Just the Two of Us in this Vast World Volume 1 Chapter 2 part15

Chapter 2 — Coming of age, a ceremony needed for emancipation. Part 15

I responded slowly, clearly enunciating every word, every syllable, as if making sure they would leave a mark.

As though chanting a curse, I said:

"How do you think I'd be able to kill Misato, who has already died?"

Her face started twitching, her teeth clattered and her head dangled loosely.

Relief flooded my step-father's face and he placed one hand on her shoulder, continuing to persuade her after my lead.

"What Saki-san just said is true. Misato has already passed away and there's no one left in the house. It's dangerous now so let's leave, okay?"

He tried saying what he probably thought was most reasonable, seeing that she seemed to have already lost her will to return.

But in the end, he had only stepped on the worst landmine possible.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooo!" she screamed in a shrill voice, piercing my eardrums.

"You—even you are on Saki's side?! So you were just tricking me—you were going to leave me, weren't you? How cruel, so horrible, I hate this, I hate this all, someone save me!"

She squirmed like a wounded animal, and with her free right hand, she hit him in the face as hard as she could.

His face turned red in an instant, and after pressing his cheek with his left hand, he let his boiling emotions take over and forcefully knocked her away.

In other words, he let go of her.

After she rolled a few times on the ground, she quickly stood up again.

"Hang in there Misato-chan, mom will come for you soon. Then when this is all over, let's happily live with just the two of us alone. Misato-chan, where are you?"

Her voice was desperate and her eyes possessed a wild look, unable to focus on anything as she plunged into the red flames enveloping the house, bereft of her sanity.

My step-father tried to follow her, but he faltered feeling the strength of the fire and stood still in front of the front door that was spewing flames and smoke.

It was at that moment that finally a siren could be heard in the distance.

I left that place then. There was nothing more left for me to see.

One of my shackles had just vanished.

I walked into a narrow back-alley, and resting my back against the wall, I called Shiro.

A second later, Shiro appeared on top of the wall, looking down at me with his round black eyes.

When I looked back up to him, I noticed for the first time that the moon had been out tonight.

The silver wolf bathed in soft moonlight looked incredibly mysterious, reminding me that he was something coming from another world.

I narrowed my eyes, pushing my hair back as I tried to reach out to him, but he was too far.

"Your mother…probably won't be rescued."

"I guess so."

"Don't you feel sad?"

"Who knows?" I started smiling, a wide smile that was made even with moving my cheeks. "I really wonder."

"I asked something tasteless, didn't I?"

I shook my head and changed the topic.

"The person who started the fire was one of my classmates."

"So there are those kinds of people too—having no remorse whatsoever for their own actions."

He seemed to be rather perplexed.

"You probably thought that all my enemies were people who lacked the courage to take the lives of others, right? You assumed they were all just fools scheming in the shadows without any real power, being mere weaklings."

And I was also seen in that way.

"Am I right?"

I had probably hit bullseye as he just stared at me with an unclear expression, giving no answer.

"Saki, why are you so angry?"

He was so dense.

"The school isn't safe, you know?" Please stay by side.

My true feelings were kept shackled in my heart.

Just what was I doing?

In reality, I was alone.

Just a weak girl, hiding in the shadow of a strong wolf that was enveloped by loneliness.

But Shiro was completely lost, trying to understand what I was saying.

Standing on tiptoe and straightening my back, I caressed Shiro's cheek.

"…Idiot."

My mutter vanished into the darkness.

~~~

I felt like I was going crazy, having to deal with police interrogations, a funeral, medical check-ups, and the search for a new home. My step-father was pretty much useless, so I had to take care of practically everything.

And Shiro still kept going out every now and then, returning with the smell of blood on him.

My new home was a fourth floor apartment with three rooms and a living room. One became my step-father's, another went to me, and the third remained empty.

In the police interrogations, I simply said that I didn't know anything. They were apparently trying to investigate whether it had been a case of arson. They also asked if anything had happened recently that might cause someone to have a grudge against us, but I also shook my head at that.

I was summoned countless times and taken to what could be described as a drawing room, where I was guided to a couch and asked the same questions over and over again.

"Nothing comes to mind," was the reply I repeated every time.

"I see," the head investigator would say. "There's one last thing I'd like to ask."

"Yes?"

"Did you notice anything weird about your mother?"

Everything was weird about her, but I couldn't just say that.

They were suspecting my mother, thinking that she might have set the house on fire due to some mental issue.

In the end, even after passing away, her life kept being molded to the will of others.

"Not really, she was a very good mother."

I turned my eyes away and hid my face behind my hair.

Opposite the couch, the investigator let out a loud and heavy sigh.

"Please cheer up," he said, his voice stinking of obligatory courtesy.

"Thanks," I said, following suit.

~~~

Chapter end