3 bar menu

V8 Story I – Part 08

“Oh. It’s a person,” she murmured softly.

Her dark, stagnant eyes harbored neither surprise nor fear. Her face lacked the innocence of a child. Wearing a gray dress, she appeared young, but her expression was startlingly cold.

She tilted her head, her gaze fixed on me. “Who are you, big brother?” she asked curiously.

“I’m… uh, Odagiri Tsutomu. I was trapped in the neighboring room… and you?”

“I’m Tsugumi. Amano Tsugumi. You’re…” She paused abruptly, measuring me with her gaze. She shook her head slightly. “No, not you.”

Without elaborating on what she was talking about, she hugged her knees tight and buried her face into her skirt.

At her feet lay scattered bags of bread and snacks. I recalled the traces of life in the adjacent room’s kitchen. Was she the one who ate them?

“What are you doing here?” I asked. “What happened?”

“We tried to leave, but we couldn’t.”

She lifted her face, her clear, glassy eyes holding mine. My gaze returned to the corpses.

What kind of twisted game had the fox orchestrated? In this room, there were two dead and one living.

A total of three individuals. Then, suspicion crept into my brain.

There was no proof that this girl was human.

Haruhiro’s case served as a reminder. The survivor could very well be a monstrosity created by the fox.

My face tensed up. But regardless of her nature, there was no need to treat her differently.

Haruhiro possessed emotions. Even if this girl was indeed an aberration, she should still have a heart.

“Did the fox give you conditions?” I asked with unease. “For instance, concerning Odagiri Tsutomu and Mayuzumi Azaka?”

The conditions imposed on Haruhiro were related to me. He told me to either kill Mayuzumi Azaka or take my own life.

The girl shook her head. “I don’t care about the conditions. Not anymore.”

Once again, she curled up, embracing her knees while swaying gently. She hummed some random tune.

Unsure what to do, I let my gaze wander. When I glanced at the balcony, something caught my attention.

There was another room to the left.

“Can you stay here for a little bit? I’ll be back soon,” I said.

“…”

I stepped out onto the balcony. I climbed onto the outdoor unit, grabbed the railing of the adjacent room, and moved. As I landed on the balcony, my fingertips twitched from pain.

I might only be able to move to the other rooms a few times. I gingerly rubbed my arm before opening the window.

A putrid stench engulfed me. The curtain swelled like a billowing sail, parting to reveal the scene within.

Two corpses were lined up in the center of the room.

I wasn’t surprised anymore. Treading on the floor stained in rusty red, I entered.

The dead here assumed a sleeping position, their swollen fingers gently resting upon their chests. Between them were several sizable machetes, positioned vertically. It was as though a child nestled between a married couple had been replaced by knives.

Some blades bore traces of blood. The row of machetes seemed more bizarre than the corpses themselves.

The used machetes appeared connected to the corpses. Though the scene was shocking, a part of me still managed to arrive at that conclusion. I was disgusted of my own desensitization. I crossed the room quick.

Stepping into the kitchen, I discovered an identical layout to the initial room. It was deserted. I immediately exited, passing along a short corridor until I reached the entrance. Three pairs of shoes were neatly arranged on the dim entryway.

An inexplicable sense of déjà vu washed over me. Among the adult footwear was a child’s sneakers, the same kind that I saw in the first room. The pink shoes resurfaced in my mind.

A creak came from the corridor. I spun around, and my eyes widened.

A pallid girl was standing in the darkness. Her stagnant eyes peered up at me. Her pigtails swayed gently. She was different from the earlier girl, appearing slightly older.

“…Who are you?” I asked.

“I’m Shirasaka Yumi. The master gave those shoes.”

The girl pointed to the pristine sneakers. By master, she probably meant the fox. What was he plotting? Disgust coursed through me, and I pulled my eyes away from the shoes.

Suddenly, the girl tilted her head. “What do you think, Mister?” she said out of nowhere. Her voice resembled a broken radio. “What do you think about the living and everyone else? About them and us. They say that living humans are important, while the rest are not. Does that mean we are worthless? Do the dead become worthless too? Are we useless? What do you think, Mister?”

The girl sealed her lips. I failed to grasp the point of her question, and instinct told me not to ask for clarification. She was staring at me anxiously. Various images flooded my mind out of nowhere.

Were non-human entities really worthless? I had encountered countless individuals who failed to become human.

“You’re not worthless,” I finally said.

“…”

“Nothing is without value,” I asserted.

The girl blinked several times. Her eyes were still cloudy, but her lips twitched faintly. A serene smile graced her emotionless face.

“Thank you,” she said.

The girl darted away, disappearing into the room halfway down the hallway, shutting the door behind her.

I grabbed the doorknob, but it refused to budge. She wasn’t responding either. I stood alone in the hallway.

“What in the world is happening?”

After waiting for a few minutes, I went back to the living room. As I opened the door, the curtain fluttered above the rusty-red. The outside air was cold, stinging my lungs. I stepped out onto the balcony and crossed the railing once more.

When I returned to the second apartment, the girl was gone. She, too, had disappeared.

I entered the room and looked for her. The front door wouldn’t open. In the middle of the hallway was a locked room. Was she inside?

A similar situation in a different place. In my mind I saw the two apartments merging.

I gave up and returned to the original room. The pain in my arm had intensified. If I moved again, my hands might slip. Wary of any future relocation, I opened the window.

“Welcome back.”

The fox was sitting on the floor. The room was dimly lit, revealing the corpse’s abdomen.

Turning my eyes away, I crossed the living room and headed towards the entrance to check. Unsurprisingly, nothing had changed. With a sigh, I returned to the room. As I pushed open the door, I froze.

A pallid figure had appeared in the living room like some kind of apparition.

Next to the fox was a slim girl, her back hunched and her legs thrown out. Her long black hair formed a whirlpool on the floor. I didn’t recognize her. She was staring at the fox. The pair exuded a tranquility reminiscent of photographs.

The unfamiliar girl cocked her head. “Are you the master?” she asked in a high-pitched voice.

“…Yes, that’s correct,” the fox replied, his voice tinged with resignation.

A gentle smile played upon the girl’s lips. Wearing a serene expression, she reached toward the floor and raised her slender arm high.

In her hand was a machete.

I darted forward, tackling the fox and tumbling to the side. The machete’s tip grazed my foot, tearing through my pants and drawing blood. Smiling, the girl looked at the fox.

“You’re the master, right? The master. If we deal with the master, can we find a way out?”

Her words were enigmatic. Baffled, the fox furrowed his brow.

I desperately yanked at his arm, but he didn’t move. Seconds later, the fox’s eyes widened a little.

“Ah, I remember now. I see,” he said.

The third girl I had encountered smiled gently. With the winter light casting a halo around her, she once again raised the machete.

“Please answer me, master.”

“Unfortunately, killing me is pointless.” His voice was low.

The fox regarded the girl with indifference. He shook his head and addressed her matter-of-factly.

“Even if you kill me, you can’t become anything but what you are.”

The machete clattered to the floor. The girl stood there mutely, and I released my grip on the fox’s arm. Her clouded eyes turned to me.

Staring at her frozen features, I asked, “Who are you?”

“I’m Nishina Tsubaki. I…”

Suddenly, her face contorted, and large tears streamed down her cheeks. Her neck wriggled.

Foam formed on her pale skin. One of the bubbles swelled like a balloon. The smooth mass of flesh grew in size and settled on her shoulder. Gradually, it took on color, and the texture began to change.

Eyes shimmered, and teeth sprouted. Another face emerged on her shoulder.

It was the face of the first girl I had encountered.

“I’m Amano Tsugumi.”

Next, the other side of her neck squirmed. Once again, flesh stretched and swelled like pliable clay. Another face was completed. The fabric on her shoulder was close to slipping off.

The second girl looked at me. “I’m Shirasaka Yumi.”

Her pigtails swayed. A child with three heads stared up at me.

I felt neither fear nor shock as I regarded their abnormal appearance. My mind was calm.

So she wasn’t human, after all.

“I met you.”

“I followed you.”

“I hid in the room and came out.”

“I came all the way to this room.”

“I’m sorry for startling you.”

Three mouths moved, their voices distinct despite sharing a single throat.

When I returned to the second apartment, the girl was nowhere to be found. But she wasn’t hiding; she was just behind me. The door inside had always been locked.

I studied the girl. The three faces belonged to people not related by blood.

The sight of different heads on a single form evoked a sense of pity. It was like watching a child wearing a weird outfit that they couldn’t remove.