Strike the Blood - Volume 8 - Chapter Ep

OUTRO 

She sank. Her consciousness gradually descended into the vortex of light that surrounded her. 

Inside the muted whiteness of her mind, the girl closed her blue eyes and smiled. 

The Cursed Soul, sealed away within her in ages past, had been annihilated; accordingly, the power had been inherited by a teenage boy—the new Fourth Primogenitor. Her duty as a watcher was now at an end. 

Her long, icy sleep had not been in vain. 

Knowing that was enough. Satisfied, she smiled as she faded away. 

The boy would probably forget about her. 

The banquet that had already taken place had a cost that must be paid. The boy who had become the new Fourth Primogenitor was no exception to this. He and the others would forget she ever existed. The days he had spent with her. Even her name. However, they would not forget the existence of Nagisa Akatsuki. After all, Nagisa was no longer the Fourth Primogenitor. Their memories of her had been protected. Just like the boy had wanted. 

She had fulfilled his wish. She took pride in this. 

All that remained was for her to fade into the light. 

Yes, that was all that should have remained. 

“—Are you really all right with that?” 

She felt like she heard someone speak. 

The girl silently shook her head. 

She would have been lying if she said she had no regrets. 

She wanted to live on that island. She wanted to be closer to him. Those two things would be enough for her. 

“—Then, let’s do this…” 

Someone was clearly calling out to her. “Just sleep inside me, then,” the voice said. 

Within her white field of vision, she saw a hand reaching out to her. 

The hand of the black-haired girl. 

The gifted priestess, combining past-seeing ability with the disposition of a spirit medium, able to accept even the power of the Fourth Primogenitor within her— 

That hand grasped the girl’s wrist. 

“—Let’s go. Kojou’s waiting for us.” 

The invitation stirred the girl’s heart. 

Without thinking, she grasped the slender hand offered to her. 

Her sinking consciousness began to float up. 

Toward the light. Toward a blue, summer sky once more. 

And once more, two became one— 

It had been two weeks since Island Old Southeast had sunk on the day after Kojou Akatsuki and Avrora had destroyed Root. 

As the condemned area had been scheduled to be destroyed to begin with, it was child’s play for the Gigafloat Management Corporation to manipulate its information. They simply announced that the schedule for dismantling had been moved up. In addition, there was the just cause of preventing the outbreak from spreading. And so, the populace accepted the annihilation of Old Southeast with surprising ease. 

In spite of sustaining enough damage to sink an entire Gigafloat, the fatalities were miraculously low because most humans left on the island had been transformed into pseudo-vampires. The hardiness and vast life force of a vampire’s body allowed a great tragedy to be averted. Ironically, they had been saved by the vampirism epidemic caused by the Blazing Banquet. 

The outbreak had subsided just as rapidly as it had occurred, and the vast majority of patients returned to their peaceful daily lives. Many had lost precious memories, but they themselves were little aware of that, and the gaps in their minds would someday fill in again. 

As long as they had someone to fill them with— 

“Heya. You finally came, too, huh, Vel…” 

That day, Motoki Yaze was visiting a medical facility specializing in demons under the Gigafloat Management Corporation’s control. It was more of a lab than a hospital; perhaps it was more accurate to call it an experimental facility. In exchange for risky human experimentation, they had access to super-advanced medical technologies—just the sort of audacious facility that couldn’t exist outside a Demon Sanctuary. 

When Yaze heard that a patient accepted for treatment had regained consciousness after two weeks, he’d gone running, flower bouquet in hand. 

“Geez, recovering a vampire that’s turned to mist is quite a thing. It’s a hell of a lot harder than just tweaking the airflow.” 

The vampire, dressed in pajamas, was sitting up on the bed. Maybe it was because her brown hair had been cut short, but her facial features, reflective of her fine upbringing, seemed much younger than before. 

Or maybe the burden she’d been carrying had been lifted from her shoulders. 

On the night of the banquet, it had been Yaze who’d recovered Veldiana, heavily wounded and unable to even maintain physical form. She’d spent nearly ten days in that facility straddling the line between life and death. 

In the end, it wasn’t Yaze or the Demon Sanctuary’s medical technology that had really saved her. Her salvation had come from a somewhat unexpected source. 

“Well, I suppose the Lion King Agency’s chick with the metal mask felt a little guilty for using you like that. Looks like bringing you back was a pretty hard thing. Enough that there was a rumor she borrowed the power of some primogenitor or other.” 

Yaze ran his hand along his combed-back hair and laughed. 

All that said, from the Lion King Agency’s perspective, the results of recent events weren’t bad at all. It might not have been exactly how they preferred, but they’d accomplished their objective. The Fourth Primogenitor had been born in Japan, with that power vested not in the uncontrollable Cursed Soul, but in an ordinary high schooler. 

From that standpoint, saving one little vampire girl was an inexpensive celebratory gift. 

As Yaze laughed at the irony, Veldiana looked up at him and asked, “Who are you…?” 

A glint of unease and wariness floated into her eyes, the sort one had when meeting a stranger for the first time. 

She didn’t remember Yaze. 

“Ahh, that’s right. The effect of Root’s ability to rob people of their memories, huh… Well, it’s not surprising you had your memories ripped out by the roots… I avoided contact with Av as much as I could, and even I lost a few.” 

“Memories?” 

Veldiana looked down at both hands as she asked. In her present state, she couldn’t have much memory about anything. Having lived only for the sake of avenging her family, most of her memories were related to the Fourth Primogenitor. Root had used that as a foothold for robbing her of them. 

But by no means was that all a bad thing. 

Even if she’d lost her memories, she’d been freed of the Fourth Primogenitor’s curse. Those that had been lost would never return, but she could lay her hands on new ones. Besides, she had somewhere to go back to. Even if she herself was not aware of it, Veldiana had people waiting for her to come home. 

Maybe it was a lot shabbier than what she once had, but this wasn’t something obtained with the authority of nobility, or the power of the Fourth Primogenitor. It was something Veldiana had earned all by herself. 

“Who…am I…?” 

Veldiana posed the question to Yaze in a frail voice. He grinned and laughed in reply. 

Yaze hadn’t come all that way just to bring a big flower bouquet for the vase in her hospital room. 

“Your name is Veldiana Caruana—the number one, clumsy waitress for the Hell Demon House café.” 

For a second, the girl’s brows rose in bewilderment at Yaze’s description. She made only the smallest of pouts as she laughed. 

The window displayed Itogami Island’s blue sky. 

Time, once stopped, slowly began flowing again. 

Back in the present— 

Kojou Akatsuki opened his eyes on top of a hospital-room bed of his own. 

Somehow, the place seemed familiar to him. It must have been in MAR’s medical wing. Thanks to Nagisa’s repeated hospitalizations, he was accustomed to the atmosphere of the building. 

However, Kojou wasn’t in an isolation room like Nagisa had been. He was in a large room for general patients. 

The air felt a little musty. Maybe this place didn’t get much use. 

Kojou hadn’t been hospitalized. It felt like he’d simply been stuffed in a suitably empty room for him to rest in until he woke up. Now that he thought back, someone had told him that he and Asagi had lost consciousness and collapsed just after the conclusion of the Third Primogenitor’s raid. 

There were four beds in the room, but Kojou’s was the only one in use. Yet, there was another person there with him—a woman wearing a wrinkled white gown. 

“Mm-hmm… You’re awake, Kojou?” 

The woman hummed as she looked over her shoulder with a sleepy face, bringing a popsicle to her lips. It was Kojou’s mother, Mimori Akatsuki. 

Even a doctor like you shouldn’t eat ice cream in a hospital room, sheesh, thought Kojou in annoyance. 

“This is?” 

But Mimori took no heed of her son’s dissatisfaction, sitting squarely on an empty bed. 

“There was a thunder strike just as you and the others arrived here at MAR. Do you remember?” 

“…Thunder strike?” 

“Looks like the shock bowled you over. You don’t have serious injuries, so you can go home once things settle.” 

“……” 

Kojou glared at the grinning Mimori before turning his eyes toward the outside window. 

The Beast Vassal employed by the Third Primogenitor had been in the form of a giant thundercloud. If MAR insisted that the destruction of its medical wing was also the work of a thunder strike, no one was likely to dispute it. If it altered the records in the security pods of its own manufacture, no evidence would remain whatsoever. The matter would be completely brushed under the table as if it had never happened at all. 

“So what about the coffin that was underground? Why is that here?” 

“Ah… You saw that, did you?” 

Well that’s unfortunate, the rise of Mimori’s eyebrow seemed to say. It was an oddly cute expression one didn’t expect from someone over the age of thirty. 

“Actually, Kojou, that’s the body of an alien. The North American Union recovered it from a crashed UFO and asked us to study it in secret—” 

“You big liar!” 

Kojou, who’d earnestly listened to her story, shouted and tossed a pillow back at her to repay her for the low-rent gag. “Ahh, what a lovely reaction…,” Mimori said in a show of admiration. 

“Is that what you normally say in this kind of situation?! A person would believe anything if it wasn’t an off-the-wall lie, wouldn’t they?!” 

“That princess is the legacy of the Devas, excavated from a ruin in the Mediterranean. The Gigafloat Management Corporation asked us to manage her here for them. There’s a proper contract and everything.” 

“Ugh…” 

Mimori’s explanation, not giving him a single avenue for rebuttal, cowed Kojou into silence. Now that he thought about it, there was no evidence that the coffin of ice had ever been destroyed or that the sleeping princess within had been released. Since those who’d met her had lost their memories, the coffin remained in the same place where it had originally been brought. 

“How much…do you know?” 

Kojou glared at his mother as he asked. Whether she knew what Kojou was and only pretended not to know, or whether she had lost her memory—Kojou had no idea what she was thinking. 

“Mm, about what?” 

Mimori mused such words as she fished another treat out of a cooler. Seeing how happy she was, at some point Kojou decided that it was fine. 

If there was one thing he understood about Mimori and Gajou, it was that their actions, then and now, were always for Nagisa’s sake. At the moment, that was enough. Besides, Kojou had hidden things from both his parents, too. It would be a little unfair for only Kojou to complain. 

“Aaaah… Wrapping things up will be a real pain today. I probably won’t be able to return home for a while again, but do take care of Nagisa, ’kay?” 

“Yeah. Not that I really get all that, but don’t overdo it, either. You aren’t getting any younger.” 

As his mother got to her feet, Kojou threw a minor dig at her. Mimori gave a “Hmph,” pouting her lips like she was hurt, and then held something out to Kojou: a cold, sparkling cube of translucent ice. 

“…Want some ice?” 

Mimori’s eyes narrowed teasingly. Kojou made a strained, exasperated smile as he accepted it. 

“—Kojou!” 

Barely a moment had passed between his mother leaving the room and Nagisa entering in her place. 

Rather than wearing her school uniform, Nagisa was in her gym outfit. Now that Kojou thought about it, he’d heard Nagisa had been in PE when she’d collapsed at school. A gym uniform in a hospital seemed somewhat amusingly out of place. 

“Nagisa…are you feeling all right?” 

“Huh?! What’s with all that worry on your face? It’s been a while since I collapsed, so I was a bit surprised, but it’s the same as usual, plain old anemia. They gave me an IV, they’ll do some other tests later, they said if nothing weird shows up I can go home… Er, Kojou, there’s blood on your uniform! What happened?! Was it the lightning from before?!” 

Nagisa spoke in her boisterous, rapid-fire manner, same as usual. 

Kojou stood up without a word and hugged his little sister. Her small figure was still a little delicate since she was still so young, but the warmth of her body put him at ease. 

Nagisa was safe. The girl she and Kojou had risked their lives to protect was right there with him. 

“Wh…what’s come over you, Kojou?! Was it the lightning?! Was it that scary?!” 

Nagisa was a little nervous at Kojou’s sudden action, but she didn’t look like she really minded. It was no doubt simple embarrassment. 

In spite of that, Nagisa relented midway, making an awkward grin as she said, “There, there,” and pat Kojou’s back. 

“Sheesh, there’s just no helping you, Kojou. Even with everyone watching.” 

“…Everyone?” 

Confused by Nagisa’s words, Kojou abruptly turned toward the room’s entrance. Standing there were two girls in school uniforms. One was a transferred middle schooler with a black guitar bag. And the other was a girl from his own class, with an extravagant hairstyle that really stood out. 

Asagi gazed half-lidded at Kojou cuddling with Nagisa and said, “There’s his sister complex…” 

Yukina, maintaining a neutral expression while standing beside her, agreed in an oddly flat tone. 

“You really are an incorrigible siscon, senpai.” 

“Wha…? I am not!! This ain’t that, it’s a touching reunion!! A lot happened on the way here, that’s all!” 

Kojou hastily released his little sister. In spite of the blushy redness of her cheeks, Nagisa, now freed of his embrace, didn’t look particularly bothered as she smiled. 

Asagi chimed in, “Well, Nagisa needs to go back to the consultation room. Mimori said she’d take Nagisa home later, so…” 

“That so… Guess we’ll head home first then.” 

“Yeah. Yukina, thanks for staying with me. Asagi, thanks for coming to visit. Take care of Kojou for me!” 

Nagisa grasped Yukina’s and Asagi’s hands in turn before heading out of the hospital room with a spring in her step. She looked much like a cute little animal running around the room. Yukina, watching her from behind as she departed, giggled out loud with a gentle expression. 

“Nagisa’s cute, isn’t she?” 

“She really is. It’s easy to understand why Kojou likes her so much.” 

“I told you already, it’s not like that!” 

Asagi’s earnest murmur made Kojou bare his teeth in annoyance. All Yukina said was “I wonder,” as she stared at Kojou, completely bereft of trust. 

“But I really am happy that Nagisa is all right.” 

“Well yeah… Although it was just us staring death in the face this time…” 

Kojou looked at the still-fresh traces of the destroyed medical wing and limply exhaled. 

Then, he began preparing to head home. 

He’d confirmed that Nagisa was safe, and the mystery of the icy coffin had been solved. Kojou’s heartfelt desire was to get away from that place without another moment to spare. 

They were heading along the path leading to the hospital gate when Yukina suddenly asked, “So you recovered your memories, senpai—?” 

Kojou was a little surprised as he looked at Yukina, walking to his right. 

“…That Prison Barrier business was real after all.” 

“Yes.” 

Yukina nodded in reply to Kojou. 

The time was past eight PM. It had been barely over three hours since Kojou and Asagi had collapsed at MAR. However, Kojou and the others had spent far more time than that in the Prison Barrier, hence why he had suspected that it might have all been a dream. 

But this was because the Prison Barrier itself was a space that existed inside of Natsuki Minamiya’s dream. By comparison, a different flow of time inside the Prison Barrier wasn’t strange at all. 

Yet, it also meant that everything Kojou and Asagi had experienced inside that dream was real. The people he met there—and their deaths—were past events on the island that had really taken place— 

“I feel like I have more to remember than I did until now, but to be honest, I don’t really want to remember it. I feel like I lost something important back there.” 

Kojou firmly clenched his fist as he murmured to no one in particular. 

The only things remaining in his head were fragments. He didn’t understand if it was true or not anymore. It didn’t feel real. 

But still, those memory fragments had strongly stirred Kojou’s emotions. 

One day, perhaps, he would be able process those feelings and make those emotions his own, but not that day. They were like shards of glass—just touching them made his heart bleed. 

Asagi agreed with Kojou’s view, though her annoyance was evident in her tone. 

“Mentally, seeing yourself in the past gets to you a little. I feel like I just listened to an aunt talking on and on about her childhood.” 

The memories she’d experienced weren’t necessarily the same as Kojou’s. But she’d probably experienced her own wounds and anguish from it. The time they had experienced made Kojou and Asagi the people they were in the present. 

“…Himeragi, you’re fine, though?” Kojou asked, suspicious of Yukina acting like none of what happened concerned her. 

Yukina averted her eyes with a somewhat conflicted look. 

“No, because I was not affected by the grimoire. Due to certain circumstances, the expected sharing of memories failed.” 

“Huh? It did?” 

“What the…? That’s so not fair!” 

Asagi and Kojou resentfully scowled at Yukina. Somehow, the fact only they had to relive their past embarrassments didn’t sit well with them. 

“But I do regret not knowing anything about senpai’s past.” 

Yukina spoke nonchalantly, but she did so in a quiet murmur. “Hrmm,” Asagi said, hearing every word, and a guarded, suspicious look came over her. Then, Yukina became somewhat nervous, realizing her own verbal slip. 

“I-in the sense that it might hinder my mission as his watcher.” 

“Figured it was something like that,” said Kojou with a tired, heavy sigh. “It’s fine, right? You remember every detail about me since you came to this island and all.” 

Kojou had faced death numerous times in the nearly three months since she’d come to Itogami Island, but he’d somehow scraped by. Yukina had been at Kojou’s side each step of the way. It wasn’t something either could forget even if they wanted to. That was all he meant by it, but… 

“That’s true. I suppose you’re right.” 

For some reason, Yukina was in an especially good mood as she gave a slight nod. 

In contrast, Asagi didn’t find it amusing whatsoever, puffing up one of her cheeks. 

“Come to think of it, Kojou, there’s one thing I wanted to ask you.” 

“What’s that?” 

“In the end, what did you think of Avrora?” 

Kojou coughed audibly, as if Asagi’s question were a blade with the tip at his own throat. 

Even if Asagi didn’t know all the fine details, she’d met Avrora several times in the past. Having relived the past, it was those encounters she was no doubt remembering. Perhaps she thought now was the time to ask the question she hadn’t posed earlier. 

“Wh…what do you mean…?” 

“Did you…like her?” 

The way she was peering straight at him made Kojou feel backed into a corner. Somehow trying to look natural as he averted his gaze, his eyes met Yukina’s as she watched him like a hawk. 

Kojou felt sweat uncomfortably dripping down his back. He didn’t think either was likely to accept his reply no matter what he said. 

With his back against the wall, a single-sheet leaflet was suddenly offered to him. 

At the intersection, leaflets were being handed out by a registered male demon wearing a curious-looking tuxedo with a black coat over it. The leaflet was advertising the second anniversary of a café’s opening, complete with coupons for a very particular menu. He recognized the name of the place—not that it mattered right then. 

“Hey, come to think of it, I’m starving. Let’s go eat something. See, there’s specials here and everything!” 

Clinging to the passing ship, Kojou raised the leaflet and spoke with forced cheer. With weary looks, Asagi and Yukina stared at him and sighed. 

“Well, I thought it’d end up something like this.” 

“As did I—” 

When the two girls’ gazes met, they ended up bursting into laughter together like coconspirators. 

Enveloped by feelings he could not put into words, the boy inheriting the title of Fourth Primogenitor returned to his daily life. 

The silent light of the pale, gleaming moon shone on him and his companions.