One night later, Toya and Akira are watching TV while having breakfast at the research institute. Makoto and Junko, as well as that taciturn Kasane, a blond handsome boy in a kimono, were sitting at the same table.
Before I knew it, Touya was back at Yukioka Research Institute. I remember she was in extreme pain and she was vomiting blood and collapsing.
According to Junko, it's because she's not able to adjust the burden on her body well, but she's vomiting blood and fainting with only two pro wrestling moves, so it's not a considerable lack of adjustment. She is dumbfounded, and she becomes quite uneasy.
"Touya, are you really okay?"
Akira, who has been looking at Touya with a worried look ever since they met, called out to him.
"Yeah. I'm completely recovered."
Toya's words aren't lies. When she woke up, she woke up feeling comfortable, and even now she has no health problems.
"Yeah. If it were true, I would have died at that time, but I managed to extend my life to about three days, so I'm fine. Touya-kun, let's use the remaining three days meaningfully."
Junko said so with her carefree smile, and the movements of the three boys who were eating froze all at once. Only Kasane continued to eat silently without paying any particular attention.
Makoto quickly freed himself from his stiffness, stood up, and silently pulled out his gun.
"No, no, no, it's just a joke."
"You don't sound like a joke at all."
Makoto spit it out at Junko who waved her hand while still smiling, put her gun in his pocket and sat down again.
Junko said it was a joke, but Toya doubted whether Junko's words were really a joke. After all, he is the kind of person who always mixes seriousness and jokes, sanity and madness.
"So, seriously, Touya-kun's body was found to have a serious flaw. It seems like he's having trouble controlling his powers, so there's a dangerous possibility that he'll go out of control beyond his limits. Da"
"No... didn't you adjust that?"
Toya timidly asks.
"To a certain extent. But it's not perfect. If you don't manage it well on your own, you'll put a lot of strain on your body and fall down, and if you're not good enough, you'll die, so I want you to be careful. For the time being, I was going to mess around with this and that to get the limiter to work, but it doesn't seem like that limiter will come off easily.I'm sick of the medicine that will allow me to control it well, but that medicine has strong side effects, so I'm afraid that side effect. I'm depressed with a drug that suppresses it, but that drug also has a different side effect, so I'll take a drug that suppresses that too--"
"Isn't that completely a death flag? Toya, you shouldn't use that power anymore."
In the middle of Junko's story, Akira interrupted her.
"Even if you tell me not to use it, isn't this power of mine the only way to survive in the back alleys from now on?"
Seeing Akira's unusually sullen mood, Touya wondered.
"No, it's fine. I don't need it. I just want to work hard and become stronger. I've already paid back my debt, so I'm not in a hurry. After all, there's something wrong with Touya. I can't accept it."
Toya is irritated by Akira's bluntness.
"I came here and became a test subject for Akira.
After saying that out of frustration, Toya feels embarrassed by his childish remarks.
"I am not jealous.
"Why? I didn't want Akira alone to take the risk, so I made the decision."
Come to think of it, Akira was negative about Toya's decision from the beginning, and even after that he stubbornly refused to change his attitude. Toya couldn't understand that, and was dissatisfied.
"You have something to see. You seem to have the same idea as me."
Touya's anger was fueled by the truthful words he uttered while facing Akira.
"I hate people who think that they can easily acquire supernatural powers without making any effort. There are some guys who have unavoidable circumstances, and I don't blame them for that kind of pattern."
At the end of his words, Makoto turned to Toya and followed. I think he understands, and Touya's anger subsides a little.
"Is Aizawa-senpai not remodeled?"
Akira looked at Makoto and asked.
"Shin-kun has the same idea as Akira-kun. Even after you started living here, you can't recognize anything other than the power you've earned through hard work. I gave him thorough torture training.On top of that, he also has experience as a mercenary in a conflict zone."
"Is torture training that important?"
Akira rushes into Junko's amused expression.
After all, the body was dismembered, nerves, muscles, bones, blood vessels, and internal organs were exposed, and the exposed nerves, muscles, bones, blood vessels, and internal organs were pricked with needles and rubbed with sandpaper. I'll be beaten, beaten with a hammer, electrocuted, toasted in a fire, rubbed with broken glass, depinned, poured with a strange liquid—"
"Senior, please stop with that. I don't have to say any more. Just listening to it makes me feel sick."
Makoto calmly talks about the content of his torture training, but Akira tries to control him with a dying expression.
From Toya's point of view, it was hard to believe that Makoto had not gained the power of a supernatural power and had not been remodeled. No matter how you look at it, it's hard to explain why they look the same age as us. He must be in his late teens.
"Well, even if you can't help but have a difference of opinion, try to understand Touya's feelings a little."
Makoto scolds Akira.
Immediately after that――
"Next news. Last night, the bodies of a family of four were found at a house in Anraku City, and the police concluded that it was a murder case. The victims were Mitsuaki Kumozuka and Yuko Kumozuka…"
Akira froze at the content of the news on the TV, and Toya looked at him in surprise.
An unusual surname such as Kumozuka. Moreover, the same Anrakuichi. And Akira, who stiffens for a moment, looks at the TV with a self-deprecating smile.
『It seems that he died four days ago――』
It was three days ago that Akira visited Yukioka Research Institute, urging Toya to fall into the back alley. There is only one answer that can be derived from this. But something strange happened. The news ended without mentioning Akira at all.
Although they have been dating for many years, Toya has never been to Akira's house. She never heard of her family. He didn't say anything because he was from such a family. I suspected that Akira's family was also in trouble because they didn't try to touch each other.
"Was it more than just your family? Who did you kill?"
Makoto looked at Akira with pity and said. Judging from the way he spoke, it seemed to Toya's ears that Akira had already seen that he had killed someone.
"Oh, that's right. I did it. Those guys deserve to die. Those guys existed only to make me suffer. They tried to fit me in, deny it if they didn't like it, Hitting, cursing, hitting, cornering, discriminating, ignoring, cursing...death deserved..."
Akira spoke with a smile. But that smile was not the usual lively one. Hatred and madness were ingrained. Toya sees Akira's face like this for the first time.
Seeing Akira's expression as if he was possessed by some unknown demon, Touya felt his fingertips go cold and trembled slightly. not fear. Not even mercy. The emotions that welled up in Toya were empathy and anger.
"But I won't be caught, will I? The reason why I borrowed 50 million yen was the cost of erasing my family register. In order to erase it and arrange for it not to be caught by the police.As Senpai and Junko know, there is an organization in the back streets that covers up crimes committed on the main streets.But we can do this. I was warned that in the future, if I get carried away and indiscriminately kill people on the main street, I might be noticed by both the police and the back streets."
"The residents of the back streets are bound by many rules." Aside from killing each other among the residents of the back streets, if you kill too many residents of the main streets indiscriminately, you will get a favor. Other crimes, of course.
"They kept asking me why I killed them. I was told that if it was a crime that the boss of the organization didn't like, no matter how much money was involved, they wouldn't cover it up."
Since he undertook it, it can be said that Akira would have received considerable treatment from his family. Toya didn't want to know specifically what it was. I was afraid that Akira's pain would come down as my own pain.
"I had an older sister, but she ran away from home when I was little. I knew what was going on.I've always admired the back streets since then.Of course, Aizawa-senpai's influence is stronger."
After saying that, Akira looked at Toya.
"Hey... Toya... Do you despise me?"
Toya was surprised to see Akira's crying face, which he had never seen before. At the same time, he felt a tightness in his chest.
"Did I do something wrong? I don't feel guilty at all. It's only natural for those guys to be killed, right? What's wrong with killing them? What's wrong with killing them?"
(Then why are you looking like you're about to cry?)
Toya thought so, but he couldn't say it.
"I knew it. Touya was the same as me. Touya was in a terrible house... I've known it for a long time. But I can't think of it this way? Thanks to that, my life from now on is going to be a success.The reason I was able to choose an option other than an ordinary life was because I was the first to fail."
Touya felt that it was a sad and forced twist, but she couldn't bring herself to say it.
(And Akira... he invited me, who is Akira's number one, no, only heart.)
With that thought in mind, Touya lowered her head and gritted her teeth. Indescribable emotions swirl, and tears overflow before Akira, who was about to cry.
"If that's the case, I can't let go of the power that Junko gave me."
Toya said with a strong tone while looking down.
"From now on, in order for the two of us to live together. Any kind of power is necessary."
Hearing Toya's words, Akira also bowed his head as if to learn from Toya. With the momentum of looking down, tears trickled down from his eyes onto the floor.
Junko and Makoto continued to eat while silently listening to their conversation, looking away from them. Toya is both grateful and embarrassed for being considerate.
(I won't let Akira carry the burden alone. I have to be the same.)
Sensing that Akira was crying in silence next to him, Touya made up his mind.
(It's also my settlement. I have to settle the lottery for the start of my life.)
Both Makoto and Junko had noticed that Touya had been unleashing murderous intent, but as expected, neither of them tried to touch him, and continued to eat in silence.