Chapter IV
"I Want to Be a Mad Scientist!"
Mitsuru stood, once again, in the void. In front of him, the knight manifested only as a white, spectral outline. It was like a ghost that faded away as other spirits formed and went. Some were ordinary people, while others were otherworldly or monstrous. Mitsuru could swear that he recognized some of the people or even the monsters he believed to be from fiction, but one thing in common among them.
"All of them…are they dead people?" He had only seen a dozen of these specters, yet the similarity of their essence with his own led to that conclusion. Looking at them was like looking at an extension of himself.
"Hello?! Hello?!" A voice cried out from beyond.
"…Voice?! Is that you?" The voice that cried out was inhuman—a choir of men, women, children, and others.
"The Voice? No. You're Mitsuru Kano right? So then…" This new person was hard to understand as the mass of sounds layered over each other. "I don't have much time to speak to you. Did you just defeat a raven knight?"
"...Yes."
"Alright. Okay. There is another…like you. He's the one…and it's going to...again! Arubi Island!... You have to learn to control them or else you're going…no match—" The voices mashed into an incoherent amalgam before growing into a deafening roar. Then silence. Mitsuru unclasped his ears and opened his eyes, but he wasn't in the strange dimension anymore.
He stood outside a house with the sun setting for the incoming night.
"This neighborhood…" Mitsuru looked at the adjacent homes and surroundings. I remember this cliffside when I was walking once. The southern suburbs. Why am I here? Turning back around, Mitsuru walked up to the house he appeared in front of. He needed to find Shido again, but he wasn't sure how to do that. He felt utterly lost and directionless. What time was it?
Why am I here? This gnawing confusion left Mitsuru tired. There was no sense of urgency, no ultimate purpose. So many questions with so many answers. The best he could do was get more explanations, but where would he find them? Mitsuru walked away.
He had made one large loop back to the same spot in front of the same house. It was dark now. The sun was gone, and the moon was up high, acting out the monotonous cycle. The lights in the houses were still on. There was still one place he wanted to go, but Mitsuru did not dare to walk near those streets. Leaving the city behind had made his old home a foggy and departed memory. He needed directions. Mitsuru walked up to the door of the house he had initially appeared in front of.
Mitsuru put his finger on the bell. There was a bakery called Pantel below the suburb where he lived. Whenever he was on his street, he could see it by looking over the railing. As the door opened, he recited, "Hi, I'm sorry for bothering you this late. My phone is dead, and I don't know this area well. Would it be alright to know where the cliff looking over the Pantel is?"
The person standing at the door was Shido Itsuka, who had changed into his home clothes. Inside, a TV played an old-timey mystery romance show loudly, and people, including Kotori, were seated at the dinner table, all staring at him. "I see. That's why I'm here."
"How did you find out where we live?!" Kotori got up from the table as a girl with purple hair, Tohka, and a girl with light blue hair peeked around the corner.
Mitsuru looked all around him like he was being set up. He responded, "Well, I didn't really find your address. It sort of just appeared outside." Shido quickly gestured for him to come in while looking to see if anyone else was outside. "Thank you for having me." The house was clean and well-kept. The footwear was neatly arranged.
"This does save us the trouble of searching for you again. That was a good two days wasted."
Two whole days? Right, the Voice said that time flows strangely there. But still…
"Woah! It's you again!" Tohka exclaimed. She was sitting next to another girl, around her early teens, who peeked slightly over the couch with a rabbit puppet in her hand.
"Hello…again. I'm Mitsuru Kano. Sorry that I couldn't introduce myself when we were getting attacked." He introduced himself and gave a slight wave.
"Oo, it's so much different seeing Shido bring in a man this time." The rabbit puppet turned its head and whispered into her ear, not quite enough for Mitsuru to miss it. He immediately turned his head to the couch. His wide eyes, an expression of shock at hearing the girl's words, frightened the girl, and she ducked behind the couch.
He turned back to get a response from Shido and Kotori, but Shido just nervously shrugged it off.
Shido pointed to and introduced the girls. Tohka's full name was Tohka Yatogami. The girl with blue hair and a hand puppet was Yoshino. Mitsuru was faintly humored by the puppet's name–Yoshinon, though he was more amazed by Yoshino's still mouth as her puppet spoke and the dissonance between her shyness and the raunch her puppet. He resumed talking to Shido and Kotori.
"It's strange because every time I've appeared somewhere recently, it's always coincidentally convenient." Mitsuru took off his shoes as they walked to the dining table. Mitsuru politely refused to sit. Kotori walked out to contact [Fraxinus].
He looked around the kitchen. There was a lingering scent of seared meat in the air. Recently washed plates and utensils dripped on the rack.
"Does this have to do with what you said about the dimension you teleported to after getting attacked?" Shido asked.
"Yeah, actually." Mitsuru gave a light chuckle. "So that portal led back to uh…the shadow realm. Normally, this Voice that I talk to controls when I come and go, but I guess he disappeared, so I don't know anymore. Then I suddenly feel like I'm falling through the floor, and I just appear somewhere back in reality. Remember when we met at the warehouse?" Mitsuru asked, and he nodded. Yoshino stood up, and she left with Yoshinon. She also tugged at Tohka, but she only looked at Yoshino strangely, declining to follow.
Mitsuru thought for a moment about how to articulate his words. "So, before that, I was talking to the Voice after being chased by a crazy goth lady." For a moment, Mitsuru paused, noticing the sudden alertness coming from Shido and Tohka. Was it the crazy goth lady? "And she was a Spirit–" Mitsuru was quickly cut off.
"A goth Spirit?" They all knew only one 'crazy goth' Spirit: Kurumi Tokisaki. Shido and Tohka then looked at each other, remembering the boy Kurumi had mentioned in the park before disappearing.
"A crazy Spirit lady that could grow hands from the ground, yes." They stayed silent as Mitsuru continued. "Then all the things about the Voice disappearing happened. I met Shido, and the stuff on the ship happened, right? Then, I followed that knight into the portal. Now I'm here."
"Does it look all dark and make you sleepy, the place you say you get teleported to?" Mitsuru turned towards Tohka. "Well, the only thing about it is darkness–pitch black. It doesn't make me sleepy, no. The Voice I talked to says that he knows that place well. It's where dead people would pass through." He pulled at his hair. "I'm sorry, there are just a lot of things to keep track of. Where was I?"
"You said you were being chased by a goth Spirit. Did she talk to you at all?" Mitsuru hummed, thinking back. The vivid recollection of a bullet exploding his hand played in his head.
"No, she went straight for my head. Uh, the Voice said something about her being a dangerous person."
"So, you're the boy she was talking about. Kurumi Tokisaki said something about a boy with powers she had never seen before." Tohka chimed.
"Huh? Powers? I guess. I don't know why she was after me. I don't know Kurumi Tokisaki at all. Did she say anything else about me?" Tohka looked at Shido as if to let him speak. He thought back to the moment. Kurumi had told them to get information from Mitsuru. Before, she had tried to eat Shido for his power. Perhaps she had found another target to try the same thing. Shido also remembered her mentioning "putrid energy."
"She said that you had power or maybe knowledge. No one knows her goals, but we know she wants power. To do that, she has to...cannibalize people. I was almost a victim of that once, but my friends helped me escape. You said you still don't know much about your abilities and didn't know what Spirits were until recently. I don't know if she knew that."
Knowledge. The Voice would have that. And Power? I can create weapons, but that's it. I don't have the knowledge or power to do whatever that Spirit would want. Mitsuru dropped his hands on the table before resting his head. He had become sleepless long ago, but Mitsuru had not become resistant to mental fatigue. He had so much more to uncover, but once again, the answers he got generated new ones in an endless expanse.
"Are you alright, Mitsuru?" Shido worried, slowly getting out of his seat.
"Oh, it's nothing. I'm just having a hard time keeping track of everything. Is there another time we could continue this? It seems late for you guys anyway. Thank you for allowing me here, but I need some time to collect my thoughts," Mitsuru said with distant eyes as if occupied by troubling introspection. "I guess I'll just hang somewhere nearby till tomorrow?" he asked.
"What? Do you have anywhere to go?"
Mitsuru stopped. "No, not really, but that's fine by me. Don't worry about it. I'll just meet up back here tomorrow. Is that alright?" He got up and began to leave, but Kotori appeared from the top of the stairs. Looking up, Mitsuru saw the ironically menacing aura of the [Fraxinus] commander, who stood domineeringly high above him.
"Sorry, but you're going to stay with us for now. It's for surveillance reasons. Remember, Ratatoskr's job is to monitor and deal with Spirits. For the moment, that would include you. We recently constructed the apartment complex next door for future Spirits to inhabit, so we'll have rooms you can stay in.
"Ah, alright, but I don't need a room–"
"Doesn't matter, and besides, you said Kurumi Tokisaki was chasing you, wasn't she? Also, the A.S.T. is now onto you as well. You might have been able to get around in the shadows, but now you're out in the open, and I can say that none of them are as nice as us–"
"Yes, yes. Okay, I get it. Do you want me to do anything or just go?" Mitsuru had his hands up, waving her words away.
"Your room's already been set up. We'll talk again tomorrow. I'm going to bed, Shido." Kotori turned around and disappeared behind the bathroom door. Mitsuru was beginning to form a mental image of Shido's sibling dynamics. It made Mitsuru shutter.
Shido approached him with an awkward chuckle. "My sister can be intense, but it's just her role as a commander. She isn't like this all the time. She really cares for the people she loves." Mitsuru quietly nodded, turning for the door.
"Wait up. I'm coming as well." Tohka ran up to him. "Shido said that I should show you your room. Follow me." She slipped past him and out of the house. Before he left as well, Mitsuru turned back with a small chortle.
"You see how happy she was? That was a little funny. Anyway, thanks for your generosity, Shido and Kotori–offering all of this. I don't have much to give back, but you guys don't ask for payment, do you?" Mitsuru joked.
"None at all. Isn't it the right thing to do, helping these Spirits with nowhere to go?" Shido replied with a light laugh.
"Yeah…it does seem like the right thing to do." Mitsuru waved as he turned and closed the door behind him.
Inside the "Spirit Mansion," Tohka enthusiastically guided Mitsuru around.
"This is where Yoshino, Yoshinon, and I sleep every night. Kotori said that more Spirits will live here, but it's just the three of us right now. Every room has a bathroom, but the kitchen is downstairs, so if you're ever hungry in the middle of the night, you can go downstairs. If you need anything, knock on my door. Goodnight!" Mitsuru thanked Tohka before they went their separate ways.
The inside of his room was plain, with a bed, table, and wardrobe, none of which he would need except for the table.
I haven't slept in years. Maybe if I try, I can still do it. It's already twenty-two o'clock. That would be twelve plus...ten p.m. in the twelve-hour system. Mitsuru remembered his sleep schedule starting at ten p.m., and he woke up at seven every day and got to school before the gates opened. He went to lie down on the bed. This sensation caught him off guard. Having been so long, Mitsuru must have forgotten the sensation of a pillow or bed sheets. How melancholic.
There was one place Mitsuru had yet to visit—his house. He was afraid of the possibility of meeting his parents again. He had avoided as many people as possible, not appearing in the city for any purpose other than to not risk meeting someone familiar. With him and the Voice, he didn't feel so lonely, but what would it be like in a decade or a century?
I wonder if anyone would choose to stay immortal forever if they knew. Thoughts like these always kept Mitsuru up at night. I want to see my friends again. He wondered how his friends and family felt, or everyone who knew him now that he was 'gone.' It was a surreal and awful realization that he was minutes away from his family. That kid, I hope she got out and her mom too, he focused.
(-)
He looked at the clock after trying to fall asleep. The clock read 22:30. He had only gone for thirty minutes. I just can't. Mitsuru slowly got out of bed before heading for the door. He could walk the night away. Mitsuru had read about people doing that. If something troubles your mind, just step outside for a while. Slowly walking past Tohka and Yoshino's door, he could hear their slight breathing and snoring; they were fast asleep.
Making his way down the stairs, he could see through the windows towards the midnight city lights and the line of street lamps. This was a sight few were awake for. There was some good in his new situation. He made his way onto the street and hesitated. Perhaps…Mitsuru slowly turned for the northern suburbs, one frightful step at a time.
Mitsuru looked at his hands as he walked. Continuing to walk, he closed his eyes. Dead people…their weapons. He felt something in his hands, and when he opened his eyes, there was a hunting rifle. It fell out of his hand and hit the ground. Picking it back up, Mitsuru walked under a streetlight. "Huh."
He ran his hand across the surface. The weapon looked functionally adequate, whatever that meant, yet it was old-fashioned. Greenery grew on it as if it had been lying on the grass for decades. The scope's lens was cracked. Mitsuru carefully felt for a magazine release. He paused, thinking about the possibility of it accidentally discharging, before throwing it out of his mind. Mitsuru pushed the release, tugging on the magazine. It snapped out, a sign of being untouched for ages.
The two remaining bullets were untouched.
I shouldn't be fiddling with firearms in public. Mitsuru turned his head all around him. No one. I should throw this away. Mitsuru grabbed the gun by the barrel and chucked it off the railing in the trees below. He saw it fall but then disappeared into a wispy black cloud. "What the?" Mitsuru threw the magazine as well, seeing the fade away. Better than leaving a gun out. He stared ahead for a minute. Looking ahead, the lights of the city bloomed into the midnight sky. Light pollution. Mitsuru's sarcastic voice played in his mind, but he couldn't deny that it was pretty.
The bugs of the night clicked through the trees as Mitsuru walked up the road. This was the road Mitsuru remembered. He stopped in front of the house with bright flowers planted along the front. His heart raced, and his breathing got frantic even as Mitsuru tried to control himself. Those flowers weren't there when he used to live in the house. The one car they used to have was gone as well, replaced by a car from a brand his parents did not particularly like. This could not have been the same family.
"What are you doing out so late?" Mitsuru jerked as someone suddenly appeared behind him.
"Ms.…Murasame?" Reine had been monitoring aboard [Fraxinus], and seeing Mitsuru leave, she kept a close eye on him. "Oh, sorry. I couldn't sleep, so I decided to go for a walk."
She looked at the home that Mitsuru stopped in front of.
"So this is the house that you used to live in?" Mitsuru gave a silent head shake. "I looked into it a bit—your public files. The family inhabiting it is not your family. They moved out shortly after the fire." Reine glanced over and saw a great sigh come out of Mitsuru. He blinked as if he was about to cry.
"Maybe they moved away because it hurt too much to stay. They'll never know their son's back...Thank God…or whoever."
"I could get your records removed from the city's database. It would be harder to raise any suspicions about you." Reine suggested. Mitsuru flinched before asking in a flabbergasted tone,
"Really?! Do you have the power to do that? Is it because of your position in Ratatoskr? I mean, I don't know how much that would help. I didn't think Ratatoskr had any power in the government, but if they couldn't trace things back to me, I wouldn't have to worry so much about being found out. That would be amazing. Thank you." Mitsuru bowed nearly ninety degrees and repeatedly.
"Because you seem to remember what your life was like before becoming a...'Spirit,' was there anything indicating that this would happen to you?" Reine asked.
"Anything indicating? No, my life wasn't perhaps the most normal, but I didn't experience anything that would make me assume such a thing. Maybe this is my punishment for all the sins in my life." Reine looked at Mitsuru. She noticed his frequent, distant staring. She could tell that his mind frequently wandered off, and this was no exception.
"Do you think you deserve this?"
"Well, I wasn't an angel. There are a lot of things I regret having done, yeah." Mitsuru scratched his head. "Are you staying up as part of your job, Ms. Murasame?"
"Yes, as Head Analyst, I have to stay up late to process the collected data to formulate plans. I can afford to as well. I find it hard to sleep," Reine replied with heavy bags under her eyes. "Tomorrow, we need you to perform some tests." Mitsuru looked at her, confused. "Don't worry, it consists of simple diagnostics and recording results. There'll only be a couple of those to gather some more information. Here, if you would like, [Fraxinus] does have recreational activities if you can't sleep. I also find them helpful to pass the time on occasion."
"Thank you." Mitsuru's eyes suddenly lit up. "Could we stay for a moment? I want to see something." Mitsuru quickly ran down the road. Reine followed, seeing him disappear as he ran down a long flight of large stairs leading into an urban district. They stopped at a closed bakery, Pantel. "So, it's still open. Awesome, but I can't go in there anyway…" He let out a breath of disappointment.
"There are better bakeries nearby. Is this place important to you?"
"Yeah. I mean, taste is subjective." Mitsuru hesitated for a moment. "The first job I wanted was here. I just chose this place to hang out with some friends because it was close to my house, but stuff like that...that's what makes things special, right? Things only we can understand deep down. Things that are only true for oneself—maybe a few others. There was one sweetbread bun I always got, and Pantel was just the best-tasting one. I don't know why. Some things just are, I guess. Easier to say than anything."
There was a long silence in the air. "Would you like me to buy you one tomorrow?" Reine asked. Mitsuru gave a tiny laugh.
"Oh…uh…if they still sell it. If not, anything red should be fine. Thank you." Mitsuru bowed. "What activities do you have on the Fraxinus?" As they talked, Reine thought in her head behind her concentrated gaze.
Mitsuru Kano. I'll need to set up measures against him soon, but there must be more to his ability.
A boy sat on the cliff, overseeing the beach.
Waves slowly encroached against the tall stones on the shore. With a sketchbook in hand, he drew out things kept hidden, and the families, couples, and energetic kids all ran under him. Soon, winds would arrive, and he thought of everything he had to do. He sat slumped over, legs kicking, and head hung low.