Mink DMMd re:connect Good Ends Translation

Mink Dramatical Murder Re:connect Good End(s):

I want to see Mink.
I want to know what he was thinking… and how he thought of me.
M: The only one who can decide what you do, is only ever you. Or, are you an idiot who does whatever someone else tells you to?
The only one who can do anything is me.
If that’s the case then I want to chase after Mink.
Mink is living somewhere underneath this sky.
I have no basis, but my intuition is strong.
That’s why I’m going to look for Mink.
Until I have proof that “I won’t ever be able to know Mink” I don’t want to give up.
…Mink is surely living.

Deciding to act upon those thoughts was actually a much harder and painful route than I had expected.
First, there was more than not enough information about where I should search.
The only thing I know about the place that Mink holds dear is just the scenery I saw when I used scrap on him.
It’s a large plot of land on which Toue arrested a lot of native people.
This kind of history, more or less, has happened all over the world, so I can’t find a specific place so easily.
After work I would close myself up in my room to research all the little bit of information I knew about Mink.
I had to work backwards from the memory (of scrap) of the looks of people running around, and from the day that Mink was “imprisoned” in the Kyuujuuminku jail.
When Toue said; “The manipulation of body odor depending on utilization of medicinal plants” and that “their faith in god is absolute.”
I didn’t only look it up online, I would go to a seemingly experienced person to listen to them talk when I had free time, or I would go to secondhand book shops or rare book stores to search through written materials.
There was barely any information to be found from the information I head from Toue about Mink’s clan.
Either way, it was only gossip anyway.
Even so I struggled on to look for credible information and prepared myself to leave Midorijima.
If I happened to be wrong, I would only have to return and redo my research.
I could only thing it strange that it seemed like Mink had just disappeared from this world.
Mink is surely somewhere.
Believing that, I walked onto the land of a foreign country.

I took a plane from the liberated Platinum Jail for about 10 hours, and then I took another 1 hour domestic flight.
The time of the place I landed is completely the opposite of Japan’s, so when I arrived I was completely at a loss.
Furthermore, it’s a lot hotter than Midorijima, and the air dryer.
I came to the place that’s most likely Mink’s homeland, but the land is so large that I can’t help but think it might be useless.
Even so, I don’t have any intentions to turn back.
I think that if I start hesitating at this time, I won’t do anything, so when I exited the airport to the closest town, I started asking around about Mink’s clan.
I had thought I would be able to translate well enough with the help of Ren and my coil, so it wouldn’t be a problem if it was English or Japanese.
….Supposedly, but there were many things we couldn’t communicate by words and ended up having to make do with explaining by gestures.
There were mainly people who could get what I was saying, so for the most part the translating process went well.
A: ….Haa. When things like this happen you realize just how big the world is. Right, Ren.
R: Even if this is helpful, you still have a long way to catch up.
A: Right~.
A: ….But, I have to work my hardest.

The first day left me completely jetlagged, and I ended up having no results from that first day of running around.
At night, I bought a strange looking snack and water, and spent the night in a cheap inn.
The night came with a strange chill, and from then on I was struck with unbearable despair.

Even so, day came and I continued my search.
I had to get used to the cold, my strange and sudden fits of anger, as well as sometimes wanting to run away.
And even if I found information that seemed like Mink, it would be a different person, or a complete lie, or a bunch of other things.
Public order was bad in Kyuujuuminku too but completely peaceful compared to here.
Here, mundane deceit and primitive violence still flourished, forgotten to Kyuujuuminku.
I learned that, getting rid of my naivety, as I traveled from town to town looking for Mink.
But it wasn’t only bad things.
After one month, the way I interacted with my surroundings began to change.
When I first came here I was probably obviously  “a person who came from outside.”
After coming in contact with a lot of things they might have just gotten used to it, though not so much that they would welcome me, but they began to accept me if even a little.
By that time I completely understood the rules of the villages.
When I first came here I thought it was such a terrible place, but I gradually learned that it really wasn’t.
Everyone in these towns are honest and they decide everything on their own.
Good things are good.
Bad things are bad.
There’s a lot of stealing and violence, but they don’t like what they don’t like, and they are not ashamed to express what they truly feel.
There is no relevance between power and wealth, and they have formed opinions of themselves.
To those people I, and others from Japan, must look like children.
Spoiled, soft, and unsure on our feet.
….I vaguely do feel that this has to be the place where Mink grew up.
That hasn’t been determined for sure yet, but I feel like Mink is here after all.
One day a little later I finally got information about a man who resembled Mink.
I returned to the very first village and someone who I had talked to before called out to me.
He said that he had seen a man of the same height I had described him as, with a huge bird, at a bar in the next town.
I immediately went to the next time.
Finally I could meet him. That feeling made my heart thud in anticipation.
…But reality isn’t really that sweet.
Mink wasn’t at the bar where the man had seen him.
Customers did say that he had been there. But he had left 10 minutes before I arrived.
Flustered, I flew out of the bar to search the circumference.
But he wasn’t there. It was like he just disappeared.
No matter where I looked I couldn’t find Mink.
Things like that happened afterward as well, but I still couldn’t find him.
I get information, run after him, and he’s not there. When I chase after him he disappears.
It’s like he’s avoiding me, disappearing when I take one step closer to him.
But, because of that my conviction grew stronger.
Mink is living, and he’s in this land.
But, I can’t meet him.
When he broke up with his team Scratch, it must have meant that he didn’t mean to see me either.
But I came this far and have no plans to give up
If Mink is actually here I have nothing to be afraid of.
Even if I get tired I have to push it all aside and chase after Mink.
Just on this baseless grounds. I believe that I can surely meet Mink.

…Then.
I ran and ran and ran after information about Mink.
At last I reached that place.
The forest that had been burning in Mink’s past when I used scrap on him.
…The forest hasn’t fully recovered; it is full of back char in the dirt and fallen trees, completely quiet.
It is overgrown with verdant green, but it’s like it’s covering up the scars of the past and is painful.
A: …
How long will it take for this forest to completely grow over its scars?
When I think that I grow sad and my chest hurts.
That memory is Mink’s and isn’t personal for me.
But… no. It’s exactly because of that.
The sad forest in front of my eyes is living together with the present and the past.
I squint when a soft breeze ruffles the leaves, making the tree’s branches sway.
…At that time.
A: …!
…Just now.
He was certainly there.
The figure, the back, the legs that I know so well.
Just now, certainly…
through the opening in the trees…
R: Aoba
A: …Yeah.
I run towards him without thinking about anything.
I kick up the fallen leaves and dirt as I run, receiving the light shining down on me through the holes in the leaves…
I run forgetting the pain of losing my breath.
That forest that I got lost in is accepting me kindly.
Running through it I can’t find that figure that I saw.
Where’d he go? Which way?
I don’t know that.
But…
surely he’s in this direction.
The thing I have been looking for is…
 A: …!
I run out of the forest, and stop suddenly at the open area in front of me, gasping for breath.
I lose my words at the huge scene opening up before me.
This is…
This scenery is…
A: …..
Before I know it I had stopped even my breath and I breathe slowly to retrieve it.
After putting my breathing in order, I lift my head.
A: …Amazing.
I mutter it under my breath as the wind whips up my hair.
Endless red land, large, abundant green forests, severe lines of mountains.
The clear sky that shines in the morning light.
The scenery in front of me is like that of a movie.
The coldness differs from that of the villages and towns.
Everything is clear, and not too cold.
Finally, I’ve made it here. …Then.
Right in front of me is the figure whom I’ve been chasing nonstop, like an illusion.
A: …
I’ve finally found him.
I’ve finally caught him.
When he hears my footsteps, he turns around slowly.
The large bird on Mink’s shoulder flaps its wings and takes to the sky.
I’ve finally met the person I’ve come this far chasing, but it’s not just that.
Mink finally appeared in front of me on his own.
I wonder if he will speak to me with words of impatience, or if he’s just given up.
But it doesn’t matter.
I wanted to see him, and because of that I overcame this obstacle.
And the fact that I’ve caught up with Mink makes me feel a little amazing myself.
I look at Mink who looks a little different than before, and my eyes become hot, blurring, and I have to restrain myself as I walk over to him.
I came here to tell Mink.
Your “life” isn’t over yet.
It’s just that from here on is a new beginning.
A: …
A: Mink…!
A scent that I know very well floats on the wind to waft into my nose.
The nostalgic, cinnamon-like smell.
I become overwhelmed with emotion, feeling like I’m going to cry, but I swallow the feeling, overcoming it.
I stop to stand next to Mink, fighting with the feelings that feel like they’re going to burst out of my chest and look at Mink.
Mink is different than before afterall.
His clothes, his hair… and the color of his eyes.
Those deep, blue eyes full of pain are now a gold, similar to his hair, with soft sadness floating in them.
When I look at those eyes, for an instant… I feel that he’s like a different person and become confused.
But, it’s certainly Mink. There’s no way I could be wrong.
M: …
It seems like Mink’s going to talk so I keep quiet and continue to look at him.
There’s no denial or affirmation in his eyes… just the coldness from before is gone.
There’s a lightness and stillness that means everything is over. That’s the atmosphere that Mink wears around him.
A: …
It’s not overpowering or anything, but I suddenly become nervous and lower my eyes.
It’s not that I’m scared or frightened, I’m just nervous to see Mink again after all this time.
What is Mink thinking right now. What does he think of me.
I want to know that… and frankly I’m a little scared.
More than being happy for another meeting, those feelings are growing stronger and stronger.
Various feelings are mixing together incomprehensibly inside of me and I hear wings above me.
Nostalgic… The large bird flies down to land on Mink’s shoulder.
M: …Why did you come.
A: !
Those words give me a bit of a shock.
To me who came here just on the feelings of wanting to see Mink, the question digs deep into my heart.
At the same time, I had thought that he was going to say that to me.
Even if he asks, there’s only one answer.
I understand Mink’s reason in asking me…
With uneasiness blocking my words, I open my mouth to force out the words.
A: ……I wanted to see you.
I came here thinking that all the way, but actually saying it out loud to the person involved is somehow difficult.
Even after hearing my answer, Mink only lifts one eyebrow and looks at me.
There’s no more feeling of dread like there was before, and he feels rather calm but…
Why is it so hard to breathe.
Mink walks away a little only to stop and turn back to look at me again.
M:  …Go home. Right away.
A: ….
As if being hit from the side, this time I receive a huge shock.
But, it’s not unexpected.
Because I thought that it might happen… after all.
That even if we meet again Mink might refuse me….
I feel like I’ve fallen into a hole of slightly expected worry.
I gather strength in my stomach and stare into Mink’s eyes.
A: …I don’t want to.
A: Even you, because you thought you would finally meet me, showed up in front of me right.
A: I gathered information about you and chased after you, and you always were just out of my reach.
A: Basically, if you really didn’t want to meet me you wouldn’t.
M: ….
A: I…
The wind blows from the large sky expanding around Mink.
It teases my hair and I grip my hands tightly as if to gain strength.
A: We separated at Oval Tower, it collapsed… but I just couldn’t think that you died.
A: It wasn’t just me. The members of Scratch did, too. They all thought you were alive. There’s no way you could have died.
A: When we were together in Platinum Jail I wondered why we had to do such terrible things.
A: I couldn’t understand your way of thinking at all. But… But
A: After I returned to Kyuujuuminku I realized that in reality you had thought about a lot of things.
A: From the beginning you had no intention of letting anyone but yourself die.
A: While you were completely devoted to carrying out your plan you made sure and tried your hardest so that everyone else other than you barely got hurt.
A: I realized that after returning to Kyuujuuminku, but when I realized it you weren’t there.
A: Then, all the feelings inside of me became a mess….
A: I had the feeling that I knew less and less about you, and that I wanted to know more…
A: And that I wanted to see you.
A: You told me, right? That only you can decide what you yourself wants to do.
A: I didn’t wish to have the power of scrap, nor did I want to use it.
A: But in the end, I was the one holding that power inside of me. I was the one who could decide whether to use it or not. If I denied myself I couldn’t move forward.
A: If I didn’t accept who I was, I couldn’t move forward…. Thinking only of your words, I was able to decide in my heart what I wanted to do.
A: You accepted the fate you were burdened with, and moved forward with that.
A: That’s why, like you I have to walk my own path… Thinking that I felt a little calmer.
A: Inside of me there is another guy who’s like me, he’s basically the source of the scrap power… he was acting violently inside of me but he also has calmed down.
A: …His existence, I think you might have realized it a little.
M: …
Even though I ask, Mink just stares at me quietly.
At least I didn’t sense rejection in those eyes.
A: …But, somehow after all. I really do regret letting you go to Toue alone.
A: But no matter how much I stopped you, I know that you would have gone anyway. Because that’s the path you wished for.
A: Even so I regret it so much I could die. Even if I wanted to forget you, I couldn’t, and when I returned to Kyuujuuminku that’s all I could think about…
I stop talking then and look straight into Mink’s face.
A: That’s why I came this far to look for you.
A: You’re surely alive, for some reason I knew that instinctively… even though I had no basis.
A: But I really… really wanted to see you.
A: I wanted to see you, properly talk to you, and properly listen to you.
I look at Mink straight in the eyes as I say the words one by one filled with all my emotion.
I won’t let go of him again. And I don’t plan on letting him let go of me.
That meaning lurks behind my words.
M: …
Mink looks at me silently still, but before long he closes his eyes and lets out a sigh.
M: …You really are an idiot just like always, huh.
A: …
I’m perplexed on how to take those words when Mink takes a step forward.
He passes me on the side and continues to walk up the yellow soil.
A: Mink…
I call out his name, wondering whether or not I should follow him, and he looks back at me over his shoulder.
M: Follow me.
A: …!
His words are carried towards me by the strong wind.
I feel like a cloudy sky which cleared up all of a sudden.
I don’t know how Mink took what I said but…
He told me to follow him.
I’m so pleased and happy that he would say those words to me.
I follow that large back with the bird on its shoulder into the forest.
That long hair stirs in the wind and reflects a gentle, golden light.
I’m careful as I step over the rocky ground so I don’t trip and follow Mink in high spirits.

I come out of the forest still living in its past and right in front of me a house made out of wood appears.
The house really seems like it popped out of nowhere, surrounded by green.
I can tell just by looking that it is sturdy and large.
Mink leads the way to the entrance and opens the door, entering silently.
After taking a calming breath of air, I follow after him into the house.
Warm air touches my skin, and I let out a breath that I hadn’t realize I’d been holding.
There’s a fireplace inside and I can hear the faint cackling of the fire coming from it.
There is a rug with a unique pattern spread out on the floor, and along the wall is an altar-like thing.
I look at it and remember something that Mink told me when we first met.
It’s not actually when we “met”… but more like when I was taken to Mink’s room in Kitachiku.
There was an altar similar to this on in that one as well.
Is this the house where Mink lives? Is it where he originally lived?
I feel like it’s a little big for someone to live here alone, but is anyone else here?
While breathing in the air that has a faint scent of something on it, I slowly look around at my surroundings.
This scent is something like Mink’s cinnamon smell but a little different.
I feel like it’s mixed with the smell of other things.
It feels like it’s ingrained into the room and is a relaxing smell.
M: Sit properly.
Mink tells me, looking back before turning to go into the kitchen a little up ahead.
I feel like I’m seeing that back as if it’s in a dream, and for the time being I sit on the nearby couch and take off the scarf that I’d been wearing.
Tori comes flying out of the kitchen and lands on top of a chair.
He looks just as cool and magnificent as always.
After preening his feathers for a little bit, Tori looks at me.
T: It’s been a while, Aoba.
A: Yeah.
His deep, pleasant voice echoes throughout the room.
Tori’s voice is a little different than before; I feel like it’s a little kinder.
T: Is Ren doing well?
I set the bag on my lap and when I open it a blue head of fur pops up.
R: I’m here.
T: Did you get repaired after that?
What Tori is saying is when Mink gave me a USB to put inside of Ren.
At that time Ren wasn’t acting himself and made me rather flustered.
R: Yes. And are you in a new frame?
T: It’s a same but newer model. Only my AI was replaced.
A: Is the AI what was taken from that motorcycle?
T: That’s right. And when I was changed I got a new name as well.
A: Name?
T: I’m called Rurakhan (gonna keep labeling him T cause Ren is R).
A: Rurakhan. What does it mean?
T: It seems to be the name of the god who manipulates the wind.
A: Mink gave you that name?
T: Yes.
A: It’s a good name.
R: Certainly. It’s a good name.
T: But as usual he still says “Oi, you, Tori”.
T: Well, I’m very pleased with my new name.
It seems that Tori has a sense of pride in his voice.
Mink gave Tori a name.
I know that just that alone means Mink is different from before.
…I want to know.
I want to get as close as possible and learn as much as I can about Mink.
A sound comes from the kitchen and Mink returns carrying two mugs.
He places the black mug on the table and the smell of coffee wafts towards me.
Mink pulls the chair in front of me closer and sits on it while holding the white mug.
Tori flies up and lands on Mink’s shoulder.
The mug that Mink is holding looks worn out so I think that it’s one that he usually uses.
The mug that’s on the table looks comparatively new and has a retro design on it.
It looks like something he must have pulled out of storage or something.
A: …Thank you.
Mink’s eyes flit towards me for only a second before looking away with a blank face.
With that, no words are said and time passes slowly.
Mink doesn’t look over here. That creates a small cut in my heart.
Even though I want to talk I can’t find a subject to talk about and without a choice take the mug off the table.
I sip the coffee that still has steam billowing from it once.
…It’s slightly sweet. It seems like he put sugar in it for me.
I can drink coffee even if it’s black.
I feel like Mink paid attention to this little bit of sweetness and that makes this unbearable time pass a little easier.
I take a second sip and a third, and drink the coffee little by little.
The coffee is incredibly delicious. He’s definitely skillful at brewing it.
But the feeling of the taste doesn’t last long.
I become anxious again and grip the mug of black liquid tightly in trembling hands.
Was is actually better if I hadn’t come…?
It’s the first time I think that.
M: …You found this place well.
I hear his low voice and raise my head immediately.
Mink is, as usual, looking to the side, but in front of me he takes a sip of the coffee.
That action alone makes me relax and I try to become as calm as possible.
For some reason it seems like rocking back and forth slowly, like a large resting tree.
A: …Amazing, right.
M: I said it before but you’re just an idiot.
A: It’s fine if I’m an idiot or anything. I just wanted to see you.
M: Did you come here to be hit again?
Mink looks here only a little bit and seizes me in his sharp gaze.
That look is so similar to the look Mink has given me in the past that my body tenses sharply.
But I let out a breath to loosen the tension and place the mug on the table, out of my hands.
Mink is different than before. He’s doing this on purpose.
Because he did a lot of things like this to me on purpose in the past.
A: It would be a little bit troubling if you hit me right now. But you won’t without a reason. And right now you don’t have a reason to hit me.
M: Is you coming here and following me around everywhere not reason enough?
A: Were you such a person who would raise your hand against someone for that trivial reason?
M: …
Mink refuses to talk.
After talking back to him I breathe out slowly and loosely in a way that he won’t notice.
I replied to him like it was nothing but actually my hands in my lap have a thin layer of sweat on them.
M: From the time I knew that you were here, I thought that I would leave here for a while.
A: Eh…
A: …Why?
M: …
A: …
The reason is…. Is it because he didn’t want to see me?
But that fact that I’m here with him now means that that can’t be true.
I feel like I shouldn’t press the subject anymore and to get rid of my nervousness I change the subject.
A: …This is, your house?
M: That’s right.
A: Was this house always in this place?
M: It’s something that was built after Toue left this place.
A: Do you live here alone.
M: Yes.
I receive that answer and once again look around the room.
It’s a little big to be living here alone after all. Mink may not think that way, but I have a feeling it’s lonely.
A: Have you been here ever since you escaped the tower?
M: That’s right.
A: …Why?
Mink, who originally planned to die, ended up living against his own wishes.
I had always been thinking of what path Mink would choose after that.
I thought that he may once again try to chase after death again, but pushed the thought aside.
Because for some reason or other I thought that Mink wouldn’t choose that path.
If that was the case, other reasons are…
To live in a place where no one else is, or to return to his homeland.
Mink’s homeland is where his heart became hard and cold and where his sad memories sleep.
That’s why I thought he wouldn’t return here, but in the end I did have the feeling that Mink would return here for some reason.
Mink won’t try to forget or throw away his past, and because I thought that he would try to get closer to reconcile with it.
That’s why he could think of a reason other than dying, and want to come here so strongly.
More than that, he must treasure this place dearly.
M: …
After keeping silent for a while Mink opens his mouth to speak.
M: I don’t have any other place to live. I was supposed to have died, but that guy poked his nose in to my business and I had no other option than to come here.
As he says those words, he looks over his shoulder at Tori.
Tori evades Mink’s line of sight and continues to preen his feathers.
A: At that time, you killed Toue at Oval Tower and intended to die yourself as well, right?
M: …
A: That was your motive. Wasn’t it?
M: ….Yes.
He stops talking there and I try to calm myself with breaths.
A: I’m incredibly happy that I was able to see you again. I thought that I wouldn’t be able to see you again, and I’m actually really happy but…
A: Your will at that time was really strong. So strong that it almost forced out my scrap.
A: You didn’t think about anything other than dying, and had no will to live. You had abandoned the option to live from the very beginning.
A: That you chose this place, there must be a reason for it.
This question is one that is treading into Mink’s inner thoughts.
That’s why it’s like I’m wagering for an answer.
I don’t want my own guess, I want Mink’s true answer.
M: Why do you ask that?
Just as I thought, Mink is looking at me with narrowed eyes as if trying to guess what I’m thinking.
I bite  my lip and look at Mink fully, in order to show that silent spirit the strength in my desires.
A: Because I want to know. There isn’t any other reason.
A: I came this far to be able to know you. And you showed yourself in front of me.
A: I figured it meant the same as you saying you would answer my questions for me.
M: That’s a crazy theory. Me showing myself to you, and me answering your questions, are two completely different stories.
A: If that’s the case then you didn’t have to show up in front of me from the beginning.
M: …
A: You don’t like that half-assed useless hypocrisy of saying that you would give up half-way, right?
A: You know that, that more than anything, would hurt your partner.
A: If you were going to do that from the beginning, you should have cut down my hopes.
If you’re going to turn your back on the other and hurt them halfway through, don’t show affection from the beginning.
If you do that, both people will just have bitters feelings.
In Midorijima, Mink lived with the intention of dying.
So he made it so that people were as little involved as possible.
Even so, his actions made it so that his Scratch members were able to feel a little bit of his true nature.
I realized who the real Mink was after everything was over.
Even so, the seed had already grown.
Therefore I don’t have the intention to have an attitude or leave like before.
I’m not blindly afraid of Mink anymore.
Moreover, I finally made it here. I’m definitely going to get what I came for.
M: You definitely reached the point.
A: It’s thanks to you.
M: …Hm
Mink turns his eyes away from me and becomes silent again.
While looking at his face drenched in the shadows of the lighting, he continues to talk about my question.
M: …Have you ever thought of what is beyond death?
Mink mutters those words.
A: Beyond death?
M: I thought that there was nothing beyond it for me.
M: If I died, my spirit would return to god and my living body would be gone.
A: …
I lend an ear though I’m a little surprised by the change of flow in the conversation.
M: After the tower collapsed and I realized that I was still alive, I thought to commit suicide in that place. To be able to go to gods honorable place.
M: But I gave it up. Because I thought that there must be some reason that I’m still alive.
M: That answer hasn’t appeared yet though…
M: Your scrap released my spirit from the complete idea of dying and made me able to live afterwards.
M: That strength, to me, was a threat. To me who thought that there was nothing beyond death, I had thought it thrust me into a path I didn’t want to take.
M: However, death is just as precious as life is.  Each is as equally important to one’s life.
M: Death is a shortcut to get to gods honorable place. That is my clan’s way of thinking.
M: …That’s why I couldn’t avoid your power.
I twist the meaning of Mink’s words around in my head over and over and take a long, deep breath.
My scrap power…
----Destroy, destroy----
----destroy, destroy----
----Destroy everything----
A: …
A: If I used my power wrong, I could easily break someone’s soul.
A: Moreover, if I keep using the power, the feeling of wanting to destroy their soul becomes stronger.
A: That impulse gets stronger and stronger, so strong that I can’t hold it back myself.
A: In reality, I did that to someone.
A: I understand that this is my power, and that I can use it to save people.
A: But even so… I can’t say that it’s a good power.
M: Power is neither good nor bad.
His gold eyes grab me in the wavering light of the room.
M: And that’s not with you, it’s something that can be said for all power. Depending on the way the power is used, it can become evil or good.
M: The only thing that can be said is…
M: Because you broke the “death” that was inside of me, I’m able to be here right now.
A: …
I avert my gaze, unable to say anything.
The fact that my power tied Mink to life is true.
If that’s the case then me having this power might have meaning.
Related to whether my power is good or bad… I can’t find a concrete answer within myself.
Of course, if I was faced with using this power again I would try not to with all my might.
But if I don’t have to use it that might not happen.
My strength that can create death or life…
My hands are balled into fists on my lap and I hear a sound.
Something warm is touching my face.
A: …
I lift my head reflexively and my breath stops.
Mink is leaning over the table with his hand on my face.
He’s looking at me with kind eyes….
M: …
But Mink takes his hand away without saying anything.
Warmth where he touched me disappears slowly.
Mink turns around and opens the curtain, closing his eyes after looking outside.
M: The day is already over. If you’re going home I’ll send you off.
A: …!
I’m plunged into darkness in a second.
Those words are so deeply cold that they resonate in my heart.
M: If you don’t know this place you’ll get lost right away. And transport is bad. If you don’t go home soon you won’t be able to.
A: …
Mink’s calm words pierce me as if he’s attacking me with them.
He’s saying them as if nothing happened between us and pushing me into despair.
I’m lost for words and Mink turns back around from the window.
M: What’s wrong.
A: …
I can’t speak at all…
Before long, a feeling like anger is rising inside of me.
He’s doing it on purpose again.
Mink always says these things on purpose.
For what reason?
So that I’m not affected any more than this.
Basically he’s driving me away.
He knows what feelings I came here with and is doing it on purpose.
Thinking that I become mad and glare at Mink.
A: …I have one more question.
M: What.
A: If I returned today… I would be able to see you again right?
I gaze unwaveringly into Mink’s eyes as I ask the question.
M: …
Mink doesn’t turn away but he remains silent.
…Like I thought.
I keep my strong gaze on Mink and rise from my seat.
A: Then I’m not leaving.
A: You know why I came here… and for what reason I came all the way here.
A: If you know that you must know my feelings.
A: If you don’t promise that we’re going to meet again, I can’t go back.
I say those words strongly to Mink who looks at me with slightly frightened eyes and a surprised breath of air.
M: You’re not a child.
M: Furthermore if I gave you such a promise, would you really believe it?
He says the words in a flat tone of voice that shakes my heart.
But I won’t be perturbed anymore.
Mink may have his complaints too but, I came this far and my feelings are resolute.
That’s why it’s different than before. I won’t give up so easily.
I stare at those overpowering gold eyes.
A: I believe you. I came this far because I believed in you.
A: If you say that we’ll be able to meet again, promise it to me right now.
M: …
Like animals, we both glare at each other refusing to give up.
…The one to close their eyes first is Mink.
M: I can’t associate with you
A:! Mink…!
Mink pretends not to see me and walks to the door before looking over his shoulder.
M: Have it your way. You just have to do what you like.
M: When you’re satisfied, return home.
A: …
I hear the retreating sound of Mink’s footsteps and I can do nothing but stand there.
I’m clenching my firsts so tight that my nails have dug into my skin.
R: Aoba.
When I turn around, Ren has his head out of the bag and is looking at me.
I return to Ren’s side and hug him close.
R: Are you okay?
A: …I’m okay. I’m used to this much.
A: My opponent is Mink, after all. I won’t lose heart to just this.
A: He’s the one who said have it your way. I’ll do just that.
I don’t plan to return home now, so I have no choice but to stay.
Moreover, if Mink really wants to drive me away, he would use violence or anything to do it.
The fact that he didn’t… means that I can’t give up just yet.
I hear the sound of feathers as I hold Ren.
Toru sits atop the chair, his wings spread wide, and looks at me.
T: There’s a proverb… that means you have the determination of a rock.
T: It’s a proverb created by living humans.
A: …?
Tori… Rurakhan doesn’t say any more than that.

I did “have it my way” just like Mink told me to, and I stayed in the living room.
Mink wakes up to leave the house around six, and returns at 8 at night.
I think he’s going to work, but I don’t know the details.
Because ever since then I’ve barely talked to Mink.
I tried to talk to him from my side multiple times, but he would never pay attention.
Even if I make breakfast or dinner, he won’t eat it.
The first week had me really annoyed, and I tried many things to get a response out of him out of desperation.
His reactions made me more anxious than annoyed.
Because I never knew if Mink would stop returning home.
He came home today, but tomorrow? The day after?
Once I started thinking it I couldn’t stop, and a feeling close to dread started to fill me.
Fighting that anxiety, I somehow passed the days by.
Even two weeks later, the anxiety hasn’t disappeared.
I do a lot to try to get reactions from Mink, but it’s like he’s sleeping, completely detached.
I don’t know what I should do.
I’m in a stalemate with Mink and am worrying like crazy.
Three weeks pass.
I’ve gone past pain, agony, and irritation and now feel sadness more than anything.
Mink has no reactions at all to anything I do, and I start to wonder why I’m doing anything at all.
It’s been three weeks since I came here wanting to see Mink.
It’s getting close to a month, but we haven’t had any conversation.
He won’t even greet me.
We’re just breathing in the same air in the same place.
We’re here together, but endlessly far apart.
A: …What the hell am I doing?
I sit weakly on the bed as I mumble those words.
R: Aoba…
Ren, curled up on the bed, makes his way to sit on my knee and looks up at my face.
A: …
My world becomes blurry and before I know it I wrap Ren up in my arms.
My eyes are hot. I feel like my throat is going to split.
…Sadness. Pain.
Those are my honest feelings.
There were times in Platinum Jail where Ren comforted me like this as well.
In the end, this is just the same as then.
I came here intending to get closer to Mink, but that’s not happening.
Has anything even changed since then? The distance between Mink and I.
…No. That can’t be right.
If nothing has changed, then what was the meaning of him touching my face when I first came here?
If nothing had changed, then he wouldn’t have done that.
But, really, what was that?
What was Mink thinking when he touched me…
A: ..Dammit.
… I don’t know.
I don’t know anything, but that’s exactly why I can’t give up yet.
Gathering strength to ward off my disheartedness, I place Ren on the bed and stand.
It’s almost 9:30. Mink will be returning.
I have to make dinner…
He might not eat it again, but that’s fine.
If he doesn’t, it’ll just become my breakfast or lunch tomorrow, and I’m doing it because I want to more than anything else.
I can’t choose to leave here. I don’t want to.
If I think hard, before I came here I didn’t even know if Mink was alive or not.
But, Mink was alive.
Just knowing that… makes me really happy.
A: Okay
I leave the room and wash my face in the bathroom, and firing myself up I go to the kitchen.
I take the ingredients from the fridge and prepare for dinner.
I was really rough at making food before, so I looked up recipes on my coil and asked Ren for help and I’ve gotten a little better. Probably.
I wish while I cut up the ingredients.
That today he will eat.

…The numbers on my coil change from “10” to “11 o’clock”.
Even when it passes 11, Mink doesn’t come home.
A: …
While looking at the food which has begun to cool on the plate, I lose my will.
…It’s strange.
There hasn’t been a time when he hasn’t come home up until now. I end up looking at the time over and over.
Where is he staying today?
Did he have an accident?
Or is it…
because I’m here he’s decided not to return?
A: ….
On impulse, I stand up and before I realize it I’m flying out of the house.
A: It’s cold…
The coldness at night here is no joke. It’s completely different from the temperature in the afternoon.
I hug my body without thinking and lift my head to the large shadow of the forest.
That border is dark and I don’t know it well. The sky is cloudy, too, and I can’t really see any stars.
A: Mink…
I came outside of here to look, but what now?
Go look for Mink? Even though I have no idea where he may be.
…But, I’ve decided on my answer.
I can’t just sit here and wait.
While I do that, the distance between Mink and I might grow.
Even though I finally made it here.
I, who thinks impulsive actions aren’t the best to act on, take one step…
Slowly I lose my ability to think straight to anxiety.
Even if I want to calm down, I can’t.
What if Mink doesn’t return…
Just thinking that makes me feel like I can’t stand or do anything at all.
A: …
R: Aoba.
It seems like Ren has followed after me and is called me from the entrance of the house.
R: If you stay like that you’ll get sick. At least take a jacket.
Ren has the jacket in his mouth and the bag on his back for me.
A: Thanks.
I wear the jacket and throw the bag around my back, and run while carrying Ren.
I have no idea where I’m going, but I have to search for him.
I don’t want to not be able to see him again.
I definitely don’t want that.
I run around in the forest, enter the neighboring town, search all the important places, don’t find him, and run to the next town.
I run to the nearby hills and woods looking for Mink.
…But even though the light of the night gets a little brighter, I can’t find Mink.
After running around like that a sever tiredness assaults me and I return to Mink’s house.
Maybe we passed each other and he’s returned to the house.
…Those faint hopes of mine are immediately dissolved.
The house with no one in it is dark and cold.
A: ….
My body is completely cold from the outside, but it feels colder being inside.
Because the curtains are still closed it looks like it’s still night.
If I light a fire in the fire place it will get warmer right away, but I sit on the sofa, suddenly overwhelmed with tiredness.
I lose strength to do anything past dropping the bag to the floor and taking off my jacket, and I lay down on the sofa.
I curl myself into a ball and feel like just a little bit of the coldness has gona away.
A: It’s cold…
R: Aoba, are you okay?
A: Achoo! …Mm. But I’m kinda a little tired…
I have a body, but I’m so exhausted I can’t feel anything.
I couldn’t find Mink. He hasn’t returned here either.
He left because he didn’t like me after all.
We can’t meet again, can we.
Or will he return if I wait?
…I don’t know.
I finally caught up with him here, too…
A: …
Looking at the ceiling, my eyelids feel heavy and I close my eyes.
I’m… exhausted.
I’m worn out, and I want to sleep a little.
If Mink hasn’t returned when I open my eyes again I’ll go looking for him one more time.
Just 10 minutes is fine for that…
Just a little…
….

M: ….Oi.
….
…?
Huh?
Just now, a voice…
I try to open my eyes and sit up, but stop.
…I can’t move. More than that, it hurts.
When I try to move my joints creak.
When I open my heavy eyelids, my eyes meet ones looking down at me.
I stare at those eyes mindlessly….
I gradually begin to focus and open my eyes wider.
A: …Mink
M: What are you doing in a place like this.
A: What, I went outside to look for you and then….
I try to stand, and stumble.
My legs feel like they have gone numb around my thighs and I can’t gather strength into them.
They get tangled in themselves and I’m about to fall when strong arms hold me.
M: …
A: Sorry…
M: Where did you search.
A: The neighboring town, and after that the next… and the woods around there…
I have no feeling in my lips and can’t talk well.
M: You ran around like that outside and when you came back you slept without putting on a fire?
A: …yeah
Mink clicks his tongue with an expression I can’t comprehend.
M: Come.
A: Eh, wait…
Mink grabs me and pulls me along by one arm.
My legs still in a tangle, I’m pulled by Mink.
Tori spreads his wings and flies deeper into the house.
I don’t really know what’s happening but Mink has returned and I’m relieved.
I’m glad…
Mink carries me with my legs straddling him and leaves the hallway.
I thought that he would drop me in the room I’m staying and leave, but I’m wrong.
A: …
He opens the door and throws me roughly onto the bed.
It’s not painful when the springs bear my weight but I close my eyes at the impact.
This is…
I open frightened eyes and look around.
It’s Mink’s bedroom.
Other than the fact that the bed is a little bigger than the one in the room I’m staying in, everything is exactly the same.
Above the bed hangs a very pretty large handwoven fabric.
M: ….
Mink leaves the room once and then comes back and throws something in my face.
A: !
The thing he threw was a white bath towel.
M: The bath is warming up. For the time being wear that.
Mink goes to leave the room again.
…I don’t want him to. I think immediately.
Mink’s going to disappear again.
The blood in my cold head spins.
He might not come back this time.
I don’t want that…!
A: ….
Grabbing the towel I leap from the bed and grab Mink from behind.
My body moved before I could think of anything.
Mink’s movement stop.
A: ….I don’t want you to.
A: ….Don’t go.
M: ….
M: If you stay like that you’ll collapse.
A: Collapse?
M: …You haven’t realized it yourself? Your body is completely chilled.
A: Eh…
I try to touch my skin and my head when he says that.
My fingers seem to be frozen too so I can’t really tell but, it certainly all seems cold.
That’s my I feel headless.
M: It’s because you slept in a place like that. You idiot.
A: …It’s because I thought you wouldn’t return.
M: There hasn’t been a time until now where I haven’t returned.
A: …but!
I pull on Mink’s coat like I’m begging him for something.
A: You’ve always ignored me, and treated me like I wasn’t there! That’s why I was anxious…
M: …
A: I’m doing this because you told me to do what I want. But…
A: Is having me here really that depressing?
A: I was really happy to see you. I wasn’t so optimistic to believe that you felt the same way but.
A: But after all…  being in this situation is painful. I’m at my limit.
A: If you don’t need me, just tell me so.
A: If you do… I’ll give up.
Really… those were words I never wanted to say.
Finally saying them makes me feel really frustrated.
I hang my head and close my lips tightly, and bear the misery spinning around inside of me.
I don’t want to give up on Mink.
But his rejection is painful.
Because I want Mink so much I don’t know what to do… and it hurts.
Truthfully, I never thought it would be so painful.
Maybe it’s because my body is so weak, but feelings like being angry don’t fill me…
just sadness.
I would feel much better if I could yell and hit Mink.
Right now I don’t even have the strength to do that, and I can’t do anything but whine.
I came here thinking I would be strong enough but… I’m really just this weak.
I came here hoping to be able to reach out to Mink, but maybe nothing really changed.
My breaths are ragged, crushing me to death as I remain silent, and I hear a small sigh.
Mink turns around and thrusts the bath towel at me while walking further into the room.
A: Uwa… wa
His sudden actions startle me and I strip over the bed landing face up on it.
The springs creak as I hit them.
The bed creaks again as Mink sits on the edge.
A: …
Mink won’t look my way.
When I peek at him he has a sever expression on his face.
Mink keeps quiet for a while and then slowly opens his mouth and begins to talk.
M: It’s not like I’m refusing you.
M: This is just a problem within myself.
A: …?
I don’t really know the meaning of what he’s saying and I lift my upper body as though asking Mink a question with my actions.
M: …Try thinking about it calmly.
M: Why do you think I touched you then if I didn’t think it was a good thing you came.
A: …!
That means…
A: …This may be a strange question but. …Do you regret it? What happened at that time.
I’m kind of confused on the best way to phrase it but, I feel like I have to ask no matter what.
I stare at Mink quietly as I wait for an answer.
M: …
Mink becomes quiet like he’s thinking of something again.
The time passes like it’s burning slowly.
Even so it couldn’t have been more than a minute and a second.
M: …It’s a little different than regret. At that time I did what I had to. That’s it.
M: However, that’s my story. It doesn’t concern you.
M: I wouldn’t be surprised if you started to hate me for getting you involved.
A: …
M: To that extent, I could only think about revenge for my family and friends.
M: I excluded everything but that.
Mink turns to the side and looks at me.
A dark light flickers in his eyes.
M: At that time I had planned to use you as a tool.
A: …
Use me as a tool.
Those words, at this point, don’t shock me.
It’s something I knew from the start.
A: …I knew it. I realized it.
I’m here now even though I knew it.
I inform him of that while looking at those golden eyes and Mink looks down, sighing a laugh.
M: …Idiot.
Mink faces straight again, his face filling with shadows of the light from the room.
M: …Originally, I didn’t plan to live longer.
M: That’s why I didn’t care what the people around me thought, or if they hated me or not.
M: I didn’t see you as anything as a tool. No, I didn’t want to.
M: When I learned of your power, I thought a good opportunity had come around. That I had a trump card in my plan for revenge.
M: I couldn’t let this chance escape me. In order to get as much use of you as I could, I held you down with all my strength. I wanted to break your soul.
A: …
A: …But you didn’t do that.
A: Why…?
Of course, from the beginning Mink made sure that there would be no more victims than need be.
That’s why at the end of everything, he let me escape.
But, just like he said, he had planned to “use” me at the beginning.
Even so, why…
M: Before, I said that you had the same smell as me , right.
M: That you had the same smell of death as me.
M: …There’s something I realized from you.
A: …?
M: You have the same smell as me.
A: !
M: A smell that’s the exact opposite of life.
M: I knew that there was “one more you” inside of you.
A: …!
I feels like my heart shrinks a little.
One more me.
That’s… him.
Did Mink realize about “the other me” who I didn’t know of that time he touched me?
M: When you lost consciousness, the other guy appeared. The other you did not have the smell of “death”.
M: Destroy everything, and at the end destroy himself. He was different from you in that everything was destruction and “death”.
M: I wanted to manipulate that “death” and saw it as a way that I could also obtain “death.”
M: Also, it may be an exaggeration but, saw it as him being another side of you.
A: …
Certainly, he is also inside of me right now.
It’s not wrong to say there’s another part of me.
M: “Death” to ruin, and “death” to be released from life. They may be similar, but their meanings are completely different.
M: On the contrary, you’re living with two thoughts in one body.
M: Just that made you more than I expected.
M: Just your existence shook me and overturned my plans at the end.
M: … “I’m alive,” those words of yours changed me.
A: …
I can’t feel anything like a lie or falsehood or anything useless in Mink’s sincere words.
Mink is honestly talking to me about his true feelings.
This is why I wanted to see Mink.
Certainly I also wanted to make sure he was alive, and I want to know more about Mink, and there’s a lot more but…
I wanted words from Mink.
Hearing him talk, I understand that.
I came here believing in Mink, and I had known, basically, what kind of person Mink is.
But, in the end I couldn’t’ guess everything. I didn’t have anything as a basis.
Finally all those things are falling into place.
A: …I finally heard it. Your words.
I mutter those words quietly and Mink turns to look at me.
A: I didn’t care what it was about, I just wanted to hear your words, I always thought that. I wanted your certain words.
A: I think that that’s one of the reasons I wanted to see you so much.
A: I know you’re not lying, and I know you’re saying nothing but the truth right now.
A: …Thank you.
The words from my heart fall from my lips.
Mink looked at me for a while but now he turns away and stands.
M: Sleep already.
A: Mink.
I call to him, and he looks at me straight in the eyes.
M: …
A: Stay by my side. If you don’t.
A: I’ll go outside again.
A: It’s not as cold as… being here alone.
I call to him, throwing away my shame and honor.
But…
Mink doesn’t say anything and turns away.
…Like I thought, it’s no use.
I persevered until here.
Mink said, “I can’t touch you at this point”.
When I used scrap before, I couldn’t release Mink’s heart.
I couldn’t completely set his heart free.
Maybe nothing has changed since then.
Maybe I’m playing with Mink’s heart right now.
Maybe it’s impossible for me…
As I fall into depression, I hear the creak of the bed.
Something touches my face.
A: …
Mink has bent himself over a little bit and is reaching out a hand, touching my face.
Those lips sigh for the umpteenth time.
M: …You can really be troublesome.
M: But it might just be that because you’re reckless and rash that the scrap power has chosen you.
A: …What do you mean by that?
M: Think about it yourself. …Well.
M: I have no ill intents by saying it.
The hand touching my face moves downward slowly to embrace me.
A: …
In that moment, electricity shocks through me.
My body becomes connected with the bed and the bath towel falls off of me.
Sudden impulses to either cry out or cry run through me, but I bite my lips to hold them back.
Mink has come towards me.
I finally got closer. To this warmth.
I chased after him, became disheartened, and really thought it was hopeless and almost gave up but…
At last…
Mink’s body heat wraps me up in its warmth, and I think about what it meant for Mink to touch me before.
When I first came to this house, Mink touched my face as well.
…Even thinking unselfishly, maybe it was that Mink also just wanted to touch me.
M: …You’re cold.
With a finger, Mink pushes away the hair at the nape of my neck.
It tickles a little and I squirm.
M: You should take a bath and sleep after all. Any more of this and your health will be affected.
A: I don’t want to.
M: This is about you.
A: I know. But I still don’t want to.
I insist like a brat and I put strength into my arms as I wrap them around Mink’s neck.
A: You changing your mind is troublesome, and…
I raise my head and look into those eyes that are so close to mine.
A: Even if I catch a cold I’ll infect you
M: …
Mink looks at me with a face wondering what the hell I’m saying.
I, too, wonder what the hell I’m saying.
But this strange conversation… makes me feel like I’m completely acting like a spoiled child.
Because I’m really happy that Mink accepted me.
He can permit my selfishness to this extent, right…?
M: Really. I can’t do anything about you.
A: That should be you, right?
M: If you go so far as to say that, shall I take responsibility?
I look into his eyes with shock and feel my heart skip a beat.
Somehow… it seems bad.
I don’t know what could be bad but my heart started running on its own.
In normal situations I would be hot, but I feel like my body is gradually getting hotter and hotter.
A: …
M: Right, you have feeling in your hair, don’t you.
Mink takes my hair lightly in his fingers.
A: …It was like that before but not really anymore.
When he touches my hair, my body trembles.
The feeling was supposed to have gone but when Mink touches it…
M: Is it gone?
A: Yeah. After the tower fell, gradually
After I answer, I feel like something gets on my head.
…Eh?
Mink… put his chin on my head?
 …Uwa.
The action that’s so unlike himself makes my heart pound faster.
M: Why was there feeling? Were you born with it?
This is bad. Somehow. I’m flustered.
I don’t really know what he asked me.
A: I, don’t know but, since I was born… if I don’t grow it past my shoulders, the feeling, won’t disappear…
M: I see. …The fact that you had feeling in your hair means that you had reactions when someone touched it.
M: I say I understand… But I did something terrible to you, didn’t I.
A: …
Mink pulls a strand of hair through his fingers.
Just that alone makes my heart run wild.
A: It’s okay, now it’s already…
When Mink talked on my head it was strangely ticklish, too.
And…
This situation is embarrassing, it makes me want to run.
Mink hasn’t treated me like this until now and it’s making me kind of flustered…
I reached a hand out towards Mink and at the same time opened something else.
As I think that I notice his face coming closer and it makes me nervous.
A: …
Somehow or other… is his look a little nicer than usual…?
It might just be that because his eye color is different from before, I’m thinking that.
Mink holds me in one arm again.
My face presses against Mink’s chest and time passes like that.
Pressed together like this, I can feel Mink’s body heat warming me up.
It comforts me, but also makes me a little fidgety…
And my heart runs ever faster in my chest.
I feel like I’m the only one affected by the situation and I get more and more flustered, and this calm silence becomes more difficult to bear.
What should I do.
I should say something…
A: …U-uhm
M: What?
When I lift my head from Mink’s chest I can’t find any words to say.
I speak the first question that pops into my head.
A: Are those eyes your true color? They’re different from before…
M: …
After I ask I wonder if it was a mistake.
But, Mink looks like he doesn’t really think anything badly of it and answers the question.
M: That’s right. To destroy hints of who I was I wore contacts. It was a disguise.
A: Destroy hints?
M: Because there was a chance I would be in and out of places that had flashing lights. It became a way that I could see a little bit better.
A: Is that right…
Certainly in places with those flashing lights it really feels like you can lose yourself.
Even if there’s none of that flickering light it can become a lot better.
I look at those eyes again and in the light and shadows of the room the gold eyes seem to flicker.
Before, no matter how many times I looked into Mink’s eyes and no matter what he was really thinking, I always felt that they were really cold.
Right now they give me a strange feeling.
Mink’s eyes are pretty…
A: …
Before I know it I reach my hand to touch Mink’s face.
He catches that hand right before it touched his face.
M: …What
A: …A
I come to my senses in the middle of it.
What, am I doing…
…
…No.
I know.
What I really wanted to do just now.
I know best, better than anyone.
A: …Um, Mink.
Mink looks at me, answering with his eyes.
My heart beats so fast, making my chest hurt, and it’s hard to breath.
But, I have no words.
I want to say it.
What I want…
A: …I want, to touch you.
M: …
Mink’s eyes narrow.
M: …What do you mean by that.
A: …Just what I said.
M: I’m asking you what that meaning is.
A: …I want to touch you, and I just want to.
A: I want to feel you.
Mink wrinkles his eyebrows.
M: You’re already touching me enough aren’t you?
A: That’s not it…!
I can feel the heat in my cheeks rising, but I say to the hell with it and continue.
A: You actually know what I want to do, don’t you?
M: …
A: If you still want to feign ignorance I’ll say it clearly, so listen properly.
A: ….
A: …I, want to do it with you.
I can feel Mink’s body heat immediately. I want to touch these big hands.
My heart wants to feel him as much as my body does.
That’s probably because I haven’t yet touched Mink’s feelings with my body yet.
The last time he held me was because I was his tool.
There was no other meaning to it other than my submission.
…But it’s different now.
That’s why I want to touch him. I want to feel Mink.
I convey those overflowing feelings to Mink.
Just how much I want Mink.
It’s something that’s filled me from chasing him for all these months.
This is the first time he’s regarded me as another person and it even bewilders me.
But… I don’t stop.
M: …
Mink stays quiet and then sighs.
M: You’re not talking about doing it by force?
A: ! No…
M: You may regret it later.
A: Regret? Are you being an idiot?
Anger warps my face, Mink pulls my head in to his.
A: …
My nose closer to his, I can smell the scent of another person.
M: Before, you said I should take responsibility for you coming here so stubbornly
M: Shall I? Or…
M: Will you take it for breaking my self-control.
A: Eh……! N gu….
Mink puts strength in the hand that’s holding my head and breaks the distance he had been keeping between the two of us.
We kiss deeply and my vision flickers at the edges.
It’s making me dizzy…
A: A…. n. mu…..
M: ….
He kisses me first fully on the lips.
Then he sucks my top lip, then my bottom lip, and presses his tongue to the opening of my lips; I shudder.
A: Fu….
Our teeth hit lightly, and then his hot tongue enters my mouth roughly.
A: Ha ah…. Fu a….
M: ….
Mink lures my tongue out by wrapping his around mine, and then bites it a little hard.
A: U…. ku…
The slight pain is comfortable and I tease Mink back by pushing my tongue against his.
It might be my imagination but…
Mink’s saliva is sweet.
That might be why I feel like my head is melting.
M: …..
When we split form our kiss I can hear the sound of our breaths and the wet sound of our saliva.
Saliva is spilling from my mouth and has been from the beginning, and it feels like my head is falling too.
Just by kissing and feeling his tongue against mine the lower half of my body has become hot, it’s just a kiss but I feel hot, strange excitement.
M: …
A: …U… ha… haa…
I indulge in Mink’s kiss until it becomes hard to breathe, and then I pull away.
The corners of my mind go sweetly numb and I space out.
It feels like my body is taking more and more of Mink’s body heat.
It’s hot.
Mink holds me with both hands like a child and moves me to the center of the bed.
Mink comes on the bed after, he faces me, sitting on his knees, and pulls me onto his thighs.
Because of our posture my eyes are a little above his, and the look he gives me as he raises his head is new.
The second I think that Mink presses his teeth to my throat.
A: … ah…!
He bites on my adam’s apple and pulls lightly at the skin making my muscles tremble.
As he bites and sucks on my neck, he thrusts his hands under my shirt.
His hands brush my chest and move down to my stomach.
A: Ah… haa…
Mink’s big, heavy hands are hotter than I would have thought.
With a finger he presses and kneads a nipple and my breath becomes shaky.
At first it was a feeling between pain and ticklish but while he continues to do it a strange feeling wells up inside of me.
My body knows Mink.
That’s why it’s easy to respond to what Mink is doing to me.
Even now already… my lower body has become hot.
A: Ua… fu ah…..
M: …
Mink removes his mouth from my throat and now takes one of my nipples into his mouth.
While twisting the other nipple in his fingers, he licks and teases the other with his tongue and bites it sweetly sometimes.
A: …ku… haa
A slightly painful stimulus throbs in my lower body and my body trembles.
It feels good. But I want to escape.
When I try to pull myself away from Mink, instead I’m pulsed closer to him.
A: !?
M: Ha…
As if not letting me escape, Mink sucks in one of my nipples strongly.
A: Ua ah…! Mink…!
I push against Mink’s shoulders, but he’s holding me around the waist so I can’t move.
A numb feeling rushes through my legs and as I try to bear them shaking so much Mink finally lifts his head from my chest.
M: You’ve become rather meek. Where did your previous vigor go?
A: ! But, that’s because you…!
M: Me?
Mink’s lips lift as though he’s mocking me and while looking at me stretches his hands to my lower body.
His hands unfasten my belt rather recklessly.
Spread in front of him, he takes my hard cock into his hands.
M: I did what?
A: …!
He’s only holding it, but just that makes me lose my mind and I end up making a nouse.
Moreover, his hand on me is really hot…
M: …
Mink grazes his teeth on my collarbone and starts moving his hand.
A: Ha… fu ah….
Those gold eyes are constantly looking at me.
I don’t want him to see my face. But I can’t hide it.
I just hold Mink’s head and bear the sweet feeling pressing in on me; it’s all I can do.
M: ….
Mink strokes me as though he wants to drive me into a corner.
He moves as though he knows all the places where I feel good and rubs a fingertip against my tip.
Because of that, precum comes out and makes a sound like he’s squeezing it out of me.
A: Ah… ah… n…
I wrinkle my nose at the sounds that I’m making. But, no matter what I do they leak out of my mouth.
I lose strength in my knees and I feel like I’ve completely absorbed all of Mink’s heat.
A: Haa ah… ….?
Mink suddenly stops his hand and twists it behind him.
I watch to try to figure out what he’s doing, and he picks something up from the side table behind him.
It looks like a small round, wooden case of something.
Mink opens that case and scoops out a transparent and viscosity looking cream.
The sweet smell spreads from the cream and he pushes the finger with the cream on it towards me.
A: ! What is this…
M: It won’t hurt you. Try licking it.
A: …

CHOICE:
1)	Don’t lick it
2)	Lick it

1) Don’t lick it
Even though he says to lick it, I don’t know if I have the courage.
It has a nice smell but that doesn’t mean it will taste good.
While I’m quiet and unmoving, Mink pulls back his hand.
M: Are you doubting me?
A: That’s not it but….
M: Are you thinking there may be some weird medicine in it?
A: ! I’m not thinking th-…
Mink pushes the cream laden finger to my lips when I open them to speak.
A: N…
It was cream before, but now the thing on Mink’s finger has turned to glittering liquid.
Because of the smell of the liquid and the feeling of Mink’s finger…
as if inviting, I open my mouth to take that finger into my mouth.
A: Ha… ah… mu….
It’s somehow, sweet. The taste of that cream-like thing.
Mink’s finger moves as though playing with my tongue, and adds another finger.
A: Ah… fu…
The added finger squeezes my tongue and draws it through his fingers, and my lower body starts to throb in a way that makes it hard for me to breathe.
I’m only licking his fingers, but it’s giving me a weird excitement and my head becomes hotter.
A strange sweetness spreads in my mouth at Mink moves his fingers….
A: Fu… u…. n
Before I realize it I’ve started to lick his fingers in a daze and have even begun to suck on them.
M: …
Mink takes the two fingers out of my mouth.
A: Ah…
Strands of saliva attach to his fingers when he does.
M: It’s a thing that mixes with the scent and movement. It turns into an oil that warms you up. It has the effect of burning your mind and making it more stable.
M: My family told me just that in the past but… you can also use it like this.
Mink dips his fingers into the cream again and then reaches his hand towards my lower body.
A: …
A cold feeling slides between my ass cheeks.

2) Lick it
When I lick it though I’m doubtful, the smell and taste of honey fill me.
M: It’s a thing that mixes with the scent and movement. It turns into an oil that warms you up. It has the effect of burning your mind and making it more stable.
M: My family told me just that in the past but… you can also use it like this.
A: …
Mink licks his fingers himself and then kisses me suddenly.
A: N mu… fu… ha
M: … Fu…
I fall into a trance of ecstasy from where the sweetness of the cream mixes.
Mink’s tongue full with the cream wraps around mine and moves to rub our tongues together.
I immerse myself in Mink’s kiss as our saliva gradually becomes sweeter.
A: Ha… gu u….
While I kiss Mink’s sweet lips he moves the finger that was dipped in cream towards my ass.
A: …
A cold feeling shocks me and before I do it I pull my lips away.


END:
I become flustered, realizing that after this Mink wants to do it.
Through all this excitement my shock and pain has somehow disappeared.
That’s why, now, I feel like I can endure anything Mink throws at me but…
I feel like he’s about to do something unexpected.
M: Should I stop after all?
Mink whispers as his fingertips get closer to my entrance.
He must have sensed my bewilderment.
But…
A: …I won’t.
A: I’m taking your responsibility like this.
When I say that, Mink chuckles low in his throat.
M: …That’s right.
Mink enters me slowly with the cream on his fingers.
A: …
There’s pain at the beginning, and the feeling of something foreign and I can’t escape no matter what.
I stop in the middle of stretching my hand out to stop Mink’s hand.
I don’t want to stop this. I want to continue.
M: ….
Mink caresses my erection lovingly with his other hand and kisses me.
He wraps his tongue around mine over and over, not violently, and kisses me gently.
I feel that kindness sweetly and that sharpness in my lower body becomes softer.
A: Haa ah… u ah….
I end up breathing out in gasps as he pulls his fingers in and out.
Thanks to the cream which has become oil, his fingers can move easily inside of me immediately.
The room is full of the scent of blooming flowers, and despite my body feeling fuller and fuller, I feel relieved.
A: N…
M: …You, do you have a fever?
A: Eh…?
M: It’s hot inside of you.
A: …
A: It’s not a fever, it’s…
It’s just… how much I want Mink.
Blood rushes to my face as I suddenly realize that.
M: ….
As if sympathizing with my situation, Mink doesn’t say anything and continues what he was doing.
Mink’s fingers brush against the inner walls as though he wants to unravel me.
At first it was one finger, but now it’s two and he’s stirring me up with his scattered movements.
He didn’t do things like this before.
It was imperative for him to inflict pain on me so he could make me submit to him as his tool.
But now he’s preparing me so that it will hurt me as little as possible.
Just thinking that all of my other feelings turn into pleasure.
A: Ah… haaa…
The sound of the oil as he penetrates me and the wet sound as he strokes me reverberates around the room lewdly
The lower half of my body feels like it’s soaked in water and it it’s like the ardor is agitated too much.
A: … fu….
My insides have become rather soft and Mink takes his finger from inside of me.
My insides throb when he does and I feel dissatisfied.
It’s somehow strange.
I feel like I want more pain and more of the feeling of being oppressed.
I want to know more of Mink’s body.
More…
When did I start…
Because of that cream? It’s the fault of the smell.
Or is it just because of Mink…?
M: …Do you have a fever after all?
As I struggle to figure out the strange reaction of my body, Mink touches my face.
Because I’m spaced out I become puzzled.
A: No, this isn’t a fever…
A: …
A: ….It’s… that I… want you… now.
M: …
I look away, too embarrassed.
M: …Jeeze. Take responsibility seriously.
Mink looks at me like he’s either mad or shocked and rolls me over onto the mattress.
I’m thrown face up onto the sheets and the fabric accepts me as though to dry off my sweat.
Mink takes off all of his clothes as well as mine.
I turn my eyes to Mink and become captivated.
If I think about it, it’s the first time I’ve seen Mink’s bare body.
Just like his hard, closed off heart, Mink had never once exposed his naked body.
His body is larger than mine, and sturdy.
I always thought he must have a good body, but now seeing it like this I know for sure.
We’re both men but that doesn’t change the way I think about him.
His tanned body is rippling with toned muscles and smoothly visible; it’s pretty.
Mink leans over me.
The bed sinks in as he does and his height lowers to mine.
A: …
My breath spills out of me pleasantly.
Mink’s warmth as his hot body encompasses mine is sufficient and makes me feel relieved.
Moreover, Mink’s scent and the scent of the cream are mixing and they smell incredibly good.
Mink pushes my upper body down and spreads my thighs on the bed.
As if to make sure, he presses one finger inside of me; that place throbs lovingly.
…I want him fast.
M: …
As though his feelings re different than mine, Mink stares at me in silence.
That gaze looks like it’s filled up with wondering if it’s really okay to continue.
A: …
Instead of answering him with words, I spread my thighs a little wider and touch his hand with mine.
Mink closes his eyes once and looks at me again.
Mink moves his tip towards “there”…
and presses his large hot erection into my entrance.
A: Ah! Aah… ah…!
M: …
…I should have been ready but the feeling of oppression when he enters is painful after all.
I grind my teeth at the feeling of him spreading me wide.
But at the same time I have the sense that I’ve waited too long.
For the feeling of Mink filling me up inside.
Therefore no matter how painful it is I want to accept him, and I’m happy.
The meaning of Mink embracing me right now is completely different from before.
It’s the first time for Mink and I to be together this way.
I want to accept all of the feelings that Mink is giving me right now.
A: Fu… ku…
M: ….
Mink enters me carefully, yet sometimes forcibly.
Mink stops moving when it becomes hard for me to breathe.
Is it all… inside of me?
I don’t really know and I lift my face as Mink takes my hand.
Mink takes my hand and presses to the hot place where we’re connected… and I touch it with a fingertip.
He pulls my hand back again and touches it to another place.
A: … n…
Where Mink is spreading me open now…
Then, what I touched before must have been Mink’s hot cock…
A: …
Excitement fills me and I accidently tighten where Mink is inside of me.
I look at Mink in a fluster and notice that he’s smiling softly.
It’s full with heat and suggestiveness…
And then he starts to move strongly.
A: Ua ah…! Ah ha…!
M: …
He suddenly thrusts deeply inside of me and a sound I can’t stop bursts out of my mouth.
My head becomes pierced with a sense of numbness at the same time my lower body does.
A: I hi ah… ah…!
He pounds into me without hesitating and in my gasps there are sounds like shrieks mixed in.
But as though Mink can sense my pain it’s not as bad as before and a sweet sense of pleasure replaces the pain after a while.
As I meet Mink’s thrusts, my insides seem to become wetter.
A: Ah… Mink fu…!
M: ….
While not saying anything Mink continues to thrust into me.
My cock is standing tall as though it’s reaching for something and I end up crying a little at all the feelings attacking me.
Jolting with the strength of his thrusts, I stare at Mink’s face, spaced out.
That expression is different from before after all.
The heat of obvious passion flickers in those eyes.
I think that… Mink also wants me.
A: Ku haa… ah u… n….
M: …
I close my eyes to focus on the feelings in my body and suddenly feel warmth on my face.
Mink is holding the curve of my face gently.
M: …Are you feeling it properly?
A: …!
M: Not as someone who is being obedient to me, but of your own will… are you feeling it?
Those words… sound somehow like an apology to me.
In Platinum Jail Mink held me down with force in order to use me as a tool.
At that time I thought it was easier to fall victim to Mink’s violence.
It was easier to forget about my mind and body and let him do what he wanted.
And I tried to look for pleasure in what Mink was doing to me.
To be able to run away from the pain.
Mink’s asking me this right now because of that.
To make sure I’m not just dealing with it.
Now…
A: …I’m feeling it. You, are filling up my whole body.
I tell him as I hold his hand that’s cupping my face.
A: I’m extremely happy that you’re embracing me like this right now.
A: Therefore, it’s okay.
When I say that Mink lets out a weak sigh.
M: …I see.
Mink holds both of my sides and starts moving again.
A: N… … Ah…
Looking at his face above me I feel embarrassed.
But I don’t hide my face.
I want to convey how I’m feeling Mink right now.
A: U… ku ah ahh….!
AS if gauging how I’m feeling Mink slows his actions and then starts moving faster once again.
M: …. Ha….
A clear wave of pleasure washes over my whole body.
A: ! Ah aah… ku…!
Mink changes his position and the place where his tip scrapes me this time makes me tremble and buck.
Sensing my reaction, Mink grabs my ass and thrusts into the same place over and over again.
A: Faa ah… You can’t, Mink, there…!
M: …
A: I-said-you-can’t- hi ah….!
My voice becomes muffled with tears as everything and the past disappear around me.
My world becomes blurred with tears but I can see that Mink’s face looks hotter than before.
Everywhere Mink touches feels good.
That’s because more than anything those touches are relaying his feelings.
That our bodies and hearts are deeply connected.
I understand Mink’s feelings and feel that I want to feel Mink more.
I didn’t know… that this could feel so good.
M: …
Mink groans lightly in his throat and thrusts deep inside of me while holding me once again.
A: Ah…! Ah ah… u ah…!
It’s deep but going even deeper and I can’t stop my gasps and tears.
As Mink moves, pleasure dissolves my thoughts and everything becomes incomprehensible.
Saliva spills from the opening in my lips and wets my throat.
As Mink continues to pound me, he strokes my hardened cock through his hand.
M: …
A: Ha ah aa, nn… ah haa…!
I don’t want him to touch me anymore.
I’m feeling everything so strongly that I think that.
The precum compiled on my tip rubs against Mink’s stomach and that again spurs on a pleasant feeling.
I end up moving my hips in order to meet Mink’s rhythm.
A: Fuaa ah… U aahh…
It’s no good… already…!
My dim and hot eyes try to convey to Mink that I’m about to come as Mink continues to put pressure on me, thrusting deeply and strongly.
A: N ah ah ku… ha… ah
M: Fu…..
In my muddles thoughts, the heightened feelings only seem to expand.
Mink strokes my cock hard as though he’s wringing it out and pushes me, who was on the edge of the edge, almost over it.
A: …I ah already….. uah
My lower have jerks and everything is washed out with pleasure…
A: Ah ha… aaaah…..!!
I arch as I cum.
A: Ah … ah….
Mink grabs my cock hard, wiping the cum with a finger as he pounds into me, holding my hips in one hand.
M: … fu……
With those strong movement he pounds into me over and over again.
A: Uah ah!... n ku….
Mink stops moving deep inside of me and sighs roughly.
M: …… ku….. ha….
Mink’s cock throbs inside of me, spread to my limit, and his cum spills out.
A: …ah ...haa….
M: ….ha….
In the hot room a sense of heaviness falls over me.
Breathing heavily, I wrap both of my arms around Mink’s neck and pull him closer to me.
Mink’s sweaty back is rising and falling with heavy breaths.
That trivial sight makes me happy and I tighten my arms around Mink’s neck.
Both of our breathing slows down and Mink moves, pulling out of me slowly.
A: …
Feeling Mink pull out of me takes the strength in my body along with it.
Because the tension disappeared, the tiredness and fatigue overcomes me.
Mink brushes away my sweat soaked bangs from my forehead.
That position is comfortable, and I close my eyes.
It seems like Mink lies down beside me because the bed creaks slightly.
Because there is no sound I open my eyes and see Mink, his body raised, looking out the window.
That face looks like he’s remembering something.
There was a time I fell asleep like this looking at Mink before.
At that time it seemed to me like he was praying.
Mink’s face washed in the light of the moon seems to hold some kind of sacredness…
Just like that time it looks to me like Mink is praying again.
A: …!
Realizing I’m looking at him, Mink turns to me.
M: Sleep already.
The kind voice and a large hand cover my eyes.
Inside that sweet darkness, Mink’s scent encompasses me.
…finally, I got what I really wanted.
I feel accomplished and satisfaction fills me as I think I need nothing more than this.
I didn’t think that I day would come when I would feel so happy.
I’m glad I didn’t give up.
Protected by Mink’s kindness…
I fall gently into sleep.

M: …It’s good to rest peacefully.
M: From not on, by my side, always.

…The next day.
 When I wake, I jump from the bed.
Because I thought that Mink may have disappeared.
He isn’t by my side and in a rush I fly out of the room into the hallway.
I run like I’m flying into the living room…
…And feel relieved.
Mink is there.
I’m glad… He’s there.
Mink has prepared my half of breakfast and is sitting on the couch drinking coffee.
As I look around I notice that he’s set the table with silverware and his food for morning that I made last night.
And on the table is another pair of silverware and food for another person.
…That means.
He ate the dinner I made him last night, and is not eating what I made for him this morning.
If that’s true I’m happy or what should I say…
No I’m happy. Extremely happt.
But, more than that, the fact that Mink has done this…
A feeling of relief fills me and after that… I somehow fall over and end up in bed.
It seems that I’ve caught a cold after all, from being chilled.
For the time being I take care to sleep for three days to recuperate.
While I sleep I’m surprised to find that Mink takes care of me.
He makes food for me, and helps me with the bath.
He is unsociable as always but it’s okay now.
Because I truly know what kind of person Mink really is.
Surely there won’t be any more times where I feel true anxiety or worry.

After that about a half a year passes.
I sometimes contact Grandma and everyone on the coil but continue to live Mink’s lifestyle.
I’ve become accustomed to the scenery and geography around here and I’ve become better at cooking.
Just before Mink only complained lightly of his meal.
That “the flavor is rough” or “it’s too salty.” Well, it’s my fault but.
But now he rarely has any complaints for me.
I thought that he was just tired of complaining about how bad my food was, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
I properly asked but he just said that it was “delicious” or “improved”.
That’s why I think I probably became better.
….Our days passed like that and then one day.
One early morning Mink takes me to that place.
The place where I caught Mink… or strictly speaking the place where Mink showed himself to me.
We come out of the large forest and are suddenly met with the large and expanding sky.
When I first saw this scenery a while ago… it gave me goosebumps.
The strong wind causes the smell of greenery to waft towards me and ruffles mine and Mink’s hair.
I step on the light brown land squint my eyes to take in the large scenery that’s before me.
The slightly red sky left over from the morning is dazzling.
A: It’s extremely pretty…
I mutter it without thinking as I reach up a hand to hold back my hair.
There’s no way I would have been able to see this scenery in Midorijima, and I can’t think of any words as I stare at the beauty and magnificence of the scenery in front of me.
I sigh slowly as the feeling of crying tightens my chest.
Mink stares at the scenery quietly.
Looking at that profile… I’m more fascinated by Mink than the scenery.
His hair flying in the wind is shadowed in gold by the morning light.
I think it’s extremely pretty. As much as this scenery.
But the reason I’m so moved by this scenery is probably because I’m here with Mink.
I’m glad that we were able to see it together.
When I woke up this morning Mink was already dressed in the living room.
Because I felt like he was about to go somewhere, I called out to him anxiously.
… And then he looked to me like he does now.
Without saying anything Mink changed me into clothes and ornaments that looked like they were part of his clan’s.
Because I didn’t know how to put them on, Mink did it for me.
He also braided my hair politely, and put pretty feathers in them.
When I told Mink the feathers were pretty as he decorated me with more, he told me that he actually made them himself.
When I badgered Mink about wanting them Mink had said with a blank face “you can want anything”.
But it seems that he made these for me.
It’s not that those words made me happy, but it made it worth it to be woken up so early in the morning and put me in a good mood for the whole day.
The feeling in my hair is gone enough that I could have cut it… but I’m glad I didn’t.
Because it helps with the uniform Mink wants me to have.
When I look at my body dressed up in completely different clothes than usual I feel a little moved.
I feel like it’s finally okay for me to tread on this land.
It’s strange, but also makes me happy that Mink prepared everything.
Why does he want me to look like this?
Mink didn’t answer me, but took me to this bright place.
I don’t really need an explanation from Mink anymore, but he’s probably brought me here with some special meaning.
If that’s not it then I’m just happy seeing this scenery with him.
M: ..About what we talked about this morning. It’s before you came here.
Mink talks as he looks towards the faintly purple horizon.
M: I saw my family and friends to the grave. So that I could return the holy item.
A: Holy item?
M: It’s the pipe. To us it’s an item that we inherit.
Now that he says it…
Mink always had a pipe with him at Platinum Jail.
To think that that pipe was so important…
Mink narrows his eyes at the sky, the redness of its morning light dimming slightly.
M: When I decided to take revenge I stopped by their graves and decided to carry it with me always.
M: Because inside of that holy item is all of their precious souls.
M: However, After I came back here I wasn’t able to return to their graves.
M: I couldn’t no matter what. Because I was supposed to have been there with them.
A: …
M: Then this morning my body moved on its own and I was able to go to the graves.
M: I wanted to return the holy item and tell them all.
M: That from now on… it may be a little while before I go to all of them.
A: Mink…
Mink turns to look at me slowly.
The water colored sky is reflected in his gold eyes.
M: I marked that my first trip finally came to an end.
M: I came here with you to mark the start of my second trip.
A: Second trip…?
M: My trip with you. Because you released my soul from “death”.
M: My next trip towards “death” starts here with you.
M: …Aoba.
Mink holds me by the shoulders quietly and looks into my face.
I’m captivated… by his expression.
Mink’s true being, without hiding anything is right in front of me.
To me it looks like it’s singing the song of “life” just as much as this magnificent sky and earth around me.
From today on starts his second trip towards “death”.
If it’s only the words it makes me scared and dreadful, but the way Mink says it makes me think differently.
That’s because Mink treasure life just as much as he does death.
He will struggle to reach death in order to not regret anything that he’s living for now.
He wants to walk that path together with me. Until the day where we meet death.
Therefore he wants to pray before this scenery.
This day where we start a new journey together is an irreplaceable day for both of us.
So that somehow…
I can stay by Mink’s side until the last moment.