itself.
All I can do is tell the will "I want to do that."

I am the one moving this body, but the method, the process was determined by my mind which has grown along with this body.

In other words---my will is from the body I am reincarnated into, but my consciousness still remains from my original self.
I have my consciousness, and I have my past memories.
As I sleep, I could only dream of nightmares which I would do myself.

I still remember.
The sensation of biting into my parents' throats.

I took the townspeople who always greeted me, one by one. as if melting them slowly from their feet, I continued to humiliate and mutilate their souls.

Within just a month.
I held their lives in my fist and played with them however I wanted to.

If there was such a thing as a relief...

It was that the end to this nightmare arrived quickly.

I didn't know.
But I knew who she was.

After our fight, the white vampire princess killed me.
Since I had already prepared myself for the next reincarnation, I once again reincarnated, leaving my corpse behind.

The white princess left and my body was taken to the Vatican.

Music: play track 2

...... Well, a famous doctor did say it is the nature of dreams to fade away, so I shouldn't try so hard to try to remember it.

---Knock-knock.

A polite knock sounds.
"--Good morning, Shiki-sama."
"Mm, morning."
I return her greeting and stand up.
Hisui places the uniform in her hand onto the desk and shuffles quietly back towards the door.

"Please head to the dining room once you are finished changing."
"Yeah. Thanks as always."
After giving an affirmative answer, Hisui exits the room.
"............ Huh?"
After seeing her face I completely forgot what it was I was thinking about.
"...... Geez. Was I always this forgetful?"

Yes

Tilting my head in curiosity over myself, I change into the uniform.
The knife is on my desk.
The knife from my adopted father that I have always been carrying in my pocket these past few days.

---I probably won't have to use that anymore.

"...... That's right. They're gone."
Arcueid, Ciel-senpai.
The horde of beasts called Nrvnqsr, and the vampire called Roa.
All of them are no longer here.

That's the saddest optimism I've ever heard

-----*sigh*
If I think about it that way, I can manage without Senpai.
I could never forget her, but I could manage.
Fooling myself with that, I open the door.

Then,
let's go to school like I've always been doing---

Music: stop

She's gone, she's not, nobody remembers her but she's still there, she's gone again, now she's back...

"Good morning? Didn't you go back......!?"

"No. I would never go back leaving you here."
She speaks with a brilliant smile.

Never go back leaving me here?

Even though there are students all around me, I feel myself blush furiously.

You don't want anything to do with Shiki's imagination.

"--------!"
I can't breathe.
Not because of the pained tension I had felt up until now, but because of the burning happiness that now wells up inside of me.
If no one was around, I'd shout out "Alright!" at the top of my lungs.

"Senpai!"
I grab her hand.
"So, you mean you won't go anywhere, right!? You'll stay here at school forever, right!?"
"Um, if I stay at school forever, I'll become an old lady. I am a third-year student, so I have four months left until graduation."
"But, you'll stay here, right? You won't leave like you said yesterday, right?"

"Yes. I'll stay till the end now."
"Alright--!"
I let go of her and manage to stop myself.
I want to run around the ground for many laps.
As if I won a lottery, I'm feeling really high.

Music: play track 3

----First period is over.

I have ten minutes until next class.
"---Alright."
The instant I raise myself to go look for Senpai's classroom,
"Huh? Where are you going, Tohno-kun?"
---Senpai comes here ahead of me.

"Ah, nowhere, I was going to see you. I always wait for you, so I thought I'd go see you this time."

"I see. That makes me very happy, but you don't know my class, right Tohno-kun? It's third year class B, please remember it."
"Oh really---so you really do take classes. Well-done, well-done. I see you do more than just drink tea in the tea ceremony room."

"Ah, sorry. But Senpai, you said there were no members of the tea ceremony club, but I thought that it might have never existed in the first place."

Senpai stands there and grows quiet.

"...... Huh? Don't tell me there really wasn't? It's just an unused Japanese-style room?"

"---Hmm. It seems like I do not understand what you're talking about."
Ciel-senpai turns her gaze out the window and stares blankly.

"...... No, that's fine. No matter what you've done, you're not a bad person. So I don't think you'll cause anyone trouble, but can your power of suggestion do such a thing?"
"I already told you, I don't know what you mean, so I can't answer that."
"-----"
Still in my seat, I stare up at Ciel-senpai.

The silence lasts for about a minute.

"But even better than their color... they're highlighted by such thick eyebrows..."

"I said it already, but the power of suggestion isn't that convenient.
Suggestion isn't so much able to change your perceptions of things as it is more like making you look away.
So even if I told you that you really liked curry when you hate it, it would not work."
"...... Really? So you can't make someone do what they don't want to?"

"Yes. Well, there's still many ways to make you eat curry, Tohno-kun.
For example, I wouldn't tell you that you really like curry. Instead, I could tell you that you would die if you didn't eat curry--"
"I get it, I would eat it even if I hate it. ...... I see, then you can do anything with that."

"No, it is really difficult to set the stage for such a thing as the resistance would be great.
There are many people that are difficult to forcibly use suggestion against, so all I can do is to suggest something like, 'Do not doubt what I say.'"
...... Yeah, Arcueid said something like that too.

"---I see. By the way, Senpai."

"Yes? What is it?"
"Yeah. Senpai, you really love curry, don't you?"

"Here are the secrets to controlling people's minds through hypnotic suggestion." "Do you like curry?"

Ciel-senpai just smiles and does not answer.
Her slight expression makes it impossible for me to see if she is denying it or affirming it.

"I see, then how is your headache? It seemed like it really hurt yesterday."
"My head is okay too. Besides, if I have my glasses on, there's no problem."
"I see. Hearing that makes me feel much better."
Ciel-senpai heads towards the hallway.

She suddenly stops as if she forgot something and turns around.
"I forgot to ask. Tohno-kun, are you feeling well?"
"---Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks to you, all my troubles have disappeared."

"That's good. If anything strange happens, then please do not hesitate to tell me. Here's my phone number."
"-----Eh?"



She hands me a slip of paper with her phone number on it and quickly leaves the classroom.

"...... Her...... phone number?"
I stare down at the paper in surprise.
I'm sure she told me this because she's really worried about last night, but......

"...... This is lucky, but is it good that things are going this smoothly?"
...... It's pitiful if I say so myself.
Maybe it's because I'm a small town person by nature, but I can't honestly be happy about my good fortune like this.

"Let's go play, Tohno."

"I thought you'd never ask."

...... Without anything else, he tells me what he wants to do.
"...... You seem pretty direct today. Did something bad happen to you?"
"Oh, nothing. I just wanted to hang out with my good friend for no reason."

...... It's all too suspicious.

"No way. I bet you were laid off by someone or something like that. I'm going home with Senpai today, so I don't have time to spare for you."

"Senpai? You mean Ciel-senpai?"
His eyebrows lift in surprise.

"...... Yes, but...... Arihiko, you remember about Senpai......!?"
"Whatd'ya mean? She's who I'm after, how could I forget her?"
Arihiko makes his proclamation as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
".................."
I see. Since Ciel-senpai came back to school, everything is back the way it was.

"Oh, it's Senpai!"
Arihiko points happily to the door.
"Thanks for waiting. Good afternoon, Inui-kun."
Ciel gives a succinct bow.
"Shall we go back now? Or maybe go to the tea ceremony room?"
"Let's do that. If we leave now, we have to part at the gate. I want to talk to you some more, so while we have tea, we can---"

"?"
Ciel-senpai and I look at each other.

"Um, you two. It is a Saturday, so why do you use it like that?
There are far more fun places to go to than the tea ceremony room!"
With a greatly exaggerated movement, he points out the window.

"Ohh, can we go to YOUR room, Arihiko? The three, I mean, two of us are just dying to see it."

"...... Um, where?"
"Outside the window. Well, I think he's talking about outside."
I answer Ciel-senpai's question.

And then,

Arihiko whacks me again.

"Tohno, are you really trying to make a fool of Senpai!?
Look, it's Saturday. It's still before noon. And we're students! So why can't you come up with an idea such as going into town with all these conditions!?"
"----Mph."

Idiot.
I've thought about that already.
I did, but---

"?"
I steal a glance at Ciel-senpai.
I get the feeling that rather than roaming rowdily around the city, she would feel more at ease just sitting quietly in a park or something, so I can't ask her that.
If I did ask her to go hang out in town, I think she would probably say no---

Holy shit, I was just joking! Good god, they're actually going to do it!

"-------"
He simply nods up and down.
...... I bet he didn't expect things to turn out this way.

"Then it's decided. Um, what shall we do for lunch? Shall we eat at our houses or the three of us together?"
"Hm, we always eat at school, so let's put the money for lunch to play. Me and Arihiko are pretty poor, right?"

"...... Uh...... I, could maybe borrow some money from my sister."

...... It seems Arihiko really wants to go out and eat with Ciel-senpai.

Can't have a wild threesome on an empty stomach.

"---How about Senpai? Is there some place you want to eat?"

"No, I don't...... usually eat in front of others..."
"I see. You eat more than normal, so I bet it'll be expensive."

Smooth. Real smooth. Thick eyebrows, cool boots, and an appetite like a trucker. You sure know how to make a gal feel special.

"Th, that's not it! What are you saying, Tohno-kun!?"

...... I just recalled the data I collected during our lunches in the tea ceremony room until now, and just gave a personal opinion.

"I agree with Inui-kun. Let us all go out to eat. There is a place by the movie theater called Ahnenerbe that I heard has great strawberry pie."

"Oh, you know your places, Senpai! The owner of that cafe is a master of Italian cooking!"

...... Why does Arihiko know so many rumors and useless information?

"Yeah, be late, Tohno. If you want to, I wouldn't care if you didn't come till tomorrow!"

Arihiko stands up and dashes out of the classroom.
...... This all worked out rather strangely.

"...... Oh well."
I still get to hang out with Ciel-senpai.
Bag in hand, I also rush back to my place.

Music: stop

-----Throb.

"------Eh."

-----Throb.

Suddenly, without warning.

"Damn! Not when I was just about to get into a threesome with Arihiko!"

Everything turns red.

"Calm down Hisui-chan. Falling down the stairs just means a little bruises here and there, so there is no need to call a doctor.
But his body is very hot. He may have fell down the stairs due to a fever, so please get his bed ready."
"I understand. Nee-san, about Akiha-sama......"
"That's true, if it doesn't turn out to be a big deal, we don't have to tell her. There is some medicine in my room, if you please."

Hisui disappears with quick footsteps.
I----

"Nah--I'm fine, I don't need to rest. I ran all the way here, so I was just out of breath."

"Can't... miss... threesome..."

"That won't do! How can you say that with such a pale face, looking like you'll throw up?
I was told by your physician to monitor your health closely. I can't let you take such risks."
"But, I made a promise---"
"If you want to tell them you can't make it, I can go tell them. If you keep pushing yourself, I'll have to take out my syringes and give you shots."

...... As if she wants to keep me here, she stands in front of me.