The Amphisbaena (6 page)

“Er… But what about the confession reply thing…?”

“Confession? What are you talking about…? I was just meeting with Takashimizu to ask him to take care of the kitten.”

As she spoke, Nagisa pointed to the kitten Takashimizu was cradling in his arms. “Meow,” went the kitten as if on cue. Kojou remained unable to pull himself out of befuddlement.

“…So what was yesterday’s letter about…?”

“Letter? Ah… Maybe you mean this?”

What Nagisa fished out of her uniform’s pocket was a drab, unembellished sheet of copy paper. What was written upon it was a long way from a confession of love; it was simply a list of residential addresses.

“A-addresses…?”

“—A list of athletics club members. Akatsu… Your little sister said that she was looking for people besides me who could take in cats, so I thought this might help.”

Takashimizu, having recovered from his initial surprise, explained to Kojou with a politeness befitting a proper athlete.

Nagisa lowered her head toward him out of apparent embarrassment.

“Thank you, Takashimizu. I’m sorry, my big brother had this strange misunderstanding…”

“No need to worry about that at all. Well, I’d better go.”

Making an eloquent smile, Takashimizu took the kitten back to the campus building in a cardboard box. Kojou watched him go.

“He seems like a pretty good guy.” He murmured his honest admiration, as if not involved in the matter at all. That moment…

“Senpai…”

“Kojou…”

Yukina and Nagisa looked up at Kojou, simultaneously sighing together.

As if her anger was not yet sated by this alone, Nagisa closed in on Kojou even more.

“I cannot believe this. How’s it even
possible
to mistake talking about getting someone to take in a stray cat for a confession?! Wait, even if it
was
a confession, what were you doing coming to peek on it, Kojou?!”

“…I’m sorry. I came right along with him.”

“You don’t need to apologize, Yukina. It’s Kojou’s fault for misunderstanding, anyway.”

As Yukina lowered her head, Nagisa covered for her while glaring at Kojou with puffed-up cheeks.
Well, that is exactly how it happened
, Kojou internally conceded.

“I’m in the wrong about coming to peek uninvited, fine, but you never said one word about trying to find someone to take in a stray cat!”

“Like I have to tell you. You and Yukina both live in the same apartment building I do, and we all know you’re not allowed to raise pets there.”

“Err.”

Kojou couldn’t come up with anything to refute the sound logic of Nagisa’s argument.

“…What’s with that cat, anyway? You been taking care of it?”

“It’s not me. Kanon’s been taking care of it.”

“Kanon… Meaning?” Kojou asked, as if doubting his ears at the name
he’d never before heard. Then, the silver-haired girl who had remained silent to this point gently stepped in front of Kojou.

“Ah yes. That’s me, Kanon Kanase.”

Speaking with a soft voice, a gentle smile came over the girl. Her words sounded like those of an affectionate mother; the gentle look on her face seemed divine.

“I’m…very sorry. It’s really…all my fault.”

The girl’s silver hair swayed as she bowed deeply.

Watching the flow of her movements, Kojou was at a loss for words.

For some reason, Nagisa and Yukina both looked unhappy as they stared at the look on Kojou’s face.

“You’re Nagisa’s big brother, yes? I’m sorry to have caused you trouble.”

So spoke Kanon Kanase as she picked up the tote bag she’d left lying at her feet.

Inside the bag were milk bottles for cats, cat food, toys—an excessive amount of supplies for caring for a single kitten.

“Er, no, I don’t think there’s anything you need to apologize for, Kanase…”

As Kojou spoke with a fair bit of embarrassment, Kanon smiled pleasantly and shook her head.

“Nagisa has helped me a great deal when we were in the same class together until last year. Because I’m shy, and also, boys tend to avoid me, I don’t believe I’d have ever been able to hand the kitten over to Takashimizu if Nagisa hadn’t been here with me today.”

Kojou thought Kanon’s words, which she seemed to believe in all earnestness, were a bit surprising.

She did seem difficult to approach in some ways, but Kanon was a more beautiful girl than most celebrities. He didn’t think her reserved personality and gentle demeanor were reason enough for boys to consciously avoid her.

“What are you saying?” said Nagisa with an exasperated, strained smile. “I keep telling you, it’s not that at all. Everyone clams up because
they like you
too
much, Kanon. That’s why they call you ‘the Saint of Middle School.’”

“Huh…?”

Kanon blinked like she didn’t really get it.

Kojou thought
saint
was an excellent way to describe the effect she had. In point of fact, the air Kanon gave off was a good deal more like a person of the cloth than a certain Lotharingian Armed Apostle. He could get people saying she was a nun in her day job.

“Himeragi, you know Kanase, too?”

Kojou quietly posed his question to Yukina.

Yukina whispered into Kojou’s ear. “No. But I’ve heard the rumors often enough: that she has an exceptionally pretty face and is admired by all of the girls in her class. Also, they seem to levy a fine upon the boys of their class if they initiate conversation with her.”

“I see. I don’t really get that part, but it’s quite something.”

“Yes. But I understand why it’s difficult to engage in casual conversation. She’s too pretty.”

“Hey, I don’t want to hear that coming from you…!” Nagisa interjected, apparently unable to hold her tongue any further. “Just so you know, every last bit of that goes for you, too, Yukina. The boys in
our
class set up a three-second rule, a five-second rule, an eight-second rule, and a twenty-four-second rule for being under arm’s length from you. They get a talking-to and harsh punishments if they go over those time limits. Oh, they’re running put-a-curse-on-Kojou-Akatsuki sessions, too, so you’d better watch out, Kojou!”

“Why the heck are the guys in your class trying to put a curse on me…?”

Kojou felt a light headache coming on as he grumbled. Nagisa went “hmph” and seemed to pout as she turned away in a snub.

“Anyway, I need to go apologize to Takashimizu again. Kojou, Yukina, you help Kanon instead of me, all right?”

“R-right. I can do that much, sure.” Kojou nodded as he glanced at Kanon’s bag. Certainly, it was more than her slender arms should have been carrying. He had no objection to helping her.

“Sorry about this…” Kanon smiled bashfully as Kojou took the bag.

Now that the misunderstanding with Takashimizu was resolved, there was no reason to stay in the middle school building. Once Yukina made preparations to leave, Kojou hooked back up with her, with both then making their way out from school. But at around the point Nagisa split off from them midway, Kojou felt like he was being watched, making him utterly unable to relax.

Certainly, Kanon’s looks stood out a great deal, but Yukina’s looks were every bit as pretty. There was no way having
two
younger girls looking like that following in his footsteps would fail to attract attention. On top of that…

“…I sense a strange presence. Please stay close to me, both of you.”

Yukina was reacting to the bloodlust being trained upon Kojou, but as she said those words, she drew closer to him. That only created an even worse atmosphere, concentrating additional hatred from others upon Kojou.

Feeling like a criminal on a perp walk, Kojou quietly pulled up his parka’s hood and hid his face. By the time they finally safely escaped the middle school building, Kojou’s back was unpleasantly slick with sweat.

“I’m sorry… It’s all my fault.”

Kanon spoke apologetically as she toyed with her own hair with a fingertip. Apparently, she was under the impression that it was
just
her hair that made her stand out more than other people.

“So that hair’s your natural color?”

Kanon nodded a sad nod at Kojou’s casually posed question. “My biological father is not Japanese. I was raised in Japan, so I have very little memory of him.”

“That so?”

Seeing that there were complicated circumstances involved, Kojou didn’t ask anything more.

Rather than head to the station, Kanon was making for the hill behind the school. Inside a small park filled with green trees, Kojou could see an abandoned gray building.

“…Is this a church?” Kojou asked as he looked up at the relief carved onto the building’s roof.

It was caduceus—the Messenger’s Staff—with two snakes entwined around it, a symbol not usually associated with the European Church.

“This is an abbey that took care of me when I was younger.”

Kanon looked at the decayed garden with a bit of longing. The flower bed was buried in weeds; there was a rusted-over tricycle left behind.

“Kanase, you’re not actually a nun, are you…?”

“No, I’m not. I looked up to them…but…”

Kanon quietly shook her head at Kojou’s question. Before Kojou could ask her to continue, Kanon extended a hand to the door of the building. She opened the damaged wooden door with a heavy creak of its hinge.

“Oh my…” As she peered into the decrepit building, Yukina let slip a little exclamation.

As she strongly looked over her shoulder, there was a glimmer of innocent emotion showing in her eyes that suited her age for once.

“…Himeragi?”

“Cats! They’re cats! Look, senpai, cats!!”

“R-right. I can see that…”

Kojou was a bit taken aback at Yukina being in such uncharacteristically high spirits. A seemingly countless number of golden eyes emerged from the dimly lit interior of the abandoned, ruined abbey.

There were ten-odd cats, still quite young, rushing toward Kojou and the others like bird chicks greeting the return of their mother. Kojou thought the sight was less adorable than frightening, but…

“Waah… So cuuute… There, there… There, there…”

Yukina smiled happily as she picked one kitten up after another.
Ah, come to think of it
, recalled Kojou, she was into collecting cat mascots. Yukina had been cool and composed on the roof with Takashimizu, but she’d probably been fighting her desire to pamper the kitten the entire time.

“So, umm, you take care of…all of these?” Kojou asked Kanon as the horde of kittens milled around his feet.

In spite of all these kittens living under one roof, there was no hint of any unpleasant smell in the abbey, a clear sign someone had been frequently passing through and caring for the kittens as well as cleaning up the place.

Kanon nodded as she prepared the cat food with a practiced hand.

“They’re all…abandoned cats, you see. I meant to take care of them until I could find people to take them, but…”

“Until you can find someone to take ’em? The odds aren’t good with this many…” Kojou was a bit beside himself as he spoke. Kanon lowered her eyes in dismay.

“Yes. I cannot do it myself. That was why I asked Nagisa and others to help me…”

“…So when Nagisa told me to help you, this is what she meant, huh?”

Kojou sighed and slumped his shoulders wearily as he finally figured out what his sister really intended.

Looking up and seeing Kojou like that, Kanon asked a tentative question. “I’m very sorry. Is it too much trouble?”

“Nah,” Kojou muttered with a smile, shaking his head. “I can’t just say I don’t wanna do it after what happened earlier. Then, there’s Himeragi there…”

“I’m so glad. I was a little worried. I’m not confident I can keep caring for all these little ones,” Kanon murmured as her pale eyes narrowed softly, giving the kittens a very fond look.

Gazing at the side of her face, Kojou was a bit dazzled by the saintly air she gave off.

“Kanase, I think you really would make a great nun.”

Kanon looked up in surprise as Kojou gave her his honest opinion.

For a moment, her expression held a faint trace of sadness.

“Thank you very much. Those words alone are…enough for me.”

Kanon made a soft, charming smile as she spoke.

The elevator continued downward until finally halting without a sound.

It was sixty levels belowground. This was the Gigafloat Management Corporation Public Security Department in Keystone Gate, the central core of Itogami Island.

She awaited the opening of the elevator door before marching into the dimly lit corridor.

She was a small woman wearing a frilly gothic lolita outfit.

Her cherubic face was better described as that of a beautiful girl’s rather than a young woman’s, if not that of a child’s. In spite of this, her
steps seemed mysteriously full of might as she marched without hesitation down the corridor.

“…Heya, Natsuki. Over here, over here!” Someone called out her name with an odd, overly familiar tone of voice.

Tch.
Natsuki Minamiya, not only an English teacher at Saikai Academy, but also a national Attack Mage known as “the Witch of the Void,” made an unpleasant click of her tongue.

“First, Kojou Akatsuki, now you… I’ve told you enough times not to call your homeroom teacher by her first name!”

As she spoke, the target of her glare was a young man with spiky hair that was combed back. He was dressed in a black suit—the uniform of the Gigafloat Management Corporation’s Investigative Division. He wore headphones around his neck while making an impudent leer.

“I thought something must have happened to be called directly to the corporation… Your doing, Yaze?”

“Sorry about this. We’re a bit shorthanded here, y’see.”

Covering his yawning mouth with a hand as he spoke, Motoki Yaze led Natsuki into the center of the room.

It was a room that greatly resembled an operating room of a hospital. A girl who didn’t look even ten years old was lying on top of a bed surrounded by high-end medical devices. Her entire body was wrapped with bandages as if she’d been gravely injured.

And for some reason, both of her arms and legs were firmly secured with thick metallic devices.

Natsuki hmphed through her nose as she looked down, unmoved.

“…So this is the fifth? Looks like they really put on a show last night.”

“Oh yeah. So far, reports coming in of two buildings half-wrecked, five set on fire, blackouts, water shortages… But still better than the alternative. It’s all commercial districts with few civilians nearby.” Yaze had a cynical look on his face as he explained.

There had been an incident the night before in Itogami Island’s western district, Island West.

Two unregistered demons possessing high-combat capabilities engaged in prolonged battle above urban areas. Buildings in the area caught up in that fighting had suffered heavy damage.

This girl, apprehended with heavy injuries, was one of those unregistered demons.

“…I heard that she was fighting someone else?”

“We don’t know who she is. It’s been a real pain trying to track her down.”

Natsuki raised her eyebrows, taking delight in hearing Yaze’s morose-sounding words.

“So even you couldn’t chase her down?”

“Ah, there ain’t no way. She’s outta my league.”

Yaze scratched his head as he spoke.

Motoki Yaze was a Hyper-Adapter—not a demon, but a human born with exceptional abilities. Using a type of psychic power, his special ability allowed him to extend his hearing over a wire area, enabling him to track everything within a radius of several kilometers like highly accurate radar.

But even his ability had drawbacks. The field of delicate sound Yaze deployed was vulnerable to big explosive sounds; it wasn’t well suited to monitoring large-scale combat.

And it had one more drawback—namely,
it was powerless against opponents traveling beyond the speed of sound
.

This time, when combat had concluded, the target he was tracking left the battlefield at a speed even his ability couldn’t keep up with. Of course, this was not a feat your average demon could accomplish.

“The report said this girl is an unregistered demon?”

“At the very least, there’s no matching entry in Itogami City’s Demon Registry database. Well, that’s to be expected, given that she’s not a demon to begin with.”

“…Not a demon? She’s one of your kind?”

For once, Natsuki had a look of surprise on her face. Not many things existed that could wreck multiple buildings with flesh and blood that
weren’t
demons. Such feats were all the more unthinkable for ordinary humans.

“Well, y’see, there’re faint traces of sorcerous physical augmentation, but the way the corporation sees it, she should still be thought of as almost totally human.”

“So what, a mere human flew in the skies above a Demon Sanctuary, mowing down buildings in her wake? Don’t make me laugh.”

“Well, there’s no doubt these folks aren’t normal. I’m not laughing, though.”

“How heavy are the girl’s injuries?” Natsuki asked as she shifted her gaze back to the wounded girl.

“They say she’s in stable condition for the moment. They’re using cellular cloning to replace missing internal organs.”

“…Missing organs?”

“Her diaphragm and a kidney… Right around the Manipura Chakra, you could say.”

“So they were eaten…”

Natsuki seemed to spit the words out as she murmured.

The next moment, she heard an innocent-sounding voice from behind her. It was a melodic but sarcastic male voice.

“…Hmph, I see. It was not her internal organs that were taken so much as her energy nodes… Or rather, her very spiritual being… Rather fascinating, isn’t it?”

“Oh, it’s you, Dimitrie Vattler…”

The bearer of the voice poked his head in from the corridor as Natsuki shot him a glare, an open scowl on her face.

“What’s a bat like you from outside doing here?”

“You’re so cold. And after your country went through all the trouble of asking me to pay you a visit…”

The aristocrat from the Warlord’s Empire that Natsuki had called an outsider smiled cheerfully in the face of Natsuki’s hate-filled stare.

But he was a noble, an Old Guard vampire of the First Primogenitor’s line possessing vast destructive power.

He’d been granted his own autonomous territory within the Warlord’s Empire with vast military might. And currently, he was ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Itogami Island.

“Well, that’s very big of you, you snake charmer. When did you get used to being the pet of the Lion King Agency’s vixen?”

Natsuki spoke in a taunting tone. Yaze clutched his head at the threatening atmosphere both were giving off.

“I’ll let that pass without comment. Diplomatic secrecy, you see.”

“A diplomatic secret of the Warlord’s Empire? So your Primogenitor cooked this incident up? Now that’s interesting.”

“I wonder. It could be completely unrelated to
him
.”

“What…?” Natsuki was in shock for a while at Vattler’s half-joking remark. Yaze watched Natsuki’s agitated reaction with a dubious look on his face. Apparently he hadn’t been told the details that would have given Vattler’s declaration meaning to him.

Natsuki glared at Vattler, a thin haze of bloodlust rising from her doll-like visage.

“‘Snake charmer…’ What do you know?”

“Do you recall hearing the name
Ragnvald
, Witch of the Void?”

“…An armored airship belonging to Aldegia in Northern Europe. The flagship of the Knights of the Blessed Ring.”

“This isn’t public knowledge yet, but last night it vanished without a trace. It last transmitted its location some one hundred and sixty kilometers west of Itogami Island.”

Natsuki’s expression turned grave at Vattler’s report, which seemed unrelated to him at first glance.

“So you’re saying this incident is related to the Aldegian royal family?”

“Well, there’s no actual proof. Don’t you think the timing’s a little too convenient, though? Well, either way, I’m going to just stand back and watch this time. Don’t worry, I’m not inclined to lift a finger.”

“That’s quite a bold statement coming from a combat maniac like you.” Natsuki glared at Vattler, her eyes showing no hint of trust whatsoever.

To an unaging, undying, long-lived, and very bored Old Guard vampire, fighting a powerful enemy was the best way to kill time and give meaning to one’s life. Surely Vattler couldn’t ask for a better playmate than an unknown monster capable of flying at supersonic speeds and wrecking buildings left and right.

But the aristocrat from the Warlord’s Empire curled up the edges of his lips in a pleasant smile.

“
They
are not your enemies. It might be unexpectedly interesting to simply let them be and watch.”

“…And you expect me to believe one word you say?”

“It’s friendly advice. Whether you heed it or not is up to you.” Vattler recited in an indifferent tone. Then, as if suddenly remembering something…

“This isn’t to get payback for that information, but I have a request to make of you.”

“I’ll hear you out at least. What is it?” Natsuki asked bluntly. For a single instant, Vattler’s blue eyes were dyed red in genuine bloodlust.

This was no doubt meant for Natsuki’s benefit. Even the stout building that was Keystone Gate creaked from the surge of thick magical energy he gave off.

“Do not involve the Fourth Primogenitor in this.”

“…Kojou Akatsuki? Why?”

Natsuki raised her eyebrows at the unexpected request. Vattler slumped his shoulders in annoyance.

“Because he cannot defeat
her
. It would be inconvenient for me were my beloved Fourth Primogenitor to perish so soon.”

The next day: Thursday after classes.

Two adorable kittens with black-and-white spots slept softly side by side in a cardboard box. A male student with delicate facial features was peering inside. This was Kojou’s classmate, Haruka Uchida.

“Sorry, Uchida. Really saving my bacon here.”

“It’s cool. Everyone in my family loves animals, anyway.”

Kojou handed the cardboard box with the kittens over as Uchida spoke with a bright smile. These were two of the abandoned kittens Kanon Kanase had been caring for at the ruined abbey. He’d been calling acquaintances since the night before, finally finding someone who was able to take a couple of them.

Yuuho Tanahara glanced absentmindedly at the playful Uchida and the kittens. She was a blunt, strong-willed girl who often blew her lid at the boys in her class, but right now she was enveloped by an adorable aura as if she was a completely different person. She’d fallen head over heels for Uchida.

“I really didn’t expect you to get friendly with the Saint of Middle School, Akatsuki.”

Yuuho began talking to Kojou out of the blue.

“You know about Kanase?”

“She’s popular with the boys in high school, too. She’s half-Japanese, right? With those looks? Just not fair.”

“Well, I think so, too.”

Kojou nodded in frank acceptance. Kanon was waiting a short distance away out of consideration for her senpai, Kojou. When she realized her eyes had met with Yuuho’s, she made an elegant bow, making her silver hair sway.

“But…I kind of have a…hard time with her.”

“Hard time?”

Kojou was surprised to hear those words from such a willful girl. Yuuho blushed a little as she quickly said, “Ah, it’s not that I hate her or anything. It’s just, she lived in an abbey close to this school when she was a kid. Way back, I went there for this and that event, too.”

“Right.” Kojou nodded as he recalled the sight of the ruined abbey. He realized that he hadn’t actually heard why the abbey had been closed in the first place.

“…There was an incident, a bunch of people died… That girl was the only survivor,” Yuuho murmured, her expression sinking into gloom. The content of her words didn’t really hit Kojou at first.

“They didn’t tell me the details, but it was apparently a pretty horrible incident. Friends of mine died in it, too… It’s a little hard for me to deal with her because I’m reminded of it every time I look at her, even though I know it’s not her fault at all.”

Seeing how pale Kojou was, Yuuho forced out a smile.

“Well, it’s nothing you need to worry about, Akatsuki. Just forget about it. More importantly, between the transfer student and the saint, you really shouldn’t tease Aiba so much.”

“…It’s got nothing to do with Asagi. I got asked to help Kanase find people to take in some cats and that’s it.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Yuuho irreverently brushed off Kojou’s excuses. Somehow feeling an unpleasant tug at his thoughts, Kojou thanked Uchida once more and parted ways from them.

“So we found people willing to take in all of ’em, huh?” Kojou asked
as he met up with Kanon under the shade of a schoolyard tree. Kanon made a happy-looking nod.

“Yes. Those were the last of them. Thank you very much…”

“Nah… The only ones I found someone to take in were those two…”