Sasaki and Peeps - Volume 2 - Chapter 8

<The Death Game>

(The Neighbor’s POV)

Lately, I haven’t had as many chances to talk to the man living next door.

It seems like his life schedule has changed. Ever since last week, he’s been out of his apartment more and more. And I assume he goes to sleep as soon as he returns, because the lights are almost always off in his room. Even when I press my ear to the wall, I can’t hear anything indicating he’s there.

“……”

Is he busy with work?

It feels like he’s staying out at night more often, too. As far as I’ve kept count, it used to be very rare for him to stay out overnight multiple times in one week. I’ve been watching his apartment from my front door for just about forever, so I figure my information is pretty accurate.

In these last several years, he’s only stayed out for more than two nights in a week on three occasions.

“…Mister…,” I murmur. I’m sitting in front of the door to my apartment again today, gazing at the identical door lined up beside it.

At about the same time, my stomach growls. Again, I think about how that man is the only one keeping me alive right now. At least half my body must exist thanks to him. Sometimes, I even start to feel like my own body doesn’t belong to me.

When I speak to him, I feel fulfilled. That must be because half my body is overjoyed at returning to where it should be.

So today, once again, I wait in front of my apartment for him to return home.

But as I sit there, a different person appears before me.

“Huh? Wait, has your mom not gotten back yet?”

“……”

It’s the man my mother has been seeing since last month.

There are other members of the opposite sex she seems to be close to, but this one has been coming over a lot recently. He is probably in his late twenties, and he is certainly not unattractive. I assume he falls into the “hot guys” category anyway, but something about him seems off to me.

His smile doesn’t look natural.

To me, the man next door’s smile and this man’s smile are like completely different expressions.

“Well, okay. I’ll just let myself in.”

Apparently, he has a duplicate key.

He takes it out of his pocket, then sticks it in the doorknob above my head. Without much of a choice, I stand up and let him through. He can’t open the door with me sitting there, after all.

“…Why don’t you come in with me?”

“I’m fine, thanks.”

He pulls open the door and takes half a step into the apartment when he asks the question. He turns back to me, still standing to the side, and stares into my eyes.

He’s wearing a suit—maybe because he’s just come from the office. A bag hangs from his hand.

“Isn’t it cold out? Come inside and warm up.”

“I’m fine. I’m used to it.”

I won’t be able to see the man next door when he gets home unless I’m outside. It doesn’t feel right to go so far as to ring his doorbell in order to beg from him, so I’d held back from doing so. I’d drawn a sort of line there, not to be crossed.

I feel like if I was to do that, I’d stop being myself.

“Just come in already, dammit!”

“Ugh…!”

Just then, the man in the doorway’s attitude takes a sudden turn for the worse. With an angry shout, he grabs my arm and pulls. His grip is so strong on my wrist that it hurts.

From his forceful behavior, I have a good idea of what he’s thinking—I’d seen him glancing at my chest and thighs before. He’s probably decided to catch me while my mom isn’t home and take the next step. Maybe that’s why he’d gotten a duplicate key from her.

No, I shouldn’t flatter myself.

“Please, stop!”

“Just get in here!”

“Ugh…”

His build is just as formidable as his good looks. He probably works out on a regular basis. I try my best to struggle, but he pulls me inside the apartment before I can even cry out. I swing my leg up to try nailing him in the crotch, but he brings his knees together to stop me.

Then he pushes me down onto the floor of the hallway and straddles me.

He pins my arms and legs down.

Only a little girl, I can do very few things to resist at this point.

“I suggest you pipe down unless you want to get hurt.”

“……”

He glares down at me, his face so close our noses almost touch. His eyes are bloodshot—I don’t think I’ve ever seen eyes like that before. You could see all the individual blood vessels very clearly.

It doesn’t seem like I’ll be able to break free of the arms pinning my wrists or the shins pinning my thighs.

“What do you think I was fucking that old hag for? Figure it out.”

“…Old hag?”

“Yeah, you heard me. What a loose pussy—and the smell. Worst bitch I’ve ever had.”

I almost smile at how funny it is to hear someone treating my mother like an old hag. It seems like he’d used her to get to me. But I quickly grow angry when I realize my own chastity is in danger.

I had intended to let the man next door be my first.

He would lose himself in his excitement and forcefully violate me.

That’s what I wanted.

I couldn’t give myself to this bastard.

“You, on the other hand—now you’re a cute little thing.”

The man’s tongue slides over my cheek. I feel goose bumps sprouting up all over my body. Out of reflex, I jerk my head, ramming it into him.

“Agh! …You bitch!”

“Ngh…”

A moment later, the man bites my nose.

Seeing such a beastlike act up close makes me realize that no matter how much we try to pretend otherwise, humans are just animals, like dogs or cats. I also learn that being bitten in the nose makes you feel like someone just hit you in the head with a hammer.

I immediately squeeze my eyes shut, seeing stars.

“Just calm the fuck down. It’ll be over soon.”

The man’s hand reaches for my lower abdomen.

His breathing is heavy, probably due to his state of excitement, and his tone is gleeful. His breath reeks of cigarettes, incredibly unpleasant as it strikes me in the face over and over. I can’t help but scowl. I turn my head away, trying to get away from the stench.

Why couldn’t it have been the man next door?

It would have been amazing, if it had been him.

To me, that is the ideal turn of events—I’ve been hoping for it every day.

Just then, I hear it.

“Do you want me to save you?”

Suddenly, I hear a voice.

I then lift my head reflexively.

And when I do, I see a boy.

He is standing behind the man straddling me as I am lying faceup on my apartment floor, and he is watching me closely. His feet would have been on the entrance tiles inside the closed front door.

When I turned my face away just a moment ago, there had been no one there.

He seems a little younger than I am—somewhere between elementary school and middle school. He is Caucasian, with striking golden eyes and light-brown hair in a bob cut. A pitch-black cape with epaulets sits across his shoulders. On his head is a king’s crown of the same color.

He is dressed like someone straight out of a fairy tale—someone from the royal family or the nobility.

And he is asking me a question as I am lying there on the floor.

“Do you want me to save you?”

Apparently, the rapist couldn’t hear the boy’s voice. He is frantically trying to get his member out of his pants.

Only a few seconds remain before he’ll violate me.

At first, I think I’m seeing things—that the horrible situation is creating images in my head.

But he is definitely there.

A boy wearing a crown and a cape.

Like some kind of ludicrous painting.

Maybe that is why I decide there’s no harm in trying.

I look him in the eye and give him my honest answer.

“Please save me.”

“Will you hear my request in exchange?”

What’s the request? I have my doubts. But I don’t have any time to think about it.

“…Yes.”

“In that case, allow me,” the boy responds with a pleasant smile.

Smoothly, he takes a step forward—and before I know it, his hand is reaching for the man pinning me down. His small fingers touch the man’s shoulder. A moment later, the man’s hands gripping my wrists suddenly go limp.

Then, with a thud, he collapses on top of me.

Out of reflex, I push his head away and find that his body moves without resistance.

“……”

I put a hand to his neck to check his pulse. I can feel it beating away with a regular rhythm.

“It’s okay. He’s not dead or anything. And anyway, if I killed a human in the Physical Realm, well, I’d be breaking a very important rule. I just knocked him out for a bit. You should hurry and gather yourself.”

Maybe it’s best not to assume this boy is as young as he looks. But whoever heard of something so ridiculous?

I change my mind when I see that his feet are hovering slightly above the floor.

“Who are you?”

“Isn’t there something you’d like to say to me first?”

“…Thank you. You really saved me there.”

“Yep! I love honest people like you.” The boy crosses his arms, nodding several times.

At a glance, he just looks like a little kid. But the way he’d knocked out a grown man by simply tapping him makes him appear to be significantly more powerful. Not to mention how his body is still floating in midair.

“By the way, are you all right? Did he do anything to you?”

“No, he didn’t get that far.”

“Phew. That’s good to hear.”

I crawl out from underneath the man and stagger to my feet.

Once I’m standing next to the boy, I realize he’s several centimeters shorter than I am. Now that I look at him again, I see that his hair is a little long for a boy’s—and glossier. Plus, his eyes are big and round. All of that, combined with his lack of developed secondary sexual characteristics, make him seem rather androgynous.

“Anyway, you said something about a request…”

“Your adaptability surprises me. I didn’t expect you to move the conversation along so quickly.”

“Probably because I don’t really care much about what’s going on in the world.”

“Ah. That’s a fresh perspective for me.”

My honest answer is met with a nod of admiration. The boy is very dramatic about everything he does. I wonder if everyone from overseas is like this.

“I’d like you to help me with something.”

“…What exactly do you want me to do?”

“Well, aren’t you in a hurry.”

“……”

What? Am I going too fast for him? I really don’t think I am.

But then I realize that the only person I talk to with any kind of regularity is the man next door. Not only do I have zero friends at school, I avoid speaking with teachers as much as possible. I talk to my mother even less.

“What’s wrong? You went quiet on me.”

“Nothing, I was just thinking maybe I’d talk a little more slowly from now on.”

“Oh, that? Did you mean to accommodate me?”

“It wasn’t about you. I just hadn’t realized I was doing it.”

My attention naturally drifts to the wall separating this apartment from the next. A few dozen centimeters past the kitchen is where he lives.

Yes, that’s right. I have to finish this conversation and get back to the front door. His routine is so erratic lately, he always gets home at a different time. I’ve noticed a few times that he’s come back while I was at school, so I want to be outside waiting as often as possible.

“Hmm? What’s wrong?”

He must have seen my eyes shift, because he also looks over at the wall.

I continue talking to try throwing him off.

“Who are you, and what am I going to be doing?”

“I’m a demon. And from now on, you will be fighting angelic Disciples in my stead.”

“……”

His answer is even crazier than I’d expected.

(The Neighbor’s POV)

The boy proceeds to give me the details as we stand in my apartment hallway next to the fallen rapist.

Apparently, there are such things as angels and demons in this world.

They’ve been fighting each other in a conflict that has gone on for a very, very long time. However, each side is quite strong, and if they are all to battle it out personally in a fair fight, the world would likely be destroyed. So instead, they make use of humans to fight a proxy war.

His request is for me to participate as a proxy for the demons’ side.

It is a questionable story, to say the least.

Had he not rescued me from danger, I never would have believed him. The ridiculousness of his story, however, makes me think back on a few things—like what he’s done to the man still passed out on the floor, for example.

“This guy isn’t with you, is he?”

“What makes you think that?”

“Hypothetically, if you knew you wanted to reach out to me… That would be pretty effective, wouldn’t it? As you can see, I am actually starting to believe this ridiculous story about angels and demons, even though I’ve never seen one before in my life.”

“Ah, I see. You seem pretty clever for your age.”

“……”

“Oh, don’t glare at me like that. It’s true that I’ve been thinking of talking to you for a while. But the only reason you were attacked was because of that man’s sexual urges. I played no part in it. It was a coincidence, and I only took advantage of it.”

“Really?”

“And if I were to give you a piece of advice, it would be… Yes, you should refrain from asking any more questions you have no way of independently verifying. Especially if you can’t trust someone. You should break a problem down into things you can verify, then try to determine the overall credibility.”

“…I agree with you there.”

I didn’t expect to get a patronizing lecture from someone I met less than an hour ago. It annoys me a little, mostly because the boy looks younger than I am. But I feel like what he is saying is correct.

He also said, before, that he likes honest people. Maybe he is just the sort who likes to lecture and explain.

In that case, I want to learn as much as I can from him.

“Any other questions?”

“I understand you’re fighting a proxy war. But I don’t understand what, exactly, you want me to do. As you can see, I’m a child. Any adult would be able to pin me to the ground,” I say, my eyes moving to the man on the floor. My mom’s boyfriend is still unconscious.

“Okay, then I’ll get into the nitty-gritty.”

With a dramatic, self-important ahem, the boy begins to speak. The act suits his majestic stature oddly well.

“The Disciples already participating refer to the mechanism of the proxy war as a ‘death game.’ It is my understanding that most humans these days have a good idea what that entails, but what about you?”

This is another dangerous-sounding term. But what did I expect?

“I don’t like the sound of that.”

“Yes, it seems the angels aren’t very happy with it. Demons are generally quite accepting, however. What about you? I would appreciate it if you could read between the lines a little here.”

“I think I know what you’re trying to say.”

“Then I’ll continue. We have our proxies house part of an angel’s or a demon’s spirit—a Division—within their body in order to act as their Disciple. You’ll then use the spirit’s power to do battle in a realm isolated from this world. The only real rule is that it continues until one camp or the other has zero Disciples remaining.”

“Since you chose a child like me, does that mean you’ve seen cases where fights between angels and demons go on for several years—or even several decades? Or was it simply because you believe children are easier to control?”

“Oh! You’re right on both counts, actually. Pretty good!”

“……”

The boy speaks very casually, but it seems that when he said death game, he really meant death. Whatever the direct cause, participants would be made to fight until they died.

And as of right now, there doesn’t appear to be any benefit to being a Disciple—one of their proxies, that is. Are they forcing society’s weaklings—like me—to do their bidding? If so, then how do they maintain the motivation of the people actually doing the fighting?

“You don’t seem satisfied with that.”

“I don’t, do I?”

“No, you don’t!” The boy nods, a kindhearted grin on his face.

I start to feel like he’s indirectly making fun of me. No, it’s not just my imagination—I bet that’s exactly what he’s doing.

“I can guess what you’re thinking.”

“Then please, explain.”

“Wow. I like you. You take what I say and learn from it.”

The boy continues, his smile widening, though I can’t guess what is making him so happy. I want him to hurry it up. I have to get this conversation over with so I can wait for my neighbor at the front door.

“We make one promise to the proxies, our Disciples, before they participate in the death game. Should you kill an enemy Disciple as part of the proxy war, we will grant any one wish you have.”

“Any one wish? That sounds pretty vague.”

“Oh, but it’s quite significant, I assure you. Depending on the situation, you may even receive the help of angels or demons on your side. In the past, people have even brought corpses back to life—though, those instances tend to be reserved for Disciples whose performance is exceptional.”

“In other words, it all depends on how well you negotiate?”

“What? You’re not surprised? People have come back from the dead.”

“Not really.”

Bringing someone back from the dead won’t benefit me at all. More importantly, at the moment, I just want to get back to my front door.

“Huh. Well, anything goes, so give it some thought. It all depends on how well you negotiate.”

“All right.”

“About the game itself—well, maybe it’s best if you learned by doing. Fortunately, your demon has quite a high rank, so you won’t lose so easily. I believe humans would call it on-the-job training.”

“……”

I’ve heard that term before from the man next door. I remember he didn’t sound very happy about it.

“The previous death game began about a century ago, according to your human calendar, and took almost thirty years before it was finished. The quicker ones, however, wrap up in just two or three. It all depends on how talented the participants are.”

“Thirty years…”

I can’t begin to imagine what I’ll be like at forty. I had assumed I’d die around twenty anyway. And after thirty years, the man next door would be all wrinkly. The next few years are going to be such an important, beautiful time for us.

“Why don’t we move along to the contract?”

“Do you need my stamp or something?”

“Well, since you’ve already promised your assistance, I’ll simply be unloading a part of my spirit into you. You may feel a bit of a physical shock, but please bear with it.”

“Ugh…”

It happens as soon as the last words escape the boy’s mouth. A terrible pain shoots through my entire body, from the crown of my head to the tips of my toes.

“Nghhhh…!”

It hurts so bad my eyes feel like they’ll pop out. I grit my teeth and desperately try to hold on.

The walls in this apartment are thin and made of wood. If my neighbor gets home while I am talking to this boy, he’ll hear my screaming. I want to avoid that, if nothing else, so I bite down on my lip as hard as I can.

Blood rushes into my mouth, its taste mocking my growling, empty stomach.

I get the feeling something bright and glittery is at my feet, but I can’t concentrate enough to check.

After about ten seconds, the pain subsides.

“You’re a trouper, you know that? Even I’ve never seen a Disciple who didn’t cry out during a Descension.”

“…I wish…you would have at least told me when you were going to do it.”

“Sorry about that. But isn’t it usually worse if you tense up?”

“……”

Belatedly, I begin to feel like the title of demon really fits this boy. He’s been smiling the entire time—and behind his expression, I can sense a coldness, like he doesn’t care about humans at all.

I only have a moment to be surprised about the pain. Almost instantly, our surroundings shift.

There is complete silence.

The noise of automobile engines drifting in from outside, the sound of the bathroom fan running—all the sounds I’ve been hearing up until now are simply gone, like someone has muted the volume on a stereo system. It is so startling I think maybe I’ve lost my hearing.

“Oh-ho. Looks like we’ve got some prey already.”

“What is this?”

“It’s the isolated space that appears whenever two Disciples get within a certain range of each other. What happens within this space will be negated as soon as you leave it. The only exception being the presence of the Disciples themselves, I suppose. The power to create and maintain these spaces comes from the demon or angel themselves.”

“…I see.”

This seems to be like a signal for the start of the game. Very easy to understand. With this, other than when I’m sleeping, I’d never be too late to react.

Right. So what about when I’m sleeping? I’ll have to ask the boy about it later.

“Also, you look a little…not great at the moment, so let me fix you up.”

“……”

With a smooth motion, the boy stretches out his arm toward me.

I tense out of reflex. As I do, the pain in my nose and lips recedes.

“How do you feel?”

“…Thank you.”

I haven’t checked myself in a mirror, so I don’t know what my injuries look like. Still, the boy’s action has made the stinging pain I’d felt disappear. I feel my few remaining doubts about all this wash away.

It doesn’t look like he’s cleaned up the mess, however. I lightly touch my lip and feel a slimy sensation. Redness stuck to my fingertip. Combined with my nose wound, I probably look pretty terrible at the moment.

“It’s your first-ever battle. Why don’t you wipe yourself off a bit before we go?”

“Could I maybe change my clothes, too?”

“I wouldn’t mind. Why, do you not like the clothes you’re currently wearing?”

“They’re my best clothes, so I don’t want them to get dirty or torn.”

“Oh, no need to worry about that. Like I explained before, any physical losses you suffer will disappear once you leave this space, save for wounds inflicted on your soul. I’ll be glad to go into more detail once your on-the-job training is finished.”

“…All right.”

“Now then, why don’t we head off to the game?”

Following the boy’s instructions, I leave the apartment.

I pray that the man next door won’t come home while I’m out.

(The Neighbor’s POV)

We travel by foot from the apartment to our destination. The distance between Disciples required to produce the isolated space, as well as the size of the space created, seems to depend on the strength of the angel or demon attached to the Disciple. But no matter how powerful the Division of any two Disciples is, it would never be more than a few kilometers at most.

I walk along, guided by the boy, as he explains all this to me.

There are no people in this soundless world. I am grateful, given how bad I am with crowds. It is refreshing to see places normally packed with people suddenly so empty.

Not long after we start walking, I begin to get the feeling I know where we are headed, though I’m not sure why. I intuitively sense the presence of the other person who has helped create this space—the other Disciple. It is kind of like hearing the ringing of a distant bell and judging the source of the sound.

“Can they tell where we are just like we can tell where they are?”

“We’re not particularly trying to hide, so yes, they’ve probably located us.”

Apparently, it is possible to purposely conceal yourself. Which also means you have the option of purposely revealing yourself.

I feel like I now understand why the current Disciples refer to this proxy war between angels and demons as a game. Strategizing and trickery probably have a significant impact on who wins and who loses.

The boy walking beside me seems very nonchalant about the whole thing.

“Are you really strong for a demon?”

“As I see it, we’ll have an easy time against this foe, to put it conservatively.”

“…I see.”

The demon is brimming with confidence.

Has he already scouted out the opponent? I’d be extremely grateful if so, considering my life is currently in his hands. But if he is just spouting nonsense, I won’t be able to rely on him at all. The fact that I can’t gauge his words or actions makes me even more anxious.

“Once you see the enemy, say this to me: ‘Reveal thyself!’”

“Will something happen?”

“They’ll probably be so surprised they’ll run away.”

“Can I adjust…whatever it is we’re using to sense each other?”

“You’re really quick on the uptake, even though you’re so young. I knew I chose the right Disciple.”

By this time, I know it is very likely he’s done his research in advance. If that is true, as long as I act calmly here, I should be fine. Based on what he has explained so far, at the very least, our interests align.

Actually, it is more like he is getting me involved in his interests without giving me much choice in the matter.

“Oh, there they are!”

We are now in the middle of a shopping mall in the local shopping district. Two people are standing right in the center of it. They are the only people I’ve encountered in this world without sound, aside from the boy.

He comes to a stop ten or so meters away. I follow suit.

“Wait, a middle school kid? Seriously?” says one of the two upon seeing us.

The speaker has probably noticed my sailor uniform from school. If they were from around here, they’d know immediately what school I went to. Even if they didn’t, a little research would do the trick.

Has the boy taken that into consideration?

The speaker is a man who looks to be around twenty years old and is wearing jeans and a collared shirt with a jacket. He’s of average height and build, with short black hair—a typical university student. If there’s anything about him that stands out, it’s that he has something of a baby face.

Standing next to him stands a woman who also appears to be in her twenties. She is Caucasian—her pure-white skin and waist-length blond hair are striking. A pair of wings extend out of her back. She’s about the same height as the man next to her.

The latter has to be the angel.

“Come on, give me the order,” the boy says, without so much as greeting the others.

“Oh. Right.”

I don’t want them to act first and steal the advantage, so I follow his instructions.

“Reveal thyself.”

“You got it! Just leave it to me!”

His energetic reply echoes through the shopping mall.

A moment later, his body transforms.

It collapses, almost like a water balloon popping. His loose entrails slop onto the ground. Soon, however, they begin to writhe and squirm. I’m standing right beside them and have a hard time staying calm. I quickly back up a few paces.

“That’s mean! I wish you wouldn’t look so obviously disgusted.”

“…Are you…all right?”

Before my eyes, the fleshy lump inflates.

It starts at about the size of a filled garbage bag, and in the blink of an eye, it has grown even larger, surpassing my height, swelling out to the size of a midsize car. The bloody flesh swallows up the clothing, crown, and cape the boy had been wearing.

The way it’s covered in viscous fluid is incredibly gross. At the very least, I didn’t pick up any smell.

That said, I can’t handle the spatter of flesh and blood that hits my sailor uniform.

“Ugh… Masayuki, we’re getting out of here!”

“Huh?! But we—”

“That’s Abaddon. We don’t stand a chance against him right now.”

Just as he’d been bragging earlier, the demon boy seems to be pretty famous among angels. The expression of the woman I assumed to be an angel changes completely when she sees the fleshy lump he’s become. Even from afar, I can tell she’s panicked.

“Oh, you’re not getting away.”

By some strange logic, the hunk of flesh soars into the air.

It shoots up several meters all at once, then suddenly expands as if to cover the space above the two of them, like a net thrown to catch fish. But what expanded is not a net—it’s a grotesque mass of meat—horrific, to say the least.

It must be unendurable for the people beneath it.

“Ugh…”

“Virtue?!”

The angel flies into the sky, holding the man in her arms, just barely avoiding the incoming fleshy mass.

The demon boy hits the ground, then shrivels back into his original form, the same as before. His shirt and pants, and even his crown and cape, are all intact. Perhaps he has preserved them inside the lump?

No, I should stop thinking about that right now.

It’s not even clear whether matter is being conserved here.

“Aw. Too bad.”

“What—?”

The boy’s spiteful voice echoes around us.

Quick as lightning, the mass of flesh is behind the angel.

In no time at all, it puffs up, then engulfs the two as they fly. It seems he’s gotten a piece of himself stuck to her wing. He’d let them flee, then caught them again—very unfair.

The pair is swallowed whole by the floating lump of meat.

A moment later, I hear cracking and crunching noises. Once I hear screams joining the other sounds, the words death game finally seem real to me. One wrong step, and I might have met a similar fate.

“What do you think? Went just like I said, right?”

“Why do I need to be with you? I didn’t do anything.”

“As a rule, we can’t ignore our proxy’s instructions and act on our own.”

“I don’t remember giving instructions.”

“When we encountered the angel, you requested that I reveal myself. But I couldn’t just stand around doing nothing, could I? We do have that much freedom, you understand. Otherwise, you’d have to give an order for every little thing.”

“What I don’t understand is what these ‘instructions’ are supposed to be.”

“For example, I might want to walk straight, but if you tell me to walk right, my body will walk right. Does that make sense? I want you to be careful, because any casual instruction you give me could very literally affect my course of action.”

Now that he’s explained things, I finally understand our relationship.

I now know what he means by a “proxy war.” The Divisions—portions of an angel’s or a demon’s spirit—are incredible weapons their Disciples can freely use. The limitations of each Disciple also have a considerable effect.

Which brings me to one fundamental question.

“Why me?”

“Hmm?”

“There are plenty of other adolescent girls to choose from, aren’t there?”

“Oh, you want to know? Do you?”

“If it’s better I not know, then don’t tell me.”

“You’re really straightforward, aren’t you? I appreciate that. Top of your generation, even, I’d say. But deep down, you hate the world. You know hunger. And now you have a deeply warped passion lurking in your breast, too.”

How much does this boy know about me? No doubt he’d seen me talking to the man next door. But would he know this much, even if he had?

“Demons love that kind of stuff. Well, more specifically, I like that kind of stuff.”

“Have you been watching me?”

“The short answer is—yeah, pretty much.”

“So you’re not going to hide it.”

“What’s the point? I’m fairly honest for a demon, you know. I wouldn’t lie about stupid stuff like that to a partner I might be with for several years—or several decades, even.”

“……”

As we trade words, the mass of flesh hangs in the air next to us. How surreal, I think. Eventually, as the awful noises and screams from within subside, it darts back toward the boy. It struck his body with a sticky splashing sound before; like a clay model, it squirms back inside him.

Not a moment later, sound returns to the world.

All of a sudden, the empty shopping mall is swarming with pedestrians, as if they’d emerged out of thin air. The loud clamor of the crowds layers on top of the sound of their footfalls, reverberating all around us.

“When all Disciples of one camp, either angels or demons, are destroyed, or if they get a certain distance away, the isolated space collapses, like it did just now, and the world goes right back to normal. My bodily fluids stuck to your clothes have all disappeared, as you can see—you’re nice and clean now.”

“…I am,” I say, looking down at myself. I can’t see a single spot on me. “What happened to the man and the angel?”

“The angel’s Division was obliterated, but she took no damage since her main body is in the Celestial Plane. As for the man—you can usually find their corpses lying around once the isolated space comes undone. Oh, but I ate him this time. I don’t see him anywhere.”

The boy glances around as he speaks. I follow suit, taking in our surroundings, but can’t spot anything particularly noteworthy. All the people in the mall are walking around the same as always. Obviously, I don’t see any corpses. If one had been found, there would surely have been a few screams.

“The extent to which the circumstances in the isolated space are reflected on the body depends on a few factors.”

“…Reflected?”

“In certain situations or as a result of certain abilities, a corpse’s wounds might be reflected in the normal world in some detail. But in other cases, it will look more like a mysterious, sudden death where the soul leaves their body and nothing else. This time, it looks like there won’t even be a corpse, since the entire body, and every drop of blood, was lost.”

“I see.”

The bizarre corpse I’d witnessed on my way back from school a few days ago—could that have been from this angels-versus-demons proxy war? I feel there’s little doubt, given how the remains had suddenly appeared right before my eyes.

So that is what happens to those who lose this “death game” or whatever and get tossed out of the isolated space.

“Anyway, I’m sure you have a bunch of questions, but we should head back first.”

“All right.” I nod to the boy, turning back toward the apartment.

If I don’t get back soon, I think, I might miss the man next door getting home.

(The Neighbor’s POV)

It’s true what they say—when it rains, it pours.

Once the boy and I get back to my apartment, my mother is waiting for us, and she’s angry. Next to her I see the rapist, who has regained consciousness. My mother, standing outside the front door, grabs my arm and pulls me into the living room without giving me a chance to take off my shoes.

What she has to say is simple: The bruise on the man’s forehead was an act of violence, perpetrated by me for no reason. My mother is infatuated with this younger man she’d literally just met. She had already hated me, her daughter—and now she’s outright furious, her hate reaching even deeper than before.

“Just who the hell do you think has been keeping you alive all this time?!” she screams hysterically, slapping me in the face.

I almost say “the man living next door.” That’s what I really think. I stumble, but I dig in my heels and manage to keep myself from falling. Come to think of it, she’d sent me to the floor many a time when I was in elementary school.

“Hey, now, your daughter’s probably sorry, so let’s just leave it at that, all right? I really don’t mind very much. Middle school is when kids enter the rebellious phase, you know? All kids her age want to lash out at adults.”

Seeing this back-and-forth between mother and daughter, the man pipes up.

My mother’s voice gets even louder. “She hurt you!”

“And I’m sure she’s sorry. Aren’t you?” the man asks, giving me a friendly smile. He is probably trying to win over my mother and lower my resistance at the same time. I wonder what he thinks about his sudden bout of unconsciousness.

“Your mother really doesn’t have an eye for people, huh?” says the boy from right next to me, sounding amazed. Apparently, the two of them can’t see him. Despite a boy they’d never met before coming straight in with his shoes on, neither my mother nor the man seem to react at all. It appears they can’t hear him, either. Though, he had explained to me that he could make himself visible or audible if necessary.

“Mom, this man tried to rape me.”

I know it’s pointless, but I still try to appeal to my mother.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see the man’s eyebrow twitch.

“What?! You’re being ridiculous; you know that? Why are you constantly lying and making excuses?! If you don’t get your act together, you’ll be out on the street, you miserable failure!”

She whacks me in the cheek a second time.

And this time, I fall.

Now I’m kneeling on the floor.

“Actually, there’s something I still haven’t told you.”

“……”

The boy looks down at me and begins to speak.

“By harboring the Division of a demon or angel, Disciples are able to use a portion of their power. It’s a paltry strength, not even one-tenth of the power I can wield while in an isolated space. But it’s more than enough to deal with regular people. This is another one of the rewards we grant our followers.”

Does he mean I can transform into that mass of flesh, too? Unlike isolated spaces, anything that happens here won’t be reverted. Just thinking about having to clean all the flesh and blood out of the living room and off my clothes makes me a little dizzy. I have no intention of using such a power.

“Oh, and my original form has nothing to do with it. Basically, you become able to use…magic, as you call it. I healed your injuries and stuff, remember? Also, while demons and angels can’t kill people outside of isolated spaces, Disciples aren’t bound by the same rules.”

It seems my apprehensions are unfounded. And now, like the vulgar, greedy person I am, I feel my curiosity grow.

“So what do you say?”

This must be what people mean when they talk about a demon on your shoulder.

But I have a life I need to protect, and that life is here.

When it comes down to it, I haven’t even been in middle school a whole year yet. I need a guardian, even if it has to be someone like my mother. I won’t be able to take back what I’ve done—and it could end with me getting myself locked away somewhere.

“If I do that, I won’t be able to live next to him anymore.”

“Man, I really like that about you!”

I don’t know what he is so happy about, but his smile widens. How much does he know about my relationship with my neighbor? It’s my treasure, and it’s supposed to belong to us alone.

“…So what?”

“Since I like you so much, I’ll tell you.”

The boy’s hand touches my shoulder.

Come to think of it, when he’d first spoken to me, he’d touched the rapist’s shoulder in exactly the same way and caused him to lose consciousness. My sudden recollection and my guess as to what would happen next changes into certainty when I hear his next words.

“Try giving her a little tap.”

“And what do you think you’re mumbling about?! You’re a creep! Ah, I should never have given birth to you at all! It’s all your fault! When you were born, my life went straight down the gutter!”

My mother kicks out at me as I sit on the floor.

I stick the palm of my hand out toward the front of her leg.

A dull, thudding impact hits my wrist. Her leg had been traveling pretty fast, but since I’d been able to take the hit with my core, it didn’t injure me. Her face, on the other hand, fills with pain.

Just then, it happens.

I feel something strange inside my body, flowing from the hand on my mother’s leg up to my shoulder, where the boy was touching me. Like I’m getting a drip of something warm in my veins—I’d never felt a pulse like this before. It isn’t quite pain, and it isn’t quite discomfort.

A moment later, my mother sways and falls to the living room floor.

Then she stops moving altogether.

It looks exactly the same as what the boy had done to the man earlier.

“What do you think? Have a good feel for it now?”

“…Yes.”

“Then try it yourself this time.”

I nod obediently, and the boy’s gaze shifts—to the man who had just seen my mother collapse and is beginning to freak out. I know immediately what the boy is implying. His proposition doesn’t even feel real. But considering all the things that have happened, I can’t imagine he’s putting on an act.

“All right.”

I stand up, then reach for the man with my arm. As he bends down next to my mother, my fingers touch his head.

And then, the pulsation I’d felt moments ago comes back to me. The same feeling… That feeling of something flowing through my body. Something warm travels through my fingers, from the man’s forehead and into me.

Honestly, it doesn’t feel very good.

He is, after all, someone who had tried to rape me.

If it had been the man next door, it probably would have felt amazing…

“Take too much, and he’ll die.”

“Urgh…”

At the boy’s warning, I immediately remove my fingers from the man’s head. I’d been touching him for a few seconds, but the effect is striking. Just like my mother, the man collapses on the spot. They had both gone limp, one lying over the other. I take their arms to check for a pulse and get a steady beating rhythm from both of them. The strength and speed of the pulse I feel through their skin isn’t much different from my own. It seems they’ve only passed out.

“Can you use this in such a way that it won’t knock them out?”

“If you’re good at controlling it, sure.”

“I see.”

Apparently, this power is for weakening an opponent you touch, knocking them out, or killing them. I wonder what else it can be used for.

Oh, right. It can heal wounds, can’t it?

“If you can do this, I don’t see why you’d need to turn into a lump of flesh.”

“That was more like… Well, my self-introduction.”

“You were introducing yourself?”

“I wouldn’t want to reveal that form suddenly in a desperate situation only to shock my partner out of her wits. Even a demon like me knows there’s a time and a place. My appearance is nice and tidy at the moment, don’t you think?”

“Then where did you get that boy’s body?”

“This was my form before I fell from grace. It’s pretty cool, don’t you think?”

“…I see.”

Just how much evil has he done to go from that into a horrifying lump of flesh? Still, he looks exactly like how I might imagine a fallen angel.

At the same time, it gets me thinking. From what I now know, not everything about my meeting with this boy has been bad. Considering my current situation, it seems like the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. The power I’ve received as his is extremely useful.

“Can I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

“You mentioned I could get a reward for defeating an enemy Disciple.”

According to his explanation earlier, if I defeat an enemy Disciple, I can have a variety of wishes granted, though it would depend on the strength of my achievements. The wish could even be something beyond human understanding. If that’s true, then maybe I’ll finally be able to realize my fondest wish.

“That’s true. What do you want to know about it?”

“Does the incident at the shopping mall qualify?”

That’s right—I could make my relationship with the man next door eternal. A world just for us, where we would remain beautiful and never grow old.

“Oh! That’s the face of someone up to no good.”

“That’s not true.”

“It’s fine! I’ll throw in a freebie. What would you like as a reward for your first battle?”

“Thank you. As a reward for my first battle, I wish for…”

I decide, in my heart of hearts, to give this “death game” or whatever my best shot.