11) A Character from Russian Fairy Tales
Chapter 8. A Walk
Having regained his clothes, Chris also regained the mental composure to observe his condition. He hadn’t noticed while immersed in Guiding, but as Yuri had said, the energy imbalance had been resolved. Not only that, Guiding was overflowing to the point where he wouldn’t need to meet a Guide anymore.
Being in a state full of Guiding was truly strange. It felt like being a cup filled to the brim with water, ready to overflow with the slightest movement.
Even though he’d escaped the crisis of Rampage, what still bothered him was the fact that he still couldn’t use his abilities.
Chris looked down at his palm. Even when he tried Beast Transformation, this hand wouldn’t transform back into a wolf’s paw.
Though he didn’t entirely believe Yuri’s words, he’d also tried using Chris Danil’s telekinesis. But there was no result.
He could feel the Guiding energy full within him, so it seemed too much to say he’d lost all abilities and returned to being an ordinary person. But why couldn’t he draw it out?
It was difficult for Chris to guess the cause of this side effect.
He wanted to ask Yuri, who seemed to have some idea, about the current situation, but lately he seemed busy, and after filling him up with Guiding completely, it was hard to see his face.
Even when he visited, he would only check whether Chris’s abilities had manifested again before leaving, acting as bland as if he’d never teased Chris at all.
He hadn’t been unaware that it was more Guiding than sexual activity to begin with. But being pushed away so coldly like this felt strange.
Come to think of it, Yuri was a mafioso. People without use value had no choice but to be pushed down in priority for him.
Being confined alone in here with Yuri as the only person he could meet, Chris was curious about where he was and what he was doing.
There were people who came in and out of the room for cleaning, but he’d never once encountered them. When Yuri wasn’t there, all he was given was a single energy capsule for food. Even though he’d confirmed when escaping that many people came and went in this building, the corridor beyond Chris’s confined room was always wrapped in silence.
It seemed he’d completely blocked anyone from approaching this area.
Even though Yuri’s visits had completely stopped, he hadn’t been disposed of yet. Moreover, seeing that security was being maintained, his usefulness hadn’t disappeared.
“It’s still okay. Still.”
Chris muttered to himself. Since entering this place, his talking to himself had gradually increased. It was because of the silence that no one but himself could fill.
Then, he sensed a presence at the door. Chris jumped up from the bed without realizing it. He heard the sound of a key turning.
The door opened and Yuri was standing there. Expressionless, he looked a bit tired. Still, a faint relief spread through Chris’s chest that he hadn’t forgotten him and had come to visit.
Putting aside all this situation, the fact that he was purely glad to see Yuri clearly meant he was gradually going crazy.
“Sit.”
Yuri said, jerking his chin toward the bed. Looking at his hands, the tray he was holding had soup and a sandwich on it.
The only utensil was a spoon.
‘I knew it would be like this.’
Yuri didn’t bring bladed objects into this room. Thoroughly, to an obsessive degree. The food was either something you could pick up with your hands like sandwiches, or something you had to eat with a spoon like soup.
Actually, you could use a spoon to gouge out someone’s eyes or stab vital points with the sharp end. If the person bringing it wasn’t Yuri, that is.
Since there was no chair or desk either, as he sat down on the bed, Yuri handed him the tray. The edges were round and thin, so even if used to strike someone, it would be hard to knock them unconscious.
Chris asked, fiddling with the sandwich without eating it.
“Have you been… busy lately?”
“Why? Is your bottom feeling empty?”
There was a cold edge set in Yuri’s tone.
“You don’t need to be so guarded. Since I’m confined, it’s impossible to leak information about this place to headquarters, isn’t it?”
Having tried to escape once and been caught, he was definitely being monitored with paranoid intensity now.
“Before Espers appeared, people couldn’t believe you could start fires or make water pour from empty air. Why wouldn’t there be Espers who can transform into bedbugs or fleas?”
Yuri was right.
“And what about you should I trust?”
Yuri seemed to know that Chris hadn’t given up on escaping yet. In the end, swallowing the loneliness he’d felt, he answered.
“…You’re right.”
Perhaps thinking he’d reacted a bit excessively, Yuri’s tired face softened slightly.
“Your face is rough.”
At those words, Chris, remembering something, lifted up the still-unused spoon.
The face reflected in the shiny spoon looked quite shabby. Half was because he was confined, and the other half was because of the beard that had grown in the meantime.
Though he showered in the bathroom every day, there was no mirror attached so he couldn’t check his condition. There was no window in this room either, so there was nowhere to see his reflection.
It wasn’t bushy yet, but the beard had grown quite a bit. Chris asked carefully.
“May I shave?”
“Do you think I’d put a blade in your hands?”
Yuri sneered. He grabbed Chris’s chin with his gloved hand and turned it this way and that. After assessing and judging that shaving was necessary, Yuri soon spat out bluntly.
“You require a lot of work.”
Chris had thought there was a good chance he wouldn’t do it. A razor blade could also become an excellent weapon depending on who was holding it. Hadn’t Chris brought it up with the intention of securing a blade before his second escape attempt?
From what he’d seen and experienced so far, Yuri had a cleanliness obsession.
“Wait, I’ll go prepare.”
So saying, Yuri left the room.
Wait, he’d go prepare?
Chris’s eyes narrowed. He thought there was no way the man who’d been so busy that he couldn’t even see the tip of his nose for a while would come personally to do something as trivial as shaving.
Thinking that there must be barbers on the November Continent too, as Chris paced around the room, he realized just a few minutes later how naive that thought had been.
Beyond the door that opened without even a knock, there was Yuri holding a silver tray. On it were shaving cream, a brush, a razor, and towels.
“Go in.”
He jerked his chin toward the bathroom. Chris hesitated in front of him for a moment. Ever since being molested here last time, he became cautious every time Yuri called him to go inside. The liquid that had flowed out from the front, whether it was water or urine, had been that shocking.
But the gaze boring into his back from behind was too sharp to dither any longer. Eventually Chris entered the bathroom.
“Sit.”
Yuri, who followed in, set the tray down on the sink. Chris, perched on the edge of the bathtub, examined Yuri carefully.
The color was similar to usual so he hadn’t noticed, but what Yuri had brought were nitrile gloves that clung to his hands more than usual. Looking at those shiny black gloves, Chris opened his mouth.
“You’re wearing gloves.”
Yuri looked at Chris. He pulled up one corner of his mouth and laughed briefly.
“Because of someone who goes into heat just from a touch.”
“That’s…!”
“I’m only planning to help you shave. Should I fill you up with something if your bottom feels empty?”
Chris shut his mouth tight. No matter how many times he heard it, he felt vivid humiliation each time. Because Yuri’s words weren’t wrong.
Even while thinking there was no threat to his life, wasn’t that the reason he’d attempted to escape the first time? Because he felt a sense of crisis as he was being consumed by Yuri and tried to run away.
Though he was caught right before the tram station.
“…I’m fine.”
Silence descended for a while. Yuri concentrated on making lather with the shaving cream.
Watching the white foam spreading on his hands, Chris asked.
“Why are you doing this yourself?”
When you hate even brief contact.
“A dog is the owner’s responsibility.”
Yuri, gripping Chris’s chin, replied indifferently.
Could there be any emotion for him? He drove Chris into humiliation, pulled him out, and pushed him back in again. Solely to put a leash on him.
Chris was slowly being taught that he couldn’t escape from him. Though he was barely holding on, he didn’t know when he would collapse.
One thing was certain: Yuri knew Chris’s limits better than Chris himself did.
“I’m your responsibility.”
Chris echoed his words like a refrain.
