Chapter 8 - Shuugai: Warmth

1

I’m hungry.

The same thought repeated over and over in Mika’s mind as she stared at Takuro’s back.

And cold.

She rubbed her arms and shivered in her light jacket. It had been warm during the day, and she’d certainly never expected to end up in a situation like this, so she hadn’t thought anything of leaving her duffel coat at school.

I want something to eat. I’m hungry. And cold. I want my coat. Or at least a blanket.

Those five sentences kept racing through her mind, but she never said a word of it out loud. If she did, Takuro would just yell at her and tell her to quit whining.

Takuro had only grown more and more virulent since they’d seen the blueberry-colored monster. He was cursing, punching walls, and kicking furniture. Unlike the act he put on at school, Takuro was actually quite short-tempered. Mika figured it was only natural that his true colors started to show through after a scare like that.

But what was that monster? Keeping one eye on Takuro’s hissy fit, Mika recalled what had happened only a few minutes ago.

The monster, blue from head to toe, had appeared right after Hiroshi had left to investigate the noise from down the hall.

“I just remembered. My mom asked me to help with the restaurant today. Sorry, but can I go now?” Takeshi asked, scratching the tip of his nose.

That gesture, however, gave away that he was lying. It was his tell, and Takuro knew it, although Takeshi was completely unaware of it himself.

“Huh? Isn’t your place closed today?” Takuro asked with a leering, bullying grin on his face.

“Maybe... But we have a lot of reservations for lunch tomorrow, so if we don’t start preparing today, we’ll never make it in time,” Takeshi answered, roughly rubbing the tip of his nose with his right thumb. The more he piled on the transparent lies, the more pathetic he sounded and looked.

“Just be honest. You’re scared, aren’t you?”

“Scared? What’re you talking about? Of course I’m not scared. I want to check out this place out too. But if I skip out on my chores, I’ll never hear the end of it from my mom.”

Takeshi’s nose was now bright red from all the rubbing. Still looking at Takuro and Mika as he talked, Takeshi reached behind him and put his hand on the knob of the front door.

“Well, that’s just how it is. So I better get going... H-Huh?” Takeshi’s thick eyebrows arched, a pitiful expression on his face.

“What? You so scared you pee yourself?”

“No. Did you lock this? The door won’t open,” he said as he turned around and tried it with both hands.

“Idiot. What’re you panicking for?”

Takuro pushed Takeshi aside and stood before the door.

“Weird.”

His eyes narrowed slightly. He tried for himself and jiggled the knob roughly, but the door showed no signs of opening. That was when Mika, who’d been half-listening to their conversation, first started to feel uneasy.

“Hold on. What’s the meaning of this?”

Apprehensively, she looked at the door over Takuro’s shoulder. There was only an ancient knob and an empty, traditionally-shaped keyhole. She couldn’t even see any sort of unlocking mechanism.

“Don’t worry. I have the key right here,” Takuro said as pulled the same key he’d just used to open the door out from his pants pocket.

It looked as though the unexpected situation had rattled even his nerves. His hand was quivering slightly. He quickly put the key in the hole, but it didn’t make a difference. The door was still locked tight, and that realization settled grimly over the three of them.

“Does... that mean we’re trapped in here?” Takeshi asked fearfully.

“Are you stupid? Who would do something like that? This is my house. It’s just so old that the door’s all decrepit and finicky,” Takura said aggressively, but rather unconvincingly. “But if the door’s a bust, there’s no point wasting time sitting around here. Just forget about going home, and let’s explore—”

As he was talking, Takuro turned around and froze mid-sentence. He was staring at something over Mika’s shoulder.

“...What is that?”

His lips were going purple. His dilated pupils were fixated on whatever was behind her the same way a small mammal would look up at an apex predator. She’d never seen him like that before. She couldn’t help shuddering as she slowly turned around.

In the back of the entrance hall, next to the creepy mannequin, something big and blue was blocking off the back hallway. Mika was sure it hadn’t been there before, but what was it? Just as Mika cocked her head in confusion at the sight, part of the blue object rippled, and the top of it began to turn. She could hear a low growl coming from somewhere. As she gazed at the object in a befuddled daze, a great eyeball larger than the mannequin’s head suddenly appeared on the blue mass.

“Uwaaaaaaaah!” Takeshi screamed so loudly that Mika thought it might rupture her eardrums.

The thing looking at them from across the hall appeared to be an unearthly creature of some kind. It had a massive head and a horribly misshapen body. It stood on two legs, but it was no human. Was blood even pumping beneath that blue skin? And then there was its expressionless face... It struck Mika as more of a golem than anything.

“No! Save me! Save me, someone!” Takeshi clung to the front door. He yanked at the knob, trying to get outside, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Call the police!” Mika cried, stepping over to Takuro.

“...Huh?”

“You’re the only one here with a cellphone, right? Hurry up and call for help!”

“R-Right.”

For once, he listened to her and whipped out his phone—the latest model of smartphone. But the sudden appearance of the monster must have shaken him even more than he let on. His chest was heaving and his shaking fingers could barely hit the buttons on the touchscreen. The phone let out an electronic blip, and the monster’s eyebrow twitched at the sound. Its back hunched and its arms lazily dangling in front of its body, the mysterious creature began slowly making its way toward them. A stench like raw garbage assaulted their nostrils, making each of them sick to their stomachs. There was no doubt it was coming from the approaching monstrosity.

“Stay away! Open up! Stay away! Open up! Stay away!” Takeshi pulled on the door then glanced over his shoulder at the creature over and over, repeating the same words to himself. “Open up! Open up! Open up! Open up!”

He jiggled the knob frantically with increasing frustration, but the door still wouldn’t give. And the monster was only getting closer. They were in danger. Mika pulled on Takuro’s arm, but he was still messing with his phone.

“It’s no use. I can’t even get a signal. What’s the deal? I should have full bars.”

“Takuro, forget that. We need to run—” Mika was interrupted by Takeshi’s screams.

“Uwaaaaah! Stay awaaaaay!”

The accumulating fear must have reached a breaking point. Takeshi bolted from the door, screaming like a madman as he fled up the stairs. The monster, whose eyes had been fixated on the entrance, shifted its attention to Takeshi as he scampered up the stairs. Perhaps, like Mika’s Persian cat, it was naturally drawn toward moving objects or fearful prey. But whatever the case, this was their chance.

Pulling Takuro along by the arm, Mika ran past the distracted monster and proceeded further into the mansion. The awful stench of it was enough to singe her nose and make her feel ill. If she let her resolve waver for even a moment, she’d probably pass out.

Turning left at the hall in front of the mannequin, Mika and Takuro escaped down the hall. Fortunately, the monster wasn’t chasing them.

Sitting on a child’s bed, she sighed deeply. After they’d fled the monster in the entrance hall, she and Takuro had explored the second and third floors, finally discovering a door that wasn’t locked. A quick glance had told them it was a typical child’s bedroom, but there were no windows or means of escape. Takuro was searching the place, practically ransacking it as he violently pulled out desk drawers and upended toy boxes in search of anything that might help them. His only rewards, however, were used stationary and old toys. Nothing like a key that would open the front door.

“Damn it! What the hell do we do?” Takuro shouted, unable to suppress his anger as he shoved textbooks and notebooks off the study desk.

One of the notebooks, inscribed with the word “arithmetic” across the front, fell at Mika’s feet. She picked it up and lifted open the cover. On the first page was a mysterious formula.

DCBA=4(ABCD)

Mika hated math. Just looking at a formula that mixed numbers and letters made her head hurt. She flipped through some more pages, but there was nothing written in the notebook other than the formula at the beginning. Cocking her head quizzically, she quietly closed it.

“Hey, Mika!”

Takuro’s sudden shout made her jump.

“Quit spacing out and help, why don’t you?” he yelled, rubbing the back of his head. Considering how concerned he ordinarily was about his hair, it was a rather unusual gesture. He must have been so irritated that he’d stopped caring about things like that.

“Help with what?”

“You sure are dense. Think of a way to get out of this damn mansion!” Takuro spat venomously, slamming his right fist into the desk.

His normal star student routine and radiant smile were nowhere to be seen, but Mika didn’t mind the honestly prideful and selfish Takuro. In fact, she felt a strong attraction to him at times like these.

He only shows his true self to me. His weaker side. It must mean he trusts me.

That made her happier than anything else. But something was different about Takuro today. He always had perfect control over both sides of his personality, and that control seemed to be rapidly slipping from his grasp. She’d thought something was up at school earlier, but ever since coming here and encountering the blue monster, he was coming apart at the seams.

“Useless!” Apparently the continued insults weren’t enough. Takuro spat on the floor.

“...Sorry,” Mika apologized and got up from the bed.

There was no telling what he’d do if she talked back to him. Not long ago she’d told him something was his fault, and his immediate reaction was to strike her across the left cheek. The blow had cut the inside of her mouth, and she could still taste blood. Her ears were still ringing, too, like her eardrum was damaged. She’d never been hit before. Not even spanked as a child. Her parents had never resorted to violence, and she’d never been in a relationship with anyone who had that kind of temper before.

If we stay together, he might do something even worse next time.

But despite the fear, Mika couldn’t bring herself to leave Takuro. He was a terrible guy, but he was the only one left she could trust at this point. That coward Takeshi was out of the question, and no matter how smart Hiroshi was, she could never really tell what he was actually thinking. Besides, of the three of them, Takuro was the strongest. She didn’t exactly have a buffet of choices.

Bending down, she picked up the notebooks Takuro had thrown to the floor. Language arts, cooking, social studies—the covers were all labeled with different subjects, but unlike the arithmetic notebook, these were completely blank otherwise. Not a word was written inside.

Still crouched down from picking them up, Mika raised her head as she went to stand back up. When she did, she noticed what looked like a long, thin ballpoint pen lying underneath the study desk. Stacking the notebooks in a neat pile on the floor, Mika got down on her knees and crawled under the desk. The object turned out to be a screwdriver with a tip in the shape of a plus sign.

“Takuro, look.” She poked her head out from under the desk and showed him her discovery.

“Huh? A screwdriver? What the hell are we gonna do with that?” Takuro asked haughtily as he casually leaned against the wall.

“Maybe we could pry open the front door...”

“Are you stupid? It won’t be that easy,” Takuro spat.

“Okay, maybe not the front door, but surely there’s another use for this. Just think. Maybe we could pry the panels off the windows with it.”

“Those things are practically welded on there. There’s no way some flimsy screwdriver is gonna pry them off. Maybe we should use it to tighten the screw you’ve got loose, idiot.”

She’d put up with a lot, but this made her mad.

Whose fault do you think all this is in the first place, Takuro? You forced us to come here. But have you even apologized? No! And now you want to call me an idiot? Who do you think you are?

Of course, she wouldn’t dare say any of that out loud. She knew better than anyone how terrible his temper was. If she intentionally provoked him, she wouldn’t get off with just a slap in the face this time. But even though she didn’t say a word, the resentment was clearly written across her face.

“What’s with that look?” Takuro’s expression instantly grew sharp. “You got a problem? Then say so.”

Mika knew things were bad, but once the dam of her suppressed emotions had begun to leak, it was no simple task to keep back the flood. She continued to glare at him in silence, knowing what it might cost her.

“I didn’t think so, you idiot,” he said as he tauntingly shoved her right shoulder.

Mika lost her balance and stumbled backward, hitting the back of her head on the corner of the desk. It didn’t hurt that much, but she held her head like it was splitting and curled up on the floor.

“I only pushed you a little. Quit faking it.”

She thought Takuro might show a little concern, but he was unfazed. Despair overcame her as she looked up at him. She then reached out to pickup the screwdriver, which she’d dropped and let roll under the desk when she fell. As she fished for it with her right hand, she noticed the words scribbled on the wall under and behind the desk.

Help

I’m sorry

Nao

The red words were faded in parts. The third line in particular faded into nothingness after the first three letters, like the pen had run out of ink while someone was writing it.

“...What is this?” Mika muttered. But then...

“Hey, what the hell is this?” she heard Takuro say.

Poking her head out from under the desk, she looked over to Takuro, who was staring at his hands with a puzzled expression. He was holding a New York Yankees cap, complete with a metal badge pinned to the side. It looked just like the hat Shinichi always wore.

“Where did you find that?”

“Under the bed. Here, look at this. There’s blood all over it.”

Just as he said, on the inside of the cap was a bloody, dark red stain. Mika’s eyes went wide. She turned back to the wall under the desk. The words written on it were the same color as the stain on the cap.

...Was that written in blood?

She gulped. The image of Shinichi curled up under the desk and shivering in fear filled her imagination. She knew Shinichi and Kota had gone missing two days ago. Had they really snuck into the Jailhouse? If they’d been attacked by the monster, it wasn’t impossible to think one of them had taken refuge in this room, too.

Help

Was the bloody message a desperate cry for help from Shinichi? Maybe it was God he was pleading with. But what did the next part mean? Who was Shinichi apologizing to? Rereading the last line, Mika gasped.

Nao? Nao... ki? Naoki?

She recalled the face of their poor classmate who’d died in an accident at the end of last year. No, it wasn’t an accident. Mika knew that it was Takuro who’d coerced him into running into traffic. Takuro had tried to cover it up, but judging from his and Takeshi’s actions, she had a gut feeling about what had really happened.

But Takuro wasn’t the only one who’d been bullying Naoki in secret. Shinichi was also guilty. Kota had played a hand in it, too, but he was mostly just following Shinichi’s lead.

The image of the monster they’d seen popped up in the back of Mika’s mind. That unique blueberry color... Wasn’t it exactly the same as the color of the chemical that had leaked from the truck and doused Naoki’s corpse?

Shinichi, Kota, Takuro... They were all connected by the same thing. Did that mean the monster was Naoki? Was he out for vengeance against the other boys for treating him like dirt while he was alive?

“Hey, Takuro, I think...” Mika crawled out from under the desk and turned to Takuro as she dusted off her knees, but she swallowed her words before she got the rest out.

There was no point in saying it out loud. He’d just call her an idiot again. Takuro wouldn’t feel bad no matter what she said, and it was unlikely the monster would forgive them if he apologized for what happened to Naoki anyway.

“What?”

“Never mind.”

Mika shook her head, walked over to Takuro, and wrapped her hand around his manly arm. She could feel him shaking. He was scared, too; he was just putting on a brave front. She felt the urge to hug him tightly and stop his shivering.

“What do we do now?” Takuro asked, still leaning against the wall.

“We should probably find Hiroshi first,” Mika said after a little thought.

Hiroshi was a mystery, but the one thing everybody knew about him was that he was smart. He might know a way to escape. Mika thought Takuro might yell at her again, but...

“Good idea.” The corners of Takuro’s mouth curled upward and he reluctantly nodded. “That monster came out of nowhere, so I was hoping to get out of here before he came back... But you’re right. Hiroshi might have some crazy idea. Let’s go look for him.”

Takuro’s mood seemed to have improved a tiny bit. Mika followed him across the room as he headed for the door. But when he opened it, there stood the monster.

2

Most people are afraid of something. For example, Mika hated worms, snakes—really, anything long, thin, and wriggling. Just looking at one gave her goosebumps and made her feel sick. There was no specific reason for her hatred, either. They weren’t harmful like mosquitoes and bees, or dangerous like tigers and bears. She just couldn’t stand them. They simply repulsed her. That was the best explanation she could offer.

Even Takuro, who on the surface appeared to fear nothing, had one phobia that Mika knew of. And she was probably the only one. She suspected he’d never even told his parents, but Takuro hated cockroaches. He said their dark and shiny bodies evoked an indescribable feeling of disgust in him. Mika didn’t like cockroaches either, but she wasn’t exactly afraid of them. She had no idea why he hated them so much, either. Like Mika and worms, there probably wasn’t a particular reason.

But the fear that came over her when she’d laid eyes on the monster was ten times worse than that of any snake or worm she’d ever seen. It was neither thin nor wriggling, but she felt ill all the same. Takuro had looked disgusted, too. The monster’s hideous appearance seemed to have that effect on people.

And even though she’d really only caught a glimpse of it, whenever she closed her eyes, its fearsome figure seemed to loom in the darkness. Just the thought of it produced a profoundly unpleasant sensation. She was worried she might just faint if she ever saw it again, but her worst fear manifested in front of her. She was going to get to find out.

For just on the other side of the door Takuro had opened stood the blue monster. Its head was like a massive, twisted boulder, and Takuro and Mika’s reflections glinted in its equally massive pupils.

The thick, wrought bar of a brow, its twitching hook of a nose, the cheekbones that jutted out like tumors—down to even the features of its face, everything about the monster was disturbing. From its dark and filthy mouth protruded a tongue that was an even deeper blue than its skin.

As fate would have it, meeting the monster a second time was just as harrowing as the first. Every hair on Mika’s body stood on end. She couldn’t stop shaking, and she could feel her body temperature plummeting as her blood ran cold. Just as she’d feared, it felt like it would only be a matter of seconds before she lost consciousness.

No. Get it together.

Still, she desperately tried to rally.

“...What is that?” she finally uttered.

“What is that?” she repeated, but Takuro didn’t answer.

The monster let out a low growl. Its eyes, so large they seemed ready to fall out of their sockets at any moment, fixated on Mika and Takuro. Terror like nothing she’d ever known swept over her. She squeezed Takuro’s arm tightly and tried her best to fight off the fear.

“Mika,” he whispered in her ear. “Don’t hate me for this.”

...Huh?

Before she could connect the dots, he violently shoved her away. She lost her balance and fell down on the spot. It would take her a few seconds yet to process what had just happened.

But the monster locked its gaze on her. And, as if he’d been waiting for just that moment, Takuro swiftly slipped past it and dashed out of the room.

“Takuro!” she called after him, but he didn’t so much as look back. The sound of his footsteps quickly disappeared down the hall. Within a few seconds, he was long gone.

Did he... just abandon me to save himself?

Sitting on the ground in a stupor, she stared into space blankly. It wasn’t bitterness over the betrayal that came first. Instead, she laughed. She wasn’t all that surprised. That was just the kind of guy Takuro was. He always put himself first. The people around him were just pawns in a game, nothing more. And she’d known that, yet she couldn’t leave his side. Because she was lonely.

Mika had plenty of classmates that she called friends, but she really only hung out with them because being alone was for losers. They talked to each other during breaks at school. That was the extent of their so-called friendship. They would smile at each other and make small talk, but none of them really knew each other or had any idea what they were thinking behind those smiles.

And that included Mika. What if they talked trash about her behind her back? Doubts like that kept her from truly trusting them—from truly making friends. She spent her time alone at home, too. Her parents worked late, so her nights were often spent with only the company of her cat, a Persian named Heart.

She was lonely, and she hated it.

But when she was with Takuro, she could forget that crushing loneliness. It made her happy to get special treatment from Takuro. He only revealed his true self around her, and she took comfort in that because it helped ease her heartache. She was glad to be special to Takuro, even if that merely meant being a rook instead of a pawn. She knew she was still just a tool to him, but she was okay with that. So when Takuro abandoned her, she wasn’t particularly angry. She was just extremely lonely—that was all.

The monster bent down and contorted itself to squeeze into the room. Mika dragged herself across the floor, unable to gather enough strength in her legs to stand. She could see the blood-stained baseball cap on the floor out of the corner of her eye. Shinichi probably wasn’t alive anymore. Was she going to die here too? Just like that?

No. I don’t want to die.

She shook her head adamantly.

If she died, it would all be over. Even the crippling loneliness might disappear. But the last thing she wanted was to end up as food for a monster in some creepy mansion. Crawling along the floor, Mika’s hand brushed against something hard. It was the screwdriver she’d found earlier. She quickly snatched it up, turned over, and pointed it defiantly at the monster.

“Stay away!” she shouted with all her might. “Come any closer and I’ll stab you!”

The monster looked at her blankly. It was unclear whether it understood her or not. Still glaring at it, Mika slowly stood up. She hated the idea of looking at its terrible form for even a second longer, but she knew it would attack the instant she looked away.

Keeping the screwdriver pointed at the monster, Mika began to cross the room. It turned, following her movements. Just beyond the monster was the door, still wide open. It was the only way out of the room. The only path to salvation.

She’d hoped that moving around some would draw the monster away from the door, but the blueberry-colored nightmare simply rotated its body, never changing its position. It still stood between her and freedom, and with her path blocked, Mika stopped her approach. She was only a few meters from the door now. She just had to figure out a way to get through the monster. She knew it would be far too reckless to try and make a break for it without a plan.

Now what?

Suppressing the fear and despair bubbling up inside her without end, Mika put her brain to full throttle. But even operating at 100 percent capacity, no brilliant ideas came to her. The monster, as if bored of their staring contest, picked up on her hesitation and finally stepped forward. She reflexively readied herself. If it leaped at her, she likely wouldn’t stand a chance against it.

This is the end...

But just as Mika was saying her prayers, the monster lost its balance. It had apparently slipped on the pile of notebooks Mika had set up earlier. And it wasn’t a particularly serious slip. A normal person would have been able to recover their equilibrium easily, but the giant’s massive head caused it to lean further and further, eventually sending it crashing into the floor.

Mika knew this would be her best chance to escape the room, but she couldn’t move a single step. The monster soon righted itself and stood up. Seeing its face, a shiver ran through Mika’s entire body. Its impassive expression from earlier was gone. Its eyes now narrowed into a glare, almost like it was angry Mika had seen it fall, and thick veins protruded from its temple.

Oh no... I’m dead.

With little other option, Mika kicked a toy box at it. It landed on its side, spilling a great number of balls across the floor. The monster slipped on them as it ran toward her, and it fell over for a second time.

Now!

A starting pistol fired inside her head. Mika took off, using a pillow that had fallen from the bed as a makeshift starting block.

I’ve got this. No one’s faster than I am.

“Don’t underestimate an ex-track and field runner!” she shouted, managing to dash into the hall—no, sorry. Something grabbed her left leg with monstrous strength before she could make it, and she fell forward. Her chest hit the floor hard, knocking the wind out of her. She clawed at the carpet to try and get away, but it was no use. The monster dragged her back to the center of the room. She twisted her torso to look toward her feet and saw the monster sitting cross-legged. With Mika’s left ankle in its iron grip, it smiled menacingly.

“Let me go!”

She sat up using her stomach muscles and stabbed the screwdriver into the back of the monster’s hand. Its skin was thick like an elephant’s hide, and the puncture seemed more like a pinprick to the giant creature, but the sudden resistance must have shocked it because it loosened its grip. Mika quickly yanked her left leg free and got to her feet, facing off against the sitting monster. Perhaps she should have just run. But a strange urge came over her as she watched the creature inspect its injured hand.

Can I beat this thing?

Was it the adrenaline that had instantly filled her body when she sensed danger? If she’d thought about it calmly, she would have realized such a feat was impossible. But nothing about this situation was calm.

Mika trying to take on the monster would be like a five-year-old challenging a heavyweight professional wrestler. She had no hope of winning. But even so, she felt a growing desire to defeat it.

If I beat this thing, I’ll be free from my fear. And Takuro will definitely be overjoyed. That’s right... If I beat this monster, I’ll be Takuro’s savior.

“Haaaaah!”

Mika let out a battle cry, summoned all of her strength, and swung the screwdriver in her right hand down toward the monster’s left eye socket. Suddenly, however, it appeared to vanish. Then she inexplicably felt herself floating, as if midair. Before she could even ponder what was going on, she felt a sharp pain at the end of her right arm.

She looked up. The monster was holding her fingers in its thin, grinning lips. It must have deftly dodged the screwdriver and chomped down on her hand as it drew near. Bright red liquid was now running down her wrist to her elbow and shoulder.

“No... Stop it,” she whispered hoarsely, hanging in the air by her arm. “Please... Help me.”

The monster released her hand from its mouth, as if heeding her plea. She fell to the floor with a thud. She looked at her right hand and let out a voiceless scream. Her index and ring fingers were gone from the second knuckle down. Blood gushed from where the bone was exposed, creating a bright red pool at her feet. The monster hadn’t spared her. It had simply dropped the snack it had been nibbling on. Suppressing the pain, she looked up. The monster was happily chewing away on something.

“Give them back... Give my fingers back.”

The monster stopped, almost as if it understood her words. Its thin lips pursed before spitting out the screwdriver. It grazed Mika’s ear as it flew past, burying itself into the wall.

It’s no use... I’m no match for this monster.

Mika stood up, turned, and fled the room, her mind a complete blank. She simply ran down the hall, trying to bear the pain in her hand. Her fingers must have been quite delicious, however, because the monster didn’t bother coming after her.