The Disgrace Of An Exorcist Family (4)

Mei must have been around ten years old at the time.

That was also around when she had first been assigned the task of treating Aberrations.

Back then, Mei had not yet learned to remain composed as she did now or to hide her emotions well, so she often came to this back garden to cry in secret.

If she cried in front of others, they would only hurl even crueler words at her.

One evening at dusk, Mei was crouched there with her knees hugged to her chest when she suddenly noticed a strange fragrance drifting through the air and stood up.

“…Guh…”

“Oh no!”

In a corner of the back garden that had been empty only moments before, a boy around Mei’s age lay collapsed on the ground.

Thinking he might be the child of someone who had come to make a request, she hurried over, only to find his entire body covered in wounds. The clothing he wore, which closely resembled a kimono, was torn in several places and looked painfully battered.

“I have to call someone… Ah!”

The boy grabbed Mei’s hand just as she was about to call for help.

“Don’t. If you don’t want to die, pretend you never saw me.”

“What are you… Ah.”

Only then did Mei finally realize that the boy was not human.

His hair was glossy black like the night sky, while the brilliance of his golden eyes was dazzling enough to steal her breath. His doll-like features were more beautiful than those of any human Mei had ever seen. A straight, elegant nose, thin lips—his beauty was almost frightening simply because it existed.

Instinctively, she understood that he was not human.

A few seconds later, Mei noticed the proof. A horn about the length of a fist protruded from the boy’s head.

“An Oni.”

The hairs at the nape of her neck stood on end.

Oni were said to be the most powerful Aberrations inhabiting the Otherworld. Mei had once been told that even exorcists from the main household might not be able to defeat one.

(──Why is an Oni here? But… he’s terribly weak.)

The Oni child remained collapsed on the ground, breathing raggedly in pain. There was almost no strength in the hand gripping Mei’s arm. She could have shaken him off easily.

Perhaps the West Suo exorcists had done this to him.

If an Oni appeared, even a child could easily be marked for extermination. If he had barely escaped with his life during a battle and somehow fled all the way here…

“…”

The boy overlapped in Mei’s mind with the Aberrations tormented by the exorcists in the dojo.

And with Mei herself, who was abused by everyone around her.

Tiny beings who were treated as though anyone could do whatever they pleased to them, simply because they existed. Forced to endure heartless words and senseless violence with no choice but to bear it.

The world had been painted entirely in despair, so deep that Mei could only survive by convincing herself that she had no value.

Her body moved before she had time to think.

“…Are you all right?”

She knelt beside the Oni and timidly spoke to him, but he gave no reply.

It was not that he refused to answer; he probably had no strength left to do so. The Oni curled his small body in on itself and stared blankly into the air with eyes that seemed to have given up on everything.

If anyone found out, Mei might not escape with mere punishment.

“I’m going to touch you for a moment.”

Her hesitation lasted only an instant. Mei pressed her palm against the boy’s back and poured as much healing power as she could into him.

(──Amazing… He’s absorbing it so quickly.)

It was completely different from healing a small Aberration. Her strength was being drained from every part of her body. Dizziness swept over her from the overwhelming exhaustion, but Mei did not remove her hand.

The painfully torn skin restored itself in the blink of an eye. His face and shoulders, which had been beaten until they were swollen dark red, healed just as quickly until not even a trace of injury remained.

Color returned to his deathly pale skin, and the Oni let out a deep breath that sounded like one of relief.

“Ah…”

By the time the healing was finally complete, Mei’s entire body was drenched in sweat.

The boy who had been lying on the ground seemed to realize that his injuries were gone and sprang to his feet, examining his own body in bewilderment.

“What… What happened? What did you do to me?”

“…Thank goodness.”

Seeing the boy speak so fluently, Mei’s face softened into a smile.

She had saved him. Relief drained the strength from her entire body, and this time Mei collapsed to the ground.

“Hey…!”

Now it was the boy’s turn to panic.

He fussed over Mei anxiously, then lifted her with ease and propped her against the wall surrounding the back garden.

Their builds were almost identical, yet the sheer strength he possessed made it unmistakably clear that he was not human, which gave Mei a strange feeling.

“What exactly are you? Aren’t you an exorcist?”

“…I’m… a failure.”

“A failure…?”

The confusion on the boy’s face somehow made him look more mature than his apparent age.

Humanoid Aberrations often did not match the age they appeared to be. Perhaps he was actually much older than Mei.

“You should… run away quickly. It’ll be bad if someone comes.”

People rarely came to the back garden, but someone might come looking for either the boy or Mei, who had stopped working.

“Over there… part of the wall is broken, and there’s a small opening. You should… be able to get through.”

It was a hidden passage Mei had discovered by chance.

The wall surrounding the estate had techniques cast over it to keep Aberrations out. An ordinary Aberration could not simply leap over it.

However, the old wall had grown brittle, and there was one damaged section that could be opened enough to pass through if pressure was applied from the inside.

It was precisely because Mei had discovered it that she had been able to release small Aberrations through this back garden.

“You…”

The boy stared at Mei as though he could not believe what he was hearing. His golden eyes glittered so brightly that they were almost dazzling.

(──He really is… beautiful.)

It probably was not the sort of thing one normally thought about a boy, but no word other than beautiful came to mind.

Suddenly, that strange fragrance tickled her nose again. Wondering if it came from the boy, Mei followed the scent with her gaze and noticed something glowing blue peeking out from the overlap of his clothes.

“That…”

“Hm? Ah… So it survived.”

Noticing where Mei was looking, the boy pulled something from inside his robe. It was a tiny flowerpot small enough to fit in one palm. Rising from the soil was a thin, spindly trunk not even as thick as her little finger. Sheltered by several branches and a few leaves was a single bud glowing faintly blue, but the entire plant looked terribly frail.

Mei could not help worrying that it might wither away without ever blooming.

“A flower…?”

When she asked, the boy quietly nodded.

“It was a flower my mother treasured. I brought it with me when I escaped, but… it may already be too late.”

Hearing the disappointment and resignation in his voice, Mei’s brows drooped.

Her chest ached at the sight of him cradling the flowerpot so carefully. Even if he was an Oni, she was reminded that the love one felt for a parent was no different.

(──Of course. She’s his family.)

Even after being treated so coldly, Mei still could not completely hate her parents or Io. She had given up on ever being loved by them, but she still could not bring herself to wish for their unhappiness. Bonds of blood ran that deep.

From the Oni’s manner and tone, it was obvious how deeply he had loved his mother. If he had cared for her that much, then naturally her keepsake would mean everything to him.

“…Is that a flower from the Otherworld?”

“The Otherworld… Yes, I suppose that’s what it would be from your perspective.”

“May I touch it for a moment?”

The boy’s eyes widened in alarm. As though refusing to let anyone touch it, he clutched the flowerpot tightly against himself.

“I won’t touch the bud. Maybe… my power can make it healthy again.”

“Your power…”

Apparently remembering that Mei had healed his injuries, the boy fell silent. After hesitating for a moment, he extended both arms and offered her the flowerpot.

“Please. This flower… is very important to me.”

At the seriousness in his expression and words, Mei nodded deeply. Then she placed her hands over his, gently enclosing the flowerpot between them.