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Shiramitsu Ryui Character Novel: The Day the Angel Died

Chapter 1: The Shiramitsu Family Curse

I wonder when, exactly, it was that I started truly hating going home.

"Toi! Toi---!!"

"Ani...... sama....."

Was it when I saw Toi reach out for me with weak and trembling hands?

"We are truly blessed by our lord... but that twin brother of his is useless. At best, maybe he can be used as a guard dog."

"Shh. What if he hears you?"

"It's fine. It's the truth, after all."

Was it when Toi was possessed by an angel, and he was put up on that pedestal-- and they started treating me like a reject?

"This body is a bit weak, but no matter... I'll be counting on all of you from now on, my loyal dogs."

"Oshisha-samaaaaaa! I implore you, please, continue to grant your blessings to the Shiramitsu family!"

Was it when our mother saw that bastard wearing Toi's skin and she flung herself at him, screaming and crying with joy like a madwoman?

... all of the above. That entire place was a fucking madhouse.

Whenever anyone opens their mouths, it's never anything but Oshisha-sama, Oshisha-sama; everyone and everything else is just treated as worse than trash, as a matter of course. But without Oshisha-sama, they're completely powerless.

I thought so many times that I was going to leave that house and be free of them-- that I would just cast off that entire family full of rotten people. Not a day went by that I didn't think about it, but I never did, because Toi was there. I had to protect Toi from those bastards.

"..."

If I could have taken Toi with me, I'd have done it without a second thought. But I was still a minor when it started bothering me. I was just a sixteen year old little shit who didn't know anything about the real world. The old man, our mother, and his believers all kept Toi so closely guarded that he couldn't leave the house.

Every single day, I felt like I was bound by a powerful bloodline curse, kept hanging out in empty air, left standing at a dead end. I was pissed off. I felt helpless. I felt like I was about to vomit. I was so pent-up that I just ended up spending every day wandering aimlessly around Tokyo. I couldn't leave home, but at the very least, I didn't have to stay in HAMA. That was all I could do.

"The hell's with this half-pint!? Comin' in swinging out of nowhere and picking a fight!?"

"Shut up and fuck off. Don't screech like that. You made eye contact with me, so I've obviously gotta beat your ass."

If I saw any other punks hanging around and made eye contact with them, I'd start a fight on the spot. I just wanted to beat someone up; it didn't matter who it was. I know perfectly well that I was just trying to take my anger out on someone, but I didn't know any other way to let it out.

"... huh?"

"Huh, what?"

"Half-pint, what's that behind you?"

"Wh-- you can see it?"

A weird shape...

But I was really a stupid little shit. I didn't know how to fight back against the world.

"Apparitions, demons, ghosts, yokai... call them whatever you want. But I guess it'd be hard for someone operating on your level to understand."

"Eh? Huh? The fuck are you on about?"

"Dunno why, but they like following me around... but unfortunately, I can't see them."

"Wh-- that's fuckin' weir-- why is it coming towards me!?"

"Guess it figures that my enemies are its enemies."

The Tokyo guy let out a little shriek of fear, took out his shrivelled little wallet from his pocket, and threw it at my feet.

"I-- I'm sorry! There's about 2000 yen in there!"

"..."

"I-- I'm outta here!"

Then he ran away as fast as he could. I was left standing there, deflated and with my eyes half-hooded.

"Ah, this seriously sucks... this is worse than shitty. I was gonna beat that guy up, but you messed that up for me..."

I picked up the wallet. I wasn't after the money, I just wanted to fight; but I didn't want to just leave it there on the ground. Well, it was enough for a bowl of gyudon and maybe a couple games at the arcade. Maybe that would make me feel a bit better. So I left the alley, unsatisfied.

Even after all of this, nothing was changing, and I gritted my teeth. This was my daily life, but I knew that things couldn't keep on this way. If I kept doing this, I'd just get even worse than I was. But people can't change that easily. I can't change.

... and now it seemed it was time to pay my dues.

"Hm?"

It was in was wandering aimlessly through the usual alleyways.

"I'm pretty sure this today is supposed to be live insinonsense text"

"Hah...?"

It was so palpable that even I could see it, so strong that--

"Same with this your boand if I figure out if it's supposed to be a mashup of various languages love I'll fix it later much!!!!"

I'd just come across a horrible monster of some kind, and there was no chance in hell that I was going to be able to handle this on my own.

Chapter 2: Miura Morozumi

"Dunno."

"There are ones who like you so much that they'll attack anyone that acts mean towards you, but there are also ones who seem to want to drag you down into their world..."

"Don't worry about it. I've got lots of amulets... see? I wear them under my clothes. And it's not like I've ever been attacked, anyway."

"But if a really powerful one, like so powerful that even you can see it, gets attracted to you, then depending on what kind of personality that spirit has, it might try to kill you."

"... what's this?"

"It's a special amulet! I made it for you, Ani-sama. I put a lot of power into it for you."

That conversation I had with Toi flashes through my brain.

"Are you reading this love for some reason!"

I couldn't figure out what the personality of the powerful monster in front of me was, but I got the feeling that it had some kind of twisted affection for me. From behind the hole where its face should be, I felt a burning stare, that sent a shock down my spine and made my whole body feel like it was on fire.

Perhaps noticing my hesitation, the creature began to approach me, the multiple writhing spindly hands attached to its torso wriggling in excitement. This was bad. I frantically searched my pockets.

"I don't have the amulet Toi gave me--!?"

That's right-- it was precious to me and I didn't want it to get even a single scratch on it, so I remembered that it was on display in my room. Even though he'd made it for me to use... I was such a moron.

It's over. I'm cornered. This is the end of the line. Those fragmentary words were the only things I could think.

And then it happened.

"Ha!"

"--!?"

There was a sound like sand being poured onto concrete, and then in an instant, the powerful creature in front of me suddenly burst into tiny pieces. I didn't know what had happened except for the fact that the spirit had vanished. And just beyond where the monster had been until a moment ago--

There stood a man dressed in a suit that made him look like he was going to a funeral. He held a clenched fist outstretched and stared at me, motionless, his eyes wide open.

"どしたば?"^[1]

As he lowered his fist, he spoke in some kind of dialect that I didn't understand.

"しゃべらいねぐなってまったが?"

"... what?"

Once again, he spoke in a dialect I didn't know.

"あー、ゴホン... standard dialect, Tokyo..." He looked a little sheepish at the realization that I hadn't been able to understand him. "Have you lost your ability to speak?"

"No... I can still talk."

He relaxed a little at my reply.

"んだが。へばまんず立ぢへ。 It's all alright now." He kept using words I didn't understand, but he held his hand out to me with a friendly smile.

The man who had saved me from disaster gave me a business card that read "Miura Morozumi, Supernatural Attourney". He told me that he was from Aomori, and that the language he spoke was the Aomori dialect. He could speak standard Japanese, but he wasn't very good at it.

"'Supernatural Attourney'"?

"Yes. Most supernatural creatures are human in origin. So, those who break human laws are exorcised, and we make contracts to enable co-existence."

"Hah..."

"The one you just met was crossing that line, and so I exorcised it. It was going to kill you."

"I figured. I felt the murderous intent."

Morozumi-san nodded, and then said, "so, you must be the one I've seen around here from time to time. The yankii who uses monsters to extort money from other delinquents."

"Hey, don't get it twisted. I wasn't trying to take his money. I just wanted a fight, and he just tossed his wallet at me and ran."

"I see, well, clearly that's alright then," Morozumi-san said with a laugh. I thought it was interesting that when he laughed, the corners of his eyes drooped down and he looked like Ebisu^[2]. As I stared at Morozumi's face, I marvelled at the fact that there was such a thing as a supernatural attourney, and I was really on board with the idea that they wouldn't tolerate (let alone coexist with) something breaking the law just because it wasn't human.

There were a lot of things in the world that I didn't know about. But Morozumi-san knew about them, and was doing them. Maybe, with Morozumi-san--

"My office is on the top floor of this building, so why not come in and take a rest? This is a bit of a backstreet, so we don't have a lot of drop-in customers, and I don't have any appointments. Please, stay the night."

"... thanks."

Maybe Morozumi-san could help me with Toi?

With that in mind, I decided to swallow my pride for once, and accept his offer of a meal and a place to stay.

[1] He's speaking an odd dialect of Japanese that Ryui doesn't understand. I don't know how to render this in a way that wouldn't be super questionable, so I'm leaving it as-is. Once it becomes clearer, I'll be translating him speaking in a slightly stilted affect.
[2] One of the Seven Gods of Fortune, associated with water, wealth, and fishermen; often portrayed with a big, wide grin.

Chapter 3: Oshisha-sama

Morozumi-san's law firm was based in Aomori, but it was a small company; he was the only director and proper employee, with only a smattering of office staff on top of that. Apparently, he was on a business trip to the Tokyo branch.
Apparently, this was just one of many factors that played into why his accent was so pronounced.

"Ryui, it seems that you have quite the attraction to spirits... they are attracted to that you are so stubborn and they are banging on the door..."

"Can you maybe get an interpreter...?"

After that day, we began to meet every now and then when Morozumi-san was in Tokyo on business. It was mostly on my end; I went to see him at times that I thought he might be there.

... I threw away his business card, since I thought I wouldn't need it as long as I remembered his name and where his office was, but as a result, I didn't have any of his contact information, and besides that, I thought it would be kind of weird to make formal arrangements to meet up every time we saw each other.

Anyway, we ended up talking about a lot of different stuff.

Morozumi-san had once been the leader of a motorcycle gang. After one of his friends died while they were racing down Apple Road ^[3], he developed psychic powers, and that was what led him down this path. He used to get into a lot of fights, and apparently he even used his fists when he was exorcising things...

When I showed him all of the amulets that I was wearing, he said, "so many things to invite good fortune! It would be a shame to waste it, would it not?" He even taught me how to perform simple exorcisms using the amulets. Morozumi-san was probably the first dependable adult I had ever met.

We kept meeting like that for several years.

Eventually, I finally turned 21 years old. By this point, I had come to really trust Morozumi-san.

"I know I don't talk about this, but my family is insane."

With the help of a little alcohol, I finally decided to tell him about how strange the Shiramitsu family truly was. Morozumi-san listened intently, and sometimes looked almost apologetic, and when I finally finished talking, he tilted his head and looked like he was thinking deeply about something.

"I wonder..."

That was the end of it for a few months.

Then, one day, after I hadn't seen Morzumi-san in a while, he greeted me with a strangely solemn look on his face.

"About the matters of your household..." he said. "I thought I had heard the name Oshisha-sama before, back in my hometown. So I did some research back in Aomori."

"In Aomori?"

Morozumi-san nodded. His face was as solemn as before, but I didn't care. I felt as though I could see a sliver of light breaking through the clouds. Maybe Oshisha-sama -- and by extension, the Shiramitsu family -- had roots in Aomori.

... so maybe I should go there? Understanding how the roots work would make it easier to pull him out of Toi. My face brightened at the thought, and Morozumi-san stared at me as it did; eventually, he opened his mouth, and though did not speak clearly, that was when I... learned the shocking truth.

"It is not an angel at all. It is a demon."

"A demon...?"

"Oshisha-sama was a demon. And a very powerful one, at that."

"...!"

I was shocked. But I also felt somewhat comforted. It would have been far worse if that rat bastard with such a sinister smile was actually an angel. How stupid, how disgusting must the old man and my mother be, to continue to be intoxicated by such a creature?

But that meant... that poor Toi was harboring a demon inside his body. The moment I thought about Toi, a crushing wave of dread washed over me. I had to free him as soon as possible. I needed to free him from that madhouse, and from that demon. But I had only just begun to know despair.

"It is not easy to say this... but Oshisha-sama lives by eating the soul of his hosts."

"It... --" This time, I couldn't say anything. That thing is leeching off of Toi's soul. And all the while, Toi is... slowly dying.

Suddenly, it all made sense. The way my father had apologized in tears as he clung to me on his deathbed, croaking:
"I'm so sorry, Ryui... To...i..."
Was this what he had meant? My father had no greater aspirations. He had dedicated his soul to Oshisha-sama as part of his duties as head of the family, and though he knew all of this, he simply laid down and gave up, only lamenting the fate that he was leaving to his children.

... did Toi know? It had been over a decade, and this was the first I was hearing of it. Why had I just kept running away from that house? Why hadn't I tried to find out the truth? For over a decade, Toi's soul had been eaten away by...

"... dammit!"

"Ryui, stop!"

Filled with regret and with anger, ignoring Morozumi-san's attempts to stop me, I set off to that cursed house, to which I had never wanted to go back.

[3] A famous road in Aomori that's about a ~22km straight shot. It's named Apple Road because Aomori is famous for its apples.

Chapter 4: Contract for One Eye

"You're late, brat. How do you feel now that you know the truth?"

Maybe he'd used that power of his to know exactly when I'd be back, because right when I got there, that thing was standing there, waiting for me. My insides boiled with anger. That bastard standing there and laughing, using Toi's face, was unforgivable. A parasite that sustains itself by wearing down Toi's soul has nothing to be so proud about.

"You bastard, get out of Toi right fucking now--!"

"Ahaha! The prodigal son who turns tail and runs from anything he doesn't like certainly has a lot to say now! You're the one who turned and ran away from me, from the Shiramitsu family, from Toi, are you not?"

And it was right. I was the lowest of the low. Maybe it was too late to do anything now. So that's why I didn't have time to waste on talking. Every second counted when it was Toi's life on the line. Every moment that I spent like this, Toi's soul was...

"Shut the fuck up and get out of him!! You're lying! If it were true, then--!"

"Don't touch me, you filthy worm."

"Augh--!"

The moment that I grabbed that thing's arm, something in the breast pocket of my jacket began to spark. I was thrown backwards, crashing straight into the wall back-first; it hurt like hell. The smell of something burning filled the air.

Coughing hard, I looked around frantically to try and figure out what was going on, and I saw that the amulet that Toi had made for me had been shattered into pieces.

That thing was laughing. "Hmmm, it seems like he put in the right amount of power into it, just like I taught him..."

I noticed with satisfaction that the place on its arm that I had grabbed was beginning to turn red; apparently, that impact just now had been enough to cause some minor burns.

But then realization hit me, and it felt like my head was exploding.

"Because of you, Toi's arm is--! I'll fucking kill you, you bastard!!"

"You think you can? You're just a human being."

Apparently, it didn't like my attitude, because that thing's mood seemed to change then.

"Shit--!"

Even without psychic powers, I could sense the sudden increase in pressure and killing intent that flooded the room. I was completely helpless in the face of that power; like a frog frozen in the gaze of a snake, I couldn't even move. Flashes of images of my own death surged through my mind; I imagined myself shattering into pieces like the amulet. If I didn't do something, I would die. I couldn't let that happen. I needed to free Toi, and fast.

The image of Morozumi-san working the other day flashed through my mind.

"Well, let's draw up a contract. Instead of taking peoples' lives, we'll make you a place where nobody will disturb you." The idea of him negotiating a contract with a spirit. "It may just be ruins, but you're quite the lucky spirit, owning an apartment right in the heart of Tokyo! Ahaha!"

"M-make a contract with me!" I yelled, doing my best impression of Morozumi-san. "I'll give you my soul instead! So stop eating Toi's!"

I said it on the spur of the moment, but I don't regret it. I meant what I said.

I was supposed to be its host in the first place, after all.

My soul was the one it was supposed to eat, so this was a deal it shouldn't have been able to refuse.

It doesn't matter what happens to my soul, as long as it's for Toi's sake. As long as Toi is safe. As long as it means I can protect my kind little brother, then I'll accept anything.

"A mere human wants to make a contract with me?" That thing seemed amused, and the corners of its mouth twisted upwards. Maybe it was because the word contract was a novelty, but it seemed to put it in a good mood. "Alright. I will defer to your pitiful groveling."
Then, that thing's smile grew even more twisted and wicked.
"However, surely you understand that it is quite difficult to enact this deal right away."

Of course, it would take time to prepare the ceremony and the like. Considering that the whereabouts and identity of Oshisha's current host is a matter that concerns the entire Shiramitsu family, there would be a lot of roadblocks and obstacles.

I nodded.

"I'll take one of your eyes as collateral. It would be very inconvenient to me if you broke the terms of our contract and tried to run away before making good on it."

"Don't be a dumbass, there's no way I'm going to try and run away--"

"Are you saying that you trust me?"

Not at all. In other words, the feeling is mutual.

"The eye I take will be the symbol of our contract. It will even let me know where you are at all times."

"..."

Okay. What was the problem? That's what I wanted, right? I had no intention nor reason to turn it down. It's really just a promise to finally set things right and put them where they should be, after more than a decade.

"Just get it over with... you're the one who I have to worry about not keeping their end of the deal."

With a wry smile, that thing reached out a hand to my left eye.

That day, I offered up my own eye to that bastard demon.

Chapter 5: The Morning in the Back Alley

Muscling through the unbelievable pain, I gathered up the broken pieces of the amulet and managed to escape from the house.

There was only one place I could go. There was only one person I could turn to.

"Oh, Ryui! I am surprised to see you come back so suddenly. I am terribly sorry, but I am going back to Aomori now, and--"

"Hah... ha... hh.."

"Ryui? Your eye...?"

"Morozu...mi... sa..."

"Are you...!?"

I was finally able to relax when I saw Morozumi-san's face, and I fell unconscious.

The next time I came to, I was laying on the bed that Morozumi-san keeps in the office to nap on.

"... hah... hah... h..."

"You are a damn fool! That is what happens when you do not think ahead!"

In my feverish ears, Morozumi-san's voice sounded as though it were far away from me.

"... a contract, you said? What has happened to your left eye?" Morozumi-san muttered to himself while he very gently touched the area around my eye. His voice was ragged and distressed. "It has completely transformed. It is now a tool for Oshisha-sama to see through... that bastard!"

Next to Toi, Morozumi-san is the last person I wanted to ever hear sound like that.

"Hah... hh... hhah..."

I looked around; dazed; Morozumi-san was furrowing his brows and looking into my face. And seated right next to him--

Was my shitty father, a mournful expression on his face. What the fuck was he doing here? Don't look at me. Wasn't his soul supposed to have been consumed by that thing, leaving nothing behind? What reason could he possibly he here for?

There were a lot of things I wanted to say, but none of them would come out. Maybe it was just my imagination or a hallucination, though, because the moment I blinked, my father disappeared, as though he were just a dream.

And in his place...

"What... are... tho...se...?"

There were creatures all around the room. A silver fox with one leg sitting on the desk. A gecko with a human face clinging to the wall. A man the size of a thumb with a protruding belly. They weren't like the powerful creatures I had seen before; I somehow felt that they were weaker and more delicate.

When I closed my left eye, they vanished. When I opened it, I could see them.

"... there is no need to be concerned. Everyone here is nice. They are worried about you and came to see you."

"... rea...lly?"

My left eye was now the property of that thing, and I could see strange things, but I didn't feel sad. In fact, quite the opposite. I was actually happy to think that I could see the things that Toi could see. Now that I could see them, the world I saw was the same one that Toi did. There was no way that wouldn't make me happy.

And besides that, even if I couldn't see them until now, these creatures had been messing with me all this time, and now I could use them to my advantage as well. ... well, that didn't really work out, but I figured that maybe now that I could see them, I could try to fight back. Now I might be able to protect Toi a bit better.

That thing had laughed when taking the collateral, like it had already won, but I'm going to give it a run for its money in due time. I don't give up that easily.

"What is it that you are holding onto so tightly...?"

"Oh, this..."

"Oh, my. It appears it is broken. We should fix it."

Morozumi-san also helped to fix the amulet that Toi gave me. Toi's power was too strong, so he didn't try to re-enchant it, but he helped me to put the pieces back together, which I appreciated a lot.

I thanked him so many times that I got lightheaded. I'm not sure if he understood a thing I said, since I was slurring my words so badly.

My fever had gone down by the next morning. Morozumi-san said, patting my chest, that the rejection reaction had subsided much quicker than he expected it to. Then, he hurried off to catch a morning flight and return to Aomori.

"..."

I was left alone in the now-deserted office. Another small creature appeared. A back-alley sanctuary. The morning air. And me, as well.

"... I'll be off."

I got to my feet.

This was my plan: I'd get something to eat and something to cover my eye. I'd go back to HAMA and say goodbye to Toi for now. This is the best I can do right now.

"Wait for me, Toi."

And then I'd set off alone.

End