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V13 Story IV – Part 03

I resumed walking. The sadness I’d felt faded, and anger simmered inside me in its place. I wasn’t ready to be eaten just yet. It was too soon to give up.

I still had something important to do. I still had to change Mayuzumi Azaka’s fate.

“Can you hear me, scarlet woman?” I shouted.

She could easily ignore me if she wanted. She had that right. After all, I was just a visitor here, seeking an audience with the ruler of the spirit world. She didn’t owe me anything. But I kept going. There were no other humans here. The scarlet woman was a lot like Mayuzumi, always hungry for entertainment. That was my only hope.

“Listen, I’m here! I’ve come to see Mayu-san again!”

Odagiri Tsutomu had been by Mayuzumi Azaka’s side for a long time. She always wore a faint smile as she watched me struggle. She probably used my unhinged actions to pass the time when she was bored. All I could do now was hope to catch the scarlet woman’s attention in the same manner.

A thought crossed my mind. Mayuzumi had always ridiculed me. But she’d never cast me aside. No matter what, we were always side by side.

I wonder if Mayuzumi Azaka ever hated me.

My mind wandered for a moment, but I took a deep breath. The scarlet woman had tormented me endlessly. And yet, I’d come back. Maybe my foolishness would bring a spark to this unchanging world. I’d come this far, and she had the right to refuse me. But I also had the right to demand.

“Show yourself!” I shouted, as if pounding on a door. “I’m not asking for mercy! I’ve come, and if you think your hundred years, your thousand years, or eternity can’t be rattled by someone like me, then come out!”

My voice reverberated through the empty space. To be honest, this kind of taunting was pointless. But I knew this: the scarlet woman, like Asato, loved theatrics. This was the cue to summon the actress. My call for the show to begin. And I knew the scarlet woman wouldn’t ignore it.

Once the stage was set, they were bound to dance. I had to believe that. Odagiri Tsutomu never gave up—that was his one saving grace. So, I kept shouting with everything I had.

“Show yourself! Bring Mayuzumi Azaka! I’m right here!”

The scarlet veil ripped apart. The long path ahead crumpled and folded and collapsed with a soft thud. The road vanished, replaced by a wall of flesh that slowly peeled open, parting like a stage curtain being drawn back.

And then, the final stage appeared before me.

I didn’t know if I could win. But all I could do was give it my all, dance as hard as I could.

That was all Odagiri Tsutomu, the biggest fool of all, was capable of.

And as always, my only audience and co-star, until the very end…

…was none other than Mayuzumi Azaka, resting in the lap of the scarlet woman.

“You’re as stubborn as ever, Odagiri-kun.”

Whose voice did I hear first? Both the scarlet woman and Mayuzumi Azaka spoke at nearly the same time.

The scarlet woman sat on a grotesque chair that looked like a malignant tumor. Thin blood vessels spread around her like a spider’s web. She resembled an empress on her throne.

She had Mayuzumi Azaka on her lap, like a favorite doll. Mayuzumi sat with her legs neatly together, poised and graceful. Seeing her like that brought me a small wave of relief.

Mayuzumi held a red parasol and wore a black Gothic Lolita attire, nibbling on chocolate.

Nothing had changed. She was still the same. I opened my mouth to say her name but stopped short.

She hadn’t changed—or at least, not entirely.

“Mayu—”

“Oh? What’s with that face, Odagiri-kun? You know what happened to the other Mayuzumi Azakas, don’t you? This shouldn’t surprise you.”

Mayuzumi shrugged. Her right hand was nothing but bone. From the black fabric of her dress, a skeletal arm extended, casually holding a chocolate wrapper between its bony fingers.

It wasn’t a particularly gory sight, but it turned my stomach. The thought of Mayuzumi Azaka’s body being damaged was dreadful.

The scarlet woman followed my gaze, then nodded. She snapped her fingers, and cherry blossoms swirled through the air, wrapping around Mayuzumi’s skeletal hand. When the petals disappeared, her flesh returned. She flexed her wrist and smiled.

“Well, that’s a rare show of mercy. Makes it easier to eat, I suppose.”

Crack.

She took another bite of chocolate, her tone as cool as ever. A familiar sweet scent filled the air, but suddenly, a wave of disgust hit me. Was that really candy? There was no chocolate in the spirit world. I had no idea what she was actually eating. The myth of Izanami crossed my mind—those who ate food from the underworld could never return to the living. I shook the thought away.

It was just a myth. It had to be.

“So, why are you here, Odagiri-kun?”

“What?”

Their voices overlapped again. Both the scarlet woman and Mayuzumi Azaka regarded me with the same expression. The look of someone watching a fool. It dawned on me—they thought I was an idiot. At the same time, they were puzzled. What was I doing here?

It was the look given to an uninvited guest.

Crack.

Mayuzumi broke another piece of chocolate. She sighed deeply, twirling her red parasol and swinging her legs. With the same serious look she’d worn back at our old office, she spoke.

“Odagiri-kun, I told you this was my fate, didn’t I? This place isn’t comfortable, and it’s not the end I would’ve chosen, but if it’s fate, then so be it. Mayuzumi Azaka has played her part and met her end. So why are you here? Uka is on the verge of losing her humanity. You’re an utter idiot. I don’t understand.”

“This is a baffling visit, but you’re in luck. I’m in a good mood today, so I won’t eat you. I’d tell you to be a good boy and go back, but imagine my surprise. You’ve come all this way fully prepared to be eaten. Still, there’s a way out.”

The scarlet woman was in fine spirits. Her voice was soft, almost like a savior’s. She opened her hand and blew gently into her palm, sending cherry blossoms swirling through the air. Maybe she liked the depiction of cherry blossoms I once brought into the spirit world. Her breath wrapped around me, easing the pain from my wounds.

“She told me about Odagiri Tsutomu.” Her voice took on a prophetic tone. “She didn’t hate you, so I’ll grant you some mercy. Run. Run as fast as you can. Escape. Leave your child, leave Mayuzumi Azaka, and return to the mortal world. That fox can patch up the hole in your gut. That child rejected me. Sadly, she won’t stay by my side. She’ll wander for eternity, searching for you, but you’ll survive. This is your last chance, Odagiri Tsutomu,” she said sweetly.

After that, Mayuzumi took over. In a gentle voice, clear to the point of being unsettling, she said, “Run from it all. If you do, you can return. Now, go. Run, run, and leave it all behind.”

Her tone was incredibly calm. She closed her eyes for a moment before slowly reopening them.

Her clear gaze met mine, like something non-human looking at a human with pity.

Ah, that expression again, I thought. She was making that same face.

Mayuzumi Azaka regarded me with a serenity that was unbefitting a young girl.

“Odagiri Tsutomu and Mayuzumi Azaka part ways here. That is our fate. And they all lived happily ever after,” she declared flatly.

I stared blankly at her. She wore a beautiful smile, gazing at me with affection like before. But then, I noticed something odd in that expression. Without saying a word, we both understood what it was.

Even as she sincerely urged me to stop, she knew all along that I wouldn’t.

I opened my stiff mouth. “Mayu-san, I…”

The scarlet woman rested her chin on her hand, watching me. Hers was a devastating smile that broke my spirit just from looking at it.

Mayuzumi Azaka, on the other hand, was staring at me with a look that was asking me what I was planning to do.