Editing Kaze no Stigma:Volume4 Chapter 2 (section)

=== Part 4 ===


"Waaaaaaaaahh!?"

Isurugi Daiki screamed from the bottom of his lungs. 

Shinjuku third city block - that was one of the places public order was hard to maintain in this neighborhood.

Around here a scream was nothing more but one variety of background music. 

Except if it was the case of a young beautiful girl, nobody listened to them anymore.

"Waaaaaaa!!", the man screamed again. 

He had fairly capable lungs. If we considered the fact that he was sprinting with all his power, it was worth praise.

While running for his life, Daiki looked over his shoulder. Only two meters behind him, ''that'' was soundlessly drawing near.

A deep red dog. It wasn't a normal dog. The height of his head reached Daiki's stomach, and his body weight was without mistake larger. His deep crimson fur flickered as if the dog was clad in flames and his breath was spitting fire.

That silhouette, as coercive as a nightmare was appropriately called a hell dog.

"Gyahahahahaha! Die! Die! Die already!"

"Heeeeelp meeeeeeee!!"

Receiving from the back the death sentence, mixed with scorn, Daichi moved his legs very determined.



Isurugi Daiki, twenty three years old.

For the present time it was enough to say the Wisdom Eye he possessed, allowed him to live to this age.

His height was 163 centimeters, his physique counterbalanced by his baby-face, coupled together with fluffy hair resembling a cat's fur, he seemed bizarrely immature.

His over-sized costume didn't suit him. He had such a youthful look that although exaggerated, one may wonder if it he was allowed to watch PG-13 movies.

"Hii......Hiii....."

As expected, Daiki became tired, his feet unsteady while the crimson hell dog drove him away.

The man that seemed to manipulate the the dog shouted in an elated voice.

"Just die already, piggy!"

That's right, his occupation, totally unsuitable, was that of a policeman. And in addition to that, despite not having any sort of experience, he didn't work at some local police station. 

He had a fairly special job. 

"Gauu!"

In accordance with his master command, the crimson dog kicked the ground and jumped. It's sharp teeth aimed at Daiki's head.

"Hyaa!?"

That moment, Daiki's feet tangled and he fell down. It was only by chance. He didn't noticed the dog's attack. 

But as a result, the dog jumped over Daiki's head and landed three meters forward.

The only damage Daiki received was a graze on the tip of his nose.

"Hoo..."

From a place separated a little from those two, Yagami Kazuma let out a murmur of admiration mingled with a smile.

"This is ''the abnormal good luck of getting out of critical situations'', huh? I see, that's why he was assigned to the Special Investigation Unit."

Remembering the special mention written on the report, Kazuma made a somewhat wry smile. 

From that figure, leaning on the building's wall, smoking tobacco, couldn't be felt even a shred of intent to rescue Daiki, found now in a desperate situation.

Getting up, neglecting Daiki, once again caught in the deathly game of tag, Kazuma looked at the other man.

He seemed older than Daiki but he was probably a minor. His long, dyed brown hair was messy. He wore a black leather jacket and black jeans, his knees visible. Instead of brass knuckles he wore rough rings on all his fingers and hard boots.

He was very much a Yankee-like man. His name was apparently Hell Hound.

"''<<The Hell Hound>>'', huh? It's manifesting nature is <<Fire>>. Does that mean its form is <<Summons>>?"

While thinking about various things by himself, he restored his gaze on the game of tag.

It seems the game was about to end. Daiki's physical strength was almost at its limit and his legs moved staggeringly, unable to run. 

"Ku ku ku ku! I wonder how many points is the piggy's head worth?", shouted <<The Hell Hound>>.

And then, he ordered the hell dog to finally attack.

"Go, Garum!"

"!!"

The moment the hell dog, Garum, leaped, Daiki took out his gun.

A roaring gun shot.

The lead bullet was shot inside Garum's open mouth. The red large body flew as if hit by a car.

But, in the brief moment he let out a long breath of relief, Garum spun his body in midair and landed neatly on his legs. 

Those pitch black pupils looked sharply at Daiki and raising a howl, the dog spit out a smashed bullet. 

"Huh, how stupid! Bullets do not work on Garum!"

"Sh- shit!"

The cornered Daiki, pointed his gun to <<The Hell Hound>>. 

Of course, it was only meant as a threat but -

"Hey, hey, you'll be discharged if you shoot at a minor without a warning shot, you know?"

Because of the spectator that gave unnecessary advice, the atmosphere was spoiled.

<<The Hell Hound>>'s face instantly became stiff with fear and was dyed red, his anger rising.

"Fe- Feel my threat! Do it, Garum!"

The red hell dog approached fast.

While resuming his flight Daiki glared at Kazuma but Kazuma received it with a nonchalant air.

"Ah, and then - ", he continued as if chatting.

"When you're facing someone with a <<Fire>> attribute, you had better not carry any combustibles. Using gunpowder is absurd!"

"Gaaah!"

As if matching their timing, Garm spit out flames from his mouth. The sphere of fire, big as a soccer ball hit the gun Daiki threw at once.

Kaboooom!

"Dowaaaahh!?"

Fragments from the gun that exploded in the air made holes in the wall, grazing his cheek.

"Hee....."

Except for his back, whether it was the wall or the ground, small holes were made here and there in his surroundings.

Kazuma stared at Daiki, trembling in fear, and let out a sight looking up at the sky. He blew up a large smoke ring and said:

"You suddenly destroyed your handgun after just being assigned. You should consider yourself lucky if you're let off the hook with a written apology."

"Are you a demon!?"

Daiki's scream bounced off Kazuma's tough skin and disappeared, vainly melting in the air.

And then, as if following that scream's reverberation, the deep crimson hell dog howled.

"Hey! Now it's not the time to look away piggy!"

Unable to stand up, Daiki dodged Garum's pursuit by rolling on the ground. Of course by doing so he wasn't able to continue protecting himself and gradually his small gashes multiplied.

"Gyahahahahaha! Kill him Garum! I'll bring the piglet's head to Pandemonium and level-up to a High Class!"

<<The Hell Hound>> laughed loudly. Kazuma made a wry smile, committing all the words to memory.

''"Point. Pandemonium. High Class. Geez, what sort of game is this?"''

But, this was done very cleverly. Concepts one would flinch from if told directly, by replacing them with game terminology, the sense of reality was lost, just like the sense of impeding crisis.

Even this <<Hell Hound>> evidently didn't understand what he was doing. Because of the game-like sensations he wielded his power, hurt people, destroyed things and as a compensation his soul was reaped.

"Will you die first?"

Looking at Garum, leaping for the finishing blow, Kazuma let out a dry whisper.

Did he think he won with this.........?

"Hiii!"

Garum bared his long fangs at Daiki's throat, curled in terror. But the moment he tried to tear up the tender flesh, darkness was born before the hell dog's eyes.

"Gaaah!?"

A complete darkness, without a ray of light. It seemed as if it suddenly corroded the space and instantly wrapped around Garum and disappeared without notice.

Together with the crimson hell dog inside.

"Buph......Gaaahh..!?"

He heard a damp pained cry. Without showing the slightest surprise, Kazuma looked over his shoulder in a calm manner.

There, an obvious spectacle was playing out.

"Guugh.....Guuu..."

<<The Hell Hound>> - that name was already obsolete, crouched down and mewling in pain. From the space between his fingers, covering his mouth, fresh blood was dripping out.

"Guhh....Garum....Garum!"

"Just stop that already."

Stepping up to the man calling for the vanished dog, Kazuma informed him coldly.

"You were completely devoured by that boy."

"E-eaten, you say.....My Garum was..."

"That's why, you're just a normal human until you'll manage to call another one. So come with us quietly because we want to hear everything you have to say."

"Sh- shit!"

The man immediately tried to run but after running a few steps, his feet gave out and he fell down. Unable to fall safely, his face crashed into the asphalt.

The fact that after a Jutsu is defeated the practitioner experiences a back-lash is one of the fundamental laws of magic. That's why practitioners constantly prepare on how to elude that reaction but it seemed this half-baked practitioner didn't know of that law. Which means he received that recoil flat and square.

But still, because his power was a sham, it seems he escaped the same fate as the dog.

"Where are you going?"

As the man was obstinately crawling trying to escape, Kazuma mercilessly kicked him.

Two kicks, three kick - only after confirming that the silenced man was not dead, he searched for Daichi.

Dragging along his exhausted short body, the child-faced beginner policeman was approaching. 

Not saying any encouraging words, Kazuma heartlessly rebuked that unsightly appearance.

"Why are you dawdling? It's not like you were hurt enough not to be able to walk."

".....ou,gh"

" - Ah?"

"I've had enough! This job has no common sense!"

"No common sense? - are ''you'' saying that?", Kazuma retorted stunned but Daiki didn't listen, his eyes full of tears.

"Why are you looking at me like that? I took the police exam! Not the one to become apprentice to a magician nor to enlist in some army protecting the earth!", he screamed from the bottom of his soul.

"I just wanted to become a normal policeman! And someday become a detective, to participate actively in investigations and such...."

Finally unable to endure it any longer, his tears overflowed. While looking at that pitiful circumstance, using his power of imagination Kazuma recollected Daiki's figure after becoming a policeman.

Having been assigned one search case, the capable detective that bravely argueed with the brutal criminal.

"............"

Thinking of the limits of the human body, he feebly shook his head. No matter how much he thought about it, that scene only reminded him of some cheap school festival play.

It was as if a middle school student was pretending to be a policeman.

''"Well, dreaming is free..."''

The reality was that Kirika, after having set her eyes on him, would never accept his application to change assignments. Same for a letter of resignation.

Even if he was an individual or a public figure, Kirika had that amount of power.

The Special Investigation Unit - it can be said it was already decided that Daiki would die in that place.




Isurugi Daiki was not a person born out of what was called a Jutsu-sha family lineage.

His father was an ordinary office worker. His mother was a housewife. He had an older brother but he too, was a normal salary man.

Daiki himself, didn't have any special personal history. He graduated from a reasonable private university with reasonable results and passed the police examination test normally.

During the interview, he spoke about his desire to someday become a detective.

But, that modest dream, or maybe his ambition resulted from not knowing his own place made him brilliantly flunk the test given before the police academy graduation. 

The result that miraculous response gave was that he had the ability to sense the supernatural, to put it simply.

Without being asked about his opinion, he was assigned to the Special Investigation Unit, where he spent all his days as a human experiment, an activity called training.

And finally they found the manifestation of his special power.

<<Demon Eater>> - the power to make a hole in this plane and expel all devilishness to a different dimension.

He wasn't particularly eating them but, the blunt result of his power was commented on with ''It's as if he's chewing meatballs'' so the name stuck.

This power was conjectured to be the height of his abnormal good fortune discovered during the training, nicknamed <<Miracle In Disaster>>.

Although it was repeatedly called good luck, Daiki was not a lucky person. Rather, his usual luck was very bad.

When walking on the street dogs would try to bit him and bird crap always fell on his head. He has also a lot of experience with hitting his car.

But, when the bad luck that had befallen him reached a lethal level, that vector was reversed.

If a truck were to hit him, the wheel will suddenly turn and avoid his car. When he fell down, stepping on his shoe laces, a steel frame falling from a construction site hit the ground in front of him - those kind of things.

Well then...the question is what will happen if he were to encounter misfortunes that exceed his level of manipulation.

Just like what happened.

The way he expelled Garum, its fangs about to tear his throat, to a different dimension without doing so to the unlucky ringleader. That was perfect.

Although unstable, his power was as rare as a jewel. Regardless of what he thought, Kirika would never let such a talented man escape.

"Waaaa....how long will I continue to do this.....?"

It seemed he continued to cry. His words mingled with tears made Kazuma the tiniest bit aware.

''"Isn't it until you die?"''

He kept those direct words with no delicacy inside.

Although it's true he didn't do it out of compassion, it's just that he tried to avoid even more depressed cries.

Trampling down <<The Hell Hound>> under his feet, Kazuma ordered.

"Take out your handcuffs and restrain him. If this guy were to escape, the lovely Room Monitor lady will electrocute you."

"Hiiii!!"

Raising a turned inside out scream, Daiki arrested the man. It seems he had the experience of making Kirika mad.

Giving Daiki, who although slow tied the man's hands behind, a sidelong glance, Kazuma turned his eyes to the surroundings.

There were spectators. But, it didn't appear the man's accomplices nor others like him were present.

''"We're finished for today, huh?"''

It was still evening. As for the time, it seemed the real action will start from now on but Daiki was pretty shaken.

This was a power suited for extreme situations but if his mind were to close itself we won't be able to progress. Kirika was trying to cultivate that angle.

"Kid, drag that with you."

He was about to say they were turning back. 

When ''that'' appeared in Kazuma's vision.

"........."

From Kazuma's awareness everything else suddenly disappeared. He unconsciously stepped forward and held out his hand, requesting.

''She'' was there.

Her age was seventeen or eighteen.

Her chestnut colored hair fluttered in the wind.

Her almost transparent, white, flawless skin.

The girl he was never supposed to meet again. Even if he were to wait until the end of time, they were not meant to meet once more.

And yet, separated by only a few meters, ''she'' was there.

Her appearance unchanged from that time.

".......Tsoi Rin......."

He let out a cracked whispered. Hearing that, the girl slowly turned her head.

She looked at Kazuma with eyes the color of lapis lazuli, and then she smiled.

"........"

The fact that she used to smile this way, Kazuma remembered it just now.

He had long forgotten. The excessive vividness of that her face, separated by time.

In front of Kazuma standing there petrified, the girl smiled at him brilliantly once more and then she turned around.

"....Wait......"


[[File:Kaze no Stigma vol 04 125.jpg|thumb|]]


Losing his mind, Kazuma chased after her. Without a moment of indecision. 

"Wh- what happened, Yagami-san?"

From the back he could hear someone's voice but he ignored it before the brain had the chance to recognize it.

For him right now, nothing was more important than searching for Tsoi Rin.





He ran.

He ran.

He ran.

Kazuma earnestly just chased after the girl in front. Without thinking of nothing else. But even so, he couldn't catch up with her.

Five meters.

That was the distance separating those two. From the time they started running, without shrinking or extending it, it remained the same.

Like a mirage, chasing after the elusive girl, Kazuma ran. Pushing through the crowd of people, making a lot of turns, and then -

" - Hey?"

And the same way she appeared, the girl suddenly vanished. The street corner she certainly entered. Inside it was a dead end. But she was nowhere.

"What just happened....?", he murmured and finally Kazuma realized what he was doing.

He called out the wind. To the limit of his power. He searched for just one thing -

''"Tsoi Rin...!"''

But, the wind didn't answer. No matter how he he extended his search range, there is no response for Tsoi Rin.

"Did I see it wrong......?", he squeezed out the words like groaning.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!

" - Ah?"

Was it several second, several minutes or more? In any case, that telephone ringtone called back the stupefied Kazuma. He looked at the terminal screen. It was Kirika.

"What?"

"It's not <<What?>> is it? What happened? Isurugi-kun came back crying saying you suddenly ran off to somewhere! Where are you now?"

In his absent-minded brain, an angry voice with a big volume resounded. Not yet able to freely use his cognitive abilities, he searched for a response to the last question.

His surrounding were composed of random tall buildings. He saw in his proximity a characteristic twin tower. It seems he ran all the way to the Government District. 

Hearing that answer, Kirika asked once more.

"Did something happen?"

"......No, nothing much."

"Hey, hold yourself together!"

At that half-asleep like answer, as expected Kirika's voice became even more rough.

"I don't know about your private life but do your job properly! Because you were gone, the man we finally managed to catch escaped!"

"Did he let him escape in that state? What a useless guy."

"Just like you.", Kirika promptly replied. 

With no place to object, Kazuma shrugged his shoulders in silence.

From the telephone, a deep, deep sigh could be heard.

"Anyway, come back at once. Because I managed to obtain Ayano-chan's cooperation, meet up with Isurughi-kun and come to the Kannagi Residence. Do you understand?"

"Aah."

"Don't drop off!"

Kirika cut off the conversation with those bitter words, without waiting for a reply. 

It seemed she was very angry but, for Kazuma right now it didn't matter.

"What just happened.......?"

Murmuring so and looking up at the sky, Kazuma's consciousness was filled with the smile of the girl he met four years before.

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