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V10 Story I – Part 05

When we visited previously, there were several fish tanks indoors.

I recalled the hollow scene. Empty fish tanks filled with water.

I closed my eyes for a moment. When I opened them again, an abnormal sight greeted itself.

Pale hands were submerged in all the fish tanks. The tanks themselves looked like cases containing merchandise.

The ashen hands resembled items displayed for sale, and the bright light intensified this impression. The shapes and positions of the hands were all different. One hand was standing vertically. Another hand had its fingers’ joints resting on the edge of the fish tank, bobbing, palm upturned.

I extended my hand. Five fingers were facing upwards like lotus flowers. I tried to touch it, but as expected, I couldn’t. It was probably the same with the other hands.

I felt a shiver as I studied the tanks. Mayuzumi’s voice replayed in my mind.

“That was just a foretaste.”

Cold sweat trickled down my spine, followed by a fit of coughing.

Apart from the hands multiplying, there was another anomaly inside the house. The interior was filled with a thick, putrid smell.

The sweet and repulsive odor of rotten flesh burned my lungs. The smell of raw, pungent blood also clung to my throat.

It was as if the corpse of some large animal lay rotten somewhere.

I recalled what Mayuzumi did. When she twirled her parasol, the hand rapidly decayed. Was the thick, putrid smell a product of the hands multiplying?

“Azuma-san, when did the hands start multiplying and the foul smell start spreading?”

“Foul smell? Oh. Now that you mention it, it does smell. Sorry about that. I don’t really mind smells. I’ve been told that, aside from vision, my various senses have been dull for a long time. That’s why I’m a bit obsessed with what I can see. If this situation is unpleasant for you, I apologize. Sorry for calling you to a place that might make you uncomfortable.”

He looked apologetic. His reaction prompted me to dismiss another possibility in my mind. That Azuma might be leaving something to rot. But that seemed unlikely.

He did not accurately recognize the smell itself. Tilting his head, Azuma put his arm into the fish tank.

His hand overlapped with the hand in the water. The one underwater belonged to a woman.

His fingers were thinner. His arm was unusually emaciated. I swallowed. His fingers were almost entirely bone and skin.

When we visited before, he looked thin. But not this thin. His rapid weight loss seemed dangerous, even.

“Azuma-san, what happened?” I asked. “You’ve lost a lot of weight. Have you been eating?”

“Eating… eating? Oh, right. I thought I was forgetting something. That’s it. It’s been days since I ate last. Why didn’t I eat? It seems I’m hungry. Thanks for letting me know.”

Azuma bowed his head, sincerely like a child. He stared at me absentmindedly. He showed zero concern for the rapid decrease in his own weight.

“Please eat something,” I said. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll leave soon. I’ll make sure to inform Mayu-san—Chief Mayuzumi about the hands.”

“Okay, got it. I’ll make something… Ah, you don’t have to leave. There’s something I want to show you. You just have to wait. I’ll make something for you too.”

“No, it’s fine… Also, I don’t mean to be rude, but I can’t eat when it smells like this.”

“My aglio e olio is pretty good, you know. Come over here.”

Azuma pulled my arm with force, half-dragging me against my will. When we reached the bathroom, he went past the changing room and opened the glass door. A clean modular bath came into view.

My breath seized. Azuma looked behind him, wearing an innocent smile.

“Isn’t it amazing?”

Indeed, it was a breathtaking sight.

The bathtub held several hands, submerged like plump fish with moderately fleshy palms. Those hands, adorned with red nail polish, casually rested on the edge, their backs exposed. It looked like a woman was bathing at first glance, but the hands lacked a body.

They seemed slack, and possessed a strangely alluring appearance. Azuma, unfazed by the bizarre scene, waved his hand casually and walked away.

“Well then, I’ll go make something. Wait for me. I make good salmon pasta.”

The menu had changed. Azuma’s easygoing tone clashed with the surreal scene. Discomfort settled in. I was confused.

I reluctantly explored the bathroom. Eventually, even in this abnormal situation, my brain began to adjust.

The collection of a human body part seemed more comical than gruesome. The scent of blood became more pronounced, yet no decaying or bleeding hands were in sight. The bathroom scene was simultaneously organic and inorganic.

There was no point in staying here. Leaving the bathroom, I entered the corridor. How could I have a meal in this stench? I decided to tell Azuma that I was leaving. The abnormal proliferation had gone beyond the bounds of the ordinary. I needed to report back to Mayuzumi immediately.

If she had no intention of resolving it, I’d have to seek help from other espers. Would Shirayuki offer information if I asked? Then, I heard a sound.

I headed for the kitchen. Just like the living room, fish tanks dotted the corridor, rectangular boxes resting atop stands. In the dimness, hands slumbering at the bottom came into view. Hands that were similar yet different.

Then, I stopped in my tracks. A glaring anomaly unfolded in one of the fish tanks.

“…What?”

By the kitchen door stood the last fish tank. A hand was decaying inside.

The door was wide open, allowing bright light to spill into the corridor. Up ahead, Azuma was standing in front of the refrigerator, oblivious to my presence. My gaze returned to the fish tank.

Murky water, a decaying hand, flesh melting away, blood vessels swollen like worms. Traces of nails and flesh clung to the fingertips, the orange color glowing faintly.

I frowned. Why was only this hand decaying? I recalled Mayuzumi’s parasol spinning, causing the phantom hand to decay rapidly. She had called it a foretaste. Would other hands follow the same fate?

Alarm bells rang in my head. I looked at the next fish tank, my gaze darting between the pale hand and the decaying one. Something felt amiss. The thick stench assaulted my senses.

I couldn’t breathe, like I was drowning in the tank myself. Slowly, I reached out my hand. Something compelled me to move closer to the water.

My fingertips touched the warm, shimmering surface, my palm sinking. Water mixed with flesh seeped into my suit. The unpleasant temperature made my hackles rise. I spread my hand wide in the water and closed it, creating bubbles.

I pulled up the hand. Water dripped, breaking the surface. Hard bone pressed into my palm through the leather gloves.

I stared at the sight, strangely devoid of shock. My hand joined with the decaying hand.

“…I see.”

This hand was real. A pungent odor wafted from the rotting flesh.

I might have been aware of this fact subconsciously. I had just been deliberately averting my gaze from it.

It made sense. I despised myself for accepting it with such indifference. I felt neither hate, nor fear. My mind felt numb. As I scrutinized the fingers once more, questions bubbled up.

I’d seen these fingers somewhere before.

Orange nail polish adorned the nails. Water trickled from the hollowed palm. The swollen flesh crumbled like mud. Then, I remembered something.

The illusory hand hadn’t vanished. But contact from the strong-willed client had ceased.

I recalled her drinking tea. Her nails were painted a bright orange.

Whose hand was this, exactly?

I raised my head. My fingers loosened, and the decaying hand plummeted, quietly sinking into the water again. Azuma did not move from his spot. He cocked his head a few times in apparent distress.

The refrigerator stood wide open, spilling cold light outside.

Bzzzzzz…

There was a buzzing sound, like flies. The massive refrigerator trembled slightly.

Glancing over Azuma’s shoulder, I peered inside. A dull shock coursed through me. The expected sight failed to elicit disgust within me. Silently, I seared the horrid colors into my eyes.

Red-stained plastic bags lined the shelves. Clumps of meat, shrouded in plastic wrap, glistened wetly. Liquid seeped from the gaps, dripping down the refrigerator shelves. Hair stuck to the door shelf. Azuma shuddered.