A brief story of a one-sided friendship, part 2

The two false schoolboys had moved to sit on the ground near the fence that prevented anyone from falling off the rooftop.

Specifically, Shin moved to sit there, and Murai followed like an imprinted duckling who wouldn't stop talking for longer than a few minutes.

"So, you read a lot of stories about this world, Kugutsu-san? Are you a fan of the author?" Murai asked. "That's some… poor taste. No offense! But they were so boring. The author really stretched the same thing on and on and on. I don't know how something so short can stretch for so long."

"Uh-uh," Shin grunted, not really listening. He was in the middle of a much more important conversation inside his head.

'I don't understand. He's annoying, and he's delicious—let's kill him. What's stopping you, my friend?' Tetsu purred. There was a dark edge to her voice. 'Don't tell me you are sympathetic for that spineless thing.'

Shin could feel her hunger and her annoyance. The closer Murai got, the stronger both emotions were, and Murai was almost touching Shin's shoulder right now.

'I'm not,' Shin replied honestly. 'But he's not as helpless as most other people. He also has a demon on his side, Tetsu.'

'You know just as well as I do, that this demon is a weakling, my friend… We will eat them both. I will become stronger. You want me to become stronger, right? Right?'

Inside their shared mental space, Shin felt a phantom sensation of Tetsu's hands hugging him from behind, and her chest pressing on the back of his neck. Her breathy voice sounded almost in his ear, sending shivers down his spine.

'Don't tell me you think of working together with this worm… We don't need anyone else but us, my dear. He will be more useful dead than alive, and we will share the feast of his flesh. I will show you how amazing it feels…'

Shin froze and breathed through his nose. The sensation wasn't real, but the blood rushing to the bottom of his teenage torso definitely was.

He gave Tetsu a mental shove and thought about how unwise it would be to fall to her charms.

'I don't want to work together with him, Tetsu,' he said. 'Now let me think for a moment, please. About what you said, too.'

She still wasn't entirely appeased, but hummed and went quiet.

And Shin honestly thought about what Tetsu said. Murdering Murai didn't sit well in Shin's stomach—he definitely was a real person. Shin only killed once before in his life, and it was in self-defense.

Though in this case, Tetsu will be the one to do the dirty work.

There also was a good reason to kill Murai, and it wasn't just to feed Tetsu. Murai's soul was marked by his knowledge of the Fourth's name. No matter how Murai died (and he would certainly die eventually), his soul will be consumed by the Fourth, giving him strength.

But if Tetsu ate Murai's soul first, it would never reach the Fourth. The ascending god will never get that crumb of power, and Tetsu—and Shin—will be stronger for it.

Maybe if Shin will find more of the summoned people and let Tetsu eat them too, the Fourth's plans will be, if not thwarted, then slowed down drastically.

Shin knew that if the Fourth really ascended, he was a goner, even if he survived until then. The Fourth's ascension would bring the world into complete chaos. An apocalypse that someone with the knowledge of the god's name will not survive.

Still. Cold-blooded murder. Or being an accomplice in a murder…

"It feels weird going back to school… I don't even know what class I'm supposed to be in," Murai said. "Do you know, Kugutsu-san?"

Shin shook his head negatively and suddenly felt a little less opposed to killing the man.

"You have a demon, too," Shin said, turning to Murai. "What does it do? Demons usually have a special power unique to them."

Murai's surprise swiftly changed with unease. "It's… It says that it can burn things. Like, create fire, I suppose? I don't like it. I only made a Contract because the big demons said that I will die without it…"

As the teen spoke, a figure moved out of his back. Shin's gaze met a pair of pure red eyes sitting on a furry monkey-like face. The demon, still unnoticed by Murai, sneered at Shin and scratched a line with a claw across its throat.

After passing this threat, it went back inside its oblivious Contractor.

Tetsu flexed her claws inside Shin's body, but he held her from going out.

"Shin?" Murai asked. "Is there something in my hair?"

Shin shook his head. "No, nothing." He stood up. "I just thought that I wanted to visit a bathroom."

Not only was Murai annoying, he couldn't control his demon even to a barest minimum. Yes, keeping him alive will bring only trouble.

But the roof was a bad place for murder. Too hard to clean.

"Oh… Alright, let's go!" Murai said, standing up too, like they were girls and couldn't go to take a piss on their own.

Shin turned away from him and walked on.

'Tetsu, when we get there, Murai is all yours. Just make sure that you eat his soul.'

He felt her perk up immediately. 'Yes, you can depend on me, boss! I will take care of you and protect you from that nuisance and his demon. And don't feel bad about him. You aren't, right? He's an absolute fool. He doesn't deserve it. You are so much more important, my friend…'

Shin nodded to her and himself, but he still wasn't so sure.

But as they walked, and Tetsu continued to whisper and croon her gentle assurances, he felt better and better about his decision.