Chapter 8. This year for sure! (8)
"Who did that?"
What kind of answer was I supposed to give after hearing that?
No, more importantly, what kind of situation did she see to make her think someone was bullying me?
No, no, no, more importantly.
It's a parrot with its head half-crushed. I did wonder, 'Why of all things?', but...
"Ah, this?"
The parrot said.
"Well, there aren't many talking birds in the world, are there? If I used something like a pigeon, all it would do is coo, right?"
"......."
"Ah, or is it because of the Superpower? Because it's fascinating that one person can use multiple abilities? Hmm, that's not it. It's someone else's ability, not mine. I'm just asking them to convey exactly what I say as best as they can."
Suddenly, the parrot's speech stopped dead.
And a moment later,
"Aaaah! Aaaaaah!"
The parrot screamed.
Since it was my first time hearing a parrot speak in person, I never imagined the volume would be that loud. When a parrot the size of a small puppy screamed, it was loud enough to make the ears of everyone nearby ring.
"......L-like, this."
The parrot's voice stammered.
"I can, convey, the words."
It meant the person on the other side of the parrot wasn't Seo Arin. There was someone else using the ability, and they were conveying the words of Seo Arin, who was in front of them, through the parrot?
The parrot panted for a while.
"So, actually, the response is bound to be a bit slow. It's frustrating, right? It's not like I'm seeing it with my own eyes. They say the words are conveyed quickly, but the only way I can see and hear is by listening to stories. That's why."
The parrot stopped talking for a moment, then,
"'P-p-packing, my, luggage.'"
"'Really? How? Does it look like they're about to go home right away?'"
"'W-well, that is.'"
"'Why? School's out time is still a long way off,'"
The parrot, which had been muttering and describing the situation as if performing a one-man show, stopped talking again and snapped its head around to look at me.
"If that kind of conversation goes back and forth, obviously there's only one conclusion, right? I've been there too. I have been forced to leave school before."
This time, the parrot spun its body around and looked at the kids gathered near the hallway window. They were the kids who had tried to run out of the classroom but hadn't managed to make it out in time.
And among them, it stared fixedly at the side with the broken window. At the kids around it.
"......Black, short hair, slightly slanted eyes, medium build, the name is......"
Physical characteristics being listed. And a name.
I didn't need to think deeply to know what that meant.
"W-wait a minute!"
I shouted in surprise, and the parrot stopped talking dead.
And after standing still for a moment as if frozen, it snapped its head back again.
Is it because it's a bird that it turns that far? Or is it because its neck is already broken beyond repair?
"Why?"
I tried to answer.
I wanted to be somewhat logical—no, it was an opponent with whom logic didn't work in the first place, but I still thought I had to stop its actions for now.
I tried to spout some sophistry or persuade it.
"Why, why, are you doing this, anyway?"
The words that actually came out of my mouth were those.
"You abandoned me and left. You said you didn't want to raise me. But why now?"
The parrot is silent.
It doesn't look like it's deep in thought. It doesn't mean it looks thoughtless because it's a bird; it's that the opponent seemed a bit dazed.
That probably isn't Seo Arin's expression. It must be the expression of the person directly controlling that bird.
Because the most embarrassing thing when having to convey words to someone is putting emotions into them. Especially if it's words resenting the recipient, and even more so if that recipient is a human who even tortures them, who knows what would happen after delivering it.
"That's why I left you there, right?"
"......At The Orphanage? Is that something to say?"
After hearing the answer, I, who was dazed again, asked.
The parrot is silent again.
It must be the parrot's owner, not Seo Arin, who is at a loss for words.
"If you weren't going to take the child in, why build The Orphanage? Wasn't it built for that purpose? If you didn't want to accept me, you shouldn't have built such a place, right?"
"......."
What should I have answered?
Many thoughts came to mind. But I knew that none of those thoughts would properly reach deep into that woman's mind.
"Then, why, now?"
"You grew up pretty, didn't you?"
The parrot was silent again, then barely opened its beak.
"If you had grown up ugly, obviously I wouldn't have bothered to take you, right? I would have just come to school, checked on you, and gone back."
"......."
"Isn't it a good thing, though? Thanks to me, you're living well in a good house, aren't you? If you follow your biological mother, it's good because you can live with family, and if you just stay, it's good because you live in a rich house. Isn't it? Though it's cheeky of you to think about staying there."
"How can you say such things?"
Soi finally opened her mouth.
Heat rushed in from beside me.
"You're funny too."
But the parrot said it as if it didn't care about that at all.
"You said you were that close, right? Enough to stop your biological mother from taking her. But why did you just watch? If you were going to protect her, shouldn't you have pounced and burned their faces off when someone bullied her?"
"What—"
"I would have done that. If it were me, I would have."
"......."
Blink, blink.
Soi's eyes blink.
"Why? You really didn't even think about it? Other kids bully you like that, and you didn't even think about revenge? With that power? With the power you inherited from me? Really? Not even once? You didn't even think about it?"
Tilting her head as if she really couldn't understand, the woman asks.
I bit my lip.
Because I did think about it.
No, actually, I almost really did it.
Even just today.
"......Well, fine."
The parrot, which had been chattering away on its own, shut its mouth again.
"Can't be helped. It seems like time is almost up. I guess if I really killed everyone, school life would be ruined. Right? No matter what, my daughter wants it that much, so it's a bit much to really ruin it. I won't kill anyone."
I did think that maybe it couldn't kill them because it wasn't nearby, but that thought didn't last very long.
"Ah, right. And, when the numbers increase, moving... this precisely... is—"
The parrot's speech slowly drags out.
Its pupils dilate, and the unnatural movements slowly slow down, then...
"Aaaah!"
Soon, the parrot screamed wildly.
As if it had forgotten until now that it was in pain.
It rolls on the ground, flapping its wings haphazardly, with its peeled-off scalp dangling. As if something in its head had completely broken down.
That was the beginning.
Flap, flap, a sound of something large fluttering was heard, and then,
"Kyaa!?"
Something flew into the classroom.
Not one, but many.
A huge flock of birds.
A flock of birds, the kind you often see in the city, came in in a swarm, and then...
"Kyaaaah!?"
They rushed toward the kids gathered near the hallway window.
The classroom instantly became a mess. A child crying and running around, a child clutching their head and sitting on the floor, a child crying after falling and hitting a desk while trying to rush out of the classroom.
The parrot, which had been rolling on the floor scattering white feathers, was stepped on by someone's foot. A few male students tried to block the birds flying at them by swinging their textbooks, but froze when they heard a thud.
I quickly reached out my hand, first to the child being directly attacked by the birds—
......Then, what are you going to do?
How are you going to deal with all the controlled birds?
Kill them all? Catch them?
I can't catch them. My hands don't stretch infinitely like Seo Arin's. At most, I could catch one or two, but that's it; I can't catch all the birds and protect everyone.
Then, shall I kill them?
I could kill them. I just have to grab their necks and twist them. Catching the birds one by one.
Then, I would feel all of that in my hands.
The sensation of grabbing and twisting a bird's neck. The movement of a bird struggling because it wants to live.
That, one by one.
"......."
It might not be a big deal.
How much chicken or duck do people eat? Besides those two, they eat all kinds of birds. Naturally, there must be people whose job is to kill those birds.
So, it might be strange to get traumatized by something like that.
But, still.
Still, though.
Could I endure it? Could I just move on without any trauma?
I'm not that strong of a person.
I, who have trauma even from having my hair touched, or from someone hugging me.
If, if I even get trauma from grabbing something in my hands. If I get trauma from grabbing something warm and alive.
Wouldn't I be unable to even let Soi and Chaeyi hold my hands?
"Help me!"
someone shouted.
Soi hesitates a little and tries to step forward. If it's Soi's ability, she might be able to manage somehow, but...
No, rather than Soi doing it, I—
Thud.
However, before either I or Soi could step forward, the birds that had been thrashing around like crazy fell to the floor with a thud.
Thud, thud-thud-thud.
The birds that had been flapping fell to the floor one after another. Thump, a pigeon that fell onto a desk quickly got up from its spot and looked around with a dazed face.
By the time the screaming had subsided a little, and only sobbing and sniffling sounds remained, I could finally see Chaeyi standing near the back door.