Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:GT Volume3 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 14===

Rakuoka Houfu used his one arm to yank up a nearby manhole cover and jumped down into the deep, deep darkness within.

The stench stung his nose.

He pulled out his flashlight that doubled as a baton and shined it around. The place was surprisingly large. Sewers came in a number of designs, but this one was built with narrow concrete pathways on either side of the filthy flowing water.

The sound of the flowing water was joined by what sounded like a machine.

The low humming was a lot like a refrigerator running late at night.

“?”

Something reflected the light of his flashlight.

There was something transparent on the wall and floor of the pathway. It was the trail left by something slimy crawling through there. He followed that trail with flashlight in hand.

Something was lurking in the darkness.

At first, he thought it was a small person with a blanket over their head.

“Wh-who are you!?” he shouted while shining his light on them.

He was mostly driven by fear, so that may have been the wrong move. Peering into the shadows did not always eliminate your anxiety.

“Huh?” said a voice.

It had the color of flesh, but there was an entire pile of it. The slender hips and unusually large chest were no more. There was only a one or two meter pile of flesh resembling a clump of melted ice cream. A distorted face was attached to its surface, but the two eyes were at different heights. If it had just been flesh, he could have viewed it as no more than a monster or raw garbage, but the long black hair that had fallen out nearby made it look oddly bewitching.

“Huh? Wait, why?” the voice continued. “This isn’t right. I can’t go back.”

A squeak escaped the middle-aged man’s throat.

It should have been a scream, but his throat was trembling too much to get out his voice.

The blob turned back toward the light. She was too melted to tell which side was the front, but that movement was weirdly human.

Rakuoka heard some hard objects clacking together.

He assumed they were something creepy like teeth or bones, but a closer look showed something more inorganic reflecting the light. Test tubes full of colorful liquids were being absorbed by the cream-colored blob. Unlike the others, these had blue rubber caps on them.

She had apparently been dumping those on herself, but none of them would “fix” her.

(Is that some kind of medicine? I could save Shirai-san with that!!)

“Eh, whatever.”

Despite her horrific state, the blob made that casual comment and tossed several test tubes aside.

Rakuoka desperately tried to avoid looking in that direction.

Even in this state, she was definitely part of the dark side.

If he showed any opening, he would be killed instantly. The sense of danger hit him like a solid wall.

“Hee…hee. My entire body fell apart after I dumped my own bacteria on me. Don’t you feel sorry for me? I’ve been defiled. Oh, so defiled. I can even hear my cells bursting: pop, pop, pop. Hee hee hee hee hee hee. Have you ever felt sorrier for anyone in your life?”

She twisted her body around.

But she continued speaking because she was pretty sure even she would forget what that meaning meant before long.

“C’mon, say you feel sorry for me. Frown and call me a poor little thing while secretly grinning on the inside. Then I can live forever as a dark side legend. Don’t worry. Life is an occult thing, so it doesn’t matter if I lose mine. I’ll live on forever as part of the dark side.”

The combover and glasses man sighed.

Then he faced her again and spoke bluntly.

“You get to ignore the flow of time, ignore all the world’s problems, and drift around for all eternity? I couldn’t be more jealous, honestly.”

The flesh-colored blob shrank a size smaller.

“Eeeek!! Wait, stop. I can’t move from here! My life is over! There’s no way to save me, so if you don’t insult me here, I’ll be forever stuck halfway toward my goal. I don’t want to be average! No one remembers average! I want to be more defiled than anyone ever was!!”

A wet and sticky sound followed. She must have either slipped or intentionally jumped in because the flesh-colored blob dove into the filthy water and disappeared from view. It looked more like she had dissolved into it than sank to the bottom.

Rakuoka Houfu breathed a soft sigh.

The girl had said there was no way to save her, but he had a hunch she would be like that forever. After liberating herself from all other bonds, he suspected she might not even have a lifespan anymore.

Whether or not that would bring her happiness was another issue altogether.

He gathered up a few test tubes that had fallen on the pathway with some clear sticky strands still connected to them. He did not know which of the colorful liquids was the antidote, but these ones had been designated as unique by their blue rubber caps. Blue meant safety and these were the ones that girl had tried to use on herself. It would be worth having them analyzed.

And then…

“Hee hee.”

A voice rose from the filthy water.

He jumped and shined his flashlight that way, but he did not see a face emerging from the stagnant river. Yet the girl’s voice continued. The girl who had hoped to be defiled by all of the city’s filth seemed to have been dispersed throughout that filthy water.

“By the way, I forget to ask before, but are you a beneficial or a harmful? What level of the dark side are you from?”

“…Huh?”

He honestly had no idea what she meant by this. Small ripples ran through the filthy water.

“Ohh? Do you really think I’d be trying to pull some trick on you at this point? I couldn’t be more satisfied after being freed from all restrictions. Yes, yes. Like you said, I have been truly liberated. …The thing about being a twin is, it can be a real pain being around the other one all the time. ''I could do it all on my own.'' I separated off one piece and let Youen do it, but just me was enough to decompose all the city’s filth.”

The splashing noise grew louder.

The stench had been bad enough before, but now it felt like an invisible wall.

“''I wanted to decompose everything.'' Including the illusionary bond between twins. Including myself. I wanted to be liberated from it all.”

He had trouble breathing. Beads of sweat poured down his face and head.

Nevertheless, she continued.

“I wouldn’t lie to you in this state. Why would I need to? So I’m asking what part of the dark side you’re from. Since we never ran across each other before, we must be from different levels.”

“Wait…wait a second.”

Her voice was weirdly persuasive.

It was the purity of a prisoner awaiting execution. Once they had nothing to lose, they had no need to lie to protect anything.

But in that case…

“I am Anti-Skill. No more and no less. Yes, I do work as an Aggressor for them, so I roleplay as a criminal in training. But that’s all I do. I’m not like you. I’m different.”

“Not possible. That excuse isn’t going to cut it. Do you not know where we are? Listen, can’t you hear the humming of a machine? What’s that for? This place is used to cover people’s tracks. It connects each camera spot together to make sure no one can be tracked. Before you commit a crime, you head underground and cover your tracks. Once you can’t be tracked, you head to wherever you’re going to be criming. That humming is from a machine that creates a magnetic field. Part of the high-tech countermeasures.”

“…”

“So this maliciously-made ''sewer labyrinth'' is designed so you can never arrive here just by walking around at random. Only the dark side knows of this place. And since you made it here, you must have used it before.”

“…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………”

''No,'' he mouthed, but his voice did not follow.

He imagined an uncomfortable humidity while his vision gradually went white. He tried his best to remain conscious. He had no idea what she was talking about. Of course he didn’t. He had lived a boring life – no major ups or downs. He had just lived year after year, growing older and older. But he had wanted to become someone the mother and sister he lived with could be proud of, so he had become a teacher and then volunteered for Anti-Skill. So this had nothing to do with him. He had no idea how he could be part of the dark side.

“Yes.”

His thoughts were cut off by a sticky laugh.

His flashlight still only showed the dark sludge, but he definitely heard it.

“You really were a good person. But that was exactly why you couldn’t abandon them.”

Someone who had become eternal worked to tear him down to stave off boredom.

“You came down here to cover your tracks before you dumped the body, didn’t you? Did you do it in the mountains? Or maybe below that subway station? All so someone’s crime would never come to light and so your happy little world would remain intact.”

his mother

::::::sticky

::his sister

:his family {{pad|4.0em}} red {{pad|4.0em}} a stalker

creepy laughter {{pad|4.0em}} no face {{pad|4.0em}} no other choice {{pad|4.0em}} deserved to die

::::didn’t mean to

no one at fault {{pad|4.0em}} standing there in a daze

::::murder

They had all hugged each other while trembling, reached a consensus about what was right and wrong, and then tried to figure out what to do next. They thought and thought and thought and – stuffed inside a blanket compression bag – RE – the vacuum cleaner – KAGU – shoved – HIEUB – the suitcase – EBHN – but the smell was – NHRN – so many maggots – HE – had to make a choice – GGU – into the bathroom – OFBN – raised the machete – TU – into pieces – HRNP – inside – TU – bag – NHEPGNANSDIPJGNMD – JNPIGVNP – SDF

“Ah, ahh. Gwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!”

In that stagnant and oppressive underground space with no exit, Rakuoka Houfu unleashed a bestial roar toward the heavens. He tried to kick away the filthy water that refused to stop its incessant splashing, but only succeeded in falling into the river himself.

He got his head above the surface, but the source of the sticky stench was now plastered to his face. That he ''did not'' find it disgusting actually creeped him out. A warmth reminiscent of human skin stabbed into his brain. He had no such experience himself, but he guessed this was what it felt like to have your entire body surrounded by a giantess’s chest.

A girl’s breath reached him like she was whispering into his ear or like her voice was inside his ear already.

“Ah ha ha. Ah ha ha ha ha ha. Ah ha ah ha ha ha ha ah ha ah ha ha.”

“Ugh, shut up.”

“I thought you were acting weird. It’s like you have childish tastes or like you never learned how to act like an adult. You seemed to live in ''such a limited world'' for someone of your age, but this explains a lot. You were so terrified that adult society would demand you take responsibility for your actions that you never could leave the school. Hee hee hee. You’re as much a harmful as me.”

“Shut uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup!!!!!!”

He heard a quiet shriek.

Half-drowning in the river of sludge, he turned his bloodshot eyes toward the sound. His flashlight shined on a small girl of about ten. The filthy sewer and her pristine gym clothes were such a harsh mismatch that it almost looked like a digitally altered photo.

She cowered down and he initially thought she looked like a terrified little animal.

But then he heard the whispering of that sticky being plastered to his face.

“''Did you forget?''”

He could hear it.

He could hear that smiling voice.

“''No normal person could ever wind up here by accident.''”

“…”

The water splashed as the combover and glasses Anti-Skill officer climbed out of the filthy river and onto the pathway.

“I…”

He stood at an angle, putting his shoulders at different heights.

“I am with Anti-Skill. I am someone my family can be proud of.”

That alone may have been a deeply held wish. His mother and sister may have in fact been thankful for what he had done.

But if he admitted that he had done anything to deserve that thanks…

“…!!”

He was shaken.

He was falling apart.

Why was the truth so heavy a burden to bear? It never stopped pressing down on him, forever trying to crush him below its weight.

But he had promised.

While barely able to breath, Shirai Kuroko had told him to pursue the dark side. And he might still be able to save her with the test tubes he had found here.

It might be too late for him, but as long as he still had some strength left, he could drive out the dark side and deliver these to her.

“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!”

The small girl broke free of her paralysis, turned tail, and ran.

''Why would anyone run from Anti-Skill if they had done nothing wrong?

His silhouette underwent a transformation as he pursued his quarry. His Anti-Skill uniform was shredded from within, revealing a massive muscular body.

He had made his decision before the fight even began, so he moved his arms and legs to give chase.