Red Data Girl - Series 1 & 2

My First Familiar - 26

Red Data Girl: My First Familiar
By Noriko Ogiwara
A Translation

Red Data Girl: My First Familiar
Chapter 4: Wamiya
Part 3 (1 of 2)

The woods were dark with shadows. A sudden flash of lightning made the mountain and trees look black and white for an instant. A moment later, a rumble of thunder rolled across the land. The sound bounced off the peaks around them.

Standing in the shadows of the trees, the whiteness of Wamiya’s shirt grew clearer and clearer as the sky grew darker.

Mr. Nonomura’s voice was heard from the car again.

“Miyuki! Get the staff!”

Miyuki’s gaze flickered in the trunk’s direction, but he didn’t move.

“I can’t… I haven’t gotten that far in my training yet!”

“It’s not the time to be saying things like that!”

“Really, I can’t! Up until now I’ve only been practicing sutras and chants!

“Miyuki, accept what is happening right in front of you!”

“I’ve accepted it and I know what’s going on which is why I know I can’t do it!” Miyuki replied desperately.

Wamiya watched the exchange, his expression cold. When it became clear that Miyuki wasn’t going to move anytime soon, he turned his gaze in Izumiko’s direction.

“There. Can see the clear difference in power between the two of us? You can say you were smart and never got involved with him in the first place. Because you’re not going to leave the mountain, right? We talked about how you can’t choose him over me, right?”

Izumiko stared back at him, silently unmoving.

“You and I are going to Sototsugawa High School as we’ve always planned. If you do that, you can keep doing what you like. You can enjoy living at the school like you wanted to. If you become more powerful, so will I. You don’t have to feel lonely anymore. Everyone will be nice to you now.”

Finally getting ahold of herself, Izumiko responded in a small voice, “If I want something different now, what would happen?”

“You can’t wish for anything in Tokyo.” Wamiya replied coldly. “I can’t help you there. If something bad happens to you there, no one will know. But most of all, I’ll never forgive you. I won’t let you choose that.”

He extended his right hand and continued.

“Izumiko, if you were to abandon me, it wouldn’t be hard for me to call lightning down here. It would ignite the gasoline. Wouldn’t it be horrible if everyone here died in an explosion?”

Izumiko was silent again. Instead, it was Miyuki who spoke up.

“Did you forget what you’re trying to do here? If Izumiko dies in the blast, there’s really no point, is there?”

“You have to pay a price for power,” Wamiya responded evenly. His expression was untroubled. “I can’t change my intentions once I’ve begun something. I have to do what I’ve set out to do whether Izumiko lives or dies. I’m not saying that I’d be happy if she dies, but that has nothing to do with it.”

Miyuki glanced at Izumiko, but he couldn’t read any specific emotion on her face. It almost resembled the blank expression that Kazuto had worn when he had attacked with the knife.

“Hey, Izumiko,” he whispered to her, grabbing her arm and shaking it a bit. “Do what he says. If you don’t, he says he’ll kill us.”

Izumiko snapped back into reality at his words and her eyes grew big. She stared at Miyuki.