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V3 Story IV – Part 10

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Translator: Kell

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A goldfish was flying close by. I finally learned the identity of the color I spotted at the entrance of the haunted mansion. The color of the blood back then was this fish.

“What’s the matter, Odagiri-kun?” Mayuzumi asked. “It looks like your eyeballs are gonna pop out of your head.” She shifted her gaze to the goldish. “Oh, this little guy here? The clan head sent it to find you. When she learned that the heap of flesh was similar to the god, she felt responsible and came to the office personally. But although it managed to find you, it couldn’t fly back because of the rain, so it took us a while to get here. It looks like I made the right decision in coming here.”

Mayuzumi turned her eyes back to Asato, then shook her head. “No, I take that back. Wrong decision. I didn’t want to see that face.”

Asato smiled in amusement.

The ashen child pressed her cheek against his face. The girl in pure-white gothic Lolita fashion was like the opposite of Mayuzumi. Watching them both, Mayuzumi smiled.

Then took a step back.

“Running away, sister?” Asato’s voice was mocking.

But Mayuzumi was unfazed. “I am,” she said boldly. “I don’t know where you got that child, but it’s a demon. I have no intention of fighting fair and square.” She grinned.

Shirayuki tightened her embrace around me.

One order from Asato, and it’s over. Even a demon was no match against that child. It could devour us all, ending us right then and there.

A heavy silence descended. The sound of rain pounded in my ears.

Asato did not utter a word.

“Scurry away like a dog, sister,” he muttered low. “Learn what it feels like to retreat in defeat.”

Though he was smiling, his icy voice held pure hatred, and his eyes were as black as the abyss.

His face closely resembled a fox.

“You thought you’d never know what defeat feels like, didn’t you? Come back to me when you’re in tip-top shape.”

His twisted expression was burned in my eyes. My vision shifted. Shirayuki pulled my arm hard, and I used it to get up my feet. The fox’s voice reverberated in my ears.

His dark-blue parasol twirled.

Round and round.

“I’ll be waiting in anticipation.”

The sound of the rain faded away. Only his whisper remained in my head.

I had no idea what was what anymore.

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I could hear the fox.

Nothing else.

Until the sound of rain gradually replaced it.

The sharp pain pulled me from my hazy slumber. My stomach ached terribly. I looked down and saw a gnarled wound. My flesh was swollen, like an incision that had been forcibly sutured. Something was raging inside, stirring my guts.

But the pain gave me comfort.

It was the only thing that told me I was alive.

I felt a stroke on my forehead. The soft fingertips felt like it was touching a thin membrane instead of me directly. Pale hands repeatedly wiped away my sweat. Sometimes they pressed their whole palm against my forehead to check my temperature.

Whose hands are these? I didn’t even know where I was.

My nose caught a whiff of a sweet aroma. Several empty boxes lay on the table. Someone was standing in front of the window. I was apparently lying on a couch.

Wearing a luxurious dress, she turned around. “Are you awake, Odagiri-kun?”

Then I remembered.

Where I was, and who she was.

Memories came flooding back like a muddy stream.

I hurled on the spot. Bloody gastric juices spread on the floor. Uka grew more chaotic like she was in a bad mood. As I coughed, slender fingers repeatedly rubbed my back. I looked up and met Shirayuki’s worried gaze. I didn’t have the energy to respond. I collapsed back down on the couch, completely exhausted. The deepest part of me was empty. But I couldn’t even muster up the strength to grieve.

I wanted to just lie down forever like a dead man.

Something hard hit my cheek without warning. I glanced up and saw Mayuzumi looking at me grimly. Something silver was lying on the floor. My breath caught.

It was a locket, its edge melted.

“It was on the ground where you passed out. I picked it up just in case, but perhaps I shouldn’t have given it back.”

My vision blurred, and my head ached. The closed wound tore open. Words rushed to my throat, but I didn’t know what to say. Tears streamed down my cheeks to the couch.

I meant to scream, but nothing came out. I looked up at the ceiling and let out a silent cry. I scratched my chest hard. Skin was buried into my fingernails. The fox laughed in my head.

Spinning his dark-blue parasol, he asked softly, “It was fun, wasn’t it?”

No. It wasn’t. Absolutely not.

I might’ve been to blame for everything that happened, but still… I…

What kind of excuse should I offer?

Shirayuki rubbed my back vigorously. She handed me a glass of water, which I took with shaky hands. I gulped down half of it before spitting it all back up. My legs were soaking wet, and my whole body was trembling violently.

What did I do? Why?

“The clan had been monitoring Higasa-kun and Akari-kun, but they had no intention of going after them.” Mayuzumi, looking out the window, spoke in a matter-of-fact tone. “The pair who came after you were there to check on the shocking news about the dead being alive. The clan had retrieved the bodies of the real Akari and Higasa, not their monster versions, after the accident. When the clan chief here learned about the incident, she contacted the Kariya clan to ask if they were aware that their members were involved, which resulted in Higasa-kun killing them.”

I recalled the situation back then. I had sensed something off.

Their appearance didn’t fit in the fox’s production. Their presence was not necessary for the trap he set. I couldn’t keep my thoughts running. My guts churned, and I pressed my stomach. My head hurt like I was hit by a hammer. My fingertips burned for some reason. But there was only nothingness inside me, a void.

A vast emptiness consumed me. Clenching my wounded palm, I stifled a sob.

I wanted to cling to something. But I didn’t know what.

I was struck by an odd realization.

I could never do anything on my own again.

I couldn’t walk anywhere.

Wrapping my arms around myself, I curled up. I wanted to be as small as possible. I wanted to shiver.

“Higasa’s perception of themselves was wrong,” Mayuzumi continued without turning around. “Not only did Akari-kun’s ability often go out of control, it was weak. Akari-kun and Higasa were almost worthless in the clan’s eyes. But Higasa pushed themselves into a corner—he believed he had to protect Akari-kun and deemed the whole world an enemy. The harsh training that Akari-kun underwent was meant to prevent her abilities from going out of control, to protect Akari-kun herself.”

She bit down on her chocolate and turned around. The hem of her gothic Lolita dress flared.

Looking down at me, she said coldly, “It was just a consequence of his ego. You shouldn’t worry about it. Stop being overly sympathetic.”

She didn’t offer me sympathy, only the minimum amount of consolation. I couldn’t say anything back. I couldn’t stop the tears from falling.

Mayuzumi sniffed audibly. “I’d go as far as to say that you’re presumptuous for carrying the burden.”

She sat down on the couch. She didn’t want to say anything more. Shirayuki hugged me tightly. Holding on to her arms, I finally let out a breath. I took a few breaths, curled up, and vomited again.

Shirayuki’s face twisted in pain. She quickly pulled a fan from her waist and flashed it at Mayuzumi. I could see the words in my blurry vision.

“What are you going to do now?”

Mayuzumi’s lips lifted slightly.

Chocolate snapped.

“I have no idea. The opening bell has rung.”

As always, she nibbled on her chocolate.

But the situation was dire, filled with hopelessness.

This is the story of a fox.

Once the first act ends, the second one will begin.

And it was no doubt a tragedy to the fox’s liking.

“He’ll dance on his own, even if no one wants him to.”

Mayuzumi smiled deeply.

It sounded like the pronouncement of an execution.

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The fox stood in front of the burned house. The rain had stopped, giving way to blue skies. Burnt wreckage gleamed black. The house where he had temporarily lived with the dead he had brought back to life had been razed to the ground. He had one of his past clients build it, and when the time was right, inherited it. He had no regrets. In fact, he intended for the mansion to be destroyed. He nodded in satisfaction.

“Once upon a time, there was a fox,” he whispered in a singsong voice.

An ashen girl was smiling at his feet. She closed her eyes and listened to his story. He stroked her beautiful white hair lovingly.

“The fox dug up a grave and smashed the coffin.”

But he knew. The girl did not understand his words. She did as he told her to do, but her intellect was no better than a beast’s. No beautiful ornaments could change the fact that inside her, there was only the instinct to survive. She only followed him so she could live.

So in reality, no one was actually listening to him.

“So the fox created a monster. The end.”

But he continued speaking to no one in particular. Spreading his hands out toward the blue sky, he curtsied like an actor.

“Stay tuned for the next act.”

He lifted his head up. A faint breeze blew, ruffling his hair.

Arms outstretched, he declared grandly, “Let the show begin.”

The opening had been announced.

The ashen child laughed in amusement.

B.A.D. 3: Mayuzumi Knows How Fairy Tales End.

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