Inside a slightly dirty room. It was almost night but the place was dark and the street light was flickering with noise. The ambiance there was heavy and somewhat frozen.
“…Hmm?”
Inside that quiet room, the confused voice of someone disturbed the silence.
“So you finally woke up now.”
Noticing that s.h.i.+bata opened his eyes, the man was sitting on the chair next to him spoke. s.h.i.+bata raised his back from the bed and held his sleepy head.
“Hm, Keisuke? … What is going on in here?”
s.h.i.+bata tilted his head when he saw the man called Keisuke. He was obviously confused.
“Did you forget? You got followed by a weird guy and—–”
“Ah, right!! Right!! The guy who didn’t get influenced by my hypnosis!!”
s.h.i.+bata raised his voice the moment he recalled what happened to him. Keisuke let out a sigh after realizing that s.h.i.+bata finally got back his memory and started fl.u.s.tering.
“What happened to him!?”
“I immediately brought you here with me when you lost consciousness. He didn’t follow us after that.”
Listening to Keisuke’s short report, s.h.i.+bata felt earnestly relieved and laid back on the bed.
“I told you to stop playing around, didn’t I? I don’t care about what you do at night, but doing it in the middle of the day is too careless. Why do you think we chose this place as our base?”
“I can’t help it! It’s just too exciting and fun.”
s.h.i.+bata rolled on the bed, apparently not reflecting on his miss. Both of them could acquire any place they want if they used s.h.i.+bata’s ability, but Keisuke is a watchful person. He even chose this remote place as their base to stay away from public gazes as much as possible.
“And besides, how would I know that someone like that could actually exist?!”
s.h.i.+bata lifted his head from the bed and complained with a displeased face. He must be vexed by the sudden appearance of that new ability holder. Keisuke agreed with him while raising his gla.s.ses with his fingers.
“He is most likely an ability holder like us. I’m 80%, no, 90% sure that his ability is like mine; teleportation.”
While recalling the time when he coincidently pa.s.sed by the off-street where s.h.i.+bata was facing that person, Keisuke made a few conjectures about him. Though for some reason, s.h.i.+bata wouldn’t completely agree with him and asked.
“Then why didn’t my hypnosis work against him? Teleportation can’t block my ability, could it?”
Keisuke contemplated a reasonable explanation for s.h.i.+bata’s question, but he couldn’t come up with an answer that could make him agree. He did see Yato teleporting right behind s.h.i.+bata before he realized that out. Therefore, his ability is either teleportation or something related to
it.
“Are you sure that you looked at him in the eyes?”
“Yeah, I looked at him right in the eyes.”
s.h.i.+bata replied without hesitation. If it weren’t s.h.i.+bata’s fault, then why didn’t his hypnosis work against Yato? Keisuke took a while of silence thinking before he reluctantly opened his mouth.
“There are two possibilities. He is either genetically immune to your hypnosis or he holds another ability that cancels yours.”
“Both of them are impossible man…”
s.h.i.+bata judged Keisuke’s hypothesis to be unrealistic. Keisuke did agree with him in that fact, however, those were the only two possibilities he could think of.
“Anyway, it’s very possible that he will stand in the way of our plan.”
They both made it out of that h.e.l.l. They can’t let anyway stand in their way now.
“Let’s amend the plan a little bit. If everything went as planned, that would be good. If it didn’t, then we will see what to do at that time.”
Honestly, I don’t want this plan to get ruined by anyone. It’s for the best to end everything peacefully.
Restraining the hatred lurking in his heart, Keisuke placed his elbow on his knee and raised his gla.s.ses again.
The next day after I encountered the murderer. I was walking back home with Saya and Lina while thinking about what happened yesterday.
“By the way, Linchan. How did you do on the test today?”
“I got a perfect score.”
Saya praised Lina who replied with a carefree att.i.tude. As both of them were having a pleasant conversation, I kept quiet behind them while thinking about the murderer. After that, the police ended its investigation without any noticeable progress and the old man didn’t get any proof either. I thought that I can catch the murderer anytime, now that I know his face, but I can’t think of any way to do it. I did get a few useful information, like the murderer has skills and an accomplice. Though, all of them are useless to give to ordinary police.
Annoying…
I held my head while gazing at the sky. If the murderer were an ordinary person, I could have just apprehended him and handed him to the old man, but in this case, even if I catch him, nothing will get resolved. I can’t do anything about them now. Even if I could, I won’t do anything in the first place. The world will keep moving on even I didn’t exist.
“Hey, Yato-kun… Yato-kun!”
I heard my name getting called two times by Saya and promptly turned to her direction and realized that both her and Lina were staring at me.
“What are you s.p.a.cing out?”
“You’re always s.p.a.cing out, but this time it’s too much.”
Saya
much.”
Saya asked me with a worried expression while Lina used that opportunity to make fun of me. I couldn’t disagree with her about the s.p.a.cing out part, but was it that obvious, I wonder.
“Sorry, I was thinking about something. So, what about the test?”
“We were talking about how popular Karen-chan is with guys.”
Just how did they end up with that topic? They were talking about today’s test only a few seconds ago. Seriously, the development of girl’s conversation is too fast.
“Well, even if you ask me…”
Being her elder brother doesn’t mean that I know everything about her. As I thought of a good response, I noticed someone walking towards us.
“That’s…”
I could feel that something was off in him at the first glance. He was wearing normal clothes, but his eyes didn’t have any light in them and he walked with unsteady steps. It felt like he was forced to walk. Saya and Lina noticed the same thing and halted their conversation to observe that person with doubting eyes. At first, I thought that he some weirdo walking around, but not after I compared him to the person I saw yesterday. He was clearly getting controlled by someone else.
The man approached us, driving Saya to hide behind Lina, then he suddenly stopped in front of me.
“… We need to talk.”
Uttering only those words, the man pa.s.sed by us and continued walking unsteadily. Lina and Saya looked confused by his strange att.i.tude and asked each other, but I was the only one who guessed what he wanted.
… So he wants me to follow him, huh.
“… Well, let’s accept the challenge.”
Honestly, I can only see a trap waiting for me if I followed him, but I can’t get more information if I stayed here.
“Eh? Yato-kun? Where are you going?”
“I’ve got some business, just go back without me.”
I left those words behind and walked in the opposite direction, leaving Saya looking at me while tilting her head. She tried to follow me but was stopped by Lina who already guessed the situation.
While appreciating Lina’s considerate behaviors, I quietly followed the strange man.
After that, I was made to turn a few corners to the left and right while following him. The man didn’t show a sign of stopping somewhere. Eventually, we reached a deserted district that was almost devoid of people. The man stopped there and turned around.
“You gave us quite the trouble yesterday.”
The man started talking in slight monotone.
What is this guy talking about?
I stared at the man while wondering on my own until I guessed his ident.i.ty from the way he spoke.
“You’re that guy from yesterday.”
“That’s right. My name is Yanagi
is Yanagi Keisuke. I’m using this man to talk with you now.”
So, apparently, this man is hypnotized by that murderer that I encountered yesterday.
The voice I’m hearing is probably this man’s, but the one who is actually talking is the other guy with gla.s.ses. I calmly a.n.a.lyzed the situation and prepared for any possible surprise attack. Come to think of it, the fact that he turned to look at me means that he can share his vision too. This hypnosis skill is so convenient.
“How about you come to talk to me directly instead of hiding like that?”
“Sadly, I’m a wary man you see.”
He probably saw me knocking off s.h.i.+bata yesterday. That’s why he’s wary of me. Unlike s.h.i.+bata, he seems to be overcautious. As a proof of that, he has already cut right to the chase without wasting any time.
“Let me get right to the point. We won’t lay a hand on you. And in return, don’t get in our way.”
I got a little disappointed when I heard him proposing a pa.s.sive suggestion instead of setting me into a trap.
“Then why did you say that you will make me pay yesterday?”
“I got a little emotional at that time. We’ve got a lot of problems here too. And besides, I’m not intending to fight an ability holder like us.”
What are these two planning to do?
I felt something off in the way he spoke to me as if to not make an enemy out of me.
“Is that why you called me here?”
“Yes.”
“Did you really have to bring me all the way here just to tell me that?”
“Yes. that’s how big our plan is.”
He must really want me to stay away from him. I don’t know what are they planning to do, but it must something of considerable since they asked me to not get in their way.
“What is your plan?”
“I can’t answer that question.”
Well, I guess there is no way he is going tell me…
I judged that he wasn’t intending to tell me anything about their plan. I understand that they asked me to not lay a hand on them, though, I’m not that good of a person to agree to protect that condition.
“Do you really think that if I accept your condition, I will actually follow through the promise?”
I asked Yanagi in a provocative att.i.tude. A verbal promise is meaningless in this kind of situations. I’m sure that Yanagi is aware of that fact as well since he replied to me without changing his voice tone.
“My partner’s ability is to control anyone he sees in their eyes. He could even use it through a phone screen.”
Yanagi halted phone screen.”
Yanagi halted his words for a short moment then continued.
“If he were to order your family or your friends to commit suicide, they will immediately do it.”
The conclusion he is implying to by those words was quite simple. He was basically threatening me. If you get in our way, we will murder your friends and family. That’s what he’s implying.
A threat, huh…
I muttered to myself in a quiet voice. I was expecting him to do something really serious, but it turned out to be a threat. Yanagi and s.h.i.+bata are probably thinking that they could restrain me by that weak threat.
That’s not enough…
“Don’t underestimate me…”
The next moment, the air surrounding me changed in aspect.
“You’re making a big misunderstanding if you’re thinking that you are threatening me.”
I casted an intimidating aura while speaking in a low tone. The man in front of me started trembling from the coerced ambiance that dominated the place. He made a step behind despite being ordered to keep standing still.
“A threat is something the strong cast on the weak. Two mere ricefishes like you who can only teleport and hypnotize people can’t stop me with that much.”
I revealed a grin and kept on turning the mood tenser. The man couldn’t stop his s.h.i.+vering limbs.
“Your only option is to move while avoiding to lay a hand on my surroundings. The moment you break that condition, I will personally crush your plan.”
I will use all my skills to find you. The first thing you need to set in that plan of yours is to not get close to me or the people I know.
“Do your best in protecting that condition.”
I removed the tense ambiance around me. The place returned to its quiet vibe and the man crumbled on the ground like a marionette that got its strings cut. He didn’t move anymore. Apparently, the hypnosis influence got interrupted. I wonder if they are alright. Even if they have a skill, they are still not much different from an ordinary person. Maybe I shouldn’t have acted that way.
“Well, I’ll deal with them if we meet again.”
I carried the man who lost his consciousness and walked away. I can’t leave him here alone, so I will just put him somewhere else until he wakes up.
In the end, I couldn’t find out their plan. Let’s ask Meru to gather some information about them later. Maybe she can find something useful.
Deciding on what to do next, I contemplated a plan to end this predicament as soon as possible.
―――――――――――――――
Bonus
Actually…
“Well then, what should I do with this man…”
Oh my G.o.d, I can’t move from the intense fright…
The man was actually awake while being carried by Yato.
