270 – Remnants of the Past
“Then Fuma-senpai, what if Chiaki doesn’t resolve her grievance and stays like this?”
Then, Fuma-senpai, who had just taken a big bite of the hamburger, chewed the contents in his mouth and said.
“One of the expressions that people often use is ‘wandering around the nine heavens. It is to become a monster that harms people.”
“Youkai…”
According to Fuma-senpai, there are experts in the Japanese underworld who only exterminate monsters.
The Huma clan is one of them, and it was originally a village-level mercenary group, but it seems that the clan has been exorcising horses as a business ever since the clan went through a crisis of destruction and went into the mountains during the Warring States Period.
“Moreover, this child is a soul with sordid energy that even our clan, who have fought against youkai for hundreds of years, would mistake it for a great youkai. It is said that it is not dangerous right now, but if left unattended, in a few years it will be able to shake the country like a Sutoku Tengu. A great monster might be born.”
“I see.”
It was a much bigger story than I thought, so I had no choice but to put on a bewildered expression.
「If you’re not going to eat these fries, can I eat them all?」
Okay or not, Chiaki is still only interested in Jet Bob.
‘Is this guy the seed of a Great Youkai?’
I looked at Chiaki with her distant eyes and pushed her french fries towards her in order to tell her to eat them all.
In fact, strictly speaking, the fries on the tray don’t actually disappear because it’s offering food to the spirits.
I just have to wait until he finishes eating before eating.
Anyway, I decided to finish what I was talking about with Fuma-senpai.
“Then it would be better to relieve this guy’s resentment, right?”
“That’s right. To be honest, unless you’re the polar opposite, it’s definitely not a ghost that humans can handle.”
At Fuma-senpai’s words, I automatically thought of Ryuji’s face, who had a ghost similar to Chiaki’s.
It is said that it is difficult to handle even one Chiaki, but what the hell is that guy who wears two even Mahes….
Anyway, the main character is Bojeong, but if you think about it again, he’s a scammer.
“Then, I think that’s enough of the warning, so I’ll get up first. Meal time isn’t infinite.”
Fuma-senpai, who had been diligently eating hamburgers during the conversation, got up from his seat with a tray that was completely empty before he knew it.
Then, as I was going to take out her trash, I suddenly asked, as if thinking better.
“Kim Yuseong, do you have any plans for New Year’s morning?”
“No, nothing in particular.”
“Then why don’t we go to the shrine together? I was supposed to go to the shrine with Mei Ling.”
“Meiling unnie…? When did the two of you become so close?”
“We exchanged line IDs at the fight club where Ivan and I went to watch your fight.”
After saying that, Fuma-senpai shrugged and asked, “So what’s the answer?”
Of course, I didn’t have any other schedule, so I gave the ok sign.
“Okay. That much.”
Because I wanted to meet Meiling after a long time.
“Then you know that.”
After saying that, Fuma-senpai waved his hand, put the empty tray down in the collection box, and then went back downstairs to his part-time job.
***
After making sure Chiaki took care of the leftover fries, we decided to go home, albeit a bit early.
Anyway, it was because of Chiaki’s excitement that Ryuji at home would be worried if she played outside until too late.
「Ah! I miss you here! You still have it!」
After taking the subway back to Setagaya, on the way to the Tower Mansion where Ryuji lives, Chiaki suddenly stopped walking while shouting that.
I looked around to see what was going on, and Chiaki pointed to the playground on the side of the park and said.
「Here! It’s where Ryuji, Me, and Maiya used to play when we were kids!”
“Really?”
I looked around the playground Chiaki pointed at with new eyes.
A playground in Citizens’ Park that clearly shows signs of the passage of time.
Perhaps because it has not been maintained for a long time, many of the play equipment in the playground are rusted red.
Originally, it was a popular spot for children around here, but recently, the playground in the newly built park is bigger and more colorful, so no one visits it anymore.
Looking back at her old memories, it seems that Yuseong Kim from her childhood also came here to play, but she seems to be from India, so she quickly lost interest and read comic books at her house. .
It’s kind of sad to think that while someone was making sweet and sour memories at the playground, someone was sitting in the corner of their room and watching the riotous anime.
「Once upon a time, when the two of us met here, we always played house. Back then, they fought over who would become Ryuji’s wife, but it was Maiya who always lost. I knew I was sick.”
Chiaki stared at the sand in the playground with eyes locked in memories, then flew through the air and climbed onto the slide.
“Thinking about it now, Maiya has changed a lot too. Before, you were as big as me, but now people have become very round.”
I remembered the calm Yaguchi I saw in the classroom and the lively Yaguchi I saw when I went to the dojo with Meiling.
“Maybe Chiaki, you’re mistaken.”
「What?」
“Originally, women tend to flirt in front of the person they like.”
Yaguchi’s original personality may be closer to the angrier Chiaki described than to being calm.
In the first place, people’s personalities don’t change easily.
Chiaki, who came down the slide as it were, looked back at the slide with a dissatisfied expression.
「It’s not fun.」
“What’s not funny?”
「I thought it was really long before, but now it feels like it has gotten shorter.」
I said with a wry smile.
“That’s right, it’s because you’ve grown up a lot now.”
It’s said that because it’s a ghost, it doesn’t change anymore, but Chiaki’s current appearance is at least the level of a junior high school student.
Since girls’ secondary s*x characteristics come earlier than boys’, it’s not strange even if their body size changes drastically.
「I want to ride one more time.」
While saying that, Chiaki went up the slide again and only managed to get off the slide after riding it five times in a row.
To catch my breath, I sat down on a nearby bench and asked Chiaki who slowly approached me.
“Come to think of it, how old were you when you left this town?”
「Me?」
Perhaps because it’s been so long that he can’t remember, Chiaki straightened his fingers and counted.
「Maybe 9 years? Maybe 10 years? As I went up to the upper grades of elementary school, my symptoms started to get worse.”
“Then did you promise to marry me then?”
「… Why is that all of a sudden?」
“I’m just curious. I don’t know who you used to be.”
When I said that and shrugged, Chiaki answered while averting her gaze.
「As I said before, I have been weak since I was young, so the first friend I made was Ryuji. That’s why I didn’t want Ryuji to forget me even if I left town. When I think about it now, it seems like a very irresponsible promise.”
I smiled bitterly when I heard that.
“As you said, I was a child. I can promise that much. And in the end, we met again like this, right?”
Then Chiaki wondered if she felt something, “Yeah. It’s all thanks to you,” He replied in a calmer voice.
Then suddenly, without warning, he bowed down to me.
「I’m late to say this, but thank you for bringing me to this town. Thanks to you, I was able to meet Ryuji again.”
“Hey, what’s wrong all of a sudden. Embarrassing people.”
I hurriedly waved my hand as I said that.
Whether or not Chiaki is still crouching.
It seems that the destructive power is multiplied more and more as a guy who is not normally like that suddenly becomes polite.
After a while, Chiaki straightened her waist again and said teasingly with a wide smile.
「hehehe, are you embarrassed because I suddenly did this?」
“That’s what you mean…”
I let out a sigh of relief when I saw Chiaki return to normal, and I said let’s go and got up from the bench.
Then Chiaki walked over to me and patted my chest with his fist.
「Still, everything I just said is true. It’s because of you, Yoosung, that I’m here. Looking back, I owe everything to you, including the past and today.”
“If you know, do better.”
From noble mtl dot com
When I said that and made a gesture of tapping my chest, Chiaki looked at me blankly and smiled mischievously.
「I’m glad you’re my friend.」
Her heartfelt words were a magical spell that made her feel tired from being dragged around all day.
“You’re welcome.”
After answering that, I ran my finger across my nose in a strange embarrassment.