EP.1 I Became a Companion -3 (Revised)
EP.1 I Became a Companion -3 (Revised)
That morning, I had thought it would be a perfectly ordinary day.
I had skipped school as usual, headed up the hill behind my neighborhood, and enjoyed nature.
But today, for reasons I couldn't fathom, nothing but utterly nonsensical things kept happening.
First I picked up a dragon egg out of nowhere, then I watched government agents and terrorists go at it, then a Divine Beast hatched, then I got shot, and now a cosplayer who popped out of thin air was calling herself my Companion Animal.
Maybe I'd actually lost my mind.
It felt more plausible that I'd been in a coma ever since a car accident three years ago and this whole situation was just some dream.
It was too bizarre. Far, far too bizarre...
"Husband? What's the matter?"
"Look, this is the first time we've met, isn't it?"
"Yes! We've definitely never met before!"
So she really was insane.
Who in the world called a total stranger "husband" and claimed to be their Companion Animal the very first time they met?
No one would do that unless they were genuinely out of their mind.
"To be precise, you're the only one who's meeting me for the first time, husband!"
"What is that supposed to...?"
When she'd first appeared out of nowhere and saved me, I'd assumed she was an agent in disguise.
But the more we talked, the more genuinely unhinged she seemed.
"Nnrghh!! Just what the hell are you?!"
That reminded me—there was another dangerous person here.
And on top of that, he still had a pistol in his hand, so unless I subdued him first...!
"Huh...?"
The terrorist leader's arm was already severely wrecked.
Not only was he in no condition to fire a pistol with it, the bone was protruding through the skin, bleeding openly.
The blood I'd seen just moments ago, the loud cracking sound I'd heard—they'd come from him.
"I'm sorry, but may I put the detailed explanations off until later?"
"Huh? I, I mean, I don't really mind..."
"Then let's all head down the mountain together for now!"
Miho cleanly ignored the leader's words and suggested we descend together.
I wasn't sure if following her was a good idea, but between a bastard trying to kill me and a crazy woman trying to save me, the crazy woman was probably the better bet.
"Hey! You fucking bitch!! Stop right there!"
He had no intention of letting us leave. He raised the pistol with his uninjured hand and aimed at us.
But then—
"Gyaaaahh!!"
Then his other arm began twisting in the same way, warping into a grotesque shape.
"It's gotten a bit noisy around here, hasn't it?"
"Uh, y-yeah..."
The instant I looked at Miho's face, I knew beyond any doubt.
I had no idea how she'd done it, but the person who'd reduced him to that state was the fox woman standing right here.
She was pretending otherwise, but the murderous intent lurking behind her smile was not so easily hidden.
"Kyui..."
Even the baby dragon, energetic until that moment, crawled into my arms and trembled.
That pretty much said it all.
"Now then, let's hurry and go!"
"Hold on!"
Miho tugged at my arm, urging me to leave.
Her tug reopened the gunshot wound in my leg.
Blood gushed from the reopened wound and splattered around us.
"...Ngh!"
"Oh my? What's wrong?"
"Ah, well, I got shot a little while ago. So I was thinking, maybe we could stop the bleeding first and then..."
"You're hurt... right now...?"
"Hic!"
Her suddenly icy voice sent a chill through my entire body.
"...Did that piece of vermin do this to you, husband?"
The fox woman was staring intently at my wound.
The light drained from her eyes. Shadows fell over her face. Her expression turned murderous.
Put simply, the current Miho was terrifying in every possible way.
"Kyui...! Kyu! Kyui!!"
The baby dragon must have felt the same way, because she panicked and began trembling uncontrollably.
"I-it's not a big wound, really! I just need to treat it before it's too late!"
I tried to reassure her that I was fine, but it was already too late.
Miho was approaching the terrorist leader as if she'd already resolved to kill him.
"...Would you mind waiting just a moment?"
"S-sure...!"
I wanted to believe my assumptions were wrong, but that was probably a lost cause.
Even as she approached him, Miho rolled her joints with loud, unmistakable cracks.
That was a clear sign that she intended to follow through.
—Crunch!!
"Gyaaahh!!"
—Crack!!
"Guhuaahh!!"
—Snap!!
"P-please! Stop...! Arghh!!"
First his femur, then his pelvis, and finally his spine—the fox woman crushed each of them beneath her feet, turning him into a complete wreck.
She inflicted more agony than any human could possibly endure.
Back when he'd shot me in the leg, I'd thought the terrorist leader was utterly contemptible.
Now I pitied him enough to pray for his soul.
—Crunch!!
"Gyaaaahh!!"
Was this a dream? If it wasn't a dream, then the scene unfolding before my eyes was impossible to believe.
His limbs were writhing and twisting on their own.
His limbs twisted despite Miho never touching him.
There was no rational way to explain the eerie phenomenon.
"I'd like to give him a little more attention, but... I'll content myself with this much."
Eventually, the man's body was wrecked to the point that anyone would deem him beyond hope.
Was he even alive?
It would probably have been kinder just to let him die peacefully...
"Now then, husband? Allow me to treat you with all due care!"
Without so much as blinking, Miho had reduced the terrorist leader to a hideous wreck.
And yet, every time she looked at me, she beamed radiantly as if none of that had ever happened.
She was terrifying. My knees went weak, and I learned that I could not afford to provoke her.
So I would stay very, very still.
"I'm sorry. If I had arrived just a little sooner, you wouldn't have been hurt like this..."
Miho pulled a clean handkerchief from her bosom and wiped around the wounded area.
But she didn't press down on the injury—she only dabbed away the blood.
Puzzled by her actions, I had to ask.
"Um, what about stopping the bleeding...?"
"Pardon?"
"I mean, to treat a wound, shouldn't you stop the bleeding first?"
"Oh, that is not necessary! I have already stopped the bleeding and healed the wound itself."
"Huh...?"
I pulled up my pant leg.
When I examined the place where there should have been a bullet hole, there was no hole at all—just perfectly healed flesh.
What in the world...? Had she done this too?
"Just what are you?"
"My name is Yoo Mi-ho, your one and only..."
"No, I heard that earlier. I am asking what you really are."
"If I said I'm a Divine Beast, would you believe me?"
"Even if I didn't want to, I'd have no choice but to."
She could break someone's limbs just by looking at them and then perfectly patch up a penetrating wound. How could I not believe it?
Anyone who didn't believe at this point would be the strange one.
"Then allow me to introduce myself once more! I am a Celestial Fox Divine Beast and a Nine-Tailed Fox! I'm your very first Companion Animal, husband!"
She remained determined to call herself my Companion Animal.
More importantly—a Celestial Fox and a Nine-Tailed Fox?
"If my knowledge is correct, a Nine-Tailed Fox and a Celestial Fox may look similar, but they're completely distinct entities, aren't they?"
"That is right. I am a mixture of a Celestial Fox and a Nine-Tailed Fox, so there is no established name for what I am!"
Her golden fur marked her as a Celestial Fox, while her nine tails belonged to a Nine-Tailed Fox.
"Is that so? Then what do you mean by being my first Companion Animal?"
Even as empty flattery, that was a cruel thing to say to someone who had lived his entire life without a Companion Animal.
And on top of that, my first Companion Animal was a Divine Beast? It was utterly absurd.
"As for that, the explanation is likely to get quite long. May I tell you once we've descended the mountain? If we linger any longer, the sun will set."
"That's true. Then let me make one quick phone call first, and we'll head down."
If I had been alone, I would not have cared, but a government agent deeper in the woods needed help.
And since she was apparently with the government, I couldn't just abandon her and leave.
"If you're worried about that woman, there's no need. A great many people are approaching this location as we speak."
"They could be terrorist reinforcements, couldn't they?"
"I am certain they are coming to rescue the woman you were watching."
So she'd been watching everything that happened today from the very beginning...
If she had merely watched, I would not have trusted her. But she had repeatedly helped me, so I chose to believe her.
"Alright. I'll trust you and we'll head down."
"Thank you so much for listening to me, husband!"
As if my trivial agreement to trust her had made her that happy, Miho clung to me and nuzzled her face against me.
That action stirred a strange sense of déjà vu.
"Kyuit!"
Ah, that was why it felt familiar.
Not to be outdone, the baby dragon crawled out of my arms and started nuzzling my face, too.
"You two... are you really Divine Beasts?"
Doubt crept into my mind once again.
***
By the time we came down from the mountain, the sun was already sinking toward the horizon.
The sun had been bright when I climbed the mountain that morning, but after everything that happened, evening had already arrived.
Come to think of it, what was I supposed to say once I got home?
A son who came back with his pants soaked in blood.
A newly hatched Divine Beast baby dragon.
A fox woman who was supposedly a Divine Beast but looked like an elaborate cosplayer.
No matter how I thought about it, going home like this would bring nothing but chaos.
"Do not worry! My ability can hide anything that might cause trouble!"
"You're talking as if you read my mind."
"Fufu! I might not look it, but I've been watching over you for twenty years, husband! I can tell exactly what you're thinking just by looking at your face, you know."
She'd been watching since I was born? So did that mean she'd been my Companion Animal from the very start?
Agh, this was impossible! I had so many questions that my head felt ready to burst.
"Can I ask you just one thing, briefly, right here and now?"
"Anything at all!"
"What is your ability?"
"Illusions. A Nine-Tailed Fox is, by its very nature, a Divine Beast specialized in beguilement, after all."
"Illusions? So all those scenes I witnessed earlier—they were all illusions?"
Did that mean the terrorist leader's transformation into a horrific wreck had all been a false vision, too?
"No? All of that was real."
"Huh? But you just said your ability was illusions."
"I did! I said the Nine-Tailed Fox's ability was illusions."
We seemed to be talking past each other, but I soon understood why.
I'd have to ask the question differently.
"Then what is your ability as a Celestial Fox?"
Since she'd said she was a blended existence of a Nine-Tailed Fox and a Celestial Fox, that meant she possessed two abilities.
Her Celestial Fox ability had to be the missing piece.
"It is the ability to turn fictional objects or phenomena into reality."
"...Are you serious? An ability that absurd actually exists...?!"
She said it so casually, as if it were nothing, that at first I really did think it was no big deal.
But once I understood what it did, I could not help swearing aloud.
Her two powers worked in perfect tandem: one created illusions, and the other made them real.
It was essentially the power of creation, one that ignored even causality.
"Wait? Then don't tell me that gray bear I saw earlier was also...?"
"Yes, that too was an illusion I created."
"To actually make a bear that huge appear in reality..."
"Ah, the bear was not real."
"It wasn't?"
"My ability actually has quite a few limitations. I cannot manifest or erase living creatures, nor can I alter events either. With my current capacity, I'm limited to about five uses per day."
Even so, I thought those five times were more than enough to turn the world upside down.
Why did Miho underestimate such an incredible ability? I could not understand her.
Should I tell her? But I hesitated, thinking it might be unnecessary.
"Kyuit!!"
While I considered whether to tell her, the baby dragon eagerly offered to show me her ability as well.
I was curious, but I did not ask. For now, I wanted her to remain simply an adorable child.
If I learned what the baby dragon could do, I might start fearing her too.
"Anyway, using your ability, can you make yourself, this child, and even the bloodstained parts invisible?"
"Of course!"
"Then I'll leave it to you."
"Please leave it to me!"
I had my doubts, but the walk home proved that her ability worked perfectly.
Even though the baby dragon was on my shoulder and the fox woman was demurely behind me, no one took notice of us.
My family noticed nothing unusual either. Aside from thoroughly scolding me for skipping school, they said nothing.
At any rate, I had finally returned to my sanctuary.
I wanted nothing more than to collapse onto my bed and sleep.
I hoped that after a good sleep, everything that had happened would prove to be a dream and my normal life would resume the next day.
I could not help clinging to that hope.
But the dragon marveling at everything new and Miho casually cleaning my room shattered that hope.
I couldn't live my life always believing only in sweet stories, I supposed.
"I have a lot of questions. Will you answer them one by one?"
"Ask me anything! I will answer everything I know!"
I had accumulated a long list of questions, and I had no idea whether we could answer them all that day.
"Kyuit!!"
You were just born, so you don't know anything, do you?
Well, fine...
She was cute, so I would let her do whatever she wanted.
"First, about your appearance. Is that also an illusion?"
"No. Divine Beasts can take the form of other animals. However, we must retain part of our true form, so our ears and tails remain."
To earn my trust, Miho transformed into a Shiba Inu with fox ears and a fox tail.
So it was true...?
The result looked absurd, but it proved her claim.
"Alright, I understand. Next, you said you're my Companion Animal. Is that true?"
"Yes! It absolutely is!"
"The proof?"
When a human and an animal form a Companion Contract, a mark appears somewhere on the body.
Humans and animals used the mark to prove that they were Companion Keeper and Companion Animal.
But in my entire life, I had never once seen my own mark.
"It's right here!"
"Wait?!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Miho loosened her jeogori and revealed her voluptuous cleavage.
I reflexively turned my head away. But I absolutely had to confirm it. So I surreptitiously glanced at Miho's chest.
Porcelain-white skin, flesh that looked soft to the touch, and even a uniquely pink, heart-shaped mark.
I suppressed the urge to touch her and focused on examining the mark.
"Ahem! It's d-definitely there..."
"If you do not believe me, why not touch it yourself? I promise it is very soft!"
"N-no. There's no need for that."
"What a shame. I hoped you would fondle me until you got excited and pushed me down right here..."
"Ahem!! Anyway, you might have a mark, but I have no mark! So our Companion relationship isn't established."
"Could you look at the back of your right hand for a moment?"
"The back of my hand?"
When I looked at the back of my hand as Miho had instructed, I found a tattoo-like mark I had never seen before.
Two of them, no less...
"This is an illusion, right?"
"Strictly speaking, perhaps. I only removed the illusion that had hidden it until now!"
I was losing my mind. I could no longer tell reality from illusion.
Had Miho created this mark, or had it always been there, hidden from me by an illusion?
This called my entire twenty-year life into question.
"Earlier, you said you'd been watching over me for 20 years, right? So, ever since I was born, you were my Companion Animal?"
"Yes! I can confidently declare that I am the Companion Animal who was born with you, dear husband, grew up with you, and has been with you all along!"
"Then why didn't you reveal yourself until now? And what's the reason you've appeared only now?"
I had endured endless discrimination and persecution for lacking a Companion Animal.
I had been subjected to enough contempt to consider suicide.
I'd been beaten by a mob of zealots who fanatically loved animals and was nearly stabbed to death.
The truck driver who hit me three years ago even testified that he'd hit me because my very existence was an eyesore.
"If you really are my Companion Animal, explain why you haven't helped me all this time. Otherwise, even if you claim to be my real Companion Animal, I can't accept it!"
"Kkyui..."
I was sorry I'd startled the baby dragon who knew nothing.
But this moment, at least, was important to me.
The suffering I had endured for lacking a Companion Animal was not something I could simply laugh off.
"...You are absolutely right. If I do not explain my actions, I have no right to remain by your side, dear husband."
"Was there a reason you had to do that?"
"Yes."
"What is it? Can you explain it to me?"
“...”
Miho hesitated for a moment, then seemed to steel herself and began explaining.
"It is because of the Divine Beast Rules."
"The Divine Beast Rules?"
"As you know, dear husband, Divine Beasts wield enough power to affect the entire world. Yet the world continues to function because the Divine Beast Rules bind us to the shared goal of preserving it."
"Explain in a bit more detail."
"Think of it as preserving nature itself—a world where no animal goes extinct."
"I understand. But how is that connected to you not revealing yourself?"
"Dear husband, have you ever heard of nuclear weapons?"
"I know they are more destructive than any other weapons and leave entire regions devastated afterward."
"Do you also know what happened to the humans who developed them?"
"Huh? Well, that would be that they were all killed by the Divine Beasts that suddenly appeared..."
It was recorded that the nuclear weapon developers, as well as everyone involved, were annihilated by the Divine Beasts.
The incident was famous enough to appear in textbooks and television programs.
"The Divine Beasts seek to preserve all animal life. Any weapon that threatens that balance must be eliminated."
"In other words, they prevented the weapon's development by killing the humans."
"Correct. But if there were a human who could wield even stronger influence than a nuke, what do you think the Divine Beasts would do?"
"Ah...!"
Now I understood. The reason Miho had concealed her appearance even from me.
"That is right. Divine Beasts are not supposed to form Companion Contracts with humans. But I was born in the same place on the same day as you, and I formed one with you without hesitation. I was too young to know it was forbidden."
"The same place? Is that possible?"
"It is. My parents are still living near yours even now, dear husband."
"Don't tell me...!"
I had heard that when my mother became pregnant with me, my parents' Companion Foxes had conceived as well, as if by a miracle.
But I had been told that their cub was lost to miscarriage before it ever saw the light of day.
Except, in reality, that child had been safely born, and that was exactly...
"You were the child of my parents' companion foxes?"
"Yes, that is correct."
"But is that possible? My parents' companion foxes are ordinary foxes, not Divine Beasts?"
"Divine Beasts are mutations. Just as animals evolved over time, we arose through an extraordinary form of evolution. My birth as a Divine Beast was a miraculous coincidence."
"I see. Anyway, I finally understand everything now. You and I formed a Companion Contract from the moment we were born, but if that fact were known, we'd surely be targeted by other Divine Beasts, so you used your ability to hide your existence. Is that it?"
Miho answered with a nod.
I finally understood why she had hidden herself.
But for me, one unresolved question still remained.
"Then what's the reason you've appeared before me now?"
"Because something irreversible has happened again."
"What does that even mean...?"
"I too never expected that something like what happened with me would happen once more."
Someone immediately came to mind.
I followed Miho's gaze and found her looking at the baby dragon.
"Kkyui?"
The baby dragon tilted her head at our gazes.
Not knowing what was going on, her eyes were sparkling as if to say, 'What? What is it?'
"A duplicate Companion Contract? I've never heard of such a thing."
"Because it's a Divine Beast, it may be possible. Or perhaps you are special, dear husband?"
"Kkyui??"
I gently picked up the baby dragon and observed her body more meticulously than before.
A moment later, I found it.
An unusually shaped mark was engraved beneath the baby dragon's wing.
"A Divine Beast... Good heavens...!!"
My twenty-year pursuit of an ordinary life ended that day.
A life fated to live by Divine Beasts and die by Divine Beasts.
A future spent tossed about by an extraordinary fate until I was utterly fucked...
I could picture it all too easily.
"God-fucking-dammit..."