Chapter 217: The Dead Must Not Disturb the Living
A sky and ground of absolute white.
Shinobu, wearing her lab coat, stood in the center of that immaculate space.
And before her stood a young woman whose face was the very embodiment of sweetness, like a flower.
She wore a haori decorated with colorful butterflies, her long black hair fell to her waist, and she wore butterfly-shaped hair clips in shades of pink and green.
A gentle smile formed on her lips, and her violet eyes conveyed a deep affection, tinged with a certain resignation.
"..."
"You’ve grown so much—and you’re still as willful as you were when you were little?"
Kanae’s fingers gently touched Shinobu’s forehead.
"What were you thinking, using such a dangerous method just to make me appear?"
"..."
Shinobu simply looked at the person in front of her, her eyes brimming with tears.
She gazed at those eyes she thought she’d never see again.
In that moment, nothing was left of her responsible, grown-up side. Her smile was clumsy and beaming, like a child caught after pulling a prank.
"Onee-chan!"
Seeing her like that made Kanae laugh, and she gently pinched her cheek.
"You’re all grown up and still such a spoiled little thing."
"Onee-chan."
Shinobu couldn’t help crying out again.
She threw her arms open and hugged her with all her might, afraid that if she let go, she’d vanish forever.
Kanae was startled for a second, but returned the gesture, patting her on the back.
"You’ve been through some very hard times all these years, Shinobu..."
Shinobu buried her face in her neck and murmured in a choked voice, "I missed you so much..."
Kanae’s hand paused for a moment before she laughed.
"I know... I missed you too."
"Tell me, why did you do this?"
The two of them held each other for a long while and talked things over at length.
So much time passed that, outside, the others were breaking out in a cold sweat.
"Systolic pressure at sixty, the diastolic... I can’t hear it anymore."
Tamayo’s voice rang out in the laboratory, full of urgency, striking at everyone’s nerves.
With one hand she pressed against Shinobu’s wrist while, holding the stethoscope to her chest, she frowned harder and harder.
The column of mercury in the tube trembled, coming to a stop at an alarming figure.
"Her pulse is very weak, thready, almost impossible to feel."
Marcus stood motionless before the table. The blade was still lodged in Shinobu’s chest, and the blood no longer gushed with any force. Not because the wound had stopped, but because her body lacked the pressure to make it flow.
Shinobu’s face was pale as paper.
The color had drained from her lips, leaving a greenish, washed-out hue.
"Her breathing..." Tamayo watched the faint, irregular movement of her chest, her tone growing even graver. "About thirty a minute, shallow and irregular."
"We’re running out of time." She looked up at Marcus.
Marcus didn’t answer. He gripped the katana’s hilt tightly and closed his eyes.
The next second, a gust of pink air enveloped them both, channeled through the sword.
...
Within that white space, the sisters held each other tightly, until Kanae broke the embrace and took half a step back.
"Shinobu, it’s time for you to go, and I have to leave too..."
Shinobu’s heart lurched and she looked up, bewildered.
"Where are you going? Didn’t I tell you I came to find you?"
Kanae gently shook her head. "I know... But Shinobu, I can’t leave with you."
"Why? Why...?" Shinobu clung to the hem of her clothes in desperation. "Is it because of my new condition? Are you angry with me?"
Kanae stroked her cheek with the same tender gesture from her childhood.
"Silly girl, how could I ever be angry with you? The wish I always had was for humans and demons to be able to live together in peace."
"And you’ve helped me make that longing come true."
"On top of that, seeing that my little sister has grown up, that she has trustworthy companions by her side and a man who loves her and accepts her just as she is... how could I possibly be upset with you?"
Shinobu asked in desperation, "Then... why?"
"...Being dead means having departed, Shinobu..."
Kanae comforted her sweetly—so sweetly that she herself seemed to have found complete peace with death.
"Death is an undeniable reality."
"All these years you’ve done wonderfully, and in the future you’ll do even better. I... shouldn’t keep appearing in your life."
"Onee-chan!!"
"Listen to me." Kanae slowly let go of the hem of her clothes to take her hands. "Do you remember when you were little and always ran after me? Wherever I went, you’d follow without ever leaving my side."
A lump formed in Shinobu’s throat.
"Then you grew up and became the Insect Hashira, turning out even more amazing than I ever was... It made me so happy."
Kanae smiled.
"Though it also made my heart ache."
Shinobu’s tears began to fall again.
"Always smiling, enduring everything. If someone wronged you, you said nothing; if you were hurting, you didn’t cry out either. I always knew..."
She gently wiped her cheeks.
"That’s why, seeing you now, knowing there are people willing to help you and that you’re finally not carrying everything alone..."
Her voice paused briefly.
"I already feel more than satisfied."
Shinobu jerked her head up. "Don’t tell me you’re going to—"
"It’s time for me to go now."
Kanae’s silhouette began to blur, like a painting dissolving in water, gradually losing its edges.
"Having seen you one last time and knowing you’re well, I have no regrets left."
"Those who have died must not disturb the order of the living."
Shinobu froze.
She didn’t know how to counter those words.
Reasoning so serene and so focused on others’ well-being was something only Kanae could voice.
"Tsk... you two really are a genuine handful."
An exasperated voice rang out above them both.
Kanae’s dissipating body paused for a moment. She looked up and blinked with curiosity.
"You are...?"
"Marcus."
"Oh~..." Kanae laughed softly. "You’re the gentleman that both Shinobu... and Kanao are in love with?"
Hearing this, Shinobu’s face flushed instantly.
She felt the awkwardness of bringing her partner to meet her family.
Marcus, on the other hand, kept his resigned tone without showing any nervousness.
"The very same, beautiful Miss Kanae."
At that way of addressing her, Kanae tilted her head and touched her chin with a finger.
"Given your relationship with Shinobu, you should call me onee-san, Marcus-kun."
"Should I?" Marcus’s voice reflected his nonchalance. "Back when I was dating Kanao, it never occurred to me to call Shinobu that either, you know?"
The moment those words came out, both Kanae and Shinobu were stunned.
What did he mean by that?
Could he possibly...?
Catching Kanae’s look "which clearly said so this is the boyfriend you share" a vein bulged on Shinobu’s forehead.
Still, before she could protest, Marcus spoke again.
"Beautiful ladies, this doesn’t seem like the right moment to sit around chatting."
"If you two don’t come to an agreement soon, Shinobu’s going to end up leaving with you."
Shinobu looked to Kanae in a hurry, her eyes full of pleading.
Kanae, however, shook her head with a faint smile. "Marcus-kun, though I’m deeply grateful for what you’ve done for Shinobu, lying when we’ve only just met isn’t a good habit."
This time, Marcus fell silent for a moment.
"Me...? Lying?"
Kanae nodded seriously. "That’s right."
"I imagine that, whether I stay or go, you wouldn’t let anything bad happen to Shinobu, would you?"
"After all, your goal is to turn her into a vampire."
"When the critical moment comes, would you really let Shinobu die just because I decide not to return?"
"..."
Marcus was completely petrified.
No one had warned him that Kanae was even more perceptive than Shinobu!
"...What are you getting at?"
Kanae didn’t answer; she simply shook her head gently.
She watched Shinobu’s eyes, which were beginning to redden, while that sweet smile lingered on her lips.
Meanwhile, her silhouette kept dissipating.
Seeing her replace words with actions, Marcus began to grow impatient.
Beyond his own "Pokémon Trainer" mindset, the notification that had just gone off in his mind announced a hundred-percent increase in his physical attributes and in the efficiency of his Total Concentration.
At the very instant the system alerted him that sealing her inside the sword would double his strength...
How could he possibly let Kanae get away!?
"You really want to die that badly?"
"It’s not that I want to die—it’s that the dead must not disturb the lives of the living." Kanae went on. "It’s a law of nature."
That was exactly why people of this sort were so unbearable!
As someone of chaotic neutral alignment, Marcus found it hard not to complain.
Even though the way things were unfolding had caught him off guard—whether for the girl’s sake or for the power bonus—he couldn’t give up.
In the real world, Marcus gritted his teeth.
If the nice way didn’t work, then it’d have to be the hard way!
No matter what happens, the first thing to do is hold on to that soul!
Just as the lower half of Kanae’s body had dissipated completely, Marcus’s resigned voice rang out again.
"All right! If Shinobu can’t convince you... I’m walking out right this instant and putting Kanao on the same table to keep you company!"
"???"
Kanae was stunned.
Put them... together?
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