Chapter 88

Oni is the eighty-eighth chapter of Jibaku Shounen Hanako Kun by Aidairo.

Summary
The chapter starts off with School Mystery No. 6 standing before Kou, who was now fallen in front of him. The Lord of Death holds an unconscious Teru in his left hand. He realizes that Teru and Kou are apart of the Minamoto Exorcist clan. He remarks that they've gotten a lot weaker, and drops Teru into the water below.

Kou rushes to him, calling his name. He turns Teru over, but he's unresponsive. Enraged, he then charges at No. 6 with his staff, Raiteijou, but No. 6 simply grabs his staff and punches him in the ribs. Akane then attempts to stop time, but before he can, No. 6 knocks the pocket watch out of his hand, saying he won't allow it.

With all three of them defeated, No. 6 is free to grab Aoi, and he uses a centipede-like supernatural to keep her restrained. He notes that the boundaries still haven't resumed their destruction, and guesses the three he defeated weren't the cause. Uncaring, he grabs Aoi's hand, saying all he needs to do is get her to the Far Shore.

But Aoi resists, shocking him with her anti-evil artifact. She asks why he'd do something so awful, saying she won't forgive it.

No. 6 closes her mouth with his hand, a smile on his face. He says that humans seem to like to ask him that, and that he's heard the word "why" from them plenty of times.

A flashback begins, with a shadowy samurai figure asking a much younger No. 6 that same question: "why". No. 6 notes that right then was the first time he was asked that.

The samurai is referred to as Yorimitsu-sama, and he had come to quell the demons on the mountain that No. 6 lived on. He'd defeated them all in the blink of an eye, and tells No. 6 that soon all of the demons would be killed. One such demon was one that No. 6 referred to as "master", and he was the master of the mansion No. 6 lived in. No. 6 remarks that, though he had no concept of family as a demon, he considered his master and fellow demons something similar to it.

Yorimitsu then tells No. 6 that he will kill him, and let's him choose whether to attack him or run away. No. 6 responds by saying he won't do either because he wasn't told to, and tells Yorimitsu to do whatever he wants. Yorimitsu finds this strange, as he says demons are born with the urge and desire to kill and destroy, but No. 6 is different. He's selfless, and desires nothing.

Calling him "defective", Yorimitsu decides to take No. 6 under his belt as a shikigami, putting him to work under him. Thus began No. 6's life with humans, working for Yorimitsu until his eventual death, and even longer after that for his other descendants. He did all manner of tasks for them, from fetching herbs to killing a house full of people. Despite this, and despite him obediently and efficiently carrying out all of his tasks, his presence made the humans he lived with uncomfortable.

One other such task he would do was capture runaway kannagi, then breaking their legs or gouging out their eyes if necessary. We see him do just that to a young kannagi girl, who yells about how she doesn't want to sacrifice her life for the people of the village. In response, before gouging out her eyes, he says that her role is to die, and that it's his role to do this.

No. 6 notes that his time with the humans, performing the role he was ordered to do, was no different from his time with the demons on the mountain.

Sometime later, No. 6 is being told that he will watch over the next sacrifice, and to continue as usual; break her legs if she runs, gouge out her eyes if she resists, and get rid of anyone trying to help her. But the man ordering him pauses, seemingly troubled. He says that this newest sacrifice is only six years old, and very unreasonable. He thinks the Akane clan must have sent her to them so young because the family didn't want the child to resent them.

He doubts a demon like No. 6 would do good with kids, but guesses it'll be fine as long as he doesn't kill her. He tells him to do whatever he likes with her, and No. 6 obeys his orders.

Skipping forward, and a young girl in a fancy kimono is bowing on the floor in front of No. 6. She says her name is Sumire, and says that she is honored to be given this role, and that it's a pleasure to meet No. 6. After finishing her formal speech, she sits up, dropping the honorifics. With bright eyes, she innocently asks him if he's going to be Sumire's new husband.

No. 6 stares back at her blankly.

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * Shinigami-sama
 * Minamoto Teru
 * Minamoto Kou
 * Akane Aoi
 * Aoi Akane
 * Yorimitsu-sama
 * Akane Sumire