On my way back from my afternoon patrol, I happened to stop by a park and found a strange girl.
At first glance, she looks like a middle school-aged girl.
She was emaciated, her expressionless face, and the eyes that looked up at me shone with a smooth, gleaming light like brand-new glasswork. I couldn't tell what she was thinking.
"Overcast skies, darkness, blizzard, slaughter..."
I can't really understand what they're saying.
Each word is Japanese, but it doesn't make sense. It just seems like it's been strung together randomly.
"Decapitation and internal organs"
And they only use dangerous words.
"Hmm... she's a strange child."
Her hair was the color of a raven's feather. Her face was expressionless, as if frozen.
No matter what I ask, I only get answers in some strange language.
It's impossible to tell whether they're wary of us or trying to show us friendliness.
I think she's like an alien wearing human skin.
"Um, what's your name... Nayuta-chan?"
"flesh and blood"
Nayuta --
Strangely, the girl's name was the same as that of the demon of domination that he knew well.I(Leze)
It's not just the name; I think their appearance and age are very similar.
They say there are three look-alikes in the world, but... for them to appear in the same Japan, in the same Tokyo, and even within the patrol area of our Public Security Special Section 6, is truly bizarre.
This encounter was purely by chance.
On my way back from my afternoon rounds, I stopped on a whim at a park and found a boy and a girl sitting on a bench.
At first glance, the two appeared to be just ordinary Japanese people.
He was wearing a worn-out, thin shirt and faded trousers, and the backpack next to him was huge, bulging to the brim, the kind you'd use for mountain climbing.
It's too much luggage to be considered just going out. My outfit is too shabby to be considered traveling.
I wasn't really at the age to be a backpacker... "Running away from home" felt more appropriate.
I was a little curious, but he didn't seem particularly suspicious, so I didn't initially intend to approach him.
Kids running away from home are everywhere.
A regular police officer might take you under protection, but we're in the Public Security Department, a special unit. We don't do stop-and-frisk.
however.
That is, if the girl didn't have those two horns growing out of her head.
"Does Nayuta-chan live around here?"
"Ruin"
"Well, then I don't know."
"Well, we're on a trip... Nayuta is my sister."
The boy sitting beside the girl answered instead.
The boy introduced himself as Kenji.
This is just an ordinary Japanese person with no particularly distinguishing features. Probably around high school age.
"Are you Kenji?"
"yes"
"This child's older brother"
"yes"
"You guys came to Tokyo on a trip."
"That's right."
"I see. I'm sorry for keeping you here."
"No, well... I'm used to it."
"Well, of course," I said, looking at my sister.
If you have horns, it's inevitable that you'll get into trouble with all sorts of people.
"Um, let me introduce ourselves again. We are Devil Hunters from the Public Security Bureau. That said, we don't intend to do anything to your sister right away. We just need your help with some identification."
"A devil hunter, you say?"
"Yes. If it's a stray demon, we have to deal with it... um, we have to investigate and register it..."
"A demon...?"
The boy's voice drops a notch.
Oh? You don't know the Demon King?
"Yes, it's a demon. Don't you know him?"
"Huh. I haven't heard of that much. Not a wizard?"
"A magic user...?"
What's that?
A word that sounds like it belongs in a game came up.
But there was no sign of a joke in the boy's expression. He was being completely natural.
Apparently, in his mind, "wizards" are treated as something that exists normally.
Even stranger, I don't know much about "demons."
That's strange.
Could this possibly be... that thing?
Perhaps they grew up in a special environment where they were intentionally kept out of information.
For example, a closed village society.
A cliché story came to mind: a girl born with horns was considered an ominous sign and isolated, and her brother, feeling sorry for her, somehow managed to take her and run away.
Well, it probably won't be a story like those old-fashioned short comics, but I don't think it'll be a complete flop either.
...Well, never mind the details.
From a public security perspective, the biggest concern is whether or not she is a demon.
I called out to my colleague, the demon judge, who was standing right beside me.
"So, Nayuta-chan, what do you think? ...Oh, you can't tell which Nayuta I'm talking about from this picture. Um, you mean our Nayuta-chan? What's she like?"
"Don't treat me like your property."
"Okay, then, Hayakawa Nayuta-chan."
"Stop calling me by my first name with the '-chan' suffix."
It was the other Nayuta who answered, sounding somewhat dissatisfied.
The Nayuta I know well, the one who's a demon and lives with Denji.
She crossed her arms, bent over, and brought her face close to Nayuta, who had horns. At such a close distance, as if they were about to kiss, their unfriendly eyes met, mirroring each other.
"..."
"..."
Two people with similar faces are staring at each other at close range.
Two small heads, similar hair color. They appear to be the same age. They face each other with expressions that suggest they have no interest in one another.
That's a really surreal sight.
It feels like I'm being forced to watch a poorly made play.
Then, the demon Nayuta quickly moved away.
"...This child isn't a demon. The smell is different. A human."
"Hmm, I see."
If her sensitive nose tells her so, then it must be true.
Nayuta with horns is not a demon.
To add to that, it seems it's not a demon either. That's good then.
"Ahem. It seems your sister is not a demon or a devil. Thank you for your cooperation."
"Huh? Is that all?"
"Yes. I'm sorry to take up your time."
"The worst graveyard in terms of destruction..."
That settles the matter.
The girl with horns was not a dangerous creature.
In that case, I had no further use for them. All that was left was to say goodbye and head back to headquarters, but...for some reason, I was curious.
I feel like we shouldn't break up like this.
Even though we had just met, I felt a sense of camaraderie.
Just one thing is enough. We have to help them.
"...They really do look alike."
It was Denji who murmured in admiration.
He crouches down in front of Nayuta-chan with her horns, peering at her in a somewhat insensitive manner.
"Maybe she's Nayuta's long-lost sister."
Nayuta-chan on our side gave off an air that seemed to say, "Hmm..."
"They don't look that similar."
"Well, yeah. If you look closely, it's a little different."
"They're completely different, aren't they?"
"Really?"
"Chaos Bombing"
"Um, is that child's name Nayuta too?"
"Hey. My sister."
"Wow, what a coincidence!"
"They look alike, don't they?"
"Really? I don't think so."
"...Blood splatter!"
"Hmm, what is it?"
"Blood splatter, severed eyeball!"
"Oh, he's saying he wants some ice cream soon... We came here looking for a famous ice cream stand. I heard there's one around here... Do you know where it is?"
Apparently, the girl's favorite food is ice cream.
If left unchecked, he would spend all his allowance on ice cream, and apparently, one time he emptied the entire ice cream case at a convenience store by himself. ...No, surely that's an exaggeration.
"It seems to be a very popular food stall."
"Hmm, I don't know... Do you know, Nayuta?"
"Bombing"
"Ah, not the young lady... This is getting complicated!"
"Why don't you try changing how you address me?"
"For example, what kind of?"
"Hmmmm..."
Let's compare the two Nayutas.
Their appearances are almost identical. The only difference is the presence or absence of horns, but I think distinguishing between "Nayuta with horns" and "Nayuta without horns" is too purely businesslike.
The next thing I thought of was numbers.
'Nayuta No. 1' and 'Nayuta No. 2'.
No, no, that's definitely not good. It's even less emotional than before.
Well, um...
"Okay, I have a suggestion. How about 'the cute Nayuta' and 'the beautiful Nayuta'?"
"Wait. That's not okay."
"Disconnection torture!"
I was immediately rejected. By both of them at the same time.
"Oh, that's fine. Choose whichever you like."
"How do you even come up with that idea?"
"Beheaded, beheaded!"
"Well, if you're going to be called something, wouldn't it be better to be called something positive?"
"They're just trying to start a fire."
"rupture!"
How rude.
I'm only doing this out of goodwill.
...And I'm also curious to see if there'll be any difference in the reaction if I throw in a highly toxic substance.
"So, which one do you think is cuter, and which one do you think is prettier?"
"This way of deciding is strange."
"I wonder..."
"It's ridiculous to use subjective evaluations of someone's appearance as a nickname."
"That's true, but..."
"Besides, there's no way I can choose."
"why?"
"Because I'm cuter and prettier."
"...The end!?"
Tsunona Yuta is shocked by the sudden betrayal.
I recoiled in shock!
Hmm, this one looks more childlike, doesn't it?
I pointed my index finger at Nayuta, the one who betrayed me, and gave him this name.
"The bad Nayuta"
"Heh. Compliments are for the devil."
It didn't work.
"...So, shall we use the audience then? Well then, you two gentlemen over there? How do you think we should refer to your sisters differently?"
Denji and Kenji exchanged glances.
The eyes of the two younger sisters gleamed, and the brothers tilted their heads and answered simultaneously:
"Why not just call them by their last name?"
"How about calling each other by our last names?"
Oh, that's a good idea.
It seems that Nayuta with horns has the surname "Kudo".
Therefore, the two girls came to be called "Kudo Nayuta" and "Hayakawa Nayuta."
"My sister was born with, well, a bit... unusual. She has horns and her way of speaking might be a little strange, but... she's a good kid at heart."
The Kudo siblings and our group walked through the town.
In the end, we couldn't just leave it there, so we decided to help with the search.
I walked around the shopping street in front of the station, tracing it in a single continuous line, but I couldn't find an ice cream shop.
"What kind of ice cream shop is that?"
"I don't really know either."
"Isn't it famous?"
"Nayuta... our Kudo Nayuta told me that there's a really popular ice cream shop."
"Huh? You don't really know?"
"Yes. I don't know how to explain it... My Nayuta just understands without knowing anything."
"??"
"My Nayuta is a magician."
"...A wizard?"
"Yes, wizard. Aren't there any over here?"
"Huh... I don't know anything about that."
"Wizards can do amazing things. They can make objects and animals levitate, or summon swords."
"Hmm...?"
Kenji Kudo didn't like to talk much.
Why does my sister have horns on her head?
Why can't you speak normally?
What kind of hardships have I gone through because of that?
But the tenderness in his eyes as he watched over his sister revealed their relationship. They must be good siblings who care deeply for each other.
"You're neither a demon nor a sorcerer, yet you possess special powers?"
"Well... it's not something to show off, though."
"Magic, magic, huh... Oh, can you shoot fireballs or something? Like, 'Fire!'"
"Haha, what do you think?"
"Wouldn't it be amazing if we could warp? Like, interdimensional travel! I've seen it in manga!"
"That's true. Perhaps we are otherworldly beings who came from a different dimension."
"That would be romantic, wouldn't it!"
Hayakawa Nayuta's gaze towards the excited Denji was cold.
The devil doesn't understand romance. Actually, not just the devil. I think it's a bit too unrealistic. I can't get into it unless the topic is more relatable.
"Blood splatter! Blood, splatter, splatter~!"
Nayuta Kudo herself was striding down the street.
With its horns swaying from side to side, and sometimes cutting straight through buildings, it moves without hesitation, as if guided by a navigation system.
The city is lively at dusk.
I passed by a bright and cheerful idol group performing a street live show, and then as I entered a back alley in the entertainment district, I saw young women dressed in animal costumes excitedly chatting with older men who had just finished work, exclaiming things like, "Wow!" and "Amazing!"
We are led into the darkness of the city.
"Is this...okay?"
"Ah yes, it looks like I've found the location of the ice cream shop."
"Oh, so it's some kind of mysterious power?"
"That's about it."
"Hmm"
As I weaved my way through the gaps between the signs of dubious bars, I came across a suspicious-looking group. A loud speech reached my ears.
"Rationalism is the truth! Those who spout idealism are fools! Only those with ability will survive!"
This is starting to sound really suspicious.
As I passed a group of young men with their collars turned up, the buildings on either side grew taller and the lights dwindled. It was dark. I continued on, kicking the trash at my feet.
I take a quick look at my Nayuta.
Our eyes met.
His expression remained calm.
She hasn't sent a single message. In other words, there's no change that needs to be communicated.
--Kudo Nayuta is just walking normally.
—There is no magic at all.
...Well, that's about right.
Because these days, there's no way that kind of story about a person with superpowers would exist.
In short, this is... just pretend play.
It's just a story about a caring older brother indulging in his slightly eccentric younger sister's imaginative games.
Such a gentle lie.
Kudo's sister walked with the confident stride of a young person, straight and unwavering. The same was true of Kudo's brother's gaze; there was no trace of the indifference or fatigue often seen in accompanying someone.
"Magic, huh..."
As I walked down the narrow, dimly lit alley, I thought to myself.
We don't know if Kudo Nayuta truly possesses any special powers. But perhaps she has a power that everyone desires, even if it's ordinary.
"Cut your tongue!"
The two horns stopped dead in place.
The place I arrived at was a dead end surrounded by tall buildings.
"Blood splatter! Purgatory massacre torture!"
"Looks like we've arrived."
"Well, even if you say you've arrived..."
There was no need to look around. It was just a narrow, dirty dead end.
There are only empty cans lying around.
Ducts and pipes twist from the building walls like the roots of a giant tree, blocking out sunlight from reaching the ground.
...What should I do about this?
Only the girl with horns looked excited, and I didn't know whether I should pretend to be happy or make a sarcastic remark.
Unable to bear the overwhelming awkwardness any longer, I glanced at Hayakawa Nayuta.
Our eyes met.
His expression was tense.
"Nayuta-chan?"
"I can smell it."
The devilish girl twitched her sensitive nose.
In the dead end of a back alley where there should have been nothing, I saw the eyes of something inhuman wide open.
"The smell of the devil—? No, that's not it. This is...?"
The demon of domination stared.
An empty space. A void less than a dumping ground, where no one pays attention and leaves no memory, into which the 'power to seize control' is radiated.
Then, as if a faintly translucent chameleon had appeared in the dead end where no one should have been, a man with green skin stood there.
"I'm surprised. How did you find me?"
It sounded like a human voice.
The man in green—that was the only way to describe him.
It has no horns, fangs, or tail. It looks like an average middle-aged man.
However, only the color of her skin was an unusual green.
"I am an outdated being. I am no longer needed by the world. I wished to be that way, and I cast a spell on myself..."
His voice was also normal... for some reason, I couldn't bring myself to be wary of him.
He doesn't exude the kind of presence or aura that living beings are supposed to possess by nature.
They are there, yet nowhere to be found.
A man who is visible yet invisible...
"Unless I wanted to be found, no one should have found out."
"Hey, mister, who are you? You're not a demon...right?"
"A demon? I'm nothing so grand. I'm just a failed experiment, a defective synthetic human."
"Hmm...?"
Denji tilted his head and stared at the man in green.
"Is that special effects makeup?"
"No, this skin color is natural."
"So, is it a Gosei human?"
"ah"
"Oh, I see. Wow. Well, that's fine, but you're an ice cream vendor, right?"
"You could say that, or you could say that it's not."
"Which one is it?"
"We can make ice cream. We only sell it to those who need it."
Denji held out his palm.
"Then give it to me."
"No."
"why?"
"We're not an ordinary shop. We're selective about our customers. We can't sell to you guys."
"Why"
"Because they are young people with a bright future."
"I don't get it," Denji muttered to himself.
...Yeah, that's true. But I'm surprised people talk to you about it so casually.
This person is clearly not a normal human being.
"My ice cream isn't just any ice cream. I can make something that can fill the pain and void that a person carries..."
"Huh?"
"What do you think happens to people when their pain disappears? They no longer feel the need to overcome it—they stop trying to grow. In that sense, my ice cream is like a drug... No, maybe it's more accurate to call it an anesthetic."
That's why we can't sell to you guys, the green-skinned man muttered.
"That's right... If you find yourselves cornered in life and overwhelmed by pain... then come back again. I'll sell you some ice cream at a discounted price."
I looked up, following the green-skinned man who had raised his head.
A square sky surrounded by buildings.
"Hey young people—what do you think of the world?"
"I don't know."
Suddenly, a self-deprecating murmur reached me.
"It seems that humans have lost much interest in self-awareness."
I lowered my gaze back to the ground.
The man had disappeared.
"Huh?"
I frantically looked around, but he wasn't there.
There was no sign of it moving...
Both Denji and Nayuta are looking around curiously.
"That's ridiculous," I thought, but only a man's voice reached my ears.
"It seems I've really gotten old. The days of wandering aimlessly through the fog are over. Now I can see knowledge against knowledge, opinions against opinions, and look at them from a broader perspective to choose my options. ...Perhaps my ice cream is no longer a drug."
The voice passed over the heads of the five of us.
It gradually gets quieter, and you might miss it if you don't pay attention.
"Yeah... I guess I'll try selling ice cream again sometime. ...But if it doesn't work out, the guy in the black hat will just come and get rid of me. That's much better than doing nothing right now."
Where are you? Where did you go?
This is a dead end in the back alley. There's no escape. We didn't sense anyone passing by, nor did we get the feeling they climbed over the wall.
Only their presence fades away.
"Wow, that's amazing. It's disappeared..."
Only Denji's murmur remained in the alleyway.
There was no one there anymore.
In the end, the man disappeared without us ever really understanding what was going on.
Even with the Demon of Control's "power of dominance," the pursuit was futile.
Now, I even doubt if he ever existed in the first place. Were we all just daydreaming? But according to Hayakawa Nayuta, that green-skinned man was definitely in that alleyway.
The man who claimed to be able to make ice cream that tasted like a drug vanished like smoke.
I thought he was like some kind of monster.
"...Blood Splash Decapitation"
"Well, thank you for everything."
The Kudo siblings bowed their heads respectfully.
Although they didn't get the ice cream they wanted, they didn't seem particularly disappointed and told us they were heading to their next destination. When I asked where they were going, they only gave vague answers.
Suddenly, I became curious about the two horns that had grown on my younger sister's head.
She's neither a demon nor a devil. According to her brother, she's a young sorceress.
"Mr. Kudo and the others—"
Where are you from?
What is your address? Can you provide identification?
...I started to say it, but then stopped.
No matter who they are, no matter how powerful they are, they wouldn't do anything to harm anyone. That's the feeling I got. I have no basis for it, though.
"Um, is there something?"
"No, it's just that we haven't done anything that deserves thanks."
"Not at all. I enjoyed being with people close to my age. It felt like I made some new friends."
"I see. That's good then."
"Do you think so too, Nayuta?"
"Bombing"
"Um, does that mean you agree to the bombing...? Oh, right. If so, shall we really become friends?"
"picture?"
"Zanshi?"
I looked at the girl's horns again.
A younger sister who can only communicate with her older brother. Her brother, who seems like a caring person, must have been constantly by her side.
This might be a rude thought, but I can't imagine that they had friends in the place they originally lived.
Not that it's a major reason, but I thought it might be a good idea to try and become friends with them.
I turned around to look at Nayuta—Hayakawa Nayuta.
"My Nayuta was just looking for a friend."
"I don't need it."
"Huh? Weren't you supposed to get along with humans?"
"...Not really. There's no reason to refuse."
"Huh?"
Hayakawa Nayuta and Kudo Nayuta face each other.
"..."
"..."
Two people with similar faces are staring at each other at close range.
Two small heads, similar hair color. They appear to be the same age. They face each other with uninterested expressions. It's less like they're becoming friends and more like they're peering into a mirror image of themselves.
"oh"
Kudo Nayuta's small hand was hesitantly extended.
Hayakawa Nayuta's palm gently touched mine—forming a handshake.
"Wow... I can't believe it's Nayuta."
"What's up, Denji?"
"Not really?"
"...Hmph."
"No, no, Denji, you're in no position to talk, are you?"
"Huh? I have friends too, you know... Um, first of all, there's Pochita."
"That doesn't count, right?"
"Besides the guys from school, if I had to name any other friends I have..."
"--The worst graveyard in destruction!"
"yeah?"
Nayuta Kudo widened her eyes just a few millimeters, her cheeks slightly flushed, and began to speak rapidly.
"Absolute death, severance, brutal torture! Beating, strangulation, suffocation, explosion, collapse, nosebleed, rage, vomiting, purgatory"
"What, what is it?"
"--you know,"
My brother will translate.
"As a memento, um... now that we've made a connection, I'm going to make a prediction that we can do something together."
"A prophecy?"
"Yes, a prophecy. What kind of content would you like?"
"Huh? We get to decide that? Even though it's a prophecy?"
"yes"
"Then..."
Denji started to speak, then furrowed his brow for a moment.
"I have a friend... a guy named Power,"
He said with a strangely serious expression.
"Do you know how we can meet?"
"Denji"
"That guy's a demon, and he's in hell. But I don't know how to get there."
"Hell, you say...?"
Nayuta Hayakawa gave a sharp, intelligent look befitting her title as the Demon of Domination.
...Power. Blood demon.
I've also heard the story about the demon that once resided in the Hayakawa family.
He was Denji's friend and was killed by Makima in this world.
In other words, he's probably been resurrected in hell by now.
In order to meet, one of us must go to the other's world.
"...Going to hell is probably a bit much, isn't it?"
I tried to warn him, but Denji's expression didn't change.
Oh dear. Are you serious?
Nayuta Kudo quietly stares at me with her large, clear eyes.
I began to weave words together.
"—The Demonic Trinity, Sacrifice Offering"
"you know...?"
"The war begins, slaughter and piles of corpses. Chainsaw, blood bomb, red dragon, silver snake."
"What are you talking about?"
—When ignorance, powerlessness, and hatred come together, the gates of hell open.
—You will meet your resurrected friends.
"...That's what they say."
"Friends? Who are you talking about?"
"Well... it seems to be about Denji and Reze's friend."
"Huh, me too? My friend...?"
"yes"
I was taken aback.
I don't have any friends, you know? —Just as I was about to reply that, the face of Veronica, the girl who was once my classmate in the secret room, flashed through my mind.
No, it's not her.
Demons are different from devils. Once a demon dies, it cannot be resurrected.
In Veronica's case, the Scissors Demon would simply be resurrected in Hell. Veronica herself, like any other human, had her body decay.
If that's the case, then if I were to be resurrected, it would probably be as someone else—
"To be revived"
That word was ominous.
The project was being researched in a secret room—does the transformation into a demon fall under the category of "resurrection"?
"Denji, Hell is dangerous."
"But I've already signed a contract with Power."
"We can just call them."
"how"
"here we go"
I didn't have any friends—no one like that.
But there were those who had once formed what could be called an alliance in order to survive the secret room. Veronica, and two others.
lal
The lingering sound of the automatic rifle still lingers in the back of my mind.
The faces of the girls who had been executed in the past vividly came to mind.
"...No way."
I shook my head to shift my focus.
In essence, prophecy is a form of fortune-telling.
A fantasy story that calculates the future based on the alignment of stars and blood type.
Of course I don't believe in that.
"Um, what exactly is a demon?"
"Chaos-induced madness"
"Ah, so, a demon is—"
In front of me were two boys and two girls.
They are about to embark on the natural path of making friends. They will play together, and sometimes they will fight. A future filled with such ordinary experiences awaits them.
I'd like to try it too.
Because I've finally come to think that way.
I can't afford to lose to anyone.
I look at the sky.
The blue sky stretches out endlessly, unobstructed by anything.
I clenched my fists tightly.