My name is Kurosuke Hirata. I reunited with Shirako at the age of twenty-six.
I've been looking for you ever since I was an adult. Aside from going to high school, college, and graduate school, I hired a number of backstreet informants to find Ashigaru-san's place with the money I earned by working part-time.
Honestly, it was a tough life. Even though it's hard to just live, we have to secure money to hire an information dealer. Thanks to this, the daily food cost is at the bottom. I can't afford to spend any money on entertainment or hobbies.
The information dealers in the back streets were all empty gestures. How many times have I given up? I thought over and over that Masaru might have been dead a long time ago. I wonder if what I'm doing is in vain.
But I didn't understand anything. I know who that research facility was that I sold out to. Japan-China Joint Al-Raoune Research Project. Named Alraune, it is a facility for the study of unknown creatures from outside the Earth. It seems that he has transplanted Alraune cells into my body over and over again and retrieved the data.
I was able to make contact with some of the people who worked there. I remember Kirisaki Kenshin and Junko Yukioka. When I went to see her, they were kind to me, but they said they didn't know where Ashimasa-san was.
How did I get out of that facility safely in the first place?
With the end of the project, I was left useless. I heard rumors of being killed to keep my mouth shut, but that didn't happen.
Junko Yukioka, the red-eyed girl who had many opportunities to deal with Ashimasa-san, and Kirisaki Katana, the mad scientist in swallowtail clothes who once in a while showed her face, helped me.
“Why did you help me? Where's Ashishi-san?"
”Hmm... I don't know about that.”
At that time, when I asked, Junko said with a troubled face.
"We were asked to do it by Ash Masao-kun." I want you to help me. "
Ashi-san seemed to be in danger, so he contacted us, and we didn't even know where he was.
When I heard Kirisaki and Junko's words, I was struck by despair. At that time, I thought that Sakata Shirako might have killed me. I regretted my helplessness.
However, I don't know if Ashigarashi-san is really dead. I want to know the truth.
The two of you gave me the money. I was told that it was the money Ashish-san left for me. I have enough money until I grow up.
I was placed in an orphanage, encouraged my studies, and studied bioengineering. I wanted to be a gentle mad scientist like Ashigaru-san, and I thought that if I was in the same industry, I would also get clues from Ashigaru-san who refused the news. Or if you find Shirako, you'll know what happened to Ashimasa-san.
And I was finally able to make contact with Shirako.
Reunion for the first time in more than fifteen years. Shirako's appearance had not changed at all. And that malicious, twisted smile stays that way. Is it true that the genitals are as bad as ever?
"If you're ash, you're alive."
Shirako, who was the most open, spoke out. Looking at me stiff, Shirako giggles strangely.
Shirako can show you the footage. I was stunned to see Ashigaru-san, who had become a completely middle-aged father who lived as a beggar on the riverbed. Moreover, it looked as if he was crazy. My head has become an innocent child.
"For the time being, I'm letting this go, but we're in control." I check the condition regularly. This is an experiment. You're going to laugh. The Ash Masaki who used you as an experimental platform, now I can't believe that you're going to become an experimental platform. Hey, don't you think so? "
I wanted to kill Shirako, but I also knew it couldn't be helped. The opponent has power beyond human intelligence.
"From what I hear, you're on the same path as us." And you were looking for ashes? It's just right. "
Shirako brought me two deals. That was the best I could do for me right now.
The first is to join the same research team as Shirako and the others and conduct mental ageless research.
The other is the surveillance of Ashimasa-san over the chat. Sometimes I could watch from afar, but I was told not to make direct contact.
The second transaction seemed to be playing with me, but at the same time it felt like warmth.
"If there is something wrong with the ashes, if you check it, you can deal with it immediately." I'm not saying it's impossible. However, that's our experiment anymore, so I won't give you any extra tricks. Well, I'll leave it to you to make your choice. "
Shirako tells me a look of contempt.
I got on this deal. Near and far distance. However, it is an environment where you can make contact with Ashimasa-san. I don't want to be uncomfortable with this situation, but if I could deal with Ashimasa-san, I thought that one day the opportunity would come around.
Since I became Shirako's subordinate, I've changed since then and I'm no longer incapacitated for money. The first thing I did was avenge my relatives who sold me out. But I don't imitate killing. I can't go that far. I just did the same thing I did. I don't know how they were treated before they were sold in a human trafficking organization.
I was under strict surveillance, and my freedom was at stake. I can't make one phone call at a time. Even online browsing is checked. A watchman can also be assigned when you go outside. As an adult, I was deprived of my freedom again. It was completely better than when I was a child, but I still lived in a sense of being bound.
Besides, as a member of Shirako's team, I will enter the research every day as Shirako says. It's humiliating, but if you ask me if it's fun or painful, it's honestly fun. I was already on my way as a researcher. Thanks to Shirako, I can enjoy a life where I can do what I like. It's humiliating. It's disgusting. To Shirako and to myself.
I tried to kill Shirako three times, even though I knew I couldn't beat her. I jumped to my teeth impulsively once, but it was easily put down. The second and third time, I didn't kill myself, I hired the backstreets' finisher and killer, but Shirako repulsed them lightly. After three failures, Shirako realized that she could never beat him.
Shirako had even woven my rebellion into it, and she never punished me. However, after the third failure, my eyes became more vigilant towards me. He stole the eyes of surveillance twice and hired a killer.
I was heartbroken. We were being watched, but there was still a gap. Instead of trying to kill Shirako, I regretted that I should have prioritized helping Ashimasa-san first.
And the years passed by randomly, and I was over forty years old, and Ashimasa-san was still in his calendar.
I was giving up, and I just chatted with Ashishi-san to feed my heart. I often wrote rough sentences to each other, but every day I enjoyed watching Ashimasa-san's text reporting on the events of the day, and I also enjoyed it.
One day, an opportunity came that I had already given up. Shirako came into conflict with her sister's edge. As a result, my vigilance towards me has been blatantly loosened. I guess I can't afford to spend that much anymore.
Instead of sneaking into contact with the edges of the color and selling information about Shirako, I try to cooperate.
Thanks to the help of the color edge, it was possible to make telephone calls to other places, and it was possible to browse the Internet freely. Even if I had a flurry of conversations with Ashimasa-san, if I erased the logs without taking the time to do so, I was asked to keep a record.
I contacted Junko Yukioka and asked him to help me by revealing all of my experiences so far. She took it upon herself with pleasure. Then the two of them made a plan.
The struggle of the hens for more than twenty years is finally about to come to fruition. At last, the dot and the point are joined together to form a line. I thought my choice was right. My heart danced.
But... my plan didn't go smoothly to the end.