“I’m just an ordinary guy in high school, so this is all a little over my head,” Yuichi said. “If there are specialists out there, I think we should leave this to them. I won’t train at your shrine anymore, and I don’t think I’ll get involved with you over any more of this dangerous stuff. That’s good for you, right?”
“You lost your sight, right? That’s probably for the best. Spirits mainly tend to go after people who can see them.”
“See you, then.” With that, Yuichi headed off the roof.
“Wait a minute!” Ibaraki shouted, running after him.
“What?” Yuichi groaned in reply.
“What are you gonna do? Just bow out?”
“That was the plan. They’ve got specialists to deal with what’s going on; I don’t need to be involved. Leave it to the pros, like they say.”
“Oh, come on, you don’t think it’s a little late now? You’re already involved in a ton of stuff.”
“I probably can’t ever fully get out, yeah. But I can get rid of as many connections as possible, right?”
“I get it. So that’s why you’re brushing me off?”
“No, I’m pretty sure this is how I’ve always treated you...”
“And why are you walking so fast?” Ibaraki demanded. “I’m an oni, you know. There’s an oni in the school. Most people would want to know what that was foreshadowing!”
“I doubt it’s anything that serious. Anyway, class is about to start, so I’m heading back. If I ever get bored enough to play word games with myself, maybe I’ll ask for your story.”
There were so many other dangerous things around, the addition of one oni didn’t really change much. Yuichi decided to return to the classroom and attend his afternoon classes.
After class, Yuichi poked his face into the club room. He was with Aiko, who was a member of the club, and Ibaraki, who wasn’t but had come along anyway. The only person in the club room was the vice president, Kanako Orihara.
“Um, did my big sister show up today?” Yuichi asked.
“No, she didn’t. I think we’ll have to cancel club for today... Has something happened to her?”
The club tended to be about whatever Mutsuko, as president, wanted to talk about, so they couldn’t really do anything without her.
“She hasn’t been home since yesterday,” Yuichi explained. “Not that I’m all that worried. Knowing her, she’ll be fine...”
“Hey. I really think it’s a little weird for her not to come home at all...” Aiko said worriedly, furrowing her brow.
“Still, if she’s decided to go into hiding, there’s not much chance of finding her,” Yuichi said.
“Sakaki, can you be so sure she hasn’t been in an accident, or kidnapped by someone?” Aiko seemed to be getting tremendously upset about Yuichi’s laissez-faire attitude.
“Noro, the elder Sakaki called in this morning to let the school know that she’d be out sick,” said Kanako. “I don’t think it’s anything to be worried about.”
“Really?” Aiko sounded relieved. Yuichi was a little relieved to hear that, too. But if that was the case, it also meant that she was actively choosing not to come home or go to school.
Does that mean she really was that mad? Yuichi couldn’t be sure what Mutsuko’s motives were, but he couldn’t help but connect it to the incident from yesterday.
“Well, I guess we’ll be on our way home, then,” he said. “What will you do, Orihara?”
“I’m going to think a little bit about the subject of my next story, then head home. You can go on ahead without me.”
Now that she mentioned it, Yuichi noticed that Kanako had had a notebook open the entire time, and had been writing things in it occasionally. It was probably better not to interrupt her.
“I’m worried about Kureha, so I’d better get home,” Ibaraki said. “Sorry, I can’t walk back with you.”
“No problem. I didn’t want to walk back with you anyway.” Yuichi mustered the most cheerful smile he could.
Ibaraki left with an awkward smile on his face.
Aiko sidled up to Yuichi as they left the school. “Sakaki, you’re really hard on Ibaraki.”
“No, seriously, do I really have a single reason to be his friend?” he demanded. “Maybe you forgot, but he’s a man-eating oni, remember? You never know what he might be getting up to.”
“But he’s helped us a lot.”
She was talking about how he had helped transport things for them, and how he’d looked after Monika for a while. He did feel a little bad about using him like that, but he couldn’t help that the way Ibaraki acted like his friend still grated on his nerves.
“It’s not like I wanted him to help us,” Yuichi said. “We just didn’t have any other options.”
“Well, okay. So, how did you like going through school without Soul Reader today?”
“You know, the whole world felt a little brighter. It was great. I feel like my school life has finally really gotten started.” Yuichi looked all around him.
The students walking home from school here and there had no labels over their heads. That was their natural state, of course, yet Yuichi was realizing for the first time what a wonderful thing that was.
The labels might not have seemed like much, but you couldn’t understand it unless you’d been through it how distracting they were. It was upsetting to have all that useless information floating right in your line of sight. He’d been picking up methods to divert his attention away from the labels of late, but that wasn’t perfect either, and the fact that he’d still seen them had been a constant source of stress.
“I mean, the truth is, I still remember what everyone’s labels were, so I can’t totally ignore that stuff. But I won’t have to worry about it for people I meet in the future, and—”
Someone in the crowd spoke up, apparently overhearing them. “Oh, but you should worry. It’s so more fun that way, you know?”
“Huh?” Yuichi said.
The comment had come from a girl who had been walking ahead of him. She had actually stopped and turned back in order to address him.
They were on the pedestrian walkway heading from school to the residential district, and it was wide enough that if he wanted to, he could just step aside and walk past her. But there was something about the way the girl looked straight at Yuichi that suggested he shouldn’t ignore her. So Yuichi stopped, a short distance away.
She had red hair and wore a high school uniform that Yuichi recognized, though she looked a bit young to be in high school.
“Then I would have just been able to walk in front of you, and you’d be all, ‘There’s no label! She’s an Outer!’” the girl explained. “It’s ridiculous... but I guess Makina did something similar, so that would just be a rehash. Then again, I do love my clichés...”
“Who are you?” Yuichi stepped in front of Aiko protectively. The girl projected no hostility at the moment, but the way she spoke suggested she was connected with the Outers. That meant he could safely assume they were enemies.
“My name’s Ende,” the girl said. “As you’ve guessed, I’m an Outer. Did Monika or Makina ever mention me?”
“Dunno,” he said. “So? What is it you want?”
“Right. I’ve known about you guys so long that I feel like we’re friends, but we’ve never actually met face to face. Since I’m taking part in the fight, too, I thought I’d come and say hello.”
“Sorry to tell you, but I don’t have any Divine Vessels.” Yuichi assumed “the fight” referred to the Divine Vessels War, but he’d already given his Divine Vessels away, so there shouldn’t be any reason for its participants to come after him ever again.
“Yeah, I’m aware that you were trying to drop out,” said Ende. “I just never thought you’d really go through with it. You made your big sister furious, you know.”
“You...”
“Sakaki,” Aiko whispered nervously, probably worried that Yuichi might lose his temper.
“I’m not happy about it either,” Ende said. “I made special plans especially to beat you, see?”
“Are you trying to pick a fight?” Yuichi demanded.
“Not me. I’m not the fighting type. Of course, if I just wanted to kill you, I could do it easily enough. But that would be totally boring, no fun at all!”