Chapter 33: Transform Villain - Omokage⑥
Omokage, having regained consciousness, went through the whole routine of looking in the mirror and going, "This is… me!?" and all that, before dropping to his knees and bowing to me.
"This debt, I’ll never forget it! And also, sorry for killing you!"
"That’s not how you apologize. Don’t tack it on like it’s an afterthought. I’ll forgive you, though."
"For real!?"
"Yeah, you killed me in a way that wasn’t half bad."
"I have serious objections to that part."
That was Mio, complaining after being forced to watch Raiden kill me.
Well, of course he’d be pissed. If the person you’re in love with reenacts a disgusting scene of murdering your friend, you’d be upset too.
…Though, I guess my own sense of things had gotten warped.
Normally, if someone suddenly stabbed you to death, you’d at least have one complaint.
Then again, if you’re dead, you can’t complain. Yeah, definitely messed up thinking.
Still, stab wounds heal right away, so I can’t help but feel like it’s actually not that bad anymore.
That’s thanks to the absurdly bad public safety in Japan, and the fact that, for whatever reason, Delta keeps targeting me.
Seriously, what’s the reason?
Villains apparently get to casually meet with Delta, so shouldn’t they be reaching out to me by now?
"Anyway, now that you know what your original face looks like, have you remembered your name or anything?"
"Nah, nothing on that front. Heh."
For someone with the serious problem of not even knowing who he was, his laugh was surprisingly frivolous.
Amnesia, huh. I wonder what it feels like to not remember a thing.
"In that case, I’ll take him into custody. Cross-checking his data might reveal which rich kid he is."
"For real!? Thank ya kindly!!"
Looks like Ratlord, in Public Security mode, is taking responsibility for Omokage.
That’s a relief. My house is already over capacity.
"But man, my real face is so plain. I’m jealous, you know, of the mouse ears and tail."
When Omokage said that, suddenly there were two Ratlords.
His transformation speed was crazy fast. If I’d looked away, I wouldn’t have known which one was real.
"Of all things to be jealous of, really?"
"Ojou, that’s kind of rude to me."
In that instant, Sudama smacked Omokage across the face with a loud smack.
Omokage, caught completely off guard, held his slapped cheek, wide-eyed and stunned.
It was like something straight out of a daytime soap opera.
The real Ratlord was also holding his cheek.
How must it feel, seeing someone with your own face getting slapped by a little loli granny?
Could mess up your preferences for life.
"Fool, you fool! It is precisely because you keep doing things like that that you lose sight of yourself!"
"B-but it’s natural to envy others, right…?"
"Use the time you waste envying others to polish yourself instead!"
That was a righteous slap of truth. And it stung.
Omokage, reverting from Ratlord back to his normal self, looked like he was about to cry.
"Come on, cut him some slack. Having the ability to become anyone—that’s part of what makes him unique, right?"
"Never say such things! It is because you feed ayakashi the words they wish to hear that they keep dragging more and more of them back with them!"
Uh oh. At this rate, the lecture was going to turn on me.
I’ve always had a soft spot for kids around Omokage’s age—teens, young adults. They’re the ones adults are supposed to protect.
It’s the most fun part of life, so they should be able to relax and enjoy it more, y’know?
"Ojou, so you’ve been doing things like that all over the place, huh?"
"Can you not make it sound so indecent? It’s not like I’ve been going around picking up strangers, right? …Right?"
No one backed me up. Not a word. You’ve gotta be kidding me.
Then Mio, at least, threw me a lifeline.
"Didn’t I go about deepening our bond the proper way? We met through a matching app, and I even went as far as chatting with you in person at an . I’d say I followed all the right steps."
"That example’s way too screwed up! Your swiping is assassination!?"
What looked like support turned out to be an attack.
Seriously, what kind of example was that?
She’s deciding whether to assassinate someone the same way you swipe left or right on a dating app?
Sudama tilted her head at the mention of a match app… If she knew what it was, she’d definitely be shouting "Kura!"
And since Sudama’s so diligent, she’ll probably look it up later—and then say ""
"Listen, don’t let yourself get ruled by lookism—it’s meaningless. Out there, someone thinks what you find cool is lame, and what you find lame is beautiful. Envying others will never get you anywhere."
Sudama’s lectures were grating on the ears, so I stepped in to take over.
Omokage, looking glum, still listened carefully.
"You’re already unique enough. The fact that you see being 'ordinary' as a complex and want to break away from it—that’s a trait in itself. I’m not saying you should erase envy altogether, just be smarter about how you handle it. You can copy people, sure, but you’ve already seen what happens if you go too far."
He’d transformed so often he didn’t even know who he was anymore. And yet, it hadn’t taken long before he was envying someone again and trying to copy them.
At this rate, Omokage’s going to forget his own face all over again.
Telling someone not to envy others is pointless anyway.
It’s a feeling everyone has, in some form or another.
"But this is all I’ve got…"
"You only think that because you don’t remember anything. You said you’re ordinary, but if it’s just about looks, you can change that yourself. And I don’t mean with your power. If your hair feels plain, change the style or dye it. If your face feels plain, throw on some sunglasses. If your clothes feel plain, wear something bold. With your sharp, narrow eyes, I bet you’d look great in a Chinese-style outfit."
Transformation isn’t a technique reserved for mutants.
People can change themselves with clothes and makeup, too.
"Whoa… it feels like I can finally see hope in my life…!"
The kid who’d looked ready to cry just moments ago was suddenly glowing with excitement. Too simple for his own good, honestly.
Don’t take everything an old woman like me says at face value—learn to filter it, will you?
"You’re way too easy to sway. That’s why Delta keeps getting the better of you. Stand firmer in yourself. Learn to let my words roll right past you."
"I’ll carve that into my heart, Master!"
"Who said I was your master? Don’t go making yourself my disciple without asking!"
And with that, my lecture wrapped up.
Sudama drooped her ears and tail.
"Tohoho, Inori is always like this. At this rate, she’ll end up gathering a whole ."
…Wow. Someone actually says tohoho out loud.
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