Foolish Question

Chitose stood near the entrance of the Ouroboros Mansion.

The Grimoire was inside her bag.

Kazuha stood beside her.

“Woof.”

Chitose looked down.

“I'll be back.”

Kazuha tilted his head.

“Woof?”

“I don't know how long.”

She crouched down and rubbed his head.

“Papa found something about you.”

Kazuha's ears moved.

“Woof.”

“I know.”

Chitose smiled.

“I'll figure it out.”

Miyo stood nearby with her arms crossed.

“Are you sure you don't want someone to come with you?”

Chitose shook her head.

“It's my father.”

She stood.

“I'll be fine.”

She looked toward the dining room.

Reona was sitting quietly at the table.

Nao was drinking tea.

Jei stood near the window.

Umi was eating.

Juriasu had his arms crossed.

And at the head of the table—

Kaguya's chair remained empty.

Chitose looked at it for a moment.

Then she smiled.

“We will come back.”

Reona smiled.

“We'll be waiting.”

Chitose opened the door.

Kazuha followed her.

“Woof.”

The door closed.

---

Miyo looked around.

Then she frowned.

“Wait.”

She looked at the table.

“Where's the thimble?”

Nao looked around.

“The thimble?”

“The one Chitose used to capture the Left-Behind.”

Juriasu pointed toward the entrance.

“She left it.”

Everyone looked.

A small thimble sat beside the door.

Umi raised his hand.

“She forgot it.”

Jei sighed.

“Of course she did.”

Nao giggled.

“That sounds like her.”

Miyo picked up the thimble.

“Then we might as well ask him some questions.”

She placed it on the table.

The thimble shook.

A small light appeared above it.

The captured man slowly appeared.

He looked around.

“Where am I?”

“Ouroboros.”

He looked at everyone.

“Who are you?”

Jei crossed his arms.

“People who want answers.”

The man sighed.

“I don't know much.”

“Then start with what you know.”

The man was quiet.

Miyo spoke.

“You were a demon.”

“Yes.”

“Class?”

“Vanity.”

“And you separated your negative energy.”

The man nodded.

“It became the Vanity entity.”

“Why?”

The man looked down at his hands.

“I wanted to become human.”

Reona looked at him.

“Why?”

“I was tired of being a demon.”

He looked toward the floor.

“I wanted to know what it felt like to live without being defined by a sin.”

Nobody spoke.

Then Miyo asked:

“Why did you attack Chitose?”

The man's expression changed.

“I was ordered to.”

“By whom?”

“An angel.”

The room became quiet.

Jei's eyes narrowed.

“Which angel?”

“I don't know.”

“What did it look like?”

“I couldn't see its face.”

“What did it say?”

The man hesitated.

“It told me to attack the new Harbinger, and I’ll be accepted as a person in this world.”

“Did the angel say, ‘Why?’”

“It didn’t.”

Reona stepped closer.

“Did it say anything else?”

The man nodded.

“It said she had the book that makes everyone equal.”

Everyone thinks about the Grimoire.

Jei's expression hardened.

“Anything else?”

“No.”

Miyo noticed something on the man's hand.

She grabbed his wrist.

“What's this?”

The man looked down.

A strange marking covered his palm.

It resembled a hand.

The fingers were pressed together except for the pinky, which was slightly separated. The thumb sat lower than the other fingers.

It was a scale hand.

Reona's expression changed.

“I've seen that before.”

Juriasu looked at her.

“The cult?”

Reona nodded.

“The scale hand.”

The man looked confused.

“I don't know what it means.”

Miyo released his wrist.

“Neither do we.”

The man looked toward the door.

“Can I ask something?”

Jei nodded.

“Why didn't the Harbinger kill me?”

Miyo smiled faintly.

“Because she didn't know what you were.”

The man looked down.

“She could have killed me.”

“Yes.”

“But she didn't.”

Nao smiled.

“That's Chitose.”

---

The afternoon streets were busy.

Chitose walked toward the police station.

Kazuha followed beside her.

“Woof.”

“You're unusually quiet.”

“Woof.”

“Are you nervous?”

Kazuha looked at her.

“Woof.”

Chitose smiled.

“I guess I'm nervous too.”

She looked ahead.

“Papa said he found something about your case.”

Kazuha's ears moved.

“I don't remember asking you what happened that day.”

He looked at her.

“I know what the doctors said.”

She kept walking.

“I know what everyone told me.”

“But I don't remember what you were doing before you died.”

Kazuha stopped.

Chitose stopped too.

She looked down at him.

“Maybe I should have asked.”

Kazuha walked over and pressed his head against her leg.

Chitose smiled.

“Come on.”

They continued walking.

---

The police station was quiet.

Chitose opened the door.

“Papa?”

Her father looked up.

“You came.”

“Sorry, I'm late.”

Kazuha walked in behind her.

Mr. Sasaki looked at him for a moment.

Then he looked back at Chitose.

“Sit down.”

Chitose sat.

Her father placed a photograph on the table.

She looked at it.

Her wedding.

Kazuha beside her.

Everyone smiling.

And behind him—

The stranger, the black book, and the strange mark on his hand.

Chitose stared at the photograph.

“I don't know him.”

“I know.”

“Then why was he there?”

“I don't know.”

Her father placed another photograph beside it.

The cemetery, an open grave, an upright coffin, and a bouquet lying on the ground.

Chitose's expression changed.

“Papa...”

“I found something else.”

He placed a piece of paper on the table.

“A taxi driver saw you that night.”

Chitose looked at the paper.

“He remembered the wedding dress.”

She became quiet.

“And the book.”

Chitose looked up.

“The book?”

Mr. Sasaki nodded.

“He said you were carrying a black book.”

Chitose didn't answer.

“You asked him to take you to the cemetery.”

She looked down, and she lies.

“I don't remember.”

Her father watched her carefully.

“That's what worries me.”

Chitose looked at him.

“What?”

“You don't remember.”

He pointed toward the photograph.

“And yet the evidence says you were there.”

Chitose stared at the photograph.

“I don't understand.”

“Neither do I.”

He pushed another photograph toward her.

The wedding photograph.

A timestamp was visible.

3:47 p.m.

Chitose looked at it.

Her father spoke quietly.

“Kazuha died at 4:26 p.m.”

Chitose's eyes widened.

“Thirty-nine minutes.”

He nodded.

“Something happened during those thirty-nine minutes.”

Chitose looked at the photograph again.

The black book was in the stranger's hand.

She touched the image.

“Papa.”

“Yes?”

“I didn't have this book yet.”

Her father looked at her.

“I know.”

“I received it after Kazuha died.”

“I know.”

Chitose's fingers tightened around the photograph.

“Then how...?”

“I don't know.”

Silence.

Her father looked at her.

“Did Kazuha ever mention this book?”

Chitose thought.

“No.”

“Did anyone?”

She shook her head.

“No.”

Mr. Sasaki leaned back.

“Then there's something we don't know.”

Chitose looked toward Kazuha, who was sitting beside her.

Quietly watching them.

Her father spoke again.

“I also checked the cemetery footage.”

Chitose looked at him.

“The camera recorded you entering.”

“And?”

“You disappeared.”

Chitose blinked.

“What?”

“The footage cuts out for a few seconds.”

“Did I leave?”

“No.”

“Then?”

“You were simply gone.”

Chitose stared at him.

Her father sighed.

“I don't know what happened.”

He looked at the photograph.

“But I know something is wrong.”

Chitose lowered her head.

For a moment, she didn't speak.

Then:

“Papa.”

“Yes?”

“What if I forgot something?”

Her father looked at her.

“Then we'll find it.”

Chitose looked up.

He smiled.

“You don't have to figure it out alone.”

Chitose smiled back.

“Okay.”

---

The sun was already low when Chitose left the station.

Kazuha walked beside her.

She carried the photographs in her bag.

She was quiet.

Kazuha looked up.

“Woof.”

“I'm thinking.”

“Woof.”

“Papa's going to investigate.”

“Woof.”

“And now I have to investigate too.”

Kazuha wagged his tail.

Chitose smiled.

“Although I don't know where to start.”

They walked past a small fruit stand.

Chitose stopped.

There were apples arranged in a wooden box.

Red, Green, Small, and Large.

She picked up a green apple.

She looked at it.

“Kazu-kun.”

“Woof?”

“What makes an apple an apple?”

Kazuha tilted his head.

Chitose waited.

He said nothing.

“That's true.”

She turned the apple around in her hand.

“It's a stupid question.”

Kazuha stared at her.

“Woof.”

“But...”

She looked at the other apples.

“What if everyone said this wasn't an apple?”

Kazuha continued staring.

“Would it stop being an apple?”

She thought about it.

“No.”

She smiled.

“I don't think so.”

She put the apple back.

Then she looked at Kazuha.

“It makes me wonder, what makes a human a human?”

Kazuha's ears moved.

Chitose paused.

The question felt familiar.

She looked at him for a long moment.

Then she crouched down.

“You're not written where you're supposed to be.”

Kazuha tilted his head.

“Woof?”

“You were supposed to die.”

“Woof.”

“The world says you shouldn't be here.”

Kazuha wagged his tail.

Chitose smiled.

“But you're here.”

She placed her hand on his head.

“And you're still Kazu-kun.”

Kazuha licked her hand.

Chitose laughed.

“That's not an answer.”

“Woof!”

“You're just a dog.”

“Woof!”

“Fine, fine.”

She hugged him.

“Let's go home.”

Kazuha struggled.

“Woof!”

“Stop moving.”

“Woof!”

“You're my husband.”

He stopped.

Chitose smiled.

“Even if you're a dog.”

The two continued walking.

The city slowly became darker.

The streetlights turned on one by one.

---

The Grimoire is inside Chitose's bag.

Then a single sentence appeared.

What makes an apple an apple?

The ink slowly faded.

Another line appeared beneath it.

What makes a human a human?

The Grimoire closed.

---

Far away, inside the Ouroboros Mansion, Reona suddenly looked toward the empty chair.

She didn't know why.

She smiled.

“Good night, Kaguya-onee-chan.”

---

Chitose and Kazuha disappeared into the evening crowd.

The sound of their footsteps faded beneath the noise of the city.

Behind them, the streetlights flickered on, one after another.

Neither of them looked back.

Inside Chitose's bag, the Grimoire remained completely still.

After all, you shouldn't judge a book by its cover.