Thank a lot for the 250 power stones! Here's the bonus chapter
At 400 Power Stones, I'll drop another bonus chapter.
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My eyes widen. Not expecting those words, she manages to catch me completely off guard.
"What? No, of course not. Why would you think—?"
Halfway through my hastily formulated excuse, Mrs. Yuriko interrupts by raising a hand.
"No need to deny it, Arata. Your facial expression already gave me all the confirmation I needed."
'Shit.'
What the hell is happening?
But wait a second. Mrs. Yuriko is just a normal human without special abilities, so how did she know with such certainty?
"How...?"
She smiles warmly. It's the kind of warmth she shows Saya. That is, maternal warmth.
"It's because it's impossible not to know my own son after all this time living together, don't you think? A mother always knows these things."
I stare at her for a moment before responding.
"You expect me to believe that?"
"Yes."
This reminds me of the exchange I had with Touka last night.
I look into her eyes for a few long seconds, trying to read her expression. But I'm actually reading her emotional frequencies.
I don't find anything unusual aside from calmness.
This strange and unexpected situation makes me slowly shake my head.
"I'd like to hear the truth, please. How did you know it was me?"
"Fine."
Nodding approvingly at my insistence, she settles into her chair. During the process, she starts explaining.
"I know because of Kiriko."
"Kiriko?"
"Kiriko Miyamoto. You must know her, right?"
At the stunned look I probably have on my face, mom confirms it with a calm voice.
Mrs. Kiriko, huh? Of course I know her. Because she's Rei's mother, and we'd even exchanged a couple of pretty intense blows before reaching a peaceful agreement.
"Mrs. Kiriko and you... you know each other well?"
She laughs and looks toward the window, where a cherry tree can be seen swaying gently in the wind.
"Yes, we know each other. Not just that. We've been friends since we went to the same school in the past. But adult life is stressful, and for work reasons, we've gone separate ways. Though we keep in touch."
"I see."
Such a past exists between the two of them.
That explains why Mrs. Yuriko could know I'm not normal. If that vampire woman from the Hellsing agency has talked to her about me, then it makes sense she'd be informed.
Still, there's one thing I still don't know for certain, and I need to confirm it.
"How much has Mrs. Kiriko told you about me?"
Yuriko's purple eyes narrow slightly and her long lashes flutter elegantly.
"She told me that Arata, the boy I adopted as my son, isn't human, or a ghoul, or even a vampire."
Adding a small pause in the middle of her words, Mrs. Yuriko takes time to carefully study my expression, but seeing me nod for her to continue, she shakes her head, seeming to have a headache.
"Kiriko has cataloged you as an anomaly."
My cheeks twitch slightly at that word.
"An anomaly."
"Someone whose origin is unknown. That's how she's expressed it. You're probably not even the product of some organization's experimentation, because Kiriko investigated your possible origin a bit, but found nothing. That's why she concluded you're something outside every known category registered in her files. Therefore, you're considered a potential threat."
Seeing Mrs. Yuriko's inviting gesture, I pull over a nearby chair and sit in front of the desk to be more comfortable during our conversation.
I study her for a long while with my Vampire Vision activated. The upper layer of her aura, representing her current emotion, is white.
I smile at her.
"Despite being cataloged as a potential threat, you're calm right now. Shouldn't you be afraid and kick me out of your house to protect Saya?"
Her purple painted lips curve upward to show a slight smile.
"Besides that, Kiriko had told me something else."
"Oh? And what's that?"
She continues while looking directly into my eyes.
"She told me that if my son Arata ever goes out of control, I should contact her, and the agency she works for will take care of you."
Better said, it's more than possible they'd send Alucard to deal violently with me.
This escalated pretty quickly, didn't it? I just wanted to get a house for my friend.
I emit a silent sigh through my nose.
"Are you okay telling me all this? Aren't you afraid I'll react badly?"
"I'm sure."
"Why?"
Yuriko leans forward, puts her elbows on the desk and delicately adjusts her chin between her palms while observing me fixedly for one or two full seconds.
"It's because you're important to Saya."
Her answer is quite simple and direct, and reminds me a bit of the reason Kiriko didn't complicate things too much for me back then when we faced off.
Both mothers seem worried their respective daughters would hate them if they did something harmful to me.
Looking at it that way, both Saya and Rei are indirectly saving me from Alucard and they don't even know it.
Yuriko continues speaking with a softer voice.
"Also because you saved my daughter and me when we needed it most."
I'm caught off guard by her words, but she doesn't give me time to respond.
"I didn't know what you were back then, thinking you were just a malnourished and sick child Saya brought home."
With an expression that becomes serious and somewhat dark, she sighs.
"A month ago, when Kiriko revealed the truth about you to me, I remembered."
She must be talking about that day when the parasite took possession of her husband's body and almost killed her and her daughter.
"That small silhouette that appeared in a blink between us and carried that monster away with a powerful blow that destroyed the wall..."
After saying that, she addresses me directly with a firm voice.
"That was you, wasn't it?"
I guess I don't need to answer that rhetorical question, because she already seems confident enough that her assumption is correct.
She closes her eyes and exhales deeply.
"I've known about that world for a long time, Arata. Since I was a child, to be exact."
"Oh?"
Her words make me regain my curiosity and make me look at her face again.
"I knew this world has always been rotten from its foundations. Whether from the existence of ghouls devouring humans, vampires drinking blood, now parasites possessing bodies, and other even worse things."
"Hm? Other worse things?"
She ignores my question and continues with her line of thought.
"All that isn't something that appeared overnight. There must be an origin, a source where everything began."
"Well, that's true."
"So since Kiriko revealed what you were, I didn't panic."
Opening her eyelids again, her purple eyes meet mine and she smiles slightly.
"Instead, I made a decision."
"And what's that decision?"
"Keep you with us."
From the emotional frequencies constantly escaping from her, it doesn't seem like she's talking about me being her property.
Rather, she seems resolved in her decision.
"It's because you can protect Saya from other monsters that might appear."
The real and honest reason. Not out of kindness or morality.
I feel she's quite intelligent. She found a way to survive in a world that's gradually revealing the horrible things hidden beneath the surface.
I form a toothy smile while my irises turn red and bright.
I ask with a slightly amused voice.
"Are you okay living alongside a monster?"
She looks at my red eyes fixedly for a long moment, before nodding.
"Yes, I'm okay with that."
"Good..."
I deactivate my red eyes.
Mrs. Yuriko tilts her head to one side and smiles warmly.
"By the way, you should thank me for stopping Saya that time you went to the 24th Ward."
"Really nothing escapes you, does it? Still, what do you mean by stopping her?"
Mrs. Yuriko suddenly seems tired.
"Saya was pretty furious every day, thinking you were going to that Touka girl's house to spend time with her. Hah... It was a huge headache dealing with her."
'That twin-pigtailed tsundere did something like that?'
Though I remember that when I revealed what I am to Saya, she said her mother had said everything was fine and she didn't need to worry about me.
This woman...
She really is dangerous.
Noticing that after that conversation the atmosphere around feels somewhat awkward, I feel it's my moment to start the conversation.
"So, what now? How does this change things?"
She notices what I mean.
"Nothing changes. You can live here if you want, eat with us and be part of this house like you have been."
Then her look makes it clear she's serious now.
"But if you ever become a threat to Saya, I'll call Kiriko without hesitating for a second."
"Is that so?"
I'm amused by her words. Despite saying those threatening words, there's actually no malice in her emotional frequency.
Besides, honestly that's the most reasonable thing anyone can do in her situation.
She doesn't trust what I am, but she trusts what I've done so far.
Apparently that's enough to turn a blind eye to my situation as a monster.
But if I do something wrong, she'll tell Mrs. Kiriko.
Such a thing would trigger the next event. Alucard coming for me, and me becoming fried chicken. A terrible outcome.
Mrs. Yuriko's serious eyes soften greatly the next second.
"But that won't happen, right? Because you're my son now."
I'm attacked by Mrs. Yuriko's intense maternal aura, and feeling a bit embarrassed, I look away.
"That's right. After all, before harming Saya or you, I'd leave this place on my own."
Having said all that, Yuriko lets out a long sigh.
"I know you're not bad, Arata."
"Can you really be sure of that?"
She nods with conviction and points to her laptop screen.
"Yesterday, you did all that risking your life to save your friend."
I shrug.
She leans back in her chair, looking at me with certain admiration.
"I suppose you also uploaded the video. To make the world believe the Bloody Ghoul has died and that the CCG would stop searching intensively in this area. That way you'd protect that ghoul girl. I'm surprised you can be that intelligent at only ten years old."
I don't know if that was intelligent or not, but I did it because it seemed like the best I could do in the shortest time possible with the resources I had.
"Going back to your original purpose... You're here because you want a house for Touka, right?"
She already seems to know Touka is a ghoul, so I'm a bit worried she might not be able to accept my request considering the risks.
Still, I confirm honestly.
"Mm. She's a very good friend of mine. Though if this causes any kind of problems, I'll find a solution myself."
I'll probably rob criminals and idiot ghouls around to get enough money. Or maybe it's better to directly manipulate someone rich and have a new house registered under Touka's family name?
While such dangerous thoughts quickly pass through my head, Mrs. Yuriko shakes her head negatively.
"It's not a problem. It's a bit strange helping a ghoul, but since my son trusts that girl, then there shouldn't be problems with her attitude or her being dangerous to Saya."
I twist my lips.
Of course Touka's existence will be problematic for Saya. Though not exactly in the way Mrs. Yuriko is thinking right now.
Still, I decide to keep my lips sealed.
"Thank you, mom. I really appreciate this."
Yuriko's lips rise to form an affectionate smile.
"By tomorrow all the legal papers for the new house will be ready. Though the land will be registered under the Takagi family name, is that a problem for you?"
"Not a problem at all."
As long as Touka has a nice and safe place where she can live, then it's perfectly fine with me.
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Writing this chapter gave me a headache.
It's full of dialogue.
Honestly I'm really bad at writing dialogue, and I'm not sure if I got it right or not