How To Eat Life:Chapter 2-3

#2-3_kawauso / A Name that I can't Call

—... Why?

A question immediately surfaced in his mind. Well, it couldn't be deemed the 'first' thought. After all, he hadn't just been born into this world. Nevertheless, he wondered, why?

Was he not dead? He had been convinced he was surely dead.

Why was he not dead?

Well, that was good. He was still alive. Yes, he hadn't died.

He had just experienced something that felt like dying. It wouldn't have been surprising if he had died. What had happened?

What was it...

He didn't really know, but there was light.

He could see light.

It wasn't bright, but there was light beneath his feet.

Was he sitting? It seemed that way. It appeared as though he was seated on a chair. He couldn't move. It felt as if he were bound to the chair. Why a chair?

Oh, right. He remembered.

The car.

He had been struck by a car. A white minivan. He had been tailing a young man. He had spotted him and given chase. He had attempted to apprehend him, but the man had utilized a long cord-like creature, resembling an earthworm or a tapeworm—

"...Zingai..."

That cord-like creature was no ordinary cord or elongated earthworm or mutated tapeworm.

It possessed a substantial illusion. It was known as a phantom body.

Another term for it was zingai¹.

It was a zingai.

人外 means an inhuman being

That man had brought it along. It was the man's zingai.

Speaking of zingai—

He looked toward his right leg.

It was gone.

Or rather, he was gone.

Olver, who had merged with his right leg, was gone.

The Otter nodded and muttered, "Okay, okay." English? he thought. Or is 'okay' not English? If it isn't English, then what language is it? I suppose it's English.

Regardless of what had occurred, he was still alive. He didn't know his whereabouts, but it was a dim place. There was light, probably from an electric source. The floor was made of cracked concrete. He was definitely indoors. He was bound to a chair. Was it a factory? Or perhaps an abandoned factory. It could also be a warehouse.

Footsteps approached.

The Otter raised his head. He strained his eyes, blinked, inhaled, exhaled, and eventually he could see.

Someone was there. They were drawing nearer. They stopped in front of the Otter. It was a woman with short hair. Or was it a man? Their figure was difficult to discern. They wore an oversized hoodie and track pants. They were not large; rather, they were quite slender.

"...Are you awake?"

From the voice, it seemed to be a woman.

The woman leaned forward slightly and peered at the Otter's face.

"Hey, I'm asking you a question. You're awake, aren't you?"

The Otter tried to nod his head. The woman turned around.

"Hey! He's awake!"

The Otter and the woman were not the only ones present. It appeared that the woman had companions. It seemed she was summoning those companions.

The Otter surveyed his surroundings. Some sort of old machinery lay on its side. Rebar pillars and beams were scattered about. The roof was made of corrugated iron, with missing shingles here and there. Was this truly an abandoned factory? A camping lantern had been placed some distance away, serving as the sole source of light. The surroundings were dark.

If it was nighttime now, it must have been over twelve hours since he had been struck by the minivan. Upon reflection, he seemed to have had a dream before waking up. Had it truly been a dream? Or was it something else? The Otter had woken up multiple times, but his mind had felt hazy, causing him to fall back asleep immediately. He had likely lost consciousness.

On the edge of the lantern's light, the minivan was parked. It was most likely the vehicle that had hit him. The sliding door of the backseat was open.

From there, a man emerged. He wore a military-style jacket and denim pants. From the sleeve of his jacket dangled a long, worm-like creature, resembling an earthworm or a tapeworm—a zingai.

The young man walked, dragging his zingai along.

"Ibe-kun," the woman called out to the young man.

Was that his name? Ibe. It was probably his name.

The woman inquired of Ibe, "What about Hideyoshi-san?"

Ibe shook his head.

Hideyoshi. It didn't appear to be the woman's name or Ibe's given name. This meant there was another person. Hideyoshi, as he was referred to, was likely inside the car.

Was this a group of three?

Ibe, with his tapeworm zingai. The woman and Hideyoshi were probably in the minivan. The Otter had been run over just as he had entered the road. Was it mere coincidence? Who knows. He couldn't clearly recall the moment of impact, so he couldn't provide any commentary. But these people had brought the Otter to this abandoned factory by car. The extent of his injuries was uncertain, but it was likely more than a mere scratch. Despite that, instead of taking him to a hospital, they had restrained him here. That was not a conventional course of action.

Ibe approached the woman.

"You're from the flower shop, right?"

The Otter didn't respond. Ibe's tapeworm zingai slithered across the concrete and drew near the Otter's foot.

"I know all about it. When an incident or accident involving zingai occurs, you guys go out and investigate, don't you? Sneaking around like hungry stray dogs."

This was the first time he had gotten a proper look at the tapeworm zingai. Its elongated body had a diameter of approximately one centimeter. From its rounded tip, something resembling a snail's antenna protruded.

He contemplated crushing it underfoot, but his ankles were tightly bound to the chair. Due to this, he could hardly move anything except his toes.

"You guys are pawns for that organization, aren't you?"

Ibe pressed closer, his face near. The Otter didn't meet his gaze. He stared at Ibe's tapeworm zingai.

"Yeah? I know, you know. That you're pawns for that organization. All the politicians, megacorporations, and mass media in the world. That organization's reach can extend anywhere."

"...You're a classic conspiracy theorist, huh."

The Otter couldn't help but let out an inappropriate laugh. Ibe grabbed his shoulder.

"Ough..."

The pain was overwhelming.

"It's futile, you idiooot-."

"We know the truth. Sullivan has told us everything. Do you understand? I suppose pawns of that organization wouldn't comprehend. We, we are now awake."

He gasped. He continued to breathe in and quietly exhale. He shouldn't have appeared shaken.

—Sullivan.

Ibe's gang was connected to Sullivan.

Dhole-senpai and the Otter were not just the Dahlia 4 duo. The flower shop, Flower House, and the Special Countermeasures Division of the police, known as the Special Cases Countermeasures Office, had multiple active divisions. These divisions handled special cases while also searching for a person named Sullivan.

A creature, the tapeworm zingai, was crawling up the Otter's left leg, resembling a snake climbing a tree. The Otter tried to shake it off but couldn't since he was tied to the chair.

"We know everything. We know that you guys are also trying to find Sullivan. We see through it all," said the person named Ibe.

Ibe grabbed the Otter's jaw tightly, questioning him about the flower shop's affiliation with the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office, their superiors, and their knowledge of Sullivan.

The Otter, feeling the tapeworm zingai nearing his neck, spoke up, causing Ibe to exert more force on his jaw. The Otter denied any knowledge of the organization Ibe referred to and claimed to be a regular civil servant.

Ibe mentioned that the Otter was a zingai user, someone who could see and utilize zingai, just like them. The tapeworm zingai continued to press against the Otter's neck, threatening to penetrate his skin.

The Otter observed Yuki, the woman with Ibe, wondering if she was also a zingai master. He realized that his own zingai, Olver, was missing.

As the conversation continued, a door in the abandoned factory swung open with a loud noise. Before Ibe could react, he was attacked by a wolf, who turned out to be Garm, Dhole-senpai's companion. The Otter and the chair fell to the ground due to the impact, but Olver, the weasel-like zingai, intervened and fought against the tapeworm zingai.

Yuki kicked at Garm but missed, and with her help, Ibe managed to stand up. Meanwhile, Dhole-senpai, dressed in a black pantsuit and white pumps, freed the Otter from the chair with a knife and quickly left without saying a word. The Otter called out for Olver and Garm, realizing that Dhole-senpai had used Garm as a distraction to rescue him.

Olver quickly rushed over and coiled around the Otter's leg, while Garm, being even more daring, jumped and embraced senpai. Every time the Otter witnessed this, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy, thinking to himself, "That must be nice. I'm somewhat jealous." However, he refrained from expressing these feelings, fearing that senpai would look at him disdainfully and subject him to scathing verbal abuse. That's precisely why he chose to remain silent.

Garm held senpai close to his chest, and the Otter wondered if such an action should be described in such a romantic manner. Garm's chest and abdomen split open, seemingly engulfing senpai, who entered inside him.

Or perhaps it would be more appropriate to phrase it this way:

The wolf devoured senpai.

Unlike the wolf in the fairytale "Little Red Riding Hood," Garm didn't open his mouth wide; instead, his entire body split in two down the middle, and he consumed senpai as if that were his mouth. Senpai was swallowed whole.

The bond between a zingai and its master was something special. Masters and zingai were paired one-to-one, and there were no replacements, to put it mildly. They formed a completely unique combination. To use an idiom, she was the apple of his eye, and he loved her so much that he could have devoured her. Was that the reason why Garm had eaten senpai?

However, that couldn't be true.

Senpai hadn't allowed Garm to consume her; instead, she had entered inside him. It was reminiscent of the concept mentioned in the New Testament: a wolf in sheep's clothing. Well, in this case, it was the opposite. Senpai wasn't a sheep to begin with.

What appeared was Dhole-senpai, wearing a wolf's clothing.

How should I put it? Senpai had become a werewolf.

"Kuh...!"

The Otter kicked off the ground using Olver's right leg and used the recoil to leap up. He landed with Olver's right leg, supporting his body with his own left leg, but he felt quite uneasy. However, even if he was injured, the Otter remained focused on one thing: senpai's gaze. Was she watching him or not? It was a little unclear.

"Ibe shouted, 'Deathworm...!' Was that the name of his zingai? Deathworm, also known as the tapeworm zingai, seemed to want to meet its master's expectations. It instantly coiled around the Otter's senpai-turned-wolf-woman. However, it proved to be futile.

Senpai, clad in Garm's skin, was undeniably dangerous.

She was not only fast, but also incredibly sharp and possessed a violent strength.

She exhibited merciless ferocity, bordering on cruelty.

Senpai arched backward with the force of a backflip, effortlessly evading Deathworm. But she wasn't finished yet. In the next moment, she leaned forward and sank her teeth into Deathworm, devouring half of its body along with the antenna at the end in a single bite. With a couple more bites, she demolished the remaining parts.

"Aah..."

Ibe collapsed.

For a zingai to disappear and the master to remain unharmed, was that even possible?

Ibe had just asked that question and now experienced the answer firsthand.

Senpai's attention was fixated on the gun, and the Otter was equally focused on it. They were familiar with zingai encounters, having fought against lion and brown bear zingai before, but never ones armed with guns. It was a rare occurrence for zingai masters in Japan to use firearms. The Otter had never experienced a gun being pointed at him before, and while he couldn't be sure about senpai, he didn't think she had either. Even though she was his senpai, it was natural for her to feel nervous in the presence of a gun.

Hideyoshi held the gun in a showy posture, gripping it with one hand and holding it sideways. It was evident that he was an amateur and not a trained professional. The gun might have been a real handgun, but it could also be a model. In Japan, it was possible to acquire firearms if you knew the right channels and had enough money, but they weren't readily available everywhere. The Otter wondered if Hideyoshi was bluffing.

Hideyoshi pulled the trigger.

“Bang!”

It wasn't the gun. It was his mouth.

Hideyoshi had said it with his mouth. He’d imitated the sound of a gun.

Of course, senpai hadn't been shot. Fucking around like that. The Otter was pissed. If Hideyoshi had been right beside him, he probably would've punched him. But had that really been just a practical joke?

“—..."

The Otter was speechless. It was the meat lump.

The meat lump dropped downwards, aiming for senpai. He couldn't believe it. Could you say that it had fattened up in its brief time in the air? It was clearly bigger than before.

Even fatness had its limits. What an enormous lump of meat it was. Still, this wasn't like senpai.

To think that senpai hadn't dodged.

It was all because of the gun. Because she’d turned her attention to the gun, her reaction was slowed. Her attention had been thoroughly diverted.

The meat lump completely squashed senpai.

She disappeared from view.

Senpai.

She’d been pinned beneath the lump of meat.

He had to help. He had to help senpai. The Otter tried to kick off the ground with Olver’s right leg. He’d been careless. Until that moment, he hadn't noticed it at all. It was Omen, Yuki’s zingai, the white dolls. They closed in. They began to swarm the Otter.

“Ah…!”

The white dolls jumped not at Olver’s right leg, but at his flesh left leg, his body, and his arms. In the blink of an eye, Omen had dragged him to the ground.

“Uahahaha-”

Grating laughter rang out. Hideyoshi. The spidery man was coming. Or rather, he was already here. His hollow-cheeked bearded face looked down at the Otter. He aimed his gun at him. At his head, between the eyebrows. The gun was still held sideways.

“You fucking ate Ibe’s zingai. That’s the end of the torture. We’re soldiers who offered up their souls to Sullivan’s ideals after all. The organizations dogs are the enemy. And we’ll kill the enemy. You’re dying too.”

No, it wasn't a model gun. It was real. He was going to be shot. Even with that grip, there was no discounting the distance he was at. There was no way he was going to miss. On top of that, Hideyoshi used his left hand to support the right hand gripping the gun. Like that, he pulled the trigger.

He was desperate. The Otter used all the strength he could muster to twist his neck to the left.

He wanted to praise himself for not closing his eyes and resigning himself in such an extreme situation. He was just a little bit proud of himself for trying to survive.

The Otter felt a strong impact on the right side of his head. His right eye burned terribly, but he wasn't hit directly. The bullet had not hit him. That was undeniable.

“Aah?! You bastard…!”

Hideyoshi flipped out, immediately reaching to fire the next bullet. It might it this time. If he was hit, the Otter would probably sustain life-threatening injuries. It was possible he could be hit in the head and die instantly.

“UAAAAAAAAAAAAH…!”

There was a beast-like roar. From that, the Otter understood. It was senpai. There was no mistaking that sound. It was senpai’s voice.

“Wha-...”

Hideyoshi looked to the side. He didn't mean to withdraw the gun, but the mouth of the gun turned away from the Otter.

“Olveeeer….!”

The Otter opened his eyes as wide as he could. He didn't think a thing about what he should do, or how. He entrusted it all to Olver.

The Olver melded with his leg jumped up the Otter’s body, shaking off Omen, the white dolls, and blowing Hideyoshi away with them.

The Otter spun. Not vertically or horizontally, but diagonally through the air. As he spun through the air, he caught a glimpse of the majestic figure of senpai wearing Garm’s skin lifting the meat lump zingai in the air—the wolf-woman, Dhole-senpai.

The Otter tumbled to the ground. Senpai was flinging the meat lump zingai in Hideyoshi’s direction. Hideyoshi jumped to the side, dodging the meat lump zingai just in time. It would have been funny for a master to be crushed to death by his own zingai though.

Hideyoshi barely managed to get up and yelled.

“Go, Fat Man…!”

Fat Man bounced and rushed to attack senpai again. Senpai faced it without running. She grasped Fat Man and snapped at it. Senpai and Fat Man rolled around, entangled together.

Senpai bit off chunks of meat. With all her strength, she tore the meat off the meat lump zingai. No blood came out. Even as meat scattered around, splintered, and collapsed in on itself, even more meat came out. It was meat. The meat lump zingai was just like a cluster of meat personified. Even so, the meat lump zingai expressed discomfort. It twisted its body, its meat, around, and tried to push senpai away. It couldn't. Senpai wouldn't let it.

Senpai had the upper hand.

But that didn't mean he could stand idly by and wait for the fight to conclude. Sorry about this, Olver. Just one last stretch. The Otter cheered on Olver’s right leg and stood up. He scolded his flesh and bone left leg, which hurt so much he could hardly put any force on it. The bones seemed to be broken. That didn't matter. He’d steeled his resolve.

The Otter pivoted on Olver’s right leg and rushed at him.

He would kill him.

Hideyoshi.

From now on, the Otter would kill people.

Call it murder or whatever you want, but it was the mission. He had to do it. More than that, he had to lend senpai his strength, if just a little. The Otter wanted to stay the kouhai who let their senpai handle all the dirty work. But he couldn't stay like this forever. He had to become a kouhai who could bear senpai’s burdens with her.

Hideyoshi knelt on one knee, watching over senpai and Fat Man’s tussle. He wasn't aware of it himself, but the Otter seemed to have let out something like a war cry. Thanks to that, he was spotted.

“—ah?!”

Hideyoshi shot immediately. He fired many shots in the Otter’s direction. He felt a strong impact like he’d just taken a baseball bat to the guts, and staggered, but he didn't stop. He tried to keep running. It was like his posture wasn't steady, and he couldn't run like he wanted to. And what of it? He was already covered in wounds and unsteady anyway. After that, his left arm was hit as well. It’s fine. The Otter decided to think. If it’s the arm, that’s fine.

“The bullets—”

Hideyoshi pulled the trigger, but no more bullets came out. It was right after that. Finally. The Otter caught Hideyoshi.

He grabbed Hideyoshi’s neck with his right hand, and pressed him to the ground.

That’s not it.

I have to kill this guy.

His flesh and blood was now on his hands, but it was the Otter’a turn to shine.

“T…”

Hideyoshi was trying to say something, but his neck was constricted and he couldn't speak.

That’s good. Very good.

Die.

Let’s keep my body weight on him like this. I’ll crush his throat. You’re dying.

Just die already.

He had intended to kill him, but what had happened?

—Goh.

He heard a loud noise. It wasn't Hideyoshi. Had something else shoved the Otter away? Had he been punched?

The Otter was on his hands and knees. Or was he lying on his back? He couldn't even discern if he was facing up or down.

Someone was there.

He was standing right nearby.

It was a large man.

He wore long boots, and had what seemed to be gloved hands.

The large man was wearing a mask. A mask with a bared teeth design drawn on it.

Did he have a shaved head? Or was he wearing a hat?

Hollow eyes stared down at the Otter.

“...Sullivan’s—”

Someone spoke. Was it Hideyoshi? Maybe Hideyoshi said that. Sullivan.

Sullivan’s.

Sullivan’s what?

The masked man lifted one leg. It seemed like he was going to step on the Otter with his long boots. It seemed like it would be painful. It probably wouldn't just be painful. The one who was about to be stepped on by the masked man was the Otter, but for some reason, he felt like that wasn't somebody else’s business. He felt his consciousness fading.

Could this be the end?

Is it really ending like this? I'm sorry, senpai.

If I apologize, would you be angry? You'd tell me to stop apologizing for everything. But still, I'm sorry. Truly--

"NGAAAAAAAAAH...!"

Senpai.

Why did senpai's voice...

Of course, it was because of senpai.

Senpai had rushed over and sent the masked man flying.

Whenever her unreliable kouhai fell into a tight situation, she would come to save him without fail. That was senpai.

"Who gave you the right...! You beat up my cute little kouhai, you pieces of shits...!"

When the time came, she would stand in the enemy's way and have her kouhai's back, hurling abuse defiantly. The ace of the Special Cases Countermeasures Office's active force. Dahlia 4's Dhole. Senpai, who wore Garm's skin. The horrifying and beautiful wolf-woman. How about it? Isn't my senpai amazing? She's awesome, isn't she? She's more awesome than anyone.

The Otter laughed. Well, he tried to laugh. His voice wouldn't come out. Maybe because of the pain or something, he couldn't move his body. He couldn't really see anything either. This might be bad. Am I not dying? It was possible the Otter was on the verge of death. Even so, he wanted to laugh. He wanted to at least die laughing.

This wasn't the time to be laughing. The Otter couldn't understand that this wasn't a situation where you could laugh.

-Why?

Senpai suddenly shed Garm's skin.

Why?

Garm picked up the Otter and carried him on his back.

What is Garm doing?

"I'll leave the rest to you."

That was what senpai told him. Her voice was quiet, and her tone dull. Senpai didn't look at the Otter. But those were words aimed at the Otter. That, he understood.

Leave it to her?

The rest?

What did she mean?

Garm started running. It seemed like Garm was carrying the Otter away from this abandoned factory. What are you doing? What are you doing for me? Stop it. The Otter tried to resist. Please stop. Let me down. I said no, Garm. Why are you doing this? He wanted to stop Garm, even if he had to use brute force. He would if he could. But the Otter was hovering between life and death. The surroundings were dark. Was this the darkness of the night? Or had he already lost consciousness? He called for senpai in the darkness. Again, and again, and again, and again, he called senpai's name.

The Otter knew senpai's real name.

Shima Touko.

He had once tried to call senpai by her real name to tease her.

Touko-san, he had called, and without missing a beat, senpai had shot back, "What, Haizaki Itsuya?"

How can you remain unbothered? Haizaki had protested, and senpai had let out a laugh through her nose. "I mean, it's just my name. I don't think anything of being called by it."

Senpai.

Dhole-senpai.

Shima Touko-senpai.

Touko-san.

Suddenly, the Otter was thrown into the darkness.

Garm, who was supposed to be carrying the Otter, was nowhere to be found. Where was this? He had no idea. But it seemed to be thick grass. Was a river flowing nearby? He could hear the faint sound of water. The Otter was alone.

Garm was gone.

He had disappeared, suddenly.

Senpai's zingai, Garm, had been eliminated without a trace.

What did that mean? The Otter couldn't comprehend it.

It was okay if he didn't understand at this moment.

He didn't want to know.