Editing The Unexplored Summon Blood Sign:Volume2 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 8===

But first, they were soaking wet.

It had been raining on and on in and around Toy Dream 35, so a fair number of people were wet after forgetting their umbrella or having it stolen while they were inside a store. The problem was how they smelled of seawater. On top of that, Shiroyama Kyousuke’s hoodie had been torn in the battle. Even if they would be forgotten soon enough, it meant the end of his humanity if he stopped caring if he gathered an embarrassing sort of attention.

As an adolescent high school boy, he could not allow himself to shamelessly walk around the city while defenselessly exposed and soaking wet.

So…

“Phew. It’s times like these when these storage lockers really come in handy.”

“Um, Shiroyama-kun. Why do you have so many identical hoodies and pants?”

“Oh, this isn’t an obsession or anything. These are the most common models from this company. So if another summoner happens to see me on the job, I don’t have to worry as much about them identifying me by my clothing. …Although it’s a relatively small industry, so it isn’t a huge help.”

“But what about a change of clothes for me?”

“Do you really think I own girl’s clothing?”

When he answered her question with a question of his own, she grabbed his ear and dragged him to a nearby laundromat.

She then made a demand while in her soaking wet clothing.

“Shiroyama-kun, take off your hoodie and hand it over.”

“Now you’re essentially mugging me!?”

“I have to wash and dry these clothes! That will take about an hour altogether, so are you telling me to stand around naked that entire time!? So just take that off already!! C’mon, strip!!”

“Stop, wait! Mhh, mhh!”

Before Kyousuke could protest too much, Librarian-chan stole his hoodie.

The summoner held his body and trembled while she made yet another demand.

“Okay, Shiroyama-kun. Turn around 180 degrees and don’t you turn back around until I say you can.”

“I’m cold… I’m going to catch cold like this…”

“A girl is about to strip with nothing to hide behind! You’re supposed to be blushing!!”

He waited as instructed and heard a wet sound behind him. The wet clothing must have clung to her skin because he heard occasional breaths of struggle.

After he heard one of the washing machines along the wall running, Librarian-chan made an announcement.

“You can turn around now.”

He did so and saw Librarian-chan wearing his hoodie. He could see her white thighs almost all the way up to the base, more than one washing machine was running, and one of them was set to the stockings and underwear mode, so she apparently truly was naked except for the hoodie.

When she sat on the bench next to topless Kyousuke, the scene gained a somehow criminal feel and it was incredibly awkward. But even if summoners could not be punished by the usual rules, he disciplined himself with his own policies!

Librarian-chan sat there like a substitute athlete warming the bench and she watched her clothing spinning beyond the transparent lid.

She had undone her braid, so her hair was wavy and wet. She had also removed her glasses, so she looked quite different from normal. It only made her look more refined.

“Shiroyama-kun, are you always doing things like this?”

“N-no. I have to admit I don’t often have my clothes stolen by my vessel.”

“Not that.”

Librarian-chan faced the washing machines and swung her white feet.

“Are you always, um, how should I put it? Causing trouble like that?”

She may have been reluctant to use the word “fight” in reference to reality.

Kyousuke sighed.

“Did it scare you to become one with the Material?”

“It did, but more importantly…”

She briefly hesitated to continue.

“I think it really freaked me out that everyone would forget about me. I mean, if they can forget about me, that means the world can get on just fine without me. …It’s almost like I’m looking at a world where I died and am no longer a part of it.”

She may have seen it that way due to her sister.

The Rainy Girl.

“Does it not scare you, Shiroyama-kun?”

“I’m used to it.”

“Do you ever want to return to the way things were before?”

“I’m still going to school just fine ‘like this’.”

He was Freedom Award 903.

Once someone reached 1000, they would become one of the gods rather than a part of mankind and they would become the protagonist of a new legend as a resident of ''the other side''.

But there was no point in bringing that up here.

Librarian-chan only wanted to do something about her sister and Kyousuke was not driven by such an obvious desire.

This was smaller than that.

It was the story of two people who were willing to risk their lives for something like this.

“School, hm?”

“It’s only been a day, but that seems so far away now. Shiroyama-kun, do you never get bored looking at the textbooks? I get the feeling you could look at it all and decide it’s worthless to you. ''And you would actually mean it, unlike the people who use it as an excuse.''”

“No, not really.”

On this alone, Kyousuke did not hesitate even a second to answer.

“I’m just some brat who hasn’t even lived two full decades, so what do I know about the world? I still trust that I at least have enough sense left to remember that.”

Or perhaps it was the world that he wanted to trust in.

Was the miniature garden of the school a symbol of that?

Since he would be forgotten as soon as anyone looked away, he could never pass a real entrance exam and get into the school. Even if he scored a perfect 100, no one would remember it. Since he was still attending high school, he had to have used some kind of special method and that alone showed just how attached to the school he was.

Librarian-chan squeezed the sleeves of the hoodie in her hands and smiled a little as she spoke.

“I’m glad you aren’t a robotic kind of person.”

“Humans aren’t that strong. You learn that all too well when you’ve been a summoner for long enough.”

For example, Aika had been so badly hurt when everyone forgot about her that she had given up on holding any hope in the outside world.

For example, Lu Niang Lan’s life had been dragged around by her great skill and she could no longer escape Illegal.

For every one of them, life was a struggle.

The more superior any of them looked from the outside, the more twisted they truly were.

“The president was pretty incredible too…” said Librarian-chan.

That girl had stabbed someone in the back with sewing scissors and accepted in a monster as a vessel.

Not even Kyousuke knew where Benikomichi Fuuki’s true nature lay. She might have been like that from the moment she was born or there may have been a major turning point in her life. But Librarian-chan seemed to think it was taking a step into this industry that had done it.

“Was it not a shock to you, Shiroyama-kun? You seemed to get along pretty well at school.”

“We…got along?”

“It at least looked that way.”

Librarian-chan actually looked surprised by Kyousuke’s response.

But that may have had less to do with his relationship with the girl and more to do with his inability to judge how close he was to other people.

Finally, he answered her question.

“It was a surprise, I suppose.”

“If it was a shock, then it means you did get along.”

“…I see.”

“Does it not upset you?”

“I do wonder what I’ll do starting tomorrow. When I realize I might not be able to talk with her at school like that anymore, I guess it does make me a little sad.”

“Oh, so you like your pretty friend, do you?”

Librarian-chan then laughed a little.

She seemed to have remembered her comment about being glad he was not robotic.

“But in that case, don’t you want to save her? I mean, my sister takes top priority, but, um, I could still help with that.”

“…”

Kyousuke narrowed his eyes a little.

“No, I can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“I still haven’t saved you after you asked me to. Sorry, but I can’t make a promise that amounts to abandoning someone.”

As he spoke, Kyousuke looked Librarian-chan right in the eye.

“I-I see.”

When the girl blushed and averted her gaze a bit, Kyousuke ''interpreted it incorrectly.

“Did that make you think I’m robotic?”

“Eh? No, it wasn’t that… But it’s hard to explain…”

“Don’t worry. As I said before, the uniqueness of the summoning ceremony is dependent on the summoner. Save for exceptional cases like Lu-san, you just have to cancel your contract with me once the job is complete. Then people will stop forgetting you and you won’t be susceptible to possession by vengeful and evil spirits. So you can just think of this like an overseas trip.”

She could return to normal.

Her expression briefly lit up at that, but then she realized something.

“Hey, in that case…what will you do?”

He shrugged.

“I’m still trying to figure that out.”