I’m less than ten minutes from the house, but there’s no way I could ever manage to escape him. Besides, it would be like leading him home. That’s the last thing I want to do…
He considered running back to the train station, where there were people around.
No. I can’t do that. Considering what happened along the Kamo River, Kagiroi isn’t the type who would hesitate to harm innocent bystanders.
He desperately tried to think of a way to get out of the situation, but his options disappeared one after the other with blinding speed.
Masamichi began to tremble all over.
Kagiroi smiled and looked him up and down as if he were a cat playing with a mouse.
“Relax, servant of Shino Tatsumi. I apologize for not catching your attention more elegantly, but I’m not thinking of harming you right away,” he said, purring. His tone was soft, but it carried an underlying chill.
It was a different kind of chill from the frostiness that Shino spoke with to mask his kindness. This was icy, almost painful to the eardrums, and hinted at Kagiroi’s dark soul.
He was dressed completely differently from when he’d appeared on TV the previous day.
That pure-white suit must have been like a uniform for his front as the prince of gagaku music. In stark contrast, he was clad in black from head to toe, and his long hair was a surprising jet-black color.
Noticing that, Masamichi trembled with fear, but he couldn’t help staring at Kagiroi’s magnificent black hair, which was tied loosely at the nape of his neck.
“Oh, this? It isn’t particularly unusual for a man to change the color of his hair. My current appearance is but a disguise, so I can make it any color I want…,” Kagiroi started to say curiously, then snickered. “Oh, I see,” he said with an exaggerated shrug.
“Sorry. I forgot that your beloved master is confined to that ugly, cramped vessel that his master made ages ago. Of course you’d be surprised to see how flexible I am. You poor thing, getting stuck serving an incompetent master like him.”
“…!”
Masamichi swallowed.
Anger welled up in the pit of his stomach.
It was the first time in his life that he felt that way.
He’d been a docile child from an early age and could barely attend kindergarten because of his frail health. He’d grown up without learning how to form and nurture interpersonal relationships.
He often found it difficult to determine whether he should feel angry when someone frustrated him or treated him rudely. Situations like these usually left him feeling confused. By the time he decided to confront what had upset him, no one would remember their behavior.
Throughout his life, Masamichi had never fought, gotten angry at, or yelled at anyone.
The best way to avoid causing a stir was for him to swallow the unreasonable things that were said or done to him. He was the initial cause of the problem anyway.
Since moving to Tokyo and starting a part-time job at an izakaya pub, he had become acutely aware of his poor abilities as a waiter, and his failure at his college entrance exams was the nail in the coffin.
But now—
—Masamichi’s blood seemed to boil over dramatically once Kagiroi started ridiculing Shino.
He could feel the heat circulating through his entire body. After trembling in fear just a few moments ago, he was now filled with strength, and his fists were clenched tightly.
He wouldn’t forgive him.
He wasn’t going to tolerate anyone who spoke ill of Shino.
Bewildered by the fury he felt, which was as strong as a water heater about to explode, Masamichi knew he could never accept Kagiroi’s remarks about his master and opened his mouth to speak.
“Please don’t bad-mouth Shino like that!”
He believed he’d shouted harshly, but his voice trembled pathetically. Still, Masamichi was more than a little surprised that he could actually voice his anger.
“Ah. The quiet puppy’s gotten mad. Interesting.”
Whether or not Masamichi was furious, he wouldn’t make more impact on Kagiroi than a gentle breeze. But he seemed to have somewhat intrigued the specter, who pointed to a bench in the park.
“Why don’t we have a little chat? Not that you have the right to say no. I want to talk to you, so I’ll give you a few minutes of my time.”
Kagiroi then headed into the park.
Masamichi considered running away, but it would be pointless. Kagiroi acted totally at ease, since he knew he could always catch Masamichi in an instant.
…Damn!
Whether or not he was angry, Masamichi was upset at himself for his inability to fight back, but the only thing he could do was follow Kagiroi and look for a chance to escape.
I shouldn’t be frightened. As Shino’s servant, I have to stand tall.
If Masamichi behaved pathetically, Kagiroi would see it as a sign of Shino’s worthlessness and mock him more.
The young man felt the fear throughout his body, overwhelming his anger, but he knew he could never show Kagiroi that fear.
Soberly, Masamichi picked up the Christmas tree box he had dropped and tried to calm himself.
He then approached the bench and sat as far away as he could from Kagiroi, who was already seated comfortably. It was too close to the edge, and he might slide off with the slightest movement, but it couldn’t be helped.
Masamichi engaged his core and attempted a preemptive strike.
“…Why are you here?”
He didn’t look menacing, holding a box that’d been gift wrapped for Christmas, but having something to grasp gave him a little reassurance.
“That’s no way to greet a person. Even I was stunned when I was unexpectedly attacked at the Kamo River. It had to be Tokifuyu Tatsumi’s curse. He wasn’t a thorough man, but I have to admit his skills were indeed brilliant. No wonder he bested Gentetsu Izumo.”
Casually mentioning his master’s defeat, Kagiroi threw Masamichi a sideways glance.
It was getting dark by then. A light near the bench made it easy to see clearly, but the black-haired, black-robed Kagiroi looked as if he were melting into the darkness.
“Besides, the mass-fainting incident became something of a big deal. The media made a fuss over it, and the police called me in for questioning. The police. They called me in. What a laugh. Well, I’d been careless; I admit that. I was a little elated to think it was the spot where I’d brutally finished off Tokifuyu Tatsumi a thousand years ago.”
“…!”
Masamichi remembered Shino telling him, in that very spot, about the final moments of Tokifuyu’s life. And he bit his lip angrily as Kagiroi narrowed his eyes in amusement.
“I was thinking of having a light meal to cheer myself up that night before my concert, and then the two of you showed up and interrupted me. Because of you, I not only missed that meal but also got seriously burned. As they say, happy events tend to be accompanied by problems. That’s a good line, considering the fools that humans are.”
Masamichi didn’t respond. He remained stiff all over.
“But I did get something out of it. Shino was far weaker than he’d been a thousand years ago. I relaxed after seeing that, knowing I didn’t need to consider him a threat. I can go ahead and do what I want to do with peace of mind.”
Kagiroi’s words made Masamichi gasp.