Chapter 37: Poison Mist Villain – Usuzumi④

Staying at home is boring.

My house doesn’t have much in it. Since Sudama showed up, she’s been buying all sorts of things on her own, so the place has slowly started to look lived-in. Honestly though, I’ve even slept at the university sometimes.

That was the biggest reason I moved out of the dorms. I wanted to stay at the university and keep researching. But that meant I broke curfew. The dorms were under university management too, and in the end, the dorm matron stormed into my lab yelling at me. I had no choice but to rent a place.

Since I never really thought of this place as “home,” I barely put anything inside. That’s why even when I dragged Jin in, there was still room. And then when Sudama joined in, it still somehow worked out.

By the way, the TV was something Jin picked up. Apparently, he’s got a knack for fixing appliances. Honestly, I keep wondering if he could make money off that instead of just freeloading here. Maybe I should just sell the stuff he fixes on online auctions myself. If it disappears, he’ll probably just find another one and fix it anyway. Then again, Jin might kill me first. Better not.

I only own a computer and my phone. I hadn’t watched terrestrial TV in ages, so I sat down and listened to random celebrities I didn’t know talking. I realized I don’t know a damn thing about what’s going on in the world. Kinda bad, maybe.

I have no idea how to kill time at home. Thanks for the TV, Jin. It’s only been a day, but I’m already getting sick of this shut-in lifestyle.

As I was thinking that, Mio trickled out from the sink faucet. I welcomed him gladly.

"Oh, Mio. You’re back already. That was fast."

"I rushed through everything because I was worried. You’re safe, right?"

"As you can see."

I was perfectly fine. Just like I promised Mio, I wasn’t dead. Not a scratch on me either. Perfect. Beat that.

Watching us, Jin silently pointed at the closet.

"Ah, right. I forgot I stashed D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. in there."

"Huh?"

I stood up and opened the closet door. D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. was standing inside. I closed the door. Standing, not sitting. Creepy.

"What!?"

Mio’s surface rippled as he shouted. It was rare to hear him raise his voice.

"It’s D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. You saw his face the other day, right? Felt like we knew him even before that."

"What the hell happened while I was gone!? Things have gone insane!"

"D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. is number five."

"…He’s living here!? You’ve got to be kidding me!"

The fifth freeloader. D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. had earned that title. Mio rippled so hard he splashed water around. Guess that’s what happens when he’s shaken—never knew that. He’s usually calm, always smiling with that air of maturity. Seeing this side of him was new. Kinda fun to watch, honestly.

"I thought he was some lunatic you couldn’t even hold a conversation with… but no, that’s right. Inori did manage to talk with D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. that day. How?"

"You don’t understand English, Mio?"

"I do. But that wasn’t normal English."

"It wasn’t like he was using crazy advanced words. You know what a backronym is? An acronym built backwards to fit a word. He can only speak by stringing words into sentences that spell out D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E., and unless you phrase things that way, he can’t even understand what’s being said."

Mio paused, then muttered, "He’s insane."

Well, fair enough. I won’t deny that D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. is crazy. But crazy isn’t the same as good or evil. Madness isn’t evil. At least, that’s how I see it.

"Delta threatened him and made him carry out explosions all over. His power is just like you guessed before. And when he comes apart, that’s one thing, but when he’s blasted away by the shockwave, he risks real injuries—he said it hurts like hell when he fails. I think there’s plenty of room for sympathy. At least I feel guilty. Because of me messing with him, a hostage ended up dead."

Maybe I shouldn’t have shared that, but it’s not like D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. can explain it himself. Getting his permission would’ve been a hassle, so whatever. Nobody’s ever understood him before, so just this once is fine.

"The one who’s killed the most people in Japan is Delta, isn’t it?"

"…That’s true."

If Delta had been using D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. like a tool, then the ones responsible for all those deaths weren’t D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. at all, but Delta.

Not many people would accept that logic. At the very least, D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. himself doesn’t.

But Mio shares a similar outlook to mine. That’s probably why he chose to forgive.

"Uh, so… Usuzumi, was it? Did you manage to make peace with her?"

"I went there to capture Usuzumi, you know?"

"You went to save her because you thought the Public Security Bureau would kill her if you left it to them, right?"

"Hah. Saw right through me, huh? Yeah, that’s exactly it."

I had learned from Rat Road’s words that they’d already narrowed down Usuzumi’s location. And the Bureau probably still employs assassins like Mio used to be. That became clear when Rat Road tried to suggest a gifted bodyguard for me and Mio strongly rejected the idea.

If Usuzumi is a villain who used to be with Public Security, then she knows things the Bureau doesn’t want anyone to know. For them, she’d be a top-priority target. Amazing she’s even survived this long.

"The government wants mutant Public Security officers so badly it hurts. Their policy is to let outcasts deal with outcasts."

"Oh, as in raising assassins?"

"Exactly. Usuzumi was one of them too. So—yeah, she acted out a little, but she’ll be going back to them."

Wait, so Public Security tried to kill Usuzumi, and now they’re going to rehire her?

"You’re kidding. The country just does whatever the hell it wants."

"I mean, look who’s talking—but yeah. Raising people takes time, so if you’ve got a trained, mid-career operative available, of course you’d rather use them."

"Ah, so assassin hiring works the same way as any normal company’s HR."

Mid-career recruitment for assassins—wild. What do you even put on the résumé? Number of kills?

No wonder Rat Road was able to just bring Omokage back so easily.

She must’ve been another trained, mid-career operative. If she had enough strength to go toe-to-toe with Rat Road, she’d pass any interview. Though honestly, she wouldn’t be able to write anything down—no memories.

"There aren’t any laws for mutants yet. While they don’t have rights, the government’s doing whatever it pleases. But it’s starting to feel like that won’t last much longer."

"Yeah, now that heroes have started showing up."

For a long time, society had agreed to pretend that supernatural powers didn’t exist. That fragile illusion only held thanks to government effort—killing off conspicuous mutants to preserve a façade of peace.

They’d been walking on thin ice like that for over a hundred years. Pretty impressive, really.

But then came the villain Delta, who wrecked it all.

Several villains beyond Public Security’s control appeared, throwing society into chaos. And with Raiden’s arrival too, abilities were no longer fantasy to the people of this country.

"Sigh. Leave for a little while and the world falls apart like this. Shouldn’t have gone."

Mio glanced at the closet where D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. was hiding, then sighed again. D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. had clearly shown up during Flux’s absence on purpose. He’d effectively been serving as a bodyguard.

"Careful, or you’ll make Usuzumi cry. She liked you, didn’t she?"

"That’s not what it was. It’s more like… when a colleague you got along with leaves, you change jobs too."

"Ah, makes sense. If I had you as a coworker, I’d probably stick it out even if the job was pretty damn black."

"Thanks. But it was worse than ‘pretty damn black.’ We were assassins."

"And government employees, too."

…Yeah, government jobs are black.

"I figured it’d help Inori too if I brought Usuzumi back."

"Huh?"

"Usuzumi’s a poison expert. And poison is the same as medicine—it all depends on how it’s used. You’re making medicine, aren’t you, Inori?"

"…!"

I lunged forward and hugged Mio.

His liquid body didn’t soak me; it was like hugging a waterbed. Or maybe a giant water balloon.

"You’re seriously the best!"

"If it makes you this happy, I guess going was worth it after all."

Mio chuckled softly as he lifted me and spun me around. The flowing hem of his liquid body spread out like a gown, and for a moment, it was like we were at a ballroom dance.