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V7 Story IV – Part 11

“That puppet was probably ordered to stay in the garden when there was no other work to be done,” I said.

The scene I saw through the blood was exceedingly bright and beautiful.

He cherished the memory of Hikari like a treasure deep inside his heart. The front yard was probably created for her, which would explain why he subconsciously instructed the puppet to stay there.

A puppet with the dead girl’s eyeballs in its sockets.

So she could always see the beautiful things.

“Who knows? Whatever the reason, I’m not interested,” Mayuzumi said coldly, taking out some chocolate.

She bit into the eyeball-shaped candy and looked up at the cloudy sky. As we made it past the gate, I took out my phone—I had retrieved it from the reception room—and turned it on to call the driver.

Ring, ring, ring, ring.

My phone started ringing, and Saga Yusuke’s name appeared on the screen. Come to think of it, I hadn’t answered his call. I quickly pressed the answer button and held the phone to my ear.

“Hello. What’s up, Yusuke?”

“What were you doing?!”

My eardrums went numb. A scream struck me like a heavy blow.

I let go of the phone, groaning in pain. Then I pressed it to my ear once more. What on earth happened? Before I could ask him why he was screaming, he bombarded me with more ear-splitting shrieks.

“Why?! Why isn’t she here?! What am I supposed to do?! I thought Hirugao was acting weird, and then I found her diary with a drawing of a fox. But I can’t go to Mayuzumi’s place on my own. Do something! What the hell is happening?!”

“Calm down, Yusuke! What are you talking about?!”

His chaotic explanation didn’t help me understand the situation. All color drained from my face, and my heart raced. Anxiousness clawed its way up my throat. My gut stirred. Yusuke’s state said there was something very wrong.

What had happened to Hirugao?

Then, there was another ring. It was a different ringtone than mine.

Mayuzumi took out her phone and held it to her ear, calmly conversing with the person on the other end of the line. “I see. Send someone to pick us up right away. We’re heading over there.”

She furrowed her brow and ended the call, then turned her gaze toward me.

On the other end of my call, Yusuke continued screaming. “There was a drawing of a fox on the last page. So she probably went there. What the hell is going on? I don’t like this. I can’t take it!”

“Calm down, Yusuke. Please, just calm down.”

A sense of urgency caused beads of sweat to form on my forehead. Every time I heard his animalistic voice, it felt as though my throat was being constricted. His trauma had been triggered. Yusuke was wailing like a child, stamping his feet.

He couldn’t control himself. That meant a very dangerous situation.

“It’ll be fine,” I said. “We’re heading there as soon as possible. So please tell me more about the situation in detail.”

“Odagiri-kun,” Mayuzumi called. “Put down your phone for now and listen to what I have to say.”

“Give me a second! Listen, Yusuke. Don’t panic. Take deep breaths.”

“Odagiri-kun!”

A sharp cry pierced my ears. I turned a wide-eyed gaze at Mayuzumi.

She was wearing a grave look. Yusuke’s voice grew distant as I moved the phone away from my ear and stared at her. Her red lips parted in what seemed like slow motion.

Then she delivered a horrible news.

“A group of puppets raided the Mayuzumi household to free the fox. Not long after, a human who had a key for some reason disappeared after making contact with him.”

My vision turned red in shock, and my mind was plunged into chaos. The drawing of a fox, a key, Yusuke’s words.

Scattered pieces came together and brought up unrelated memories.

The smell of winter. Rich gray hair. A cold body. The weight on the neck. Hands clasped to the chest.

I searched the pocket of my suit, telling myself over and over that these things were unrelated to this situation.

But the key wasn’t there.

Then, Mayuzumi gave the answer.

“Apparently, Hirugao attacked the Mayuzumi clan.”

Yusuke’s cry rent the air. The innocent, smiling face that flickered in my mind gave no answers to the questions.

---

Yusuke had come to the station in the Nagano prefecture.

I begged to take him with us, so we took a detour. Leaving him alone could have dire consequences. Yusuke trembled slightly in the car. Clenching his teeth, he didn’t let go of the diary. But he explained the situation calmly. He spoke in a detached, emotionless tone, as if he never panicked to begin with.

“After we parted ways, Hirugao said she wanted to go home,” he began. “She said we could go shopping some other time. But when I came back after buying lunch, she was gone. She left her diary on the floor. In the diary, she wrote about her troubles, and even drew a fox. And on the last page… I don’t want to say it. It makes me uneasy.”

Yusuke turned his face away from us. He showed us the diary, except for the last page. It contained Hirugao’s melancholic words. I never would have imagined that Hirugao, always smiling innocently, harbored such thoughts.

I could never become your Hirugao.

That statement was tinged with both resignation and sorrow.

I was perplexed and scared at the same time. Why was Hirugao heading towards the fox? What was troubling her? What happened to him? A once-forgotten fear resurfaced. I cursed my own negligence. The child whimpered, agitated.

Gently, I caressed my belly, envisioning the fox. I refused to entertain the idea of the cage being empty. Thinking about what lay ahead made me feel like I was going crazy.

While urgency gripped us, Mayuzumi’s behavior remained the same. She grabbed a piece of chocolate in the shape of a young girl.

Munching on her head, she said, “I believe Hirugao-kun and Maihime are related by blood.”

We were struck speechless.

White and gray hairs. Eyes as black as a midnight lake.

“Their ability is passed down to only one child. The other children are sold off once they reach a certain age. Their entire bodies lose pigmentation from the hair to the toes. Hirugao-kun was probably one of the girls who was sold.”

Hirugao’s face appeared in my mind. I remembered the look on her face when we were watching the puppet show. She was expressionless, like she felt nothing. She had probably seen the pandemonium several times before.

“She was probably hanging out at the office at Maihime’s suggestion. After the owner of the butterfly mansion died, she didn’t know what to do and returned to her home. After that, Maihime ordered her to go to my office to try to get information about the fox. She was probably told to bring the cleaned skull to pique my interest.”

I was at a complete loss. Neglecting things that I thought we didn’t need to know about came back to bite us. Hirugao’s innocent smile flashed in my mind, and her bright voice rang in my ears.

Now, those words had taken on a new meaning.

“Yusuke! Can I come back here? Can I stay with you and still come back?”

Why did she want to come to the office so much? Why did she visit frequently?

“I’m going too! I have to! I’m going, I’m going!”

Why did she want to go to the fox so badly?

“Maihime probably anticipated negotiations with me to not go smoothly, so she sent her. But she planted the seed expecting it not to sprout. She wound the puppet’s spring, a puppet that would eventually run out of power. She harbored no expectations whatsoever. But then…”

She learned the whereabouts of the fox and the location of the key. The day that she followed me.

“Will there be punishment for this?” Yusuke asked in a low, detached voice. He was looking at Mayuzumi. “For using Hirugao like that. Attacking the Mayuzumi clan. Will Maihime face any consequences?”

Yusuke’s fingers clenched tightly around his bat. His icy tone sent shivers down my spine, and I held my breath. But I also had the same question. A risky gambit like this should have drawbacks. Why did she mobilize Hirugao without hesitation?”

But Mayuzumi shook her head. “Unfortunately, there will be no punishment. Her argument likely goes like this: ‘My estranged sister wanted the wish-granting fox, so she used scrapped puppets without permission.’ As for the transportation to the Mayuzumi household, a puppet stole a truck from a nearby factory and drove it. If she claimed Hirugao-kun to be the puppeteer, we’d have no grounds to completely refute it. She probably planned to take the fox for herself at a later point. A ridiculous excuse, to be sure. But Karakuri Maihime has a broad network of acquaintances in the esper community. We can’t just accuse her one-sidedly. Ah, how troublesome. She’s undeniably nasty, and her existence is a plague.”

Mayuzumi clicked her tongue. Yusuke remained expressionless, looking outside. It was a stark contrast to him screaming earlier. Yet his legs trembled, his hands fidgeting restlessly.

“I couldn’t become your Hirugao,” he muttered softly.

I now understood the meaning of those words. I imagined the sorrow she felt.

She had already received an order. Even if she wanted to, she couldn’t become his.

Even if the smile she directed towards Yusuke was genuine.