Chapter 2 - Shuushuu: Control

1

Shun led Anna and Hiroshi to his bedroom, a Western-style room about twelve by nine feet. In one corner lay a bed with a bookshelf next to it. Most of the desk by the window was taken up by a computer and related peripherals. Books on programming, game consoles, and video games were all neatly sorted on the bookshelf, which spoke to the methodical nature of the room’s owner as well as his interests.

It was all about as much as he’d expected, so it didn’t leave a huge impression on Hiroshi. Anna, however, stared at everything wide-eyed as if she’d never seen anything like it before. She seemed especially interested in the controller on the desk for a flight simulator. She cautiously touched the joystick and then looked around the room to see if anything had happened. Hiroshi had never seen her act this way at school.

The door opened as Shun returned to the room. He was holding a plate with the pears carefully cut into pieces.

“Sorry the room’s so small. You two can sit wherever.”

“Oh... Sure.”

Anna returned the controller to its original position and timidly sat at the corner of the bed. Shun took a piece of pear and sat down at the desk. He put his right hand on the mouse. Hiroshi recognized the game on the monitor screen; it was the freeware game Shun had made. At first glance, it appeared to be the same as the one he’d cleared the week before, but when Hiroshi took a closer look, he could see that the graphics were much more detailed, the map was more complex, and the overall feel was somewhat different.

“Is this a new version?”

“Yeah. I stayed up all night to finish it. I was just about to upload it to the site,” Shun explained as he pulled up the newest screenshots.

The base game was the same as the previous version, but there were a few new items Hiroshi hadn’t seen in his playthrough, like a birthday cake on the dining room table and a world map poster on the inside of a closet.

“This seems interesting.”

“I upped the difficulty, so it should be even more fun, but there are still a few bugs left. I’ll start debugging first thing in the morning, and before I realize it, the sun has already set. It’s been like that for a while. A day goes by so fast... At this rate, I could turn into an old man in no time.” Shun kept chatting as he typed away at the keyboard, his expression indicating he was joking. “Check it out. There’s a bug here I just can’t seem to fix.”

A 2D attic was displayed on the monitor. Toward the back was a small door that opened to the outside. If the player exited that way, they would fall to the ground below and it would be game over. At least, that was the idea, but the game bugged out and reset instead. Shun demonstrated by moving the protagonist through the door, causing the screen to freeze. After a while, the opening sequence began to play.

“Hmm, still no good.” Shun scratched his head as he chewed on a slice of pear. “I’ve tried everything I could think of. I wonder what’s wrong...”

Unlike at school, Shun was being quite talkative. Hiroshi had worried they’d find him ragged and thin as a rail, but he appeared happy and healthy. Hiroshi let out a sigh of relief, but then a new worry crossed his mind.

Sure, Shun seemed happy. But it was like he was forcing himself to be—like it was just an act. There was no way for Hiroshi to be sure, however. After all, he was virtually incapable of reading people’s emotions.

Many introverted people were meek as lambs outwardly, but when they were somewhere comfortable like in their own homes, they could be quite lively. That seemed like a reasonable explanation, especially for someone like Shun who had just moved to town and hadn’t found his place yet. But he was being so chatty that Hiroshi was inclined to think something else was at play.

When people are trying to hide something, they tend to become unusually talkative. Hiroshi recalled reading something along those lines in a book once, and it seemed to apply to Shun now. It wasn’t out of the ordinary for him to avoid eye contact, but today his eyes were restlessly darting all over the room. He seemed anxious. That, combined with his loquaciousness, made it clear to Hiroshi that he was trying to hide something.

“I’d like to hear your thoughts, Hiroshi, so please try it out. You can download it from my site for free.”

As Hiroshi was conducting a human study for once in his life, Shun was still going on about his game.

“It’s different from the previous versions, but I tried adding an ending where everyone survives in this one. As you can see, it’s still quite buggy, but if you wouldn’t mind giving it a try...”

The gears in Hiroshi’s brain turned as he thought, drowning out most of what Shun said. Anna, on the other hand, seemed quite lost. In essence, Shun was talking to himself. No one was responding, yet he rambled on and on like a madman.

“Hey, Shun,” Anna blurted out in the brief moment Shun stopped talking to take a breath. “Why aren’t you coming to school?”

“...Huh?”

Shun’s expression clouded over. His fingers, which had been fluidly tapping away at the keyboard, stopped suddenly.

Why he wasn’t coming to school... That may have been the subject Shun wanted to avoid most of all. He was at a loss for words. For the first time since they’d arrived, silence hung over the room.

“Do you remember what you said to me after school when we ran into each other outside the Jailhouse, the day before you stopped coming to school? ‘If you’ve got something on your mind, don’t keep it bottled inside. You can talk to me. I might be able to help.’”

Shun made no reply.

“I could say the same to you now... Or is this something I can’t help with at all?”

“...Sorry.” Still looking at the monitor, Shun hung his head slightly. “I can’t really talk about it right now. Could you wait until I’ve sorted it out in my head a little first?”

Shun’s answer was barely a whisper. His talkativeness had vanished. His eyes darted around the room as if he were a hunted animal, and his quivering lips made it look like he was freezing despite the heater being on.

Anna shut her mouth. Seeing him like this, how could she press him for answers? With both of them quiet, the uncomfortable silence continued.

“H-Hey,” Anna said cheerfully to try and start a conversation. She wanted to talk about something. Anything. She just couldn’t take the awkwardness anymore. “There was a fire near my house last night. Someone’s curtain caught fire from a heater, they say. Scary, huh? I tend to get sleepy and doze off with the heater on, so I guess I should be more careful.”

Neither Shun nor Hiroshi responded. The oppressive silence was only getting more and more stifling.

“I need to tell you guys something...” Shun eventually said. He sounded hesitant, like whatever he had to say might offend them after they’d come all this way just to see him. But his eyes were still locked on the monitor. He didn’t even look back at Hiroshi and Anna. “Don’t go near the Jailhouse.”

Hiroshi cocked his head at such an out-of-the-blue statement.

“I know there are lots of rare bugs around there, but please don’t do anything foolish like sneaking onto the property to observe them.”

Based on what Shun was saying, Hiroshi assumed he was talking to him. But why? Hiroshi tried to simulate Shun’s thought process in order to discern his intentions, but this was much more complicated than trying to work out a math problem in his head.

“And if you hear anyone talking about sneaking inside, tell them not to be stupid. I think the most likely culprit would be Shinichi. He’s always going on about proving the monster isn’t real.”

Hiroshi and Anna looked at each other. There was no way that Shun knew Shinichi had been missing since the previous day... But should they tell him?

“I doubt anyone knows this, but Takuro’s father actually owns the place. If you tell them that, I think it’ll probably quash any funny ideas about breaking in.”

Hiroshi had never heard that before, nor had he heard that rare insects existed in the area. So how could a new student—much less one who hadn’t come to school in a week—know all that? The more Shun talked, the more questions Hiroshi had.

“Shun, do you know why Shinichi and Kota are missing?”

It was Anna that spoke up first. She must have been wondering the same thing Hiroshi was.

“Huh? What do you mean? They’re missing?” Shun finally turned to his friends, clearly perturbed.

“Shinichi and Kota haven’t been home since last night. No one seems to be worried, though, since it’s not all that weird for them.”

“No... The monster...” Shun muttered under his breath.

“Shun. You do know something, don’t you?” Anna’s tone grew more serious as she drew closer to Shun.

“You mustn’t go near the Jailhouse,” he repeated, looking at Anna and then Hiroshi. He continued, as if begging, “Please. If any of our classmates say they’re going, you have to stop them.”

“Then explain this so we can understand, too. Why do we have to stay away from it? What’s in there?”

“It’s an old urban legend. You guys should know better than me!” Shun shouted, his lips trembling. “A man-eating monster lives there!”

2

There’s a certain age in middle school where teenagers start taking issue with their parents, teachers, and other authority figures. The rebellious phase. “You can’t do this. You can’t do that.” The more rules that are forced upon them, the more they want to break them. Shinichi and Kota, who continued to run away from home no matter how many times they were scolded, were the perfect example.

Even Hiroshi, who the adults at school considered a model student, was no exception. But in his case, he didn’t rebel indiscriminately against each and every little thing. If he was told to do or not do something, he’d always ask for a logical explanation. If it was satisfactory, he would oblige without resistance. But in the event he didn’t get a sufficient answer, that only enticed his curiosity. He was the type to go directly to the source and experience the forbidden for himself in order to uncover the truth.

And that was partly the reason he headed straight for the Jailhouse after leaving Shun’s place. Shun had told him to stay away, but he just couldn’t accept an unscientific explanation like “a monster lives there.” He had to find out why Shun would say something so ridiculous. Anna followed him silently, though he hadn’t extended her an invitation. Most likely, she too was unsatisfied with Shun’s “explanation.”

The stone walls around the Jailhouse stood over five meters tall. They were like castle ramparts. Looking up at them, Hiroshi drew back a few steps.

“It would require a remarkable degree of athleticism to be able to scale a wall of this height. I certainly couldn’t do it.”

It would be a difficult task even for Shinichi, who excelled at sports, or Kota, the tallest kid in their class. Parts of the wall were crumbling and falling apart, but there was nowhere to get a good hand or foothold. It would take serious climbing gear to get over it.

“It’d be easier if there were a hole somewhere. Oh, what’s this?” Hiroshi said curiously as he bent down.

“What? Did you find a secret entrance?” Anna asked as she came over to him.

“No, but look.”

Hiroshi indicated a small patch of weeds, perhaps Plantago asiatica, sprouting at the base of the wall. Among them was a bluish grasshopper the likes of which he’d never seen before. It was rubbing the jagged spines of its front legs against the leaves of the weeds.

“I’ve never seen a specimen this color in any field guide. Is it a new species? This could be a huge discovery.”

Hiroshi’s mind immediately went into overdrive.

No, this is exactly when I need to remain calm and collected...

He put a hand to his chest and took a moment to steady his breathing. Try as he might, however, he couldn’t quell his excitement.

“Is that really a grasshopper?”

“Judging from its shape, it could be a mutation of Patanga japonica or Locusta migratoria.”

“But its eyes are huge for a grasshopper.”

Anna knelt down next to Hiroshi to get a closer look at the bug. And she was right—its eyes were mammoth compared to that of a normal grasshopper. They were so large that they appeared to take up the majority of its head.

The more Hiroshi observed the insect, the more it became apparent how strange it really was. Normally, he would have forgotten all about Anna and gotten lost in studying this blue grasshopper. He would take it home, extensively analyze it, and then add it to his collection box of rare insects. However...

“You mustn’t go near the Jailhouse.”

Shun’s words echoed in his head, keeping him from really focusing on the creature in front of him.

“...How?” he whispered. “How did Shun know this would be here?”

That wasn’t all, either. He’d talked almost prophetically about Shinichi’s disappearance. Moreover, no one at school knew that Takuro’s father had bought the Jailhouse. So how was it that Shun, who was still new in town, had come across its inner secrets? Hiroshi looked to Anna. He hoped she might know something, but she simply knit her brow and shook her head.

“...Shun was acting a little odd the other day though,” she recalled, looking up and to the left.

“The other day?”

“Last week... The evening before Shun stopped coming to school, I met him right here... It was strange. He knew exactly what I was thinking without me saying a word. It was like he was reading my mind. No, that’s not it. It was... more than that.” She looked Hiroshi square in the eyes with a somewhat frightened expression on her face. “Usually he’s so reserved, but that day he was nothing short of chipper. So I asked him if something had happened, and he said the weirdest thing... He said, ‘I’m happy because nothing’s happened.’ It was like he knew something bad was about to happen... Do you think Shun has the ability to see the future?”

Hiroshi stared at her in silence. On any other day, he would have scoffed and told her such a presumption was ridiculous. There was no way something so unscientific was possible. But today, Hiroshi didn’t laugh. The truth was that the same thing had crossed his mind. Granted, he couldn’t understand why he was even entertaining such a preposterous idea.

“Shun doesn’t talk about himself a lot, so it’s hard to get a grasp on his true feelings,” Anna said and sighed as she stood up. “Well, not that I’m any different.”

“But he looked to be in perfect health, which is a relief. He was clearly never sick in the first place. It seems we have nothing to worry about in that regard, but we’re left with the question of why he hasn’t been attending classes.”

“True. But that... I think that, at least, I can explain.”

“...Huh?”

“It’s probably Takuro,” Anna said in a low voice, incredibly conscious of the fact that they were standing right next to land owned by Takuro’s father.

“What are you talking about?” Hiroshi asked, still sitting on the roadside.

“I guess you haven’t noticed it, either.” Anna turned away and sighed again, this time gloomily. “Shun’s being bullied by Takuro.”

“Bullied?” Hiroshi asked reflexively, almost in disbelief.

“Did you think our class was above that sort of thing? Well, I don’t blame you. We’re not perfect, of course, but everyone seems to get along pretty well. On the surface, I suppose it really doesn’t seem like anything’s wrong.”

Hiroshi still didn’t follow. Really, he’d only started paying attention to the class ecosystem after Shun stopped coming to school. Before then, he couldn’t have cared less.

Moreover, in all likelihood, Hiroshi was the odd one out in their class. He was always alone during breaks, and he hardly ever spoke to anyone. He didn’t exactly fit in with his peers. If anyone was going to be bullied, he’d be the only logical target. At least, that’s what he’d always thought.

“I see... Takuro, huh?” he spoke in a hush, his hand on his chin.

Takuro’s bright personality constantly put him in the spotlight. He was the center of attention in class, and a naturally charismatic leader in that regard. As the star of the class, he was the last person anyone would suspect of being a bully. But Hiroshi knew Anna wouldn’t accuse him without just cause.

“Hey, do you mind if we chat while we walk? This place is a little...”

A pained expression on her face, Anna headed for the main road. Hiroshi honestly wanted to stay and study the new species of grasshopper some more, but he followed her anyway.

“Remember how Shun sprained his ankle two weeks ago?” she asked practically in a whisper as Hiroshi caught up to her. “That was Takuro’s doing.”

Her words hit him like a truck.

“But that wasn’t the start of it. He’d take Shun out during breaks to secluded places and punch him in the stomach or make him eat dirt... all kinds of horrible things. And then one night, Takuro ordered him to jump from a third-floor classroom window to see if it would kill him...”

“That can’t be...”

It was hard to swallow at first, but it made a certain amount of sense. In Shun’s game, there was a character clearly modeled after Takuro. The game enemies would attack and brutally murder him every playthrough. Perhaps that was Shun’s best attempt at fighting back.

“But why? Shun just moved here...”

“That’s probably exactly what made him an easy target. Takuro knew he hadn’t made any friends yet, so he had no one to go to for help. Not to mention he showed up right after Naoki passed...” Anna stopped there. She looked at Hiroshi, as if trying to discern his feelings.

Naoki was their classmate who’d died in a tragic accident at the end of the previous year. There were even stupid rumors that he’d been killed by the curse of the Jailhouse monster. Of course, there was no way anything like that was true.

“Can you explain this so I can understand? How are Naoki’s death and Shun’s bullying connected?”

“Naoki was bullied by Takuro too,” Anna said, raising an eyebrow. “You were his classmate for the better part of a year, and you didn’t notice at all, did you?”

She was absolutely right. Hiroshi was silent, unable to respond. Hurriedly, Anna followed up.

“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to make it sound like I’m blaming you. Hardly anyone noticed, honestly. That’s just how good Takuro is at hiding it.”

After walking a few hundred meters down the street from the Jailhouse, they came to a busy county highway. Evening traffic flew by them at high speeds. Hiroshi could sense Anna stiffen as a truck raced by, horn blaring.

“Is this where...”

“Yes... It’s where Naoki died.”

Anna sounded especially pained as she answered, but it was obvious why. The accident that killed Naoki was the same accident that took her parents.

“I think it was just over there. A truck swerved to avoid Naoki when he jumped out into the street, and flipped on its side...”

The spot she pointed out was marked with a flower in a plastic bottle and a can of juice. She walked over, knelt down in front of them, and put her hands together. Hiroshi hesitated, but bowed his head as well.

“That accident... People said it was the curse of the monster, but they don’t know who the real monster is,” Anna said as she lifted her head. She spoke quietly, almost as if she were talking to herself.

“What do you mean?” Hiroshi asked.

“It’s the same as with Shun. The real perpetrator was Takuro—”

Anna turned around to face Hiroshi, but then suddenly stopped talking. Her eyes went wide, clearly shocked by whatever was behind him. Hiroshi spun around. He couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary, but for some reason, goosebumps ran up his arms. A faint, unshakably creepy feeling came over him, and he took a step to the side.

Anna continued to stare at that singular point in the air, lips trembling. Her face was completely pale.

“...Are you okay?”

Hiroshi called to her out of concern, but she didn’t respond. She just continued to tremble.