Chapter 8: Each One's Intentions II

"――――――――――"

The man runs down a dark, intricate back alley behind the bustling downtown area.

Dust and trash stick to his suit and shoes, but the man pays no mind.

Rather, the man was already essentially dead as a person; he had no consciousness left to care.

However, the man still runs, driven by the instinct for survival.

To escape the non-human entity closing in behind him.

"――――Tch, surprisingly fast."

It was a girl in her mid-teens.

With a face that was more cute than graceful or beautiful, she would be a talent capable of becoming the class idol, if not the school's.

Yet, she was currently not touching the ground, instead leaping off walls as if slicing through the wind, like something from an action movie, bearing down on the man.

Despite her average female student body, her transcendent movements emphasized her abnormality.

Finally, they reached the very deepest part of the alley, where no one ever came save for cats and the local residents of the backstreets, and she finally reached a dead end.

"……………"

The man looks around with lifeless eyes, but there is no escape.

He senses the non-human, stronger than himself, pursuing him, and turns to face her directly.

"――――I sympathize, because we are both victims."

She murmurs, without a single gasp of breath despite having moved at an Olympic athlete's speed.

Though her height is only age-appropriate for a girl, the overwhelming power emanating from her body makes the man flinch.

Conscious thought does not exist in the dead, but the survival instinct etched into his body is sounding the alarm about her danger.

His instinct opens his mouth in terror, but only air leaks out in wheezes.

"…Could a dead person possibly retain memories? Well, even so,"

The girl furrows her brow and, with a sad expression, closes her eyes once as if to show condolences.

Soon, she opens her crimson-dyed eyes and slowly, broadly, swings up both hands that had been hanging loosely.

"――――I'll avenge you, so go to the next life. The reincarnated me guarantees it. You'll surely be able to go."

The relative distance was about five meters.

Despite this, the attack was swung down, and immediately the man's body was torn apart.

In the alley, lit only by the moonlight between the buildings and devoid of neon glow, a murder had occurred.

The flesh from his shoulder to his hip was ripped open as if clawed, and a spray of blood danced in the air.

With the sound of crushing bones, his entrails spilled from his abdomen onto the ground, and in the chilly season, steam rose from the organs.

The man, whose muscles and bones supporting his body were torn, collapsed on the spot.

Eventually, the man's body turned to ash, and he died in the truest sense of the word.

The remaining suit and shoes indicated that someone had been there, but surely no one would notice.

Thus, one of the dead returned to the darkness of nothingness.

"Goodbye."

Just as the girl composed herself to leap away to hunt the next dead person after the man had completely vanished.

"Hey, Yumizuka!!"

"Huh?"

Turning around, Satsuki Yumizuka saw Shiki Tohno, gasping for breath.

"Damn it, where is she."

I walk through the downtown area, where the neon lights are dazzling.

Despite the vampire commotion, the downtown bustle remains unchanged, and although it's already past 11 PM, the city is still wide awake.

However, my already frail body is starting to feel sleepiness and fatigue.

I briefly worry that Akiha or Hisui might be concerned tomorrow, but I continue to walk the streets anyway.

Suddenly, a police bulletin board catches my eye on the side of my vision.

There, among the photos of missing persons, likely due to the vampire incident, was her photo.

"…Yumizuka."

Satsuki Yumizuka, my friend since middle school, had entered the same world of the abnormal as me since last night.

She was turned into a vampire by the vampire Arcueid is seeking, and became a monster.

A monster that harms people and sucks living blood.

Not only are you cooperating with the True Ancestor, but you are also saying you will save Satsuki Yumizuka? Who are you? Why are you in such a hurry to die, sacrificing your everyday life?

My upperclassman's words from after school come back to me.

It's true, my obsession with Yumizuka, a friend, and even Arcueid, whom I met only a few days ago, might seem strange.

No, thinking about it, I've always been this way.

A long time ago, when I first met Arihiko, I asked him why he bothered with me, and he replied:

"Because you're broken."

He then boasted, "You're the only one in this class who can be my rival," before stealing my school lunch pudding, which I remember clearly.

It's nothing complicated.

That massacre I caused in the park, and my leap into the night world now—none of it was coincidence.

The person named Shiki Tohno was an outsider, an aberrant, a broken person from the start, detached from those around him.

Yet, thinking of myself as harmless was either a comedy or a tragedy; which was it?

It was probably a tragedy.

There is nothing more miserable than an unused tool.

A tool is only valuable when it is constantly maintained and used for a long time.

So, how about now?

I am like a dull knife covered in unnecessary rust all over my body.

This won't do; a rusty tool must be polished to remove the rust.

Since I'm already downtown, I might as well find a suitable target in a deserted place.

The moon is so beautiful, just right for killing—.

"Huh?"

For a moment, I caught a glimpse of Yumizuka's profile in the alley corner of the downtown area.

"Hey, Yumizuka!!"

Thinking no way, I yelled out.

I pushed and weaved through the crowd, running toward the alley.

After not running far, I clearly caught sight of the person I was looking for, and the person turned around toward me, realizing someone was chasing from behind.

"…No way!?"

It was her after all.

She seemed completely surprised, her eyes wide open.

She immediately fled into the dark, narrow, and winding path as if to escape.

"Hey! Wait!!"

"Don't come!!"

No mistake, it was her voice.

She's changed so much, even though she's a girl.

"Wait up!"

"I said, don't come!"

Her reply was an explicit rejection, and she ran while holding her chest in apparent pain.

Her steps were unsure, staggering yet trying to distance herself.

This time for sure—.

"Ugh,"

In vain, I suddenly felt dizzy, and my vision distorted weirdly.

Lifting my feet felt heavy; even the weight of my clothes felt oppressive.

My breathing was rough no matter how much air I inhaled, and my heart was on the verge of exploding.

It was one of my usual, anemia-like attacks.

If this were normal, I could accept it since it's my body, and I wouldn't resent it.

But for the first time right now, I felt hateful toward my own body.

"Ah—Haa—Haa—"

My vision darkened, and my senses went haywire.

I reach out, but she continues to leave with her back turned.

Here, in a place like this!

As if I couldn't accept it, I exerted all my strength to drive my body, but—

"Gah—!!?"

Contrary to my will, my body wouldn't follow, my feet tangled, and I easily stumbled and fell.

Naturally, she wasn't going to wait.

Leaving me lying there, she vanished in less than ten seconds.

Without leaving even a trace of her presence.

"Yumizuka…"

"Haah…"

I look down from the rooftop, watching Shiki looking around below me.

Truthfully, it's dangerous to expose myself on a low building like this, but I couldn't abandon Shiki, who seemed to have suffered another one of his chronic anemia attacks, so I stayed.

However, I was searching for the next dead person by their presence, but I never expected to run into him.

After all, Misaki Town is a reasonably large regional city, so the encounter rate should be low.

"But that impulse…"

The problem is the impulse that surged from my chest when I saw him.

It was exactly the same as what I occasionally felt when I remembered my family in this world after gaining this body.

Father, Mother, Sister.

The family consisted of four people, including myself.

A very ordinary family.

Every day was a boring, commonplace routine.

A symbol of people simply going through life without any particular beliefs or solid ideology.

And that symbol, I want to…

I want to gorge on them, violate them utterly.

I want to bite into their necks and suck their blood.

I want to stomp on their faces, twisted in terror, and turn them into pieces of flesh.

My body aches.

My gaze is drawn to the person below.

I want to suck Shiki's blood too—.

"…!! Calm down, control yourself."

I turn my gaze away, but the trembling won't stop, like a seizure.

Ever since I woke up, I've been terribly afraid of something violent coming out occasionally.

I feel like I'm going crazy, and blood packs won't be enough to deceive this feeling.

――――All I've realized is that the emotion of affection triggers the vampire impulse.

The alchemist who will eventually come to this town murmured to himself in a self-deprecating way.

Comparing that prior knowledge from the source material to my current situation:

"I am――――――"

The feelings for my family are probably derived from familial love, or benevolent affection.

But what is this impulse toward Shiki Tohno?

Is it because of affection for [The Protagonist of the Story]?

Is it because of affection for [A School Friend]?

Or, is it affection between [Male and Female]?

In other words, am I harboring feelings of love―――?

No, mentally I'm a man... I think, but my body is a girl's.

And while he's clearly a boy, my heart is the same, so would it be a same-sex relationship?

My tastes haven't changed, so I must still be a man and――――.

Wait, wait, there was something like this in Kara no Kyoukai before…

"It's not my style to think about difficult things."

I shake my head, clearing my jumbled thoughts.

I don't have time to be disturbed by the gap created by my TS (Transsexual/Gender-bend) situation.

There should still be about 100 dead people, so I have to finish this quickly.

"About 8 more days, perhaps?"

I look up, and the moon, not as blue or large as in a game, illuminates the night.

Tonight's moon is less gibbous than yesterday's, clearly showing that the full moon is approaching.

Ever since becoming a vampire, looking at the moon somehow makes me feel stronger, but now it's just irritating.

"Will I lose? Ah, as if I'd let myself lose."

I mutter, glaring at the moon.

I haven't thought about what comes after killing Roa.

More accurately, I'd rather not think deeply about it, as no matter how much source material knowledge I mobilize, I can only foresee bad outcomes.

Since Ciel-senpai has set her eyes on me, unless I'm very lucky, a carefree future like the Back Alley Alliance won't happen.

"I will never forgive him."

I will absolutely not forgive Roa, no matter what.

Hunting the Dead like this is not out of a sense of justice; it's a strategy to lure out Roa, and frankly, it's just taking out my frustration.

And as a friend, I don't want Shiki to get too involved, but frankly, I also want his strength—a dirty thought that is immediately followed by a selfish one.

He is the person concerned and is right there, but even though Shiki is already involved, I'm reluctant.

"Good night, Shiki."

I leave the area, watching Shiki, who is still wandering below.

According to the source material, there are about 100 of the Dead; the only way to cut off the supply is to turn them to dust.

Furthermore, I need to destroy the magic circles spread throughout the city to weaken him.

Well, I suppose I'll resist as much as I can――――.