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V9 Story I – Part 02

Kugutsu was sitting in front of the ICU’s door.

He was using a chair from the waiting room since there were no other places to sit in the corridor. His face had lost its color, and it sent a chill down my spine just looking at him.

He looked haggard, but his eyes burned with a fierce fire. Those eyes, fixed on the darkness, were more like those of a wild animal than a human.

His palm had deep bite marks, and blood spilled from the torn skin. The bloodstains on the floor suggested that these wounds were not recent. It made me wonder why no one had treated him.

“Kugutsu, are you okay?” I asked, but he didn’t respond. His bloodshot eyes blinked as if twitching.

New drops of blood dripped to the floor, their crimson color reflecting faint light.

“Excuse me. Can you please take care of his hand?” I asked the nurse.

“No, I… um…”

The nurse tensed up, quickly shaking her head. She regarded Kugutsu with fear. Something had likely happened while I was unconscious.

Suddenly, Kugutsu lifted his head, and I heard his neck crack.

“…Sir?”

For the first time, his vacant gaze fixed on me. He cocked his head, puzzled. He squinted, searching through his memories. A moment later, he nodded slowly.

“Oh, right. You’re still alive.”

What did he mean by that?

He glanced around. Suddenly, his lips twitched, and his whole face warped hideously. A few seconds later, I realized it was a smile.

“Princess is safe now. Staying here won’t change anything. I can’t become a loyal dog just by waiting. I’m such a useless mutt… Sir?”

Kugutsu got up. His leather shoes clacked as he started walking. Then, he abruptly stopped.

“Would you please come with me?” His voice was low and deep, like a dog growling.

“Wait, Kugutsu. I’ll listen to whatever you have to say, but first, let them treat your hand.”

I couldn’t just follow him blindly. He was clearly acting strange, and the wound on his hand couldn’t be ignored. As I looked at the hand with the visible bite marks, a realization came to me.

Did Kugutsu inflict those gruesome wounds on himself?

“…”

“Kugutsu!”

Suddenly, he spun around without warning. Using his left foot as a pivot, his right foot traced a sharp arc. I took a step back. In the next moment, he took a big step toward me, and I retreated even further.

His right hand, partly a prosthetic, sliced through the air. Then, he grabbed the nurse’s face with his hand. My breath seized in my throat. The nurse yelped. Her skull creaked, and the yelp turned into a groan.

“Wait, Kugutsu, stop!”

“I’ll ask one more time, Sir. Would you please come with me?”

“Okay, I’ll do as you say,” I quickly agreed. “Just let her go.”

Kugutsu pushed the nurse away without a word. As I caught her in my arms, the IV stand tilted, dragging me and making me lose my balance. Kugutsu used the opportunity to close in.

His fist dug into the pit of my stomach. Kugutsu caught the IV stand and put it back. The fallen nurse crawled to the wall.

I lost all my strength and collapsed. However, I still had some awareness. Kugutsu roughly pulled the needle from my arm, then turned his gaze to the nurse. She let out a yelp.

“Keep quiet. Not a word of this to anyone. If you talk, I’ll kill you. Got it?” Kugutsu clicked his teeth.

The nurse nodded frantically. Kugutsu left her behind, picked me up, and carried me. We descended the stairs, his steps echoing through the dim corridor.

The reception area was deserted. He led me through the moonlit waiting hall and outside. A biting chill swept over me. The clear atmosphere made for a dazzlingly bright moon. I quickly remembered that it was currently winter. Kugutsu suddenly stopped.

He looked up at the night sky and fixed his eyes on me. His eyes glinted in the moonlight, and a sinister smile played on his lips, exposing his canine.

We made our way to the parking lot. He approached a familiar car, unlocked it, and placed me in the back seat. Kugutsu took the driver’s seat. He must have swiped the keys from Mayuzumi’s driver earlier.

The car pulled away smoothly. Surprisingly, I wasn’t shocked. I thought about how lucky it was that the nurse was unharmed. It was a relief that an innocent bystander hadn’t been hurt.

But I couldn’t help but wonder. Why didn’t he tear my throat off? Did he not want to kill me, or…

…perhaps he wanted to get information from me.

The car sped along, and eventually, my consciousness began to slip away. Unable to fight it, I closed my eyes.

The last thing I heard was the sharp click of his teeth.

---

I wonder…

What is happiness?

Yusuke’s question wasn’t meant to be answered. It was a heartfelt doubt he expressed.

I kept replaying his last words in my mind. He thanked me for being the reason he could meet Hirugao and enjoy some moments of happiness. He said his goodbyes, wished me well, and asked me to convey his regards to everyone.

Thank me for what? In the end, he didn’t even know what happiness was.

Then, something cold showered down from above. My hair got drenched, and my whole body shivered from the cold. I opened my eyes. In the darkness, I saw the face of a giant puppet. I saw my reflection in its wet eyes. Countless puppets surrounded me, their hollow eyes faintly glowing.

Imitations of humans—children, adults, dwarves, giants—all stared back at me.

I felt trapped in an illusionary cage of gazes. The room was dark, but there was enough light to see my surroundings. My reflection said I was tied to a chair.

I tried to stand, but I couldn’t. Ropes bound my body to the backrest of the chair.

There was an empty chair in front of the giant puppet. And I could sense someone next to me.

An empty plastic bottle flew through the air, vanishing into the shadows. The water inside had been poured over my head. Someone walked over and took a seat in the empty chair.

Kugutsu stared at me with vacant eyes, interlacing his fingers. His mouth remained twisted in an odd shape. The atmosphere was as bizarre as before.

I glanced around. I recognized the countless puppets and the two chairs. It was a room in the Karakuri residence. We were inside Maihime’s home. Suddenly, I remembered the fox’s whisper.

“Being killed is surprisingly hard work. It’s not easy to die quietly. If you really wish to be killed, it’s best to invite the person to your domain where no one can trespass.”

This applied if you wanted to kill someone, too.

“Oh, do you by any chance… think I’ll kill you?” Kugutsu said. His voice was exceedingly gentle. “If that’s what you’re thinking, you’ve got it all wrong. I’m indebted to you. I haven’t forgotten that. It’s true, I’ve thought about killing you, considered it countless times. I’ve pondered it so much I thought you were already dead. But when I think about it now, it seems absurd.”

“Oh, right. You’re still alive.”

I finally grasped what he meant earlier. He had imagined killing me. A shiver ran down my spine. However, if I were to believe him now, he had no intention of killing me.

Kugutsu tightly closed his eyes and shook his head. “There is, however, a chance that you die. And if it comes to that, then that would be unfortunate. Truly unfortunate.”

He opened his eyes. There was still no light in his empty gaze. His prosthetic fingers restlessly tapped the back of his left hand.

“There’s nothing I can do right now. In that case, why not clean up? Proactive, wouldn’t you agree? I’m so reactively proactive, if I do say so myself. That’s all a dim-witted dog like me can do. This lousy mutt must wrap up unfinished business quick. Right, Sir?”

He sounded possessed. He raised his head and looked at me with a faint smile.

Kugutsu tilted his head. “Where did that brat run off to?” he asked in an almost light tone.