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V5 Story I – Part 11

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Translator: Kell

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“All I wanted was to spend time with the lovely, wise, and noble Saori. That’s why I put up with those worthless scum. And then those idiots…”

She ground her teeth. A second later, her face softened.

“Do you know how much I have grieved and suffered?” she asked, tears in her eyes. “I couldn’t possibly forgive them for what they did. You understand, don’t you?”

No, I don’t. I could not understand her motives at all.

She was sad when her friend died. She could not forgive the three people who sent her to her death.

Why cover up Saori’s death, then? Why agree to Ruiko’s suggestion?

Why chop up the body and take the parts with them?

Shizuki was wearing an immaculate smile.

I spat out the words rising up my throat.

“Then… why did you agree…”

At that moment, I came to a sudden realization.

I understood.

“Isn’t it obvious?”

The potted plant. The finger buried in the soil. I recalled the impression I had when I saw them.

“I wanted to own her corpse. That’s why I agreed to Ruiko’s suggestion.”

The pot was like a small coffin.

“I see,” Mayuzumi said. “Even if Ruiko didn’t suggest chopping up the body, you were going to retrieve it later anyway. Did I get that right?”

“Yes. I wanted to give them the punishment they deserved, but even if I had called the police, the academy would have covered it up anyway. Besides, they would’ve gotten away with just a slap on the wrist, and I could have lost my potted finger. I wanted to be with her.”

And so she happily acquired Saori’s body parts.

While the other girls were confused and demoralized as they dismembered the body, Shizuki was delighted.

She was devastated for losing her friend, but she found salvation in her corpse.

“And you got the body, cherished it, and went after them when the time was right. But why did you cooperate with us? You could have exacted your vengeance secretly. The academy does not want to get involved with the potted plants. There was no mutilation. Her corpse was missing body parts because of wild animals, is what they’re going with. They won’t take the potted plant away from you as long as you keep your mouth shut about the incident. But if you hadn’t cooperated with us, you would have gotten her whole body. And one more thing.”

Mayuzumi stared hard at Shizuki. She waited for Mayuzumi’s next words with a smile on her face.

It was as if she was anxiously waiting to be condemned.

“Where did you get the seeds?”

Seeds of flowers that spat out flesh. Seeds of flowers that materialized the dead’s grudge.

Shizuki’s smile widened. She gently opened her palms.

Petals flitted down onto the sheets, dyeing it red.

It reminded me of the scene of the suicide I saw days ago.

A sweet aroma mixed in with the smell of antiseptic.

“Who gave it to me?” Shizuki said. “Why did I cooperate with you people? It’s obvious, isn’t it? Because that was the condition. To show those girls hell, I needed flowers. To do that, I had to accept the proposed conditions. That’s why I showed you guys the sea of flowers. Who told me to do that? Very well. I will tell you. Listen closely.”

Shizuki flashed a cold-blooded smile.

Spreading her hands, she said, “It was the fox.”

A past scene crossed my mind. I heard snow falling in the distance, skulls laughing.

The boy standing in front of me said, “Mayuzumi Asato, your brother.”

I froze. Mayuzumi kept quiet, as she did back then.

Shizuki chuckled. She cast a loving glance at the window.

The potted plant sat there, its red bud closed.

It seemed to be sleeping peacefully.

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Shizuki did not speak after that.

She just kept laughing like there was something hilarious.

We headed back to the academy. We had to collect our belongings and return to the office. With the case solved, we were just outsiders to the school.

A teacher drove us from the hospital to Reisen Girls’ Academy. As the car entered the mountain road, I leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes tight. I remembered her laughing like a mad woman. Covering my eyelids with my palms, I told myself over and over again.

The fox was swallowed up by the spirit world. He was never coming back.

He was no longer in this world. He should be gone.

But it was no use. Fear and confusion filled my mind. Her words tore at my ears. I took a deep breath and exhaled. I couldn’t accept that the fox was back. I mustn’t. But I couldn’t refute her.

Why did the fox’s name come up?

“Papa?” the child inside me whispered in concern.

I touched my belly to calm her down. Focusing on the pain in my palm, I stifled the urge to scream.

The driver occasionally cast me uneasy glances as he drove in silence.

Suddenly he stepped hard on the brakes.

Screech.

Hitting my head on the passenger seat, I looked up.

A thin plume of smoke was rising in front of the first gate. Trees were turning red in the distance.

The mountain was on fire.

Red flames danced in the darkening sky. Trees toppled in the distance. The teacher watched the forest, dumbfounded.

“What in the world is happening?!” he cried.

Eyes wide open, he pulled out his phone. He realized that he had turned it off while at the hospital, so he immediately turned it back on, then dialed a number. Casting him a sidelong glance, Mayuzumi opened the door.

She stepped out of the car. Smoke filled the air.

Mayuzumi stared beyond the gate.

“Mayu-san!”

I jumped out of the car too. A hot wind blew. I smelled burning sweet flowers. A person stood among the trees, their silhouette illuminated by the flames.

Standing in the middle of the dramatic scene, the shadow bowed.

The girl with the cat mask lifted her head up gently.

The mouth under the mask opened.

“My thoughts are wounds in my brain. My brain is a scar.”

Her carrying voice traveled straight to my ears, undisturbed by the crackling of the trees. Mayuzumi brought out her parasol. A red flower bloomed on her back.

“I want to be a machine. Arms to grasp, legs to walk, no pain, no thoughts,” Mayuzumi responded dispassionately.

On the other side of the iron gate, the girl smiled.

She showed no fear of the burning trees.

“Do you consider yourself a monster?” Mayuzumi asked in a sonorous voice. She sounded like a counterpart in an opera.

The girl’s cloak flared in response. Her crow-like silhouette danced.

Her red lips twisted under the cat mask.

“Yes, I am a monster,” she answered proudly. “A sad, frustrated, miserable, hopeless monster. So I must give birth to a monster. Not a man. I believe you would agree, seeing as you are a monster yourself.”

Was that a line from a play?

Wearing a smile, she waited for Mayuzumi to speak. Mayuzumi regarded her quietly.

The red parasol twirled behind her.

“Don’t be silly,” Mayuzumi replied. “What a horrid notion. If you’re not human, you’re a monster. That may be true. I am Mayuzumi Azaka, a monster who has dominion over the spirit world. Sometimes, those who deviate from what’s normal are called monsters. But make no mistake: they are humans.”

The cat froze. She stared at Mayuzumi, standing completely still.

She hugged her body and kept silent, like a crow with its wings closed.

Mayuzumi smiled. “What exactly are you running from by insisting you’re a monster?”

Silence fell. Everything stilled.

The girl with the cat mask—Yuri—did not say anything else.

Time stretched on for what seemed like an eternity.

“What are you doing?!” The teacher broke the silence. “The students have already evacuated through the other route. The fire department will be arriving soon. We’re getting out of here too!”

The cat bowed on cue, curtsied gracefully.

“I will see you again.”

Her declaration was swallowed by the sound of falling trees.

She turned around. Her back, resembling the wings of a crow, disappeared into the depths of the forest.

I stared at her blankly.

Watching the red flames, Mayuzumi whispered, “Wretched abomination.”

I thought I heard the curtains rise again on the other side of the gate.

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