This is yesterday's chapter which I wasn't able to upload. The other chapter will be uploaded in a few minutes.
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"What exactly have you become, onii-chan? What are you now? And what do you mean by eating things?"
"Heh, look how you call me that now without being embarrassed."
I mock her pointing out the detail.
"U-urusai! Stop mentioning useless things and keep explaining, baka!"
She pinches my arm hard, and unable to help it, I laugh out loud, receiving a cold look from her.
"Okay, okay. Basically I can evolve by eating the supernatural."
"Eating the supernatural? Don't tell me..."
Her eyes open enormously.
"You've eaten a ghoul?"
She realizes that almost immediately, and I confirm by nodding.
"A ghoul was my first prey. That bastard tried to eat me first, so I just returned the favor."
She goes pale as a sheet of paper, and says with a trembling voice.
"If a ghoul was your first prey, then..."
I nod again.
"Then came parasites, exactly."
—Shink!
While she looks at me astonished with her mouth half-open, the fingers of my right hand suddenly transform into sharp blades, making her jump on the bed and point at me while stuttering.
"You, you, you...!"
I can feel her emotional frequencies stumbling over each other creating chaos in my perception. Whether disbelief or confusion, they all mix together. There's also fear growing.
"A-Are you really not a parasite? Are you sure? Like... like my father?"
I hide my blade fingers transforming them back to normal, and sigh while shaking my head.
"I'm not a parasite, Saya. I only absorbed their supernatural characteristics, in this case being able to use these blade fingers when I need them. I don't have my brain or head eaten and manipulated by a parasitic alien. In fact, it doesn't affect me in the slightest that way."
I don't explain that my physical strength had increased exponentially because of it, or that I gained the ability to perceive emotions as frequencies.
Saya sighs with relief and I can see how the fear that the boy in front of her was being controlled by a parasite vanishes.
Realizing something, she asks with a calmer voice, but at the same time cautious.
"That night... you ate my father?"
That sound weird...
Speaking of it, there's a deep sadness in her eyes remembering her father who was possessed by a parasite. It was an event that made Saya's worldview change completely forever.
I look at her a bit surprised and ask.
"You already knew? That it was me who arrived that night to save you and Mrs. Yuriko?"
She lets out an indignant snort crossing her arms.
"Of course I know, I'm not stupid. That night, in the darkness, I couldn't distinguish the figure's features well, but it was small, about the size of a child. Besides, it moved incredibly fast for an adult and could go through walls without problems, something a human couldn't do. It was very difficult for anyone to guess it was you, Arata..."
She pauses.
"But I'd already suspected for a long time that you had secrets you weren't telling either me or Rei. That's why, and because I knew you were the only one who would come help me without hesitation, I knew it was you. I never really showed that I knew, since I thought you might have some important reason why you want to hide, and I didn't want to unnecessarily complicate things for you by making okaa-san and Rei know too."
I scratch my cheek feeling a bit embarrassed by her consideration.
"I apologize for killing your father... although I didn't eat him, of course."
Saya lets out a long sigh while shaking her head making her twin tails sway from side to side.
"Forget it. That thing the moment it consumed my father's head and brain killing him in the process, stopped being my father. It was just a monster using his body as a disguise."
Then she says with a softer voice.
"I'd never properly thanked you for saving us, so... thank you for saving me and okaa-san that night."
"It's nothing, really."
She seems to suddenly become embarrassed. Lowering her face so I wouldn't see her expression, despite her ear being completely visible and red from embarrassment, she apologizes.
"Also... I apologize for that day."
"For that day?"
What is this girl suddenly referring to?
"Ughhh..."
Saya emits a sound of embarrassment before continuing with difficulty.
"The time I brought Rei with me behind you, and we discovered where you lived in that abandoned building..."
"Ah, so that day."
The memory comes to mind.
She continues with a rushed voice.
"Back then, I was already very aware you weren't a normal human. I thought you were a ghoul. I couldn't stand the mystery anymore so I wanted you to know I already knew, and that you didn't need to hide from me anymore because I trusted you wouldn't hurt me..."
"I even tricked Rei into going with me using silly excuses, but I was an idiot for that. I should have gone alone without involving her."
Saying all that in one go, for a proud tsundere like her it must be extremely difficult to admit her mistakes.
It seems if I mock her right now, she'll flee embarrassed from the room and probably won't talk to me for a week, so I refrain from doing so. Instead, I smile warmly and put my hand on her head.
While gently stroking her silky hair, I see her emotions calm down more. I take that as a sign that everything's fine and start talking.
"I don't blame you for that, Saya. Although I'm surprised by your intention..."
The intention to surprise me with my own secret, and let me know she already knew but didn't reject me for it.
I look at my past self mentally, and think I was a complete fool. In those times I was often in constant panic wondering what would happen if Saya or Rei discovered I wasn't human, when in reality one of them already knew for a long time.
I just need to paint my face in pastel colors and put on a ridiculous wig to be a complete clown, because I was already acting in a damn circus.
I shake my head shaking off those thoughts and ask.
"Doesn't it bother you that I'm a monster and not a human?"
She slaps my hand that was stroking her hair away, and fixing her messy hair with her fingers, lets out a snort.
"I never thought I'd say something like this in my life, but..."
Sitting on the edge of the bed, she turns completely toward me. Extending her slender arm, she puts her hand on my chest, right where my heart beats.
"Now for me, in a world where monsters really exist, humanity isn't in biology, but in the heart."
I'm frozen for a few seconds, before laughing out loud.
"Hahaha! Eh, that was super cheesy, Saya."
"Urusai! Urusai!"
She slaps me repeatedly with her twin tails using them as whips.
"But... thanks."
I thank her sincerely.
"Hmph! It's good you knew it, idiot. If it were another girl, and not me, Takagi Saya, she surely would have already reported you to the authorities or the CCG."
"Umu. What you say is true."
I don't doubt that for a second. It's because Saya has been with me too long that she doesn't fear me, and instead trusts me even when she knows I'm a monster that devours other monsters.
There's also Rei in that category.
However, Saya and Rei's personalities are very different from each other. Saya is analytical and knows how to reach a logical conclusion calmly using her brain. It seems this was reinforced by having lost her father, and she tends to use her brain more to defend herself.
Rei on the other hand is emotional and temperamental, making it much more difficult to reveal the truth to her without her making some fuss.
Saya pulls my ear.
"Fool... Why do you only dare to reveal the truth now and not before?"
She must know very well the answer to that question. Still, I respond.
"Apart from being afraid you'd see me as a monster and run away, and as a consequence lose you forever, there's also another more important reason."
I look into her eyes to create a serious atmosphere.
"The truth in a world like ours can be considered a gift that illuminates ignorance, or a heavy burden that takes you straight to the grave. That's the consequence of knowing too much."
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You can read 20 advanced chapters on my Pa treon
pa-treon.com/OlwinMoriarty