3 bar menu

V11 Story I – Part 09

“Come now, rest here. Take your time. I’m making a special exception for you.”

It felt like I was hearing the voice in a dream. I was invited into the room, and soon after, my consciousness faded away.

When I woke up, I was lying on a sofa. Cushions adorned with beads and embroidery were piled up around me. Towa was resting her elbows on one of them.

She got on her knees and gazed at my stomach. The area that had been wriggling just moments ago was now calm. Her pale pink lips curled up.

“May I touch it?” she asked with genuine delight.

“I would advise against it.”

“Why’s that?”

“…You might get bitten.”

“Oh? Observable abnormalities are fascinating. This is the first time I’ve seen someone harboring something in their stomach.” She giggled.

I ran my hand over my stomach, then looked around.

In stark contrast to the guest rooms on the first floor, her room was overflowing with things. A grand piano stood by the wall, and adorable children’s clothes were strewn across a wide bed. Countless books lined the bookshelves, with many recently published titles among them. I looked up at Towa.

Meeting my gaze, she offered a soft smile. “It was worth granting you special permission. Normally, I only invite those who have been to the dinner party before. Besides, there aren’t any other participants besides them. But to think there’s a newcomer prepared to kill themselves. I thought they must be insane.”

“You only invited those who have been here before?”

“Yes, that’s right. Who doesn’t want to see what kind of monster the Mayuzumi heiress is? Although I was disappointed when I met you at the entrance. I feel a sense of kinship with such an obvious anomaly.”

She touched my stomach, her milky fingertips brushing against the blood-soaked shirt. But then, her expression suddenly froze. Her innocent smile vanished, replaced by a contemptuous glare.

“Ah, but you also came here to eat my flesh, didn’t you?”

“No… I didn’t come to eat you,” I quickly denied.

Towa blinked curiously. “Oh, what nonsensical things you say. Then, what did you come here for?”

“…I came to change the future. Because if I don’t do anything, a girl will die.”

Towa narrowed her eyes. She tapped the cushion and stood up. Her red dress fluttered, her skirt flaring as she sat on the piano stool.

“Can you tell me more about it? Like you’re telling a story, if you will.”

I did as told, recounting a situation that I myself hadn’t fully grasped. About Mayuzumi Azaka’s fate, about the prophecy written on the cards. When I finished, Towa nodded silently.

A moment later, she sneered, blatant mockery filling her young face, unlike her previous smiles.

“You came to the island for that? Stupid, if you ask me. Is that really enough to change fate?”

“To be honest, I share your sentiment. But I have to do everything I can.”

“Wrong. Whatever you do, it’s futile. There’s nothing you can do. People’s destinies don’t change.”

Towa jumped off the chair, spread her arms wide, and twirled around.

Yuuyami Towa, the immortal girl who feeds her flesh to others, said, “Nothing you can do can change someone’s fate. Once someone hits rock bottom, they can only live at the bottom. Once fate declares that the girl dies, then she will die. Just like how it was my fate to be eaten perpetually.”

“You’re talking about your father’s dinner parties. So you weren’t offering your flesh of your own will.”

The image of the tied-up girl flashed in my mind. Her eyes filled with hatred. For a moment, Towa looked surprised. Then, she nodded to herself, arms crossed.

“Did you hear that from one of the participants? You’re right. Who would willingly offer their flesh to pigs? Do you know what it feels like to be eaten alive?” she spat.

Do I know what it feels like to be eaten alive?

I remembered the intense pain I experienced. A knife inserted into my arm, meticulously carving flesh. The pure agony. I looked up at her.

Gruesome pain can sometimes turn humans into demons.

“If salvation is your destiny, things will naturally work out that way. But if fate has you marked for death, you have to accept it. Running away is impossible. There is no way out,” she asserted.

That was probably how she accepted her own circumstances. Stuck on this island, with no way out, she could never escape. She had to resign herself to her fate to keep her sanity. But why was she still throwing these dinner parties even after her father’s passing?

“Why… why do you keep throwing these dinner parties?” I asked.

“You wouldn’t get it,” she replied, sounding a bit patronizing.

With a shrug, Towa turned away. Her interest in me had faded. She went to open the door.

“Your wounds must be better by now. Time for you to leave. You’ve been hogging the sofa long enough, and it’s already stained with blood. I will exclude your group from the dinner party. The supply ship will arrive in three days. Take that and leave this island.”

We accepted her invitation, and now she was leaving us out of it. This was likely her way of showing utmost mercy. But I couldn’t just go along with it.

“Sorry, I can’t agree to that. You need to call off the dinner party now.”

“What nonsense. You think I can just cancel it because some guests say so?”

“Have you not considered how I got hurt?” I said, pointing to my wound. “There was an arrow on the floor. There might be a murderer on this island. Someone’s already been killed. You’re in danger too.”

Frowning, Towa darted out of the room and returned with a bloody arrow. She inspected it with a stern face, biting her lip.

“This is a crossbow bolt from under the stairs next to the storage room. My father used it. But why is this… And what did you just say? Someone’s already been killed?”

“You didn’t know? It happened yesterday. A guy named Tatenashi,” I explained, recounting the grim details.

I told her how we switched orders. His lung was found in the fridge, but his liver was missing. Towa listened silently.

“I see,” she said. “No, I don’t. I don’t understand… I don’t get why you were shot.”

“Please cancel the dinner party. Everyone’s in danger, you included. And if you can, please don’t ever host a dinner party ever again.”

“How rude. Do you think I would just—”

I grabbed her shoulder, and her breath seized. The image of the girl on the plate flashed through my mind. The feast of gluttony was over, but she insisted on hosting more.

Eat and die. If this was fate, then it was a stupid one.

“Why do you keep doing this even when your father’s gone? It’s ridiculous to think you can’t change your own fate. You should stop hosting these dinner parties.”

“…What?”

“You don’t have to go through that pain anymore. Don’t offer yourself up. You’re human. Not food. You don’t have to suffer again.”

Towa’s eyes widened, then narrowed sadly.

“You’re being ridiculous,” she said, gently pushing my hand away before turning and walking off.

Intertwining her fingers behind her back, she gazed out the window. Night had fallen. Darkness blanketed everything, and the only sound was the crashing of waves. She stared into the empty darkness for a while.

After a long silence, she turned back to me, her chestnut hair swaying.

“Fine. I’ll cancel the dinner party and call the ship,” she said gravely. She clasped her hands and held her head high. “There are aspects of this event that elude my understanding. I don’t know who harmed you. For everyone’s safety, I must request that all of you depart for now. Regrettably, however, I can’t fulfill your wish.”

“Why not?” I asked. Why wouldn’t she stop hurting herself?

In a very quiet voice, she said, “Please go home, dear guest. And forget about this island.”

She smiled gently, but her eyes were filled with sorrow.