The Yellow Raincoat (5)
Thanks to my glimpse of the future, I'd found my next goal, and I set off walking once more.
Walking, and walking some more.
Fortunately, being an Anomaly meant my feet didn't ache—but that didn't make it any less mentally exhausting as the hours dragged on.
"Ugh… I've got to have walked at least three hours by now…."
How could three whole hours pass without anything turning up? Had I been going the wrong way all along?
Slowly, doubt began to creep into the direction I'd chosen. Not that it was unreasonable doubt—like I said before, the future is full of variables.
Which meant the path I was on could very well have become the wrong one somewhere along the line. And if that were the case….
"Ugh, I hate even imagining it. Please, please let this be the right way."
I prayed with everything I had that it was. Of course, I could just look into the future again—but if it came back with "keep going this way" or, worse, "you're on the wrong path," I swear I'd go on strike!
So I was deliberately not looking. Because I was a little scared to.
Anyway, lost in worries like these, I walked on for a few more minutes. And gradually, I noticed the world around me beginning to change.
"Hmm…? Grass? Trees?"
Taking a slow look around, I realized I was somehow standing in the middle of a forest. I could even feel it through the soles of my feet—the ground had turned to soil.
"Good grief…. What on earth is this Anomaly…?"
Whether this was an illusion or the space itself had genuinely been altered, it felt indistinguishable from reality to me. In other words, the Anomaly holding dominion over this space belonged to a considerably powerful breed.
But then why would something that strong bother to lure in humans, hide, and eat them one by one?
With this kind of power, it could just as well massacre humans out in the open.
"Don't tell me it only holds absolute power within this space I'm standing in?"
If so, it made sense.
It could manipulate only this space, but not the real world. Of course, that was pure speculation.
Which meant the only way to figure out what this Anomaly was, was to keep wandering around.
"Anomalies like this usually have a separate main body, after all."
An Anomaly with power this overwhelming typically exists split between a main body and a copy. The main body is, as the name suggests, the original; the copy is a duplicate of that original.
So no matter how many copies you killed, they'd never truly die unless you took out the main body.
Granted, beings like that weren't just rare—the copies didn't always replicate the original's appearance either, which made finding them a colossal pain in the neck.
Some argued we shouldn't even call it a "main body" at all, since it seemed less like a body and more like some entity merely doling out its power to the copies.
"Of course, cases like that are so rare that we just call them main bodies and copies anyway."
Anyway, enough with the lecture—let's go exploring, shall we?
Mind made up, I headed deeper into the forest, taking in my surroundings as I went. And something about them looked strangely familiar.
"Hm…. Where have I seen this forest before…?"
Sure, to an ordinary person, one forest looks pretty much like any other. But still, something about this one nagged at me.
So I racked my brain, and one particular forest came to mind.
"No way… is this… that place?"
Nah, come on. Couldn't be.
I gave an awkward laugh and looked up at the sky. I don't know why I did it, but it turned out to be a very bad choice.
"…The Eight-Colored Bird."
It wasn't a blue sky anymore—somewhere along the way, a sun had appeared up there. But it hadn't come alone. With it hung a most unwelcome guest: the very Anomaly that had given me my trauma.
A bird whose every feather shimmered with rainbow hues. Except, unlike a rainbow, its colors numbered eight—hence the name Eight-Colored Bird.
"KWAAAAAK!!"
"Hnnngh…."
I jumped out of my skin at the creature's sudden screech, my whole body shuddering—and my ears and tail trembled in fear right along with the rest of me.
Apparently, this time it had decided to poke at my trauma directly.
While the fox trembled like a leaf before the Eight-Colored Bird, something else was watching the whole scene. That something wore a yellow raincoat.
"Hee hee hee! Yes! You can't get to Mommy! Pay for your sins!"
The thing had declared that merely approaching its mother was a sin. And now it delighted in the fact that it could make her atone for it.
So delighted, in fact, that it danced a gleeful jig. Faceless though it was, its joy was unmistakable.
"Hee hee hee! Die here! Just die!"
The yellow raincoat showered the fox with curses without a moment's hesitation.
Then, mid-dance, it stopped, turned on its heel, and began to walk away—as utterly certain that the Eight-Colored Bird would win as if it had already happened.
"Yes! Die!"
Not, of course, that it stopped cursing.
"KWAAAAAK!!"
The Eight-Colored Bird came swooping down out of the sky. One look into its eyes told me it had definitely spotted me.
Flapping its wings, it touched down on the ground and began to study me. Meanwhile, I remained frozen solid, still shaking.
"U-um… could you just… keep going, maybe…?"
I begged the bird as earnestly as I could, but it didn't understand a word—and its gaze turned sharp in an instant.
Above!
Through my Future Sight, I saw it: the Eight-Colored Bird was about to strike with its beak!
I rolled sideways immediately, and a small hole punctured the exact spot where I'd just been standing.
"Hah… hah…."
Wait—did I almost just die?!
My heart, which I'd clutched without thinking, was hammering like mad. But soon enough, my mind went somewhere entirely different.
"Th-that thing is definitely strong. But…."
My gut—no, I—could feel it. I could beat this Eight-Colored Bird.
Look! I'd just dodged its attack, hadn't I? I wasn't weak anymore.
Not the baby fox who could barely manage a proper Future Sight!
"Whew. Whew. Right. I am not weak."
Sure, I was still scared, and sure, the spark of courage behind this was a little pathetic—but I couldn't let it stay this way.
A trauma is something you have to overcome someday!
Human or… well, not human, but either way—a being has to conquer their trauma in order to grow!
That was how I saw it, so I decided to fight my trauma head-on.
With my roll sideways as momentum, I pushed myself up off the ground and stared the Eight-Colored Bird down.
It seemed the creature had never imagined its attack could be dodged, and it was flustered. And seeing that, I couldn't help but snort with laughter.
"You think I'm still that baby fox, don't you?"
I had long since left that childhood behind, while the Eight-Colored Bird still lingered in it.
Would knowing that change anything?
The trembling in my body began to fade. The tension that had gripped me melted into something like bravado, and now I wanted to find out just how far my strength would carry.
The Eight-Colored Bird, meanwhile, seemed to take my laughter as mockery, and it looked furious. But I wasn't afraid anymore.
"Come on! Bring it!"
"KWAAAAAK!"
With its wings spread wide, the Eight-Colored Bird raised its talons to strike me down. Sensing it, I charged straight into its embrace instead.
CRASH!
A loud noise rang out behind me, but I ignored it and kicked off the ground. Then, spinning my body through the air in a full rotation, I drove a single kick into the bird.
"KYAAAA!!"
Right!
Writhing in pain, the Eight-Colored Bird tried to shake me off with its wings!
Thanks to my Future Sight, I'd read it coming and slipped free in time. I retreated a short distance to survey my opponent.
The creature was still thrashing about, convinced I was clinging to its body. Seizing the opening, I lunged at the Eight-Colored Bird once more.
"Hm. So you noticed."
The bird caught me mid-leap. I could see it stop thrashing and ready a direct attack.
"But it's useless."
Left—
Then right—spinning half a rotation, I evaded the wing that swung down to knock me from the air.
Between the toes!
Denied by the wings, it thrust out a foot instead, trying to rake me with its talons. But I curled my body into a ball and slipped cleanly between its toes.
And at last, I arrived right in front of the Eight-Colored Bird's face—wearing a victorious smile.
"Well then. Farewell."
Riding the momentum of my forward rotation, I drove my heel straight into the bird's face. It couldn't withstand the blow and slammed into the ground.
Then I drove my fist into its face, and the Eight-Colored Bird had nothing left to endure with—its face caved in, and it died.
"Ugh. Hope none of that got on me."
Landing beside the dead bird, I flicked the blood from my hand. Then I raised my arms in triumph, victory written across my face.
"Haha! I won!"
My ears flapped and my tail swayed, each savoring the victory in its own way! I'd finally beaten that wretched Eight-Colored Bird!
"Heh heh heh. So now all that's left is the real one, back in reality?"
If I could win here, surely I could win there too.
And with that thought, joy welled up in me all over again. Just how many bitter, humiliating days had I endured before entering the lab?
But now I could beat the Eight-Colored Bird!
Buoyed by my still-swaying tail, I decided it was time to get out of this space. And for that, I needed to find its master, and fast.
"This Eight-Colored Bird was clearly that thing's doing too."
If we ever met, I'd give it a thorough thrashing.
I looked into the future once more, and soon enough I was able to pinpoint a single direction. I set that as my next goal and started walking.
"Heh heh. I'll remember this grudge."
Here's hoping it would hit back satisfyingly.
Tail swaying, I made my way out of the forest.
"NOOOOO!!"
CRASH! CRASH!
Watching the fox defeat the Eight-Colored Bird, the yellow raincoat could no longer contain its fury. It stomped the ground with all its might, but stomping changed nothing.
"No! No! You mustn't go to Mommy!"
The yellow raincoat raged like a spoiled child, crying for its mother over and over, rolling on the ground and pounding the floor as its fury spilled out.
And yet it couldn't step in itself. Because until the fox actually reached its mother, it was forbidden to intervene.
Those were the rules.
In exchange for that constraint, it could exert its influence over this entire space—but right now, that seemed all but useless.
"Ugh!! I have to stop it! I have to stop it!"
Tearing at its head, the yellow raincoat thought, and thought, and thought. Then suddenly, a wonderful idea struck it.
"Yes. Mommy is precious to me. So then… you have something precious too, don't you?"
The yellow raincoat reasoned it out: if it had something precious, then surely the fox did as well.
When the realization took hold, it smiled with delight.
"Hee hee hee. Just you wait, just you wait. I'm going to give you a terri-ble experience."
And with that, the yellow raincoat set off to leave the forest.
To kill that wretched fox.
And the moment both the fox and the yellow raincoat passed beyond its edge, the forest vanished.
Like a mirage.