Chapter 8 - Kikai: Bizarre
1
It was now 7:20 AM. Quite some time had passed since Kazuya and Mika had run off. A crowd of early birds—three teachers and about 20 students—were now milling about in front of the school. Not one of them had the faintest clue what was going on, causing a spiraling vortex of unease among them.
Anna, stepping away from the crowd, looked up at the school from the courtyard.
Shun...
Her chest ached as if it were clamped by a vice.
“Everyone, calm down. The police will be here soon.”
She heard the husky voice of the gym teacher and looked over. Putting his cellphone back in his slacks pocket, he began patrolling the school grounds. He seemed the most unsettled of all.
The other teachers were behaving similarly, however. They would respond every so often to the students’ questions, but there was an undeniable shallowness to it all. Most likely, they were all doing their best to come up with a way to avoid any possible blame for this.
Meanwhile, the students were making a fuss, though none of them seemed particularly concerned. If anything, they were excited at the prospect of school being closed. They had no idea how grave the situation really was. No, only Anna and Mari had heard Mr. Inoue’s scream.
Yet... even if Mr. Inoue’s body was discovered inside, it probably wouldn’t change anything. Of course, there would be waterworks and some of the students might even be too upset to come to school for a while, but it would all be temporary. Before the week was out, they’d all be back to their everyday lives as if nothing had really happened. Anna was sure of it. It was the same thing they’d done when Naoki passed.
The word “classmate” meant nothing more than a weak, year-long bond. Best friends lost touch once they weren’t in the same class anymore, and within a few years, they’d even forget each other’s faces. These dark thoughts swirled inside Anna, making her feel empty.
“Hey... What do you think’s going on?”
Mari came jogging over to join Anna in the courtyard, her face pale.
“Are Kazuya and the others... okay?” she asked, then coughed a few times.
“Are you coming down with something?” Anna put a hand to her warm forehead and asked. “You have a fever. Why didn’t you stay home today?”
“Because I have classroom duty...”
“You could’ve just gotten someone to sub for you. If you stay out here in the freezing cold, you’re only going to get sicker. I’ll tell the teachers, so you go home—”
“It’s okay. I brought some cold medicine with me,” Mari said with a smile, pulling some pills out from her uniform pocket to show Anna. “This stuff works great, so I’m sure I’ll be feeling better in no time. I’ll go take it now.”
Mari then turned around and walked over to the outdoor water fountains. Her condition worried Anna, but she couldn’t make her go home. Even if she did, she would probably be too worried about what was going on at school to get any rest. Anna, too, wasn’t about to move until she saw Shun and the others back safe and sound.
But that train of thought was suddenly interrupted by a strange moaning that reached her ears. She quickly whipped around and saw Mari on the ground in front of the water fountains.
“Mari!”
She hurried over and saw that water was still flowing from the fountain. She must have collapsed while getting a drink.
“Stay with me!”
Anna put a hand on Mari’s shoulder. She was spasming like a fish out of water. She then coughed violently, a thick, blue liquid spilling from her mouth.
“Someone! Someone help!” Anna nearly screamed.
2
A light, leftward twist of the handle caused water to come rushing out of the faucet. Naoki repeatedly rinsed his face, not even caring about the water he was splashing on his uniform. He simply continued to douse himself in the cold liquid.
The third-floor boys’ bathroom. Every so often, this had been the site of his cruel bullying. The dent the back of his head had left in the second-stall door when Takuro punched him one day was still there and everything. Naoki shook his head again and again as those memories he’d tried so hard to suppress threatened to resurface, fresh and raw.
He then looked up, meeting his own gaze in the mirror. He hadn’t actually seen himself since the accident, so his reflection came as quite a surprise. He touched his cheek, and his mirror image did the same. His heart danced over such a natural reaction. As a ghost, he’d felt as ethereal as he’d looked, as if he existed only in the liminal brink between dream and reality. Perhaps that was how he’d been able to be so inhuman.
But things were different now. This felt real. No, it was real. He felt pain when he was punched; tears would overflow his eyes when he cried. Naoki’s gaze dropped down to his palms. Blue fluid still flecked his skin. Takeshi’s blood, to be more precise.
Takeshi’s sigh... His moaning.... His body, growing steadily colder...
This made four times now that Naoki had watched Takeshi die. The previous three when a monster had killed him, he’d felt nothing. But, indeed, things were different now.
Am I... scared of everyone dying?
“Pathetic,” a strange voice said.
Unlike the vague one he’d heard in the library, Naoki was quite sure this one was real.
“Who’s there?”
He quickly jumped back against the wall and looked around, but couldn’t sense anyone.
“And here I thought you’d grown a little more reliable. What a disappointment.”
Yet that voice was unmistakably close.
“Here. Over here. Look in the mirror.”
Naoki turned as the voice beckoned, and there in the mirror—just like before—was his sad reflection.
“Understand now?”
The Naoki in the mirror smiled. Shocked, he touched his face. His reflection did the same, still smiling.
“Who are you?” he asked, his voice raspy. “What are you doing with my body? Stop it! Get out!”
His reflection yelled and ranted right back at him.
It’s not an illusion. No, that’s definitely me in the mirror. Does that mean the thing talking to me... is also me?
Seeing his confusion, the Naoki in the mirror spoke up with a chuckle.
“Well, aren’t you shameless? You’re the one who entered my body.”
Hearing those words, he finally understood. The voice he was hearing belonged not to him, but the monster that had eaten him—the monster that had been imprisoned beneath the Jailhouse for 20 years. And the moment he realized that, as if a dam had suddenly burst, the monster’s memories flooded his mind.
“Why?”
A young girl was crying.
“Why is everyone so mean to me? They call you and Daddy heretics and throw rocks at me. Please, Mommy... What’s a heretic? Are you and Daddy bad people?”
The girl’s entire life flashed by him like a movie on constant fast-forward.
“Tell me, Mommy,” the girl asked, clinging to her mother in a dark and cold basement. “The village chief told me to destroy the ‘hideous eyeball’ in our house if we wanted to live in peace. He was very insistent... But I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t hurt God. But then he said it’s ‘that demon’s fault’ the river flooded. Is that true?”
The girl’s mother remained silent as she lovingly stroked her daughter’s hair. Her hands were torn up, and there were traces of blood underneath her cracked fingernails. Bruised and battered, her arms were so thin they were practically skeletal. It seemed they believed in a different god than the people around them—and for that, they were persecuted.
“That village was hell,” the Naoki in the mirror said in a bitter tone. “On my ninth birthday, my little sister was kidnapped and brutalized by the villagers. Luckily, she survived. But that was when we realized we’d all be killed if we stayed any longer, and so we decided to flee.”
Relying on an antiques dealer her father had met in the village, the family made plans to escape. As poor as they were, the best they could do was hide in a shipping container and stow away on a ship. They knew they’d be severely punished if discovered. The very shadow of every shipmate that walked by frightened them, and they spent most of the trip starving, but they told each other that it was still better than where they’d come from. And eventually, the ship and its cargo made it to Japan.
“The house we got to stay in here wasn’t drafty. The beds were warm and soft. The food was delicious. Life was more peaceful than I could have ever imagined. Every day was pure bliss. The housekeeper, Saya, was strict, and I didn’t like her much, but all the same, it was quite clear that she cared for us.” She continued to speak without stopping for air. “I was so happy that it scared me. I knew those days could never last. That greater misfortune would sooner or later befall us. And as it turns out, I was right.”
The wooden box she’d found in the basement. The indigo bugs inside it. The creepy way they started moving once they soaked in water. And the terrible things she felt when she accidentally swallowed one.
“Finally... Free... Humans... Revenge... Free... Humans... Revenge...”
The insect grew inside her, fusing with her. Her body swelled horribly, and her skin turned a dark shade of blue.
“Humans... Revenge... Revenge... Revenge...”
She still had no idea what those bugs were, but the intense hatred that welled inside her was plain as day.
“Stop it... Why... Why would you be so cruel...”
The image of her mother clutching the bloody body of the girl’s twin sister then flickered repeatedly inside Naoki’s head.
“Please... don’t kill me...”
A splash of bright red blood. Then there were two unmoving bodies, their eyes rolled into the backs of their skulls.
“Mommy?”
The little girl shook them, but they would never stir again.
“No... Why?”
Overtaken by the animosity overflowing from the insect inside her, the girl had lashed out and killed her beloved mother and little sister. Naturally, her father blamed her.
“It wasn’t me! It was the bug inside me! Please, help me! Help me, Daddy!”
The girl desperately begged her father for help, but her pleas fell on deaf ears. He just locked her in the basement.
“Why...? Why is this happening to me?”
Every day, she banged on the metal doors keeping her prisoner. The skin on her hands was cut to ribbons, and blue blood stained the floor. And day after day after day passed that way. Eventually, her humanity faded, that ever-growing hatred welling up in its place.
“I hate them... Those humans who persecuted us... me... as a heretic. I’ll kill them... I’ll kill them all.”
The animus washed over Naoki like a tidal wave, drowning out all of his other thoughts. If he let his guard down, it might swallow him up entirely. He grit his teeth and desperately swam against the current of the grudge.
“Why do you resist?” his reflection asked, glaring at him with sharp eyes. “You hate everyone too, don’t you? You want to kill them all. Every last one. So there’s no need to hold back.”
She was right. But...
“Naoki... I’m sorry. If we could start over, do you think this time—”
Takeshi’s last words flashed through his mind.
“I’m disappointed. Do you still not understand?”
Naoki didn’t have to say a word for her to know what he was thinking.
“I’ve never seen anything so selfish as humans. And that boy was no different—he was so afraid of death that he said things he didn’t mean. You’ve been tricked so many times before, yet you’d still believe him? You’re too naive.”
Naoki nodded. What she was saying was right.
Considering what he’s done to me in the past, there should be no way I could ever forgive him.
“Don’t waste this chance you’ve been given,” the girl suddenly urged him.
Confused by what she meant, Naoki cocked his head to the side.
“You beheld the sight of the grand being that watches over us, didn’t you?” she asked, seemingly referring to the creepy eye statue from the Jailhouse.
“What are you talking about?”
“You saved me from my 20-year imprisonment in that basement. You, who has nursed an unfulfilled need for vengeance, and me, who has spent almost my entire life hating humans from the depths of a jail cell... Do you really think it’s mere coincidence that the two of us should come together?” She continued loquaciously, “I’m grateful to you, really. I prayed constantly to be free of that cell, but my prayers went unanswered, day in and day out. I was on the verge of hating God for testing me so. But now I understand... God was waiting for the similar paths we were walking to converge.”
“Yeah, no,” Naoki quickly refuted. “I saved you of my own volition. I wasn’t following the will of some eyeball.”
“Oh, no. You simply don’t understand. It was all God’s will. How else could it be that your friend’s game lined up so perfectly with the Jailhouse?”
Naoki was at a loss for words.
“I believe that the Jailhouse transformed because you wished so dearly for retribution on those who murdered you, over and over. And God granted your wish.”
“Why would he ignore the prayers of a believer and instead help the spirit of someone who just happened to die nearby?”
“God is fickle. Or perhaps just strange... In either case, I urge you to get your vengeance before the object of God’s fancy shifts.”
“...”
“Now, it’s about time for the students to be arriving at school. Soon we will watch them all suffer. I can’t wait.”
“How are we going to kill them?”
“You’ve finally come around, then?” She nodded, satisfied. “Let us head to the roof.”
3
After sweeping the eastern half of the third floor, Takuro and Mika descended once again to the second floor. Kicking in classroom door after classroom door, they split up the work of searching for the red stone. Having recently played Shun’s escape game, Takuro focused on looking where he thought Shun was likely to have left hints... but so far had come up empty-handed.
The clock on the wall now read 7:40 AM. They only had 40 minutes left before the school bell rang. Time was passing too quickly for what little they had to show for it, and Takuro was starting to panic. Burning with motivation, he kicked in the next door and reentered the sewing workshop where they’d encountered Naoki earlier. The creepy mannequin was still standing there unchanged.
First, he tried inserting the blue stone from the art room into the mannequin’s right eye. The socket practically swallowed the stone, which fit snuggly into the hole like they were made for each other. There was no longer any doubt in Takuro’s mind that these would be key items in their escape. And since it was hard to imagine that the other eye would be in the same room as the mannequin, Takuro didn’t want to bother wasting any time searching the rest of the sewing workshop. He turned to head back into the hall when Mika tugged on his arm.
“Look, Takuro. Isn’t that a wedding dress?”
She was pointing to a headless mannequin next to the lectern, outfitted in a gorgeous dress of pure white.
“What’s something like this doing at school?” she asked, walking over to it and studying it with intense curiosity.
“The sewing club held a fashion show for the school festival, right? Maybe they made it for that.”
“A fashion show? We had one of those? I’m surprised you knew anything about that, Takuro.”
“Well, uh...”
“What’s the matter? Was one of the models a cute girl?”
“Idiot. Of course not.”
“Oh, what’s this? You seem awfully rattled. Did I hit the nail on the head?”
“No, now stop screwing around.”
But Mika was right. Takuro had been interested in an underclassman at the time, but that was all in the past. Mika was all he could think about now.
“Still, what’s it doing here? Are they going to have another fashion show before graduation or something?”
He quickly tried to change the subject, even though it seemed unlike him even to himself.
“Hey, Takuro...” Mika said softly, her eyes still on the wedding dress.
“What?” he asked curtly, feeling guilty.
“Listen...”
Mika’s luscious lips parted slightly. Takuro was afraid she was going to ask him more about the other girl, but he was quite wrong.
“If we do manage to get out of here, what are we going to do then?”
“What? Well...” Takuro trailed off.
We’re not people. We’re man-eating monsters. We have more control over our bodies now, but there’s still the risk that one of us might suddenly go on a rampage at any time. There’s no way we can live in normal society pretending to be human.
“Mika...” Wrapping his arms around her, Takuro continued, “Let’s find somewhere secluded where we can live alone together... just the two of us.”
Even if they were inhumanly strong, it would undoubtedly be difficult for them to make it on their own. And yet, Takuro was sure that if he had Mika by his side, everything would be fine. They could overcome any obstacle as long as they were together.
“I’ll never let you go.”
This wasn’t the first time he’d said those words to her. He’d fed her similar lines countless times before. Knowing what a weapon kind words could be, he’d easily lied over and over. But things were different now.
He cursed his past self for thinking of other people as mere pawns in some game of his. Yet despite all the times he’d betrayed her, Mika still believed in him. He rued his foolish pride. For without Mika, he knew he would have been dead ages ago.
That’s right... Mika changed me. I’m never going to let her go.
This time, there was no hint of falsehood in those words. They’d surfaced from his heart as naturally as blood pumped through his veins.
“So let’s live together, working together for our happiness.”
“Okay...” Mika replied meekly, nodding her head resting on his chest.
“It’ll be okay. I’m sure everything’ll turn out fine.”
“Yeah.”
“Till death do us part.”
“Thank you, Takuro...” Mika whimpered, tears spilling from her eyes.
“Quit crying, stupid,” Takuro teased with a smile, gently wiping her wet eyelids with his index finger.
“But...”
“You’re usually so strong. This isn’t like you.”
“I know...”
Mika wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand and then took a step back and to the side, standing behind the mannequin with the wedding dress and holding her head over its shoulders.
“Well? Do I look good?” she asked sheepishly.
“Y-Yeah...”
Takuro nodded, his mouth completely agape. Mika looked so much more adult than she usually did that it took his breath away. He then pictured her actually in the dress. He knew she would never get the chance to wear anything like it, which was exactly why he couldn’t help letting his imagination run wild.
“You’re beautiful, Mika.”
“Thanks, Takuro. Maybe one day—”
Before she could finish her sentence, a look of anguish overtook Mika’s face. Groaning, she suddenly pitched forward, knocking the mannequin in the dress onto its side.
“Mika?!”
Takuro rushed to her side. For a moment, he couldn’t understand what was happening. There was a sticky, translucent substance wrapped around Mika’s upper body. It wriggled like it was alive, ejecting blue liquid all over her.
“It’s hot! Help... Help me, Takuro!”
Gray smoke began to rise from Mika’s porcelain skin. Seeing it reminded Takuro of the blue cockroaches he’d encountered in the Jailhouse. This amoeba-like creature appeared to be excreting a similar acid from within its body.
“Stop it!” he roared.
But the monster showed no signs of complying. There was no telling if it could even hear him.
“Get off of Mika!”
He scratched at the mollusk-like creature. Suddenly, eyes began opening all over its sticky body. He’d never seen anything more grotesque. The eyes all focused in on Takuro, glaring at him with malice.
“Wh-What is this?”
“Ahhhhh!”
Mika screamed out in pain. She sounded like she was dying. Takuro bent over her, trying his best to peel the giant amoeba off of her. But no matter how hard he grabbed it, its gooey body would change form and slip through his fingers. There was simply no way to get a hold of it.
“Damn it! What the hell is this?”
As Takuro continued his fruitless battle, he heard a disgusting squelching sound from behind him. He turned and saw another one of the creatures stuck to Mika’s leg.
Where the hell are they coming from?
Sensing something terrible, Takuro fearfully looked up.
“...!”
He was dumbstruck by the sight. Multiple amoebas were clustered together on the ceiling. Their entire bodies pulsated as they each crawled in different directions. Countless eyes swiveled about busily, as if searching for something. It was like something straight out of a nightmare.
“Aaahhhhhhhh!”
Mika’s piercing scream ripped through the air. Takuro quickly turned back to her, but it was too late. The sounds of her sizzling flesh, bubbling muscles, and horrific screams came together in a gruesome orchestra of pain.
“NOOOOOOOO!”
The grand finale was Takuro’s aggrieved cry, reverberating helplessly inside the sewing workshop.