Chapter 46: Katagiri Inori

Hina, looking utterly exhausted, muttered "I'm going home," and flew off into the sky. Apparently, she still had enough energy to fly.

I turned to Snow Fox, who was breathing a sigh of relief.

"Snow Fox, sorry to ask when you’re tired too, but Hina’s still unstable. I’m worried. Stay close to her for a while. Close enough that even if she burns something, it won’t turn into a disaster—physically close."

"Yes."

"Can you go now?"

"Yes! I know where her house is!"

Good. They seemed to be teaming up just fine.

Freezing the ground beneath his feet, Snow Fox slid away in pursuit of Hina.

That left no one I had to keep an eye on for now. I collapsed.

"Inori—!?"

Sudama rushed over in a panic. Her eyes were spinning like crazy; she couldn’t tell up from down.

"It’s no good anymore…"

"Hey, get a grip!"

Mio came running too.

Well… it wouldn’t be the worst thing to go out like this, surrounded like that.

My ideal way to die had always been to stay healthy as an old woman, then suddenly keel over one day. Honestly, wasn’t this kind of close? I’d already nearly been cremated alive once.

Humans laugh even in pain.

I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. But it wasn’t my usual loud cackle—just a faint, slack grin tugging at my lips.

"I’m at the limit of putting on a brave face. If my tear ducts weren’t fried, I’d be bawling my eyes out right now."

I had forced my body to regenerate in a way that wouldn’t make Hina feel guilty.

If I wanted her to listen to my persuasion, I couldn’t afford to look deranged.

So on the outside, I probably looked more or less like usual. On the inside though, I was a total wreck. Regenerating in a half-broken way left me scrambled beyond repair.

"I told you—I told you so many times I don’t want to die in a fire!"

Like a kid throwing a tantrum, I snapped.

"Ahh, I ended up burning anyway! Got charred again! It’s always the same—I don’t wanna die, but I always do! You know why I hate fire deaths so much? Because my mom died that way!"

I clawed at my head, yanking at my hair in fury. I wanted to rip it out by the roots, but I couldn’t. Damn my weak arms.

Trying to drown one pain with another was ridiculous anyway. Everything hurt the same regardless.

"If I burn to death, I’ll know exactly how much it hurts! Crushed in a crash, then burned, then exploded—I’ll know firsthand what that feels like! Was Mom in this much pain when she died!? There’s no salvation in that! I don’t want this—I’m done with this!"

At this rate, I’d probably end up experiencing an explosion next.

D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. was with me. His ability was disassembly, not explosions.

So if a new explosion-type villain showed up, it wouldn’t even be surprising.

Maybe that’s why Delta let go of D.E.T.O.N.A.T.E. so easily—because replacements are everywhere.

This life isn’t fun anymore.

When I told Hina she should just burn it all down, I meant it.

She didn’t, because she still had her conscience. I respect her for that. Me? I probably would’ve done it.

I don’t care anymore. I want to smash everything to pieces.

The day your heart snaps comes suddenly. Like now.

"I curse my damn brain. My memory’s too good. I can recite any book I’ve read from memory, and I never forget anything I’ve seen. I’ll remember Mom’s death forever, crystal clear. Should’ve never regenerated these eyes. I didn’t even know I could do that back then."

That day—the car crash—I learned about my power for the first time.

If I’d died then, maybe I wouldn’t have had to suffer like this.

"Damn it… I’m paying the price for regenerating my vocal cords and tongue first so I could convince Hina! My frontal lobe’s a mess, so I can’t hold anything back! And since I can talk, I’m just blurting out everything! Damn it hurts! All that regenerated was my pain nerves—idiot! It hurts so bad, dying would be better if it ended this agony!"

Truth is, I always think like this.

I only hold it in because I’m an adult.

I think screaming and crying in front of others is pathetic, so I always bluff it out to the limit.

That’s what adults do—put on a front.

I stopped clawing at my head and let my hands drop limp.

I’m so tired.

"I understood my mother’s pain. But who’s ever gonna understand mine?"

Who the hell was I even asking? Stupid.

"This is hopeless. Sudama, do it."

I drew my hand across my own neck in a cutting gesture.

"Y-you want me to execute you!? Th-th-th-th-there’s no way I could do that!"

"Idiot. Knock me out. Like you did with Omokage. It’s too much staying awake. Don’t wake me until I’m fully healed. I don’t wanna be in this world anymore."

"In that case, here—"

Sudama brought down a hand strike, and I dropped into unconsciousness with a thud.

I woke with the same sluggish heaviness that comes from oversleeping, stretched my body, and sat up.

"Aah, what a nice morning."

"It's the middle of the night, idiot."

Jin was, as usual, sitting in the living room reading the newspaper. Always making an effort to keep up with current events. He’s really diligent. Me? I barely even look at the news.

"How many days has it been?"

"Three."

"Guess I’ve grown stronger, huh."

To think I came back after just three days from being completely charred—burned to death. Makes me nostalgic for the time when it took three days just to recover from ruptured organs. Getting toughened up by the big city, I guess.

Oh right, I’ve been out of contact for three days. I instinctively reached for my pocket to message my professor, then realized—

"Ah crap, my phone burned up too. Hey, Jin, go find my phone and fix it for me."

"Faster to snatch one from somebody staring at theirs while walking down the street."

"Yeah, not like a phone’s just gonna be lying around though."

If I could get my hands on a tablet, maybe. But the odds aren’t great. The real problem is my wallet. Smartphones are expensive.

Of course, this kind of thing happens all the time, so I do have insurance. But it’s not free. Just cheaper.

"...Inori?"

"Hm? What is it?"

Mio, who had slowly dripped down from the faucet, timidly called my name.

"Um, well… how are you feeling?"

"As you can see, good as new. Why? You don’t usually sound so hesitant."

"Well, after seeing that, can you blame me?"

"‘That’ as in… the guts?"

"Let’s just say that’s what I meant."

And let’s leave it at that. Saves me the embarrassment. I do still have appearances to maintain. Better if that whole scene never happened. Seriously, crying and screaming at my age… I need to learn a little more self-control.

"I really thought you might never wake up again. Guess the prince’s kiss wasn’t necessary after all."

"Like hell I’d want that, idiot."

Mio cracked his usual joke. But his expression was darker than normal—funny how I can read that even though his body’s liquid. Guess we’ve been around each other long enough.

That’s partly thanks to my sharp memory and observation skills. This body helps too. Of course, there are drawbacks.

Because remembering everything also means being unable to forget.

"The day will come when I don’t get back up again. I’m human too, I wear down over time. A day might come when I’ve lost hope in the world, when I no longer want to heal myself. But that day isn’t today."

I’m not so dense that I can’t tell. The day Mio and I captured Omokage, he had the same dark expression he’s wearing now. I probably pushed him too far, making him do cruel things just because he used to be a villain—forcing him to kill, over and over, people who wore the face of his own friend inside my body. That wasn’t torment for Omokage. It was torment for Mio.

I hadn’t realized it at the time, so maybe I am plenty dense.

I looked into Mio’s opal-colored eyes, shimmering like soap bubbles, and said,

"I’ve got you here too, Mio."

"...Ugh. I can’t think of a clever comeback."

"A conversation isn’t a wrestling match or a comedy contest. You don’t always have to shake the other person up. If you’re happy with what was said, just say so."

Mio went quiet for a moment, then let out a weary little laugh.

"I’m glad you came back. And if I was part of the reason you wanted to return, then I’m honestly honored."

"Thanks."

We looked at each other and gave awkward little grins. Doing something we weren’t used to had left us both a bit embarrassed.