A Gift that should never see the light of day. A smile that's too perfect to be real. And a classmate who's about to find out the truth.
Kazama Shinji hates Mistrea Island—the isolated academy where the Gifted are caged until eighteen, and where his ability to manipulate corpses makes him a freak among the "talented." He keeps his head down, counts the days, and tries not to think about why his childhood friend Yuuka's smile sometimes looks hollow.
Then Hiiragi Nana transfers in. Sweet, popula
Talentless Nana: The Shadow Observer - An empty shell of emotions—the discarded accomplice
The clamor of the cafeteria—Mist Dining—felt strangely distant today.
Kazama Shinji poked at the whitefish sauté on his tray with the tip of his fork. This school cafeteria, built at the foot of Mt. Zenova that towered over the center of the island, overflowed with more than four hundred students at lunchtime. The clatter of dishes, laughter, someone shouting—all of it blended together into one great wall of noise that reached Shinji's ears.
(Three days, then.)
Three days had passed since the night Habata Tsunekichi vanished.
The night Nana had disposed of yet another ability user. Shinji still remembered those cold eyes.
And Yuuka's words, too.
*"I think I've really fallen for Nana-chan."*
Those words had been echoing in the back of his mind ever since.
(Yuuka, about me—)
He started to think it, then stopped.
He was afraid to think.
"Hey, Shinji."
A voice came from right beside him, out of nowhere.
He looked up.
Sasaki Yuuka was standing there. Her short black hair was gathered on top of her head, and a slightly rebellious cowlick swayed in the air-conditioning's breeze. Large, bright brown eyes. On her left wrist, a frayed wristband matching Shinji's own.
"Y-Yuuka..."
"What, are you surprised? I haven't even done anything today."
Yuuka said that and sat down across from Shinji.
"Let's eat together. It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"Yeah... sure."
Shinji gave a small nod.
Yuuka began poking at the salad on her tray with her fork.
"Hey, Shinji. Have you been sleeping properly lately?"
"Huh? Why?"
"You've got terrible bags under your eyes. And you look pale."
Yuuka's voice was kind.
But that kindness felt a little frightening now.
(How much does Yuuka know about me?)
(About why I can't sleep every night.)
(About why I keep watching Nana-chan.)
"I'm fine. Just... a lot on my mind."
Shinji forced a smile.
"...Hmm. A lot on your mind, huh."
Yuuka's eyes went cold for just an instant.
But only for an instant.
Her usual bright smile returned immediately.
"Well, don't push yourself too hard. If you collapsed, I'd worry."
"Thanks. What about you, Yuuka—are you okay?"
Shinji asked back.
"Huh? Me? I'm totally fine."
"I see... that's good, then."
Shinji stared at Yuuka's face.
(Yuuka's smile has gotten thinner lately.)
(Before, it was more—bursting, somehow.)
(Now it's like something pasted on. A shallow smile.)
Shinji's eye for observation told him so.
"Hey, Shinji."
Yuuka lowered her voice.
"Listen, I have a favor to ask you."
"A favor?"
"Yeah. Just for a bit—close your eyes?"
Though bewildered, Shinji did as he was told and closed his eyes.
Darkness.
The cafeteria's clamor suddenly felt far away.
"Stay still, okay?"
Yuuka's voice came from close by.
The next moment, Shinji's right hand moved on its own.
His fingers lifted, independent of his will.
(I'm being controlled again.)
Shinji murmured it in his mind.
Corpse manipulation. Yuuka's ability.
The power to freely control any corpse she touches.
To Yuuka, Shinji's body was nothing but a puppet.
His right hand touched something.
Soft.
Warm.
It was Yuuka's cheek.
Shinji's right hand gently touched Yuuka's cheek.
His fingertips slid slowly across her skin.
(Stop.)
He screamed it inside.
(Stop it.)
But his hand wouldn't stop.
It moved at Yuuka's whim.
"Hey, Shinji."
Yuuka's voice was trembling.
"While I'm controlling you, I feel like I can still care about someone."
Shinji's right hand stroked Yuuka's hair.
Her black hair flowed silkily between his fingers.
(This isn't my will.)
Shinji repeated it desperately in his mind.
(I didn't want to stroke Yuuka's hair.)
(I'm just being controlled by Yuuka.)
(That's right. This isn't me.)
And yet the feel of Yuuka's hair through his fingertips was far too vivid.
"...Thank you, Shinji."
Yuuka murmured softly.
Her voice was so faint it sounded like she might cry.
Shinji's right hand left Yuuka's cheek.
At last, control of his body returned.
Shinji slowly opened his eyes.
Yuuka was there before him.
She was smiling.
But her eyes weren't smiling at all.
(Yuuka...)
Shinji felt like his chest would tear apart.
(I'm being used as Yuuka's emotional anchor.)
(A tool to confirm her feelings—only while she's controlling me.)
(That's right. I'm a tool.)
The fact sank heavily to the pit of his stomach.
"Sorry, Shinji. Did I startle you?"
Yuuka said it in her usual bright voice.
"...No. I'm fine."
Shinji answered in a shaking voice.
(Of course I'm not fine.)
He murmured it in his mind.
(I'm just being used by Yuuka.)
(Just a consumable, to confirm her feelings.)
(...Even so.)
Shinji stared at his own right hand.
The hand that had been stroking Yuuka's hair just moments ago.
(Maybe this hand isn't mine anymore.)
The thought made him nauseous.
After school.
Only Shinji and Yuuka remained in the classroom.
Outside the window, the shadow of Mt. Zenova stretched long.
"Shinji, I need to talk to you."
Yuuka said it while leaning against the teacher's podium.
"...What is it?"
Shinji looked up at Yuuka from where he sat at his desk.
Her face, lit by the setting sun, was dyed red on one side.
"Listen, Shinji."
Yuuka paused for a moment.
Then she slowly opened her mouth.
"I'm sorry, Shinji. I think I—Nana-chan is..."
Shinji's breath stopped.
(What did she just—)
Yuuka continued.
"I'm finding it harder to care about you. I think it's the price... but Nana-chan is different. My heart still races for her."
Shinji couldn't move.
No—he couldn't make himself move.
It wasn't Yuuka's ability controlling him.
It was simply that the words had turned his body to stone.
(Finding it harder to care about me.)
(Nana-chan is different.)
(Because her heart still races.)
Each word stabbed into his chest like a knife.
"Keep up your surveillance duties. But that's all."
Yuuka said it in a cold voice.
"So, Shinji. Keep watching Nana-chan properly from now on. That's your role."
Shinji tried to speak.
But his throat seized, and no words came.
"...Well? Your answer?"
Yuuka's eyes pierced through him.
"...G-got it."
Shinji managed, barely, to say it.
"Good. That's a good boy, Shinji."
Yuuka smiled.
It was the same bright smile as always.
But to Shinji, it looked like nothing but a mask.
(Yuuka cut me loose.)
(She'll keep me alive because I'm still useful as a watcher.)
(That's all I am.)
(To Yuuka, I'm already—)
Shinji hung his head.
He felt like crying.
But he didn't.
If he cried, he'd lose.
"Well, I'll go on ahead. See you tomorrow."
Yuuka said that and left the classroom.
Her footsteps receded.
Shinji was left alone in the classroom.
Silence.
Outside the window, a single crow cawed.
Late at night.
His dorm room.
Shinji sat on his bed, hugging his knees.
The lights were off.
In the darkness, Shinji trembled slightly.
(What am I even here for?)
He murmured it in his mind.
(Nobody needs me.)
Yuuka's words replayed in his head, over and over and over.
*"While I'm controlling you, I feel like I can still care about someone."*
*"I'm sorry, Shinji. I think I—Nana-chan is..."*
*"Keep up your surveillance duties. But that's all."*
(I'm Yuuka's emotional anchor.)
(And now she's told me she doesn't even need that anymore.)
(As a watcher, I'm still useful.)
(That's all.)
Shinji cried, stifling the sound.
Tears dripped onto his knees, one after another.
(I wasn't even one of her accomplices.)
(Just something to be consumed.)
(For Yuuka, for Nana-chan, for this whole school.)
Shinji clutched the wristband on his left wrist.
The old wristband, matching Yuuka's.
(Things used to be good.)
(Yuuka and I could just laugh together.)
(Back then, things were good.)
The tears wouldn't stop.
The next day, after school.
Shinji walked the hallway alone.
His steps were heavy.
His eyes were swollen from crying all night.
(I don't want to see anyone.)
He thought that.
But to get from the classroom back to the dorm, he had no choice but to pass through this hallway.
"Oh, Shinji-kun."
A voice called out to him from nowhere.
He looked up.
It was Hiiragi Nana.
Bright brown hair tied in twin tails. The ribbons suited her well. Her large amber eyes gazed at Shinji.
"N-Nana-chan..."
Shinji instinctively backed away.
Nana tilted her head at the sight of him.
"Is something wrong? You don't look well at all."
"...It's nothing. Really."
Shinji averted his eyes.
He didn't have the strength to face Nana head-on.
"Is that so? But something must have happened, surely?"
Nana peered intently at Shinji's face.
"I have mind-reading, you see, so I can tell. You're making a very sad face right now, Shinji-kun."
(Mind-reading...)
Shinji smiled bitterly inside.
(You can't actually read minds.)
(You're just looking at my face and guessing.)
Shinji had seen through Nana's fake ability.
But right now, he didn't have the energy to point it out.
"...Hey, Nana-chan."
Shinji murmured, still looking down.
"It seems I'm not needed anymore."
"What?"
Nana's voice cracked slightly.
"To you, and to Yuuka—it seems I'm not needed anymore."
Shinji said it, reckless and self-destructive.
(What am I saying?)
(Even if I tell Nana-chan this—)
(It won't change anything.)
But his mouth wouldn't stop.
"She said she'd keep me alive because I'm still useful as a watcher. That's what Yuuka told me."
"I'm just a tool. A convenient puppet for the two of you..."
"Shinji-kun."
Nana cut him off.
Shinji raised his head.
Nana was staring at him with a serious expression.
"You're my watcher. It would be a problem if you disappeared on your own."
Nana's voice was cold.
It was a voice that pushed him away.
"...A watcher, huh."
Shinji laughed weakly.
"So to you too, Nana-chan, I'm just a watcher."
"...That's right. What else would you be?"
Nana looked at Shinji with cold eyes.
But those eyes wavered—just for an instant.
Shinji didn't miss it.
(Nana-chan is suffering too.)
(Just like me, she thinks nobody needs her.)
Shinji's eye for observation told him so.
"...Yeah. I'm a watcher. That's fine."
Shinji said that and turned his back to Nana.
"See you, then. Nana-chan."
Shinji started walking.
"...I wanted someone to need me, too."
A small voice came from behind him.
Shinji stopped.
He turned around.
Nana stood alone in the middle of the hallway.
The setting sun dyed her profile red.
From where Shinji stood, he couldn't see her expression clearly.
But her voice was definitely trembling.
(Nana-chan...)
Shinji's chest tightened.
(What she just said was her real feelings.)
(The real feelings beneath that cold-blooded assassin's mask.)
(Nana-chan is lonely, just like me.)
Shinji started walking again.
This time, he didn't look back.
That night.
Yuuka summoned Shinji.
The place was the school's back courtyard.
Moonlight barely illuminated the ground at his feet.
"You're late, Shinji."
Yuuka emerged from behind a tree.
"...Sorry. I hurried."
Shinji answered, out of breath.
"Well, fine. More importantly, I have a request."
Yuuka stared straight into Shinji's eyes.
"Find out in more detail who Nana-chan is meeting. By tonight."
"Huh... by tonight?"
"That's right. Do you have a problem with that?"
Yuuka's voice was cold as ice.
"...Understood. I'll look into it."
Shinji nodded.
"Then go, quickly. I'll wait here."
Yuuka said that and leaned against the tree.
Shinji turned to walk away.
That moment.
(—Now.)
Shinji murmured it in his mind.
And he put just the slightest bit of force into his fingertips.
Resistance.
He tried to defy Yuuka's corpse manipulation.
(I'm not Yuuka's puppet.)
(I move by my own will.)
His fingertip twitched.
By his own will.
"...Shinji."
Yuuka's voice came from behind him.
Shinji's heart leaped.
"What did you just do?"
Yuuka's voice was low and cold.
"N-nothing... I didn't do anything."
Shinji answered without turning around.
"Liar. You just tried t
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