3 bar menu

V7 Story IV – Part 08

“Back then, I was grappling with the dissonance between my public persona and my creative self. With the increase in coverage, rumors of my genius began to spread, and I started masking my true feelings. Every boring business meeting resulted in crazy prices for works that used to be worthless. Honestly, it made me sick. I wanted to go back to my old self. One day, I came up with an outrageous idea.”

Around that time, he had made the acquaintance of an intriguing person, a confident girl named Karakuri Maihime. She claimed to be an esper puppeteer with the ability to create any kind of puppet. Hishigami, who was introduced to her at a private party, could not forget the existence of this esper.

Later on, he approached her with an impossible commission. He asked if she could create a puppet that was completely identical to him.

“She said it was possible. That it was easy. I was also curious. I wanted to know the result of breaking human taboo. I cooperated with her fully. Smoothing out physical differences was a given, and I also provided my soul. I don’t really know what was taken from me, though. After undergoing a procedure to extract part of my soul at her mansion, I fell into a coma.”

Hishigami paused. He exhaled sharply and stroked his gaunt jaw. Flames danced in his eyes. It seemed as though fire was burning inside him.

“When I woke up, it was done. It was a magnificent creation,” he said with a feverish tone. He seemed excited, thinking about the past.

But that feeling slowly faded, and all that remained was regret. He wiped the sweat from his forehead.

“The puppet’s insides were different from a human’s. The skin and blood were made to look human, so unless the organs were exposed, it was impossible to tell the difference with just minor injuries. The puppet even had almost all bodily functions, including excretion, food intake, and natural healing. Surprisingly, the puppet even had the same sensitivity as me. It was humiliating, but I got used to it quickly. Because the puppet was me. It was only natural that it had the same sensitivity as I did.”

He was contradicting himself. He specifically said “that puppet” earlier. He knew that there was a significant difference between humans and puppets.

Without realizing his inconsistency, Hishigami continued, “I made him take care of half my life and one other thing.”

He gritted his teeth. The tinge of regret in his eyes intensified. He squeezed his knees, as if enduring the pain, his fingers digging into his thin legs.

I stared into his eyes and asked, “What was it?”

“Hikari. Hishigami Hikari. My cousin. She was mentally unstable, you see.”

I had heard the name from the puppet Hishigami. She was the model for the statues and puppets.

I recalled the pale girls. The puppets, modeled after the dead, all had a fleeting appearance.

“She had been my ardent supporter since childhood. I held her in high regard, but being with her for so long was too much to bear. However, leaving her alone was also dangerous. Living with her meant someone had to provide her comfort… And that someone could only be me.”

Hishigami entrusted everything to the puppet. He withdrew from the world and immersed himself in his art. He prepared the materials and equipment himself, while the puppet took charge of interviews, business negotiations, and lectures.

In other words, the Hishigami recognized by the public at that time was the puppet.

“The miraculous speed with which I produced my creations stemmed from this arrangement. But I was a fool. I never thought about the consequences. I was making a fatal mistake.”

He let out a deep sigh, ruffling his hair. He squeezed his knees again, his words punctuated by rough breaths.

“One day, Hikari passed away.”

That fact explained the stench of death that permeated the atelier.

“I remained unaware of Hikari’s death for a long time. When I left the workshop, more than a month had passed since she died. The puppet had already taken care of the funeral. Plunged into madness, I returned to the workshop and created dozens of works based on Hikari.”

The statues dotting the mansion came to mind. He displayed works inspired by the deceased girl like gravestones. When he was done, emotions other than sorrow stirred within him for the first time.

“Resentment. Hatred and bitterness. Hikari committed suicide, but it may as well have been murder.”

“What do you mean?”

I furrowed my brow at the grisly word. Sweat trickled down my chin. Before I knew it, his words had ensnared me. Madness flickered in Hishigami’s eyes.

His moist eyes glowed in the flames, colored by a strange crimson hue.

“She wasn’t physically killed. But I believe he wasn’t thoughtful and understanding enough of Hikari. He’s merely a puppet. The delicate Hikari was killed by his lack of understanding. She fell into despair, and died.”

His hateful words made me uneasy. His eyes were filled with a burning animosity for the puppet. It was the kind of gaze directed at others. Hishigami decided that the puppet wasn’t him.

“I went to meet the puppet,” he went on. “It was then when I learned why he didn’t tell me about Hikari’s death, or why he hadn’t contacted me for so long.”

The conundrum of the existence of another him, coupled with the death of Hikari, inflicted severe mental damage upon him.

He had forgotten about the real Hishigami. The sight of Hishigami brought about an unbearable conflict between his memories and reality, inducing a seizure. The puppet believed that Hishigami’s works were crafted by him. Engaging in conversation with him proved impossible. Moreover, Hishigami discovered a shocking revelation.

“He had ordered a puppet modeled after Hikari from Maihime. It was absurd for a puppet to create another puppet. I questioned Maihime, but she didn’t tell me anything. It was as if she was enjoying the situation like some kind of mischievous prankster. And then, I stumbled upon a terrible truth.”

The puppet Hishigami had taken over every facet of his everyday life. In the eyes of society, the real Hishigami was the puppet.

“It’s difficult to switch positions now. Taking over is impossible. I lost my will. This is punishment for everything I’ve done. I opted to continue living in the workshop as before. Fortunately, the workshop had become an independent residence. Hikari’s puppet obeyed my orders. Basic chores such as washing and cooking can be managed within the workshop, but it’s too much work for me alone. They supported me, including bringing me food.”

“I was ordered to be here by my master.”

There were two masters all along.

Hishigami resigned himself to an awkward lifestyle and became a ghost of the past. As punishment for entrusting everything to the puppet, he gave up on his own life. But that explanation was not enough.

Things didn’t end there. Why did he kill the puppets?

“Why did you suddenly start killing the puppets?” I asked.

“Because he did something unforgivable,” Hishigami spat.

His hatred burned even stronger. The flames in his eyes blazed like they were searing his eyeballs from the inside.

“I actually harbored affection for them. But then one day, one of them didn’t show up. I got worried, so I went to check, not knowing that you were here. When I found her sitting in the garden, I was relieved. But when I saw her eyes in the bright light… I noticed something.”

I thought back to the girl sitting in the summer garden. Inside her eyes were human eyeballs. The girls modeled after the dead were made of the remains of the dead.

“He defiled her. He didn’t have the right to do that. Not after he killed Hikari!” he bellowed, clutching his head.

He didn’t point out the abnormality in the puppet’s actions. He himself saw the merit of burying the dead inside the puppets. And that’s why he couldn’t tolerate it.

He is not me. What he did is unacceptable. That’s probably what he thought.

“At that moment, I noticed another puppet present there, and when I saw the color of their feet, I sensed something off. I returned to the workshop and came back with an ax. When I cut off her foot, I found a bone inside. Even after her foot was cut off, the puppet was still wriggling. When I saw that, I thought they would be better off destroyed by human hands than to be owned by a puppet.”

“A puppet finds joy in being loved and eventually being destroyed.”

And then, Hishigami swung the axe down on her head.

I shut my eyes tight. Maihime’s words echoed in my mind. Cruel or not, I already had my answer. Perhaps I was merely feeling pity for something that bore semblance to a human being.

But one must not destroy things with twisted affection.

“With all due respect, I think what you’re doing is wrong,” I said. “It should not be for you to decide what makes a puppet happy.”

“I agree. I feel like the puppet with Hikari’s eyes was condemning me. I ordered her to pretend she saw nothing and went back to the workshop. At that point, I didn’t have any intention of killing another puppet. But when I heard his anguished cries, I changed my mind.”

The puppet Hishigami wept. For him, the girls being killed was akin to having his very soul torn asunder. When he heard him grieving, a fire lit up in Hishigami’s heart.

“I planned to kill each puppet one by one and take back Hikari’s body. He can’t see me. He will tremble and scream in fear. It will be my revenge for what he did to me.”

And thus, he became a malevolent spirit.