“Aw man, we didn’t manage to get a Despair Mark on this sample product, either.”
Nozome let out a sigh as she gazed at the catalog’s contents page.
“Even so, Nozome, you don’t seem all that disappointed this time,” said Nieno.
“Hmm, you think? Maybe it’s because it was so satisfying to see Chika get her anger back. I seriously couldn’t stand her before.”
“I suppose somebody like that would be rather… incompatible with you.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure.” She closed the catalog and narrowed her eyes. “The old Chika was a lot like the old me… The me from when I was human. Maybe that’s why I found her so irritating.”
Nieno gulped awkwardly.
“I missed out on recruiting Chika and on getting my perk. Sheesh, this whole thing was a total wash…,” Nozome grumbled.
“What do you intend to use your perk for, Nozome?”
“I already said, didn’t I? I’ll only tell you that when you explain why your head is the way it is.”
“And I believe I told you this already, but even I don’t know the answer to that.”
“Yeah, that’s what you said when we first met. You still haven’t remembered after all this time? Nothing about your life as a human, or why you became an Inhuman?”
“Indeed… All I have is a hazy impression that I may have been human once.”
“Do you want to remember your past?”
“Well, it is a part of my story, so it would be nice to know.”
Nozome looked up at Nieno as he nodded. His shadowy head wasn’t actually a head, just a cloud of darkness stitched onto his neck. He must have had a real head once. What in the world had happened to make him like this?
“Even if you do remember, it’s probably not gonna be a very happy story,” Nozome said to Nieno.
“Yes, I’m well aware.”
Silence fell between them. The only sound was the rattling of the wheels on the suitcase Nozome was pulling behind her.
I really can’t tell him yet…
Nozome’s true desire was to erase her past. Her human memories, all traces of her life as a human, anything that might link her to the life she used to have and the person she used to be.
To be Inhuman and nothing else—that was what she wanted most.
Now that I know Nieno wants his memories of his time as a human back, I’d feel bad telling him I want to throw mine away.
She’d keep it a secret for the time being. At least until Nieno regained his human memories, or she finally got her perk. Either one would work.
“Well then, what should we sell to our unsuspecting customers next…?” Nozome wondered aloud.
She took out a new catalog from her suitcase—a fresh, clean catalog with no stories recorded in it yet. Then she ran a finger over the plain black cover and opened it to the contents page.