BXBX NOVEL Chapter 107: We Could Form A Partnership
Chapter 107: We Could Form A Partnership
Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
Upon hearing these words, Kimura Kazuki’s expression did not falter.
He looked at the terrifying creature before him, indifference flickered within his irises as he began, “It looks like the reason you lied to us the last time was indeed to tickle our curiosity and makes us investigate this matter.”
Ito Shunji took wide strides toward Kimura Kazuki and stopped when he was about ten steps away. Clearly, Kimura Kazuki’s words had served its intended effect on him, inflicting some fear in him, since Kazuki’s aura now felt different.
At this moment, the lonely but kind boy familiar to everyone five years ago was nowhere to be found, his youth was sucked right out of him. A deep, hoarse, cackling laughter sounded from his distorted face. “That’s right! My target is Aoki Hidehiro. No one single soul from Class Four of the sophomore year has survived — what gives him the right to live? Besides, I have a feeling that once I engulf Aoki Hidehiro, I will be able to break through and reach a whole new realm.”
Kimura Kazuki’s expression remained unchanged. His guess was completely accurate.
Since Ito Shunji was the demon, for him to survive, he must have held an intense resentment.
Back then, Ito Shunji had obviously set fire to the entire Class Four due to Takashima Izumi’s actions, which, in turn, had also angered the whole class — so there was no way he would let anyone go.
In the end, Aoki Hidehiro escaped the disaster because he was absent. Back then, he was the one who contributed to the initiation of the ‘Non-existent Person’ game, so it was understandable that Ito Shunji strongly wanted to take Aoki Hidehiro’s life.
Ito Shunji lost his life in the fire he started himself, while Aoki Hidehiro was out and about, living and healthy. It was clear that Ito Shunji held inside him a great fury, which fueled him to transform into a demon.
“I have a question that I hope you can answer.”
“Shoot,” Ito Shunji squinted at Rei Takamori, who was sprawled out on the floor, and scoffed, “I know you’re trying to buy time, don’t worry... I won’t harm this human. This guy ran to the sports warehouse on his own but couldn’t stand my aura and fainted — if it weren’t for your arrival, I’d reckon he would’ve been dead by now.”
Kimura Kazuki was indeed trying to buy time as it was evident that Rei Takamori’s breathing was slowly stabilizing under the influence of the Ghost Expelling Talisman, and chances of him regaining consciousness had gone up. However, he continued to question, “Back then... why were you trapped in the sports warehouse? Were you the one who locked the back door?”
Earlier, at the school entrance, Ito Shunji had told him that he, too, had no idea. But after his thorough investigation, he concluded Shunji was lying. So, he could not rule out the possibility that his ‘I don’t know’ was also a bluff.
However, upon hearing this, violence flashed over Ito Shunji’s eyes as anger shoved his sense of logic and reasoning to the back of his head. He glared at Kimura Kazuki. In the next moment, the face of a ghost emerged from his bare chest, with many following immediately after, surging toward Kimura Kazuki in a dash.
Kimura Kazuki furrowed his brows as he watched the ghostly face approached him. Having encountered these before, he naturally would not fall into the same trap again and let these ghost faces go anywhere near him. He produced three sheets of Spiritual Fire Talisman that magically transformed into three fists of fire, which he then sent flying toward the ghostly faces. Anyone lucky enough to escape the fire was no opponent to him as he sliced through them with ease.
“Such nonsense! Get out of my mind!!” After suffering from such an attack, angry words tumbled out of Ito Shunji’s lips after he recovered. His logic and reasoning returned, and he snorted, “Rubbish will always be rubbish!”
“It looks like you haven’t tamed them yet,” Witnessing the scene before his eyes, Kimura Kazuki sneered in a mocking tone, “For five years, have you not been refining any of your classmates at all?”
“These fellows... they hate the person who locked the doors more than I do. Whenever the locked doors were mentioned, they would simply go berserk,” Ito Shunji explained in a low hum. “You must have already come across this information from your investigation — when I set fire to the entire sports warehouse, no one came to our rescue at all, and it was not until we all died before a police report was filed.”
“So... you don’t know either.”
“I really have no idea. Back then, when I found out that Aoki Hidehiro was absent from the sports warehouse, I wanted to leave through the back door and track him down in his dorm to kill him. However, for some reason, the door did not budge,” Ito Shunji’s eyes housed a hint of mockery. An ugly guffaw fell from his lips as he continued, “At first Takashima Izumi attempted to have everyone try to bring the door down by force, but for some unknown reason, we just couldn’t open it.”
“Hmm...”
Kimura Kazuki was just about to speak when Rei Takamori began to regain consciousness. The sight of Kimura Kazuki put him in a temporary daze, but as he was about to ask why he was here... In the blink of an eye, he almost fainted again.
“M-monster...” Fear was printed across Rei Takamori’s terrified face as his hands gripped the ground and shuffled himself backward hurriedly.
Though he was already in his forties, for a regular person like him to encounter with a monster such as Ito Shunji, staying awake was already impressive. Kimura Kazuki kept his eyes fixated on Ito Shunji. His feet were quick to retreat backward.
Ito Shunji simply watched in silence instead of following him. He might be hideous now, but he still possessed a certain level of logical reasoning.
Kimura Kazuki knew, for a demon such as Ito Shunji, who was already partially metamorphosed, the logic and reasoning of their conscious mind had already reached human standards. Those who turned into demons immediately after death would have a blurry consciousness and were only capable of devouring by instinct.
“Officer Takamori, calm down,” Kimura Kazuki yanked Rei Takamori to his feet. He could feel Takamori’s involuntary trembling on his grip. He knew that Rei Takamori’s heart was beating rapidly. If he were a victim of heart disease, he probably would have suffered a heart attack at this moment.
Fortunately, that was not the case... Perhaps it was because of his presence, or because Ito Shunji had not budged, Rei Takamori gradually regained composure. He allowed Kimura Kazuki to support his limp body onto his feet, and with his shaking lips, he managed, “Kimura... what exactly is happening here?”
Kimura Kazuki never peeled his eyes off Ito Shunji. Faced with Rei Takamori’s question, he softly replied, “I will talk to you regarding this matter later. Now, if you would please, leave the way you came. Quickly, walk out of the gates of Akichi High School.” He paused, his tone grew graver as he pressed on, “Please remember not to file a police report... Officer Takamori, I know you are a part of the police force, but you’ve seen this de... monster, and you know how scary it is. Bullets can’t harm it. Sending your people here would only mean more futile sacrifices.”
Rei Takamori instantly felt a relief washing over his fearful heart, likely because he was now further away from Ito Shunji. Hearing Kimura Kazuki’s response, his scattered train of thoughts rearranged themselves as he simply stared at the monster from a distance. His trembling gaze lingered on the horrendous creature for no more than two seconds before they diverted away. Suppressing his fear, he forced himself to remain calm as he asked, “Kimura... are you here to exorcise the demon?”
Kimura Kazuki simply responded with a slight nod. Clearly, within such a short time, Rei Takamori had made a few educated guesses.
Seeing this, Rei Takamori gritted his teeth, “Very well... I shall wait for you at the school gate for an hour! If you’re not out by then, I shall report to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.”
If it were up to Rei Takamori, he would have called the police immediately.
Experiencing this for the first time, it was reasonable that he was still disoriented. Kimura Kazuki’s calm slightly reassured him. On top of that, he knew that Kimura Kazuki saved his life. Otherwise, that terrifying monster would have already devoured him alive.
Though he was baffled by how well Kimura Kazuki seemed to be getting along with the demon, he did not press further, given the circumstances.
As a deputy chief inspector, he understood that he was not to stay around for even one more second. As a regular person, his presence, there would only serve as a burden.
A minute later, Ito Shunji’s eyes followed Rei Takamori’s silhouette out the door. He directed his attention back to Kimura Kazuki and bellowed in his deep, hoarse voice, “The hindrance is gone. Now, let’s talk about our partnership. Extraordinary one.”