Ch.5Chapter 1. A Familiar Year (5)

Something did appear, but Miura isn’t going to die today.

The place where Miura died wasn’t near the school, but in the middle of a busy district.

In the story, yokai form “nests” centered around specific locations. Unless they’ve built up enough power, only their “thought forms” can venture outside.

And only beings deliberately allowed by the yokai can enter those nests, unless they force their way in.

What I heard must have been one of those thought forms. Probably a thought form that leaked out after the yokai carefully observed Miura.

So unless Miura deliberately returns to that street, she won’t die yet.

…Actually, I was a bit worried about that, so I waited at the station for a while.

Even after sitting on a bench for about two hours, Miura never returned to the station.

Not living near the school makes this somewhat inconvenient.

It’s not just that the commute takes longer, but that commute time limits how much I can move around.

I thought about finding the heroine and talking to her, but she hasn’t appeared in this story yet.

She only transfers to this school after helping the protagonist and his sister.

And if I were to involve the protagonist, he might die since he hasn’t awakened his abilities yet.

So, I need to handle this situation myself somehow.

Either kill the yokai or postpone when the incident occurs.

“Let’s go back.”

I muttered to myself as I stood up.

But before heading back, I had something to buy.

I stopped by the convenience store in front of the station.

I went to the magazine section to look for a decent weekly magazine.

I wasn’t looking for cosmetics, celebrity, or manga magazines. Rather—

“Found it.”

I picked up a magazine.

The cover had a sentence written in huge letters:

[The serial killings that shook Tokyo! Uncovering the truth!]

As expected from a magazine with such a headline, it wasn’t particularly famous. Not that I cared.

…While the magazine itself wasn’t that expensive, my wallet wasn’t in great shape after hanging out with those rich gyaru girls for days.

I’ll buy bean sprouts at the supermarket near home.

And while I’m at the supermarket, I’ll grab a flyer too. It’ll tell me what items are on sale.

With that thought, I sighed deeply as I left the convenience store.

*

Still, over the past few days, I’ve bought enough things to sustain myself.

Mostly pots I bought at the cheapest prices, toothbrushes and toothpaste bought in bulk from the 100-yen shop, and other necessities.

By the way, I haven’t bought a refrigerator yet. I’m afraid of the cost of having it delivered, so for now, I’m buying just enough food for daily consumption rather than buying in bulk.

…I solve breakfast and lunch with convenience store bread, and dinner is stir-fried bean sprouts seasoned with soy sauce between slices of convenience store bread.

By the way, I got a disposable plastic knife when I bought the bread.

Let’s save Miura’s life first, then find a part-time job.

Well, once we get past the first incident, the heroine and protagonist will handle things from there.

At least when I start working for daily wages, I’ll be able to supplement my protein with meat that’s on sale.

I held such hopes as I nibbled on my bean sprout sandwich.

Then I flipped through the magazine I’d bought.

As the cover suggested, the main article focused on the serial killings happening in Tokyo.

I took out a notebook and pen I’d bought from the 100-yen shop, spread them on the floor, and lay down using my bag as a cushion.

With no futon or anything, the hard bag was very uncomfortable.

…Still, April in Japan isn’t that cold, so it was somewhat bearable. Anyway, the weather will get warmer soon, and then summer will come.

I can buy a futon later since I need to get summer uniforms first. And I’ll need several sets of summer uniforms.

With such rationalizations, I slowly read through the magazine.

What I wanted to see in the magazine wasn’t their deductions, but the “facts” they presented.

While the internet was fairly developed in this era, unfortunately I didn’t have a computer. I could probably access something like the internet with a phone from this era, but that would result in massive data charges.

Well, that’s not important right now.

What I needed to find in the magazine were the commonalities among the victims.

I recalled the characteristics of yokai from the novel.

In the novel, yokai often had an obsessive fixation on something.

Alcohol, blood, and so on. Probably because they often “lured” their victims in the story, that setting was deliberately included.

But the first yokai to appear is an “Agui.”

It said “looks delicious.”

I’m not sure what part of Miura it found delicious, but it clearly judged based on some characteristic of hers.

Click.

I pressed the button on the pen to extend the tip and copied important parts from the magazine into my notebook.

[All victims were females in their late teens to twenties. Only one was in her twenties; the other three victims were two 17-year-olds and one 16-year-old.]

The Agui seems to prefer a “soft texture.”

But why did it look at Miura and think “delicious”?

[The deceased 20-year-old woman was single. She was a student at a fairly famous university in Tokyo.]

[The teenage girls attended different schools, but according to friends’ testimonies, they were all academically excellent and had no boyfriends.]

The magazine concluded that the serial killer was targeting virgins.

And I thought that was quite plausible.

Of course, given the nature of such magazines, they might have drawn that conclusion just to attract readers.

“In the end, Miura was killed.”

[All deaths occurred in busy districts.]

[Could it be a stalker who felt betrayed and killed them?]

A somewhat extreme claim that perhaps the killer stalked women he thought were virgins, but killed them after discovering they were secretly promiscuous.

Was Miura secretly seeing men?

That’s not a common setting in light novels. But considering that “Tokyo Slayers” was a novel first published in 2004, it’s plausible.

Early light novels often featured extreme developments and settings. Plus, it’s a “new series.” It’s actually unusual that the heroine in the main story wasn’t sexually assaulted.

If Miura had a personality that enjoyed being with men, it’s possible she could be killed while wandering the streets alone, but…

“Hmm.”

I put the rest of the bean sprout sandwich in my mouth and sat up.

“But it’s not because she’s promiscuous.”

Because the protagonist’s sister also becomes a target. And that character had no such background setting.

I think I understand why it thought they looked delicious.

A “diligent image” seems to be the most important factor.

Though I don’t understand why that’s delicious.

“Then…”

The last thing to check was the dates of the murders.

The killing cycle was irregular. The murders had been happening for six months now.

One thing for certain was that the intervals between murders were getting shorter.

At first, there was a two-month gap, but the last murder happened less than two weeks ago.

People are so carefree.

Well, in this huge metropolitan area, what’s the big deal about four people being killed? The only ones who would care are the police with holes in their performance records.

‘It won’t happen to me.’

…

From my work experience, thinking that way actually made life easier.

Even in a seemingly peaceful world, countless people die in various ways. Leaving those concerns to professionals in relevant fields is advantageous for daily life.

Unfortunately, due to the nature of my job, I wasn’t in a position to do that.

“Anyway.”

So… how can I save Miura?

How can I make myself look more “delicious”?

The deceased women, Miura, and the protagonist’s sister…

“…Glasses?”

Young, attending good schools, neat appearance, glasses.

I looked at the photos of the victims in the magazine again.

Not all of them wore glasses. But two out of the four victims did.

The first two victims had bare faces. The next two wore glasses.

The next victim, Miura, also wore glasses, and the protagonist’s sister both wears glasses and contact lenses.

Is it developing a taste?

…Is it looking for women with more delicious characteristics?

I got up and went to the bathroom.

Then I stood in front of the mirror.

I untied the hair tie still at the end of my hair and gathered all my hair to tie it together.

It wasn’t easy. As Yamashita said, it took several attempts of tying and untying to neatly gather it all and ensure it wouldn’t come loose.

And then,

“Done.”

I lowered my hands.

I even tied back my bangs that covered my face, revealing my clear features.

After smoothing out the wrinkles in my sailor uniform to make it as neat as possible, the reflection in the mirror was unmistakably that of an honor student.

Tomorrow, I’ll go to the 100-yen shop and buy a pair of glasses frames.

Having two “delicious-looking” people together would seem more like a feast than just one wandering alone.

*

“Oh, what’s this?”

Fukuda, who as always arrived slightly later than me but just in time, asked with wide eyes.

“Finally escaping that gloomy hairstyle?”

“…It’s temporary.”

“What do you mean by temporary?”

Obviously because it was terribly annoying to style my hair every morning.

Once I get past this situation… and if I can survive, I’ll revert back.

“You’re really hard to figure out.”

“Haha…”

Miura laughed at Fukuda’s words.

Gazes from around us fixed on me. There were glances from girls, but more from boys.

As expected, this body falls into the category of a “beautiful girl.”

“Ah, right.”

Fukuda suddenly looked down at me as if remembering something.

“There’s a mixer today, want to come?”

“Harumi!”

“Huh? Why? The guys outnumber us anyway.”

I looked toward Miura.

Miura was blushing slightly as if embarrassed.

A personality that can’t refuse well.

She probably agreed reluctantly because it was a proposal from childhood friends, but still couldn’t back out.

I noted that personality trait as well.

“Besides, there are plenty of guys who like petite, shy girls like Kurosawa. Don’t you want a boyfriend? Hmm?”

“Harumi!”

Miura seemed a bit alarmed.

“…Alright.”

Before Miura could stop her further, I quickly responded.

“I’ll go.”

“Good, good.”

Fukuda patted my shoulder as if I’d made a good decision.

“You made the right choice. You’re good at singing too. It’s good to use your talents.”

…Is she trying to pass off a dud?

Well, it doesn’t matter. My goal isn’t to find a boyfriend anyway.

Above all, Miura won’t even get to connect with a man.

I was starting to see the outline of the incident.

*

Miura is best friends with Fukuda and Yamashita.

They get along well in everything except “partying,” and above all, they’ve been childhood friends since middle school.

The three of them almost always go home together. They also shop together.

Going home separately is the “exception.” Except for times like when they went home separately to take care of me, the three of them, including me, went around everywhere together.

Now in high school, they were starting to become interested in romance.

A meeting was arranged through a male student Fukuda knew from middle school.

That male student had gone to a different high school. It was a famous academic school like Hanakawa High School, but an all-boys school.

The reason there were four boys but only three girls was because there were so many boys who wanted to join that they couldn’t narrow it down.

Now in their first year of high school, when students were just starting to show their faces and few were willing to attend unfamiliar gatherings like mixers, there were only three girls.

Though now there were four with me added.

My expected scenario was that Fukuda and Yamashita would each take a boy and leave first, leaving Miura to be manipulated by the two remaining boys until somehow she ended up in a secluded place—but.

“S-so make sure to call me!”

The boy whose surname was Yama-something said that to me.

“…Sure.”

When I gave an ambiguous answer, he nodded his head enthusiastically.

Miura’s situation was similar; she was hearing similar words from a boy whose surname was Naka-something.

“Ahaha…”

Seeing Miura laugh awkwardly and taking that as a YES, his face also lit up brightly.

The two boys said goodbye to us and headed toward the sunset. With very excited footsteps.

Since the mixer was unexpectedly wholesome, I could only stare blankly at the backs of those athletic boys.

…I’m corrupted.

As I was self-reproaching, Miura spoke to me.

“Shall we go too?”

“Yeah.”

I nodded.

The family restaurant-karaoke course cost quite a bit, but thankfully the boys paid more so I survived.

Come to think of it, both sides were first-year high school students.

They were old enough to do things if they wanted, but Fukuda and Yamashita, despite appearances, were from wealthy families and raised preciously.

The boys were the same, so it would have been difficult for anything to happen.

The two of us turned and started walking slowly.

I still didn’t feel any chills.

Could it be not today?

“By the way, Kurosawa.”

As we walked slowly toward the station, Miura asked.

“…What’s with those glasses?”

She was asking about the lensless glasses I’d been wearing since the mixer.

“Decoration.”

“I-I see.”

After my answer, Miura decided not to inquire further.

“Then—”

“He-“

As Miura was about to say something, something interrupted her.

“He-he-help. Help me.”

A voice that sounded like it was gurgling phlegm.

And simultaneously with that voice, I felt like all the hair on my body was standing on end.

An unpleasant chill running up my spine.

“Heeeelp meee.”

A voice that sounded somehow strange.

“Pardon?”

Miura’s face turned.

What she looked at was a narrow alley between buildings.

Inside, or rather, on the other side, another alley was visible.

There were still many people passing by. It was a weekday, but this was a busy district.

“Help me.”

And following that voice—

“Eek!?”

Miura let out a short scream and brought her hand to her mouth.

A bleeding person.

In the alley lay a person bleeding profusely.

They seemed to have been beaten somewhere, and their leg was bent in an unnatural direction. Blood flowed from their burst lip.

They appeared to be a man in his 50s. Not particularly homeless-looking, but rather an ordinary-looking man who might be seen staggering around this street late at night—a common middle-aged man.

A man in a black suit was groaning in that alley.

With his brows deeply furrowed, sprawled on the ground, his appearance was truly frightening.

Moreover—

“Help me.”

—looks delicious.

Though his face was clearly distorted, somehow, to my eyes, he also seemed to be smiling.

The man’s eyes moved from Miura to me.

“Pl-pl-ple-please he-he-help. Help meee.”

—This one—looks—delicious too.

Miura approached the alley without hesitation.

“Wait!”

I grabbed her hand before she could enter the alley.

Miura looked at me, somewhat surprised.

Even though the situation was clearly strange, Miura didn’t seem to notice.

In a street that wasn’t deserted, people were all ignoring a voice that anyone could hear clearly and continuing to walk.

Just that short alley looked strangely particularly dark. Even though there was nothing blocking the sky between the buildings.

That’s a nest.

“Miura.”

“Y-yes?”

When I called Miura’s name while gripping her arm firmly, she responded somewhat bewilderedly.

“Police.”

“Huh?”

“Call the police.”

“…Ah!”

At my words, Miura’s slightly clouded eyes blinked.

“I’ll keep watch here.”

“Oh, okay! I’ll find one quickly, so wait here!”

Miura shouted that and ran off.

It’s fortunate she didn’t think of using a phone.

…Good.

Now, first I need to buy some time—

Grip.

“…?”

Feeling an unpleasant sensation on my ankle, I looked down.

And seeing the hand wrapped around it, my mouth fell open.

“He, hehe.”

—First, one.

But it shouldn’t be able to come out of the nest…?

And only when I was being pulled sideways by my leg did I realize.

Ah.

Even that was bait?

“Ahhh!?”

The yokai pulled my leg mercilessly, and I lost balance and fell sideways.

My head hit the ground with a thud. The glasses I was wearing flew off.

“Wait!”

“He, hehe.”

Screech.

My leg was being dragged.

I quickly tried to grab the ground, but it was impossible to hold on with just my fingertips.

Screech.

There was an unpleasant sound of my nails scraping the ground, and I felt the tips lifting slightly.

My clothes and body were dragged across the ground. It hurt.

“Looks delicious.”

Such an unpleasant voice was heard.

Looking down, I saw the man’s mouth slowly opening.

No, not just his mouth. His entire face was slowly swelling up. Like a balloon made of human skin.

As his mouth slowly grew and opened, inside were countless human teeth.

Almost the entire upper and lower parts were densely packed with flat teeth.

Click, click, the sound of teeth hitting each other.

“P-please spare me!”

I screamed like that, but the people passing by didn’t pay any attention.

Rip.

My clothes caught on the ground and tore slightly.

Before being completely dragged into the alley, I tried to grab the corner of the building, but it was beyond my strength to hold on.

“Smells delicious—”

The swollen man—or is it a woman?

Whatever it was, with eyes that strangely maintained human size despite its enlarged head, it looked at me and spoke.

A long, flat tongue emerged from its mouth and stuck to my ankle. Then it slowly moved upward, leaving saliva.

“Eek!”

I swung my other, free leg with all my might.

Thud! Thud!

As I stomped on that tongue,

“Ungh?”

The Agui made such a sound.

“Whoa!?”

My ankle was lifted upside down. My vision was completely inverted, with the sky below my feet.

Blood rushed to my head, and my eyes met the Agui’s.

The Agui had risen from its position, holding my ankle upside down and looking at me.

A strangely thin neck beneath its large face. A gaunt upper body below that. And a protruding belly.

It reminded me of a pot-bellied man, but it was severely distorted, nakedly showing that it was “not human.”

In the strangely dim alley, only its flesh color was clearly visible, which was bizarre.

“What are youuu?”

The Agui asked.

“Strange taste?”

It tilted its head.

An ugly creature that wasn’t cute at all.

I swung my leg again, but that leg was caught too.

“Might be good as a special dish?”

The Agui said.

Holding both my feet, the Agui clicked its mouth. The teeth in multiple rows hit each other, making a sound like several people clicking their teeth simultaneously.

“No…!”

I don’t want this.

Dying like this doesn’t seem right.

I don’t know why I opened my eyes again in this world, and I haven’t lived here long enough to become attached to it, but I didn’t want to die like this.

“Then, I’ll take it—”

—Itadakimasu.

“Stop—!”

Facing the approaching mouth, I instinctively stretched both hands forward.

Teeth hit teeth again, and this time, instead of a click, there was a sound of something being crushed—

A sound like my two hands being compressed by something, and I felt something flowing—

A scream came from my open mouth—

“Guwek?”

—The Agui made such a sound.

Ptui.

My hands were spat out.

I flew briefly before hitting a wall with my back.

“Kek.”

Such a sound came from my mouth, and the back of my head felt like it was splitting.

As I fell down, my waist was bent when I hit an outdoor unit protruding from the building. Before I could feel the pain, I hit the ground once more with a splat.

It was a shock hard to endure with the body of a malnourished high school girl, but I was still alive.

Unfortunately.

No, fortunately…

“Haa, haa…”

Forcibly expanding my collapsed lungs by breathing in, I placed my hands on the ground and raised my body.

—With my hands?

My hands weren’t crushed beyond recognition—

There were marks. Blood flowed from the wounds. There were large tooth marks, but strangely, they moved normally.

“Uwek.”

Vomit splattered nearby.

It smelled sour and dirty.

“You-you-you, what are youuu?”

The Agui was looking at me.

It was covering its mouth with both hands, but its widely torn mouth was still clearly visible on the sides.

Inside, blood was flowing.

It didn’t seem to be my blood.

“…Ahhh!?”

Then, I screamed at the sudden intense pain I felt in my left hand.

The hand supporting me on the ground lost strength, and I collapsed forward again.

Turning my body and pulling out the hand that had been under me—

“…Ah.”

Blood from my hand was wetting my left wrist.

The blood flowing down my arm was strangely following the pattern of the pentagram tattoo on my left hand.

A scream burst from my mouth.

Because the center of that pentagram had split open like an eye. The wound opened as if looking at me.

Blood, blood is flowing.

My left arm bent on its own, taking a posture as if supporting something upward,

Blood flows upward.

“…”

I blankly watched that scene.

It was so bizarre that I forgot the pain.

The blood flowing from that open wound rose slowly, as if weaving something with silk thread, like a 3D printer printing an object.

“Hmm.”

And I heard a voice by my ear.

“I wondered where my avatar was, but you were occupying it.”

My body won’t move. I can’t even breathe—no, is my heart still beating?

I couldn’t even move my eyes, but “something” was wandering around me and speaking to me.

The world was the same. Nothing moved. Neither the bizarrely shaped Agui in front of me. Nor the people moving outside the alley. Nor the wind that had been blowing slightly. Nothing moved at all.

Only the blood rising from my wrist was leisurely “weaving” something.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. It’s just entertainment anyway.”

The voice whispering in my ear touched my shoulder.

“However, it would be a waste to die like this. I don’t know who you are, but the fact that I don’t know is part of your charm, so it’s too early to destroy you.”

What was being woven was a sword.

The gap that had been visible was now densely filled with that blood, to the point where it no longer looked like something “woven” from something.

“Since you’ve arbitrarily taken what’s mine, I’d like you to participate a bit in my amusement.”

Whatever it was, it placed its hand on my shoulder and slowly applied pressure.

“With that sword—I want you to protect your body. I think you’ll have the decency to do that much, having stolen my property.”

Bringing its face next to mine, it gazed endlessly at that red sword together with me.

A sword with a blade, hilt, and elaborately carved guard, all red like freshly spilled blood.

“Go and cut.”

Pushing my shoulder slightly, it spoke.