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V11 Story IV – Part 04

Mikage’s empty eye socket now held a new eyeball. I stared hard at it.

Anger and hatred blurred my vision. What had the scarlet woman done to her?

This receptacle was indeed disturbing. The flower was likely abloom inside her body. A place filled with blood. The eyeball served as a lid to the socket where the flower was planted.

I swallowed, recalling the illustration on the card. Were the eyeballs crushed in two hands referring to this?

Mikage tilted her head blankly, and with childlike curiosity, she patted her face with her left hands. Her blood-soaked fingers brushed against her left eye. She checked it repeatedly, confused.

“Huh? How?”

Over and over, she inspected her eyeball. She showed no indication of disliking it, like she had forgotten about the prophecy.

She lifted her face. “Hey, what color is it?” she asked eagerly.

“…What?”

“Could you tell me the color? What color is my eye?”

She stared at me intently with a childlike gaze.

I opened my quivering mouth. I couldn’t lie to those clear eyes.

“It’s black.”

“I see! Yay!”

Mikage grinned widely. A radiant smile, unlike any I’d witnessed before, lit up her face. Arms outstretched, she erupted into laughter. I felt like throwing up. Despair filled my mind.

“I’ve always wanted to be normal!”

I couldn’t bear to pluck out her eye.

I took a step back. Mikage—the seedbed of the red flower—stretched her arms wide and spun around gleefully. Her fractured leg twirled. I clamped a hand over my mouth to stop myself from retching.

Then it struck me. My hands were covered in leather gloves. There were no bare hands.

Then whose hands were those in the card?

Mikage, completing her whirl, flashed a bright smile at me.

Squelch.

The scene before me shattered in an instant.

“…Huh?”

Hands protruded from her eye sockets, extracting her eyeballs.

On the outstretched palms rested two eyeballs. It mirrored precisely the illustration depicted on the card.

Except these hands emerged from Mikage’s eye sockets, floating unsteadily. The wrists, constricted by the small opening, were twisted softly at the base. Flesh completely filled the sockets.

Mikage’s face convulsed violently, saliva and blood dribbling from her open mouth.

The two palms suddenly moved, and in a gentle motion, closed. Liquid dripped from between the fingers as the eyeballs were crushed without a sound.

And thus, the prophecy came true before my eyes.

Mikage, face turned skyward, collapsed where she stood. Her arms twitched.

Cracks suddenly appeared on her face. Wrinkles peeled sideways like fruit skin. Bones fractured. With discomforting noise, her body began to split open. Instead of organs, a myriad of buds peeked out, infesting her body like colorful parasites. I stared in disbelief at the horrifying sight. The baby kicked my belly and laughed loudly, showing interest in the dreadful transformation.

Finally, Mikage’s body crashed, and the buds inside rose up.

From Mikage’s eye sockets, the cluster of buds sprouted arms. Skin formed on the buds from the joint. Like molding and coloring clay, a girl took shape. She rose lightly to her feet.

Rich brown hair swaying, Kotori gazed at me. Her black cloak flared as she gave a curtsy.

“Well, then. Thank you for coming, cutie. I grew tired of waiting.”

“Why… Why would you do this?” I asked shakily.

This wasn’t the Kotori I knew. I had long known she wasn’t human, yet seeing her emerge from a human being was even more terrifying, almost monstrous. A shiver ran through my body.

Kotori shrugged lightly. “What are you saying? It’s not that surprising, is it? The only downside is that I can only recreate my appearance before the complete mutation. I can’t even make a cat mask. Well, I have plenty to talk about, but the White Rabbit’s bell has already tolled. It’s about time for the end,” she said, as if narrating a story.

The crimson flowers chuckled quietly. Petals began to envelop her. Despite being engulfed in red, a smile remained on her lips.

Standing in the gentle sea, dyed in red, she said, “With this, your story concludes. Serves you right.”

A gust of wind blew. Like magic, the sea of flowers vanished, but Kotori remained. She faced me, a soft smile on her lips.

“Time to make the flowers bloom. The first flower and all the flowers. Farewell, cutie. This is it, the end of everything. You, me, her—everything will be done for.”

She spread her arms wide. Her fingertips gently split open, skin tearing to reveal crimson buds within. A giant flower stirred wildly. The buds forming Kotori’s body seemed ready to open.

The blooming acted as a signal, stirring the surrounding flowers. In this critical moment, doubt crept in. Discomfort outweighed fear and panic. Something was drastically wrong. A dire matter not for me, but for her.

“Don’t you want to become a cat?” I asked.

“…What?”

“I thought you wanted to be a cat.”

She was terrified of the cat, so she wanted to be one to dispel the fear.

But somewhere down the line, her goal shifted. Making the red flowers bloom was her master’s purpose. She wouldn’t have cared about that, at least not until a few days ago.

“Did you really want to turn into a red flower and blossom? You stopped becoming a red flower once you left the greenhouse.”

Kotori’s eyes widened. She turned her head, examining her fingertips.

A familiar expression crossed her face—the same frightened look she had shown when I snapped her out of her insanity in the greenhouse, where she was taken by the cat. She gazed at the flower violating her fingers with a tense expression.

“I-I stopped becoming a flower, d-didn’t I?” Kotori muttered hoarsely.

She must have finally realized that something was amiss. The scarlet woman had likely ordered Kotori to make all the flowers, including her own body, bloom.

“I didn’t want to become something like that.”

It was an order that disregarded Kotori’s desires. Following the scarlet woman’s instructions would mean Kotori’s own death. The scarlet woman wouldn’t grant her wish, and Kotori wouldn’t transform into a cat.

“…Ah.”

She regarded me with tear-filled eyes. Her lips moved. Just like in the greenhouse before, she turned away from the flowers and tried to tell me something.

But Kotori clenched her teeth, cutting her own tongue to stop the words from coming out. Quickly she covered her mouth with her palm before it could fully open. She exhaled sharply. Tears streamed down her face as she fixed me with a fierce glare.

Petals begin to emerge within her face. Flowers were on the brink of blooming. As I observed her, I finally understood what Mayuzumi meant. There was only one way to completely eradicate the flowers.

If she had given me the specifics beforehand, I might have hesitated to search for Kotori. But now, hesitation was a luxury I couldn’t afford. I took a deep breath. I couldn’t shed any more tears.

“When the time comes, Odagiri-kun, what will you do? The decision’s yours, naturally. Just don’t hesitate.”

Kotori grabbed her own hand and opened her mouth. “I will never ask for help! You should all just die!” she screamed, letting out the hatred that lurked deep within her.

It was the final display of dignity by the girl who had forsaken her humanity.

Her face split vertically. Petals distorted her features, and her arms ruptured. Kotori the human vanished.

I took a deep breath. “Uka, I have a favor to ask.”

Yes?

I looked up at the sky. Kotori was no longer human. No, that was just an excuse. After all that talk of being unable to weigh hundreds of lives against one, here I was.

Taking another deep breath, I recalled what happened some time ago. To think that I went through all the trouble to save the fox that implanted a uterus in me. Absolutely ridiculous. I almost burst into laughter.

I turned my gaze ahead. Crimson petals fluttered in the air. As she blossomed, the sky turned even redder. The surroundings buzzed, countless flowers on the verge of blooming. There was no time to hesitate anymore.

My vision blurred, tears overflowing like a raging torrent. And then, I…

“Eat her. Please kill Kotori.”

I chose the only, absurd option.

Okay!

Uka’s cheerful voice rang high. My stomach split open, and the child leaped out.

And then, I took a life.

The child’s mouth widened, consuming the mass of flowers before it in just one bite.

With that single act, Kotori’s body vanished, the flowers dissolving into the stomach that devoured everything.

There was nothing left. The girl, the flowers—they were all gone. It was strangely anticlimactic.

I didn’t feel shock, but my legs gave out, and I crumbled where I stood.

Uka, now around nine years old, looked over her shoulder. She flashed an innocent smile.

“Papa! Papa!”

She threw her chest out proudly. She sought praise from me, someone who had just told her to commit murder. I embraced the bloodied child, patting her head and commending her for a job well done.

“Papa!” She chuckled.

The child who had devoured someone alive for me laughed joyously.

I wiped my tears as I held Uka. I took out a cigarette and a lighter from my suit. Blood oozed from my stomach. I needed to contact Mayuzumi urgently.

I lit the cigarette and took a long drag. I glanced up at the sky. My eyes widened.

“…What?”

The sky was still a bright red.

The wind swept through once more, and crimson petals soared into the air all at once.

On the bare ground lay a single seed. Cracks appeared on its hard shell.

Snap!

From it, something sinuous and bright green jutted out, brushing lightly against my palm. My leather gloves and bandages tore. Blood sprayed out. Uka leapt, hurtling toward me at bullet-like speed.

Crunch!

Realizing the danger I was in, Uka gnawed through the vine. This time, the flowers vanished.

But the sky’s color remained unchanged. Fearfully, I glanced down at my hand. Something had entered when the vine cut it. A seed had been planted in my palm, and a crimson flower bloomed atop the flesh.

Sweat broke out all over my body. This left arm was originally flesh linked to the woman. If an object from the spirit world bloomed there, what would happen? The depths of the spirit world and this hand would connect easily.

The crimson flower wriggled before my eyes, transforming into a shape influenced by the woman. The petals turned into flesh while retaining their crimson hue, forming lips that were very soft.

Lips reminiscent of a carnivorous beast quivered, and with a clatter of teeth, she smiled sweetly.

“It’s been a while, Odagiri-kun. It’s only a partial reunion, but this takes me back. Since we’re here, why don’t I give you a kiss, my beloved, miserable fool?”

Her teeth kept clattering. A chill ran down my spine at the thought of being consumed. And then, it hit me.

This is what it means to kill someone. Curses, like chickens, come home to roost. A killer can’t complain when they themselves get killed.

The hand controlled by the vine bent on its own. The lips drew nearer.

“Papa, papa!” Uka called, bewildered.

She knew I was in danger, but there was nothing she could do against my hand. The scarlet woman’s lips approached, opening as if to kiss a beloved or devour a favorite food.

Then, the lips devoured a white mass of flesh.

“…Huh?”

I blinked in disbelief. The woman’s mouth was devouring the white flesh that had risen before my eyes.

I looked down. Somehow, a lump of white flesh had crept up to my feet.

Why was Aya here? Still confused, I turned around. There was a trail of wet marks on the asphalt. She seemed to have crawled slowly like a slug.

Shirayuki lay further ahead, near the entrance to the parking lot. A boundary made of petals had formed between the parking lot and the outside, so she couldn’t leave. Come to think of it, even when the car crashed into the fence, no one came here. But such things didn’t matter. The woman continued to chew irritably.

The total amount of Aya’s flesh was decreasing rapidly before my eyes. I yelped. How could I stop this? What should I do? Suddenly, just like before, I arrived at a simple answer.

I took a deep breath. There was no time to hesitate. I had no right to hesitate.

I roused myself up. “Uka, eat my arm!”

I just told her to eat someone. How could I not tell her to eat me?

There was a long pause, before Uka said, “Okay.”

I closed my eyes.

Crunch.

Suddenly, my body felt lighter. A scorching pain ran through me. Blood gushed out. It felt like my brain was being seared.

I thought I could hear my scream echo far in the distance.