Chapter 4: Goodbye, Family
“Give her back”
“Give her back”
“Give her back”
“Give her back”
The faceless monster occupying Houzuki’s house stretches its surprisingly thin arms, attempting to capture Houzuki, who is being protected by Yuiru.
The silver-haired, red-eyed male student, Yuiru Enen, watches the faceless monster clumsily clinging to Houzuki and snorts disdainfully, “Hmph.”
With a swift flash of the silver knife clenched in his hand, the arm extended by the faceless monster falls to the ground. Instead of fresh blood leaking from the severed limb, there is a sinister black haze with a malevolent impression.
“Gyaaaaaa”
“Gyaaaaaaaa”
“Gyaaaaaaaa”
“Gyaaaaaaaa”
From somewhere other than the mouth of the faceless monster, a horrifying scream that makes you want to cover your ears is emitted.
“Foolishly reaching out so honestly, you must really want to be eaten.”
Yuiru approaches the monster, which is screaming violently, and first picks up the arm that fell to the ground.
The gnarled fingertips wriggle and struggle as if trying to escape from Yuiru, but he holds them down and bites into them from the index finger.
It seems that even the hardness of bones is meaningless against ghosts, as they are easily torn apart and unpleasant sounds emanate from the boy’s mouth.
Gokigoki, gorigori. (TN: crunch bones)
Gokigoki, goryugoryu. (TN: more eating sfx)
Yuiru crunches the bones and grinds the flesh before he swallows the monster’s fingertips.
“Hmm, it’s a stimulating taste. Fear makes for good seasoning.”
As Yuiru smoothly deposits the monster’s arm into his stomach,
“Was it fun pretending to be Houzuki’s parents? You didn’t just happen to sympathize with a girl you saw at a funeral, did you? You were planning to take over her body someday, right?”
“You did your best to pretend to be her parents and raise the young girl to take over, what a shame. Frome hereon, you guys will be eaten by me.”
Putting the arm away into his stomach, Yuiru grips the silver knife again.
There is no chance of winning. No matter how much they resist, it’s impossible for the faceless monster to win against the silver-haired, red-eyed male student.
This is not a shounen manga. There’s no such thing as a heated battle between ghosts; all that exists there is the scene of a male student’s evil spirit eating his evening meal.
“Houzuki”
“Houzuki”
“Hou, zuki”
“Hou, zuki”
The faceless monster, while shaking their arms that spew black haze, repeat Houzuki’s name.
It’s as if they’re calling for help.
As if saying, “We raised you, so please help us.”
Houzuki, sitting on the ground, stares straight at the faceless monster.
Their grotesque faces, flattened with crushed eyeballs, nose, and mouth, dressed in tattered, blood-stained clothes, stands on twig-like thin arms and legs.
Despite the disproportionately large heads and unkempt hair, their appearances could be explained as that of a ghost of someone who had met with an accident appearing before Houzuki.
“Did you think I’d help you?”
Houzuki spat out.
“Don’t pretend to be family when you’ve never done anything for me.”
On top of not doing anything, to think that they’d try to take over her body.
“I’m not giving anything to someone I don’t even know.”
Houzuki glares at the faceless monster and says,
“Goodbye.”
As she utters her farewell, Yuiru’s silver knife pierces the faceless monster.
With an edge that seems impossible for a knife, it tears through the throat, dismantled and consumed by the hand of the silver-haired, red-eyed male student.
Helplessly, Houzuki watches as the monster, now nothing more than meals, are devoured by Yuiru.
☆
Without even a final scream, the faceless monster settles into Yuiru’s stomach.
Not only the monster but also the ghosts of the hanging man and the woman cutting her own arms inside the house are devoured as if in addition.
Though the monsters occupying Houzuki’s home have been eaten, the sky overhead remains a poisonous red. No residents are visible, and the surroundings remain eerily quiet.
Houzuki, sitting slumped on the ground, slowly lifts her face.
“Houzuki.”
Yuiru stands before her, still holding onto the leg of the monster.
“Houzuki,” Yuiru stands before her, still holding onto the leg of the monster.
“You’re looking gloomy. Were you upset about your ‘family’ being eaten?”
“They weren’t my family at all…”
Houzuki looks away from Yuiru.
“They’re all dead.”
“I see, I see.”
Yuiru nods nonchalantly.
“Then how do you explain why you can’t return to the original world no matter how much time passes?”
“I don’t know.”
“Of course you don’t. You know nothing. That’s why you’ve been living in this room forever.”
“What do you mean?”
Houzuki glares at Yuiru, who laughs heartily, holding his stomach.
“You’re quite dull, aren’t you? Dull-witted. You’re so insensitive that all I can do is laugh.”
“You never have any explanations.”
“You, who attract ghosts, unexpectedly attract haunted properties as well. Well, well, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that you exist for the sake of my meals!”
Yuiru bends over, laughing.
“It’s strange how you’ve managed to stay safe until now. Despite your unfortunate predisposition to attract ghosts, it seems you’ve somehow mastered the art of keeping yourself safe.”
Saying this, he pointed in a certain direction.
Houzuki’s home.
The door stood wide open, painted pitch black beyond, obscuring any view of what lay beyond. Even if there were no lights on, it would be nice to see something.
Yuiru looked quite pleased.
“They’re still there, in your home.”
