Tokyo bombing incident Nth time

“You… alright, let’s just say your attack on Nakamichi wasn’t initiated by you—let’s just say you two attacked each other.” Hirosaki composed himself. “Then I came to the scene and communicated with you, do you remember?”

Hirosaki's volume was amplified.

He was right, and Yuri wasn't entirely sure if what he said had actually happened, so Yuri nodded, signaling the other person to continue.

"Then, I explained our intentions and why it was the right thing to do. You launched a surprise attack without being able to offer any effective rebuttal. Why?"

“Because that’s just your side of the story, and you don’t seem to have any intention of making me listen to someone else.” Yuri looked at the guy spouting nonsense in front of him. “Besides, if we don’t act soon, someone will climb up behind me and stab me in the back, won’t they?”

"What? Who's going to climb up behind you?" Hirosaki Katsuya looked quite surprised. "As for Yamanaka Yuka, I told you, she'll always portray the situation in a way that's more favorable to herself. I know the correct conclusion, so why would I let someone lie to you?"

Yuri could hear faint cursing coming from under the bed.

“Of course it was the middle way. Didn’t he wake up halfway through the conversation? And then did he start trying to crawl behind me?” Yuri reminded him with a stern face, “Don’t tell me you didn’t know.”

"—I really didn't know. I was focused on you during the conversation and didn't look at him at all—" Hirosaki paused and added, "When I first saw him, he was lying in the corner but was still breathing. Then, when he was mentioned once in the middle, I glanced at him and he was still lying there. Other than that, I was focused on you."

Does this align with the situation at the time? Yuri didn't have the opportunity to go through every single detail, but there shouldn't be any obvious contradictions.

"In any case, I did want to persuade you at the time—and it's normal for Nakado to be confused and try to launch an attack after being beaten so badly by you, you understand?"

The topic of conversation was heading in a strange direction, and Yuri became more alert.

"Are you saying this is all a misunderstanding?" After everything that's happened?

"While it's not quite that understated, that's certainly the case—in our view, you've been desperately protecting this sin-eater, repeatedly launching aggressive attacks, almost... to put it bluntly, it's utterly unreasonable." Hirosaki Katsuya smiled. "Of course, you probably see us the same way, because of this misunderstanding, you have every reason to believe we have ill intentions..."

Yuri still believed that the hunters were up to no good and that there was no need to misunderstand.

180, but my suspicious nature made me refuse.

"In short... these are all misunderstandings." Hirosaki Katsuya said without changing his expression.

"The bullets that hit me were all a misunderstanding?" Yuri pointed to the floor of the room, including the bed. "Did I conjure this pile of bullets out of thin air?"

“No, that’s only part of the misunderstanding—at the time, we thought you were unreasonable, so our solution was to drive you away.” Hirosaki Katsuya waved his hand, his gun flashing in response.

"Use bullets to drive them away?" This time it wasn't Yuri who spoke, but Yuka Yamanaka.

“It’s already been confirmed that ordinary ether bullets can’t quickly inflict significant damage on you. That’s actually quite an achievement,” Hirosaki explained. “So we never considered using this method to kill you directly; our idea was to use it to drive you away—”

"If the aether bullet is effective against me, will you just kill me outright?" Yuri replied coldly. "A remarkable achievement, just how remarkable?"

Hirozaki wasn't embarrassed at all. "Don't say such hurtful things. I can basically incapacitate spirits below the level of spirit binding with one shot, but killing them outright is not easy."

"That's why he was so smug for a moment after he hit me? Did he think he had already won?" It wasn't too different from what Yuri had guessed before.

“Well, after all, you had already identified him as the enemy, so he was pleased to have hit you—but in the end you always won.” This time Hirozaki was quite honest. “In short, after that, we knew that the ether bullets weren’t particularly effective against you, so we started using a gradual approach to try and drive you away.”

"And now, you've failed, so you've reappeared, trying to get into negotiations..." Yuri felt more and more that the other party was going too far.

“Our target was never you. After realizing that a forceful approach might come at a higher price, we decided to use a more reasonable method.” Hirosaki Katsuya showed no remorse. “This is also because you have demonstrated considerable perseverance and ability… Did Yuka know that you can absorb ghost energy so quickly?”

“As far as I know, it’s an instinct for spirits to absorb each other’s energy.” Yuri paused, making sure Yuka Yamanaka didn’t interrupt, before continuing, “As for whether she knows, of course she knows—didn’t you all already know? And why are you suddenly having these moral concerns now?”

These hunters directly use ghosts as consumables in battle, yet they have moral doubts about Yuri absorbing the essence of ghosts? But if it's not a moral issue, why bring up Yamanaka Yuka? Wasn't the Seimei Oni part already over?

Yuri tried hard to guess what was hidden in the other person's words.

“Generally speaking, it takes a considerable amount of time for spirits to devour each other. It’s not that they can’t absorb quickly, but that rapid absorption would have a very negative effect on them.” Hirosaki Katsu shrugged. “Yuka told me this. — And you, if you hadn’t been absorbing the essence of these ghosts at a rapid pace during the battle to replenish yourself, you would have been completely exhausted by the continuous wear and tear long ago.”

"So what?" Hirosaki's words weren't wrong, but they were also meaningless. What good would knowing that do now?

Yuri once again glanced around the room without looking.

There was nothing wrong with the room, but... there was a slight buzzing sound coming from outside the window.

Is he stalling for time? But that doesn't make sense. If he were just stalling for time, he could simply stand outside the door; there would be no need for him to come out and talk to him... Is he trying to prevent Yuri from reacting the moment something comes in through the window and interfering? It's not impossible, but wouldn't that be too risky?

“So, I’m in a very awkward situation now—it seems difficult for our small team to defeat you without any trouble—of course, if each of us rushed in with an automatic weapon and fought you to the death, I’m sure we would win in the end—but the losses would be hard to say.” Hirozaki sighed, “We didn’t expect you to be able to break through the gun’s restrictions; we were careless.”

“The designer of this weapon tried to prevent it from firing at living people. I don’t know what his purpose was, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing—it prevents bullets from flying to targets they shouldn’t.” Yuri slightly shook the prop in his hand. “But what have you actually done?”

“The designers didn’t realize that monsters aren’t the only enemies in this world. We usually carry it just so we can fire more easily—without worrying about being deceived. You know what?” Hirosaki Katsuya really followed up on Yuri’s words and steered the conversation in a different direction. “There’s a kind of monster that looks very similar to humans, but their bodies are cold and they feed on human blood.”

"Vampire." There's at least a 95% chance this refers to a vampire.

“That’s right. They move with lightning speed, possess immense strength and resilience, and even hunters wielding modern firearms would find it difficult to defeat them—if you hesitate before pulling the trigger, you can forget about surviving.” Hirosaki Katsuya gritted his teeth. “In situations like this, do you know how much trouble it would save if you had a weapon that can’t be fired at humans but can be fired at monsters?”

Hey, you're making it sound like your examination method is, "Stand still, I'll shoot you in the head, and if the bullet doesn't come out, then you're just an ordinary person—"

Wait a moment.

Before he could finish his internal monologue, Yuri realized the problem with the system: "These weapons can't be fired at Yuka Yamanaka, so they weren't designed to be used against the Sin Eaters, were they?"

“It’s definitely not designed to deal with Sin Eaters, that’s for sure. But that’s not because Sin Eaters aren’t dangerous, but because they’re just too easy to blend into the human population. The identification system isn’t perfect, and the designers chose the former over the latter, given the choice between letting the wrong target go unattacked and attacking the wrong target that should be protected.” Hirosaki Katsuya remained unmoved. “Of course, after all, if all humans were included as targets, there would be no point in designing such an identification system.”

"You make it sound like you're plotting all this to uphold world justice and peace!?" The voice came from the sin-eater girl under the bed.

"Don't come out!" Judging from the shadow protection layer that Yuri had prepared in advance, Yamanaka Yuka was trying to lift the blanket and run out.

"Justice? Why are you so fixated on this word? Are you still a clueless kid?" Hirosaki Katsuya glanced at the area under the bed. "What kind of justice do the Sin Eaters talk about? Of course, more importantly, aren't we upholding justice and peace in the world, preventing unnecessary deaths caused by the Sin Eaters' misdeeds? Aren't the Hunters more deserving of the title of protectors of humanity in this comparison?"

Yuri was unsure whether to say, "I completely disagree with what you said," or "But Yuka Yamanaka is indeed only fourteen years old, while you have been an adult for a long time."

"How many times have I told you, your behavior is just—"

"That's just what you say!" Hirosaki Katsuya tried to interrupt Yamanaka Yuka with an even louder voice.

"—To whitewash his atrocities!" He failed, but Yuka Yamanaka still said the rest.

Hirosaki Katsuya paused for a moment, then spoke again, "In any case, Yuri, you have proven that unless I request further assistance, you are not an opponent we can easily defeat. Therefore, I admit that my previous assessment that we could easily remove your obstacle by force was a misjudgment—"

And then? The next sentence was obviously not "We've decided to get out of here," Yuri thought.

"—So, I came out to try and clear up this misunderstanding—I know you can't possibly be completely unperturbed after such a long battle—but you need to understand, if we call for reinforcements, you can't hold out indefinitely!" Hirosaki said earnestly. "Do you really want to fight us to the death here? Yuri, you're smart, you can react quickly to all sorts of situations, and you wouldn't do something so foolish if it weren't a matter of principle!"

"Your words keep circling around, talking about justice one minute and interests the next. Which one do you value most?" Yuri felt a sense of absurdity. "Let me put it this way—I haven't considered what I'd gain from this. But if I had to calculate the benefits, Yamanaka Yuka, this sin-eater, is my friend. I won't betray my friend, and maintaining this friendship is profitable for me. As for letting go? It brings me no benefit other than pleasing you. You keep saying it's for my benefit, but in the end, only you benefit. What a delusion!"

“Isn’t it beneficial to no longer be threatened?” Hirosaki Katsuya’s face was full of sincerity.

"Whose threat is it, yours?" Yuri asked again to confirm.

Hirosaki Katsuhiro did not speak, but he was nodding slowly.

"You created a threat, and then used its removal as a way to benefit me?" Yuri stared at the madman before him. "What turned you into this? Was it this dark world?"

“Yuri…you’ve wasted too much of our time. I don’t want to say you’re deliberately wasting our lives, but can you be serious?” Hirosaki Katsuya frowned. “Yaka Yamanaka has almost lost all her power now. She’s of no use to you, while our threat is very real—I don’t want to describe our actions this way, but I don’t understand why you keep doing this.”

“Think about it again. I think you probably haven’t even thought about it yet.” Yuri couldn’t help but mock the chameleon in front of him.

“I’ve thought about it, Yuri. Why? In terms of benefits, there’s clearly no advantage in helping her, while the cost of fighting us is obvious.”

Yuri remained noncommittal. "Go on, I remember more than that."

"As for feelings—you've only known her for a few days, where did you get such deep feelings? Are you saying you fell in love with her at first sight?"

Yuri shook his head. "Love at first sight... well, it's really not that bad."

Strange noises came from under the bed, sounding like someone bumping their head on the bed frame while trying to lift their head.

"So in the end, it all comes down to justice. No matter how I look at it, you have no reason to believe her and not me." Hirosaki Katsuya's voice was tinged with resentment. "Then what reason is there? Hatred? You developed hatred because you were attacked?"

“Why can’t it be hatred?” Yuri listened to the buzzing sound coming from outside the window—it seemed very close—“In my opinion, your people launched an attack on me by shaking hands, which is the first shot in this whole conflict, isn’t it?”

This impromptu reason was so convincing that even Yuri himself was starting to believe it.

“I understand you have complaints, but it’s really insincere to take that seriously,” Hirosaki Katsuya reacted immediately. “If you had that understanding back then, how could you possibly have checked on the Sin Eater lying to the side? According to your way of doing things, if you find yourself attacked, you would immediately fight back, and only check on others last! So you didn’t even realize that this had happened, did you?”

Yuri thought about it for a moment and realized that what the other person said actually made a lot of sense.

While there might be an urgent need to patch things up, such as "after checking Yuka Yamanaka's status, I realized that what I had just felt was an attack"... it's good enough for now.

“Hmm…you make a lot of sense. But we’ve only known each other for a short time, and you’ve already figured out my patterns of behavior?” Yuri sighed. “Alright then, I’ll tell you the real reason—not that it’s the only reason, but it’s definitely the most crucial one.”

"..." It seemed that a hint of calculation could be seen flashing in Hirozaki's eyes, but when Yuri looked again, he could no longer see it; he could only see that Hirozaki remained silent.

Besides, Yuri's ability to read people doesn't seem to be enough to see what others are doing from their eyes.

In any case, since no one spoke up, Yuri continued, "Actually, it's about justice. I believe her, not yours."

"Why!?" Hirosaki asked very cooperatively.

"Actually, what you two say is very convincing to me, really very convincing. If your words didn't contradict each other, I might actually believe them."

Yuri paused for a moment, then continued, “But, Mr. Hirozaki, in your battle with Yamanaka, you completely outmaneuvered her in terms of strategy. Until the very end, when she was on the verge of defeat, she never imagined that you would be the traitor—your acting skills far surpass those of Yamanaka Yuka, that much is undeniable.”

"So?" Hirosaki frowned, as if he had realized something.

"Therefore, I am fully confident that I can see through Yamanaka Yuka's lies, and I am also fully confident that I will be deceived by your lies and will not be able to see any flaws. I can't find any problems with what the two of you are saying, but Yamanaka is the one who is less good at lying. In this respect, she is far inferior to you."

“So I believe her, not you,” Yuri concluded.

181 Words and Swords

Hirosaki Katsuya's expression... was as if he didn't know what expression to make.

"You mean you don't trust me because I'm smarter than Yuka Yamanaka?"

"Yes."

"No other evidence?"

"Yes."

"Didn't you consider the possibility that we're both capable of deceiving you, but I find it's more advantageous for me to tell the truth, and that she might actually be lying?"

“You’re the one lying!” / “I’ve considered it, but, Mr. Hirozaki, every time you’ve spoken to me so far, you’ve been able to match every word with the right expression… You’ve done too well, you’re just like a hero driven by a sense of justice.”

Yuri thought to himself, "But we all know you're not. You're a traitor who won't hesitate to use despicable means."

In addition... there's one more thing.

Long ago, shortly after waking up, Yuri seemed to have witnessed the birth of a sin-eater.

Yuri didn't make a point of recording what happened, and couldn't even confirm whether it was a sin-eater... But if it was, the scene of the little girl who was hit by the car being resurrected is closer to Yuka Yamanaka's account than Katsuya Hirosaki's.

This is not strong enough evidence, but there is absolutely no evidence against Hirosaki Katsuya either.

"You weren't prepared to be persuaded by me in the first place?" Hirosaki Katsuya's face lost its expression and returned to its coldness.

"Why should I be prepared to be persuaded by you?" Yuri couldn't find a suitable reply for a moment. "Are you prepared to be persuaded by me?"

“I see…” Hirosaki Katsuya drawled out.

Although he couldn't tell, Yuri's intuition told him that the man was going to run away.

"Wait a minute—stop for a second, a package has arrived—could you please tell that gunman outside not to fire on anything that's about to fly in?" Yuri spoke up before the other man could actually take off.

"What do you mean?" Hirosaki Katsuya really didn't move, quite cooperatively. "What are you talking about?"

"Hmm... judging from the sound, they should be under the window by now."

Yuri turned and walked towards the window, gently pulling back the curtains.

The worst that could happen is that a bullet hits him in the head—that's unlikely. As long as Hirosaki is still on the line, the gunman shouldn't dare to fire easily.

You can see across the street from the window, and you can see a person on the roof opposite holding some kind of long pole-like object and pointing this way, but unfortunately, there is no reflective effect like in movies and TV shows.

The distance was too great to see clearly who the other person was. Although he could consider taking a closer look, Yuri decided not to waste the time—Hirosaki, standing behind him at the door, might not always be so cooperative.

Then, something with rotors flew in through the window.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"A remote-controlled drone?" Hirosaki glanced at it. "How did you know it was outside?"

"Because of this, I feel a certain connection with it, and therefore a kind of spiritual connection."

Yuri removed a spirit sphere from the drone's bracket... It seems that Akemi put in a lot of effort to fix it in this position, and even used spirit-infused tape to stick it on.

Although he mainly relied on his hearing, Yuri only sensed the presence of the spirit orb when he got very close.

In any case, it's just a ball; what matters is something else—a walkie-talkie and a strange device strapped to the stand.

"Yuri, can you hear me?" A very unfamiliar voice came from the walkie-talkie, somewhat like a reporter pinching his neck, wearing a mask, and putting a conch shell to his mouth, finally transmitting the message through a paper cup phone.

“I can hear it, not just me, everyone around can hear it too—and he seems to be in a hurry, so just say what you have to say quickly.”

Katsuya Hirosaki didn't seem nervous at all; he was very relaxed and not anxious at all—but the gun in his hand seemed to be aimed more accurately.

"Okay, point the projector at any wall, then press the play button—you don't know which one is? It's that green triangle!—You're asking me if the projector is the one next to the walkie-talkie—you—"

Yuri quickly pressed the green triangle button against the wall.

A very rough image appeared on the wall, blurry and unclear, but it was clear that it was a corridor.

"This is—" Hirosaki Katsuya's eyes were inevitably drawn to it.