Kaname led Mio by the hand through the panicked hospital, weaving past the people filling the hallways. Several nurses and doctors rushed around under the emergency lights, inquiring if patients were okay.
White beams from flashlights scanned through the orange haze.
Kaname pulled Mio along behind him without a shred of hesitation. With his free hand, he placed a call on his phone.
“Hello? Let’s switch rooms. May I ask you to take care of Hanaka Sawada?”
Hanaka.
Now that they’d moved out of the darkened hospital room, Mio suddenly worried that leaving her alone had been a bad idea. Mio wanted to tell Kaname they couldn’t abandon her, but between the chaos of the explosion on the news and the power outage, she couldn’t find the right moment.
Kaname maintained his pace once he finished talking on the phone. “It’s all right,” he said.
Mio looked up at him. His pale, expressionless face remained focused on the way ahead.
“I’m fairly sure Hanaka will be all right. Even if he comes to take them back, she’s low on the priority list. It’s questionable whether she can fill the role of older son again.”
“Aren’t you worried that you might become the elder son?” Mio asked. After all the talk of replenishing family members and finding replacements, she couldn’t help but worry. She didn’t know Kaname’s exact age, but it was definitely close to Hanaka’s and Mio’s. He might fit as the older son.
“Huh?” Kaname blurted out, so stunned he turned his head toward Mio. He must have realized that she was concerned for his safety. However, he quickly faced forward again. “I’m fine. Thanks for your concern, but that won’t happen. It would be truly ridiculous if I became his son.”
His palm was warm in hers. She realized, upon reflection, that despite his thin emotional range and eerie mannerisms, Kaname was firmly on this side of the divide.
He’s alive.
How exactly was he able to confront this family of darkness and purify their ill effects? Was it some kind of duty? If they survived this, she wanted to ask him about everything.
Kaname hurried to a different wing with Mio in tow. It was a large hospital. They made their way through a maze of halls, climbing stairs, passing immobilized elevators, and pushing through numerous automatic sliding doors.
When Kaname finally came to a stop in front of a particular room, Mio noticed several other people gathered there.
“Kaname,” one of them said, a man in his fifties. Another woman also called his name. She looked to be in her midforties and wore a white nurse’s outfit. There were a few more, and all of them seemed quite calm despite the emergency.
“I’ll wait inside,” Kaname said. “If Father comes, let me know.”
The people shared a look. “Be careful,” they replied, some placing hands on his shoulders. They all made way so Kaname and Mio could enter.
He told them, “I’m leaving Ritsu Mikishima and Hanaka Sawada in your hands.”
The others nodded.
There was no number or patient name outside the room to identify it, and it was smaller than the one they’d left Hanaka in. There was just one bed, which held an unattended, sleeping child.
The child’s features were very youthful, and he had smooth, clipped bangs. A pair of thick-lensed glasses rested beside the pillow. A school bag had been left on a nearby chair, confirming this boy was in elementary school.
Kaname finally released Mio’s hand. He’d been squeezing it for so long that it throbbed. The awkwardness of holding hands, even during an emergency, left Mio unable to speak for a moment. After a deep breath, she asked, “Is this…the younger son?”
“Yes. Niko Kanbara. If he’s going to come and take anyone back, it’s probably this one.”
“Why?”
“Excluding the father, this one has served the family the longest and most effectively. He was well suited to being Niko Kanbara, and he created many victims as a result. He was quite a talent.”
The term “talent” made Mio’s blood run cold.
A family charmed by darkness, replenishing its members from the general population. Some were better suited to their roles than others…
Without warning, there was a loud boom!
The floor shook again. Mio screamed and cowered, and she noticed fresh flames through the window. These were closer—much closer. Perhaps they were coming from the hospital itself. Maybe the room they’d been in earlier, where Hanaka slept…
Kaname’s phone rang.
A burst sounded at the same time. Mio heard screams. It wasn’t apparent what was happening, but something was coming.
Despite the distant clamor, the space inside the room remained shockingly quiet. It was like the world outside the door was completely disconnected.
Mio heard a ktok.
The uproar and shouting were still audible. Sirens blared endlessly. However, this noise rang clearer, distinguishing itself from all others. The footstep bored into Mio’s ears.
“I’m scared…”
The room had turned abnormally cold.
It felt nothing at all like a hospital anymore. Mio shivered and suddenly felt like she could no longer be certain where she was.
She’d tried to say she was cold. That’s what she’d wanted to say. Mio couldn’t explain why the words that had come out were “I’m scared.”
But she wasn’t alone.
“Don’t be scared,” said Kaname from beside her.
She hadn’t realized that he was so close. Their shoulders nearly touched. His back was to the sleeping child. He was there, and his voice was clear and present.
Ktok, went the sound.
Ktok, ktok.
Leather shoes, walking down the hallway, firm and careful.
Mio shuddered despite herself. She envisioned a freezing cold snake coiling around her back, and although she’d never touched one in her life, she felt the scales on her skin. It was unbearable. She wanted to claw at her back and flee. Somehow, Kaname’s hand prodded her right where she felt the serpent, even though it was all in her mind.
“It’s not scary. The family does surpass the bounds of your imagination. However, they can only use words and actions. They’re bound by the same rules we are. They’re not all-powerful, even when it seems they might be.”