Dawn In the Back Alley

“Haa, haa… Ha… ha…”

I collected the remains of my half-burnt protective charm and somehow got outta the house while enduring severe pain. There was only one place I could go, there was only one person I could rely on.

“Oi, Ryui! Y’got me scared stiff when ya just suddenly left like that. Sorry, but I gotta get back ta Aomori soon.”

“Haa, haa, haa, haa.”

“Ryui? Yer eye…”

“Morozumi… sa…”

“Ya… Don’ tell me!?”

I finally relaxed when I saw Morozumi-san’s face, and at that moment, I passed out.

—

“Haa, haa… haaa…”

“Yer a DARN nincompoop! Y’didn’ think'a the consequences and just went runnin’ on over!”

The next time I came to, I was lying on Morozumi-san’s bed. I had a high fever and his voice sounded super far away.

“...So y’formed a contract. And y’gave up yer left eye.”

He would occasionally mutter as he touched the area around my left eye.

“Ouch, t's now that damned Oshisha-sama's tool. …Fuck, that's one hellava nasty job.”

It was a haggard and fatigued voice. He was the only person after Toi I didn’t want to make say these things.

“Haahaahaahaa…, …”

I looked around groggily. Morozumi-san lowered his eyebrows and looked at me. Just then, standing beside him, I saw my shitty old man with a sad-looking face. Why’d he come? What was he looking at? Didn’t that bastard eat every last bit of his soul? Of all the times he could've showed up, why now? I had a lot I wanted to say, but in the end, I didn’t say anything. After all, it was probably a hallucination, or something like that.

As soon as I blinked, my old man faded away as if it’d been nothing more than a dream. In his place—

“Wha… are…those…?”

I could see spirits in the corner of the room, or standing on the desk. A one-legged silver fox, a human-faced gecko stuck to the wall, a pot-bellied old man the size of a thumb. They had a different air about them from the high-level one from before, one that was more feeble and soft. I tried closing my eye, and they disappeared. When I opened it, they were back again.

“...Y’don’ hafta worry. Everyone here’s a good guy. They came ‘cuz they were worried abou'cha.”

“That… so…”

I ended up being able to see spirits due to that bastard, but I wasn’t sad about it. Rather, I was happy.

‘Ah, so this is what Toi has been seeing,’ was what I thought. I was glad.

With this spirit-seeing eye, it felt like I was finally in the same world as Toi… There was no way I would be sad. Besides… Up until now, I didn’t know what kinda guys I’d been hanging out with, nor borrowing the powers of. Well, it’s been mostly bad experiences, but now, with this eye, I’ll be able to fight back a little better, right? I’ll be able to protect Toi even more. That bastard might’ve laughed all triumphantly while taking its collateral, but I’ll definitely pay it back twofold for this later. If I fall, I won’t sit quietly without getting back up.

“Oi, yer been holdin’ something real tight…”

“This… is.”

“Looks like it’s been all tattered up. Y’should get it fixed.”

Morozumi-san helped me patch up Toi’s protective charm. Since Toi’s spiritual powers were stronger, he didn’t add any more to the charm, but he did fix up its appearance for me, for which I was grateful. I feverishly mumbled my thanks to him repeatedly as I slept, but I don’t know if he got it or not.

—

My fever had gone down by the next morning. Morozumi-san sighed in relief while muttering about how my body had adjusted to the transplant faster than he’d thought. After that, he quickly left to catch his flight and went back to Aomori.

“...”

The empty office, the small spirit that just appeared, the forsaken alleyway, and the morning air. 

And me.

“...I guess I’ll get going.”

I stood up. I had already decided on my next steps. I bought something to cover up my left eye, then grabbed a bite to eat. I went back to HAMA and said a temporary goodbye to Toi—this was all that I could for now.

“Wait for me, Toi.”

And thus, I left on my journey.