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V12 Story II – Part 10

“…What?”

Asato’s tone dripped with mockery, as if he thought I was an idiot. But it was the truth. Mayuzumi Asato was just Mayuzumi Asato. Calling himself a fox was the beginning of his mistakes.

No matter how many times he said that the world was full of lies and deceit, that animals were far better than humans, a person could never become an animal.

“You’re Mayuzumi Asato. No one else. You might think you understand, but you don’t. Before you became a fox, before you aimed to be Mayuzumi Azaka, before you were anything else, you were simply Mayuzumi Asato. It’s not that you became who you are because you couldn’t be someone else; you’ve been you since before you tried to become anyone else. You should have considered what that truly meant.”

Before saying he was tired of everything, that he had no identity, that he lived like he was dead, that a life of being a pawn was meaningless, Mayuzumi Asato should have returned to his true self.

There’s always tragedy behind someone becoming an animal. But a human is born human.

And before I knew him as a fox, I only recognized him as Mayuzumi Asato.

Once upon a time, Mayuzumi Asato had actually enjoyed his youth as a regular high school student. As ridiculous as it sounded, the fox and I were once good friends.

“Asato, let me tell you this. You lived an awful life. You were a horrible and disgusting person. I’ll never forgive you. Many people will continue to hold a grudge against you. But the right answer was there all along. You already knew how to live.”

I didn’t know what he was thinking or feeling back then. He must have been up to something behind the scenes. But still, the time we spent back in high school was fun.

It was honestly just one of those extremely typical memories of youth. It might have been make-believe, but the fox chose that life.

“Why didn’t you just stay like that?” I said.

I was kind of hoping for an answer. He destroyed what he had, but ultimately gained nothing from it.

But Asato didn’t respond. I fell to my knees and grabbed Asato by the collar. My arm and torn stomach throbbed with pain. Anger surged from the depths of my being.

Shaking him back and forth, I said, “If you won’t answer, fine. But enough is enough. How many times do I have to repeat myself? I’ve made my decision. I won’t kill you. No matter what. Never.”

He narrowed his eyes. He tried to say something, but I continued before he could. Blood kept flowing from my torn stomach, pooling at my feet.

“You want to keep going? If this goes on, I’m dead. Would that make you happy? Would that settle things? I die, Mayu-san die, and you alone will survive. Yeah? I don’t give a fuck what happens after I’m dead! If it’ll make you happy, then let’s keep going!”

If the obsessive fox could live on his own, then he was free to do so.

I stared hard at the fox, and he stared back silently. A long silence ensued. Finally, a smile appeared on Asato’s lips.

“None of your words make any sense, Odagiri.” His tone was cold and detached. “It doesn’t even function as a threat. Though it’s true that I don’t want you to just die on your own. I can’t say who’s won or lost, but fine. If you’re going to abandon the match, there’s nothing I can do. Let’s stop here, then… is what I’d like to say, but unfortunately, those papers operate automatically. When the fight is stopped, they will return to me.”

His words carried an ominous weight. I instantly understood the implication. Those blade-like papers wouldn’t just return.

“Don’t tell me…”

“I’ve decided to put an end to things, after all. If it turned into a stalemate, with neither of us dying, this was the most efficient option. I’m really exhausted. I’m sick of doing the same thing over and over. Odagiri Tsutomu, you always take too long to figure things out. It was the same with Shizuka. You avoided the issue, looked the other way, and at the end, spouted empty words. I’ve changed so much I’m unrecognizable. How could I possibly know what I was like originally?”

Once more, the fox rejected my words. Like he did time and time again. I bit my lip hard. He stubbornly refused to look into himself. Perhaps that was his pride as an animal talking.

Was there something he couldn’t concede even in the face of death? Just like the girl I killed who, in her final moments, told the whole world to drop dead?

“Still… There has to be…”

I didn’t know what to say anymore. I wanted to just give up on everything.

I felt awful. Why should I go to such lengths for the man who had implanted a uterus inside me? It was the same with Mayuzumi. She said there was no need to grieve over her death.

I was desperately trying to help those who didn’t need saving.

But there was nothing I could do. If I could just let them die, I would have done it long ago. I had dealt with too many inhuman people. This was just me being a hypocrite.

I didn’t want to go as far as begging on my knees for him to live. Nor did I wish to preach about the sanctity of life. If he died somewhere without my knowledge, I would likely accept it readily. But the intense emotions surging within me now were undeniably genuine.

It was just one contradiction after another. I couldn’t even control my own emotions.

I was sure the fox felt the same. And we both continued to spin lies and deceit. Not as animals, but as pathetic humans crawling in the dirt.

“You can’t become anything else, my ass,” I spat. “Always trying to look cool, huh?”

The fox raised a hand and brought his fingers together. Some sort of signal, perhaps.

“Do I have to spell it out for you?! I don’t want you to fucking die!”

At that moment, the fox’s eyes widened slightly. As if this was the first time anyone had ever said that to him. As if he believed that Mayuzumi Asato never did anything to deserve those words.

Snap.

He snapped his fingers almost automatically, and something changed in the library.

Lifting my gaze, I tried to call for Uka. I needed her to take the fox somewhere far away. But then, the words caught in my throat. I gaped at the window in the hallway.

“What?”

Something was stuck to the window.

Countless eyes were watching us. Several figures peered through the glass like children wanting the items on display in a store. It reminded me of the aberration in the alleyway between the abandoned buildings.

But unlike the people in the flames, these figures’ skin wasn’t burnt. Their skin was pale, as if it had never seen the sun. Their long hair was disheveled, and their faces looked eerily similar. It was as if the same person had been cloned dozens of times.

The bizarre figures blocked the moonlight. Their countless gazes paralyzed me.

Crash.

The glass shattered. With a screech, the windows in both the library and the hallway broke, sending countless glittering shards scattering through the air. The black vortex emerging from the library swept up the glass and rushed toward us.

The figures that burst through the window ran straight. Moving at inhuman speed, they linked arms and surrounded us. I heard what sounded like squelches.

I opened my eyes. The tightly packed figures had formed a wall, their shoulders and arms stabbed with paper and glass shards. One of them, with a shard through its cheek, stared at me with hollow eyes. They stood silently, showing no signs of pain.

I studied their faintly glowing eyeballs. Their surfaces were dry. The eerie eyes were made of black glass, and I could see our reflections in them.

They were puppets. They bore identical faces because they were all created from the same model.

The structure of their limbs and the texture of their hair were extremely detailed, but there was a certain crudeness in their appearance that suggested they were designed for mass production.

The figure in front of me collapsed. Uka, who had leaped out following the black vortex, was growling atop the fallen puppet. She bared her teeth and looked around.

“Uka, stop,” I quickly urged. “I don’t think they’re enemies.”

A new set of footsteps echoed in the hallway. Someone was rushing toward us. From the dark end of the hallway, a familiar figure appeared.

He waved his hand. “Did I make it in time, Odagiri-san?” Saga Yusuke asked. “Wait, you’re covered in blood!”

Behind him was a man in a suit with a prosthetic right hand. He regarded me with a slight frown.

He stopped and cleared his throat. “I’m glad to see you’re safe. It’s good to see you well, sir.”

“Kugutsu? What are you doing here?” I asked dumbly.

My mind couldn’t keep up with the sudden turn of events. Yusuke glanced behind him. Kugutsu took a step back and bowed toward the end of the hallway, showing respect to someone.

The puppets around us started moving automatically. They lined up in two rows, clicking their heels together. A figure in white appeared majestically from between them.

The intricate laces at the bottom of her attire stirred. Her pure white outfit, which seemed to bind her body, brought to mind a wedding dress. Her glossy white hair flowed behind her like a veil.

Bathed in the moonlight, she looked like a bride walking down the aisle. Cloaked in regal splendor, she quietly stepped in front of us.

“I’ve heard from Mr. Yusuke. Now is the time to repay my debt,” she said tenderly.

Karakuri Maihime lifted her glazed eyes. Then, she gave a very radiant smile.

“I, Karakuri Maihime, will join Miss Mayuzumi’s plan.”